Mike watched through the crack of the door with mixed feelings as his mother twirled in front of the mirror, admiring her new clothes and figure. He had never seen her act so girlishly. At first he hadn't even noticed, but over the past few days he kept catching her sharing oddly intimate moments with Maxine's brother Billy; sometimes their eye contact carried a charge so strong even he felt the jolt.
He told himself he must be imagining things—his mother couldn't be that sort of person—until he realized she had deliberately asked his father if she could join the town gym for fitness classes, then "accidentally" bumped into Billy, who works there as a personal trainer.
Mom is a liar—she knew Billy worked there all along! She'd cleaned his room; Maxine had sent him a flyer promoting her brother's gym, with Billy's photo on it. He'd left the paper on the desk; when he came back it was sitting on the bookshelf.
Mike felt aggrieved and frantic. He didn't know what to do. His usually poised, virtuous mother might be cheating—with awful Billy, of all people, the step-brother of his best friend!
Messy… way too messy!
Of course, it was still only suspicion; nothing proven. Hoping against hope, he rounded up his buddies for counsel—he dared not tell Nancy.
Leaving aside that Nancy was up to her ears launching her newspaper, he didn't want her dragged into domestic drama. And he knew his sister: she'd march straight to their mother and confront her.
If it turned out to be a misunderstanding, Mom would be hurt. If it wasn't, Nancy might blow everything sky-high and their parents would land in divorce court.
Mike wasn't afraid of a split; he knew his parents weren't in love and an official breakup wouldn't shock him or Nancy. But they had little Holly to think of. Holly needed an intact family, and she adored their dad; Mike didn't want her world wrecked.
This time he summoned only the boys—Will, Dustin and Lucas. Once they heard the problem, Lucas finally understood why Mike had insisted Maxine stay away.
Maxine definitely shouldn't be involved. Lucas knew his girlfriend's temper: blunt as a hammer. Ever since she'd once scared Billy off with an axe, her family status had soared; she'd confront Billy to his face and chaos would erupt again.
"It's too hard—I can't see any way to stop this disaster." Mike clawed his hair, too wrecked even to think about pursuing Eleven. He looked pleadingly at the others. "Help me figure something out."
Dustin and the rest were uneasy; the matter was painfully personal and none of them wanted to wade in. They weren't kids anymore; they knew the stakes. But Mike was their friend. Even if the path ahead smelled like a sewer, they'd plug their noses and step in.
"All right." Dustin ground his teeth and offered, "First we need to know if Mrs. Wheeler is actually thinking of cheating. We investigate: you search Mom's private stuff at home for anything weird, then we hit the gym and use our eyes and ears to see if she and Billy cross any lines."
"Okay." Mike nodded; what Dustin said made sense. "Then what?"
"Then…" Dustin blinked and gave a dry laugh, "we play it by ear."
"…This script is fantastic!" Jonathan exclaimed after Richard handed him the pages. He rushed to share his excitement and asked Richard about shot composition for several scenes; Richard explained his ideas.
Jonathan listened, admiring anew. "My mentor raves about your writing too. If you're free, I'll introduce you."
"There'll be time," Richard smiled. "Your mentor arrives next month; we'll meet then."
Jonathan nodded, then hesitated. "Chade, when do you plan to launch your offensive on that world?"
"Still preparing." Richard caught the worry in Jonathan's eyes and clapped his shoulder. "You just focus on directing. You don't have to be part of this."
"Why not?" Jonathan was startled, then quickly added, "I'm not scared—I'm just worried about the risk. We've both been to The Upside Down; we know it's a death trap. We have no idea what Henry's become there. If he's grown too powerful, can we actually win?"
"We'll win," Richard said with certainty. "This time I'll sever The Upside Down from our world entirely, and I'll destroy the Mind Flayer myself."
Jonathan's eyes widened. "You intend to wipe out the Mind Flayer too?"
He'd assumed Richard only wanted Henry dead; everyone believed Henry masterminded everything, including The Upside Down's invasions.
Richard glanced at Jonathan. "Carly must have told you: even before Eleven, other kids from The Lab sensed that place, and the Demogorgon hunted them. That happened before Henry ever entered The Upside Down."
"We've always known the creatures share a hive mind, all obeying the will of the hive's master," Richard went on. "After studying the Mind Flayer's body, I believe it's made of learning-capable particles. Originally it was just bestial.
If, before Henry fell into The Upside Down, the Mind Flayer acted on pure animal instinct—expanding its hunting grounds—then Henry's arrival changed that. His will reshaped it; the Mind Flayer may now carry Henry's malice. Even if we kill Henry, the Mind Flayer could still invade our world on its own, and without Henry to rein it in, it might be even harder to stop.
So when we strike The Upside Down, we take out both Henry and the Mind Flayer—no exceptions.