Feelings, Max Mayfield ¹ ✓

vi. the search for dart

   "What the hell, Mike?" Liz questions, pissed about how mean Mike was being to Max.

   "She can't hear this." Mike states sternly to Liz. Mike and the rest of the group surround the table as Mike places the box Dart is being held in, in the center of the table. "I think that Dart might be from the Upside Down. Will told me that last year, on Christmas Eve, he coughed up something that looked a lot like Dart."

Banging comes from outside the door, "Hello? Hello? Guys, come on! Can I come in yet?"

"No!" Mike yells, making Liz sigh as Max probably felt very left out. Liz knew that it was better for Max not to hear this as it could put her in a lot of danger, and the last thing that Liz wants is Max in danger.

"I don't understand." Lucas states.

"What do you not understand?" Mike questions, confused at how he wouldn't be able to understand what he just explained.

"Will saw something that looked like Dart last year?" Lucas asks.

   "Kind of," Will answers. "But there was no tail."

   "But then he heard it yesterday." Mike adds. "The exact same sound."

   "Why didn't you tell us before?" Dustin asks, annoyed and angry that they didn't know this information.

   "I wasn't sure." Will answers. Liz thinks back to that morning when Will was looking at Dart nervously. That must've been the moment he realized that Dart might not be from this world.

   "So, it's a coincidence." Dustin states, not wanting to believe that Dart is from the Upside Down.

   "Or not." Mike states. "What if when Will was stuck in the Upside Down, he somehow acquired True Sight?"

   "True Sight?" Lucas questions, confused.

   "It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane." Dustin states.

   Lucas sighs, "Elaborate."

   "Maybe these episodes that Will keeps having aren't really flashbacks at all." Mike explains to his skeptical friends. "Maybe they're real. Maybe Will can somehow see into the Upside Down."

   "So that would mean..." Lucas starts.

   "Dart is from the Upside Down." Liz finishes, finally understanding. Mike nods, confirming it, happy that one of his friends gets it.

   Lucas sighs, "We have to take him to Hopper."

   "I agree." Mike states.

"Me too." Liz nods.

   "No way! If we take him to Hopper, Dart's as good as dead." Dustin argues, making Liz sigh.

   "Maybe he should be dead." Mike suggests.

   "How can you say that?" Dustin exclaims.

   "How can you not?" Mike yells. "He's from the Upside Down!"

"Maybe. But even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad!" Dustin explains, defending Dart.