I would just like to say I am very sorry for the multi-month long wait-/gen ~Az

Throughout the rest of the day Xisuma's mind focused on the newsies. He couldn't think inside so sat outside in the small courtyard of the Hermiton Herald office. Xisuma sat staring at the ground, watching as the shadow of the leaves above him swayed back and forth. The reporter in him could tell this was a story he wouldn't want to miss, but he didn't want to write about it, fearing Xathan's reaction to his own brother writing about a strike against him. Xisuma was torn between newsies or Xae. His eyes eventually wandered to a lone tree that sat in the corner of the courtyard. The raise was a bit unfair, he guessed, even if Xae had said it wasn't that bad. In Xathan's eyes the newsies were overacting. The newsies on the other hand? They saw this as the end of the world for them, they needed the money after all. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad to write about. Maybe if Xisuma didn't depict Xathan as the source of the problem it would be fine. Besides, he could still publish the story if he did it, Xathan had always trusted him and knew his work would always be good for the paper. Xisuma stood up, he already had his notepad and a pencil on him, all he would need to do now is track down Bdubs and the newsies.

=+=

Bdubs watched as the newsies lounged around at the deli. He was excited, they had officially started the strike, they were going to fight for their rights.

"Okay, you guys ordered the waters right?" Mr. Crafted asked the group.

"Yep," said Ren, sitting upright. The other newsies who had been laying down sat up too. Mr. Crafted started distributing the glasses of water to the group. The deli was a place a lot of the newsies gathered during the times they could, mostly for the overly cheap water. The owner of the Deli, Mr. xB Crafted, had always let the group come in after the deli had closed to be able to relax and get water. It was nice.

"And who ordered the seltzer?" Mr. Crafted sighed. Hels raised his hand.

"Right here!"

"That's two cents." Hels though for a moment before shaking his head.

"Ehhh, that's two expensive, do you have any water?"

"Just a second," Mr. Crafted turned around to go grab some more water. Once Mr. Crafted left Mumbo stood up and held up his glass of water.

"I think we launched the strike in a most auspicious manner," he said with a grin. The crowd stared at him for a moment, completely lost at his choice of words. The place was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Bdubs hopped up on top of one of the tables, deciding to step in and save his friend.

"What Mumbo means is, we scared the heck out of the Hermiton!" he cheered.

"Yeah! We kicked the Delanceys' butts!" Shouted Scar. The newsies broke into chaos, cheering and shouting about the strike.

"Okay, okay, calm down guys," said Bdubs, locking eyes with Mr. Crafted who glared at him and Mumbo for starting the loud cheers. Once the crowd had settled, the majority of the newsies looked at the duo.

"So what do we do next?" Asked Zed.

"We spread the word," explained Mumbo, "we need to get every newsie in AqueTown on strike."

"You heard Mumbo, we gotta split up and tell the rest of the city," instructed Bdubs, echoing off of Mumbo. The newsies started exclaiming what parts of AqueTown they would go to. Soon as places were assigned, there was only one place left.
"So, who wants Shady E's?" Asked Bdubs. At once every single newsie avoided eye contact, suddenly interested in the floor, or their nails, anything that wasn't Bdubs and by extension Shady E's. "Come on, Shady E's? Etho Slab's turf? Don't tell me you guys are afraid?"

"I'm not afraid of some turf!" Exclaimed Ren, pausing for a second as his confidence dropped, "I am scared of Etho Slab though." Bdubs sighed.

"Why are we afraid of Shady E's?" Asked a semi-familiar voice. Bdubs whipped around in surprise at the sudden addition to the conversation, confused to see Xisuma off to the side. His attire was a bit more casual than last time Bdubs had seen him, just wearing a faded green vest with a white shirt and pants. his hair was a bit neater though, he held a notepad and pencil with him. Bdubs wondered for a moment if Xisuma ever put the notepad down.

"What are you doing here?" He asked curiously. X hesitated for a moment.

"I have some questions and I was hoping you had some answers." He explained holding up the notepad a bit. Bdubs hopped off the table he was standing on and onto the floor. Mumbo looked over at him with a confused expression, probably wondering about how Bdubs knew the reporter. Xisuma also seemed to notice Mumbo's confused expression.

"My name's Xisuma V-Shashwammy, I'm a reporter for the Hermiton Herald," he held his hand out. Mumbo shook it.

"Mumbo Jumbo."

"Are you going to write a story about us?" Asked Iskall, grinning ear to ear.

"If you guys want me to. I mean, if you don't want me-"

"We'd love it. The publicity could help," stated Bdubs.

"You mean, we could actually be in the papes?" Asked Scar, his voice filled with wonder. Xisuma smiled at him.

"If you're going to be shutting a paper down like the Hermiton, you'll make the front page!"

"Then make sure to be at the circulation gate tomorrow morning if you want a story," Bdubs said with a grin, excited that things were going as he had hoped. Before Xisuma could respond, Mr. Crafted began shooing boys out of the deli so the space could be open for Mr. Crafted's paying customers.

=+=

Xisuma sat at his desk staring at the typewriter in front of him. The light of the setting sun streaming in through his window and landing on the paper, as if the sun's dying light was begging him to write. He was a reporter, why was it so hard to figure out how to write an article about the newsies? He took a deep breath and started typing.

"Newsies stop the Hermiton," He read aloud to himself. He let the words sink in for a moment before tearing the paper and tossing it into the bin next to his desk.
"A battle is brewing in Aque Town." He paused, "If only I could write about it." He tore the paper out.

"'Write what you know' so they say, all I know is I don't know what to write, or the right way to write it." He tried writing again, "This is big, X, don't screw it up, this is not some little Vaudeville I'm reviewing." It felt like the paper was flowing the way he wanted for a moment, before sighing in annoyance. "This is poor little kids versus rich greedy sour pusses! Hah! It's a cinch! It could practically write itself!" He paused, staring at the typewriter for a moment before slumping back in his chair. "Uh and lets pray it does, because I should probably mention, I have no clue what i'm doing!" X jumped up from his chair, ripping the paper off the typewriter as he did and tossing it with the other failures. "Am I insane!? This is what I've been waiting for, well that, plus the possible screaming from my colleagues." The reporter complained to himself. "Are you really going to try to publish that X? What if Xathan sees this? You're crazy! Ugh, Not only that! There's a story behind the story!" X threw his arms up in a burst of energy. "Thousands of kids, exploited, invisible, and they are stepping up! Taking a stand! And there's someone to write about it!" X hadn't even noticed that he had begun pacing around his small office room. "That's how things get better!" The reporter felt like he was finally on to something as getting lost in his thoughts that were verbally spilling out into the room, when a sudden creak caused him to pause and lose his entire train of thought.

"Hey Xisuma? You alright?" It was Pixel, standing in the now open doorway with a concerned look on his face. He must have heard X's talking and pacing through the walls.

"Oh, yeah I'm alright Pix," X said, a bit embarrassed. "Did you need something?"

"No no, just heard talking and thought you had someone else in here." Pixel glanced around the room for a moment. "I guess I was wrong."

"Yup- Its...just me." X confirmed, quickly glancing around the room as well. He looked back and Pixel, whose look of concern had not faded.

"Ok, well, I'll be out here if you need anything," Pixel said, before shutting the door and leaving the reporter alone once more. Xisuma slumped back down into his seat, his eyes staring back at his typewriter. After a second, he grabbed another sheet of paper and began typing again.

    "Picture a determined, sureheaded, stubborn boy stepping up to be the face of the strike!" X smiled to himself as words began to come to him. "Like someone said, 'Power tends to corrupt' and...absolute power, wait! Hah! Yes!" X said triumphantly as all of his ideas came flooding back. He was typing away, the furthest he'd gotten when it came to the article, "If you just give me some time I'll be twice as good as that, six months... from never..." He ripped the paper off yet again. Nothing was fitting what he was hoping for, if he was going to finish this article, it had to be today. "Just look at the world they'll be inheriting, just think of the one they could create. Give those kids the brand new century and watch what happens. It's almost like David and Goliath, do or die, the fight is on and I can't watch what happens." He stood up and started pacing again. "All I know is nothing happens if you just give in, it can't be any worse than how it's been, and it just so happens there's a possibility that they just might win. So whatever happens, let's begin." He sat down and started typing, he was sure this was gonna be the winning draft. This paper was going to be the beginning of so many new things, and he was going to make sure of it.

=+=

Bdubs watched as the newsies slowly trickled into the square they had self proclaimed as "Newsie Square", they mostly just hung around talking, unsure of what to do now that they were going to go on strike. Ren walked up to Bdubs, the expression on his face looked like a mix of embarrassment and fear.

"What did Etho say? Is Shady E's with us?" Asked Bdubs.

"I...chickened out..." he sighed, hanging his head. Bdubs let out an annoyed sigh, "They're scary man!" Added Ren.

"I guess I'll ask Etho myself," sighed Bdubs, "Mumbo and Iskall can tag along."

"What?! Why me?" Asked Mumbo, who had been standing next to Bdubs listening.

"Because you helped me form the union!" Bdubs smiled, reaching over to pat Mumbo on the back.

"I get to meet the actual Etho Slab?" Asked Iskall, who appeared out of nowhere.

"Yep," grinned Bdubs.

=+=

Mumbo firmly held Iskall's hand as Bdubs guided them to the part of Shady E's that Ren had told them Etho would be located.

"So, if we manage to convince Etho to join us this will be a huge turning point," explained Bdubs, "I need you two to let me do the talking."

"Why'd you bring us then?" Asked Mumbo, confused about why the raven-haired newsie dragged them along if he didn't need them.

"To appear stronger I guess, it looks better if I have some people with me." The group walked in silence. Eventually they reached the spot. Mumbo watched as a man purchased a newspaper from a newsie who looked just like any other one. He had silver hair that was held out of his eyes by a headband and heterochromia, one eye was red while the other gray. He had two other newsies with him, one had bright blue eyes and dark brown hair and the beginnings of a beard, the other was tall, taller than Mumbo, he had a lighter shade of brown than the other newsies' hair. Bdubs walked up to Etho and the two other newsies, a confident smile on his face.

"Hey there Etho," he said, "long time no see, it is I, Bdubs."

"You want me to join your strike, don't you," said Etho, he didn't even look in the direction of Bdubs.

"Yes, we would like to recruit you," Mumbo stepped forward, "What the Hermiton and every other paper has been doing is unfair. We are rallying together to protect our rights as members of the Newsboys' Union, and we would like you to join us."

"No."

"Why?" Asked Mumbo, Bdubs made a face at him that seemed to be saying 'Shut up, you're making this worse' but Mumbo ignored him, "Why won't you join the strike?"

"Look kid, you guys can go strike all you want, but I'm not putting my newsies in that kind of situation. It's too dangerous."

"Dangerous? You're the famous Etho Slab! A little danger shouldn't scare you!" Exclaimed Mumbo.

"Hey!" One of the other newsies, the tall one, glared at Mumbo, "No one insults Etho."

"Oh shut up, Doc," chimed in Bdubs.The two immediately locked eyes, and in seconds some unsorted quarrel erupted out of nowhere. It was hard to tell what exactly they were bickering about, there were too many words being said all at once to tell. Etho stood off to the side, lost in thought and the other newsie, the one Mumbo didn't know the name of, watched the chaos unfold. Mumbo glanced at Iskall who was listening to Doc and Bdubs argue and looked like he was going to chime in but Mumbo stopped him.

"You should let them work it out," explained Mumbo, which made the 10 year old complain.

"But I was going to help Bdubs-"

"Well now you're not." Soon the argument got to the point where Doc and Bdubs were yelling at each other and making a scene. It took a moment for Mumbo to step in and try to stop it, failing a few times at it every time.

"Will you two be quiet?!" Mumbo didn't know if he would be heard over the two, but thankfully he was. They stopped instantly and turned to look at him, "For the love of Notch, could you both just stop arguing? It solves absolutely nothing."

"Sorry Beef," apologized Doc.

"Let Etho decide for himself, and you two need to get over yourselves, you used to be best friends!"

"Key word there. 'used to'," grumbled Bdubs.

"Uh... that's two words-" Mumbo corrected, Bdubs shot a glare at him.

"I'll go-" Everyone turned to look at Etho.

"What?!" Doc exclaimed. Etho held up his hand to signify that Doc should keep quiet.

"Really!" Bdubs asked excitedly.

"I'll go, only if you guys manage to prove that you won't just run at the first sign of trouble."

"We won't let you down!" Exclaimed Mumbo

"Deal?" Etho held out his hand towards Bdubs. Bdubs grabbed his hand in return and shook it.

"Deal."