Onze Devereaux (psl)/ Ellie Byers (boomtown)

Elle has come a long way since being the terrified little girl that escaped a lab all those years ago. So much so that she'd been able to join the high school for her last couple years of education. She'd been fairly far behind, unfortunately, and Elle had to be home-schooled to catch up. It took a fair amount of begging and pleading to get Jim Hopper to let her even set foot in the high school.

Even with the friends she had there like Johnny and Tommy and all them. But she finally did. And she survived a full year at the high school with her friends with no incident.

Now, a couple days after the last school day of the year, she was waiting at the beach for Johnny.

For a date. Oh, they'd liked each other for years. But Elle was so new to how people worked, that they decided to try to be friends first, find their footing that way.

But it was Elle who finally asked Johnny out. Nothing exciting. Just out for ice cream and walking the board walk. It wasn't the right time of year for swimming, too many people on the sand for Elle's liking, but a stroll on the boardwalk, looking at the stupid stuff sold in the stores?

That, Elle could do. So she waited on a bench outside a shop that sold ridiculous t-shirts, trying to not feel impatient.

This was fine. She could do this.

"Gia, next time we do this? We're getting a stop-over."

Elle says this from her spot on the floor at baggage claim, trying to sit somewhere out of the way so she can stretch her leg with minimal fuss. As much as she loved straight shot flights? And as much as she deeply enjoyed flying first class with her sister and watching movies when they weren't sleeping or giggling about whatever, her knee was protesting not having room to get up and move.

Or many opportunities to, due to turbulence.

Stretching and trying to reach her toes, she groans some and sighs as her phone buzzes.

"That's probably Mrs Murphy letting us know how soon she and Clancy are arriving," Elle states, grinning just a bit and looking up at Gia. She and her sister were here for a car interview with Shea, the whole plan being he drives them around town, asking questions and finding a place to eat. When Mrs Murphy (who's known Shea since he was just starting to walk) found out about it, and knowing that her son and Elle have already been talking to each other for years already but haven't actually met face to face, she invited the girls to stay. The whole plan being they stay at the Murphy farm for a week before the interview, and a week after.

And Clancy, as far as anyone knew, had no actual clue about it.

So now, here the girls were in Ireland, on an adventure. Another buzz from her phone, the theme song for their dads channel playing and Elle reaches for her phone to pick it up and tell her dad they've arrived.

All while looking around for signs of Aoife and her son.

"See them yet? Also? Help me up. I can't do this myself, G," Elle says, still on the phone with her dad. "No, dad. I'm fine. Just...next time? A stop over somewhere so I can stretch."

[ Ireland was eight hours ahead of Nevada, meaning at 7:00 AM for Elle, it was 3 PM for Clancy. But she liked hearing her best friends voice first thing in the morning, so after a shower and Elle got dressed for the day, she set her iPad up on the table on the deck of her treehouse and sent him a Facetime notification.

She had her breakfast with her, nothing too exciting, but this was common when she called at this time of the morning for herself. And she'd managed to put her hair up in two short french braids, the occasional curl swirling around her face as she tried to keep it tucked away. Her curly hair was not her friend. Not now, not ever, and she didn't want to look a mess this early while she waited for her friend to answer her call.

She just hoped Clancy wasn't busy.

Knowing her luck, she was calling while he was filming and hoped it didn't throw him off too badly. ]

[ ooc: QUICKEST OF RUNDOWNS ABOUT THIS UNIVERSE! It starts some time after Season 1 ends. Elle gets stuck in the Upside Down long enough to walk from Hawkins to Nevada and manages to escape. She falls out behind a Burger King and is taken in by one Rocky Deveraux, youtuber personality and avid gamer, known for playing survival horror games.

Also? He's a werewolf. It took some doing, and some brushes with the Bad Men, but Elle was legally adopted by Rocky. Her name was changed to Onze and after some time finding her footing in a safe and loving and healthy environment, she started her own youtube channel at fifteen.

The basis of it, other than day-to-day life with Rocky and her own Let's Plays, was a series called Scare OnzeDee where she had to 'survive' a replication of popular horror video games. This series was immensely popular, even going to have a guest star or two in the episode (We're not naming names, but a famous character he once played wears a lot of red and his name is Skull-Pooh-L in Emoji.)

This series had five seasons, ten episodes each, and ended just when Elle went to college for game design. During her four years as a college student, her channel shifted to more Vlog style videos and the occasional goofy collaboration with other youtubers during her breaks.

Now 22 years old, she's started another series called Teach OnzeDee where she goes to learn something, has a week to perfect it and then has to show what she's done with it so far. Her final attempt will be judged a pass or a fail.

All this while coding and creating flash games for Steam with friends.


Below, here's what you can do: throw up a starter of some kind. Or poke me for one. I don't mind setting something up. But if you have your own ideas? Hit me with your best shot! ]

If you've ever felt a mighty need to interact with Anged Up Jane 'Eleven' Hopper-Byers-Wheeler-Whoeverthefuck. This is your chance.

Post a starter. Post an image. Post a lyric. Whatever. Let's just get shit going, okay?

The Party had disbanded for the evening. Honestly, it wasn't that easy. With the recent disappearance of Will and the weird things going on around Hawkins, Elle had called it an evening. She had to reassure her friends that no, she wasn't going to go to Murkwood by herself to look for Will, but she was lying. And she was sure they knew. Still, when Elle puts her foot down, people tend to listen. Or maybe it was she grew up with Will and he was her family.

Whatever the case, during a particularly ugly rain storm, Elle was out with a flashlight, standing on the edge of Murkwood and trying to get herself to go in. Rain poured down around her and the bright yellow rain coat she wore didn't do shit to keep the rain out, so she was soaked to the bone. But she wanted her friend back. She didn't believe he was dead. Will was alive, and she was going to find him.

So she stepped into the woods and started looking, taking the shortcut he'd take to get home and searching for clues. The first thing she finds is a piece of torn fabric and for a moment, Elle thinks this is from his shirt. But he'd been wearing a read sweater that evening, not something white and made of cheap, thin fabric.

The next thing she finds isn't so much something she sees first, but she sure does hear it first. Over the thunder and the downpour, she hears the sound of a twig breaking and something moving. For a moment, she doubts the intelligence of even doing this so she turns in a circle, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. When she spots where it came from, she's almost startled, eyes wide with alarm at what she sees.

"Holy shit..."

They'd vanished from New Dodge the same way they arrived; with an unpredictable suddenness that left Mike and Elle surprised. Shaken. Angry because they had a life there, but relieved to be home with the rest of the Party and everyone from Hawkins. They'd finished the rest of the camping trip with their families and returned to their respective homes, everyone suspicious about what changed for Mike and Elle, but not really asking.

And then, things went horrifyingly bad.

The Bad Men recaptured Elle while she was shopping for school clothes. Whisked her away to somewhere in Pennsylvania for more tests. More pain. More of everything she knew from the years before Mike and The Party. This lasted for three months before Elle broke out and made her way to Hawkins. But she didn't run into Mike first like she wanted. She ran into Hopper in the middle of a cold, cold winter. He took her to a cabin and kept her safe. And kept promising she'd see Mike. See the others. Days upon days, filled with Promises. Halloween came and she asked to go and still more unfulfilled promises until Elle raged. Lost control. Broke windows because he took away the radio she knew Mike was trying to talk to her on, just because she went out without his permission.

And it was this anger that prompted Hopper to leave the cabin, upset by her actions and her words ("YOU are like PAPA!") Hurtful words that hurt the person she cared for and it was while she was cleaning the cabin that she'd discovered a box from the lab. The box contained evidence of more lies ("Elle, your mother is gone.") and Elle left the cabin again, finding her mother and her aunt. Learning who she was and that there was another like her.

A sister.

So she left her mother and her aunt because her aunt was trying to contact Hopper and she made her way to where her remote viewing abilities told her and Kali wasn't what she expected. Kali was angry, too angry, and her methods made Elle realize she wasn't home at all. So she went back to Hawkins and just in time, too, because Will was infected by a creature from the Upside Down and Elle needed to close the gate, break the connection this thing had with the Upside Down. This is what Hopper tells her. He tells her there are demodogs attacking the others and they're all mentally connected to this Shadow creature and that shutting the gate will save them all.

So it's a return to the labs, walls already thick with blood from security and scientists, the smell of the Upside Down in the air. They run into a man Elle recognizes and Hopper speaks to him, makes demands that the man will follow through with.

And then Elle shuts the gate. It's the sheer power behind it necessary that she can feel draining the life from her. Those familiar pin pricks behind her eyes and in her head and nose that scream this is hurting her. It's back to the Byers house they go, the house beset by a couple demodogs that Elle takes care of, thus weakening herself further But the threat is over, everything is fine and when they step inside the house, it's seeing Mike that does it.

Mike. The face she hadn't seen in over a year, but a voice she heard almost every night since Hopper found her. The sheer intensity of the emotions she felt from this is enough to drain the last of her energy, the last of the sheer force of will she was using to keep herself moving. It was what she'd wanted for over a year and now that she had it, she couldn't hold herself up anymore. Something told her to rest and as she fell, she was only vaguely aware of Mike shouting at Hopper and the sound of something hard hitting skin and then nothing.

With the water from the storms subsiding, soaking into the ground and wherever it goes, the town of New Dodge is probably very glad that's over with. The sky is clear, the temperature is back to normal. Weird mushroom things are growing from the ground.


Which is actually entirely not good, because these mushrooms have a particularly nasty way of surviving. They can't stay in mushroom form for too long, the fungi bursting into spores upon their death. But it isn't really dying. It's how they survive and continue on. Upon entering a persons system whether it be through breathing the spores in, getting into the eyes, or spores entering any manner of injury, they'll travel right to a persons brain and do a hostile takeover of a person. This person, now under the control of Cordyceps, will do anything to survive, whether it be pass on the infection through bites, or kill anyone that gets in their way.

Is there a cure? Absolutely. These things really, really do badly in intense cold. They like the sun. They like warm, damp places. So if anyone can round them up and put them somewhere cold for long enough, the infected might actually be saved.

But until then, expect chaos and violence and for people to go from normal in appearance, to something out of a nightmare. It'll be just a short day or so before the spores will start to grow on a persons skin. And please hurry, because the longer the person stays infected, the less likely they will be to survive.


SYMPTOMS OF INFECTION IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:

Rash in the original site of infection (one to five hours after infection)
Aggressive behavior, dark circles under eyes, pale skin, intensely bloodshot eyes (within five to eight hours of infection)
Uncontrolled vocalization, loss of speech (reduced to screams and angry gibberish), involuntary muscle spasms (eight to twelve hours)
Enhanced strength, bruising and dark patches where cordyceps will start to show (twelve to eighteen hours)
Hive-mind (knowing the difference between infected and not) (eighteen to twenty four hours)

With this hive-mind, not only will the infected know who is and who isn't one of them, but they will want to protect their own, screw any loyalties they had before. This also means that, should one of their own be in trouble, the others will come running.


Eventually, after thirty six hours, Infected will go blind and have to rely on echolocation and sound to get around, the echolocation a series of clicks, hisses and growls. This also means their sense of hearing will be heightened, so it's probably best to stay quiet.

As stated above, end-plot will involve prolonged exposure to intense cold, followed by five days of actual recovery from the ordeal.

Questions? Comments? Plot below! And as always, pregnant ladies are exempt (but this time by chance and not as a plot mechanic).

[ There's no intro this time. No explanation of what's going on from Ellie. The first thing on screen is video of her bird, Benny, a four year old African Grey who is busy walking in circles and peering super close into the camera, with some manner of cheerful song to accompany the moment. Ellie lets him wander around for a moment or two before saying anything. ]


Benny, say 'hi!'

[ A record scratch and Benny responds, but not the way Ellie hopes. ]

FUCK!


[ And with that, the words LIFE WITH BENNY fades into view and the music changes.

The next scene is Ellie sitting in front of the camera, Benny on her shoulder. Sh's eating french fries and Benny is watching each fry very carefully. Ellie doesn't say anything, but Benny certainly has a thing or two on his mind. ]

Kisses for treats!

[ Ellie eats another fry and Benny snorts and whistles in annoyance. He speaks again, louder this time. ]

KISSES FOR TREATS!

How many kisses?

Four.

Okay.

[And there are three quick kisses from Benny on Ellie's cheek before he's reaching for a fry. Which Ellie holds away from him and frowns. ]

One more.

[ And another kiss before Benny gets a fry.

In the next clip, Benny is on a perch and in the background, Rocky is making something to eat. Without any prompting, Benny starts whistling the Toreador March. This repeats a few times with Rocky sending a glare or two at the bird and Ellie snickering off-screen and then, after a lengthy silence of Benny pacing his perch and scratching at spots on his head, he lets out the most unholy of Five Night's at Freddy's Animatronic Screams and Rocky jumps, screaming in his own way. Ellie is off-screen, dying from laughter.


There's another clip of Ellie and Benny in the treehouse, this time Ellie seated on her bed and Benny pacing nearby. There's a box of tissues and bandages and Ellie's showing off what her bird can do. First, she puts her face in her hands and starts fake crying. Immediately Benny grabs a tissue out of the box and walks it over to her. ]

Aww. No crying, Cublet. It'll be okay.

[ And Ellie takes the tissue, pretends to wipes her eyes and thanks Benny. For their next trick, Ellie goes to pick something up and then fakes a wince and a hiss of pain. She shakes her hand and looks at her finger, frowning. ]

Benny, I cut myself.

[ He picks up a tissue, drops it. Picks it up again, drops it with a muttered 'no, no, no' and then he grabs a bandage and heads over with it. ]

Careful, cub.

Thank you, Benny.

[ This time, they're at Still Waters and Ellie is enjoying a Blueberry and Sunflower muffin and an orange juice. Benny has a water that he keeps sticking his face into to drink out of. In something that's well-rehearsed, one of his tricks, Benny looks down the road past Ellie. ]

What's that?!

[ Ellie turns to look and gives her bird enough time to steal her muffin, the bird gripping it by the paper and pulling it away. When Ellie looks back, she glares at the bird. ]

What the fuck, Benny!

Ha-ha! This is mine now!

[ And a switch to Benny and Bonny in the kitchen. Bird and dog are having a kind of face off, Bonny and Benny staring at each other. Benny finally speaks and wouldn't you know, he sounds a lot like Rocky! ]

Don't Five Night's at Freddy's me, you piece of shit!

[ Bonnie barks twice and Benny runs away, still sounding like Rocky as he screams his way down the hall and up Ellie's pant-leg.

In the last clip, Benny's riding Bonnie around the house and everything's going well until Bonnie sits down to scratch furiously behind her ear. This is enough to upset Benny's balance and he flaps to the floor, annoyed. ]

AND THEN THERE'S THIS ASSHOLE!

Money in the swear jar, Benny!

BIG BUBBLE BLOWING BABY!

[ In the End Credits, there's a disclaimer that no one was hurt, but Dad's heart may have raced for about an hour or two after. ]

[ When the video picks up, it's in black and white. Why Ellie chose that, she doesn't know. It may have to do with the remodel she's doing in her tree house because there's a lot of paint tarp down and almost none of her furniture. She even has some paint smudged on her nose and her hair is hidden under a Pinks Stacherton: Ace Reporter beanie. There are two other people in the background. One of them being Mad Max from Mad Max Creates and the other known only as Leona Carlisle, pro skateboarder. Yeah. Ellie knows them. They're painting. Ellie has a paintbrush in her hand but she's not being very helpful. And she looks...well, not entirely cheerful. It's been a rough couple weeks. What do you want? ]

Hey! So! Now that I'm somewhat done being MIA, it's story time! I have a story for you and no, it has nothing to do with what happened a few weeks back at the park. This is different.

[ With the way the camera moves, Ellie is holding it as she talks, glancing over at her shoulder as Leona shouts "Oh, my God, Onze. It's not that bad!" an Max just looks amused, shoulders hunching as he tries to not laugh. Leona punches him in the shoulder which just makes him laugh more. Ellie just rolls her eyes and addresses them both. ]

You be quiet.

[ And she's looking at the camera again, looking somewhat annoyed. ]

A couple nights ago, I was babysitting for my neighbor. Lovely couple, fantastic kids. They're both four and both want to be hair stylists. Sometimes, I come home with Crayola Marker Highlights. It's a thing. It happens. It's fine.

The other day, just before I put them to bed, we're sitting down and we're watching the first Harry Potter and one of the kids goes 'Let me cut your hair.'

So I go [ Cut to Ellie shrug with the voice-over going 'Sure! Why not? They have play scissors that don't cut anything. It's fine.' and a cut back to a non-smiling El. ]

It's not fine. It wasn't a good idea because about five minutes later after they brushed my hair I hear the worst sound in the world and feel something fall on my arm. Feather light. Soft. It's accompanied by both kids, standing near me looking horrified [ And a cut to Ellie doing her best impression of horrified child as her voice speaks over it saying "two small voices behind me going 'uh oh.'" And back to Ellie, with Max and Leona in the background, still half arguing about Max's laughing. ]

"Uh oh." They said "uh oh." And then "oops". And then "what do we do?"

So I turn and look at the feathery...whatever touching my arm and I see it.

My hair. My. God damn. Hair. The kids cut my hair. I froze. I didn't know what to do. I just turned and looked at the kids and they stared at me and it was just his weird stare off before one of them went 'are you gonna tell our mother?'

Of course I'm not gonna tell. It was obviously an accident but... I haven't had my hair this short in years and I've never wanted it this short but...

[ And she reaches up for the beanie, setting the paint brush down and sighing and closing her eyes, fingers curled into the fabric before she slowly pulls the hat off her head. HEr hair isn't that bad, actually, but there are people who knew her when she had a buzz cut and there are people that know why she wouldn't want it this short. This is where Leona bounces over and takes the camera away from Ellie, nudging her out of frame with her hip and a quick 'go paint your wall'. ]


She's bummed. She has every reason to be, but since she's making her return to both Youtube and Scare OnzeDee real soon, she wanted everyone to have some kinda warning before she just shows up with short hair, that way people don't worry. You know how bullshit rumors start on the internet.

[ Leo grins at the camera, waves and directs everyone to say goodbye, which they do with paintbrushes in hand and grins on their faces. Even Ellie is smiling a bit. ]