[Walking up to the boys] Well isn't this a nice surprise.
[Sees Eleven and drops his bike] WHAT are you doing here?
This is her new style. What do you think?
What's wrong with you? You know she's not allowed to be here!
What is she, your little pet?
Then why do you treat me like garbage?
She is! [Looks to Lucas for support] She is! She is sick!
LucasYeah she's sick, she's really sick! That's why, we're here actually.
Yeah yeah, we're shopping! Not for us, but for her, for Nana!
Lucas
For Nana! [Max stares at him, suspicious]
Also we're here to get a gift for you. [Eleven glares at him] We just, we couldn't find anything that suited you, and I only have like, three dollars and fifty cents so it's hard.
Lucas
Super hard! It's.. it's expensive.
You lie. [Mike just looks at her] Why do you lie? [Mike doesn't respond. Eleven looks at the bus arriving, and, determined, walks up to Mike with a fierce expression] I dump your ass! [Mike looks shocked, while Max looks both shocked and impressed. Eleven turns and walks away to the bus, Max following. They giggle and hi-five]
Lucas
So I've been thinking... two of the three of Vecna's victims were seeing Ms Kelly, right?
Lucas
Okay, so I figured there's a good chance Vecna cursed another one of her students. We go back to her office, we read all of her files, we look for mentions of headaches, nosebleeds, nightmares-
Lucas
We identify who's most likely his next victim-
Lucas
We stake out his house-
Lucas, stop! We don't have time for any of that, okay? And even if we did, even if your plan did work, we'd be putting a total stranger at risk. A stranger who has no idea what they're up against. I do. He uses my memories against me. But... only my darkest memories. Same with Chrissy and Fred, right?
Lucas
Right.
It's like he only sees the darkness in us. So... I'll just run in the opposite direction. Run to the light. And... maybe he won't be able to find me there.
Lucas
Now how exactly do you plan on doing this?
I'm not sure. But it's my mind, not his, right? So I should be able to control where I am, I just need to... push him away, find a happy memory and hide there. Hide in the light.
Lucas
You got a memory in mind?
[Nods and smiles a little] Yeah. It was a time when I was... happiest.
Lucas
Was... I there?
That's presumptuous of you. [They both laugh a little] But, yeah. Yeah, you might have been there. (they smile at each other)
Lucas
Okay, but the second you start to lift, I'm calling in Kate Bush, alright?
Lucas
Deal. [They shake hands]
Lucas
Yes, yes I'm here. I'm here.
I... I can't feel or... see anything.
Lucas
I know. I know. It's okay. We're gonna get you help, okay? Just... Just hold on.
Lucas, I'm scared. I'm so scared. I'm so scared.
Lucas
I know. I know. I know.
I don't wanna die. I'm not ready.
Lucas
You're not gonna die. Hang on.
I don't wanna go! I'm not ready.
Lucas
You're not gonna die! Just hang on! Max. Max! Max! No, no, no, Max. Stay with me. Stay with me! Don't go, Max! Max stay with me. Just look at me, Max. Max, look. No. Stay with me, Max. Hang on. Just hang on. Erica, help! [Repeatedly] Max...? Max, stay with me. Max, stay with me. No! No! Max! Max! Please, stay with me! No! Max! Max!
Have you forgotten what he showed Nancy? Hawkins on fire. Karen, Holly, everyone -- dead!
Yeah, man, he also showed Max her brother walking around with a big hole in his chest. That's what he does; he gets in your head and he tries to scare you.
Yeah, well he did a good job, because I am scared! And you should be scared too, because if he's still out there, he's planning to end our world, so...
...we don't stop looking, even if it takes a hundred more crawls -- a thousand! We don't stop until we're goddamn sure that wrinkled, rotting, noseless bastard is dead and gone and never coming back. [He holds out his hand.] Everyone in?
[Everyone joins save Dustin. Mike looks to him.]
I wanna see Vecna's heart on a platter. Just wish I could do it myself. For Eddie.
Lucas
On three, "Kill Vecna". One, two, three...
[Max slowly opens her eyes]
Lucas
Yes! That's it! That's it!
Lucas
Yes, Max. Come on, Max. It's me. It's me. I'm right here. I'm right here, Max. [crying] Are you... are you... are you okay? Do you... do you hurt anywhere?
[weak] I c-can't feel... much.
Lucas
Do you... do you feel this? Do you feel my hand? [holds her hand]
Lucas
Can you... can you... can you see?
The lights are... are really bright.
VVickie
Hey... you haven't used your eyes, okay, or your muscles for a long time. Okay, your body's just weak, but it just needs to readjust and learn again. [Max cries, as does Lucas] You are going to be okay. You're gonna be okay.
Lucas
[crying] I knew you were there. I always knew you were still there.
[crying] I saw you. Waiting for me. Playing my... my song.
Lucas
You bored of it yet?
[shakes her head and chuckles tearfully] Are you? [Lucas nods, and they both laugh and cry, as does Robin] It turns out, that this whole time... I didn't even need it. I just needed you. [Lucas smiles and sobs] Just you. [he hugs her]
I… I… I haven’t told any of you this because… Because I… I don’t… I don’t want you to see me differently. But the truth is… The… The truth is I am. I am different. I just… I just pretended like I wasn’t because… because I didn’t want to be. I wanted to be like everyone else. I wanted to be like my friends and… And I am like you. I’m like you in… in almost every way. We… We like playing D&D late into the night. And we like that old-person smell in Mike’s basement. And we… we like biking to Melvald’s for malted milkshakes. And we like getting lost in the woods, and getting lost in Family Video and arguing about what to rent and settling on Holy Grail for the millionth time. And… And we like Milk Duds in our popcorn with extra butter. And we like drinking Coke with Pop Rocks. And we like bike races and trading comics and NASA and Steve Martin and Lucky Charms and… Literally all the same things. I just… I just… I… I just… I… I… I… I don’t like girls. I mean… I mean I do. Just… Just not like you guys do. And I, uh, I had this… this crush on someone, even though I know… I know they’re not like me. But… But then I realized he’s just my Tammy. And by Tammy, I mean it was never about him. It was… It was about me. And I thought I was finally okay with myself, but… but then today… Today Vecna showed me what would happen if I did this, if I told you guys the truth. He showed me a future, and in this future, some of you are just… are just worried for me. Worried that things will be harder for me. And it just makes me feel like something’s wrong with me. So I… So I push you away. And for the rest of us, we just drift apart more and more and more and more and more until I’m alone. And I know none of that has happened, and Vecna can’t see into the future. But he can see into our minds, and he knows things. And it just felt so real. It felt so real.
Will. You gotta listen to me. That will never ever happen. You’ll never lose me. Ever.
And you’ll never lose me. [goes to hug him]
Lucas
Or me. [goes to hug him]
[everyone eventually lets go of the hug]
Guess you didn’t need truth serum, huh?
Sorry. This sucks, but you’re gonna have to hug me.
Oh, Max. [goes to hug her]
Just imagine I’m hugging you really tight, okay?
Okay. [lets go of hug] El. I know you’re strong enough to defeat Vecna. But he can retreat to the physical world, and we need to be ready to fight him there too. We have bullets and fire, but none of that helped those soldiers. I need to be there. And I’m ready. I’m ready to show him I’m not afraid anymore.
I just wanted a normal childhood. But that childhood was stolen from me. It was stolen from us. And this past year, if you wanna know the truth, I've been pretty pissed off about it.
But then I thought back to the past six years, and I realized that, even though there was a lot of bad, there was so much good too. There's this game I like to play. It's called Dungeons & Dragons.
[Will cheers]
Lucas
Yup!
And in this game, there are two types of chaos classes, chaotic good and chaotic bad. Now, bad chaos brings anarchy, destruction, war. But good chaos can bring innovation, change. And this school... frankly, it needed to change. Because we were so divided into the jocks, the nerds, freaks. And in the chaos, all those walls broke down, and I made new friends. I made friends who were never even supposed to be my friends. And this wasn't just me; I saw this happen with so many others. When you get to know people who are different from you, you begin to learn more about yourself. You change. You grow. I'm a better person now. I'm a better person because of them. Because of my friends. So, I'm not pissed off anymore. But I am worried. Worried, because now that the chaos is over, Principal Higgins and every square like him is gonna do their damnedest to put everything back in order, and I don't want order. Which is why it's hypocritical that I'm wearing this thing. I mean, we look ridiculous. What is this? We look like Roman senators. I mean, it's not who I am. I don't think it's who any of us are. So, honestly, just screw it.
Screw the school. Screw the system. Screw conformity.
Screw everyone and everything trying to hold you back and tear us apart, because this -- this is our year!
Stranger Things · 156 quotes
