THE FINAL FIGHT
March 27th, 1986
⏰ 1:30 pm, 📍Hawkins, Indiana
༺♥༻ Stephanie has committed too many crimes to count on her hands.
Sure, they've probably trespassed, vandalized, theft, assault, but grand theft auto will make a bigger black mark on her record.
Eddie leads the group through the trailer park, hidden with Max's Michael Myers mask.
They sneak past two people sitting outside under a tent and Eddie slides open a window in the back of the RV.
One by one they climb in, Eddie jumps into the drivers seat and does something with the wires, making the RV turn on.
The two people outside start to bang on the windows and doors. Steve gets into the drivers seat and yells, "Everybody, hang onto something!"
Stephanie jumps onto the couch in the back of the RV, subconsciously holding onto Max's jacket sleeve.
Dustin stares out the back window. "Shit, they look pissed!"
Stephanie pushes Dustin out of view. "Well, don't show your face, dumbass!"
They barely make it out of the trailer park. Running into garbage cans, veering off the road. Not that it was unlike how Steve drives normally, though.
————
༺♥༻ A few minutes down the road, everything had finally calmed down and Stephanie is comfortably leaning her head on Max's shoulder, focusing on the music leaking through her headphones, singing along with it in her head.
"So I've been thinking." Stephanie breaks the silence between the two, not picking her head up from Max's shoulder. "Two of the three of Vecna's victims were seeing Ms. Kelley, right?"
"Yeah." Max nods, not getting the point.
"So I figure there's a good chance that Vecna could've cursed another one of her students. We can go back to her office, look through the files and find another potential victim to use as bait."
"Steph, we don't have any time for that." Max puts her hand on Stephanie's knee, politely shutting her up. "And even if we did, we'd be putting a total stranger at risk. A stranger who has no idea what they're up against. I do."
Stephanie picks her head up to look at Max's worry filled face. "I didn't think of that part." She said quietly.
"He uses my memories against me. But only my darkest memories." Max looks out the window as if she's ashamed about her memories. "Same with Chrissy and Fred, right?"
"Right." Stephanie nods along.
"It's like he only sees the darkness in us." Max continues, pausing for a moment. "So, I'll just run in the opposite direction. Run to the light. And maybe he won't be able to find me there."
"I mean, it is your mind, right?" Stephanie asks expectingly. "You should be able to control where you are and shit like that."
"Yeah." Max smiles at the girl, feeling slightly more comforted. "I can just find a happy memory and hide there. Hide in the light."
"You got a memory in mind?" Stephanie asks, silently hoping it's the memory she's also thinking of.
Max smiles and nods. "Yeah. It was a time where I was...the happiest."
Stephanie hesitates for a moment. "Could I have been there?"
"You could've." Max shrugs. "Mike also could've been there."
"Mike?" Stephanie exclaims. "Shocker, man. I didn't know you were into tall boys."
"For the record, that was a joke." Max rolls her eyes. "And, yeah, you were definitely there." She smiles and narrows her eyes. "Maybe."
"Stop messing with me, Annie." Stephanie laughs, jokingly hitting Max in the shoulder.
Max hits back. "Oh, you're pulling out the nicknames, Chrissy?"
Soon, both of the girls are laughing in the back of the RV, temporarily forgetting about the fact they could both be walking into potential death.
"Do you think if I sang something it would work on Vecna?" Stephanie asks, slowing down her laughter. "What if I just belted out Running up that Hill in an attic? That would be funny, man."
"I would love to see that, personally." Max smiles, putting her headphones on.
Stephanie replays their conversation in her head all the way to the War Zone, smiling to herself.
————
༺♥༻ Steve pulls into the War Zone, attempting to hide the RV as much as possible in the side parking lot.
They decide that having Eddie go inside would be too dangerous, so they opt to have Dustin and Lucas stay behind with him.
The others walk into the store, stopping for a moment to take in the amount of weaponry displayed on the walls.
"Let's be...fast." Nancy says through her teeth.
"Lighting." Stephanie nods, looking around the store in attempt to make a game plan.
Stephanie and Max walk together throughout the store, grabbing things that they think could be useful while killing a monster from another dimension.
While in an aisle stocked with knives and axes, Stephanie sees someone out of the corner of her eye. The last person she wants to see in a store filled to the brim with murder weapons.
Matt.
"Oh, shit." Stephanie whispers, getting Max's attention turned to the boy. "Don't get his attention."
The girls turn around, walking away from Matt, who is talking with an employee about the effectiveness of different types of mace and pepper spray.
"Steph?"
Jesus Christ.
Stephanie stops in her tracks and slowly turns around with a fake smile, worried about what Matt would say.
"What are you doing here?" Matt scoffs, gesturing to the multiple knives that are in the basket she's carrying. "This isn't really a place for...women, you know?"
Stephanie gives Matt an incredulous look. "Uh, I don't know." She rolls her eyes, already becoming bored with the conversation. "Why are you even here?"
"Oh! I'm uh..." Matt smiles, holding up the rope he has in his hand. "Preparing for the hunt."
Stephanie sees Erica walk by the aisle she's standing in. Erica gives the girl wide eyes, making Stephanie look around the store, only to find out that Jason and his friends are there too, presumably for the same reason Matt is.
"Listen, I really have to go, Matt."
Matt takes a step closer to Stephanie.
"No!" He yells, looking down at Stephanie. "I don't appreciate you blowing me off this whole break, okay?"
Matt grabs Stephanie by the shoulder.
"Get the fuck off me!"
Matt tightens his grip.
"Hey, Steph, let's go, yeah?" Stephanie hears Steve call from behind her. "Steph?"
"Hey, kid get off of her!" Steve pushes Matt to the side, ready to punch him. "Who do you think you are?"
Stephanie puts her hands over Steve. "It's alright, Steve. We were just talking."
The siblings speed walk out of the store, past Nancy and Robin rapidly scanning all their items.
"Talking?" Steve scoffs, unlocking and opening the RV door. "Yeah, right!"
"It's nothing, alright?" Stephanie snaps. "We have bigger things to worry about anyway."
She goes to sit in the back of the RV next to Max.
"You alright?" Max asks, taking her headphones off.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Erica, Robin, and Nancy all come running out of the store, alerting everyone in the RV.
Lucas jumps back. What happened?"
"You're old friends are here." Erica informs, setting down brown bags on the floor.
Steve rushes out of the parking lot, heading out of sight of anyone who could find out what they're doing.
"Where are we even gonna go?" Stephanie asks, gesturing to the bags of unassembled spears and shields.
"How about a field?" Nancy suggests, turning to Steve. "Is an open field good?"
"Sure." Steve shrugs.
After a few minutes of driving, Steve pulls to the side of the road, parallel to a huge grassy field.
They all exit the RV, dumping out the filled bags onto the ground and taking the things they needed to make the weapons.
Max, Stephanie, Steve, and Robin situate themselves with the bottles of kerosene and bottles.
They start to fill each bottle up using a funnel and putting a rag in the bottles so they can throw the firey rags at Vecna.
Max and Stephanie have random talks at times, not slowing the flow of pouring the kerosene.
"Aren't you scared?" Stephanie speaks up, asking the question she's been thinking about all day.
"I guess so." Max looks up at the girl. "But I made it out the last time, right? As long as I hear the music won't I be fine?"
"Yeah." Stephanie smiles, seeing it in a different way for the first time. "What if something happens, though? What if your Walkman suddenly breaks and I have to belt out Running up that Hill?"
Max lets out a laugh. "Well, I hope it doesn't break."
"It won't." Stephanie reassures.
"To killing Vecna." Steve holds up a bottle, turning to Max and Stephanie.
Robin grabs her own bottle. "Slash Henry."
"Slash One." Max and Stephanie say at the same time, the four clinking their bottles.
"You think we're ready?" Steve asks, looking around at everyone else scattered around the field.
"I'm ready." Stephanie nods.
"Hey, guys!" Steve yells across the field. "Let's go!"
One by one, everyone piles into the RV, heading to the Creel house for one final fight.
The ride is deathly silent, everyone thinking the same thoughts.
Steve pulls in front of the house, Max, Stephanie, and Erica exiting the RV.
Stephanie walks up the stairs to the pathway of the house, lamp in hand.
Max and Stephanie hold onto each others hands while walking into the Creel house. Ready to finally end everything once and for all.
༺♥༻
get buckled in for these next two chapters.
7/16/23