Madness of time | M.M. X fem OC

Chapter eleven: Freeze Baby Dolphin

The remaining group which consisted of the party and Steve went back into the house. Phoebe watched as Dustin made Steve wrap Dart up in a blanket to put in the fridge to preserve him. Steve thought it was stupid but Dustin insisted since it was a groundbreaking scientific discovery. Lucas and Max cleaned up the glass from the window as Mike paced the room, worrying about Eleven.

"Mike, would you just stop already?" Lucas yells.

"You weren't in there, okay, Lucas?" Mike yells back. "That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs!"

"Demodogs!" Dustin yells from the kitchen making Mike roll his eyes. Phoebe sighed and shook her head at the boy.

"The chief will take care of her!" Lucas argues, trying to get him to see that they shouldn't worry.

"Like she needs protection," Max mutters and Phoebe couldn't help but agree.

"Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?" Steve interrupts, coming into the room as he wipes his hands on a towel.

"Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game." Mike sasses. "And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench."

"Right... so my point is..." Steve starts before he goes silent, prompting the group to give him looks to continue. "Right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do."

"That's not entirely true," Dustin states, gaining the attention of the group. "I mean, these Demodogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away."

"So, if we get their attention..." Lucas starts. "Maybe we can draw them away from the lab," Max finishes. "And clear a path to the gate," Phoebe adds.

"Yeah, and then we all die!" Steve exclaims, prompting Phoebe to roll her eyes at Steve. "That's one point of view." Dustin states.

"No, that's not a point of view, man. That's a fact." Steve tells him as Mike gasps slightly and runs into the kitchen. The group follows him.

"This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel." Mike says, pointing to a section of the map on the wall that Will drew. He then runs into another section of the house.

"Here, right here. This is like the hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding in here." Mike kneeled over it and put his hands on it. "Maybe if we set this on fire..."

"Oh, yeah? That's a no!" Steve states, the group ignoring him.

"The mind flayer would call away his army," Dustin says.

"They'd all come to stop us," Lucas says excitedly as Steve continues to try and get their attention. "Then we circle back to the exit!" Mike adds. "By the time they realize we're gone-"

"El would be at the gate!" Max finishes. "Hey. Hey! Hey!" Steve yells, clapping now to get their attention. They all turn to him as he puts his hands on his hips assertively. "This is not happening."

"But-"

"No, no, no, no, no! No buts!" Steve interrupts. "I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe, and that's exactly what I plan on doing. We're staying here.
On the bench. And we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand that?"

"This isn't a stupid sports game!" Mike argues once more. "I said does everybody understand that?" Steve asks, waving his towel for emphasis. "I need a yes."

"Uhh hello," Phoebe says before looking back at Steve. "You have a friend who so happens to have superpowers"

Steve sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, "Phoebe, please, not now-"