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Grief filled the hearts in Hawkins following the tragic events of the opening to the upside down. The outcasts in the former Hellfire club mourned their friend and leader, Dustin especially devastated. The events within the underground were ingrained in the groups mind, including Robin and Steve, haunting them at night to remember Vecna and the other beastly horrors trapped within which will inevitably escape in the future.
Steve sat next to Dustin, a comfortable silence filled the air as they reminisced about Eddie, Dustin occasionally piping up with funny memories or bursts of anger towards the situation, Steve giving him a place to vent. Steve wonders what their relationship would have been if they had enough time to truly connect. Would they have been close? Would their dynamic work out despite the societal odds and allow them to be friends? What would being Eddie's friend be like?
Steve sighed, standing up and patting Dustin on the back. Steve pushed his hair out of his face before addressing Dustin. "I'm going to head off, I have a shift in half an hour and should probably mentally prepare. You take care, turd."
Dustin glares at him before shooing him away, watching him leave. Steve wandered through the familiar streets of Hawkins, irregularities in the pavement protruding occasionally, bringing painful images of the monsters below into Steve's mind. He thinks back on how much he's been through, especially when he was first introduced to the different beasts and how Russians fascinated with them.. or something, it seems like that was eons ago in his mind, making the events hazy.
Steve approached the stupid Family Video store he worked at, thankful that Robin was working with him that day. And so, another shitty day began.
After a long day of picking on Robin and having the favor returned (with minimal work actually being done), Steve set out to head back to his solitude house to fester in his thoughts, once again by himself.
-- -- --
Down in the upside down, Eddie lay still. Rubble and dust blew over his body, carcass adorned with scars with chunks of flesh missing. Demobats flew above, scavenging the area for new prey. Alone. That would best describe the body of the former Eddie Munson, the outcast being outcasted in his death.
His sacrifice allowing the others to kill Vecna, his life to give them the chance to keep theirs. The world above not impacted by his contribution, but knowing that he may allow the people he considered friends an opportunity to survive the hellish world they ventured to left a slight smile on his face as he died, rigor mortis holding it in place indefinitely with a slight trace of dried tears.
The reddish tint of the world below glowed upon him, faintly simulating a motion of breathing. A cruel addition to the hell he went through, almost like a puppeteer playing with a puppet after ripping its head off.
As the slight breeze settles, leaving Eddie's dark locks to sway over his face. A smaller demobat swoops down to inspect his body, trilling loudly as it approached. It slowly moved its way to on top of his chest, a tinted redish glow pulsating off of its hellish body. It prepared to join the rest of its hive flying above, only to be stopped by a crushing grip to its wings, crushing them on impact. The beast screeched in agony, the hive above joining it in its screams as the eyes of the former Eddie Munson shot open.