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harringtonstilinski · 16 days

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Always The Babysitter - Chapter Twenty-Three: E Pluribus Unum

Author: @harringtonstilinski Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) Word Count: 1,757 (short chapter this week) Warnings: angsty Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! We get a lot of Dustin and Erica in this chapter <3 Also, no Steve gif this chapter! We're getting a Dustin one 'cause of this iconic line!! If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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Dustin looked up at me - well, past me to look at Steve, both of them saying, “The gate.”

I backed up from between them making my way back down the steps. “Ya’know, Dustin, I really hate being doubted.”

“I don’t understand,” Robin said. “You’ve seen this before?”

“Not exactly,” Steve said.

“Then what, exactly?”

“Trust me when I say it’s really bad,” I said.

“It’s really bad,” Steve added.

“Just said that, babe.”

“Like end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad,” Dustin said.

“And you know about this how?” Robin asked.

“It’s a long story,” I said.

“Uhm, Steve,” Erica said. “Where’s your Russian friend?”

I turned around to look at the ground behind me, seeing that the guy was indeed gone. “Sweet shit.”

Next noise to hit our ears was the alarm blaring, Steve rushing to the door to open it and look out into the hub space we sneaked through moments earlier. I heard “Halt! Halt!” before Steve closed the door, saying, “Shit!”

We ran through a couple of doors that led us straight to the control room, all of our feet stopping when the men turned to face us. Looking to my left, I saw another flight of stairs, running towards them.

“Come on!” I yelled, hearing Steve’s voice repeating the word go. I ran down a walkway, screaming as I pushed one of the hazmat suit guys out of the way, stopping once I reached the end, almost falling to my untimely demise.

I felt Dustin’s arms around me, pulling me back, both of us repeating, “Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!”

I breathed in deep before I screamed out, “Holy shit!”

“Guards! Go!” Erica said.

I turned around to face the rest of the group, my arm being tugged by Dustin as Steve yelled, “This way!” and led us down another set of stairs, pushing a guy out of the way before pushing a set of barrels towards some more guards.

I rushed towards him, running past him and to another door, leaving it open for the rest of our group to run through. Hearing it close, I turned back around, seeing Steve and Robin leaning against it to keep some weight on it.

Dustin and Erica went to a vent cover, opening it, Erica yelling out for us to come on. I looked between my brother and boyfriend, wanting to protect both of them, but knowing I’d have to leave one.

“Liv, go with Dustin!” Steve yelled.

“I– I–” I stammered.

“I’ll find you,” he said. “Go!”

“Steve–”

“Go, get out of here! Go get some help!”

I wanted to rush to him, to plant my lips upon his, but knowing I couldn’t against his struggle on the door. Feeling myself being pulled up the stairs, I kept my eyes locked on Steve before I had to look away, almost falling into the vent shaft. Looking back at Steve, I yelled, “I love you!”

“I love you!” Steve replied before I ducked into the shaft, closing the cover as I heard Robin yelling out, guns being cocked.

“He better not die,” I muttered, following after Dustin and Erica down this vent shaft.

~~~

Sitting in front of a giant fan, Dustin explained to Erica what happened that first year when Will went missing and then explained what happened a few months ago with Dart and the demodogs.

“And now, for some insane reason, these Russian assholes want to reopen it, for God knows what reason,” I said, using my hand to fan myself… even though we were by that giant ass fan. “Destroys everything we’ve risked our lives for.”

“By we, you’re including Lucas?” Erica said.

“Yes. Even Lucas was there. Matter of fact, everyone was there, aside from our mom, your parents and Mike’s parents.”

“So, all that shit he told me, Lucas was there?” Erica asked.

“Yes, Erica, he was there.”

“My brother, Lucas Charles Sinclair?”

“Yes!” Dustin and I exclaimed.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Wait, wait, hold up,” I said, sitting up a little and facing the young girl. “You mean to tell me that you believe everything about El and the gate and Dart, but you don’t believe the fact that Lucas was there helping us protect Hawkins?”

“That’s correct.” She looked from me to Dustin before she asked, “You need help with that?”

“No,” Dustin replied.

“Well, I mean, it’s taking a while, so–”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.”

“Dustin Wade!” I exclaimed.

“Alright,” Erica said. “So, if we don’t find a more efficient method to stop these fans, we’re never gonna find help, and your ice cream buddies, slash boyfriend and best friend, are screwed.”

“Yeah, with that attitude, they are,” Dustin and I said.

“Jee-zus,” Dustin added.

“I’m just being realistic,” Erica said. Looking at her watch, she said, “I mean, we’ve made it about point-three miles in nine hours. Then we had to walk three hours down that tunnel, so I’d estimate ten miles back to the elevator, which should take us approximately twelve-and-a-half days.”

I looked at her with a stunned expression as she did all that math that quickly. “Holy shit. You just did all that… in your head?”

“I’m good with numbers,” she deadpanned.

“Holy shit,” Dustin said.

“You’re a nerd!” we exclaimed.

“Come again?” Erica scoffed.

“You,” Dustin said.

“Are.” Me.

“A.” Dustin.

“Nerd,” we both ended.

Pointing her finger between the both of us, Erica said, “Okay, you better take that back, nerds.”

“Can’t put that truth back in the box,” I smiled.

“But it’s not the truth.”

“Okay, let’s examine the facts,” I said, scooting a little closer, holding my fingers out while I counted the facts. “Fact One: You’re apparently a math whiz.”

“Pretty straightforward equation.”

“Fact Two: you’re a 10 year old political junkie.”

“Just because I don’t agree with Communism as an ideology–”

“Fact Three: you love My Little Pony,” I said, grabbing her backpack and turning it to face her.

“And what does My Little Pony have to do with this?” she asked.

“Ah, let’s recall the ponies’ latest adventure, shall we?” Dustin said, which caused a confused look to come from me. “The evil centaur team and Tirek turns Applejack into a dragon at Midnight Castle, and then Megan and the other ponies have to use Moochick’s magic to defeat his rainbow of darkness, saving them from a lifetime of enslavement. All the pink in the world can’t disguise the irrefutable fact that centaurs and castles and dragons and magic are all standard nerd tropes. Ergo, My Little Pony is nerdy. Ergo, you, Erica, are a nerd.”

“Bro, what the fuck?” I murmured.

“And how do you know so much about My Little Pony?” Erica asked.

“Because I’m… a nerd,” Dustin said, taking the panel off the wall that he unscrewed during his little rant. He pulled the wires from their slots, the fan next to us powering down. “Let’s go… nerds.”

~~~

After we crawled through the blades of the fan, we made our way down the vent shaft. Whenever I spotted holes above us, I started feeling around for a loose square. Once I found it, I pushed it up and out of the way, climbing out of the shaft and onto the floor that we were crawling beneath, seeing a whole bunch of that green stuff they were putting into, what I’m calling, a gate drill.

“Jackpot,” I said, helping Erica and Dustin out of the shaft.

Spotting what seemed like a golf cart, I smiled and made my way towards it. “Hell yes!” “Do you even know how to drive?” Erica asked.

“Of course,” I said. “I’ve been driving on my own for a year. Damn it. There’s no keys.”

“You seriously thought they’d just leave keys in there?”

“There’s always a spare,” I said, more to myself. I started looking around, hearing Dustin’s rustles as he helped me look.

“Hey, Hendersons,” Erica said.

“Yeah,” Dustin and I said, getting out of the golf cart to look around more.

“How big did you say that Demogorgon was?”

“Huge,” I said.

“Nine feet or so,” Dustin said.

“Why?” we both asked.

Dustin moved to another panel box, using his screwdriver to open it, grabbing a key to the vehicle inside. “Found ‘em.”

“Dustin,” I said. “Look.”

What I was looking at was a crate, big enough for a Demogorgon.

“Ah, shit,” I said.

“Erica?” Dustin and I said, jumping at the sound of a loud zapping noise.

“What the fuck?” I breathed, holding my hand to my chest.

“What the hell is that?!” Dustin yelled.

“A deadly weapon,” Erica said, almost like she was in love with it. “Could be useful.” She zapped it again, Dustin and I jumping once more.

“For what?”

“What do you think? Taking down Commies, saving your friends.”

“Thought you were more realistic than that, nerd?”

I took the keys from him, not wanting to hear anymore of their banter for the moment. As I got behind the wheel and put the key in the ignition, I said, “We don’t even know where they are, and even if we did, there’s a million guards up there with way deadlier weapons. The best thing we can do is get out of here and find help.”

“Easy with that,” Dustin said. “Our chance of surviving, and theirs, rises substantially. Just trust us on this. Please?”

~~~

Stopping at a certain point, I got out of the cart and looked in the back, seeing boxes of that green goop sitting in it. Grabbing a couple of them, I walked a few feet in front of the cart, taking a deep breath. “Steve… this is for you.” Slamming the glass containers on the ground, I watched as they shattered, the green stuff once again eating away at the floor.

I quickly made my way back behind the wheel, trying my best to speed off. Stopping a few feet from a door, I told Dustin to charge in with that laser thing, to which he immediately did.

I charged in after Erica, standing in between her and Dustin and watching as an evil looking doctor fell to the ground. I turned to face Steve, seeing his eye bruised and swollen.

“Hey! Henderson!” Steve said, excitedly. “That’s… crazy, I was just talking about you.”

Sighing, I undid the bonds that were around his arms, hands and legs before putting my hand on his cheek. “What happened to you?”

“Oh, my god,” Robin said.

“Get ready to run!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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~~~

A/N 2: hi, friends! pls be kind and reblog! it really helps us content creators out <3

Additional Note: i absolutely love it when gaten screams shit. it's the best thing ever, lol

~~~

Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24 @stixnstripesworld @fandom-princess-forevermore @quanticobae @mischiefandi @kellyashcroft @lauren-novak

Steve Harrington Taglist: @madaboutjoe

If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.

~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Posted on April 2, 2024

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fuzzyimages · 15 days

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New bike day!

#bicycle #Cargo bike #urban bike #atb #carry all the things #cycling

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saanaitoo · 7 months

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atb doodles

not sure if someone did this already but i had a sudden urge to draw it

#atom the beginning #atb #umataro tenma #hiroshi ochanomizu #dr tenma #professor ochanomizu #tetsuwan atom #astro boy #hirouma #a106

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tezuka-brainrot · 1 month

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Every now and then I find some things to like about ATB. (Sorry, It's just not my style and has been going on for too long IMO) Like this. It looks really cute!

(Wait... I can use this for angst in the swap au as a happy memory tainted by death... Muhaha)

#hoshie tenma #umataro tenma #tenma family #atom the beginning #atb #tetsuwan atom #mighty atom #astro boy

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spoofio · 3 months

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Drawing my precious babies, Bea and Hiro

#spoofio's art #digital art #art #digital sketch #digital drawing #artists on tumblr #digital painting #clip studio paint #oc art #ATB

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darkkpastels · 2 months

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anrisimps · 3 months

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Ch 496// I feel so bad for Elle. He wasn't even the third choice lmao

Steiber : So, Pruelle is not your first, second or third choice?

Ever: Of course not. Why would lord Pruelle wish to dance with me?

Elle:

#Stay strong Pruelle #You will be able to marry her in ur next life #Atb #😭😂😂#turning #turning memes

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dandysnob · 4 months

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Thank you @frampk for tagging me! (⋆ˆ ³ ˆ)♥

Rules: if you get this, you have to list 5 songs you actually listen to. Then tag ten of your followers.

Tagging (only if you want): @meinewellemeinstrand @samshinechester @marimayscarlett @namelessrammgirl @vulnerant-omnes @sonic-counselor @franwikema @musically--declined @wizzardclown @morgana-lefay (°◡°♡)

#tag games #ATB #Topic #A7S #twocolors #emigrate #Glen Hansard #rammstein

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pens-swords-stuff · 1 year

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Nanowrimo Project 2022 // Always the Bridesmaid

Title // Always The Bridesmaid

Genre // Murder mystery, romance

Current Status // Brainstorming

TL;DR // Enemies-to-lovers that goes through a fake relationship/wedding/marriage between two bisexual rival detectives

Synopsis:

There’s been a string of murders. While tragic, murders are commonplace enough in [Fictional City] that no one blinks an eye when they are reported on the six o’clock news. The victims had nothing in common, so it was largely believed to be the work of separate killers, unrelated and commonplace. Except for one tiny detail: Every single victim had been a part of a wedding party the month prior to their death. Two private detectives were hired to investigate separate incidents, two different murders. When it becomes apparent that this trail of wedding murders has one culprit, it was only natural for them to team up and work together, because two heads are better than one. The only problem: They are rival detectives with differing styles that clash and find each other insufferable. When clue after clue lead them to dead-ends and false information, they are forced to confront the reality that they need to do something drastic to pin down the culprit. Pretending to be engaged and planning a fake wedding to lure out the killer seems extremely out there, but if they can survive a fake relationship, perhaps they can bring down the killer once and for all. It’s a crazy plan, but it just might work. Because if there is one thing for certain… The victim is always the bridesmaid, and never the bride.

Tags // All official ATB content (snippets, drabbles, character intros, etc) can be found at #always the bridesmaid or @always-the-bridesmaid-wip. You can find all the ATB posts that I post on my blog that includes rambles, fun facts, shitposts and random thoughts on #atb.

There is no taglist for Always the Bridesmaid! If you are interested in being notified when there's a post, please follow @always-the-bridesmaid-wip and turn on the notifications for that blog.

I only reblog official ATB content that can be found at #always the bridesmaid onto @always-the-bridesmaid-wip. I barely post official content, so you will not be plagued by notifications.

Things to note:

Word count goal: 50k. I however have very low expectations for myself. I tend to do Nano for 2 days before stopping.

Takes place in a "soft AU" in a world where private investigators have much more power, influence and authority than the real world.

This is completely pants'd. I have a general direction, my main cast of characters, and that's it. I don't even know who the culprit is!

Credit for the amazing tagline goes to @inkysky, thank you so much!

There are some drabbles and character introductions that are already posted on #always the bridesmaid or @always-the-bridesmaid-wip that you can check out if you are interested!

#writing #writeblr #nanowrimo #wip #wip intro #wip introduction #my wips #always the bridesmaid #atb

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atalkingbrick · 1 year

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#atb #young nudy #metro boomin

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mister-e-muss · 1 day

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I had a game development idea, so if you’d like to hear me ramble about an idea involving ATB and Stamina systems in RPGs, follow me. I should warn you though, that this is probably the longest post I’ve ever written.

So, I was looking at gameplay of Final Fantasy 13 out of curiosity, and a thought struck me.

Xenogears, Chrono Cross, and Legend of Legaia all use something I refer to as a stamina system for their attacks: You have a certain amount of points, and you can use as many of them as you want in a given turn, with extra bonuses sometimes stacking on top depending on how many and what types of attacks you’ve used. If you wanted to stretch the definition, then you could argue that Baten Kaitos does this as well, but with cards instead of basic attacks.

This made me realize that Final Fantasy 13 did something similar, but using Time as your resource. You can have an entire log of basic attacks, a medium amount of medium attacks, or a limit break that takes up all your time. What also separates FF13 from the aforementioned examples is that FF13 uses it for all of their abilities and options, instead of just basic attacks.

I know that a lot of the criticism towards FF13 comes from having to rely on auto-input rather than manually planning out your turn. So I started to think on how I would maybe handle the same idea of an “ATBar as Resource” or a take on something inspired by FF13.

My theoretical battle system goes something like this. Like FF13 your options revolve around queuing up sets of commands for your character or characters to enact. Unlike FF13, you have as much time as you’d like to have when deciding your commands. (Think Wait mode in classic FF games and Chrono Trigger, where time pauses as you scroll through your magics.) However, your turn only starts once you’ve queued up your attacks and what have you. When you’ve finished selecting your strategy, the time starts ticking and the abilities you’ve selected all start to charge up, going off when they reach full charge. Like Xenogears Deathblows, there would even be extra moves and bonuses for choosing the right combinations. The key difference here is that it applies to more than just basic attacks. Like using two spells that go off at the same time to combine, or using ascending levels of spell to create an ultimate attack for that element.

I actually made a little design guide for comparison, and hopefully explain the idea better.

I realize that stamina systems might be best used in a more traditional turn-based system, so that the player isn’t getting overwhelmed by constant inputs. However this is why I suggest the pausing as the player picks commands. To keep this more in line with ATB, all of the turns will have a separate ‘Cooldown’ phase that determines when they’ll be able to act again. Maybe even have this cooldown extend the more actions or longer actions are taken. To keep this from getting to confusing, I’m suggesting color coordination. I’m picturing something like this:

(I was worried the photo wouldn’t look good. My colored pencils are not the best quality.)

Hopefully even a system as theoretically complex as this would be manageable if everything is laid out properly. A standard party status would look something like this:

Revisiting the whole Combo Finisher/Deathblows mechanic, I feel like this is a personal preference rather than a solid design necessity, but when your combat relies heavily on experimentation, a clear way to keep track of what works is vital. I’m not suggesting that all the combos are listed fighting game style right off the bat, but rather that the game keep track of discovered combos and potential combos.

Like, say that you have used the level 1 Thunder exemplified in my first diagram, but you haven’t yet acquired the other two Thunders, or if you have them but haven’t used them in that order yet. Then when you start your turn with Thunder it will register in a database that you can check on the main menu. It will say “[Thunder l.v.1] + [???] + [???] = [???]” This doesn’t really tell the player much, but it does say at least that there is a combo move that starts with the basic Thunder. This means the player will find out when they are on the right track, won’t hesitate to experiment, and have a place to check their moves if they step away from the game for a while. I’m not a believer in explaining to the point of killing discovery. However I’m also very much against blind aimless wandering.

This last idea might be a step too far, but at this point I’ve spilled everything else, I might as well spitball this too. What if, in this theoretical RPG, you could combine turns? Pass one character so that when the next one finishes cooldown, they pool the available attacks and queue points so that even bigger and more complex combos can be built?

Idk Man, it’s half-an-hour into the next morning, and I don’t even know if a game like this sounds like a good idea. I am not, have never been, and most likely never will be a game developer. This is just the most detailed gamecrafting thought that I’ve ever had, and I feel like it should be written down and documented just in case. And hey, if there are any Indie devs out there who would want to take a crack at this type of combat, please tag me, I would Love to see if this works in practice as well as it does in concept!

Thank you all for indulging my very detailed ramblings.

#game development #game design #jrpg #rpg #turn based rpg #atb #xenogears #chrono cross #legend of legaia #final fantasy 13 #baten kaitos

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harringtonstilinski · 1 month

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Always The Babysitter - Chapter Twenty-One: The Sauna Test

Author: @harringtonstilinski Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) Word Count: 3,001 Warnings: fluff, lil' angst, falling elevators, almost confessions?? 👀 Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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When I woke up the next morning, I made a quiet groaning noise as I stretched my limbs. After I put my arms back down, I felt paper, so I picked it up and read it.

Olivia,

I didn’t want to wake you. I’m downstairs in the kitchen. Come find me.

Steve ♥️

Ever since I told him he was being all domestic last night, it seemed to me that he wanted to keep that up. I mean, I was practically living with him. So, as I got up to make my way down the hall and to the stairs, I couldn’t help but smile to myself.

Looking at Steve as I walked into the kitchen, the smile was still on my face. Something about Steve drinking from a coffee mug just made me… fall for him even more. The way this man is just casually being… him makes me wanna kiss him stupid.

“Hey, there, lover,” I said, softly, wrapping my arms around his middle from behind.

“Morning, baby,” he said. I could hear the smile on his lips.

“Whatcha doing?”

“Reading the paper and drinking–”

“Coffee?” I asked, perking up.

Chuckling, he turned around and said, “Tea.”

I made a sad face, saying a sad “Oh.”

“Look over there,” he whispered, pointing.

Following the line of sight his fingers gave me, I saw a coffee pot with freshly made coffee inside. Looking back to him with a smile, I said, “You’re the best.”

“I know,” he smiled back, giving me a kiss to the tip of my nose.

He had already set out a cup for me to use, the sugar container sitting next to it. After I had poured some of the brown liquid into my cup with some of the sugar and some half&half, I turned to him, taking a sip. “You’re the best, you know that?”

“Yes,” he said. “You just told me that like 2 minutes ago.”

All I could do was smile at him as I took another sip of my coffee.

We chatted about this and that while we sipped our caffeine and ate our breakfast. I cleaned up the kitchen while we went and got ready for work. When he came back down, blue uniform on and all, I went upstairs to get changed.

Clad in my graphic tee and denim shorts, I strutted my way back into the kitchen, stopping when I heard Steve call my name. Looking in the direction I heard his voice, I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering how I passed him standing at the door and not realizing it.

Shrugging, I made my way over to him, trapping his bottom lip between mine, feeling him kiss me back instantly. “Can I kiss you stupid later?”

He nodded, kissing me once more before opening the front door and leading me out to his car after he locked the door.

~~~

Once we picked Dustin up and made it to the mall, we sent Dustin up on the roof again to spy on the Russian guys that were standing guard outside while deliveries were being made. When he had enough entail, he came to Scoops’ back room, where Robin, Steve and I were sitting.

“That keycard opens the door, but unfortunately, the Russian with this keycard also has a massive gun,” Dustin informed us. “Whatever’s in this room, whatever’s in those boxes, they really don’t want anybody finding it.”

While Dustin was talking, I watched as Steve swirled his Scoops hat around on his hand.

“But there’s gotta be a way in,” Robin said.

Blowing into his hat to form the top of it back out, Steve said, “Well, ya’know… I could just take him out.”

“Take who out?” Robin and I asked.

“The Russian guard.” He looked over at me, my face giving off a confused expression. “What? I sneak up behind him, I knock him out, and I take his keycard. It’s easy.”

“Babe,” I said, placing my hand on his shoulder. “Need I remind you about your track record with trying to ‘take people out’?”

“Did you not hear the part about the massive gun?” Dustin asked.

“Yes, Dustin, I did,” Steve replied. “And that’s why I would be sneaking.”

“Ah,” Dustin and I said.

“Well, please, tell me this, and be honest,” Dustin continued. “Have you ever actually… won a fight?”

Looking at my brother, I said, “Did you not hear me basically ask that?”

“Okay, you two, that was one time–” Steve said.

“Nope. Twice. Jonathan kicked your ass our Junior Year. Next.”

“Listen, that doesn’t count.”

“Why doesn’t it? I watched him beat the shit out of you, AND helped you out after.”

Dustin and Steve started arguing about whether or not Jonathan’s fight actually counted. I rolled my eyes, turning my head in Robin’s direction, seeing her looking up before she said something about… something might actually working before she got up and went to the cash register, Steve and I standing at the open door watching her.

“Robin,” Steve said, taking my hand and pulling me through the door, Dustin following. “Hey, Robin! Hey, what– what are you doing?” She turned to us, backing up out of the store as she said, “I need cash.”

“Well, half of that’s mine,” Steve whined. “Where you going?”

“To find us a way into that room, a safe way,” she said, voice raised. “And, in the meantime, sling ice cream, behave, and don’t get beat up. I’ll be back in a jiff.”

“Ah, dude,” Steve said. I looked over, seeing him take the ice cream scoop from Dustin. “Come on, man, not my scooper.” He twirled it on his finger like those cowboys do in the Westerns before placing the handle in his pocket.

“I hope you wash that before you use it,” I said.

~~~

Robin came back from her little errand a little while later with a paper in her hand, walking into the back room. “It is fascinating what 20 bucks will get you at the County Recorder’s office.”

“Care to elaborate?” I said.

Placing the gigantic sheet of paper on the table, which turned out to be the mall’s blueprints, Robin said, “Starcourt Mall. The complete blueprints.”

“Holy shit,” I breathed, looking down at the sheet.

“Not bad,” Dustin said.

I leaned down a little to look at the prints, seeing Steve doing the same from the corner of my eye, his hand on my back as Robin said, “This is us, Scoops, and this is where we want to get,” while pointing to the points on the blueprints.

“I mean, I don’t really see a way in,” Steve said.

“There’s not, if you’re talking exclusively about doors,” Robin said, flipping the page on the blueprint.

“Air ducts,” Dustin and I said.

“Exactly.”

I looked up, watching as she walked to the board to grab a marker before coming back to the table, continuing her words, “Turns out, this secret room needs air just like any old room. And these air ducts–” She marked where she needed to, making a circle then a line following the air ducts to another part of the blueprints, making another circle on Scoops. “Lead all the way… here.”

I looked up at the vent, trying to get ideas on who we can send up there. “We need to look inside to see how big it is to send someone in there, but unfortunately… it’s screwed into the wall.” Movement from the corner of my eye had me looking in that direction.

“Well, who’s small enough?” Robin asked.

Dustin and I looked at each other, our eyes saying the same thing before we spoke our thoughts, “Send one of us.”

Steve moved to where they kept all their hardware before getting a ladder to stand on, unscrewing the screws from the wall and pulling the vent off, handing it to me down below. Through the screwdriver in between his teeth, he said, “Flashlight.”

I took the vent from his hands, giving him the flashlight as he took the screwdriver from between his teeth as he took the flashlight from my hand, saying, “Thanks, baby.” Shining the light down the metal air duct for a moment before saying, “Yeah, I don’t know, man. I don’t know if either of you can fit in here. It’s, like… super tight.”

“Get down,” I said, tapping the back of his thigh. “Let me try.”

He jumped off the ladder before letting me climb. I tried sticking my body through, not going past the middle of my arms. I pulled out of the duct, shaking my head before jumping down. “I can’t get through.”

Looking at Dustin, he said, “I’ll fit. Trust me. No collarbones, remember?” He moved to the ladder, climbing it before putting his head and shoulders in… getting stuck at his hips.

“Uh, excuse me?” Robin said.

“He’s got cleidocranial dysplasia,” I said. “Basically, he’s missing some of his bones and shit.”

“He can bend like Gumbo,” Steve said.

“You mean Gumby?” Robin corrected him… or tried to as Steve looked from me back to her while he said, “Pretty sure it’s Gumbo.”

“Steve, just shut up and push me!” Dustin said.

“Okay.” Steve moved to the ladder, grabbing Dustin’s feet and pushing, while saying, “I’ll push ya.”

“Not my feet, dumbass. Push my ass.”

“What?”

“Touch my butt! I don’t care!”

“Oh, sweet shit,” I muttered, covering my mouth with my hand as Steve climbed the ladder a couple steps, pushing on my brother’s ass. I tried to contain the laughter that wanted to escape, but it came out in a chuckle.

“Come on! Harder!”

“I’m pushing!” Steve said.

“Push harder!” Dustin screamed.

I looked at Robin and started laughing as Steve and Dustin argued.

“You’re playing with my legs!”

“I’m not playing, I have terrible footing,” Steve said.

“Come on!”

“I’m just gonna shove you, ready?”

“Just shove me?”

“One, two…” Steve shoved Dustin, trying to get him into the duct more, my little brother saying, “Shit!”

“That work?” my boyfriend asked.

“One more time.”

The bell ringing had Robin and I turning our heads, my laughter dying down at seeing Erica at the front counter, saying, “Ahoy, sailors! All hands on deck! Get over here and serve me some samples.”

Robin and I looked at each other, sharing the same idea.

I looked back at Erica and said, “Hey, Sinclair! Wanna earn a couple bucks?”

~~~

After I convinced Erica to look into the air duct, she came into the back room and did just that as Steve, Dustin, Robin and myself leaned against the counter by the window. She stepped off the ladder, turning to face us and said, “Yeah, I don’t know.”

“You don’t know if you can fit?” I asked.

“Oh, I can fit,” she said. “I just don’t know if I want to.”

“Are you claustrophobic?” Robin asked.

Erica scoffed, saying, “I don’t have phobias.”

It was my turn to scoff before I turned to Dustin and muttered, “Wish I didn’t.”

“Okay, well, what’s the problem?” Steve asked.

“The problem is, I still haven’t heard what’s in this for Erica,” she said.

Sighing, I stepped forward, pulling out some cash. Giving her two dollars, I said, “Here’s your pay for looking.” I leaned in a little closer to her, talking quietly so only the two of us could hear. “I’ll even convince these two sailors to give you some ice cream while you think it over.”

She looked at me for a moment, smirking a little before reaching out her hand. “Deal.”

I turned to the other three standing behind me, smiling a little. “Get her all the samples she wants, in or on what she wants.”

“Babe–” Steve started.

Holding up the rest of the cash I had on me, I said, “I’ll pay for it.”

“That’s for lunch!” Dustin whined.

“Got any better ideas?”

At his nonanswer, I walked through the doors to sit at a booth, watching as Erica put in her orders before sitting down next to me, Dustin following suit before Steve and Robin made their way to the booth as well, placing the ice creams down on the table before sitting.

Steve pushed a banana split to Erica, the young girl pushing it back, asking for more fudge. He gave me a sour look, one I knew all too well; he was upset with me, but wouldn’t be for long.

After Steve had gotten up with Erica’s banana split, Robin pulled out the folded blueprints of the air ducts, holding it up, saying, “Alright. You see this?” She pointed to the line she had drawn. “This is the route you’re gonna take.” She flipped the prints, revealing the other side of the line. “Then we just wait until the last delivery goes out tonight.”

“Then you knock out the grate, jump down and open the door,” I added.

“Then you find out what’s in those boxes?” Erica asked.

“Exactly,” Robin answered.

“Mm-hmmm. And you say this guard is armed.”

“Yes, but he won’t be there,” Dustin said.

“And booby traps?”

“Booby traps?” Robin and I asked.

“Lasers, spikes in the wall?” Erica said.

“What?”

Putting her hand on my arm, Erica said, “You know what this half-baked plan of yours sounds like to me? Child endangerment.”

“See, no–” I said.

“We’ll be in radio contact with you the whole time–” Robin said.

“Ah, ah, ah!” Erica exclaimed. “Child. Endangerment.”

Sighing, Dustin said Erica’s name, the girl looking at him before he continued, “Hi. Uhh, we think these Russians wanna do harm to our country. Great harm. Don’t you love your country?”

“Oh, my god,” I whispered, looking up at the ceiling.

“You can’t spell America without Erica,” she said.

Looking back down at her, then at my brother, he and I both said, “Oddly, that’s totally true.”

“So, so, don’t do it for us,” I said, while Erica slurped on her milkshake. “Do it for your country, for your fellow man. Do it for America, Erica.”

She shivered next to me, before smiling while saying, “Oh! I just got the chills.”

I smiled, sitting up a little straighter while looking at Robin and Dustin.

“From this float,” Erica added, my confidence shattering. “Know what I love most about this country? Capitalism. Do you know what capitalism is?”

Dustin and Robin said they did while I looked confused.

“It means this is a free market system,” she continued. “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.”

“Free ice cream?” I asked.

“For. Life,” she enunciated.

~~~

“I cannot believe I’m back on this stupid roof,” I complained, leaning in between Robin and Steve.

“You’ll be fine,” Dustin said.

I looked at him, his binoculars held up to his eyes.

“It’s all quiet here,” Robin said into the walkie talkie. “So, you’ve got the green light.”

“Green light, roger that,” Erica said, her voice coming through the walkie’s speaker. “Commence Operation Child Endangerment.”

“Are we really gonna call it that?” I asked after Robin hit the button to talk.

“See you on the other side. Nerds.”

I sighed and backed up a little from the group. Since I turned and had my back facing them, I didn’t register someone coming up behind me, hands being placed on my arms. Immediately feeling safe, I leaned back into Steve’s arms, his own wrapping around me as I sighed again. “When can we live normal lives again? Demogorgons, Mind Flayers and Demodogs, and now Russians?”

“I know, baby,” he whispered, his lips pressing to the side of my head. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

I turned in his hold, looking into his eyes while putting my arms around his middle. “Really?”

Smiling, he pushed a piece of hair back behind my ear, cupping my cheek before he said, “I’ll kiss you stupid.”

I smiled a little, leaning up to kiss him; a long, sweet kiss.

The crackling of the walkie brought me back down to reality, Erica’s voice coming through as Steve and I made our way back to the ledge. “Alright, nerds. I’m there.”

“D-do you see anything?” Robin asked.

“Yeah, I see those boring boxes you’re so excited about.”

“Any guards?” I asked.

“Negative.”

“Booby traps?”

“If I could see them, they’d be pretty shit traps, wouldn’t they?”

“Thank you for that?” Robin answered.

I heard bangs coming from the other side of the door before Erica said, “I’m in.”

“Oh, god,” Steve breathed, right before the doors opened and Erica walked out.

“Free ice cream for life,” she said.

Dustin, Robin, Steve and I got down off the roof, making our way over to Erica and the boxes, where Steve used a knife or a boxcutter to open an Imperial Panda box… another box of some sort sitting inside.

He grabbed the handle on it, turning it, causing air to hiss out of it before lifting the lid, revealing four more handles.

“Oh, sweet shit,” I breathed.

“That’s definitely not Chinese food,” Steve said. He put the lid down, placing his hand back in the cardboard box on one of the metal handles. He looked at us all before putting both hands up and saying, “Uh, maybe you guys should, ya’know, stand back.”

Robin and Erica did as Steve asked, but Dustin and I did not.

“No,” my brother and I said.

Putting his arm across my stomach to reach Dustin, Steve said, “Just step back, okay?”

Pushing his arm down, I said, “No.”

“Baby, seriously.”

“No! You’re my boyfriend, I lo–” I stopped my words, taking in a deep breath. I placed my hand on his cheek, saying, “We’re in this together. If you die, I die.”

He sighed, knowing my determination. “Okay.” Putting his hand back on the handle, he twisted it before lifting it out of the slot it was in, revealing green… something. I’m not sure what it was. Goo? Slime? I… I didn’t know.

“What the hell?” Steve muttered.

“What is that?” Robin asked.

An answer came in the form of the room rumbling before it moved a little. I instantly put my hand on Steve’s arm, grabbing for Dustin’s hand or wrist with my other.

“Was that just me, or did the room move?” Dustin asked.

I looked at Erica as she whispered, “Booby traps.”

The room rumbled again, sending Robin into motion, grabbing for the green substance. “Ya’know what? Let’s just grab that and go.”

Steve put the lid back on the metal… container thing as Dustin went to the control panel, hitting a button… about four or five times.

“Which one do I press, Erica?” he asked.

“Just press the damn button, nerd,” she said.

“Which one?” I asked.

“I’m pressing the button, okay?” Dustin added.

“Press open door,” Erica said.

“I’m pressing open door.”

Steve moved past me saying, “Just open the– press the other button.”

Anxiety was filling me at the arguments going on, an overwhelming feeling washing over me. I was brought back to reality when I heard Robin say, “Just open the door!” before a loud clanging noise sounded.

I watched as what seemed like a wall came down, slamming shut and trapping us in this room filled with boxes with unknown substances. Then the room just… fell with all five of us in it.

I was screaming, Robin and Erica were screaming, I’m sure Dustin was screaming. Feeling arms around me, I heard Steve’s voice in my ear say, “Oh, shit,” as lights were flashing by as we made our very fast descent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Posted on March 18, 2024

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