Theo meows softly as he lies on the cafeteria table with Mike and Eleven. Dustin and Lucas took off to hunt for pudding. Theo couldn't help but gag at the thought of eating chocolate goo that looks too much like his shit. He purrs when Eleven scratch his head.

"He really seems to like you." Mike says as he watches her.

Eleven just continues to pet him and Theo turns to sniff her fingers, rubbing his scent all over her.

"Papa gave me a cat. Mainly to kill it." Eleven says as she thinks back when Papa was doing tests on her. How she refused to do what he said and how she was punished for it.

Theo quickly looks at her, making a soft growl.

"Did you?" Mike asks her in shock.

Eleven shakes her head, "Mm-mm. Didn't seem...right."

Theo lets out a breath of relief and meows as he gets up and rubs against her face, making her giggle. Especially when he uses his sandpaper tongue to lick her nose. Mike watches her with a smile.

Eleven looks up at Mike and Mike clears his throat, looking away and pretends to stretch.

"What was Hopper doing to that woman, Miss Holloway?" She asks with a frown.

"Oh, you mean when he kissed her?" Mike's face scrunches in disgust.

Eleven frowns in confusion, "What's 'kiss'?"

"It's a way grown-ups do to basically say they like each other. We also call it' sucking face'. Pretty gross watching, huh?" Mike says.

Eleven shrugs, curious still about everything.

Dustin and Lucas roamed through the kitchen of the cafeteria and opened chillers to find the pudding. After a few failed searches, Dustin opens a fridge and exclaims in triumph when he sees it loaded with cans of pudding.

"Found it! I knew she was hoarding it. I knew it." He says as he fills his arms up with pudding.

Lucas moves to join and grabs as much as he could, laughing in triumph, "Yeah."

"Always lying, saying she's out. Bald-faced liar." Dustin grins, then turns to call out, "Mike, I found the chocolate pudding!" He yells.

Mike and Eleven, and Theo all jump when Dustin calls out from the kitchen.

"Okay!" Mike calls back.

Theo meows and rolls his eyes. Mike and Eleven caught his reaction, giggling together until they meet each other's eyes. He gives her a small smile and clears his throat, "Are you feeling any better?" He asks.

Eleven sighs softly and shrugs. Honestly, she still felt weak, but a little better. With a confused look, "What's 'putting'?" She asks.

Mike chuckles at her question and how she pronounced pudding, "Pudding, it's...it's this chocolate goo you eat with a spoon." He watches her face scrunch up in disgust. "Don't worry, when all this is over, you won't have to keep eating junk food and leftovers like a dog anymore. My mom, she's a pretty awesome cook. She can make you whatever you like." He says.

Eleven's face lights up, "Eggos?" She asks excitedly.

Mike frowns, "Well, yeah, Eggos, but real food, too." He says and sighs. "See, I was thinking, once all this is over and Will's back and you are not a secret anymore, my parents can get you an actual bed for the basement. Or you can take my room if you want, since I'm down there all the time anyways. My point is, they'll take care of you. They'll be like your new parents, and Nancy, she'll be like your a sister, too."

"Will you be like my brother?" She asks.

"What? No, no." He scoffs.

Eleven frowns, "Why 'no'?"

"Because..." He sighs, how can he explain this? "'cause it's different."

Eleven was still confused, "Why?"

Mike sighs, embarrassed about it all, maybe he should just forget it, "I mean, I don't know, I guess it's not. It's stupid." he tries to wave it off.

"Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"Friends don't lie." Eleven says.

Sighing deeply, "Well...I was thinking...I don't know...maybe we can go to the Snow Ball together." He says sheepishly.

Eleven was confused, "Snow Ball'?"

"It's this cheesy school dance, where you go in the gym and dance to music and stuff. I've never been, but I know you're not supposed to go with your sister." He explains.

"No?"

"I mean...you can, but it'd be really weird. You go to school dances with someone that, you know...someone that you like." he explains.

Eleven was so confused, "A friend?"

"Not a friend." This was getting frustrating, "Uh... uh...Uh, someone like a..." He stutters, then sighs, 'to hell with it', he thinks and moves quickly to lean forward and kiss her lips.

Mike pulls back and looks into her eyes, watching her cheeks turn red as she gives him a surprised look. He slowly leans back, hoping he wasn't going to be rejected, but she simply gives him a small smile when she realizes why he did that. Remembering what he said about what a kiss means. Mike slowly returns one. Meaning, she likes him, too.

Mike frowns and turns when Theo was watching both of them and tilts his head as if he was giving him a coy look while wiggling his brows. Mike gives him a weird look.

"What?" He scoffs with a shrug.

Theo meows lowly and stretches, but suddenly, he flinches and turns towards the door. Growling and arching his back as his hair sticks out in warning. Mike and Eleven frown at his attitude. But, soon, they see light pouring through the windows.

"Hold on. I'll be right back." Mike says and heads for the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While Mike walks outside, Dustin and Lucas both dump dozens of cans of Chocolate pudding over the table with huge grins. Eleven frowns as she picks on up and exams it.

"This will charge your battery right up, I'm telling you." Dustin states.

But before Eleven could eat some, Mike comes running into the building.

"Guys! Guys!"

"What is it?"

Mike pants with a worried look, "They're here. They found us."

Eleven share a terrified look. Theo turns towards them and lets out a yowl. Basically, telling them to run! They all rush out to another side to find a place to hide as the agents and soldiers' storm inside, armed to the teeth with guns and weapons.

"We know they're here."

"Be advised, west side of the building is clear."

"Sir, we've searched everywhere. There's no sign of them."

"Kitchen."

They searched every room, every part of the school. Even finding the pudding scattered all over one of the cafeteria tables. But no one was around.

The soldiers go into one room, scanning the corners with their lights, "Nothin'. Keep it locked down."

"All right."

Mike helps Eleven to run with him as they all rush to get away from the soldiers, searching everywhere for a way out. But everywhere they went, it was a dead end.

"How did they find us?"

"I don't know, but they knew we were in the gym."

"Lando." Dusting accuses.

Lucas paces ahead, then skids to a halt when two soldiers come out from the exit.

"Got 'em!" One shouts.

"Come on!" Lucas yells as they all turn and run away from the soldiers. They skid to a halt when more soldiers pop up as they go another way.

"There they are. Freeze." More soldiers shout and rush out from the doors and exits. Blocking their paths to freedom.

"Back! Go back! Go, go! Go left!" Mike yells.

No mater where they went, the bad people were waiting for them. They rush through the hallways and stop when they were surrounded. Carol stood blocking their way, holding them at gun point with the soldiers.

Eleven knew that woman, and remembers her killing that nice man who helped her. She sends her a harsh glare and feels her energy come forth.

Suddenly, the flashlights begin to rapidly flicker as she continues to use her energy against them all. Loud squelching came from Carol and the soldiers as they begin to stand frozen, choking as blood pours from their eyes and ears, their noses. As one, they all fell dead to the floor.

Before the boys could find relief, Eleven, suddenly falls to the floor with a loud thud, falling into unconsciousness.

Mike rushes to her, "El, are you okay? El! Something's wrong."

"She's just drained."

"No, no, no, she won't wake up. El! El!" Mike became worried for Eleven. He knew she used too much power again and it took everything out of her. Just to protect them. He just wants her to be safe, to be ok. She just needs to wake up. He couldn't lose her. He couldn't.

"Where's Theo?!" Dustin yells.

"Who cares? We need to get El out of here!" Mike yells and continues to try and wake Eleven up, but she couldn't. They couldn't stay here. They needed to go before the bad people take her again.

"She's barely breathing."

"We gotta go."

Mike was getting ready to carry her, but the three of them jump when they hear a voice speak out to them.

"Leave her." Walking around the corner with soldiers behind him, Dr. Brenner stands before them, "Step away from the child."

Mike grits his teeth and takes his stand, "No! You want her, you have to kill us first."

"That's right!" Dustin moves to stand next to Mike and so does Lucas.

"Eat shit!"

Suddenly, Mike turns fast and sees more MP soldiers sneaking up behind them.

"Oh, no! No, no!" Mike shouts as they're all grabbed from behind.

"No! No! Get off me!

"You idiot!"

"No!"

"Get off me!" Dustin yells.

"Ow! Let go!" Mike struggles to get out the man's grip but they were firmly held back.

Dr. Brenner rushes to Eleven's side and picks her up, holding her to sit up. "Eleven? Eleven, can you hear me? Eleven?" He calls out to her.

Slowly opening her eyes, "Papa?" She asks weakly.

Dr. Brenner smiles at her, "Yes, yes, it's your papa."

"Get off of me." Mike grunts and continues to fight.

"I'm here now." Dr. Brenner continues to sooth her.

"Let her go! Let her go, you bastard!" Mike yells.

Eleven whimpers as she watches Mike, Lucas, and Dustin struggle in the bad men's grip.

Dr. Brenner strokes her head and cheek, trying to calm her, "Shh, shh, you're sick. You're sick, but I'm going to make you better. I'm going to take you back home, where I can make you well again. Where we can make all of this better, so no one else gets hurt." He says.

Eleven looks up at Brenner with an angry look, "Bad. Bad." Eleven says, startling Brenner. Then she tries to reach out for Mike, "Mike. Mike. Mike." She whimpers.

Mike grunts and struggles to get to her, but the soldier that held him was too strong.

Suddenly, a loud meow is made. Everyone looks and sees Theo, growling and hissing at the soldiers and Dr. Brenner. Mike and Lucas grin while Dustin watches with wide eyes.

"You guys are in deep shit now."

Dr. Brenner just scoffs, "Shoot that thing."

One man points his gun at Theo, making the boys gasp in worry. But, when the gun goes off, everyone looks in shock as the lights begin to flicker rapidly. The soldier gasps in fright as he was held by his hand, his gun pointing up and Theo stood in his true form, grinning like a wicked demon in his face.

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin look up at Theo's height, he was taller than they imagined. Over 8 feet, hunched over but still tall.

With a loud growl, Theo throws the man across the room, making him slam into the lockers. The soldiers get their guns ready, but Theo was a step ahead. He lets out a loud roar, sending them flying down the hallway with his powerful voice. The boys yelp when the men who held them were thrown backwards but the three of them were ok. Dr. Brenner still held on to Eleven as Theo draws closer towards him. He reaches into his coat and pulls out a gun, firing a few rounds at Theo.

The boys yell in shock, but they gasp as one when they see the bullets had no effect on Theo. Theo grabs Dr. Brenner by his hand, making it crack loudly. Brenner yells in pain and was forced to drop Eleven as Theo picks him up.

Leaning close till Theo's hot breath steam in his face, Brenner trembles in terror, especially when that voice spoke.

"Bad...human." Theo growls.

Suddenly, the lights begin to go even more wild and Theo snaps his head up with a growl. He drops Brenner and turns towards the wall before them.

Mike's eyes widen in realization. "Blood."

"What?" Lucas frowns.

"Blood." Mike says again, remembering what Nancy and Jonathan said about the Demogorgon. How it hunts for blood. And they all stood around several dead bodies.

The wall cracks and opens, as if something was trying to escape into their world. And they were right as the loud screeching came from the cracks.

"Demogorgon." Dustin gasp as his eyes widen at the sight of the monster.

The Demogorgon bursts from the wall, standing tall before them all as it roars at them all.

Theo stands in front of the Demogorgon with a loud roar of his own and rushes at the monster, slamming it into the concrete wall. The Demogorgon screeches and claws at Theo, snapping his Venus-like jaws, but Theo dodges at every bite.

With a swift turn, Theo tosses the Demogorgon down a hallway and turns towards Mike and the others, "RUN!!!" He roars and grunts when the Demogorgon slams into him.

The soldiers managed to get to their feet and grab their guns. They turn their weapons to the Demogorgon and Theo as Dustin rushes towards Eleven and scoops her up into his arms. Together, they all rush to escape, leaving the soldiers to the monster.

Brenner could only watch in shock and awe at the ability of the beast.

"Go, go, go, go, go! Come on, come on." Mike shouts.

"Go, go!" Lucas users everyone to run.

Brenner continues to watch the creatures overpower his men and soon, he yells as the Demogorgon attacks him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike and the others run through out the hallways as the soldiers continue to shoot at the Demogorgon. The exits were no longer an option. No matter where they ran, the monster was not far behind and neither were the bad people.

"Come on, come on!"

"Oh, my God!" Dustin yells as the whole school sounded like a warzone.

"Hold on, we're almost there. We're almost there." Mike says and rushes towards to Mr. Clark's room. "Come on. Come on." He rushes everyone inside.

"Help, help."

"Come on, get her on the table."

Together, they gently place Eleven over a table. She groans softly, she felt so weak and drained.

Mike moves to lean close to Eleven, holding her hand tightly, "Just hold on a little longer, okay?" Tears form in his eyes and he sniffles, trying to fight the tears. He was so scared he almost lost her, he didn't want to lose her, "He's gone. The bad man's gone. We'll be home soon, and my mom...she'll get you your own bed. You can eat as many Eggos as you want."

Eleven smiles as tears begin to trickle down her face, she sniffles and continues to hear all of his promises to her.

"And we can go to the Snow Ball."

In a soft, weak voice, "Promise?"

Sniffling more, "Promise." Mike says.

Suddenly, all of them jump at the loud screeching. Mike screams and jumps back. Everyone watches the door as the lights continue to flicker on and off. The gunfire keeps going on and loud thudding is mad from outside.

Suddenly, the gunfire stops.

Dustin stutters in fear, "Is... Is it dead?"

Crash! The Demogorgon shoves the door to the ground, walking over it and into the classroom. Mike and his friends jump.

"Go, go, go, go!" The three of them rush towards a table to try to avoid the monster.

"Get the wrist rocket! Get the wrist rocket now!" Dustin yells as Lucas yanks off his backpack and tears through it to get his sling shot and the rocks.

"Go, go, go, go, go!"

"Go, go, go. Take it out now!"

"Get the rocks, get the rocks, get the rocks!" Lucas yells.

"Getting the rocks!"

"Give me one."

"Come on! Go! Go! Kill it! Kill it!" Dustin yells.

"Fire! Fire!"

Lucas arms himself and pulls the sling back and shoots, but it doesn't do anything. The Demogorgon roars as it gets closer and closer towards them.

"Give me another one."

"Kill it! Bastard!"

"Kill it! Go, go, go, go!"

"Kill it now!"

"Get, get, get..."

"Come on, kill the bastard!"

"It's not working!"

"Hit him again."

"Kill him!

"Keep going! Come on!"

"Get, get, get..."

"Come on, kill it!"

"Come on! Go, go, go!"

The boys continue to yell for Lucas to kill it, but no matter what, the creature didn't stop. Suddenly, Theo rushes into the room and uses the wall to climb and jump. Body slamming into the Demogorgon with a roar. The boys jump and watch Theo fight the monster. The Demogorgon grabs Theo and shoves him backwards into several tables, making the metal and wood fly everywhere. With powerful punches, Theo manages to send the monster backwards, he was about to slam his foot on its head, but the Demogorgon ducks and rams into him, making the boys shout.

Theo lets out a loud painful roar as the Demogorgon bites his arm, but Theo brings his other arm down on its head, making it screech in pain by the blow. Eleven could see the Demogorgon was never going to stop. It didn't belong in this world, and she knew she was the only one who could stop it.

Shoving back the tiredness and the pain inside her, she watches the boys shout for Theo to win.

"Kick his ass, Theo!"

"Kill it! Kill it, Theo!"

"Get him! Come on!"

Theo punches the Demogorgon across its face several times, making it grunt at the impact. It roars out a screech at him. Lucas needed to help him. Maybe, just maybe he could aim the wrist rocket and make it choke on his last rock. He quickly loads load up his last rock and prepares to shoot. Mike and Dustin continue to shout and yell at Lucas to kill the Demogorgon. Lucas shoots and at the same time, Eleven calls for her energy.

With a loud growl, the Demogorgon flies back into the wall, practically glued against the chalkboard. All the desks and tables fly back and crash into each other and the walls.

The boys jump in shock but turn to see Eleven walking towards the Demogorgon. Theo growls and watches her, knowing what she's going to do.

"Don't..." He growls.

Mike was afraid she was going to hurt herself if she continues to use. He didn't want anything to happen to her.

"Eleven, stop!" He rushes to her, but she throws her arm back to make him fly backwards into the cabinets. He screams at the force and shouts when Theo jumps to save him from getting hurt. They both grunt as they hit the wooden cabinets.

Eleven's eyes dilate past their normal point as she continues to call forth her energy to keep the monster at bay.

The monster squeals as it struggles to be free and growls down at the girl before him.

Eleven looks back at her friends, at Mike. She had to do this, to protect them all. To protect him.

"Goodbye, Mike." She says with a broken look.

Mike looks up at her in sadness with a small gasp.

Eleven turn back to glare at the monster. This ends now.

"No more." Eleven states and holds up a hand and calls for her energy, to kill the monster. She sends her power against the monster. It screeches loudly in agony, making everyone cover their ears in pain as Eleven practically rips through the monster's body with her mind. The monster roars in pain at her power tears through it.

"Eleven, no!" Mike shouts and tries to get up, but Theo holds him back. "Let go! No!"

The pain of using was so great for her, as she begins to yell with blood drips from her nose and veins darken over her pale skin. She keeps pushing and pushing. Till the monster explodes into ash and a gate opens behind it. The monster reaches out to her, fighting but it was a useless battle, until the ashes engulf them both and pulls them into the gate.

Finally, there was no more yelling, no more screeching. Even the lights stopped flickering. Mike slowly gets to his feet as Theo helps him up and lets him go as he sees that the monster was gone, but so was Eleven.

"El? El?" He panics.

"El!"

"Eleven!"

"Eleven!"

"El!" Mike cries, "El, where are you? Eleven!"

"El?"

No matter how many times they called out for her, she was gone. Mike turns towards Theo and rushes at him in anger.

"Why did you stop me?!" He shoves at his furry chest, hitting him in fury. "Why?! Why didn't you do anything? Stupid cat! I hate you! I hate you!" He sobs.

Theo growls softly and lets the small human vent as his friends look at Mike in terror, believing that Theo might attack.

Panting and crying, Mike sniffles and buries his face against Theo. Theo gently places his large hand on Mike's head.

"Mike...she saved...you. The creature...did not belong...in this world. She knew...she was the only one...who could stop it." Theo rasps. "Great sacrifice always carry...consequences."

Mike sniffles and sobs as Theo holds him gently, where was she? He wanted her back. He had to get her back.