The eighth episode of Stranger Things: Tales From '85 commences with Dustin in a precarious predicament at the Food Mart. The mutants begin their relentless pursuit of Dustin, who's currently huddled behind the counter. His attempts to slip out are met with a cacophony of noise, forcing him to fight his way through the horde. He hurls his rucksack at one of the creatures, who grabs it and scurries off, but their presence is far from over.
Before the creature can strike, El and the gang arrive, driving a snow-plow. El methodically destroys the creatures with little effort, but these ones are devoid of spores, and the Mart is left in ruins due to a massive tree branch piercing through its center.
The next morning, Hopper and the police arrive, witnessing the destruction firsthand. They chalk it up to the storm, but one creature remains, and it's clear that it's the one that snatched Dustin's backpack. It's hiding in the sewers.
Dustin, utilizing She-Ra references, deduces that the Queen is concealed in the sewers, and if they can take her down, it will eliminate the rest of the drones. The key clues stem from the visions Charlie and Rosario have been experiencing.
Nikki decides they should gear up and heads to her garage where she has all her stuff. While there, Dustin notices a photo of Mrs. Baxter with a group of scientists on the wall. However, they're momentarily distracted by the fact that it's actually Nikki's birthday. The gang celebrates by going monster-hunting.
They quickly locate the monsters in the sewers, where Nikki uses a makeshift grappling hook to help the group swing across a chasm. Unfortunately, the ground is unstable, and they all tumble down into the depths.
Nikki is the first to realize that vines are wrapped around a power transformer, and they're soon under attack. The group fights them off, but it's Nikki who does most of the heavy lifting and saves everyone, including El.
After unsuccessfully attempting to destroy the Queen, the gang leaves the sewers and heads home. It's Nikki who comes up with a solution for destroying this plant Queen - an excessive amount of light could destroy it. She's going to create a weapon to help them fight it off.
In the aftermath of this revelation, Dustin realizes with horror that Mrs. Baxter is "Horde Prime," the person responsible for creating the monstrous plant monsters.
