Hello everyone and welcome back. I am so sorry for taking so long to post this chapter but if you could see the word count you would understand why. It is far to long to post all at once solve split it in half to make for easier reading. I will post the other half immediately after this one. I didn't want to rush it and wanted to finish it just right. I think I've done that, though some of you may not agree haha. Also my Uni work really hasn't helped. But it's here now. So without further waiting, here's the last chapter. Enjoy!
"Do you think we should take a tank?" Dustin asked seriously as he added a random shovel to the pile of weapons that was beginning to accumulate in Joyce and Hoppers living room.
"Where the hell do you expect us to get a tank from?" Steve asked him with a disappointed sigh. Dustin really did ask the most stupid of questions sometimes.
"A tank would definitely come in handy against the Mind Flayer" Nancy spoke out loud from where she sat loading guns, "At least that's my conclusion from our experience with what we now know was only some of it..."
"I'd love to drive a tank" Hopper added as he wrote out what equipment they may need or were missing.
The plan was to do a quick weapon stock up before they left for the upside down. Mainly for things that were more explosive. Hopper being a cop, would make it easier for them to procure some more lethal items. Joyce was tasked with finding warm but easy to move in clothing for everyone. At El and Eddies warning and from other experience's they knew that the upside down was freezing and they didn't know how long they would be there for. This is why El, Mike and Lucas had been tasked with getting the food supplies together. Right now they were at the shops. Robin, who was slowly losing her mind with nerves, was doing some target practice with a crossbow in the back garden where nobody could see. This was thankfully helping her clear her mind. Max was sat quietly by wishing that she could help in some way, it was killing her that she couldn't go and help them. Erica had been called in to sit with the girl and give her comfort. And in the most extreme circumstances, help her escape.
"I know you are all wishful thinking, but I could make it hella easy for us to sneak into a military base and steal one" Eddie told them as he passed by with a bunch of Jackets handed to him by Joyce to add to the pile of supplies.
"Don't tempt me" Hopper had to fight back his excitement at the prospect, "Imagine the repercussions if we were ever found out..."
"Since when did you care about anything like that?" Murray asked with a raised eyebrow, "For someone who is supposed to lead by example, you don't exactly play by the rules"
"Yeah well, these past few years haven't been easy have they?" Hopper sighed before thinking over something, "Hey err, Eddie?"
"Yeah?" Eddie turned and faced him curiously.
"I could actually use your help in getting something now that I think about it..."
Hopper was now some what getting a long with Eddie. Of course he was still mad, but he had had time to calm down and accept the fact that what had happened couldn't be undone. After all, El had said herself that she hadn't known Hopper was alive and if she did, then she still wouldn't have come back. Just like Eddie, she had wanted them all to be safe. And it had worked for the most part, plus she was still alive and well. And technically, if what El had said was true and she had agreed to stay on her own free will and could come back when ever she wanted, then she hadn't been kidnapped. So Hopper couldn't really fault Eddie for any of that. Also, they hadn't come home empty handed either, they now hopefully had the downfall of Vecna close at hand.
"If you need my help then it must mean that whatever it is, is illegal..." Eddie stated amused.
"Well you could put it like that" Hopper added with a smirk and a shrug, "But they will hopefully be worth the trouble"
"They?"
"Yeah...Steve?"
"Huh? What?" Steve asked a little startled at the sudden shout of his name"
"Your coming to"
"O...Ok. Coming where?"
Everybody lined up in Joyce's living room as she quickly inspected them. She wanted to make sure they were all going to be warm enough, even Eddie who had told her he didn't feel the cold as much as any of them did. And El, who had become used to the environment. Though they assured her they had coped just fine with what they were already wearing, she forced them to put on a coat anyways.
"Should I take anything for Billy to wear?" Joyce fretted as she asked them the question, "What's his size?"
"Don't worry. He's wearing more or less the same get up as us, courtesy of El" Eddie laughed slightly, "He's fine. He'll be grateful for the extra food you packed him though"
"Do you think I should take more? And I'll still take him a coat..."
"No" El told her now, "We are not planning on staying long and it will only weigh us down"
"True" Joyce accepted as she bit at her thumb nail with worry, "Maybe all of you should just stay here...Me, Hopper and Murray can handle this"
"I don't want any of them to go as much as you do" Hopper jumped in, "But even I know we don't stand the slightest chance without El, even with these babies...
Hopper gleefully began to stroke the metal on the RPG-7 rocket launcher he was now in possession of. It had belonged to a known collector that Hopper knew would have refused to hand it over if he had asked. And so with a little help from Eddie, he snuck into where it was kept, and took it along with the three rockets that belonged to it. He also grabbed a flamethrower and its tank which he had reluctantly handed to Steve so that they could carry them back. Yeah, the guy would be pissed when he found out they were gone, he will probably report them to Hoppers Station, but he wouldn't find out it was Hopper that had actually took them. Finally after returning his two knew treasures back to his house, he went out and bought some ammunition and hand grenades along with some other supplies. Honestly, he had no idea what they might need so he tried his best to guess. After all, the Mind Flayer would probably use up all of it alone. Needless to say even he had gained a few weird looks from the shop owner.
"All I ask is you try not to kill any Demobats with them things..." Eddie told him nervously.
"No promises"
"So err, before I chicken out like I really want to. Are we going?" Robin asked sheepishly.
"I can't wait to make that bastard pay for everything" Dustin grinned as he twirled a pickaxe in his hand and almost dropped it, "S...sorry'
"Dude!" Steve berated him before turning to everyone, "Who's idea was it to give children weapons?!"
"They need to protect themselves to" Nancy shrugged as she placed a back pack over her shoulder which contained numerous guns.
"I suppose it could be worse..." Steve commented as he pictured Dustin dropping a gun instead and shuddered. He then spoke to Nancy in a hushed tone so that only she would hear, "Are you sure you should really be coming?"
"I'm not staying here. I have my own payback to give to that Bastard Vecna" Nancy spoke back just as quiet, "I'll be fine. I have guns so I can stay as far back as possible..."
"But..."
"Please, just trust me. I need to do this..."
"Fine. But I swear if things start getting out of hand I'm getting you the hell out of there!"
"You all ready?" Eddie asked cutting off the rest of the conversation as he spoke to the group. He petted Dart before sending it to stand next to Dustin.
"As ready as we'll ever be..." Joyce spoke for everyone as she glanced around at all of their nervous faces.
"Good enough" Eddie shrugged with a smirk, "Just remember that you can stay here if you want. I'll just have to find another way to complete the task"
"No way...we're ready, let's go!" Hopper demanded as he hyped himself up.
"Ok..." Eddie held in a laugh, "Just don't go charging in there swinging weapons around. We're not where the enemies are and the beasts that are through there won't attack you..."
"Damn" Hopper sighed. He really wanted to try out some of his new toys.
Eddie opened the portal without another word. He was afraid that if he did say anything else, then they would be here all day. El walked through first to show the others that it was safe.
"Well time to go" Steve spoke enthusiastically so the others wouldn't be as nervous. He was the next to walk through. He was quickly followed by Nancy and then Hopper. Dustin was next with Dart and then Joyce and Murray. Robin, Mike, Will and Lucas were the last to walk through, Lucas gave Max one more look before he went and vanished into the upside down.
"I'll try to have them all back before dark" Eddie joked to Max and Erica as he went to walk through the portal.
"I'll be waiting" Max laughed before a sudden thought entered her head and she quickly stopped Eddie, "Hey err..."
"What is it?" Eddie asked as he had almost left and had just stopped himself.
"T...try and bring Billy home with you...please?" She asked quietly and a little embarrassed. He may have been a complete arse to her and her friends, but she still cared for him and thought of him as her actual brother.
"I thought that was a given?" Eddie laughed, "I'll do my best! Look after he Erica!" He called to them as he finally left.
"Make sure you all stay safe!" Erica shouted as the portal closed up leaving her and Max alone and afraid for their friends.
"Took you long enough!" Steve scolded Eddie when he finally showed up.
The group had arrived in the upside down version of Hopper and Joyce's house. They had made their way outside so that it wasn't as cramped anymore, only to find themselves surrounded by Demobeasts. Each person was now on guard not knowing if they should attack or not. Well that was everyone except for El. Even with Eddies warning of telling them what to expect, it was still surprising.
"Relax" Eddie told them with a grin as he started walking towards the beasts. They began to clear a path for him, but they continued to watch the newcomers, "Their just curious, they don't get to see many humans after all. No you can't eat them!" Eddie shouted the last part at a seemingly excitable Demogorgon.
"So your still sure they aren't going to hurt us?" Robin asked nervously as she and the others followed Eddie. She kept a close eye on that particular Demogorgon as she passed close by it.
"Not unless I tell them to" Eddie shrugged before stopping in his tracks and turning to face them with a massive grin "Which brings us to the fun part"
"What fun part?" Mike asked suspiciously.
Eddie cupped his hands around his mouth before shouting as loud as he could.
"Hey Vecna?! Their all yours now, I brought them!"
"What the fuck?!"
"Eddie!"
"You arsehole!"
A chorus of curses and threats began to pummel Eddie as everyone began to panic. Each one wondering if Vecna was about to attack them or if these beasts were going to rip them apart. They had to question how stupid they actually were to have trusted Eddie now.
"Your going to die first bastard!" Hopper pointed his gun at Eddie who immediately put his hands up. However, he was laughing to hard to hold them there for long.
"What are you laughing at?" Steve asked curiously as he glanced around. None of the beasts had moved and El was looking at Eddie disapprovingly, though still slightly amused. His face dropped and he sighed, "Wait, was that a prank?"
"S...sorry!" Eddie gasped out through laughs, "I had to...you...you should have seen your faces!"
"How was that funny? I almost died of a heart attack!" Robin shouted before fighting back her own relieved laughter, "God I feel so stupid now..."
"Are you even sure you want our help?" Nancy asked now with a smirk. She relaxed as well as her gun fell to her side, "Because you just almost lost it"
"I have a good mind to turn around and go home now" Mike sulked.
"Classic" Dustin laughed.
"I thought I was about to die..." Joyce sighed quietly.
"I'd have took a good deal of these things with me" Murray told her confidently, "Karate can be quite lethal"
"I almost shot you!" Hopper fumed, "Why did you do that?"
"I took the opportunity, it was to good to miss" Eddie told him after recovering himself a little, then added a little more thoughtfully, "Though Vecna could have heard that depending on how close by he is...so its probably best we don't hang around here for to long"
He turned and began to walk again. This time everyone followed a little more quickly, they didn't want to be caught out again.
"Idiot..." Steve scolded him once more for his dumb arse prank.
"Hey this place is boring...The constant fight for survival can only keep you occupied for so long..." Eddie shrugged with a grin, "I'll take any opportunity to amuse myself if I can"
"That's a funny way to think about surviving" Robin grumbled as she walked along.
They continued to walk for some time as they kept a close eye on the beasts they would pass wearily. Though Eddie kept assuring them they wouldn't attack, it still didn't make them feel any better about it. If he lost control for even a second, it would be game over pretty quickly for them. The numbers were massive.
"So how doesn't Vecna find you with all of these things hanging around?" Robin asked nervously as she almost tripped over a small Demodog.
"He knows where we are" El told her without even the slightest hint of sarcasm to say she was joking.
"Are you being serious?"
"Yes" El answered flatly wondering why the female never believed her the first time.
"If he knows where you are, why isn't he attacking you...or us?" Steve questioned Eddie.
"Because it would be a waste of his resources" Eddie answered him.
"What do you mean?" Hopper asked feeling slightly uneasy. He was beginning to wonder if this was a trap after all.
"I mean...that we can put up as much of a fight as he can. Well I say that... but he can still hold his own against El. He's still stronger. Hell, the only reason any of us here are still alive is just teamwork and luck" Eddie laughed, "Every so often he sends a barrage of Demobeasts at us and destroys some of our forces, but we just end up with more in the end"
"Each battle tires us out" El concluded, "Even One himself. But he stopped attacking us about three weeks ago..."
"Could have been longer" Eddie added soberly, "As I said, time gets away from us in here. But we think the reason he stopped attacking us himself, is because he knew we would eventually need you and that we would go to him instead...Hence the threat, and him leaving us alone"
"Cocky bastard" Steve cursed at Vecna's plan, "We basically played right into his hands"
"Yep" El nodded.
"But at the same time, we thought we should just give him what he wants" Eddie smiled, "A fight to the death and ending this whole thing one way or another"
"I guess we really have no choice on that" Nancy sighed.
"I'm just surprised the Mind Flayer is leaving you alone..." Will added quietly.
"Yeah we don't understand that ourselves" Eddie scratched his head thoughtfully, "Our guess is that Vecna is keeping it away only letting it do some dirty work every now and then to keep it safe. Whilst he prepares to take over the world..."
"As good a reason as any" Dustin shrugged.
"To be honest, we haven't even tried to get close to it ourselves" Eddie smiled, "I just send spy's to make sure it's still behaving"
"It wont be for long" Hopper grinned wildly as he couldn't wait to use his new weapons.
"So where are you hiding out?" Robin asked now as her nerves began to get the better of her.
"Not far now" Eddie told her, "We're staying at the upside down version of Max and Billy's old house"
"I thought we were heading that way" Lucas confirmed as he looked around, "I didn't want to say anything in case I was wrong. But since this place is frozen in the past...won't that house be empty? I mean they hadn't moved in on the day Will was taken"
"We took stuff from other houses" Eddie told them.
"Though the beds are unpleasant" El grimaced at the thought of using them.
"Yeah, I'm glad I don't have to sleep" Eddie laughed.
"Look!" Lucas pointed out, "There's the house!"
Sure enough the house had come into view and everyone gladly walked towards it. They all piled into the building relieved that they could unload for awhile. They had made plans to start the assault as soon as they could, but a little rest and a complete overview of the plan was needed after that stressful walk. As Lucas had suggested, the place looked nothing like it did when Max and Billy had lived there. But as Eddie had pointed out, they had moved some couches and chairs and a table and such over from other houses. Everyone slumped into a seat.
"Let me just go and get Billy" Eddie told them with a smile, "I can hear him in his bedroom cursing the fact that we actually brought you all. He had plenty of notice that we were..."
"So he didn't actually want our help?" Nancy raised an eyebrow.
"Nope" Eddie laughed as he vanished down the hallway.
"What do you think Billy will be like now?" Robin asked a little concerned.
"I don't know..." Nancy shrugged.
"Nearly the same" El told them as she had overheard the conversation, "Though he is a little nicer. We all get along well. His clone did save my life. It had his feelings and memories after all. So its still like the real Billy saved me"
"So you aren't wasting time in talking about me huh?" A familiar and irritated voice interrupted them.
"Billy!" Nearly everyone gasped as their eyes fell on him. Sure they had been told he was still alive, but after witnessing his apparent death. It was surreal to see him standing right in front of them speaking. His attitude definitely remained the same.
"Yes it's me" Billy sighed, "And no, I'm not a walking zombie like this thing here"
He pointed at Eddie who was stood next to him.
"Hey!" Eddie tried not to laugh, "Us previously dead people take offence to the word Zombie. And who are you calling a thing?"
Everyone stared at Billy for a moment. His skin had paled a bit, probably due to lack of actual sunlight. He had lost some weight but they guessed it would have been a lot worse when he was first found, and this was him actually gaining it again. Also, his hair was a little longer but other than that, he was pretty much the same.
"Are...are you ok?" Lucas asked him trying to break the awkwardness that surrounded them. He instantly knew he hadn't picked the right question.
"Do I look ok?" Billy asked a little more agitated. He saw Lucas deflate a little and felt a little guilty This place really had made him slightly softer. He sighed and tried to be a little more pleasant, "I'm better than I was..."
"We err...we brought you some food" Robin offered as she tried to break through the uncomfortable atmosphere.
"Thank you"
"I brought you a coat" Joyce offered as well as she handed it to him. He accepted it a little surprised. He didn't really want it, but he didn't want to seem ungrateful now, "We haven't officially met" Joyce smiled, "I'm Joyce Byers. Jonathan and Will's mom"
"H...hello..." Billy answered awkwardly as Joyce began to shove food into the males hand, "I err...I thought we were heading straight out once they got here?" Billy looked to Eddie for help.
"We will" Eddie shrugged with a smirk, "But this 'Zombie' is going to let you sweat a little first. Besides, we need to go over the plan now that we're all here. We also need to locate Vecna"
"I can't wait until they bastard is dead. The first thing I'm doing is throwing a party!" Hopper told them all surely.
"I might actually get some sleep where I won't fear the world's going to end the next day" Robin added.
Eventually everyone was adding on their own things that they were looking forward to once Vecna was dead. Eventually, only Eddie was left to go.
"So what are you looking forward to Eddie?" Dustin asked him.
"I err...I need to well...you know?..." Eddie began to stuttered over his words as he looked to Billy and El for help.
"Fine" Billy rolled his eyes. He and El knew exactly what was bothering him. And he had made them promise not to tell the any of the others.
"You what?" Dustin asked quizzically as he and the others waited for Eddie to finish speaking.
"Oh err...nothing!" Eddie laughed nervously, "I need to go and grab something real quick...I'll be back soon!"
Eddie quickly excused himself much to the confusion of the others. The troubled expression on his face wasn't missed by anyone as he left the room.
"What's got into him?" Mike asked suspiciously.
Billy and El glanced at each other before Billy quickly changed the subject.
"So Harrington?" he began.
"W...what?" Steve asked a little startled at the call of his name.
"I hear that you helped Eddie save my sister from Vecna?"
"I...I did" Steve confirmed.
"I see..." Billy walked over to him and offered Steve his hand, "I may not have been the best big brother to her, but I still care for her. So for that I'm grateful. Thank you"
"Seriously?" Steve looked at the offered hand a little suspiciously.
"I wouldn't say it otherwise Harrington"
"Your welcome..." Steve accepted the hand as they shook. They quickly let go.
"I owe both you and Eddie a debt that I intend to pay. So if you ever need anything, let me know. The sooner the better. I hate owing people"
"That's unnecessary" Steve brushed him off, "She's our friend after all. We would have done it for any of them"
"Even so. I owe you"
"Right everybody eat!" Joyce interrupted them again, "And after that, we need to get ready to leave. The sooner this shit is dealt with, the sooner we all get our lives back!"
"Damn right!" Hopper agreed as he still refused to place his rocket launcher down.
The group ended up busying themselves with making sandwiches and splitting out the weapons. All the while everyone tried to scrape stories of Billy's travels in the upside down from him. Of course he wasn't happy sharing his life stories, but they did manage to get a few short stories from him. Giving up, they went back to talking about what they were looking forward to once all of this was over. Steve took the welcome distraction to speak with Nancy.
"Now is your chance to go and speak to him you know?" he told her quietly as he took a bite of a sandwich Joyce had handed him.
"It can wait" Nancy told him as she tired her hardest to nibble at her own cheese sandwich. She was starving, but it wasn't quite agreeing with her.
"Nervous?"
"What would give you that idea?"
"You need to talk to him now"
"I don't want to..."
"Since when did Nancy Wheeler get scared?"
"I...I'm not scared"
"Nervous, scared. There the same thing"
"I'm not scared!"
"Prove it. Go and talk to him. I promise that whatever happens. I'll be here for you" Steve smiled at her kindly as he gently squeezed her hand as reassurance.
"Ok..." Nancy smiled at him with a small sigh, "God you can be irritating...thank you"
"Anytime"
She placed the almost untouched sandwich down and with one last thumbs up from Steve, she left the room. She made her way through the unfamiliar house not knowing what room Eddie had went into. Instead, she tried a different tactic.
"Eddie?" She called out quietly hoping he would answer, "Eddie where are you?"
Surprisingly she heard a door open and when she looked, it belonged to a room at the end of the hallway.
"What's up Nancy?" Eddie asked her curiously.
"Ca...can we talk?" Nancy's nerves were beginning to get to much for her. She honestly didn't think it would be this hard for her to speak to him.
"Err...Sure..." Eddie accepted as he glanced around behind him, "Just give me one minute..." He quickly closed the door and not long after, she heard a random thud. Straight after, the door opened again and Eddie appeared once more, stepping aside as he invited her into the room. She walked in and he closed the door behind her.
He leant against the wall with his arms folded as he watched her closely whilst she examined the room clearly stalling for time. There wasn't much to see. Eddie didn't have a bed as he didn't need one, he did have a couch though and a desk. He also had a small collection of guitars that clearly belonged to the upside down judging by there condition. However, they must have still worked. After a few moments of no speaking, Eddie sighed loudly.
"Are you going to tell me what you wanted to talk about? Or are you just going to stand there awkwardly?"
"Oh err...sorry" Nancy turned to face him slightly flustered, "I...I thought I'd ask you what was bothering you?!"
Judging by her sudden enthusiasm on the last sentence. Eddie knew that what she was saying wasn't the truth. Also, he could quite clearly hear her heart beat speeding up with nerves. He raised an eyebrow as he stared at her. She gave a small smile as she looked anywhere but at him. Eddie rolled his eyes before sighing heavily. If he wanted to get her to talk maybe he should answer her first. He moved away from the wall and sat down on the couch.
"You really want to know?"
"Y...yeah" Nancy agreed, surprised that he was actually willing to tell her, "Why did you excuse yourself so quickly like that?"
"Because I was hungry" Eddie admitted a little shyly, "I err...I came in here to drink some blood..."
"Oh..." Nancy remembered that Eddie was self conscious about drinking blood from Demobeasts. Even so, she had to confirm it was from one of them, "Was it a Demo creatures blood?"
"Yeah. I err, I just threw its body out if the window so you wouldn't see it" He told her with a shy smile.
"I see. I'm sorry for interrupting..."
"Don't worry about it. I'd finished anyways..."
Even with his explanation, something was still bothering Nancy. She knew he wasn't telling the whole truth. She had seen his face as he had left the room.
"So what else was bothering you?" She asked.
"Nothing gets past you does it?"
"Nope"
"Ok..." Eddie took a deep breath feeling slightly awkward with what he was about to admit to. But his reasoning right now was that he had nothing to lose. He had been open with Nancy before, he considered her a close friend now. Plus hopefully he would gain the knowledge of what she had really come for, "Well the honest truth is...I'm beginning to freak out with the fact that today is highly likely... my last day alive"
"Huh?" Nancy wasn't expecting that.
"I know I act like it doesn't bother me" Eddie continued with a nervous smile, "But I had to leave whilst everyone talked about what they are looking forward to after all of this is over. It...it reminds me that I don't have a future"
"So that's really why you left the room earlier?" Nancy realised speaking half to herself and half to him.
"Yeah...I didn't want to bring the mood down. Though I still have to listen to them in here" Eddie half laughed, "This hearing of mine really is a curse"
"Eddie I'm so sorry, I didn't realise...I'm sure if we tell the others they'll stop..."
"Don't worry about it" Eddie brushed her off, "You all have a right to plan out your futures. And I don't want Dustin to find out. He's already got it into his head that I'll live. Let him hold onto that until this is all over. I don't want him doing anything reckless"
"Good point" Nancy slumped as she thought over his words. Her heart went out to him. Even with his explaining, she knew she couldn't comprehend how he actually felt.
"Yeah well...what happens, happens" Eddie laughed a little as he fidgeted with his fingers, "Sooo...are you going to tell me why you wanted to talk to me?"
"Oh err..." Nancy suddenly became nervous again, "It, its really not important anymore..."
"Nancy?" Eddie raised an eyebrow at her unimpressed.
"Fine..." she sighed, "I wanted to err...I..." she thought for a moment then quickly spoke, "I wanted to know if you wanted to go to our graduation Prom with me?"
"What?"
"Yeah...I told you it wasn't important anymore after what you told me..." Nancy wouldn't even look Eddie in the face.
"Why are you asking me?"
"Well you know..." Nancy had to think on the spot, "We're friends, we go to the same high school, we're both leaving. I thought it would be fun"
"I see..." Eddie eyed her curiously. He didn't know if he should believe her or not, but he didn't want to push it. He smiled to himself.
"What?" Nancy asked him surprised.
"I spill my guts to you and you won't tell me the real reason your here..." Eddie laughed slightly.
"I...I did..."Nancy looked down at her hands as she fidgeted. She sighed heavily, "Fine...I..."
"So what about Steve or Jonathan?" Eddie asked enthusiastically as he cut her off.
"Oh, me and Jonathan have spilt up and Steve and I are just staying friends for now" Nancy answered him with a smile of her own. She knew Eddie hadn't let her finish explaining her other story because he had seen how uncomfortable she had become. She was grateful for it, "There's feelings there of course, but whether there romantic or just trauma from this whole experience, we don't know. So we decided its best to stay friends and just see what happens, so going to a dance together isn't the best option"
"Ah, so I'm your last ditch effort at getting a date?"
"No! That's not it at all! I..." Nancy became defensive.
"I'm joking!" Eddie laughed, "But err, school dances really aren't my style"
"Oh. That's err, that's fine..." Nancy sighed. Surprisingly, she felt slightly disappointed.
"But..." Eddie continued taking her by surprise, "If I do make it out of this alive, and the whole town are no longer out for my blood, then I guess I'll go with you"
"Really?" Nancy wanted to confirm trying to hide the over joyed smile that threatened at her lips.
"Yeah, it could be fun. I should really start trying new things. Life's to short after all" Eddie shrugged with a grin. He then added a little more playfully, "Since it's a school dance, does it come with after dance activities?"
"Seriously?!"
Eddie sniggered clearly amused at her reaction.
"I wouldn't say no..." Nancy answered with a smirk of her own as she got up and began to leave the room leaving a shocked Eddie behind. She turned and faced him again once she had reached the door, "Are you coming to kill a monster or not?"
"So who's going where and what are we taking?" Dustin asked determinedly as everyone stood around a table with a makeshift map drawn out by Billy.
"Well me and El are going after that bastard of a Mind Flayer" Billy answered him as he pointed at a spot on the map, "It's constantly been in this area so we have no reason to believe its moved since we last checked"
"And I'll be going to Vecna" Eddie answered with a smile, "Though he's a little trickier to track down. Even my hearing or sense of smell can't pick him out here"
"Well we need more people on the Mind Flayer. That being said, we need enough to kill, or at least keep Vecna busy enough, for El to get there" Steve added thoughtfully, "I've already said I'll go with Eddie so that's decided"
"Right, and I'm off to give the Mind Flayer a surprise" Hopper grinned evilly as he tapped the rocket launcher.
"Murray, and Joyce are also going to the Mind Flayer. As is Will and Mike. Right guys?" Steve asked them. They all confirmed.
"I'm going to pay Vecna a visit to" Nancy added sternly.
"And I'm going to stay here and have dinner ready for when you all get back" Robin added. Everyone stared at her confused and judgingly. Sighing, she gave in, "Fine, I guess I'll go on the destroying Vecna team"
"So what about me and Dustin?" Lucas asked.
"I'm going with Eddie and Steve" Dustin answered before anyone else had the chance to suggest anything.
"I'd like to go with you to" Lucas added determined, "That arse hole has to pay for what he did to Max"
Everyone looked at each other as they thought it over. Finally they looked back at the two having come to an unspoken agreement.
"You two are going to the Mind Flayer" Eddie told them flatly.
"What?! Why?!" They both protested.
"The Mind Flayer is going to take a hell of a lot of man power to take it down. Frankly I don't even think nine of you will be enough. Your best bet is El, that rocket launcher and the flame thrower. We would come and help to, but we can't risk the Mind Flayer and Vecna joining up together, we need to keep them apart. Each are dangerous in their own right, I doubt we'd be able to protect ourselves with both of them attacking at the same time. That being said, the Mind Flayer is probably a little less dangerous, so you are going there" Eddie told them.
"But...How is the Mind Flayer safer than Vecna?" Dustin asked clearly upset.
"Because if Vecna wanted to, he could kill us all with a flick of the wrist"
"He could do that to you lot as well" Lucas argued.
"Yeah, but then at least it would be only us" Eddie smiled.
"But.. "
"Look your going there and that's that" Steve cut them off, "At least with all of you kids together we will know where you are should we need to get you out. Hopper and the others will be able to keep you safer than we could right now"
"We need more man power on our side anyways" El added, "The more to distract, the better"
"Fine..." Dustin accepted bitterly. He turned to Eddie and Steve sternly, "Once the Mind Flayer is dead, I'm coming straight to Vecna with El. So neither of you had better die!"
Steve and Eddie grinned at each other having both been scolded by Dustin, before nodding at him.
"What about me and Nancy?" Robin asked him sheepishly, "Do you want us to stay alive?"
"Of course" Dustin smiled at her before turning and glaring at the two males again, "But them two are idiots that like to rush into danger without thinking"
"One time..." Eddie sulked.
"And look where it got you"
"Point..."
"Well if that's everything, everyone grab your stuff and let's go!" Hopper commanded as he picked up his own things, "We have a world to save and some monsters to kill!"
Billy and El took their group and left the house with a warning to Eddies group to stay alive until they managed to get back to them. Robin watched them leave longingly.
"Is it to late to swap groups?" she asked hopefully, "I don't really want my neck snapped the moment we meet Vecna..."
"Sorry, your stuck with us" Nancy laughed, "You can hold your own, so don't worry to much. If you couldn't, we wouldn't have brought you"
"Well I guess that's something" Robin laughed as well, "Thanks"
"I hope they'll all be alright" Steve worried as he watched the group vanish around a corner.
"They'll be fine, they have El after all" Nancy told him surely, "Let's worry about ourselves for now"
"You need you to worry about more than that" Steve raised an eyebrow at her before turning abruptly at a loud voice.
"Time to find out where our little Veccy is hiding!" Eddie announced enthusiastically to them as he sat down next to Dart who he had demanded stay behind with his group.
"How do we do that exactly?" Robin eyed him suspiciously.
"I told you" Eddie answered her with a smile, "I can connect to the Hive mind now. I have a Demobat that follows him. When I want to check where he is, I just enter its mind. Of course I'm sure Vecna knows I'm watching him, but he hasn't killed the bat yet..."
"Oh..."
Without another word, Eddie placed his hand on Darts head. Immediately his eyes misted over and the others could tell he was no longer there in the room with them. At least, his consciousness wasn't. They waited patiently.
It wasn't long before Eddie was inside of the Bats mind seeing through its eyes as if they were his own, granted everything was a little more red depending on the heat of an object. Which in this place, made it easy to pick out anything living. From what Eddie could see, it was on top of a building. He commanded the bat to show him Vecna, and so it flew, it flew off of the roof and Eddie saw instantly, that it was at the destroyed Creel house.
"What the hell is he doing back here?" He thought to himself.
The bat flew into the familiar attic room through the crack that had spilt the house in half, and was met directly with Vecna himself. The man stared at the bat with an amused smile on his face.
"Hello Edward" He spoke, "I'll be waiting here for you and your friends"
With those words he raised his wrist and without warning, the Demobat was destroyed.
Eddie almost screamed at the unexpected pain that shot through his entire body as he was thrown back into it after the bats sudden demise.
"Are you ok?" the others worried as they were quickly at his side seeing his discomfort.
"Yeah I'm fine" Eddie smiled at them reassuringly, "The bat not so much..."
"What do you mean?" Nancy asked concerned.
"Well... Vecna is waiting for us... at the Creel house..."
El and Billy's group had just cleared the town houses when the distant silhouette of the Mind Flayer could be seen. It was in the location of where Hawkins lab was and Will instantly got shivers down his spine at the sudden sight of it. The back of his neck began to prickle.
"Are you ok?" Mike asked noticing his friends discomfort.
"Yeah" Will answered trying not to sound to nervous, "It...it knows we're here"
"Good. That means we don't have to sneak" Hopper accepted gladly.
"We still need caution" El told him seriously.
"Agreed" Joyce gave Hopper a warning look before turning to Will, "Maybe you should wait back at the house..."
"No" Will denied her, "I want to see this thing die once and for all"
"The sooner the better" Billy added from where he walked up front, "This thing has taken to much of my life already. Its not having any more"
"So does that mean your coming back with us once this is over?" Lucas asked him curiously.
"That remains to be seen" Billy answered passively, "I've got used to life here after all"
"What about Max?"
"She's been fine with out me so far...so to speak...she's probably glad I'm gone"
"That's really not the case" Lucas scoffed. Billy just eyed him curiously and so Lucas began to explain to him how Max had really been since Billy had supposedly died.
After another ten minutes they had gotten to the last line of trees that shielded them from the field the Mind Flayer was currently occupying. Everyone stopped for a breather and to try and calm their ever growing nerves down. The thing was massive and the noises it made were loud enough to make the ground shake. It was not going to be easy to take down, that much was clear.
"So err...How are we going to do this?" Joyce asked as she looked up at it through the trees nervously.
"Yeah...my Karate is not going to cut it here..." Murray added.
"You have the flame thrower Murray" Hopper sighed, "Start thinking logically or your going to die. The rest of you, ready you weapons. Throw as many grenades as possible and as many Molotov's as possible. We should all probably spilt up and attack it from different directions. The more this thing burns the better. Kids?"
"Yeah?" Dustin, Will, Lucas and Mike all looked at Hopper.
"Don't get to close to it. El?"
El looked at him expectantly.
"Please be careful, keep Murray and Joyce as safe as you can as you get closer to it but more importantly, keep yourself safe"
"You to" El smiled at him.
"Well, let's get this shit on the road!"
The Creel house was now in full view and Steve, Eddie, Robin and Nancy all stood looking at it from a little ways down the street. The crack hadn't been repaired here, the damage to the house was the same as the day it was first destroyed. Luckily with Eddie and Steve being here before, they knew how to get in side. However they weren't in any rush. Hundreds, if not thousands of Demobeasts were staring at them. These were the ones not under Eddies control yet they weren't attacking. Their guess was, they were ordered not to just yet. That being said, the ones that were under Eddies control, had followed them. This was to help hold off Vecna's own army when they did decide to attack. It was currently a calm before the storm situation.
"Hey Dart?" Eddie spoke to the creature that was stood beside him, "You can go to El and the others now. Once their finished, lead them here"
Dart made a weird gruff noise before turning and running away. It had been decided that Dart would accompany Eddie until they had found Vecna. Once that was done, it was to find it's way to El's group. This would show that the hunt had been successful and they would be able to find them once they were finished with the Mind Flayer.
"How will it know where they are?" Steve asked curiously.
"He'll sniff them out. Plus he knows where the Mind Flayer is"
"I hope they'll be able to kill it..." Nancy commented quietly.
"That's all we can do, is hope" Robin reassured her, "For now, we need to concentrate on ourselves. There's a mad, monster of a man in there. And I think he's through playing games"
"Oh yeah" Eddie agreed with a smirk, "He is ready to kill us alright"
"So what are we waiting for?" Steve asked with a smirk of his own as he swung his spiked bat in one hand, "Let's get going before he decides to tear us apart with these things instead"
They began to walk forward again, slowly.
"Nancy, I really think you should wait back in our world with Max" Steve commented wearily as they got closer to the building. The atmosphere was tense.
"Why's that?" Robin asked a little ticked off that he was giving Nancy the option but not her.
"Oh err...I forgot you were here" Steve laughed nervously as Nancy choked on air with panic.
"How?" Robin asked a little hurt.
"I'm just worried that's all"
"What about me? Are you not worried about me?" Robin pretended to be angry.
"Well yeah..." Steve tried to dig himself out of a hole not knowing that she was joking, "But with Nancy it's a little different at the moment. I'm sure Eddie understands...right?"
"Do I?" Eddie asked curiously.
He clearly had no idea what Steve was talking about. And when Steve glanced at Nancy confused, he saw her indicating for him to shut up.
"You didn't tell him, did you?" Steve sighed.
"Tell me what?" Eddie asked intrigued.
"Nothing!" Nancy brushed it off quickly as she pushed ahead of them and walked a little faster towards the house, "We have more pressing matters!"
"But Nancy..." Steve tried to protest only for her to talk over him loudly as they finally reached the house.
"So that bastard is waiting in here then?"
"Yep. In the Attic" Eddie confirmed, letting his confusion slide.
"Great, let's go!"
"Hold your horses" Eddie stopped her, "We've come this far. The bastard can come to us now. We stand a fairer chance out here in the open then up there with him"
"But how do we get him down here?" Robin asked happily accepting not having to climb.
"Simple" Eddie smirked before shouting as he looked up at the attic of the house, "Hey arsehole, we're here. Now you come down to us or we're going to be stood waiting for each other for a long arse time!"
"Do you seriously think that's going to work?" Steve asked sceptically.
Eddie didn't say anything. Instead he looked at Steve still wearing the smirk on his face. Then, much to Steve's and the two girls surprise, a red fog began to surround them all.
"What the hell is happening?" Robin panicked.
Steve looked at Eddie unimpressed.
"You got lucky..." He commented as the fog fully engulfed them whilst Eddie laughed at his words.
It took a moment but eventually the cloud of fog began to clear and the four friends were left staring at each other.
"What just happened?" Robin asked as Nancy also looked on for answers.
"Welcome to Vecna's inner sanctum" Steve answered heavily.
"Seriously?" Robin asked loudly, clearly distressed.
"Yep" Eddie confirmed as he turned around to face the pieces of floating house, "And he's right there"
Everyone turned to where Eddie had indicated and sure enough, there was Vecna maliciously smiling at them all. Everyone put on a brave face as they stared right back at him, even if they weren't quite feeling it. However, they didn't want to show any weakness.
"It's nice of you all to join me again" Vecna spoke politely to them, "Given our last interaction, your all extremely brave for coming back"
"What can we say?" Steve bit back, "We're not going to stop until your dead"
"Even at the expense of your friend Edwards life?" Vecna smirked.
"Damn right" Eddie smirked back, "I'm willing to pay that price as long as it means your coming with me"
"Foolish. Even after the gift I gave to you, you still choose the losing side" Vecna scoffed.
"More like curse" Eddie muttered quietly as Nancy shouted to Vecna.
"We're not going to lose you bastard!" She glared at the man defiantly, "You are! Once that Mind Flayer is dead, its your turn!"
"Do you really think your friends will be successful?" Vecna asked amused, "My only regret is that I won't get to kill Eleven myself"
"Oh she's not going to die, none of them are" Steve smiled through his anger.
"And neither are any of us!" Robin added trying to sound braver, "Well except for you...and Eddie...sorry Eddie..."
"No worries" Eddie laughed, "Good trash talk..."
Robin shrugged at him with an apologetic smile before going back to staring at Vecna.
"You know" Vecna began to speak again clearly amused, "Whilst your friends are having fun trying to take down the, Mind Flayer did you call it? I'm going to have some fun of my own. Rather than just killing you straight away myself, I'm going to let my little pets do it for me. I'm in a good mood. I'll let you all suffer a little longer"
"Bring the Demo beasts into this all you want. I have my own..." Eddie told him unfazed by the threat.
"You miss understand" Vecna's smirk widened, "Though I will add my beasts to this. Look around you. What's missing?"
Eddie and the others looked at each other confused before doing as Vecna had told them. They had no idea what they were looking for as other than the floating house pieces, Vecna and the rocks everywhere, there was nothing.
"What are we looking for?" Robin asked confused.
"Oh no..." Eddie spoke quietly as realisation set in and horror was etched on his face.
"What?" Nancy asked confused.
"Wh...where are they?" Eddie now questioned Vecna angrily as he ignored her.
"Where are who?" Steve asked clearly just as confused as Nancy was as Vecna's smirk widened into a smile. He looked around once more, making sure to scrutinise everything. Then it hit him, "Oh no..."
"I don't like these 'oh no's'" Robin commented uncomfortably, "Can you please tell us what's up?!"
"I see you've noticed?" Vecna finally spoke as Steve and Eddie continued to look around as if expecting something.
"What have you done?" Steve asked him nervously.
"Exactly what I did to Edward here" Vecna explained amused, "Only these ones were left dead for much longer and as a result, completely starved. So I guess their not actually 'exactly' the same"
"Shit..." Eddie despaired. He had been avoiding looking at a certain spot, but hearing what Vecna had said, he had to prepare himself. And exactly what he had been expecting when he looked over, had happened. Chrissy was no longer there, "Please tell me you didn't?..."
"See for yourselves, but not here. Back in my world" Vecna told them smugly as red mist began to surround them all again.
Eddie was full of dread. He really didn't want to witness what he knew he was about to, he just hoped he wouldn't see her...the others he could handle. However, he wasn't that lucky. As soon as the fog had once again cleared and they were back in the upside down. He came face to face with no other than Chrissy herself. Eddie stared at her in horror as she stood slightly hunched snarling at him. Her appearance was dreadful. Her eyes were still completely glazed over and she was covered in slime, her clothes were ripped and she was covered in dried blood. The only thing that had really changed since he had seen her die the way she had, was her bones had completely repaired, he guessed she had the same regenerative ability that he did.
"Chr...Chrissy?" he stuttered hoping she would acknowledge him. She didn't, she continued to snarl as her blank eyes glared at him.
"What the fuck? What the hell? What do we do?" Robin's voice entered his ears as he felt his three friends backs press against his.
Tearing his eyes away from Chrissy for a moment he glanced around. They were surrounded! By all the people that Eddie had drank blood from who Vecna had then killed, as well as Fred and Patrick. All of them had the same type of appearance as Chrissy, and all of them were stood around them in a circle as if waiting for something. To add to it, hundreds of Demobeasts were also surrounding them. Some Vecna's and some Eddies. Ignoring them, Eddie once again stared back at Chrissy.
"Are we supposed to kill these ... again?" Nancy asked as she stared horrified at Fred. Her shotgun pointed directly at him. She felt terrible that this had happened to him whilst she was close by. If she had known, she may have been able to save him. She didn't want to shoot, but she wasn't about to let herself die either.
"Look at them Nancy!" Steve shouted nervously as he readied his bat. He didn't want to attack another human being either, but were these even human anymore? They looked more like zombies, "Their already dead...long dead, there's no hope for them...Its them or us!"
"But their not attacking" Robin pointed out hopefully, "Maybe they do have control over their own minds like Eddie...maybe we just need to give them blood...Eddie survives off of Demobeasts now. Maybe we can give them some of their blood?"
"What do you think Eddie? Do you think we can save them?" Steve asked but didn't get an answer. He tried again, but again, he didn't get an answer. He tore his eyes away from the people in front of him and glanced back to Eddie. It was then he saw Eddie was to lost in his distress over Chrissy. He was just watching her, clearly upset and also scared. Before he got chance to snap him out of it though, Vecna's voice interrupted.
"So, do you like my pets?" his mocking tone sailed at them as he appeared on the broken steps of the Creel house.
"Your a cruel bastard" Steve spat at him.
"Is that so? I did give them a second life after all. Now all of your friends are back. Ah Nancy, here comes a late arrival for you"
Nancy was confused at his words until she saw the outline of a person stumbling their way towards them. As they got closer to the dimly lit street light, Nancy dropped her gun in horror and covered her mouth as tears sprang to her eyes
"B...Barb..." she whispered out painfully.
"So you recognise her?" Vecna asked amused.
"Why? Why would you do that?!" Steve fumed as he also stared at the approaching Barbara in horror.
"I thought I'd be nice and give you all a little reunion" Vecna smirked, "Of course all they want is your blood, but I will let you join them once they've succeeded in killing you all. Except you Edward, you've had to many chances. I'm going to take great pleasure in watching you die at your friends hands"
"You Bastard!" Nancy screamed at him as the tears continued to stream down her face.
"Ah, I also have a promise to keep to you don't I Nancy? I think I'll send some of these Demobeasts to pay you family a visit. In fact, I'll let them pay the whole town a visit. With Eleven held up somewhere else, you've all given me the perfect opportunity to carry out my plan. At least on your precious Hawkins for now!"
"No!" Nancy, Steve and Robin protested in horror as portals began to open in the cracks that had first opened over three months ago. Eventually, the whole thing had began to glow again.
"Die you arsehole!" Nancy cursed as she quickly picked up her shotgun and shot towards Vecna.
Unfortunately for her, one of Vecna's puppets jumped in the way and took the bullet for him, falling to the ground in a heap. She almost dropped the gun again, completely horrified that she had just shot a person. But when she saw them wriggling around on the floor as they slowly began to heal, she realised they definitely weren't human anymore. She glanced at Eddie wondering if he truly was able to be saved.
"Calm down Nancy" Steve warned her, "You need to stay out of danger, please go and hide somewhere..."
"Like where?" Nancy fumed as she flat out refused to hide, "He's going to try and kill us all one way or another. Hiding will only prolong it"
"That's better then nothing!" Steve shot at her just as angry, "It's not just you that you have to worry about anymore!"
"Don't say anything!" Nancy bit back as she cocked the gun again, "I'm staying here..."
"No your..." Steve was about to protest again.
However Vecna wasn't waiting around for them to continue their spat. As soon as the crack looked like it did when the portal had first opened those months ago, he ordered his Demobeasts to go through in their hundreds. Once that was done, he ordered the rest to attack the group. He then ordered his puppets to attack the group as well. He watched on amused as the he saw the panic evident on their faces.
"Shit, what do we do? Should we kill them?" Robin panicked as two began to advance on her as she stood with her crossbow ready.
"Like Steve said, their already dead!" Nancy told her sternly. She had already accepted the fact, "We can't save these ones. Their bodies are back in our world. These are just empty shell's. Kill them!"
She followed through on her own words as she aimed and shot Fred straight in the head almost obliterating it. She felt a horrible pang of guilt and it made her sick to her stomach, but it needed to be done. She glanced at Vecnas beasts spilling into the cracks with despair, that's when she noticed that Eddies creatures were fighting back. They were also going through and stopping most of Vecnas from also going through. She guessed that Eddie had subconsciously ordered them to interfere. Grateful but still worried, she shot another round of bullets at some incoming Demodogs.
Seeing Nancy begin to fight for her life, Steve decided he wasn't going to let her feel the burden on her own as he swung his bat and it struck Patrick's head. It got stuck and he had to pull on it extremely hard to pull it out, he was almost sick himself. But seeing Patrick fall to the floor no longer moving, he knew he had done the right thing. Though his grasp on right and wrong were abit mixed at the moment. He went into his own battle mode after that. Seeing the other two, Robin was still hesitant. However that soon changed when the two people in front of her began to sprint at her. Adrenaline took over and she quickly aimed and shot an arrow directly through one of their heads. She watched shocked as they fell to the floor. She had no time to dwell on it though, the other one was almost in front of her. She fumbled with an arrow as she tried to aim her crossbow again, she was to slow. The crazed person grabbed her arm causing her to scream. What made it worse was that she recognised the man. It was the one they had spoken to in the back of the ambulance. He had seemed completely fine, yet here he was. As his teeth were close to sinking into her shoulder, a spiked bat connected with the mans face. When pulled away, he fell to the floor and Steve appeared in front of her.
"You need to be more careful" He warned her and then quickly swallowed his own words when she shot an arrow behind him. He turned just in time to see a Demogorgon fall heavily to the ground.
"So do you" She panted.
Whilst this was all going on, Eddie had been knocked to the floor as Chrissy had quickly sprung at him. He was refusing to fight back as he held her back. One hand was pushing hard against her shoulder whilst he used his other forearm to hold back her teeth as they ripped into it. Her sharp nails were digging into his shoulders as she tried her hardest to get to his throat.
"Please stop" he begged her. Hoping against hope that he could get through to her, "If its blood you need, I'll give you it. Just please...become yourself again"
As his blood spilled down his arm, and Chrissy's frenzied bites became more vicious with the taste of it, he knew she was a lost cause. Was this really what would happen to him if he refused to drink blood? He wouldn't wish this on his worst enemy. Well, maybe Vecna. He lay watching her continue to rip his arm to pieces not really feeling the pain as he had gone numb to it, he didn't know what to do. He could hear the others fighting for their lives, he could hear Vecna's amused laughs. Could they really win this? He was close to giving up. He wasn't making it out of this alive anyways. At least it would technically be Chrissy killing him and not Vecna. If he died now, what would that mean for his friends though? Would they be doomed to die to? Would his Demobeasts turn on them once he was gone? All these questions poured through his mind as he continued to stare up at Chrissy. Was he really going to let them all die just because he couldn't bare to kill a girl that was already long gone? That's when he heard it, Nancy's broken voice quietly saying goodbye to her best friend Barb. He heard the gun being readied, he heard the slight clicking as her finger positioned itself on the trigger. Then he heard the shot. He heard the body fall to the floor and Nancy's distraught sobs as she took in what she had just done. But then he heard her fiercely wiping her face as she went back into battle. She knew what she had needed to do and done it. He needed to do the same. Filling himself with determination, he raised up his knees and positioned his feet under Chrissy's stomach. He kicked her away as hard as he could, sending her flying backwards onto the ground. She left deep scratches behind on his shoulders as she went and took a small chunk of his arm to, but he couldn't think about that right now. He quickly got to his feet.
"Nancy?" He spoke loudly.
"Y...yeah?" Nancy answered confused and still a little tearful.
"Can I borrow a gun please?"
"Huh? S...sure" she agreed as she threw the one she was already holding at him. He caught it easily.
Readying it, he pointed it directly at Chrissy's face as she headed straight for him again. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to try and clear his mind. Opening them again, he said his final goodbyes to her.
"I'm sorry. I really didn't want it to end this way for you. I wish I could have saved you..." He took the shot.
Chrissy's last snarl left her lips as she fell lifeless to the floor. Over whelming emotion took over him then as the gun fell from his hand and he stared at her body distraught. He took some steadying breaths to stop himself from breaking down. He had done the right thing, he had to tell himself that. He needed to place all the upset he now felt into the anger he already had for Vecna. That bastard was going to die, and Eddie was going to stay alive to witness it, if not kill him himself! He glared up to where Vecna was stood. The mans amused smirk had slowly began to fade seeing that these people were willing to kill their old friends after all. He honestly thought they wouldn't have the strength to do it. And now all of his puppets, were dead.
"You may have killed them all" Vecna told him trying not to sound surprised, "But you can't hope to survive against all of my creatures. Your friends are already beginning to tire. You have no hope"
"Is that so?" Eddie smirked at him, "We'll just have to come up with another plan then won't we?"
Vecna looked at him thoughtfully wondering what he meant by that. He wasn't able to enter the males mind anymore, so he couldn't find out either. Still, he was intrigued to see how determined he was now.
"Steve, Nancy, Robin!" Eddie quickly got all of their attention, "We need to go back to our world for a while!"
"What? Why?" They began to ask. However they didn't have chance to argue as Eddie grabbed them all and pulled them through a portal as quick as he could.
On the other side, the whole town had once again been split. The Demo creatures were everywhere. And with Eddies intense hearing, he could hear screams from people in the town. They didn't have time to dwell on that right now, they needed to get somewhere quickly. Without much of an explanation, Eddie began to run making the others follow.
"What the hell?!" Steve fumed, "We need to kill Vecna! We were winning!"
"No we weren't. Like he said, you're all tired. If we'd stayed how we were, you'd all die..." Eddie answered shortly.
"Then where are we going?" Steve asked completely confused as they dodged fighting creatures, "We can't leave the others there!"
"We're not! There's just been a change of plans. We're going to Hawkins lab!" Eddie told them.
"What for?" Robin asked beginning to pant as she desperately tried to keep up.
"You'll see!" Eddie told her, "I just hope there still some there..."
"To get to the lab we'll need to go through town!" Nancy realised, "People will see you!"
"I think I'm the least of their worries right now!" Eddie half laughed, "And if they do try to stop me, well, I'll just have to fight back! Either way, I'm going to destroy Vecna..."
"Let's hope that's the case" Steve agreed.
They ran for a few more minutes and town was almost in sight, when Nancy suddenly stopped and clutched at her stomach, clearly in pain. Noticing this the others stopped to.
"What's the matter Nancy?" Steve panicked as he was quickly at her side, "I knew you shouldn't have come with us!"
"I'm fine!" Nancy argued as she tried to run again, but once more grasped at her stomach.
"We really need to go" Eddie told them a little irritated, "I don't know how much time we have left..."
"I agree" Robin added nervously as Demo creatures ran at them only to be knocked away by the ones Eddie controlled, "It's not safe here"
"Well Nancy isn't coming with us" Steve told them flatly, "I'll take her somewhere remotely safe and then meet back up with you guys..."
"No!" Nancy fumed as she cut him off and pushed him aside, "I'm coming. I'm seeing this thing through to the end!"
"Nancy you can't..."
"Yes I can!"
"For God's sake Nancy! Your pregnant! You need to think about your own health as well as the babies!" Steve shouted at her then abruptly fell silent as he realised what he had just done. Nancy stared at him in dismay.
"W...what?" Robin stuttered in shock.
"Whoa, I thought you said you and Steve were just friends?" Eddie's eyes widened before he slightly laughed, "Your going to make a great father Steve...but we'll have to talk about this later, we..."
"Err..." Steve shook his head causing Eddie to stop mid sentence.
"Steve isn't the dad" Nancy sighed as she resigned herself to the truth being out.
"Jonathan?"
"What do you take me for? No...its not him" Nancy denied.
"Then who?" Eddie asked confused.
"Who do you think?" Nancy rolled her eyes, "There's only one other person"
"Wait...really? B...but you got the...the trip to the pharmacy?" Eddie questioned as the truth hit him filling him with shock.
"It didn't work" Nancy admitted, "There not one hundred percent guaranteed. This babies proof of that"
"Wait, what's going on?" Robin asked now also confused, "Who is the dad?"
"Eddie..." Steve told her quietly.
"What? When? How? Well I know how so please don't explain it. But when?"
"Three months ago" Nancy told her as the pains finally began to fade away.
"And Steve knows? How?"
"He was there when I got the test. In fact I made him buy it..."
"From the next town over...that was fun" Steve added sarcastically.
"Oh...shit...how do you feel about it?"
"Well it was quite embarrassing..." Steve began.
"Not you idiot" Robin cut him off, "Nancy"
"It's still a shock...but I err, I've decided I'm keeping it..." Nancy admitted shyly, "Though I'm going to have to give up on going to college and my parents will probably disown me over it all..."
"You haven't told them?!"
Nancy shook her head in return. She then turned to Eddie who had remained quiet as he stared off into to space.
"Eddie?" she spoke to him to get his attention.
"Huh?" Eddie looked right at her blinking a few times to clear his vision again.
"I'm sorry I never told you earlier. I chickened out. I didn't want to upset you further because of your situation. With... well with you having a death sentence over your head, I didn't want to make you feel worse about it. No one wants to leave a child behind...well unless you don't want it in which case you might not have cared. I really am sorry..."
"At...at least it now makes sense to me about what you and Steve kept whispering about..."
"You heard all that?...Of course you did..." Nancy scolded herself as she kept forgetting about his heightened senses, "So err, wh...what do you think?"
"I think that..." He trailed off for a moment. After a slight pause, he continued, "I think we need to get to the lab. There's still a warzone going on around us and Vecna isn't dead yet. We need to go"
He turned around much to Nancy's despair as sadness filled her. She thought she had prepared herself for this rejection, but she was wrong. Steve squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and Robin gave her a pitying smile. She readied herself to run again, that was, until Eddie stopped her.
"What do you think your doing? Your not running anywhere!"
"What? Why? I want to help..." Nancy protested.
"And I have no doubt that even pregnant, no one can stop you from doing that" Eddie smiled at her, "But your getting on my back until we get there. Protest all you want, I'm not having you doubling over in pain again and I'm your best chance of staying out of these creatures way!"
"Oh...but..."
"It's either a piggy back or I'll carry you over my shoulder" Eddie offered with out a hint of sarcasm. He was serious.
"P...piggy back" Nancy accepted the first option a little embarrassed.
"Good choice" Eddie grinned as he bent down and she climbed on. She wrapped her arms around his neck secretly happy that he had in fact accepted their situation. Her previous sadness and worries were completely gone, "Oh and as for you giving up on college. That's not going to happen. If I make it out of this alive, I'll have the baby whilst your there" Eddie finished as they all began to run again.
Steve and Robins lungs were beginning to burn with the exertion but they needed to press on. When they had reached the town, they were met with complete chaos. House's were being barricaded, cars were driving at speed to get out of town and people were using their own guns to shoot at the creatures as they tried to get close. Of course their were some unfortunate victims that hadn't been quite as fast. As the group ran, they had to dodge all of this.
"Shit, maybe we should get a car..." Steve shouted as he ducked just in time for a Demo bat to fall past his head. He looked at it as he continued to run and then glanced around. The people that were fighting back were hitting all of the creatures they could, even the ones that Eddie could control. The bats were no exception, "Eddie do Demobats getting hurt not affect you anymore?"
"Of course it does!" Eddie answered, "But right now my adrenaline is keeping me going. I'll worry about it later..."
Nancy knew that what he was saying was the truth, as being on his back, she could feel him tensing quite often. She knew the bats dying had had something to do with it. However, she stayed quiet.
"I hope my family are ok" Nancy made her feelings known out loud to change the subject. The feeling to go to the house was beginning to over power her.
"Don't worry" Eddie told her, "I've ordered a couple hundred of beasts to guard all of your houses, including Hoppers, Lucas's and Dustin's. None have gotten in yet. I'll know if they do, though I doubt they can hold them back forever. I just wish I could do it for everyone. But then they'd be none to protect the people out here. Though it would help if them people stopped killing them..."
"Thank you..." Nancy sighed as she sank into his neck relieved.
"Don't thank me just yet. Wait until all of this is over" he almost fell over a fallen Demogorgon, "Steve's right, maybe we should get a car..."
"There's an empty one over here!" Robin pointed to a car that wasn't to far away. It's doors were open and it had clearly been abandoned with the keys left in.
"Go for it!" Eddie told them as they all began to sprint for it.
Eddie and Nancy had almost made it, until they collided with something that came from the side of them. Eddie didn't know if it was pure instinct, dumb luck, reflexes, or something else, but somehow he had managed to bring Nancy round to the front of him and cradle her enough so that he was the one to take full impact of the floor as they fell to it.
"Are you ok?" he quickly recuperated as he checked on her.
"I'm fine...thanks to you. What about you?"
"I'm good" Eddie smiled at her relieved.
He stood up and helped her onto her feet before turning to face what ever had knocked them over to start with. Much to his surprise, he came face to face with a shotgun. Completely taken aback, he looked past the gun and that's when he saw someone he recognised. Quickly, he tried to hide his face, but it was to late. The person had recognised him almost instantly.
"E...Eddie? Eddie is that you?" a shaky voice asked as the gun was lowered.
"H...hey uncle!" Eddie uncovered his face and awkwardly greeted his uncle with a small wave.
"B...but how? I thought you were dead? I mean I'm glad your not, but still...Eddie?..." His face was pained but at the same time the relief in his voice was not missed. He looked his nephew up and down as his appearance surprised him immensely, "Eddie what happened to you? Why do you look like that?"
"It's a long story..." Eddie answered awkwardly as he refused to meet his uncles eyes.
"O...ok. you can tell me later. I guess now isn't the time" Eddie felt a pang of guilt and pain at these words as his uncle continued, "I...I'm only asking this because I want to be able to keep telling everyone that your innocent. But, did you kill that girl back in the trailer?" he looked at Eddie hopefully and expectantly.
Eddie looked back at him as he thought back to what had happened earlier. Sure, she was already dead, but he still felt awful for shooting her. But in the least, he hadn't killed her to start with and that was all his uncle had asked.
"No" Eddie answered truthfully, "It was a guy that we call Vecna"
"Vecna?"
"I haven't got time to explain. But you'll find out eventually I'm sure" Eddie told him knowingly, "I...I have to go now"
"But..."
"I'm sorry but..." Eddie cut him off, but was cut off himself as his uncle pulled him into a hug.
"I'm glad your not dead. You go and do what you need to do. And once your done, you can tell me all about what happened to you" His uncle whispered into his ear quietly, "Just make sure you come back safely!"
"I..." Eddie didn't have the strength to tell him that that probably wasn't going to happen. Instead, he pulled away and gave him his own orders, "You make sure that you stay safe. Either get to a safe house, or stay out of open areas"
"No..."
"I know you won't do that" Eddie smiled knowing his uncle all to well, "So instead gather as many people as you can and get them to a safe house. You'll know what ones are safe by the amount of Demo beasts guarding them"
"Demo what?"
Eddie began to walk slowly backwards away from his uncle as he continued.
"There these creatures your fighting. Some are good. Especially the bats, so please tell people not to attack them!" He then added a little more sadly, "G...goodbye"
Now quickly, so that his uncle couldn't stop him and his own feelings wouldn't cause him to abandon the mission in order to save him, Eddie spun round and ran towards the car. Steve and Robin had waited patiently for them as the reunion took place. Eddie got in the back seat and Nancy got into the other back seat.
"Drive, quickly!" He ordered Steve who obliged by slamming his foot down and speeding off, thankful that the vehicle still worked.
Eddie looked back as he saw his uncle vanishing into the distance. Staring at the car as it got further away. Thanks to his eyesight, he could see the slight tears falling down the mans face and heard his croaked voice.
"Goodbye" was the last word Eddie heard from the man.
The continuation of this chapter is the next one.
