The Game Called Revolution by - (room on the broom read aloud .txt) đ
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âMust be,â Jeanne said. âCome onâsee those doors at the far end of the room? Those lead directly to the central tower.â They began walking towards the doors. With all the chairs stacked up along the walls, they had a clear path.
Clear, but not quiet. A familiar voice unexpectedly called out to them. âThat they do. But you wonât be walking through them.â Up ahead on the right, from behind one of the ball roomâs two dozen marble columns emerged the man they had come here to stop.
However, it was the two women who stopped. âRobespierre!â Jeanne yelled. âYou saved us the trouble of finding you.â
Farahilde pointed at the figure in front of them. âThatâs him?â
âYes.â
He held his hands behind his back in a diplomatic stance. âHmph. I never expected you to return here, Jeanne de Fleur. But once your airship went down, I knew you would have to come through this room to get to the central tower.
âAllow me to get to the point: Thereâs no way for you to safely shut down the tower without knowing exactly how it works. If you tried it, the result would likely devastate Paris. So instead, why donât you join me in ushering in a new age for France?â
âPlease,â she said dismissively, âSpare me this speech; Iâve heard it before. Besides, after all youâve done to us, it should come as no surprise to you that we are at this point beyond reason. Our only objective is stopping you, and the most convincing argument in the world isnât going to change our minds.â
He rolled his eyes and sighed. âSo be it, then. Weâll just have to kill you and escort France into the future without you.â
âWhoâsââ
Jeanne was about to say Whoâs âweâ? when Farahilde interrupted her. âArschloch! You murdered meine schwester!â Without any further warning she charged towards Robespierre, her bladed gauntlet pointing right at him.
However, when she reached the column in front of him, there was a silver and black blur almost too fast for Jeanneâs eyes to follow. Farahilde just managed to jump back in time to avoid being cloven by the downward swing of a large scythe.
Jeanne was shocked by how fast it happened. âWhat was that?â
A figure in a black dress stepped forward from behind the column in front of Robespierre. It was a blond woman with symmetrical pigtails who wore a bizarre white mask with a creepy smiley face painted in red.
âYou missed, Marie,â Robespierre said, sounding almost bored.
The strange woman said nothing. She simply grabbed the black handle of her scythe, and with an effort picked it up, removing the curved blade from the jagged hole in the floor it had caused. Once it was free, though, she hefted the six-foot weapon like it was nothing.
âWho are you? Get out of meine way!â
âBe careful, Farahilde. Whoever she is, sheâs no ordinary woman,â Jeanne warned.
âYouâre right about that,â Robespierre said, his face lit up by his smirk. âMy dear Madame Tussaud has much experience ending lives with her scythe. Youâd be surprised at the kind of talent going to waste in prisons everywhere. I dare say Marie is a match for even you, Jeanne de Fleur. However, it looks like she already has a plaything,â he said, indicating Farahilde. âDonât worry, though; I have an opponent for you.â
From behind the column opposite Madame Tussaud on the other side of the room emerged another familiar figure, drawing his saber. However, this one didnât surprise Jeanne. âI remember you. You fought with my brother at the battle of Mt. ErfundenâŠbefore you betrayed himâNapolĂ©on Bonaparte!â
NapolĂ©on stood there with a nonchalant air about him. âYou are correct on both counts, Mademoiselle de Fleur. I fought alongside your brother until it no longer suited me, and then I ended our temporary alliance.â
ââTemporary allianceâ? You scum! Does honor and loyalty mean nothing to you?â
âAnd whom,â he asked condescendingly, âshould I be loyal to? A man I barely knew for a day, or the rightful ruler of France? Should I have fought a losing battle for the sake of your naĂŻve sense of honor?â
Robespierre was clearly getting impatient with this discussion. âEnough talk. Marie, NapolĂ©onâkill them.â
But at that moment something unexpected happened. While Tussaud readied her scythe, Napoléon casually returned his saber to its scabbard and began walking towards the doors at the other end of the room which led to the rest of the palace.
âNapolĂ©on! What are you doing?â Robespierre said, incredulous.
âYou didnât give me a chance to answer Mademoiselle de Fleurâs question.â His eyes met Jeanneâs. âI am loyal to myself.â
She was dumbfounded. âYouâre not going to fight me?â
He walked past her towards the door. âWerenât you listening when I turned against your brother? I see which way the winds blow, and I ride the currents to my ultimate destination.â
âWhich is?â she asked him.
He stopped, turned his head, and gave her an almost imperceptible grin. âEmperor,â he said emphatically. âIf you kill Robespierre, I can step in and become the greatest ruler this country has ever seen.â He continued towards the door.
Jeanne, however, was conflicted. It would be advantageous if she got through this without having to fight him. But⊠âYou betrayed my brother. For all I know, youâre the one who killed him!â
He replied smugly, âYou are, of course, free to come at me. But do you really have the time?â
He was right; Jeanne didnât have the time to waste on him. âGo, then. But youâd better hope we never meet again, Monsieur Bonaparte.â
NapolĂ©on left without another word. As he walked through the doors behind Jeanne, Robespierre cursed him. âBonaparte, you turncoat! When this is all over, youâre going to wish for exile when I have you flayed alive!â
Unwilling to waste any more time listening to Robespierreâs ranting, Jeanne removed her rapier and charged at him. Madame Tussaud tried to intercept her with a swing of her scythe, but Farahilde stepped in to catch its handle between the blades of her gauntlet.
Robespierre chose that moment to run away into the central tower. Struggling to hold back Tussaud, Farahilde yelled to Jeanne, âGo, frĂ€ulein! Youâve got to stop him. Donât let him destroy meine homeland!â
âButââ
âJust go! Iâll deal with this one. Just make sure you leave a few breaths in Robespierre for me to extinguish.â
âAll right. No promises, though.â
10
Jeanne ran through the doors and entered the central tower. The whole thing seemed to be one circular room hundreds of feet in diameter and hundreds of feet high. Varied machinery filled the room haphazardly, and thick cables ran the length of the floor in every direction; clearly aesthetics had not been a priority for this area. There werenât any windows in the tower, either. But like the ballroom, it was lit by glass bulbs along the wall.
In the center of the room, and taking up most of the floor, was some sort of bulky metal cylinder rising up about thirty feet. A set of curving stairs led up to the top of the cylinder.
Robespierre stood on top of the cylinder. âBonaparteâs betrayal wonât save you, de Fleur! Come up here if you dare; this tower will be your mausoleum.â Dozens of metal rods extended from the top of the cylinder to the open roof of the tower, where they supported a massive iron dish which was pointed north. Each rod was frothing with blue energy, and Robespierre gestured to them. âIt wonât be much longer now. I estimate that you only have about ten minutes before this tower reaches the maximum voltage needed to wipe out Vienna.â
Jeanne, however, didnât need any more reason to charge up the stairs after himâshe was already doing it. When she reached the top of the cylinder, she got a clearer view of it. It had a level floor, except for what looked like a small pool in the center which was filled with a red liquid. Robespierre was standing mere feet in front of her. âWhat on earth is that?â
âWhy, itâs the power source for all of this,â Robespierre said.
âPower source?â
He nodded proudly. âYes. Perhaps you remember your encounter with the Count of Saint-Germaine?â
âSo, you admit you were the one who sent him after the royal family.â
âItâs a little late to be debating guilt now. Surely the Count showed you his special âtalent.ââ
âUnfortunately. He used his blood to fuel his alchemy. Waitâyou donât meanâŠ!â
Robespierreâs smile could have powered the tower by itself. âThatâs right: blood! My âReign of Terrorâ wasnât just to get rid of my enemies. It was also used to secure the life essence needed to realize my dreams. Airships, steam carriages, propellant, electrical towers; at our current level of technology, none of these can possibly exist without the alchemic techniques devised by the Count. The blood of my enemies runs underneath our feet, powering this tower.â His smile abruptly twisted sadistically. âEven your brotherâs blood is in here.â
âYou monster!â Jeanne roared. She lunged at him with her rapier. He pulled out his own rapier and parried her attack. They performed a swift exchange of attacks with neither of them getting the immediate upper hand. Jeanne was surprised by his skill.
âYou probably thought that as a politician, Iâd be easy prey for you without anyone to defend me,â he said. âBut I have trained extensively to fight my own battles, should the need arise.
âYou probably still think youâre more than a match for me with your irodium armor. Thatâs where youâre wrong.â He suddenly began grunting, his face turning red; it looked as if he struggling with some invisible foe.
Jeanne watched in horror as his clothing began to ripple, appearing almost liquid. Within moments it turned a dark gray and solidified into a solid once again. However, this time it was not simple fabric, but some sort of metal armor. Furthermore, it covered every inch of his body. She was fairly certain she knew what it meant. âYou learned alchemy from the Count!â
He laughed from beneath the demonic horned mask that now covered his head. Even his voice sounded as if it was being projected by the devil himself. âNot just learnedâimproved! The Count emphasized style over substance. He wanted to terrify his victims, going so far as to use his own blood to turn himself into a monster. But I prefer functionality, which can be achieved without replacing my life essence with a cheap substitute.â
âYou think youâre not a monster?â Jeanne said with absolute contempt. âMonsters are created through actions, and youâve committed the most monstrous acts Iâve ever seen. But no more; Iâm putting an end to you today!â
Robespierre laughed some more. âThen come at me, womanâŠif you think you can!â
***
In the middle of the ball room, Farahilde just barely managed to avoid Tussaudâs scythe swings. The blonde woman was much stronger and faster than she looked, coming at Farahilde with a ferocious barrage of attacks. Furthermore, she seamlessly transitioned from a vertical swing to a horizontal one to a diagonal one, and every combination in between. It was as if her large weapon was as light as a dream feather.
Farahilde might have been able to deal with that if it werenât for the scytheâs tremendous range. Trying to get in close was almost suicide with her small bladed gauntlet. To think that Farahilde had bragged to Jeanne about the advantage its short length back in the dungeon under her fort. It has certainly come back to bite me in meine ass. If FrĂ€ulein could see me now, sheâd probably laugh. I
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