Art by  ninjav!

* * *

Ivan sat on the back of his roommate Darryl's cherry red Toyota 2006 truck. It was a delightfully cool afternoon in April, so Ivan did not feel too out of place going shirtless. A can of diet soda dangled from his fingers as he stared off into the distance. He could not see the gym thanks to the Bullseye store, but he knew who would be working there.

After the supernatural events of that fateful night, he had checked up on Tank. Hopper had no recollection of anything, he didn't even have a scar from the iguana bite, so he was clueless as to why Ivan wanted to visit an abandoned casino at the crack of dawn. Robey and Scowl assured him that Tank was fine.

And then he saw Jolly.

It took them an hour to explain what had happened. That while Ivan had been napping, Baba Yaga contacted them over the Internet, and told them if they did not leave Ivan to face Koschei alone, then she would kill Tank.

It took them a half hour to calm Ivan down. He felt betrayed. They misled him, but the only reason he did not storm off was he had actually lied to them as well.

His plan was to grab the egg and throw it at Koschei in hopes of it striking him on the forehead. The true plan was approaching Koschei and then trying to smash it against his forehead. Using the egg to temporarily subdue the necromancer had never occurred to him.

So why did Baba Yaga help him? Why did she care if he lived or died? He was afraid to find out, especially after reading up on her mythos. She was sometimes shown as an antagonist, and sometimes as a source of guidance; there were stories where she helps people with their quests, and stories in which she kidnaps children and threatens to eat them.

He learned that seeking out her aid was usually a dangerous idea. Perhaps even fatal.

Ivan also learned why she disliked questions. If the legends were true, and Ivan suspected very strongly they were, she aged one year every time someone asked a question. Dislike was an understatement. She probably loathed questions.

So why did she tolerate his questions, even for a short time? What was he to the Grandmother of Russia? Why did she want to help Ivan's desire for revenge?

He finished his diet soda, and walked over to the trash bins. The same bins he ducked between when on the run from the Once (and finally deceased) Iggy.

Hopper had eventually gotten another iguana. An iguana he named Koschei.

Ivan hoped it was a coincidence, but he doubted there was any such thing anymore. Robey assured him there was no signs of any possession, so perhaps in some part of Hopper's memory he was aware of what happened, and naming the iguana was how he coped.

Ivan started jogging.

He was good at running away from things.

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