"And they lived happily ever after. The end." With nothing else to do Skittery and Crutchy, who had also stayed home, were reading the younger boys some of the books Story and David lent them. As Skittery turned the page to the next story, he heard the sound of emergency bells outside. He bolted up and ran to the window.

"What's happenin', Skittery?" Crutchy asked.

Skittery saw a red wagon with a few men on it being pulled by a horse. A dalmatian ran beside it.

"A fire truck," he answered.

In the distance was a pillar of smoke. It was a shame the fire wasn't closer. Skittery would have loved to see the firefighters in action. At least it would make a good headline tomorrow.

"Hey," said Crutchy. He was now standing next to Skittery, looking out the window. "Ain't that near Medda's theatre?"

"Oh no." Crutchy was right. Helena and Story were both in danger. "Watch the kids for me, will ya?"

Skittery ran right out the door and down the lodging house steps. If he cut through Central Park he might be able to make it.


Thanks to Denton, the police were already on the scene. The newsies helped as many people as they could get out of the building quickly. They gathered together behind the circle of police officers and firefighters.

"Is this everyone?" Denton asked, taking a quick count.

Spark escaped the theatre out the back exit when she heard the screaming, although she didn't know what was going on. Were Shade's guys attacking? They wouldn't do that with civilians around, right? Spark darted through the shadows. If there was a brawl going on inside she would have to tell the police and pray that they would believe her. Although this wasn't the first time Irving Hall was the site of a riot. As Spark rounded the corner she saw a circle of police officers. Someone had beat her to it. Beyond the officers was a large crowd of people panicking and milling around. The audience.

Spark ignored the intense pain in her ankle, although she did limp quite badly as she ran toward the crowd. But she was free! If she could just get to her friends everything would be alright.

As soon as she saw them tears began flowing down her cheeks.

"Mush!" she cried, running into his arms.

"Spark," He embraced her tightly, his tears wetting her fair hair. "I was so worried about you."

"I-I th-th-thought I'd n-n-n-never s-see you again," Spark said through her rather violent sobbing.

When the others noticed Spark's return they surrounded her and Mush.

"Welcome back, Spark." Said Racetrack, offering a small smile.

Blink started. "Lemme just say you did great up there-" He promptly received a smack on the head from Jack.

"Madeleine!" Story exclaimed using her sister's full name. A very rare occurrence.

"Theresa," Spark said, squeezing her tightly. Both sisters were now crying uncontrollably.

"Where's Roselia?" Mush asked suddenly.

Spark's eyes widened. "I thought she woulda come out the front with yous and Spot." Spot wasn't present either.

"Oh, no." Story said, her tear stained face turning pale.

"Where's Helena?" Denton asked.

"Chase and Spot are missin' too." Jack said over the commotion.

Denton approached an officer as calmly as he could. "I have to get back in there." He said. "There are children still inside."

"I'm sorry, sir, for your safety I can't let anyone in. Hopefully they'll make it out on their own. If not…" The officer trailed off. "It's too dangerous to make any of my men go in. All we can do is put out the fire right now."

"They're just kids!" Denton exclaimed.

"My sister is in there!" Mush cried angrily.

"I'm sorry, sir, there's nothing I can do."


Skittery ran up to his friends. He sighed with relief when he saw that Story was safe.

"What's goin' on?" He saw the flames growing. A few windows on the sides of the building shattered suddenly. Denton was arguing with some police officers. "Is everyone out?"

"No," Story answered with tears in her eyes. "Chase and Spot and Helena are still in there."

"What?!" The fire was blazing. If they didn't get out in a few minutes they would all be dead. Helena would be dead. Why wasn't anyone doing anything?

Without another thought Skittery slipped past the the distracted police officers.

"Skittery, no!" Story screamed. She cared about him. That gave him a little more courage.

"Hey, you can't go in there!" an officer said, but they made no move to catch him. Nice job protecting the citizens of Manhattan. Skittery thought.

The flames hadn't reached the lobby yet, but Skittery's vision was clouded with the thick smoke that was filling the room and he could feel the heat of the fire. He had to focus and find Helena. Spot could take care of Chase on his own, he'd done it before, after all.

Skittery looked around. No sign of Helena in the lobby. He had to get into the theatre and pray that she was still alive (and that he could get both of them out safely). Suddenly, he heard a banging sound coming from the coat closet to his right.

"Is someone there?" He heard a muffled voice answer. "I'm gonna get you out."

Hopefully whoever it was could hear him. The door was locked and Skittery doubted he would be able to find the key in time. The only thing left to do was break the lock. It took five tries but Skittery finally kicked the handle down. As soon as the lock was broken the door burst open and someone fell into Skittery's arms. Looking down he recognized Helena's dark curls.

"Skittery!" she exclaimed, tears streaming down her face. "I thought I was going to die." She continued sobbing into his chest.

"Shhhh... It's alright," he stroked her hair. He could feel a few tears running down his own cheeks. "You're safe now. What happened-"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. He looked and saw a girl wheezing, leaning against the doorway. He could see that a bloom of red blood stained her light blonde hair. Skittery and Helena ran to her.

"Chase?" but it wasn't her. Skittery didn't recognise this girl.

"No," she responded, it seemed like she was kind of dazed. "Chase is still in there. Spot's been shot and my brother's gonna kill them!" The girl went into a fit of coughing due to the smoke.

"Alright," said Skittery, "Helena, help this girl get outside. Your uncle and friends are waiting for yous."

"What are you going to do?" Helena asked.

"I'm gonna go in there and save Chase and Spot."

Helena saw the determined look in his eye and she knew there was nothing she could do to stop him. "Ok, be safe." To go in and save two of the people he claimed to hate the most…

"I will," he said.

As Skittery turned to go he felt a tug at his sleeve.

"One more thing," Helena said.

"Wha-"

Helena threw her arms around Skittery's neck and kissed him. He was absolutely stunned. After a second he closed his eyes. It was the best kiss he'd ever had. Skittery could feel tears running down his cheek but he couldn't tell whether they were Helena's or his own.

Helena let go and looked up at Skittery, crying and smiling at the same time.

Suddenly the ceiling shifted above them.

"Yous gotta get outta here!" He said remembering where he was. The blonde girl was still dazed as she stood next to them. She was busy staring at the orange flames which were beginning to reach the lobby.

Helena nodded wiping away a tear and taking one last look at Skittery. She took the girl's arm and slung it around her shoulders. "What is your name?" She asked her.

"Vivienne,"

Skittery made sure the girls got out safely. He turned back to the theatre entrance. With a quick prayer he ran in. The room was filled with flames and smoke. The stage curtains and scenery were ablaze and the fire was spreading elsewhere in the room. The chandeliers shook from the heat, crystals and light bulbs were falling down like rain.


Chase remembered that she still had the knife Spot had gotten her for Christmas. She reached into her bodice (the only place in the sparse costume she could conceal it) and she flicked the blade open. As Shade came at her again she slashed his cheek. A line of blood began dripping down his face.

Growling, he countered, kicking Chase's hand and sending the knife flying through the air.

"Ahh!" Chase backed away clutching her hand.

She dodged two more punches from Shade as she hovered around Spot's motionless form.

Shade swung at Chase, connecting with her cheek. She staggered back a few steps but it wasn't enough to knock her down. She remained shielding Spot. Chase lunged at Shade but she missed. He was too fast and strong for her. He hit her again.

"You ready to quit yet, Chase? You can't protect him like this forever." Shade laughed.

Chase wiped the blood away from her lip, putting up her fists she said, "I could do this all day."

She coughed, the smoke was starting to get to her. She grabbed Spot's arm and tried dragging him away from the stage but Shade was quick. He pushed her off the stage and into the audience seats like he had done to his sister.

Chase shakily tried to stand right away, coughing as she did. The room was spinning. Someone caught her from behind. She twisted out of his grip and swung at him dizzily.

"Hey, it's just me." Upon second glance she saw who it was.

"Skittery!" He was the last person she had expected to see here.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"I am," she said weakly. Skittery held onto her waist to steady her. "But we have to save Spot!"

Chase and Skittery looked up at the stage. Shade had his knee on Spot's chest. He held a pistol by the barrel to strike Spot. Skittery jumped onto the stage and shoved Shade away from Spot.

"I'll fight him! You just get yourself and Spot out of here!" Skittery said as he pinned Shade down. "So you must be Shade," said Skittery.

Shade smirked. "And you must be the guy that lost Chase and Spark. Nice job."

Chase grabbed Spot's arms and dragged him off the stage. He was heavy, like dead weight. She shuddered, trying not to cry. Heaven forbid, she thought.

Skittery clocked Shade right in the nose.

"Alright, I can play your game," said Shade. "It's your life anyway." Shade struck Skittery in the face with the butt of the pistol and pushed him away.

Skittery saw stars. He shook his head to clear his vision. There was a creaking sound. Looking up, he saw that the beams above were beginning to shift. Shade took the moment of distraction to punch Skittery in the face once more. He made to jump off the stage to Spot and Chase but Skittery countered his movements, pushing Shade farther upstage. There was another creaking sound and the smoke was growing even thicker. This time a flaming piece of the the ceiling fell in front of Skittery. He kicked it aside and lunged at Shade again.

More than half of the room was now on fire. Whole chandeliers began falling and oil lamps were exploding left and right. Chase heard the roof creak above her. She screamed, shielding Spot with her body as a beam fell. It just barely missed them.

"Chase!" Skittery exclaimed, landing another punch on Shade.

"W- We're alright!" Chase stammered and she continued trying to escape.

The two boys wrestled, fists flying. Shade kicked Skittery into the flaming stage scenery.

"You're pathetic!" Shade said. "You couldn't even keep two little girls safe!"

Skittery expertly blocked Shade's next punch. "Hey, everybody makes mistakes." He said, pulling back his fist to strike. Shade had him cornered. "It won't happen again."

Just then there was another creak close by. As Skittery looked up Shade slammed him against the wall. He pressed hard on Skittery's neck, suffocating him.

"Are you ready to die tonight?" Shade asked, the flames illuminating his evil grin.

The ceiling creaked again.

"A-are," Skittery choked. "A-are y-you?" He smiled. He gathered all of the strength he could and he pushed Shade away one last time, just as a beam fell from the ceiling above. The beam landed on Shade's chest, trapping him. He struggled against the heavy weight.

Skittery leaped over Shade and off the stage as he heard even more creaking sounds. The ceiling was going to come down any moment.

"No!" Shade clawed and screamed as more flaming debris fell. "NOOOOO!" His eyes were wide as he thrashed. After a moment the screaming finally stopped.

Skittery rushed to Chase and Spot who were about halfway through the theatre. Chase was sobbing and coughing at the same time. She was really struggling.

"It's ok, we can do this together," He said. "And don't cry, you'll exhaust yourself."

Chase smiled and gave him a playful whack. "Thank you, Skittery."

"Any time." The two of them grabbed Spot's arms and together they dragged him outside of the theatre.

Chase and Skittery gasped for breath as they made it out into the fresh air. The last thing they remembered was the sound of emergency bells and a very loud crowd of people rushing towards them. And then darkness consumed them.


A/N: This was a fun but hard chapter to write. There is just so much going on! I'll talk more about writing this in my bonus chapters. Did you catch my "Captain America" reference in this chapter? There is also a "Hannah Montana" reference if you're watching closely...