It Can Happen Here
By: Snarktastic (better known as Snarky)
Disclaimer: "Newsies" belongs to Disney. I own the original characters. That's all about I can say on the subject, really.
Author's Notes: So. I feel as if I should maybe explain myself before going on with the story. First of all, this is my first "Newsies" story. Be gentle – I'm fragile. Second, this is a yet another time-travel fic – number 23,638, give or take a few. I can't help it, you know. The concept is a big ball of yarn, and I am a kitten, drawn to pounce on it. Okay, that metaphor sucks, but you get what I mean. Maybe. Third of all, I didn't exactly come up with idea on my own – it was inspired by bits and pieces of, well, everything. Finally, constructive criticism and reviews are welcome. Flames will be ignored unless your spelling and/or grammar is too atrocious to overlook. Then I'll probably have to make fun of you.
Oh! And before I forget, the title of this chapter comes from the song "Tiny Machine" by the Darling Buds.
Chapter 1: I Love You, Tiny Machine
Michelle Jones had left a swath of devastation in her wake. Empty drawers were overturned onto the floor of her dorm room. Her desk, normally a monument of orderliness, was now a complete mess. Now she was digging underneath the bottom bunk bed, pulling out clothes, random pieces of paper, a shoe, and other various things.
Her roommate, Sadie McKenzie, was completely content to ignore her for the moment as she read her e-mail from home on her laptop for the first time that semester (although the semester was more than half over at the time). It became apparent, however, that ignoring her colleague was not possible as she felt the older girl crawling around under her bed. "Just what do you think you're doing?" she finally asked, raising an eyebrow as she glanced over the edge of the bed.
Michelle crawled out from underneath the bed and looked up at Sadie, annoyed. "I can't find my stupid carafe, that's what!"
Sadie furrowed her brow at this. "And just what in the bloody hell is a cuh-raff?" she asked, her accent betraying her Northern England roots.
Michelle stared at Sadie as if her head had suddenly split open, revealing a reptilian being underneath. "You know – the ceramic thing my mom bought me with all the stupid flowers on it – I put my coffee in it to keep it warm…"
"Oh!" Sadie blurted out, realization dawning on her. "Your coffee-holder thingy!"
Michelle visibly twitched at the last phrase. "Yes… my coffee-holder thingy – that's what normal people would call a carafe." She held herself back from smacking the back of Sadie's head as she took a deep breath. "Have you seen it?"
"Not lately." Sadie shrugged as she went back to reading her e-mail. "Maybe you left it in the kitchen. Usually ends up there when you lose it, doesn't it?"
"That's because you usually steal it and use it for that nasty tea you drink," she grumbled as she got up from the floor.
"I 'eard that!" Sadie yelled after Michelle as the other girl walked over to the door.
"You were supposed to, nitwit," Michelle shot back in a singsong voice, reaching for the doorknob. Before she had a chance to turn it, though, the door swung open violently, slamming into Michelle's face. "Ow! Jesus!"
"Hello, my friends!" With that, Lucy Ono announced her arrival into the dorm.
Michelle glared at her as she rubbed her sore nose. "Do you ever knock, huh?" She then noticed what Lucy was holding in her hands. "My carafe!" she exclaimed as she grabbed the container away from Lucy. It was then that she noticed that her carafe had been modified just a tad bit. "My carafe… has a clock and wires and shit attached to it." She glowered at Lucy once again. "What did you do to my carafe, you nutcase!?"
"Oh, is it yours? I just found it in the kitchen a couple of days ago and figured no one wanted it." Lucy replied, shrugging. "But you should be happy! Your thermos has become part of a landmark in scientific research!"
Michelle made a face at Lucy. "Oh, I'm ecstatic," she replied in a deadpan manner, shoving the carafe back into Lucy's arms. "I'm thrilled that my carafe – which you didn't ask to borrow, by the way, even though I'm sure you knew it was mine, you lying sow – has become part of your crazy little science project."
Sadie closed her laptop and climbed out of bed. "What's all this, then?" she asked, looking over the carafe.
Lucy smiled brightly at this. "Thank you for asking, Sadie. At least someone cares about scientific progress." She sniffled at this, which only made Michelle roll her eyes. "Anyway, this normal, everyday thermos – "
"Carafe!" Michelle yelled, correcting her.
Lucy ignored her. "– Is now a dimensional teleportation device!"
"Ooh!" Sadie squealed immediately. The wheels slowly turned in her head, and after a couple moments of thinking, she asked, "What does that mean?"
"It means that I can take this little device right here and teleport myself to any other dimension anywhere in time and space. Isn't it exciting?" Lucy explained with a twinkle in her almond-shaped eyes.
Michelle's eyes widened at this. "Oh, no," she groaned. "You're screwing around with the space-time continuum again? Don't you remember what happened the last time?"
"So I made a couple of missteps…" Lucy weakly laughed.
Sadie was not content to let that memory pass her by without a mention. "Oh, I remember! Lucy had made that time machine portal thingy, and she accidentally teleported a Tyrannosaurus into the middle of the math building!" She giggled at this. "And it ate one of the football players, and we couldn't have math class for two months, on account of the building being destroyed and all."
Michelle nodded. "Yeah, that was sad."
"Are you joking? It was wicked!" Sadie replied. "I was failing algebra that semester, anyway."
"But let us forget about the past, my friends!" Lucy cried, shoving herself in between Michelle and Sadie to protect Sadie from the head slap she was sure to receive for that comment. "Today, we shall embark on the future and test this baby out!"
"We? What's this 'we' business?" Michelle inquired, a disapproving look on her face. "I don't remember volunteering for anything."
"Oh, okay, don't help me test this out, then." Lucy responded with a sigh. "I'll just have to let the football team know just who deliberately tripped their star quarterback in front of that Tyrannosaurus in her effort to get away…"
With that, Michelle bit her bottom lip in embarrassment. She then placed her hand over her chest and said, "Lucy, it would be an honor and a privilege to help you test your dimensional whatchamacallit."
"Awesome!" Lucy exclaimed happily. "What about you, Sadie? You up for a little dimension hopping?"
"Well, it all depends." Sadie rolled her green eyes heavenward in thought. "If I agree to this, will this mean I get out of my history exam tomorrow?"
Lucy smiled. "Sadie, if you agree to this, I'll take the test for you." She then muttered almost inaudibly, "If we survive, that is."
Before Michelle could question what exactly Lucy had said, Sadie let out an ear-piercing scream of utter joy, the likes of which had not been heard since the latest crop of boy bands went on hiatus. "Oh, I am in!" she said, bouncing up and down and clapping her hands excitedly.
"So, how does this stupid thing work, anyway?" Michelle asked, looking the device over and tugging gently on a couple of wires.
"Pretty simple, really. First, I set the dimensional readout display, like so." Lucy then pressed the snooze button on top of the clock, and the LED reading on the clock set itself randomly. "Then, I need a hot pot of coffee." She looked over at the coffee maker, which had a fresh-brewed pot of coffee sitting on it. "Aha! Perfect!"
Michelle raised an eyebrow at Lucy. "And what does the coffee do?"
Lucy placed the carafe on the table next to the coffee maker and started pouring the coffee into it. "Gives us something to drink when we get to the other dimension." She then looked up at Michelle and grinned. When Michelle did not return the smile and instead gave her a dirty look, Lucy pouted. "Well, you can't expect me to give away all my secrets, can you? A scientist has to protect her inventions from being blatantly copied before they're copyrighted."
"She has a point, you know," Sadie added solemnly.
"Shut up, you," Michelle retorted. "Anyway, what's the next step?"
"Well, the next step is actually the last step, which is to take hold of the handle and go," Lucy replied excitedly. "You two ready?"
"Ready!" Sadie exclaimed as she grabbed a hold of Lucy's pink t-shirt.
Michelle just barely took hold of Lucy's sleeve. "Yeah, whatever. Just make sure we don't get sent into a dimension where we get eaten or blown into atoms, okay?"
"Of course I won't!" Lucy answered confidently. "Not on purpose, anyway."
Michelle's face paled at this. "Hey, now, wait a min--!"
Before Michelle could finish her sentence, Lucy grabbed a hold of the carafe's handle. In a flash of light and a puff of smoke, they were gone.