010 Do You Believe Now?
By the time Richard returned with the gasoline, the sky had already grown dim. Seeing Richard finally return, Chief Hopper breathed a sigh of relief; he had almost thought Richard had tricked him and wasn't coming back.
Robin walked straight up to him, letting out a breath with her back to Hopper, and said to Richard with a bit of a complaint, "What took you so long?"
Richard gave a mischievous grin. "After I got the gasoline, I took a detour to use the bathroom. If you go back and look, you might accidentally step in something."
"Thanks, that's disgusting." Robin looked revolted and gave his shoulder a disdainful shove.
"It's almost dark. Where's this monster you mentioned?" Hopper, who had been divorced and single for years, couldn't stand the "flirting" of these youngsters. He stepped forward with a question, interrupting their interaction.
Richard pulled out a compass and pointed in a direction. "That way is true south, but the needle is pointing somewhere else. This means the passage is in that direction."
"I'd like to see if this entrance you're talking about actually exists." Hopper raised an eyebrow. Although he was a straightforward man, he could more or less understand what Richard was saying.
"It's better if you only see the entrance. If a monster comes out... believe me, you won't want to see them." Richard gave Hopper a meaningful look.
"Holy crap, it moved again." Just as Richard finished speaking, Robin pointed at the compass in surprise.
Chief Hopper looked down and saw that the needle had indeed undergone a larger deflection, nearly reaching ninety degrees.
"This way," Richard said, pointing in the direction the compass was indicating.
As he spoke, he pulled two extremely dangerous-looking pieces of household tools from the backpack behind him. He gave the hammer, which was easier to handle, to Robin, while he took the large wrench.
Chief Hopper's eyes widened. These two high schoolers were actually carrying such brutal weapons with them.
But considering that if the monster thing was real, then having something for self-defense was indeed appropriate. He could only temporarily hold back his criticism and silently drew his service weapon from his holster.
As they walked, Richard caught a strange scent. Although it was faint, his sensitive nose picked it up easily. "There's a smell of chemicals."
"Huh? Is there?" Both Robin and Chief Hopper sniffed the air, looking completely confused.
Richard didn't bother explaining further, as he had already identified the direction of the source. He quickened his pace toward it.
Robin and Chief Hopper could only follow closely behind. Before Hopper could ask anything else, he suddenly noticed that both his flashlight and radio were acting up. The radio's signal seemed to be jammed, emitting a static sound, and the flashlight in his hand was flickering incessantly as if it were broken.
"It's happening again, just like yesterday," Robin cried out, her hand gripping the hammer tightly.
"Careful. This kind of electromagnetic interference likely means a Demogorgon is nearby," Richard responded.
"What the hell is a Demogorgon?" Hopper's voice rose, becoming a bit nervous due to the eerie atmosphere.
Richard: "Do you know Dungeons & Dragons? It's a boss from the game. I just thought of the name yesterday."
In truth, he hadn't come up with it; it was the name given by the group of young protagonists in the original show who loved playing D&D. He was just borrowing it for now.
Hiss, click, screech... Strange and hair-raising cries seemed to emerge like shadows from the darkness, quietly surrounding them. A fast-moving figure flashed through the woods.
"This size... it seems even bigger than the one we saw yesterday, and it's more humanoid!" Seeing this, the three immediately pressed their backs together, warily watching their surroundings. Robin caught a glimpse of the high-speed creature and couldn't help but speak loudly, trying to use her voice to dispel her panic.
Hopper finally believed in the supernatural. Although the creature sprinting under the flickering lights was fast, he had seen bears and other wildlife before. This spindly, incredibly fast humanoid was definitely a completely new and unknown species.
Was this the monster Richard and Tommy had talked about? This Demogorgon!?
"What the hell!" Chief Hopper spotted an opening and fired two shots, but his terrible aim resulted in both missing.
Perhaps provoked by Chief Hopper's attack, the Demogorgon suddenly lunged. It leapt over three meters high, swinging its withered, spindly claws as it slashed down.
The three immediately scattered. The Demogorgon's movements were fluid; as its claw missed, its toes barely touched the ground before it sprang up again, charging toward the only female present—the one it perceived as the weakest target.
Bang! Bang!
Under the strobe-like lights, Chief Hopper gritted his teeth and fired two more shots. This time, one finally hit. Before the Demogorgon could pounce on Robin, a bullet lodged itself in its neck.
The Demogorgon let out a roar of pain and then decisively abandoned its attempt to attack Robin, turning instead toward the man who dared to harm it: Chief Hopper.
Bang, bang, bang—
Chief Hopper fired back as he ran. Several more bullets hit the Demogorgon, but it only let out a few pained howls. Its movements weren't hindered at all; instead, it became even more feral as its rage built up.
"Watch out for the wrench!" Richard suddenly lunged from the side, reaching the Demogorgon's back and slamming a metal wrench hard against its spine.
The back of its neck was knocked out of alignment, causing the Demogorgon to stumble. It likely never expected a mere human to possess such immense physical strength.
The Demogorgon braced its claws on the ground as its deformed spine rapidly realigned itself. The bullet casings were pushed straight out by the healing wounds. In less than a few seconds, the Demogorgon was fully restored, pouncing at the group with an even more ferocious posture.
"Robin, I left the gasoline and lighter next to that large tree glowing with red light. Go burn it, fast! Leave this thing to Chief Hopper and me!" Richard shouted.
"I'm on it!" Robin immediately gripped her hammer and rushed toward a certain tree that was emitting an eerie red glow from a hollow. The so-called entrance to The Upside Down couldn't have been more obvious.
Likely sensing the threat in Robin's actions, the Demogorgon became agitated and tried to lunge at her again. However, Hopper, who had reloaded, gave it no chance. He fired several shots in succession; while they couldn't kill the Demogorgon, they successfully drew its attention once more.
Shooting while running, Chief Hopper emptied his revolver again. Having no more bullets on him, he threw his gun as a projectile.
The Demogorgon opened its head, which looked like a grotesque flower. Its faceless head caught the falling pistol in one bite and snapped shut like a bud. It chewed the pistol violently, spitting out a pile of scrap metal a moment later—the handgun had been bitten into a deformed mess.
Chief Hopper felt a chill in his heart. If that monster bit a person, there would be no surviving it.
The Demogorgon ran and leapt, maneuvering between several large trees before flashing in front of Chief Hopper. Its extended claws once again threatened the Chief's life.
Hopper leaned back to dodge, narrowly avoiding the claw strike, but he lost his balance and fell to the ground, landing himself in a desperate situation.
Just in time, the elusive Richard struck again. The Demogorgon seemed to have learned its lesson and swiped back, but its claws didn't hit a person. Instead, they shattered a flying rock into pieces.
The monster roared. That persistent human was standing about ten paces away, one arm cradling stones found everywhere on the ground while the other arm acted like a relentless rapid-fire slingshot. He was picking up and throwing stones with calculated precision, every one of them hitting the creature.
Hopper took the opportunity to scramble away, circling around to reach Richard's side.
Having lost its prey once more and being hit by Richard repeatedly, the Demogorgon—whether it truly felt anger or not—let out a high-pitched roar toward the sky. It arched its body, kicked off the ground, and charged like a black arrow released from a bow.
Richard threw all his stones at once, scattering them like buckshot. The falling rocks were like a downpour. The Demogorgon swung its massive claws, scattering the stones; a few hit it, but they were harmless.
Roar!
The Demogorgon leapt high and pounced.
A flash of intensity appeared in Richard's eyes. He didn't fear the creature's razor-sharp claws and charged in close. He allowed the tips of the claws to graze his arm, blood splattering from the passing swipe. The scent of blood excited the Demogorgon's appetite, but it also completely triggered Richard's aggressive instinct.
Richard dodged the follow-up claw strikes, his wrench striking the monster's neck again and again in a continuous barrage. For a moment, the monster was beaten into submission, its limbs pinned to the ground, unable to move.
"Argh!" Hopper had picked up a thick, sturdy tree branch from somewhere and shoved it into the mouth that was trying to clamp down on Richard's leg.
The monster, having its throat impaled, reacted like any creature would, becoming paralyzed with pain. Its combat capability dropped drastically as it stumbled backward. Richard stepped forward, and despite his palms tearing from the force, he slammed his wrench hard against the end of the wooden stick protruding from the monster's throat.
Squelch!
Only a wet sound of penetration was heard as shredded flesh and foul-smelling monster blood splattered. The Demogorgon collapsed to the ground, its body twitching.
The flames flared brightly. With the help of the gasoline, the entire tree serving as the entrance to The Upside Down was quickly set ablaze.
The Upside Down vines propping open the entrance were engulfed by the fire, twisting, shrinking, and rapidly withering into dust. The vines seemed to possess a consciousness; like a lizard dropping its tail, they immediately severed the burning roots.
The remaining parts retracted into The Upside Down, and the passage, which had been emitting an unusual red light, closed along with it.
The tree returned to its original form before being completely surrounded by the encroaching fire.
The monster also seemed to undergo a change due to the closure of the passage. As if hit by some kind of shock, it painfully opened its petal-like head. Using its two claws, it pulled the bloody wood out of its mouth and trembled as it climbed back up. It had become weak, its chest heaving violently. Despite having no eyes, it seemed to be glaring at Richard and the others with pure malice.
"Is there any gasoline left?" Richard looked at Robin.
Robin lifted the container, which was still nearly half full. "Yes, enough to burn it to death!"
"Good! Then we'll pin it down first. Robin, find an opening to douse it."
The monster lunged again, but unfortunately, its movements were no longer as fluid or agile as before.
Chief Hopper took the hammer Robin threw to him and, along with Richard, seemed to transform into warriors. While clumsily dodging the monster's attacks, they relentlessly hammered at the creature's legs, pinning down its mobility.
Crack!
The group once again witnessed the hidden, fierce side of the usually calm Richard. With a sliding tackle combined with a heavy strike from his wrench, he brutally broke the monster's knee.
The monster, severely wounded, immediately fell to its knees. Its incredible durability and rapid healing seemed to have been heavily weakened by the closure of the passage; it was now completely unable to instantly repair its knee and stand back up as it had before.
Robin took the opportunity to douse it with the entire bucket of gasoline and finally lit it on fire.
Roar—!
The monster's agonized screams echoed through the night sky. It didn't last even half a minute in the fire, whimpering as it collapsed. It was consumed by the flames, eventually leaving behind nothing but a pool of foul-smelling black slime scattered on the ground.
"Chief, do you believe now?" The crimson firelight illuminated Richard's pale face. His usually gentle smile, framed by eyes still reflecting a lingering intensity, appeared both fierce and mysterious.
Chief Hopper gasped wordlessly, clutching his aging lower back which had been strained by the constant rolling, and nodded silently.
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