𝐒𝐮𝗺𝗺𝐞𝐫 𝗼𝐟 85 - 𝐑𝗼𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲

𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐁𝐔𝐒 𝐔𝐍𝐔𝐌

"The gate," Steve, Ivy, and Dustin said at the same time as they watched the scene in front of them unfold.

"I don't understand. You've seen this before?" Robin asked as they all rushed back down the stairs.

"Not exactly," Ivy said.

"Then what, exactly?"

"All you need to know is it's bad," Dustin said.

"It's really bad," Steve added.

"Like, end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad."

"And you know about this how?" Robin asked.

"Um, Steve? Where's your Russian friend?" Erica asked, seeing the passed out Russian soldier from before was gone. Suddenly an alarm started going off. Steve peeked his head out the door just to be spotted by a solider.

"Shit," Steve hissed, slamming the door shut. They were all quick to run. They pushed through people trying to find a way out but Dustin had led them right next to the giant laser thing.

"Oh, fuck!" Ivy shouted, her hand reaching out to grip Robins.

"Guards!" Steve shouted, looking over his shoulder. He found some stairs and led everyone down, pushing the man at the bottom out of the way. He pushed some barrels to keep other soliders out of their way before they ran into a room. "Robin!"

Robin rushed over to help hold the door. Ivy was about to join them but both of them shouted, "No!"

"Ivy, you go with them," Steve told her, nodding towards Erica and Dustin. "Keep them safe!"

"No! I'm leaving you guys," Ivy shouted.

"Go, Ivy! Please," Robin said. Ivy hesitated before rushing over to Dustin and Erica who were getting into a hatch in the floor that led to more ducts.

"So, when we first set fire to the hub, we drew the Demodogs away so El could close the gate. But now, for some insane reason, the Russians appear to be trying to reopen it," Dustin explained to Erica. "which just destorys everything we risked our lives for.

"By 'we' you're including Lucas?" Erica asked.

"Yeah, of course," Ivy said.

"So, all that shit you told me, Lucas was there?"

"Yeah."

"My brother, Lucas Charles Sinclair?"

"Yes!" Dustin said, getting annoyed.

"I don't believe you," Erica said.

"Wait, so you believed everything about El and the gate and the Demodogs and the Mindflayer, but you question your brothers involvement?" Ivy asked.

"That's correct," She nodded.

"Makes total sense," Dustin said sarcastically.

"Um, you need help with that?" Erica asked as Dustin tweaked with the control panel in front of them.

"No."

"Well, I mean, it's taking a while--"

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."

"All right, so if we don't find a more efficient method to stop these fans, we're never gonna get help and your ice cream buddies are screwed."

"Yeah, with that attitude they are," Dustin told her.

"I'm just being realistic," Erica said. "I mean, we've made it about 0.3 miles in nine hours. Then we had to walk three hours down that tunnel, so I'd estimate ten miles back to the elevator, which should take us approximately 12 and a half days."

"Did you just do all that in your head?" Ivy asked. She couldn't even do that and she graduated High School.

"I'm good with numbers," Erica shrugged.

"Holy shit. You're a nerd," Dustin said.

"Come again?"

"You. Are. A. Nerd."

"Okay, you better take that back, nerd," Erica demanded.

"Can't put the truth back in the box."

"But it's not the truth."

"Let's examine the facts, shall we?" Dustin said. "Fact one: you're a math whiz, apparantly."

"That was a pretty straightforward equation," She said.

"It was?" Ivy asked.

"Fact number two: you're a political junkie."

"Just because I don't agree with Communism as an ideology--"

"Fact number three: You love My Little Pony."

"And what does My Little Pony have to do with this?" Erica asked.

"Ah, let's recall the ponies latest adventure, shall we? The evil centaur team and Tirek turns Applejack into a dragon at Midnight Castle, and then Megan and the three other ponies have to use Moonchick's magic to defeat his rainbow of darkness, saving them from a lifetime of enslavement." Dustin recalled. "All the pink in the world can't disguise the irrefutable fact that centaurs and castles and dragons and magic are all standard nerd tropes. Ergo, My Little Pony is nerdy. Ergo, you, Erica, are a nerd."

"And how do you know so much about My Little Pony?"

"Because I'm... a nerd." Finally he had gotten the fans to stop. "Lets go... nerd."

Ivy pushed a grate away and lifted herself out of the floor in a room that stored more of the green chemicals from earlier. Dustin and Erica followed her lead.

"Oh-ho-ho!" Dustin laughed, rushing over to a cart that was left in the hallway.

"Do you even know how to drive?" Erica asked.

"No, but I'm sure Ivy can," Dustin told her, both of them turning to the oldest teenager.

"I could but I need key in order to drive," Ivy informed them.

"There's gotta be a spare."

Erica sighed and started walking away while Dustin and Ivy searched for keys.

"Hey, guys?" Erica called.

"Yeah?" They both replied.

"How big did you say that Demogorgon was?"

"Big. Nine feet or so," Dustin told her. "Why? Ooh, found the keys."

"Sick!" Ivy said, snatching them from his hand. "Erica?" They both jumped and turned around when they heard a loud zapping noise.

"What the hell is that?" Dustin asked looking at the taser stick Erica found.

"A deadly weapon," She smiled. "Could be useful."

"For what?" Ivy asked, jumping again as she pointed it at them and zapped it.

"What do you think? Taking down commies, saving your friends."

"Thought you were more realistic than that, nerd," Dustin said. "We don't even know where they are and even if we did, there are a million guards up there with weapons way deadlier than that. The best thing we can do for them is get out of here and find help. Our chance of surviving and theirs rises substantially. Just trust me on this. Please."

Ivy wanted to agree with Erica and go save Robin and Steve but she promised them she would keep the kids safe a leading them back in there was a bad idea. Then again, some things were worth the risk.

Ivy yelled charging into the room they were holding Steve and Robin with the taser thing Erica and found. She pressed it into the chest of the first man she saw. They watched with wide eyes as he fell to the ground, his chest smoking.

"Hey! Henderson!" Steve cheered with he saw Dustin. "That's crazy, I was just talking about you." Dustin worked on untying Steve while Ivy worked on Robin.

"Get ready to run," Dustin told the two.