The Strike (A Newsies fanfiction)

Once and For All

I took my place by the window, ready to let in the other boys. Before I went over, Jack had approached me, setting a hand on my shoulder.

"Race, you've got an important job to do," he'd said. "Don't mess it up,"

"Gee, thanks," I'd answered sarcastically. But he was right. I did excel at messing things up, and I couldn't risk messing up on this.

Jack was on leader mode, standing in the center of the room, handing out orders. He took a deep breath. I sighed. Here we go again. It was dramatic speech time.

"There's change comin', once and for all. You makes the front page, and man, you'se is major news,"

"Tomorrow, they'll see what we are, and sure as a star, we ain't come this far to lose," Davey added. I heard voices echoing down the street as a hoard of newsies poured into the alley way, gathering near the window.

"Here they come!" I yelled, cutting off Jack's speech. He nodded. "This is the story we needed to write, that's been kept out of sight. But no more. In a few hours, by dawn's early light, we'll be ready to fight us a war!" I said with a grin as more newsies took their papers from me.

"This time we're in it to stay," Katherine said, watching the chaos unfold.

"Think about seizing the day," added Davey. Jack crossed the room to Bill.

"Write it in ink, or in blood, it's the same either way. They're gonna damn well pay!" He exclaimed. Bill stepped back and wiped his hands on his pants, having finally finished typesetting the paper. "Once and for all, if they don't mind their manners we'll bleed 'em!" Jack said, speaking loud enough that the newsies outside could hear him. Darcy began to print the first paper.

"Once and for all, we won't carry no banners that don't' spell 'freedom'!" I yelled. The crowd outside cheered. I watched as Darcy pulled out the first finished pape and handed it to Katherine.

"'In the words of union leader Jack Kelly, 'We will work with you. We will even work for you. But we will be payed and treated as valuable members of your organizations.'" Katherine read aloud from the paper. "Riveting stuff, huh?" She said with a grin a she handed the paper to me. I handed it through the window to the Jojo, the first newsie in line. Jack pulled Katherine aside.

"Get going. You've got a very important man to see," he winked at her. She smiled and nodded.

"Keep your fingers crossed," she said.

"For us too," Jack added as Katherine slipped out of the room. Darcy and Bill print paper after paper. Davey and Jack bundle the papers, then hand them to Spot and Specs, who bring them to me. I hand out stack after stack of papes to the newsies, who grab them excitedly, taking off down the streets to spread the word. As they gather together, one voice can be heard over the others.

"Once and for all..." Mush says.

"Once and for all..." the twins, Mike and Ike, echo.

"Once and for all..." Spot and I join in, watching the scene around us. The newsies chant in unison.

"ONCE AND FOR ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!" We shout triumphantly. It's a wonder we haven't woken anyone up yet. The newsies take to the streets as the sun begins to peek over the horizon. This is it. We're going to win.

Short chapter. Only 580 words. Yippee. That is part 2/3 of the Once and For All scene. 

Spellcheck seriously hates newsies slang. Half of the words are underlined in red or blue. Even the word "newsies". Also, my phone keeps autocorrecting "Davey" to a bunch of weird stuff. So that's fun.

I actually wrote this chapter last night but forgot to hit publish so... sorry bout that.

ALSO big announcement. I have posted the first chapter of my newsies Modern AU Groupchat fic, so go check that out.

Remember to COMMENT and VOTE!

- Peaches