Princess of Brooklyn
Prologue
In 1899, the streets of New York echoed with the voices of newsies, pedaling the newspapers of Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst, and other giants of the newspaper world. On every corner you saw 'em carryin' the banner, bringing' you the news for a penny a pape. Poor orphans and runaways, the newsies were a ragged army, without a leader. Until one day all that changed.
I should step in and say something now. The "without a leader" wasn't exactly true. The other boroughs had leaders. Some of them were ruthless and ruled with an iron fist whereas some were kind and treated their newsies like family. One of these leaders was Spot Conlons, King of Brooklyn. His rise to power had come when the former leader of Brooklyn, Cammeo, had turned evil and had started beating up his newsies for no reason. When one day he ended up killing one of his own newsies, Brooklyn banded together and with the help of the other boroughs they revolted against Cammeo and this revolt ended in a battle on the Brooklyn bridge. This battle in it's turn ended when two Conlons twins sent Cammeo over the side of the bridge, to a watery grave in the bottom of the East River.
However, no one from the other boroughs knew that it was two people who killed Cammeo. All they ever knew was that a Spot Conlons, Brooklyn's former second, had killed the evil leader. And Spot and his sister made sure it stayed that way. You are all probably wondering "Who's this sister? What's her name?". This sister of the great leader was Sassy (Don't ask about the name. She used to be called Princess. Do ya' think that she'd stick with that when she got older?) She never wanted to be leader and so when Spot was hailed as the one who killed Cammeo, she didn't protest. Only Brooklyn ever knew that Spot even had a sister. Instead of leader, Sassy became the head of the Brooklyn "birds" as they are know. The birds are spies, runners, and messengers for Spot. They all reported back to Sassy, who reported to her brother. This had all happened when Spot and Sassy were 14, in 1896, so as they got older, Spot had to prove himself and Sassy pulled strings and helped her brother, kicking out people who were disloyal, putting eyes on those that she suspected. In the end Spot was the most respected and also feared newsie in all of New York. And Sassy was respected and feared by Brooklyn which was enough for her.
But now we're talkin' about 1899, after Spot's rise to power and all that came with it. Now we are in 1899 and something very important is about to happen. We will start at an unfamiliar yet familiar place to some of you. On with the story.