𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒! [𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐖𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐁

The Upside-Down was exactly how Margo remembered it, in the worst way possible. It was the definition of dark, scary, and haunted. When Margo landed on her back, Nancy was standing above her holding an oar like a sword, fighting a hoard of bats off of Steve. Robin's face loomed overhead, and as Margo's vision cleared, she reached out a hand to help her up. 

"Hey there," she said, pulling Margo closer to her. "Didn't want you to follow me." 

Margo wiped dirt from her shirt uselessly. "My dad taught me to never let your girl run off without saying goodbye." 

"I can't tell if that's romantic or very sad." 

"Very sad," Margo said drily. Eddie landed next to her just as Nancy was beating away the last of the bats. Margo grabbed an old pipe from the ground and ran to help her. 

More kept coming. One latched onto Nancy's back and Robin grabbed at it, pulling it off with all her might. Another grabbed Steve and dragged him away. Margo ran after him and brought her broken pipe down on the bat's head with all her force. As soon as Steve was free, he got to his feet and grabbed one of the bats by the tail, slamming it repeatedly into the ground. 

At last, they were clear. Steve stood between them, blood dripping from his mouth. Eddie slammed his oar to the ground. "Jesus H. Christ!" 

"Are you okay?" said Nancy, hurrying to inspect Steve for injuries. 

Steve looked down at himself, trying to catch his breath. "Well, they took about a pound of flesh. But other than that, yeah, never better." 

Robin crouched over one of the bat's bodies, shining her flashlight at it. "Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?" 

"What?" said Steve. 

"It's just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear. And I think we should get you to a doctor soon because once symptoms set in, it's too late. You're already dead." 

They all stared at her blankly. In the distance, another swarm of bats swooped towards them. Margo and Robin hurried to huddle with Steve, Nancy, and Eddie in a tight group. "Alright," Steve said, "-There's not that many." The bats screeched overhead. "We can take 'em. Right?" 

The screeching grew louder and when Margo looked around, more bats were clustering on all sides. Nancy looked over her shoulder, he eyes filled with fear. "You were saying?" For another desperate second, they all watched the bats close in. "Woods," Nancy said quickly, and all at once, they sprinted for the woods. 

They huddled under what, in the normal world, would've been Skull Rock. Margo sat between Eddie and Robin, feeling Robin's shoulders shake uncontrollably against her. They watched as the swarm of bats subsided, then slowly stood up. "Okay," said Robin. "That was close." 

"Too close," said Eddie. 

Steve stumbled, then collapsed against the face of the rock. "Oh... shit." 

"Steve?" said Nancy. 

"I'm fine," said Steve. "I'm fine." 

Nancy grabbed his arm and looked down at the gash on his side. "No, no, no. You're not. You're losing blood. Come on, sit, alright?" She gently lowered Steve to the ground. He winced and held a hand to the injury. 

"Here," said Robin, ripping the bottom corner of her shirt off. "Okay... So the good news is I'm pretty sure wooziness is not a symptom of rabies. But if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms, or you start feeling really aggressive, like you wanna punch me, let me know."