*(y/n)'s POV*

"That keycard opens the door, but unfortunately, the Russian with this keycard also has a massive gun. Whatever's in this room, whatever's in those boxes, they really don't want anybody finding it." Dustin tells us. It was the next day and Robin, Steve and I were in the back room of the parlor once again while Dustin went to spy on the Russian guards in the back dock of the mall.

"But there's gotta be a way in." I remarked. "Well, you know...I could just take him out." Steve said as he leans forward on the table. "Take who out?" Robin asked him, sarcastically. "The Russian guard." Steve said, like it was obvious, then Robin and I share a look. "What? I sneak up behind him, I knock him out, and I take his keycard. It's easy." Steve said.

"Did you not hear the part about the massive gun?" Dustin asked him. "Yes, Dustin, I did. And that's why I would be sneaking." Steve said and I facepalm at this. "Well, please, tell me this, and be honest, have you ever actually...won a fight?" Dustin asked him and I snort alittle at this. "Okay, that was one time—" Steve said. "Twice. Jonathan. Year prior?" Dustin points out. "Listen, that doesn't count." Steve said, defensively.

"Why wouldn't it? Because it looks like he beat the shit out of you." Dustin said then the two begin to bicker then Robin gets a look in her face, like she just thought of an idea. "That might just work." She mutters then she gets up and runs to the front of the parlor. We all follow her and see her grabbing some cash out of the tip jar.

"Robin! Hey, Robin!" I called out before she starts to run. "Hey, what—what are you doing?" Steve asked as we run over to her. She stops and turns to us. "I need cash." She replied, plainly. "Well, some of that is ours. Where're you going?" Steve asked her. "To find a way into that room, a safe way. And, in the meantime, sling ice cream, behave and don't get beat up. I'll be back in a jiff." Robin said and she runs out into the crowd.

Then I look over to see Dustin licking ice cream off of the scooper. "Dude.." Steve said as he looked over and grabbed the scooper out of his hand. "Come on, man, not my scooper." Steve grumbled and he pockets the scooper.

"It is fascinating what 20 bucks will get you at the County Recorder's Office." Robin said once she returned and we all were back in the back area. She sets down what looked like blueprints on the table. "Starcourt Mall. The complete blueprints." Robin said and Dustin looks at her, impressed.

"Not bad." He said and Robin smiles then points at one section of the print. "So, this is us, Scoops, and this is where we want to get." Robin said as we look over blueprint. "I mean, I don't really see a way in." Steve said. "There's not, if you're talking exclusively about doors." Robin said as she flips over another layer of blueprints and I gasped.

"Air ducts." I said and Robin smiles at me. "Exactly. Turns out, this secret room needs air just like any old room. And these air ducts lead all the way..." Robin said as she walks around us, grabs a red make then goes back to the prints, circles our area then draws a line down then to the left and circles an area. "...here." She said and we all look up at the air duct on the wall.

Steve gets up there and removes the vent cover from it. "Flashlight." He said and I hand him the light. "Thank you." He said then he turns the light on and looks through the air duct. "Yeah, I don't know, man. I don't know if you can fit in here. It's, like...super tight." Steve said to Dustin. "I'll fit. Trust me. No collar bones, remember?" Dustin reassured and Robin scrunches up her nose.

"Uh, excuse me?" She asked. "Oh, he's, uh...Yeah, he's got some disease. Chry, uh...It's chrydo, um...Something. Yeah, I dunno. He's missing bones and stuff. He can bend like Gumbo." Steve tells her as Dustin climbs up to the air duct and tries to climb in. "You mean Gumby." I tell Steve and he looks at me then shakes his head. "I'm pretty sure it's Gumbo." He said.

"Steve, just shut up and push me!" Dustin exclaims. "Okay. I'll push ya." Steve said, exasperated, and he goes for Dustin's feet and starts to push. "Not my feet, dumbass. Push my ass." Dustin said, angrily. "What?" Steve asked, confused. "Touch my butt! I don't care!" Dustin shouts and Steve rolls his eyes and goes to push Dustin's butt.

"Come on! Harder!" Dustin shouts. "I'm pushing!" Steve yells. "Push harder!" Dustin screams and I facepalm and shake my head as Steve shouts. "I'm pushing!"

"You're playing with my legs." Dustin yells as Steve gets under him and grabs his legs. "I'm not playing, I have terrible footing. I'm gonna just shove you, ready?" Steve said. "Just shove me?" Dustin asked, confused. "One, two..." Steve said and he goes to shove Dustin but nothing. "Shit." Dustin grumbles. "That work?" Steve asked. "One more time." Dustin said just as Robin and I hear the bell up front ring.

We look over and see it was Erica. "Ahoy, sailors! All hands on deck! Ahoy! Come on. Get over here and serve me some samples." She said as she keeps pressing the bell. Robin then looks at her then at me with a knowing smile. I furrow my brow in confusion but then I realized what she was planning. "Oh, God, please no." I said, exasperated.

Later, after getting Dustin out and talking to Erica, she goes up to the vent and looks through it. "Can't believe we're doing this." I grumbled as Erica hums. "Hmm...Yeah, I don't know." Erica said as she gets down and turns to us. "You don't know if you can fit?" Dustin asked her.

"Oh, I can fit. I just don't know if I want to." She said. "Are you claustrophobic?" Robin asked her. "I don't have phobias." Erica said and I rolled my eyes. "Let me guess, you wanna know what's in it for you?" I said and she smiles. "Finally, someone that's not an idiot.

Later, we sit out in the main dining area and hand Erica a sundae and she looks at it before pushing back towards Steve. "More fudge, please." She said and Steve looks at her, annoyed, while I have my arms crossed. "Go on." She tells Steve, waving her hand, and he takes it and goes back to the ice cream bar.

"All right. You see this? This is the route you're gonna take." Robin said as she holds up the blueprints she marked on. "Then we just wait till the last delivery goes out tonight. Then you knock out the grate, jump down, open the door." Robin said.

"Then you find out what's in those boxes?" Erica asked. "Exactly." Robin said. "Mm-hmm. And you say this guard is armed." Erica said. "Yes, but he won't be there." Dustin assures her. "And booby traps?" Erica asked. "Booby traps?" Robin asked. "Lasers, spikes in the wall?" Erica lists off and Robin laughs at how ridiculous this sounds. "You have watched too many spy movies." I remarked to Erica.

"You know what this half-baked plan of yours sounds like to me? Child endangerment." Erica said. "We'll be in radio contact with you the whole time..." Robin said then Erica raises her finger. "Ah, ah, ah! Child endangerment." She said, emphasizing her words. "Well, this will be a great jump start for you into the real world." I snarked and she glares over at me. I don't know what it is, I normally like kids but Erica pushes some sort've button with me.

"Erica? Hi. Uh...We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great harm. Don't you love your country?" Dustin asked her as she looks at him. "You can't spell America without Erica." Erica said and I rolled my eyes at that corny line while she loudly slurps her drink. "Uh, yeah, yeah. Oddly, that's, uh, totally true. So, so, don't do this for us. Do it for your country. Do it for your fellow man. Do this for America...Erica." Dustin said as Erica finished slurping her drink up, loudly.

"Ooh! I just got the chills. Oh, yeah, from this float, not your speech. Know what I love most about this country? Capitalism. Do you know what capitalism is?" Erica asked. "Yeah." Dustin, Robin and I said. "It means this is a free market system. Which means people get paid for their services, depending on how valuable their contributions are. And it seems to me, my ability to fit into that little vent is very, very valuable to you all. So, you want my help? This USS Butterscotch better be the first of many. And I'm talking free ice cream for life." She demands and Robin looks over at me. "This is your fault." I muttered to her.

"Erica, do you copy?" Robin said into the walkie-talkie later that night as we hide out on the roof of the mall, watching the back dock. "Mm-hmm. I copy. You nerds in position or what?" Erica asked. "Yeah, we're in position. It's all quiet here, so you've got the green light." Robin said. "Green light, roger that. Commence Operation Child Endangerment." Erica said. "Can we maybe not call it that?" Robin asked her. "See you on the other side. Nerds." Erica said and we wait.

"All right, nerds. I'm there." Erica said after a few minutes of silence. "Do you...Do you see anything?" Robin asked. "Yeah, I see those boring boxes you're so excited about." Erica replied. "Any guards?" Robin asked. "Negative." Erica replied. "Booby traps?" Robin asked her. "If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?" Erica said, annoyed.

"Thank you for that." Robin said, exasperated, and I run my hand over my eyes. "Maybe we'll get lucky and they have a really good booby trap to get her." I grumbled. "I'm in." Erica said and Steve runs his hands over his face and through his hair. "Oh, God." He sighs and I place a hand on his shoulder.

Then the door opens and we see Erica walking out. "Free ice cream for life." She shouts at us and we all share a look before we make our way down.

Once we get in the room, Steve uses his pocket knife and opens one of the boxes. Inside was a weird metal box and Steve reaches in and grabs the top open, only to see four smaller containers inside. "That's definitely not Chinese food." Steve said and he goes to reach in. "Uh, maybe you guys should, you know, stand back." Steve tells us and Robin, Erica and I stand back but Dustin stands still.

"No." he said and Steve holds out a free hand to him. "Just...Just step back, okay?" He said. "No." Dustin said, firmly. "Step back. Seriously." Steve tells Dustin. "No! If you die, I die." Dustin tells him and they stare at each other before Steve shrugs. "Okay." He said and he pulls out one of the containers, revealing a container full of a green substance with something floating inside of it."

"What the hell?" I said. "What is that?" Robin asked but then we heard a loud metal sound and the room shifted alittle. "Was that just me, or did the room move?" Dustin asked. "Booby traps." Erica whispers as we hear more mechanical sounds. "You know what? Let's just grab that and go." Robin said as she takes the container out of Steve's hand and Dustin goes over to the buttons and presses it, but nothing happened.

"Which one do I press, Erica?" Dustin asked her. "Just press the damn button, nerd." Erica shouted. "Which one? I'm pressing the button, okay?" Dustin argued. "Press open door." Erica said. "I'm pressing open door." Dustin shouts and Steve goes over to him. "Just open the...Press the other button." Steve said as he presses a button.

"Out of the way so she can push the button..." Robin said. "Would you stop?" Steve argues with Dustin. "I'm trying." Dustin said, exasperated. "Would you let me just do it? Would you stop?" Steve said as he and Dustin continue to argue while he presses the buttons. "Just open the door!" I shouted but then we heard a noise.

Suddenly, the room drops down and Robin and Erica scream as I realized that we were in an elevator. "Oh, shit." I muttered as continued all the way down.