Crush Culture [M.Wheeler]

[19] SHE'S TOO BADASS TO DIE

About a month later on Christmas Eve, Nori and the boys were back at Mike's house. Nori had thought it would be fun to play with them tonight.

"Something is coming. Something angry. Hungry for blood." Mike says lowly, keeping suspense. "It is almost here."

"What is it?" Will asks curiously. "It's the thesselhydra, I'm telling you." Dustin comments. "It's not the thesselhydra." Lucas shakes his head.

"I'm telling you, it's the thesselhydra." Dustin repeats. "Why would it be the thesselhydra? That's so dumb." Nori points out. "Exactly!" Lucas agrees.

"The thesselhydra!" Mike yells as he slams the figure down onto the board. Dustin smirks to Lucas and Nori who shrug.

"Damnit!" Dustin yells as Will groans. "It roars in anger!" Mike yells. "Will, your action!"

"What should I do? I—" he stammers. "Fireball him!" Lucas says. Will turns to Dustin. He pauses for a moment. "Fireball the son of a bitch." Dustin smiles.

"Wait, no. Cast protection." Nori states, causing the boys to all groan and begin to yell at her. "Hey! I was kidding! I was kidding!" She laughs, putting her hands up in surrender.

Will chuckles, taking the dice and rolling. "Fourteen!" They all exclaim in joy. "Direct hit. Will the Wise's fireball hits the thesselhydra." Mike stands up.

"It makes painful..." he pauses, imitating a screeching noise. Nori watches in amusement. "And then... it crumbles to the ground." Mike collapses.

"It's clawed hand reaches for you one last time and, and, and...and..." he falls down completely, pretending to die. The boys all cheer while Nori chuckles, walking over to Mike and holding her hand out.

Mike smiles, pulling himself up and taking a seat once again while the boys dance around the table. "Lucas cuts off its seven heads, and Dustin places them into his bag of holding. You carry the heads out of the dungeon, victorious." Mike continues while Dustin holds up his backpack proudly.

"And you present them to King Tristan. He thanks you for your bravery and service."  Mike concludes. "Woah. Woah, Woah, Woah, woah, that's not it, is it?" Dustin asks.

"No, there's a medal ceremony—" Mike shakes his head. "Oh, a medal ceremony? What are you talking about?" Dustin raises his eyebrows.

"Yeah, man. The campaign was way too short." Lucas agrees. Nori groans. "We've been playing for ten hours." She groans, leaning her head back, resting it on Mike's shoulder.

"But it doesn't make any sense." Dustin yells. "It makes sense." Mike argues. "Uh, no, what about the lost knight?" Dustin questions.

"And the proud princess?" Lucas adds. "And those weird flowers in the cave?" Will chimes in. "Do you guys ever catch a break?" Nori chuckles.

"No." They all respond. "I don't know, it's—" before Mike could finish his sentence, Johnathan walks down the stairs. "Jeez, what's that smell?" He asks.

"Have you guys been playing games all day, for just farting?" He jokes. "Oh, that's Dustin." Lucas says, laughing. "He farted."

Dustin's smile drops. "Dustin farted." He sings, then blows a raspberry. "Okay. Very mature, Lucas." Dustin rolls his eyes.

"Shut up!" Dustin yells while Lucas continues. Will smiles, then follows Johnathan out, waving goodbye to everyone.

Dustin stands up, going to Lucas and lightly punching his side. They get into a friendly fight, while Mike turns back to look at Eleven's spot. It's empty now.

"Hey." Nori says softly, tapping his shoulder. Mike glances over at her, smiling sadly. "She'll be back. She's too badass to die." She grins, before standing up and joining in the fight with Lucas and Dustin.

She jumps onto Dustin's back, taking his hat and placing it on his head. "Onwards, Dustin! We must fight the great and almighty Sir Lucas!" She shouts.

"Prepare to be defeated!" Dustin screams, charging at Lucas. "Not gonna happen!" He runs off, dodging their hits.

Mike sits still, watching in awe as Nori plays so freely with the boys, laughing along with them and being overall happy. Though they don't have eleven, they always have each other.

Suddenly, another voice comes from upstairs. "Ellie!" Steve calls. Dustin and Lucas pause, Dustin lightly setting the girl down.

"Coming!" She shouts, taking off Dustin's hat and handing it to him. "Keep it." Dustin says, shaking his head. "Really?" She smiles.

"Yeah. Christmas present." He nods. "Dustin, you are literally my favorite person ever right now." She wraps him in a hug, laughing in excitement.

"Bye, guys! I'll see you later!" She says, waving to them and running up the stairs.