Chapter 9

This is the very first fight scene that I've ever written, so please go easy on me if it's really lame. Oh yeah, and we probably ought to add a disclaimer here since we haven't had one since awhile ago. Let's see…the guy newsies belong to Disney, and Hercules, Iolaus, and Ares belong to Renaissance Pictures. Don't sue us. That'd just be stupid. What's the point in suing two girls? What possible advantage could you get out of that? Sorry…I was just wondering about that. Ok, so, go read and review!!!

Chapter 9

The brothers of Sophia and their friends had Hercules, Spot, and Iolaus backed up into the alleyway. There was no visible escape. Grimly, Hercules exchanged glances and a nod with Iolaus. As the nearest thug reached for Spot, Iolaus stepped in between the two of them and delivered a roundhouse kick, the blow landing on the guy's upper chest. The kick sent the thug stumbling, and Iolaus took him down with several quick punches and a swift kick to the legs.

Not far away, Hercules was dealing with the other thugs in a similar way. All the while, Spot was standing there stunned. 'Hercules and Iolaus fight bettah than me Brooklyn newsies,' he thought. 'There's somethin' they ain't been tellin' us.' Fighting the way he had been trained and born to, however, caused Hercules to lose control over his strength. Not fully conscious of what he was doing, the demigod bent down as one thug rushed at him, picked the guy up, and threw him as far as he could, right as Scamp with Jack, Ebony, M&M, Blink, Race, Mush, Skitts, Dave, Clover and Becca at her heels skidded into the alleyway. (Ok, so maybe Scamp brought more people than necessary with her, but everyone who was at the Lodging House wanted to see what was going on.) For years, Race would take in bets as to how far the guy flew, some said as far as Jersey, but Long Island was the most popular answer. No one ever found out exactly where he landed, though.

Their jaws now kissing the cobblestone with Spot's, the "rescue team" stood there in awe and astonishment for a long time, as Hercules and Iolaus stood, blushing profusely, trying to figure out what to say. Just as Spot opened his mouth to stammer out something, there was a brilliant flash of blue and white and a figure appeared in the center of the alley.

If the newsies' eyes could have bugged out any more or their jaws drop any further, they did then. For standing in the middle of the alley was a tall, leather-clad figure. Hercules folded his arms over his chest, and he and Iolaus walked over to stand beside the newsies. Before the figure could speak, however, Spot assumed a regal stance and demanded, "Who are ya, and what are ya doin' heah?" The figure took one look at Spot and laughed—a maniacal, amused laugh. Spot face darkened. "Ya don't laugh at the leadah of the Brooklyn newsies." He took out his slingshot and aimed a shooter at the figure. This was one of his most daunting positions, and it never failed to get results. The man's smile faded, replaced with a visage of annoyance, as if Spot were a fly in his soup.

With a flick of his wrist, the figure sent a lightening bolt in Spot's direction that hit and fried his slingshot. Spot swallowed hard and ran to hide behind Hercules and Iolaus. The rest of the newsies followed Brooklyn's action. The figure snickered. "Well, well, well, little brother, what do we have here?" 'Brother?' mouthed Jack as all the other newsies looked at Hercules incredulously. Hercules rolled his eyes,

"What do you want, Ares?"

"Ares?" Mouse whispered, horrified. She glanced over at Becca and Dave, the only other two who knew who Ares was. Judging from the alarmed looks on their three friends' faces, the other newsies knew that this couldn't be good. They squeezed even closer behind Hercules and Iolaus. Ares' face turned exasperated.

"Daddy has me playing Hermes. Seems he found out about the little practical joke that I played..." Hercules stiffened.

"It was you who sent that vision, wasn't it? You sent me here!" Ares had a mock-guilty look on his face.

"Oh, so, you caught me." At that point, Mouse was getting tired of guessing at what was going on.

"Um…excuse me," she piped up. Hercules turned around to gaze at her, his expression considerably softer than it had been with Ares. Though, it would be softer with anyone compared to Ares. Except maybe Hera…but that is a different story. "I was just wondering…what, exactly, is going on here? I'm guessing that you're Ares, Greek god of war," she pointed to Ares. "And that you two," she nodded to Herc and Iolaus, "really are Hercules and Iolaus."

"Very good!" Ares clapped. "Tell the young woman what she's won! A free trip for her and all her friends to…drumroll please…Greece!" Ares snapped his fingers, and disappeared. A second later, so did everyone else.