#banshee johnathan byers

[hazardworld]

A response to @feministfandomgeek ‘s comment; the response was too long to be a reply :)

This is a part of my Monster Town series. Part one can be found here

Most monsters can be categorized in one of these three categories:

Humanoids

Humanoids look identical or nearly identical to humans. Any powers they have maintain their form.

Robin- Ghost; when she “goes ghost” her general shapes stay the same, even though she’s invisible and can go through surfaces

Will/Johnathan- Banshees; when they scream, their scleras turn black and their irises turn yellow. Otherwise, they look the same

Glamorists

Glamorists have a generally humanoid shape, but with noticeably inhuman features. Because of this, they have to wear glamours (think TOH galderstones) to cover up. Glamour charms usually last up to 1-2 years, which means they must find a local witch to renew it (The more specialized to them though, the better) before it fizzles out.

Eddie- Witch; pointed ears, fangs (top and bottom), purple slightly-glowing eyes (color varies per witch, and is the color of their magic)

Max- Dryad; moth wing-like ears, blunt fangs, clear “blood” (sap), (if one looks close) bark-textured skin

Lucas/Erica- Vampires; pointed ears, dark claw-like nails, double sets of fangs (top only) crimson glowing eyes (color varies vamp to vamp)

El- Angel; large white feathered wings, halo light she can summon at will

Shifters

Shifters usually have two forms (but can have more) and can generally shift at will anywhere between any of those (depending on species-specific restrictions). Their monster form is considered their “natural form,” as if their human form is like a physical glamour.

If shifters spend too long completely in human form, they’ll spontaneously shift back to natural form, as well as other species-specific side effects. In order to stop this, many shifters will “half shift” to a humanoid form with monstrous features.

Steve; Siren- his parents coaxed him into a masochistic habit of “binding” his form to the point where he’s used to and doesn’t realize he’s unhealthy

Dustin; Werewolf- his mom formally taught him how to form shift, but Steve got him more comfortable with it and taught him half-shifting

Argyle; Shapeshifter- his human form is his natural form, with his second form being “the unknown”

Nancy and Mike are humans descended from Valkyries. Because of this, they have extra insight and can physically comprehend magic like monsters. Nancy is also really good at persuading people to tell the truth.

Because Hawkins is a monster town, Glamorists don’t need to wear glamours, and depending on their natural forms, Shifters can half shift or go fully natural without weird looks or persecution.

[itsalladream]

Chapter Two | Trick or Treat, Freak

[hazardworld]

Sorry guys, I had tech week and then grad stuff and now it’s finals season with more grad stuff...eugh. Anyway, here’s the long-awaited next part of Monster Town!

Content warning: Jason Carver and the dickery that comes with him

WB1.WB2.WB3.P1.P2.P3.P4.P5.P6.P7

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"Okay everyone," Johnathan set the large folder on the table as he sat down. "These are all of our photo proofs."

El grabbed the folder and dumped it onto the table, photos spilling out into a little pile. Simultaneously, Robin pulled Nancy’s tape recorder and a bag of tapes from her pockets, and Mike pulled out his blue and gray Walkman.

"Lucas, you have your tape recorder?" Robin asked, and the young jock nodded and pulled out his own set of tapes.

"I forgot something to play them with, but I figured we could share," Robin grinned and nodded.

"Sure! This one is Nancy’s, anyway,"

"You’ve at least got the library team’s document?" Mike deadpanned, and Lucas rolled his eyes.

"Yes Mike, I have the document," Lucas rolled his eyes as he pulled out a large packet from a red folder he’d kept under his chair. "Dustin finished it this morning."

El coughed, and by her direction, all three quieted and turned to Johnathan.

"So, based on the research from the research team, we’re supposed to sort relevant photographs into three areas: Jason being a dick, Jason being a siren, and 'Other',"

"If you guys survey info, I can fact check it with the document,"

"Cool! Then me and Mike can do tapes"

"Why do I have to do tapes with Robin?" Mike bemoaned, but he had already taken Lucas’ bag from across the table and was pulling out a tape.

"Which leaves me and Johnathan for viewing pictures," El said, changing the subject and atmosphere by smiling happily at Johnathan. He smiled back and nodded, picking up a small handful of pictures from the stack. Quickly, El did the same and the rest of their little group got to work.

——

"Lucas, why is there just cultish chanting on this tape?" Mike asked sometime later, breaking the silence that was note-taking and photo-sorting.

"What?" Lucas asked, confused. "Could you play it aloud?"

Mike shrugged, unplugging his headphones, and played the track over again after rewinding it. Then, as if it was some sort of cult chant, the four heard a group of people, presumably men, repeating a phrase over and over again, louder and louder.

«boku yni su mõ puvwaɾ! boku yni su mõ puvwaɾ! boku yni su mõ puvwaɾ!»

"Oh! Yeah, that’s our pre-game hype chant. Jason said it’s some sort of encouragement phrase in an ancient language, but now I’m not so sure. Besides, Dustin said Steve can speak siren-language, so I thought he might be able to translate it later."

The group nodded. Lucas made a good point: even if it was nothing there was no point in not trying to get every piece of evidence they could against this jackass.

"John, El, how’s photo sorting going?" Robin asked, since she had already taken off her headphones and gotten distracted.

"Frustrating," Johnathan replied, and El nodded.

"It is hard to determine where most of the photos should go." El explained. "For example, I cannot tell whether a picture of Jason making a speech at a pep rally is considered ’siren’ or 'other,'"

"Can’t you use your powers to try and see what was going on at the time?" Lucas asked, but El shook her head.

"Technically yes, though if I used them for every photo I would wear myself out."

"Wouldn’t the photo just be him being a dick in general?" Robin asked frankly. "I mean, he’s giving a speech at a pep rally. You’re only supposed to do that when you’re an admin or something."

"But didn’t Eddie say that was when he say Jason use the most magic? Maybe we should call him over from Steve’s to see if he can see anything himself," Johnathan countered. "If he’s using magic as he’s talking, then he’s definitely pulling a siren."

"Maybe you could make a 'both' pile?" Lucas suggested innocently. "If you can’t tell whether he’s just being a dick or if he’s being a siren, say for now he’s doing both. Then later, we can have Eddie check."

The other four at the table nodded in agreement as they staggeringly went back to work.

——

"Hey guys, I’m gonna use the bathroom, be right back," Lucas set the packet down on the table as he got up from his seat. All the others at the table simply nodded and hummed in agreement, not taking their eyes off their work. Lucas shrugged and walked down the hallway to the Byers’ bathroom, locking the door behind him as he entered.

He was briefly fixing his hair in the (aluminum) mirror when a flash in the window caught his sharp eyes.

Lucas stepped into the bathtub to peer out the window for a few seconds—just making sure whatever had passed was just a squirrel, or something.

The flash was the glint of the sun-on-steel reflection from one Jason Carver’s car.

His ears twitched as he heard the ignition shut off.

Fuck.

"Guys, GUYS," Lucas ran as fast as he could (without destroying the house) back to the kitchen table, and everyone looked up at him inquisitively."

"Carver—Car—Here, now—"

"Holy fuck," Robin shot up from her seat, now just as panicked as Lucas, and started piling as much as she could from the table in her arms. "Shove it under the couch!"

Quickly, everyone else joined her in haphazardly hiding their incriminating evidence under the Byers’ well-loved couch, until the inevitable knock on the door.

"Hello? Byers?" The unmistakable voice of Jason Carver made the whole party freeze in their tracks. "Can we talk? I just have a few questions,"

Lucas watched Johnathan take a breath, then quietly start to make his way to the door. Halfway there, he beckoned for the rest of the group to leave and stay out of sight. The four of them made eye-contact—none of them were budging.

"Johnathan Byers, hey, mind if I ask you a few questions?" None of them could see the doorway from where they were hiding, but they could hear the unmistakable phoniness in Jason’s voice.

"Sure, sure, come on in," Johnathan spoke, tense, and Lucas flinched as he heard the door shut. "S’not like I’m doing much right now anyways,"

"Oh?" Jason faked casualty. "No company over, or…"

"Yeah, I have some of my brother’s friends over. We were about to make some foos, right guys?" The two men moved into the group’s line of sight, and Johnathan gave a sheepish smile.

Luckily, El caught on fast.

"I’m Jane, Will’s twin sister," She boldly walked up towards Jason and they shook hands. "John, is this one of your school friends?"

Jason and Johnathan laughed, exchanging expressions of awkwardness.

"Sinclair," Jason gave Lucas a little wave, and Lucas trilled his fingers back—something he’d adopted from Steve.

Jason took a breath and the atmosphere in the room darkened.

"I feel like you guys have some sort of vendetta against me," no shit, "and while I certainly believe you should have your own opinion," lies, "I can’t help but have heard some sorts of threats against me? Is there anything you guys should tell me to protect my safety?"

Lucas felt some sort of tug at his heartstrings—maybe he should tell Jason to keep him safe—but when had Jason ever done the same for him? Jason didn’t deserve their warning.

"Nice try, asshole." Mike spoke sharply, "It’ll take far more than just convincing us to get us to help you at all,"

Jason’s façade cracked ever so slightly.

"Let’s try this then, if you all want to be so difficult," He took another breath to regain his composure, "You will tell me everything about your plans, right here, right now,"

This time, that tug was harder, but still cooled down by something else—something Lucas couldn’t quite put into words, inside his chest.

"Sorry pal," Robin shrugged, grinning in sarcastic nonchalance, "better luck next time,"

"WHAT—ahem, what?" Jason spoke through angered, gritted teeth.

“You cannot convince us to do your bidding, Carver,” El smiled sweetly as Lucas started to see small fragments of her glow come to light. “We are not your puppets,”

“Maybe you aren’t,” Jason’s mask snapped, and his face turned dark and menacing. Suddenly, Jason and Lucas had locked eyes.

“But he is."

“I expected better of you, Sinclair.” Jason slowly stepped forward, inching his way towards him. Lucas felt his fangs and claws lengthen to defensive positions. “On the varsity team so young; so gullible,”

Instantly, Jason pinned Lucas to the wall like it was nothing, and brought his own face right in front, so they had no choice but to lock eyes. Lucas grimaced at his strong, rotten fish-smelling breath, and winced when he saw Jason’s rows of jagged, sharp teeth.

Was that normal for sirens?

“Tell me everything you know,” Jason looked directly into his eyes, analyzing and grinning with no sense of remorse.

Lucas groaned as his heart throbbed in his chest, and his head started to pound. He never wanted to tell Jason anything, but he might have to—

Seconds later, it was as if it was all wiped clean, a blank slate of nothingness.

Lucas smiled.

"Not gonna work, Jason." Jason quickly stepped back, taking a hard look at the group around the room. El was fully glowing now, and her wings seemed stiff and ready to fly. Mike and Robin had taken some sort of fighting stance, and Johnathan held a metal baseball bat in his hand.

"ɾevɛlə la maʒjə də səlɥi ki ta modi," Jason chanted thrice, first soft, then loud, then confirming. "ɾevɛlə la maʒjə də səlɥi ki ta modi! ɾevɛlə la maʒjə də səlɥi ki ta modi!"

Everyone in the room besides Jason began to glow a bright, sunshine yellow.

In the depth of the situation, Lucas had forgotten to listen around him.

The group flinched as the front door flew open, banging against the wall.

"JOHN! ROBIN! HOLY FU—" Eddie skidded to a stop when he laid eyes on the scene, and quickly was followed by Argyle, Max, Erica, and Will.

"Why are you all covered in Steve’s magic?" Argyle asked, and Lucas immediately knew they were all done for.

-----

Season Finale, Part 8!

Lemme know if theres like any side stuff you guys would want to know about in the au, etc!

Also, I may be coming out with a different monster-based ST AU sometime soon (it’s a bit bloodier ;D)!

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