Epilogue: The Journey Ahead
Epilogue: The Journey Ahead
Six Months Later…
in Hawkins, Indiana
Since its grand opening last summer,
Starcourt Mall had been a popular hangout spot for children, families, and
young adults alike. Whether it was to see a movie, grab a burger, get some ice
cream, or shop for the latest fashion trends, it was everything the residents
of Hawkins needed. That much was certain with Christmas fast approaching. It
was the busiest time of the year for the shopping center.
Sitting at one of the booths in Scoops
Ahoy, an ice cream parlor located in the Food Court, Maureen and Alicia were
thankful they weren’t among the frantic consumers in a mad dash for last-minute
Christmas shopping. They were merely two women, dressed in style appropriate to
the 1984 setting, enjoying their favorite flavors – Mint Chocolate sprinkled
with Skittles and Oreo crumbles with M&M’s – while waiting for a friend.
As they waited, one of Scoops Ahoy’s
frequent employees, Steve Harrington, approached in his uniform – a cartoonish
sailor suit. “Ladies,” he checked in on Alicia and Maureen. “Anything else I
can get ya?”
Alicia swallowed the bits of Oreo
and M&M in her mouth before she answered, “No, thanks. You’re doing a
fantastic job, Steve.”
“Keep ‘em comin’, mate,” Maureen
said, shoving in scoop-after-scoop like there was no tomorrow.
Harrington gave a thumb up before
returning to the checkout counter. His co-worker and former classmate at
Hawkins High School, Robin Buckley, stood there with the whiteboard she’d used
to keep tally on him. Along one column was labeled “You Rule” with zero
tallies, while the other was labeled “You Suck” with a total of six so far.
“I’m gonna go ahead and add two to
the ‘Suck’ column, before you strike-out with those girls, too,” she
told Steve.
Steve snickered at her frivolous
belittling. “Don’t even bother. They’re way too old for me.”
“Wow!” Robin scoffed. “You’ll definitely
strike out with that line.” She set the whiteboard down behind the
counter. “How ‘bout this? Tell the one girl with the Oreo/M&M combo that
she looks like Tina Turner. If she goes for it, I’ll give you two marks on the
‘Rule’ column. If she throws her cup down your pants, it’s another one for the
‘Suck’ column.”
Steve humored himself even
considering Robin’s ultimatum. “O.K. What about the girl with the Mint and
Skittles?”
“Tell her she looks like Madonna and
I’ll give you four marks on the ‘Rule’ column. Same relegation if she
throws her cup down your pants.”
Harrington couldn’t resist a good
challenge, especially since Robin had no idea how well he already knew Alicia
and Maureen. Considering that they saved the multiverse together, six months
ago, it was fair to say that they’d be willing to play along and help him make
a complete fool out of his co-worker. “You’re on,” he accepted.
Robin didn’t think he’d actually go
for it, but she was nonetheless excited to see him crash and burn. She pulled
the tally board back out and kept her marker ready, while Steve made his way
for Alicia and Maureen’s booth. Just as he was prepared to talk the Time Ladies
into his ruse, Si walked into the parlor, looking more radiant than the last
time he saw her.
She waved at Steve on her way in,
although Steve was too frozen to wave back.
Immediately, he aborted his master
plan, retrieving back to the counter where Robin – grinning ear-to-ear – made
five marks on the “Suck” column, bringing the total to a whopping eleven
tallies.
From Alicia and Maureen’s booth, Si
caught a fleeting glimpse of Robin’s board while sitting down. “Any clue what
that’s all about?” she asked her predecessors.
Maureen shrugged. “I was too lost in
this ice cream to care, luv.”
Moving past it, Si continued, “Thanks
for agreeing to meet here. After all that happened at Hogwarts, I figured it
only made sense to keep each other updated on the Hierarchy situation.”
“Should we have invited the other
Gladiators?” Alicia pondered. “They have just as much right to be here.”
“Can’t attract too much attention in
one dimension,” Maureen said. “Besides, they all know what’s goin’ on – who and
what we’re dealing with and how to deal with it. Some of them are doin’ the
same bit we are this very second.”
“Excellent point,” Si acknowledged.
“How is everyone at Hogwarts, by the way?”
Maureen casually scooped up the last
few bits of Skittles at the bottom of her cup. “Well, nineteen years have
passed on since the Cthulhu squabble, and we’ve just welcomed the First-Years,
including Harry and Ginny’s kids – James, Albus, and Lily. They’re gonna have
one heck of a time with Professor Snape.”
“How’s Dumbledore?” Si asked.
“He passed two years prior,” Alicia
answered. “Newt, Ben, and I were there for the funeral.”
“Minerva McGonagall’s the new
headmaster,” Maureen added, “although everyone heavily campaigned for yours
truly to take the job.”
Si and Alicia smiled. These were
events that had already taken place from their perspective; and there Maureen
was, catching them up. It was the topsy-turvy life of a Time Lord. Sometimes,
it helped to be reminded of the past, so that the present could move on to the
future.
Now it was Alicia’s turn.
Rightfully, Maureen (who had yet to live Alicia’s life) asked, “What about our
mates from 1929 Louisiana? How’re they fairin’ in their new surroundings?” She
asked because Alicia was the one responsible for taking the Louisiana survivors
to the existing reality where the Black Wall Street massacre never happened.
“They’re living better lives in a
new 1929 than they were in the old one,” Alicia updated, nearly brought to
tears. “If only every dimension could be like that one – no bigotry, no
violence, no fear. Every one of every race just living peacefully, helping to
build a better tomorrow.”
Maureen herself choked up. “Gotta
remember to bring lil’ Samuel there sometime. He’s havin’ too much fun with
Billy, especially when he’s Shazam.”
Good as it was to talk about so much
happiness, the three Gladiators couldn’t belay the real topic they were there
for. “The Hierarchy,” Si brought it up. “What do we know about them?”
“Other than they’re a bunch of dirty
blokes?” Maureen said. “Nothin’ much.”
“We do know who their leader
is: the Twilight Phantom,” Alicia noted.
“Yeah, but that ain’t much to go on,
when we’ve never seen his bloody face!”
“Is it even a ‘he’? It could be a
‘she’. And what do they want from us?”
“Whoever they are, they’ll regret
messing with us,” Si declared, a sentiment that Alicia and Maureen firmly
agreed on.
“Welp,” Maureen scarfed down the
rest of her dessert. “Unless Harrington brings along more of this bloody
astounding ice cream, I’m headin’ off. I promised the boys I’d take them to
Middle Earth. We’re due to have second breakfast with Bilbo Baggins.”
“Same here – not the Middle Earth
thing, of course,” Alicia said. “Newt, Ben, and I are looking into a situation
with the Morphin Grid. It seems to be out of flux again.”
“What about you, luv?” Maureen asked
Si. “You and H.B. leavin’ soon?”
Si shook her head. “There’s still a
lot of unfinished business to take care of here in Hawkins.” She smirked once
she brought herself to admit, “And this place’s starting to grow on me.”
Shortly after Maureen and Alicia departed, Si looked over to the checkout
counter and called, “Hey, Steve! Got any plans this Saturday night?”
Harrington had been dismally wiping
down the counter when Si called for him. He glimpsed over to Robin, who could
barely believe her ears. Did a beautiful girl really ask Steve Harrington
out?!
Held on December 15th of 1984,
the Snow Ball was a festive school dance held annually at Hawkins Middle
School. Nancy, Jonathan, Joyce, and Hopper were chaperones. Mike, Dustin,
Lucas, and Will attended in formal attire and, in the case of Dustin, with a fresh
new hairstyle – a disastrous attempt to style his hair like Steve’s.
“Dude, I think I’m catching
something from all that hairspray,” Lucas griped. “How much of that stuff did
you use?!”
“You know you don’t have to
stand next to me all night!” Dustin refuted.
The four boys stood awkwardly along
the side of the dance floor. All the other boys there were dancing with most of
the girls to the tune of Olivia Newton-John’s “Magic.” Mike never once took his
eyes off the gym entrance or his wristwatch, checking the time every few
seconds. Seeing him check it for the twentieth time in the last half hour, Will
reassured him, “She’ll be here. She promised you. And you know how she is about
promises.”
The “she” he referred to was Eleven.
“I know,” Mike snapped, the impatience obvious in his tone.
Again, his eyes searched the
entrance, just as Steve and Si walked in.
Harrington was adorned in quite the
spiffy tuxedo, his hair styled in the fashion Dustin meant for his to be. Si,
who had her arms wrapped around Steve’s right bicep, wore the same fancy black
dress that she had in 1929, the one with the skirt that stopped mid-thigh.
“You gotta be kidding me!” Mike
blurted.
Dustin, Will, and Lucas looked to
him and noticed the same scene with Si and Steve. “When did they become
a thing?!”
“Oh, c’mon,” Lucas said, as if he
already caught on. “Steve’s had his sights set on Si, ever since he broke up
with Nancy. Even Stevie Wonder saw that happening!”
Dustin didn’t buy into his
awareness. “Oh, and you did?”
“Of course,” Lucas side-eyed,
clearly lying.
The boys watched Si and Steve take
to the dance floor. Dustin, Will, and Mike couldn’t help but to feel a little
jealous of Harrington, who had been striking out with girls left and right in
the past year, yet still managed to get the most beautiful girl in Hawkins – an
alien, no less – for a date to the Snow Ball.
It only got worse when one girl
walked up to Will and said, “Hey. Do you wanna dance?” Will had no idea who she
was, but he nonetheless accepted her invite to the dance floor.
Getting angry, Lucas began to storm
off. “Where’re you going?” Mike asked him.
“To call Max,” Lucas stopped long
enough to answer. “She said she was going to be here.”
“Dude, give her some space,” Dustin
pleaded. “It’s only been six months.”
Lucas wasn’t hearing it. He
continued on his way to the nearest payphone, failing to notice another
alluring guest who showed up to the dance. The jaws of Mike and Dustin dropped
when they saw it to be Liberty Belle, a.k.a. Debbie Eagan. Of course, she
didn’t come in her wrestling attire but a more appropriate white puff sleeve
dress.
Debbie didn’t walk in alone. By her
side was Eleven, who herself looked the prettiest Mike had ever seen her in a
blue dress and a new hairstyle. Both ladies approached their dates for the
evening: Mike and Dustin. Debbie drew a multitude of stares from all the boys
on the dance floor, recognizing the GLOW wrestler, despite being out of costume.
Dustin was so shocked that he hardly
heard Debbie ask him, “Wanna dance?”
Was he dreaming? His favorite
wrestler in GLOW just walked into the Snow Ball and asked him – Dustin
Henderson – to dance. No words came out, just a wheeze.
“I’ll, uh, take that as a ‘yes’.”
Debbie guided him to the dance floor, where they were practically the center of
attention. Mike and Eleven joined them soon thereafter, neither having any
dance skills, opting to figure it out as they went along.
From the payphone, Lucas saw all his
friends now dancing with girls and a GLOW wrestler. He had zero success in
reaching Max, which only fueled his decision to leave the Snow Ball altogether
and go home. As he hung up the phone, Bryan Adams’ “Heaven” played on the
loudspeakers.
“Love this song,” he heard a
familiar voice say.
To his surprise, he saw Max. He
wouldn’t have recognized her, if he hadn’t seen her face. She didn’t look like
the same skateboarding, arcade-playing tomboy that he was used to. While she
wasn’t in a formal dress like the other girls in attendance, she still looked
amazing in her black sweater and red jeans, with her hair clipped and one
strand braided – her mother’s handiwork.
Glad as he was to see her, Lucas
couldn’t help but to feel neglected. “I’ve been calling you.”
“Yeah, my phone’s been ringin’ off
the hook all week,” she scoffed. Her tone still had that usual sarcasm, only it
was more melancholic. “I know this dance means a lot to you, Lucas, and it’s
the only reason I’m here.”
“Is it really the only
reason?” Lucas suspected there was more she wasn’t telling.
Max struggled to confess. “And I
want to forget…even if it’s just this one night.”
Lucas understood. “Just this one
night.”
Max
gave him an appreciative smile. Together, they went to the dance floor. She
wrapped her arms around him as they swayed to Bryan Adams, lost in the
song…lost in the moment…lost in their first kiss.
------------------------
Amid the cold, dark, and foggy
atmosphere that made up the mysterious alternate dimension known to some of its
discoverers as “The Upside Down,” there materialized a golden pillar…a
TARDIS…or a fabrication of one. Operated by the silver-haired Ethos, he brought
it to one specific area – the front of a two-story residential home, the
condition of which was just as poor in the world parallel to this one.
Ethos disembarked with his
predecessors: Pathos – a captivating, malicious brunette in a red corset and
leather pants; and Logos – a haughty blonde. Out of the three of them, Pathos
was the only one dressed in her own design. Ethos and Logos bore attire similar
to their alternates: the eleventh and twelfth incarnations of Neas, the
Gladiator of Gallifrey. This, however, was due to an infiltration mission that
had been put on hold, due to the loss of Cthulhu.
Two common traits they shared were
their red eyes and the sentient eye genetically fused on the palms of their
right hands.
Accompanying them was a spoiled
child named Xavier, who came from the same dimension as his worst enemy, Craig
Williams. “It stinks here!” he griped on his way out of Ethos’s TARDIS.
“Well, deal with it, Your Majesty,”
Logos mocked Xavier’s “king” title that he carried in his world…at least from
the “Other Side of the Creek.”
It drove Ethos and Logos insane,
although Pathos seemed to take a lot of joy in it.
“Tell us why we brought him
here again?” Ethos asked.
“Because he’s useful,” Pathos spoke
in Xavier’s defense.
“More like useless,” Logos
jeered. This nearly incited a fight between them.
“ENOUGH!” Ethos roared, his red eyes
flaring. “I’m leaving you three out here while I consult with Creel. I expect
to come back to see you both alive and not maimed!”
“Why do we bother with these idiots,
Ethos?” Logos protested. “They’ve been one failure after the next. Cthulhu,
Voldemort, Thanos, Brainiac, half of the flippin’ Hierarchy…”
“Is there a point to all this
whining, Logos?!” Ethos retorted.
“My point is that we need an endgame
– a real one! I’m sick and tired of losing!”
Pathos jumped in. “Much as I hate to
admit it, she’s right. I had my own taste of failure with Beetlejuice.”
“Your first mistake was going
to Beetlejuice, Pathos,” Ethos ridiculed. “I assure you, my sisters. Our time
of losing will end very soon. Let us not forget the invasion – that’s
still our ace in the hole. Now, let’s not speak of this anymore. I have
business to attend.”
He headed inside the Creel house,
making his way up to the attic.
There, he found Henry Creel, or the
disfigured, skeletal creature that used to be Henry Creel, suspended by vines
connected to his back. He was entered in a meditative state that he remained
in, even at the moment Ethos arrived. “I’ve failed you,” he said, his voice
chilling enough to terrify any mortal being.
“No, my friend. It was Voldemort and
Cthulhu who’ve failed me. Your work has only begun.”
“You wish to end the girl…the one
named Si.”
“Yes. And she’s no girl. She’s a
weapon bred from a maniac – no offense.”
“None taken. She and her allies will
die, just as you wish. I will not fail you.”
“Good.” Ethos was about to leave,
before curiosity got the best of him and he told Creel, “You know what they
call you, in other realities where you exist? Vecna – a character from a
children’s game.”
Creel’s eyes snapped open, focused
on Ethos. “And what do they call you?”
Ethos laughed and answered, “The Twilight
Phantom.”
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