Fling Into Battle

by Juliet Benson

Jack slammed his fist down hard on the keyboard, his face contorted in rage. The other newsies watched, faces solemn and angry.

"How could they do this to us?" Davey finally spoke. Jack’s jaw clenched.

"They underestimate the number of converts we get each day," he ground out, not yet able to get himself under control.

"Are you sure you tried everywhere?" Racetrack said this time. "Amazon.com? CDNow? Imusic? CDWorld? How about Massmu…"

"I looked everywhere!" Jack exploded. "I even ran a search on Yahoo! and dogpile. Nothing!"

"What about Disney? Disney.com? They’re sure to have something! They created us!" Mush said desperately. Jack shook his head slowly.

"No luck there either. It’s as if we never existed by Disney standards. They even have a section devoted to the crappy TV shows they crank out now, but nothing for us!" A cry of dismay rose from the crowd.

"What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" a panicked newsie asked, grabbing the front of Kid Blink’s shirt. David shook him.

"Get a hold of yourself, man! It’s not over yet!" Jack jumped up on top of the computer.

"Davey’s right! We can’t let the demise of the soundtrack beat us! We’re stronger than that!" A cheer resounded. Then the group did what newsies do best. Next to selling papers, that is. They all promptly burst into song.

"No!" David broke through and stopped the singing. The noise died down into confusion.

"What’s wrong, Davey?" Jack asked, perplexed as the rest.

"We can’t go around singing rousing Disney songs! They’re the ones who did this to us! We have to be strong, and not let them push us around anymore!" The newsies nodded.

"Once again, Mouth, you come through," Spot said, a slight glimmer of respect in his eyes.

"Yeah, great for Davey. But what are we going to sing, then?" Boots asked sarcastically. David paused in thought, then started singing solo.

"David walked into the valley-" he gallantly ignored the snickers this produced and boldly sang on.

which someone must sail!" As he was singing, he walked around to the newsies and clapped them on the back, pounded them on the chest, etc.

Hold your head even higher and into the fire we go!" The fighting spirit was high in the air, and as a result, the newsies eagerly skipped the next verse and all joined in on the chorus.

by God, you’ve got to march on, boys!" Jack soloed:

never doubt that your courage will grow!" Every started dancing around in a circle surrounding Jack.

Onward, ho!" With that firmly planted in mind, the boys rushed off into sure and certain danger…

WILL THE NEWSIES WIN THE WAR AND REPRODUCE THE MUCH LOVED SOUNDTRACK? WILL EVERYTHING RESORT TO *GASP* VIOLENCE? WILL MUSH EVER GET THAT OIL STAIN OUT OF HIS CLOTHES? STAY TUNED…

******commercial break******

Skittery’s on the street with a honkin’ big stack of papers he’s trying to sell. The place is crowded, but no one’s buying anything from him. They all scurry by, happy as clams.

"Um, ma’am? Sir! Sir, read all about… Uh, excuse me, miss…"

NARRATOR: "Not going anywhere for a while?" Skittery pulls out a Snickers© and sinks his teeth in it. "Eat a Snickers©."

******back to our regular program******

The newsies marched along, arriving at the gates of Disney World.

"All right! Everybody quiet and listen up!" Jack yelled before turning to David. "What now?"

"We have to go straight to the top: The Mouse." A hush fell over the newsies and several started shifting nervously. Jack licked his lips, then nodded bravely.

"Let’s go!" In unison, the newsies marched up to the lady behind on of the counters. Her eyes skimmed over them keenly, then she turned and fiddled around with something they couldn’t see. An unease spread through the group, and Jack made "it’s okay, easy" motions. She turned back.

"$1,567.03," she quoted, glaring at them. Dismay ran over the crowd. Suddenly, Denton popped up and paid for admittance.

"Thanks, Denton!"

"Our man Denton!"

"We’ll bring you back sunscreen!" He grinned and tipped his hat at them before departing.

"All right, listen up!" Jack commanded. "We need to split up and find The Mouse. Break up into pairs of five and go hunt! We’ll meet at the Tower of Terror at noon!" The newsies quickly divided and left.

"‘Pairs of five’?" David repeated.

"Shut up," Jack retorted, surveying their group. Him, David, Les, Racetrack and Crutchy. Jack blinked.

"Crutchy, what are you wearing?" Crutchy fingered the mouse ears perked on his head.

"Oh, these? I bought them for an outrageous price over there." He pointed toward a gift shop.

"How did you pay for them?" Les asked. Denton’s head popped around a corner. He waved and disappeared. The group nodded sagely and headed for the Magic Kingdom.

WILL OUR GROUP EVER FIND THE MOUSE? WILL SOMEONE ACCIDENTALLY STEP IN ICE CREAM? WILL DENTON EVER GO BANKRUPT? STAY TUNED…

******commercial break******

Racetrack: When I bite into a peppermint patty, I get the sensation of being at the tracks! *jumps on bunk* RUN LUCKY 33! RUN!

******back to our regular program******

Three hours later, a discouraged group met in front of the nine hour line for the Tower Of Terror. All were wearing various articles "they" had bought and carrying souvenirs in bags.

"No luck anywhere?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"Let’s wait for the parade to pass by," David suddenly got an epiphany. "The Mouse has to be in the parade!"

"Right, Davey. Good thinking. So until then, we can go back to riding "It’s A Small World" or whatever you were on. But be sure to be there! We can’t let this thing beat us!" The group cheered and once more split up…

"Move over, it’s starting!" The newsies unceremoniously shoved their way to the front of the crowd. They then waited impatiently while a bunch of fake-looking Disney characters waved and smiled glossily skipped by. Crutchy got hugged by Goofy, giving him the creeps for the rest of the night. Then-

"THERE HE IS!" Boots gave the call. The newsies all burst forward as one and circled The Mouse.

"Eek!" was the only thing that The Mouse could manage, so frightened was he.

"OK, you’re going to stand here and listen to what Jack and Davey have to say," snarled Racetrack.

"Hey! Look alive guys! Disney workers on the starboard side!" Skittery warned. The newsies tightened their ring around The Mouse and looked menacingly at the incompetent employees. They hung back, unsure of what to do. The crowd was uneasy and clueless of what this was all about.

"It has come to our attention that our soundtrack is no longer for sale," Jack began. A growl ran through the newsies, and consternation through the throng. "We don’t like this, see, and we want you to do something about it."

"Every day new Newsies fans are surfing the Internet, hopeful of finding our plucky songs to listen to in the shower, car, and bedrooms. But your bullheadedness is causing them great anxiety. We want our soundtrack reproduced, and now!" David finished. The crowd roared in agreement, and even the workers nodded. The Mouse looked around at the newsies, personnel, and Disney-goers galore. He cleared his throat.

"Quiet! Quiet! He’s going to speak!" Blink bellowed. A hush fell over the gathering, and everyone strained to hear what the great idol of animation was about to say.

"Sure," the crowd was on it’s feet (even though they had been to begin with. It’s an expression.), and tears were streaming unabashedly down the newsies’ faces. Jack turned to David.

"We did it, buddy!" he yelled dimly over the roar and grabbed him in a hug.

And all the way back to The Big Apple, the soundtrack to "Newsies" blared in the newsboys van. And they were happy.