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Mike was in hell.
The fleshy cavern pulsated around him, the ground under his feet tremoring as the Mindflayer defended itself from the rest of the party. A distant boom reverberates through the flesh. Somewhere out there, in the abyss’s bleak landscape, his friends were fighting—Molotovs exploding, Nancy’s gun blasting.
But the real fight was here. In this cavern of sinew and flexing muscle, where the Vecna had Will and El suspended, chuckling as they strained against his power. Will’s eyes were white again, his hand outstretched in a desperate attempt to fight back, and El’s teeth were gritted, brows furrowed in a heavy scowl as she screamed her rage.
They were trying their best, trying to impale Vecna onto the large spike behind him. But though Vecna’s shaking hand revealed his strain, the smile on his revolting face made his confidence clear.
They always were confident, Mike thought almost absently. Those villains in DnD. Lolth, Orcus, Tiamat, Asmodeus. All of them never really believed their schemes could fail.
Why would Vecna be any different?
Mike gasped for breath, trying to scramble onto his knees. He was only a metre in front of Vecna, just a fucking metre. But the way Vecna had slammed him into the ground had left his leg broken, and potentially his ribs too, going by how difficult it was to just move without pain shooting through his chest. Pain. There was so much pain—
But nothing compared to seeing Vecna’s head tilt back in a laugh. Nothing compared to seeing black vines erupt from the walls, coiling around Will’s throat, then El’s—tightening into a vicious noose for them both. Will’s body jerked, his feet kicking against nothing. El choked, her fingers clawing usefully at the tendril.
“No!” Mike shouted, trying to force himself up. His right leg gave way, and he hit the ground hard. “Stop it! Take me! Take me instead, you fucking piece of shit!”
“Ah, Michael Wheeler,” Vecna purred, appraising him with a downward gaze. “Always the hero. Always the heart. You love them. Both of them. Such devotion. Such confusion.”
Mike sneered. “Yeah, fuck off with the mind games. I’m the fucking dungeon master. You can’t fool me.”
“You are just an insect.” Vecna hummed. “You deserve neither of them. Deep down, you know this.”
Mike swallowed hard, a flush spreading up his ears.
Don’t be stupid. That’s not important. They’re dying. They’re dying!
The vines hadn’t stopped constricting. Will’s face was turning red, his choking growing muffled. El’s eyes were fluttering shut.
“But I am generous.” Vecna continued. “Choose, Michael. I will spare one.” A smile split his face. “Who will you save?”
Mike slowly got to his knees, ignoring the agony that erupted in his right calf. Choose? How could he choose?
El. The girl who taught him that magic was real and that monsters could be fought. He loved her, but in a gentler way than he did before. In a way that was aching and protective, like holding a precious butterfly in the cup of his hands and sheltering it from the storm.
And then there was Will. Will, who had always been there. Will, whose eyes searched for him in every room. Will, who understood him without words. Will, whose smile made something warm and terrifying bloom in Mike’s chest.
Will. His Will. His sorcerer.
Vecna watched his hesitation with clear delight. “They both love you so dearly, Michael. It is a love you know you could never earn. Tell me. Who dies for you?”
Breathing hard, Mike gazed at Will. Even half-conscious, even choking, Will’s eyes found him. There was fear there, but more than that, there was trust.
The same trust from all those years ago, when Mike had asked him to be friends on that swing, and Will had nodded with absolute certainty.
Mike’s lip stung, blood trailed down his temple, and his leg wouldn’t stop throbbing. But he knew what he had to do now.
“I’m sorry,” he told Will.
Will smiled. A soft smile full of acceptance. Even now, he never expected Mike to pick him. Even now, he cared more for El than his own life.
Mike smiled back. Tears stung his eyes. He drew in a deep breath—
then lunged.
Vecna hadn’t expected it. That was his mistake. As Mike barreled into him with wild eyes and gritted teeth, slamming both of them backwards towards the jagged spike, Vecna was helpless. There was a sickening squelch as the spike pierced through flesh—through Vecna’s back, and then Mike’s chest.
Vecna did not even scream. He convulsed once, twice, and then went still.
Mike coughed up blood and glanced at Will and El. The vines shrieked and recoiled, disintegrating into ash. Will and El dropped to the ground, gasping and coughing.
Alive.
Thank god.
Mike slid off the spike and fell to the floor. Interestingly, he felt nothing. No pain. No breathlessness. His body felt numb.
That was good, wasn’t it? That the pain was gone.
Suddenly, arms were around him.
“Mike!” Will sobbed, pulling him onto his lap. He was shaking, almost whimpering as he pressed his hand onto the gaping wound on Mike’s chest.
“Hey,” Mike whispered, choking as blood welled back up in the back of his throat.
El was on his other side. Her hands cradled his face, and her tears were warm as they splashed onto his cheek.
“No, no, no,” she cried. “I can fix this. I can—”
Mike smiled. “It’s okay.”
She shook her head vehemently. “No. No.”
He croaked, “You deserve… happiness. Real happiness. Be free, El.”
She let out a broken sound and pressed her forehead to his. “You are my first friend. My family. I will always love you. Always.”
“I know,” Mike breathed.
Then, he blinked, and she was gone. No doubt to aid their friends from the Mindflayer, which still moved. Mike coughed again, wincing at the sudden stab of pain in his ribs, and gazed up at Will. Will, whose eyes were already red, whose tears wouldn’t stop streaming, who kept repeating his name as though it was a prayer.
Who, even now, with his face blotchy with tears, was the most beautiful thing Mike had ever seen.
God, he’d been so fucking stupid.
“Stay with me,” Will begged, his voice shredding. “Please. Please, Mike. Don’t do this.” His head jerked up, and he shouted at the cavern’s exit. “Lucas! Dustin! Help! Please!”
Mike swallowed back the blood and laughed weakly. “I was right, see? An honest-to-god sorcerer.”
His words came out raspy, broken, each accompanied by a weak rise of chest, from which blood would not stop spurting.
Will made a panicked sound and pressed his hand harder onto Mike’s chest. He leaned in close, so close that Mike could see the tears on his lashes.
“Idiot,” Will whispered. “I love you, Mike. I’ve always loved you. For so long.”
Mike’s eyes widened. “Will.
“I should have told you sooner. I should have—” Will shook his head frantically. “Please, Mike, please, don’t go, don’t—”
The world flickered, darkness creeping in at the edges. But Will’s face stayed bright.
“I love you too,” Mike said. Warmth bloomed through his body even as he uttered the words. “I—God, I…I was so stupid.”
Will’s face crumpled, joy and grief colliding so violently it looked like it might tear him apart. “No. No, you’re not—”
“I didn’t…I didn’t know,” Mike blinked, the darkness edging in closer. “I thought…I thought it was supposed to be…different. But it was you. It’s always been you.”
He knew this now. How strange that it was only at the very end that his heart would reveal this. Now that he thought about it, it was obvious.
All those little things that had brought him joy. DnD charts. Dice clattering across the table. Long bike rides. Hiking up hills. Walkie-talkies crackling with static. Watching movies.
And Will was in all of them.
Mike reached to stroke Will’s cheek. It felt cold. Or maybe it was his hand getting colder. A small part of him mourned. He had wanted Will to feel his warmth one last time.
“Maybe,” Mike whispered, “maybe in another life…we’ll find each other sooner. And I won’t be so slow…and stupid.”
Will keened, pressing a kiss onto his cheek. “No. No, no, no. This is our life. This is it. We’re here, you’re here—” He leaned his forehead against Mike’s, crying so hard his frame shuddered. “Stay with me. Just stay. Please. Please, Mike—”
Mike tried to breathe, but it was getting a lot harder now. He stared at Will’s face. So close now, that if he just reached his head up, he could kiss those soft lips.
It hurt, leaving. It hurt more than anything Mike had ever felt.
“You’re…beautiful,” he whispered.
Will’s sob hitched. “Mike—”
Mike’s eyes fluttered. The darkness had almost completely enveloped his vision now. The pain felt so far away, as did the noise and the chaos.
The party would be fine, Mike knew. Vecna was gone. It was only a matter of time before the Mindflayer came down too.
There was no need to be afraid.
Not in Will’s arms, with Will’s tears on his face and their love so firm and warm around them.
As Mike’s chest stilled, and his eyes finally closed, a single, simple and impossibly bright thought crossed his mind—
This beautiful boy loves me.
And how beautiful it was to die in his arms.