I Never Planned on This (A newsies fanfiction)

Chapter seven

Henri ran back to Newsie square with a bit of a skip in her step. Midtown was 100% on their side. She just hoped the others had just as good luck. Because if they had no one on their side, then they were absolutely hopeless.

She came to find Race, Davey, Mush, Buttons, and Romeo waiting already. They all looked fairly happy. She hoped that they had just as much luck.

She ran up to greet them triumphantly. "Midtown's with us!!!" She cheered. The others smiled at her.

"That's great!!!" Race exclaimed. "Spot's real excited to join us as well. She's ready for another strike if it means her boys can sell more papes. Their sales are pretty much in the toilet." He added.

Davey nodded. "Queens will be right there backing us up as well." He said, smiling. "This strike is a fight we're gonna win, no doubt about it. But... don't get your hopes up just yet. We still have to avoid The Wall, Kennedy, and the Delancey brothers." The Newsies nodded and murmured their agreement.

"Speaking of which..." Henri muttered, and pointed behind Davey and the others.

Oscar and Morris Delancey walked towards the Newsies, evil grins on their faces. Uh-oh. If the Delanceys were smiling, something was wrong.

"So, another strike here, eh?" Morris asked. He shoved Henri and Buttons into Oscar, who then proceeded to run them into each other and shove them to the ground. "Sounds fun. Also sounds hopeless."

"Cut it out, Morris." Davey said, helping Henri to her feet while Race helped Buttons. "You've got no reason to be shoving us around like this."

"I don't need a reason." Morris answered. "And what are ya gonna do? Kelly ain't here to stand up for ya."

Race shoved Morris away from Davey, taking him by surprise and running him into Oscar. "You stop talking about Jack that way!!!" He growled. "And we is fully capable of standing up for ourselves."

The Delanceys got back up on their feet. "You wanna be like that?" Morris asked. He threw a punch at Race, a blow in the eye. Oscar socked Davey in the face as well, then went over to Henri and Buttons, getting Henri in the chest and Buttons in the knee.

"Come on!!!" Davey exclaimed, trying to pry Morris away from JoJo. "Cut it out!!! And leave Jack out of this!!!" He exclaimed.

Morris backed away a few steps before gesturing to Henri and JoJo. "Tell that to Henrietta here. She and little miss Josephine need to learn their place." Davey froze. So did the rest of the Newsies that had been gathering to watch the scene. They all turned to Henri and JoJo.

Henri was breathing hard and coughing from Oscar's blow to her chest, but she was angry. JoJo's lip was busted, but her hands were clenched into fists. This was about to get ugly.

Davey stepped away from being in between the Delanceys and Henri and JoJo, and went back towards Les and Crutchie. Even Jack knew never to use Henri and JoJo's full names, unless in a joking way of course. If you value your life, you didn't want to use their full names. And the Delanceys knew that.

Henri and JoJo charged towards the Delanceys, Henri taking Oscar and JoJo taking Morris. Soon, more Newsies joined them and it eventually turned into a bloody fight between Newsies and the Delancey brothers.

Henri kept socking Oscar in the face. "Who's. The boss. Now?!" She asked, not controlling herself. She took him by the collar of his shirt. "You don't hurt me, you don't hurt my friends, and you especially don't hurt these kids. Oh, and one more thing." She looked him square in the eye. Oscar almost looked afraid. "You do not talk about Jack that way. Understand?" He looked her square in the eye, and then with his arm free, he socked her in the eye. She fell back off of him, onto the ground. He wasn't afraid to hit a girl, he hated the Newsies. He walked up to her as she turned to face him, angry, but rubbing her eye in pain. He picked her up by her suspenders, and his face was inches from hers.

"I want you to remember this moment the next time you ever think that you got what it takes to beat us. You hear me?!!!" He spat. "You have no power over us. No help, this time, kid." He let go and let her fall to the ground. Another Newsie began to fight him, and he turned around to fight back.

In all the commotion, Davey was the only one to notice the black wooden wagons pull up. His eyes grew wide, and he shoved Les and Crutchie up the stairs. "Go!!!" He yelled urgently. "Make it to the rooftop!!! We'll come soon!!!" He left both of them on the fire escape and climbed back down the ladder. "Newsies!!!" He exclaimed. They all stopped for a moment to look at him. "Run!!!" He exclaimed. He pointed towards the wagons. "They're from The Wall!!!!" They all looked at the wagons and began to run, helping the injured Newsies up onto the fire escape or out of Newsie square, towards Medda's theater. Newsies were running this way and that, it was absolute chaos. Davey looked around, not beginning to go up the ladder until he was sure that everyone was safe. But then...

He heard a scream, followed by Morris Delancey's laugh. "Not so fast!!!" Davey whipped his head around to see Finch, Splasher, JoJo, and Henri still on the battlefield, the Delanceys holding them back from safety.

"No!!!" Davey exclaimed. He jumped off the ladder, running towards the Delanceys. "Not again, not again, not again!!!" He yelled.

The warden of The Wall came out of one of the wagons, followed by many police officers. He had his whip in hand and a dark smile on his face. "Get them." Those two words meant the end for the Newsies.

Romeo and Tommy boy, along with some others, tried to jump off the fire escape after Davey and the others, but the Newsies held them back, watching the scene unfold.

Davey headed for Morris first. He socked him in the jaw, breaking free Splasher and Finch, who ran back towards the fire escape, surveying the scene below.

He saw Henri and JoJo struggling to break free from Oscar, and he began to proceed towards them, before he felt Morris stomp on his right foot. Davey stood there in pain. His foot felt like it had just exploded. He got down onto one knee, breathing hard and massaging his foot. He tried to stand back up, but only collapsed on the street, Morris holding him down.

Les screamed for his brother, and it took every Newsie to keep him from climbing back down. Davey looked up to see JoJo running away from Oscar, and he was relieved to see her safe. But he then looked up to see Oscar shove Henri on her stomach, holding her down. He tried to get up again, but Morris, along with the pain in his foot, held him to the ground. Morris began to punch him, sending pain through his body. Kennedy walked closer to him. He hoisted him onto his feet, forcing him to stand on his bad foot.

Two officers took him by his arms and carried him to one of the wagons.

"Davey!!!" Les called, struggling against the Newsies to try and get down. Crutchie looked horrified.

"No, no, no, not again, not again!!!!" She exclaimed, only able to watch as Davey was thrown into the back of the wagon.

Davey was soon joined by Henri as they hoisted her off of the ground and into the wagon alongside him. "You two should've just been good and sold your papes." Kennedy snapped, then slammed the door in their faces.

Then, they were trapped in darkness, as the yells grew fainter.