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petalsmooth · 6 months ago

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The Bridgerton fandom is beyond toxic and delusional btw.

Particularly Kanthony stans, Benophie stans and yes Nic/Pen, Lukola stans...all of whom have NO bearing on real life careers or performances. Though they can impact moods of the individual actors and their loved ones unfortunately. Which is why most of the actors limit their social media intake or don't use it at all.

Kanthony fans thought they could sabotage season 3. Season 3 surpassed in ratings.

Benophie fans joined with them because bitter not next season, failed too. Now both try to down talk season 3 as if you can hurt it at this point when the numbers are already logged?

Benophie's also running their mouths about how they'll "save" Bridgerton with season 4. Considering Netflix chiefs are crediting Polin, Nic and Luke for not only outpacing in subscribers but by lifting all the other Bridgerton seasons and QC...good luck "saving" anything. But I do guarantee if you all keep this up and don't perform better than season 3 that your words are going to be hung around your nextthe way Kanthony's were. Remember general audience is not the insular toxic Bridgerton audience. You have to impress them...not your insular circles.

I'm not rooting against the season btw...but I do have a long memory.

Bridgerton Nic/Pen stans somehow convincing themselves Nic's career ascendancy began with them and particularly this season rather than back with Derry Girl's. She would have had a larger role in Barbie if season 3 schedule wasn't in way. She was ear marked to have more ascendancy before the season began in printed media because already on rise for last decade. These new roles didn't suddenly appear in last 2 months which Nic herself has said. Which is great for her because I've loved her awhile but there is a reason her career is moving faster than others out of the gate now no longer contracted to have to "lead" a season.

"Lukola" stans who seem to have decided Luke "betrayed" them and Nicola. Since they can't even credibly claim he did so romantically (though how they have tried), insist Luke having his GF at the premiere kept season 3 from being top 3 on Netflix now because ruined all the hard work poor Nic did. You delusional idiots.

First off LUKE did half that pr work because the GA wasn't watching those interviews just for her no matter how delusional you may be to think otherwise. They were watching because of their chemistry. It wasn't NIC's Premiere. It was HIS and NIK's premiere. HIS and HER work. And he damn well can bring anyone he likes to the premiere and if that bothers you...you are the one with the problem. Luke is not the only person in the show that should be forbidden from having people he cares for attend because of delusional stalkers on his tail. This is not the 1940's where the studio controls the actors and the fans get fed lies about their relationship regardless of the actor's feelings and thank God. If you are mad about that form of hard earned progress made decades ago, you shouldn't be watching a show that claims to be progressive to begin with.

Also, bringing her to the premiere didn't do a THING to hurt reception of the show. The only thing it did was hurt your delusion he had broken up with her a few weeks prior which was all the gossip at the time. THAT'S why you are mad and have been mad ever since, because he refuses to break up with a woman so you can continue to accessorize him with Nic to live vicariously through her. You are mentally deranged people who need therapy. You are the same people who rejoiced with he broke up with Jade and thought you influenced that too. You did NOT.

Now I don't mind liking the two and wishing they were together romantically but at this point I'm glad they aren't. I can only imagine if they WERE and DID break up if you treat him this way for having done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG. Forbid actual feelings were involved and hurt what you'd all do then since you stalk and badger and bully and harass and lie and spread malicious gossip and try to hurt him as it is now simply for be friends with her her...which she reciprocates and seems perfectly content with.

Lastly, this group has some half witted theory that if they can't break up his relationship they can torpedo his career...and have succeeded. All because Luke hasn't announced upcoming projects yet. But if only he will hand over his life to them, they will make it all better and its not too late.....and I just want to laugh.

Even if it WERE true, I think I'd rather have no career than be reliant in their toxicity for one.

Second, Luke is not NEAR as open on social media as he used to be or as others are now including Nic. And given way he's been treated by these people wouldn't expect to change just to feed the same masses claiming he is a loser, pedophile (for dating someone in mid twenties' when he's barely in his '30's, and trying to refrain from giving him any credit for season 3' success or pr campaign. Seriously...the spread negativity to force the actor to refute and give you content is SO blatantly obvious and played out as a trick. Good on him for not falling for it.

Third...the idea Luke wouldn't at very least book another play or something on level of what the people who play Phillipa book is laughable to me. Seriously...these people have convinced themselves they've made him toxic gossiping online about his gf to point can't book anything. It's reading to me as delusional as Kanthony fans convincing themselves Polin had no fans. You all really should be best friends, you aren't unalike.

Regardless I am calling these people out but I want to end with saying none of them really are fans of Kate, of Anthony, if Jonny, of Simone, of Benedict, of Sophie, of Luke T, of Nic, or Penelope, or Colin or Luke N. Fans of theirs never would have behaved this way about their characters and these actors who all care and support each other. I find you people pathetic, impotent liars who are consistently ALWAYS shown to be wrong in time and not worth EVER catering to. I look forward to the next two seasons in fact because the two leads of those seasons don't use social media at ALL and it serves you all right. you are going to be suffocated for content and couldn't happen to worse people.

Lastly, in regards to the show....Luke's GF went to NY premiere and didn't affect reception of part one at all. Part two had nothing to do with him or his GF and everything to do with lousy plotting and writing and taking focus off POLIN and minimal scenes of Colin and just generally deciding to have the characters spend the last two episodes not talking, at odds, arguing, betrayed, very little romance and when they were romantic moments all colored by the deception they show hadn't let them work through. I can't possibly imagine why the GA who was told this was going to be a rom com season and romantic was incredibly put off by part 2. Even so still watched in large numbers, it just didn't have the viral effect of the carriage to pull past season 1 and that is on Jess and Shonda and how DARE you put that on Luke. He didn't write the show. I'm pretty sure if he DID and if Nicola DID it would have been far lighter and this deception wouldn't have carried until end of ep 6 and we'd all have been happier.

Instead he got less screen time than Benedict, you know the "savior" of season 4 according to Benophies, who basically had a sl celebrating how overjoyed he is not to commit to anyone. What a wonderful use of resources Shonda/Jess. So glad you chose to make this is the season where you have a sibling surpass the actual lead for screentime despite claiming each sibling gets their own year to shine before stepping back. How well did that work for you? Because I don't see network chiefs bragging about the number of re-watches those Benedict threesomes put up this year? But I'm sure they would have loved more Colin/Polin scenes to go with the Pen scenes and another viral moment like the carriage scene in place of them.

And since I'm ranting I'll go there as well. Those people at Netflix know which characters and scenes are pulling the most views, So does the show. I had heard time again from certain fanbases how other characters and couples were going to have to pull up Polin's numbers to save the season, then when the numbers came out heard it was because they were watching everyone else. Well. the netflix creative exec didn't single anyone else out. I'd love to get my hands on the numbers POLIN was doing next to the mediocre subplots they wrote. My guess is a fairly huge discrepancy. I'd also bet Shonda and Jess were having some regrets didn't put more scenes in for them this season if forced to be honest too.

I'm not against subplots mind you as someone who likes other characters and wishes to see them but the ones this season were very weak or in case of Eloise...maddening as so out of character. Only the Featherington's really shined in theirs. Another problem for season 4 if you remove them from the show, since no one else stepped up in secondary plotting.

For people who prefer little to no subplots, watch Queen Charlotte. That show would have been better if had more and a stronger complimentary cast, as it was the lead story of Charlotte and George was good but other than that not much reason to watch it again which is why I haven't. Reason I always loved season 1 is between both lead and supporting stories held interest. I don't want secondary stories gone, far from it. But I'd like them to be better and not some token always on honeymoon Kanthony, Benedict as Peter pan/threesomes, Eloise with bully Cressida etc...and shouldn't come at expense of telling the stories of BOTH lead characters which happened with Colin. Who SHOULD have gotten to resolve HIS family issues the way Pen did her, and have his innermost thought actually vocalized to someone other than Cressida and Fife along the way.

Kanthony should have had a REAL story (hate their fans, not the couple) and I've said in past could have taken from their book and have Kate with nightmares and tie it into her pregnancy and being a mother and having lost her mother. If you wanted Benedict to explore fluidity, why not START of season? Why did you do it at end when knew leading into his next? SO badly plotted.

If you as a show are tired of the diamond plot, don't make a pale copy of it with a "Sparkler". It was a season of wallflowers and overlooked and outcase people right? Why then waste out time with Francesca and the Queen and Lady D. Lady D SHOULD have been involved with the wallflower plot. Jess' excuse for not being was trash imo. Makes it look like Lady D only cares about the beautiful and powerful the way they've done it, complete character assassination from the book.

Why insist Queen Charlotte have to air first and then not tie in the younger version's struggle with finding a place in society until chess game at the end? You could have linked their stories far earlier and watched that chess game play out from ep 1. Such a missed opportunity to tie threads together. Just as not having Benedict explore earlier meant couldn't tie in brimsley as a subplot.

And I don't even want to start on Eloise again...except she is still where she has always been. No growth at all until maybe last episode or two. The show likes to pretend there were consequences for her, but ere there? The only thing she learned was not everyone was Penelope and would listen to anything she rambled about without listening to them in return. Either have Eloise really walk a mile in Pen's shows on the side of ballrooms unnoticed or bullied, or do the opposite and have her make friends with people who don't just talk and explore the difference between what IS possible vs what she WISHES were possible or hell...I have an idea. Why not have tied her into the Mondriches? People not born to privilege thrust into that world and have Eloise maybe finally catch a clue through them how lucky she's been but also...check some of her more radical prejudices. I don't think anyone believes Alice is dominated by the rule of her husband. Maybe they tried that with Cressida, but Cressida is a bully and falls flat.

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delayed-affection · 2 years ago

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Chapter eight

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The dog like creature crawls out of the hole, looking up at Hopper. It starts to throw itself at the glass, he steps back watching as it does.

"It's... it's polycarbonate. It can't get through." Dr. Owens assures

The monster howls, the others climb up and out of the hole.

"Mother Mary and Joseph." The tech whispers

Monster after monster, they all throw themselves at the glass. It crackles, ready to break.

Hopper worries "You sure about that glass?"

Owens presses a button, alarms blare throughout the lab.

"We're too late." Mike tells Bob "We're too late!"

They rush back into Wills room.

"What's going on?" Joyce questions

"We're under attack." He answers

Scientist and soldiers fill the halls, Hopper closes the large metal door to the gate. The glass breaks, the monsters fill the now empty room.

"This way. Stairs! Stairs!" Owens directs him

The technicians from the room run to the elevator, watching as the metal door burst open. They press the close door button hoping it shuts before the monsters reach them.

Mike picks up a needle, "We need to make Will sleep. He's a spy. If he knows where we are, so does the shadow monster."

"He's lying!" Will argues

"He killed those soldiers. He'll kill us, too!" He shouts

Will struggles to get up, "He's lying! He's lying! He's lying! He's lying! He's lying!"

The elevator door opens on the top floor, the monsters feast on the bodies of the dead. The soldiers fire at them.

"Those are gunshots!" Bob exclaims

Joyce holds Will down, "Okay, Will, Will, listen, listen. Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am?"

"You're..." he trails trying to think "You're...You’re Mom."

She looks over to Bob, "Hold him down."

"No! No! Let go! No! No! Let me go! Let go!" He begs

Joyce takes the needle from Mike, filling it with a sedative, "I'm sorry."

Mike covers his ears, not wanting to hear his friend in such pain. She pushes it into his arm, letting the liquid do its job.

Will passes out.

Hopper and Owens burst into the room, looking at the scene. The sound of the monsters make Hopper spin around. They're trying to burst through the door that Mike was once trying to get through.

"We gotta go. We gotta go." He says

He walks in the room and picks up Will, Joyce grabs more sedatives. They all hurry down a hall, the sounds of screaming can be heard.

They watch as a soldier gets shoved to the ground and one of the monsters pounces on him. Gunfire comes from behind them, they're trapped.

Owens ushers them into one of the rooms.

Bob looks at the screens in front of him, "Oh, my god."

Hall after hall, room after room, the monsters have completely taken over the place.

The power goes out, engulfing everything in darkness.

A truck pulls up to Max's house and in walks her mom and step dad.

"Hey, guys, we're home." She announces "Guys? Hello?"

She walks to Max's room, "Max?"

She opens the door, Max isn't in her room but her skate board is there and her window is open. She sighs closing the window.

Billy takes a drag from his cigarette, looking at himself in the mirror. He fixes his hair and splashes some cologne onto his wrist.

A knock on his door kills his mood, "Yeah, I'm a little bit busy in here, Susan."

"Open the door. Right now." His father commands

He pulls himself away from the mirror and opens the door, "What's wrong?"

"Why don't you tell us?" His father says

"Because I don't know." He replies

"We can't find Maxine." Susan informs

"And her window's open." He adds "Where is she?"

"I don't know." He answers

"You don't know?" He scoffs

"Look, I'm sure she just, I don't know, went to the arcade or something. I'm sure she's fine." He assures walking away to his closet.

His dad follows him, "You were supposed to watch her."

He sighs, "I know, Dad. I was. It's just you guys were three hours late and, well, I have a date. I'm sorry, okay?"

"So that's why you've been staring at yourself in mirror like some gay instead of watching your sister?" He asks

"I have been looking after her all week, Dad. Okay? She wants to run off, then that's her problem, all right? She's 13 years old. She shouldn't need a full time babysitter. And she's not my sister!" He argues

His father grabs him, pushing him into shelf, "What did we talk about?"

He hits Billy in the face then grabs it to make him look at him, "What did we... talk about?"

"Respect and responsibility." He answers

"That is right." He confirms "Now, apologize to Susan."

Billy breathes heavily, "I'm sorry, Susan."

"It's okay, Neil, really-" she says from the doorway

"No, it's not okay. Nothing about his behavior is okay." He barks "But he's gonna make up for it. He's gonna call whatever whore he's seeing tonight and cancel their date. And then he's gonna go find his sister. Like the good, kind, respecting brother that he is. Isn't that right Billy? Isn't that right?"

"Yes, sir." He says softly

Neil sighs, "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"Yes, sir." He repeats a little louder

"Find Max." He instructs leaving the room

Billy breaks down.

Walking down the dark railroad tracks, the group questions Dustin.

"You're positive that was dart?" Lucas asks

"Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt." Dustin answers

"He was tiny two days ago." Max comments

"Well, he's molted three times already." He says

"Malted?" Steve wonders

"Molted. She's his skin to make room for growth like hornworms." He lectures

"When's he gonna molt again?" Max questions

"It's gotta be soon." He tells her "When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends."

"Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats." Y/n chimes

Lucas pushes forward "Wait, a cat? Dart ate a cat?"

Dustin stops in his tracks "No, what? No."

"What are you talking about? He ate Mews." Steve corrects

"Mews? Who's Mews?" Max questions

"It's their cat." He answers

"Steve!" Dustin scolds

"I knew it! You kept him!" Lucas exclaims

"No!" He defends himself poorly "No. No, I... No, I... He missed me. He wanted to come home."

"Bullshit." He calls

"I didn't know he was a demogorgon, okay?" He vouches

"Oh, so now you admit it?" He shouts

Y/n butts in "Guys, who cares? We have to go."

"I care!" Lucas yells "You put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!"

"So did you!" Dustin argues "You told a stranger the truth!"

Max scoffs "A stranger?"

"You wanted to tell her, too!" Lucas exclaims

"Yeah, but I didn't, Lucas, okay? I didn't tell her!" He says "We both broke the rule of law, okay? So we're even. We're even."

A screech in the distance grabs Steve and y/n's attention. They walk a couple steps away from the bickering group.

"No, no! We're not even. Don't even try that." Lucas tells him "Your stupid pet could have ate us for dinner!"

"That was not my fault!" He replies "He wasn't gonna eat us."

"Guys?" Y/n voices

They continue to argue.

"He was crawling to come say hello?" Lucas grumbles

"Guys!" Steve barks

They stop arguing and the screeching continues. Steve leads the way towards the noise, everyone immediately follows.

Max stays behind, "No, no, no. Hey, guys, why are you headed towards the sound? Hello? Hello?"

She soon runs after them, following the noise to a hillside. Fog covers almost everything that was once on there.

"I don't see him." Dustin comments

Lucas pulls out his binoculars, "It's the lab. They were going back home."

The lab is dark, bodies scattered throughout the floors.

Dr. Owens and the others are still locked in the security room.

Dr. Owens draws on a map, "Look, this is us, and this is the exit. But even if we somehow make it there, there's no way out."

"What do you mean?" Hopper asks

"The locks are fail secure." He answers

"Fail secure?" Joyce questions

"If there's a power outage, the building goes on lock down." He explains

"Can it be unlocked remotely?" Bob wonders

"With a computer, sure, but somebody's gotta reset the breakers." He replies

"Where are the breakers?" Hopper voices

He points to the map, "Breakers are in the basement, three floors down."

Hopper takes the map and heads to the door.

Bob stops him, "Hey, where are you going?"

"To reset the breakers." He states the obvious

"Okay, then what?" He asks

"Then we get the hell out of here." He says

"No, then the power comes back on." He corrects "If you wanna unlock the doors, you have to reboot the computer system, and then override the security codes with a manual input."

"Fine, how do I do that?" He questions

"You can't. Not unless you know the BASIC." He states

"I don't know what that means." He confesses

"It's a computer programming language." Mike chimes

"Teach it to me." He instructs

Bob scoffs "Shall I teach you French while I'm at it, Jim? How about a little German? How about you, Doc? You speak BASIC?"

"No." He sighs

Bob scoffs again, "Okay, I got this. I got this."

"No. Bob." Joyce whispers

He pulls her into a hug, " It's okay. It's gonna be okay. Remember, Bob Newby, Superhero."

They pulled away, Hopper drags a nearby body to the room, "Grab his walkie."

They strip the dead guard of his walkie, Hopper takes the gun and cocks it back, "All right, you know how to use one of these?"

Bob puts in the ear piece, "No."

"Safety on. Safety off. Point. Squeeze." Hopper tells him

He takes the gun, "Point and squeeze. Okay. Easy peasy"

"If anything happens down there, I want you to come right back up." He instructs

"Listen." He pants "Don't wait for me. As soon as I get those doors open..."

Hopper finishes his sentence, "I'm gonna get them out. I promise."

"Okay, well... I'll be in touch." He says walking down the hall.

Nancy and Jonathan jump out of the car, looking at the blacked out lab. They are unable to get any further due to the closed metal gate in front of them.

"Why are the lights off?" He wonders

"Maybe it's closed." She suggests

He shuts his door entering the security box, "Security just took the night off. I don't think so."

He presses a button repeatedly, hoping the the gate would magically open.

She walks over to him, "It's not working?"

"No! The power's off." He informs

Rustling in the woods makes Nancy snap her head around, "Jonathan?"

He stops messing the the buttons, "What?"

The rustling continues, "I think there's something in the woods."

Nancy heads straight towards the noise.

Jonathan catches up to her, "Nancy, stay back. Hello! Who's there? Who's there?"

They watch as multiple lights shine through the trees, a group of people step out into the open.

"Steve? Y/n?" They question

"Nancy?" Steve replies

"Jonathan." Y/n says

They all walk over, meeting in the middle.

"What are you doing here?" Nancy asks

"What are you doing here?" Steve repeats

"We're looking for Mike and Will." She answers

"They're not in there are they?" Dustin asks

"We're not sure." She responds

"Why?" Jonathan worries

The sound of a monsters screech answering his question. They all look at the lab, monstrous growls echo from the inside.

Bob hurries down the stairs into the basement. A broken pipe spits out a gust of steam making him jump.

He talks to himself, "Keep it together, Bob."

He shines his light around, two dead bodies make him jump. He steps over and around them findings the breaker.

"Okay, here we go." He grunts pushing up the levers

The lights in the lab turn on one after one. The others in the security office hurry to screens.

"He made it." Mike tells them

Everyone is bickering about what to do and who's seen who.

Nancy is first to notice the lights turn back on, "The powers back."

Jonathan rushes back to the buttons, rapidly pushing open but nothing happens.

Dustin pushes his way in, "Let me try. Let me try, Jonathan!"

Dustin does the same thing to no avail, "Son of a bitch! You know what..."

Owens talks into a mic, "Okay, Bob, can you hear us?"

"Loud and clear, Doc. Can you hear me back?" He asks

"Yeah we hear you." He replies

Bob turns on the computer, "All right, give me a minute."

His fingers move around the board like it's child's play, "Open sesame."

The front door buzzes, the light on top switches from red to blue.

Owen inform the others "It's open."

Bob works quickly to open all of the other doors.

The metal gate finally opens to large group of kids.

Dustin laughs, "Hey! I got it! I got it!"

Hopper smiles "Son of a bitch did it."

"Right, I'll meet you outside." Bob says

"Nice job." Owen compliments "Hold on a second, Chief."

"What's wrong?" Hopper worries

He points to a screen, "West stairwells not clear anymore."

One of the monsters is making its way down to Bob.

"What's going on?" Bob asks

"We've got some company." He informs "West stairwell."

"I got an idea." He states going back to the computer

He quickly makes his way into the sprinkler system.

"What the hell's he doing?" He wonders

He clicks onto one of the corridors "Okay. And splash."

The noise makes the monster run back upstairs to the new noise.

Owens is completely astonished "Okay. Okay, that worked. Now, get out of there. Go! Go!"

Bob makes his way out of the basement, leaving the gun behind.

Hopper grunts as he picks up Wills unconscious body.

"Wait a second, Chief?" Owens voices holding out a walkie "Take this."

Hopper takes it, "What are you doing?"

"Any more surprises, I'll let you know." He tells him "Go. Go!"

With a sigh they leave Owens, carefully making their way to door. Bob pants as he makes climbs up the stairs.

Mike and Hopper fly out the door, Joyce stops at the entrance waiting for Bob.

"Come on, Bob. Come on." She whispers

Owens voice shoots into his ear, "Hey, Bob? I'm gonna guide you, okay?"

"Is there a problem?" He worries

"No, it's just... It's, uh, getting a little crowded up here, so we're gonna have to take this slow." He answers

"Okay." He mutters

"All right, just start walking. Okay, good." He instructs

Bob's breathing heavily as he slowly walks down the hall, not letting his guard down.

"Okay, now, your next right. Now, keep going, keep going, keep going..."

Bob picks up his pace, following every direction he's given.

Owens eyes dart from screen to screen, he jumps when he sees a monster turn a corner, "Stop!"

Bob comes to a halt, "What?"

"Bob, there's a door on your left, do you see that? That's a closet. Yeah, I need you to get in it. Now! Right now. Get in the closet."

Bob backs into the closet, shutting the door. He turns off his light and tries to quiet his breathing.

A shadow blocks the light shining through the bottom of the door. The monster lightly growls, trying to listen for any movement.

The shadow disappears, Owens watches from the cams as it walks away, "Jesus Christ. Okay. How you holding up there, Bob? You all right?"

"Yeah. Yeah." He assures

"You got a pretty clear shot to the front door." He informs "You can do this, okay? You're almost home free, all right, Bob?"

He opens the door, it squeaks on its hinges. When he thinks that he's in the clear a broom falls. It bounces on the floor with loud thuds.

He turns to face the monster down the hall.

"Run!" Owens yells

Bob takes off, pushing open doors. His attention is back and forth from what's in front of him to the monster chasing him.

He pushes open one last door, locking it shut behind him. He bends over trying to catch his breath.

"Bob!" Joyce exclaims

He looks over to her and smiles, happy that he was able to make it back.

The monster comes out of nowhere, it tackles Bob to the ground. Joyce screams in horror, watching as monster rips into him.

Hopper rushes in, unloading bullets into the monster. The five other monsters burst through the door.

He knows that if they stay any longer they'll end up like everyone else. He pulls Joyce out of the building, much to her dismay.

"What happened?" Mike screams

The monsters try to break down the front door.

"He's gone! He's gone!" Bob shouts trying to keep Joyce on her feet.

A car honks at them before stopping, "Come on! Get in!"

Hopper picks up Will and they all run to the car.

The junkyard group stands around at the gate, bored and worried.

Y/n mumbles to Steve, "I don't get why I couldn't go, I'm a better weapon than Nancy's dumb gun."

"Guys?" Max says

They all turn their attention to the cars speeding their way, cursing as they jump out of the way.

Hoppers truck stops in front of them, "Let's go."

One by one they quickly climb into the car.

Will lays on the Byers' couch as Jonathan strokes his hair, whispering sorries to his little brother. Nancy stands over him with and hand on his shoulder.

Steve watches the little moment and walks away to join the others in the kitchen.

Hopper is on the phone, very frustrated that the person on the other line isn't getting the point. He hangs up the phone after giving them the phone number.

"They didn't believe you, did they?" Dustin asks

"We'll see." He answers

"We'll see? We can't just sit here while those things are loose!" Mike complains

"We stay here, and we wait for help." He tells him walking away into the hall.

He knocks softly on Joyce's door before heading inside.

She's sat at the end of her bed, a blanket draped over her shoulders.

He sits on the floor in front of her, her breathing is shaky and she can't bring herself to look at him.

The party sits at the kitchen table, playing with their hands, unsure of what to do.

Mike catches sight of the puzzles that Bob brought over earlier. Pushing himself out the chair and over to games.

He picks up the cube, "Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?"

"Really?" Lucas asks

"He petitioned the school to start it and everything." He informs "Then he had a fundraiser for equipment. Mr. Clarke learned everything from him. Pretty awesome, right?"

"Yeah." Lucas and Dustin agree

Mike sets the cube down on the table, "We can't let him die in vain."

"What do you want to do, Mike?" Dustin questions "The Chief's right on this. We can't stop those Demo-dogs on our own."

"Demo-dogs?" Max wonders

He slowly explains "Demogorgon dogs. Demo-dogs. It's like a compound. It's like a play on words-"

"Okay." She says getting the point

"I mean, when it was just Dart, maybe..." Dustin comments getting back on track

"But there's an army now." Lucas adds

"His army." Mike states

"What do you mean?" Steve asks

"His army." He repeats "Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army, too."

Mike rushes into Wills room, grabbing the picture of the monster. The others follow, taking the picture from him.

"The shadow monster." Dustin points out

"It got Will that day on the field. The doctor said it was like a virus, it infected him." Mike informs

"And so this virus, it's connecting him to the tunnels?" Max wonders

"To the tunnels, monsters, the Upside Down, everything." He explains

"Whoa. Slow down. Slow down." Steve says

He breaks it down for him, "Okay, so, the shadow monster's inside everything. And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will."

"And so does Dart." Lucas chimes

"Yeah. Like what Mr. Clarke taught us. The have mind." He jabbers

"Hive mind?" Y/n asks

"A collective consciousness. It's a super organism." Dustin replies

Mike takes back the picture, "And this is the thing that controls everything. It's the brain."

"Like the mind flayer." Dustin marvels

Lucas snaps knowingly.

"The what?" Max, y/n and Steve ask in unison

They move back into the kitchen, the others in the house joining, Dustin slams an open book onto the table.

"The mind flayer." He states

"What the hell is that?" Hopper voices

"It's a monster from an unknown dimension. It's so ancient that it doesn't even know it's true home." He revealed "Okay, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly developed psionic powers."

"Oh, my god, none of this is real. This is a kids' game." Hopper groans

"No, it's a manual. And it's not for kids." He argues "And unless you know some that we don't, this is the best metaphor-"

"Analogy." Lucas corrects

"Analogy? That's what you're worried about?" He chides "Fine. An analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is."

"Okay, so this mind flamer thing-" Nancy says

"Flayer. Mind flayer." Dustin interrupts

She sighs "What does it want?"

"To conquer us, basically. It believes it's the master race." He tells them

Steve stammers "Like the Germans?"

"Uh, the Nazis?" Dustin asks

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Nazis." He assures

"If the Nazis were from another dimension, totally. Uh, it views other races, like us, as inferior to itself." He replies

"I wants to spread, take over the other dimensions." Mike mentions

"We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it." Lucas comments

"That's great. That's great. That's really great. Jesus!" Steve exclaims running a hand through his hair

Y/n picks up the book, "So if this thing is like a brain that's controlling everything, then if we kill it..."

"We kill everything it controls." Mike responds

"We win." Dustin states

"Theoretically." Lucas says

Hopper takes the book from y/n, "Great. So how do you kill this thing? Shoot it with Fireballs or something."

Dustin laughs, "No. No, no fire- No fireballs. Uh, you summon an undead army, uh, because... because zombies, you know, they don't have brains, and the mind flayer, it... it... It likes brains. It's just a game. It's a game."

Hopper slams down the book, "What the hell are we doing here?"

"I thought we were waiting for your military backup." Dustin argues

"We are!" He scolds

"But even if they come, how are they gonna stop this? You can't just shoot this with guns." Mike tells him

"You don't know that! We don't know anything!" He barks

"We know it's already killed everybody in that lab." He states

"And we know the monsters are gonna molt again." Lucas adds

"We know that it's only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town." Dustin snaps

"They're right." Joyce croaks from the hall "We have to kill it. I want to kill it."

Hopper walks over to her, "Me, too. Me, too, Joyce, okay? But how do we do that? We don't exactly know what we're dealing with here."

"No. But he does." Mike says "If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it's Will. He's connected to it. He'll know it's weakness."

"I thought we couldn't trust him anymore. That he's a spy for the mind flayer now." Max comments

"Yeah, but he can't spy it he doesn't know where he is." He assures

With that they get a plan ready.

Y/n and Hopper work on taking everything out of the shed.

"Hey... um, will you be okay if this shit goes to hell?" He asks thinking of the worst possible scenario

"Yeah, I should be..." she replies

“Listen, we're all here to help and I'm not leaving until all those bastards are dead." He assures

Tossing things out, one by one they start to pile up in the backyard.

Steve and Nancy are hanging up sheets to cover the windows.

"Hey." She says "What you did, um, helping the kids... that was... really cool."

"Yeah." He replies "Those little shit are real trouble, you know?"

"Believe me, I know." She assures

Lucas and Dustin are going throw the trash cans.

"Hey. I'm... I'm sorry about Dart and all. I guess I just thought he was my friend. I was wrong. I broke the rule of law, so if you want your girlfriend to take over my spot in the party, I understand." Dustin tells him

"She's not my girlfriend." He laughs

"I saw you two holding hands in the bus, Lucas." He confesses

"She was just scared." He justifies

"Maybe, but I could feel it." He states

"Feel what?" He questions

"The electricity." He answers grabbing some old newspaper and leaving.

Mike and Max are in the kitchen, she taping up a chair while he looks under the sink.

"I get why El was your mage now." She says

"What?" He asks

"Lucas. He told me all about her." She replies

"Yeah, well he shouldn't have. And just because you know the truth, doesn't mean you're in our party." He tells her "You do know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know." She trails "I mean, why would you want a stupid zoomer in your party anyway. I'm just saying, El? She sounds like she was really awesome."

"Yeah, she was." He responds "Until that thing took her. Just like it took Bob."

He picks up his things and walks out, she slides a peace of cardboard onto the chairs legs.

Jonathan is outside with Joyce, taking sheets down from the drying rack.

"You sure this is gonna work?" He asks

"He knew who I was." She replies "He's still in there. It's gonna work. It has to."

Everyone works together on making that the shed is completely unrecognizable. Tape, foil, sheets, newspapers, and cardboard cover everything last nook and cranny.

They set up lights and chair, Jonathan carries Will inside. Strapping him down to the chair. His arms, hands, and legs are unable to move.

Joyce fills a syringe with the sedative, Mike powers the lights.

Everyone but Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan, and Mike file back into the house.

"All right, you ready?" Hopper asks

"Yeah." She says

He opens a bottle of ammonia, splashing some onto a cotton ball. Holding it under Will's nose until he wakes up.

Dustin looks out to the shed, pulling his hat off and walking into a different room. Nancy stands against a wall, letting her thoughts run wild.

Steve stands in the living room, taking practice swings with the nailed bat. Y/n sits in the dining room, making little things float around.

Lucas and Max sit in the hallway on the floor.

"If he finds out where we are... will he send those dogs after us?" Max asks

"He won't find out." He assures

"Yeah, but, if he does..." she theorizes

"Judgment day." He answers

Will's eyes wonder around the room, trying to focus with the bright light shining on him.

He struggles in his chair, "What? What? What is this? What? What is this? Why am I tied up?"

Joyce steps up, "Will, we just wanna talk to you. We're not gonna hurt you."

"Where am I?" He voices

Hopper pulls out the drawing, "You recognize this? Do you recognize this?"

Will shakes his head.

"Hey." She whispers "We wanna help you. But to do that, we have to understand how to kill it."

"Why am I tied up?" He shouts "Why am I tied up? Why am I tied up? Why am I tied up?"

He thrashes around in the chair as he continues to shout, "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!"

The lights in the shed start to flicker, along with the ones in the house.

Hopper holds him down until he stops.

Joyce takes the seat in front of him, "Do you know what March 22nd is? It's your birthday. Your birthday. When you turned eight, I gave you that huge box of crayons. Do you remember that?"

"It was 120 colors. And all your friends, they got you Star Wars toys, but all you wanted to do was draw with all your new colors. And you drew this big spaceship, but it wasn't from the movie."

She stammers "It was your spaceship. A rainbow ship is what you called it. And you must have used every color in the box. I took that with me to Melvald's and I put it up and I told everyone who came in, 'my son drew this'."

"And you were so embarrassed." She chuckles "But I was so proud. I was so, so proud."

Jonathan let's out a shaky breath, "Do you remember the day dad left? We stayed up all night building Castle Byers... just the way you drew it. And took so long because you were so bad at hammering."

He laughs "You'd miss the nail every time. And then it started raining, but we stayed out there anyway. We were both sick for like a week after that. But we just had to finish it, didn't we? We just had to."

Will taps on the side of the chair.

"Do you remember the first day that we met?" Mike asks "It was... It was the first day of kindergarten. I knew nobody. I had no friends and..."

He sniffles "I just felt so alone and so scared, but... I saw you on the swings and you were alone, too. You were just swinging by yourself. And I just walked up to you and... I asked."

"I asked if you wanted to be my friend. And you said yes. You said yes. It was the best thing I've ever done."

"Will, baby..." Joyce says "If you're in there, just please... please talk to us. Please, honey, please, can you do that for me? Please. I love you so much."

"Let me go." He commands

Hopper takes notice of tapping on the chair, they head back inside the house making sure to keep Will oblivious.

"What happened?" Dustin asks

Hopper sits at the kitchen table, everyone gathering around him.

He sighs "I think he's talking just not with words."

He writes down a series on dots and dashes.

"What is that?" Steve asks

"Morse code." Everyone around answers

"H-E-R-E." Hopper spells

"Here." Everyone says

"Will's still in there. He's talking to us." He informs

Jonathan grabs the radio and inserts a tape, pressing play 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?' fills the shed.

"Do you remember the first time I played you this?" He questions "Mom and Dad were both arguing in the next room. So I played you the mixtape I made you. And it was the first time you got into music. Real music."

Will taps on the chair, Hopper sends in the code over walkie.

Dustin calls out the dashes on dots, Lucas finds the matching letter, Nancy writes the letter down on a piece of paper.

-•-•

'C'

"And then the party escaped into the sewers, and there were those big insect things, and you guys were still on level one."

• - • •

'L'

- - -

'O'

"Then you cast Fog Cloud and you saved us. You saved the whole party."

• • •

'S'

"You saw that little girl and she was in the sandbox and she was crying."

•

'E'

"You gave her your Tonka Truck. And I told you we couldn't afford to but another one."

- - •

'G'

"You said she should have it because she's sad. 'She's sad mommy'."

• -

'A'

"I love you so much."

'T'

"So, so much."

•

'E'

They gather around Nancy, "Close gate."

“How?” Y/n wonders out loud.

The phone rings, Will perks up at the noise.

Dustin hurries to the phone, "Shit. Shit."

He picks it up and puts it back on the hook, it stops ringing. Only for a second, it starts back up. Y/n whips her hand down, send the phone flying off the wall.

"Do you think he heard that?" Max asks

"It's just a phone. It could be anywhere. Right?" Steve says

Wills eyes flutter shut, alerting the monsters.

"Hey. Hey, can you hear me?" Joyce worries

"It knows. It knows where we are." Hopper tells her

She grabs the sedative and injects it into his arm. He knocks out.

They hurry outside, the sound of a growl puts them on high alert.

"That's not good." Dustin states

"They're coming!" Jonathan warns

They quickly untie Will, rushing back into the house with the others.

Hopper grabs the rifle from outside before heading in.

"Hey. Hey, get away from the windows!" He scolds "Do you know how to use this?"

"What?" Jonathan asks

"Can you use this?" He questions

"I can." Nancy chimes

He toss her the other rifle.

The armed stand guard, Hopper and Nancy with Rifles, Steve with his bat, y/n with her powers, Lucas with his wrist rocket, and Mike who grabbed a trophy.

The unarmed stand behind them.

"Where are they?" Max worries

They jump at the sound of the monster, they're close.

"What are they doing?" Nancy asks

They listen to the sounds coming from outside before it falls quiet.

The monsters flies through the window making them all scream. It doesn't move.

It lays on the floor, lifeless.

"Holy shit." Dustin gasps

"Is it dead?" Max wonders

Hopper kicks over its head, nothing.

The door creaks, everyone's heads snap in its direction.

It unlocks itself, they're on guard again.

The door opens and in walks El.

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