"Whatever you guys are doing up there, hurry up!" Steve's yells echoed from within the Upside Down.

"Steve says you need to hurry!" Erica ran down the hallway.

"No shit!" Dustin screamed.

"We're trying. We can't find anything." Max hurried to dig, Clove yanked Eddie's closet open.

"I'm scared to look in here!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"I wouldn't, Prez." Eddie hurried to shove his closet doors shut again.

"Seriously, what is all this shit!" Robin panicked.

"What are you even looking for?" Eddie gave her a crazed look.

"Music! We need music!" Robin looked up at him in agony.

"This is music!" Eddie shouted close to her face.

"Oh my goddd." Clove went running back down the hall.

"You scared her." Max scolded Eddie, running. "Clove!"

"Yo!" the blonde called to Steve. "How's Nancy feel about heavy metal?"

"What!" Steve yelled at her.

"I keep heavy metal tapes at Max's house!" She called back.

"What!" Max was the one to yell, not getting an answer as Nancy gasped, falling into Steve's arms. Clove looked up, out reaching her hand to help pull them out.

"It's okay." Steve held Nancy, latching onto Cloves hand to accept her help. "It's okay. I'm here. I'm right here."

Clove sat on the couch, Max was behind her with her hands pressing into her shoulders. They both listened closely to Nancy. "He showed me things that haven't happened yet. The most awful things. I saw...a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. And this...this giant creature with a gapping mouth. And this creature wasn't alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes. And then...he showed me my mom. And Holly. Mike. And they... they were all..."

"Okay, but...he's just trying to scare you, Nance." Steve tried to make it better. "It's not real."

"Not yet." Nancy sniffled. Clove reached over to hand her a tissue before leaning back into Max's touch. "But there...there was something else. He showed me gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins. And these gates, they looked like the one outside of Eddie's trailer but...they didn't stop growing. And this wasn't the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home."

"Four chimes." Max spoke
up, the blonde looked over her shoulder at her. "Vecna's clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly."

"I heard them too." Nancy's eyebrows frowned together, voice still weak..

Clove tried to let the sudden idea leave her head, but Max voiced her thoughts for her. "He's been telling us his plan this whole time."

"Four kills." Lucas looked over slightly. "Four gates. End of the world."

"He's got three already." the blonde winced at her own words.

"He's only one kill away." Dustin agreed with her.

"Jesus Christ." Eddie held his face.

"Try 'em again. Try 'em again." Steve spoke quickly. Clove looked back when she lost Max's touch, watching her go to the phone on the wall.

Lucas reached over and took her hand, trying to reassure her in silence. He knew she was worried for Max, he was too, but neither of them wanted to stress her out even more.

"Anything?" Dustin asked after a moment when Max slammed the phone back on.

"No." Max huffed, storming back over. "Rang a few times then went to busy signal."

"Maybe you punched it wrong. Try again." Steve shrugged.

"She knows how to type a number in, Steve. We've been doing it all night." Clove rolled her eyes as she climbed off the couch.

"I'm just saying, she could've typed it in wrong." Steve argued. Clove went to the phone then, dialing the number and mentally hoping to hear El or Mike. Even Jonathan or Will, possible Joyce. Any of their voices would have been a great comfort right now, but she was only met with a constant ring.

"Damn it!" the blonde yelled as she slammed the phone onto the wall.

"Same shit?" Max rose her eyebrows as Clove groaned and walked back over. "I'll take that as a yes."

"How is that possible?" Lucas rubbed his face.

"I told you. Joyce has this telemarketer job. Always on the phone." Dustin shook his head.

"This phones been busy for, what, three days now?" Max asked with a shrug. "It's not Joyce."

"I have a feeling that El isn't just left out of all of this." the Reyes girl said honestly. "Plus, my parents took off to help Joyce. I seriously doubt they went to California to help her with yard work."

"Cloves right." Nancy nodded her head. "It can't be just coincidence. It can't be. Whatever's happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I'm sure of it. But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead. We have to go back in there. Back in the Upside Down."

"Whoa, whoa, no, no, no." Steve shook his head.

"Nope." Eddie confirmed. "Nope."

"Let's think this through." Steve rose to his feet.

"Sounds like a really bad road trip, Nanc." Cloves eyes widened at her.

"We barley made it out of there in one piece." Steve agreed with her.

"Yeah, because we weren't prepared." Nancy shook her head fast. "But this time, we will be. We'll get weapons and protection."

"Cast protection?" Clove suggested.

"Yes!" Dustin screamed, making Max jump.

"We need a fireball!" Clove yelled, making Max jump again. "Yes!"

"We'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him." Nancy agreed with Clove. "We'll get some..fireball?"

"I know exactly where to find some too." Clove smiled.

"Oh my god." Max rubbed her head.

"Or he'll kill us." Steve looked between the two. "The only reason you survived is because he wanted you to. He's not scared of us."

"And for good reason." Robin got to her feet. "We were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry, what are we calling him now?"

"One." Dustin shrugged.

"Vecna." Erica argued.

"One." Lucas scoffed.

"Henry." Nancy corrected.

"We're learned something new about Vecna/Henry/One." Robin shook her head. "He's a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin. But my-my point is, he's super powerful and no amount of power is gonna take him out. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It's not a fair fight."

"So then why fight fair?" Dustin shrugged his shoulders. "Clove use to cheat at D&D."

"She cheats at Monopoly too." Max pointed out, getting a 'psh' in return.

"If he's like Eleven, that gives us the upper hand.." Dustin looked around. "We know Elevens strengths. And weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?" Erica looked in disbelief.

"When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state." Dustin explained. "I bet the same is true with Vecna."

"Perfect time to take him off guard, and fireball his ass." Clove smiled with a nod of her head.

"That would explain what he was doing in that attic." Lucas looked her way.

"Exactly." Dustin agreed with the pair. "When he attacks his next victim, i'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless."

"Defenseless? Yeah, what about the army of bats?" Steve gave a shrug.

"True. We'll have to find a way past them. Distract them somehow." Dustin listed on with a shake of his head.

"And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?" Eddie stood up.

"No idea." Dustin spoke as Eddie sat back down. "But once they're gone, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like staking sleeping Dracula in his coffin."

"That all sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to Vecna's killings." Robin spoke fast, her voice breaking from doing so. "At least not one that I can decipher."

"But we do know he goes after trauma, and we still have access to Ms.Kelley's office." Clove tilted her head, searching around Eddie's trailer. He gave her an odd look as she did so.

"We don't know when he's going to attack next." Robin argued with her. "We don't even know who he's going to attack."

"Yeah, we do." Max spoke up for the first time. Clove stopped her searching, looking over her shoulder. "I can still feel him. I'm still marked. Cursed. I ditch Kate Bush, it draws his attention back to me."

"Max, what the fuck?" Clove gave her an insane look. "He'll kill you this time!"

"I can survived again." Max shook her head. "I just need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic. Then you can chop his head off. Stab him in the heart. Blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up. Use Cloves fireball. I honestly really don't care how you put this asshole in his grave. Just...whatever it is...whatever you do...try not to miss."

Clove inhaled, she knew nothing was gonna change Max's mind. "Okay. If this is gonna work, we're really really gonna Fireball this jackass."

"How?" Nancy looked back at her.

Clove found what she was looking for, holding up a magazine. "I know a place."

"Hey, Red." Eddie caught on, turning to Max. "You got a ski mask or a bandanna, something like that?"

After Max got Eddie his Michael Myers mask, the group ran to his vehicle suggestion. Max held Cloves hand as she ran behind him, the magazine in hand. He bumped into her slightly when opening the window, rolling in. "That was suffocating."

Reaching down, he pulled Clove up as Max pushed her legs. Clove then helped Max, who helped Lucas, and so on.

"This, and this, and this." Clove began to circle every weapon in the magazine as Robin and Steve moved past her, following Eddie. "How much money do we have!"

"Not that much!" Eddie called back before the engine blew and loud music began to play.

"Everyone hold onto something!" Steve shouted.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Lucas dove into the seats.

"We probably also need this one. Oh! And that one, not to mention probably th-" the blonde continued to list on before Steve gassed it, throwing her body forward as she flipped down the isle.

"Clove!" Max winced.

"Sorry, Clove!" Steve took a turn, making her roll right.

"Steve, you're beating the shit out of the first female president!" Lucas yelled as Max dove onto the floor, laying ontop of Clove to protect her from rolling around.

"Drive, Steve! Drive!" Dustin shouted.

"This is very sweet of you, Max." Clove muffled from under her.

"Stop talking." Max held onto her, pressing her hand into the floor as Steve turned quickly.

"Shit, they looked pissed." Dustin peaked out the back window.

"It's not every day you lose your house and car in one fell swoop." Robin held onto the side of the RV, her leg across the girls on the ground in hopes of them not to roll.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Steve took a sharp turn, making Max and Clove go rolling together.

"How do you know about this place?" Max gave Clove an odd look as they walked into War Zone together.

She lowered her magazine with frowned eyebrows. "Twenty-Four hour protest to stop saling guns to just anyone."

"Right." Max nodded, remembering. "Your dad and I brought lemonade."

"Guess one good thing came out of the police escorting us away..." she trialed off, staring up at the wall. "Fireball."

Max gave her a half grin. "I think you should go with Nancy, Robin, and Steve."

"What?" she gave her a weird look. "No, i'm going to the Crill house with you."

"But I think they need you." Max motioned around the store. "I mean, this was your idea."

"They have Nancy, they'll be fine." she tried to force a smile.

"Clove." Max gave her a knowing look. "I'll be okay, I need you to kill him so I can come back."

Clove gave her an odd look. "Why me?"

"Because I trust you the most." Max cracked a smile, inhaling deeply and placing her hands on her shoulders. "And because I know you get shit done."

Clove had to laugh. "That is true."

Max smiled at her smile, nodding her head. "When you kill him, i'll be waiting for you."

Clove inhaled. "I'll be the one in white."

Max laughed. "Marriage is a little far."

Clove smacked her with a laugh, shaking her head. "Because i'm in white right now."

Max smiled, because she knew she what meant. Her lips fell slightly. "I love you a bunch, Blondie."

"I love you a bunch, too, Cherry Wine." she subtly squeezed her hand. "Go help Steve before he accidentally shoots himself."

Max looked at the wall. "You got this?"

"Got this." she confirmed, Max walked off. Clove took three bombs off the walls and placed them into her basket, then checking on two guns, packing bullets as well.

"I was wondering where you went." she didn't even stop to think he'd see her here. She wasn't apart of Hellfire, but she did help him at first. Then, she abandoned him faster then he knew. Clove turned to see Jason walked her way, messy hair and under eye bags. "Disappeared on me, Prez."

She held her head up a little bit. "Last minute emergency."

"Right." Jason leaned on her basket, trying to intimidate her. Clove leaned right next to him, their elbows touched. "That's too bad."

"My exact thoughts." she smiled sarcastically.

"What is a nice girl-" he grabbed the gun in her hand. "-doing with something like this?"

Clove looked at his hands latched around the base of the gun, knuckles turning white from how hard he was gripping it. Clove gave a single hum, tightening her hold and hitting him in the chest with it. It wasn't hard enough to hurt him, but hard enough to make him stumble and let the gun go. He stared at her, Clove smiled. "I guess i'm just not that nice of a girl."

•

kylie speaks

wife.