Author's Note:  I know it's been like forever and a day since I posted more of this story, but I had like zero ideas for it.  I would appreciate all feedback, comments and ideas.  Thanks and I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer:  I don't own Harry Potter, and this idea is taken right from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone".  I also don't own Cowboy Woody, he, too, belongs to Disney.

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*****David, Squibble, Prankster, Itey, Jack & Stress*****

"Jack!!" yelled David as he began to run around the lodging house.

Jack crawled out of the corner where he was uhm, talking, yeah, just talking, to Stress.  "What Davey?  I'se a li'l busy at da moment."

Stress crawled out after him, straightening her disheveled shirt as she did so.  "Jack, I need a breather.  I think its O.K. to see what David wants."  Stress paused for a moment and grinned when she saw a redheaded blur run after Davey.

"Was dat Froggy?" Jack mumbled to Stress, as he smoothed his hair and stood up.

Stress laughed.  "No, that's Squibble."

"Davey, Davey, Davey!!" Squibble shouted as she ran after the frightened lad.

"Help!!" wailed Davey as he continued to run.  "Helll--"The words were cut off when Davey ran smack dab into a wall and knocked himself unconscious.  Squibble ran to Davey's unconscious body and sat down on him.  "My Davey," she cried possessively.

Jack looked at Stress and shrugged his shoulders.  "Let's go save me pal."  Considering the two of them were still handcuffed together, Stress really had no choice in the matter.

"'Scuse me, Davey-lover--"

"Davey's Darlin'." Squibble interrupted while beginning to unbutton Davey's faithful blue shirt.

"What?" asked Jack, looking to Stress for help.  She may not have been the sanest of the bunch but Jack felt that he could trust her, seeing that she did obsess about him so much.

"Squibble said ' Davey's Darlin' '.  That's what she goes by on the list." Stress explained as she watched Squibble remove Davey's arm from his right sleeve.

"What list? -- Holy moley, why is Davey shirtless?" Jack yelled, drawing the attention of Dutchy and Monday who were talking on the bunk right next to the crew.

Squibble looked over at Stress and winked.  "I finally got me my shirtless Davey, eh Stress?"

When Stress began to laugh at the completion of one of Squibble's goals, Davey stirred.  "What the he-- I'm naked!" he yelled as he jumped up, knocking Squibble to the floor.

Squibble fell to the floor and bounced back to her feet.  "No, no, no Davey.  You're just shirtless Davey.  I haven't had a chance to meet F.N.D. yet." Squibble smiled to herself as images of F.N.D. ran before her mind.

"F.N.D., what's F.N.D.?" asked both Jack and Davey in unison.

Stress smiled evilly and motioned for both Jack and Davey to lean in.  "F.N.D. stands for Frontal Nudity Davey." she whispered before dissolving into peals of laughter.

Meanwhile, T.A.R.K. floated outside the window as he watched the scene in front of him.  "It looks like two o' dose goils from da futchah are wreakin' enough havoc fer me.  Should I even boddah wit' dem?" T.A.R.K. scratched his freckled nose for a moment as he pretended to debate himself,  "Yeah!"  He clapped his hands hands three times and disappeared.

Upon hearing that Squibble would be trying to pants him next, Davey turned to leave the lodging house.  "I think I'm gonna go now..." Davey ran down the stairs, with Squibble in hot pursuit.

Jack turned to look at Stress and winked.  "How wouldja like ta meet F.N.J., Stress?"

"Davey, Squibble, I'm coming with you guys!" called Stress as she, too, ran down the lodging house stairs, dragging Jack behind her.  "Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!!" she yelled as she fell down a large hole that had appeared in the lobby of the Manhattan Newsboys' Lodging House.

Plop.  "Ew, what is that stink?" called Stress as she landed on a very bony something.

The only response she got was for the bony something to wriggle frantically underneath her.   "What the-- Squibble!" she cried as felt herself being thrown from the ground.

"Yes, yes, it's me.  Now do you mind?  Davey, where did you go?" Squibble began to dig frantically in the pile of rubbish that she was sitting in, looking for her beloved.  "Davey?"

"No, I'm not Davey!"  A girl's head popped out of the garbage and smiled at Squibble.

"Prankster, is that you?"

"Yeah, and Itey's down here too."  Prankster began to climb out of the pile and dig alongside Squibble, looking for her "friend", Itey.

"Ahhh!!" came a new voice, followed by a thud and another scream.  "Jack, get off of me!" Stress yelled as she shoved Jack out of her lap, where he had landed after jumping down the large hole.  "And what took you so long?  Aren't we--" Stress stopped when she noticed that she was no longer handcuffed to Jack.  "Woo, Hoo.  I'm free!" she yelled, forgetting that she was the one who had handcuffed Jack to her in the first place.

"Wheah are we?" he asked, ignoring her comment, before pinching his nose shut.  "Damn, what is dat smell?"

Stress grinned triumphantly.  "See, I told you something smelled bad."

"Be careful," called a voice from under the large pile of garbage that they had all landed in.

"Itey, is that you?" Prankster asked as she dug deeper in the trash but came no closer to finding the origin of his voice.

"Yeah, Prankstah.  It's me.  I'se down heah, undah da magic garbage wit' Davey."

"Davey's with you, Itey?" Squibble questioned.  "I want to see my Davey."

"No, Itey.  That girl scares me." Davey whimpered, deep beneath the garbage.

"Davey, grow up an' be a real man, like me." called Jack as he winked at the three girls.

Stress rolled her eyes at Jack's newfound self-image of a ladies' man.  "Itey, how do we get down there?  It's getting too crowded up here with Jack's inflated ego."

Jack blew her a kiss.  "Y'know ya want me, babe."

"I do, that's the bad thing." Stress answered before looking downwards.  "Itey??"

"Lissen up goils--"

"An' Jack." Jack interrupted as shot the girls a winning grin.

"Like I said, goils, in ordah fer you'se ta get outta da magic garbage ya gotta roll around in it for a few minutes wit' out stoppin'." Itey continued.

"No way, Jose.  There is no way that I'm going to roll around in no "magic" garbage." Prankster announced, ignoring the fact that she had already been under a large pile of the same garbage.

"Foist o' awl, Prankstah, da name ain't Jose, it's Itey.  Second o' awl, if you'se goils don't get ta rollin' an' quick, dat magic garbage may toin yer skin polka-dotted.  Orange an' brown colahed polka-dots, no less."

"What?!" shrieked Prankster, Squibble and Stress in one voice as they quickly began to toss and turn in the smelly "magic" garbage.  Jack, not one to be left out, soon joined in and, in no time, the four of them had rolled right through the garbage and landed on a nice patch of dirt.

"That was creepy." Stress acknowledge as she looked around.  They were no longer in a pile of garbage; now they were in the sewers! 

"Did 1899 New York have sewers?" Prankster wondered out loud as she joined Stress in looking around.

Squibble ignored the two other girls and jumped on top of David.  "I got my Davey again." she shouted gleefully.

Meanwhile David cringed and Jack watched the two of them jealously before strutting over to Stress' side.  "I guess it's jist me an' you'se 'gain."

Stress stopped looking at the underground sewers and ran to Prankster and Itey for help.  "Hey Prankster, want to switch?"

Prankster winked at Stress.  "No, I think I'm going to stick with Itey.  Besides, I know how much you like your Cowboy."  Prankster laughed when she saw Jack grab Stress and walk away with her, before turning to face Itey.  "You seem to know so much about what's going on, Itey.  What do we do now?"

"Well, if ya look closely at da walls o' dis sewah, ya kin see arrows.  I suggest dat we follow dem an' see wheah dey lead."

"Sounds like a plan." Prankster said as she leaned over and pulled Squibble off of Davey.  "Later, Squibble."

Squibble pouted but followed Prankster, Itey, Jack, Stress and the now relieved Davey, out of the sewer.

The six of them walked on for a bit, making small chit-chat as they went along.  But all conservations ceased when Prankster pointed to a door at the end of the tunnel.  "Look, it's a door at the end of the tunnel!" she yelled as she rushed forward and opened the door.

"What is it, Prankstah?" Itey questioned as he followed her inside.  His question was answered at once -- It was a giant checkerboard!

"Let me guess, T.A.R.K., you must have read the first Harry Potter book!" Stress yelled to the ceiling once she laid eyes on the checkerboard.

Jack and Itey looked at her with scared expressions on their faces.  "Is she O.K.?" Jack asked, a little worried since he wasn't used to strange girls screaming at the ceiling.  "Who is dis Harry Pottah, anyway?"

Squibble and Prankster laughed to each other.  "Don't worry, she's fine.  What she means is that we have to play checkers across this giant checkerboard to continue on our way.  Look," Squibble said as she pointed at the other end of the board, "there's a door at the other end of the checkerboard.  I think our way out of the sewer is through that door over there."

Prankster shrugged and turned to Itey.  "Sounds good to me.  What do you say, Itey?"

Itey walked over to where there were six spots open on the red side.  "I say dat we play."


And play they did.  Prankster seemed to be the checker expert among them, capturing more black pieces than any other player.  Due to her great skill at the game, she was able to make sure that no others were jumped and taken by the other team.

That is, until there was only one black piece left.  It was the red side's turn.  Prankster looked at the positioning of her fellow players and solemnly nodded.  "If I move this way, and allow that checker to jump me, then it leaves Squibble free to jump him and end the game."

"But, Prankster, what will happen when you're jumped?" Stress asked, alarmed.  Whenever the black pieces had jumped any of their pieces before, a large hand had appeared out of nowhere and picked the piece up, tossing it aimlessly to the side.  She didn't want her friend being picked up and tossed to the side.

"I don't know, Stress.  But it's the only way to win.  And we have to win.  I don't know why we have to, but I know we have to.  Then, maybe, we can stop all the havoc that T.A.R.K. is wreaking."  For, throughout their walk before and throughout the checkers game, the six of them had realized that this was all part of T.A.R.K.'s sick idea of fun.

Then, before any of them could stop her, Prankster stepped forward and made her move.  Like they knew, the black piece jumped her and the large hand lifted her into the air and tossed her onto the pile of already jumped pieces.  Her body landed on the pile with a sickening thump.

"Prankster!" Stress and Squibble shouted, though somehow managing to stay on their squares.  Once Squibble was able to make her final move, winning the game for them, the two of them ran to her side.  Stress listened for a moment before addressing Jack, Itey and David.  "She's still breathing, but she's knocked out cold."

Itey walked over and placed his hand on Squibble's shoulder.  "She'll be fine if we leave her heah, fer now.  We'll come back fer her aftah we find a way outta dis place."

As Squibble nodded, David rushed forward and pushed Itey out of the way.  "Just because your girl ain't awake anymore doesn't mean you have to go for mine."

Stress and Itey started to laugh as Jack shouted, "Go, Dave!"  Squibble's face broke into a wide grin, "I knew you loved me, Davey!"

David blushed furiously as Squibble began to plaster kisses all over his face.  "Alright, alright.  I think we should go through that door."

"Whatever you say, my stud muffin." Squibble giggled as she looped her arm through his.  Jack sidled next to Stress and mimicked the gesture, chuckling when she turned bright red.  "I love da effect I got on ya, Stress."

Itey rolled his eyes at them all, upset that his "friend" was gone.  "Come on, come on.  Let's go awlready."  Once he had seen that the two couples had followed him to the door, Itey opened it up and walked through.  "What the--"

"Atlantic City!" shouted Stress as she ran from Jack and entered into the casino-like environment.  "I wanna play the slots."

"Da sluts?" Jack asked.  "Why, I'se heah."

"Not the sluts, the slots.  You know, those machines that you put a quarter in and then you pull the handle."

"What?  You'd pay dat much money jist ta pull a handle?  Two bits fer dat?  What a rip-off."

"No, no-- y'know what, never mind.  Ooh, a blackjack dealer."  Stress rushed forward, with the four others following them.

"Howdy there, parder.  You wanna play some blackjack?" asked the dealer.

"Sure, I would lov-- Aahhh!!" Stress yelled as she ran behind Jack.

"Stress, what's wron-- Oh my God, it's Woody!" Squibble cried as she ran and hid behind David.

"Goils, what's goin' on?"  Itey asked.

Stress pointed at the cowboy standing in the dealer's spot behind the table.  "It's T.A.R.K.'s evil accomplice, Woody from Toy Story."

Jack walked over to Woody.  "I like yer hat, deah, Woody."

"Jack!" Stress cried as she reached out and pulled Jack away from Woody.  "Didn't you hear me?  He's evil!"

Woody smiled and shuffled his deck of cards.  "There's only one way out of this casino, pardners.  You must play me one hand of blackjack -- and win.  Otherwise you must turn back and live in the sewers."

Itey, David, Jack, Stress and Squibble all entered into a football huddle and debated for a moment.  "Break!"

Itey, who by now was voted leader of the group since he was so knowledgeable in such affairs, walked up to Woody.  "We'll play."

Woody grinned again and dealt the cards: His card was a queen, while Itey had a four.  Itey slowly lifted his second card and showed it to the others: a jack.  There total was a fourteen so Itey had nothing to do but ask for another card.  "Hit me."  It was a nine.  "Damn, we'se ovah.  How 'bout you'se, dealah."

Woody flipped his second card over.  Another queen.  "Ooh, tough luck.  Dealer wins."

David, who was beginning to grow some balls and stand up for himself instead of hiding behind Jack, rushed over to Itey's side.  "Wait, can't we have one more try.  I'm sure that we have something that you'll take for another hand."

Woody stroked his chin as he thought it over.  "You know, you do have something that T.A.R.K. would like."

"Really, what?" David asked, perplexed.

"Her." Woody answered as he pointed to Squibble.  "I think T.A.R.K. would be mighty happy if I brought her to him."

"O.K., one second.  We need to talk this over."  David motioned for Squibble, Stress, Jack and Itey to reform their huddle formation.  "Listen, I think we should do it.  That way we can have an informant on T.A.R.K.'s side."

"Wait, I think we should ask Squibble what she wants to do." suggested Stress.

"I don't know..." Squibble began but stopped when David put his hand on her shoulder.

"Squibble, you would make me really happy if you would go with Woody to T.A.R.K..  Really, really happy."

"O.K." she agreed.

"Good."  They broke the huddle again and David walked over to Woody this time.  "It's a deal."

"Good.  Here are the cards."  Woody shuffled the cards and dealt them.  This time he got a two, David an ace.  David slowly lifted the other card and whooped when he saw the face.  "I got blackjack!"

Woody frowned.  "So you do.  You may pass, you lucky varmints.  But you, my dear, will stay." Woody added when he noticed that Squibble was trying to sneak out with the others.

"I'll see you guys later." Squibble pouted as she went and joined Woody on the other side of the table.

"Bye Squibble!" they called, sad at leaving another of their number behind.  They exited the flashy casino through a back entrance and found themself, upon leaving the door, on the top of a rickety bridge, forty stories high.  At the end of the bridge was a door with a brightly lit "exit" sign.

"It's da back door ta Irvin' Hall.  I t'ink we're almost deah!" Jack yelled as he started to make his way across the bridge, Itey and David following close behind.  It wasn't until they were halfway across the bridge that they noticed that Stress was still at the end of the bridge, clinging to the door for dear life.

"Go ahead, fellas.  I'll git me goil." Jack said as he started to head back to get Stress.  "What's a mattah, Stress?"

"I...don't...like...bridges." she whispered, trying not to move.

"Are ya afraid o' heights?"

"No...I'm...afraid...of...falling."

"Well, we can't wait fer ya awl day.  Let's go."

"NO!"

"We already had ta leave two goils behind.  If I leave ya behind, too, I won't have any fun tanight at da lodgin' house.  You'se comin' wit' me."  And, before she could stop him, Jack flung her over his shoulder and proceeded to carry her that way over the entire bridge.

When they got to the end and he placed her on her feet, Stress reached out and slapped Jack.

"What was dat fer?"

"What if you would have dropped me?  I can't believe you just did that!"

"Oh, don't tell me ya didn't like me carryin' ya ovah me shouldah like dat."

"I did, that's the bad thing." Stress pouted and turned her back to Jack.

Itey and David both just rolled their eyes at the antics of the two.  "If ya don't mind, you'se two, I'm a li'l anxious ta entah dis door an' go back home." Itey announces, gesturing towards the door.

"Good idea, Itey.  Let's go." Jack agreed and opened the door.

The four of them all gasped as they found themselves face to face with a person.  It wasn't Woody, it wasn't Squibble, it wasn't Prankster, and it wasn't the one who they were expecting, T.A.R.K.

It was Quipster. 

At seeing the three newsies in front of her, Quipster shut the door behind them looked them all up and down.  "Now, my plan was to kiss all of the newsies.  But this is too weird.  I can't kiss Itey, he's my sidekick.  I can't kiss Davey because Squibble would kill me and besides, it's Davey.  But I can kiss Jack.  Pucker up, Cowboy!"

"Nooo!!" Stress screamed as she pushed Jack to the ground, out of the way of Quipster's lips, and fell on top of him.  "This is my newsie."

Quipster pouted as she looked at the stubborn look on Stress' face and the amused expression on Jack's.  "You're no fun, Stress.  All I want is one little kiss.  You can have the rest of him."

Stress was about to retort when all of a sudden their favorite red tornado appeared.  "Havin' fun me pals?"

Stress, Itey, David, Jack and Quipster all looked up at him and groaned.  "Hey Froggy, quick question.  Was dis awl yer doin?  Da garbage, da checkerboard an' da garbage?" Itey asked.

"Mwahahahaha." was the only answer they received as T.A.R.K. spun around 45 times, making them all incredibly dizzy.  After the last of them, I think it was Quipster, looked away from the spinning blur, lightning clapped all around them and they disappeared.


Luckily, though, a moment later they reappeared in the Manhattan Newsboys' Lodging House.  Yup, all six of them-- Stress, Jack, Quipster, Itey, Prankster and David.  Wait, Prankster?

"Wait, Prankstah?  What are you'se doin' back heah?" Itey asked as David began looking around the lodging house.

"I don't know.  The last thing I remember was making my last move and now, poof, I'm back in the lodging house." Prankster said before noticing David's search.  "What are you doing, Dave?"

"I'm looking for Squibble.  I kind of figured that since Prankster came back, maybe Squibble did to."

"Ooh, Davey likes Squibble!" Quipster laughed as David turned bright red.

"Don't worry, Dave.  We'll get yer Squibble back.  As soon as I uh, spend a li'l quality time in me favorite cornah ovah deah." Jack announced, dragging Stress along with him.  Now that they were back in the lodging house, the handcuffs were back in place.

"Hey Quip, ya wanna trade now?" Stress called before Jack led her back to the corner to resume their activities before their underground, sewer adventure.

Later Stress, Quipster thought with a smile as she went off to torment Davey some more, later.

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Author's End Note:  So, what did you think?  Long enough for ya?  I hope so!  Why don't you leave me a review and tell me what you thought?  Thanks!