Chapter Text
When Regulus got back to his house (which he had biked to by instinct) he was crying. Crying for what he didn't know and everything that had happened between him and James, because fuck, James had been an asshole. That's when he found the diary. Well, his diary he guessed. And he read it, so he could know what had happened for this universes Regulus. It felt like he was reading another persons diary. But it also felt like him.
And then when he turned a page he realized something. He liked James. And that was why it had hurt so much more than just a fight between friends. He had hoped this universe wasn't like his. But it was. And with Regulus' crush on James (and James having a girlfriend) it was practically the same. Regulus wanted to break something. So he went to where he now knew was "castle Byers." As he walked in the rain to the tree fort he could hear Marlene and James at his house.
"Regulus!"
James yelled at his front door, knocking hard.
"Reg, Im sorry, man, all right? I was being a total asshole. Please, can you just come outside and we'll talk?"
James begged at the door, and Regulus wasn't even there
"Regulus!"
They tried yelling again, knocking even harder on the door.
Regulus continued to walk deeper into the woods. He could finnaly see castle Byers.
"Hey, Reg! Come on, man! We're sorry!"
Marlene tried, knocking as hard as she could with James.
"Reg!"
She yelled again.
Regulus scoffed from the woods, he couldn't believe them right now. It was so stupid. So so so stupid. The thunder kept roaring and the rain was coming down hard onto Regulus' back. He started remembering things, from who this Regulus was before he had crashed in. And god they just made him hurt more.
"Something is coming, something hungry for blood." James says from behind his DM stuff. They look younger, by a couple years or so.
"What is it?"
Regulus whispers to the table.
"What if it's the Demogorgon?"
Peter asks, looking wide eyed at the other two.
"Oh, Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon."
Marlene says, briefly hanging her head in her hands.
"It's not the Demogorgon."
James says, before revealing a Thessalhydra figure.
"Reg, your action!"
"Fireball!" Regulus says before rolling the die, it lands on a fourteen. "Fourteen!"
Marlene and Peter let out cheers of victory.
"Direct hit! Reg the Wise's fireball hits the thessalhydra!"
All four of them cheer, and slowly the memory fades away out of Regulus' head and into a new one. The four of them are singing a song about ghosts and are in costumes for Halloween.
"♪ Who you gonna call? ♪ ♪ Ghostbusters! ♪"
"Egon!"
Marlene says, Reg assumes ts the name of her character.
"Venkman!"
Regulus says, smiling back at all of them.
And now Regulus is back in the present. He's crying more now. And he doesn't really process what he does as he grabs the baseball bat and starts destroying the fort.
"Stupid."
He sobs out while hitting it.
"So stupid"
He just keeps saying stupid as he destroys the fort. The whole thing comes crumbling down on itself. Regulus falls to the ground sobbing. That is before he hears Marlene and James coming. And before the hairs on the back of his neck starts to stand up and he gets a shivery feeling. And he knows what this means. And it's not good.
"Reg!"
James yells as he comes into view.
"Regulus! What happened? Are you okay?" Marlene asks, moving to stand next to him. She sees the destruction of the castle but doesn't comment.
And all he has to say is:
"He's back."
They head back to James's house, soaking wet and slightly scared. They immediately try to contact Mary, Lily, and Peter.
"Do you copy? This is a code red."
Marlene says into the walkie.
"I repeat, this is a code red."
The static from the walkie pops and makes noise. But no answer
"Mary. Do you copy? This is a code red."
Marlene says again, for what feels like the ten hundredth time.
Mary responds quickly before turning her walkie off. "Shut up."
"She turned it off."
Marlene says, looking to the others in disbelief.
James turns to the phone and starts to call them. The phone rings for five beats before Mary picks up.
Mary scoffs into the phone.
"You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m sleeping. Go away."
James interrupts her.
"This is James. Do not hang up. Something happened, something bad. Our very lives can be at stake."
He sums up for Mary. She make a confused sound on the other side of the line.
"What are you talking about?"
"Just come over to my house. We’ll explain everything."
James tries to speed things up. It will be a lot easier to explain it in person than over the phone.
"What?"
Mary asks one more time.
"Hurry."
Is all James says before hanging up an looki ng st the other two.
"Peter?"
He asks, they nod in agreement.
After trying to get a hold of Peter for almost twenty minute Marlene drops her walkie in defeat. They dit in silence for a while before James stands up and starts to pace.
"Try Peter again."
He says absently to Marlene. She tosses him a short glare.
"He’s not answering."
"So," James starts, turning to face Marlene. "try him again."
"Peter, do you copy?" Marlene asks into the walkie for the tenth time.
"I repeat, this is a code red."