𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞

Ⅸ 𝒍𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒈𝒐

SCRATCH THAT- THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST INSANE IDEAS'S CHRIS HAS DONE. Chris held her hand up, her embers rising into the air but they flickered out once Chris couldn't see them. Dustin paced around practically shouting into his radio. "Dustin, give it a rest, let everyone get in the mall first," Chris ordered softly, wiping her nose. Steve nodded in agreement, looking up at the long drop.

"Code red, I repeat, code red. Does anyone copy?" Dustin spoke into his radio. "This is a code red, I repeat, a code red. This is a code red, I repeat, a code red. Does anyone copy?" Steve sighed in annoyance at Dustin's rambling. "We are innocent children and we are trapped under Starcourt Mall. The Red Army has infiltrated Hawkins, and if we are found, they will torture and kill us."

"Hey," Steve called making Dustin twist to face him. "Gotta take it easy on that thing. Gonna drain the battery."

"The mall just opened," Dustin justified with a shrug of his shoulders.

"So?" Steve asked running a hand through his hair.

"So someone could be in range," Dustin spoke in an obvious tone.

"What do you think, Petey the Mall Cop is gonna rappel down here and save the day?" Steve joked his steps echoing with each step he took.

"All right, why are you such a cranky pants after-" Dustin whispered the last bit of his sentence causing Chris to miss it.

"After what?" Chris asked squatting down to rest on her heels.

"Nothing. Jesus Christ," Steve huffed quickly in a defensive tone. Chris nodded skeptically with a tight-lipped smile.

"Sure. I'm gonna check on the girls," Chris announced with a nod and she dropped back into the elevator.

"Nice of you to join us," Erica snarked watching Chris land on the floor.

"Do you ever stop being sarcastic?" Chris questioned with a sigh, shoving her hands into her back pockets. "That was rhetorical," Chris said stopping Erica from answering and pulling out her lighter, flicking it on and off.

"You know," Robin piped up making Chris turn her head. "I've been trying to figure this thing out for hours now, and nothing." Robin hung her head hitting the side of the control panel.

"We'll get there," Chris said confidently. Both girls looked away however when they heard a splashing noise. "Oh my god."

"Can you redirect your stream, please?" Robin yelled out recognizing it was one of the boys relieving themselves. Robin cringed turning away and Chris faked gaged. Her head snapped back up when a continuous dinging sounded. "Hey, hey! Be careful, careful, careful!" Chris ordered jogging to Erica and ripping the metal capsule from her hands. "We don't know what this is."

"Exactly. It could be useful," Erica tried to explain.

"Useful how?" Robin butted in exaggerating the word how, walking over to stand by Chris.

"We can survive down here a long time without food, but if the human body doesn't get water, it will die," Erica said snappily.

"I don't know if you wear glasses, but you might need to because this is bright green, certainly not water," Chris spoke sarcastically spinning the thing in her hand.

"No, but it's a liquid, and if it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst, I drink," Erica smiled tightly and Robin scoffed, rolling her eyes knowing Erica wouldn't listen. Robin turned her head to the side hearing something.

"Someone's coming," Robin voiced quietly. Robin ran to the hatch sticking her head up to tell the boys.

"Chris, Erica, up here," Robin ordered waving the two girls over. Chris pushed Erica up to grab Robin's hand, who pulled her up. Steve reached down to pull Chris up quickly just as the door started to open.

The group held their breath as Steve looked through the grate in the roof. The two Russian men walked to their car with boxes in their hands and Steve raised a finger to his lips saying to be quiet. Steve reached over taking the metal canister from Erica and as soon as the vehicle started Steve jumped down sliding on the floor to shove the tube under the door.

"Let's go," Steve ordered catching Erica's bag and sliding it out. "Go. Go, go, go, go, go."

"I'm going!" Erica yelled pulling herself out.

"Henderson. Go, go," Steve pushed Dustin out. Robin followed after, Chris was close behind, nearly sliding under the door.

"Come on, Steve, let's go!" Chris yelled pulling Steve out with a single second to spare. The door crushed the tube and it smashed open revealing the green goo was acid and it started to melt through the floor.

"Jesus Christ," Steve panted exasperated looking over the smoking mess. Chris stood up staring down the long empty halls.

"You still wanna drink that?" Robin said with a slight snark. Dustin turned around to look at his stunned sister and he mirrored her expression.

"Holy mother of God," Dustin said stunned. The others turned to look at the never-ending blue-lit hall.

"Well... hope you guys are in good shape," Steve commented looking over the others. "Looking at you, roast beef." Steve pat Dustin's chest starting to walk ahead.

"Don't listen to him," Chris said ruffling Dustin's hair and following Steve, walking beside him.

෴

"I MEAN, YOU HAVE TO ADMIT, AS A FEAT OF ENGINEERING ALONE, THIS IS IMPRESSIVE," DUSTIN SPOKE UP. The group still made their way through the endless blue tunnels. 

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked in a tired tone, his legs getting sore. "It's a total fire hazard. There's no stairs, there's no exit, there's just an elevator that drops you halfway to hell."

"They're Commies," Erica snarked. "You don't pay people, they cut corners."

"To be fair to our Russian comrades, I don't think this tunnel was designed for walking." Robin pointed out, looking back over her shoulder. "Think about it, they developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo."

"Everything comes into the mall like any old delivery," Chris agreed, her hands in her pockets.

"And then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody's the wiser," Robin carried on.

"You think they built this whole mall so they could transport that green poison?" Steve asked.

"I very seriously doubt it's something as boring as poison," Dustin rebutted, looking up at Steve. "It's gotta be much more valuable, like promethium or something."

"What the hell is promethium?" Steve asked with a confused look, Chris's expression matching his.

"It's what Victor Stone's dad used to make Cyborg's bionic and cybernetic components," Robin explained glancing over at the older teens.

"The Robo guy from titans?" Chris asked, the name is one she's heard before.

"You're all so nerdy, it makes me physically ill," Erica complained, holding her stomach for effect.

"Only partially," Chris agreed.

"See? Nerds," Erica repeated.

"No, no, no. No, don't lump me in with them," Steve interjected, pointing a finger at the others. "I'm not a nerd, all right?"

"Why so sensitive, Harrington?" Robin teased. "Afraid of losing cool points to a ten-year-old child?"

"No, I'm just saying I don't know jack shit about Prometheus," Steve defended.

"Promethium," Chris corrected. "Prometheus is from Greek mythology, but whatever. Point is it's probably being used to build something."

"Or power something," Robin suggested.

"Probably a nuclear weapon," Chris sighed, looking over at Robin.

"Totally," Robin nodded in agreement.

"Walking towards a nuclear weapon," Steve said sarcastically. "That's great. That'd be great."

"But if they're building something, why here?" Robin asked, her voice echoing off the walls. "I mean, Hawkins. Seriously. Of all places." Robin continued to rant, her and Erica carrying on as the other three lagged behind until they eventually stopped.

"You think the Russians know?" Dustin asked.

"About..." Steve confirmed.

"They could," Chris said honestly.

"So it's connected?" Steve asked.

"Maybe," Chris said nervously.

"How?" Steve asked again, growing more and more concerned.

"I don't know, but it's..." Dustin trailed off.

"Possible," the three confirmed in sync.

"I'm sorry, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Robin yelled out, catching the attention of the others. Chris was about to explain when the radio sprung to life, playing static noise.

"Walkie," The boys said in sync, rushing for the backpack Erica had started to open.

Chris knelt with the group, watching Robin extend the antenna, and listen to the voice coming from the other side. "A trip to China sounds nice. If you tread lightly," Robin repeated in Russian. "It's the code."

"Wherever that broadcast is coming from-"

"It's close," Chris figured, cutting off Dustin's sentence.

"And if there's one thing we know about that signal-"

"It can reach the surface," Robin said interrupting Dustin. "Let's go."

෴

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