May the Best Man Win

Code Red

 July 10th 1992

It had been six years since Steve had defeated Vecna once and for all. Well, technically it was Eleven who did the bulk of the work, but Steve was present when the pint-sized superhero blasted Vecna into a million pieces, stopping the scourge of Hawkins—and the world—once and for all. With the curse seemingly lifted from the town, life went on.

The gang had moved on, too. Eddie was the first to leave Hawkins. True to his word, he snatched his diploma out of Principle Higgins's hand, flipped him off, ran out of town with his guitar and never looked back. Robin graduated summa cum laude a year later. After studying languages in Indianapolis, she came back to Hawkins to be a tutor and had been Steve's roommate ever since. Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Will, Max and El left school the year after that. They all went on to college, got their dream jobs, and lived happily ever after.

While everyone else moved on to bigger and better things, Steve...well, Steve had always marched to the beat of his own drum, and that drum was wildly out of tune and timing from the rest of the world. Steve Harrington, formerly the most popular boy at Hawkins High, teen heartthrob with hair that Farrah Fawcett would envy, graduated (without distinction) the same day as Eddie. But Steve didn't go to college. He didn't even leave Hawkins. What Steve was currently doing—what he had been doing almost daily for the last six years—was to pace back and forth through the food court at the local Crossroads Mall, trying to decide what he should have for lunch. Did he want a Hot Sam pretzel or a slice of pizza from Sbarro? It was one of many life or death choices that Steve had confronted in his life, and one that he now faced on a daily basis since he became the security guard at said mall.

After the last mall burnt down, the town was quick to build another one. The facilities at Crossroads weren't as good as Starcourt, but at least there weren't any Russians hiding in a top-secret facility in the basement (Steve knew because he had checked). The biggest thing that Steve had to worry about these days was what he was going to have for lunch and dealing with the occasional shoplifter.

After agonizing for a couple more minutes, Steve decided to buy a pretzel since it was cheaper than the pizza. He sat on one of the metal benches placed a few feet from the entrance to RadioShack, watching Wheel of Fortune on one of the many TVs that they had displayed in their storefront. He couldn't hear it over the music blaring through the mall PA system ( Ninja Rap was currently being played for the third time that day). Steve glanced at his watch—he had ten more minutes until his break was over. He had just enough time to visit an old friend.

It was a short walk from RadioShack to The Games Workshop. When he entered the store, he found Mike Wheeler sitting behind the counter, his nose buried in a chemistry book, while a couple of geeky-looking kids browsed the many figurines that adorned the walls. Steve marched straight up to Mike and rapped his knuckles on the counter to get the younger man's attention.

"Wheeler." Mike jumped in surprise and nearly dropped his book at Steve's abrupt greeting. "I see you're keeping your nose to the grindstone."

Mike snorted. "This is busy for a weekday. But you should come by on the weekend, that's when we run our campaigns. The place is always packed then."

"Yeah? I'll be sure to give this place a wide berth on those days."

Mike sighed and closed his book. "What d'you want?"

"It's Henderson's birthday tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know," Mike bristled. "I've been friends with him for a lot longer than you."

Steve shrugged. "So what? He's my best friend. Quality over quantity, Wheeler."

"What's your point?"

"Well, he's coming home this weekend and I still gotta find him a present," Steve said as he casually waved his hand at the store. "Just point at something you know he'd be into and I'll get that for him."