it's the end of the world as we know it.

21. team griswold family

The group run down the escalator, rushing to meet the others as Mike helps hobble El across the floor. Dustin runs to them with a wide grin and laughs. "You flung that thing like a hot wheel!"

"Stella?!" Frankie exclaims, rushing forward to his little sister, who stood next to Luke. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Blame them that I got dragged into this shit. I just saw Dustin at Scoops and was curious, and then got sucked in." She shrugged, crossing her arms.

"She's right, we did ask her to help." Luke nods in agreement. Frankie looks at the blond haired boy and he looks worse than Frankie's ever seen, his face is bloody and beaten, slowly bruising.

"What the hell happened to you?" Frankie asked Luke now.

"Russians." Luke shrugged.

"Russians?!" Frankie exclaimed, having no idea.

"What happened to that car?" Robin asked, pointing at it.

"El flung it with her mind, she has super powers. Oh, this is my sister I've mentioned, by the way." Luke tells her, extending a hand out to introduce El. El waves slightly at Robin.

"Who are you?" Nancy aske, glancing at Robin as she spoke.

"I'm Robin, I work with Steve." Robin introduced herself.

"Like I said, she helped us crack the code about the Russians." Luke explained.

"Those were Russians?" Max gasped, glancing back at the bodies in the court.

"What are you talking about?!" Lucas exclaims, confused with all the voices thrown together.

"Didn't you hear our Code Red?" Stella asked, crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes at them.

"We heard gibberish." Mike pointed out.

"Goddamn low battery!" Dustin huffed.

"How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?!" Steve exclaimed, clapping his hands together as he spoke for emphasis.

"Well it all worked out, didn't it?" Dustin countered, scowling at Steve.

"We almost died." Luke retorted, crossing his arms.

"But we didn't!"

"Pretty damn close." Steve murmured, and Luke nodded in agreement.

"Can we go back to the Russians?" Frankie asks, doing a little rewind symbol with his hands.

"What are you not comprehending? We have a full blown "Red Dawn" situation!" Dustin demanded.

Frankie glanced at Jonathan and murmured, "I haven't seen that movie."

Jonathan gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, and Stella rolled her eyes at her older brother.

"This has nothing to do with the Gate?" Max questioned.

"Oh, we saw the gate - they're trying to open it." Luke explained.

"They are?" Nancy asked, her eyebrows furrowing. Suddenly, El cried out and dropped to the ground, curling into herself. Everyone glanced over cautiously.

"El?" Luke asked, and he and Mike rushed over to her, dropping at her side.

"My leg, my leg!" El whimpers, reaching and clutching it. Jonathan propped up her leg and held it as Nancy rolled up El's pant leg and pulled off the gauze pad they had stuck to it. Everyone cried out in disgust at the dark reds and purples of the blood and cut, and something looked to be pulsating inside. El grit her teeth together and cried out in pain.