𝑪𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 - 𝑬𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝑴𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏

✧27✧

"9:27" she reads.

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey" Robin observes.

"Which means, what exactly?" Steve questions.

"That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick" Nancy concludes and throws back the watch to Eddie.

"Well, we're on step closer" Robin adds, "We know how Vecna attacks"

"And where he attacks from" Lucas says.

"So, now we just need to sneak up into his lair in the Upside Down, and drive a stake through his heart" Max suggests.

"If he even has a heart" Robin adds.

"A stake? What- What is he like a vamp- Is he a vampire?" Steve opens his mouth to say nonesense again.

"It's a metaphor, dumbass" I say to him.

"A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie suggests.

"I say we chop his head off" Lucas says.

"Yeah, all of the above, but we can't do any of that 'til we find a way into the Upside Down" Nancy tells everyone.

"If we could put El and Avery together, we'd be so much stronger" Max says.

"Yeah, it's always so much easier when they're together" Steve looks up to the sky.

"You know, I can also fight on my own, I don't need a team" I quietly say.

"Hey, uh, Henderson's not cursed, is he?" Eddie questions at the sight of Dustin who had been pacing back anf forth.

"Cursed? No,  no, he's fine. Mental? Absolutely" Steve answers. At the end of his sentence, Dustin finally spoke, or screamed.

"BOOM!" he screams and his words echo through the forst, "Bada... bada... boom!" he points to Steve, "I was right, Skull Rock was north!"

Steve sighs, "Seriously, you're serious?"

Dustin hums.

"This is Skull Rock, okay?" Steve agitates his hands towards the big rock.

Dustin agrees again.

"You're totally, absolutely wrong. 100% wrong" Steve continues to agrue.

"Yes. And no" Dustin finally says.

"Oh my God" Steve runs his hands on his face, defeated by Dustin.

"This compass worked corectly when we left the Wheelers' house. It was correct when we got in the car on Curly. But it started to slip the further east we went" Dustin explains and everyone is confused, "Now, it's way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was"

"So you're using faulty equipement. Your still wrong"

"Except it isn't faulty" Dustin corrects Steve, "Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?" he turns to his other friend.

"An electromagnetic field" he answers.

"Yep" Dustin says and turns back to Steve.

"Sorry, I must've skipped that class" Robin furrows her brows.

"It's simple, in the presence of a strong electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power. So either there's some super big magnet arounf here or..." I explain to everyone. 

"There's a gate" Lucas finishes for me and Dustin is proud that we understand each other.

"Avery, how the hell do you know this" Steve questions.

"Uh, I listen in class?"

"But, we're nowhere near the lab" Nancy states.

"What if, somehow, there's another gate?" Dustin suggests, "A gate that we don't know about. It'd have to be smaller, way less powerful"

"Snack-size gate" Robin says.

"How? Why?" Steve asks confused.

"No idea. All I know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate" Dustin explains, "And I hope it is, because then we'd have a way to Vecna"

"And a shot a freeing Max from this curse..." I say while looking at her.

Dustin smiles and just walks away.

"Where you going?" Steve immediately says, "Hey! Hey, 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 both Eddie and Max" Dustin lifts the compass in the air, "What say you, Eddie the banished?" he points to Eddie, we all turn to him.

"I say your asking to follow you into Mordor..." he dozes off, "Which... if I'm completely straight with you, I think it's a really bad idea... But uh, the Shire... the Shire is burning" he continues with a reference to Lord of the Rings and Dustins jumps at his words. Literally.

Eddie pushes himself up and stands straight, "So Mordor it is" he sighs and begins to walk off with Dustin. With no hesitation, I follow him and he wraps his arm around my shoulders. Everyone follows our lead and Steve talks to himself, "What is Mordor"

"You should read more" I say to him.

Eddie runs back quicly to his spot under Skull Rock, gathering his things that he forgot behind in the heat of the moment. I stand by and wait for him, "Come on, let's go!"

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Unedited. 1325 words

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