Monster Town S2, P2!

Monster town S2, P2!

A note: Parts 1, 2, and 3 happen simultaneously. Parts 4 and 5 (possibly 6) happen simultaneously.

Worldbuilding: 1–2–3

Season 1: 1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8

Season 2: 1–2

This is what happens when two intellectuals get together to solve problems. If the story sounds weird, sorry, never really been smart before.

(You ever heard of She-Ra?)

————

Nancy wrapped a bag of ice in a dish towel, before walking back into the main area. The bodies of the basketball players were still up against the walls, hopefully only asleep. There were about 8 of them, with an average of two per wall.

Steve had fallen fast asleep on the couch, to the point where he had started snoring. Both Nancy and Dustin knew Steve snoring loudly was highly unusual—obviously it meant whatever magic he’d used earlier was massively exhaustive. Therefore, they both made it a goal to try and be as quiet as possible so they wouldn’t wake him.

In theory, that’d mean moving rooms in order to provide him more silence while they talked and strategized.

The main issue with that was what if any of the basketball players woke up? It would leave Steve completely defenseless. Not to mention Dustin, either, who’d completely refused to leave his side once everyone left. Nancy assumed it was some sort of werewolf pack thing, since it was very clear by the way he had positioned Steve’s arm over his torso: he needed sensory comfort.

She handed the ice pack over to the kid, before sitting herself in front of him criss-crossed.

That was another thing, too. When Dustin was pushed down, he was pushed down on his bad ankle. By Nancy’s suggestion (requirement) he was sitting and icing it for 20-30 minutes.

“I don’t need this,” Dustin raised an eyebrow, trying to give the ice pack back. Nancy shook her head and shoved it back to him.

“I don’t care,”

“I have super healing!” Nancy rolled her eyes.

“And I still want you healing the tried-and-true human way. Steve would agree with me if he was awake,” she raised an eyebrow, and Dustin sighed.

He couldn’t fight her on that one, and she knew it.

“What do you think happened with Steve?” Dustin asked, “I have my ideas but I want to know yours,”

Nancy shook her head. She wasn’t on any research teams, only the main theorizing one.

“I understand it’s probably related to being a siren. You saw how he re-shifted when the wind picked up, right?”

Dustin nodded. “Yup. I was reading earlier; Mélusine descendants have wind powers. I wonder if he’s powerful enough that he just can’t control it.”

"That would make sense, especially since his line is direct. Could Eddie teach him anything to help midigate any future outbursts?”

Dustin shrugged. “No clue. Plus, Steve’s response indicated this has all happened before. He wasn’t even shocked!”

Nancy nodded wildly. She’d noticed that too, how nonchalant Steve’s response to the whole ordeal was. If that had happened before though, who had that happened to? Had anyone gotten hurt in the process?

“He wasn’t. If he hadn’t explained why he stopped using sirenspeak, I would’ve thought maybe that stopped him from using magic,”

Dustin frowned, looking as if he was processing through an idea.

“What if…he did? What if he had more magic, but whatever he did changed him, and from then on he only ventured so far as to sirenspeak people?”

Nancy’s eyes widened.

“Then when the demogorgon happened, he bottled up the last parts of him left, and this was the first time he’d let anything go,”

Dustin’s eyes widened in tandem, and they both panned their gaze to Steve, still sound asleep.

There was a brief pause.

“How many books did you collectively check from the library again?” Nancy asked, attempting to see if there was anything she could scrap to find a historical narrative there. Maybe there was something in one of the books that said why Steve was so powerful, or alluded to how or when Steve had his first outburst.

“You’re not gonna find what you need, not many books actually go in depth with siren magic, much less siren anatomy,” Dustin shook his head, “That being said, Steve’s dad has a good collection of books in his office. Maybe one of those could help?”

Nancy nodded and started getting up.

“Be right back,” she said, but Dustin stopped her before she walked away.

“Wait, one thing before you go, did you hear that song?”

Nancy frowned, looking at Dustin.

“What song?”

“Okay, that answers my question. It’s the song that played in the air while Steve was doing his whole,” he made large wind movements with his hands, and Nancy understood.

“Nope. Remember, if there’s anyone in the group who could hear as well as you, it’s a Sinclair,”

“One sec—you stay with Steve,” Dustin got up, bolting (with his limp) to Steve’s basement. Nancy tried to protest, but he pretended not to hear her.

Stubborn dick.

10 minutes later, Dustin came out holding an electric keyboard over his shoulder. He set it up near the couch, turning it on. It seemed like he was trying to play the melody he’d heard, but he kept screwing up whatever note he was playing.

“Bb…Gb—no, Ab…E—no, F—no, Eb…”

Nancy walked away, since that was something Dustin could manage on his own. She walked towards Steve’s dad’s office—which Steve had never allowed her into before—opening the door to the most sad, beige room she’d ever seen.

The most important thing about it was the large shelves covering the right wall, all completely filed with books on books.

The first book that caught Nancy’s eye was something in the runic script from Steve’s book. She had no clue what the title was or what any of it said, but something in her gut told her it was something she needed.

The second book that caught her eye had no title or cover, but when Nancy looked inside seemed to be a diary of sorts in English. She put both books on the desk as she looked for a third book—the same gut feeling said she had only one more book to look for.

The book in question was large and red, coated in copper runes, and completely bound by a bright, tight red ribbon. As she analyzed it further, it almost looked like—

“NANCY WHEELER,”

————

I’d like to know: any suspicions on who the last voice is? It’s not Dustin, but still someone very important to the plot.

And yes, Dustin is a little choir boy. Because he is a little choir boy and he’s Dustin, that means he definitely is a music theory nerd and knows at least enough piano to get by. It’s quite literally the math of music.

The correct sequence he’s trying to play is Bb-Ab-Eb-Gb-Rest-Bb-Ab-Eb-Db. For my fellow music people, go and play it! It’s completely unrelated to the plot but it is a cutesy little Easter egg.

Finally, again, anyone heard of She-Ra?

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