Davey whipped back around. Jack was behind him. He looked furious.

"W-woah, what's the problem?" Davey asked, holding his hands out in a half comforting half defensive way.

"You're a scab."

"You're a newsie."

Jack lunged. Davey leapt out of the way.

"Hey! Get away from him!" Les shouted, punching Jack in the stomach. Jack kicked him to the ground and turned back to Davey.

"Stop sellin papes."

"I have to feed my family!"

"Oh, and the rest of us is on playtime?" Jack retorted, throwing a punch.

"I don't want to fight!" Davey stammered. Jack landed a shot. Davey was thrown back, clutching his jaw. Les tried to punch Jack again, but he just got kicked back down.

"Stop it! You're a big bully!" Martha screamed, landing her own punch on Jack's stomach.

"Martha, stop!" Willy shouted, pulling her back. "Get out of here. Take Les."

Otto had joined the brawl by now, trying his best to get in a few shots.

"Oh shoot! There's more!" Willy shouted, grabbing Martha and Les again as more newsies came from the other sides of the street.

"Les! Get out of here!" Davey shouted desperately. No way he was letting him get hurt.

"I can't! There's nowhere to go!" Les cried back. They were surrounded.

•••

"Knock knock!" Came a voice from outside of Katherine's room.

"Darcy?"

"Yes m'am!"

"Come in!" she shouted, lifting her hands from the typewriter.

"Hey Kathy. What's going on? I heard there's a strike or something. My dad's real upset."

"Mine too. I've been trying to write something about it, but it's hard for some reason. My dad says I can't side with the newsies, but I don't really want to side with him or the Delanceys either."

"Why not? He only raised the price a little bit."

"To them that's a lot Darcy. They live off of pennies and dimes." Katherine sighed. "I have to go talk to them again. I need more information."

"Woah woah woah. No way. I heard they're dangerous. There's constant brawls between newsies and scabs. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Darcy, I'm a big girl. I can protect myself."

"Are you sure?" Darcy asked.

"Of course I'm sure. But you can tag along if you like."

"I wish I could, but I've got to get back home."

"Well why'd you come?"

"Just to check up on you." Darcy smiled. Katherine smiled back.

"Thank you Darcy." she said, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"You're welcome Kathy." Darcy said, shutting the door and leaving.

•••

"Boys! There you are! I heard the newsies talking about beating you up. Guess they didn't get ya, huh." Wiesel said as the Delancey Brothers entered newsies square.

"We haven't seen them." said Morris.

"Oh, well then, I say you ought to prepare. I know Oscar's been dying to use his new brass knuckles." Wiesel sneered.

"I'd wouldn't mind a bit of skull cracking." Oscar grinned.

"What's this about cracking?" Katherine spoke up. "Tell me, what are your plans to stop the newsies from striking?"

"When did you get here Katherine? And why do you care?" Morris asked.

"Well, I'm writing a story." Katherine replied.

Oscar and Morris burst out laughing.

"No way you're writing a story. You're just a girl! You're just Katherine!" Oscar laughed.

"Why can't a girl write a story?"

"Because girls are boring. They like flower shows and hairstyling." Morris sneered.

Katherine glared at them. "Oh, you two are horrible! Why do you behave like this? You're just awful, the both of you! If I were a boy, you two would be laughing through a swollen eye!"

"Oh, but if you were a boy you wouldn't be half as pretty." Oscar smiled, stroking Katherine's hair. She yanked it away from him, fury building in her.

"You're both the most horrid boys I've ever met." She growled, stomping off.

"That went well." Wiesel chuckled. "You're never gonna get a girl acting like that."

"We weren't trying to woo her." Morris defended.

"Oh sure." Wiesel rolled his eyes.

"Goodbye Wiesel." Oscar said. "We've got some skull cracking to do."

{Thank you to everyone reading! Any feedback is much appreciated. }