CHAPTER TWENTY:
"Is This Nerd Shit?"
VIOLET'S mind was in shambles. The chance of her being able to focus and pay attention in the rest of her classes were gone, flown right out the godamn window. What Will had revealed to her in the halls after lunch was playing on an endless loop in her brain, she couldn't stop herself from thinking about it. The thought process was driving her crazy, and she needs the godforsaken last bell to ring already.
What Will told her a couple hours ago set off so many alarm bells in her head that it's crazy, apparently he thinks that Dart has something to do with the Upside Down because he coughed up a slug last year that was strangely identical to it. And that is why he was so on edge when they left the AV room earlier. When she took a step back and put all of the pieces together, she could see why he would think that, and it scared the absolute shit out of her.
Out of nowhere Dustin winds up with this creepy slug creature, who they know is not like any slug in the entirety of the normal world, and now it's triggering Will? She already knows that Will has this... insight to the Upside Down since he's been there for seven straight days. He of all people would know if Dart was from the Upside Down.
And she trusted his word.
But here was the problem, Dustin was so incredibly fond of the creature. And if Will was right —which she knew that he was— they would have no choice but to get rid of Dart. And as much as she hated the thought of having to betray her best friend, it was imperative that they eliminate the creature before it was too late.
There's no way of telling what that thing really was, it could be a baby Demogorgon for all they knew. She wasn't willing to wait for it to grow into a full grown monster, she was not gonna take that chance.
The second that final bell echoed in her ears, she gathers her belongings and high tailed it out of the room. She made a beeline for her locker and quickly stuffed her school items inside her bag, then she quickly slammed the compartment closed and crossed the hall to Will's locker.
He smiled anxiously as she soon approached him, "Hey, you okay?" She asked him, placing a gentle and comforting hand on his shoulder.
Will nods, "Yeah, I'm okay. You didn't tell Dustin, did you?"
She shook her head, "No, I wanted to wait until you were ready to tell him about Dart."
Mike soon walks over to the two, with his bag hung off his shoulder as he stood there. "Guys, you coming? Let's go show, Mr. Clarke." Will and Violet lock eyes, exchanging a worried look before they walk over to him. Mike's brows furrowed together, "What?" He demanded, taking in their looks. "What?"
Violet looks to Will, sending him an encouraging yet subtle nod.
"It's about D'Artagnan." Will admits meekly, hazel eyes blinking owlish-ly. "I think he's from the Upside Down. The sound it made, it triggered me. It was same sound I heard last night when... I went into that weird state that comes with my episodes."
Mike's sepia eyes grew big, and then suddenly his face went cold and serious. He spun on his heel and made his way down the hall to Mr. Clarke's classroom, leaving both Will and Violet to share a confused look. The duo quicky rush behind the Wheeler boy, following in tow as he makes strides to Mr. Clarke's room.
He wastes no time as he gets to the door, yanking the handle as he rushed into the room. "Stop!" Mike yelled, Violet and Will joining at his side as they entered the room. "I'm sorry, Mr. Clarke." He apologized to the mildly confused teacher, snatching up the proton pack from the desk. "It was just a stupid prank."
Dustin shot him an incredulous look, "What the hell are you doing?"
"I told him to stop." Mike ignored him as he stumbled back towards the door, "We need to go, right now."
Dustin's jaw falls open in shock, bewildered by his desperate tone of urgency. "Mike!"
"Right now!" Mike screamed back, turning on his heel and running out of the classroom.
Without a moment's hesitation, the group of five ran out of the room after Mike, leaving poor Mr. Clarke baffled by what just happened.
Upon arrival to the AV Club room, the boys all piled inside with Violet being the secind last one. When Max made it to the threshold Mike steps in the way and blocks her way inside.
Violet frowned, "Mike, what the hell are you doing?"
Mike ignored her, keeping his gaze trained on Max. "You can't come in. Party members only."
Her lips fell open in shock, "Mike, come on."
Max scoffs, "You cannot be serious, let me in."
"I'm dead serious." Mike replied flatly, "You have to wait outside."
"Mi—" He slams the door closed, and he locks it for good measure.
Violet shoots him a glare as he joins them around the table, "You're an asshole, I hope you know that."
Mike narrows his eyes, "You know that she can't know about this, just as well as I do."
Violet huffs in annoyance, "You didn't have to slam the door and lock it, she's gonna think we hate her."
Mike shrugged, opening up the proton pack. "Wouldn't be the worst thing, she's not in our party."
"So?" Violet raised her brows, "I'm not in the party either."
Mike exhaled heavily, "You're different, Vi. You may not play with us, but you sit through all of our campaigns. And because of your powers, that makes you our Witch. Max is not one of us."
"Yeah, but—"
"I hate to interrupt, but can someone please tell me what the hell this is all about?" Dustin interjects irritably, "What happened to the plan? I thought we were telling Mr. Clarke about Dart."
"Plans change." Mike muttered, turning to Will. "Tell him what you told me and Vi."
All eyes are on Will, and he shrinks under their gazes. "Dustin, I'm sorry to have to say this, I know how much you clearly love Dart. But... I think he's from the Upside Down."
Dustin's eyes widened, he shook his head in disbelief. "No. I don't—I don't believe that. How do you know that for sure?"
"Well..." Will trails off anxiously, avoiding everyone's eyes. "Last year, I coughed up something in the sink. It looked alot like dart, but smaller. And when I saw it earlier, it triggered me."
Lucas's face twists with confusion, "Hold on, so you saw something that looked like Dart last year?"
Will nodded, "Kind of, but there was no tail."
"But then he heard it yesterday." Mike informed, "The exact same sound."
"Why didn't you tell us before?" Dustin inquired.
"I wasn't sure." Will admits.
"So it's a coincidence." Dustin states stubbornly.
"Or not." Mike shot back, "What if Will was stuck in the Upside Down, he somehow acquired True Sight?"
"Is this nerd shit?" Violet frowned, clearly lost. "What's True Sight?"
"It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane." Dustin explains.
She pursed her lips, she still had no clue what that meant. "Still not following." It really sucked being the clueless one in their group of five.
Lucas sighs heavily, "Elaborate."
"Maybe these episodes that Will keep having aren't really flashbacks at all." Mike breaks it down, "Maybe they're real. Maybe Will can somehow see into the Upside Down."
"So that would mean..." Lucas trails off thoughtfully.
"Dart is from the Upside Down." Mike provides for him.
Lucas exhaled a heavy breath, "We need to take him to Hopper."
Mike nods, "I agree."
"Me too." Violet inserts.
"No way." Dustin flat out refused, "If we take him to Hopper, Dart's as good as dead."
"Maybe he should be." Mike replied carelessly.
Dustin's jaw fell open, eyes wide with disbelief. "How could you say that?"
Violet shoots Dustin a sympathetic glance, "I'm sorry, Dust. But we can't take this risk."
Mike nods at her words, "Vi's right, Dustin. He's from the Upside Down."
"Maybe. But even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad." Dustin argued.
Mike shoots him a bemused look, "That's like saying just because someone's from the Death Star doesn't make them bad."
"We have a bond." Dustin attempted to reason with him.
Mike scoffed, "A bond? Just because he liked nougat?"
"No, because he trust me!" Dustin fired at him.
A look of incredulity sets on Lucas' face, "He trusts you?"
A similar look flashed onto Violet's features, "Dustin, he's probably a baby Demorgon."
"Yes, but I promised I would take care of him." Dustin whined, not letting up.
Suddenly, their argument was cut into, by the sound of a noise coming from inside of the proton pack as it shook and rattled.
Violet's eyes widened, she takes a step back from the table. "Well, looks like Dart wants to say hello."
Max's fist bangs on the door outside, ripping her attention away from the monster inside the box. "Guys, what's going on? Come on."
However, the box grabs her attention right back as it tips to the side. Dart is clearly trying to escape. Mike quickly snatched up the mic on the table, he grips it tight as he hold it up, ready to use it if the time calls for it.
"Don't hurt him." Dustin spits out.
"Only if he attacks." Mike replied.
"Just open it already." Lucas orders.
"Yeah, before it fights it's way out." Violet agreed, shuffling behind Mike just incase something happens.
Dustin walks over to the desk, he opens up the proton pack and Dart comes tumbling out. Her eyes grew big with horror as she realized something very significantly and alarmingly different.
Dart. Got. Bigger.
"Oh my god." She gasped, her hand clutching Mike's shoulder.
"Holy shit!" Lucas exclaimed.
They all watch as the once tiny slug creature —now turned medium sized in just a couple of hours— crawls on the surface. How did it get so big so fucking fast? This is insane. And as if things couldn't get any worse, she got a good glimpse of movement inside of the creature, just like earlier.
And... there goes her stomach turning again. They're so lucky she skipped lunch.
Soon after she saw the movement, two sets of legs sprouted out from Dart's flesh and she gags as the juices from that action pools on the table. This is the most disgusting sight that she's ever seen in her life, and she was born in a godamn lab!
So that's saying alot.
"Oh, shit!" Lucas screams, jumping back from the table.
Dart opens it's mouth and roared angrily, probably sensing that they're all terrified, and Mike swings the mic as an attempt to attack him.
"No!" Dustin shrilled, grabbing Mike's arm and stopping him, making him miss as Dart takes a leap over the edge of the table.
The creature hit the ground running and scampers on the linoleum floors heading towards the closed door, but then the door swings open, because completely unbeknownst to them, Max had used a paper clip to get the door open. And because of that, Dart escapes and disappears down the hallways of the school.
Now he could be anywhere!
The boys all ran towards the door's threshold, disregarding Max sitting on her knees right there. And this resulted in all of them stumbling over her and falling to the ground. Violet shook her head as she stood at the door, everything that could possibly go wrong was going wrong.
She knew something bad was gonna happen today!
"Where'd he go?" Lucas panics, his head whipping in different directions of the hallway.
"What was that?" Max demands, eyes wide with horror.
"Dart!" Mike answered.
Max's jaw hung open, she was in disbelief. "What?"
"You let him escape!" Mike shouts angrily at her.
Violet's jaw clenched, feeling a need to defend the ginger. "Stop yelling at her, Mike!"
"Why did you attack him?!" Dustin accused, rounding on Mike.
Mike ignores him, starting forward down the hallway. "Come on."
"Don't hurt him!" Dustin yells after him as rushed down the hall, "Dont you hurt him!"
Violet huffs in annoyance, "Okay, what the fuck do we do now?"
Lucas drags his hands down his face, there's an exasperated look set on his features. "Just... keep your walkie on, I'll go find Mike, and you guys search the school for Dart. I'll let him know to turn his walkie on."
Violet nods, "Okay, copy that." Once the plan has been finalized, the others grab their bags and disperse down the hallways in different directions.
It is a big ass school, they'll need to look high and low for Dart.
—micaela speaks
Yo.
So I split this episode into three parts, mostly because I made them all just 2k word chapters.
So yeah, they're all short, hope that you guys don't mind that.
Violet is fed UP with Mike, she does not tolerate any of the hate and shade that Mike is sending Max's way.
Max Mayfield is a cinnamon roll, and Violet Harrington is the cinnamon roll defender 😌.
But anywhoosie, I'm off to write the final part of the episode!
I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you all in the next one!
Byeeee xx