"I'm here in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. Word of this once peaceful town has swept the nation. It started with a string of missing persons cases in '83, many of which were linked to a toxic chemical leak from a lab not far out of town. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the last tragedy that befell Hawkins. Unexplained power outages, poisoned crops, mall fires, and even murders seem like only the tip of the iceberg, as just over a week ago, a string of brutal serial murders took the lives of nearly four innocent kids. The one survivor was rushed to the hospital during a natural disaster of unprecedented levels: an earthquake large enough to create sinkholes that spread across the town, destroying a multitude of neighborhoods. Those affected have been able to take refuge in the Hawkins High gymnasium. Shortly after things had begun to find a semblance of normality, a massive storm struck, resulting in a cyclone at the town's center. Due to electrical damage in the buildings in its path, the cyclone set fire, sending ash over the area for two days."
"While scientists and government officials have yet to find a cause, many of the town's inhabitants have come up with their own explanations. A local high school club named 'Hellfire' has been seen as the focus of the town's misfortune, with many residents saying the club's leader, one Edward Munson, was corrupted by a game called Dungeons & Dragons, influencing him to perform satanic rituals. Some say the recent murders were part of a sacrifice meant to bring the Devil upon Hawkins. The blame has been set entirely on the club's leader, relieving the uninvolved members of suspicion."
"Despite these tragedies, Hawkins has become a shining example of the adaptability of a strong community. While some residents have fled, many have remained behind to help, volunteering their time and resources to rebuild this once quaint town. They have built bridges sturdy enough to hold vehicles over the sinkholes on the main roads, allowing life to continue as it once was. Businesses that remain standing have resumed their services to the best of their ability. The Hawkins PD assured us they have been doing everything in their power to find answers and search for the growing list of missing persons. The death toll currently sits at 30, including the town's main suspect, Edward Munson. With the hospitals being over capacity, local hotels and community centers have offered their space for use by the hospital in these trying times. This week has also been a week of mourning. Funerals are being held daily at the local cemetery and churches have seen a vast increase in their attendance, as people pray for those lost to return, for safe passage of those who have left us, and for any hope for their small town."
"I'll be keeping this tragic town in my prayers. I'm April Kline with Chan-."
With a static crackle, the TV turned off. "Hey." Dustin turned around on the couch and looked at Steve, who was setting down the remote.
"You ready?" Steve asked, fixing the tie on his black suit.
Melancholy fell over Dustin's face as he stood. "Yeah." He pulled at the arms of his own suit as he followed Steve to the door.
"Dusty!" His mother called frantically, as she ran to him and gave him a big hug. "You sure you don't need me there, baby?" She wiped his hair out of his face.
"No." Dustin looked to the ground. "It's just supposed to be a small group of his friends."
"I understand." She looked at him like she was about to cry. "Mommy will be with you in her heart, okay?"
"Okay," Dustin said, stepping back. "We need to go." His voice hitched slightly. "I don't want to be late."
"Alright baby, be safe."
"I got him, Ms. Henderson," Steve assured, guiding him by the shoulder out the door.
She nodded, holding a tissue up to her face.
When they got into the car, Dustin broke down, crying violently in the passenger seat. Steve patted his back before starting the car and heading toward Hopper's cabin. The long ride was silent beyond Dustin's sniffles. Steve didn't know how to handle the situation, so he awkwardly rubbed his back when they arrived. He parked next to the other cars. Hopper greeted them, as he made sure no one followed them.
"Hey," Jim said, giving them a hearty hug. "The rest are out back."
Steve grabbed something from the back of his car and followed Hop, who kept a hand on Dustin's back as he walked them around the back of the cabin. Rock music was playing quietly. Everyone had dressed in their funeral best.
Mike, Lucas, and Erica were busy setting up a small shrine to Eddie on a tree. They had pictures tacked all over the trunk, a large color photograph of Eddie on the lower front. Albums, cassettes, books, comics, and miniature figurines surrounded Eddie's prized guitar at the base of the tree. Dustin ran over to be embraced by Mike and Lucas. "I'm sorry I wasn't here," Mike said as they stood back to their full heights.
Lucas shook his head, wiping his eyes. "No, if you weren't with Eleven, then Max would definitely be dead."
"He's right." Dustin assured, wiping his eyes as well.
"Things would have been a lot worse if you'd stayed." Erica chimed in, setting some dice down in front of the tree. She looked up as they turned to her. "What? Just the facts." She turned her attention back to setting up the shrine.
Lucas sighed and turned back to the other two with a shrug. "She's not wrong. We missed you here, but man, are we glad that you stuck with El."
Mike nodded and pursed his lips. Dustin looked at the tree and pulled a black bandanna out of his pocket. He ran his thumb over the white skull at its center. He gripped it in his hand, closing his eyes tightly. A few tears squeezed from under his eyelashes. With a swallow, he walked over to the tree and tied it around the neck of Eddie's guitar. Mike and Lucas stood on either side of him with their hand on a shoulder.
Steve walked up and handed them Eddie's jean vest. "I was hoping to return it to him personally, but I figured you guys should do the honors."
Dustin looked at the vest for a second. "No," he shook his head. "He gave it to you. You should do it." He stood and stepped back. The other two followed his lead.
"Alright." Steve said awkwardly, waving the vest around. He turned to the tree and tried to find a place to put it. The shape of the guitar made him think of shoulders, so he carefully tilted it forward, trying his best not to disrupt the display they had set up. He wrapped the vest around the guitar, placing the armholes around the protruding body. The guitar was too small to accommodate its full width, so he just hung one sleeve off of it and gently rested it back against the tree. He stepped back to reveal his work.
Dustin gave a snort and sniffle. "It's perfect." He stood up straighter, as if bracing himself. "Well, what are we waiting for?" He forced a smile and turned to face the others. El and Will were sitting on top of the picnic table. Steve walked over to Robin, sitting behind them. Steve tried not to stare at Jonathan and Nancy, who were leaning against the cabin watching the kids set up the memorial. Hopper and Joyce were coming around the corner with refreshments. Argyle was a few feet into the woods, looking at a tree. "Let's get this party started!" Dustin finished.
"Now that's what I'm talking about, my man." Argyle came out of the woods and stood next to Jonathan. "Ooo, are those weenies?" He said as Hopper set down a plate piled with hot dogs and burgers. Jonathan laughed.
Dustin headed toward the boombox on the table to turn the volume up. Hopper stopped him with an arm. "Hold up there, kid. You can play your music, but keep it low. Don't forget, El is still on their radar."
Dustin looked at him with realization and nodded. "Right." He spun around and looked at Mike and Lucas. "Who says we need loud music to honor Eddie?"
Mike started miming playing a guitar, making the strumming sounds with his mouth to the music.
"You should've seen him playing in the Upside Down." Dustin ran to grab a Metallica cassette from the pile under the tree. He turned off the music currently playing and replaced the current Iron Maiden cassette with the Metallica one. He fast forwarded until he reached his goal, Master of Puppets. He turned it up slightly. Hopper went to argue, but Joyce stopped him. "He played this while on the roof of his trailer. That red lightning was flashing in the background and everything. It was amazing!" He exclaimed, joining Mike and Lucas in air guitars and head banging.
"It feels wrong doing this when the music is so quiet!" Mike groaned.
"We agreed," Hopper warned.
Mike whined. "I know."
Joyce smiled at them and walked over to the stereo.
"Joyce, no," Hopper called after her.
She gave him a devious smile as she cranked it up as far as it would go. "It'll be fine for one day." She called over the music. He put his hands on his head and groaned.
"Thank you, Ms. Byers!" Mike, Dustin, and Lucas called in unison.
The three started rocking harder and singing badly with the lyrics.
"Really?" Hopper said when she returned to him.
"Look at them." She said, nodding to the kids.
Hopper's stern expression softened when he saw them enjoying themselves. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his chest. "Yeah, you're right." He said, resigned. "You're always right."
Joyce smiled up at him. "I know." She leaned into his chest and watched the kids.
They continued to listen to his music and share their stories. After a while, they gathered at the table, and Dustin detailed the events of that night, breaking down when he got to the part about finding Eddie swarmed by the bats.
"You don't have to continue." Will placed his hand on Dustin's shoulder.
"No!" Dustin shrugged off Will's hand. "I need to, for Eddie. You need to know just how much of a hero he really was." He turned off the music so they could hear him better.
"Yeah, man, we get it," Steve added.
"We would have been goners if it wasn't for him," Robin stated.
Dustin nodded his head. "He-he was sick of running." His shoulders shook. "So he stood and fought. He knew we hadn't given you guys enough time. I don't know how, but he knew. He tried to stop me from following him because he knew he was sacrificing himself, and he wanted to save me, too." Dustin moved his half-eaten plate to the side and rested his head on the table, his back heaving. "Why didn't he keep running?" He said weakly. "He should have kept running!" He slammed his fist on the table, rattling its contents.
Robin rested her head on Steve's shoulder, biting her lip and letting tears flow silently. Nancy buried her face in Jonathan's chest. Joyce covered her mouth and leaned against Jim, who was shaking his head in sorrow. Will rubbed Mike's back as he too began crying on El's shoulder. Lucas covered his face with his arm. Erica lightly hit Lucas' back as she fell to her knees behind him, crying into her hands. Steve bit the back of his thumb, trying not to cry himself.
Argyle, who was sitting on the ground eating, looked up at the mourning party and stood, setting his plate on the ground. "Now, I didn't know this Eddie fella, but he sounded like a rad dude, and if I know rad dudes, which I do, I don't think he'd want to see his friends crying in a circle like this. He'd want them to celebrate what he was, not that he's gone."
Mike laughed, triggering the others that knew Eddie to follow. Dustin reached over and turned the music back on, but much lower. Mike looked at the rest of the group, wiping his face. "He's right. Eddie wouldn't want us crying over him." He sniffled and stood. "He'd want us to remember him, not mourn him."
Joyce smiled with pride, tears still streaking her face.
"When we first got into high school," Mike continued, "no one would even look our way, but Eddie came up to us and took us into the Hellfire club. He was one of the nicest people I've ever met." He gently punched the table for punctuation, startling El.
"He wasn't just the nicest," Lucas added, standing. Mike sat back down. "He was the coolest. I thought I wanted to be one of the popular kids. I wanted to stop getting bullied. I wanted to stop being called a freak. And because of that, I got mixed up with the wrong crowd. I didn't see just how fucked up those guys were. I only saw what I wanted. I was blind to the fact that I already had the friendship of the coolest guy at Hawkins High."
"That's right," Erica pushed Lucas back down, standing behind him, facing the group with a stern expression. "He was the best Dungeon Master I had the pleasure to play under. I only got to play with him once, but he blew all of you nerds out of the water." Her lip quivered as tears started to fall. "Just the facts." She squeaked, sliding back down to the ground.
"Believe it or not," Hopper chimed in, letting go of Joyce and placing his hands on the table. "I knew the Munsons well." He smiled and shook his head. "I went to school with his father and saw Eddie at the station more than once."
The others laughed knowingly between hitches.
Hop laughed to himself. "Hearing that he was selling drugs to this Chrissy doesn't surprise me, but if I was still chief of police, I can tell you I would have looked at you like you had six heads if you said Eddie Munson killed someone. He was a good kid, a really good kid. Life just dealt him a shit hand." He shook his head, obviously fighting his own emotions, as he stepped back to bring Joyce to his chest.
"Even though we were in the same class," Robin stepped forward. "I never spoke to him. We hung out with very different circles, but he was always ready with some quip," her voice cracked, "or joke that got the class laughing or the teacher pissed. He didn't even care when he got bullied or picked on. He would just throw some rude gesture at them or some clever comeback. I wish I took the time to get to know him better." She turned and pressed her face into Steve's shoulder.
Nancy lifted her head off Jonathan and rubbed her face. "I also didn't know him that well, but we did share a couple of classes. He was an awful student, and as Robin said, he was always causing mischief in some way or another. He honestly annoyed the crap out of me." She laughed weakly, wiping a tear from her cheek. "But he was always just Eddie. He never tried to fit in or conform. He let others think he was a freak and acted like it was no big deal. He was far braver than I ever could have been. I wonder if I got to know him better, if things would have been different. Maybe I could have learned something from him." She sucked in her lips and leaned back on Jonathan.
Will looked around nervously and tentatively stood. "I wish I could have had the opportunity to play D&D with him. He really does sound like an amazing DM. I bet I could have learned a lot from him, too."
"We could have used Will the Wise in our final battle," Mike stated.
Will laughed and slowly sat back down. "Wish I was there."
"Me too," Lucas added. "I'm sorry I ditched you guys for the basketball game."
"If you didn't, Erica never would have had the chance to play with him," Dustin struggled to smile at him.
"Yeah," she agreed. "I'm glad you ditched your friends for the jerks. I got to play a worthwhile game for once."
"I'm still sorry that I missed his big finale." Lucas took a deep, shaky breath.
"I also did not know Eddie," El said, holding Mike's hand. "But he seems like a really fun person. I wish I had the chance to meet him."
Mike smiled at her. "You would have loved him."
El smiled and nodded her head, placing her forehead on Mike's.
Lucas gripped his hands into fists on the table. "I'm sure if Max was here she'd have some words, too."
El reached over and touched his shoulder. "She will make it. I will not stop looking for her, I promise."
Lucas nodded and put his head down on his crossed arms.
Steve sighed and patted Robin to get her to stand on her own. He took a step forward, placing his hands on Dustin's shoulders. "Eddie was a year ahead of me through most of high school. We had more than a few classes together. But as you guys know, I was a bit caught up in my own shit."
Most of them snorted in agreement.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Steve said, unamused. "If these last few years have taught me anything, it's that being popular means jack shit."
"Finally," Robin smirked.
"Haha." Steve mocked. "If I could go back, I would ditch all the jackass friends I had, and find the ones that actually knew how to treat people right, like Robin, Nancy, and Byers. " He gestured at the couple without looking. He dropped his arm and released Dustin's shoulders. "And Eddie." He nodded awkwardly and stepped back next to Robin.
Dustin stood, hands planted firmly on the table. "Before we went into battle, he told me to never change. At the time, I was confused by what he meant, but now it all makes sense. As Nancy said, he never stopped being Eddie, even when he was dy-" he cleared his throat. "In my arms, he was still Eddie. He never lied; he never tried to be something he wasn't. He knew who he was, and he stayed true to it. There will never be another Eddie, because he was one of a kind." He dropped his head for a second in silence. "Eddie, the Banished, will forever stay in our hearts." He lifted his face and looked at the others with a small nod. He cranked up the music and slowly lifted his index fingers to his face. Mike and Lucas did the same. Together, they mimicked Eddie's signature devil horn expression and yelled "Hellfire" into the dimming sky.
The rest of the night was spent sharing more stories and playing Eddie's music. As the sky got darker, people started leaving one by one. Steve reminded Dustin that he told his mom he'd have him home by nine. He requested to honor Eddie's shrine once more, and Steve nodded, following him to the tree.
"Hey Eddie." Dustin said quietly, touching the image and plucking his finger on a couple of the guitar's strings. "I miss you, man. We all do." He wiped his face on his sleeve as he knelt down in front of the guitar. "I doubt we'll be able to keep Hellfire going after all this, but it wouldn't be the same without you anyway. But I plan to keep my promise. I'll watch over them, and we'll beat Vecna once and for all. Your sacrifice wasn't in vain; you distracted those bats long enough for Steve, Robin, and Nancy to weaken Vecna and allow El to save Max. So many more would have died if we had left when I said to. I don't want to admit it, but you were right to keep distracting them. But maybe, just maybe, if you'd let me help you, we could have both walked out of there. Worse for wear, sure, but at least alive. " Dustin stood and ran a hand over the bark of the tree. "I'll never stop being Dustin, and if I do, I give you permission to haunt my ass." He smirked before turning and walking to Steve's car.
Steve watched him walk away and turned his attention to the tree. "Thanks for everything, man. I wish you were still with us." He sighed, patted the tree like you would someone's back, and walked to his car. Dustin was already sitting inside.
"Hey, Steve!" Robin called out from behind him. "Mind taking me home too?"
He spun to look at her running up. "Didn't you ride with Nancy?"
"Yeah, but they want to stay a bit longer, and I'm ready to head home."
"Sure, Dustin called shotgun, though." Steve pointed to Dustin in his car.
"That's fine, I don't mind the back." She crawled in the back and buckled up.
"I need to drop this kid off first," Steve said as he got into the driver's seat.
"Yeah, not a problem."
Dustin wanted to say a snide remark, something along the lines of 'you just want to be alone with Robin' but was too drained to manage it.
Steve dropped Dustin off, and Robin hopped into the front seat. "It's still so hard to accept that he's gone." She sighed and looked at the dashboard as Steve pulled away from the house.
"What, Dustin? Nah, I'm glad he's gone."
"You know what I'm talking about." She punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow," he rubbed where she hit. "I know, jeez." He shook his head. "It really is surreal. We've seen so many people die, but it's just different when it's someone you know."
"Yeah, no kidding."
"This isn't even the first time we've had a funeral for a friend, but oddly enough, some of them have come back, like Will and Hopper. It almost makes it feel like death isn't so final. I'm just glad we didn't need a double funeral with Max as well."
"El really is something else, huh?" Robin looked up at the ceiling of Steve's car. "She was able to restart Max's heart after what, a whole minute? That doesn't sound easy. Can doctors even do that?"
"I can't even count how many times she's saved our asses."
"Do you think we can actually do it this time?"
"Do what?"
"Beat Vecna slash Henry slash One."
"I don't know, all I know is that we have a much higher chance now that El is back."
"I sure hope so." Robin turned her attention to the window, looking at the remains of their town. "Even if we beat Vecna slash Henry slash One-"
"Can you pick one name please?"
"We never decided on one, so I don't know what one to use."
"I dunno, choose your favorite."
"Fine," she paused to think. "I'll just use Vecna."
"Thank you." Steve said, relieved.
"But my point is that even if we beat Vecna, things will never be able to return to normal."
He was reminded of when Nancy said the same thing a few years back. He tried not to think about how that was the start of their breakup. "I've more or less given up on that hope."
"Yeah, I'm getting there."
"Here we are." Steve said as he pulled up in front of Robin's house.
"Thanks." She got out. "Drive safe." She closed the door and headed to her front door. She gave Steve a wave before disappearing into the house.
Steve yawned and drove himself back to his house. His parents were included among the people who fled. They left Steve in charge of the house when he didn't want to join them. So, he returned to a large empty house, something he was very familiar with. Over the last few years, they spent more time on business trips and outings than at home. He changed out of the stuffy clothes. As he set the clothes down on the counter, his mind went to Eddie. He didn't know Eddie that well, and he regretted that. The time they got to spend together was nice. He seemed like a cool guy, someone he could've seen himself hanging out with. He placed his hand on top of his roughly folded suit and sighed before getting in the shower and heading to bed.
El said goodbye to the Byers and Argyle, as they were the last to leave. She said goodnight to Hopper and went into her room. She sat cross-legged on her bed and grabbed the small radio on the table next to her. After she found a static channel she covered her eyes with a strip of cloth.
Back in the familiar black void, she saw Max's hospital room. Her mother was sitting next to her bed, asleep in the chair. El approached Max and tried to enter her mind, but was met with a void. The same thing she'd seen for the last week. She didn't trust herself, so she got out of Max's mind and instead walked over to her mother. El tried to pry into her mind and was shown her dream. It was a dream of a funeral. The casket, covered in flowers, had Max's picture in the center of it. El didn't need to see anymore, as this wasn't the first time her mother had that dream. She left her mindscape, removing the cloth, wiping her nose, and turning off the radio. She sighed with disappointment before getting into bed.