The aftermath of the encounter with Acnologia Gaunt left a deep scar on the group. The mall had become a battlefield, and they had lost. Eleven sat in the cabin with a distant look in her eyes, the bruises on her face and arms a painful reminder of her utter helplessness against him. She had faced the Mind Flayer, fought Demogorgons, and survived the horrors of the Upside Down, but nothing had ever shaken her like the sheer dominance of her so-called brother.
Mike sat beside her, clenching his fists in frustration. "We have to do something. We can't just let him get away with this!"
Dustin, pacing the room, adjusted his cap. "Do what, exactly? You saw what he did! He didn't just beat El, he toyed with her. And us? We couldn't even touch him. He froze us like statues."
Lucas shook his head, his voice grim. "He wanted us to watch. He wanted us to understand how powerless we were."
Max held Eleven's hand tightly, anger burning in her eyes. "But why? Why would he do this? If he really is your brother, shouldn't he… I don't know, care about you?"
Eleven didn't respond at first. She swallowed hard, memories of the fight replaying in her mind. Every attack she threw at him had been meaningless. He walked through them like they were nothing. Her nose bled from the sheer force she had tried to exert, but he had only smiled at her struggle.
"He is strong," she finally muttered. "Stronger than me."
Will, sitting quietly in the corner, finally spoke up. "He came from the Upside Down, didn't he? He's lived there. Maybe… maybe it changed him. Maybe he isn't like us anymore."
Hopper, standing near the door with Joyce, let out a heavy sigh. He was still processing what had happened. The sheer power Acnologia displayed was beyond anything he had ever seen. He had been frozen in place, forced to watch as he brutalized Eleven. But the words he left behind lingered in his mind.
"Take good care of your sister."
Joyce rubbed her arms, trying to shake off the dread. "That wasn't just a fight. That was a warning."
"Yeah," Hopper muttered. "And I don't like what it means."
Mike turned to Eleven. "We have to find a way to stop him. We can't let him do this again."
Eleven closed her eyes, focusing on the connection she had tried to forge before the battle. When she had reached out to him with her mind, she had felt something terrifying. It wasn't just power. It was certainty. Acnologia didn't hesitate, didn't doubt. He fought without fear because he knew, without a shred of uncertainty, that he was stronger. And he was right.
"I don't know if we can stop him," she admitted. "Not yet."
The room fell into a heavy silence. Each of them had fought against impossible odds before. But this was different. This was someone who knew them, someone who didn't see them as an enemy but as nothing more than children playing at war.
Dustin took a deep breath. "Then we get stronger. We learn everything we can about him. If he's our new monster, we find his weakness."
Lucas nodded. "Yeah. We've taken down worse before. We just need a plan."
Max squeezed Eleven's hand. "You're not alone, El. We're all in this together."
Eleven looked around the room at her friends. Despite their fear, they were still here, still ready to fight. She exhaled slowly, determination flickering in her eyes.
"Then we prepare," she said. "Because next time, I won't lose."