Chapter Text
For the most part, Mike was confused. He was a little hungry too, but mostly confused.
The room he found himself in was a medium sized auditorium that had bluish-grey carpet covering the ground and a decent echo. The ceiling was in shambles, and the walls were in a bit of disrepair except for the one that faced him; it had a large, almost new flat screen television on the wall with a pair of speakers beside it. Not that Mike recognised it to be a TV, since it looked like a random black box to him.
He couldn't recall how he had ended up in this room. That was the worrying part. His mind raced through multiple scenarios as he continued looking around, now realising a lot of people he knew were also in here with him - Nancy, Lucas, Dustin, Hopper, Joyce and more. He felt dumbfounded. How could he not remember coming here?
A hand on his shoulder made him jump - but it was only El. She was still in her beautiful blue prom dress and makeup.
"Mike?" She asked, her eyes signalling as to whether he was alright.
"I'm okay," he replied, giving her a tight hug. "Do you know how we got here?" She shook her head.
"I don't remember," she told him, to which he nodded.
"Me neither," he muttered back.
Out of his peripheral, he saw Will run up to them. "Hey guys! Are you okay?"
"We're fine, Will," he replied thankfully, putting an arm on his shoulder. He repeated his question as to whether he could remembered anything, to which Will said no.
"Hey, guys!" Nancy called out to the trio. "Come here! We need to talk."
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"This is so crazy! I mean, like, woah!" Dustin admired as he ran his hands all over the flat screen, leaving fingerprints everywhere.
"That seriously cannot be a television, Henderson, stop playing around," Steve told him, trying to pry him away from the device, whilst secretly appreciating it also.
"And look at these box things next to it as well," Lucas ran his hands along the speakers. "What do you think they're for?" Will shrugged.
"Kids! This is not the time!" Karen Wheeler told the kids. "We need to figure out how we all got here!"
"They might be Russian spy devices..." Hopper muttered loud enough for everyone to hear, resulting in a punch to the arm by Joyce.
"I mean, last I checked, weren't you all at prom?" Karen asked.
"We were," Mike told his mother. "And then suddenly we wake up here."
Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "So it's true that everyone woke up?"
"I guess so... why?" Joyce asked.
"It means we must've been asleep," Jonathon clarified.
"So we were drugged and brought here!" Steve exclaimed.
"Jeez, no need to look so happy about that..." Hopper murmured.
"Just come sit down, guys," Jonathon told everyone.
The seating arrangement ended up like this: in the first row were Mike at the end, Eleven and Max, Lucas and Dustin at the opposing end, with the row behind them being Steve, an empty chair, Nancy and Jonathon, and the adults at the back with Will next to his mother. There were a few empty chairs dotted around the auditorium that the crew hadn't bothered moving, leaving them strewn about randomly.
All of a sudden, a distressing, loud screech filled the room, making people clamp down on their ears. The screeching stopped soon after, much to their relief.
"Where did that awful sound come from?"
"I think it was those two boxes-"
"OMG! ARE THEY SPEAKERS?"
"NO WAY!"
"They look nothing like speakers!"
"They have the cones though so they must be speakers. Plus they made that horrible sound."
"Do you think we've gotten kidnapped by an alien?"
"What? Sinclair are you mental?"
"WHAT IF THEY WANT TO KILL US?"
"Dustin what are you talking about?"
"No think about it Steve, aliens have advanced technology right?"
"Ok yeah, but like-"
"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Joyce finally screamed, ending the cacophony of voices. "Thank you." She ended with quietly.
"Alright, everyone needs to calm the fuck down. I'm sure whoever has brought us here will explain everything." Hopper told the kids.
"He is correct," a mysterious voice spoke, making the speakers reverberate. "Greetings. If you could all move your chairs to the middle of the room in front of the television, I will then explain."
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Max scoffed, folding her arms, "That's bullshit."
"You must be an alien," Dustin told the speaker matter-of-factly.
"Nope."
"Wh- just to recap," Steve stammered in shock. "You brought us all here to watch ourselves in the past, present and future? F u t u r e ?"
"Yup."
"How do you have footage of us?" Karen asked.
"That is irrelevant information."
"Stalker."
"Paedophile." Max and Mike said simultaneously, causing them to give each other dirty looks.
"I'm doing this for a reason. I want to warn you about the future. Hawkins is not safe. You must be equipped with the knowledge to be able to save your world." All 12 people went silent at that. Some wanted to laugh in disbelief, whilst others - like Eleven and Will - knew that what this voice was saying was true.
"Hawkins is not safe yet." Eleven iterated to everyone.
"I think we should trust them," Will backed her up.
"I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" Steve shrugged.
"Didn't your parents ever teach you not to trust strangers?" Hopper asked, irritated. Mike rolled his eyes at the chief.
"This may have traumatising content. You will watch Will's disappearance and the truth behind many things that some of you may have wanted to keep confidential." Joyce held her son tighter. Nancy glanced at her unsuspecting mother, who was about to get the shock of her life. Mike looked at El, who had been curious as to her whereabouts for the better part of the year.
"Can we circle back to the future things you claim we will see? Just how?" Jonathan asked.
"Don't fret about things beyond your comprehension. Just watch the damn videos and be grateful for this opportunity."
How rude, Max rolled her eyed.
"This is why I'm saying they're an intergalactic alien!!" Dustin whispered in Will's ear, making him giggle.
"Wait - can I just ask why we were specifically chosen to watch this?" Joyce enquired.
"Because you're all related to it, in one way or the other."