((Insert witty banter about how I do not own Newsies here))

A/N: Okay. This is going to be something wayyyy different than what you've ever read …

Maybe not.

I just always kinda got tired of those Newsies-Go-To-Some-Random-Girl's-House things. Sure, they're fun ((Heck, I've fantasied about it more than once)) but, I mean, it's just an excuse so that the girls can make out with their choice of Newsie. COME ON.

I wondered what the boys would really think if they just randomly showed up at somebody's house…. so this story was created. God help us all ;)


The alley by Tibby's wasn't exactly a nice place to be. Since the restaurant used it as its own personal garbage can, it was filled with litter and vermin. Some said the rats that lived there grew to be the size of a large box. Most children on the street avoided the area, unless they were scrounging for yesterday's leftovers.

Of course, that just happened to be the place that Mush Meyers had dragged his friends Kid Blink Ballet and Racetrack Higgins. What fun.

"Jesus, Mush," said Racetrack, pulling a piece of god-knew-what off his shoe. "Wouldja quit pacin' for a minute and tell me an' Blink here why we're sittin' on a rat's nest?"

"Yeah!" Blink added. "David told me dat dem things get all kinda diseases! He said dat in, like, da firteen hundreds, rats killed a whole bunches a people in Europe!"

Mush didn't reply. He just sighed and continued walking back and forth between the litter in Tibby's alley. Race and Blink exchanged glances. Where was the cheerful Mush they knew?

After a long silence, Race got annoyed. "You gonna tell us or what, Mushy?"

The boy in question was pale in the summer heat. Blink wondered if his friend was sick.

"Fellas…" Mush spoke up finally, coming to a halt between a garbage can and a box that once held cherry phosphate. "I'se think I'm goin' crazy."

There was another awkward silence.

Kid Blink, being Kid Blink, was the one to break it. "Why?" He asked gently. Blink wasn't about to be cruel to the mentally ill. Especially if the person in question was his best friend.

"I'm…seein' things." Mush said, trembling. All of a sudden, the younger boy was babbling.

"I keep seein' dis goil, see, she's drivin' me nuts. I see her in my dreams all da time, like she's invadin' my sleep. I see her ridin' in carriages with da big shots. I see her hangin' out with Gypsies. Goddamn, I see her hawkin' headlines!"

Mush's hands are shakingRace noticed.

"And every time I see her, she just grins and winks at me. Den she turns back around to whatever she's doin'. I tell ya, I need to be locked up in Bellevue, quick!"

"You sure it's da same goil?" Blink asked hopefully. "Could be different ladies."

"I can tell what she looks like! It's always the same!" Now Mush was starting to hyperventilate.

"Maybe we oughta get ya inside." Race said, reaching out to grab Mush by the arm. The younger newsie shook him off.

"An it all started since I stole that damn necklace!" He hysterically cried, kicking the wall.

Blink and Race stopped in their tracks.

"Dat necklace! I swear! Swiped it offa big shot, and dis goil's been givin' me trouble eva since!"

Mush dug around in his pockets and pulled out a small, heart shaped locket on a golden chain. It was smudged with dirt, but from what the others could tell, the initials were H-E-L.

"H-E-L?" Race sniggered. "Who would name der kid…"

Rolling his eyes (eye?) Blink stood up, dragging the Italian with him. "Mush, let's go inside. I'se still don't wanna run into a rat the size of me arm out here."

Suddenly, a large commotion (that sounded like a sneeze) from of the boxes startled the three. They all jumped about five feet into the air. "Let's go!" Kid insisted.

"I wanna check it out!" said Race. He gingerly went to the afore mentioned box, going as quietly as he possibly could. The noise didn't sound like a rat, and when he got closer, he noticed the box had legs coming out from it.

Race held a finger to his lips, motioning for his friends to be quiet. He sneakily crept up to the box and with one quick motion, lifted up the top….

And let out a gasp of surprise.

For staring back at him was Oscar Delancy, famed scabber and enemy of all Newsies.

"Oscar?" Mush said in disbelief. He clutched his locket very tightly in his hand.

"I heard what you guys were talkin' about!" Oscar half yelled, staring up at the three bewildered newsboys from the filthy ground. "One of you stole a locket, and now you're seein' things! You're getting what ya deserve, you street rats! And once I tell Uncle Wiesel, it'll be getting a whole lot worse!"

Blink…well…blinked. That was about the stupidest thing he'd ever heard.

"Are you drunk?" Racetrack grinned; cracking his knuckles, waiting for the soaking that was to come.

Oscar didn't reply. He just hauled himself to his feet and began trying to throw punches at Race.

Race darted easily out of the way, which meant that Oscar's fists hit the surprised Blink instead. Blink yelled and then, gaining his breath back, kneed Oscar in the most painful place a guy could ever get hit. Gasping for air, the scabber kneeled over.

Blink clapped his hands together. "That was easy." The one eyed boy said happily. "Now, where'd be Morris?"

Mush grinned, feeling better. "Stupid scabber," He chuckled, and spit at the groaning Oscar. Then Mush looked down at his oatmeal colored hands. They were still clutching the necklace. And they were glowing.

"Fellas!!" He shouted. "The neckl-"

But before Mush could finish, a white flash overcame the alley. Mush, Race, Blink, and Oscar disappeared without a trace from Tibby's, New York, and 1899 all together.

A/N: How's that for a first chapter, eh? I know, I know, you're all just terrified in your chairs, wanting to know about what happens to our beloved Trio. And Oscar. Poor guy...he's going to be all alone in the chapters to come…kinda makes ya feel sorry for him…kinda.

Honestly, I think he's kind of hot. Better than Morris anyway.

((shrugs))

But whatever…

Thoughts?