The Flea and the Acrobat

"What was Will saying?" Mike asked the group sitting on the couch

Dylan was sitting next to him the two boys leaning against each other, Elevens feet were on Dylan's lap as she was lying down resting.

"He said it was like home?" Dylan responded

"But dark and empty." Lucas said

Mike got up from the couch circling around them

"Empty and cold.....wait did he say cold?" Dustin sighed

"I don't know! The stupid radio kept going in and out." Lucas frustratedly answered.

  Dylan looked up at them "yes, he said it was cold, empty, and dark. But it was like home."

"Like his house?" Mike asked him

"Or maybe like Hawkins!" Lucas realized "Upside down." Eleven spoke up

Dylan turned to her his eyes widened, it was like a riddle in his head he had to figure it out.

"What she say?!" Lucas asked

"Upside down..." Dylan mumbled before he turned to look at Mike. "Mike, the upside down!" Dylan pointed at the board on the table.

Mike rushed over to the board "When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember?" Mike explained as he flipped the board over again. "Upside down, dark, empty."

"Do you understand what he's talking about?"  Lucas remarked looking at Dustin

"No." Dustin bluntly answered

"Guys, come on, think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?" Mike said

"Yea. And he wasn't there." Lucas said

"But what if he was there? What if we just couldn't see him!" Mike questioned

"He was on the other side!" Dylan slightly yelled as he finally understood what was happening the three boys all looked back at Dylan "this is Hawkins! But Will is in the upside down which is basically Hawkins. Like the Vale-"

"Of shadows!" Dustin finished

Dustin then grabbed Mikes DnD playbook, flipping to the Vale of shadows page, reading it to the group"The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a  dark reflection or echo of our world. It is a place of decay and death, a plane out of phase, a place of monsters. It is right next to you and you don't even see it." Dustin looked up at them, the pieces of the puzzle finally connecting.

"An alternate dimension!" Mike said

"But... how...do we get there?" Lucas asked

"We cast shadow walk!" Dustin replied

"In real life dummy!" Lucas said

"We can't cast shadow walk, but maybe she can." Dustin said, they all looked at Eleven.

Dylan was still on the couch as to not disturb the girl but he couldn't help expressing his opinions"To "cast shadow walk" theoretically in real life it takes a crazy amount of energy I-i- don't know if she's capable of that, and if she is, will it hurt her? Plus does she even know how to get there?" Dylan questioned

"Do you know how to get to the upside down?" Mike asked her

She shook her head in respond, which caused the boys to all sigh and Lucas to throw his head back in annoyance.

"Oh my god." Lucas said

_________________________________

It was the day of Wills funeral, Dylan was in his room getting ready, he had no idea where Steve was so he had to put his formal attire on himself. He brushed his hair, put on wrinkly dress pants and a shirt which he couldn't tuck in, and added a belt so the pants didn't fall down.

The hardest part was the tie, he didn't know how to put it on, he just decided to tie it into a knot and hope for the best, it didn't close to his neck and it was uneven but oh well, it not like Wills actually dead.

Dylan decided to wear his black converse this time, the ones he was avoiding due to guilt

He felt like Will would want him to wear the ones he loved.

______________________________

The four boys were all standing by "Wills" casket, surrounded by friends and families. Dylan was in between Dustin and Mike holding a yellow rose in his left hand.

Dustin then slightly chuckled before getting there attention towards Jennifer Hayes, a popular girl at there school.

"Just wait till we tell Will that Jennifer Hayes was crying at his funeral." Dustin said, which they all giggled at before being shushed.

As the casket was lowered and the priest talked Dylan couldn't help but tear up a bit, what if they were crazy and Will really was dead, his thought were cut short by someone grabbing his right hand, he looked over and saw Mike.

"S-sorry." Mike said letting go, Dylan paused for a moment before grabbing Mikes hand again, his hand warming Mikes cold one, the two looked at each other and smiled.

Their cheeks red, they were happy as long as they were together even in a sad confusing situation.

Once the sermon was over Dylan walked over to the casket and threw the yellow rose before walking away and meeting back up with his friends.

The four boys were now in the wake after the funeral was over. They went over to the table full of snacks and drinks and saw their science teacher.

"Mr. Clarke?" Mike said getting his attention

Mr. Clarke turned to look at him with a slight smile.

"Oh, hey there, how you boys holding up?" He asked pity in his voice

Mike, Lucas, and Dylan were all staying in character, acting sad except for Dustin who was stuffing his face full of food.

"We're... in...... mourning." Lucas responded in a monotone voice.

"Man, these aren't real Nilla Wafers." Dustin interrupted, Dylan gave him an annoyed glance as Lucas slightly hit his arm.

"We were wondering if you had time to talk?" Mike asked Mr Clarke

"We have some questions....lots of questions." Dylan followed up with.

________________________________

They were know sitting at a table with Mr Clarke, the boys all facing him, Mike and Dylan paired on the left and Dustin and Lucas on the right.

"So you know how in Cosmos, Carl Sagan talks about other dimensions? Like beyond our world."  Dylan asked using his hands to speak like he always does.

"Yeah, sure. Theoretically." Mr Clarke replied

"Right theoretically." Dylan agreed

"So, theoretically how do we travel there?" Lucas asked bluntly.

"You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's Many Worlds Interpretation, haven't you?" Mr Clarke said the only person getting that reference was Dylan, who nodded"Well basically, there are parallel universes. Just like our world but just infinite variations of it, which means there's a world out there where none of this tragic stuff ever happened." He solemnly said.

"Yea, that's not what we mean." Dylan said

"We were thinking of more of an evil dimension, like the Vale of Shadows." Dustin explained "you know the Vale of Shadows?" He stuffed another knock off Nilla wafer in his mouth.

"An echo of the material Plane, where necrotic and shadow magic-" Mr Clarke started Dustin goofily smiling

"Yea, exactly." Mike cut him off "if that did exist, a place like the Vale of Shadows, how would we travel there?" Mike asked

"Well." Mr Clarke grabbed a paper plate and a pen from his suit, he flipped the plate so they could all see and he started drawing an example on it. "Picture...an Acrobat, standing on a tightrope. Now the tightrope is our dimension, and our dimension has rules. You can move forward, or backwards." He kept drawing on the paper, the boys eyes glued listening closely.

"But, what if" he continued "right next to our acrobat, there is a flea? Now the flea can also travel back and forth, like the acrobat. But here's where things get interesting. The flea can also travel along the side of the rope, he can even go underneath the rope." He continued

"Upside down." All the boys mumbled

"Exactly! Mr Clarke responded

"But we're not the flea were the acrobat." Mike pointed out

"in this metaphor yes that's correct." He said

"So we can't go to the upside down?" Lucas asked

"No." Mr Clarke replied

"But what if, the acrobat created a super massive amount of energy.....enough energy to create this portal to the "upside down".........theoretically." Dylan asked

"Well humans at the moment are not capable of creating this amount of energy you need but if that did happen, yes you are correct." Mr Clarke fooled the paper in half stabbing the pen into it"You'll create this portal or a gate." He finished

They all looked at each other smiling

"Again this is all-" Mr Clarke started

"Theoretical." Lucas finished

"But what if this gate already existed?" Mike asked

"I think We would know..... it would disrupt gravity , the magnetic field, or our environment. Heck, it might even swallow us up whole....science is neat But I'm afraid it's not very forgiving." Mr Clarke explained.

They all then got up from their chairs thanking Mr Clarke for helping them, before Dylan could catch up with his friend though Mr Clarke stopped him.

"Dylan, can you come here for a second?" Mr Clarke asked

"Uhh sure, what do you need sir?" Dylan asked confused

"C-can I fix your tie son?" Mr Clarke asked gesturing at the mess he had on his neck.

"Oh, yea sure that would be nice." Dylan chuckled rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Mr Clarke undid the knot and started tying his tie, while he was tying it Mr Clarke was explaining to Dylan how to do it, it all swept past his head, as Dylan was just thinking about how nice it would be to have a dad... or at least a dad who cared. Dylan was so trapped in his thoughts he didn't realize he zoned out.

"Dylan? Dylan?" Mr Clarke asked waving his hands over Dylan's eyes

"W-what, oh um sorry." Dylan said looking down noticing his tie that was now presentable.

"Alright then, I'll see you at school." Mr Clarke said with a comforting smile

Dylan looked at him for a little bit before hugging him tightly, Mr Clarke was shocked by the hug but quickly just patted the boys back.

"T-t-thank you." Dylan stuttered before running back to his friends.

_______________________________

They were back at Mikes basement the boys were explaining to El what Mr Clarke explained to them. Dylan was in the bathroom looking at himself in the mirror, he was mostly looking at his tie, it was choking him and he hated the feeling but he didn't want to mess it up.

He just gently loosens the tie, enough to get his blonde curls through, before he rolled the tie up and put it in his pocket. He was keeping it good just in case he needed it again.

Dylan walked out of the bathroom to a distraught Dustin asking them for their compasses, Dylan quickly walked over to his bag taking out his compass and putting his tie there, he then handed Dustin his compass.

Dustin put all their compasses on the table all facing up.

"What's so exciting about this?" Mike asked

"Well they're all facing north right?" Dustin asked

"Yeah so?" Lucas responded

"Well that's not true north." Dustin bluntly answered

"What do you mean?" Mike asked

"I mean exactly what I just said. That's not true north." Dustin repeated

Dylan looked at all the compasses before understanding what Dustin meant.

"You're right!" Dylan said Dustin looking proud

"The sun rises in the east, and sets in the west,which means that true north." Dylan explained pointing towards the left side of the basement.

"Exactly!" Dustin expressed

"So what you two are saying is the compasses are broken." Mike asked

"Do you even understand how compasses work? Do you see a battery pack on this?" Dustin asked waving a compass at Mike

"No" Mike said

"No, you don't because it doesn't need one!" Dustin explained

Mikes attention was drawn when Dylan started to explain, just more gently "the needle's naturally drawn to the Earth's north pole. But you can alter that with a magnet......remember what Mr Clarke said? This gate can mess with the electromagnetic field therefore mess with any compass that's near it." Dylan said

"Yes!" Dustin agreed

"Meaning if we follow the compasses north....." Lucas said

"It should leads us to the gate." Dylan finished

____________________________

Dylan was walking to the garage to get some batteries for his super comm, he opened the door to see his brother Steve, with Nancy.

The two looked at Dylan, he just awkwardly walked to the batteries and grabbed them.

"Uh hey Dylan." Steve said

"Hi" Dylan responded

"You might not want to go home right now....um mom and dad just got back and-" Steve started

"They're mad, I assume, I'm not even gonna ask what you did this time." Dylan said before looking at Nancy and then back at Steve

He then closed the garage door and ran back to the basement._______________________________

The group was walking down the railroad tracks following their compasses. Dustin and Lucas were up ahead while Mike and Eleven were trailing behind, Dylan was in the middle thinking to himself.

He had to prepare, if something happened he needed to use his powers and that's final, he was gonna protect the group no matter what even if it cost him his friendship......especially his best friend Mike, nothing can happen to him.

Dylan could slightly hear Dustin and Lucas bickering, only because they were really loud but he paid no mind to it, suddenly Mike came running by his side.

"Hey, how you holding up?" Mike asked

"I'm fine." Dylan lied

"Are you sure? You've been pretty quiet." Mike questioned

Dylan smirked "are you calling me loud wheeler?" He jokingly remarked

Micheal chuckled at the comment but he then stopped in his tracks turning to Dylan who had stopped as well"Seriously though are you okay?"

Dylan paused for a moment, he was gonna tell the truth until his mind pushed it back again*not everything's about you**selfish**inconsiderate*"I'm okay......I promise" he answered with a slight smile. Which Mike returned before going back to see Eleven.

Even in a stressful situation Dylan still couldn't push off the jealousy he had in his heart, but like always he ignored it.

_______________________________

They had reached all the way to the junkyard before Dustin stopped walking

"Oh no." Dustin expressed

"What's Oh No?" Lucas asked

"We're headed back home." Dustin answered

"Are you sure?!" Lucas asked

"Yea I'm sure!" Dustin said "Setting sun, right there. We looped right back around.

"And you're just realizing that!" Lucas yelled

"Why is this all on me?" Dustin defended himself

"Because you're the compass genius!" Lucas said

"What does yours say?" Dustin asked the group which they all then looked at their own compass which read North. "Makes no damn sense." Dustin said as Lucas sighed in frustration.

"Maybe the gate moved!" Mike brought up

"No gates don't just move like that Mike, I think something else is messing up the compasses." Dylan spoke up

"Okay then maybe something here." Mike said gesturing to the junkyard.

"Nah, it would have to be a super magnet." Dustin said

"It's not a magnet." Lucas remarked as he pointed at Eleven. "She's been acting weirder than normal. If she can slam doors with her mind she can definitely screw up a compass."

"Why would she do that?" Mike said defending her

"Because she's trying to sabotage our mission, because she's a traitor." Lucas said

"Lucas what are you doing?" Mike asked as he was walking towards her

Dylan had a feeling this was a bit more heated than a regular argument, he watched Lucas's moves very closely to make sure he didn't make a mistake he would regret later.

"You did it, didn't you?" Lucas spat at Eleven "you don't want us to reach the gate. You don't want us to find Will."

"Come one Lucas just leave her alone!" Mike raised his voice

"Admit it." He paused "Admit it!" He shouted at her causing her to flinch before grabbing her arm seeing the fresh blood on her sleeve.

"Fresh blood! I knew it!" Lucas disappointedly said throwing her arm down.

"BULL! that's old blood! Right el?" Mike asked Eleven "right el?" He repeated

"It's......not......it's not safe." El cried

"Guys let's calm down alright." Dylan said

Lucas then turned to him walking towards him"No Dylan! I've been saying this since the beginning and you didn't listen!" He remarked which Dylan couldn't defend himself so he just looked down.

Lucas then turned around to face Mike again"She's been playing us since the beginning!"

"That's not true! She helped us find Will!" Mike said

"Find Will? Find Will! Where is he then? Huh? I don't see him." Lucas shouted

"You know what I mean!" Mike said

"No, I actually don't. Just think about it Mike! She could have just told us where the upside down was right away!  But she didn't, she just made us run around like headless chicken!" Lucas shouted

Dustin then tried to get in the middle and calm them down, before he was pushed away by Lucas

"No she used us, all of us, she Helped just enough so she could get what she wants. Food and a bed. She's like a stray dog!"Lucas shouted

"Screw you, Lucas!" Mike yelled back

"No screw you Mike! You're blind!" Lucas argued

"Blind! Because you like that a girls not grossed out by you. But wake up man! Wake the Hell up!" Lucas shouted getting in Mikes face. "She knows where Will is and she's just letting him die in the upside down!"

Dylan then looked at Eleven who was crying scared out of her mind, not understanding the situation. He looked around the junkyard until he heard Dustin and Eleven yelling at Mike and Lucas, he turned around and saw how they were both in the ground wrestling.

Dylan was about to pull them apart until Eleven screamed which caused Lucas to fly across the Junkyard yard and hit a piece of metal. Dylan immediately ran over to him, getting him to lay on his back and try and shake him awake.

"Lucas! Lucas! Can you hear me?!" Dylan yelled shaking him.

"Is he alright?!" Mike worriedly asked.

"Does he look alright Mike! You two are a bunch of idiots for fighting like that, I look away for one second-" Dylan lectured before he could finish Lucas jolted awake.

"oh my god, Lucas are you okay?" Mike asked him

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Dustin put up three fingers in his face

"How's your head?" Mike reached to the back of his head when Lucas pushed his hand away harshly

"Get off of me! Get off!" He yelled

Lucas angrily walked away glaring at Eleven

"Let him go." Dustin said to Mike

Mike looked down guilty before realizing El was gone."Where's el?" He asked

  "Shit...what the hell!" Dylan said frustrated

"El!"

"Eleven!"

"El"

They yelled for her but she was no where to be seen.