A/N: Hello again! Here's chapter two which I wrote in between seasons one and two of Doogie Howser M.D. I love Neil Patrick Harris and his co star Max Casella (he's Racetrack in Newsies as if you didn't already know) it takes place 1989-1994 so he looks and sounds the exact same way as he does in Newsies! You should check it out. I love it. Now for the story, thank you to everyone who followed and favorited, I'm glad I get to honor my favorite movie/musical (Newsies) with my second favorite movie/musical (The Little Mermaid) no matter how old I get I will love these. Anyway, I hope you like it and please review and tell me how I'm doing and any ideas.


Chapter 2: Poor Unfortunate Souls

"Why hello there!" Ursula greets sounding welcoming. She can tell the girl her apprentices had brought in is still unsure. By her dress, Ursula can tell the girl is rich and Ursula can get paid big time.

Ariel looks over Ursula's plump figure. She has short brown wavy hair and big dark eyes. She has a nice color of the skin, a deep bronze.

"What's your name, dear?" She asks.

"Ariel Valentini." She answers with her beautiful voice, even when she only talks it fills the air like a bell.

"What a lovely name. And a beautiful voice and face." Ursula says causing Ariel to smile. She thinks she judged her too fast and might be willing to go through with a deal. She isn't scary looking and is being kind.

"What is it that your heart desires?" Ursula asks.

"There's a boy I have fallen in love with. The only problems are he's a newsie, my parents, and he hates rich girls." Ariel says sadly.

"You poor thing. I can help you. The only way to get what you want is to become a newsie yourself."

"You can help me do that?"

"My dear, sweet child. That's what I do. It's what I live for. To help unfortunate rich folk like yourself.

Poor souls with no one else to turn to.

"I admit that in the past I've been a nasty

They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a bitch

But you'll find that nowadays

I've mended all my ways

Repented, seen the light, and made a switch

True? Yes

And I fortunately know a little magic

It's a talent that I always have possessed

And here lately, please don't laugh

I use it on behalf

Of the miserable, the lonely, and depressed"

"Pathetic." Ursula whispers to Jetsam and Flotsam and Ariel does not hear her.

"Poor unfortunate souls

In pain, in need

This one longing to be thinner

That one wants to get the girl

And do I help them?

Yes, indeed

Those poor unfortunate souls

So sad, so true

They come flocking to my cauldron

Crying, "Spells, Ursula, please!"

And I help them!

Yes I do

Now it's happened once or twice

Someone couldn't pay the price

And I'm afraid I had to rake 'em 'cross the coals

Yes I've had the odd complaint

But on the whole I've been a saint

To those poor unfortunate souls

"Now you will have one week to have him fall in love with you. That is, he's got to kiss you. But he has to mean it, no pity kisses. And I'll be watching closely. If you succeed, you can remain with him, I'll get your parents off your trail and you can live happily ever after. But if you don't succeed, you can never see him again. Or they'll be punishment. I can always tell." Ursula says

"Have we got a deal?" Ursula asks Ariel feeling like she had won her over completely.

"If I become a newsie, I'll never be able to be with my parents or butler again." Ariel says doubting her choice. It's not too late, she can still fling herself at the mercy of her parents. But she does truly love Racetrack.

"That's right. But you'll have your man, heh heh. Life's full of tough choices, isn't it? Heh heh. Oh, and there is one more thing. We haven't discussed the subject of payment. You can't get something for nothing, you know." Ursula says but Ariel thinks it over. She decides that once she has successfully won Racetrack over, she can visit her family and friend. But what if she doesn't? What if he sees right through her? What if once she goes to visit her family and friend, they turn their backs to her? But what if they don't? And what if Racetrack loves her back?

"I have this silver necklace. It's worth a lot." Ariel says handing over the necklace to Ursula. She never did like it anyway.

"This is perfect. Now the catch, I will disguise you as a street girl but you have to accomplish your goal without something."

"But I don't have-" Ariel tries to say anything else but is interrupted by Ursula.

"I'm not asking much, just a token really, a trifle! You'll never even miss it. What I want from you is - your voice. I'll make a poison to mess with your vocal cords but your voice will eventually return, after the week is through." Ursula says already forming her plan.

"My voice?" Ariel asks in disbelief as a hand instinctively goes to her throat.

"You got it sweet cakes. No more talking, singing, laughing, zip."

"But without my voice, how can I-" Ariel tries to say win him over but once again Ursula interrupts her again.

"You'll have your looks, your pretty face.

And don't underestimate the importance of body language, ha!

The men out there don't like a lot of blabber

They think a girl who gossips is a bore!

Yes outside it's much prefered for ladies not to say a word

And after all dear, what is idle babble for?

Come on, they're not all that impressed with conversation

True gentlemen avoid it when they can

But they dote and swoon and fawn

On a lady who's withdrawn

It's she who holds her tongue who get's a man

Come on you poor unfortunate soul

Go ahead!

Make your choice!

I'm a very busy woman and I haven't got all day

It won't cost much

Just your voice!

You poor unfortunate soul

It's sad but true

If you want to cross the bridge, my sweet

You've got the pay the toll

Take a gulp and take a breath

And go ahead and sign the scroll."

Ursula places the legal and airtight contract her apprentices had written up in front of Ariel and a quill.

Ariel knows she hates gossiping amongst her mother and peers so she believes what Ursula had said.

"Flotsam, Jetsam, now I've got her, boys." Ursula whispers to her apprentices again without Ariel hearing.

"The boss is on a roll

This poor unfortunate soul"

Ariel closes her eyes as she signs the document. There's no going back against the deal now. Ariel feels no regret at the risk she's taking. Would she rather try her luck and be happy or go back to a meaningless life and be miserable? She goes with the former.

"Change into this in that room there. You can leave your belongings with me." Ursula says handing her old worn out clothes. A pale blue shirt, royal blue skirt, a matching royal blue ribbon, worn out black heels, and a black over the shirt corset top.

Ariel changes without complaint and ties half her hair up with the ribbon instead of her gold pins.

She emerges from the adjacent room and sees Ursula pouring various ingredients into a cauldron looking pot.

"Beluga sevruga

Come winds of the Caspian Sea

Larengix glaucitis

Et max laryngitis

La voce to me."

"Now, I want to hear you sing." Ursula commands as she ours some liquid from the pot into a bottle.

Ariel does as Ursula wishes and begins to vocalize. Once she's done, Ursula hands her the bottle which Ariel begins drinking. It a type of poison, it doesn't cause death but messes with the vocal chords and prevents speaking or singing. Which is the only way Racetrack can identify her as the girl who saved him. Ariel doesn't think of this as downs the while bottle.

She begins hacking and coughing but soon, as Ariel coughs, no sound comes out.

"Good luck." Ursula muses as she shoves Ariel out into the city.

Ariel walks on in bliss. She doesn't know where to look first.

She feels like she's in a fairy tale, where a girl falls in love with a boy, and tries to win him over. And since it's a fairy tale; it will have a happy ending.

She walks on and gets a chill, the day's nearly over and the temperature is dropping. Ariel had to leave her expensive looking cloak with Ursula. She decides to find a place to sleep and begin looking for Racetrack then.

She doesn't know what she'll do, maybe she could wing it, maybe he'll recognize her as the girl who saved him.

But she doesn't have a voice.

She decides if he recognizes her, she will make up an excuse.

As she walks, her stomach begins to growl indicating she's hungry.

She sees another boy steal a glass of milk from another vender without her noticing.

Ariel doesn't want to steal, knowing it is against God's commandments but the gnawing in her stomach is getting painful.

She prays that God will forgive her for what she is about to do, and tries to mimic what she saw the little boy do on a nearby fruit stand.

But when she attempts it, she disrupts the apples and they all go tumbling to the cobblestone.

Ariel drops her orange and attempts to get away but the vender grabs her arm preventing her from getting away.

"Youse will hafta pay for those youse knows!" The man says. Ariel tries to explain but she can't. She doesn't have a voice.

"That's what I get for sinning." She thinks.

"Wait!" A boy beckons. He has a cap on but she is able to see him long dark hair and eyes with a dark complexion and dirty streets clothes.

"What?" The vender cries clearly annoyed.

"There youse is uh, Gloria. I was startin' ta get worried. Jerome, please 'cuse me sista, she has a history of mental problems." The boys says causing great confusion for Ariel. She doesn't understand why this complete stranger is doing this. Then it occurs to her that he's helping her get away.

"And they say no one cares about anyone in New York."

Ariel begins to act the part and acts slightly looney.

"A'right. Jus' keep her on a tightah leash." The vender growls as he releases Ariel, the boy drags her away and once they're a safe distance away, the boy says, "I'se sorry if I scared youse, but Jerome can be pretty mean an' I had ta stop him from hoitin' someone else. I'm Bumlets."

Ariel tries to say "Thank you, and I'm Ariel." but she can't. She touches her throat and realizes this task may be harder than she thought.

"Wha's the mattah?" Bumlets asks.

Ariel gestures to her throat and shakes her head.

"Youse can't speak." He asks and Ariel nods her head.

"That's horrible. Wha' happened?" He asks.

Ariel sees a factory and remembers that Keaton said factories cause many accidents.

She points to one and Bumlets asks, "It was a factory accident?"

Ariel nods her head sadly playing the part.

She prays to God that he'll forgive her for what she's doing.

Bumlets remembers Kid Blink and how he lost his job a factory because he lost his sight in one threw him out and accepted one of the many people waiting out side to take his place. A week later, he becomes a newsie. He never mentioned how it happened exactly. He's too ashamed about it and still cringes when trapped in the shadow cast by a factory. He'll never go back and isn't sure what he'll end up doing. this why he doesn't ask her exactly how it happened, the point is it happened.

"Did they fire youse?" He asks and Ariel nods her head. She doesn't have job, never did. She has always wanted one but her parents never let her. She's glad she has been learning to knit and sew because now her hands are scarred and cut all over making them look like she has been doing manual labor for a long time.

"Well don't worry, I'se helps youse." He says slinging an arm around her shoulders in an effort to console her. Ariel appreciates the gesture and hopes wherever he takes her, Racetrack will be there.

"So I feels bad 'bout not knowin' yer name. Can I guess?" Bumlets asks and Ariel nods her head.

"How hard can it be to guess a name?" She asks herself.

"Mildred?" He guesses but Ariel's face contorts into a face if disgust. That was the name of the girl who made fun of her as a kid. Until Ariel shut her up by slamming her leg into her knee. Bumlets chuckles at her reaction.

"Okay, no. How 'bout Diane?"

Ariel shakes her head.

"Rachel?"

Ariel shakes her head again.

"Okay, it will be kind if hard to guess Ariel."

The rest of the walk to the Lodging House consists of Bumlets trying and failing to guess her name.

He opens the door for her and Ariel bows her head in thanks since she can't say so.

"Hey, Kloppman, this is well I don't knows her name. She can't speak, it was a factory accident." Bumlets explains but Ariel isn't by his side anymore.

She's by the small piano in the corner if the lobby looking at it in glee.

She's glad she'll be able to play while she's here. Hopefully she can win Racetrack over in the process, he does play a harmonica. Maybe they could bond over their love of music.

"Youse plays?" Kloppman asks and Ariel nods her head.

"Then maybe we should call youse Tunes." Bumlets suggests and Ariel smiles and nods, liking the nickname.

"That's amazin'. But if youse was hopin' ta play, it don't work no more." Kloppman explains and Ariel frowns. She scampers back over to Bumlets and shakes Kloppman's hand.

"Jus' put yer information here so I can keep track of who's livin' here."

Ariel takes the quill and signs her real name but she tries to create a sloppy handwriting because her calligraphy could give her secret away.

"Ariel, huh? I nevah woulda guessed." Bumlets says earning a smile from Ariel.

"That woulda been a long game of guess the name then." Bumlets jokes and Ariel nods and laughs but silently.

"Wow, youse can't even laugh right? That's awful. But don't worry, the boys won't care. They'll loves youse." Bumlets comforts.

He leads Ariel up stairs into the bunk room.

"Here it is. It ain't much but it's enough." He says and leads her inside.

"Hey, everybody!" Bumlets shouts as everyone stops what their doing and they turn their heads to listen.

"This here is Ariel or as I nicknamed her, Tunes. She'll be stayin' with us. Now 'fore youse all go bombardin' her with questions, Ariel here, was in a factory accident an' has lost her ability to speak."

Condolences are thrown about the room by the newsies.

"Wait, then what's she gonna do for money? She can't hawk headlines." Skittery asks.

"We'll figure it out." Bumlets says, "Hey, don'tcha play piana? An' didn't Medda's pianist jus' quit?"

"Yea, she could do that. Welcome." Jack says smacking Skittery's arm.

"An' this here is Skittery, or glum an' dumb."

"Sorry 'bout that. I jus' don't like freeloadahs." He explains but Ariel walks up to him and offers her hand to shake showing she forgives him.

Skittery shakes her hand and he welcomes her.

"C'mon, lets find youse a bunk." Bumlets says walking up to her and leads her to an empty bottom bunk.

She sits on it and smiles. Even though the mattress probably in reality isn't that comfy, Ariel loves it over her old mattress in her old life.

"So youse knows me an' Skitts, that's Specs, an' Swifty, there's Kid Blink, you two will have a lot in common. Trust me. But first let me tell youse all the newsies' names. That's Jack, uh Dutchy, over there's Pie Eater, Snoddy, an' this is Snitch, Jake, an' Itey-" Bumlets proceeds to name every single one of the newsies and Ariel listens intensively. She may not be able to speak their names but she at least wants to know them. She wants to know all the newsies by name.

"There's some more but they ain't back yet. Some get back really late." Bumlets says.

He continues talking to her, fully knowing she can't answer back, first he and Kid Blink explain what happened to him. She feels sorry for him but Kid Blink waves it off and says, "If it nevah happened, I wouldn't have met these fellas." she hopes after all this is over and her voice comes back, they can remain friends. She likes his perspective.

After Mush calls Kid Blink over, Bumlets takes over. She smiles as Bumlets tells the story of how he got his name. Yet, when a newsie would come back from selling, he would introduce Ariel and the person. So far, no Racetrack.

Ariel still listens to Bumlets's story, even though it's quite confusing.

By the end, Bumlets is cracking up and Ariel tries to smile through her confusion.

"Get it 'cause with the-" he sees her expression, "-I guess youse had ta be there."

Another newsie enters the bunk room and Bumlets says, "An' lastly that's Racetrack."

Ariel looks at him and a thrill runs through her system she smiles just at the sight of him, Bumlets notices and smirks. This makes Ariel try to hide her ever growing grin and failing to do so.

"I see youse likes what youse sees." Bumlets whispers to Ariel, effectively teasing her. "Hey, Race!" He calls and Racetrack meets Ariel's gaze. He smiles at her, the luscious locks of red hair, the sparkling pools of blue eyes, glowing pale complexion, and the deep full red lips is all too similar to the girl that had saved his life. He believes his seemingly endless search is over.

"Hey, Bumlets, who's this?" He asks trying to sound cool. There is that same negative voice in the back of his head telling him she isn't the girl.

"This is Ariel or Tunes. I helped her get outta trouble an' she'll be stayin' here."

"Hiya. How's youse?" Racetrack asks wanting to hear her voice. If her voice matched the one he has stuck in his head, all doubt would be erased.

"I'm great, thanks." Is what Ariel attempts to say but can't.

"Oh, I forgot ta mention, she were in a factory accident, messed up her voice. She can't speak." Bumlets explains.

"Oh I'se sorry." Racetrack says his spirits falling that he'll never find his dream girl. Ariel sees how disappointed he is and she knows that he thought she is the girl who saved him but without her voice, he doesn't believe so anymore. She just shrugs and tries to hide her sadness.

"Oh, an' are youse goin' ta the races tomorrow?" Bumlets asks.

"No, I went ta-day, why?" Racetrack wonders. He can't afford to go there everyday anymore. He wants to start putting money away in case because he's getting older and can't be a newsie for much longer-this doesn't stop him going at least twice a week- he hasn't ever won a bet on a horse. Poker is a different story.

"Well, 'cause when youse don't go ta the races, youse sells by Irvin' Hall. I were wonderin' if Ariel could tag along an' afta youse could take her there. Medda's pianist is leavin' an' Ariel here can play."

"A'right. Sounds like fun." Racetrack says causing Ariel to smile. She's glad she gets to be with him. Now she has to get him to fall in love with her. A fact that is easier said then done. She silently thanks Bumlets for getting him to help her. He catches it but Racetrack does not.

"Okay, everybody lights out." Kloppman shouts turning of the lights moments later.

"We should all get ta bed. Big day tomorrow. G'night." Racetrack says shaking Ariel's hand.

"Here, I'se gots some 'xtra long johns. Youse can borrow them." Bumlets says and retrieves them for Ariel. Once in her possession, Ariel bows her head in thanks and changes quickly. She splashes a little water in her face and heads back to her bunk.

"G'night." Bumlets says and Ariel waves at him.

She lies down and for the first time in her life, she peacefully falls asleep.


Ariel's mother is pacing the room. Sebastian is out looking for her.

"I told the police that she is gone but they said we have to wait 48 hours to file a report." Ariel's father says barging into house.

"She could be dead by then." her mother shouts completely concerned.

"We shouldn't have yelled at her like that. I feel terrible. How did she even get out of here? She isn't safe out on the streets alone." her father says and he sees his wife's tears and hugs her.

"There's a knock on the door and the maid, Maria answers it. There's an envelope on the ground addressed to the Valentini's and she hands it to them.

"What is it? Open it." Mrs. Valentini says.

Mr. Valentini reads the typed letter out loud,

"Dear Valentini's,

It's Brian, her uncle, Ariel is with me but refuses to go home. I will try to convince her to come home but it may take some time. She'll be safe with me."

"Oh thank god." Mrs. Valentini says as Mr. Valentini writes out a reply and addresses it with the return address of his brother's house in New Jersey. He figured she must've caught the trolley. He would go out there and get her but he feels that won't work. He doesn't want to make things worse. Only thing is Brian died awhile back and Ursula found and hid the body before anyone else found it. She has been planning this ever since she saw the beautiful Ariel on the street. She could make a lot of money off her.

Little do they know that Ursula sent them the typed note. With it, she can keep Ariel around as long as she wants after she wins. Like she always does.