McNulty versus Finster.

"...8...9...10! He is done!" The referee exclaimed, while the crowd, consisting mainly of girls, went crazy.

Tim, wearing blue boxing gloves, and white shorts, lifted his bleeding face from the canvas to look at the person who had beaten him. There, standing at the middle of the ring, with a white top, red shorts, and black boxing gloves, raising her fists in victory, and totally unharmed, was Angelica Pickles, laughing evilly. She then gave a look to Tim, and smirked.

"You are so pathetic, McNulty. A girl beat you!" Angelica laughed again, even louder. A moment later, the whole arena was laughing at Tim as well. He tried to stand up, but his vision became blurry...and then, black.

Tim opened his eyes, and sat up on his bed, in a single movement, sweating bullets. It had been about a month since the park's incident, and this was the fifth time he had this particular dream. Tim had many nightmares similar to that one; Angelica, as a boxer, wrestler, vigilante, soldier, or ninja, gave him a severe beating every time, making him bleed, and even cry and beg at times.

He couldn't have a single night of peaceful sleep because of the nightmares during the whole month, and, worst of all, this was reflecting on his daily life. Every time he tried to seduce a girl, the memory of Angelica hurting him came back to his mind, killing any bit of passion he could still have. Of course, this increased his hate for the blonde even more., but, unlike other times he needed to beat a person, this time he couldn't just ask his brothers to back him up, because that would mean admitting Angelica was the one who hurt him so badly. Tim needed to handle this by his own.

The next day was Saturday, so Tim could oversleep to recover for the lack of rest the previous night. After having some lunch, he decided to have a walk to clear his head, and maybe start planning a way to get his revenge. Tim, at least, seemed to be lucky with the legal stuff; he had no calls from the police during the whole month, so it was obvious Angelica didn't tell the authorities about what he tried to do to her. However, it was possible she had told it to her friends, and, in that case, it would be really hard to have a chance to get even on Angelica, because she'll surely have her relatives or a friend hanging around with her most of the time for protection.

Tim was so concentrated on his thoughts, that he didn't realize how much he had walked until he started feeling thirsty. He noticed that he had walked a really long distance, and, realized it had been a while since the last time he was on this particular street. He spotted a cyber-cafe, and decided to buy something to drink; the place was called "Java-Lava", and, for some reason Tim couldn't remember at that time, it gave him a funny feeling. Anyway, he opened the door to enter; the place was deserted, except for the person behind the counter, a pretty Asian girl, wearing the cafe's apron, with her hair fixed in two buns.

"Good afternoon. Would you like a drink, or use one of the computers?" Kimi asked in a kind tone, and then, recognized the boy in front of her. "Timmy?"

McNulty wide opened his eyes. Of course! This is the Finsters' business. He thought, and then got an evil smirk. Kimi seemed to be alone, giving him a good chance for his revenge. If he couldn't reach Angelica, he would damage her through her friends.

"Well, well, well. Kimi Finster. Long time not seeing you." Tim approached her slowly. Kimi frowned.

"Look, Tim, I don't know what happened between you and Angelica, but she told us you were a total jerk with her, and didn't want to see you again. She seemed very upset, so I'm guessing your intentions weren't exactly the best." Kimi said, crossing her arms. Angelica had kept the details as a secret to all her friends (except to one), but it was clear she was really angry with Tim, and, since Angelica could be a pain in the neck at times, but still was part of the gang, Kimi was taking her side. Besides, she had been a little kinder this last month, especially with Chuckie.

"Oh, you are a smart girl, right?" Tim said in a mocking tone, but slowly changed to an angry one. "Listen, Kimi, you're not as smart as you think. The smart one of your family is your mother, who could trick an idiot like Chaz Finster to marry her, and give a father to her worthless kid, even if that meant to accept that Chuckie loser as her son!"

"Never, ever, insult my family!" Kimi snapped at him, pointing at his face. "Angelica was right! You're nothing but a jerk!"

"Oh, Angelica was right. Please, that girl had been nothing but trouble since I know her, and you must be a real idiot for defending her. Angelica is nothing more than the meanest, dirtiest, and most worthless tramp that had ever existed!" Tim snapped back, grabbing Kimi's by her wrist. She struggled to get free, but Tim's grip was very strong.

"Tim, let me go, and get out of here!" Kimi said, both angry and scared. Tim gave her a wicked smile.

"Or what? You are going to make me go? Please, it's obvious you are alone. And, even if someone else were here, do you think any of your loser friends can handle me? Those stinking DeVille twins? The idiotic brother of yours? The stupid Angelica and her imbecile cousins? Miss Do-Gooder Carmichael, or the lard ball she is dating? Come on, Finster! Who is going to protect you?" Tim said in a mocking tone.

"Us!" Two angry male voices chorused behind Tim, making him to jump in surprise. At the door, there were two guys looking furiously at him. One was a boy with medium sized hazel brown hair, wearing a brown jacket, and, the other, a slightly taller one, had red messy hair, nerdy glasses, and a green jacket.

"Don't even dare hurting her, McNulty!" Phil walked towards Tim, incredibly pissed. Tim released his prey, recognizing the boys as well, and giving them a dirty look. He noticed they were smaller than him; Tim was about a half feet bigger than Chuckie, even with his hair making him look slightly taller than he really was. Plus, Tim was better built; Phil seemed to be the tough one of the pair, but nothing Tim couldn't handle, and even if he couldn't have a good vision of Chuck's general body's building because of his jacket (more loosely used than Phil's), Tim remembered how skinny he used to be, and deducted he couldn't had gained a lot of muscle.

"Oh, is the DeVille boy, and "Chicken" Finster! Do you still eat bugs, Phil? And you are still afraid of your shadow, Chuckie?" Tim said, crossing his arms. Phil was ready to jump over him, but was stopped by Chuckie.

"Tim, I don't know at what moment you became an idiot, but I don't really care. Please, I'm asking you to leave for your own feet, and not coming back... or we'll not be responsible for our acts." Chuckie said in a calm yet obviously angry tone. He wanted to hurt Tim as much as Phil, but he decided fighting him on his family's place wasn't adequate, especially if there was a chance of Kimi getting hurt doing it.

Tim scowled at the boys, and there was a moment of silent tension between them. After what seemed an eternity, Timmy left the place, giving them a last nasty look. Phil and Chuckie rushed next to Kimi to calm her down, and hear whatever she had to say about Tim.

Tim walked down the street, with a huge evil smile on his face. Now he had an idea to give Angelica a lesson. He just needed to invent another story to his brothers, telling them that he had discovered that the guys who hurt him were sent by Angelica's cousins because they were aware of his reputation and wanted to protect her. After convincing his brothers, then he would tell them about a place where the Pickles brothers used to hang around with their friends, and then the McNulties will vandalize the Java-Lava in revenge. Maybe later he would convince them to stalk Angelica's friends, and start beating them one at a time, when they were alone. Tim was so immerse on his thoughts, that he didn't notice someone approaching him until he was right behind.

"Hey, McNulty, wait!" Chuckie called him. Tim stopped, and turned back to face him.

"What do you want, Finster? You already played your role of "protective brother". I guess you don't really care about that dirty girl your dad accepted to have her mother, or you would be comforting her right now." Tim said in his mockery tone. Chuckie scowled at him, and talked in a very pissed tone.

"Hey, don't insult my parents, or Kimi, again, okay? And I care about her, McNulty. So much, that I heard everything she told me about your little visit to our cafe. That's why I'm here, to ask you to go back with me, and apologize for what you did. And, after that, we're going to Angelica's place so you can apologize with her as well." Chuckie pointed. He was the only one that knew the real story about Tim and Angelica's date, since she went from the park to the Java-Lava to apply some make-up on her bruised cheek so her parents wouldn't see it, and Chuckie, besides comforting her, walked the girl home, hearing all the details about the disastrous date. From that day, Angelica and Chuckie were a lot more civil with each other.

"And after that, you'll name my first born, right?" Timmy mocked him. Then, he changed to a more serious and angry tone. "Listen, Finster, if you hadn't notice, I'm stronger and bigger than you, and that gives me the right to do whatever I want. You are nothing but a coward, and a geek, with absolutely no authority over me. And I don't know why everybody is suddenly caring about that blond witch."

"Her name is Angelica, not "witch", and I don't want you to insult her ever again! I don't care if you are Mister Universe or something like that, but you have to start respecting people! Angelica can be a brat at times, and loves teasing me, but she is my friend... one of my best, and I care about her as much as I do with my sister!" Chuckie snapped. Tim gave him a weird look; he wasn't as much as a coward as he remembered. After a moment, he scowled again, and talked in an angry tone, slowly increasing the volume.

"So, you finally grew up a back-bone, uh? Not bad, Finster, but you are still a geek, your so-called sister is nothing but a dirty girl, and that Pickles witch is the worst #$&° waste of space I had ever met! And, if I want, I'll go back to that dumpster you call cafe, and do whatever I want with it, and the person attending it. Or maybe I should go to Angelica's place, and give her a little beating to make her respect me! You heard that, stu...?"

SWAK!

Tim was cut by a dashing left punch. He walked a few steps back, while covering his mouth; it was a pretty hard one. Chuckie, panting, gave him a furious look, while rubbing his fist.

"I'll never...allow you...to hurt Angie...again!" Chuckie finally found his voice back, almost yelling at the last part. Tim became furious; he was already beat by a girl, and now a geek punched him?

"Finster, you are dead meat!" Tim growled, and grabbed Chuckie by his jacket, yanking him inside a nearby alley, located behind a Chinese restaurant. It was closed by the time because of some minor repairing the stove needed, so nobody was around to help Chuckie.

Tim threw Chuck to the ground, while still holding his jacket's sleeves; it was so violent, he ripped the left sleeve from it. Chuckie tried to stand up, but Tim gave him a hard kick on his ribs, causing him to roll on the ground, losing his glasses on the process. Tim leaned to grab Chuck from his collar, and lifted him, pinning the guy against the closest wall. Then, Tim started punching him on various parts of his body, while keeping an evil grin. Chuckie did his best to block some attacks, but most of the punches connected, hurting him badly. Tim made a pause to grab Chuckie by his shirt, and laugh at him.

"And you were the one trying to stop me? Please! You are nothing next to me, Finster. And, if you think this hurts, well, it's nothing compared with what I'm going to do to your blonde friend." Tim said in a mocking tone, while lifting his right fist, preparing to give Chuckie a major blow.

Saying that wasn't a good idea.

Tim threw his fist against Chuckie's face, but the Finster boy blocked it with his right hand, and, in a swift action, punched Tim's liver with a well placed left jab. Tim leaned in pain, trying to not throw up his breakfast, and released Chuckie. He didn't missed the chance, and gave Tim a left-right combination on his face. Tim moved a few steps back, and, reacting, threw Chuckie another punch. Chuck handled to grab his wrist, and twisted it, causing Timmy to yell in pain. Then, Chuckie started kicking Tim's ass, literally, and his legs as well, while using both hands to keep his grip on McNulty's arm. Tim struggled and threw Chuckie a punch with his free hand, hitting one of his arms, causing him to loose his grip so Tim could release himself.

Tim shook his arm in pain, and turned to keep fighting. This time, Chuckie was keeping a fighting stance, ready to continue the battle. Tim charged against him, and both red haired guys exchanged a series of furious blows, but, oddly enough, it was Chuckie who was getting the advantage. The reason was clear; Tim was fighting because of pure anger, while Chuck was doing it to protect Angelica and his sister. Plus, Chuckie's tactic of twisting his enemy's wrist caused Tim so much pain on it, that he couldn't use his right fist properly.

Chuckie blocked two attacks, and responded with another left-right combination, this time to McNulty's mid-section, and then gave him another punch on his right eye. Tim's sight blurred, but he tried to strike another blow. Chuckie avoided it, and pushed his enemy, causing him to hit his back against the alley's dumpster. Tim cried in pain because of the impact, and, before he could defend himself, Chuckie started punching him without taking a second to rest between every attack. Tim was badly injured, bleeding, and, for the first time on his life, total, complete, and terribly scared during a fight. Then, he did something he had never done during a fight.

Begging.

THRAK!

"Stop, please!"

WHACK! POW!

"Finster, please, stop!"

ZOK! ZAS! WHAM!

"I give up! I give up!"

BIFF! THUD! CRACK!

"Uncle! Uncle!"

PUNCH! CHIN! PUNT! ZOWIE!

"I GIVE UP! PLEASE, DON'T HIT ME!" Tim yelled with all his lungs' strength. Chuckie, panting, stopped his attack. It was hard for him to focus his sight because he had no glasses, and his left eye was half closed because one of Timmy's punches, but eventually he could do it, and saw Tim's face more or less clearly. It was covered with blood from his mouth and nose, and, what surprised Chuckie the most, he was crying.

"Please...no more...it hurts!" Tim said in a quiet and fearful voice, while shaking like a piece of jell.

Chuckie actually felt bad for a second, because he knew very well how it feels to be afraid, but decided he needed to be scary, just this time, to protect his friends, family, and, most important, Angelica. At that moment, Chuckie realized how much he really cared about his former bully; he actually loved Angelica, and would do anything to protect her from Tim, or any other guy. Chuckie grabbed Tim by his collar using both hands, and talked in a slow voice, trying to sound as serious and menacing as possible. Oddly enough, it was easy, even if he was panting a little because of his own pain.

"I'm saying this only once, so I want you...to listen clearly, okay? If I ever...see you around Angelica...or my sister...or any of my friends...I'll kick your ass so badly, I will make thisbeating to feel like a picnic. Actually...if I know you try playing hard on any other girl, I'll find you...to be sure you'll never be able to do it again. ARE YOU HEARING ME, USELESS?" Chuckie said the last part on an angrier tone while looking at Timmy straight in the eyes. Tim gulped, and nodded, fighting to keep his conscience.

"Good. Now, just to be sure I made myself clear..." Chuck said while opening the dumpster; since the restaurant had just closed for that day, it still had a good amount of garbage on it.

Chuckie placed Tim's arms inside the dumpster, and then kneeled to grab his legs; with an evident effort, Chuck lifted the legs, and the gravity made the rest, making Tim fall inside the dumpster; at that moment, McNulty finally fainted. Chuckie sighed in relief, and, after checking Tim to be sure he was still breathing, closed the container, and started looking for his glasses. He eventually found them, but didn't put them on; instead, he left the alley, and started walking back to the Java-Lava, using the buildings' walls for support, while holding his glasses with his free hand.

Tim opened his eyes almost one hour later, thanks mainly to the awful odor that caused him to react. With a huge effort, he managed to open the dumpster, and, once he popped his head out of it, he threw up a good amount of blood, three teeth, and some egg shells he swallowed when Chuckie threw him inside the dumpster. He did his best to climb out from it, but his chest, wrist, and stomach were killing him, and his face wasn't feeling much better, so he had to wait there, with only his arms and shoulders hanging out from the dumpster, for almost twenty minutes until a couple spotted him, and helped him out. A police officer saw them, and called an ambulance. Fifteen minutes later, Timmy was on an emergency room.

Besides losing three teeth, and having a lot of bruises on his body, one blackened eye, and some minor cuts on his face, Tim had two fractured ribs, his right wrist was slightly dislocated, and his nose was broken again. Plus, he needed some shots to avoid an infection because of the time he was on the dumpster. Luckily, he needed no surgery, but he wouldn't be able to leave his room at home for at least three weeks, while having his right arm on a cast, and his chest covered in tight bandages.

Again, he didn't want to say the truth to protect his reputation, and avoid jailing as well, since accusing Chuckie could lead to an investigation revealing the reason of the fight, his attempt to assault Kimi, and his frustrated attack on Angelica. This time, his lie was even more elaborate than the first one. He told his family and the cops that he spotted one of the guys that attacked him, and decided to follow him at a distance to discover where he lived, unfortunately, this guy discovered him, and he, alongside four of his friends, dragged Tim inside the alley and beat him before throwing him into the dumpster.

Of course, he now was even angrier... but also scared. He had been on many fights before, and hardly lost any of them, but, now, he was defeated, and by a geek, no less.

Never, in a million years, he could had imagined being afraid of Chuckie Finster.

(AN: Coming up... Tim and hisbrothers)