Chapter One | MADMAX On Top

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GRAYSON WAS sitting on the edge of his bed, his legs crisscrossed, and his collection of Polaroids splattered across his bed. Grayson couldn't remember how many photos he had taken over the years. All he knew was that there were a bunch. With the number of Polaroids on his bed and how small it was, it felt like they took 3/4 of his bed. Some had even fallen off.

Grayson sighed and leaned forward to pick up an older-looking photo, placing it back with the others. He didn't want his photos getting dirty now. They were all special to him. Grayson decided to take a closer look at the picture.

He could see his four close friends in the fading image. They were holding up a first-place trophy. Grayson remembered taking the photo two years ago when they won the science fair for the second year. Dustin and Lucas still looked the same. However, their faces had matured slightly. At that time, Mike had shorter hair, and Will hadn't been transported to the Upside Down yet.

Grayson had focused all of his attention on the photo. He didn't hear the yells coming from the living room. His eyes widened in fear when he realized who it was.

His father.

"Grayson! Get your ass out here now, boy!" Brian's yell ricocheted off the walls.

Grayson let out a nervous cough. "Coming, sir!" He placed the photo with the rest and rushed out of his room, making sure not to slam the door so his father wouldn't get angrier. His father already had a short temper, and he didn't want to anger him more.

When he arrived in the living room, his father was sitting in the old recliner. He was wearing a stained wife-beater and had a beer in his hand. Beer cans found their home around his chair. His face was a shade of crimson, and sweat was forming around his temples. Grayson knew the image all too well. He was drunk.

Grayson approached his father cautiously, slowly walking towards him. "You called for me, sir?"

"Obviously, boy," his father sneered. The stench of alcohol on his breath made Grayson cringe. He had always hated that smell.

"That toy of yours won't shut up over there. If you don't make it stop, I will do it myself," he threatened, pointing towards the Supercom on the coffee table.

Grayson's heartbeat raced, and his eyes widened in fear. He knew his father's threat wasn't a joke. They never were. He had learned that the hard way too many times.

"Yes, sir," Grayson said. His palms felt clammy as he picked up his walkie-talkie. His father always managed to invoke fear in him, sometimes without even trying.

Brian gave a small nod, sipping the last of his beer before setting it on the end table. "Good. Now get me a beer, for fuck's sake. I'm dying over here."

The boy only nodded. He knew he should've stood up for himself there. But the thought of trying unease in his bones. He grabbed the last beer from the fridge and handed it to his father, who snatched it quickly. Brian took a big gulp before shooing Grayson away again. With tears in his eyes, Grayson walked back to his room without saying another word.

Grayson quietly closed his bedroom door and sat on his bed. The static from the Supercom indicated that a conversation was still happening. Grayson lifted the antenna to its highest setting. Dustin's voice became clearer to Grayson.

"Lucas, Grayson, either of you copy? I got four quarters. What's your haul?" Dustin asked. He sounded out of breath like he had been running a marathon around his house.

"Take your puny haul and multiply it by five." Lucas snarked.

"How?"

"While you were scrounging around like a homeless bum, I mowed Old Man Humphrey's lawn."

"Wow. I didn't know Old Man Humphrey had that kind of cash." Grayson sniffled.

"Grayson! You're here! What's your haul?" Dustin sounded surprised.

"Oh, yeah, my haul. Let's see, I have, um..." Grayson stuffed his hand into his right pocket before checking the left one, only to find nothing. "Yeah, so I have..."

Lucas sighed, "Let me guess. You forgot we were going to the arcade tonight and didn't check for cash?"

"I remembered, okay? I've just been a little busy, that's all." Grayson wasn't completely lying. He and Will had been talking about it all week. But he had been dealing with some 'family business' that was deemed more important than a trip to the arcade.

Dustin sighed. He decided to let the subject go. "Whatever. Can you just tell me how much you have?"

Grayson cursed under his breath, "Shit, just give me a second, Dust." He scrambled over to his closet and grabbed his piggy bank. He pulled the plug from the bottom, and a few spare coins fell out.

Picking up the fallen coins, he counted them before responding to Dustin. "I have a few dollars and some nickels."

"Alrighty then. I have to go call Mike now." Dustin said. "Don't worry. I'm sure Will or Lucas could spare you some change if you need it."

Grayson sighed, "Yeah. See you there, Dusty," he said before lowering his antennae.

Grayson grabbed the coins, shoving them into his pockets before grabbing his backpack. It was an old bag he'd had for years. There were some rips and tears and one of the straps was looser than the other. But it was still a 'functioning backpack' according to his dad. If his dad said it was still good, it had to be true. Right?

He unzipped the largest pocket, checking to see if his camera was in there. He couldn't go anywhere without it. It felt like he was connected to it in a way. He pulled the camera out of the bag and slung the camera's strap over his head and around his neck. He messed with it until it felt comfortable.

Now that Grayson had his money and camera, he was trying to decide how to leave the house without alerting his father. He had two choices: try to sneak to the front door or jump out of his bedroom window. Both ideas sounded bad, but he concluded the window was safer. Grabbing his skateboard off his wall, he walked over to his window and carefully opened his window.

Grayson peered over the windowsill to get an image of where he would fall. The house was only a story tall, meaning the fall wouldn't be horrible. He carefully dropped his skateboard and camera down before attempting to climb out. When Grayson finally made it up, he sat in a perched position to get ready. When he finally gathered the courage, he jumped. Almost face-planting into the ground, he managed to catch himself at the last moment.

Grayson muttered small curses as he brushed the dirt off his clothes. His body felt like crap. But he was determined to get to the arcade on time.

He picked up his camera and skateboard and made his way onto the street. Hopping onto his skateboard, he began to zoom down the street. Grayson let out a contented sigh. The autumn breeze blew through his curls.

His body felt more relaxed than ever as he sped down Cherry Lane and towards the arcade. He was unaware of one thing, however. He was being watched.

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THE TEENAGER stood with one foot against the arcade wall as he waited for his friends. However, Grayson was becoming increasingly bored by the minute. Waiting wasn't fun, especially when he had nothing to entertain him. He leaned back against the cool brick wall, closing his eyes and sighing loudly. How much longer were they going to take?

"Hey, Grayson!" Grayson's eyes shot open. He was being greeted by Dustin, walking towards him with arms open wide, ready for a hug. He let out a breath of air and tried his best to look a little happy.

"Finally, you guys got here. I thought I was going to have to wait out here all night!" Grayson exaggerated as he and Dustin hugged.

Mike rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed. "Well, maybe you shouldn't have gotten here so early," he replied sarcastically.

Grayson's nose scrunched in confusion. "It's not my fault I live the closest," he mumbled.

He and Mike never had the greatest relationship with each other. It all started when Mike became jealous of Grayson and Will's friendship, claiming he was "stealing his best friend". From Will's disappearance into the Upside Down, and a mysterious girl they found in the woods named Eleven, who exhibited telekinetic abilities, the events from last year didn't help either.

In the short week she stayed with the group, Mike had developed a crush on the girl. After she disintegrated into thin air after defeating the Demogorgon, Mike became depressed. He distanced himself from the group, choosing to mope around in his basement all day. Even though the two had never been close friends, Grayson still wanted to see if Mike was okay. When he tried to talk with him about it, Mike blew up on him, saying that Grayson didn't understand how he felt and that he was just 'jealous' of their love, as much love as two twelve-year-olds could have.

The honk of a car interrupted the conversation. All the kids turned their heads to see that it was Joyce and Will pulling into the parking lot. The boys all waved excitedly to see their friend.

Grayson had always seen Joyce as a mother figure. She had always treated him like one of her own kids, no matter the circumstances. And whenever his dad got a little too drunk and he couldn't handle being in the same house as him, Joyce would always allow him to stay at their home. It was refreshing for Grayson to have an adult in his life who didn't scream and yell at him all the time.

Will spoke in a hurry to his mother, who was presumably telling him to be safe, and when she would pick him up from the arcade. Mrs. Byers had become more protective of Will since last year. She never let him ride his bike anymore and always insisted on driving him everywhere. But Grayson understood why she did this. Nobody wanted a repeat of last year.

The Byers boy quickly got out of the car and ran over to his friends, a wide grin plastered on his face. He immediately went over to Grayson, hugging the taller tightly. The rest of the party greeted him before going inside the arcade, the two boys following behind. They all rushed over to Dragon's Lair and crowded around Dustin. He stuck a quarter into the machine and began playing

"To slay the dragon, use the magic sword." Princess Daphne said rather seductively through the screen, pointing to the sword.

"Oh, Jesus!" Dustin cried out. "I'm in uncharted territory here, guys."

"Down! Down! Down!" The Party yelled at their friend.

"I'm going! I'm going! I'm going!" Dustin shouted over them while he smashed the buttons repeatedly. Just as Dustin's character got to the sword and tried to swing it at the dragon, he got burned and shriveled into ash and bones.

"No! No! No! I hate this overpriced bullshit!" He yelled as he hit the arcade machine over and over again. Grayson chuckled at his failure.

"You're not nimble enough," Lucas said as he leaned on the machine. "But you'll get there one day. Until then, Princess Daphne is still mine."

"She's mine, actually," Grayson said, knocking his shoulder into Lucas's. He pointed to his name at the top of the leaderboard. "But I guess I could share with you."

"Whatever," Dustin sighed. "I'm still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug."

"Are you sure about that?" A voice came from beside them. The group looked to their left and found one of the arcade employees, Keith, standing there with his signature bag of cheese puffs. Grayson's face scrunched in disgust as the older teen licked the dust off his fingers.

"Sure about what?" Dustin questioned the older teen, waiting for his response. But all he got as an answer was Keith stuffing his face with another cheese puff, slowly chewing it with a small smile on his face.

Dustin's face dropped after he finally caught on to what Keith was saying. "You're kidding me!?" He yelled as he ran around the arcade, trying to find the Dig Dug machine. The Party decided to follow him until he stopped at the DigDug machine, only to find his name in second place. Only one name was before his:

MADMAX

"No! No! No!" Dustin smacked his hand repeatedly against the machine in rage.

"751,300 points!" Will shouted in disbelief next to Grayson.

"That's impossible," Mike mumbled, shaking his head in shock.

Grayson chuckled. "Clearly not."

He was impressed that someone managed to beat Dustin's score. Hell, he wanted to meet this person and give them a big high-five for doing it. Dustin had been bragging about it for weeks, and it was getting quite annoying. But when he saw the look on Dustin's face, he should've taken out his camera and snapped a picture for proof that it happened.

"Who's Mad Max?" Dustin asked, turning around to look at Keith.

"Better than you," Keith responded to Dustin, who, in return, flipped him off.

"Is it you?" Will asked him.

Keith scoffed at the boy's question. "You know I despise Dig Dug."

"Then who is it?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, spill it, Keith," Dustin retorted.

"You want information? Then I need something in return." Keith said with a small smirk. Mike was confused at first until he realized everyone was staring at him.

"No, no, no! No way. You're not getting a date with her." Mike spat back at him. Grayson nodded at Mike's words. Finally, they agreed on something.

"Mike, come on. Just get him the date." Lucas pleaded.

"I'm not prostituting my sister!"

"But it's for a good cause," Lucas whined.

Grayson rolled his eyes at his friend's idiotic behavior. "And this is exactly why you don't have a girlfriend, Lucas," he quipped.

Dustin butted back into the conversation. "No, don't give him the date. Do you know why? He's gonna spread his nasty-ass rash to your whole family."

"Acne isn't a rash and it isn't contagious, you prepubescent wastoid!" Keith shot back, stuffing another cheese puff in his face.

Dustin gasped. "Oh, I'm a wastoid? She wouldn't go on a date with you. You make like what? $2.50 an hour?"

Grayson got tired of the bickering very quickly, already trying to look for something more interesting. Then he remembered: Will. Since last year, everyone has gotten more protective of him, especially Grayson. The whole Upside-Down fiasco of last year terrified them all to new levels. Grayson turned only to find the smaller boy not beside him. Sirens sounded in Grayson's head, and panic set in.

He surveyed the area, trying to spot the bowl-cut boy, but to no avail. Hope was restored when he spotted Will near the arcade entrance. But the fear didn't go away as he watched him exit outside. Grayson wasted no time following him. He found Will looking towards the sky. To anyone, from afar, nothing looked wrong. But if they took a closer look, they could see how Will's tiny frame shook with terror, how his eyes widened more by the ticking seconds.

"Will, are you okay? Do you need me to call Joyce?"

The silence he got in return was loud.

Grayson took a step forward, and another until he stood behind him. He touched Will's shoulder to get his attention, but that was the wrong choice. Suddenly, his vision flickered, and dark spots took over his vision. The world shifted underneath his feet. When Grayson managed to steady himself, he noticed the environment had changed.

They were still outside the arcade, but it didn't look familiar. Thick vines wrapped around the glowing arcade sign, and small, black particles floated around them. In the distance, a crack of red thunder split the sky in two. It didn't dawn on him until later that night when he realized where he had traveled.

The Upside Down.

A chill ran up Grayson's back. He had never physically been there, only having heard glimpses and pieces from Will when the smaller boy gained the courage to tell him. Lots of people had told Grayson that he had quite the imagination, but this didn't feel like a dream. It felt real.

Sweat began to form on the palms of his hands as he craned his head towards the sky. But the image he came across shocked fear into his veins. An enormous, shadowy figure towered over the teenagers. Its shape resembled that of a spider. It was hard to see it in the dark atmosphere, but its presence lingered like a ghost.

But it was all a dream, right? It had to be. There was no way he could just magically teleport somewhere without knowing. There needed to be a way to prove his theory. Sliding his bag off his shoulders, Grayson shakily grabbed his camera and lifted the viewfinder to his right eye. He aimed the camera towards the spider figure, trying to snap a good shot, but it was hard with how badly he was shaking. Finally, a moment of stillness before a flash exited from the camera, and a Polaroid came out.

Grayson slowly pulled the camera away from his face and, with delicate fingers, pulled the photo out. Polaroids took time to develop, so it didn't shock the boy when all he saw was darkness at first. But as the seconds ticked down, he began to get more nervous. What if the shadowy figure did show up in the Polaroid? What would he do? The photo seemed to pull him into a trance because the next thing he heard was the sound of Mike Wheeler's voice pulling him back.

"Will, Grayson! You guys, okay?" Mike asked them. Their sudden presence outside clearly confused Mike.

"Yeah. I just-" The boys shared a look. "I needed some air, so Gray came with me." Mike stared at them questioningly. He walked up to Will and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Come on. You're up next on Dig Dug."

Grayson turned back to the sky. The monster had left, and the sky had returned to normal. It was clear, and the only visible things were the moon and the stars. But the memories lingered.

Grayson looked back down at the Polaroid in his hand. The photo still wasn't fully developed, but there were small spots that had developed. All that Grayson could see was the night sky. The shadow monster wasn't there.

The boy let out a relieved sigh. His mind was just tricking him; he and Will were safe. The Upside Down was not real. Still, discomfort rested atop his shoulders like a heavy boulder. He would have to talk with Will later about this.

He gave the twinkling night sky one last look before reentering the arcade to find his friends. This was only the beginning of one long, hectic week for Grayson.

JORDY SPEAKS.

So, if you have seen this chapter before... no, you haven't. HOPEFULLY THIS TIME I FIXED ALL THE MISTAKES BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO KEEP REEDITING THIS CHAPTER. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The second chapter is in the works now. Until next time, stay gold, everyone.