Steve Harrington

Alias(es) Steve King Steve Douchebag (by Lucas) Dingus (by Robin) Daddy (by himself) Tweedledum Steve "The Hair" Harrington Big Boy (by Eddie) Popeye (by Robin) Born Between August and November 1966 Age 21 Residence Harrington house, Hawkins, Indiana Family Danny Harrington (father) Unnamed mother Unnamed grandfather Unnamed paternal uncle Other relations Dustin Henderson (best friend/brother figure) Robin Buckley (best friend/co-worker/ex-crush) Nancy Wheeler (ex-girlfriend/friend/crush) Jonathan Byers (friend/rival) Eddie Munson † (friend) Mike Wheeler (friend) Lucas Sinclair (friend) Max Mayfield (friend) Eleven (friend) Will Byers (friend) Erica Sinclair (friend) Jim Hopper (friend) Joyce Byers (friend) Murray Bauman (friend) Billy Hargrove † (enemy) Tommy H (former friend) Carol Perkins (former friend) Keith (co-worker) Affiliation Hawkins High Swim Team (formerly) Scoops Troop Family Video WSQK Occupation Student at Hawkins High School (1981-1985) Employee at Scoops Ahoy (1985) Employee at Family Video (1985-1986) Employee at WSQK (1986-) Height 5'11" (180 cm) Eye color Brown Hair color Brown appearance: signature voluminous, dark brown, 1980s hair (achieved with lots of hairspray), brown eyes, and a generally handsome, boyish face. Personality: While attending Hawkins High, Steve was initially the typical popular boy that gained attention from everyone near him, though this caused him to fall out of favor with the lesser-known kids at school who labeled him as a "douchebag". Despite having a charming personality, he eventually fell into the wrong crowd of the snarkier popular kids, although his compassion lay underneath his superficiality.

When beginning to date Nancy Wheeler, Steve displayed his softer side and revealed himself to be hopelessly in love with her, though this in turn revealed his insecurities, as he instantly believed Nancy was sleeping with Jonathan Byers when seeing them together in her bedroom, and soon caused him to vandalize property with graffiti featuring slurs of Nancy and Jonathan. It's not until Jonathan physically beats up Steve in rage that he realizes how awful his behavior was and immediately went to the Byers's home to apologize, only to be sucked into protecting them from the Monster. At Christmas, 1983, Steve and Nancy purchased Jonathan a new camera to replace the one he and Tommy broke. Between his breakup with Nancy and Billy quickly taking over his status as "King Bee" and most popular boy, Steve was at a low point emotionally. While trying to make amends with Nancy, Dustin intercepted him and asked Steve to help catch D'Artagnan. The boys quickly bond, and Steve is shown to have a more parental or mentoring side as he gives Dustin relationship advice. Steve took on the role of 'babysitter' for the kids and was willing to put himself in danger to protect them. He had matured and became far more kind and responsible than he used to be. In 1985, Steve was a shadow of what he once was. Aside from his sarcasm and recklessness, a lot of his traits that he displayed in his high school years have disappeared. He was incredibly awkward and unsuccessful with the girls he serves at Scoops Ahoy, and the only positive female relationship he seems to have is with his co-worker, Robin. His friendship with Dustin is still strong, if not stronger and he seems to be on good terms with the rest of the Hawkins gang. Steve is also shown to be more kind-hearted and tolerant of things he used to poke fun of. Aside from engaging in nerd culture, he is also shed his homophobic views which is shown when he still accepted Robin as a friend after she came out to him.

In 1986, Steve began working at a local movie rental store Family Video, with him finding it difficult to find a suitable girlfriend for himself and started developing romantic feelings towards Nancy again. He also helped Robin deal with her crush, Vickie, and advised her to pursue her as he wanted Robin to be happy. He became jealous of Eddie and Dustin's growing friendship as he felt Eddie was taking over his brotherly role. However, Steve later softened when Eddie told him Dustin was always talking about him and worshipped him. When formulating a plan to kill Vecna, Steve had a heart to heart about his dreams with Nancy, having five or six kids and traveling around in an RV and he later told Nancy the dream included her. Background: Steve Harrington was born between August 1966 and November 1966. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harrington, lived in Hawkins, Indiana; his father was a business owner, and the family was relatively wealthy. The Harringtons lived in a large house with a backyard swimming pool. Mr Harrington, however, had a poor relationship with his son. While the specifics of their relationship are unknown, Steve refers to his father as a "grade A asshole". Steve began attending Hawkins High School around 1981, eventually befriending Tommy H and Carol Perkins. His growing popularity landed him many girlfriends, including Laurie, Amy, and Becky, though by Steve's own admission, these relationships were fleeting and superficial. At some point, Steve attended Mrs. Click's history class two days a week with a band student, Robin Buckley, though he never acknowledged her existence. Steve always had the same breakfast - bacon, egg, and cheese on a sesame bagel - and constantly arrived late to class. Steve would attract the attention of Robin's crush, Tammy Thompson, making Robin jealous, which Steve was unaware of, as he did not return Tammy's affections.

Steve and Nancy Wheeler started dating around November 1983. They made out a couple of times and fooled around in the bathroom at school. On November 7, he convinced Nancy to go on a date with him. In the evening, Steve climbed in through her bedroom window and helped her study for a chemistry test. He suggested they should take their clothes off and was leading up to having sex with Nancy. Nancy stopped him and insisted they continue to study, for her chemistry test. The next day, Steve’s parents left town for his father's conference. This gave him the opportunity to invite Nancy to a party at his house. Tommy and Carol were also there, along with Nancy's friend, Barbara Holland, also known as "Barb." Steve chugged a beer and persuaded Nancy to do the same. Nancy did so. When Nancy urged Barb to chug a beer can, Barb accidentally cut her hand trying to open the can with a knife. Steve gave her directions to his bathroom to wash off the blood. Once Barb went inside the house, Steve and the others uncaringly jumped into the pool with clothes and played around. Later, after getting out of the pool, Steve offered Nancy to get her some dry clothes in his room. Once they were up in his bedroom, Nancy asked Steve to give her some privacy which he proceeded to do so until Nancy changed her mind and undressed in front of him. They proceeded to have sex. They were unaware that Barb was being abducted by a ferocious monster. After having sex with Nancy, Steve fell fast asleep. Nancy changed back into her clothes, and borrowed a sweatshirt from Steve. Nancy told a sleeping Steve that she will see him tomorrow. At school the following day, Nancy felt like people were watching her, but Steve swore that he hadn’t told anyone and kissed her by the lockers. During lunch, Nancy was worried because she hadn't seen Barb since last night, but Steve suggested that she was "probably just skipping."

Nicole informed Steve that she had seen Jonathan Byers in the darkroom, developing furtive photographs from the pool party. Steve and his friends confronted Jonathan and took the photos, one of which showed Nancy getting undressed. Steve called Jonathan a pervert and ripped up the photos and broke his camera. Two days after the party Nancy expressed her worries about Barbara (who was still missing) to Steve. However, he was more concerned that his parents would find out he hosted a party with beer. Nancy got upset, walked away and said: “I can’t believe you right now.” Steve did get into trouble with his parents but went to Nancy’s home to apologize the day after. He explained that he panicked and “was a total dick.” He noticed that Nancy was still upset about Barb and suggested they catch a movie to “pretend everything is normal for a few hours.” However, Nancy was reluctant and said she couldn't. Noticing that Nancy was acting weird, Steve worried that something was wrong and decided to check up on her. He drove to her house with Tommy and Carol the same evening and climbed up to her bedroom window. There, he saw Nancy sitting on her bed with Jonathan Byers. Jonathan placed a jacket on Nancy’s shoulders and held his arm around her back. Steve immediately concluded that Nancy was cheating on him. Hurt and angry, Steve went around downtown Hawkins with Tommy, Carol, and Nicole as Tommy spray-painted obscene messages about Nancy and Jonathan on walls and the marquee of the movie theater. Nancy confronted them and slapped Steve across the face. She inferred that Steve had come by last night and, though she tried to tell him that “it wasn’t like that,” was unable to explain what she and Jonathan had done in her room. Steve told Nancy to go to hell. He spewed insults at Jonathan about his family and pushed him until they ended up in a fistfight. Jonathan, in far more ferocity and savagery than before, kept beating Steve repeatedly while he was down on the ground until t

Hurt and angry, Steve went around downtown Hawkins with Tommy, Carol, and Nicole as Tommy spray-painted obscene messages about Nancy and Jonathan on walls and the marquee of the movie theater. Nancy confronted them and slapped Steve across the face. She inferred that Steve had come by last night and, though she tried to tell him that “it wasn’t like that,” was unable to explain what she and Jonathan had done in her room. Steve told Nancy to go to hell. He spewed insults at Jonathan about his family and pushed him until they ended up in a fistfight. Jonathan, in far more ferocity and savagery than before, kept beating Steve repeatedly while he was down on the ground until the cops broke up the fight and Steve ran away with his friends. Tommy and Carol kept gossiping and slandering Nancy and Jonathan until Steve finally had enough and told Carol to shut up. Steve regretted their actions and told Tommy he shouldn’t have spray painted that stuff about Nancy. He called them both out for never caring about or liking Nancy, called them assholes and miserable people and drove off. He then went back to Hawk theater to help workers clean the spray paint off the marquee. In the evening, Steve went to the Byers residence to make things right. Nancy was there with Jonathan and threatened to shoot Steve unless he left immediately. However, the Christmas lights hung all over the living room started blinking intensely and a monster broke through the ceiling. The trio hid in Will’s room until the monster disappeared and Steve, who didn’t understand what was going on, tried to call the police in a panic. Nancy told him to leave because the monster would come back, so Steve ran to his car. The lights started blinking again, so Steve want back inside and fought off the monster with a spiked bat, leading it into the bear trap in the hallway, where Jonathan set fire to it.

A month later, at Christmas, Steve and Nancy had reconciled and he spent Christmas Eve at the Wheeler household with her family. Steve had bought a camera for Jonathan to replace the one he broke, which he had Nancy give to him as a Christmas present. While in the school parking lot, Nancy was looking over Steve's college essay when they witnessed Billy Hargrove and Max Mayfield arrive. That night, Steve and Nancy had dinner with Mrs. and Mr. Holland. While there, they discovered the Hollands were selling their house in order to hire Murray Bauman, a private investigator, to investigate Barb’s "disappearance." This caused Nancy to use the bathroom so she can silently cry about the news, leaving an awkward Steve at the table with Barb's parents. The next day, as Steve and Nancy were studying in the school library, Nancy noticed a person who resembled Barb, reigniting her grief. She then told Steve that they should tell Barb’s parent’s the truth about her death. After reminding her that it would be too dangerous to do so, Steve managed to convince Nancy not to say anything and to go to that night’s Halloween party so that they could have a normal night. That night at the party, Steve had a confrontation with Billy, who had beaten his keg standing record. Nancy began drinking the spiked punch, despite Steve’s protests. She eventually became intoxicated, resulting in her confessing to Steve that she really did not have feelings for him while blaming him and herself for Barb's death. Upset, Steve left the party, later asking Jonathan to take Nancy home.

The next day, Steve, still crushed by Nancy's hurtful confession, did not take Nancy to school, making her miss her first period class. While Steve was in gym class, he played basketball against Billy who taunted him, but Steve proceeded to ignore him, letting Billy win the game. As Steve accepted his defeat, Nancy arrived at the gym to talk to him and they went outside to speak privately. Outside, Nancy tried to confront Steve on why he did not take her to school this morning, only for Steve to coldly shrug it off. When he asked Nancy what she remembered from the party last night, Nancy told him all she could remember was dancing, getting drunk, and going home where she believed Steve to have taken her, only for Steve to reveal that it was actually Jonathan who took her home. When Nancy became confused, Steve recounted the other events of the party to her, including where she blamed him and herself for causing Barb's death, how she felt about their relationship, and her confession of not loving him. Though Nancy tried to explain she was drunk and assure him that what she said wasn’t true, Steve asked her if she really does love him. Nancy struggled to reply. Upon realising the true answer, he left to continue the basketball match, leaving Nancy to realize how badly she had hurt Steve's feelings.

While Steve was playing basketball at school during gym class, the next day, Steve was once again taunted and upstaged by Billy. After losing a basketball match, Steve was told by Billy to "plant his feet" next time instead of being helped up from the floor. Then, while taking a shower in the locker room, Steve was mocked by his former friend, Tommy Hagan about his breakup with Nancy and how she was starting to hang out with Jonathan as the two of them skipped fourth period yesterday and neither of them had shown up to school today. Steve, who was unaware of this, was mocked even further by Tommy and Billy tauntingly advised him that there were plenty of "bitches in the sea" before turning off the watering system. Steve was unnerved by this and turned back on the watering system to continue his shower. When Steve went to the Wheelers’ house to reconcile with Nancy, he was intercepted by Dustin, who urged Steve to come with him and to bring his spiked bat. On the way to his house, Dustin explained Dart to Steve, who initially believed that what Dustin found was some sort of lizard. When they entered the cellar, they discovered that not only had Dart molted again, but it had also escaped through a tunnel it had dug in the earth. As they were walking along the train tracks, Dustin explained to Steve he had kept Dart in hopes of impressing “a girl”. Steve then gave him relationship advice, telling him to “act like he doesn't care”. He also disclosed his hair-styling secret: Farrah Fawcett hairspray but stated not to reveal it to anyone. They eventually arrived at the junkyard where they were soon joined by Lucas and Max. Together, they fortified the abandoned bus and created a trap to lure in Dart.

As the group was waiting in the bus, they suddenly heard a screeching sound. The sound's source was revealed to be Dart, who arrived at the junkyard but didn't take the bait. So, Steve decided to confront him while telling Dustin to remain prepared. However, when Steve approached Dart, it was revealed that he wasn't alone and was joined by several other Demodogs. Steve, almost overwhelmed, managed to get back in the bus with the group after defending himself from the attacking Demodogs. As the pack attacked the bus and nearly overwhelmed them, they suddenly stopped, leaving the junkyard. Following the Demodogs, they realized they were heading to Hawkins Lab. Arriving at the lab, they discovered Nancy and Jonathan, who were looking for Mike and Will. They were all forced to wait outside the lab, due to the lab's power being out. Eventually, the power came back, and the group was finally able to get passed the gates. They reunited with Joyce, Hopper, Mike, and Will, and together they all escaped the lab. Once it was determined that they’d have to interrogate Will in order to discover the Mind Flayer’s weakness, Steve assisted in remodeling the Byers’ backyard shed. During Will’s interrogation, he signaled in Morse code the way to stop the Mind Flayer: closing the Gate. Soon after, the phone in the Byers' kitchen rang, allowing the Mind Flayer to know their location and send a pack of Demodogs their way. However, Eleven arrived and eradicated them. Together, the group came up with a plan: Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy would exorcise the Mind Flayer from Will's body while Eleven and Hopper would go to the lab and close the gate. Meanwhile, Steve stayed behind at the Byers’ house, along with Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Max.

When Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Max decided they’d burn the tunnels as a distraction to lure the Demodogs away from the lab for Eleven and Hopper’s safety, Steve refused to let them enact their plan. Just then, Billy arrived looking for Max and confronted Steve. Steve tried to conceal her location by replying that he had no idea of her whereabouts. But Billy discovered his lies and aggressively pushed him away before entering the house. As Billy tried to forcefully bring back Max by threatening Lucas, Steve intervened and the two ended up in a fistfight. Initially, Steve had the upper hand and dealt some quick blows, before Billy countered and brutally beat him repeatedly. As Steve continued to be powerless, Max was able to sedate Billy by puncturing his neck with a syringe initially used to subdue Will. Billy then lost consciousness. Using Billy's car, Max drove the group to the pumpkin patch where the entrance to the tunnels was located. Steve came to his consciousness in the car and after mistakenly calling Mike "Nancy", he tried to stop Max, who had "driven in a parking lot" to no avail. Once at there destination, he realized that the kids were already entering the tunnels, despite his refusal. Even though Steve protested, Dustin ultimately managed to convince him to help them. Making their way to the hub, they doused the entire area in gasoline and set it ablaze. On their way out of the tunnels, the group encountered Dart. Recognizing Dustin, Dart did not attack and was easily distracted by Dustin giving it another Three Musketeers bar, allowing the group to escape.

Sometime later, Hawkins Lab was shut down as a result of Nancy and Jonathan presenting evidence to Murray Bauman on their involvement with Barb's death through a recorded confession made by Sam Owens. After the lab was closed, Steve attended Barb's funeral with Nancy, Jonathan, Nancy's parents, and Barb's parents to show his respects, and in hand, held a flyer of Barbara. On December 15, Steve drove Dustin to the Snow Ball, giving him another pep talk on how to win the hearts of girls. After Dustin left, Steve waited and saw Nancy through the window of the middle school gymnasium, serving drinks at the dance and slowly accepted their failed relationship, before driving away. On Christmas Day, Steve picked Dustin up from his house where they then drove to the Wheeler house to pick up Mike and Lucas before driving their way to the Byers' house. While driving to the Byers', Steve remarked to Dustin that he owed him for carpooling him and his friends before jumping into the boys' conversation on Mike and Lucas's Christmas gifts to Max and El, which Steve found intriguing. When Dustin suddenly freaked out, Steve immediately stopped his car and asked what was wrong. Dustin said he saw an unknown creature lurking in the woods, but Steve, Mike, and Lucas did not see anything, so they decided to continue their route to the Byers' house. After arriving at the Byers' house and meeting with Hopper and El, Steve decided to not come inside the house, knowing Joyce was upset about the dead Demodog that was in her refrigerator a month ago, something which Hopper agreed with. Steve insisted that keeping the dead Demodog was Dustin's idea, but Dustin defended himself by saying he had no idea the dead Demodog would turn into sludge overnight. At this, Steve left as Dustin, Mike, Lucas, El, and Hopper were welcomed by Joyce and her sons to celebrate Christmas with them.

By the time summer arrived, Steve graduated high school. However, because he had been so focused on popularity during his years in high school, Steve did not have the grades to go to college. Sometime after the inauguration of the shopping center Starcourt Mall by the mayor of Hawkins, Steve began working in one of its food courts, the Scoops Ahoy, alongside Robin, his former classmate. On June 28, 1985, Steve helped Mike, Lucas, Will, and Max sneak into the mall's movie theater through the back exit of Scoops Ahoy as he warned them that they would be in big trouble if they were caught. When the power suddenly went out, Steve tried to fix the problem by flicking the light switch, much to Robin's annoyance. Steve kept flicking the switch until the power came back on and Steve went back to work with Robin, believing he fixed the problem. The next day, as Steve served ice cream to customers, he tried to flirt with numerous female customers, only to fail each time. As a result, Robin would tally up his failures and mock him, much to his annoyance. Though Steve blamed his failures on his sailor hat, claiming it to be hiding his hair, Robin believes his failures are a result of him not having a future for himself. When Steve picks up another group of girls, he takes off his hat, saying "screw company policy," and goes to flirt with the girl. But as he's flirting miserably, Robin tallies his attempt as a failure behind his back. As Steve worked in the backroom of Scoops Ahoy the next day, he saw that Dustin had arrived, as the latter had returned from Camp Know Where yesterday. Steve happily greets Dustin who congratulates him for getting the job at Scoops Ahoy and introduces him to Robin who sarcastically asks, "How many children are you friends with?" when witnessing the two do a special handshake.

As Dustin eats some ice cream, he recounts his time at Camp Know Where to Steve, while revealing that he managed to pick up a girlfriend named Suzie who in Dustin's opinion, is "hotter than Phoebe Cates." Though Steve is unsure of Suzie's existence, he tells Dustin how proud he is of him, not wanting to hurt Dustin's feelings. As they converse more, Steve becomes shocked to hear that Dustin's friends ditched him yesterday, but made an amazing discovery: he had intercepted a secret Russian communication through his homemade Cerebro. Steve becomes interested when Dustin proposes that they could be American heroes with Steve getting all the girls and agrees to help Dustin translate the message. However, Steve struggles to translate the Russian message, triumphing only when he recognises a song played in the recording of the message. When Robin stumbles upon their efforts, she reveals that she knows what they are up to, much to their surprise. Steve stops Robin from taking the recorder, but she reveals that she wants to help them due being fluent in three languages, Spanish, French, Italian. When Steve asks if she knows Russian, Robin jokingly says "You are an idiot" in pig Latin, initially catching the attention of the two boys, before she reveals that she does not. Steve is hesitant, but after being convinced by Robin and Dustin, he finally relents, giving Robin the recorder. Much later, as Steve sells ice cream, he hears from Robin that they got their first sentence "The week is long." He then serves ice cream to Max and Eleven, whom he is surprised to see. He asks if she's allowed to be here, but shrugs it off after the two girls run off, laughing.

By the time the mall closes, Robin completes translating the first part of the message and Steve, with her and Dustin, reads the communication, which says "The week is long, the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west." Steve believes the translation is wrong as it makes no sense. However, Robin assures him she translated it correctly and both she and Dustin theorize that the message could be some kind of code. As they discuss what the message could mean, Steve suddenly stops at one of the mall's toy carousel horses and activates it by inserting a quarter. He advises Robin and Dustin to listen the carousel's music, which leads Dustin to recognize it from the recorded Russian communication, just as Steve recognized it earlier. Though Robin believes Russia could have carousel horses like this one, Steve is not convinced as the carousel horse is an "Indiana Flyer" made in America and believes the message did not come from Russia, but rather in Hawkins within the mall. Steve, Dustin and Robin approached Lucas's younger sister, Erica and asked her if she can crawl through the mall's air duct to get into the secret room. Though Erica assures the group she can fit through the vent, Steve and Robin offered Erica dozens of Scoops Ahoy ice cream treats in exchange for her cooperation. While Steve went to get more fudge for Erica, Dustin and Robin debrief Erica on the plan to have her sneak into the mall's secret room while assuring there won't be any booby traps and the Russian guards won't be guarding the room by the time she breaks in. Erica eventually agrees to help, in exchange for a free lifetime supply of Scoops Ahoy ice cream which Steve, Dustin, and Robin accepted.

The next day, Steve finds Dustin back on the elevator roof, trying to get in touch with his friends through his supercom where Steve advises him to not waste his supercom's batteries. When Dustin expresses optimism over someone coming to their rescue, Steve, who stayed up all night trying to open the elevator door with Robin, voices his doubts as he goes to a corner on the roof of the elevator and unbuckles his belt. Once Dustin asks Steve what he is doing, Steve tells him that he has to go to the bathroom before he informs his friend to look away. As Steve goes to the bathroom, he hears Robin's voice asking him to redirect his urine somewhere else due to it seeping into the elevator, which Steve does, leaving a trail of urine in his attempt much to Robin's disgust. Later, Robin informs Steve and Dustin that someone is approaching the elevator where they, along with Robin and Erica hide onto the elevator roof while watching two Russian men enter and take some Imperial Panda boxes. As they hide, Steve notices Erica holding a container of the green substance which gives him an idea on how they can escape the elevator. When the Russians leave, Steve quickly drops back into the elevator and uses the container to hold the door open. Steve guides everyone out of the elevator before he manages to escape where the door crushes the container, revealing green substance to be radioactive material when dissolves into the floor, much Steve's shock as he managed to avoid it. When Steve and his allies notice they have entered an underground base, they have no choice, but to walk into the base.

The next day, Steve was taken to a chamber where he was brutally tortured by a soldier as he was questioned by General Ozerov. Though Steve answered Ozerov's questions honestly, the Soviet general did not believe Steve's story of how he managed to get into the facility and kept having Steve beaten up, even when he attempted to strike a deal with Ozerov, promising to keep the base a secret in exchange for his freedom. Once Steve was beaten into an unconscious state, he was dragged to an interrogation room with Robin where they were both tied up together before their captors left them alone. Steve was later woken up by Robin's cries for help and assured her that he was doing okay despite his injuries. Noticing a pair of scissors on a table, Steve and Robin attempted to get to the table by hopping over in order to grab the scissors and escape, but they ended up falling to the floor upon their third attempt at hopping. Lying on the floor, Steve tried to assure Robin who was beginning to lose hope that they will be able to escape somehow. He then listened to Robin recount their time in Mrs. Click's history class while also hearing her reveal that even though she despised him, she wanted to be popular and accepted just like him. Steve confessed to Robin that popularity isn't as great as she thought due to having been influenced by others in doing bad things and not paying attention in what you're going to do after high school. At this, Steve expressed his wish of knowing Robin more in school, but was happy he got to spend time with her while they worked at Scoops Troop. Suddenly, Ozerov returned and upon noticing the two teens on the floor, he taunted them for failing to escape before ordering his men to pick them up. Steve was threatened by Ozerov into telling the truth before having Dr. Zharkov painfully inject him and Robin with truth serum. The serum drugs them both and when the guards continue to question them, they again answer honestly. Threats of further repercuss

Steve was later woken up by Robin's cries for help and assured her that he was doing okay despite his injuries. Noticing a pair of scissors on a table, Steve and Robin attempted to get to the table by hopping over in order to grab the scissors and escape, but they ended up falling to the floor upon their third attempt at hopping. Lying on the floor, Steve tried to assure Robin who was beginning to lose hope that they will be able to escape somehow. He then listened to Robin recount their time in Mrs. Click's history class while also hearing her reveal that even though she despised him, she wanted to be popular and accepted just like him. Steve confessed to Robin that popularity isn't as great as she thought due to having been influenced by others in doing bad things and not paying attention in what you're going to do after high school. At this, Steve expressed his wish of knowing Robin more in school, but was happy he got to spend time with her while they worked at Scoops Troop. Suddenly, Ozerov returned and upon noticing the two teens on the floor, he taunted them for failing to escape before ordering his men to pick them up. Steve was threatened by Ozerov into telling the truth before having Dr. Zharkov painfully inject him and Robin with truth serum. The serum drugs them both and when the guards continue to question them, they again answer honestly. Threats of further repercussions prompt Robin into telling the guards of the code, and Steve to mention Dustin.

Shortly afterward, Dustin and Erica managed to rescue the two, and board them into a stolen loading car. While sitting in the back of the car, the high Steve and Robin complained about the speed of the car and asked if they were in the Indy 500, despite Dustin not driving so fast, before laughing hysterically. When Dustin crashed the car into some barrels near the elevator, the collision caused Steve and Robin to get their heads banged against the car. As the high Steve and Robin recovered from the collision, they were urged by Dustin and Erica to get out of the car, before Dustin proceeded to use a keycard to open and activate the elevator so they could escape from the base. However, once in the elevator, the high Steve and Robin began to play around where Steve pretended to surf on a dolly, much to Dustin and Erica's confusion. When Steve fell off the dolly, his temperature was checked by Dustin who started to examine him, causing Steve to get into a struggle with him. Upon seeing Steve's eye pupils being dilated, Dustin and Erica realized the Russians had drugged Steve and Robin. As Dustin tried to snap Steve out of the drugs' effects, the high Steve played around with Dustin and jokingly called him "Dad." When Dustin asked him where he had parked his car, the high Steve asked if he and Robin could get some food at the mall's food court. Though Dustin promised to give the older teens as much as food as they want, on the condition Steve revealed where he parked his car, Steve revealed the Russians had stolen his car keys before he and Robin laughed hysterically again as Dustin and Erica worried how they were going to escape from the mall.

When the elevator reached the surface, Steve, Robin, Erica, and Dustin exited out of the elevator, where the high Steve and Robin enjoyed the fresh air. When Dustin and Erica saw two Russians guards approaching them and armed with guns, they grabbed the high Steve and Robin and retreated into the mall. Upon entering the mall's movie theater, Steve grabbed a bag of popcorn from the trash and was ordered by Dustin, along with Robin, to sit in some seats and not go anywhere so they could lay low from the Russians. Steve and Robin then leave for water and then subsequently throw up from the drugs. Steve then lets on to Robin that he likes her, a lot more than a friend should. He tells her than he’s had liked her for a while but never acted on it as he was scared that being with her meant that he would lose his popularity. In a heartfelt confession, Robin reveals that she envies Steve's ability to naturally charm women, as she wishes she had the same pull, coming out to Steve, who accepts her. Dustin and Erica discover them and set out to leave, only for the Russians to trap them within the mall by blocking off the exits. As they hide out from the Russians in the food court, the display car in the middle surprises the Russians who were about to find them when it suddenly honks. On the second floor, the Party reveal themselves where Eleven telekinetically throws the car at the Russians, saving Steve, Robin, Erica and Dustin. However, before they can catch their breath and share their stories, El collapses in pain from a bite in her leg, which is revealing to be congealing into a small monster from within her. In panic, Robin, still not understanding what is going on, tries to recount a story about her soccer teammate Beth Wildfire getting injured, but Steve tells her she is not helping, which Robin apologizes for. After a failed attempt to cut it out by Jonathan, El instead pulls it out psychically, which the group watches in shock and awe. The monster is then killed off

As they hide out from the Russians in the food court, the display car in the middle surprises the Russians who were about to find them when it suddenly honks. On the second floor, the Party reveal themselves where Eleven telekinetically throws the car at the Russians, saving Steve, Robin, Erica and Dustin. However, before they can catch their breath and share their stories, El collapses in pain from a bite in her leg, which is revealing to be congealing into a small monster from within her. In panic, Robin, still not understanding what is going on, tries to recount a story about her soccer teammate Beth Wildfire getting injured, but Steve tells her she is not helping, which Robin apologizes for. After a failed attempt to cut it out by Jonathan, El instead pulls it out psychically, which the group watches in shock and awe. The monster is then killed off by the arrival of Hopper, Murray, and Joyce.

Once everyone is reunited, it is explained to Robin how Will Byers got trapped in and got rescued from alternate dimension called the Upside Down where the former Hawkins National Laboratory was responsible due to opening a Gate to the Upside Down through Eleven who was a former test subject at the lab. The group also explains to her that last year Will was possessed the monstrous ruler of the Upside Down, the Mind Flayer until he was freed from his possession with the help of his friends and family before the Gate to the Upside Down was closed. Now, the Mind Flayer had returned to Hawkins through the Gate the Russians are opening under the mall and built itself a body for his severed fragment to kill the Party where it had managed to injure Eleven by biting her leg. After coming up with a plan to stop the Russian key to cut off the Mind Flayer's mind from its makeshift body, Steve, along with Robin, Dustin and Erica, head back to Dustin's transmitter to help Murray navigate the ducts of the Russian base, joined by Joyce and Hopper. Around the same time however, the Mind Flayer's proxy body, the Spider Monster arrives to kill the Party, Nancy, and Jonathan, leading to Steve and Robin returning to the mall. Steve crashes the car against the flayed Billy's car, incapacitating him momentarily, in a move that stuns Robin. When the Mind Flayer's proxy body comes out of the mall by climbing onto to the roof, Steve is horrified at the sight of the abomination before he and Robin leave with Nancy, Jonathan, Lucas, and Will to escape from the creature. As they drive with the creature in pursuit, Dustin finally manages to get in contact with Suzie in order to get Planck's constant, he is just as shocked as Robin that she is real. Noticing the Monster has turned around, the gang follow it back to Starcourt and save Eleven using Lucas' fireworks. The Monster is finally killed upon Joyce closing the Gate. With the military arriving, the mall is closed down and the event is cover

Three months later on October 4, Steve and Robin went for a new job together in downtown Hawkins at the Family Video store. While Robin easily won the position, Steve was not immediately hired, until Robin pointed out Steve's charm will attract "dozens" of women to their store. On March 21, while driving Robin to school, Steve talked to her about his recent date, Heidi going out of state for college and did not want to commit a relationship with a girl that only involved having sex. Robin, who was barely paying attention, told Steve his love life was getting more complex due to him getting tons of dates from female customers while working at Family Video. When Robin expressed concern about having to attend a basketball pep rally, Steve did not buy she was concerned about the rally, but rather on impressing Vickie, a girl in her band class whom Robin developed a crush on. Though Robin did not know for sure what Vickie's sexuality was, Steve advised Robin to pursue her, believing Vickie to be the right girl and a lesbian, due to having paused and returned the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High at fifty-three minutes and five seconds, much to Robin's disgust. After their talk, Steve dropped Robin off at Hawkins High and left to go work at his job at Family Video.

While working at Family Video the next day, Steve listened to Robin describe her brief talk with Vickie last night during the basketball game where she laughed and agreed with Tammy singing like a Muppet. Steve then listened to Robin discuss how she was nervous on how to speak to Vickie as she knew she had a problem in talking too much and being unable to stop talking until someone tells her to stop. After Steve pointed she was doing it right now during their talk, he made her feel better by saying he felt hopeless too in trying to find a new girlfriend. He then heard Robin expressed how she wished she and Steve could just "combine" so their problems would be solved as Robin had trouble with interacting the girl of her dreams while Steve had trouble figuring what type of girl he wanted despite going on lots of dates. When Robin picked out Doctor Zhivago as Family Video's morning movie, Steve disagreed as it was a double VHS until Robin pointed out the movie was about doomed love, something which they were both experiencing. Before they could the movie on the store's TV, Steve and Robin watched a live news coverage of a Hawkins High School student being found dead at Forest Hills Trailer Park this morning.

After Nancy finished speaking with the new Police Chief Calvin Powell, Steve and the others took her to the trailer park where they told her about Vecna being Fred and Chrissy's killer and their theories on how he attacked his victims with curses or spells while being unsure if he was doing the Mind Flayer's bidding or not. When Nancy began to question why Fred and Chrissy were killed, Steve listened to Dustin and Max list all of the last locations Fred and Chrissy were before their deaths, including the trailer park, something which made Steve nervous. When Nancy revealed how Fred immediately began acting scared, nervous, and upset when the two of them arrived at the trailer park yesterday, Steve heard Dustin reveal Max said Chrissy was also was upset as she had found Chrissy crying in the girls' bathroom at school hours earlier before her death. After Robin noted how serial killers usually stalk their prey before killing them and theorized Fred and Chrissy could have seen Vecna before they died, Steve commented on how he would mention seeing a monstrous killer to someone. At his comment, Steve heard Max reveal she had also noticed Chrissy leaving the office of their school counselor, Ms. Kelley before finding her in the bathroom, making Steve and her friends realize Ms. Kelley might had information on Chrissy encountering Vecna before her death.

Upon entering Ms. Kelley's office, Steve and Dustin waited for Max to look for Chrissy's medical file in a file cabinet, only to become surprised when Max also brought out a file for Fred, revealing Fred had also been seeing Ms. Kelley as well. While looking over Fred and Chrissy's files, Steve and Dustin noticed Max suddenly becoming unresponsive, leaving them concerned only to witness Max suddenly snap back to reality. By the time Nancy and Robin arrived at the school, Steve and his friends heard Max reveal that she saw a mysterious grandfather clock in one of the hallways while she had been under a trance. After Dustin noted how Max's trance was similar to the state Chrissy was in before she died from Eddie's descriptions, Steve and the others heard Max state that her trance was not the only thing they should be concerned about. Back inside Ms. Kelley's office, Steve heard Max reveal Fred and Chrissy consulted in Ms. Kelley for help as they both were suffering both extremely bad headaches, sleep deprivation, nightmares, and night sweats. In addition, Max revealed later on, both Fred and Chrissy started having terrifying visions of any dark secrets and trauma they had experienced which had gotten worse over time before they were eventually killed. Steve then heard when Fred and Chrissy started suffering from these symptoms before hearing Max confess she too had been having these same symptoms for five days now. This made Steve and the others realize Max was Vecna's next target and because of Fred and Chrissy dying twenty-four hours after their first vision, Max would likely be killed tomorrow.

The revelation was cut short when Steve and his friends hear a noise outside the lobby. Ordering the others to stay in the office, Steve grabbed a lamp and went out into the hallway to investigate while being followed by the other. However, when Lucas revealed himself, Steve scolded him for scaring him and the others while noting he could have knocked him out with the lamp he had grabbed. Steve then watched Lucas warn Dustin of his basketball teammates, Jason Carver, Patrick McKinney, and Andy hunting for Eddie before he and the others tell Lucas about Vecna and how Max was now in danger of being murdered by the entity. The next morning, Steve, Lucas, and Robin were woken up by Nancy who told them they had to go to Victor Creel's house due to Max having drawn a picture of it as she had seen it in Vecna's minds cape while being cursed by the entity. Upon arriving at the abandoned Creel house, Steve and Nancy started removing the boarded up door with hammers they had brought. When Steve asked what they are looking for at the house, Nancy responded she wasn't sure, but knew the house held some significance to Vecna, with Dustin backing up that the house could hold some clues to why Vecna killed the Creel family, why he has returned, and how to stop him before he tries to kill Max again.

Though Steve and Nancy were able to remove the board covering the door, they found it locked until Robin suggested they use a brick to get into the house. After throwing the brick at the front door's stained glass window, shattering it, Steve was able to get the door open by opening it from the inside, allowing him and his friends to enter the house. When discovering the house's electricity to be dead, Steve was surprised to see all of his friends having brought flashlights with them, leaving him to be chastised by Dustin that he did not need to be told everything as he was not a child. After getting a spare flashlight from Dustin's backpack, Steve and his friends found an old grandfather clock in the hallway which Max recognized as the one she saw in her visions, leaving Steve to question why Vecna was obsessed with clocks. When the gang decided to split up in groups of two, Steve found himself partnered with Dustin, much to his slight annoyance as the two of them climbed upstairs to the second floor of the house. Upon finding Eddie at Skull Rock in the woods, he confirmed the time when Patrick was killed, which proved to be the exact same time when the flashlights in the Creel House exploded, allowing the group to realize Vecna was using the Upside Down version of the Creel mansion as his base of operations. When Dustin suddenly announced he was right about Skull Rock, Steve started getting annoyed until Dustin revealed his compass had been going haywire since they walked to Skull Rock. Steve heard Dustin and Lucas reveal that strange electromagnetic activity was causing his compass to malfunction, which he revealed the possibility of a new gate being opened somewhere nearby as they have strong electromagnetic fields. Though reluctant to find the gate as Eddie is still labeled as a criminal, Steve eventually joined his friends in searching for the gate once Eddie said he was willing to find it. Nancy, Robin, and Eddie watched Steve volunteer to swim down to find t

When Dustin suddenly announced he was right about Skull Rock, Steve started getting annoyed until Dustin revealed his compass had been going haywire since they walked to Skull Rock. Steve heard Dustin and Lucas reveal that strange electromagnetic activity was causing his compass to malfunction, which he revealed the possibility of a new gate being opened somewhere nearby as they have strong electromagnetic fields. Though reluctant to find the gate as Eddie is still labeled as a criminal, Steve eventually joined his friends in searching for the gate once Eddie said he was willing to find it. Nancy, Robin, and Eddie watched Steve volunteer to swim down to find the gate at the bottom of the lake.

Upon arriving at Lover's Lake, later that night, Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Eddie hopped onto a canoe to investigate whereas Lucas, Dustin and Max would remain on guard. Steve swims down to look for the gate as he has lots of swimming experience. After he finds it, he swims up to tell the others, failing to notice a tentacle slowly following him. Steve resurfaces, telling Nancy, Robin, and Eddie about the gate. However, he felt a tug on is leg before being dragged under the water. He desperately tried to escape but was unsuccessful. The tentacle pulls Steve into the Upside Down where he is dragged several feet. Once the tentacle lets go, Steve is left alone in the Upside Down. Steve heard screeches in the distance as several demobats fly towards him. Seeing the demobats, he runs towards a boat and grabs an oar Steve is able to fend off the demobats until one manages to wrap its tail around his neck and pull him to the ground. Steve struggled on the ground, choking from the tail wrapped around his throat. Two other demobats began to bite and claw at him, feeding while the third attempted to strangle him. Steve flails, desperately trying to free himself to no success. Nancy, however, arrived in the nick of time along with Robin and Eddie. She uses the oar from the boat to hit the demobats off of Steve. While the two feeding off of him let go, the one around Steve's neck proves to be a bit of a challenge. Eventually, Steve managed to grab the creature by its tail and slam it into the ground multiple times before tearing it in half.

Steve, with Nancy's help, check his wounds and the two are dumbfounded when Robin asked if the bats have rabies as she has a fear of them. Steve and his friends then see more Demobats arrive and guard the gate before witnessing lots more bats approaching, forcing them to retreat into the Upside Down's forest. As they walked through the dark forest, Eddie began praising Steve for his struggle against the Demonbats, cimparing him to Ozzy Osbourne, and reassured him that Dustin continued to "worship" him in spite of his close friendship and brotherly bond with Eddie. He then gave him some advice in how to rekindle his romance with Nancy. Upon arriving at the Upside Down Wheeler home, they discovered the Upside Down was stuck in November 6, 1983-- the date Eleven opened the "Mothergate" and when Will went missing. Through some golden particles and Eddie's knowledge in SOS, the four managed to get in touch with the younger kids in the other side. Through bicycles stored in the Wheeler garage in both dimensions, the Party and their allies travelled to the Munson trailer, where a gate had formed following Chrissy's murder.

Upon arriving, a broom was used by the teenagers to fully open the gate and the younger kids tied bed sheets together to create a rope before placing a mattress to support the fall of their older allies. Robin and Eddie successfully pass through and return to the real world, deeming the experience "fun." However, Nancy became trapped in Vecna's curse before she and Steve could escape, causing the group to frantically search for music in order to free Mike's older sister from the trance. Fortunately for them, Nancy was spared by the creature, who gave her an ominous message to deliver to her friends.

In the next morning, a disturbed Nancy revealed Vecna's true identity as Victor Creel's son Henry, who acquired impressive psychokinetic abilities and murdered his own mother and sister in cold blood, leaving his father to be blamed for their murders and incarcerated in Pennhurst Hospital. Henry was subsequently kidnapped by Dr. Martin Brenner, who turned him into test subject One of Hawkins Lab, which would eventually include other children with the same abilities as One, including Eleven. Afterwards, Nancy detailed the future Vecna had shown her - dark clouds taking over the sky, downtown on fire, a giant creature with a gaping mouth, which was believed to be the Mind Flayer, and hundreds of monsters slaughtering her family, friends and fellow citizens. Steve tried his best to comfort her by insisting those visions could only be a demonstration of the creature's ability to conjure illusions, only for Nancy to insist that the events he had shown her could still become real. Upon mentioning four gates tearing Hawkins apart, Lucas and Max deduced Vecna was communicating his master plan through his grandfather clock which was to open four gates to the Upside Down and he only needed one more victim to trigger the apocalypse.

After failing yet again in reaching the Byers' home in California, Nancy realized that the lack of communication of the California crew was somehow linked to Vecna's actions there in Hawkins. Dead-set on saving the lives of her family and the rest of the planet, she insisted they needed to acquire weapons and equipment and return to the Upside Down to destroy Vecna. Steve and the others immediately rejected this idea and he and Robin pointed out there was no way they could match Vecna in strength and power due to him being a test subject like Eleven. However, Dustin and Lucas deduced that like Eleven, the dark wizard's true body was vulnerable whenever he was chasing his victims in their minds and decided to attack him in the Creel House's attic within the Upside Down when he had possessed his final victim. Steve reminded him that the Creel House in the Upside Down was guarded by Demobats, making Dustin realize they will have to find a way to distract the bats. When Robin pointed out they do not know when Vecna will attack or who will be his next victim, Max admitted that she still felt the creature's influence inside her and offered to lure his attention back to her by removing her Walkman. Lucas deemed this idea too dangerous but Max insisted that she would be alright as long as the others killed Vecna before he could kill her. Everyone was uncomfortable with this plan but it was the only one they had.

After Eddie hotwired a RV belonging to his neighbors, Steve hit the pedal and drove the group to the War Zone, a store indicated by Eddie that contained all kinds of items and weapons needed against Vecna and the creatures under his control. In the middle of the trip, Steve opened up to Nancy that he dreamed riding a van like the one they were in with his family, consisting of six "little nuggets." They eventually arrived at the store and though it was filled with people, including a mentally unstable Jason Carver and his basketball teammates, who wanted to kill Eddie to stop the Hawkins murders blamed on him, the Party and their allies managed to get all supplies needed before Jason became overly suspicious of them. The team found an open field to prepare their weapons for the final battle that night. While Nancy took care of a shotgun, the Sinclair siblings created spears and Dustin and Eddie bonded as they made spiky shields out of trash cans, Steve assisted Robin in creating Molotov cocktails, given that the creatures of the Upside Down could not withstand heavy amounts of fire and heat. As they prepared the cocktails, Robin finally admitted that she had terrible feelings that not all of them would get out with their lives after that night but after looking at her friends and allies nearby, she told Steve that if they did not muster up the courage to save the world from Vecna's tyranny, nobody else would. The two former workers at Scoops Ahoy toasted to killing Vecna/Henry/O01.

At sunset, the Party and their allies had their gear and weapons ready and drove back to the Creel House to drop off Lucas, Erica and Max so Max would act as bait for the creature. The rest of the team returned to Eddie's trailer to cross the gate back to the Upside Down. Steve, Nancy and Robin headed off into the woods to search for the Creel House while Dustin and Eddie would remain behind for their part of the plan. Before leaving, Steve warned Dustin and Eddie not to do anything outside of what was spoken of their part of the plan, only for Eddie to reassure him they knew exactly what they had to do, adding "Look at us. We are not heroes." Before the trio left, Eddie pleaded for Steve to make Vecna suffer dearly for claiming the lives of Chrissy and others and incriminating him for his crimes, to which Steve nodded in agreement.

As Robin marched faster than Nancy and Steve, Mike's older sister pleaded for Robin to slow down and avoid stepping a vine because it would without a doubt warn Vecna, the Demobats and the rest of the hive mind of their presence and their plan would go south. Nancy and Steve became intimate with one another again and he thanked her for changing him from a classic, arrogant jock into the guy he is today. He then revealed that in the dream of his future family, he had actually come to picture Nancy as the mother of his kids, much to Nancy's surprise. When Steve began lamenting that perhaps their relationship will never return to what it used to be, they were alerted by Robin that they found the mansion and the trio immediately afterwards noticed the light of Erica's flashlight. After informing through Morse Code Lucas and Max inside the Creel House of the real world of the trio's arrival to the Upside Down version of the house and receiving their response in a similar fashion, Erica informed the trio that Max was going to initiate Phase Two, which involved tricking Vecna into putting her under his spell once more.

Though the creature did not strike for several minutes, Max decided to stop being impatient and try a different strategy. She opened up on her severe hatred towards Billy for making her life miserable at any and every opportunity during the years they spent together. At a certain point, she prayed in her bed for something terrible, like a car crash, to happen to him but when he redeemed himself by protecting Eleven from the Mind Flayer, she was uncertain whether after all of his transgressions, he deserved to be saved. After all of these ill feelings and thoughts towards him, she tearfully admitted that she could not forgive herself and began praying for something similar to what happened to Billy to happen to her. By leaving herself psychologically and emotionally vulenrable, Vecna finally took the bait and imprisoned the girl in his trance a second time. Upon realizing this, Lucas signaled to Erica to inform the trio that it was time to advance to Phase Three. Nancy instructed Dustin and Eddie through walkie-talkie to begin Phase Three, which involved Eddie performing a marvellous metal performance to draw the Demobats away from the Creel House towards the Munson trailer. When all Demobats were lured away, Nancy, Steve and Robin saw this as their opportunity to infiltrate the mansion.

Upon opening the door, the trio found the floor and staircase covered in vines. After successfully making it to the top without making contact with a single vine, the trio prepared to break into the attic to attack Vecna but before they could, a miniature earthquake occurred and caused them to lose balance but it only lasted for a few seconds. Unfortunately, the earthquake did exactly what they wanted to avoid and the vines soon trapped Robin to the wall behind her. Steve and Nancy tried to cut the vines with their weapons, only for Vecna to summon more vines to immobilize and restrain Nancy and Steve to the wall behind them. The three teenagers slowly started being suffocated to death and Vecna used their faces of horror to taunt Max that he was aware of their plan to kill him. Sometime later, the game turned to the favor of the Party and their allies thanks to Joyce Byers, Murray Bauman and Jim Hopper incinerating several Demogorgons with a flamethrower in the Kamchatka Prison, Russia. The actions of the adults inflicted damage to everything related to the hive mind, including the Demobats that were attacking Eddie, the vines restraining Nancy, Steve and Robin and even Vecna himself. After being freed from the vines' grasp and witnessing them retreat back into the walls from which they had come from, an incredulous Robin remarked that they were saved by a miracle. Thanks to Joyce, Hopper and Murray's actions, the trio regained their strength and finally infiltrated the attic, allowing them to find Vecna suspending in the air and with several vines connected to his back as part of his remote viewing ability.

Steve lighted up a Molotov cocktail and hurled it at Vecna, setting him ablaze and severing his connection to the vines on his back. After he collapsed on the ground, between his mental struggle against Eleven, the damage inflicted to the hive mind by Murray and the Molotov itself, Vecna could not use any of his abilities against his enemies. His weakened state gave Robin the opportunity to hurl another Molotov at Vecna before allowing Nancy to shoot the creature several times with her sawn-off shotgun. Eventually, the death through decapitation of the adult Demogorgon at the hands of Hopper caused more damage to the hive mind, including Vecna, allowing Nancy's fifth gunshot to throw the creature off the attic. The teenagers rushed to the exterir of the house to make sure their nemesis was gone but by the time they arrived there, they only found singes, which did not comfort them at all. A few minutes later, they heard the grandfather clock inside the house and it chimed four times, allowing the trio to realize that despite their best efforts, Vecna suceeded in killing Max after all. With four sacrifices completed, the Upside Down and the real Hawkins experienced an earthquake and Vecna's four gates expanded throughout the town, demolishing countless residences in the process. The four portals finally converged in Hawkins Public Library and generated a shockwave that knocked out the power to the residence unharmed by their opening. The Party and their allies successfully managed to return to Earth shortly afterwards but both Eddie and Max lost their lives in the process.

Two days later, Steve helped Nancy, Dustin and Robin in Hawkins High School to deliver donations to Red Cross and help people who were left homeless by the "earthquake," which had claimed at least twenty-two lives. While Dustin comforted Eddie's uncle after revealing to him the sacrifice of his nephew for the town that despised him for things that he did not commit, Steve observed Robin getting along with fellow band member Vickie, who revealed that she and her boyfriend had broken up, as they made sandwiches for people traumatized and left homeless by the events triggered by Vecna. Shortly afterwards, the protagonists and the rest of Hawkins witnessed white particles descending from the sky. Though certain people, such as Holyl Wheeler, mistook it for snow, which is abnormal because they were in spring season, the protagonists recognized these particles as those hailing from the Upside Down, meaning Vecna was still pretty much alive and he and his minions would not stop until they had eradicated everything and everyone. The final battle was approaching...