Okay, I'm sure you guys saw an update to this and thought I was starting up Season 4. Hate to break it to you all, but nope. I'm still planning out the season (though I'm getting close to done)!
This is something a little new, something I've never done before...a prelude, along with a few announcements concerning this fanfic!
I mean, due to the rules of this site saying that I can't publish author's notes as a separate chapter, this was a good compromise. Not only that, but I wanted a way to showcase this season will take more liberties with the canon than before without it dragging the pacing of the season/episode. So, why not write a prelude alongside an announcement?
However, I'll showcase the prelude first, then afterwards, go and make the announcements! So here's the teaser for Season 4! Enjoy!
"Excuse me, can I get a minute of your time?"
"Hi."
"Uh, good morning, sir."
"Hello, miss."
"Good morning, mister."
"Who am I? I'm a...babysitter from outta town."
"Visiting family?"
"The new guy in town, of course! What? You've never heard of me?"
"I'm helping this little girl find her older brother."
"I'm looking for my brother."
"Uh, so one of the kids I'm babysitting, his name's Mike. He's not in the house, do ya know where he is?"
"Short black hair, brown eyes, freckles-"
"Pale skin, scrawny, pretty tall for a kid-"
"Doesn't talk a lot. He's quite the shy boy."
"Have you ever seen or heard of any kid like him, like at all?"
"No?"
"You haven't, huh?"
"Great - I mean, uh, not-so-great."
"I see..."
"Sorry to take up your time."
In a clearly-stolen beige panel van parked near a trailer park, a bunch of people sat around, all frustrated while Blondie was playing. "Came up dry," the black woman stated. Her coily hair was as fuzzy as it was back in '84. Plus, she was still wearing baggy clothes. She looked around the rest of the group. "Anyone else had any luck?"
A white man, who was using an empty beer bottle as a mirror to restyle his bright red and yellow hair back into its shortened mohawk, scoffed. He was dressed in casual clothes to look presentable and a wig was discarded next to him. The young white girl with long, unruly blue and blonde hair, signature blue plaid headband, and alternative clothes shook her head and said, "Nothing."
"I had no luck either," the black man with a now bald head, a scar on his cheek, and fuzzy goatee replied. He wore more casual clothes to appear more friendly to the public. The little white girl next to him looked down and sighed glumly. Her long blonde hair was in pigtails and she was in a blue casual dress that was cleaner than the rest of the group's outfits. Her blue eyes stared at the black and white evil cartoon mask, running her fingers on it.
"This doesn't make any sense," the only teen in the group muttered, shaking her head and placing a hand on her temple. "Where else would he go?" Her hair was platinum-blonde and styled similarly to Debbie Harry's with blunt bangs. She was dressed in a band shirt, dark ripped denim pants, and dark laced shoes with gray socks.
"Maybe he moved on somewhere else, like you did with your first family," the coily-haired woman suggested.
"Maybe he's not goin' by Mike here," the mohawk man added.
"I wouldn't," the unruly-haired girl also added nonchalantly, looking at her nails.
The teen groaned and glared at all of them with narrow ice-blue eyes. "I'm not giving up. We will find him."
"We've looked all around town, doin' the same thing over and over again," the woman said, looking serious. "You know what that can lead to?"
"Paranoia, Mick?" the blue-and-blonde-haired girl asked.
Mick scoffed. "The police. Especially since this town is cursed."
"No thanks to Carl, I'm sure," the mohawk man said snidely. It made her swat his arm, making him mutter, "Ow..."
"Axel."
"What?"
"There's no chance he caused everything that happened here anyway," the teen stated, crossing her arms. "You got nothing nice to say about Mike, then go live with the trailer trash." He clicked his tongue, rolled his eyes, and continued to restyle his mohawk.
"Miss Nancy," the muscular man said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You must remain calm."
She huffed, shaking her head. "I'm calm, Funshine, I'm calm," she replied with tension in her voice.
"Don't really sound like it," the crazy-haired girl said.
"Shut up, Dottie."
"Nancy," Mick said.
She shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. She felt a little better. "Sorry. We've been looking all day and there's no sign of him." She frowned, digging her nails into her skin. "I'm worried."
Mick sighed, leaning against the wall of the van. "Are you sure he wouldn't've died in that fire or somethin'?"
"I'm sure. Why the hell would he be in a mall if he wanted to hide?"
"But what if he didn't want to hide?" Funshine suggested.
Nancy glared at him, clearly baffled at what he said. "What?"
"He is more normal-looking than you," Axel stated bluntly. "Or any of us, for that matter. Kid'd easily blend in with everyone else." She directed her glare at him. "Plus, didn't that place shut down a couple of years ago? They wouldn't be looking for him here. They don't got the resources no more."
Her eyes pierced into his. "They don't have a building anymore. I know my dad is still out there, just as much as those employees are still out there."
"So why can't we just continue to hunt those people?" Dottie asked, a hint of impatience in her indifferent tone. "That was more fun..."
Now she was angry. "Is it so wrong for me to check if my little brother is alright?!"
"Yeah, 'cause he left you!" Axel shouted. "He left you and Holly! He left all of us for this shit dump - if he's even here!"
"Axel-" Mick said, her voice raised and stern.
"So what?!"
She turned to her. "Nancy!"
"'So what?!'"
"Yeah, so what?! He's still family and he's not stupid!" Dottie smiled in amusement, her eyes darting back and forth between the two.
Now Funshine was trying to break them up. "Hey, you two-"
But they kept at it like he never spoke. "He'd be real stupid enough to get himself killed, like he almost DID TO ALL OF US!"
"THAT WASN'T HIS FAULT!"
"OH, SO NOW YOU THINK THAT WASN'T HIS FAULT?!"
"I NEVER SAID IT WAS!"
"NANCY! AXEL!" Funshine yelled so loud, it nearly shook the van. Even Dottie was scared by his raised voice. His face and demeanor were dead-serious, the two's eyes wide as their skin produced goosebumps. He sighed, calming himself down. "Yelling at each other like this is not going to help anything nor any of us." They shrunk back, their anger dissipating as they resembled kids being scolded. "The faster we find out what happened to him, the quicker we can go back to our mission."
Axel sighed, slumping. "I know, but..."
"We must have a little hope," he continued, looking down at Holly, who was still in the position as she was before. "And yelling is no good for Miss Holly."
Everyone knew he was right. Holly had gotten so quiet, probably sullen about not finding her uncle. She was also probably scared from all the yelling. Feeling awful, Nancy crawled over to her and said, "Hey, I'm sorry, Holly." She reached a hand out to her. "We'll find out what happened to your uncle, I promise-" Just as she was about to pet her head...her hand went through. In fact, the vision of her in that position disappeared in front of everyone's eyes.
Everyone was shocked with the exception of Dottie. "Oh, she ran away?" she asked in her usual blasé tone.
Nancy's shock turned into terror. "Shit! It's dark out too!" Funshine quickly opened the side door, everyone pouring out.
"We need to find her!" Mick proclaimed, worried.
"Okay, we split up," Nancy said, her voice shaky. She pointed at Mick, Axel, and Funshine. "You three check the forest. Me and Dottie'll look around the trailer park." They all nodded, quick to depart.
Dottie sighed, pouting. "Do I have to come?"
"I need more eyes there and we're the only ones that'd blend in, so let's go." She stormed away, determined to find her irresponsible daughter. Her accomplice sighed and followed after her.
The blonde-haired teen was still terrified and shocked though. Making and holding a vision like that would require a lot of power - power a girl Holly's age couldn't handle! God, she hoped she'd be alright. The girl was getting more and more distant from her by the day, but she never pulled anything like this to be away. If she lost her too...
The young girl had created her vision of her just sitting there as she sneakily got out of the van through the slowly-opened door. Through a walk to numb her headache making the vision, she had entered into the...trailer park? That was what Mommy and the gang called it. It was dimly-lit, mostly from the worn wide houses around the area. She shivered, thinking it looked scary, especially since it was night out.
But everyone else was taking too long, talking in that van. If they were going to do that, then she'd have to go find Uncle Mike herself! Or at least, find somebody that knew where he was.
She slowly walked through the pathway, looking around. She didn't see any lights coming from the windows. From what Mommy taught her, that meant that people were asleep. She gulped, then spotted one home with lights coming through its window. She made a turn, increasing the pace of her walking through along the dirt road. She stopped and gasped when she heard something rattle. She looked around, seeing that it was nothing. She felt tense, continuing her walking towards the trailer with the lights on.
Now, as she got closer, she could faintly hear music. It sounded like the type the gang usually played...rock, right? Except it sounded heavier than rock. It must mean they were outcasts too, so whoever was inside could help her-
Sharp barking made her stop and scream, her turning to see a dog behind a fence barking at her. She froze up, scared by the constant barking it had. How can she make it...not bark at her? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, remembering what Mommy taught her:
Don't think.
Don't see.
Don't feel.
Don't try to hear anything.
Then she finally gave the dog the vision that she wasn't there. She opened her eyes, seeing that it stopped barking and somebody let it inside. She felt grateful, rubbing the blood away from her nose. Now she can-
"Are you alright?" she heard a man's voice ask, not too far from her. She quickly turned, seeing a young man with long dark-brown hair wearing clothes resembling Axel's style coming out of the long home with the lights. Even though this man was a stranger...she felt comfortable since he looked like he was a part of the gang.
She nodded and answered, "Yes." She began walking towards him.
He looked around, having an expression she couldn't see. "Uh, where're your parents?"
She went up the steps and stood before him, smelling something...weird inside the house. "I'm looking for my un-" She stopped, knowing she couldn't call Mike her uncle because "nobody would believe her". "I mean...I'm looking for my brother, Mike. Have you seen him?"
He had a weird, confused look on his face as he leaned against the doorway. "Uuuuh...what's he look like?"
"Um..." She tried to think of the words Funshine used to describe him. "He's a teen-ager about this tall..." She went on the tips of her toes and held her hand up, signifying his height. "And, um..." She tried to think of the other words. "He's pale and skinny. He has freckles and short black hair and dark brown eyes."
The stranger looked like he was thinking, then after a moment, he shrugged and answered, "Yeah, sorry, don't know no kid by that description." She frowned before he smiled. "But I bet my friend knows. Hold on." He leaned back into the home and shouted, "Hey, Billy!"
"Yeah?!" the guy shouted back through the music.
"You know any kid named Mike?! Pale skinny guy with dark brown eyes and short black hair?!"
"And freckles," Holly added.
"And freckles?!"
There was a pause, making the little girl feel awkward. After what felt like forever, the stranger asked him, "You hear me?!"
"Who's asking?!" Billy finally answered.
"His sister, apparently!" There was another pause, Holly fidgeting in place and wringing her fingers. She looked around, still not seeing Mommy. Everyone must still be talking in that van...
She looked back at the doorway, the stranger getting out of the way for another to appear right before her. This time, he was in a wheely chair and had feathery blonde hair that touched his shoulders as well as eyes as blue as hers. He also had a semi-beard. He looked straight into her eyes, asking, "You're his sister?"
She nodded and answered, "Yes."
"Aw shit..." she heard him mutter, making her curious. He looked up at his friend and said, "Hey, uh, you can go back to the room now, Ed."
He raised a brow. "You sure? It's a kid and you-"
"Trust me."
He held his hands up and replied, "Alright, Billy. I'll leave the lonely kid up to you." He then disappeared to the other end of the house.
Billy looked at her again, making her ask, "Where is he?"
"Uh..." He sighed, shaking his head. "He doesn't live here anymore. He's in California."
She tilted her head to the right. "Cal...e...forn-ya?"
"Yeah."
"How do you know?"
"Well..."
...
Nancy and Dottie entered into the trailer park, her teen telling her accomplice, "You look to the right, I'll look straight ahead."
"Sure, okay," Dottie replied as the two parted ways. Nancy looked around with the eyes of a hawk, trying to see every detail that could lead to Holly. She couldn't lose her own daughter now, she couldn't and she won't. Even if she didn't love her mommy like she did before, Nancy'd die before she'd let her daughter go missing.
Her walk was brisk and her perception couldn't be any more clearer - she wasn't seeing her at all. She huffed, muttering a curse under her breath as she began looking after every nook and cranny of the park as fast as she could, ignoring what might've been going on in one trailer. Nothing. She reached the end of the park, huffing in frustration. Had her powers evolved to a point where she couldn't see her? God, she really hoped that wasn't the case. Perhaps she could use her power to find her out? She never saw through illusions with her own powers, but she had to try-
"Nancy?" asked a voice all too familiar to her. She froze, the wind knocked out of her system. She couldn't believe her ears...so she turned around...
Seeing Michael standing not too far from her.
Her mind went blank, her eyes as wide as saucers. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak...
But she was beyond happy to see him.
A smile broke into her face as she ran towards him with her arms open. "Mike," she said quietly yet joyfully as she finally hugged him tight. "Oh Mike, I've been looking all over for you..."
"...I know." He didn't hug her back, but she guessed he didn't forget about what she did before. She let go, looking straight into his eyes. It was him, it truly was.
She tried her damnedest to hold back her tears as she perched her hands on his shoulders. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
She smiled again, nodding. "Good, good." She straightened up. "Um, I'd love to catch up with you, but I need to find Holly. You remember her, right?"
He nodded. "I do. My little niece with a terrible mother."
Her blood ran cold at that that statement, feeling frozen on the spot again. "Wh-what...?"
Mike was solemn. "If it wasn't for your poor choices, she would have never been born into a life of crime, if at all."
What was he saying...? "M-Mike...?"
...
Meanwhile, Dottie saw some lights on in a trailer and two people talking to each other...as she got closer, she saw that a guy in a wheelchair was talking to a kid...
Oh shit, the kid was Holly.
She made her way to the trailer in no time. As she got close, she whistled to get the kid's attention. She turned to her as well as the...hot stranger, oh wow. She grinned as she got close, twirling a piece of hair and grinning. "Hello~..." she greeted rather suggestively.
"Uh, hi?" he greeted back in confusion, rubbing the back of his neck.
"He knows where Mike is, Dottie," Holly said to her.
"Oh, does he now~?" She was still staring at him like a lion at a piece of meat.
He chuckled and raised his arms. "Not interested."
She frowned in an over-the-top way. "Just a quick one?"
"A quick what?" the young girl asked, genuinely confused at what was going on.
He wheeled backwards with a weirded-out look, glancing at Holly. "You know her?" She nodded. "Well, tell her to get you to Lenora Hills, California."
"Leh-nor-ah Hills..." The blonde-haired child nodded.
"Well, good night, then." He closed the door, having Holly get down the steps.
Dottie sighed, getting her finger out of her hair. "His loss..." She shoved her hands into her pockets. "Anyway, let's go find Nancy. We started looking for you."
"Oh...okay." Of course Holly was surprised by this statement. The vision must have not held for long enough. She and Dottie then departed.
...
Just as Billy was about to wheel back to his and Eddie's room, he suddenly felt a chill go throughout his entire body...it felt like it was dropping, his lungs out of air. The ends of the back of his neck stood up as well. He pressed against it, aghast at this feeling.
For some reason...he could feel "him".
He looked out the windows, seeing if there was anything off. Lights were flickering...it could also be the old-ass state of this place. But that feeling still lingered for another moment...
Shit, something was going on and it involved "him".
"Billy! You done with the kid or what?!" he heard Eddie shout from his room.
He gulped, trying to push back that feeling as he turned to the room. "I'm coming, you asshole!" he shouted back.
"Whoa, no need for that! I was just asking!" he replied in jest. He smirked before wheeling himself back to the room. Maybe a bit of weed would get his mind off the feeling for now...yeah, it would. It definitely would. He really didn't want to think "he" was back...he wasn't, he wasn't. He was dead...right?
"You've always made the worse decisions, Nancy," Mike continued, stepping towards her while she stepped back. "You thought leaving everyone else behind, especially me, was going to lead you to a better life."
"Wh-what...?" she asked, her voice so shocked it shook. She shook her head. "N-no, Mike, I told you, I was looking for you, but-"
"Then you ran away, hid away with a family, fell in love with a boy...made the decision that got you your daughter, that made your life worse."
"Wh-what's going on with you?!" she exclaimed, nearly tripping from going backwards.
"Then you turn to crime, becoming so obsessed with getting revenge on the people that wronged you that you justified every terrible decision you've made."
"MIKE!"
"Even with your actions mirroring your abusers, or even worse." How would he know- "And the way you treated me..." He placed a hand on his heart. "I trusted you, you were my sister."
"I am your sister-"
"Sisters don't make brothers suffer, just to make a point." He shook his head. "I'm so glad I left you. You're a terrible person who thinks she's really not, that you're not as bad - if not, worse than everyone from the Lab."
Her eyes began to water, her shaking her head. "Mike-" Suddenly, she noticed that his skin began to rot, showing some sort of...vines breaking out of his skin. Her breath caught at her throat and her heart began to race.
"You are a terrible sister, a terrible mother, and a terrible friend..." His voice became distorted and his eyes turned white...what the hell was going on?! "No...accomplice. You only see your gang as a means to an end. Once they stop being useful-"
"Stop!"
"You'll discard them like the trash they truly are."
"STOP!"
He raised his hand and before she could do anything, he threw her right into the forest.
"Man, no luck," Axel muttered, scratching the side of his head. "Kid's too good at hiding."
"She's got Nancy's powers," Mick stated. "Of course she's good at it."
"But she's young," Funshine said. "Her gifts couldn't become that strong."
"Yeah, but even so, we still have to keep looking."
They all looked ahead, seeing some lights. Mick sighed. "It's been a while. Imma go check on Nancy and Dottie."
"Let me come with you," Funshine suggested. "It is dark out."
"Well, see ya guys at the van," Axel said, waving and going the other way.
"Ah-ah-ah." The muscular man grabbed his wrist.
"Wha-?! Funshine-"
"We all go together."
Mick grinned. "Plus, you'd get lost and we'd have to leave without ya." She lowered her voice as she stepped forward. "In Hell."
Axel growled and broke out of Funshine's hold. "Fine, fine, the quicker we find them, the quicker we can get out." He sulked after Mick, then Funshine followed.
They got out of the forest and into the back of the trailer park. Not too far from them was Nancy...just standing there. "Oh, there's Nance," the kinky-haired woman stated as she walked towards her.
"Why's she standin' like she's possessed or somethin'?" Axel asked. "Shouldn't she look for Holly?"
Funshine looked worried though. "I have a bad feeling about this..." he muttered.
Mick was the first to get to Nancy...seeing that her eyes were white and rolled up to the back of her head. She was immediately worried and scared for her, putting her flashlight away and saying, "Nancy?" There was no answer - she was as still as she was silent. She grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. "Nancy? Answer me, Nancy!"
"Whoa, whoa, what's wrong?" the mohawk man asked before he and Funshine saw her condition, the two of them having wide eyes. "What the...?"
"Miss Nancy, can you hear us?!" Funshine asked, panicked. There was still no answer, but Mick wasn't going to give up.
"Nancy!"
The teen felt herself collide against a cold wall. She felt dazed and in pain, her bones feeling like jelly. She opened her eyes, seeing nothing but darkness at first. Then the lights went on...her blood ran cold once again.
She was in a room at Hawkins Lab.
And the door opened, Ray Carrol walking in with a taser rod. The cold, unfeeling look on his face as he approached scared her like it did back when she was young. She shut her eyes and tried to create a vision of her staying there. When she did, she got out of the rod's way and ran right towards the door.
She saw herself in the hallways of the Lab, feeling like this wasn't real...
Seriously, what the hell was happening?!
"Nancy," a familiar voice boomed behind her. She turned around, seeing her father in the flesh. And right beside him was that doctor, Brenner. "What are you doing out here?"
"You should be in the rainbow room, with the others," the doctor added. "Why don't you come with us..." His face began to decay and his voice distorted, much like what happened with Mike.
"So you won't be punished again?" Dr. Wheeler finished, having the same thing happen to him.
Without another thought on her mind, Nancy turned and ran away from them.
She ran and ran, only wanting to find one of the exits she came out of before. There was nothing and no one else in her way, only the flickering lights of the hallways. She could hear distorted voices and squelching, but her mind was only set on getting the hell out of here.
She finally found an exit, bursting through the door and falling on the...carpet? She stood up, her body shaking from the panic. She took in her surroundings...seeing she was in the Marshall's house, the family she stayed with when she was young. Her blood ran cold, knowing that this was the night when-
"Nance?" she heard his voice ask. She slowly turned around...
Seeing Johnny Marshall, her first love...Holly's father.
Her breath caught at her throat, seeing the blonde-haired boy in his pajamas, shocked to see her at this hour. She felt like she was thirteen again, like she was going through this again. "Johnny...?" she muttered.
"Where are you going?" She felt her eyes well up like it really was that night. She then ran away from him, going straight to the basement. "Wait, Nancy!" She didn't look back, descending down the stairs at a lightning pace. As she got to the door, she heard him shout in a distorted voice, "Nancy! Don't leave!" She turned back, seeing him in the same rot she had seen before. "What about us?! What about my family?!" She fought back tears, looking away from him. "You know we'd do anything to help you! Why won't you let us?!" Now she knew this was part of this demented nightmare, so she opened the door and burst outside. "NANCY!" She shut the door behind her...
But it looked like she had gotten back in the house...except she wasn't.
It looked like she was in another house entirely.
Mick and Funshine wrapped Nancy's arms around their shoulders as they carried her through the trailer park. Axel stood at the front, looking out for Dottie and Holly, if she could appear. Thankfully, they were not too far from the three, the mohawk man sprinting towards them. Dottie casually waved and said to him, "Hey, found Holly-"
"Nancy's not lookin' too good," he told her in a serious tone. This surprised her as well as Holly. "We need to go."
"M-Mommy...?" Holly muttered, now worried for her. She went over to her, seeing her eyes rolled up to the back of her head and her eyes white. She was horrified, the air escaping her lungs in a gasp. "Mommy!"
"We'll make sure your mommy's alright, Holly, okay?" Mick said, trying to be reassuring. Even though Holly wasn't enthused around her mom after Mike left, it hurt to see her like this. And if she...died...
The group quickly moved on forward, hoping there was some way to help her.
Wherever she was, she needed to go. Right now.
Nancy rushed down the stairs and swung open the door...seeing that it was barricaded with wood planks. "Are you kidding...?" she muttered with seething rage as she tried to budge open the planks. There was no change, infuriating her more. "Come on!"
"Nancy..." a deep voice croaked out. She stopped, stiffening up as she turned back to see a harrowing figure approach her. She couldn't make out who it was walking through the hallway...
But it only looked vaguely human.
She turned back, resuming her effort to break the barricades. "Do you think because you have escaped the Labs once that you can escape here?" How the hell did it know she escaped there? She stepped back and gave her best kick at the barricades. Her foot hurt in return for no budges. She let out a cry, shutting her eyes. "Even in here, you are powerless." It sounded closer. She kept her eyes shut, trying to focus in on her power...
She opened them up, turning out and blitzing past the figure, hoping it'd fall for her mirage. She headed upstairs to the door she exited from...seeing just a room there, not the Marshall's. Her blood ran cold. "How...?"
"There is no escape..." the voice said, rolling like thunder. She turned back, seeing the figure right in the hallway. She never felt such horror when she saw the humanoid creature before her...he almost looked like a burned-up man, but he couldn't be one.
She tried to run into another room, but somehow, she got pulled back, whipping through the hallway and right in front of him. He was holding her telekinetically...like Mike could. She tried to scramble out of the hold, but it was too strong. He'd even hold her still, practically freezing her body in place. The monster stepped closer to her, staring through her with his misty-white eyes. "Even after all these years, I can still see through your deception."
"These...years...?" she murmured, petrified yet confused. She shut her eyes, trying to use her power again, just to prove him wrong.
"How foolish you were and have become, Nancy Eight." She gasped, opening her eyes when she heard that name. "You had choices, choices that would've benefitted you, given you a better life...but like the rest, you have chosen the worst you could."
"Who...are you...?" Her voice shook with terror.
He held his hands up, showcasing his claws as they hovered over her face. "I am your salvation, humanity's salvation. You will finally join me." She could almost feel the tips of those claws on her face. "Don't be scared, Nancy Eight. Just stay very still. It will all be over soon." She could feel every fiber of her body shake, despite the hold. Was she going to...die? Here and now? By whatever the hell this thing was?
She couldn't believe it...all this time, all of her experiences, her fighting, her survival...she'd die by this monster's hand. She could see her vision being blurred by the upcoming tears. She couldn't die here.
She won't.
She strained herself, trying to hone another power...the other half of her mother's, Mike's powers. She tried ever since he left and failed, but maybe under duress, they will pop up. They had to...
Everyone managed to get into the van except for Axel, who had taken on watch. Everyone gave Nancy room while Mick dug through the gang's bag of supplies. "Shitshitshitshit..." she muttered, pulling out everything she could. Nancy's head was slightly bobbing as she sat still, quiet. Holly was horrified to see her mommy like this, her heart pounding against her chest.
She reached out for her, but Funshine held her back gently. "I'm sorry, but we don't know what's going on with her," he stated solemnly. "We don't want to risk you having the same thing, Miss Holly."
"B-but Mr. Funshine-"
"Uh, guys?" Axel said, peering his head in the open window. "I see red and blue."
"SHIT!" Mick cried out, slamming her fists on the floor of the van. "Drive then!"
"Wh-?! You want ME to drive?"
"DO IT, AXEL!" He huffed before closing the van door and getting on the driver's side. Dottie decided to move herself onto the passenger's seat, giving the rest of the gang more room.
"Jesus..." the mohawk man muttered as he started up the engine, another Blondie song playing.
Mick poured some strong liquid on a rag and put it up to Nancy's nose. There was still no reaction, making her throw the rag away before Axel abruptly backed up. The uncapped liquid spilled as exclaims burst out. He finally turned around and pressed down on the gas, speeding through the night. Nancy fell to the side, but Mick and Funshine caught her and sat her back up. "Shit, Nancy!" the coily-haired woman cried out.
"Miss Nancy, speak to us!" the muscular man also cried out.
She felt a sharp, heavy pull on all of her senses as the tips of the monster's claw dug into her face. Her mind drew to a blank when this happened, feeling every fiber in and on her freeze.
Suddenly, Nancy's body slammed up against the van's ceiling, everyone screaming. Dottie looked back with wide eyes while Axel looked back one second in pure and utter shock. "Oh shit..." the wild-haired girl murmured.
"What the hell?!" he cried out.
"MOMMY!" Holly shouted, trying to stand up and reach for her. Her legs wobbled as much her mommy's body was against the ceiling, tears streaming down her face. She lost balance when Axel made a sharp turn, but Mick got the little girl back on her feet. Everyone except Axel looked up, crying out their leader's name. She didn't even move with every clumsy turn of the van.
Suddenly, she and the monster heard a familiar song play throughout the house. Nancy could feel whatever hold he had on her every iota disappear, as well as his hold on her body. Those synths, with those guitars and familiar vocals...
"War Child" by Blondie was playing.
With a reinvigorated sense of escape, she managed to move her hand and punch the monster in the face. It let go of her entirely as she blitzed past it, seeing the barricades of the front door were down. She saw Mick, Funshine, and Holly looking up at her and crying her name. She smiled before hearing the monster say, "Tell your brother that Hawkins will fall by my hand, Nancy Eight." She stilled for only a second, then leaped straight through the opening.
Nancy suddenly fell down from the ceiling, landing hard against the floor. She cried out in pain, smelling that strong liquid in her nose. Before she could full grasp herself, she felt small arms wrapping around her. "Mommy!" she heard Holly cry out.
She turned to her daughter, seeing that she was really there. She immediately sat up and hugged her tightly, murmuring, "Oh Holly, little Holly..."
"Are you alright?" she heard Mick ask. She turned, seeing her and Funshine here in the back. Axel was driving for some reason with Dottie at the passenger's seat. She just noticed that they were driving away from something.
Nancy closed her eyes, leaning against the wall of the van. Mick gave her a bottle of water for her to drink. "What the hell was that?!" Axel asked from the driver's seat.
"You were tripping out, not moving, your eyes were weird, and then you were on the ceiling..." Dottie remarked.
"Do you know?" Mick asked, face filled with worry.
Nancy didn't know how to explain everything. At least Holly was alright, but there was still everything that happened. She opened her bottle, taking a swig like it was beer. "You guys wouldn't believe me..." she finally said.
The members at the back gave her reassuring looks. "Try us," Funshine said.
...
"So let me get this straight," Mick started, the van at a steady speed on the road. "You thought you saw Mike, but then you were thrown into the woods, then into that Lab, then escaped into that house you told me about, and then escaped that and went into another house where some monster tried to kill you?"
Nancy sighed, shrugging. "Yup, that's the gist of it," she replied, finishing up her water and crossing her arms. Holly was next to her, just watching.
"Did ya hit my stash or something?" Axel asked.
She huffed, glaring at the driver's seat. "I'd never touch your nasty stash, Axel." That got a few laughs from the gang. "Besides, you guys know I was sober before we left. And even if I did hit it..." She gestured upwards. "Would I even be able to stick on the ceiling like you guys told me?"
"So then what could've caused it?"
She sighed, hanging her head up against the wall. "I don't know..."
"Unleeeesss..." Dottie said, getting everyone's attention. She grinned as she looked back at everyone else, wiggling her fingers. "She got possessed by the devil~."
"The devil?" Holly asked.
Mick scoffed, replying, "Get real. The devil ain't-"
"Actually...I think that might be true," Axel stated, surprising everyone, especially Dottie.
"What?"
"Wait, you agree?" the crazy-haired girl asked.
"I mean, think about it. The town's cursed - 'Hell' is literally spray-painted on the 'Welcome' sign."
"There's those deaths and that fire from last year..." she added, pointing at him while still keeping her eyes on the rest of the group.
"The chemical leak..." Funshine added, making Mick's jaw drop.
"Oh come on, you too?"
He turned to her, serious. "How else is Miss Nancy able to stick to the roof like she did, Miss Mick? Some sort of supernatural force must be the cause of it." Mick looked like she was still trying to hold her ground, but had the gears shifting in her head.
Nancy finished the last of her water before setting it aside. "If what I saw was the devil, he's one ugly son of a bitch." That got a laugh out of everyone. "No wonder that place is called Hell."
"Maybe that's why Mike left," Axel stated. "If he's still even alive."
"Uncle Mike has to be alive," Holly said, finally speaking up. Nancy looked down at her with a smile, petting her head.
"That's right, Holly." She looked up at the driver himself. "We'll have to keep looking for him."
"But we still don't got a clue where he is," Mick stated.
"Le-nor-ah Hills," the little girl stated, surprising most of the gang. "I asked a man, he knows about Uncle Mike. He's in Leh-nor-ah Hills."
"Which is in California," Dottie added, grinning. "Can't wait."
"Lenora Hills..." Nancy murmured to herself, branding that into her brain.
"The Golden State, huh?" Axel said. "Been a while."
Mick grinned. "I hope this Lenora Hills is by a beach. A beach'd be nice."
Funshine nodded, smiling. "A beach would be splendid."
"I wonder what kind of drugs would be there..." Dottie murmured, turning away and focusing on the road.
Nancy nodded, smiling. "Then we go for Lenora Hills, California."
"Then we can finally go back to our usual shit," Axel added.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay, no more swearing in front of Holly." Though she couldn't see it, she knew Axel had a grin with his scoff. She gave everyone the same expectant expression, them nodding as replies.
This was great though - her daughter was okay and with her - plus, she knew where Mike was. For the first time in a long time...she had hope. Hope in finding her brother, again, that she'll make amends with him, in that she'll live another day with her daughter.
As conversation went on and Blondie kept playing, Nancy went into deep thought about what the hell happened to her in that trailer park. Those places, that monster - it was all a dream. A horrifying dream, she'll admit, but just a dream. Everything that happened wasn't real...
But still, how did that thing know about her times in the Lab, about Johnny and the Marshalls? How did he know her Lab name? Why did he talk to her like he knew her? Why did he tell her to tell Mike that Hawkins will fall by his hand...?
Her eyes widened at the thought. Could that thing actually be...?
No, that'd be impossible. There'd be no way that could actually be him. There was nothing about that creature's looks or voice that resembled him at all. That was a stupid assumption.
Still, whatever the hell it was, he somehow got into her brain and knew everything there was about her, throwing her decisions back at her face. Why the hell would he do that? Was he trying to teach her a lesson?
She refused to think of the things he said further when she thought of contemplating them.
She looked down at Holly, who was now playing with a toy. She was extremely thankful that she was alright, that the gang found her before she could. She petted her head again. Her daughter looked up at her, then back at her toy. She smiled, thinking about how wonderful it would be for the two of them to reunite with Mike.
Soon, it will become a reality.
And that wraps things up for the prelude! How was it? Any typos or mistakes I might've missed?
Alright, with the teaser out of the way, time to make the announcements! Starting with...
1. Nancy and Holly's return!
That's right, the rest of the Wheelers are returning for this season! Of course I was disappointed when Kali was never mentioned/never appeared in Season 4. I get The Lost Sister was a poorly-received episode and Kali was a poorly-received character, so they don't acknowledge her existence anymore. But with how things unraveled in canon, there was a HUGE missed opportunity there. Soooooooo, these two and their gang will be returning for Season 4!
2. Up next, I've been trying to do an editing sweep of this fanfic a few years back, but my life became so busy that I couldn't go through with it entirely. Now, I'm going to attempt it again, but not keep track, just so the writing matches with my style now.
3. Finally...after a lot of contemplating and picking a path at the crossroads this put me in...
I'm retconning Hopper's "death" to his actual death.
I know, I know, I'm sorry. I'm sure you guys would've loved for me to write the Russia plot into Season 4 of this fanfic as well as him and Mike reuniting. I actually kinda liked it myself. It fleshed out Hopper more and practically redeemed him from his OOC behavior in Season 4. It was a kinda cool prison story.
Not that I thought it'd belong to Stranger Things, but it was cool. Besides, it's the best the writers could do when they introduced that stupid storyline in Season 3.
I've made it clear that I never liked the Russian plot in Season 3 and I still don't. Even so, that's actually not the reason why I'm killing off Hopper and leaving the Russians behind. I've came to this decision for these reasons:
-This season's already crowded with subplots, so adding that on top of them is not gonna help.
-It also has a slightly larger cast, so again, adding the Russians will not help.
-Hopper actually dying would be tragic, considering how I wrote him, but it would give a great impact on the characters and their development. Not to mention that he will be remembered fondly.
-I actually want Joyce to be involved with her kids. We haven't seen a lot of that in Season 3 and this season, so I want to let her be involved with the Cali Crew. I'm still deciding whether or not I should bring Murray into the plot though...
-The subplot really contributed very, VERY little to the overarching plot (along with the Cali Crew's journey, but that's besides the point). Again, it's a cool prison story, but that story is more prominent than the things that connect it to the main story. In fact, the elements that connect it to the plot felt out of place, IMO...
-We're not in Hawkins anymore, I get that, but I liked it when the setting was more contained - no foreign countries to go to. Lenora Hills and even Anderson (which you're not gonna see much of, sorry) are exceptions, but they don't feel so out-of-left-field, you know? They're still normal U.S. towns.
-Excluding the subplot also makes this fanfic diverge more from canon and I always like to do that so that this isn't just a copy-and-paste of the show.
I know leaving the Russians behind with no answers is a bad decision story-wise, but I couldn't help but prefer the pros of excluding the Russia subplot over the pros of keeping it. I hope you guys will understand. I swear, I'll make the story worth the exclusion!
And that should be everything! I hope this gets you guys excited for Season 4! I enjoyed this season better than the last, though I have problems with some writing decisions *coughnancyandstevecough* and how the last episode dealt with things. Not to mention that its weird attempt at mixing the vibes of Seasons 1 and 2 with Season 3's. Still, I thought it was a good semi-return-to-form for the series and hope Season 5 will be better!
So, keep supporting this fanfic like you guys do, vote at the poll, and I'll see you guys in the first chapter of Season 4 (maybe it will come out next month or in December? We'll see)! And Happy Halloween! :D