It took them a while but eventually, they made it onto the shore, the two worked quickly and hide the boat in a bush before scanning the area.

"Where to now?" Eddie asked as there didn't seem to be anywhere good to hide. "If this is Lover's Lake then Skull Rock shouldn't be too far from here, barely anyone goes there so we should be safe." (Y/n) recommends making Eddie laugh.

"Yeah, safe enough, till two teens decide they wanna bone," Eddie says making his brother laugh given the history of the rock's location. "You got a point there, but until we find a better place that's where we're heading. Besides we still need to find a way to communicate with the others, since our walkie is somewhere at the bottom of the lake." (Y/n) adds as he starts walking into the forest, Eddie stayed silent for a bit before coming up with an idea.

"I think I might know where to get one." He says quickly running into the forest catching (Y/n) off guard. "Woah, hey wait up!" He shouts following close behind him, only for Eddie to eventually lead him to a construction sight nearby where they were able to snag a walkie-talkie from a worker who had gone into the portable bathroom. After the small detour, they finally made it to Skull Rock and hide under its arch.

"Alright, we should probably try and radio them again, you know in case they're looking for us." (Y/n) says as Eddie flips through the channels to find the one Dustin was using. "Dustin, can you hear me? Wheeler?" Eddie asked once he reached the correct one.

"Eddie. Holy shit. Are you guys okay? Where's (Y/n)?" Dustin's voice rang out from the walkie making (Y/n) sigh in relief. "Nah, man. We're pretty... pretty goddamn far from okay." He says before (Y/n) takes the walkie.

"What Eddie means to say is that we're still alive and not in jail. We're hiding out under Skull Rock, do you know the palace?" (Y/n) asked. "Uh, yeah. That's near Cornwallis and-" Dustin starts off before getting cut off by Steve.

"Garrett, yeah. I know where that is." Steve says heading back to his car with the rest in tow. "Hold tight. We're coming. We're coming." Dustin says before the silence takes over once again, the two just sat in silence as they took the time to process the events of last night all over again.

"You know this is starting to become an unhealthy pattern." (Y/n) jokes but only gets a confused look from Eddie. "You know... Witness something traumatic, run away, hide, sit in silence while we process, and repeat." (Y/n) explains but Eddie still doesn't answer.

"No.. Okay." (Y/n) mutters as he bit his lip going back to his own thoughts. "Hey, what if we prank them?" (Y/n) asked again after a while.

"Prank them?" Eddie asked raising an eyebrow slightly amused by the idea. "Yeah, I mean we are wanted for murder so we should be able to have some fun while our world comes tumbling down." (Y/n) says standing up and dusting off his pants.

"We can hide behind the rock and pop out when they get here." (Y/n) says earning a smile from Eddie who nods vigorously, quick to follow his brother over as they hunch down by the rock. "Hell yeah!"

Luckily for them, they didn't have to wait too long as a couple of minutes later they heard the rustling of leaves.

"Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock." They heard Steve say. "In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face." He adds with Dustin not too far behind him.

"This doesn't make sense," Dustin says as he looked around. "Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it. You just can't admit that you're wrong, you butthead." Steve rambles just as Eddie and (Y/n) jumped out from behind the rock.

"I concur. You, Dustin Henderson, are a... total butthead." Eddie says placing his hands on his waist, making Dustin smile as he walked up to them. "I second that." (Y/n) adds crossing his arms over his chest.

"Jesus, we thought you guys were goners," Dustin says bringing Eddie into a hug, he hesitated at first but eventually hugged back and even gave the younger male a pat on the back. "Yeah, me too, man. Me too." Eddie says before pulling away as the rest of the group finally caught up. After everyone had settled down Eddie sat under the arch of Skull Rock and opened up the water canister.

"When we got to the shore, we were going to call you, but uh..." Eddie starts only pausing to take a drink from it. "The walkie ended up at the bottom of the lake when we both fell in." (Y/n) says to fill in the silence as Eddie finished his sip handing it back to (Y/n) so he could have some.

"Yeah. So, uh, we did the thing that we do now, apparently. We ran." Eddie chuckles as he tried to make light of their situation.

"Do you know what time this was? The attack?" Nancy asked, while (Y/n) was more focused on Dustin who was pacing around in the background. "Yeah, no, I...I know exactly what time it was." Eddie says his right hand reaching over to his left as he fiddled with his watch quickly taking it off.

"The walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked." He says tossing the watch to Nancy, who just barely managed to catch it. "9:27." She reads as the time seemed to register in all of their heads.

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey," Robin says though Steve didn't seem to understand the connection. "Which means what, exactly?" Steve asked looking between them.

"That, that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick," Nancy explains. "Well, we're one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks." Robin adds trying to stay on the positive side.

"And where he attacks from." Lucas jumped in, followed by Max. "So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart."

"If he even has a heart," Robin says, earning a confused look from Steve. "A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?" Steve questioned getting a little bit concerned as to what exactly they were dealing with.

"Pretty sure it was a metaphor, man." (Y/n) jumps in earning a nod from Max. "A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie asked wanting to help out with suggestions.

"No way, with his power probably wouldn't even leave a scratch." (Y/n) argues looking over at Eddie. "I say we chop his head off," Lucas adds.

"Yeah, I say, all of the above. But we can't do any of that until we find a way into the Upside Down." Nancy says finally bring everyone back to their main issue. "We need El to get her powers back," Max says clearly frustrated with how the day had been going.

"Everything was way easier. We had this girl, she had superpowers." Steve started to explain but Eddie cut him off. "Superpowers. Yeah, you mentioned her." Eddie says but his eyes just like (Y/n)'s were fixated on Dustin.

"Yeah, um, hold on are we just going to brush past that cause I mean it's not hard to believe 'cause of what has been happening to us, but I still think that we skipped past that a little too fast." (Y/n) starts feeling his nerves rise the longer Dustin continued to pace. " Also, um, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he? Cause his pacing is freaking me out." (Y/n) adds as the rest turn to look back at Dustin.

"Well we don't really have a lot of time to explain, plus stranger things have happened to us so powers were the least of our worries even now, so at least up until we clear your names we are going to have to skip past it," Robin answers the first half of (Y/n)'s question. " As to whether Dustin is cursed. No, no, he's fine. Mental? Absolutely." Steve jumps in answering the other half.

"Boom! Bada... bada... boom." Dustin yells catching everyone's attention as he points towards Steve. "I was right. Skull Rock was north."

"Seriously? You're serious?" Steve asked getting a small nod from Dustin. "This is Skull Rock. Okay? You're totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now." Steve yells as he motions toward the rock formation.

"Yes. And no. This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers'." Dustin begins to explain holding out the compass for everyone to see. "It was correct when we got in the car on Curly. But it started to slip the further east we went. Now it's way off."

"When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was." Dustin finished explaining but it still didn't seem to click with the others. "So you're using faulty equipment. You're still wrong." Steve exclaims deadset on proving Dustin wrong.

"Except it isn't faulty. Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?" Dustin asked pointing over to his friend. "An electromagnetic field." Lucas responds finally understanding what Dustin was going on about, earning a small 'yep' from Dustin.

"Sorry. I must've skipped that class." Robin says still confused about where Dustin was heading with this information. "In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power. So either there's some super big magnet around here, or..."

"There's a gate," Lucas says finishing up the last part of Dustin's explanation. "But we're nowhere near the lab," Nancy says turning to look at Dustin who already had an answer ready.

"But what if, somehow, there's another gate? A gate that we don't know about. It has to be smaller. Way less powerful." Dustin says. "Snack-size gate," Robin adds while Steve was still left in the dark.

"How? Why?" Steve asked shaking his head. "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 rambles trying to get Steve on the same page.

"And I hope it is because then we'd have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse." Dustin says before turning around and walking away. "Where are you going? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey." Steve called out to him making Dustin stop in his tracks.

"Eddie and (Y/n) are still wanted men. We can't just go for a hike in the woods." Steve argues but Dustin doesn't listen as he holds up the compass. "This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Max and the Munsons. What say you, Eddie the Banished and his brave soldier?" Dustin asked putting on extra theatrics as he focused on the brothers.

"I say you're asking us to follow you into Mordor, which, if I'm totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire... the Shire is burning. So Mordor it is." Eddie says standing up just as Dustin began to bounce on his feet eager that Eddie had said yes. "Hmm, well then count me in too. After all a general can't go anywhere without his soldier." (Y/n) adds, standing up and earning a smile from Eddie as Dustin became even more excited. After those words, everyone began to follow Dustin out into the forest.

"What is Mordor?" Steve asked but received no answer from anyone in the group. "Wait. Eddie out stuff." (Y/n) says as the two jog over to the Rock collecting what was left.

"Get your stuff, guys. Let's go." Steve says ushering them to hurry up so they don't get left behind. "Yeah, yeah, right behind ya Ken." (Y/n) mutters making Steve stop to look at him.

"Ken?" He asked as (Y/n) nods his head. "Yeah, you know, from Barbie? You look like him." (Y/n) explained leaving Steve speechless as he tried to keep up with the rest of the group.

After a long walk in the forest, Dustin finally began to pick up his pace checking the compass every few minutes.

"Somethings happening." He says as he begins to run a smile plastered onto his face. "Dustin? Can you slow down? Dustin?" Eddie shouts but it doesn't deter Dustin from reaching his goal as the rest struggle to keep up with him.

"I think we're getting close," Dustin says as Eddie breaks into a sprint to try and keep up with him. "Watch your step, big guy," Eddie say quickly grabbing him by the shoulders before he could fall into the water.

"Oh, man. You gotta be shitting me." Steve says pointing the flashlight at the water as he tried to regain his breath. "Yeah. (Y/n) was right these woods were familiar." Eddie says making (Y/n) smile.

"Told ya, Lover's Lake." (Y/n) gloats for a bit slightly proud of himself. "This is confounding," Dustin says holding out his hand for a high five, (Y/n) looked down at him confused before getting the idea and high-fiving him the both of them grinning.

"There's a gate in Lover's Lake?" Max asked wanting to know how it was even possible. "Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecan's the same way." Nancy explains.

"Yeah, only one way to find out," Steve says turning over to the brothers. "You guys remember where you stashed the boat?" He asked as (Y/n) nods walking over to a nearby bush and pulling it out, Eddie then joined in pulling off the tarp. The rest then helped put it in the water.

"Easy. I... I said easy, man." Steve instructs getting a bit frustrated. "Sorry, dude," Eddie says as he and Steve kneel down to keep the boat steady. After that, Steve holds out his hand so Robin can get on the boat.

"Here you go." He says but is quickly rejected as Robin places her hand on Steve and Eddie's heads. "Yeah, I'm just gonna do that." She says as she pulls herself up.

"Thank you." She says as Steve rolls his eyes. "Yeah, that works too." He says as Eddie is the next to step in, then Nancy, and the (Y/n).

"It's okay Ken, your hair is still as perfect as always." (Y/n) joked earning a small chuckle from Steve. "Wait. Did you? Did you just laugh? Oh my gosh I made you laugh, you secretly like the name don't you." (Y/n) says smiling as Steve shakes his head.

"No, no, no. I hate it with every fiber in my being, that was a cough, not a laugh." Steve says as he gets on the boat as well. "Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us?" Eddie asked as Dustin also tried to get on the boat.

"This thing holds four people tops, okay?" Eddie says as Nancy jumps in to agree with him. "It's better this way, okay? You guys better stay here with Max. Keep out for trouble."

"You keep an eye out. It's my goddamn theory." Dustin snaps upset that he was the one being excluded. "You heard Nance," Robin says but Dustin wasn't having it.

"Who put her in charge?" He asked only to be shot down by Robin. "I did."

"Compass," Nancy demanded as Dustin handed it over with a pout. "Hey, there you go," Steve says tossing the bag at Dustin to take some weight off the boat before he helps push them off.

"You said four!" Dustin shouts, only getting a small sorry from Steve as they paddle off. "Bedtimes at nine, kiddos. Miss you already!" Robin shouts teasing the boy.

"I kinda feel bad for leaving him there." (Y/n) says turning back to look at the kids who were just tiny dots at this point. "Eh it's alright, it's Dustin he'll get over it," Steve assures him as Eddie and Robin continue to row.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down," Nancy says after a while of rowing. "Slow down, guys." She says making the two stop as they all turn to watch as the compass is going nuts.

"Guys, what's going on?" Dustin asks over the walkie which breaks the silence. "Come on guys, talk to me. What's going on."

"Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital 'aah!'" Robin says making (Y/n) chuckle as he tried to keep a straight face, but his attention was quickly robbed as Steve began to take off his shoes and socks. "Steve, what are you doing?" Nancy asked.

"Somebody's gotta go down there and check this thing out. Unless one of you three can top being Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then... It's gotta be me. No complaints, all right?" Steve says making (Y/n) raise an eyebrow. "Not complaining but that was totally a humble brag." (Y/n) says but Steve doesn't respond.

"I mean I'm not complaining either, I do not wanna go down there," Eddie says as he takes a bag out of his jacket, dumping the contents onto the floor, as Steve takes off his shirt. Eddie then quickly wraps the plastic bag around the flashlight and hands it to Steve. "Hey. Good luck." Eddie says getting a quick 'thanks' from Steve. Afterward (Y/n) smiled as he picked up the pack of cigarettes and grabs two from the box handing one over to Eddie, who gladly takes it.

"Gross," Robin says as she takes both cigarettes out of their mouths and throws them in the water. "Okay, you just made a new enemy Robin." (Y/n) jokes as he glared at her, only receiving a shrug in response.

"Steve? Be careful." Nancy says just before Steve dives into the water. The crew waited for a while watching every corner of the boat in suspense. "Where we at, Wheeler?" Robin asked.

"Closing in on a minute." She answered before the group waited in silence again. After about another minute Steve finally burst through the surface "Oh Christ!" Eddie shouts as the whole group jumped back.

"I found it!" Steve says with a smile. "You found it?" Nancy asked as if she needed further clarification.

"I found it, Yeah, I found it," Steve says as he holds onto the side of the boat. "Dustin, you are a goddamn Einstein. Steve found the gate-" Robin says.

"It's pretty wild. It's more of a snack-size gate than the mama gate, but still, it's pretty damn big." Steve explains before he's suddenly pulled back into the water, making everyone panic as they clamor around the boat to try and catch him, the whole group yelling his name.

"What the hell was that, man?" Eddie yelled as they all looked over the edge. "Nancy, really, what happened?" Robin asked but received no answer as Nancy climbed over the edge of the boat.

"Wait, wait, wait! You're not going in there, are you?" Eddie asked which managed to stall Nancy for a bit. "Just wait here." She says diving into the water as well the group watched before Robin began to pull herself onto the edge of the boat.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. What are you doing? She said to wait." Eddie says but Robin didn't seem to care. "Yeah, I heard her," Robin replied which only seemed to confuse Eddie more.

"She's in charge." He states but Robin shakes her head. " Are you kidding me? I made that shit up." She says as she holds her nose and leans backward to fall into the water, now it was just Eddie and (Y/n). Eddie quickly turned to his brother who was already taking off his leather jacket and glared at him with a look of 'don't you dare.'

"You said you wanted to go to Mordor, well Mordor is down there." (Y/n) says motioning to the empty water. "No, no, no, you're supposed to be the smart one! No, no, no, don't-" Eddie shouts as he watched his brother dive into the water as well, quickly following Robin to a small portal that glowed a bright red.

'God if I die I'm haunting all of them.' (Y/n) thought as he closed his eyes reaching out for the portal and getting sucked in.