Dark Phoenix: Into The Stranger Verse (Stranger Things)

CHAPTER 17

Chapter 17: Mutant And Caught

WORRIED glances were exchanged between Jean and Steve at Robin's panicked exclamation regarding the presence of something upstairs.

The two of them, Erica and Dustin began following the blonde up the metal stairs that echoed with loud clang sounds as their feet heavily stepped upon ascension.

Once they'd reached the top, the five stopped in front of the large door that had two glass windows. Jean, Steve and Dustin peeked at one, while Erica and Robin looked through the other.

Jean and the rest could only gasp what were in front of them. Scientists seated in an observatory room, and outside of it there was men in hazmat suits walking up to a giant machine, it was what caught their attention.

"Holy shit." Steve mumbled at the sight.

A low frequency pulsing noise boomed from the machine as well as a loud electric crackling. A beam was shooting out from the device, directed ahead at a crack in the wall.

Jean suddenly winced as she focused on the glowing slit in the wall. A headache suddenly hit her, dizziness, as well. Something was on the other side, she realized.

"Ah." Jean's breathing picked up as she rubbed her temple, the loud thrumming was right against her eardrum. A shriek came out from the other side of the wall. Images invading her mind. She didn't know how she knew, but she realized what that thing was.

It was an entry. A doorway between worlds.

"It's a gate." Jean announced, her wobbly feet taking a step back from the door. At her declaration, Steve and Dustin snapped their heads at her in shock, while the other two girls scrunched their faces at her.

"How'd you know? Did El tell you?" Dustin asked, eyebrows raised. He's never seen the Gate to the Upside Down before, but he had a rough idea of how it looked like. This was definitely it.

"Tell me what?" Jean said, equally as confused. She wasn't comprehending what this was or how it came to be. And so, the redhead quickly went down the stairs followed by the rest.

Robin jumped the last few steps, her face painted with a shocked perplexity. "I don't understand. You've seen this before?"

"Not exactly." Dustin mumbled.

"Then what, exactly?"

"All you need to know is it's bad." Steve claimed, eliciting an agreeing nod from Dustin.

"It's really bad. Like, end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad."

Jean ran her hand through her head and began pacing across the room, her head was so bombarded with thoughts that she failed to notice that a certain someone was missing from the floor.

"And you know about this how?"

"Um, Steve? Where's your Russian friend?" Erica's inquiry made everyone pause, their eyes traveling to the now empty space on the tiled floor.

"Uh oh."

When matters couldn't get worse, an alarm blared throughout the room, and a red light started flashing.