Chapter 8: The Square Off "Wait a minute! Where's Darry?" yelled Pony

"What car was he driving?" asked Curly

"He was driving a pick-up truck. He was the only one driving one," said Sodapop.

"I saw a truck. It was heading after a T-Bird going into the I.B.K.'s territory," yelled Tim. "The mustang belonged to Will T."

"He must be going after him. Turn around Tim," yelled Soda. Tim did it with no hesitation and drove after Darry.

Darry was driving around the neighborhood of the I.B.K. He had lost the black mustang he was tailing and was about to give up. But then the black T-Bird rammed him from behind. Darry sped up the truck and backed up into the T-Bird. The trucks force made the car go back pretty far. Will lost control of the car and he dived out of the car to avoid crashing into a wall. He rolled, got up and ran down the street. Darry got out of the truck and chased him. Will ran towards a two-story building and ran inside. Darry followed him. They ran up to the top of the building and ended up at the roof. They stopped and stared eachother down.

"So you want to try and fight me?"

"I'm just here to end this war."

Will just smiled.

"You're wrong about something. This right here is a battle. The war is not over until I die!"

They started towards eachother.

"Speed up Tim!"

"I'm going, I'm going."

They made it to the neighborhood and started looking for Darry.

"It looks deserted here," mentioned Steve.

"Well that will make it easier to find him," said Two-Bit.

They started searching for Darry in the neighborhood. Soda and Pony were the most worried. They didn't want to lose Darry. Tim, for the first time, felt like Darry was a real leader. He had gone to take on Will T. all by himself. He doubted he wanted to be a leader. He just wanted to keep his brothers safe.

Darry and Will were having it out on top of the building. Darry threw a string of punches into Will's face. Will blocked one of them and punched Darry into the jaw. That would have knocked anyone smaller than Darry onto the ground but Darry held his balance.

They were just trading punches. Neither of them would give up. Will for pride and Darry for family.

"Look!" yelled Ponyboy pointing towards the parked truck.

"There's his truck he must be around here somewhere." They all got out and frantically searched around for the eldest Curtis brother.

Darry and Will were still going. Darry gave Will two good jabs and then he gave a good hook, which knocked Will back a little bit. Darry came in to finish the job. Will quickly scooped some dirt up and threw it into Darry's eyes. Darry backed up a little bit, Will then came running towards Darry and punched him right into his stomach. This was Will's specialty and it knocked the wind out of even Darry. Darry fell onto his knees while Will stood over him.

"I knew you weren't that tough. You and the rest of those greasers are just trash. You will and forever will be. I'll kill you first. Then I'll continue to take over your turf, starting by killing your brothers!"

Darry had had enough. He got up and let out all of his rage. He took it to Will. He punched, elbowed, kicked, everything. He did it all to Will and ended with an uppercut that knocked Will back towards a toolbox in the corner. Darry had a feeling it was all over.

"Darry!"

Darry ran to side and looked over the edge and saw the gang and the Shepards running around.

"I'm up here. Come on up."

They all headed towards the building. Darry didn't notice that Will had slowly gotten back up but he had put something in his jacket and was still holding it. He came to the middle of the building, in between the doorway to the roof and Darry; who was still at the edge.

"I'm not done grease."

Darry turned around and his eyes widened. Will pulled out a heater and it was pointed right at Darry. Will's hand was trembling. The greasers came up to the roof and froze when they saw what Will had in his hands. Will noticed them and yelled out,

"Too late Greasers!"

With that, he pulled the trigger on the gun and a bang rang throughout the air. The bullet didn't hit Darry in the heart. It missed because of Will's trembling. It caught Darry in the shoulder and he was blown back and fell off of the building.

"Darry!" yelled both Pony and Soda. They charged towards Will and jumped him. They gave him worse damage than what Darry had already given him. They then realized that they needed to see about their brother. They ran down to level ground and left Will there. He was getting up once again.

Darry was lying on the ground eagle spread on his back. Luckily, he landed on grass, which made the fall less worse. His eyes were closed.

"Darry…please!" cried Ponyboy. He never though that his strong brother would ever be harmed. Soda was crying but holding back Ponyboy from grabbing Darry. He could cause more damage. Tim noticed Will running down the street, trying to get away. He was about to chase after him but he saw three police cars stop in his path.

"Freeze," the cops yelled.

Everyone turned in the direction of Will. He was running the opposite way now. The cops had no other choice, but to shoot the leader of I.B.K. They shot him to death like they did Dally. But this guy didn't die gallant. The war was over.

"Help! We have a hurt person over here!" yelled Sodapop.

One of the cops radioed for an ambulance to come.

"Don't worry," said Ponyboy to the unconscious Darry. "Everything's gonna be alright."