Okay, I said in the last chapter that the strike was in motion. But HERE is where the strike TRULY begins. ;)

What DID you all think of the last chapter's canon divergence?

It's gonna be some wonky formatting for the song parts, but just bear with me on that.

Anyway. Enjoy! :)

"Alright everyone, gather around!" Jack calls out. Everyone is eager for a plan. They all stand around him, waiting for him to say something. "Yesterday, the price of papes went up. And ya know what? No one's gonna care enough to put the price of papes back where it was unless we give 'em reason to."

"What, you mean like a strike?" David supplies, nonchalant. He probably didn't mean much.

But inspiration struck Jack with that. "Yeah, like a strike."

Some scoff. This isn't something they're motivated for.

"What, are you out of your mind?" Race asks bluntly, incredulously.

"It's a good idea!" Jack says defensively.

Everyone starts talking around them, some liking the idea, others, not as much.

"Jack, I was only joking," David warns him in a low voice. "This isn't a good idea."

I thought it was a good idea.

"Why not?"

"Because we're not a union," David answers, matter-of-fact.

There is that.

"Well, why can't we'se just say we're a union?"

"Because we aren't a union, we're just a bunch of angry kids with no money," David tells him.

"Well, why don't we get every newsie in New York? And we'll soak anyone who don't join us."

He starts heading out into the street, everyone following him.

"Jack you can't just rush everyone into this," David says, now desperate to try and stop this rapidly growing fleeting fancy while he still can. It's radical. Just radical.

Jack stops. He turns to all of them. "Ya know? Dave's right. I can't rush you all into this. But it's up to you. Are we just going to take what we're given? Or are we going to strike?"

Silence.

No one is quite ready to be the first to answer, either positively or negatively.

All except for one.

"Strike!" Les pipes up. As David puts a hand over his mouth a second too late, everyone starts talking amongst themselves.

"C'mon Jack, tell us what to do!" Boots urges.

"Okay!" he turns to David. "Well, David, the strike was your idea. Tell us what to do."

"Hmm..." David thinks for a second. Jack can tell that it makes David happy to have his opinion asked for. Jack's going to remember that. "Tell them...Pulitzer and Hearst have to respect our rights."

Jack likes that. For everyone to hear,  he shouts, "Hey listen! Pulitzer and Hearst have to respect the rights of the workin' boys of New York!" 

"Yeah!" is shouted back at him.

Well that went well.

"What else?" he asks David.

"Tell them that we can't be treated like we're nothing."

Jack shouts, "Pulitzer and Hearst, they think we're nothing. Are we nothing?"

He gets a very enthusiastic "NO!" from everyone.

He stands up on the statue in the middle of the square.

"Pulitzer and Hearst think they got us, do they got us?"

"No!"

"We're the newsies union!" David tells him. "We need to start acting like a union!"

"Even though we ain't got hats or badges, we're a union, just by saying so..."

No one has the heart to tell Jack that a lot of them are in fact wearing hats/caps. Does that mean that they've half-been a union for some time? Or more like 25-50% of a union?

"...And the World! Will! Know!"

The sheer power of that is enough to motivate all of them.

Now is time for some questions.

"What's to stop others from selling our papes?" Boots asks.

"Well we'll talk to 'em!"

"Some of 'em don't hear so good!" Race points out.

"Well then we'll soak 'em!" Jack responds. That gets more cheers.

"NO!" David is firm on that. "We can't soak people. It'll give us a bad name."

"Can't get any worse!" Crutchy points out, with several others agreeing.  

(A/N: he actually says that in 92sies and I find it to be really funny for no good reason haha).

"What's it gonna take to stop the wagons?" Jack asks them. "Are we ready?"

"YEAH!"

David's NO! gets drowned out.

"What's it gonna take to stop the scabbers, can we do it?"

"YEAH!"

"We'll do what we got to do until we break the will of mighty Bill and Joe..."

Then everyone joins in. "...and the World will know!"

They continue on.

"And the Journal too! Mr. Pulitzer, and Hearst, have we got news for you!

"Now the World will hear what we got to say. We've been hawkin' headlines but we're makin' 'em today. And our ranks will grow..."

"And we'll kick their rear!" Crutchy adds enthusiastically.

"...and the World will know that we've been here!"

They're going somewhere. They've really got something.

"When the circulation bell starts ringin', will we hear it?" Jack asks.

"NO!"

Jack jumps down as they all start moving. "What if the Delanceys come out swingin', will we hear it?"

"NO!"

When you've got a hundred voices singin', who can hear a lousy whistle blow?

"And the World will know! That this ain't no game!"

Blink, Race, and Boots jump up on the gate. "That we got a ton of rotten fruit and perfect aim!"

They jump down. "So they keep their word. Well it ain't worth beans!

"We're gonna see what stop the presses really means."

Now they all band close together.

"And the day has come, and the time is now, and the fear is gone!"

"And their name is mud!"

"And the strike is on!"

"And I can't stand blood!" 

"And the world will-"

As they keep going, Jack says, "Pulitzer may own the World but he don't own us."

Pulitzer may own the World but he don't own us...

He puts his hands on David's shoulders and looks him in the eye. "Pulitzer may crack the whip but he won't whip us!" 

...Pulitzer may crack the whip but he won't whip us!

Jack takes off running.

"And the World will know! And the world will learn! And the world will wonder how we made the tables turn!"

They're not done yet.

"And the World will see, that we had to choose. And the things we do today will be tomorrow's news."

Jack starts climbing up to the giant chalkboard where they get their headlines.

"And the old will fall..." they all kneel.

"And the young stand tall!" Les, Tumbler, and the other young ones stand up.

Now they all get up. "And the time is now!" "And our ranks will grow..." 

"And our ranks will grow!"

"And grow! And grow!"

"And grow!"

Now together, every single one of them, raising their voices as well as their arms above their heads...

"And the World will feel the fire and finally, know!" In that time, Jack finishes the last letter. He only wrote one word. It's all that they need. It's all that they need for the World to know.

STRIKE

They all cheer.

"Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike!" they all chant.

There is no denying the buzz of energy.

We're going on strike. That thought gets Race so happy. They're gonna be okay!

He's gonna have to tell Spot about this.

I can't wait!

Meanwhile, Jack climbs down to ground level. 

David is right there.

Jack smiles. "Now how was that?"

David grins a little. "Not bad."

"And now we'se can tell everyone that we're on strike!" Jack says happily.

"Not until you take our demands to Pulitzer," David tells Jack.

Jack stops. That wasn't a part of the plan. Was it?

"M-me? To Pulitzer?" Yeah, right.

"Well, you're our leader."

That gets Jack even further taken aback. "Me?"

"Yeah, you." David makes it sound like it should be obvious.

Jack shakes his head automatically. "No. I can't be a leader."

"Why not?"

Before he can answer, Tumbler pipes up, "you'd make a great leader!" Behind Tumbler, though, Skittery exchanges glances with Jack, and he knows.

"I can't be," Jack repeats. "I ain't no Ray." There. He got the words out. Another sympathetic glance from Skittery.

"Who's Ray?" David asks curiously.

It's like how he was asking about Race yesterday. There's just so, so much history about the story of us that he won't ever understand.

So Jack keeps his answer as simple as he can. Simple, loyal, and the truth.

"The best leader we could ever ask for." Jack's voice cracks with emotion.

David doesn't push it. He seems to understand. At least a little. For that, Jack is grateful. 

"I think, of all the people here who could be leaders of the strike," David says, "I think it should be you."

Jack's only known David since Sunday. It's Tuesday.

Jack's only known David since Sunday.

He's only known him since Sunday.

But why does his heart flutter so much when he hears words like that?

They're just kind words.

They're just kind words.

They're just kind words.

Before Jack could take too much more time to think about how much he thinks he possibly could have fallen for his selling partner, he realizes he should have some sort of response to that.

"You really think Pulitzer will listen to me?"

David nods. "I mean, yeah."

Jack thinks about it. He takes a deep breath. Then he looks at Les. "Maybe a kid'll soften him up."

And so he opens the door and heads inside; now feeling like a knight in shining armor sent on a quest, with his trusty little sidekick, and potential love interest--as well as all the people of the realm--waiting anxiously for his return; and all the newsies cheer him on.

"What strike? What demands? What's going on?" a man asks David curiously. He's well dressed. More or less like David. Maybe a little more. He doesn't seem like the uptight rich folk that they're trying to overthrow, though.

"We're going on strike," David answers. "A newsies strike. We're taking our demands to Pulitzer."

And just like that, he's talking to Bryan Denton, reporter for The Sun.

Within a few minutes, though, Jack and Les are thrown out, shouting at the closing door. Denton approaches them, and takes them to Tibby's to talk.

Now Jack, David, and Les are back with the other newsies, ready for their next plan.

"Now we'se gotta spread the word," Jack tells them. "To every borough in New York! We gotta be...what are they called?" he turns to David expectantly.

Not given much to work with, David grasps for straws. "Ambassadors?"

"Yeah! Those! You guys have to be ambasstards."

David is about to correct him, but just holds that thought in.

"I'll take Harlem!" Itey starts.

"We got Midtown!" Mush and Blink add.

"I'll take the Bronx!" Crutchy volunteers.

"Nice!" Then Jack starts assigning people to boroughs. "Bumlets and Specs, you got Queens. Skittery, Tumbler, you got East Side. Snipeshooter, you go with 'em." What borough is left? "Brooklyn? Who wants Brooklyn?"

No one speaks up. 

Typical. All are scared of Brooklyn.

Wait.

Something's not right here.

Race.

"Has anyone seen Race?" Jack asks. He should have said or done something by now.

Everyone looks around. Then, they just shrug.

Great. Well that's fantastic.

"Any idea when he left?" Jack asks, not expecting much.

No one seems to know either.

Last I saw him was...

...right after he had climbed down from writing STRIKE on the board.

Well before any plan was formed. If he went to Brooklyn, chances are he's betting at Sheepshead, not spreading word of the strike.

Extra great.

Jack sighs. "Not again." But he still needs someone to be able to get the message to Brooklyn. "Anyone want Brooklyn?"

Nothing.

"What's the matter?" Jack demands. "You scared of Brooklyn?"

"We ain't scared of Brooklyn!" Boots exclaims indignantly. He pauses. "Spot Conlon...just makes us a little nervous."

There's a couple people agreeing with him in the crowd.

"Well, I ain't scared of Brooklyn," Jack tells them. "Boots, you're comin' with me." Then he puts his arm around David. "And we'll have my pal Davey too, to keep us company."

David just has a look of I'm so done in his eyes as he's in Jack's side-embrace and newsies snicker.

And so, Jack is left to chase Race throughout New York, all the way to Brooklyn.

Again.

Honestly I love how I ended that haha.

And now you have more canon divergence haha.

The song The World Will Know gives me CHILLS. All. The. Time. Both versions. I love the POWER of it. How it's a revolution and rebellion and we are not invisible and it's our turn now all at once. And the lyrics are amazing poetry. 

Sorry for that random part in the middle where there's a longer analogy about Jack being a white knight than I was expecting and kind of just showed up out of nowhere, I was at a Renaissance Fair (that was SOOO FUN) a few days ago haha. At least, I think that's what influenced it. Or maybe I just like fantasy worlds//poetic and/or trope-y similes.

I never got why Race said in 92sies AND Livesies that he was going to go to Midtown. What's in Midtown? Literally everyone knows he goes to Sheepshead. In Brooklyn. I just. Don't get it. So, I fixed it.

Jack saying "We'll have Davey to keep us company" and David just looking dead inside makes me happy every time I watch it.

I love how in Livesies Jeremy Jordan is literally wearing a hat when he says even though we ain't got hats or badges haha.

So I was watching the 1982 Annie earlier and my mind could not stop comparing it to Newsies. When Annie sings her song Maybe, that reminded me of Jack singing Santa Fe first thing in Livesies. Then during Hard Knock Life, I thought of Carrying the Banner. The first time I watched 92sies, and watched the opening scene, my first impression was literally "so this is Annie...but with teenage boys?" And they're both based in New York. And both have a Roosevelt. Any other similarities that you all might notice? Or am I just being weird?

Anyway, the spark of the strike has ignited! :)

Please, no homophobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section at any time.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who literally can't stop getting distracted by their cat, even well after they establish that their cat is sitting/lying there, being really really cute)