Stranger Things: Doomsday

Steve stopped the car with a jolt, turned the key, and shut off the engine. He rested his forehead on the steering wheel and took a deep breath—once, twice, three times.

Now that he had found them, part of him was screaming to get out of the car, run to Nancy, make sure she was safe, and apologize—for not taking her home after the night they spent together, for ignoring her concern about Barbara, for letting Tommy write those cruel words, for doubting her.

But the other part—the one that had spent years in pain and did everything to never be found—ordered him to turn around, slam his foot on the gas, and disappear into the night like he had done years ago.

Because the moment he stepped out of the car, he would be back on the lab's radar. Goodbye normal life. Goodbye to the comfort of just being another teenager in Hawkins. He might have to run again, leave everything behind, create a new identity, another lie just to survive.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Too much is happening at once!" Steve muttered, clutching his head tightly. His powers, which he used to suppress his emotions, began to falter, like a dam cracking under the pressure of a raging river.

Panic came first—a cold wave that squeezed his chest and made his heart race. Then disillusionment, followed by fear, anxiety, and anger. It all crashed inside him like a storm.

Was he Steve? Seven? Or both? Who was he really? Who did he want to be?

'Shit... shit... what am I doing here? I'm gonna go in there and do what?… Earlier my biggest worry was a girl, and now it's the damn U.S. government!' Putting a hand over his mouth, Steve stifled a scream. 'This has to be a dream—there's no way this madness is real... yeah, yeah, it's just a nightmare—'

!!!!!!!!!!

From one second to the next, the world seemed to fall into complete silence. A wrong, heavy silence, as if the air itself had stopped moving. A cold sensation washed over Steve, sending chills through every inch of his skin, from his feet to the back of his neck. 'W-what's happening?' He looked ahead, and his eyes widened when he saw the lights in the Byers' house flickering nonstop.

And then, he felt it.

CRACK!

It was an indescribable feeling, as if a crack had opened somewhere inside the house—a tear, something profane. 'I've felt this before—' Steve cut himself off as he sensed a new presence.

Something was coming through that crack.

Something wrong.

Something that didn't belong in this world.

CRACK!

Gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white, the thing's emotions poured into Steve—it was slippery. Indecipherable and inhuman, a mind wilder than any animal's. Unlike anything he had ever felt. There was something more there, but Steve couldn't make sense of it before the sound of four consecutive gunshots tore through the air, followed by a desperate scream.

"JONATHAN!"

It was Nancy.

Steve didn't think—much less hesitate—when his body moved on autopilot. He leapt out of the car and ran as fast as he could to the door. As he approached, Steve turned sideways and used his momentum to slam his shoulder into the door, which burst open with a bang. Without slowing down, his eyes scanned the room, analyzing the situation in fractions of a second.

The Byers' living room was chaotic: Christmas lights hung on every wall, crisscrossing the room like webs. Black letters of the alphabet were painted on one wall, an irregular hole gaped in the ceiling. But none of that compared to what was happening there.

Nancy was slumped against the wall that separated the living room from the kitchen, her eyes wide with terror fixed on him—probably because of the door slamming open. Despite the fear and desperation radiating from her, her trembling hands held the revolver tightly, aimed at the center of the room.

And there, over Jonathan on the floor, was what could only be described as a monster. Its skin was smooth and seemed sticky, as if made of raw flesh—hairless and textureless. Its limbs were long and ended in claws that looked ready to tear. Its eyeless head was dominated by a grotesque mouth that opened like petals, full of sharp teeth, aiming at Jonathan's head.

'What has the lab created this time?' Steve didn't freeze. He slid across the floor, grabbed a bat with nails hammered into the end, and used his momentum to drive it with all his strength into the monster's back.

The thing let out a guttural scream and turned, swinging with one of its arms. Steve pulled back just in time, bringing the bat with him.

"STEVE, WATCH OUT!"

The monster stood up and charged at Steve, who managed to dodge again. He was strangely calm, all the chaos from seconds before melting away, leaving only silence. And somehow, he knew when the thing was about to strike—always when its rage peaked. Steve didn't know how he knew that, but he wasn't about to question it.

The creature launched another attack with its arms, the petals of its mouth opening with a wet snarl, revealing rows of jagged teeth. Steve ducked, feeling the air shift as the claws passed inches from his head. He took the opportunity, pushing himself upward and slamming the bat hard into the underside of the monster's head, making it lurch backward.

Steve didn't stop. He twisted the bat and struck the creature's chest, feeling the flesh give way under the nails. The grotesque sound of tearing skin filled the room as he pulled the bat back, now covered in a thick, dark liquid. With a yell, he swung the bat again, hitting the creature's right rib with full force.

Blood began to trickle from Steve's nose as he dove into the monster's emotions. Even though its alien mind was hard to understand, there were emotions there just like in any other animal. Rage, frustration, hunger.

'Nothing useful,' he thought, as he landed another blow with the bat, the impact reverberating through his arms. Steve then threw himself to the side, dodging another strike.

The monster was getting more irritated, and its movements more erratic. Every missed hit seemed to feed its fury, making the peaks of rage harder and harder to predict. 'Come on, come on. Show yourself.' Steve felt another peak of rage and prepared to dodge, but his foot betrayed him, slipping on a broken piece of a table.

'Oh shit.' The monster didn't waste any time. With a swift motion, it lunged forward and opened its mouth, aiming for Steve's face.

Time seemed to slow down, the world reduced to the sight of that jaw coming closer. Steve wouldn't be able to dodge in time. His telekinesis was too weak to affect something that big. There were no useful emotions to tap into. He was going to die. There was nothing he could do.

But then, just when everything seemed lost, a blur shoved him to the side. Steve hit the ground, and Jonathan fell beside him, gasping for breath. The creature turned toward them with a growl. 'Shit' Steve trying to shield himself with the bat.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Nancy seized the moment, unloading the revolver into the creature's back. The monster whirled around to face her, its mouth wide open in a deafening roar that made the Christmas lights flicker uncontrollably. In that instant, Steve felt something new in the creature's emotions — a tiny spark, almost imperceptible. Fear.

That was what he had been looking for.

Clinging to that spark with all the strength of his mind, Steve pushed his powers to the limit, amplifying the fear like a flame in a sea of gasoline. He shaped it, expanded it, until the monster's savage mind was overwhelmed by an absolute, primal, devastating terror. The creature let out a high-pitched screech and shrank to the ground.

It stayed there, trembling, for two seconds before bolting through the wide-open door, smashing the wooden frame as it passed. Steve felt the creature retreat into the forest, leaving behind only the echo of a roar and the heavy silence that followed.

"It... ran away?" Jonathan muttered, stunned, still lying beside Steve.

"-VE!"

'Did I… do it?' Steve wondered, disoriented, eyes locked on the destroyed doorway. Blood kept trickling from his nose, dripping into his mouth and staining his shirt. But he was too dazed to notice.

"STEVE!"

Two soft hands held his face, pulling him back to reality. He found himself staring into Nancy's eyes— just as intense and vibrant as the first time he saw them — now shimmering with a mix of fear, relief, and determination. She was kneeling in front of him, her trembling hands wiping the blood from his nose and chin.

"Can you hear me? Oh my God, why are you bleeding so much?!" Her voice shook, but there was strength in it — an anchor in the chaos. Nancy brushed his face gently, wiping away the blood, her eyes searching his for a response.

Steve gripped her hand, the warmth of her touch contrasting with the chill still running down his skin. "I... I'm fine. Some wound must've opened up," he managed to say, his voice hoarse, but his eyes never left hers. For a moment, the chaos of the room disappeared. It was just him and Nancy.

"Why did that thing run away?!"

And Jonathan.

***

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, images or songs featured in this fic. Additionally, I do not claim ownership of any products or properties mentioned in this novel. This work is entirely fanfic.