Chapter Text
November 3, 1987
Mike Wheeler was in the Upside Down again.
Or not again. Actually he’d never been before. No, he was dreaming about the Upside Down again.
It had become an incredibly common occurrence over the last 18 months. Fall asleep, dream about the Upside Down, hear what he assumed was his idea of Vecna’s voice–though of course he couldn’t know as he’d never actually heard Vecna–and then wake up with his heart pounding. But that’s what happened to most people when the world was ending right? He didn’t tell anyone about the dreams, it’s not like they mattered, they were just that, dreams.
He stepped through the dark, slimy version of his own home. He stood in his own doorway.
“Michael,” There it was. Vecna. Mike whipped toward where he heard the voice. His closet slowly opened.
Of course it wasn’t actually Vecna stepping toward him, it never was, it was a man. The man seemed neat, Mike would almost describe him as dapper. He was dressed in a brown suit, a brown fedora, and on his face rested a pair of glasses. His blonde hair was neat and he wore a smile. He might almost look… kind. He continued towards Mike.
“It’s almost time Michael,” He stopped right in front of Mike, grabbing his chin lightly and tilting his face up just barely. “Are you ready?”
“Almost time for what?” Mike muttered, tearing his chin away. Sometimes his dreams didn’t feel like dreams.
“Why, for you to join me, Michael. For you to help me,” He moved his hands to rest right in front of himself, “For you to finally be useful.”
“What are you talking about?” Mike tried to step back.
“Tomorrow, it begins,” was the last thing Mike heard before he shot up in bed, back in his own room.
What the hell.
“BREAKFAST!” he heard Holly shout from downstairs and he stumbled out of bed. Shoot shoot shoot.
He was going to be late. Again. He was always late.
He stumbled around his room, rushing to change and messed with his hair to try to make it at least a bit more presentable. He failed. Maybe he’d do better in the bathroom, and he needed to piss pretty bad anyway he decided as he went across the hall. He turned the handle. Locked. Nancy.
Holly shouted again. “BREAKFASSST!”
“COMING!” He banged on the door waiting for his sister to come out. “Nance, come on! Let me in or I’m gonna take a whiz on the floor right here!”
He fell forward slightly as the door swung open. Ugh. It was not Nancy in the bathroom. Turns out it was Joyce Byers.
“Sorry Mrs. Byers…” he mumbled.
“Whiz away…” Joyce muttered, side-eying him as she hurried past.
Nancy came walking out of her room, “Nice going…” Of course…
Mike went into the bathroom, taking care of what he needed and then standing in front of the mirror with his hands on the counter. He looked exhausted, the bags under his eyes got worse every day. He turned the knob to start the water in the sink, splashing his face. When he looked up the mirror had changed, and he saw him. Standing right behind him was the man from his dreams.
“Michael…” He reached for his pocket watch, tapping it slightly, “Tick tock…”
Mike spun around, chest heaving. Nothing. No one. He groaned. Good to know he’s crazy, schizophrenic, and paranoid.
He turned the water off, and went downstairs.
–
Will had this aching feeling something was going to go horribly wrong. He always felt that way though, it was just anxiety. Outside of Dustin getting bullied by Andy and Chance–which truly sucked and Will really wished Dustin would stop drawing attention to himself because all it did was make himself a target–school was mostly uneventful. That is until lunchtime when Robin Buckley’s sarcastic raspy voice cut through their radio.
“Hey there friends, this is Rockin Robin! Sorry for the abrupt departure, I hope you survived without me! We had some annoying technical difficulties.” Several sound effects cut through, those must’ve been Steve's handiwork, “But to make it up to you I have a very special treat that’s sure to turn your day upside down.”
She emphasized the last 3 syllables. Will knew exactly what they meant. She was sending a message. A message for a crawl.
“Already?” Will questioned as Diana Ross’ Upside Down played through the speakers.
Mike’s dark brown eyes met Will’s and he reached his hands out, “Paper! Paper! Give me paper.”
Will reached into his bag, grabbing out a notebook as Lucas told him to hurry. He handed the notebook to Mike and watched as Lucas and Dustin surrounded Mike.
Will stood and circled so he was standing right behind Mike, leaning against him just slightly as Mike uncapped the pen.
“Now before you start bumping, here's a few fun facts about the Boss. She was born Diane in the North end of Detroit."
Mike scribbled ‘North’ onto the paper.
“Berry Gordy–that’s Gordy with a G signed her to Motown in 1961.”
G. Will tapped Mike’s shoulder as Mike scribbled it.
“Now one is a key number,” Will felt Mike shiver as he wrote a “1” next to the G, “Because between 1964 and ‘67, The Supremes had ten songs hit the top of the charts. That’s right ten.”
Mike nodded and wrote ‘10pm.’
“Then in '78, she tried to make it big in the movies with The Wiz, which was a colossal flop-a-roonie,” Will couldn’t help but huff a life, Robin Buckley had a way with words, “But, in my personal opinion, I still dig it. I mean, Michael Jackson as a scarecrow? Give it a chance. But make sure you bring your super-sized popcorn, because this movie has a run time of over two hours.”
There! Will watched Mike write ‘two hours.’
“All right, class dismissed! I hope you were taking notes! There will be a test later,” Test… yeah something like that… “Now take it away Diane.”
The party stood and walked toward the doors. Out to a place behind the school. Dustin told them Eddie used to do his deals there.
The four of them surrounded the picnic table, flattening the map on top of it, Lucas perched on the table beside it. Mike pulled his D&D figures out, which Will found almost as nerdy as he did adorable, and placed them strategically across the board, planning again.
“Lucas, we’ll take our usual observation post, Once the burn starts and there’s sufficient cover, we’ll signal Hopper, who’ll make his move.”
“And the crawl begins. Hop is now in the Upside Down, traveling at what we hope to be around 30 miles an hour, which will allow…” Mike gestured toward Dustin, “…you and Harrington to follow along in the Rightside Up. Just remember, try and keep the telemetry signal within…”
Dustin interrupted, “Negative 60 and negative 70 dB. Easy-peasy.”
Mike nodded, continuing, “You’re gonna travel up Cornwallis for about six miles. And as the convoy reaches this Shell station here, we radio Hop to disembark. Which will drop the old man at the border of G1.”
Dustin sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Mike asked, party turning towards him.
“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong,” Dustin mumbled.
“You did a sigh,” Lucas counters, “Just tell us what’s wrong.”
“It’s just, the plan it’s great and all but…” Dustin starts, looking around at the party members and then continuing, “Zone G1 is not that exciting or Vecna-y. It’s got what? A Circuit City, a couple of houses, and a Big Buy? What are the chances Vecna’s shopping for Lucky Charms?”
“It doesn’t matter. We stick to the plan. We break into the Upside Down the only way we can, through the MACZ gate, under the cover of a burn. Once inside, we search one zone at a time, methodically, until we figure out where he’s been hiding,” Mike was fired up, Will loved when he spoke with this kind of passion. Mike’s eyes kept flicking around but they always found their way back to Will. “We don’t stop looking. Even if it takes 100 more crawls, 1,000. We don’t stop until we’re goddamn sure that wrinkled, nose-less, rotting bastard is dead and gone and never coming back.”
Will nodded along, Mike looked around at everyone, eyes lingering on Will for a moment.
Mike placed his hand in the center, “Everyone in?”
Lucas immediately slapped his hand on Mike’s, ready.
Mike looked up at Will and Will placed his hand on top of Lucas’s.
The party looked toward Dustin.
“I want to see Vecna’s heart on a platter. Just wish I could do it myself,” He placed his hand on Will’s, “For Eddie.”
“For Eddie,” Mike agreed.
“For Eddie,” The party said together.
“On three ‘Kill Vecna,’” Lucas began. “One, two, three…”
All four of the party member’s hands shot up, “KILL VECNA!”
Lucas started whooping, standing and falling into Mike’s arms.
The boys all started laughing. Will looked up, watching Mike.
Oh Mike. His best friend of eleven years now. His anchor. Sure they’d had a lot of issues the past few years but things had gotten better over the last 18 months. Unfortunately, Will still couldn’t get rid of his unrequited feelings, but he was… working on it. Will couldn’t help but feel his chest flutter as he saw Mike laughing.
And then Will felt… wrong. His smile dropped and his head felt light.
Suddenly he wasn’t staring at Mike anymore. He was staring at himself, from Mike’s eyes. His body was tensed up and shaking. He felt Mike jerk his head toward Will.
“Will! Will! Will!” He could feel Mike’s body running to Will’s own side.
Mike placed a hand on Will’s shoulder, squeezing and shaking him lightly. Dustin and Lucas were also standing close, he saw Mike focus on Lucas’s hand squeezing Will’s wrist, feeling something in Mike’s chest spike.
And then almost as soon as it had started… it stopped.
Will gasped for air and he was himself again. Not Mike, him.
“Will! What happened?” Mike asked in the soft voice that seemed to be exclusively for Will.
“Are you ok?” Dustin asked.
“What’s wrong?” Lucas questioned.
“I-I don’t know,” Will was just as confused as everyone else. Why was he seeing through Mike’s eyes?
“What happened..?” Mike asked again. Squeezing his shoulder slightly again.
“I..” Will met Mike’s worried eyes. Will couldn’t explain this to Mike, and especially not with the others here… “Nothing. I just. It’s probably…”
“Him?” Lucas questioned.
Will nodded.
“I thought you were disconnected from the hive mind…” Dustin pointed out.
Will was quiet for a moment, “I don’t think I was ever really disconnected… not truly.”
Mike started talking “This is the first time you’ve felt him in…”
“Eighteen months…” Will finished.
He looked around at everyone’s worried eyes, “I’m sure I’ll be… fine.”
They all nodded, hesitant to believe him.
“Maybe it’s a sign. Maybe tonight’s the night,” Mike suggested, trying to end this on a hopeful note, “Okay. Squawk, six o’clock, not a second later, right?”
“Six o’clock,” Lucas agreed.
“Are you ok?” Mike asked Will one more time.
“Yeah,” Will confirmed.
“You sure?” Lucas asked and Will nodded.
“Take it slow,” Dustin said
Will nodded again, “Ok, yeah.”
–
Mike stood outside of the elementary school, kids piling out, he caught sight of his little sister and waved.
“Mike!” Holly ran toward her older brother and hugged him tight.
“How was school today?” Mike asked, hugging her back.
“It was fine…” Holly mumbled, pulling away.
Mike put a hand on her shoulder, guiding her to the bike racks, “What’s going on..?”
“Just… stupid kids…”
“Ah, makes sense, they talking about monsters again?” Mike asked unlocking his bike and helping her unlock hers.
Holly nodded and Mike’s chest tightened, “Monsters aren’t real Hols.”
The two began walking beside their bikes, “I know! But… with everything locked down… and the government everywhere… Don't you ever wonder why, Mike?”
Mike knew exactly why… but he couldn’t tell his seven year old sister about everything… she’d freak out.
“Cause of the earthquake–”
Holly interrupted him, “The earthquake that opened up the ground Mike! And there have been rumors of monsters in the woods for years!”
Mike softened, “Holly, it’s ok to be scared…”
“I’m not scared,” she muttered.
“Sure…” Mike said in a slightly teasing tone. “Y’know I get scared too.”
“No you don’t…” Holly mumbled, “You’re big, you don’t get scared.”
“Are you crazy! I’m scared! Constantly! Everyone in Hawkins is Hols! And anyone who says they aren’t is full of it… like that mouth breather in your class, what’s his name again?”
“Derek…”
“Yeah, Derek. He probably wets his bed every night!” Mike grinned as he saw his little sister holding back a smile.
“Know who I turn to when I get scared?” He pulled out one of his D&D figures from his pocket. “Mike the Brave. He goes on adventures called dungeon crawls.”
“What are dungeon crawls..?” Holly asked, it seems like Mike piqued her curiousity.
“Basically, he explores these underground worlds, where he fights monsters, evil wizards, sorcerers and stuff. But Mike the Brave is never scared.” He feels a lump growing in his throat and he swallows. “So whenever I’m feeling frightened or nervous, I just imagine that he’s at my side, and I feel better. So maybe the next time you get scared, you just need Holly the Heroic.”
“Holly the Heroic?”
Mike lit up, “I was gonna to wait a few more years, but…” He pulled out a D&D figure resembling Holly and handed it to her. “She’s a cleric, like Will, which means she has divine powers. She can cast spells of protection to ward against evil spirits, and even cooler, she can cast a dimension door, which can teleport you to anywhere you visualize.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Holly grins, holding the figure tightly in her hand.
“Yeah? Maybe I’ll have to show you how to play D&D sometime,” Mike bumped her elbow and she giggled.
Mike looked at his little sister, he loved her so much. He would do anything to protect her.
–
Mike said 6 o’clock. Which meant Will had some times before meeting at the squawk. He just didn’t really have anything to do. But when Lucas said he was headed to the hospital to check on Max well, Will decided to tag along.
He sat beside Lucas as he spoke to Max, telling her the safe version of what happened that morning. The dizziness, the headache, nothing about seeing through Mike’s eyes.
“It was this weird feeling. Like something I really haven’t felt before. Mike thinks it could mean that maybe Vecna’s close, that he’s finally reemerged. And if he has, maybe we’ll find him tonight,” he glanced towards Lucas. Oh Lucas. He felt awful, I mean Max was their friend so obviously they were all upset about the situation she was in, but Lucas? Lucas and Max were special, losing Max was probably the same as Mike losing Jane or him losing Mike. “What do you think, Lucas?”
“Uh, yeah, I think we’ll find him this time for sure,” he was sure Lucas didn’t mean that.
Nobody was confident in finding Vecna nowadays. And after so many crawls even Will wondered when they might find Vecna again. But he knew Vecna was still out there. He could feel him still, and today he felt him stronger than he had in a long time.
“You wanna play the tape?” Will suggested, “I’m gonna go grab a Coke or something caffeinated, because it’s gonna be a long night. You want one?”
“No I’m good thanks,” Lucas said, reaching for the tape.
Will stood and left, he heard Running Up That Hill Playing. Gosh Will was tired of that song. He could only imagine how Lucas felt, hearing that song every single day, sometimes multiple times a day.
He walked down the hall toward the vending machine, contemplating what happened earlier.
“What do you want with Mike…” he muttered under his breath as he fumbled with his money.
Seriously. What did Vecna want with Mike? Why was he seeing through Mike’s eyes? What was going on? Possibilities ran through Will’s mind but the most worrying one was that Mike was in terrible danger. Will worried that telling someone would make things worse but maybe not telling someone would actually put Mike in more danger. Yeah… probably. Tonight then. He’ll tell Mike after the crawl. They’ll be back at the Wheeler’s house by then and they can talk before heading to bed.
He grabbed his coke from the vending machine and turned. He saw a familiar figure in the distance.
Robin.
Robin Buckley.
Oh my gosh Robin was so cool. Will really admired her a lot. Her style and the music she listened to and the way she had so much confidence.
“Robin!” He raised a hand, “Rockin Robin!”
She didn’t hear him. He watched her slip into a room. He started walking, he could say hi before heading back to Lucas. He walked down the hall, there was a door just open slightly.
He peaked in. Robin was inside with some girl Will had seen around the hospital before. She came into Max’s room sometimes. She was a candy striper. He didn’t know much about her but Lucas told him once that her name was Vickie.
They were… close. Foreheads pressed against each other, their noses touching, giggling. They were holding each other close. Wow… he’d seen girls be close before but never this close. They must be really really good friends.
“That’s so sexy…” he heard Vickie say as Robin cupped her cheek.
“So, there any chance I could get you to wear this outfit?” Robin brushed a hand down Vickie’s arm.
“But that’s–” He heard Vickie start before she got cut off.
Robin was kissing her.
His eyes widened.
Oh gosh.
His coke slipped out of his hand. Shoot. It clattered to the floor and fizzed and both girls snapped toward the door, they looked scared. Will didn’t think, he just ran.
He didn’t know that there were other people in Hawkins who were different like him. He didn’t know that there were girls in Hawkins that kissed other girls. Did that mean… he had a chance? A chance to find someone who would hold him like Robin and Vickie held each other? His heart was racing as he dashed back to Max’s room. He ran in and Lucas looked up at Will who was frantically breathing with these wide eyes as he ran a hand through his hair.
“Woah dude, are you okay?” Lucas asked.
Will didn’t answer, but he couldn’t help but smile.
Robin Buckley was like him.
–
Everyone was standing outside the Squawk. Everyone except Dustin that was. Everyone was wondering where he was. Mike prayed he wasn’t with those stupid jocks.
Lucas was trying to radio him, “Dustin, this is Lucas. Do you copy? Over. Dustin, do you copy? Over. Dustin, you’re an hour late, man. You’re making us nervous. We need you here at the Squawk. Dustin, if you can hear us, please respond. Over.”
Robin ran out, “I got off the phone with his mom. She hasn’t heard from him.”
Steve was getting antsy, “Christ, Henderson. He’ll show. He always shows. Try him again.”
Lucas tried again, “Come in, Dustin. Are you there? Earth to Dustin. This is serious, man. Quit playing. We can’t wait around.”
“You think he’s ok?” Mike asked Will.
Will shrugged, “I really hope so, but if he got in trouble with Andy again…”
Mike’s jaw tightened and he nodded, “That’s what I’m worried about too.”
Will looked out toward the woods, he nudged Mike, “Look who it is.”
Mike turned and grinned, Jane. Her curly brown hair was pulled up in a loose ponytail. She was wearing something pretty colorless gray pants, blue jacket and bandana, but underneath her jacket she managed to sneak in a pop of color with a pink shirt–as she had decided pink was her favorite color, but that changed regularly because she loved so many colors–peaking out from underneath the jacket. Hop probably wanted her to be discreet so the government couldn’t find her while she was outside, but he loved that she managed to find some way to rebel, just a little. She waved and started running, hair bouncing. He started running too. The two met in the middle and hugged each other tightly.
They pulled back slightly grinning at each other, but then Jane’s head turned toward the rest of the group.
“Come on, let’s go talk somewhere quieter,” Mike said, guiding her toward the ladder on the side of the radio station. They climbed to the roof of the Squawk, sitting next to one another, with their bodies angled towards the other.
Once settled Jane spoke, “Do you think Dustin is ok?”
“I hope so, he was acting weird today,” Mike told her.
“Weird how?” Jane asked.
“Just angry, scared, reckless. Not himself,” Mike said.
“He’s still upset about his friend, Eddie,” Jane said and Mike nodded. They sat in silence for a moment before Jane said, “Hopper’s the same. Not himself.”
“Maybe it’s just getting to us, you know? Being… Being stuck in here, not knowing where Vecna is, no end in sight. I mean, we’re really starting to lose it. I mean, we really need to catch a break,” And they would tonight, Will had that moment earlier and Mike… the words ‘Tomorrow it begins’ echoed in his head, he brushed it off, that was just a dream, nothing else. “And maybe we will. Because earlier, Will had a feeling.”
“If Will has a feeling…” Jane started.
“Then it means something,” Mike said earnestly. Jane gave him a teasing smile and he rolled his eyes, “I-I’m just saying, maybe tonight’s our break. Maybe even our last crawl. We find Vecna, and we end this once and for all.”
Jane thought for a moment, “And then what happens?”
“You mean after you totally demolish Vecna?” Mike said which got a little huff of laughter out of his friend. “In my campaigns, if the party wins, then they all live happily ever after.”
Jane looked at him, thoughtfully, “Happily how?”
“Well, usually what happens is the party doesn’t return to their local village, because too much has happened. They’ve seen too much. So they travel to a faraway land, a… a peaceful land, somewhere beautiful, with like three waterfalls or something, and they all start again, together,” Mike explained the happy ending he loved writing into his campaigns.
“Do you think that could be real?” Jane asked.
Mike nudged her, “Maybe not the waterfalls but… some of it yeah. If Vecna’s gone what’s stopping us,” he gave her a look, raising his eyebrow, “And maybe you could find a faraway land with Dustin.”
Jane flushed, “Shut up!” She said but there was no real conviction in her voice.
“Hey lovebirds!” Mike groaned, rolling his eyes. Lucas. The two of them looked over the edge, “Chief’s almost ready! Let’s do this come on!”
Mike stood, holding a hand out to Jane. She took his hand and he helped her up.
“Y’know if we just told him we broke up he’d stop saying stuff like that,” she teased as they walked toward the ladder.
“Yeah I know…” Mike groaned, “It’s just so… complicated…”
“It’s been 6 months, Michael…” she pointed out.
“Don’t call me that…” he mumbled, watching her as she started down the ladder, “Look if the world isn’t over by the end of the week we can tell them then.”
“Sounds good, I will hold you too that,” she teased and poked his nose as she continued down the ladder.
Mike couldn’t help but smile and roll his eyes, starting down the ladder himself. He glanced out at the field one last time and saw him again. The man from his dreams. He waved with his terrifying grin. Mike felt a chill crawl down his spine. Then he blinked and the man was gone again.
“Mike?” Jane questioned, from the bottom of the ladder.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m coming,” Mike needed to tell someone about this… tonight he’d tell Will, after the crawl.
–
Dustin still wasn’t here and Will was really worried. Everyone was preparing for the crawl, it looked like they might have to go without him.
Steve’s voice broke through the walkie, “Okay, signal’s holding a steady 90 dB. But how am I supposed to monitor this and drive without Henderson?”
Right… Dustin always did crawls with Steve. Will knew how the monitor worked though.
“Uh, hear anything from Inspector Gadget?” Hopper asked.
“Nothing,” Mike said.
Will finally spoke up, “I can do it. I… I can monitor.”
And of course, “No. You’re staying here,” Will loved his mom but she was deeply overprotective.
“Mom, I helped Dustin set up the antenna. I know how to work it,” Will explained.
“Out of the question. It… It’s just a wheel,” Joyce said.
“It’s not just a wheel…” Will muttered.
Then Joyce turned to Jonathan, “Jonathan, you… you can work it, right?”
“Seriously?” Will mumbled.
Jonathan’s eyes flicked to him, “Yeah…” Jon sighed, “Yeah. I mean, I think so..”
Hopper cut in, “You better not think. You better know. You lose me out there, I’m not coming home.”
“I can handle it,” Jonathan confirmed.
Will slumped into a chair, annoyed as he watched Jonathan leave. Mike sat beside him. “Hey, you ok?”
“Fine…” Will mumbled, he looked up at Mike, “Hey can we… talk later tonight? After the crawl.”
“Yeah, of course,” Mike smiled and Will felt the butterflies in his chest again. He saw Robin standing behind Mike, staring at the two of them, biting at one of her nails. She looked anxious.
“I actually have something to talk to you about too,” Mike added. Pulling Will back into the conversation.
“Alright,” Will smiled.
“You’re sure you’re ok?” Mike asked again.
“Yeah, I just wish my mom would trust me more to actually help,” Will shrugged, smile falling.
“She’s just worried,” Mike said, “Plus we need you safe. You’re our spy, remember.”
“Was our spy. When I was like… 13. I haven’t been able to spy the same way since then,” Will pointed out.
“What about ‘85? Sure you weren’t a part of the army but you could feel him,” Mike pointed out, “You just need to tap into that magic again, Will the Wise.”
Will raised an eyebrow, holding back a grin, “Magic?”
“Yeah totally! Magic!” Mike exclaimed. “Maybe you’re like a wizard or a-a sorcerer!”
Will snorted, rolling his eyes, “First of all I’ve always been a cleric, and also to be a sorcerer my powers would have to be–”
“Inate,” Both boys said at once.
They went silent and then Mike spoke again, “How do you know they aren’t?”
“Because I don’t have powers,” Will said.
Mike opened his mouth again but Will spoke first, “Don’t say true sight. I just mean. I’m not like Jane.”
Mike’s eyes seemed to sparkle, “Maybe that’s for the better.”
“What?” Will could swear he saw Mike flush. Will’s voice was all breathy, “Mike…”
“Just… if you do turn out to be magic,” Mike met his eyes, grinning, “You owe me 5 bucks.”
“Oh is that right now?”
“Yep!”
Will had to bite back his grin.
“Mike! Let’s go!” Lucas’s voice cut through their moment and both of their heads snapped toward Lucas.
“Right… gotta go. I’ll see you tonight, ok?” Mike said, turning to go.
Will caught his wrist, “Be careful, ok? Walkie if something happens.”
Mike nodded as his wrist slipped away, “Course. Always”
–
Everyone sat quietly in the basement of the radio station. It was tense. It usually was.
Mike kept speaking through the radio.
“He’s flipped,” Mike finally said.
Will released the breath he’d been holding. Beside him his sister had untensed too. He took her hand, squeezed once. Jane squeezed back.
“Jonathan, signal?” Joyce asked her older son.
“Snagged it,” Jonathan confirmed over the radio.
“Van is on the move,” Joyce said and then radio’d to Hopper, “Hopper, can you hear us ok?”
“I mean, speak for yourself. I still gotta jump out of this thing,” Gosh they were flirting. Will and Jane glanced at each other. Joyce and Hopper did this often. “And is it me, or are we moving faster than normal?” Hopper asked.
“A little faster. Just aim for the grass,” Joyce told him.
“I was gonna go for the asphalt, but now that you mention the grass–” and then Hopper got cut off. They were losing the signal.
“What’s going on?” Joyce was panicked already, Jane stood and Will both stood, Jane stepped towards Joyce as their mother spoke again, “Hopper?!”
Then the signal was back, “Hopper, do you copy? Hopper!”
“Yeah…” there he was, “I copy.”
“What the hell happened?” Joyce asked.
“I don’t know. We just slammed to a stop.”
Robin, who was perched on the couch, spoke next, “Wh… Why would they stop?”
“The soldiers…” Jane’s breathing was getting quicker, “They know he’s there.”
“Jane, we don’t know that…” Nancy said.
“There are too many,” Jane started pacing, “He can’t take them!”
Will reached for his sister but then he felt a tingling on his neck. He was no longer in the radio station. He was a demo. A demo barreling toward the military men. Barreling toward where Hopper was hiding.
Rage. That’s all Will felt as the demo tore the soldiers apart. He lept from truck to truck, killing so many men. Will wanted to scream. One of the trucks was driving away. He ran towards it. As he got closer he could see Hopper in the back. He couldn’t hurt Hopper. Stop. He can’t hurt Hopper.
And then he lept.
On top of the truck, over Hopper, to kill the men who were driving.
The demo kept running. So fast.
Mike.
It wanted Mike.
“Come back!” The faint voice of his mother. “Come back!”
Joyce slapped him and then he gasped, he was himself again.
“Will! Sweetie it’s ok!” Joyce wrapped him in her arms.
“Mom!” He clutched back, sobbing. He felt Jane rubbing his back.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here. I’m here. It’s okay,” she cupped the back of his head. “Just breathe. Just breathe. What happened?”
He pulled back, weezing for air, “I-I saw it. The Demogorgon. I-I need a walkie.”
“Baby? What’s going on?” Joyce asked as he pulled away, rushing toward the radio.
Jane followed her brother, hoping
He hit the button, and shouted through the microphone, “MIKE!”
Nancy froze, “What..? What's going on? Will?”
Will looked up at Nancy, slowly, eyes dark, “It’s coming for him…”
–
Mike and Lucas were riding back towards the Squawk. With all the chaos they needed to get back as soon as possible. Neither of them knew for sure what was going on, the last thing they heard was that they lost Hop’s signal. They were pedaling fast side by side.
“MIKE!” Will’s voice cut through.
Mike and Lucas shared a look, Mike clicked the walkie’s talk button, “Will?”
“Mike! You need to get somewhere safe! Where are you two!?” Will asked.
“We’re riding up Mirkwood…? Why what’s going on?” Mike was so confused.
“Jane and Nancy are coming to find you! The demogorgon! It’s coming.”
“What?!” Lucas and Mike both exclaimed.
Almost as if on cue the ground in front of them split, both boys coming to a stop.
“Mike? Mike, are you ok?” Jane now, “I’m in the car with Nancy. Don’t let it catch you. Run!”
Mike and Lucas turned on their bikes and started pedaling away, neither of them had real weapons, they were literally just supposed to be lookout. Mike’s chest heaved.
The words, ‘Tomorrow it begins’ echoed through his skull.
“Mike!” Will’s voice cut through again, sobbing, “Please!”
They couldn’t pedal fast enough, Mike’s bike got swiped and he went flying off, arms scraping against the street and rolling into the forest.
Lucas tried to think quickly, shoving his own bike towards the demo, knocking it down for only a second before it swiped at Lucas, Lucas flew backwards, chest cut, thankfully not deep. He tried to crawl towards Mike who was crawling backwards as the demo stood above him.
“Mike,” Lucas reached out, coughing , but he was too late. The demo grabbed Mike, opened a gate in the trees, and went through.
Mike was gone. Lucas reached for the walkie, “It took him! It took Mike!”