The night air was thick with tension as Acnologia Gaunt stood in the shadows, watching the neon glow of Starcourt Mall in the distance. A message had come to him, whispered through the unseen threads of his mind—the Mind Flayer needed him. It was a summons he could not ignore.
With a flicker of thought, he Apparated into the mall, stepping through the veil of reality without a sound. The air crackled around him as he emerged inside, the fluorescent lights casting eerie reflections on the polished tiles. He could sense her before he saw her. Eleven. His younger sister. The one he had lost before he even knew he had a family.
She stood in the middle of the open space, breathing heavily, her gaze fierce and unyielding. Her friends surrounded her, each of them bearing the weight of battle-worn determination. But they had never faced someone like him.
Acnologia stepped forward, his presence alone sending a shudder through the group. Eleven braced herself, her fists clenching as she reached for her power. But he was faster. With a mere thought, an invisible force struck her, sending her tumbling backward into a row of overturned chairs.
Mike rushed forward, only for Acnologia to flick his wrist, sending him sprawling to the floor. Lucas and Max tried to attack from the sides, but a burst of telekinetic energy threw them against the walls, holding them there like puppets on strings.
Dustin, frozen in fear, tried to reason with him. "You don't have to do this! She's your sister!"
Acnologia tilted his head, amusement flickering in his cold, golden eyes. "Sister? And what has she ever done for me?"
Eleven gritted her teeth, pushing herself up. Blood trickled from her nose, her body trembling as she tapped into every ounce of strength she had left. With a scream, she sent a powerful wave of psychic energy hurtling towards him.
Acnologia smirked, raising his hand. The energy shattered against an invisible barrier, dispersing into harmless sparks. "You're strong," he admitted, taking slow, deliberate steps toward her. "But not strong enough."
He struck again, this time with a calculated precision. An unseen force lifted Eleven off the ground and slammed her into the tiled floor. She gasped in pain, trying to fight back, but Acnologia's magic was relentless. Every movement she attempted was met with brutal efficiency, every ounce of defiance crushed beneath his overwhelming power.
Her friends struggled against their restraints, screaming in protest, but Acnologia only tightened his grip, forcing them to watch as he systematically broke her down.
"This is what it means to be weak," he said, his voice eerily calm as he held Eleven suspended in midair. "To rely on others, to think that love will protect you. It won't. It never has."
She tried one last time to lash out, but her power faltered. Acnologia grabbed her by the throat and held her there, inches from his face. Her eyes burned with defiance even as her strength gave out.
Then, footsteps. A new presence. Acnologia turned his head slightly as Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers burst onto the scene. Their eyes widened in horror at the sight before them.
"Let her go!" Hopper shouted, raising his gun.
Acnologia barely acknowledged the weapon. With a flick of his wrist, he froze them in place, his telekinetic hold rendering them powerless.
He leaned in close to Eleven, his voice barely a whisper. "You are not ready. But one day, you will be. Until then, stay out of my way."
He turned to Hopper, his eyes gleaming with something almost human. "Take good care of my sister."
Then, without another word, he vanished into the night, leaving behind only silence and the echoes of his terrifying power.