FOURTY-EIGHT: The Fight of A Lifetime
Words: 2238 (including non-story related words such as these)
Author's Note: Hey guys. I deserve you all an explanation and an apology.
I know I've been gone for so long, Happy new year's btw lmao.
I wrote this book as a way to escape the depression and anxiety I felt during online school. This book was a way for me to channel all these negative thoughts that I had that were caused by the depression that's going on all over the world, but especially online school.
As soon as summer break hit and online was over, I was able to feel relief again. I was able to make friends and learn how to socially interact again (tho im still very antisocial) and was just plain happy again.
And so with the negativity that was my main fuel for writing disappearing, I eventually forgot about writing and lost the motivation for it because I've had the motivation to do other things now because of it.
But it's 2022 now and as I greeted all the new friends I've made a happy new year, I got a notification from here. A wattpad notification.
Then i remembered.
"oh my god. i used to write wattpad!"
And so I went to check the app again and when I tell you all I screamed-
OVER 60K READS OMFG
and i checked all my notifications and there were countless of countless of you guys' comments asking me if i would continue writing. And I'll be honest, that was whats given me back that motivation to go ahead and finish the book once and for all because i knew I couldn't do that to you and to myself.
I know dissappearing for that long and leaving you all on a cliffhanger was an evil thing to do and you are all still allowed to stay mad at me. But at least while staying mad, promise that you'll try to enjoy these last chapters of this book? Please?
Anyway, thats all i wanted to say.
Now that this whole wtiting motivation things come back, im feeling very inspired to write another book or something and such, im not entirely sure but if i do, youll be the first to know!
Anywya, like always, i hope you enjoy the read! :)
***
Richie took the swing and that in itself was the one and official declaration.
The final fight had begun.
If Richie hadn't been so stressed and focused at the moment, he would be imagining this whole scenario like one of his Street-fighter matches.
It screeched as the bar hit Its head. Richie cleared way for Mike who was charging at It with a rusty pole he had found.
With a determined yell, Mike brought the pole down hard on It. Unfortunately, It had gained back Its recovery and was ready.
It unhinged its jaw and Mike stared in horror at the sight. Dozens and dozens of charred, burnt hands emerged out of its mouth, reaching and grabbing and calling for Mike. The hands caught the pole and Mike found himself in a standoff.
The cries for his name continued until Stan came in with a bat. He struck the hands with it and the connection between Mike and the hands broke, setting Mike free. Richie followed up with another blow with his bar to Its back but It had its focus on someone else.
It contorted into the lady from the painting and glared at Stan. It began to charge at him.
Stan was admittedly not one of the strongest members of the group and he knew that himself. If Stan had been the version of himself prior to this shit show, Stan would have stood by and done nothing as It went for him. He would've stood there idly and the losers would have witnessed his death right in front of them.
But he wasn't the Stan he used to be. Not anymore.
The losers watched as Stan only ran at It and struck the It-lady's face with the bat. It let out an ungodly shriek.
Mike charged in with a following blow to Its head, but lost his balance and fell forward, landing on the floor.
It instantly began to transform into Its next awful shape, growing spider-like crab claws and going after Mike once again.
It began to jab the claws at Mike, trying to impale him with one. Mike found himself miraculously surviving as It missed each and every one of Its shots, barely though.
But Its crab claws didn't last long as Ben had gotten his hands on a spear-like weapon.
He ran at It, spear out and ready to stab. Ben caught It right in the middle of Its chest while its back was turned. It screamed, starting to shake violently, blood spilling out from the wound Ben had made.
But Ben's victory was short-lived as It turned its attention on him now.
It contracted the face of a zombie-like mummy with rotting bandages. It screeched and screeched before the bandages unraveled, revealing a rotten disgusting face of what would be an ancient mummy.
The bandages curled themselves around Ben's face and trapped him inside, forcing him into an involuntary face-to-face battle with the mummy. Ben hollered, straining to push himself away from It-mummy as it unhinged its jaw once again, trying to take a bite.
To his relief, Mike had found a long chain and was coming to help him. He whipped the chains at the bandages and Ben was broken free. The blow from Mike took It down and the losers began to fight all at once.
Bill struck him in the back, knocking It down while Ali and Richie followed up with more blows, Richie with the bar and Ali with the broken half of a ladder she had found.
It was practically lying on the ground now and the losers continued to hit him, blow after blow after blow.
It, who was nearest to Eddie, began to choke and cough and Eddie watched in horror as it transformed into the leper and began to hack up black goo liquid. The goo got thrown up all over him and the losers watched, concerned and disgusted.
It took a few seconds but Eddie had recovered from this and on his feet, screeched at It.
"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!"
With that, he struck It across the face with a powerful kick. Ali heard some sort of bone crack when It was kicked but adjusted its view onto her.
Ali was alarmed to see Its face was her father's. Though this time, his face wasn't rotting or wounded like it had been prior. His face was the face Ali remembered and loved so much, clean and without the blood and reminders of the accident that killed him.
"Ali-bee..." He begged. "Help me...please..."
An explosion went off in Ali's mind.
Not real.
Bill's words echoed and bounced off the corners and walls of her mind as she rose the ladder and took a swing.
Satisfaction filled Ali's veins when It collapsed to the ground fully.
But then it began to crawl away, crawl towards Beverly who had been away during the full fight until now.
This time, It wore the face and head of Beverly's father.
With a creepy grin, It peered up at Beverly.
"Are you still my little girl-"
Beverly let out a scream and brought down Ben's spear on It. The spear impaled It right down its throat.
It made no sound but only stared up in shock, eyes wide, jaw unhinged once again but only because of the spear.
Beverly left the spear in but walked away to join the other losers.
They watched as It shuddered and shook before spitting out the spear.
Eddie let out a disgusted yelp.
They waited for It to continue and charge at them, but they were caught by surprise when It instead began to back away from them.
It kept on crawling backwards, away from the losers with a very different look on its face.
It was a look the losers had never seen it wear before but a familiar look that they'd seen themselves wear many, many times.
It was a look of fear.
Pennywise continued to back away until it had backed itself into the well. It stared at the losers pathetically as they drew nearer to it, weapons drawn out and Bill at the front with an especially steely look.
"That's why you didn't kill Beverly." He spat. "Because sh-sh-she wasn't afraid. And we aren't either. Not anymore."
He exchanged glances with all his fellow losers, then glared back to It.
"Now you're the one who's afraid." Bill's grip tightened around the rod in his hand. "Because you're gonna starve."
It stared up at the children in front of him defeatedly. It began to choke and the losers watched as it suddenly flipped into the air and into the well, but not quite yet. He held on to the opening of the well and was still in view.
The losers followed, Bill with his rod tightly in his hand ready to strike.
"He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts..." It mumbled and muttered, its voice shaky. "He thrusts his fists against the..."
Bill rose the rod.
He needed to kill it. To end it once and for all. He had to, he had to.
But before he could, It dropped down lower into the well, almost out of view.
The losers looked down at It.
Its head, it was crackling into...dust.
It began to dust away the top of his head and It had a chilling look on its face.
And it uttered its last word.
"Fear."
Before it dropped out completely, the losers watched as it fell down the deep, deep, seemingly never-ending well.
A small period of silence goes and the losers stare in stun.
"Well, I definitely know what my summer essay's gonna be about." Richie remarked.
"Shut up, Richie." Ali and Eddie say simultaneously.
Now that the silence had been broken, the losers' stun had worn off a little and they turned to face each other.
Bill and Bev embraced while Richie, Ali and Eddie exchanged a group hug. Eddie and Ali held each other a tad tighter this time though.
"Hey, guys." Stanley said suddenly.
His gaze was on something up in the air.
The losers turned to stare.
"The bodies..." Eddie's eyes grew saucer-wide. "They're coming down."
Indeed they were.
The bodies that had belonged to Pennywise' countless child victims began to slowly descend down. They all watched in shock. There was a lot more bodies than they had recalled seeing when they had first entered this sewage hellhole.
But Bill's focus was on something else.
He spotted something in the corner of his eye and when he realized what it was, his heart stopped. He walked towards it.
The losers noticed him walking away when they heard the clink of the rod in his hand when he let it go and it hit the ground.
Bill began to kneel down and grab...
"Georgie's raincoat..." Richie muttered, his voice trembling a bit. But not out of fear, out of sorrow and sympathy.
Bill grabbed the yellow raincoat, which had been lying along with the giant sewage pile, and turned it over.
'Georgie Denbrough' the back-tag read.
He stared at the familiar scrawny, slightly messy but also slightly neat, cartoon-like handwriting that belonged to his late brother.
He remembered the amount of times he would make fun of Georgie's writing and tease him about having to make it neater.
Georgie would always giggle and tell Bill his penmanship wasn't any better than his and they would both come to an agreement that neither of them have good handwriting.
Suddenly, it all hit Bill like a brick.
The depth and realizations. Georgie was really dead and at that moment in time, it was now fully sinking into his mind. It was really registering now.
His little brother was dead.
And with that, the tears came.
He sat there, holding the coat in his arms and cried into it quietly with nothing else to hold onto.
The losers made their ways towards him.
The losers had witnessed Bill beat up a clown, punch his best friend in the face, shoot the clown who was dressed up as his little brother, shoot rocks at his bullies, and be the one to have lead them to Neibolt and have them all survived.
But it wasn't all until now that they really saw how much strength the guy really had in him.
Richie was the first to walk over. He wrapped an arm around his best friend's shoulders.
Bill leaned on it, continuing his silent sobbing for his brother as the rest of the group joined in.
They surrounded their dear friend and all formed a big hug around him.
Bill's sniffles were the only sounds to be heard now that everything was done with but the strength in the group that they felt at that moment was somehow the only thing they could somehow hear.
They stayed in the group huddle for a while before they had the mind to leave the sewers.