A/N: Hello, everyone! So, this chapter takes place pretty much immediately after Bike Lesson. Also, just as a fair warning, there are homophobic slurs used in this chapter. I just want to make sure you're all aware that they're being used in context by an unsympathetic and antagonistic character. I do not support the use of these words.

To DylanJ10000, thank you for your comment! If that had been the case, then yes, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But to me, the movie didn't make it clear that that was the case; they just made it come across as that Bill made up being sick entirely. That's what I have a problem with.

But anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! (Even if it does get a bit brutal at one point...)

Patrick and Avery Hockstetter arrived at Bassey Park, where the younger sibling was instantly drawn to the playground located right at the center. "Wanna come play with me, Patrick?" Avery asked. He didn't really know why he asked, because he knew what the answer would be before the question even left his mouth.

"Fuck no," Patrick replied as he stuck a cigarette in his mouth and pulled out his lighter. "You think the reason I came out here was for you?" Patrick lit his cigarette. "You're lucky I even let you come along, you little shit." Patrick sat himself upon one of the concrete park tables and continued smoking.

Avery walked sullenly toward the playground. Sometimes he really hated his brother. He knew he shouldn't hate a family member, but often times, with the way Patrick treated him, it left him no choice but to hate him. Avery sat under the slide and huddled up into a ball. He didn't even feel like playing anymore.

"I'm gonna get there first!" Bill yelled as he sped down the street on Silver. "L-l-looks like you're gonna be the r-r-rotten egg!"

"Hey, no fair!" Georgie yelled at his brother up ahead. "I just learned how to ride a bike ten minutes ago!"

Bill slowed to a stop once he reached Bassey Park. "Then I g-g-guess you'll just have to work e-e-extra hard to catch up, then."

Georgie slowed down right behind him. He dropped his bike to the ground and started running toward the playground. "Come on, Billy, let's go!"

"Alright, I'm c-coming," Bill said as he dropped his bike, too, and joined Georgie.

Georgie ran toward the stairs that led up to the slide, but as he did so, he noticed someone huddled up underneath the slide. He stopped in his tracks and realized that this person looked familiar. Georgie crouched down and tapped the person on the shoulder. The person lifted his face up from the crooks of his arms, and Georgie recognized him immediately.

"Avery!"

"Georgie?" Avery said confusedly. "What are you doing here?"

"Me and Billy came to play. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I guess I came here to play, too."

"Are you all by yourself?"

Avery looked back at his brother sitting on the table. It looked like he was on the lookout for one of his countless bullying victims. Avery wanted no part of it. "Yeah, I'm all alone," he said.

"Well, you can always play with us!"

"Of course! I'd love to!"

Bill finally caught up with Georgie. "Oh, hey, Avery," Bill greeted.

"Avery's going to play with us, too, Bill, since he's here alone."

"F-fine by me." It didn't surprise Bill that Avery would be left all alone by his family. So, he might as well try to make things as enjoyable for the young Hockstetter as he could while he was with them.

"What do you wanna play, Georgie?" Avery asked.

"Let's play Treasure Hunters!" Georgie suggested. "We're two explorers moving through the jungle to find the Lost Temple of Treasures!"

"Okay!" Avery agreed.

"Wh-who am I p-p-playing?" Bill asked.

"You're the bad guy," Georgie said. "Whatever we need in the situation."

"You always m-m-make me the bad guy, Georgie."

"I know, but you're good at being the bad guy!"

"My brother would be especially good at being the bad guy," Avery said. "But I don't want him to play with us."

"Yeah, m-m-me neither," Bill laughed. "Okay, fine. I'll be your context-sensitive b-b-bad guy."

"What are our names going to be?" Avery asked.

"My name," Georgie paused to think of one, "is Professor Boonsmith. He studies the ruins of ancient cities."

"Okay," Avery said. "I'll be a man named John Fire. I'm an expert at navigating through jungles."

Georgie and Avery climbed up the stairs to the play structure and came up to one of the bridges constructed on there. "Professor Boonsmith" hesitated before stepping onto the bridge. "Be careful, John," Georgie said. "This bridge looks very old, and there's vicious crocodiles lurking in the river below!"

Bill clapped his arms open and close to imitate the jaws of a crocodile. "Mmm, delicious humans!" he growled in a low, gravelly voice.

"Boonsmith" and "John" slowly stepped onto the bridge. "Don't look down," Georgie said. "So long as we're up here, those gators can't get us."

"Think again!" Bill said in his crocodile voice as he lunged up toward the bridge with his arms stretched out. He managed to get ahold of Georgie's left ankle.

"Oh, no!" Georgie yelled. "One of them got me! They're jumping crocodiles!"

"Don't worry; I've got a sword!" Avery said as he pulled out an imaginary sword. He cut his imaginary sword through the "jaws" of the "crocodile", making a "swoosh" sound as he did so. "Take that!" He said.

"Aargh!" Bill said as he sunk back down underneath the bridge.

"Thanks for saving me, John! Now, come one, let's hurry across this bridge!" Georgie said. They walked up to the top of the slide. "Now, here it is!" Georgie said. "The entrance to the Lost Temple of Treasures! There's only one way in, and that's down. Who should go first?"

Patrick scanned the wide expanse of Bassey Park in search of Jason Dunst—his most recent bullying target. Where is that faggot? He'd been overdue for an unexpected private meeting with Patrick. He thought he spotted him, for a second—walking along one of the paths. But it was just some other queer-looking kid. Patrick looked around the playground area. He saw his dumbass brother sliding down the slide with some other kid. Wait…that kid looks familiar. Isn't he Denbrough's little twerp brother? And whatd'ya know? There's the stuttering freak right next to them! Avery looked like he was having fun with the Denbroughs—they broke into a fit of smiles and laughter. Patrick didn't like that. He didn't like that at all. Avery had been spending a lot of time with the Denbroughs lately. It almost seemed like they were trying to replace the boy's real family. What, am I not good enough for him? I'll show that stuttering shithead who's not good enough.

"Who dares to enter the Lost Temple of Treasures?" Bill said in a booming voice.

"It is I, Professor Boonsmith, and my partner, John Fire," Georgie said.

"Hey, Denbrough!" Bill turned around to the familiar voice and saw Patrick Hockstetter walking his way. He had a smile on his face, but somehow, Bill could tell he wasn't happy one bit. "I see you're taking quite a liking to my little brother." Patrick stopped mere inches away from Bill's face.

"H-h-h-he's f-f-friends with m-my little b-brother," Bill tried to answer as confidently as he could. "I'm j-j-just here to k-keep an eye o-on them."

"Oh, so you think I can't look after my own brother? You feel the need to have to come in and do my job for me? Is that what it is?"

"N-n-n-no. I-I-I didn't even know you were—" Patrick punched Bill in the face, sending him to the ground.

Georgie screamed, and Avery yelled, "Patrick, no!"

Patrick started continuously kicking Bill in the stomach. "Stay away from my fucking brother!" he screamed through his gritted teeth.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Georgie said as he started to cry. He began repeatedly hitting Patrick with his fists, but the teenager simply shoved the boy to the ground, proving his efforts to defend Bill to be ineffectual.

"And I don't want your little shit of a brother anywhere near him either," Patrick said as he grabbed Avery by the arm and aggressively led him away.

"Billy!" Georgie cried as he crawled up to his older brother, who was lying in a fetal position on the ground. "Billy, are you okay?"

"No," Bill groaned as he clutched his stomach. "No, I'm not."

It was a bit of a sobering sight for Georgie to see. He had always imagined his big brother as invincible. He would always be there to protect Georgie, and there was nothing out there that could stop him. Or so Georgie thought. But now it was clear that there were even bigger fish than Bill. Dangerous fish.

"Are you able to get up?" Georgie asked.

"I th-th-think so." Bill sat upright. His nose was bleeding, and he had a large bruise under his left eye, where Patrick had punched him. "Hold on. Let me r-r-rest a bit before s-standing up."

Luckily, Georgie wasn't nearly as injured as his brother. His butt hurt a bit from landing on the ground after Patrick pushed him down, but that was about it. Still, the sight of seeing Bill get beaten up before his eyes was traumatic enough.

Georgie rose to his feet and dusted off the dirt on his bottom. Soon after, Bill slowly stood up, too, all while continuing to clutch his stomach.

"Why did he hurt you, Billy?" Georgie said as he wiped away his tears.

"I g-g-guess he didn't like that me and you were p-p-playing with his brother."

"But why? Avery likes playing with us."

"I kn-know," Bill said as he started to walk back to where they dropped off their bikes. "But maybe P-P-Patrick was jealous in some strange sense."

"Well, it's no wonder Avery likes playing with us more than him! He's mean!"

"Yeah, I know he is."

They arrived at their bikes, and Georgie picked up Fireball from the ground. "So, can I really never see Avery again? Like Patrick said so?"

"We'll figure something out," Bill said as he picked up Silver and sat himself on the seat. "I w-w-won't let Patrick have that much p-power over us."

"What's Mom and Dad gonna think when they see you like that?"

"I don't know."

"Well, we have to tell 'em what happened! Maybe they can talk to Avery's parents about it."

"You kidding? Imagine what P-P-Patrick'll do to me if he finds out we s-sn-snitched on him. I'll for sure be d-dead, then."

"Okay, but then what're you gonna tell them?"

"I dunno, I'll just say R-R-Richie punched me on accident."

"Think they'll believe that?"

"Here's hoping."

The two damaged brothers made their journey home on their bikes. They were damaged both in body and in spirit, but like the physical injuries, their spirits would be healed soon enough, and they would come back stronger than ever. Both of them would make sure Avery wouldn't be kept away from them by that crazy asshole of a brother.