In Another World- A Newsies Fanfiction

Chapter 1

"Don't take too long!"

Jack wandered back in among the ruins of Verulamium. Something had caught his eye. He headed toward one of the ruin walls. Sure enough, there was a little piece of paper wedged in between two stones. Without thinking, he pulled it out. There was one word written on it. 

Change

As soon as Jack read it, the ground began to rumble. He jumped and looked back at Katherine and the others to see if they heard it. But they were gone. They had vanished into thin air. As the rumbling grew stronger, more and more things vanished, until Jack was standing in complete blackness. Bit by bit, the world reformed itself. The ruins came back, the trees and the fields came back, and the nearby buildings came back. But something was different. There was smoke in the distance, and all of the tourists were still gone. His friends hadn't come back either. Jack was highly concerned. 

"Katherine?" he called out. "Davey? Race? Crutchie?" But they weren't there. Instead, hundreds of footsteps were approaching. Jack looked into the distance and saw hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers approaching. Jack began to panic. He turned to the nearest forest and ran. He didn't know what was happening, but he knew he had to get away from those soldiers. He ran and ran and ran until he was deep in the woods. He stopped to lean on a tree. That's when he felt something cold touch the back of his neck.

"Stay. Where. You. Are." A voice said from behind him. Jack recognized that voice. He spun around.

"Katherine! I-" he cut himself off when he saw Katherine. She looked completely different. She was wearing pants and a shirt made of a stretchy material and a black leather corset. There were dagger sheaths strapped to her lower arms. Her messy hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and there was a scar on her cheek, just under her eye. Worst of all, she was pointing a knife at Jack's throat. 

"I said, don't move." she growled. Jack felt his heart racing. What was going on?

"Katherine, what's happenin'? What you'se doin?" he asked.

"Who are you?" Katherine asked, not bothering to answer his question. "How do you know my name? Are you a spy for Fervent Country?" 

"But...I...we..." Jack didn't know what to say. "Does you really not know who I am?" Katherine just glared at him. "Well, I'se sure as heck not a spy. I don't even know where I is."

"You're in the Massacre Forest in Fervant Country." Katherine hesitated, then lowered her knife. "You don't look like a spy. That accent screams Valor Country, so what are you doing here?"

"What is Valor Country and Fervant Country? I thought dis was England!" Jack said.

"This used to be England, but it hasn't been for hundreds of years. How did you get here?" Katherine said, sliding the knife into her tall boot.

"Well, to tell ya the truth, I don't know. I'se was lookin at them ruins back dere, and a saw dis paper. I took it out and den I ended up here." Katherine stared at him like he was completely insane.

"You know, I don't really care how you got here. What matters is getting you out of here. What's your name?" she asked.

"Jack Kelly." Jack said. He felt like he was talking to a stranger, and it was one of the worst feelings in his life.

"I'm Katherine Plumber, but I guess you already know that. I'm going to bring you to the nearest army camp. It's not exactly the safest place, but at least from there you can be transferred elsewhere. Like an asylum." Katherine explained.

"I'se not insane!" Jack shouted. 

"Keep your voice down!" Katherine hissed. "I didn't think even you would be stupid enough to raise your voice. This is a war! Do you have a death wish?" Jack was startled at her sharp tone.

"Jeez. Sorry." Katherine walked a few paces to the nearest tree. 

"Stay right there. I need to scout out the area before we can travel. If you so much as try to run off, I'll kill you." Not waiting for a response, Katherine pulled herself up into the tree. She reached the top so fast that Jack's mouth dropped open. Once at the top, she looked around before climbing back down just as fast. 

"It's all clear." Katherine said. "But that doesn't mean you get to be loud. Follow me." Katherine walked off into the woods, and Jack followed.