Red, white and blue colours engulf the town, but fireworks aren't the only loud noises heard. Will learns from a new source some astonishing news and a massive outbreak of a dangerous disease contaminates citizens at the fair.
Main Character outfits
1. Mike-( FLASHBACK- a grey and dark blue striped shirt, black pants/ yellow striped shirt, grey shorts, black shoes/Date outfit: yellow shirt and denim vest, denim jeans, white sneakers/ blue and grey polo shirt, black shorts.)
2. Eleven- ( FLASHBACK-one of Hopper's blue and red flannel shirts over light blue top, black pants/ pale blue shirt, green pants, blue bracelet/ Date outfit: 'gorgeous' blue navy dress, white sneakers/yellow shirt.)
3. Will- (a light blue, dark blue and white polo shirt, cream shorts, blue and red stripes on long white socks, brown shoes/black and white shirt, black and red shorts/white T-shirt, green and red shorts.)
4. Dustin-(white long socks, green shorts, ROAST BEEF orange graphic tee, blue vest/ rainbow propeller hat, khaki watch, headset piece, grey and orange shoes/black, white and red patterned shirt/grey shirt.)
5. Lucas- (khaki shorts, light blue singlet, purple and pink and green and blue cap, short white socks, white and yellow and orange sneakers/ red shirt, black shorts/green top, iconic camouflage bandana.)
6. Max- (a orange and blue striped shirt tucked into shorts, brown belt, white and red pixel short socks, red and blue sneakers, short mint green shorts, yellow watch, brown sunglasses just to wear for fun/ black diamond-patterned shirt, light pink shorts.)
7. Jim-(FLASHBACK-a brown, blue and red shirt, brown pants/pink and green flamingo shirt, watch, blue jeans/police chief outfit.)
8. Erica-(a yellow and pink shirt over a blue denim dungaree, pink and yellow and blue bracelets.)
9. Nancy- (a white dress with blue bows, brown belt, brown slip-on shoes/red and yellow and blue plaid-stripe dress.)
10. Joyce- (a red and orange shirt, purple striped shirt over the top, blue jeans, old sneakers.)
11. Billy-(a white T-shirt, blue denim jeans, black belt.)
12. Steve-(a orange striped T-shirt, blue jeans.)
13. Karen- ( a rainbow striped skirt, blue ruffled V-neck top, pearl necklace/ black buttoned dress.)
14. Jonathan- (a blue shirt, cream pants/ green buttoned long sleeve shirt, dark blue jeans.)
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[Flashback]
Hawkins, Indiana. December 25th, 1984: It was a chilly morning, a few weeks since the annual Snowball Dance at Hawkins Middle School had occurred. Hopper's Cabin still appeared to look the same as it did- mahogany, rustic and old with few yellow lamps in every room; dull lighting, but bright enough to see where to go. There were few Christmas decorations here and there including paper snowflakes. One of the walls in the lounge room had just been painted in a bright coat of mint green. The two of them gathered in the lounge room near 'one little Christmas tree'. El or Jane Hopper as she was now officially called, was Jim Hopper's new adoptive daughter. She began opening her long-anticipated present from her new father figure, pulling the red paper off in excitement only to reveal a silly childish toy- Speak & Spell. The young brunette was very confused then angry and lastly unhappy with this gift, "What is...it!?" Hopper could tell that his new daughter had no idea what the hell the present was?, so he started to explain and show it to her, "It's a toy, you see, it's like a computer, you touch different letters here when it tells you to spell a word." El was still not impressed one bit with him, she was acting ungrateful more than anything, "I'm not a baby!" Hopper then went to go and find some batteries to set up the game properly. Instead of a child's toy, she yearned for something else, someone that made her happy. She hadn't left the cozy cabin since the Snowball Dance, which was one of the happiest nights of her life, being free and dancing with a special boy named Mike and even kissing him. It made her feel in absolute bliss and she would do anything to experience that freedom again.
After she had wiped her tears away, sitting there quietly on the couch hugging an orange cushion tightly to her chest, a quiet knock on the door was heard, her ears pricked up like an animal and El soon went over to investigate. She took a deep breath and tried to contain her excitement as she was in absolute joy to open the door and see who she had been missing in her heart. A boy with dark ebony shaggy hair and warm brown eyes was soon standing there in the front doorway with a purple and blue Christmas present tied off with a sparkly red ribbon, "Merry Christmas El." Mike came over to visit and keep her company while also giving her a special Christmas gift. The two reunited so happily, they hugged and they even kissed on the couch more than once. El soon opened her present, so eager and thrilled to get a super com like her other friends, "Thank You!" In his room, Hopper was still looking for some batteries and decided to take the ones out from his bedside table clock, just as he came across an old picture frame of his old wife Diane and his deceased daughter Sara. Feeling reminiscent he took his time to look at the photo once more.
He then heard noises, the sound of laughing and giggling coming from outside of the room, and soon came back only yelling very loudly, "WHEELER!" Both Mike and El scared from his loud booming voice, stopped giggling as Hopper continued, "What the hell are you doing here!????" Mike tried to explain without arguing, but it didn't matter, they had been caught. Hopper only kicked him out of their house in a deadpan voice, "Get out and stay out!" He even locked the door with all the locks making sure the boy teenager didn't come back again.
El feeling quickly annoyed with Hopper then started to ignore it by playing with her new gift, clicking the different buttons to try to get the super com to work, desperate to reconnect. Hopper then noticed that her smile was glowing, Mike's amazing gift had made her happy once again. Hopper could only feel a tinge of embarrassment as it hit him like a ton of bricks, finally realizing that he had been doing it all wrong. He had still been treating El like his old daughter Sara, he bought the silly game because Sara used to love playing it. But El wasn't Sara, he knew that now. Speak & Spell! What was I thinking, the kid is nearly a teenager, not a toddler, some father I am! Hopper then pushed his own thoughts aside and moved on from his mistake as he sat back down on the couch and helped El set up the new gadget with the batteries he still had in his hand, he promised to try and be better a father to her from now on for both of their sakes.
[Present Time]
Hawkins, Indiana, 4th July 1985:
At Hopper's Cabin, the place still had the rustic touch with few animal features like a duck statue and a deer head on the wall, but it looks much homier because it had been all spruced up with vibrant colours everywhere. It had been a long process and the Hopper's had been busy in the past year, working together to do up their new home, including El's bedroom, now coated in mint green walls matching the lounge room. Her room still had the timber flooring but also now consisted of things young girls would need in their daily life, like new; clothes, home decor such as a mirror and a hairbrush to brush her new styled hair with, El had most of these possessions in the colour green, green had been discovered to be her favourite colour.
Her new dad even built her a dresser painted in white for her room. In his kitchen, Hopper is now making a traditional cooked breakfast for El, who is outside in the woods training her powers, as she is growing up, her powers appear to be growing stronger and making her feel more exhausted after using them.
Joyce and Will Byers soon arrive at Hopper's place and knock on the front door, Hopper stops frying his pan of crispy bacon and eggs and then goes over to answer the door, noticing that the Byers are there and welcomes them in. Joyce demands Hopper if he's absolutely sure they closed the Gate last year because she mentions that Will thinks 'the monster' is back!? Will then hears a loud *thud* noise coming from outside and goes off to investigate it with the adults following close behind him. Will comes across a girl levitating sticks and stones in the air in a circle formation, he is amazed at the sight, "Whoa, cool!" The young girl turns around and says, "Will?" before collapsing and fainting from exhaustion onto the ground!
[🎶Based on characters by the Duffer Brothers and an Netflix original series/ Winona Ryder/David Harbour/ Finn Wolfhard/ Millie Bobby Brown/ Gaten Matarazzo/ Caleb McLaughlin/ Noah Schnapp/ Sadie Sink/ Natalia Dyer/ Charlie Heaton/Joe Keery/ Dacre Montgomery/ Cara Buono/ Priah Ferguson with Julian Morris...🎶]
Dr. Aaron is driving in his (Ford F-250 2WD ) over to Lovers Lake with a 'heavy package' in the back that has to be taken care of immediately. He soon arrives and disposes of Dr. Owen's deceased body which is all wrapped up in a grey blanket, by dumping it into the lake with his own bare hands. Then when he thought he was the only person there, a cheerful farmer dressed in blue and red flannels chewing a piece of a hay straw in his mouth, hands the shady doctor a flyer about Hawkins having a Fourth of July Carnival, it read in massive bold blue, white and red colours along with some colourful pictures around the border:
🎡COME ONE, COME ALL TO THE GREATEST CARNIVAL CELEBRATION HAWKINS HAS EVER SEEN - THIS SUMMER!!! ☀️
🎠HAWKINS BIG FUN FAIR!🎢
✰Thursday 4th July, 1985 ✰
🍔Location: Merrill's Pumpkin farm🤡
✯8:00am-9:00pm✯
🌭ACTIVITIES/RIDES/FOOD/MUSIC/FIREWORKS!🎆
Fun For The Whole Family! 🇺🇸
After Hawkins Annual Town Hall flag raising and 4th of July Parade which occurs from 9:00 am-12 pm in the main town, friends and families are welcome to go and enjoy a fun time at the Carnival and then watch the firework show on the field at 8:30 pm celebrating the true meaning of Independence Day.
Organized and arranged by Mayor Paul Kline
The doctor smiles at the farmer and thanks him before grasping the flyer tightly in his right hand, "Thank you, this is very exciting, who doesn't love a good carnival? I'm sure it will be a thrill," starting to wrinkle the paper, before going to his vehicle and driving onto a flat road leading back into town.
Hopper has his hands placed down on the kitchen bench and Joyce sits on a stool. As the two chat, Will checks on El to see if she's feeling any better, by sitting down next to her on the couch. After she wakes up, the two then catch up glad to finally meet each other. Will starts to say, "I always heard your voice on the walkie-talkie, but I'm really glad to finally meet you in person." El replies, resting her hand on her forehead looking up at him, "I'm glad to finally talk to you awake this time." The two laugh. Joyce reminds him about the Gate, "Hop please, the Gate, are you sure you closed it?" Hopper tells El over his shoulder, "Hey kid, we closed the Gate last year didn't we?" She nods her head and says a small 'yes' to Joyce and then looks at Will telling him in a much more serious tone about what she witnessed down there last year and that she wants to forget. Will tells her, "You're very brave and a good friend for saving me twice." Will then starts to talk quieter and sadder saying, "It's just that...after everything that I have been through, I just... I don't know how to look at things the same way ever again?" El nods her head understanding and smiles at him grabbing his hand, he then looks at her, trying to smile too, and then goes on explaining that he still has nightmares about that 'dark' place and even tells her about his nightmare he had the other night. Then all of a sudden when he goes to grab a glass of water from the coffee table, the cup moves by itself to the right and falls smashing onto the ground, glass shards shatter everywhere! He apologizes to Hopper, the man doesn't seem to worry about it too much, "It's ok buddy," but then Will moves his hand and accidentally does the same thing again with another glass also smashing from the table on its own and Hopper starts to get wary now. Will begins to panic as the lights inside Hopper's cabin flicker on and off and a strong gust of wind is there as well, objects start to levitate around the room! Everyone reacts surprised and El then realizes after knowing she isn't using telekinesis, it must be Will who has obtained powers like her?!...
Over at the Sinclair house, Erica and Lucas share a funny moment again, Lucas is trying to find his new cap and soon finds it in his little sister's room and scolds her for stealing it! Erica just puts on some Barbie pink sunglasses instead and sass talks to her brother, "Take A Chill Pill!"
El tells him he has powers like her thoughtfully, "You are like me," while Will is more scared than excited, it causes the objects to all fall back down in their original places, no longer hovering in the air. Joyce is confused about how he got them in the first place? Hopper also notes that Will's nose doesn't bleed like El's does? El assumes it's because he has just started getting his powers. Joyce then worries about how he will control them, especially at the Fourth of July festival? El offers to help Will so that he can at least hopefully contain his powers better before the Fair, Joyce and Will accept her offer.
In the woods behind Hopper's place, El is beginning to help train Will with his new abilities making him learn to control them better with his hands by moving different objects like a tree stump and rocks.In the previous year, Kali/008 a woman with a dark shade of brown skin had been discovered to be another lab experiment with psychic abilities just like El, as they shared similar black-inked tattoos with only the numbers being different- 008 and 011. Kali had encouraged El or Jane as she knew her- to move a train with her emotions by only focusing on the pain and anger from her past, Jane managed to succeed in pushing the train.
Focusing back on the present, his hands keep on shaking and he takes deep breathes trying to focus but he's struggling! El helps him to channel his strength on things that make him happy instead of anger like Kali had taught El. Will then manages to lift the tree stump halfway off the ground before he feels a strong sense of pain in his head! After exerting his powers too much, the tree falls back down on the ground! He rubs his head in a circular motion, to him it felt like a headache just ten times worse! He then feels very exhausted before going to collapse, but El catches him, he tells her, trying to catch his breath, "Thanks... for the... help... but I think [pant] I've had enough training for today."
Inside, Joyce and Hopper are talking at the table. He sips his dark coffee and asks how she has been? Joyce still finds it hard to move on from her old deceased boyfriend Bob, "I still think it isn't fair that he is really gone." She jokes that her son now apparently has powers and sips her drink. Hopper then tells her that he is done and goes over to the sink to wash up his cup, taking a moment, he stops, unknown to Joyce, hiding his strange illness from her by trying to keep it in him, preventing the vomit. He is being stubborn with his illness because that's just who he is, he doesn't want to have to worry Joyce after everything she has and is still going through. Joyce asks Hopper if he is alright, noticing that he is just standing still looking out the window? Hopper lies and quickly tells her before coughing, "I'm fine."
Karen is frustrated that Ted who is once again acting lazy, sitting in his favourite chair, (wearing checkered brown pants and a dark green polo shirt) tells his wife that he isn't coming with the family to the Fourth of July festival, he just says, "It's a bad idea, besides it's America's birthday every day."
[🎶It is a scorching hot summer's day: a perfect day for a fair. The sky is a rich azure blue and the clouds look as fluffy as cotton candy. The Town Hall American Flag rises up the pole, townspeople are claiming their seats ready to watch the parade in the main town. The Carnival attractions and carnival tents are being set up; a Massive structure of two rollercoasters, a big Ferris wheel, a Gravitron, and a Tilt a Whirl ride just to name a few.🎶]
The kids meet up and Max is wearing some brown sunglasses saying a big, "HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!" Dustin is the first to notice that the tunnels that used to be there in the field are now covered back up, like the incident ( with Will and the Demodogs) last year never happened. They are then concerned about Will and with what happened to him yesterday at the pool? He tells them that he is fine. Mike then introduces El to his lifelong best friend, "Will this is El". The two pretend that they are meeting for the first time, they hug and laugh. Will admits that they already met this morning when he found out he had powers. All the others are shocked! Dustin asks Will, "So are you also like Yoda having telekinetic abilities?" Will nods his head, Dustin adds, "Oh man that is so cool!" Lucas exclaims excited, "You're a real wizard now Will!" Will smiles at that thought and says, "yeah, I guess so." Will tells them that El even helped train him. The kids are eager and excited to see his powers but Will tells them, "I'm not sure what to use?.." Dustin takes his iconic red, white and blue hat off and suggests Will use that, planting it on the ground and stepping back with the others ready to watch their friend levitate a hat. Will begins to close his eyes, concentrate, and then manages to control his right hand and slowly levitate the hat in the air amazing everyone! He then opens his eyes and smiles and laughs quietly amazed also at his achievement. Will then feels a strong and sharp pain in his head again and it causes the hat to fall quickly back down on the ground! Dustin retrieves it back and Mike thinks it's best if Will tries to not use his powers for his own safety for now. Mike then tells the others they should all go over to watch the parade first.
El asks Mike, "What is Indopendents Day?" Mike explains to her while they hold their hands walking over together, "A long time ago, declaration of independence was introduced, it was put together by four very important men; John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson declared that the original thirteen colonies were no longer to be governed by King George the third of Great Britain." El just looks at him clearly confused? Mike continues, "So uh yeah basically every year we celebrate that day with parades, hamburgers and hot dogs." El is surprised, "Hot dogs, why are puppies..hot?" Mike laughs and tells her, "No El, hot dogs aren't real dogs, they're food. I'll show you later at the Carnival."
Jonathan meets up with Nancy and she jokes that he 'so looks like he is in the spirit for 4th of July', she then gives him a red and blue tall hat with stars to wear and he accepts it. Citizens then all listen and sing the 'American national anthem'- The Star-Spangled Banner, as a marching band orchestrates it with brass trombones and tubas. The Mayor in his dark brown suit and navy blue striped tie finished with his gold-rimmed spectacles walks onto the podium and declares his speech, shortly after he throws his hands up in a triumphant gesture clutching his fist, "We are our own country that has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...God bless America!"
As everyone cheers, the parade begins and everyone observes the floats go down the street while a marching band is wearing tall shakos. BOOM the sound emits loudly off the bass drum, CLASH the sound from the cymbals are heard. One of the floats has an Eagle bedecked float with people in bathing suits, another one had Jugglers and magicians. Confetti rains down on the floats. The costumes were as colourful as a rainbow. Emerald green, bold reds, yellows and blues glittered on the sequins and feathers.
After the Parade, The Carnival is now officially open, the entrance could be seen in the distance and long queues approached quickly. Customers were becoming increasingly excited and impatient as they entered the 'Fun Fair'. Faint music could be heard from beyond the tall gates as well as the loud 'happy screams'.
Mike says to El, "So, what do you wanna do first?" El looks around amazed and before she can reply, Dustin announces that he is hungry and the gang then start to have their own ideas on what they should do. Mike and El fight with Lucas and Max again, Lucas complains to the other boy about him ignoring all the fun with their friends just to 'make out', "let me guess, you two just want to make out for the rest of the day, avoiding the rides until the fireworks," making *kissing* noises and mocking Mike, "Oh El, I wish we could make out together forever and ever and ever!" Mike says, "Oh yeah, real mature Lucas, it's so funny that I want to spend romantic time with my girlfriend!" Max also mocks him again, "Oh please," resulting in them splitting up and leaving Dustin and Will behind feeling left out. "Come on you guys, please don't do this. Well...guess it's just you and me, Byers."
Nancy is walking around with Jonathan at the fair, who is still committed to doing his work, by taking pictures with his camera, like capturing contented moments of families riding the Ferris wheel together or young children playing egg races. It was a perfect day for fun.
Joyce hangs out with Hopper mainly discussing and worrying about how she hopes Will can control his new powers at the festival. Hopper reassures her by saying El will help him. Joyce knows he is right but she can never be certain when it comes to Will. The two good old friends then participate in some of the Sideshow Alley games like Ring Toss, Balloon Darts and Whack a Mole!
Dr. Aaron is seen briefly walking around the busy crowd wearing a grey suit, an 80's bowler's hat and clearly smoking a cigar. Steve Harrington at one of the cheap sideshow booths says to him in the most unenthusiastic voice ever, "Hi and welcome to Hawkins Big Fun Fair, Step on up sir, have a go at the High Striker game...", the man refuses saying he's actually looking for 'someone' instead.
Mike and El go over to a Photo Booth and take cute and silly photos together. He shows El what a hot dog is and even buys one for her. El then wants to go and get the pink cotton candy and the two soon enough go ride on the Ferris wheel together, looking over the Carnival, holding hands. Lucas and Max both want to go and do the more daredevil activities like riding the rollercoasters; one named the 'ThunderRoad' and The Gravitron ride, which looked like a massive Alien UFO with bright red, yellow, green and blue neon lights flashing everywhere, it was a wild ride! Lucas is then walking around drinking a can of New Coke and explains to Max why New Coke is better than original Coke by telling her after slurping loudly and smacking his lips, it's, "Fresher, Bolder and Sweeter!" Max remarks to him, "You're insane, it's the same concept." Lucas defends, "Uh actually, it's not the same concept." Max tells him one more time, "Yes it is." Erica is over at the Bumper Cars, while Dustin enters a blueberry pie-eating competition and Will just watches cheering him on.
[🎶Music filled the air, festive beats lifted the spirits and made the people want to move, jump and sing. It was a time to celebrate being alive, celebrate the wonders of creation and be one with the community. Barbecues being fired up and dads flipping patties for burgers. Everywhere you looked there were painted faces on children, long stilt walkers marching down the middle of the crowd and bubbles blowing. The crowd sways their hips in time to the beat. Food stalls perfume the air as hungry customers were eating it up- hot dogs, hamburgers, ice-cream, you name it, everything sweet and considered a snack was guaranteed to be there, "Hot Dog, Hot Dog, get your Hot Dogs nice and hot!"
Holly wearing a red burgundy shirt, rainbow leggings and a purple sparkly skirt- is busy having fun riding a white horse on the Carousel.
Billy strolls down the isles, drenched in sweat, flexing his muscles and does a cheeky smirk, complimenting and flirting with Karen again, "Nice seeing you at the pool the other day, You remind me of a pop tart; hot and sweet." She chuckles as Billy bites his toothpick before walking away.
El and Mike dance together to the music in a cute way holding hands near the concert stage. Dustin buys a lot of food, keeping some in his backpack for later, which confuses Will?
The two boys soon run into Steve at the fair who is so so excited to see Dustin again, "Henderson!!!" The two catch up for a moment at the stall and Will just feels awkward, watching as Steve and Dustin hug and even hi-five each other before doing a quirky handshake imitating 'Lightsabers' like the good buddies that they are. "Steve, what are you doing here?" Steve continues leaning over the booth in a much more enthusiastic voice than before, "Oh you know, just trying to help out the community, step on up youngsters and test your strength in the Hawkins High Striker!" Dustin agrees to play Steve's carnival game. The curly-haired boy quickly tells Steve that he went on a technology Summer Camp, before asking if the older teen would like to consider being in their 'Party'? Steve declines the offer feeling too cool. Dustin wants the prize which is a rainbow propeller hat but he doesn't win it, "Ooh sorry, bad luck Roast Beef." Steve says referring to Dustin's T-shirt which Dustin even looks down at and now gets what he means, "oh right, gotcha." Dustin begs his friend to try, Will then reluctantly has a go, trying his hardest and giving it all of his strength, and surprisingly wins it by slamming the hammer down onto the puck and getting the highest score, *Ding, Ding, Ding!* Both Steve and Dustin look shocked at what just happened! Steve hands the prize to Will, Will then hands the prize to Dustin and he straightaway takes off his old iconic blue and red hat and puts the new colourful one on instead.] 🎶
As Karen and her daughter line up and soon board the Ferris wheel, Holly looks nervously around. A low rumbling noise is heard interrupting the lively and cheery upbeat atmosphere, followed by the sound of a loud *BANG!*
Different Men wearing dark suits carrying guns soon enter the fair and everyone begins to scream and run away! Citizens begin to panic as the gunshots keep going off, *BANG!* *BANG!* A panicked Joyce hears the loud noises along with everyone else and is worried, "Our kids are in danger!" Hopper grabs Joyce's hand as they run off together to try and find the kids! People were running like hell. El begins to use her powers to protect Mike, "El!" which makes the bad men recognise she's the one that they are after and begin to chase her into the Maze of Mirrors!
Hopper and Joyce arrive just in time to save the kids, well mainly El and Mike. Hopper saves his new daughter by fighting alongside her with his bare fists and then tells her to go wait outside with Joyce and Mike. Before he can leave, Hopper notices someone else hiding in there, behind a large tiger statue, "Hey! I see you son of a bitch!" and continuously punches one of the men into a glass mirror, eventually breaking it after many intense blows! The Chief even gets a small cut on his forehead from the sharp glass in the process! He then yells like an angry baboon and picks up the gun, aiming it at the person, "Who sent you? Who do you work for?!" The goon doesn't reply, only runs away, Hopper then lowers the gun. He walks back out and tells Joyce, that the hitman was likely a government agent sent to find El...
Still trying to hide from the danger, Max and Lucas hide behind one of the fair stalls from the loud gunshots *BANG!* *BANG!* Will stops hugging his knees and wants to attempt to use his new powers to save himself and Dustin from the two other hitmen. He tries to levitate a barrel to knock out the men but he accidentally turns on all the agricultural water sprinklers instead and then the strangest thing happens...the clear water from the sprinklers turns from pristine to green? The public soon start to all feel ill and cough from the water spraying on them! Rides start to malfunction and lights start flickering as Will feels like his powers are getting more and more out of control!
Holly and her mum are scared and trapped on top of the Ferris wheel and watch all the chaos, which is happening down below on the ground! Holly holds her toy purple monkey close to her chest as she hugs and cries to her mum scared of staying up high for a long period of time! Karen yells out, "Help! Help us!" It was like it was raining, except instead of clear water, it was moss green and plummeting everywhere, leaving not an area on the farm free! Soon everyone would be infected by this strange water outbreak if it didn't' stop!
More people start to panic and cough feeling very ill. Unaware of the chaos happening, Nancy and Jonathan go to a tap to fill up a jug of water for their picnic. She soon screams noticing the gross green water and the odour coming from it is so putrid and rancid, worse than rotten eggs, the stench burned the nostrils of whoever was close enough to it! Nancy begins to slowly cough before Jonathan pulls her away and he then decides to take a photo with his camera of the strange water before turning off the tap, the couple then both go over to see Joyce.
Jonathan explains to the adults about the foul-smelling water in the photo he took just then and what he took also the other day, he tells his mum how both 'things' were dark green colours and thinks they could possibly be connected? Joyce along with Hopper, Jonathan and Nancy then run off immediately to try and find the rest of the kids, before telling Mike and El to be safe undercover, "I want to help!" Hopper grabs her shoulders, "I know you do kid, but you two have to stay safe from this, ok, go hide under the carousel, I'll meet you there."
The three of them get separated from Hopper who then cleverly rips off one of the carnival tents and wraps it around to protect himself, aware that other people were starting to get extremely sick from the water including the Mayor who Hopper then saves from passing out in the middle of the panicked crowd! "What in tarnation?!" Hopper drags him to a sheltered tent and tells him to, "Stay here!"
The kids still split up from each other panic and try to evade the dangerous water, aware that it is causing other people to get terribly sick! Dustin and Will frightened, run up and down the aisles as they avoid bumping into people! Max and Lucas are lost in a corn maze and relate it to the D&D game they played the other night, looking for a small opening somewhere to escape as they frantically run around trying to not get sprayed by the water!
Steve bumps into Billy again, and the two fight for a bit, Billy goes to punch Steve and it results in the agro hothead getting infected by the water splashing into his mouth! Billy being furious tries to fight back but he just collapses onto his stomach while Steve makes a run for it!
Dr. Aaron then comes across Billy barely conscious on the ground, coughing non-stop and soon places him in the back of an Ambulance van where the doctor notices that Billy's eyes start to have dark green veins swelling up in them! Dr. Aaron is horrified of the symptoms happening and notices that many other people around the fair have also started to collapse, experiencing the same bizarre symptoms and ill children are being carried away on stretchers!
Eventually, the kids all meet up again, under a Carousel, Hopper finally reaches them wrapped in one of the red and white striped fair tents, he grabs one of the spiral poles and begins to cough terribly ill and El worries that he could be sick too! Hopper lies telling her he's fine, I know it's not right to lie, especially to El, but I can't tell her what is going on with me, I don't even know why I keep feeling sick in the stomach and feel like doing nothing else except wanting to throw up all the time, and why was I puking again at the pool the other day, whatever it is can't be good? They plan to use Hopper's tent cover like one of those Chinese dragon costumes to cleverly get around without getting touched by the water, hopefully. Will thinks it is his fault that the water is happening in the first place because he accidentally turned on the sprinklers, they then decide to go over there. Will tries reaching his hands out at the sprinklers but nothing is happening, frustrated he tells the others, "It's not working, my powers they aren't working, why aren't they working?!" He then stops to look closer and thinks that the water's peculiar colour is the same as what he thought he saw in the pool in the Upside Down? Everyone is skeptical because they assume that the Gate is closed.
El eventually steps in and saves them all, but she soon faints after feeling completely drained from turning off every single faucet, Mike and Hopper catch her and check to see if she is ok, "El!"
The water has stopped spurting and spraying and people can breathe again thankfully. Firetrucks begin to arrive and one of the firefighters uses a long white ladder to climb up and rescue Holly and Karen who then climb back down slowly and hug Mike and Nancy. Joyce is revealed to have been infected too as she collapses coughing non-stop! Will notices Jonathan is helping their mother. The Mayor gets back up readjusting his spectacles and announces over a radio informing everyone about the fireworks still happening tonight but over at Lovers Lake instead due to all of the damage on the field. Hopper and Jonathan help lift Joyce into his police truck to take her to the hospital. Jonathan, Nancy and Will go with Hopper and Joyce, while Dustin manages to get Steve to drive him and his friends Mike, El, Lucas and Max over to Lovers Lake.
After the gang gets to the hospital, it is set up like a quarantine; all the doctors are wearing masks and all the rooms are closed off. The doctors treat all the patients who got sick at the Fair the same, doing different tests, it comes down to everyone having some type of disease which has likely been contaminated through the infected water?
Most of the citizens suffer from the same symptoms as the flu, but it's more strange like a sore throat, nausea, coughing non-stop, dark green veins in the eyes and headaches. Billy along with some other patients are acting more 'violent' than usual and demand to be let out! However, Dr. Aaron only gets the other four nurses and doctors to restrain and sedate them. When Will and Jonathan check on their mum, Dr. Aaron tells the group, "Without evidence that could help link us up to whatever contaminated all these people? I'm afraid, we are in the dark, we can only hope that it isn't life-threatening."
Bruce the reporter of Hawkins Post; wearing a blue gingham office shirt with a green tie and black pants, led by heaps of reporters, try to get into the hospital to learn even more news, thinking the new disease is like a massive plague in Hawkins or something huge? However, Dr. Aaron only tells them to leave since the disease is likely infectious.
Joyce then tells the others to go too and enjoy the fireworks. "But I'm worried about you mom." Joyce tries to reassure her youngest son she will be okay, "Oh honey, I'm gonna be fine, just stay close to your brother okay? I'm going to be fine."
On top of a hill overlooking the deep blue Lovers Lake, Mike asks El out on a date and explains what it is to her awkwardly, "a date is when two people get together and do something together," they then share a kiss before the spectacular bright blue and red fireworks go off. The fiery sparks explode in the sky amongst the evening stars. Dustin tells El, "They're brilliant aren't they." El replies, "Yes, very pretty." Max and Lucas hold hands. Will still worried from earlier tries to enjoy the firework show and looks up amazed along with his friends, he then begins to hallucinate seeing the outline of the Mind Flayer monster in the fireworks and then shakes his head, only to find it was not real...at least he hoped it wasn't?! Hopper puts his hand on El's shoulder and Nancy hugs Jonathan looking up at the bright lights. Karen just picks up Holly telling her, "Whoa [laughs] Look at the fireworks! That was a big one wasn't it?" they then all look up at the fireworks together hopeful.
After their horrible day, El goes to have a nice warm bath but she shrieks, "Dad!" Hopper hears her and the first thing that comes to his mind is that El got her period, Just don't be like Carrie White. He comes into the bathroom, only to find the bathtub filling up with the same dark moss-green, murky colour as it was that day at the Fair! He tells El to not worry about a bath tonight and goes to check the kitchen sink and other water facilities around the house and notices that the same 'green murky water' streams out! Hopper thinks that something is not right with the plumbing around Hawkins and plans to find out exactly what it could be?
At his home, Dustin returns and goes into the spare room to store food he kept in his backpack. As soon as he opens the cold interior, he is shocked to find the creature the Demodog alive!
It scratches his arm down to his hand sinking its sharp claw into his skin! Dustin now panics and screams as he grabs his painful stinging arm and runs to get the hell out of there!!!
The monster just limps and falls onto the ground, too weak to even run, it slowly walks behind him, but Dustin shuts the door before the monster can escape!
He can hear the claws scratching against the door and low growling! As he catches his breath he wonders how he will deal with this new problem, he had a live monster in his house again and he didn't know what to do with it this time? "Shit, shit, shit, what am I going to do now?!"
The next day at the Wheeler house, Nancy is with her mother at home talking about how she 'missed out' on her summer internship as a journalist so she discusses colleges with her mum instead. Karen is frustrated that she can't get any of her washing done because of that awful green murky water gushing out of the tap. Mike comes into the room interrupting them feeling pretty good about himself, he grabs and eats a cookie. He wants everything to be perfect for his date like a perfectionist, he pulls back his raven hair locks out of his face but then gives up when they don't stay there. He gets advice from his sister about buying El flowers, Mike doesn't know what El's favourite flowers are... if she even has any? Nancy then tells Mike, "Go for the roses, girls always seem to like those." Karen wonders who Mike's date could be? Nancy replies flipping through brochures, "She's a real mystery alright."
Meanwhile, on a typical hot day, Will is feeling bored and goes over to see each of his friends to hang out with them but sadly, they are all too busy for him.
Will goes over to see Lucas first, outside his house in the front yard, but he and Max are busy doing their own thing. The two look at each other and then back at Will, Lucas speaks, "Not today Will, I promised Max we would go on a picnic." Dustin is apparently too busy at home to hang out with Will as well because he and his mum have 'pest problems' which is obviously a lie, Dustin is actually busy trying to build a tough barrier using a hammer and nails on his spare bedroom door to make sure his new 'guest' doesn't escape. Will lastly goes to see Mike who is getting ready to head out the door, "Hey Mike want to hang out today?" He rudely tells Will he is too busy to hang out with him. Will curious asks, "with what?" Mike answers back, frantically searching around the room, "I've got a date with El. God, where is my deodorant!?" Mike finally finds it, "Found it! You're just going to have to do your own thing." Will asks, "My own thing? But Mike..." Will asks if he can tag along too, but Mike harshly tells him that he can't, "No! I've got to go!"
[🎶So, in the end, Will having nothing else to do ends up walking slowly back to Castle Byers alone. He reads his X-Men 134 comic book that Dustin had eventually given him. Crying all alone, his tears drop on the pages, making it harder to read. 'I've seen it before, It happens all the time, you're closing the door, you leave the world behind.' Will feels like he has been given the cold shoulder. He starts to think that he feels more alone than he did in the Upside Down; with most of his friends experiencing blossoming romances, Will can't feel the same and he knows things are never going to be the same way again- generally, his mother is always working and Jonathan is too busy, 'I feel so lonely, it's not fair, all my friends are too busy to even spend time with me, I feel so alone, I haven't felt like this since I was trapped in the Upside Down'. Will grabs a photo of him and his friends when they were dressed as the Ghostbusters for Halloween, he feels so sad that he missed out on living a normal childhood and now he doesn't even have a normal life like his friends because of what happened to him regarding the Upside Down, he feels very left behind. 🎶]
Mike comes out of the Florist shop; a small orange and white brick building displayed with a peach-pink flower design (tulip) next to the name of the store. Underneath is bright bouquets, blue watering cans and sprawling ferns arranged in the windows. A few kids are playing hopscotch chalked on the hot cement outside. He continues walking down the sidewalk after choosing and picking out some beautiful pink rose flowers in a bouquet for El and then goes over to Hopper's.
The two boys have a serious talk about their disagreements last year and the mystery revolving around what happened yesterday with the water at the festival? Mike explains that his house also has plumbing issues with the green murky water. Hopper explains he's going to go find that out today, he also gives Mike the whole 'don't hurt my daughter' speech on the couch.
"So Wheeler, What are your intentions with my daughter?" El dresses very pretty on her first date with Mike, in a cute navy dress with her caramel-brown hair beautifully cascading down her shoulders, she still wears sneakers though to reflect her iconic look back in 1983, he is lovestruck and says complimenting her, "You look...gorgeous."
On their first date, Mike and El go over to watch a film at the local Hawk cinema downtown. The films displayed out the front are:
1. Back to the Future
2. The Stuff
3. The Goonies
4. Fletch
5. The Breakfast Club
6. Friday the 13th
Mike asks her, "What movie should we see, something scary?" El shakes her head meaning no, Mike agrees with her, "Yeah, you're right our past two years have been like a scary movie, how about something with romance and sci-fi instead?" They share a bucket of popcorn while watching the summer blockbuster film Back to the Future. El hides in fear from the loud noises but Mike comforts her reminding her it's only a movie. Soon they watch the iconic scene in it when The Delorean car is already with gas and Doctor Brown has set fire on the road outside JC Penny's and there are some terrorists bearing down on young Marty Mcfly, so he has to escape by going back in time and the date is set for November 4, 1955, and away he goes...
Meanwhile outside, Hopper goes to investigate the Sewers and thinks the strange water is just leaking sewage water. He gets sick again, spewing up even more black sludge! He gets too sick to explore the rest of the tunnels and leaves. Before he could go any further in the tunnels, a tiny gate appears to be opened from the Upside Down which Hopper had naturally missed...
He soon walks over to the building, Gary's Plumbing & Heating to tell them about the leaks in the sewers that they should fix straight away, "Mayor's orders" he tells them. The plumbers go to do what Hopper asked...however, these plumbers soon get washed out and killed in the process by accidentally turning the wrong pipes leaking more of the dangerous green water!
Hopper then goes to visit Joyce at the Hospital, who had stayed overnight while her sons stayed at their home last night without her because the disease is 'likely contagious'. It is a miracle because she is feeling much better now along with the rest of the patients. Hopper tells her and Dr. Aaron that he thinks whatever was happening with the water yesterday was likely just because there was a leak in the Sewers. Aaron at the same time concludes to Hopper that he thinks the outbreak virus was 'Amoebic meningitis'; a virus disease obtained through warm water. "Thank god that the cure was thankfully just antibiotics." Hopper then asks for an injection from the doctor, thinking that it will cure him of his strange illness. Hopper rolls up one of his sleeves and the doctor injects him with a syringe. Hopper thanks the doctor and leaves.
Later at night, Dustin scats to a song in the shower and then the hot water stings his scratch mark and the liquid turns green again?! He shrieks and then starts coughing while turning off the tap! All of a sudden the lights in the room flicker on and off making Dustin think it is nothing at first, likely just a faulty light bulb. Then the lights go off completely and Dustin screams! He stumbles out and grabs a towel trying to turn the light switch on, but the light doesn't come back on and then a strange faint indistinct whispering voice is heard, before speaking clearer,
⌇⌇⌇"Can you hear me? If you can hear my voice, say out loud yes..."⌇⌇⌇
Dustin slowly and reluctantly nods his head confused, "Uh... Yes?" the creepy voice continues,
⌇⌇⌇ "Good, now answer me one question, What is your name?"⌇⌇⌇
Dustin stutters looking around in the dark, "D-D-Dustin... who are you? What happened to the lights?" The voice then continues hissing,
⌇⌇⌇ "Dustin...you are going to be very very useful, whatever you do, don't tell anyone about our conversation...... I can promise you that bad things will only continue to happen.."⌇⌇⌇
Dustin starts shouting out terrified, "Who are you!? Who's there!? What's going on?!?" Dustin felt the sensation that he was being watched, as the painful disjointed voice finishes whispering....
He then gets interrupted by his mother Claudia, who turns back on the light again after hearing Dustin scream. Dustin is relieved to see her again and hugs her, he stammers and stutters asking if she heard 'those weird noises? Mrs. Henderson is confused and jokes wiggling her shoulders and tilting her head, "Noises? What noises Dusty?" Dustin then looks back behind him looking up at the ceiling before leaving, hoping the mysterious voice was gone, but he had a feeling it wasn't.
El thanks Mike for the date and she kisses him and then Mike tells El something funny regarding the kiss, "I still had salt on my lips from the popcorn, but it's fine, come on let's go." Mike walks El home and she shows him her new room, they tiptoe as quietly as they can, hoping to not alert the Chief, who is sleeping on the lounge room couch, snoring louder than a chainsaw sawing logs. The two have another cute moment in her room closing the door and kissing passionately on the bed. El still acts like an alien new to the whole kissing thing, she places her hands on the other boy's face and he laughs before holding her wrists and guiding her properly. Hopper now awake sits up on the couch, still wrapped up in a purple blanket and tells El to open the door, "El open the door!" The two lovebirds hear his footsteps and they plan to act innocent so Hopper doesn't suspect a thing by separating and getting into position pretending to read some books.
Hopper enters and is shocked to see Mike with her in the room, "What's going on in here?!" Mike is lying on the end of her bed reading a Space Gamer 1985 comic and El is sitting up against her headboard with a June 85' TV Guide, she replies softly, "Nothing.. it's...chill." Mike looks up at him with a giddy smile, "See chief, we are just reading, no big deal." Hopper not entirely convinced, "Alright, sure... just stay off the bed from now on, it's unacceptable." Hopper also demands them to keep the bedroom door fully open. "and keep the door open... all the way!" He then tells Mike that he should head home now since it's 8:25 pm, her curfew and too late for El to hang out. Mike and El kiss one more time, "Now Wheeler that's an order!" Mike then leaves annoyed with Hopper pestering him to leave, "Ok, ok, I'm going, sheesh," he makes a small laugh and waves back at her and El waves back at him. Hopper leans on her bedroom door and asks his daughter if she enjoyed her date? El smiles, "Yes, it was the best." She then looks at her blue bracelet Hopper had given her to cover her tattoo, she grins that she finally has a home and gets ready for bed. He goes back into the lounge room, sighs and wonders why he hasn't heard anything back from the plumbers all day?
The next day, the man is dressed in his usual police uniform, sitting in the living room and finds out from the Channel 5 News blaring out on television- TWO PLUMBERS ARE CLAIMED TO BE DEAD AS THEY WERE WASHED OUT IN THE HAWKINS SEWERS... Hopper goes over there barely able to get inside the flooded Sewers because he doesn't feel well enough by coughing frantically! Realising the injection he got didn't work and he vomits the black sludge up again, away from the public, who are standing around the Sewers with big cameras and news reporters trying to work out what is going on?
People start to question the town? Bruce, who is taking down notes discussing the disturbing outbreak of the illness at the Hospital from the other day, asks his assistant Jonathan to just snap pictures, while Bruce begins to question that the water could be radioactive? Everyone gasps in shock!
Mike and El muck around with their walkie-talkies at their own houses, Mike laughs and radios her, "Hey Jane, do you copy?" El replies rolling around on her bed, "Yes, Mike I can hear you."
Dustin still feeling scared with what happened to him earlier and how he was threatened to not tell anyone about the mysterious voice otherwise 'bad things would continue to happen', as the words repeat clearly in his head. Dustin had to take that chance and keep his word, aware that someone somehow out there was watching him? He thinks that his house is under supervision for some strange reason? It's like someone had bugged his house with speakers and is spying on the Henderson Household which is crazy?! So Dustin decides to distract himself instead by contacting Mike, Will and Lucas on the walkie-talkie. "This is Gold Leader. Do you copy? Over."
Both Dustin and Will intercept and are annoyed with Mike and Lucas spending all their lasting Summer break time with the girls instead and worry they're not as close anymore. Dustin says, "It's... lovely, but I do feel obligated to raise one concern. Whenever there's a shift in a relationship... between two, well four people within a group....it inevitably has repercussions on the group as a whole." Mike asks, "Who says that?!" Dustin replies, "Logic. Mike. Logic." Will then speaks up complaining, "Mike you said we would have a fun summer!" Mike tells Dustin and Will, "It's not my fault that you guys don't have girlfriends!" Lucas replies with an "oof."
Hopper finding no other way asks for El's help with her superpowers to close all the leaks in the Sewers and all the water facilities in Hawkins finally appear to go back to normal.
[ 🎶Mike declares just the four of them to go on a bike ride around the town, 'the Boys of Summer'. The boys then all ride their new bikes around in the sunshine. Mike has a yellow and dark blue bike, Dustin has a silver and black bike, while Lucas has a green and black bike and Will struggles to ride his black and red bicycle since his new powers aren't exactly helping. Mike stops and looks behind, before helping Will have balance by riding next to him and holding the bars tightly until he feels comfortable enough that he can do it by himself and he soon manages to ride his bike better. Will is out in the front fearless, followed by Mike and Lucas and then Dustin last behind. As they ride all around the town including Mirkwood and through a clearing in the forest, each showing their faces one at a time, 'After the boys of summer have gone'....] 🎶
Final Thoughts: Thank you for reading Chapter Two! I wanted good old American outdoor fun in my story, I know Summer was big in the '80s. I had always seen Hawkins as a small poor town in the '80s where strange mysteries occur, but I still wanted a Carnival to be in it because it makes sense, it's 4th of July and a celebration. So the Mayor 'Kline', (who is a minor character that is only mentioned and is not the same one in the actual third season) was in charge of making that Carnival happen. If you guys don't know what the 'Ekka' is, it is pretty much an Australian agricultural show held in Queensland, Brisbane and most people often get ill or the flu from going to it, so that's where my inspiration came from for the Hawkins Carnival and 'outbreak of illness'.
P.S: How did Will get his new powers?/Does Karen get to actually meet Eleven? /Who opened the small gate in the Sewers that Hopper missed? If you have anything you wish to say or theorize your thoughts based on these last few questions please feel free to comment down below.