"I'm telling you, the soundtrack to this movie is using leitmotifs to subconsciously manipulate our emotional response to the plot twist!"

Dustin Henderson, now 19 years old and in collage in Hawkins, has a crush on his classmate. He tries desperately to impress them in their advanced physics class by revealing his secret history fighting interdimensional monsters from the Upside Down. Despite his intensely detailed scientific explanations and the introduction of physical evidence like old photos and damaged clothing, they laugh, causing Dustin to assume he is being mocked as he was in the past. Humiliated, he immediately retreats, claiming his true, world-saving experiences were merely a "dumb, fake story" he invented for a comic.