#but anyway i just read a chapter of w&p after not reading it since october and ik starting a new poetry book rn

[rodrickheffley]

finally reading again

[poppyknitt]

Rebooting...- A JSE Egos Fanfic: Winter Holidays special pt 2

Congratulations, guys. We’ve done it. World Initiative has officially come to a close... God, what an amazingly fun journey of ups and downs it’s been. Thank you, all of you wonderful people who chose to stick with the story, regardless of where you jumped in and started reading. I’m sorry i didn’t have a better way to subtly thank you than add you in as a character in the very far background, but, hey, at least it helps me with the transitions between major plot points and shit.

Recap: As it turns out, the Anti invading our beloved egos’ world has been here at least since either late September or the first week of October, working behind the scenes to slowly but surely capture each of the egos, making sure to replace them with each fakes every time he succeeded. Once he had only three left- Chase, Jackieboyman, and Seán-, he snuck into our Anti’s world, and freed the weaker glitch from the dark magic spells Marvin had used to keep him from ever getting back up and resuming his torment of the egos again. They went on to capture Chase at some point just before Christmas Day, which was the day when Monitor- the foreign Anti- finally enacted his plan, and sent our Anti after Seán and Marvin, while he went after Merlin, Jackie, and Jackie’s newly formed family. It wasn’t until after the world was erased that we were forced to stop watching the screens for a little, just so we could reboot the one we��d been using to see this world’s story this entire time. Yeah, by the way, you’re a highly obscured but potentially important character now. Deal with it, because this detail is gonna train you to love yourself whether you want to or not. Anyways, at some point between the monitor’s crash and when we finally got it to reboot, our Anti was brutally betrayed by his new partner in crime, and Jackie was captured.

Minor gore warning!

Previous fic

Next chapter

World Initiative Masterlist

[December 25th]

Just as you turned your chair back around and looked at the World Initiative monitor, you saw the dreaded blue screen glitch away, but for some reason, the screen was pitch black. Then, a moment later, one of the two Antis’ face appeared, taking up most of the screen.

“L͝oơk̵ a҉t͏ ̀y͏o͠u͏...͡ ̷j̕u͠st͘ ̵si̡t͟t͘íng th̀ere͞,̢ a̶l͟l̕ lo҉s̛t͞ and͢ cònf͜us̛ed.̛.̸.͜ Almơst ͠lik͝e̷ ỳo̶ú ̶d̀o͝n’t h̴a҉ve ͢any̢ ̀cluè wh҉a͝t̴ ju͝şt͜ h̨app͡e̶n͝e̛d̨..͏.̴ ̛H̡a̡. It͡’͏s ̀a p̸ity̴,̕ ̧r͢eal͝l̢y...̴ ͠Yo͟u trie҉d so ͘h̵ard͏,̧ b̴u͟t̶ i̴n͟ ́the e̷nḑ? You̢ f͘ái͝l̨ed.̡ I̸’͢v̴e ́al͟r͟eady w͝ón, ͝an͞d ͠s̨oo̵n̶,͢ m͟y̨ ̕so-͜c̴alled ̛“p͠a̶r̴tńe̕r̵” will m̷ee͢t̸ ͜h̶is͢ fa̡te..̨. ͝N͠othi͠ng ̴ca͟ń s͞to̧p̵ m̴e̛ f̸r͞om̢ fi̸n̷is̀h̷i̷ng̕ ́m̨y̛ ͏pl̢a̕ǹs ҉ànymơr̶e, ̡ńot̕ e͢v͠en̕ y͘o͝u.̀” His voice dripped with malice, and he looked as though he was enjoying himself. Then, the screen glitched, and revealed the glitch’s entire figure. To your horror, the other anti was lying in the background, facing away from you, in a puddle of what you assumed was his own blood.

“..͠. ͜Y̷o̷u̢ w͠a͟nn͡a ̶k̷now͠ ̴w͡h͡at’̴s ͢g͞r̴ea̷t abo̕u͜ţ this? ̷H̨e̛’s n͢ot̀ e͡ve͢n ̧thę ̕on̛l͜y͡ oné...͏ ̴I̛n fa͠c͠t͟,́ ͜t͝he ̴e͡ǵo͠s ́y̧o͡u’d ̛m͘et ͜o͡ver̷ the ̢s͞h҉or҉t͟ ̛time y͡oư’̨v͏e̡ ̸be͟eń h͜e̡r͏e?͏ T̵h̢e͜y we̵re̷ ͜all̨ ̡j͟u͠st́ ͠f̴a͜k̕e̸s.̨ R̸e͝p̨lace҉m̵e̢n͞ts Ì p͞ut i͞nt͢o͡ ̸t͡h̷ei͟r wo̶r̵ld̡ s̕o͜ it wou͟ld͡n’t̀ be͞ ͞ob̧vious̸ tha͘t̴ s̴o̡m̧e͜one҉ ͜w͜a̢s҉ ̧picki͠n̕g̛ ̸t͠he̡m off on̷e ͜by̧ ̸o͜n̴e...̢” As he spoke, the screen zoomed out a bit more, as the limp bodies of the egos appeared behind the glitch, in the positions you last saw them in, when you had seen Chase accepting his death that would apparently never come. But, horrifyingly enough, Jackie was with them now, and he looked horrible. His coat was stained in blood, and his face was bruised, too.

“N-No..! Wh- Y-You can’t do this to them..! T-They don’t deserve this! They were happy! They- P-Put them back! Let- Let them go..!” A second voice sobbed out, and your heart stopped, as you realized who Anti was talking to. Merlin. The monitor switched to show him, and you felt your heart shattering. His cheeks were stained with tears, as he sat on the ground, looking broken and lost. He seemed to loose sight of Anti as he focused on the bloodied bodies of his new friends in the background, softly muttering something along the lines of “No, god, please no..” over and over again, in a broken, hoarse, and whispery voice.

Anti took out a knife, and your mind started screaming for Merlin to snap out of it as the glitch approached him, but no, Merlin didn’t, he just shakily grabbed his hair between his fingers, and curled up on the ground, sobbing brokenly at the sight of all the pain his failures had caused. Anti finally got to him, and, placing a foot on his back to pin him down to the ground, raised the knife up, totally ready to stab into the poor man child at full force, and end his life right there, when, suddenly, a blue and black blur rammed into him.

“Get the hell away from him, you fucking monster!” Marvin yelled, hurling the obviously much lighter glitch several meters away with a single body slam. Merlin’s eyes were wide open again, and he watched in pure horrified shock as another version of himself kicked the ass of the strongest being he knew just by the sheer power of surprise.

You silently cheered the magicians on as Marvin ran to Merlin, helped him up, and opened up a portal that presumably lead to WorldView.

“W-Wait..! What about the others?! We-We can’t just leave them..!”

“We have to, kid! I only incapacitated him for a bit; there’s no time for us to go back for any of them! Trust me, I would definitely be going back for them if we could spare the time for it.” And with that, they went through the portal, and the monitor shut off. The other monitor turned on soon after, and showed them arriving at the egos’ house in WorldView.

~~

Marvin stumbled through the portal, his arm tightly wrapped around Merlin as he helped him through, and closed it behind him. As soon as he let go of his alternate self, though, he accidentally stumbled and smacked into the ground.

“O-Oh no! Are you okay?!” Merlin yelped in surprise, immediate kneeling by his side.

“M’fine..! Just... clumsy.” He said, his cheeks lightly dusted with a slight tint of pink as he spoke. Merlin laughed at his response, still being cheerful despite the horrors he’d just seen.

“... Marvin? Who is this?” A familiar voice asked cautiously. Marvin looked up to see a nervous-looking Jackie, who was accompanied by a Peregrine falcon in a blue mask not unlike his own.

“Oh, hi Jackie! This is one of my new friends! He’s... kinda... an alternate version of me..? From... another au..?”

“You went to another universe?! Why?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Because you were gonna say no! I had to go after Anti, Jackie! He was planning to hurt more people, and I just can’t stand by and do nothing but watch as he destroys other people’s lives and happiness just because they aren’t from our universe!”

“Marvin, what the hell?! I told you not to go after him!”

“I don’t care!”

“Fine, then! If you’re going to behave like a child, I’m going to treat you like one! Until I say otherwise, you are hereby not allowed to leave the house or go anywhere without someone to keep an eye on you at all times.”

“Are- Are you grounding me?!” Merlin’s voice was somewhere between astonishment and amusement as he spoke, though, his posture almost made it look like he was challenging his older brother.

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s a fuckin’ power move, if i’ve ever seen one.” Marvin grinned.

Merlin glared at him, “Don’t encourage him!”

“I have no sides in this argument, I do what I want.”

Jackie snorted at Marvin’s comment, and extended a hand out to him, offering to help him up, “So, you have a nickname we can call you?”

He took the offer, and Jackie helped him up, “Uh, well, I don’t really do much multiverse traveling, so not exactly? But, uh, since your Marvin goes by ‘Merlin’ outside of this universe, I guess I’ll go by Sauron?” He had no idea what to call himself, honestly.

“Heh, cool. Good to meet ya, pal.”

“You too.” His gaze flicked to the falcon on the hero’s shoulder.

“Oh, that’s right! I forgot to tell you about our furry household friends!” Merlin exclaimed, “The falcon’s name is Ferris, by the way. My familiars are Thorn and Chomp. I’ll, uh, introduce the others later on.”

Jackie sighed, “Well, I guess you’re here for the same reason as the guy my son brought home today, right? Your universe is gone, yeah?”

“... I think so, yep. Who’s the other guy..?”

“Seán.” Jackie stated.

“Oh, thank god that monster didn’t get him, too..” Merlin looked relieved.

“What?”

“... Anti’s got all the other egos from their universe, Jackie... He... He even took their versions of your kids... and..” Merlin paused, voice breaking as he spoke again, “... I think he killed their mother...”

“What?!” Jackie’s demeanor immediately changed at the mention, although somewhat indirect, of Ava’s death.

“He- I-I don’t know, I just know the last thing i heard before the universe disappeared was her screaming in pain..!”

“... Change of plans. We have to save them.”

“Wait, really?!” Merlin’s face lit up with joy.

“Yes.”

“Does this mean I’m ungrounded?!”

“No, not by a long shot, kid.”

“... darn it...”

~~~

[January 1st]

Merlin swung gently on his hammock, the sheer level of boredom involved in being on some minor form of house arrest clawing at the edges of his mind. There was nothing fun to do at home! Not even their visitors were worth messing with anymore. The robo-Chase guy was busy testing out a couple new features that his brother apparently installed a few weeks ago, while said brother was mostly being confined to staying in place and not doing anything for pretty much the entire time it would take for his newly reopened wounds to heal. Everyone else that didn’t have a job had figured out how to tell when he was plotting a new prank or something, so they wouldn’t really be any fun to bug, anyways.

His eyes landed on the window, and his face lit up with a mischievous grin, as he suddenly knew what to do. First, he quickly darted to his door, and peeked out, making sure no one was within hearing range.

Nope. Not a soul.

Then, he swiftly snuck his way back to the other side of the room, unlocked his window, and, making sure to be as silent as he could, he lifted it up, and hopped outside, clumsily clinging onto the side of a telephone pole he’d forgotten was there. Oops.

He shrugged it off, and somehow managing to climb to the top, sat once again in the “spiderman” pose, a big, goofy grin on his face as he looked around for somewhere he could jump to, other than the roof of the egos’ house. Thankfully, there was a tree not too far away, so, figuring it’d be worth a shot, he took his chances, and jumped for it.

Barely managing to grab onto a branch and stabilize himself, he hastily clambered up on top of it, after making sure it was strong enough to support his weight. He surveyed the area again, and realized this might’ve been a stupid idea, because he was at least three or four meters up, and there wasn’t any reliable places to land on, at least, from his position. The next closest tree was all the way on the other side of the canopy, and it would probably be fairly difficult to maneuver himself over to a good position for jumping.

Nevertheless, he inched his way over to the trunk of the tree, and looked around for a branch he could grab that brought him closer to the other side. Luckily, there was one neither too far away, nor too high up for him to reach. He did have to jump a bit, and pulled himself onto it, but that wasn’t really a big deal. To be honest, right now he was just worried about making it there safely, and not damaging his cape in the process. Either one of those would compromise his “great escape” immensely.

He soon worked his way over to the other side, and looked for a safe place to land on the other tree.

...

....

Merlin had no idea how long he’d been outside for, but he was in the more dense part of their city now, and his travels had sped up a lot. He now practically flew from rooftop to rooftop, using physics to his advantage for most of it, and magic for the rest, laughing joyously from the thrill of the adventure. He made one last jump, spinning around a bit in the air before he landed, now facing the other direction. This was the closest building to the place they usually set off the best of the fireworks in the city on New Year’s Eve, right? Yeah, looked like it.

He peered over the edge of the building, and, sure enough, there was a crowd gathered down there for the celebration. He looked at the digital banners above the entrances to a few of the shops in the area, trying to see if one of them would display the time, and, sure enough, 11:58 scrolled across one of them. He grinned. He was just in time!

Next thing he knew, the last two minutes were almost up, and everyone down below was counting down the final ten seconds. As soon as the clock hit 12AM, cheering erupted from them, and five rockets shot up at the same time, exploding into a beautiful, but blindingly bright array of colorful light patterns in the night sky.

After a long while of beautiful, but absurdly loud explosions in the sky, Merlin figured it was no more than an hour into the new year, but regardless, the fireworks were still going, the crowd was still watching them, and he was getting pretty tired. Honestly, he didn’t even notice it when he slowly started drifting off, the loud booms no longer keeping his mind from sleep. He was more concerned with the fact that he’d just realized he forgot his mask in his room.

...

....

.....

“...ht kid? Hey, kid! This isn’t really a good place for a nap, y��know!” The sound of his other self’s voice woke him up, and he blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision. He regretted it though, because he saw a concerned Sauron and, well, Jackie, his arms crossed and eyes narrowed, looking very annoyed with him.

“... Oops..?” He grinned nervously.

——————————————————

Next Chapter

Masterlist

Sauron’s official nickname for Merlin is “kid” and no one can change my mind-

@antis-loyal-puppet @tiny-septic-puppet @rorald-spooks @septic-dr-schneep @insaneangel18-blog @ihaveanunhealthyteaaddiction

[hotdogjumpingfrog5]

It’s Strange - Chapter 13

Previous Chapters: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve 

~

October 27th, 1986

The five losers hung around by the entrance by the library, like they normally did. All except for Mike, who was homeschooled, and Beverly and Ella were still at their lockers.

They gathered around talking about their courses, what they were doing for Halloween, etc.

“So g-g-guys, w-what is e-everyone d-d-doing for H-Halloween?” Bill asks

“Me and Richie will be going trick-or-treating.” said Eddie

“Yeah, I got my handy dandy silly string just like I did last year!’ said Richie

“But we’re 15, you guys can come to mine and watch scary movies with me and Mike if you want.” said Stan

“Nah, we’re fine.” Eddie responds, “We do everything together.”

“Seriously, what if you guys get spotted by the people who go here, or even worse, seniors!” Ben said

“Ben’s got a p-p-point you know.” said Bill

“Well, we wear masks, besides, Dusty and Will are coming with us too.” Richie responded

Then, Bev and El joined the group, looking at the ground.

Ella had something in her hand what appeared to be a note.

“E-El, w-what’s that?” Bill asked

“Nothing.” she looked down at the floor

“Are you sure?” Ben asked, concerned, noticing they looked pissed off

Bev sighed and butted in the awkward few seconds of silence

“We found these notes in our locker,” said Bev

The note read: 

Dirty sluts, everyone knows you girls sleep in the same bed. 

Everyone looked at the note with absolute surprise and disbelief, the group have been called fags out of random and are one of the laughing stocks of Derry High, but this had crossed the line. 

“Ooh, spicy!” Richie laughed, while Eddie gave him a punch in the arm. Eddie got used to those jokes about him and Ella’s mom, but wasn’t going to hear anything about his own sister

“Richie, was this you?” Bev said, annoyed

“Fuck no! You guys can’t take a joke? Jesus fuck.” Richie huffed

“Or you, Eds?” Ella looked over at him

“Oh my god, El, why would I write that about my own sister and friends?” Eddie groaned

“Greta.” Bev thought hard, “Who else can it possibly be?”

“Bev, probably not, she hardly said a word to us since grade nine.” said Stan

“I f-f-forgot about her existence even.” said Bill, “D-don’t w-w-worry g-guys, w-we know it’s n-not t-true.” 

Eddie and Richie made the most cringiest faces just from hearing her name, they didn’t want to have the image of that ogre Greta impaled in their minds.

“Even if it was her, she will lay off slowly, like she’s doing already. Like Stan said, she hardly said anything to us since the start of grade ten!” Ben convinced

~

October 31st, 1986

The night has arrived. Halloween night. It’s after 6:15 pm, lanterns and costumes glowing up the streets of Derry-Hawkins

Steve drives Dustin, Eddie, Will, and Richie to their first destination: the suburbs of Derry.

“No one else wanted to come with you guys?” Steve asked them

“Yeah, they all think we’re ‘too old’“ said Dustin

“We kind of are. This was mostly Richie’s idea, but it’s free candy I guess.” said Eddie

“Oh yeah, how’s Eleven doing, Rich?” Dustin asked, “Haven’t seen her in a few weeks.”

“I dunno, but they’re doing something tonight.” Richie said, “Do I look like Mike to you?”

“Yes you do.” said Will

What Will mentioned made the rest of the car snicker discretely, but as Richie heard their muffles laughs he rolled his eyes at the fact him and Mike are twins.

“But yeah, everyone in our group had other plans tonight. What about the rest of your party?” asked Eddie

“Lucas and Max are spending the evening together, same with Mike and Eleven.” said Dustin

“Ooh, spicy!” Richie said with a weird voice

“Shut up, Richie!” Eddie groaned

“Guys, keep things PG.” said Steve, “Anyways, we’re here.”

The four of them hopped out of Steve’s car, gathering their cloaks and masks they put together, to conceal their identities.

“Remember boys, I pick you up here at 8.” Steve reminded

They all nodded and said their okays, then shut their doors before Steve drove off.

The four of them turn to face the street, while hearing the echoes of ‘Trick or treat!’ ring down the streets

Dustin and Will went on one side of the street, while Richie and Eddie would be on another. Then, they would switch sides of one street before meeting and moving onto the next.

**1.5 hours later**

Before long, the four of them had finished the streets of Derry, and Steve picked them up to go to Hawkins.

“Thanks Steve!” Dustin said when Steve dropped them off to their first neighbourhood of Hawkins

“No problem, so you’re done at 9:30?” said Steve

“No, Steve,” Dustin groaned, “Come on, it’s not a school night! 10:00!”

“Fine. You know people stop answering their doors after 10 right?” 

“Whatever,” Dustin responded, “Just be here at 10.”

“I wonder who I’m going to spray my next can of silly string at.” Richie smirked while looking at Steve

“Richard if you do that, I will end you.” said Steve

“Don’t do it.” said Will, “That’s just rude.”

“Come on, Willy!” Richie responded, “Halloween is supposed to be a night of tricks and treats.”

Eddie huffed at Richie’s behaviour, not even bothering to tell him to shut up this time, it was just too exhausting for Eddie.

“Wow, can I try?” Dustin asked

“No, get your own!” Richie then sprayed a bit on Dustin

“Behave yourselves.” Steve butted in, “And have fun. Remember, 10:00, and you guys better be ready.”

The pairs of them went on different sides of the streets like they did in Derry, and switched sides when they were done the other.

While finishing one particular house, Will needed to take a break. It was now sometime after 9. 

When comforting Will, Dustin found that Will’s eyes were moving in a weird way, back and forth, but Dustin figured this was apart of Will’s strange epileptic moments.

Dustin turned around, and echoing in the distance, was Troy, James, and a few other seniors in the car blaring music, and yelling nonsense at every trick or treater in the street

“Fuck.” Dustin said, then dragged him and Will into the bushes

The two of them stood there in the hedges, they were on a stranger’s property, but they didn’t care. They just didn’t want to get seen by them. 

They notice the car drive slowly in the street, continuing yelling nonsense and didn’t look like they were going to leave just yet. Probably drunk, Dustin and Will thought. As a matter of fact, they had pulled over to the opposite side of the road.

Dustin and Will noticed Richie and Eddie coming along and going to one house, then walk back on the street. 

“Hey, frogface!” Troy called out

Richie and Eddie didn’t seem to notice, and continued along

“Hey, FROGFACE!” he called out again

They still didn’t notice, and one of the seniors honked their horn

“Oh my god are you fucking deaf or something?!” said Troy, “Your Hawaiian shirt is hella ugly. Who’s that, another gay friend of yours??”

“Sorry, but who are you?” Eddie asked

“Fuck off, queer.” said James, “We only care about the one and only, Mike Wheeler. Out trick or treating in grade 10? What a fucking loser you guys are!”

The rest of the gang laughed obnoxiously, Richie rolling his eyes

“Excuse me, but do I fucking look like Mike Wheeler to you?” Richie answered, “I’m the hotter twin.”

“Ah, so frogface has a brother!” said Troy, “Don’t flatter yourself, you’re just a frogface with glasses.”

“Speaking of which,” a tanned figure leered out from the other side of the passenger seat, “I think I know you guys.”

He was looking more at Eddie, and Richie or Eddie thought they recognized him.

“Really?” Richie’s voice dropped, “How fucking so?”

“It’s me, Kevin,” said Kevin, “Thank fuck Ben and my annoying aunt no longer live with us, they’re annoying as hell.”

“So are you guys. Please leave.” said Eddie

“Or what, Kaspbrak?” 

“H-How do you know my -”

“Don’t bother flattering yourself either, girly boy, you and your sister are both ridiculous too. But now I have your stupid friend Max taking Ella’s place at St. Peter’s. Neither of them know any social skills. Fucking idiots.” Kevin rambled

“You have no right to critisize my sister or any of our other friends.” Eddie growled, “That’s our own job.”

“Eds...” Richie nudged

Eddie huffed, knowing if they said another word to those random greasers, they were dead.

“Whatever faggots,” said Troy, “Tell your other faggot twins and the rest of your stupid friends to go fuck themselves.”

Then, the car sped off into the night air, going anywhere, with incoherent echoes roaming down the street

“Fucking assholes.” said Richie

Dustin and Will came out of the bushes, rushing over to the opposite side.

“You guys okay??” Dustin asked

“I guess.” Richie looked down

“Look, I just can’t believe they would insult us or our own siblings.” said Eddie, “They’re idiots.” 

“Ooh, Richie and Eddie don’t like when people are rude to their brother and sis!” Dustin teased

The two of them looked at Dustin, including Will, the look that said Dustin, just stop talking

“Oh, sorry.” Dustin said calmly

“After this street, want to cut this trip short? You know, in case they come back?” Will suggested

They all agreed, not even groaning or arguing, they had enough candy, and Steve was probably right, maybe after 9:30 it’s time to start heading home.

~

November 1st, 1986

It was now almost 11 o’clock, and Nancy, Johnathan, Emma, and Steve had woke up an hour ago after they fell asleep after a long night of handing out candy and watching horror movies at Steve’s house

The four of them spent time together for the first time in a while, they were now in college which meant not as much time would be spent, so they cherished every moment of it.

After spending the morning having breakfast, pigging out on the leftover candy, and watching television, when it became just after 12 Johnathan suggested they take a walk on the trail behind Steve’s house. The trail lead to different areas, including the centre of Hawkins, a neighbourhood two blocks away, and even Hawkins High. 

As they were walking, they were talking while the November breeze hit their skin. Sweater weather. Cloudy day just after Halloween; perfect. 

Steve often spit every corner they took, the three of them giving him disgusted looks

“That’s just gross.” said Johnathan

“What, it’s normal for guys to hock and spit.” Steve responded

“Ugh!” Catherine exclaimed, looking at the ground

“What is it Ems?” Nancy turned around

“What the hell is this?” Emma said, noticing some string and toilet paper on the ground

“Ugh, probably stuff those immature middle schoolers used from last night.” said Steve, luckily they haven’t come into our neighbourhood.”

“They still come here?” said Nancy

“Nah,” said Steve, “Not after my mom threatened to call their parents and the police last year.”

“I bet weirdos hang around the trail at night.” said Johnathan

The rest of them agreed, knowing for a fact they did. That’s what trails are filled with at night. Creeps.

They continued walking along the trail, and next thing they knew they were right behind Hawkins High. Memories flooded back when they looked at Hawkins High, even though they only graduated in June it felt like years ago. Now their siblings were the ones in high school. 

A few high schoolers and middle schoolers could be seen playing in the basketball court, but they were just leaving. 

“I know this sounds crazy,” Nancy said out of the blue, “But do any of you feel like we’re being watched?”

“Nah.” said Johnathan

“Probably those weird middle schoolers that think Hawkins High is their land but it ain’t.” said Steve

“No Steve,” Emma whispered, “I feel it too.”

Her eyes turned black, and nose began falling like a waterfall out of the blue.

“Emma, you okay?” Nancy asked, “Yeah I think we should go, when Emma does this it usually means there’s some sort of danger lurking around.”

The four of them started fast walking back onto the trail, Nancy clutching onto Emma comforting her, but their choice of going back onto that trail may have been a grave mistake.

As the back on Hawkins High started becoming out of sight, they spotted a weird object that they knew they hadn’t seen when they came that direction. 

A refrigerator. 

“What the hell?” said Johnathan

“What is a refrigerator doing in the middle of the fucking path?” said Steve

As Steve was about to open it, Nancy and Emma exclaimed “NO!”

“What? Why not?”

“There might be something fishy in there. That was not here earlier.” Johnathan convinced

“Fishy! Very punny, Johnathan!” Steve laughed as he opened the fridge door

But what he saw made him fall back in horror and gag and the others gasp in horror, also on the verge of gagging. The retched smell of dead animals and severed human body parts filled the air around them.

“Do you like what you see, Stevey?” said a sinister voice from behind the four of them, making them jump

Behind them, stood four boys. The guys that were supposedly “missing and murdered” in Derry; Henry Bowers, Patrick Hockstetter, Victor Criss, and Reginald Huggins. Patrick and Victor were the only ones wearing wigs, but quickly threw them to the side of the path.

“W-Who are you?” Steve stammered

“You sound a lot like B-B-Bill,” Henry laughed, “We were never who we said we were. It told us to mess with you guys too.”

“How do you even know about -” Nancy got interrupted

“Shut up, Tozier.” Henry growled, “I know you are related to that four eyed fuck and his other gay twin. We’ve been watching the losers from Derry and your other loser siblings from Hawkins. All of them. Hargrove has been watching you guys too the past year. We got It and the mind flayer’s handy dandy little friend after the dweebs of Hawkins-Derry. It messed with our final one, but now the thing will probably mess with your minds too.

”W-What thing?” Steve asked

“Spicy news too you guys,” Patrick said slyly, “Marsh and wheezy boy’s sister are lesbian for each other, in case you didn’t know. Everyone know about the lesbian fun they’ve been having. Just like everyone knows about you, Evans. You and those other girls are the most filthy and desperate shits of Derry-Hawkins, and you know it.” 

Emma gulped, she hadn’t heard those rumours about her since that day in March in the cafeteria where she humiliated Carol in front of the school with her telekinesis. 

“Bev and Ella are probably screwing right now. Makes me so fucking horny just thinking about it.” Belch snickered

“More spicy news,” said Victor looking at Nancy, “Hargrove and Mrs. Wheeler got the feels for each other.”

“No that can’t be -”

“Shut up, Wheeler.” Henry growled, “You’re just like your brother Tozier, don’t know when to shut up. Neither you, Evans, Billy’s sister, Marsh, Kaspbrak’s sister, or any girl for that matter should speak. Girls are nothing but pieces of shits and sluts who need to be controlled.”

This infuriated the four of them, but were all too afraid too speak as they were armed with knives and Patrick’s blowtorch. 

The four of them tried to get away, but it was useless since Patrick, Victor, and Belch took a hold of them.

“Just like Bill and Mike’s group, you losers are trying too hard.” said Henry, “You tried to go to the cops on us. They’ll never believe you, even if you decide to go back to them again. They think we’re dead. Oscar Butch cop of Derry-Hawkins was my dad. I was the one who killed him. He fucking deserved it. We faked our own deaths to continue torturing as well as being a slave for It.”

“You guys are sick and terrible people!” Steve said angrily

“Look who’s speaking, the failed Steve Harrington.” Henry chuckles, “Billy Hargrove is the real shit, not you. He’s also Hawkins keg king. You Steve, well, you’re a pussy.”

As the Bowers gang laughed, Emma struck Henry in the face with just a bare fist, while Henry fell back and just stared at him.

“Wow, thanks.” Steve said

Johnathan and Nancy managed to slip in the forest unnoticed by the Bowers gang and grabbed branches as weapons. 

Henry got back up onto his feet, with the other three helping him back up.

Meanwhile, Steve, Emma, Nancy, and Johnathan stood there, ready to take them on.

“You forgot I had a blowtorch?” Patrick chuckled, “You fucking idiots -”

But as soon as he set the flame ablaze, it pointed back at him, and not the others.

Emma’s nose was now running, and the party as well as the Bowers gang noticed the 007 across her forearm as she set the flames on the Bowers gang and destroyed the match and blowtorch.

The Bowers gang rolled around to douse the flames, only to have Nancy and Johnathan hit them with logs while Steve and Emma kicked them.

Patrick, Victor, and Belch fled in fear, and Henry laid on the ground with ashes all over his body, who had gotten way more burnt compared to the rest of them.

“Is he...dead?” Emma whispered

“If he’s been hurting people including Mike, Richie, and all their other friends, I hope to god he is.” said Steve

“The other three, they’ve gotten away.” said Nancy

Johnathan and Steve ran to see if the other three were still running, but the rest of Henry’s gang was well out of sight.

“Come on, let’s contact the sheriff's office.” Johnathan insisted

After returning to the sight, Henry’s body was long gone.

While other officers searched the area for clues, they managed to find the wigs Patrick and Victor threw to the side.

“Are you sure it was them?” an officer from Derry asked suspiciously 

“Yes, we’re positive!” said Nancy

“Then how come the only evidence are the wigs?”

“Try tracing for DNA, something!” Nancy suggested

“Whoops, we forgot our equipment.” the officer responded sluggishly, “Because we’re from Derry, it’s not our job to trace that stuff since it’s in Hawkins and not our hometown is Derry.”

“What?! That makes no sense!!” Johnathan said angrily

“Look kid, we’ll get back to you and mention this to the Hawkins department when we get back.”

**Later that night**

Nancy spent the night at Emma’s house, both getting their minds off of it by mentioning it to Eleven, Lucy, and Emma’s mother, as well as watching a film and putting on nail polish to get their mind off of what happened that afternoon

When it was time to go to sleep, Nancy couldn’t help but stare up at the ceiling. 

“The blonde guy,” said Nancy, “Said something about Billy and my mom?”

“There’s no way.” said Emma

“I don’t know,” Nancy responded, “I don’t know why that’s on my mind. Like I hope it’s not true with Billy and my mom. I wouldn’t know who to trust anymore.”

“Even if it was,” said Ems, “You have your boyfriend Johnathan, me, and Steve of course.”

Nancy smiled

“You are right. You guys are the best.”

**Meanwhile**

As Steve and Johnathan were at Johnathan’s, they also happened to tell Joyce and Will about their experience.

“I am so glad you boys are safe!” said Joyce, “Don’t get yourselves in trouble with the wrong people like that again!”

“You believe us?” said Steve

“Of course!!” said Joyce, “I knew those boys were trouble as soon as I saw their faces in the newspaper two years ago, compared to the other kids in Derry who went missing. I must admit, Butch Bowers looked almost as scary as his own son.”

“I can’t believe the police wouldn’t trace the DNA! How fucking petty of them.” Johnathan huffed

“Language.” Joyce and Will said at the same time

Johnathan looked down, still angry that the police were not believing their story. And worried Bowers might go after them, the losers, party, or anyone else for that matter.

“Bowers mentioned something about a thing that went after the kids.” said Steve, “Will, have you noticed anything unusual?”

“Not recently.” Will replied

“Or anytime!”

“Well, last year I had a violent seizure.” said Will, “I woke up and heard voices, then some man with a suit and a bag over his head appeared in front of me, then vanished, but I feel like It or whoever he was was still there, because that’s when I had my seizure.”

“What about the other ones in your group and Bill/Richie’s group?” asked Johnathan, “Have they seen anything?”

“I don’t know,” Will responded, “I’m not even sure if it’s the same thing. You can ask them though.”

Steve and Johnathan then looked at each other.

~

Next Chapter: To Be Continued