While Matthew repeatedly paced around the inside of Skull Rock, Eddie raised the antennae for the radio and asked into it, "Dustin, can you hear me? Wheeler?"

It wasn't long afterwards that both Matthew and Eddie could hear Dustin say in a whisper, "Eddie. Holy shit. Are you okay?"

After sharing a quick look with Matthew, Eddie said into the radio, "Nah, man. Pretty... Pretty goddamn far from okay."

It was then that they could hear Valerie ask over the radio, "Is Matt with you? I-Is he okay?"

With a nod of his head, Eddie said into the radio, "Yeah, he's here and he's humming Metallica right about now, if that helps with telling you just how he's dealing with this shit right about now."

It wasn't long afterwards that Dustin asked him, "Where are you guys?"

Eddie told him, "Skull Rock. Uh, do you know it?"

In turn, Dustin said to him, "Uh, yeah, that's near Cornwallis and—"

Then they heard Steve say over the radio, "Garrett, yeah. I know where that is."

Not long after Steve had said those words, Dustin said into the radio, "Hold tight. We're coming. We're coming."

In response to Dustin's words, Eddie only quickly nodded his head before he leaned his head back and into the rock that stood just behind him and was once more forced to listen to the sound of Matthew humming the song No Remorse from Metallica.

Because ever since Matthew was forced to watch Patrick get killed by Vecna right in front of him when they were still out in the lake, that was all that Matthew had been doing.

Just humming to himself his most favorite songs from Metallica and the other metal bands that he'd spent most of his life listening to.

And at this point, Eddie wasn't sure if he should be worried or not, since it seemed that even Matthew was affected by watching Patrick get killed right in front of him only the night before.

As he made his way over towards Skull Rock, Steve yelled, "Oh, boom! Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock. In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face."

With a mere raise of his head, Dustin said, "Doesn't make sense."

In turn, Steve said to him, "Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you right in the face, you can't admit it. You just can't admit you're wrong, you little butthead."

It was then that a thud was heard, which got Dustin to turn around to see Eddie, who said, "I concur. You, Dustin Henderson, are a... total butthead."

As he made his way over towards Eddie, Dustin told him, "Jesus, we thought you were a goner."

And while Eddie wrapped his own arms around Dustin, he said to Dustin, "Yeah, me too, man. Me, too."

It wasn't long after Dustin and Eddie had pulled away from each other and Steve had simply nodded his head at the older metalhead that Steve suddenly let out a groan when he found himself being tackled onto the ground.

And in response to being tackled onto the ground, Steve said with a groan, "Oh, come on. What the hell, man?"

It was then that Steve heard a voice say from right above him, "Sorry. Believe it or not, Harrington, but I actually really do miss you after the shit that went down at the lake. Never thought I would, but there I was– missing you." While Steve only repeatedly blinked to himself once he saw that it was Matthew Wheeler that was crouched over him and realized that it was the seventeen-year-old boy that had tackled him to the ground, Matthew turned his head to look away from Steve as he asked, "Where the hell's Valerie?"

Then– after hearing a voice say his name– Matthew quickly jumped back up and onto his own two feet before he had to find some way to balance himself when Valerie came running at him and nearly made him fall once she had practically thrown herself into his arms.

And in response to just how tightly she had her arms wrapped around him, Matthew simply let out a sigh before he wrapped his own arms around her and let out a chuckle as he listened to her muffled threats about what she would do to him the next time that he disappeared on her without at least giving her some form of a warning of just where he was going to.

While Matthew did everything that he could to keep himself from humming another Metallica song, Eddie said, "When we got to the shore, we tried calling you guys, but, uh... my walkie was busted, man. Drenched." Then he glanced over at Matthew as he said, "And, uh, Little Wheeler's bag was drenched, too. So, his walkie was a bust, too. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran. And, uh, I tried to get Little Wheeler to find his way back to you guys, but he, uh, refused to leave me on my own and we've been on our own ever since– you know, up until you guys showed up here."

With a wave of one of her hands, Nancy asked them, "Do either of you know what time this was? The attack?"

With a nod of his head, Eddie told her, "Yeah, no, I... I know exactly what time it was. My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."

After barely catching Eddie's watch, Nancy said, "9:27."

In turn, Robin said, "Same time our flashlights went kablooey."

With a shake of his head, Steve asked them, "Which means what, exactly?"

Nancy told him, "That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick."

With a sigh, Robin said, "Well, we're one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks."

Then Lucas said, "And where he attacks from."

With a shake of her own head, Max said, "So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart."

In turn, Robin said to her, "If he even has a heart."

With his eyebrows furrowed, Steve asked them, "A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?"

While Matthew only let out a sigh and merely glanced over at Valerie after she had wordlessly squeezed his hand, Max told Steve, "It was a metaphor."

Then Eddie asked them, "A bullet should work on him, right?"

With a mere raise of his eyebrows, Lucas said, "I say we chop his head off."

Nancy replied, "Yeah, I'd say all of the above, but we can't do any of that until we find a way into the Upside Down."

With a shake of her head, Max said, "We need El to get her powers back."

With a mere raise of his head, Steve said, "Everything was, like, way easier." Then he turned to Eddie and told him, "We had this girl. She had superpowers."

In turn, Eddie said to him, "Superpowers. Yeah, you mentioned her. And, uh, Little Wheeler kind of already explained to me everything you guys dealt with over the past few years, so I'm kind of all caught up on everything that has to do with the Upside Down." While Steve only tilted his head with a mere raise of his eyebrows, Eddie asked him, "Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?"

Steve replied, "Cursed? No, no, no. He's fine. Mental? Absolutely."

It was then that– with a mere raise of his arms– Dustin yelled, "Boom!" After everyone had turned their attention over to Dustin and looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, Dustin pointed a single finger at Steve as he said, "Bada... bada... boom."

When Steve only shook his head in response to Dustin's words, Dustin told him, "I was right. Skull Rock was north."

While Valerie and Matthew only shared a look with each other, Steve replied, "Seriously? You're serious?"

With a mere nod of his head, Dustin said, "Mm-hmm."

With a mere wave of his hands, Steve told him, "This is Skull Rock. Okay? You're totally, absolutely one-hundred-percent wrong. Right now."

As he leaned his head in towards the direction that Steve was standing in, Dustin said, "Yes. And no."

With a mere shake of his head, Steve brought his hands up to his face and turned away from Dustin as he said, "Oh, my God."

After holding up the compass that he had in his hand, Dustin told them, "This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers'. 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."

Steve replied, "So you're using faulty equipment. You're still wrong."

In turn, Dustin said to him, "Except it isn't faulty." Then he turned to Lucas and asked him, "Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?"

With a point of his finger, Lucas said, "An electromagnetic field."

With a mere raise of his hands, Dustin said, "Yep."

With a mere turn of her head, Robin said, "I'm sorry. I must've skipped that class."

It was then that Dustin told them, "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..."

With a mere raise of his eyebrows, Lucas said, "There's a gate."

In turn, Nancy said to them, "But we're nowhere near the lab."

Dustin asked her, "But what if, somehow, there's another gate? A gate that we don't know about. It'd have to be smaller. Way less powerful."

With yet another turn of her head, Robin said, "Snack-size gate."

With his eyebrows furrowed, Steve asked Dustin, "How? Why?"

With a shake of his own head, Dustin replied, "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. And I hope it is because then we'd have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse."

While Matthew only took a glance over at Eddie, Valerie said, "And don't forget a shot of proving to the cops that Eddie had nothing to do with any of the people that Vecna's killed."

In response to Valerie's words, Dustin only nodded his head before he turned his back on them and started to walk away from Skull Rock, only to stop when Steve asked him, "Where are you going? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Eddie's still a wanted man and Wheeler over there was just made a person of interest. We can't just go for a hike in the woods."

With a raise of his compass, Dustin told him, "This little steel capsule might be the key to saving Max, Matt and Eddie." Then– with a wave of his arms– Dustin asked, "What say you, Eddie the Banished?"

Instead of immediately responding to Dustin's question, Eddie glanced over at Matthew, who said to him, "I'm up for it, if you are."

After only letting out a sigh, Eddie said, "I say you're asking me 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." While at least half of the group glanced over at Dustin and took notice of how he repeatedly jumped up and down with a smile on his face, Eddie put his hands on his legs and pushed himself up off of the ground before he said, "So Mordor it is."

While Matthew was quick to offer Valerie his hand and pull her up and off of the ground, Steve quietly asked himself, "What is Mordor?"

Then Steve glanced over at Matthew and watched how the seventeen-year-old boy quietly talked to Valerie about whatever it is that they spent their free time talking about.

But his attention almost immediately went from Matthew and over to Eddie, who quickly ran past him to grab some of his own stuff that he'd left behind, which got Steve to say to him, "Get your stuff, dude. Let's go."

And while Eddie was quick to practically run past Matthew and Valerie and back over towards Dustin, Valerie glanced over at Matthew and silently took notice of the fact that– for once– his attention wasn't on Eddie and he was simply humming yet another Metallica song to himself in some attempt to take his mind off of the fact that he was apparently wanted for the involvement that the cops believed that he had in the deaths of Chrissy Cunningham, Fred Benson and Patrick McKinney.

After taking a quick glance down at the compass in his hand, Dustin said, "Something's happening."

As he continued to walk after Dustin, Eddie asked him, "Dustin? Can you slow down? Dustin?"

While Eddie and the others only continued to walk after Dustin, Valerie glanced over at Matthew and only eyed him as he listened to some of his favorite Metallica songs on her own personal walkman and hummed along to the song that he was currently listening to.

And while Valerie silently took note of just how unlike himself that Matthew had been ever since she reunited with him back at Skull Rock, Dustin turned to Eddie and told him, "I think we're getting close."

It was then that Eddie grabbed the back of his hoodie and kept Dustin from falling into the lake as he said, "Watch your step, big guy."

In turn, Steve said, "Oh, man. You gotta be shitting me."

As he stared out at the lake, Eddie said, "Yeah. I thought these woods were familiar."

While Matthew pulled the headphones off of his head and let them rest around his neck, Robin said, "Lover's Lake."

Then Dustin said, "This is confounding."

Then Max asked them, "There's a gate in Lover's Lake?"

Nancy told them, "Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecna's the same way."

Steve replied, "Yeah, only one way to find out."

It wasn't long afterwards that Eddie quickly took the tarp off of the boat and simply shared a look with Steve, shortly before both he and Steve brought the boat over towards the lake, while Steve said to him, "Easy. I... I said easy, dude."

In turn, Eddie said to him, "Sorry, dude."

And while Matthew only stared out into the lake and over at the spot where Patrick had been killed by Vecna only the night before, Robin used the heads of Steve and Eddie to help herself get into the boat– followed swiftly by Eddie himself, and then Nancy, who was being helped into the boat by Eddie.

It was only when Dustin went to take a step into the boat that he suddenly stopped when Eddie had pressed a hand into his face and said to him, "Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us? This thing holds three people tops, okay?"

Then Nancy told Dustin, "It's better this way, okay? You guys stay here with Max. Keep an eye out for trouble."

Dustin replied, "You keep an eye out. It's my goddamn theory."

With a mere tilt of her head, Robin said, "You heard Nance."

With a mere point of his finger, Dustin asked Robin, "Who put her in charge?"

Robin told him, "I did."

Not even a minute after Dustin had simply stared at Robin with furrowed eyebrows, Nancy held out a hand towards Dustin as she said, "Compass."

While Matthew and Valerie only shared a look with each other, Dustin handed the compass over to Nancy, shortly before Steve threw his backpack over at Dustin as he said, "Hey, there you go."

It wasn't long after Steve had pushed the boat out into the lake and then got into it himself that Dustin said to them, "You said three."

In turn, Steve said to him in a whisper, "Sorry."

Then Robin yelled after them, "Bedtime at nine, kiddos!" While Dustin only raised a single middle finger at her, Robin yelled, "Miss you already!"

After only letting out a sigh, Matthew took the radio away from Dustin and said into it, "Harrington."

It wasn't long afterwards that Steve said into the radio with a sigh, "Yeah, Wheeler?"

Matthew told him, "We might be cool now, Harrington, but I swear if something bad happens to my sister, Robin or even Eddie for that matter under your watch, you're not gonna have to worry about Vecna killing you because I'll be sure to kill you myself."

In turn, Steve said to him, "Uh-huh. That's good to know, Wheeler. Thanks for your vote of confidence in me."

With a scoff, Matthew said into the radio, "Don't fuck with me, Harrington. This isn't the time to fuck with me, man. This is some serious shit and the last thing I need is for any of 'em to die under your watch. You got that?"

In turn, Steve said to him, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it."

It was then that Matthew had simply shook his head with a sigh before he said to himself, "I really do hate him sometimes."

As he continued to stare out at the boat that the four of them were in with the use of his binoculars, Lucas said, "Wait, wait, wait. They're stopping. What are they stopping for?"

It was then that Dustin snatched the radio away from Matthew and asked into it, "Guys, what's going on?" When he didn't receive a response, he said into the radio, "Come on, guys, talk to me. What's going on?"

It wasn't long afterwards that they could all hear Robin say through the radio, "Uh, Dustin, your-your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital 'aah'!"

After glancing over at Valerie and then bringing his attention back over towards the boat that sat out in the middle of the lake, Matthew said with a mere shake of his head, "I'm not even gonna ask."

In turn, Valerie said, "Yeah, that's probably for the best."

It wasn't long afterwards that Lucas asked with a groan, "When'd Steve get so hairy?"

With a nod of his head, Dustin replied, "Right? I keep telling him he needs to tame that jungle, but he claims the ladies dig it."

Not even a couple of seconds after Lucas had started to look into the binoculars once more, Max made her way over towards the four of them and said to Lucas, "Let me see."

In turn, Lucas said, "What?"

The second that Max had started to look through the binoculars, the only thing that the four of them could hear was silence as she stared in the direction of where an apparently shirtless Steve Harrington was standing on the edge of the boat.

And in response to not just the way that Max was just silently staring at Steve but also the looks that both Dustin and Lucas had on each of their faces, the only thing that Valerie and Matthew could do was share a single look with each other before they shook their heads to themselves with a sigh and simply chose to ignore the look that Dustin currently had on his face.

Moments after Steve had apparently jumped into the lake, Dustin said to them, "You guys realize, if there's a gate down there, it's technically a water gate." When Max and Lucas simply looked away from him with a mere shake of their heads and the two juniors only rolled their eyes to themselves, Dustin said to them, "Watergate."

Then– after letting out a bit of a laugh– Dustin looked over at Matthew, who said to him, "Henderson."

In turn, Dustin said to him, "Yeah?"

Matthew told him, "You're a fucking idiot."

With his eyebrows furrowed, Dustin asked him, "How am I an idiot?" After seeing the way that Matthew was now looking at him, Dustin said, "Never mind.

In turn, Matthew said to him, "Hmm."

It was then that Valerie asked Matthew, "Are you really not that bothered that you're apparently a person of interest in any of the murders?"