"Cooperation?"
Brenner's eyes flickered, trying to read their true intentions.
"I need you to close the gate to the Upside Down."
Brenner froze.
That secret wasn't known even to the highest levels of governnt. How could this man possibly know?
Special ops? Or so shadow division that didn't exist on paper?
His mind reeled, but he still managed to mutter, "That… would be very difficult."
"And why is that?"
The voice of Gideon Black ca calmly through the radio.
Brenner hesitated before replying.
"The rift to the other side—she opened it first." His eyes flicked to Eleven.
The girl shivered, retreating behind Hopper as mories clawed at her.
"Afterward," Brenner continued, "I used a particle accelerator to widen and stabilize it. I've never seen a world like that before. Dangerous, yes… but extraordinary." His eyes burned with longing.
Gideon cut him off coldly.
"Even knowing it's dangerous, you still put lives at risk, just to feed your so-called 'research'?"
He emphasized the word like it was poison.
Brenner's jaw tightened. "You wouldn't understand."
"You're wrong," Gideon snapped. "It's nothing but an excuse. A cover for your greed—and your incompetence. Too weak to balance safety with ambition."
"You—!" Brenner's face flushed red. He trembled with rage, unable to form words.
"Enough. Back to business. Where is the accelerator?" Gideon's voice was steady, cutting.
Brenner scoffed, seizing a shred of defiance. "Even if I told you, it would be useless. I've tried every thod myself. The lower levels are saturated with material from the other side—communications, infrared, night vision… all useless. You'd lose your way instantly. And that's not even ntioning the monsters."
Leaning back, he smirked faintly, savoring the illusion of control.
"Bravery won't save you. Going down there is suicide."
Gideon's reply ca sharp and rciless:
"Bla your weakness, not the road."
Brenner's chest tightened. The man's words hit harder than he expected.
"When we return from the Upside Down, you'll shut the accelerator down. Your research will be preserved."
Brenner's eyes widened.
"You intend to enter the Upside Down? Humans can't survive long in that environnt!"
"That's not your concern," Hopper cut in, voice like stone. He and Joyce had no choice—they had to find Will.
"The sheriff's right. If you've got no more objections, we'll begin," Gideon added.
"I object!" Brenner snapped.
But the radio link had already gone dead.
Hopper patted him on the shoulder. "He was just being polite."
---
Outside the Lab
Gideon packed away the radio. To conserve power, he and Hopper had agreed to reconnect once they reached the underground.
But there was another problem.
He turned toward the forest. The tallic tang of bloodlust was drifting closer. Monsters—strays from the Upside Down—were approaching.
He strode to Emma, gripped her shoulders firmly, and looked her dead in the eye.
"Comrade Emma, the organization has decided to entrust you with a mission—arduous, but glorious."
Emma's eyes narrowed with suspicion. Instinctively, she tried to step back, but Gideon's hands held her fast.
He signaled to two officers.
The n exchanged uneasy glances, but obeyed. One carried a bucket. The other, a coil of rope.
Emma caught the stench imdiately. Inside the bucket: thick, sticky chunks of flesh.
The first officer dipped a brush and sared the mixture across her face. The second bound her wrists tight.
Emma stared at Gideon, horrified.
"I thought we had a deal—"
Her protest was cut off by a gag shoved into her mouth.
"Relax," Gideon said with a genial smile. "Just bait. You won't be in any real danger."
The two officers swallowed hard, neither daring to speak.
Earlier, the priest had asked if either of them would volunteer. Naturally, they refused.
So he suggested the little girl. And judging by the glint in his eyes, he had been waiting for this mont.
With his power—and his repeated assurances—they had reluctantly agreed.
And so, Emma was dragged to the trap outside.
She glared at Gideon with pure venom, as though her eyes alone could kill him.
But Gideon and the officers had already retreated to cover.
Monts later, the forest stirred.
A massive tentacle snaked out of the undergrowth, followed by a long, narrow head.
A hulking creature erged from the forest—nearly two ters tall, its body a grotesque patchwork of organs twisted into the shape of a spider.
It smashed through the iron fencing with ease, its many eyes fixing on the lone figure in the clearing—Emma.
She thrashed desperately against her bindings, but all she could do was watch the spider-beast close in.
Only then did she truly understand.
That damned priest had never intended to teach her exorcism. From the start, he had only used her as a tool.
Gideon, you bastard! she scread inwardly.
The monster reached her. Emma squeezed her eyes shut.
But death never ca.
Curious, she cracked an eye open—only to see a shimring barrier between her and the beast. No matter how it strained, the creature couldn't touch her.
From his cover, Gideon watched patiently. Only when he was certain the monster was fully trapped did he step out into the open.
The two officers lingered nervously until Gideon called for them several tis. Finally, they crept forward, wide-eyed with disbelief. They had never seen anything like this.
And seeing Gideon subdue it with such calm only deepened their awe.
On the other side of the trap, Gideon wasted no ti. He produced the Exorcist's Bible, while signaling the officers to ready the holy water.
"In the na of the Lord," he intoned, "let holy light descend upon …"
Inside the binding circle, sothing stirred.
The consciousness riding the creature's mind fell strangely still, observing with interest.
Its current vessel was flesh wrought from a hellhound—native spawn of the Upside Down. Fully matured, such a beast would beco a demon lord; its tissue was nearly indestructible.
And as a being of pure thought, it possessed no true form. Not even its awareness existed fully in this plane. That should have made it untouchable.
But when the holy water struck, the vessel's flesh dissolved instantly.
It was… surprised.
Humans still wielded this sacred force—an inheritance from so "unknowable realm."
Then shock struck deeper.
The holy rites weren't just lting its vessel. They were stripping away its very consciousness—piece by piece—leaving it powerless to resist.
In all its endless existence, such vulnerability had only occurred a handful of tis.
And so, before its awareness unraveled into nothing, it burned one last mory into itself: the human's face.
Back outside the trap, the spider-thing collapsed into a pulpy heap.
Gideon ceased his chanting.
He ordered the officers to douse the remains with gasoline. Monts later, flas roared skyward, painting the night in fire.
Turning back, Gideon untied Emma.
"There," he said with a smile. "Told you it wasn't dangerous."
Emma's fists clenched so tight her knuckles whitened.
"Zzz… kzzzt—"
The radio crackled, and Hopper's voice broke through:
"Gideon, we're in. We've entered the underground facility."
---
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