A/N: I know it's been too long but finals and regents and Guys and Dolls. I rocked it as Adelaide even though my brown hair peaked out from under the Marilyn Monroe wig. Plus I had to see Newsies again on Broadway because it's closing. It was sad but I met fellow fansies so it was fun. Anyway I do not own Newsies, the little Mermaid, or this song. I did however change the lyrics to fit the situation. It's from the broadway play. Enjoy!
Chapter 9: I Want the Good Times Back
Ursula is pacing back and forth waiting for a status report from Flotsam and Jetsam about her biggest scam; Ariel.
She could make big bucks on her. She isn't sure what to do with her yet. She could pimp her out to gentleman willing to pay. She could ask for a high ransom from her parents. She could make her her newest apprentice, her pretty face can bring in many people with whom she can scam.
Flotsam and Jetsam soon walk in with their heads hung.
"Well, what is it? Is she winning? Has she won?" Ursula asks actually panicking.
"Almost," Flotsam says.
"but we made sure-" continues Jetsam.
"-they didn't kiss." finishes Flotsam.
"That little slut! That pretty face with her technically good body and flowing red hair."
Ursula sighs and sits in her plushy chair. It swallows her as she reminisces about when she was the most powerful woman-no person-in in New York. But that soon faded after the war. People were filled with hope again with no need of Ursula anymore.
"My reign-why, it was blissfully delicious!" She says aloud. "And glamour, glitz and style were au courante. Did I use some black magic? Well, oopsie-my bad! Did I mutilate, maim and destroy? Just a tad! And for that, I get banished! But me, I'm not mad. There's just one little thing that I want... just one teensy thing that I want:
"I want the good times back! I want those grand ol' days! I want the twisted nights. The sick delights. The wild soirees! I want those trembling crowds of people. Cracked and peeled for me to dine. Not because I'm mean or selfish-"
"No!" Flotsam and Jetsam say at the same time hoping it'll convince Ursula to feed them tonight.
"I only want what's mine! I want disgusting wealth! I want exquisite sin! Want the entire city to worship me on bended knee! I want to greet my loving subjects and then have them as a snack!" Ursula says metaphorically. "Remember those good times? I want them back!
"Picture it, my sucklings. Pretty soon, we'll be back on top! Sipping bubbly... eating caviar before it hatches! Ariel is the only thing that stands in our way. But I have found her Achilles heel... the soft quivering underbelly, beneath all that armor... I'll dethrone her! De-bone her! And then boys... oh, boys... we're back in business! All together now:"
"You'll bring the good times back! Resume your wacky fun! Restore the joyful charm of causing harm to everyone!" Flotsam and Jetsam say in unison.
"I want to make the rich folk cower like they did in days of yore. Sure, it's sheer abuse of power-" Ursula says.
"So?" Flotsam and Jetsam say as their stomachs grumble.
Ursula continues, "Ain't that what power's for? I want to taste their tears! I want to hear their screams!
I want the special rush you get from from crushing hopes and dreams!"
"It's more than simply sentimental-" Flotsam and Jetsam say.
"It's an aphrodisiac!" Ursula says as she hands the two food as a reward for bringing her the news.
"Remember those good times!" says Flotsam and Jetsam as they eat their meager loaves of bread.
"Oh God, were they good times!" Ursula says with nostalgia.
"It's time for more good times!" says the twins.
"Let's get 'em back! If only I had a way to make her pay. I'd set ol' Red straight!"
"Poison?" suggests Flotsam hopping for a no.
"Sure..." Jetsam says unsure.
"Blackmail?" Flotsam guesses hopping for a yes. This would be a kind act of mercy from Ursula.
"Or..." Jetsam adds. He finds Ariel to be a happy gentle spirit and he wants her to win. She'd be the first.
"The strike..." answers Flotsam trying to withhold his sadness at the realization.
"Maybe-" Jetsam says not wanting Ursula to pick that.
"WAIT!" Ursula shouts.
No! shout Flotsam and Jetsam in their minds.
"Why didn't we think of that before? The leader!" says Ursula.
"The one with the western spirit?"
"Which he takes for granted! A man doesn't know how precious his time is until he's been trapped. Ha! Perhaps we could teach them both a lesson...
"I want the little newsie!"
"Oh." Flotsam says with disappointment. He likes Jack, he once shared food with him.
"And boys, I want her bad!" Ursula says knowing whatever punishment she chooses she will have an enormous payout.
"Ah?" Jetsam says sadly.
"I want her sitting here to lure her dear devoted love!" says Ursula referring to Racetrack. She won't punish her until she contacts Racetrack, once Ursula wins. She knows she will so Ursula wants to be prepared.
"Mmm!" Flotsam and Jetsam say wishing they never made their deal.
"I want that goody-goody newsie to come rescue her - the sap! And then one way or another-"
"Surprise!" respond Flotsam and Jetsam unenthusiastically.
"I'll spring the trap! And get the good times back! I mean with all the perks!
The money, jewels, the "throne"-All mine alone! The whole damn works! But most of all, I want ol' rich girl pinned and wriggling on the rack. Then, fellas, it's my time! And frankly, it's high time! Those fabulous good times... they're coming back!"
After a long moment of silence, Ursula knows how she will achieve her ambitions.
"I guess it's time for Plan B." Ursula says and she explains to her minions what to do.
Within an hour a young woman with short brown hair and matching eyes walks in with a physique close to Ariel's body.
"Hello, Vanessa. It's time to repay your debt." Ursula says.
She also sends Flotsam and Jetsam on the last task of the night. They are to go to Pulitzer who also owes a debt. How else did his newspaper become so popular? He is to make a deal with Jack the strike leader so that the whole union falls apart. Budding love won't be able to survive it.
"Now you were here earlier this week when I made a deal with that little rich girl. I'm gonna make you look like her but can you sound like her?" asks Ursula.
Vanessa clears her throat and sings exactly like Ariel. She's an impressionist. She wanted Ursula to help her become famous but a family crisis got in the way. Unbeknownst to her, Ursula set up the accident for her brother. He's still alive but won't be able to walk ever again.
"Perfect. Now come one we have a lot of work to do."
First Ursula gives Vanessa a wig the same shade and length as Ariel's natural hair. She manages to concoct a potion that will remove certain color pigments in her eyes making them blue. Not the same shade but close enough. She gives her a simple frock to wear and they spend most of the night getting the story straight.
Ursula tells of the story of when Ariel saved Racetrack to the last detail. They also make up a life story for Vanessa. She recites it in Ariel's voice over and over again until she gets the sound and story down.
Dawn is approaching, it's time to set this into motion.
Ariel and the newsies awake from their restless sleep. They are awakened by David and Les who want the strike to continue.
"Why? We keep losing people. Our leaders and we can't do it without them." Skittery says.
"So what we give up because we're scared?" asks David.
Ariel scrawls a note for David to read aloud. "We need to avenge them. Make them lisen. Comand them to give us bac our friends. What good will it do them if we give up?" David asks reading her response to Skittery's pessimism.
The newsies all agree and their moral starts to rise again.
"Now get dressed because we're gonna picket the World." David says as all the newsies begin to dress themselves.
They are all telling each other a story of the strike, however, improving the truth a little. How the soaked this scab. Or how they danced with this girl at the rally.
Bumlets goes to Ariel and starts a story thinking she's lonely because she is unable to speak. Unbeknownst to him she is busy thinking about a slogan for the picket. She's heard about them once when reading about the trolley strike. Unfortunately it didn't end pretty. She doesn't want anything bad to happen to Racetrack. She remembers how her heart felt after the rally when he was arrested. The sting of pain. The ache of regret. The stab of loss. Her heart throbbed as she wished she could go back and change what happened. Do something different. The feeling was eternal and she could never live with it. The world felt like it stopped moving.
In that moment she knew the slogan.
She hurriedly writes it on a paper and hands it to David before she loses it.
"'Stop the World. No more papes.' That's good. We're gonna use that. Thanks, Tunes." thanks David.
Ariel nods her heads and puts her shoes on. Soon all the newsies are bouncing down the streets, a few with signs, others only wielding the words Ariel wrote. Racetrack doesn't leave her side in fear that she will be the next newsie/not exactly a newsie to be stolen away. He will not let that happen. He cannot let that happen.
The crowd around the distribution centre and begin chanting. At first it was quiet but it begins to grow in volume until Pulitzer gets nervous and sends the police to escort the papers and replacement newsies out to make him money. After all he is still paying his debt to Ursula.
The cart is able to get by with the help of the police making some newsies angry. They take that emotion out on each other.
It's too much for David, he's losing control. He needs the city to know the importance of unions. Not just for the newsies but his dad and all the children in New York slaving away when they should in be in parks and schools. At least he won't have to do it alone. "Race! Help me! I need some help!" he shouts grabbing Racetrack by his shoulders.
"Alright! I ain't deaf!" yells Racetrack getting agitated.
Spot also helps but he doesn't have to try much. His mig does most of the speaking for him. "Hey, hey, hey! Break it up."
Then he spots something he's praying is false.
"Hey, Race, come here." says Spot.
No one can believe their eyes, Weasel is leading Jack out. Also in a new suit.
Ariel stares at him. He looks so peculiar without his trademark red bandana and cowboy hat.
"What?" asks Racetrack unaware of Jack's present state before him.
"Just tell me I'm seeing things. Just tell me I'm seeing things." Spot pleads.
Racetrack looks in the direction and betrayal instantaneously fills his veins. "No, you ain't seeing things. That's Jack. What's he doing?"
"He's dressed like a scabber!"
Mush is heartbroken at the sight and needs to go to Jack. The police won't let him."Jack? Jack, look at me, will ya? Come on, it's
me, Mush. Look at me. What are you doin', Jack?" begs Mush. He can't fathom why this Jack, that stole for him when he was sick and hungry, would go scabber right when they needed him the most. Not just himself but the newsies and kids of New York as a whole.
"This ain't happening. This can't be happening. What are you doin' Jack? Come on, what are you doin'?" Kid Blink asks confused. He never thought Jack would give up his pride and dignity for a new suit. He believes in that dignity and pride which is what cause Kid Blink to trust Jack to lead him.
"Come on. What is this? Where'd you get them clothes?" Boots asks angrily. This boy, the one who defended him against the racial slurs of New York has turned his back to them. To him.
But none of them notice the sadness and self-loathing on his face. No one but Ariel. She makes direct eye contact with eyes of understanding. Jack is too deep in his pity to see it.
Weasel, however, is enjoying the moment. Finally, the kids who tore at him day in and day out have at last been through what he has. "Mr. Pulitzer picked them out himself. A special gift to a special new employee." he says cockily loving his victory.
"He sold us out!" Spot shouts.
Racetrack yells a few choice phrases at him. "I'll give you a new suit! You bum! I'll soak ya! Ya fink!"
Ariel flinches at his words, so does Jack. He doesn't want them to hate him. Meanwhile Ariel didn't know Racetrack had this anger inside him. It kind of scares her.
Spot wants to settle this the one way he feels is the only way how, "Hey, hey, hey! Let me get my hands dirty. Come here you dirty rotten scabber! Traitor!" The newsies pulls him away knowing that if he assaults Jack, his arrest will be imminent.
David stares at him in disbelief. Weasel notices and wants to toy with the rotten kids for just a bit longer. "Aww. You wanna talk to him? Come on, come on. Sure. Got right ahead."
David walks up to Jack without the slightest clue what to say. But once they are face-to-face the words come pouring out, and the are angry, "So, this is why you didn't escape last night. You're a liar! You lied about everything. You lied about your father being out west, 'cause he's not out west! You didn't even tell me your real name!"
"So? What you wanna do about it Dave?" Jack says unsure how to manipulate the conversation.
" I don't understand you."
"Oh, so let me spell it out for ya. You see, I ain't got nobody
tucking me in at night, like you. It's just me, I gotta look out for myself."
"You had the newsies.." answers David a little hurt.
Jack tries not to hurt David more but the words fall from his lips without control on how to stop it. "Oh, what'd being a newsies ever give me but a dime a day and a few black eyes? You know, I can't afford to be a kid no more, Dave. For the first time in my life, I got money in my pockets. Real money. Money, you understand? I got more on the way and as soon as I collect, I'm gone, I'm away. Alright?"
"Well, that's good. That's good because we don't need
you! We don't need you! All those words you said, those were mine."
"Yeah, but you never had the guts to put them across yourself, didja?"
"I do now." says David as he starts to go back to the newsies. But a small part of him still believes in Jack. He turns back to him to tell him but is instead quietly mocked by Jack, "What'sa matta? Got a problem?"
David rushes towards Jack to attack him, with that small part of him dead forever gone like his faith in Denton. Unfortunately for David and fortunately for Jack Weasel and a few policemen pull him away.
"Maybe you'd like a new suit of your own, huh?" Weasel asks hoping to take out the brains of the operation. But David can't give up on those without a voice.
"Never! Never!" he shouts accidentally spitting in his face irking Weasel.
"Get outta here! Get outta here!" yells Weasel.
"I'm not like you!" David screams at mainly Jack but also to reassure the newsies that he isn't going anywhere.
The cops surround Jack and the other replacement newsies so the strikers can't get them. The newsies watch him go as they shout at him.
"Traitor!" yells Spot.
"You make me sick!" Kid Blink shouts.
" I trusted you!" screams Boots.
"Seize the day, huh Jack?" Racetrack says just loud enough so Jack can hear.
Les will never admit that his hero has gone dark side. "He's foolin' 'em, so he can spy on 'em or something. Yeah, yeah, that's it. He's foolin' 'em!"
"Yeah, he's spying on then, kid." Racetrack says trying to comfort the kid. He wishes he could live in the denial Les is rescinding.
Ariel stares straight ahead in her own thoughts as the newsies grumble about Jack. How will she ever convince the strikers to continue. Their morale is at an all time low. Sure they still have this rage but how long will it last until it burns out? Ariel pulls herself back into reality and realizes she was looking at someone and that someone was looking at her.
She made the deadly mistake of staring right into the caramel eyes of Keaton, her so-called betrothed.
He's wearing his good clothes accompanied by a servant. She looks away panicking trying to hide herself in the mass of newsies. If he exposes her now it'll all be over. Maybe she should soon. She can't lie to Racetrack forever. But to do it while he's still recovering from Jack's betrayal would be stupid.
She peaks over at him and sees him making his way over. Without another thought, Ariel takes off running. She maneuvers her way through back alley ways and secret streets like Racetrack showed her when he introduced her to New York. She manages to lose him in the process.
Keaton attempts to go after her but is cut off by Ursula.
"I know who you are and what you do. So please let me through, I don't have time for this." says Keaton in a hurry.
"Chasing after that skinny little thing can be a lot of work. However, I can make it that you barely have to move a muscle." claims Ursula, gathering people to help her trap Ursula.
"I'm listening."
Back at the distribution centre, Bumlets and Racetrack worry so they split up and start to look for her. They think she's upset about Jack. They could not be farther away from the truth.
Racetrack unknowingly walks down the path Ariel once did and reminisces about his and her's trip through New York. The way she smiled, wrote Italian, the way the sunset hit her making her practically glow. Maybe, maybe it is time for him to move on from his savior. He hasn't seen her since. Heard that voice since. Ariel, though, Ariel is beautiful, brilliant, brave, lovely, and here with him. That feeling in his soul, he loves her. He truly loves her and cannot wait to find her so he can confess this to her.
That is until he hears a melody he knows too well. It's her.
He sees her, his savior. Looking as radiant as the he saw her when she saved him. Well what he could see of her through a cloudiness of a mild concussion. He's too fixed on her he forgets his epiphany and where he walking as he walks right into her.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Miss. Are you alright?" He asks helping her up.
"I'm fine, thank you." she says in that voice Racetrack couldn't get out of his head. This is her. "I know you, don't I? You're that poor boy who was getting bullied. I haven't stopped thinking about you. I'm sorry I didn't stay to find out the extent of your injuries."
"It's fine, ma'am. You did rescued me. You're my savior and I thank you for that."
"Oh, I wouldn't put it that far-"
"I'm serious. You saved my life and I'm grateful. Because of that I can tell you that you are the most exquisite woman I've ever seen." It seems a bit weird coming out of his mouth as she looks a lot like Ariel. But Ariel had stunning unforgettable eyes and a less crooked smile. One he can't get out of his-
"That is most kind. I have a way you may thank me, uh-" she says waiting for his name even though she knows his.
"They call me Racetrack but my real name is Anthony Higgins."
"Vanessa." They shake hands and he kisses her knuckles, "I believe a kiss may settle the debt. Perhaps even a date."
Racetrack leans in a kisses her tenderly on the lips but it isn't how he imagined it. He does feel something-after all he is kissing a beautiful obviously learned doll-but a certain spark is missing.
He pulls away and offers his arm, "This way m'lady." Racetrack says jokingly.
Vanessa giggles and curtseys and says with a fake southern accent, "Why thank you, kind sir." They laugh and she takes his arm. She isn't too mad of the setup. He is nice and not bad looking.
Racetrack is happy that, even if they lose the strike, he'll have found the girl he will always be looking for.
Ariel heads back to the one place she feels safe; The Lodging House. A few others are there waiting for the next call. They all sort of know that this is nearing the end. Ariel knows her week is almost up. Still no kiss. If she doesn't get it by the end of today, she's doomed. Forever, a salve to her high class. She can't live like that after having the best week of her life. Her life before had no meaning. Now she looks back on all she's accomplished this week. She helped shape the upcoming century. So much more than all her years living so far in just a week. Tears spring to her eyes, she doesn't want to leave it all behind. She doesn't want to leave Racetrack behind. She chokes back a sob and heads to the bunk room for privacy. She lays on her bunk and allows herself to wallow in self pity for a moment. Just a moment. Then she's going to do all she can to help the strike. Even tell Racetrack that she loves him.
