Hello and welcome to my fanfic! Thanks for checking it out! Ever since I first watched this show, I always wanted to write a "What If" scenario with some of the roles switched. Here's a list of the switched roles:
Eleven - Mike (She'll be referred to as Jane for the entirety of this fanfic.)
Mike - Eleven
Kali - Nancy (I'm going off on the speculation that she's around the same age as Nancy.)
Nancy - Kali
Terry Ives - Karen Wheeler
Karen Wheeler - Terry Ives
As for some changed bits, I've decided to have Mr. Wheeler and Dr. Brenner work together. Terry Ives is also a single mother, like Joyce, and is somehow connected to the events going on. Kali and Jonathan are going to form a friendship instead of a romance and there's a possibility that I might have a one-sided Will x Jane, but I'm not sure yet.
This will be sort of a retelling of the story of Stranger Things, but I'll change some things up a bit to make it stray from canon. I should also mention that I won't be writing every scene in the show here, just ones I think are necessary. With that said, here's the first chapter! Enjoy!
*Edit of 06/16/19: I'll be doing, for lack of a better word, a sweep of this fanfic, fixing some mistakes that I glossed over while writing this. No big plot events will change for the most part, but some parts might be different. That said, enjoy reading!*
*Edit of 11/9/22: Back again, doing another sweep. This time though, I won't keep track, I'll just update what needs to be updated after Season 4. Hope you guys enjoy! I'll also be adding trigger warnings 'cause adding those flew over my head when I first started writing this. Sorry...*
*TW: Transphobic slur towards Jane every time Troy and James are around. Beware!*
Late at night, Jane Ives was in the basement of her home with her friends, playing D&D together. She had curly brown hair with matching-colored eyes. She wore a gray short-sleeved shirt with a red-colored neckline and cuffs and baggy jeans. In her naturally soft voice, she narrated, "You can feel it, the shadows slowly creeping towards you...the only sounds heard are its footsteps and the beating of your heart."
"What is it?" one of her friends named Will Byers asked.
"It's gotta be the Demogorgon!" answered another one of her friends, Dustin Henderson.
"No, it's not!" replied the last one of her friends named Lucas Sinclair.
"Uh, yeah!"
"Uh, no!"
The curly-haired girl grabbed a character piece and said slowly, "It turns out to be..." She then slammed the piece onto the board and finished, "An army of troglodytes, storming right towards you!"
Dustin smirked. "Troglodytes?"
Lucas snickered. "Told ya!" The group then laughed before Jane dropped her light-hearted expression and feigned worry.
"Do you hear that?" She paused for dramatic effect. "That sound...?" The boys looked at her curiously. "It goes like 'boom'...'boom'...it doesn't sound like it came from the troglodytes-" She suddenly slammed one of her hands on the table and shouted, "BOOM!" Every boy jolted in surprise. "Where is that coming from? Who does that sound belong to?" She then grabbed another character piece and slammed onto the board. "The Demogorgon!" The boys groaned and exclaimed complaints.
"We're so screwed!" Dustin cried out.
Jane then looked at the auburn-haired boy and asked, "Will the Wise, what will you do?"
He looked at the board in a baffling manner. "I-I don't know!"
"Fireball him!" shouted Lucas.
"But I need to roll a thirteen or higher!"
"Don't take the risk!" suggested Dustin. "Cast a Protection Spell!"
Lucas scowled at him. "Don't pussy out of this! Use Fireball!"
"Protection Spell!"
Jane slammed both of her hands on the table this time and yelled, "BOOM! The Demogorgon has enough of your human bickering! It stomps towards you all! BOOM!" The boys went into a panic, especially Will, arguing about whether or not he should attack or protect himself. "BOOM!" She slammed the table again, making the boys argue even more. "It releases its mighty roar!" As the boys continued clamoring, Will decided to choose the offense.
"Fireball!" he shouted as he shook the dice and rolled them. However, they ended up on the floor, making them all freak out.
"Oh shit!" exclaimed Lucas. Everyone stood up and searched the floor for them frivolously.
"Where did it go?!" Jane cried out.
"Is it a thirteen?!" shouted Dustin.
"I don't know!" Will answered.
The group of friends continued searching the floor for them when Ms. Ives yelled, "Jane!" She shouted her name a few more times, but she never responded due to her and the boys yelling about the missing dice. The woman then opened the door and yelled for the last time, "JANE!"
The girl looked up from the floor and gave her a look of irritation. "Mama, we're in the middle of a campaign!"
"Then end it! You're fifteen minutes past your bedtime!" She then left, leaving the curly-haired girl sighing and going upstairs with her.
"Mama! Can you just give us at least twenty minutes?!" she pleaded.
Ms. Ives sighed as she began to clean the dishes from dinner. "It's a school night, Jane," she answered. "I can't. You can finish next weekend."
Jane groaned and rolled her eyes at her. "But the flow will be ruined!"
"Jane-"
"I'm not kidding, Mama! This campaign took two hard weeks to plan!"
The woman looked at her with a serious expression. "Young lady, what did I tell you? It's a school night. And you guys have been playing that game for hours. It's time for bed."
The girl began to pout and crossed her arms. "Well, Kali doesn't get to go to bed this early!"
"Because she's studying. Playing a silly board game won't give you good grades, Jane."
She felt defeated, but wanted to keep going. "But Mama-"
"Jane." She gave her a stern glare. Now she knew she couldn't win the argument. She deeply sighed and went downstairs, feeling really upset.
...
The boys eventually found the dice, seeing that it was a seven. They decided not to tell Jane and put on their jackets and backpacks to leave. Jane passed by Lucas and Will before seeing Dustin in front of the stairs. "Hey Jane, ya wanna slice?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No thanks," she answered as she reached the basement floor to clean up the table. The curly-haired boy decided to go upstairs to Kali's room.
He saw her in her bedroom, talking on the phone. The girl was of Indian descent and looked more feminine than her adoptive sister, having long straight black hair and light-colored pajamas. In fact, her room looked more girlier than Jane's would ever be. He smiled at the sight of her and asked, "Hey, Kali!" The teenage girl glared at him, annoyed. "There's a slice if you want one!" He opened the box. "It's sausage and pepperoni!"
The girl heavily sighed and said, "One moment." She put the phone down, walked up to him, and slammed the door – right at his face. He was shocked that she even did that - not even a smile!
...
As all of them were out, Dustin stated, "There's something wrong with your sister, Jane."
She scoffed. "Really?" she asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, she's being more of a jerk by the day."
"True," added Lucas and Will as all the boys got their bikes.
"Well, it's because she's dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington," Jane replied. "Of course she'd be a jerk. She always was."
"Not really," said the curly-haired boy as he and the others mounted on their bikes. "Remember when she dressed up as an elf for our Elder campaign?"
"Yeah, like four years ago!"
Dustin shrugged as he rode off. "Just saying!"
Lucas followed suit, saying plainly, "See ya."
Before Will rode out, he turned to her and said, "It's a seven." She turned to him with a puzzled look. "The roll was a seven. The Demogorgon got me." Her eyes widened a little.
"Oh..." She smiled at him. "At least you're honest."
He smiled back a little, murmuring, "Yeah..." He then unmounted his bike and rode off. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Jane!" She waved him goodbye before noticing the outdoor lights flickering a little. She looked confused on why they did that. Perhaps the electricity was just being weird? She didn't know, but it didn't matter. She went back inside and upstairs to her room, dressing in her pajamas and going to bed.
The next day at Hawkins Middle, Jane, Lucas, and Dustin all rode their bikes to the student drop-off, as they usually do. Jane wore a dark-brown coat, a white long-sleeved shirt, blue overalls, white socks, and brown shoes. Lucas and Dustin dressed warm as well.
When they parked their bikes at the bike stands, the tomboy heaved her backpack up a little and said, "That's weird. I haven't seen Will."
"Hey, his mom could be right," Lucas replied as they all head to their class. "He could have gotten here early again."
"Yeah, like he's always paranoid about pop quizzes and shit," Dustin added. She guessed they were right, if his mom calling her Mama was anything to go by-
"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen!" announced a young man's voice. The trio stopped and looked irritated before turning two see two boys, a brunette boy and a taller auburn-haired boy. "It's time to get your tickets to the freak show!" All of them looked mad at the two, Jane crossing her arms. "Who can make more money in a freak show?" He then began pushing, starting with Lucas. "Midnight..." He pushed Jane. "Tranny..." Finally, he pushed Dustin. "Or Toothless?"
Even as a girl, these bullies didn't care about that because she was one of the boys and unlike any other girl they knew in this town: wearing boyish clothes, having boys as friends, and liking boy things - thus calling her a "tranny". She tried her best not to lose her cool with them though.
James began thinking, looking at the three. "Tranny's close..." he stated before exaggeratedly mocking Dustin's way of speaking. "But Toofless winsth!"
The curly-haired boy looked annoyed at them. "I told you so many times that my teeth are coming in! It's called cleidocranial dysphlagia."
He mocked him though, saying through his offensive imitation, "I toldth you so manith timesth!" The bullies chuckled while the trio were unimpressed with their insults.
Troy glared at Dustin and demanded, "Do the arm thing."
He hesitated until the other bully shouted, "Do it, you freak!" Not wanting to get beat up, he took off his coat and stretched his arms out, the sounds of bones snapping heard. Both bullies looked disgusted at that.
"Gets me every time..." the brunette said before shoving the trio out of the way to get to class.
"Assholes," Lucas muttered.
Jane sighed. "Calling them 'assholes' is an understatement," she replied before looking at Dustin, who was putting his coat back on. She gave him a friendly smile. "I think it's cool that you can do that. It's like you have a power, like...Mr. Fantastic."
Dustin chuckled a little. "Except I can't fight evil with it," he added.
In Hawkins High School, Kali walked into the building, carrying her books. She wore a flower-patterned dress with many shades of purple, semi-transparent white tights, and small black heels. Over the dress was a black casual cardigan with a purple shoulder purse.
Once she entered the building, a red-haired girl walked beside her and asked, "Did he call?" Kali looked to see her best friend, Barbara Holland.
She giggled a little and replied, "Keep your voice down, Barbara."
Barbara smirked and whispered, "Did he?"
She shook her head. "It's not like that. He doesn't like me THAT much." She arrived at her locker and used its combination to open it.
"Didn't you tell me that you two made out a couple of times?" The dark-haired girl smirked. She did, in fact, tell her that over the phone the other night. "Kal, seriously. You're going to get so popular now."
She shook her head again. "No, I won't."
"Yeah, you will." The red-haired girl laughed. "All that I'm saying is that you better still be friends with me." Kali gave her a reassuring smile.
"Of course, Barb, how can I not?" Her locker finally opened.
She shrugged. "Oh, I don't know, you could like being friends with Tommy H. or even Carol-"
Kali immediately scoffed, face contorted in disgust. "No way! Gross!" She then put the books she was carrying into her locker. "Besides, what we did was a one-" She cleared her throat. "-two-time thing." She felt embarrassed, correcting herself like that. Her best friend rose her eyebrows and smirked at her again. She sighed before finding a note in her locker. She pulled it out and unfolded it. It read:
Kal, meet me in the bathroom
- Steve
Her heart fluttered by the invitation.
"A two-time thing, no?" Barbara asked playfully. She knew, Kali knew, but now, she didn't mind.
...
In the bathroom, Steve and Kali began making out. He pinned her to the wall, his lips connecting with hers at every second. He was carrying her under her hips due to their height difference. His lips then moved to her neck as she said, "St-Steve."
"Mmm-hmm?" he hummed through her neck, still kissing it.
"I need to go."
"In a minute." They heard the bell ring, making her feel a little panicked.
"Steve-" Her sentence was interrupted by him kissing her lips again. "I have...to go." She then reached down to her purse, but her boyfriend beat her to it, snatching it and lowering her down to break the kiss.
"Wait, let's just talk about this." He paused, wandering away from her with the purse. "How about we do something tonight?"
She looked at him with a nervous expression and got her books from the ground. "No, sorry. I have to study for Kaminsky's test."
He feigned a confused look. "What's your G.P.A. again? Wasn't it a 3.999-"
She playfully punched his shoulder. "His tests are impossible, Steve!" She tried getting her purse, but he kept pulling it away from her.
"Then let me help you," he suggested.
She raised an eyebrow. "I'm fine studying by my smart self, thank you very much."
He almost looked offended, but still smiled. "It's just a C-."
"A grade away from a D+."
"Then how about I come over to have you help me study? Eight?" He then offered her purse. Her mind made up, she instantly took it and shook her head.
"My mum would kill you if you-" she answered before he interrupted.
"Then I climb through your window. I'll be stealthy, like a ninja. She wouldn't even know I'm there."
She sighed, thinking about it again. She figured he just wanted to study her, making her huff. "It's off." She was going to leave when he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him.
"Hey, come on now. Just...forget about that. We can just chill in my car, parked somewhere nice and quiet..." He caressed her arm, but she wasn't smiling anymore.
"I have to study, Steve. I'm not joking."
He gave her a sly smile and asked, "Why else would I park somewhere nice and quiet?" He had a point, making her smile again. She usually studied alone, but since he kept insisting...
"Dearborn and Maple. Meet me there, to study." She put emphasis on the last word as she began to leave. "Idiot Steve Harrington," she murmured wistfully under her breath. She opened the door and left the bathroom. She kept what she thought was a stupid smile, her heart fluttering and her cheeks becoming rosy red. This could be the best study night she has ever gone to...
In a large, sophisticated-looking building, an array of cars arrived. A bunch of men with suitcases came out of them and approached two other men standing next to one another. One of them had dark-brown hair, dark brown eyes, and glasses while the other had blue eyes and grayish-white hair. Both of them wore trench-coats and looked out at the distance, talking to one another.
"Dr. Brenner, Dr. Wheeler," one of the staff greeted, getting their attention. They all shook hands with one another and went inside.
...
As they walked in the building, a bunch of scientists joined them. "This way, gentlemen," one of the scientists said as the men followed him. He talked to both of the doctors, "The entire east wing should be evacuated within an hour. We've sealed off this area due to quarantine protocol." They all arrived at a place that was zipped up and labeled with a bio-hazard sign. One of the soldiers guarding the door opened it up for them and they all went inside.
In another room inside there, they put on hazmat suits and armed themselves, about to go into a place deep within the complex.
...
The elevator hummed as it took them down to where they needed to be. It stopped and opened, the men looking out with their flashlights. The air was filled with large dust-like spores, floating around. From afar, the doctors noticed the light blinking, becoming more wary of their surroundings.
They continued down the hallway and saw what looked like burn marks on the wall and on the floor. On closer inspection, these weren't burn marks, but gooey-looking marks that squelched at every second. The door to the other room was opened, so they walked into that. Low growling was heard in the room, making men turn and see a...mysterious-looking hole in the wall. It was made of the same material as the marks in the hallway. Below were worm-like organisms. Black, slimy webs were covering it and the hole itself was covered in some sac-like substance, glowing red every few seconds.
"This is where it came from?" asked one of the men that arrived at the building.
"Yes," Dr. Brenner answered.
"And the boy?"
"He couldn't have gone far," Dr. Wheeler answered, sounding very sure of it.
In the woods of Hawkins, a lone boy walked through it, the leaves crunching at his every step. His skin was pale, the darkest parts being the orange, semi-visible freckles on his face. He had dark-brown eyes and a shaved head. He wore nothing more than a dirty hospital gown. He saw the back of a building not far from him, a man appearing out of the door to throw a trash bag in a trash can. He stared at the building intently as the man went back in.
He walked to the door and opened it slowly. He crept inside and looked around. It looked like he was in a storage room and he could faintly smell food, making him feel so hungry. He hadn't been fed before he left...that bad place. He walked towards the smell and the sound of the music playing from a jukebox. He saw adults, including the man he saw, talking to each other. He wished not to be caught by them, so he wandered over to the kitchen, looking for any kind of food.
As he wondered, he saw a basket of fries, thinking they were food. He approached and took one fry, looking around to make sure he wasn't caught. He then took a bite of it, tasting the grease and salt. It tasted good to him, so good...
He took another look around to make sure the adults weren't looking at him. He then grabbed most of the fries with both of his hands and began scarfing them down to satisfy his hunger. He couldn't get enough of them, he needed more...
Suddenly, the man he saw turned back and saw him eating the fries, shouting, "Hey!" He jolted up, seeing that he was caught. He instantly grabbed the fries and ran out the door. "Come back here!" The man chased him down and eventually caught him in the storage room, making him drop the fries. He roughly grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "You think you can come in here and steal from me, boy?!" He looked scared, panting with his eyes wide as plates. The man's expression became puzzled. "What the hell...?" he muttered.
Done! What do you think so far? Don't be afraid to review and even give me some constructive criticism! I'll inform you guys if there are any other changes I've made throughout this fanfic.
Review, follow, favorite, and I'll see you in the next chapter!