Notes:
I really wish we would've seen Max bullying Callahan when she was interrogated, so I added it in :)
"The Massacre At Hawkins Lab," was a wild episode, so writing it was awesome.
Enjoy!
Max didn't expect to be brought to the Wheeler's house of all places. The police station would've made more sense.
As they pulled up, she saw Lucas and Dustin's faces drop. There were multiple cars in the driveway.
Their parents.
Well, that is, everyone besides Max. She should've known her mom wouldn't be there.
"Lucas, are you okay?! Where have you been?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," Lucas replied.
"Dusty, oh my god, are you alright?"
"I'm alright, mom."
Max wished for someone to ask if she was alright, but nobody came.
She was on her own.
Erica waved at Max from the front door. She could probably see Max's disappointment.
The police escorted them inside and ordered the teens to sit on the couch as their parents surrounded them.
"All right," Officer Powell said, "what exactly were you all doing at the lake?"
Dustin looked at Max and Lucas. "Uh… It's comp-"
"-We were… We were just going for a walk," she cut him off. Whatever he was about to say, he'd mess it up. Dustin was a terrible liar.
Callahan scoffed. "A walk? At 9:00 pm?"
"To the lake," Dustin squeaked. "We were gonna take a little swim. Little night swim…."
"Dusty," his mother cried, "someone was just murdered there!"
"Yeah, we… we didn't realize that until we got there."
Lucas added, "That's why we didn't swim."
"And Nancy, was she with you at this night swim?" Mrs. Wheeler asked.
"No." "Yes," Max and Dustin said at the same time.
"We're not sure," Lucas said.
Dustin looked panicked. They hadn't planned their story out very well. "She was there. And then she left. It's all a little confusing."
"That's when you guys came," Lucas jumped in to try and save his ass.
"Right. Then they dared me to say what I said. About the killer." Max laughed.
"Oh, yeah…" the boys joined in.
"You're lucky you didn't get shot," Mr. Wheeler said seriously.
The kids nodded.
"Have you had any contact with Eddie?" Officer Powell asked.
"That psycho… freak killer?" Dustin spat. "God, no."
"Nope. Absolutely not."
"-No. We haven't heard from him."
"Oh that's a bunch of bull," Erica spoke up.
Her parents glared at her. "Erica!"
"I mean, you realize they're lying. The whole couch is on fire."
"Erica!"
"Just the facts."
"Are you lying to these policemen, Dusty?" Ms. Henderson asked, shocked.
"No!" Dustin replied, his voice cracking.
"Lying to cops is a crime, son," Mr. Sinclair said.
"I'm not lying!"
"The fire is consuming us."
"Threaten them with a little jail time. Maybe that'll loosen their lips," Mr. Wheeler retorted.
Mrs. Sinclair shot back. "You wanna send our kids to jail?"
"We need to take this seriously," he replied.
"He didn't mean it like that," Mrs. Wheeler said, trying to defuse the situation.
At some point, it turned to utter chaos. Everyone was overlapping one another, a chatter of noise consuming the room.
Officer Powell stood up. "Shut up!"
Everyone closed their mouths. "We're gonna try a more civilized approach. One at a time." He pointed at Max. "You first."
Max looked at him incredulously. "Wait, what? Why me?!"
"Follow me."
"I'm not even in Hellfire!"
"Do I need to cuff you?" Officer Callahan threatened. "Chop- chop. Let's go."
Rolling her eyes, Max stormed after Powell.
She wouldn't let them win easily. Max knew how to be difficult.
Being led into a small office (which she assumed was Mr. Wheeler's), she sat on one of the chairs. The two officers sat across from her.
"Alright, you're going to give me the whole story."
"My story won't change. It's exactly like we said."
"Then recount it," Callahan responded.
"Fine, Freddie Mercury-"
"Did she just compare me to Freddie Mercury?"
"If Freddie Mercury butchered his mustache."
Callahan looked stunned. "I-"
"We decided to take a walk by the lake, and Nancy joined us for a bit. We didn't know that someone was murdered there. Who was it, may I ask?" Max lied.
"A boy named Patrick McKinney," Officer Powell replied.
"Basketball team," she said.
"Exactly."
"Well, Nancy left at some point. I don't remember where she said to. Suddenly we saw police cars and the boys dared me to say that I found the killer, and we started running."
"And why did you think it'd be a good idea to do that?"
"We thought it'd be funny."
Officer Callahan shook his head. "Funny? You think this is funny?"
"Not anymore, but seeing how hilarious you looked when you ran was pretty worth it," Max smirked. "Seriously, did you fail PE or something? You looked like a rag doll."
It was pretty easy to pick on him.
"Listen," Powell interrupted, "We need you to be serious here. We'll find out pretty soon if you're not telling the truth."
"I'm telling the truth, asshole."
He sighed. "I'm going to ask you one last time. Have you had any contact with Eddie?"
"I've already told you. No , I haven't seen him. Shit, I've never even talked to him. I'm not a part of the Hellfire Club."
Shaking his head, Powell, said, "Alright, you can go."
"Finally…"
After leaving the office, she slipped on her headphones. Suddenly, Max's eyes caught Dustin beckoning her to follow him upstairs. She rolled her eyes.
Stopping out of the room, she overheard Callahan telling the other parents, "Honestly, shouldn't have gone with her first. She was like… kinda mean."
As she made her way into Nancy's room, Dustin quickly told her, "Listen, another gate is located at Eddie's trailer, but we need to hurry quickly." Though her bag was still downstairs, Max knew she wouldn't be able to grab it.
"Come on," Lucas said through the window, and he helped her down the roof. There, she, Erica, Dustin, and Lucas grabbed bikes and started to run.
"Let's go," he said.
"Careful."
Suddenly, they heard a shout from the window. "Hey! Excuse me! No, get back here!"
No time to lose. Hoping on their bikes, Erica slashed one of the police tires. "Guess it's just a minor misdemeanor."
"Hey! No!"
They didn't turn around when the front door opened or even when the parents shouted after them.
"Lucas!"
"Dusty! Dusty!"
"Lucas, Erica! Get back here!"
"Dusty!"
But the kids were too fast and quickly left them behind.
Pedaling down the road, Dustin asked, "How far is the trailer park from here?"
"Only a mile or two," Max replied. "Should only be a few minutes."
Sure enough, they made it relatively quickly into Eddie's trailer.
Everyone gasped as they gazed at the giant gash in the universe.
Dustin excitedly got a broom, and, with a wide grin, he started poking at the goo.
Max was surprised when it didn't fall on them but rather into the hole.
Weird…
And through the portal, she got one of the biggest shocks of her life. The upside-down held true to its name.
It was, quite literally, upside-down.
Not only that, but so were Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Eddie.
Dustin giggled. "Hi there."
"Hi."
"Hi…"
His laughter grew. "Bada, bada, boom!"
"Okay, so like, how are we gonna get through?" Robin asked.
"I've got an idea," Dustin said. "Lucas, Max, grab a mattress while I get a blanket."
Max shrugged. He was the smart one here.
Walking into Eddie's room, she and Lucas began to take off the sheets.
"So, like, what'd they ask you?"
"What?" Max asked.
"The police. What'd they say?"
She shrugged. "Same set of questions. I wasn't very kind, though."
He chuckled. "That checks out."
Max blushed. It did.
Maneuvering the dirty mattress down the hall, they plopped it down below the gate.
"Those stains are uh… I don't know what those stains are," Eddie sheepishly admitted.
After Dustin and Erica tied the knots, he moved under the portal. "Not quite sure how these physics work. But, uh… here goes nothing."
Dustin tossed it through, and Max gasped. It stayed in place.
"There we go," he smiled. "And if my theory is correct…." Dustin let go, "Huh. Abracadabra."
"Holy shit…"
"All right, pull on it! See if it holds!"
Robin followed his instructions, and sure enough, it held.
"This is the craziest shit I've ever seen in my life," Erica Erica beamed. "And I've seen some crazy shit." She high-fived Dustin.
Robin looked around. "Guess I'm the guinea pig."
Dustin backed away. "Let's clear the landing pad."
As they stepped back, Max watched Robin's hair stand on once she was through the gate. "Oh my God!" she cried and landed on the mattress. "Oh, thank God." Dustin helped Robin to her feet.
Eddie stared at Steve and Nancy. "All right, guess I'll go," he shrugged, climbing through the portal. He, too, landed. "That… was fun. Shit!"
Max didn't hear any talking for a moment. No. Instead, she watched Nancy stay eerily still. Then, finally, Steve crept in front of her.
"Nancy," Steve said. His face turned to panic. Something was wrong. "Hey! Hey! Stay with me. Nancy! Hey! Nancy, wake up. Wake up! Nancy!"
Max stepped forward. She fully understood what was happening.
"Vecna."