Newsies One-Shots

A Rip In The Fabric of Space

"It's chilly out today," Davey shivered, "you don't even have a jacket. Here, why don't you borrow mine for a little while?"

Jack rolled his eyes, "I'm fine, I'm used to this,"

"You're going to freeze. Just take my jacket for a little while," Davey tried to insist.

"I don't need your coat, Dave. I'm sick of you treating me like a child," Jack snapped.

"I'm not treating you like a child. I'm treating you like a good friend," Davey raised his voice, "I don't want you to freeze. It's January,"

"I keep telling you I'm fine. Why can't you just leave me be?" Jack scoffed.

"You're not fine. You're shivering," Davey took a step forward.

"See? You're treating me like a child!" Jack turned around and ran as fast as he could, his hat falling off in the process. He figured Davey would just pick it up, and he could get it back when he and Davey reconciled. This was just another in a series of arguments they would have. They always worked it out in the end. 

As Jack was running, he had to hold an arm up and shield his eyes from the cold air. Not able to see where he was going, he tripped and landed hard on his elbows.

He sat up and looked around. Where was he? This place was in absolute peril. The sky was filled with smoke, people were shouting in the distance, and were those gunshots?... But it had to be Manhattan. Jack hadn't run that far. 

"Race, get over here! I think something came through the rip!" Jack heard Crutchie's voice around a corner, then he stepped out, "oh dear,"

"Crutchie, what are you wearing?" Jack had never seen Crutchie wearing what he was wearing; dark grey coveralls and black boots.

"Um, Race, change of plans, go get Jack," Crutchie slowly approached Jack.

"What? I am Jack. What's going on?" Jack squinted.

"Okay, you need to stay calm, because what I'm about to tell you is crazy," Crutchie knelt down in front of Jack, "you just came through a rip that led from your dimension to our dimension,"

"What?" Jack blinked, "Crutchie, this isn't making any sense,"

"Shh," Crutchie covered Jack's mouth, "someone might hear you, kids like us are real vulnerable,"

"What is going on here?" Jack started to think he had hit his head when he fell and knocked himself out, making this a dream.

"We'll have to wait for our Jack. If anyone can explain something to you, it's you," Crutchie stood back up and looked around, "dang it, my frequency tracker is busted, I was too close to the rip when you came through,"

"We're back," Race ran up, he was wearing an outfit similar to Crutchie's, and he was accompanied by someone in armor and a helmet that covered his face.

"Oh my gosh," the person removed their helmet to reveal that they were Jack... another Jack, "you two go back to work, I'll handle this, hi, Jack. I'm Private Kelly,"

"What the heck is going on?" Jack stood up and backed away in fear, "how... How are you... me? But I'm me?!"

"Okay, you need to calm down or at least lower your voice," Private Kelly replied calmly, "Okay, how do I say this so that I would understand? Okay, from the beginning. This is an alternative universe to yours, a parallel universe if you will,"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jack hissed.

"Okay, so, you live in Manhattan, New York, on your Earth," Private Kelly held up his left pointer finger as a visual, "now REALLY REALLY far away from there, there's another Earth with another Manhattan, New York, that is where I live," he put his right pointer finger up, "this universe is parallel to yours, with some... minor changes,"