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Springtime in Hawkins was not going well. It used to be April rains and blossoming flowers. The leaves were dead but dangerous this time, and the trunks and branches crawled creepily around. Hawkins, once calm and cheerful, had become a ghost town in Indiana. A reflection of the Upside Down.
As a result, the town was declared uninhabitable, and everyone who had lived through the trauma had been evacuated to somewhere other than Hawkins. The wealthy could relocate to another suburb or city, but the rest of them who fought the monsters were brought to a hospital in the next town, thanks to Dr. Owens.
There were far too many fatalities. There were near-fatalities, with Eddie in semi-critical condition after being besieged by demo-bats while shredding his guitar. But he survived, even if he only awoke five days later. And Steve had lost too much blood, collapsing once the adrenaline wore off from the chaos. Hopper was exactly the same. Despite being tortured in a Russian prison, that man couldn't just die. Looking at his deformed ankle hurt. Since then, El and Joyce had never left his side.
Closing the gate was insufficient because every closed door is intended to be opened. That's what Will said when they were finally all together in one room. They had no choice but to kill him. They tried, to be sure. But who were they to a powerful spellcaster? They could only do so much.
"I want to be better at fighting him if he ever returns," El told the Party, which included Nancy, Steve, Jonathan, Robin, and the newest member, Eddie.
They crammed into Steve and Eddie's room because they were the only ones who couldn't leave yet and had to be checked every now and then. Steve, on the other hand, had to sit with Eddie because the kids had taken up all of Steve's bed. To have something to sit on, the others dragged some chairs and benches from the halls.
"I agree, the one that doesn't include bleeding from your orifices," Nancy said.
"But how?" Mike inquired.
Everyone was quiet. Clearly, they had exhausted all of their stack knowledge. Until Eddie spoke up.
"Theoretically, there should be another source for you, not just rage inside your mind, to upgrade your ability."
Everyone's gaze was drawn to him. "What do you mean?" Nancy asked.
"Listen, how does Vecna do it? Didn't you mention before that he didn't need to know someone's trauma to kill? He could snap bones all he wanted, but his abilities improved into mind altering and manipulation. He could get inside your head and attack you from inside. Without even doing it in front of you." Eddie continued.
"We're aware of that," Max said.
"I think I understand what Eddie's trying to say," Dustin added. "He spent his entire time in the Upside Down boosting his powers. He does not use rage. He only wants to kill and take over. El uses rage most of the time, which is bad in theory because you always bleed when you do it."
"Exactly, Henderson." Said Eddie, pointing at him.
Vecna may have been weakened and returned to his rightful place, but El was unable to completely defeat him. And that's reality. She's a kid, and she's supposed to be normal. Doing normal things, falling in love with stupid boys like other kids. Not harnessing her superpowers because she assumed danger would always interrupt her daily life.
But even after regaining her power, it wasn't enough. Because she was not like Peter, who craved more. Oh, she remembered Peter, the encouraging one in the lab.
"So, pure evil versus pure good," Will put it succinctly.
"But that's what El's been doing!" Mike exclaimed as he turned to face El. "You're defending the people you care about!"
"I was angry and scared at him the first time," El admitted.
Nancy stated, "Those are negative emotions. What about the second time?"
"Still angry."
"All right, let's say El trains to harness her power properly without endangering her life," Robin suggested.
"Like you know, a Jedi," Eddie said.
"A Jedi, like in Star Wars?" Steve asked.
"Yes, Harrington," Eddie said with a smile.
"Shut up, you two; she trains, and then what? How does that completely kill Vecna?" Robin asked.
"Weakness?" Dustin said.
"Everyone has flaws, correct? So what will Vecna's be?" Nancy caught everyone's attention. "What?"
"Can you expand on Vecna's story again? Maybe we'll find something, even if it's shot in the dark," Dustin asked.
"Oh, I love Nancy's shot in the dark ideas!" Robin exclaimed.
"All right, everybody listen." Nancy blushed when she heard that, but she went over the glimpses Vecna showed her. They tried to find anything as she spoke. Anything.
If you asked Eddie what was going on right now, it was like pre-planning a D&D campaign, except there were actual monsters and some evil creature with great powers that didn't come from the club's imagination. "How long do we have?" Lucas inquired.
"A month?" Mike asked.
"A week?" asked Dustin.
"Three days?" Max asked.
"I like how we're all pessimists," Eddie said.
"The sooner, the better. We can screw off to college and leave everything behind," Nancy said, glancing at Jonathan, who smiled.
Jonathan and Nancy hadn't really discussed the university thing properly. The last time had consisted of running through the lab halls.
"University seems foolproof now," Robin said.
They were deep in conversation when Murray banged on the door and asked everyone to return to their respective rooms, leaving Steve and Eddie to rest if the rest did not want to. And if they were planning something that involved taking down some evil overlord, they needed to inform the adults in the morning. Someone groaned and complained, but it was quickly quiet inside their room again.
"I need a goddamn cigarette," Eddie said as soon as Murray left, dragging Dustin, who wanted to sleep on Steve's bed. He'd been clingy ever since.
"Hey, about what you said about El enhancing her abilities, do you think it's possible?" Steve hadn't gotten out of Eddie's bed yet. Instead, he lied down and made himself comfortable.
"If it's possible for Henry Creel, it's possible for her." Eddie said.
"Do you think we can kill him?" Steve asked.
"Fuck if I know, we haven't even gotten to the Mindflayer yet."
"Mindflayer couldn't return if no one opened the damn gate inside."
"That sounded so simple in my head," Eddie said as he sat up and turned to face Steve. "How are the hero's wounds?"
"What hero wounds—" Steve lifted a sleeve, "they don't hurt as much as they used to." The scars were fresh and there was still blood, but they didn't throb or feel like they did before.
"I'm delighted to hear that, Harrington."
"So."
"Yeah?"
"Would you like to talk about it?"
"How I kissed you before returning to the Upside Down and blasting a metal version of Dream A Little Dream of Me on my guitar? I assumed your drug-induced brain would forget."
"You're underestimating me."
"I did. Past tense."
"So, why?" Suddenly, what happened in the Upside Down came back to him.
"Steve Harrington, can I make one last wish before I go back there? It's just— it's now or never."
"Do I have to be in it?"
"Sort of?"
"But Eddie, I promise you, we're getting out of here alive, whether you like it or not."
"This year has not been good to me, so I'll take anything you say with a grain of salt."
"You're going to break Dustin's heart; that kid has so much faith in you."
"Fine, if we ever get out of here alive, you can punch me, but only in our dimension."
Steve sighed. "What is your final wish?"
"May I kiss you?"
Eddie shook his head. "It's nothing. Ignore it. I don't know what got into me. I guess it's fun to be kissed by someone attractive before dying for real."
"Hey, Munson. Look at me. I'm not going to judge you or anything, okay? You're not the first gay person I've known. And you're alive. You're here."
"I know."
"And that sort of thing is difficult to forget."
"Right. Sorry, I'm just used to hooking up, even with straight guys experimenting, and forgetting about it." Steve winced as he attempted to sit up. Eddie grabbed him right away. "What are you doing? You big idiot, don't move."
"Are you going to let me punch you right now?"
"Anytime." Eddie closed his eyes. He was not expecting Steve to punch him, knowing that he was still battered from the fight just a few nights before. But he didn't expect Steve to run his hand down his hollow cheeks and wrap his other hand around his neck. Eddie opened his eyes to see Steve smiling at him.
"Harrington? You're not going to do whatever my mind is thinking right now, right? You're going to be the real death of me, baby, because it's usually delusional—" Eddie cupped Steve's face and kissed him passionately, forcing Steve to lie flat on the bed.
Steve smiled as he let go of Eddie. "Maybe not today."