At long last... we can begin. You and I... we are going to do such beautiful things together, William. Such beautiful things.
All S1
S1 E15Unfinished Business
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.
PThe Party
For Eddie!
On three, "Kill Vecna". One, two, three...
PThe Party
Kill Vecna!
KDr. Kay
Don't worry, it doesn't bite. It does, on occasion, strangle.
We find Vecna and we end this once and for all.
And then what happens?
You mean after you totally demolish Vecna? In my campaigns if the party wins, then they all live happily ever after.
Happily how?
Well, usually what happens is, the party doesn't return to their local village because too much has happened. They've seen too much, so they travel to a far-away land -- a peaceful land, somewhere beautiful with, like, three waterfalls or something and they all start again, together.
Do you think that could be real, for us?
Yeah, of course! I mean, not the three waterfalls part, but the other stuff, yeah! Of course. If Vecna's gone, then what's stopping us?
This is our fault. This is all our fault.
We got there as fast as we could.
I’m not talking about tonight. We could have acted yesterday, last week, last fall. We could have tried to get them out of Hawkins or… or at least told them the truth! We could have done something, anything!
We couldn’t have known any of this would happen.
Do you really believe that, Mike?
After all this time, it comes for Holly? Holly, who has nothing to do with any of this. It makes no goddamn sense.
It makes perfect goddamn sense. Vecna told me this would happen. He showed me. And not just the four gates. Holly, Mom, Dad dead. And we just chose not to believe him. But now it’s all coming true. Like, don’t you get it, Mike? Vecna’s come back to realize his vision, to punish us. He did it with Fred and Chrissy and Max and now it’s our turn. And he’s not gonna stop. He’s not gonna stop until we’re drained of every last ounce of suffering.
I just thought that, tonight of all nights, you would give it a rest.
Give what a rest?
This bullshit macho competition for Nancy's affection.
What are you talking about?
What am I talking about?
Yeah.
Really? Dude, ever since I got back from Lenora, you are constantly showing off for her. How you’re better than me. Which is shitty enough on a normal day, but now her parents are fighting for their lives, her sister is missing, and all you can think about is giving her flowers. You selfish, chauvinistic meathead!
You know what, Byers? You're totally right. Me worrying about my good friend, my friend, that makes me the selfish one here. Or maybe, just maybe, you're the problem, dude. Ever since you got back, you've been acting like a paranoid pothead weirdo. And maybe if you stopped focusing on me and started focusing on her, maybe then the two of you would finally be happy. Because right now, the only one who's more miserable in that relationship than you... is Nance!
[to Max] I wish I... I had better news. [machine beeps] Hopefully my next update will be something like El and Hop saved Holly, and killed Vecna, and everyone's back home celebrating and everything. But if I've learned anything over the years... it's never gonna be that easy. [somber music playing] El's amazing. But she can't do this alone. She's gonna need all the help she can get. She's going to need the Party, the full Party. Which is why I'm here. The final battle... I feel like it started tonight. And Max, we can't win this without you. If my theory is right, we're running out of time. So if you're planning on resurrecting anytime soon, now... now is the time. Even a sign would be enough to show me you're still in there. Online TV streaming services Please, Max. Please. Wake up. Just... something. I miss you.
You got an antenna in your head, use it. The Enigma machine won the war. Knowledge is power. So...
So... So, you want to...
Skip school, play hooky, connect your brain into an interdimensional monster's signal, and save little Wheeler? Yeah, kind of. I mean, your mom is gonna be raging mad, and she's probably right. It is super dangerous, but...
Isn't everything we do super dangerous?
And you got there how, exactly?
Get where?
The Wheeler house. Did you take the Henderson shelter?
No. Nancy drove me.
Nancy drove you?
Yes.
We don't drive ever, do we? Do we?
No.
No, we take the tunnels, and we don't surface until it's clear, until it's safe.
I wore my hoodie.
Oh, well, geez, that's great. I don't know what we've been crawling around in the mud all this time. We should've just drove you around in your hoodie.
...
You're more like me than I'd like to admit.
What, a stubborn punk-ass?
You heard that?
You talk loud.
Yeah, I guess I am a stubborn punk-ass. Or at least I was. I never listened to my pops either. Always thought I knew best. Pissed him right off. I remember one day it got so heated, he took me to the recruitment office. He made me enlist right there. He thought the Army would do me some good. Give me some structure, some discipline. But the thing was, I thought I was smarter than the officers.
Were you?
Sometimes. But mostly, no, I was just dumb. Naive. I used to trust my gut and my instinct. Never... Like you. Did a lot of crazy things in that war. Reckless things. You might call them brave, but there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity. Saw a lot of brave men die in that war. Friends of mine. My daughter... Sara. She was brave. Bravest person I ever knew. She stared death in the face. She never got scared. She never wavered. Fought her heart out. The doctors said they never saw anything like it. They thought she was gonna make it, too.
So that's why you don't want me in here. Because you think Vecna will win and I will die.
I don't think... I don't think anything. I've just been around long enough to know that you can't count on anything in this life. I don't wanna lose you. I won't. Which is why whatever happens from here on out, wherever this blood leads, I need you to do what I say.
So don't be a stubborn punk-ass like you?
Yeah, don't be a stubborn punk-ass.
Are the others here yet?
WMr. Whatsit
No, not yet.
You will save them, too, won’t you? Save them from the monsters?
WMr. Whatsit
Yes, Holly. Don’t you worry. I’m going to save your friends. Every last one of them.
And my family? Are they coming too?
WMr. Whatsit
[revealed to be Henry] Your friends first. Then after, I’ll save your family too, of course. I have room for everyone here.
I told, I explicitly told you, I didn't want him going anywhere that's not safe. And not only did you take him, you cut off all communication.
Yes, I mean, in retrospect, that was a bit inconsiderate.
Inconsiderate?
We really should've left a note.
Is this funny to you?
Oh. Sorry. It must be my tone. My mother says I sound perpetually insincere.
Okay, this is my son’s life you’re playing with. My son. So next time I say I do not want him leaving my side, that means I don’t want him leaving my goddamn side.
I’m right here, Mom. You know, you can talk to me, right? And I’m not a kid anymore.
Will, I am still your mother.
Doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing.
What?
Your plan? It… It sucked. I’m sorry, but it did. You only liked it because it was safe, but we don’t have time for safe, not anymore. We have to act, and we have to take risks, and thank God we did. Because my plan, it… it actually worked. I spied on Vecna and tapped back into the hive mind, and we found out that Holly was just the beginning. Vecna's gonna take more kids. I don’t know why or what he wants to do with them, but now we know something we can use against him, his next target. So next time you order me to stay by your side, I wouldn’t count on it.
You still thinking about your parents?
Yeah.
They are in the very best possible hands, Holly, I assure you. And I’m told that they are improving with each hour that passes. As soon as they’re healed, they’ll join us here.
I… I know. It’s just…
You wish to be with them. I understand. But you cannot offer them comfort in Hawkins, Holly. The only comfort they have is knowing you are here, safe. With me. Safe from the monsters. I thought blackberries might cheer you up a little. They’re your favorite, aren’t they?
How did you know? That they’re my favorite?
Oh, it’s, uh… It’s just a hunch. I’m good with hunches. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll make chocolate chip pancakes. He loves those.
Who does?
Your classmate, Derek.
Derek is coming here?
You don’t like Derek very much, do you? Should I just let the monsters eat him?
No. No, you can’t… you can’t do that.
Well, how about this? I will tell Derek that if he misbehaves, or if he hurts you in any way, I will send him right back, and he can face those monsters on his own. How does that sound? [chuckles]
[outside]
I expect to be gone most of the day. While I’m out, you’ll have the whole house all to yourself.
The whole house?
Everything which is mine is yours. But in return, I need you to promise me one thing. Something very important. Do you think you can do that?
Yeah.
You must never, under any circumstance, go out into the woods. Do you understand?
Is that where the monsters live?
[nods] But they won’t find you. That is, as long as you don’t–
Don’t try to find them.
You know, I’m very glad I saved you first. You’re the brightest of them all. Oh, and if you don’t mind, bring my mail in, won’t you?
[Holly opens the mailbox and finds a Tiffany album and a cassette player]
[laughs] How did you know?
A hunch.
Some sparkling new spark plugs for Bilbo Baggins.
Spark plugs, that's it?
I'm also giving out free hugs.
You didn't get the turbochargers?
No.
The suspension kit?
No.
The aerodynamic spoiler?
No.
It wasn't a goddamn Christmas list, Murray.
That's exactly what it was. And the fact that Santa Murray scrounged all this up in a single afternoon and smuggled it into what is likely the most heavily secured location outside of the White House, Fort Knox and Area 51 is a goddamn Christmas miracle. So, count your blessings, hang some mistletoe, pucker up, and kiss my jolly ass!
Thank you for the spark plugs.
This isn't about saving Derek. It's about saving Holly. Vecna took her. And yeah, now he's after Dipshit Derek. But we have a plan. A plan to both save Dipshit Derek and find Holly. But the plan is... It's a bit insane. But after it's over, I don't think Tina's gonna wanna talk to you ever again.
Well, why the hell didn't you just start with that?
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Stranger Things pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.