The Snowball (became an avalanche)

"If you had to choose between your past and your future, what would you pick, and why? Have you ever thought about it?"
Mike shrugged again. He didn't really know what to say. Well, in fact, he had an answer, but he wasn't sure it was really appropriate if he did not want to ruin the atmosphere. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘩, 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯-𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺-𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦.

Mike Wheeler carries a lot of regrets, and most of them are tinted with the shadow of Will Byers. He wants to be the Paladin. He wants to protect all his loved ones. But sometimes, the real world can't work like a fantasy game.

Or: Mike falls under Vecna's spell, and his greatest fears become the bridge that threatens to merge two dimensions into one.