| You Gotta Fight For the Right |
| Manhatten 1899. The streets echoed with the voices of......well you know all of that already. This is a story for the girls, we didn't have it easy either! We begin our epic in 'The Manhatten Newsgirls Lodging House #2' Yes there are two newsgirls lodging houses , but we'll get into that ater. The girls lodging house was old but nice looking, an aged woman wabbles up the stairs, leaning on her cane for support. She reaches the door of the bunkroom and takes a look at all the sleeping girls and smiles. "Rise and shine my little angels" she calls out in a sing songy voice. The girls just stir in their beds, but no one wakes up. "Alright girls, get up!' she shouted a bit more harshly tapping her cane on the bunks 'Time to sell the papers!" Groaning and complaining all the girls crawled out of bed and walked over to the wash room. All except one. The woman walked over to a bunk where a young girl with messy red hair was still sound asleep. "Tunes' she said shaking the girl 'time to wake up" Tunes groaned and opened her eyes. "I'm sick Mrs. Pandor, I have to stay home" "Oh really' asked Mrs. Pandor taking a seat on the bed 'Come here let me feel your forehead" Tunes sat up in bed and as Mrs. Pandor quickly raised her hand to the young girls forehead and slapped her. "Get up you lazy little girl!" she laughed. "I'm ready to go!" exclaimed Quipster It took the girls all about fifteen minutes longer than it should to get ready but it's a wonder that they're able to get ready at all. "C'mon girls, let's go!" commanded a tall young girl with beautiful brown hair and green eyes. "Uh Quipster, you forgot yer shoes" Quirky stated. "No shoes for me!' laughed Quipster 'My toes like to be free!" Down at the Distribution center "My, my, my, what do we have here?" teased Briar, a short girl with a muscular build and dirty blonde hair. The leader of the first newsgirls lodging house. Briar liked to start fights, the two groups didn't get along and she was the main reason. "We'se just gettin our papes" answered Quirky plainly, she didn't want to fight this early in the morning. Knowing she wasn't gonna get anything from Quirky, Briar moved on to Stress, a tall girl with cat-like eyes and long curly hair. "Heya Stress, seein Jack tonight?" Briar was Jacks ex-girlfriend and Stress was Jacks new girlfriend. In fact the thing that separated the two groups is one group of the girls got dumped by some of the male newsies for the other group. None of the girls that got dumped really got over it. "Yes, I am" answered Stress faking a smile. "Oh, well tell him I said thanks for last night, really helped me unwind" Briar laughed evilly and walked away. "What a bitch" exclaimed Tinker, after Briar was out of sight "You could say that again" agreed Tunes counting her stack 30 of papers Quipster walked out with a giant stack of 200 papers. Everyone looked at her, astonished. "Holy god! How are you gonna sell that many?" asked Stress, appalled. "It's all about gimmicks' smiled Quipster 'watch and learn" She smoothed out her hair, put on a smile and sauntered over to a young man standing on the corner. "Heya handsome, wanna buy a paper?" Quipster asked sweetly. "I'll take five!" exclaimed the man hastily searching for a nickel. Quipster thanked him and walked back over to her friends. "See? gimmick" BAD TEAM "Ugh! I hate those girls so much!" shouted Briar "Yea, I know whatcha mean" agreed Aki "They think they got our guys wrapped around their little fingers, wait til we give em what's comin to 'em." added Pisky angrily. "I only wish there was some way of wrecking their plans for tonight" pondered Briar. "Yea, but first we'd have to KNOW their plans" stated Pisky. That gave Briar an idea. she looked around the room full of girls frantically, finally finding just the one she was looking for. Lanie, a small thin girl with pale blonde hair and undefined features sitting all alone on her bunk away from the rest of the group. Briar knew that Lanie would do anything to fit in with them. That's a very good quality thought Briar, smirking to herself. I think I’ve found my gopher. "Lanie, dear' Briar said sweetly 'come here, will ya?" Lanie walked over cautiously, she'd been there for two weeks and no one even coughed in her general direction. Now the leader was calling her over for a conversation! "Y-yeah Briar?" stammered Lanie "How would you like tah do us a little favah?" Brair asked. Lanie’s eyes lit up, finally a chance to prove herself. "Sure what?" "It's really easy' said Briar 'all ya gotta do is be our spy. Find out what the goils from the otha lodgin house are doin tonight, then come back and tell us" "Ok!' Lanie agreed. "When do I start?" "Right now" Briar smiled shoving her out the door. "That was brilliant!" stated Patchess Briar just smiled and shrugged "I know" GOOD GIRLS "I'se sold em all!" said Quipster triumphantly "Me too" said Tunes taking a seat next to her. "Yea, but you had 30, she had 200." Stress pointed out "Seriously how do you guys sell them all? I can barely sell a dozen a day!" exclaimed Tinker. "It's all about gimmick as I said before, Stress ______" said Quipster "Yea, and Quirky _________" added Stress "And Tunes sings out her headlines while she's walking down the street" explained Quirky "And Quipster's a whore!" said Tunes cheerfully Quipster glared at Tunes. Realizing she said something Tunes laughed nervously and looked at the ground. Luckily for her their old friend Gears came by. "Heya goils! how's sales?" asked Gears smiling. They all greeted her warmly and swarmed her with questions and stories. They hadn't seen her in over a year. "Woah, woah woah! one at a time!" said Gears laughing. "Sorry, we'se just so excited to see you again!" said Quirky hugging her. "Yea!' agreed Stress 'We got a lot of catching up to do!" "Well why don't you goils come to my place later? You can bring your guys, it'll be fun!" suggested Gears Gears was young but she was very well off. Her parents died about a year ago (hence the reason she had to leave for awhile, clear up legal things and such) but they left her with enough money to live comfortably for the rest of her life. The girls all agreed and went their separate ways to go tell the guys. "Great!" shouted Lanie popping up from a near-by bush "Now i'll be part of the group for sure!" Lanie raced back to the lodging house with her new found knowledge. BAD "A party?" said Briar upon hearing the news. "I say we crash it!" interjected Patchess "Oh we'll do more than crash it, much more" giggles Briar evilly. GOOD Stress played with her silver necklace nervously. All the other guys had arrived except hers. Jack was MIA. Stress continued playing with the necklace, letting the cool silver slide between her fingers. If he ditched me for that little--. Her thoughts were cut off by a knock on the door. Stress jumped up to answer it. "Jack!" she sighed with relief, throwing her arms around him. Now she would be able to enjoy the party alot more. Halfway through the party there was another knock at the door, but all the couples were so pre-occupied with one another, no one seemed tonotice. Stress and Jack were laughing about something holding hands on the couch, Tunes had fallen asleep in Skitterys' arms and he was stroking her hair beginning to doze off as well, Quipster and Mush, well, they disappeared a couple of minutes ago into a room down the hall, Quirky and Jake were practicing their hand slaps on the floor and gazing into one another’s eyes, Tinker and Kid Blink were making out in the corner, like usual, and Crutchy sat in a chair talking with Gears, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Finally the person on the other side of the door got tired of waiting and just barged in. "Surprise!" yelled Aki "What is this about?" asked Gears, not moving from Crutchy’s embrace. "We'se just wanted to join da party" answered Stables sweetly. Stables was a tall girl with black hair and a constant look of viciousness in her brown eyes. "Fine' sighed Gears 'Just don't cause any trouble" The girls drifted in taking seats next to their ex's. Pisky looked around sadly. "Where's Mush?" she pouted. "He went off somewhere with Quipster" whispered Skittery, trying not to wake Tunes, who was still sleeping in his arms. Stables rolled her eyes. She was Skittery's ex-girlfriend and was slightly jealous that Tunes was able to get Skittery so whipped when she was so obviously more attractive. "Why are you whispering?" she punched Tunes in the arm "Wake up!" Tunes stirred "Hey Stables, long time no see" she groaned. At that moment Mush and Quipster walked back into the main room, their clothes and hair both a bit messed up, but huge grins on their faces. "What just happened?" asked Pisky angrily "Oh Hey Pisky" smiled Mush, giving her a quick hug. "What just happened?" Pisky asked again this time a lot more harshly. "Oh uh nothing much" replied Mush, obviously embarrassed. "Nothing much" laughed Quipster. "That's not what you said five minutes ago!" Mush just blushed. Pisky got really angry. "That's it, you and me outside NOW!" THE FIGHT Everyone was assembled outside. The girls in two lines in the street and the guys on the sidewalk looking on. "Ok goils, you know the rules, no weapons and," Gears turned to the guys, "no involvement from the crowd!" "I'se been waitin a long time tah do dis" said Pisky, fury in her eyes. She raised her fist and swung at Quipster. Quipster ducked narrowly missing a collision with Pisky's fist. At that, all of them began going after each other. All of them except Tunes who was still half asleep. "C'mon Tunesy, sweetie, fight for your man" taunted Princess She swung at Tunes and hit her right across the face. Blood ran down her cheek. She brushed some red hair out of her eyes , the blood seemed to wake her up. She grabbed onto Princess' long dark blonde hair. "You wanna fight? Ok we'll fight!" she started beating on Princess viciously. "My hair!" yelped Princess "You'll get it dirty!!!" Tunes sighed and continued her work. Stress and Briar were both equally bloody, grappling on the ground. Quipster on the other hand was beating the life out of Pisky, who dared to call her a whore, Tinker, who didn't really like to fight, was holding her own against Patchess, who was feared all over Manhatten. Quirky and Aki just stood in the middle of all the fighting panting for breath. "Let's save this fight for another time" panted Quirky Aki shook her head in agreement, they both went to the sidelines to sit down. Everyone else followed their lead, Quipster gave Pisky one more good punch in the eye before letting her go. "C'mon Tunes we're done for tonight" said Quipster dragging her away. "Fine' said Tunes heavily panting and pushing a mess of red hair out of her face. "But all the fighting has given me an adrenaline rush, I need to do something to burn off all this excess energy" She eyed Skittery and walking over to him hastily she grabbed him by a suspender "C'mon" she said pulling him up into a deep kiss, then dragging him into Gears apartment. THE NEXT MORNING The next morning they all woke up bruised and sore, but triumphant. "What happened?" groaned Pisky "We kicked some ass" answered Quirky proudly. Stress looked at the clock "Holy shit! it's 9:30!" "It's ok girls' said Mrs. Pandor stepping from the doorway 'you had a rough night last night, I'll let you stay in and recuperate, just this once" The old woman smiled and began walking away. "Oh before I forget, I made breakfast for you, it's on the table, help yourselves" 1st LH "So how'd it go last night?" asked Lanie hopefully No one answered. More painful than their bruised arms or bruised faces, are their bruised egos. "Not good I’m guessing" she sighed Patchess sighed "No not good at all" she said without looking up. "But there is something you can do to help out, buddy" said briar, an idea forming in her head. Lanie smiled at this. She called me buddy! she thought overjoyed. "Sure, anything!" "Go be a spy for a little longah, will ya? Collect awl da information ya can and I'll figure out what tah do from there." Briar commanded Lanie nodded and left. GOOD The girls were again out and about, proud to show off their battle scars. "Heya sweetie, nice shinah" said Jake giving Quirky a quick kiss on the lips. "Heya goils" said Jake addressing the rest of the group "the rest of the guys want you'se to meet em at Tibby's" The girls thanked him and hurriedly walked away. "C'mon,we should be catchin up with them" said Quirky beginning to walk toward Tibby's Jake grabbed her had and pulled her toward him, giving her a long kiss. Quirky pulled away. "Well I guess we could be a little late" she said smiling, returning her lips to his. TIBBYS Lanie walked in and took a seat diagonal to the group. She tried not to look to conspicuous, she fidgeted nervously in her seat praying she could leave soon. "Aw, Tinker, yea all bruised up" said Kid Blink examining her arm. "You did this all fer me?" Tinker pulled away "It's not just about you! It's the principal of the thing!" she stated. "Hey, are we evah gonna get this meetin started?" Mush asked "I'd really like tah get outta here, I got some , uh, important business." he added eyeing Quipster who was smiling devilishly at him. "Keep it in yer pants Mush, we're waitin for Jake and Quirky" commanded Jack. Mush shut up. They all sat around talking about nothing in particular for a couple of minutes until Jake and Quirky showed up. "Finally" sighed Mush Jack shot him a glance as if to day 'shut up or i'll soak ya.' Mush shut up once again and continued staring at Quipster. "So what makes you kids so late to our little get together?" asked Kid Blink winking (with his good eye of course). "Shut up" laughed Jake "Let's just get this thing started." They got into an intense conversation, replaying all the events of last night. Lanie listened intently from her booth. Jack finally spoke up. "Well, all I know is I don't want you goils gettin in no moah fights wit dem oddah goils!" The rest of the guys nodded in agreement while the girls gasped in anger and disbelief. "What?! Do you think we can't handle ourselves? Didja even see us last night?!" Stress said with fury in her voice. Jack sighed "I know you goils can hold yer own, but that was an organized fight, and we was dere in case anything got outta hand, next time you may not be so lucky." "Fine" started Quirky " we won't provoke them, but whatta we gonna do if they sneak up on us?" "Yea, we can't predict when dey'se gonna surprise us." agreed Tinker. Jack thought about this for a minute. "Fine" he said "but come to out lodgin house in about an hour." "For what Jack?" asked Stress curiously. "I'm gonna give you all a little protection" he answered. "Oh, don't worry about dat Jack" said Mush pointing to him and Quipster "We already gots it." Everyone gave Mush a look but decided to ignore his extremely stupid comment. "C'mon boys, come wit me" Jack commanded. All the guys, knowing they had to obey their leader, gave their girls a quick kiss and hurriedly followed Jack out of the restaurant. "Of course they leave without paying the bill" sighed Tinker reaching into the pocket of her pants. "Don't worry, I got it" said Quipster plopping 75 cents down on the table. "Oh yea, I forgot, yer rich" stated Tunes bitterly "Woah! Whats wrong wit you?" asked Quipster. "Sorry, just really sore from last night" apologized Tunes. "What, Skittery go to rough on ya?" asked Quipster laughing with delight. Tunes just rolled her eyes and laughed with her. "But on a more serious note" said Quirky returning to the topic at hand "What are we going to do about Briars group?" Finally! thought Lanie, they're getting to the stuff I need. "Simple" said Stress "Whenever they start something, we'll finish it, we need to show 'em who’s boss, no matter how much it hurts them!" Lanie choked on her water, what if they find out I'm with that group? she thought frantically, no doubt they've seen me out selling before. Lanie panicked and ran out of Tibbys. BAD Lanie ran into the bunk room panting heavily. "What happened Squirt? asked Aki Lanie knew better than to spill the beans to some random person before telling everything she knew to the leader. Lanie found Briar and told her everything she heard. "Teach us who's boss?" repeated Briar, amused "It seems their boyfriends are too worried about what we're gonna do next" hinted Princess. "You read my mind Princess dear, we need tah make 'em more worried about what their girlfriends are doing than what we're doing" said Briar. "What do ya got in mind?" asked Pisky Briar motioned for all the girls to huddle. She whispered her plan and laughed evilly along with the others. "Once again, brilliant" smiled Patchess Briar smiled, basking in all her glory, "And once again, I know" BOYS LH Jack pulled a large box from underneath his bunk and started going through the contents of said box. The rest of the boys looked at each other wondering what Jack was going to take out of that box. "Aha!" Jack exclaimed "Found 'em!" Jack pulled out five knives with shiny silver cases over the blades. "Wow Jack, where'd ya get those?" asked Skittery "Believe it or not , dey were me muddahs" Jack smiled at the faint memory of his mother, who was an avid knife collector but ironically hated violence. "See, they got a loop right heah so you can keep em on a gartah around yer leg or whatevah" explained Jack. "Hey, great idea Jack!" said Mush patting him on the back. "Yea let's go outside and wait for the goils" said Kid Blink anxious to see that Tinker would return safely. GIRLS "Surprises, surprises, we're getting surprises, to protect ourselves from the bad bad evil girls!" sand Tunes, making up the words and melody as she went along. The other girls walked behind her sighing but knowing that once she started she'd never stop. As they approached the boys lodging house they were thrilled to see the guys outside waiting for them. "Skittery, please shut her up!" yelled Tinker Skittery walked over to Tunes putting an arm around her "Heya Tunesy me dear" Tunes switched to a new song " OoOoOoO Skittery love, Skittery love, I need you oh how I need yor love" she sang pulling him close to her and giving him a kiss. "Thank god!" exclaimed Quipster taking a seat next to Mush. "I don't get it" said Mush confusedly "she has a beautiful voice." Quipster looked at him lovingly "Mushy honey, have I told you how smart you are, today?" "No" he smiled awaiting a compliment. Quipster’s loving look switched to one of mockery "Good" "Ok, dats enough you two" said Jack handing the knives of to the girls. "Now this is the protection I was talkin about for youse goils" "But, where we gonna keep 'em?" asked Stress. "I'm happy you asked that question, ya see" began Jack moving to Stress to demonstrate. "This is a specially made ladies knife, see dis loop on da blade covah? That's so it can be attatched to a gartah or somethin and you can keep 'em on yer leg." Jack moved his hand to Stress' leg. Quirky looked upset "But that means we gotta wear--" "Skirts!" said Jake cutting off his girlfriend’s whining. BAD "C'mon girls, keep up!" shouted Briar to the rest of her group, lagging behind her. The girls were all dressed nicely but provocatively. They had been walking quite some time when they finally reached their destination, The Bronx. They heard some scattered catcalls and rude remarks which is just what they were hoping for. These girls were on the prowl for young, strong, virile boys. It was all a part of Briars brilliant plan. Briar looked at the girls, double checking their make-up and attire. Satisfied she took a deep breath, put on a bright smile and led her girls over to a group of boys hanging around smoking cigars. "Why hello boys" smiled Briar batting her eyelashes. A tall muscular boy with jet black walked over to her "How ya doin today ladies? Anthin we can help you'se wit?" "Yes actually" answered Briar sweetly. "If you boys would be kind enough to help us out with a little task." said Aki playfully winking at a boy who was obviously staring at her. "Yes, you boys look absolutely perfect, strong and intelligent" added Pisky "Not to mention handsome" said Princess seductively. "Well, I think we can help you lovely ladies out, can't we boys?" said the lead boy grabbing Briars hand. The rest of the boys quickly agreed, grabbed one of the girls and followed their leader. GIRLS LH 2 "UGH! I can't find a garter! I don't think I even have one." exclaimed Stress digging through a box of her clothes. "Here, use one of mine" said Quipster flinging a white garter, slingshot style, at Stress. "I don't like this color" complained Stress. "Who cares about the color. It's gonna be underneath your skirt! Speaking of skirts whatddya think of this one?" asked Tinker holding up a shin length grayish black skirt. "Very nice" said Tunes "But not as gorgeous as mine, I'm going to look like a real lady in this." Tunes smiled and showed everyone her skirt. A long flowing skirt that women in their 20's would usually wear, but, instead of the usual black, brown, or grey, Tunes opted for a scarlet red skirt and perfectly matching garter. Everyone rolled their eyes at Tunes' over-dramatic fashion sence. Quipster already had her skirt picked out, a simple grey one, but what she was agonizing over was which garter to use. "I hate wearing these things!" whined Quirky trying on her old light blue pleated skirt. Quirky sighed and stole a garter from Quipsters collection. "If you guys gimme yer garters I'll fix the knife holder on for ya." offered Quirky. Everyone thanked her and threw their garters at her. Quirky sat on her bunk and got to work. "I still hate wearing skirts" she muttered angerily to her self. BAD "So let me get this straight" said the raven haired handsome boy, who’s name we have learned is Dagger. "You want us to try tah make a group of Manhattan broads crazy for us?" "Or at least sleep with you" said Aki "So what do we get outtah dis?" asked a tan boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. "Whatever you want" smiled Princess devilishly "Ok" said Dagger taking charge "You girls have got yourselves a deal" Briar extended her hand for a deal-sealing handshake. Dagger took her hand and suavely kissed it. Briar uncharacteristically blushed. Detecting her weakness Patchess broke the silence, "C'mon, it's gettin dark, we oughtta be gettin back to Manhattan, if we wanna put da plan inta action by tomorroah." The boys nodded and let the girls lead the way. NEXT DAY "Extra, Extra, tenement fire claims dozens of lives!" shouted Tinker desperately. "You're not done sellin yet?" asked Quirky. "No, of course she's not, cuz Tink here still ain't got no gimmick." teased Stress. "Aw , still nothin Tinker?" asked Tunes, walking over with Quipster and smoking her cigarette. "Ugh! Can you get that smelly thing away from me!" complained Quirky, fanning away the smoke. "Well I would" Tunes took a drag of her cigarette and slowly but purposely exhaled in Quirky’s face, "but she's my friend, and I like her," she said hugging Quipster. "Hey!" exclaimed Quipster playfully hitting Tunes. "Anyway Tinker, why don't you try using my approach?" Quipster suggested. Tinker nodded, took a deep breath and walked over to the first paper-less boy she saw. "Heya handsome, wanna buy a paper?" she asked nervously, tapping him on the shoulder. The boy turned around and slowly looked her up and down. "Sure" he said "but only if you and your lovely friends show me and me boys here around for a little. We're new here, ya see?" he told her motioning to a group of boys behind him. "Sure, I'm Tinker, what's your name?" she asked politely The boy smiled and kissed her hand "The name's Dagger." ~~~~~~~~***********~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~************ After a couple of minutes it was time to put the plan in action. Dagger nodded at another boy with brown hair, hazel eyes, and a mischievous smile. The boy nodded back. "Hey can one of you'se show me to da newsboys lodgin house?" the boy asked "Sure, I'll show ya" Stress replied, leading the way. The large group broke up into pairs, each going a different way. Quipster was showing a boy with black hair and oddly colored eyes, who’s name was Indigo, to Tibbys. "Well here it is, the finest eating establishment this side of Manhattan." said Quipster laughing. "Looks pretty good, wanna grab a bite to eat?" Indigo asked Quipster shrugged "As long as yer payin." They got their food and sat down in a booth. "Just a salad?" laughed Indigo "I like salads" replied Quipster dully. She didn't really want to be there but, a free meal is a free meal. Indigo leaned forward and stared into Quipsters eyes, "Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" "Yes" answered Quipster not even looking up from her salad. "That's because you are" he told her. "Ok, thanks." Please give up now, stop trying, and give up! Quipster thought desperately. "Just looking at you makes me so hot" he added lustfully. "Woah buddy, I'm not that kinda girl" she stated rising. "Oh, but I think you are, c'mon let's ditch this dump and go have some fun." he replied forcefully. "Someone needs to cool their libido" said Quipster emptying the contents of her water glass on Indigos crotch. "You'se gonna pay for dat!" hissed Indigo grabbing one of Quipster’s hands. Quipster quickly picked up the fork from her salad and stabbed him in the wrist causing him to release her. She darted out of Tibbys and ran to the boys lodging house. TINKER Tinker was showing Dagger the way to the docks. "So here we are" said Tinker cheerfully "Not that far, huh?" "No, not far at all, but gosh it's hot out, mind if we take a breathah?" asked Dagger motioning for her to sit down. Tinker obliged, being kind of tired as well. They talked for a little while, finding out they had lots in common. This guy seems ok thought Tinker, happy to have a new friend. "Hey, you wanna go swimming?" Dagger suggested hopefully. "I want to but I can't, in a skirt today." She motioned to the article of clothing covering her lower body. "Oh, that's ok, we can jist sit here and keep talking and stuff" Tinker looked into Daggers eyes. Both their heads leaned close together and closed their eyes prepared to share a sweet moment when suddenly an alarm went off in Tinkers head 'You're with Blink!!!' she pulled away, "I'm sorry Dagger, I can't, I have a boyfriend" "It's ok" he said placing his hand on her leg, inches away from where her knife was hidden. Tinker jumped up "I gotta go!" and with that she hurried off. TUNES Tunes was nominated to show a very cocky but cute boy by the name of Hero, to Irving Hall. He'd been making passes the whole way and she politely flirted back, knowing she could handle it if things got out of hand. "So this is Irving Hall, were the most talented and beautiful women of the vaudeville stage perform, I hope one day to be up on that stage too." sighed Tunes. "Well you got the beautiful part down, doll" Hero said cheesily. "Hey what's over there?" "Oh that's the side entrance, for performers and staff, wanna see?" asked Tunes politely. They walked halfway through the ally when Hero suddenly stopped. "Why are you stopping?" asked Tunes calmly. "Come here, I wanna tell you something" Hero said, motioning for her to come closer. Tunes carefully walked towards him then gave him a look as if to say 'ok, now what?'. He leaned in and kissed her right on the lips. "Hey, that's very sweet" said Tunes pulling away "but I got a boyfriend." "That's ok, I don't mind." shrugged Hero, kissing her again. "NO" Tunes said firmly. Hero pushed her against the wall "Guess we'se gotta do this the hard way" he smiled menacingly. Tunes smiled back and put an arm on his shoulder. "I like a man with some aggression." she said smiling. With her free arm she started to lift her long scarlet red skirt up her leg. Hero’s eyes grew wider every inch. When she reached her upper thigh she grabbed her knife out of its holder and spun around Hero so she was behind him, holding the blade to his throat. "I believe I said no" she knocked him unconscious with a quick blow to the head. As he fell to the ground she heard a ripping sound. She turned to see that before completely passing out Hero grabbed the back of her skirt, tearing the bottom portion of it. She held her torn skirt and whispered to herself harshly "Oh, you little fucker! This is my favorite skirt!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~**********~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Have you figured out where you wanna go yet?" asked Quirky impatiently. The boy just looked at her and smiled. She chose to ignore that and continued to talk. "I seriously hate skirts" she said tugging on her own skirt. She looked down and saw something shiny. "Oooh! A nickle!" she exclaimed picking up the form of currency "Must be a newsies lucky day. Are you gonna be a newsie? Jake is a newsie. Jake says I look very sexy in skirts but I hate them." The boy looked at her blankly. He was obviously confused. "Who's Jake?" "My boyfriend" stated Quirky matter-of-factly. "Let's not talk about him, let's talk about you and me." "Oh ok, so where do you want me to take you?" asked Quirky, not really catching his drift. "How 'bout you place?" he asked grinning. "The 2nd newgirls lodging house? Ok, follow me." she replied still not quite getting it. STRESS "...And over here is the newsboys lodging house, this is where you'll stay if you're planning on becoming a newsie." "Are you a newsie?" asked the boy she'd been showing around. "Yes I am" "Ok, then that's what I'm gonna be" he leaned in to kiss her Stress dodged the boy "Hey, listen, you're cute and nice and all, but I got a boyfriend." "He don't even gotta know about it" the boy replied grabbing her forcefully. Stress punched him in the face, causing his lip to bleed. "You little bitch" he spat, throwing her up against the wall. Stress struggled to break free, but couldn't, she swallowed her pride and called out, "Jack!! Help!" Just like the hero he is, Jack ran outside and rescued Stress, soaking the boy in the process. Stress went to hug him but he wouldn't hug her back. "What were you doin wit him?" he asked trying to mask how upset he was. "Jack, calm down, he's new, I was just showin him around, that's all." "Yea? well why didn't ya take da oddah goils witcha?" he asked, his voice almost in a yell. "They were showin guys around too, there was a group of em, we-" Stress was cut off by Tinker who came from one direction and Quipster who came from another. "Jack don't yell at her! This is all my fault!" said Tinker quickly. By that time all the boys had assembled outside. "Tinker what happened?" Kid Blink asked a very visibly shaken Tinker. "Oh Blink, I didn't mean to! Well, I didn't do it, but I almost did! And I'm so sorry!" she said on the verge of tears. "Wait, what did you do?" Blink asked, not sure that he wanted to hear the answer. "I was out with Dagger and" Kid Blink cut her off "Wait, you was out with another guy?!" he exploded. "Calm down!" yelled Quipster, coming to her friends defense "We was all out wit dem!" "You too Quip?" Mush asked, hurt. "Yea, but nuttin happened, He tried, but I said no" "Oh, ok" replied Mush contently. "I still can't believe you'se goils would do this!" Jack commented. "Where's Tunes and Quirky?" As if on cue, Tunes came running down the street sobbing. Skittery jumped down from the stoop of the house and went over to her. "What happened?" he asked, concerned. Tunes wiped her eyes and sniffled "He-he.." "What, just tell me, I'll go soak him!" said Skittery, showing his courageous side. "He ripped my skirt!" She blurted out and began sobbing again, Skittery let go of her. "He ripped your skirt? That's it?" "Well yeah" Tunes sniffled "I mean, he hit on me but I took care of it." Skittery got angry "So what?! You still went out with some random guy!" "I didn't really go out with him!" Tunes explained. "Whatever!" Skittery shouted. "Hey, I violently assaulted a cute guy for you and this is what I get?!" she shouted back. "Oh, so now you're telling me he's cute? Ya know what? Forget you!" "No, forget you!" Tunes yelled back "Forget YOU!" "FINE!" she screamed in anguish. "FINE!" he yelled and stormed into the lodging house. Quirky came walking up with the boy she was showing around. "Hey, what's the big idea?" he asked Quirky looked around confusedly "Oh, stupid me, I brought you to the boys lodging house." Jake walked over to the boy "What do you think you're doin with my girlfriend pal?" The boy took one look at Jake and ran. "Thanks Jake." smiled Quirky sweetly. "I don't wanna talk to you right now" he said as he walked back inside. Kid Blink followed him, as did Jack. "You aren't mad at me, are you Mush?" Quipster asked, running her fingers across his chest. "Nah. Hey you wanna come in and-" Mush was cut off by a slap to the back of the head, compliments of Jack. "I mean, yes." he said winking at Quipster and following Jack inside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Aw girls it looks like you're havin a little man trouble." laughed Briar. Until now Stress was able to repress her anger but Briars presence pushed her over the edge. She charged toward her, knocking others over in the process and the two began fighting. The others joined in, except for Tunes who’s mind was still on her skirt. "Well isn't that a lovely skirt" said Princess picking up the front part of it "and such lovely material, must have been expensive" Princess ran her hand over the material but suddenly she dug her newly sharpened nails into the red material and shredded it. "Oopsie" Princess laughed and dropped the skirt. Tunes looked at her skirt in horror. "Bitch" she muttered. Princess spun around "What was that?" "Oh you heard me. You fuck with the skirt, you die!" Tunes joined in fighting madly punching, kicking and scratching whoever she could. It was an all out brawl. A few hours later it ended the girls were bloody and beaten in the street. To proud to ask the boys for help they tried to walk home. Luckily for them Racetrack was coming home from his day at the track and he saw them. "Ho-ly gawd" he gasped "Stay right dere, i'll go git da boys!" The girls obeyed, and faster than you can say 'feeling guilty' the boys came out to carry them inside. "The girls are stayin with us tonight Kloppman." Kid Blink informed the old man who simply nodded. The boys decided that they needed some time alone with their girls to talk to them, so they split up. Kid Blink took Tinker into the sick room, Jack brought Stress to the bunkroom, Skittery carried Tunes to a secluded part of the living area, Jake and Quirky snuck into the extra bedroom, but Mush didn't know where to take Quipster. "How are you?" he asked nervously. "I'm fine" "Oh, that's good...." "You wanna go up to the roof?" Mush sighed in relief, she read his mind once again. She smiled and they disappeared up the stairs. TINKER Kid Blink placed Tinker on the bed and sat next to her, grabbing some supplies off the shelves to nurse her wounds. "God Tinker, I'm so sorry, I really shouldn't have-" he cut off trying to hold back the tears. "It's ok" said Tinker smiling faintly. She proceeded to explain the entire story to him. He hugged her firmly, slightly hurting her battered body, but she decided to just revel in the moment. "I'm so proud of you and I'm so sorry for acting like a jerk before." he told her. She shushed him and they began kissing passionately.... STRESS "Let go 'a me!" said Stress struggling to break free of Jacks grasp. "Calm down will ya! Geez!" Jack ran his hands through his dirty blond hair. "I'm sorry I acted like an ass before, I just go crazy when I see you'se wit other guys, You're so amazin, I'm afraid I might lose ya." Jack revealed. "Oh Jack" she said beginning to cry. She pulled him into bed with her. He held her tightly, his head resting on her soft blondish-brown curls. "I love you Jack" Stress said, melting into his embrace. "I love you too" he said kissing her forehead "I love you too." TUNES Tunes lay on the couch still crying in hysterics. Skittery paced back and forth trying to think of a way to put his feelings into words. "Tunes, you and me haven't been together to long, but we've had our share of fights. But neither of us have resolved em by using those three magic words." He stopped to make sure Tunes was listening. She was still crying, but he could tell she was paying attention, so he continued "Anyways, after what I said this afternoon, I thought I should tell you that-" Tunes was still crying. Skittery got fed up with not having her undivided attention. "Willya stop cryin about your stupid skirt! I'mtrying to tell you I am sorry!" he yelled. Tunes looked up at him "Those are the three words you wanted to say to me?" Skittery nodded. Tunes started to cry again "That is so sweet! You've never said that to me before! I'm sorry too!" she said as she began kissing him and pulling him onto the couch. "Here?!" Skittery asked surprised. Tunes just nodded eagerly. "But someone could see us" he warned her. Tunes though for a moment. "Ok!" she shrugged. QUIRKY "Aw Quirky, look at how hurt you are, I can't help but to blame myself" said Jake caressing her bruised face. "The only reason I told you that I didn't wanna talk to you is because I knew I'd end up yelling at you and I have much more respect for you than that." "Is this just a line because you want some booty?" asked Quirky weakly. "No! I have to much respect for you than to use a line to get some, uh, to take advantage of you!" "Oh" said Quirky "because it was working" Jake looked surprised and embarrassed. Quirky just smiled and motioned for him to lay next to her. ~~~~~~~~~ Mush and Quipster woke up on the roof the next morning, their limbs intertwined. "Good morning" whispered Mush, giving the very sleepy Quipster a kiss on the cheek. "Time to wake up already? I'm still tired, I mean you hardly let me sleep last night" she smiled at the memory, "God it's hot today" she said tying up her hair. "Are you as hot as I am?" "No one is as hot as you are" he replied smiling and kissing her neck. "Again?" Quipster giggled "Why not?" he grinned and the laid down once again. *CRASH* Quipster sat up and straightened her shirt, "Did you hear that?" "Yea, what the hell was it?" They crawled over to the edge of the building and saw Pisky, Aki, and a small blonde girl they'd never seen before. "What are they doin here?" Quipster whispered. "Shhh! Just listen" Mush instructed quietly "Be careful!" Aki hissed "They could have heard us!" "Sorry" squeaked Lanie as she was hoisted up through the window. "What am I doing again?" she asked meekly. Pisky sighed. "You're our little spy remember? Just listen to their conversations, then come back and tell us what you heard, ok?" The little girl sighed "Ok" "A spy? I knew those bitches had something up their sleeves!" Quipster said angrily rising to her feet. "We gotta warn da others!" Mush pulled her back down to the ground and started kissing her. "Well I guess it can wait for a coupla minutes" said Quipster unable to resist. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mush and Quipster had woken everyone up and warned them of Briars evil doing. They all gathered in the living room where Tunes and Skittery were still sleeping. "Wake up!" said Tinker hitting them. They grumbled and woke up. Tunes reached for her tattered skirt but it wasn't where she tossed it last night. "Who took my skirt?" she cried Everyone averted their eyes. Tunes got angry,"Well?" Jake cleared his throat, "It was probably Itey." "Itey?" Tunes asked flatly. "Yea, Itey’s got dis weird habit 'a stealin pants" Jack explained uncomfortably. Skittery gave her a pair of his pants. "You're lucky I'm skinny" he laughed as she pulled them on. Finally they got down to business and made a plan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Briar sat on her bunk trying to think of something new to torture the girls with. Her plotting was interrupted by Patchess, who burst in excitedly. "Briar, Dagger is here to see you" Briar looked up eagerly, "Send him in" "Ok" Patchess left the room only to re-enter right after. "Can I stay? Ya know, to listen to the conversation, see how the leader handles stuff??" Briar sighed, "No, it's private, you'll only get in the way" Patchess looked sad but obeyed and left to get Dagger. Briar fixed her hair and set herself up in a sexy pose on her bunk. Dagger strutted in and took a look around, his eyes finally settling on Briar. "Hello" she purred. "Well, it's good to see you in such a good mood aftah that vicious battle that ensued last night" he grinned. "You saw dat?" Briar asked losing her sexy pose. "Me and da boys watched from a safe distance." Briars eyes lit up, "And..." "You girls did good, but ya didn't really 'beat em' ya know?" Briar got angry, "Whaddya mean? We got their boyfriends mad at em then attacked when they were most vulnerable! Beating em up pretty harshly, I might add" Dagger laughed, "Yea but they made up wit those guys right aftah, you weren't plannin on dat now, where ya?" Briar looked at him in disbelief, "What-Whaddaya mean they made up? How do you know??" "Well, uh, me and da boys saw em go back in the house after the fight, and we decided to peek in a coupla windows, and we got quite a show" he smiled pervertedly. "Shit, now what am I supposed to do?" Briar asked dejectedly. Dagger climbed on the bunk and sat next to Briar. "Well, I gots an idea" he told her, looking deeply into her eyes. "Oh yea?" she giggled. "Yea" he whispered before leaning in to give her a deep, sensual kiss. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok girls are we ready to put our plan into action and take those other girls out-of-the-picture!" Stress asked excitedly. "Yeah!" they yelled in unison. Tinker looked confused, "Wait what was the plan again?" Stress sighed, "Girls, will one of you please remind Tinker of the plan?" No one volunteered. "Quirky?" Stress volunteered for her. "Actually, I don't remember either." "Quipster?" Stress said turning to her hopefully. "Yea, I have no freaking clue." "Tunes??" Stress asked desperately. Tunes simply shook her head, embarrassed. "Well" Stress started "I don't remember it either, but I'm sure we'll remember it sooner or later, right? Let's go!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Briar, Princess, Patchess, Pisky, and Aki sat in front of the distribution center. "Ya know what I miss most about Blink?" Patchess asked solemnly. "What?" asked Aki. "Everything" Patchess sighed. "I miss Jake’s sexy calves the most" Aki told. "I miss Mush’s chest, have you ever see that boy without a shirt? MmMmMmM!" Pisky added. "It's not a matter of missing Skittery" Princess explained "I could get someone thirty times better in no time, it's just the fact that he chose a dirty little orphan like Tunes, when he could have had beautiful royalty, like me." "Wake up sistah, yer not really a Princess, if ya were, you wouldn't be sellin papes wit us." Briar rudely informed her. "Not now" Princess scoffed "but I was in a former life, besides I'm still so much more beautiful than she is." Princess said flipping her long shiny hair. "Eh, stop yer sulking, sure there's stuff I miss about Jack, but it's nuttin you can't find in some othah guy!" Briar said trying to cheer them up. At that moment Lanie ran up to them excitedly, "Oh my gawd! I-I-I just heard some really good news!" "Spill it!" said Briar grabbing the little girls sleeve. "Ok, ok, I heard the boys say they wanted to be wit the strongest fighters, but since the first fight you girls had was called off and they missed the last one, the don't know who to choose. So they're hoping you'se will plan a fight so they can watch and find out for sure who's da best!" The small girl almost passed out from lack of breath. "Another organized fight?" groaned Pisky. "Yeah, they'se so boring" Patchess agreed. Briar smiled evilly "We'll give 'em their fight, come here girls, lemme tell ya a little plan me and a friend worked out...." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It's the hard knock life for us, it's the hard knock life for us! insteada treated we get tricked, insteada kisses, we get kicked it's the hard knock life!" Tunes was singing again but to me the song wasn't to bad. "Hey Tunes, that one ain't so bad" complimented Stress "Really?" Tunes asked, her dark green eyes glowing. "Yea, it actually don't suck like the othahs do!" Quipster added. "Hey, I'll have to write 'em down or somethin." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok girls, so we know what we're doin?" Briar asked. The girls nodded, a vicious gleam in their eyes. A few minutes later the other girls came walking into the distribution center. Briar marched right up to them, her head held high. "You and us, final fight , winner takes all" "10:30?" Stress said as more of a command then a question. "In da square" Brair told her. The girls turned and walked off. "Whatta we gonna do?!" Tinker cried "I can't fight!" "Calm down!" Quirky said slapping her. "Yea" Stress smiled "This is perfect. Let's go, we gotta get ready." "Get ready? But we have over twelve hours!" Quirky whined Stress looked at her confidently "Trust me" 10:15 The boys wandered over to the square, a feeling of trepidation running through each of them. "Who do you think's gonna win?" Jake asked, settling himself on the sidewalk. "Who knows, I just hope no one gets hurt to bad" Kid Blink remarked worriedly. "Not to worry boys, our goils is gonna win, no doubt" Jack exclaimed, lighting up a cigarette and smiling calmly as if he knew the outcome already. "I hope you're right" Skittery mumbled. "Hey, why you so confident Jack? You know somethin we don't?" Mush asked. "Yea, it's ain't nice ta keep secrets" Jake said seriously. "You guys really wanna know?" Jack asked. All the boys talked at once, shouting things like "Yea yea tell us Jacky boy!" and "Please!", all pleading with him to find out the knowledge he with-held from them. Jack laughed, he loved watching them squirm. "Alright" he said throwing down his cigarette "C'mere, I'll tell ya" ~~~~~~~~~ The girls came to the center of the square and shook hands. "May the best girls win." said Quipster shaking Akis' hand. "Don't worry, we will" Patchess replied sharply, pulling her hand away from Quipsters grip. "Hey, wait, how do we know they ain't got knives?" Pisky asked putting her hands on her hips indignantly. "Fine, someone will just have to check....both teams." Stress instructed. "Fine, Lanie!" Brair snapped. The little girl got up and started carefully patting down the girls. "They don't got nothin" she reported. "Good, now, in all fairness, you gotta check us too." Briar said with a tone of mockery in her voice. Lanie agreed and quickly patted down Brair’s team, ignoring the weapons they concealed, as instructed. "Nope" said the tiny girl shaking her head, making her pale blonde hair scatter around her face. Before anyone even officially declared the fights beginning, Aki lunged forward and grabbed Quirky, knocking her to the ground. Quirky rebounded, pulling Aki’s hair to help her up, then slapping her across the face. Fighting a little more fiercely, Quipster was punching and blocking blows from Pisky, who was throwing her fair share of good punches as well. Tinker was hurting pretty badly, but refused to back down to Patchess who was a very talented fighter, while Tinker hadn't really fought before in her entire life, seeing it as pointless. Tunes hadn't been hit once because she was dodging and running frantically from Princess' fists. Briar and Stress on the other hand just stood, motionless, staring each other down, seeing who would make the first move. Stress decided she would take the initiative. She threw her fist at Briars face intensely. Briar quickly blocked her, grabbing her wrist with one hand and putting the other hand on her shoulder. Briar eyed Stress' glittering silvernecklace, and, with one swift twist of the wrist, Briar ripped it from Stress' neck. "My necklace!" Stress cried This was no ordinary necklace. That necklace was very special, for it was the last memory she had of her beloved mother. Stress scrambled to the ground searching for her necklace. Seizing the opportunity, Briar kicked Stress in the head, causing her to collapse. Blood trickled down her head, Stress was in such severe pain she couldn't see, but she was still blindly groping for her necklace anyway. Briar continued kicking Stress, laughing menacingly in the process. Tunes, who was still yet to be hit due to her amazing dodging skills, saw what was happening and mustered up the courage to charge at Briar, tackling her to the ground. She punched her in the face, breaking her nose. "That's for hurting my friend!" Tunes screamed in Briars face. Princess came from behind Tunes and dragged her off of Briar. Princess slapped Tunes in the back of the head but Tunes quickly recovered and socked Princess in the stomach. "And that's for ruining my skirt!" she screamed. Pisky tapped Tunes on the shoulder, Tunes spun around and hit Pisky without even thinking about it. "Uh, I don't know what that was for!" Tunes yelled, a little less sure of herself. Pisky looked at her, full of fury. Tunes ran. Briar jumped up, wiping the blood from her face. "Enough of this bullshit! I'm gonna end this fight right now!" She screamed pulling out a rather large switchblade and heading towards Stress. Without thinking twice Tinker, Quirky, Tunes, and Quipster unselfishly stepped in front of their fallen friend. They all hiked up their skirts and pulled out their knives, except Tunes, who was still wearing Skittery’s pants. She grabbed Tinkers knife from her hand and ripped a slit on the upper leg on Skittery’s pants. She pulled out her knife and gave Tinkers back to her. By then Aki, Pisky, Patchess, and Princess were all gathered around Briar, holding knives or wearing brass knuckles. They were about to move in for the kill when... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ow!" Aki said rubbing her head "Somethin just hit me!" "Yea, I felt somethin too" commented Pisky. Soon enough a tiny shower of pebbles was raining down on the girls. "What is it now?!" Briar yelled with fury. "It, uh, seems to be raining rocks." Princess told her. "Rainin rocks? Dat's impossible, what is goin on here!?" Suddenly there was a loud thunk on a nearby rooftop, followed by a familiar voice bellowing, "Nevah feah, Brooklyn is heah!" "Brooklyn!!" Tunes, Stress, Quirky, Tinker, and Quipster gasped with relief. In no time, dozens of boys swarmed the streets attacking Briar, Patchess, Pisky, Aki, and Patchess. "We give up!" Pisky cried. The boys backed off. "Fine, you win!" Briar sighed Her sad persona soon changed to the devilishly evil smile she usually had plastered on her face. She snapped her fingers and out of a nearby alley walked the boys from the Bronx. They walked up to Briar and her girls, gave them a kiss , and put their arms around them. "Girls, meet our new boyfriends, oh, actually, I think yer already aquatinted" she said with a tone of amusement in her voice. Tinker’s jaw dropped, "Wait, you mean you have boyfriends, yet you had us fight for the guys anyway?" Briar nodded. "Why?!" Tinker cried in frustration. Briar shrugged "Well....now, even though we lost, we still won." she laughed and began walking. She turned to Lanie who was standing in a dark corner. "You can forget about coming home tonight, or ever again! You're lucky I don't kill you right now! You dirty little double crosser!" ~~~~~ The girls sighed and slunk down next to their guys. Jack examined the gash on Stress' head. "We oughtta get ya home an clean dat" Jack whispered to her. "But my necklace..." Stress argued weakly. He didn't pay attention to her plea and began leading her back to his lodging house, on the way he passed Spot. "Heya Spot, I, uh, jist wanted tah thank ya fer helpin out da goils." "Anytime Jacky-boy" Spot smiled and patted him on the back then he was on his way back to Brooklyn. Mush sat on the sidewalk with Quipster in his arms. "So how ya feelin?" he asked "I'm fine, she didn't mess me up to bad" Quipster laughed. "That's good..., you tired?" he asked awkwardly. "Not really, ya wanna go in that alley over there?" Quipster asked, already knowing the answer and pulling him toward said alley. Skittery and Tunes were walking towards the lodging house hand in hand. "What'd ya do to my pants?" Skittery joked. "I think I made them better" Tunes laughed staring at the large slit on the pant leg. "Well, it matches yer skirt" Jake and Quirky stood in a silent embrace. "I don't understand" Jake stated "How did that little girl not know you had weapons?" "Oh, she knew, ya see, we caught her snoopin around outside the lodgin house earlier. We convinced her to to tell Briar a story we concocted about you boys wantin tah date the best fighter and yada yada yada, Anyway, she told us they were bringin weapons to the fight, so we brought ours too, but made her promise that if she had tah check us, not to tell on us, or we'd tell on her." Quirky explained. "Gosh, you are so smart" Jake said as he began to kiss her. Kid Blink just sat in the middle of the street with Tinker in his lap. He caressed her bruised skin and apologized to her for making her fight again. "You're worth is" she smiled, tears streaming down her cheeks. Kid Blink kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear, "At least now there's nothing in our way and we can be together, be together forever." ~~~~~EPILOGUE~~~~~ Brair and her girls were having a good time with their new boys. They mostly hung out at the girls lodging house. Aki with Indigo, Princess with a tall tan boy named Stalion, Patchess with Hero, Pisky with a muscular boy named Crunch, and of course, Briar with Dagger. Briar and Dagger were sitting outside of the lodging house, laughing and talking, when they heard a commotion inside. "How dare you speak to me like that! I'm not just some common street trash like your past girlfriends!" Princess screamed, storming out of the lodging house with Stallion trailing behind her. She whirled around to face him, "And another thing! That nickname? I don't know WHERE that came from! But it's definitely not suiting, so, how bout I make up a new one. That ok with you, TINY?" Princess ran down the street, kicking up behind her. "Should we do somethin?" Dagger asked. "Nah, she'll be back here, uh, 'making up' with him in no time." "Oh that's good" Dagger turned to Stallion, "Ya hear dat Tiny?" Stalion grumbled and stalked back inside. Briar suddenly burst into a fit of laughter. "Whats so funny?" Dagger asked suspiciously. "Nothin, nothin, it's just" Briar stopped to catch her breath. "Contrary to popular belief, the bad guys don't always lose" Briar smiled evilly and gave Dagger a deep kiss, then dragged him inside the house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mrs. Pandor was cleaning up the lobby when Tinker, Quipster, and Quirky came bursting through the door full of excitement. "Do you wanna sign the card Mrs. Pandor?" Quirky asked the old woman kindly. She smiled "Actually I have my own card, for all of you." she said handing them a simple white card. The girls thanked her and rushed upstairs into the bunk room where Stress and Tunes were sitting on a bunk playing cards. "Heya girls" Stress said brightly "Whatcha got there?" Quipster handed both of them a wrapped brown package. "Wait! Read this first!" Tinker yelped, shoving a plain paper card at them. Tunes cleared her throat and began to read "Stress and Tunes, we're very sorry about your war casualties, we hope this will make up for it. We love you guys. Best friends for now and forever, Quirky, Quipster, and Tinker." "War casualties? What are you guys talking about?" Stress asked. Quipster hushed her, "Open them!!" Tunes, being ever so greedy opened hers first. "MY SKIRT!" she screamed hugging the red fabric to her chest. "Itey didn't really steal it, we took it so we could sew it back up for you." Quirky explained "Itey is a pants thief though." added Quipster. Stress then opened her package. She took out a small black box that contained a beautiful silver necklace. She was speechless. "I-Is this my necklace?" she asked, her voice quivering. "The one and only" Quirky smiled, seeing the joy they had brought to her friend. "I found it in the road and we took it to the jeweler, who cleaned it up and re-attached the clasp" Tinker told her proudly. "Oh, that must have been expensive." Stress began to felt a pang of guilt. "It cost a coupla bucks, but don't worry about it, I'm rich." Quipster laughed. "From all the whoring around" Tunes added, exploding with laughter herself. Her laughter soon turned into tears. That triggered Stress to begin crying as well. Quipster, Tinker, and Quirky just stared at the two girls who sat on the bunk sobbing. "Um, why are you crying?" Tinker asked. "Ok, so maybe there are a couple of flaws on the skirt but I swear, it was all Quirky’s fault!" Quipster blurted out. Quirky looked at her with a mix of shock and confusion, "What?!" "No, no, no, it's not that" Tunes sniffled. "It's just that, you guys went to so much trouble to make us happy!" Stress said, finishing Tunes' sentance. "Of course we would!" Quipster said softly, sitting down next to Stress. "Yea" Tinker added as she sat next to Tunes "I mean, you guys are like our sisters." she said beginning to cry as well. "Well don't dry those tears just yet" said Quirky handing them the card written by Mrs. Pandor. It read: Dear Girls, We've been living here together for a few years now and I've always felt a bond with you all. I would just like to tell you that I have never been so worried about anyone in my life than I have about you girls this past week. You girls are very mature, but, you're still children and can't take care of yourselves. I have no family, no one to care for. What I'm trying to say is that I would like to more than your landlady, I would like to become your legal guardian. I care about you girls so very much and hope you will take this into consideration. Love, Mrs. Pandor The girls looked at each other and began to cry once again. Now, not only did they have great boyfriends ,and dedicated best friends. They now had something some thing none of them have had in awhile. They now had a family. |
| Author: Tunes |
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