"I come home, i'm the morning light-" Mav's voice echoed in the forest as birds flew. She latched onto a tree and spun around the bark. "-my mother says 'when you gonna live your life?' "

"Are you sure she only had wine coolers?" Robin whispered to Steve as Mavis nearly tipped the whole bottle over in the process of leeping over a log.

"Yeah, six." he said back.

"And girls, they wanna have fun." she waved her shoulders. "Oh gi-"

She fell over, Dustin huffed. "Would you chill out?"

"They wanna have fun!" she took his hand and gave him a spin, dancing through the forest. "The phone rings, in the middle in the night-"

"Hey, Mav!" Carrie called. "Come this way some, you're headed the wrong way."

"No, Dustin's going the wrong way. She's surprisingly right." Steve said as the cheerleader danced her way over to them. "So, I know you're in your 'try to forget what Vecna did' phase, and I totally-"

"Shh." she shoved a finger to his lips. "Enjoy California air."

"Not in California anymore." Dustin pointed out.

"Oh, that makes sense." Mav exhaled as she grabbed onto him to avoid tripping over her own feet. "Because if we were, i'd have my little babe."

"I knew it was coming." Dustin hummed.

"Makes more sense for us to be in-" she began to dance away from them again. "-Australiaaaaaa."

"I can't keep up with her." Nancy exhaled, they watched as she tripped and began rolling down the hill. "Oh my god."

"Really put the Hil in Hilton." Dustin winced as she made it to the bottom. "You alive?"

"Bad wording, dude." Steve shook his head.

"The one and only-" a new voice rung as Mavis squinted from the sun, staring at the figure standing on the rock. "Hey, Captain."

"Edwardo?" she frowned her eyebrows. "Are you an angel?"

"Honored you think so." he touched his heart. "What happened to you?"

"Vecna stole me." she held her head as she sat up. "And now i'm taking your advice and making myself feel better with a six pack."

"Woman of wisdom." he nodded his head.

"Dustin, you're going a little too quick for me to keep up." Carrie jogged after him. "Mav, are you okay?"

"All good over here." she sat up with a thumbs up.

"Doesn't make sense." Dustin stared at Skull Rock in disbelief.

"Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it." Steve rolled his eyes, grinning in success. "You just can't admit that you're wrong, you little butthead."

"I conquer-" Eddie jumped down from the rock. "-you, Dustin, are indeed a butt head."

"Jesus, we thought you were a goner." Dustin rushed forward to hug him tightly. Lucas and Max took Mav's hands and pulled her up.

"Yeah, me too, man." Eddie hugged him back. Carrie gave him a small wave as she leaned on the rock.

"Oh." Carrie held the bags out. "Please, drink the wine coolers."

"Don't drink my wine coolers." Mav's eyes widened.

"Please do." Carrie corrected. "So, what happened here?"

"Yeah, she has a special sense." Dustin nodded. "Spiritual."

"And I sense something is going on." Carrie agreed.

"I also sense something going on." Mavis mumbled with a giggle, Max yanked the wine cooler from her and chunked it into the forest. "Ugh, Maxine, do you not care for the squirrels that will eat the glass?"

"I care about you not knowing how many fingers i'm holding up." Max leaned her on the rock.

"Trick question, you have no fingers." she gave a giggle.

"Why would you let her drink?" Lucas gave a look of disbelief.

"How was I suppose to know?" Steve defended himself.

"Can we please get back to the Vecna story befofe he comes back for the girls?" Dustin cut in with a nod. "Again, and maybe Carrie next."

A few minutes later, Eddie explained to the group what happened with Jason and Patrick out in Lovers Lake. "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."

"Do you know what time this was? The attack?" Nancy asked him with a small nod.

"Yeah, no, I...I know exactly what time it was." Eddie pulled the watch off his wrist, Carrie went to touch Mikes watch he gave her before realized it was no longer there. Dustin noticed, reaching over and putting his hand on her shoulder. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

He tossed it to Mavis as it bounced around her hands before ending up with Nancy. "9:27"

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

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve looked to her.

"That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick." Nancy said in return. "When Mav got attacked outside of the store, did anything happen with the lights?"

"We were in the daylight." Steve shook his head. "Same with Max."

"But, if we weren't, then something likely would have happened, yeah?" Mavis nodded her head.

"Yeah." Max agreed from her other side.

"Well, we're one step closer." Robin nodded.

"One step closer." Dustin confirmed, hoping to make Carries worries go away. Max hid hers with anger, and Mav forgot hers with alcohol. But, Carrie wasn't like them. Worry over powered her and flooded her emotions constantly. No one saw it.

No one except Dustin.

"We know how Vecna attacks." Robin agreed.

"And where be attacks from." Lucas nodded his head.

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair into the Upside Down and drag a stake through his heart." Max inhaled as she rolled her eyes.

"Murderous little babe would." Mav touched her heart in aw.

"If he even has a heart." Robin had to point out.

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

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

"A metaphor." Mav whispered with a gasp in Steve's direction.

"Can't handle her alcohol?" Eddie whispered to Carrie, getting a very massive head shake.

"I stabbed Vecna in the hand." Mav held a hand up. "I was like-"

She began to beat the air. "-take that, mofo! Imma beat you! Wam! Wam!"

"Wam?" Carrie gave a crazy look. "You were just throwing down with Vecna instead of running?"

"He was trying to devour my face, I had to stab before running." she shrugged in return.

"Hinting at all the wam." Lucas mocked her.

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

"Maybe so." Max looked with a nod.

"I say we chop his head off." Lucas rose his eyebrows.

"I'd like to test this wam out." Carrie hummed, looking back at Dustin as he started to pace.

"Have fun, I don't ever wanna see that ugly thing again." Mav shook her head, Robin reached over and gave her back a small rub.

"Dustin?" Carrie called to him. "Dustin Henderson?"

"All of the above, but we can't do any of that till we find a way into the Upside Down." Nancy agreed with all of them

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

"Shes trying." Mav pointed out. "She's got this. Go little babe, woo!"

"Someone should tell her what happened with Mav." Steve nodded. "Might put a little pep in her step."

"What can I say? The ladies fight over me." Mavis held her hands up.

"Jesus christ." Lucas squeezed the bridge of his nose as Max held back a laugh.

"Hey. Uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?" Eddie cleared his throat, making them all turn to a pacing Dustin.

"Pretty sure he's gone deaf." Carrie picked up a acorn and threw it at him, he was not bothered. "Maybe also numb?"

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

"Boom!" Dustin yelled as loud as he could.

"I stand corrected." Carrie smiled. "There he is."

"Bada...bada...boom." he pointed a finger as he wiggled their way. "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 tossed his hands up.

"Woah, Eddie, move over." Mavis fell on the rock next to him with a hand on her head. "Spinning."

"This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers." Dustin went on to explain to each of them. "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 said back with a point.

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

"Like it was yesterday." she flashed a thumbs up from next to Eddie as he made sure she was not about to puke on him.

"An electromagnetic field." Lucas confirmed.

"Yep." Dustin nodded.

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

"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 there's a gate near by."

"But we're nowhere near the lab." Nancy stared at him.

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

"Snack-size gate." Robin nodded.

"Mav sized." Max cracked a frin.

"Max, we are the same height." she gave her a knowing look. "El is two inches taller then me."

"An M&M sized gate." Carrie confirmed.

"How? Why?" Steve shook his head in disbelief.

"M&M." she explained. "Max and Mav."

"No, the other gate being around here." he waved her off.

"M&M." Mav spoke to herself as she pushed her pink hair back.

"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 nodded toward Lucas and Mav. "And I hope it is because then we'd have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max and Mavis from this curse, and stop it from spreading to Carrie."

"Woo!" Mavis cheered as she stood up. "Let's wam Vecna before he actually gets wamed."

"If she's in, i'm in." Max exhaled.

"If you're in, i'm in." Dustin nodded at Carrie. "Byers?"

She exhaled. "Sounds like a plan."

The four began to head off, Lucas hurried after the girls.

"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."

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

Eddie exhaled as he hung his head. "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 up. "So, Mordor it is."

"Oh daddy dear, you know you're still number one." Mavis began to sing.

"Not again." Max exhaled loudly as Carrie laughed.

"But girls they wanna have fun!" she sung.

"That's all they really want!" Lucas added into her singing with her as they spun around the forest.

"Somethings happening." Dustin ran full speed through the woods.

"I haven't ran for my life in a while." Carrie spoke as he drug her with him.

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

"I think we're getting close!" Dustin yelled.

"I wanna be the one to walk in the sun!" Mav skipped around.

"Mavis." Max tried to make her stop. "You're gonna get hurt again."

"Girls wanna have fun, Max." she waved her off. "Oh girls just wanna have fun!"

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

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

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

"Lovers Lake." Robin nodded.

"Guess who I took here?" Mav spoke up.

"Your little babe?" they all said on sync.

She smiled. "Aww, know me so well."

"This is confounding." Dustin said in aw.

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

"Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening." Nancy looked to the group. "Maybe Vecna's the same way."

"Want me to try wnd summon him?" Mavis stumbled into Nancy. "I've been working on my Vecna call."

"Oh my god." Carrie grabbed Dustin's arm fo brace herself as Mavis opened her mouth.

"I think i've got you beat." Eddie cut her call short before going to the shed.

"So no Vecna call?" the Hilton-Sinclair girl asked in disbelief, throwing her empty can, after running out of wine coolers, down on the ground angrily.

"Should have stuck with apple juice." Dustin shook his head. "I'm not letting her drink at my wedding."

"You guys tied the knot?" Mavis gushed as she threw her arms around Carrie and Dustin. "So proud of you! Life long best friend with my Car-Bear? Can I bring El? She's two inches taller then me but if I wear my heels...I might have a few inches on her."

Max had laughed loudly before Dustin and Carrie both removed her arms from their shoulders, causing her to drop. Steve and Eddie dropped the boat 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.

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

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

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

"You heard Nanc." Robin gave him a knowing look

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

"I did." Robin gave a faint smile.

"Compass." Nancy held her hand out to Dustin as he huffed and gave it to her. She pointed at Mavis. "Watch her, seriously."

"She's in good hands." Lucas hoisted her up by the waist.

"Where are you guys going?" she frowned her eyebrows. "Wam bam on V-dog?"

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

"You said three!" Dustin yelled in annoyance.

"Bedtime at nine, kiddos!" Robin called out.

"Where's nine at?" Mavis frowned her eyebrows. "Oh, furniture store. Duh, Mav, you goofy thing."

"I can't handle this anymore." Carrie laughed.

"Don't worry, Car." Mav petted her face. "I won't let V-dog get you."

"Can we please stop refereeing to Vecna as V-dog?" Max gave a hopeful look.

"V-money?" she suggested back.

"Somethings wrong." Dustin peered through the binoculars, grabbing the walkie. "Guys, what's going on? Talk to me."

"Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ahh." Robin explained.

Lucas took the binoculars as Carrie looked at him. "See anything off?"

"Ugh!" Lucas cringed. "When did Steve get so hairy?"

"Right?" Dustin agreed. "I keep telling him he needs to tame that jungle, but he claims the ladies love it."

"Mmm, maybe it's just me, but not my cup of tea." Carrie shook her head.

Mavis gave a snort. "I don't know if you guys know this, but not mine either."

"Yeah, had no idea." Dustin shook his head.

"Dustin." she gave a whispered gasp. "You didn't know I like ladies?"

"Let me see." Max took the binoculars, staring through them. Lucas looked to the water, back at her staring stare, then the water again.

"You guys realize, if there's a gate down there, it's technically a water gate." Dustin gushed in their direction. "Watergate."

Carrie patted his back when no one seemed interested. "I like the watergate."

Yelling in the distance grabbed their attention.

"Shut. Down!" Lucas whisper yelled at the sight of the officers.

"It was on the shoreline!" one of them yelled. Mav's eyes widened, slapping Lucas' arm quickly.

"Shit, probation." he panicked.

"I'm gonna puke." she grabbed the tree.

"Do not puke." Carrie took her. "I think we can make it to the shed."

"Dustin, you're a goddamn Einstein-" Robin rang over the walkie as he hurried to switch it off, cutting her sentence short.

"Can't let them find Eddie." Lucas exhaled. "Mav's suppose to be in California and staying as far away from the police as she can for a few more months."

"Okay, Carrie-" Max got her attention. "You and Mavis go to Eddie's shed, hid under the tarp. We'll create a distract so you two can make it."

•

kylie speaks

i loved this chapter so
much