"Not to be a wimp, but can I maybe sit in the car for this visit?" Robin asked with a small sigh, in the front seat. "Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck."

"It'll be fine." Nancy reassured her.

"I just can't stand to see those dull eyes of Eddie's break again." Robin said honestly as she looked forward again.

"Maybe he needs a hug." Rocky suggested.

"At least he can drink himself into feeling better." Steve said from the very back with Dustin, munching on the chips .

"That's what my mom does." Max exhaled, Rocky reached back and smacked Steve in the head for the comment.

"Why don't we just give it a trail run?" Robin suggested with a clear to her throat. "Why, Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Dustin-approved junk food and that six-pack you requested. Oh yeah, and we found Vecna. Only the bad news is that he's in that other, darker, much scarier dimension, that we told you about and the gates closed, so we have no way of getting to him. He's entirely shut off to us, so basically you're screwed. And, no, no, I know you were already screwed, but now you're doubly, triply screwed."

"I think he'll take it well." Rocky nodded as Max smacked his arm.

"Maybe we don't put it like that." Lucas suggested.

"We're one step closer to finding Vecna." Nancy pointed out as she took a small turn. "That's what we say. That's what's important."

"See, Robin? Positive spin can make all the difference." Steve pointed out once again with a large crunch.

"Uh-hu." she mocked.

"Want me to hit him?" Rocky suggested, his knee pressing into Max's.

"One more strike then yes." Robin confirmed.

"Oh, shit." Nancy spoke in fear as the car slowed down. They all gapped at the crowd of people and police swarming the lake house.

"Oh, no. Eddie." Rocky got out first as they all followed, Max hurried to catch up with him.

"Come on. This way." Nancy waved them over, the group hurrying behind the News van.

They got close and caught the last bit of the new chief speaking. "...reporting a homicide here on the lake. Officer Callahan here and myself arrived first on the scene. We made our way to the shire of Lover's Lake, about ten yards from that house you see behind me. It was there that we found the victim, an 18-year-old senior from Hawkins High, Patrick McKinny. His limbs...his body, uh, it was disfigured...We have also identified a person of interest-"

He held up a photo of Eddie. Rockys face fell. "Oh shit."

"Eddie Munson. We encourage anyone with information to please come forward." he went on.

"Oh man." Steve shook his head. "This is not good. This is really not good."

Rocky wrapped his arm around Max with an encouraging shake.

"Dustin, can you hear me? Rocky? Wheeler?" Eddie's voice rung from Dustin's walkie.

"Aye, he's all good." Rocky smiled as he shook Max slightly.

"Eddie. Holy shit." Dustin took the walkie as they all started to walk back. "Are you okay?"

"Nah, man." Eddie's voice shook. "Pretty...pretty goddam far from okay."

"Eddie." Rocky took the walkie. "Tell me where you are, dude. Everything's gonna be okay."

"Skull Rock. Do you know it?" Eddie asked.

"Make out rock? Hell yeah." Rocky agreed.

"Wait, you know make out rock? I invested that." Steve gapped.

"You did not." Rocky argued.

"Did you say make out rock?" Max asked in disbelief.

Rocky's face fell. "Absolutely not."

"It's on Cornwallis and Garrett." Steve nodded. "I know where it is."

"Come on." Rocky pulled Max with him. "You'll love it there, great view."

"Mhm." she mocked.

"Dude, i'm telling you, you're taking us the wrong way." Steve ranted as Dustin lead the group. "Rocky, tell him."

"Steve, i've only been out here once in my life and I wasn't leading the way." Rocky rolled his eyes as he stepped down the small hill.

"It's north. I'm positive. I checked the map." Dustin argued.

"Dude, it wasn't a popular make out spot until I made it popular." Steve pointed out to Dustin as he caught up with him. "I practically invented it."

"Cavemen invented it." Rocky argued. "Are you a caveman? Does your wife get super hot for you when you bring a dead animal home?"

"What?" Max gapped from behind him.

"Lady cavemen went nuts for their husbands when they brought food back to the cave." Rocky shrugged. "True fact, i've heard about it."

"Steve. Where are you going? Steve!" Dustin called as Steve headed in a completely different direction.

"Stop whining. Let's go. Trust me." Steve waved him off, the group following close after.

"So apparently we're going this way now? I swear to God, if they get us lost..." Max trialed off in disbelief.

"But soak up this lovely scenery." Rocky motioned around the forest. "Leaves are all different colors. Don't redheads love nature?"

"Where are you getting all these facts from?" Max gave him a look of disbelief. "Did whoever brought you to Skull Rock tell you all that?"

Rocky rose his eyebrows at her, fighting a smile. "Okay, Jealous."

"I am not." Max scoffed.

"Oh, you so clearly are." he argued, looking behind him. "Give me a second."

Max walked forward, leaving Rocky with a sulking Lucas. "You knew him, right? Patrick?"

"Yeah." Lucas sighed. "I mean, it's...it's like, why him? But then, I remember this one day, he-he came to practice with a black eye. He said he fell, but clearly he was lying. It's like everyone Vecna targets has something in their life."

"Max said Chrissy was upset, and then she died." Rocky pointed out. "Like some type of pain, or trauma."

"Yeah." Lucas agreed. "I-I didn't really know Patrick, so it was easy to just look the other way, I guess."

"Hey, man, no." Rocky rubbed his shoulder. "There's not anything anyone could have done about that. If he got a black eye, and yeah it likely wasn't because he fell, but at the time you didn't know him enough to tell the difference. That was isn't on you."

"But I did know Max." Lucas gave him a look. "I wasn't there for her."

"That wasn't your fault either." Rocky shook his head. "I mean, shit, she's complicated. She pushes people away, she doesn't let them be there. All that matters is that she knew you were available if she needed you. And you were."

"But, she spoke to you every single day. Every day." Lucas shook his head. "You were there and 3,000 miles away."

"But that isn't on you." Rocky shook his head. "Max and I...it's hard to explain. She talked to me, not to open up, but because something bonded us, something that she knew I could relate to. Doesn't mean anything, but when people are hurting, they want to talk to people that have felt at least a little similar."

"That's not all." Lucas shook his head. "She's different with you. Before you came back home, it was worse. Way worse. At least, when you're here, she is a little better."

Rocky cleared his throat. "I know-"

"I like you guys together. I think you're good for each other." Lucas cut him off. "I mean, I liked Max, but that was it. I liked her. It's different now, but not just because of Billy. It was always different, ever since you pulled her out of that hole before the Demodogs could get to her. I saw it then, I just didn't want to think it was real."

Rocky looked over. "I wish I saw it then."

"You see it now." Lucas shrugged. "That's all that matters."

Rocky inhaled. "I don't know. I mean, I came home to see if we still had that spark. And now i'm seeing and feeling like we do, but it's like, what do I do about it? When all this is over, if we make it out alive, I just go back home and have to wait two more years before anything happens for us? It's bullshit."

"Rocky." Lucas shook his head. "Live in the moment, man."

"Doesn't make sense." Dustin stared at the rock as Lucas and Rocky caught up with the remaining group.

"Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it." Steve waved him off. "You just can't admit that you're wrong, you little butthead."

"I concur." a new voice made Rocky scream and duck down.

"Oh my god." Max laughed in disbelief.

"Eddie, you scared the piss out of me!" Rocky scolded him in disbelief. "Why are all of you so set on trying to terrify me in the middle of a demon war?"

"You, Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead." Eddie agreed with Steve with a small point.

"Jesus, we thought you were a goner." Dustin hugged him.

"Aw." Rocky put his arm around Max.

"Yeah, me too, man." Eddie hugged him back. Max wrapped her arms around Rockys waist.

Moments later, Eddie explained to the group what happened with Jason and Patrick in the water. Rocky leaned against Skull Rock and kept flicking one of Max's braids off her shoulder before putting it back up, flicking it off again. "When I got to the shire, I tried calling you guys, but, uh-"

He took a long sip. "-my walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran."

"Flight or fight senses really kicked in, huh?" Rocky reached over and gave him an encouraging slap on the shoulder.

"Do you know what time this was? The attack?" Nancy asked him honestly.

"Yeah, no, I...I know exactly what time it was." Eddie nodded as he took his watch off his wrist. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

He tossed it to Nancy as she caught it in her palms. "9:27"

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey." Robin confirmed.

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve looked to the girls.

"That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick." Nancy said in return. Rocky patted Lucas' shoulders for a faint form of comfort.

"Well, we're one step closer." Robin spoke up again.

"One baby step closer." Rocky tossed an acorn at the tree.

"We know how Vecna attacks." Robin went on.

"And where be attacks from." Lucas agreed with her, hands on his hips.

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair into the Upside Down and drag a stake through his heart." Max confirmed with a cross of her arms.

"Not you." the older Byers boy shook his head as Max looked in disbelief. "What? This entire plan is to keep you out of the Upside Down, not to lead you their ourselves."

"If he even has a heart." Robin pointed out.

"A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?" Steve lokekd up.

"Do you think before you speak, ever?" Rocky gave him a look of pure disbelief.

"It was a metaphor." Max shook her head.

"A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie nodded from where he sat.

"Two fist to the goddamn head." Rocky confirmed. "Maybe it'll teach him to keep his hands off redheads."

"Maybe so." Max looked back at him.

"I say we chop his head off." Lucas pointed out. "After Rocky gets a hit in."

"He gets it." Rocky hummed.

"All of the above, but we can't do any of that till we find a way into the Upside Down." Nancy looked around at the group knowingly.

"We need El to get her powers back." Max sighed loudly.

"Everything was like way easier." Steve explained, looking to Eddie. "We had this girl, Rockys little sister. She had superpowers."

"Superpowers. Yeah, you mentioned her." Eddie hummed with a nod of his head. "Wasn't aware about the sister part."

"Well, technically , adoptive sister as of a year ago, but you get it. " He waved him off.

"Hey. Uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?" Eddie looked at Dustin as they all followed his gaze, looking to a pacing Dustin.

"Curse? No, no. He's fine." Steve shook his head. "Mental? Absolutely."

"Boom!" Dustin shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Nah, he might be just a little cursed." Rockys eyes widened in fear of Dustin's out burst.

"Bada...bada...boom." he pointed a finger as he approached. "I was right. Skull Rock was north."

"Seriously? You're serious?" Steve asked him in disbelief. "This is Skull Rock! Okay? You're totally, absolutely. 100% wrong. Right now."

"Yes." Dustin leaned in. "And no."

"Oh my god." Steve placed his hands on his face.

"I should have driven here, grabbed you, tossed you in the car, and went back to California." Rocky shook his head alongside Max.

"This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers." Dustin went on to explain. "It was correct when we got in the car on Curly. But it started to slip the further ease we went. Now it's way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was."

"So you're using faulty equipment. You're still wrong." Steve explained with a toss of his hands.

"Last time our compasses started acting up..." Rocky trailed off to his eighth grade memories.

"It isn't faulty." Dustin held the compass up. "Lucas, Rocky, do you remember what can affect a compass?"

"An electromagnetic field." Lucas confirmed.

"Yep." Dustin nodded.

"I'm sorry. I must've skipped that class." Robin gave an odd look.

"You didn't have Mr.Clarke?" Rocky gapped in disbelief.

"The one with the nephew in band with me?" Robin frowned her eyebrows.

"Well, he has two actually." Rocky corrected.

"In the presence of a stringent electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect toward that power." Dustin pointed as he explained. "So either there's some super big magnet around here, or..."

"Another gate is gonna show up." Rocky confirmed.

"But we're nowhere near the lab." Nancy looked over.

"Who says there's only one gate?" Rocky rose his eyebrows. "This is a different dimension we're talking about."

"A gate that we don't know about." Dustin agreed. "It has to be smaller. Way less powerful."

"Snack-size gate." Robin confirmed.

"You're snack-sized." Rocky flashed Max a side smirk as she rolled her eyes.

"How? Why?" Steve shook his head.

"No idea. All so know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate." Dustin explained, motioning between him, Lucas, and Rocky. "And I hope it is because when we'd have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse."

Dustin turned, walking off. Rocky grabbed Max's hand and pulled her with him.

"Where you going?" Steve called. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Eddie's still a wanted man. We can't just go for a hike in the woods."

"Steve, you sound like a freaking old man." Rocky explained with a dumb look his way.

"This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie." Dustin held the compose up. "What say you, Eddie the Banished?"

They all turned as he he scratched his face. "I say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if i'm totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire...the Shire is burning."

Dustin jumped up and down as Eddie stood. "So, Mordor it is."

"California?" Rocky gave a little bow to Max. "Care to follow me into Mordor alongside Hellfire nerds?"

Max exhaled. "Depends. Can I pick the music?"

"Sure, we have Running Up That Hill." he nodded his head. "And we have Running Up That Hill. Oh! And also Running Up That Hill."

"Solid. I'm sold." Max nodded, taking his arm as they followed Dustin and Eddie.

"Somethings happening." Dustin confirmed as he ran through the dark woods with his compass.

"Dustin? Can you slow down? Dustin?" Eddie called, close behind him.

"I think we're getting close!" Dustin called over his shoulder.

Eddie caught him before he could step into the lake. "Watch your step, big guy."

"A lake?" Rocky asked in disbelief. "Another one?"

"Oh, man." Steve huffed. "You gotta be shitting me."

"Yeah." Eddie agreed. "I thought these woods were familiar."

"Lovers Lake." Robin nodded.

"So much better then make out rock." Rocky confirmed.

"This is confounding." Dustin said honestly.

"There's a gate in Lovers Lake?" Max frowned her eyebrows.

"Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening." Nancy said confidently. "Maybe Vecna's the same way."

"Yeah, only one way to find out."

They went back to the shed, yanking the tarp off the boat. Steve and Eddie dropped it into the water. "Easy. I said easy."

"Sorry, dude." Eddie huffed.

"Yeah, i'm just gonna do that." Robin held Steve's head as she stepped into the boat.

"See you when I get back." Rocky flashed Max a smirk, taking Robins hand as he got onto the boat, helping Nancy do the same.

Dustin went to get in next as Eddie held a hand out. "Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us? This thing holds four people tops, okay?"

"Next time, honey." Rocky tossed him a kiss. "Besides, you should stay with Max while I help them."

"Don't get yourself killed." Max shook her head.

"Keep an eye out for trouble." Nancy  looked to Dustin.

"You keep an eye out." he argued with her. "It's my goddamn theory."

"Age limit man. You're a year short." Rocky shrugged in his direction.

"You heard Nanc and Rocky." Robin looked at the curly haired boy.

"Who put them in charge?" Dustin asked in disbelief.

"He hoped on a ferry all the way from California to save the day. I think he should be in charge." Eddie said back casually, getting a subtle wink from Rocky.

"Compass." Nancy held her hand out to Dustin as he huffed and gave it to her.

"Hey, there you go." Steve tossed the bag to Dustin, hoping on the boat after giving it a push.

"You're coming?" Rocky asked Steve in disbelief, Max watched him go with dread and fear.

"You said four!" Dustin yelled.

"Bed time at nine, kiddos." Robin called back to the trio.

"Don't wait up for me, Maxamine!" Rocky called, tossing her a kiss from the boat. "Miss you already!"

"I hate you!" Max yelled in return.

"Woah. Woah, woah, woah." Nancy spoke after a few moments of them paddling out into Lovers Lake. "Slow down. Slow down, guys."

They all turned back to look down at the compass, the needle going wild. Rocky frowned his eyebrows. "He's really going nuts in there."

"Guys, what's going on?" Dustin spoke from the walkie. "Come on, guys. Talk to me. What's going on?"

"Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wanky with a capital ahhh." Robin explained as she took two walkie.

"Okay, have an idea." Rocky stood up as he took his shoes off.

"Excuse me, what is happening?" Steve looked up.

"If I take a look under the water, maybe it'll show that we're right above the gate." Rocky said in return. "I was a lifeguard part time, i've got this."

"Ugh, maybe someone should go with you." Steve suggested.

"I'm not complaining." Eddie shook his head.

"I'll just come back up if there's an issue." Rocky looked down at Steve.

"Yeah, and what if you don't come back up?" Nancy gave a look of disbelief.

"Then you come down there and rescue me. Happy wife, happy life." Rocky nodded, pulling the blue shirt over his head.

"Damn." Lucas looked through the binoculars. "When did Rockys arms get so defined?"

"I know, right?" Dustin agreed. "He says it's from working on cars."

"Let me see." Max took the binoculars from him, peering through them. More so, staring without saying a word. Dustin and Lucas shared a look with each other,

"Flashlight." Eddie held it up to him as Rocky looked back. "Good luck."

"Thanks, man." he exhaled.

"Don't die, okay?" Steve nodded. "Like, being serious with you right now."

"Peace out, Harrington." Rocky flashed him a salute before falling off the boat and swimming downward.

Rocky got lower and lower, getting sight of a glowing red entrance. He swam down to get closer to it, gapping as he shined his light around. Rocky hovered his hand above it to see if he felt any heat, only the temperature didn't change. Something pushed against the other side, scaring him to death as he swam back and went for the surface immediately.

He popped up with a gasp. The ones on the boat yelled. "I found it."

"You found it?" Nancy's eyes widened.

"Dustin, you're a goddamn Einstein." Robin grabbed the walkie as Rocky swam closer to the boat. "Rocky found the gate."

"Knew he would." Max smiled as police sirens got closer.

"You were right about the snack sized thing." Rocky confirmed to Robin as he caught his breath on the side of the boat. "It's still pretty massive though."

He grabbed Nancy's hand, just as something wrapped around his foot and yanked him under. Nancy panicked. "Rocky!"

"Rocky!" Robin yelled.

"Holy shit, holy shit." Steve hurried to jump in after him, a chain reaction.

Rocky tried to fight against whatever had his foot, yanking as water filled his nose. He reached down, sinking his fingers into the tentical that had him. A screech came from the creature, Rocky yanked on it as his fingers broke through the skin and got himself free. He swam up quickly, a violent cough following his actions.

"Jesus." Eddie panicked at the sight of him. "Oh my god."

"Where-" Rocky tried to get out between coughs. "Where is everyone?"

"Went after you, man." Eddie said back.

"What?" Rocky panicked as he looked around the water, the sound of sirens caught his attention. "Shit. Max."

"They can't see me." Eddie gave a worried look. "Best scenario?"

"You go with them and I get your boat to safety?" Rocky suggested.

"Oh, jesus." Eddie braced himself. "Okay, okay."

He jumped into the water, Rocky got back in the boat and paddled to the other side of the lake.

•

kylie speaks

baby got to workkk