A/N: Nothing to say, just a filler chapter.

Hawkins

A Couple Hours Earlier

Scott Clarke, a science teacher who worked at Hawkins Middle School, was currently inside his garage, working on one of his personal projects. Mr. Clarke had grown a passion for science at a young age, at first he wanted to be a scientist when he grew older. However, he settled for being a teacher and decided that doing some side projects over the summer (the only time he got a break) would be enough. The only two things Mr. Clarke loved more than science were his wife and being able to teach others about science and the many wonders about it. Mr. Clarke wrapped a coil around some metal plating when suddenly, his doorbell rang. Immediately, the science teacher dropped a certain tool he was holding in his right hand as he turned his head to the garage door with a confused frown. His wife wasn't supposed to be back from work for another few hours at least, so who could've been outside? The doorbell rang three more times, whoever was waiting behind it was very impatient. Mr. Clarke walked over to the wall of his garage as he pressed the button on it. The garage door slowly began to slide open as Mr. Clarke could see a pair of feet through the gap as his garage door continued opening. The door fully slid open, revealing a certain woman to be standing in front of Mr. Clarke.

"Mrs. Byers?" the science teacher pondered.

"Hi, Mr. Clarke," Joyce said awkwardly with a wave.

"Why hello there. Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah, umm, is it alright if I come in?"

"Oh yes, of course," Mr. Clarke welcomed her inside as Joyce walked right in. "What can I do for you?"

"So you're the science teacher at Hawkins Middle School, right?"

"That is the job I currently have there last I checked," Mr. Clarke joked as he and Joyce chuckled for a moment.

"Of course, I'm being ridiculous," Joyce said. "Anyways, I've been doing some research and to ask you some questions, purely out of curiosity of course."

"Okay."

"So, I have to ask, should there ever be a…" Joyce paused, her face forming confused facial expressions as she tried to come up with the words in her head. "..you know, like a power outage? Could it be possible for, you know, magnets to just…stop working?"

Mr. Clarke mentally frowned at the question but he made sure not to judge, it wasn't the weirdest scientific question he had been asked. "Such a thing is possible in certain circumstances. Does this have anything to do with the power outage the town experienced last night?"

Joyce jumped at the question. "No! No, no, no. Of course not, I've had this question for a while actually but I-I've never gotten the time to really think about it. So I just had some free time on my hands and thought I'd come and ask you."

"You know…" Mr. Clarke said, stretching out the words as he spoke. "Now that you mention it, I've actually been working on something that I believe can answer your question. Just give me a moment."

Mr. Clarke made his way over to his table as he continued to work on his project, it was such a coincidence that the very project he was working on could help answer the question Joyce Byers had come to him for. Joyce watched as Mr. Clarke made some final tweaks to a machine he had been working on. Part of her felt slightly guilty for lying to the science teacher, he was a kind and generous man who didn't deserve to be lied to. However, Joyce had adapted to it and on the other hand, she couldn't afford for Mr. Clarke to be involved. If this was what Joyce thought it was, then the next person she would need to see would be Jim Hopper as well as the rest of the 'team'. The 'team' being Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Max, Will, Jonathan, Nancy, Steve, and Eleven. Mr. Clarke finished working on the machine as he called Joyce over. The two of them stood by the table.

"Now," Mr. Clarke said as he pulled out a magnet and let it attach to a piece of metal that stood near the machine. "I've got an electromagnetic field running through this machine. Right now, the current running through that machine is small, weaker. So our magnet over here can still do what it does best: attaching to any metal object. Only now, we've added a slight amount of difficulty. However, when we increase the current to an extreme rate…" Mr. Clarke then turned a knob on the machine all the way up, the current increasing drastically as the magnet fell only for the science teacher to catch it. "The magnet fails."

"So, this is possible?" Joyce said, wanting to confirm as the science teacher nodded.

"Indeed it is," Mr. Clarke replied. "With a strong enough electromagnetic field or a sufficient amount of electromagnetic energy creating that field, this could happen on a scale small or massive in size."

"Right," Joyce said. "Thank you…so much for your time, Mr. Clarke."

The science teacher smiled. "Happy to help. Say hi to Will for me."

"Of course, thank you…again."

Joyce quickly made her way out of the garage as she went back to her car, which was parked near the curb of the sidewalk. She quickly got in and drove back home, her suspicions had only grown as she feared that she was right: something was coming. Something from the Upside Down and whatever it was, it had zero good intentions.

Present Time

Elsewhere In Hawkins

In his bedroom, Dustin was showing some of his 'new toys', otherwise known as some gadgets he had gotten during his trip. He continued showing it to Mike, Will, and Eleven. Lucas was with Max in the living room, Max was checking her boyfriend to see if any of the hair spray got on him. At least, that was what she said they were doing. Yet even the rest of the party knew what they were actually doing: improving romantic relations, the kind that involved the usual makeout session between two people. However, Mike, El, Will, and Dustin didn't mind. They all knew Mike and El weren't the only couple that wanted to spend romantic time together. Lucas and Max wanted the same thing for themselves, Dustin, on the other hand, was a little skeptical about Lucas and Max' romantic time in the living room. They were doing it in his house but he was too excited about showing off his new gadgets to care.

"And this…" Dustin said, unzipping the large backpack he had in the room, revealing some parts of instruments to be inside. "...is the grand treasure. It is the cadillac of radios."

"What's a cadillac?" El asked, sounding confused.

"It's a fancy car," Mike explained. "Best of the best."

Eleven nodded in response.

"Basically," Dustin agreed. "I call it Cerebro, yeah, X-Men reference. My girlfriend and I made this at camp with my girlfriend. We agreed to use it to communicate over the summer."

Eleven, Mike, and Will all raised their eyes in shock as they simultaneously spoke. "Girlfriend?"

Dustin smiled, the blushing on his face being clear. "Yeah."

"What's her name?" Will asked.

"Suzie," Dustin answered. "I met her at camp. She's like Phoebe Gates but hotter."

"No," Mike said with a smile. "You're joking."

Dustin nodded his head as he pulled out a picture of him and Suzie, showing it to Mike and El.

"She looks nice," Eleven said.

"Not as nice as you," Mike whispered into her ear as the couple chuckled.

"What?" Dustin asked in confusion.

The two of them chuckled as Dustin began ranting about a story of how he and Suzie first met, how it was his first day at camp and he had rescued Suzie from falling into a pond. Dustin continued his conversation with Mike and El as Will listened. The conversation was mainly between the three of them as Will simply spectated and watched. Suddenly, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he felt colder. Will looked down as he became less aware of the world around him, his senses blurring, the conversation between Dustin, Mike, and El fading as several images and moments flashed before Will's mind.

Mike walked through the first floor of the Starcourt, dressed in black pants, a dark blue t-shirt and a black trench coat. He had a grim look on his face as he continued walking as a pair of Demogorgons followed him, obeying his orders as if he were their master. Throughout the mall, civilians and people ran away from the tens of Demogorgons and Demodogs that were attacking. Several dead bodies were spread through the floors. From behind Mike, the Demogorgons jumped up to the second floor, joining the rest of the creatures in the attack.

Mike stopped in front of a little girl who stood before him. The girl was short and young, she couldn't have been older than five. The ebony-haired teenager tilted his head as he stared at her with a blank look on his face.

A Demogorgon roared as it charged at Eleven.

Mike bent his knees, looking down at the ground, clenching his left fist as he raised his right hand, lifting the entire First Key several feet above him.

An injured Nancy laid on a hospital bed as Mike was sitting on a seat beside her. He had an angry and conflicted look on his face as he spoke.

"You lied to me, Nance," Mike said as he looked up at her. "My whole life."

The moments and images left Will's mind as he remained still. For a couple moments, his senses began to recover, the hair on the back of his neck resting as he the cold was gone. It wasn't for another few seconds that Will realized Mike was calling him.

"Will? WILL!" Mike raised his voice, shaking Will's shoulder.

"Huh?" Will turned his head to face Mike.

"Are you okay?"

Will then saw that Dustin and Eleven were also staring at him. He stuttered as he tried to come up with some sort of excuse.

"Yeah, uh…" Will tried to speak as he began formulating an excuse in his head.

Suddenly, the door to the bedroom opened as Max, Lucas, and Joyce were revealed to be standing on the other side. Dustin, Will, Mike, and El looked in surprise upon seeing Joyce with the couple. What was she doing here? Had she come to pick up Will?

"Mrs. Byers?" Dustin, Mike, and El asked.

"Mom?" Will frowned in confusion.

"Hey guys," Joyce said quickly. "Hopper called me. We have to go."

Eleven frowned in confusion. "What?"

"Right now." Lucas added.

"Like, right at this very second." Max stated.

"What's going on?" Dustin asked, confused like everyone else was about why Lucas, Max, and Joyce were suddenly acting strange.

"Long story short…" Max began. "...some sort of monster attacked downtown Hawkins."

"Hopper and the police are there…" Joyce explained. "But Jonathan and Nancy were there too, they were attacked. I've brought my car, we have to go."

Will and Mike exchanged horrified glances. Mike instantly got onto his feet as he dashed out of the room, Will following him as the two of them instantly ran outside towards Joyce's car. Joyce and the rest of the group followed the two of them as everyone seated themselves into the car. The car quickly sped out of Dustin's driveway as it left the area quickly.

Elsewhere In Hawkins

In downtown Hawkins, the police were lined up along two blocks of the area. Ambulances and EMTs were spread out as several nurses and doctors attended to the wounded. Some people were heavily injured to the point where they needed to be laid down inside the EMT vehicles. Several police cars were also spread throughout the area. On both sides of the area, yellow caution tape was put as few officers forced the crowds on both sides back. The crowd had come to see what happened as they, all of Hawkins, were greedy for answers about the apparent 'monster' attack. Thankfully, the entire crowd wasn't too big and there couldn't have been more than 50 people all together. Thirty or so on one side and twenty on the other. Near one of the cars parked by the curb, Jonathan and Nancy were standing opposite to Hopper as Nancy's parents checked on their daughter, Holly standing next to them. Then, on the other side of the yellow tape, Joyce led the kids (Mike, Will, El, Lucas, Max, and Dustin) through the crowd. Thankfully, with only twenty people that were spread out rather thin, it wasn't hard getting through. Mike and Will were desperately looking around the area, their eyes peeled and scanning for Jonathan and Nancy. Mike then spotted Nancy as he saw her with their parents and Jonathan. Without saying a word, Mike dashed away from the rest of the group as he ran towards the yellow tape only for a pair of cops to stop him. The cops grabbed Mike's arms, pulling him back as Mike yelled.

"Nancy!" Mike yelled as his older sister turned and faced him. "Nancy!"

"Stay back, kid!" one of the cops warned.

"Hey!" Hopper yelled. "Let him go, he's with me."

The cops did as they were told, releasing Mike from their grip as the teenager ducked under the tape, dashing towards his family. He stopped just in time to avoid bumping into Nancy, not wanting to harm her. The two wrapped their arms around one another as seconds later, Will arrived, running into his older brother's arms. The two pairs of siblings held each other in an embrace for a moment, long enough for Joyce, Max, Lucas, Eleven, and Dustin to arrive. As the rest of the group arrived, Will and Mike finally stopped clutching tight onto their siblings.

"Are you guys, okay?" Mike asked.

"We're fine, I promise." Nancy assured.

"God, Karen, I'm so sorry-" Joyce began.

"No," Karen said in a soft voice while holding Holly's hand as the five-year-old looked up confused. "This isn't your fault, Joyce. Jonathan was there for her and we're grateful."

"You don't have to thank me, Mrs. Wheeler," Jonathan insisted.

"Oh I believe we do," Ted said suddenly. "Thank you, Jonathan. Truly. I mean it. Karen and I both do."

As the conversation between the Byers' and the Wheelers' went on, Mike turned his head away as he began to drift away from where he was, both physically and mentally. Mike slowly walked through the blocks of the area that were covered by police cars, ambulances, and EMTs. He stopped into the middle of the area as he looked around the entire area, scanning every building within the two city blocks that were secured by the police. Mike simply continued looking as he saw several police officers and civilians who were either injured or family members of those who were. Then, out of the blue, Mike suddenly noticed a man standing right outside the yellow tape that covered the area. Mike wasn't entirely sure why he had his eyes on this man in particular. Perhaps it was because he stood out from the crowd, surrounded by no one as he was alone. Or maybe it was because the man was oddly dressed as compared to everyone else in the crowd. The man was wearing dark black business pants, a white shirt and a black tie. He had a black vest and a blazer on top and he was wearing a black trench coat. However, it wasn't the man's attire that caught Mike's attention, it was the fact that he was looking at him from over fifty feet away. Mike suddenly felt uneasy, his heartbeat rising and rising as he maintained eye contact with the man in front of him. The man was looking at him, staring and eyeing him from a distance. For several moments, Mike watched as the man stared him down, hands in his pockets. Then, Mike suddenly felt a hand rest on his shoulder as he jolted, turning around to see Lucas in front of him.

"Hey, you okay?" Lucas asked.

Mike turned his head back, ignoring the question for a moment as he looked for the man in the suit. He was gone, he had disappeared without a trace and was out of Mike's eyesight. It was as if he was never there. Mike calmed himself as he turned back to face Lucas.

"Yeah," Mike said, taking one last look at the spot where he had seen the man. "What's up?"

Lucas exchanged a look between Mike and the rest of the group before speaking. "Look, Max and I think we've figured something out. We need to go to your house and discuss something. Right now."

"What do you mean?" Mike asked.

"I'll explain when we get there."

Later

A few minutes later, Mike, Will, Lucas, Max, Eleven, Dustin, Nancy, Jonathan, and Hopper were in the basement of Mike's house. They were spread out throughout the area. Nancy, Eleven, and Max were sitting together on the couch. Dustin, Will, and Lucas were sitting on the chairs by the table where they used to play Dungeons and Dragons when they were little kids. Jonathan was kneeling by the edge of the couch, stroking Nancy's shoulder, refusing to leave her after the incident. Hopper was standing by the end of the stairs and Joyce was upstairs talking with Karen and Ted, keeping them busy so that Hopper and the kids could talk without having to worry about them. Hopper sighed as he exhaled a breath before speaking.

"It was the Demogorgon?" he asked. "You're sure?"

Nancy nodded. "It was. But it was different in a way. It was…stronger, angrier. Like it was just bloodlusted."

"Could it be a different one?" Jonathan asked. "Different than the one we fought two years ago?"

"It has to be," Nancy said. "This one was more powerful, it was different, I know it."

"Is that even possible?" Max asked. "More than one Demogorgon from the Upside Down? I thought you guys said you beat the one that came in Hawkins?"

"It could be," Dustin said as everyone faced him. "I mean, A: this is the Upside Down we're talking about and B: remember what happened with the Demodogs? They were able to recreate themselves, maybe the Demogorgons can do the same."

"That or the Mind Flayer makes them." Will added.

"Knowing the Mind Flayer," Lucas began. "I'm betting on that one."

"Well, this can't be the only Demogorgon here," Mike said. "If the Mind Flayer is creating Demogorgons, he can have a whole bunch of them. And if a Demogorgon is here, it can only mean one thing-"

"There's a gate open in Hawkins." Eleven said.

"So the Mind Flayer's back?" Jonathan asked.

"He has to be," Will said. "It's the only logical explanation for how that Demogorgon is here."

"Okay, but it doesn't make sense," Max said. "Whatever the Mind Flayer wants, why would he only send one Demogorgon, why not send his whole army? Is he holding them back? That's not something he would do. It has to mean there's only a few of them."

Hopper nodded his head. "No, Mike's right. We don't know what the Mind Flayer is capable of. For all we know, he's probably got a whole army of those things ready to devour Hawkins down to the last building."

"But she has a point," Nancy said. "Why's the Mind Flayer holding back his army? Why doesn't he just go all out?"

"He's not like that," Will argued. "Remember how he was able to take control of me and use the Demodogs last time? The Mind Flayer is smart, he's strategic. He was ten steps ahead of us and we didn't even know what game he was playing. Now he's back and he had a year to plan whatever he's doing."

"So if he only sent one Demogorgon-" Mike began.

"Means that he did it for a reason," Hopper said. "He's already got his plan mapped out, all we can do is try and stop him."

"We have to find the Demogorgon," Eleven said. "Wherever it is."

"We will," Hopper said. "Anyways, how was the movie you all went for last night?"

Suddenly, everyone stared at Hopper in shock, their eyes growing large as Mike looked over at Eleven with a concerned face.

"Y-you knew?" El asked.

Hopper sighed. "Yeah and Joyce figured out that I knew. We talked and she somehow convinced me not to say anything."

"What? Why-" Mike tried to say.

"To surprise you," Hopper said, looking over to El. "Alright? So that you'd be happy, so that you'd get to have a night with your friends to yourself. I don't know, I just didn't tell you, alright?"

"Y-you're not mad?" El asked as Hopper rolled his eyes.

"No," Hopper sighed. "I'm not mad."

"Well, that's a whole lot sorted out," Nancy said with a sigh.

Max let out a laugh. "Yeah," She then looked towards El. "You know when this is over, I sooo have to take you to the Starcourt Mall. Now that you can go out, you're gonna need style."

"Style?" El frowned in confusion.

"Let's worry about that later," Hopper suggested. "I'm gonna go and head back."

Hopper left the area as Jonathan and Nancy followed the chief of police. The couple were on their way back home as Joyce drove them back. Hopper left back for the cabin, deciding to stop there on the way back to the police station. Meanwhile, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and El were in the basement of Mike's home, calming down from their previous talk as Mike set up the radio and got a cloth ready to be used as a blindfold for El.

"Okay, so just walk me through how this works?" Max asked.

"Basically, we just need an empty and inactive radio channel," Mike began. "El can then use her powers to track the Demogorgon and find the gate. We find the Demogorgon, we close the gate and boom, problem solved."

"Right," Dustin said, nodding his head as he faced El. "You ready?"

El nodded confidently.

"Guys," Will said as everyone suddenly turned to face him.

"Will, whatever this is," Lucas said. "It's gonna have to wait."

Will nodded. "No, you don't get it. This is something I have to tell you. You need to know."

"Need to know what?" El asked.

Will took a deep breath as he prepared to tell everyone. He was going to tell them everything, about his visions, what he had seen, everything. It was time they knew the truth. The truth about his visions.

A/N: I'll end that chapter right here. I know practically nothing happened here. This was just a filler chapter but I'll try and make the other chapters more active. Hope you're enjoying this story, leave a review and let me know what you think so far and let me know if I should continue.