Madam Bourget sat on the hospital bed; her eye was heavily scarred after the battle. She sat tired and panting as she held her heart heavily. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and sat there, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She looked at the virtual monitor next to her, examining her heart rate, and her blood, and detailing her injuries.
Reading the text, she felt her eye, or whatever was remaining of it; now it was just skin crawling over it as it bubbled across her face. Her hands smoothly graced it, but she didn't cry. Darkness filled the outside world, and inside her room, only a few LED-colored lights glowed—virtual screens that held all her medical information.
She twisted her body, and for a second she thought she had lost her legs as well, and an emotion of bliss ran through her body as she let her legs outside the bed.
Flashing in her memories was the fire, the burning men, women, and children, all screaming for somebody to save them. A fire hit her legs and arms, and her eye was hit right by the blast. She could only remember Lieutenant C protecting her with his body. What happened to him she did not know, like she cared, or maybe she did.
She nodded her head left and right as she pushed her palm into her head. A sudden migraine invaded her head, and dizziness infected her as she stood up and fell immediately. Her vision had become wiggly and blurry, and her legs failed her. Crashing into a chair, it flew across the room, striking the wall.
In a chain of events, a group of doctors rushed into the room. Madam Bourget had no energy to fight them back, no matter how much she struggled, and they grabbed her, forcing her back on the hospital bed.
"Madam Bourget, I deeply apologize, but you can." She was suddenly cut off.
"SHUT UP. I DON'T CARE IF THERE ARE RISK'S. I NEED TO HELP.” She shrieked.
The doctors took a few steps back as they were cautious of her next move. She snarled her teeth like a wild beast, and her eyes burned and bubbled even longer. Her hands reached out to grab one of them, but they were too far, and she surrendered, smashing her fists into the bed. She fell into a hissy fit and raged hard until hard stomps entered the room.
"I dismiss you all,” Pohl ordered.
The doctors did not hesitate to skip or speed-walk out of the door. Pohl’s frame shadowed over Madam Bourget; his murderous eyes held the dictator's intentions, staring down at Madam Bourget, but she stared right back.
"Do not worry, you will start working again in a few moons; until then, rest; you are one of Caldera’s finest soldiers, and you’re dead." He paused, looking at her up and down, “would put us in a very strange predicament.”
Madam Bourget did not even crack a single emotion—not a smile nor a tear. Her eyes filled with hate looked right back at him, wondering why he did it all.
"Why, I mean, why have you become Pohl?” Madam Bourget was questioned.
Pohl did not find the words for a moment, but as his brain triggered different words, he told her, “This was who I always was; this was my mission, and I apologize for treating you this way, but you are a pawn.” Pohl answered.
She did not feel any sense of sadness or need for revenge. She could only accept that this was what her life had now become—a slave to the person she had once looked up to the most.
"You will still lead me after my death.” Pohl said, walking to the glass window, pulling the curtains away from each other as he stared at the sky outside, “But that won't happen for many years. I know you probably hate me, but I had to. For our people, Bourget, I hope you can understand.”
Madam Bourget scoffed at him and laughed. “You’re a psycho; weren't we supposed to change things here? Lieutenant C almost died; in fact, right now he's in a critical state.”
"So this is what it is all about, you and that stupid reptile, so listen to me!" The bugs outside flickered their lights as the moon and planet shone in their glory. ”I realized a while ago that there was a danger of me doing it, gathering everyone, even if I must slay my comrades or kill my friends, but we must accept those sacrifices; we will create an empire of peace, and I will be written in the books as a revolutionary.”
"So this was what everything was about—all this for power. You never cared about Dad’s dream, did you?" Madam Bourget said angrily.
Pohl stayed silent and turned around, his beard still gray and his hair still on. His appearance had not even changed a bit, but his mannerisms drastically changed.
"Yes, you are correct.” Pohl
Bourget pointed her finger to the open door, and Pohl did not dare to plead as she screamed.
"GET OUT! RIGHT NOW!"
Pohl stomped away as his boots echoed across the room, and before closing the door, he turned around, sadly watching Madam Bourget push her face to her knees. His lips quivered, and he closed the door behind her as the lights left Madam Bourget in the darkness.
For the first time in a while, Madam Bourget let out tears, dropping to the bed as she cried heavily. Her eye, even though it was burned, also somehow gained tears, and Madam Bourget was left all alone once again.
—
Lieutenant C exasperated heavily, and Madam Bourget looked over him somberly. It had been a few days since her conversation with Pohl. In a little while, she was going to announce her leadership over maybe a billion people—the face of an entire part of the world. Right now in front of her lay somebody she was close to—someone she could not protect.
"His condition is worsening; I'm afraid every day he spends on that bed is a day closer to death. He suffered burns across his body, which are usually curable, but his reptilian physiology rejects most medical work." The doctor explained, her voice slightly muffled by the mask.
"So will he die?" Madam Bourget calmly said.
The doctor did not respond, and Madam Bourget made sure she didn't. She knew the answer already, but even if there was a sliver of chance he could live, she would take it, even if it meant sacrificing what she could. For once in her pathetic life, she had made somebody close to her not leave, not escape, and become her friend. Her mechanical fingers closed into a fist as a single tear left her eye. Putting her palm on the window, the doctor walked quietly away as she cried tears of sadness as she missed her friend.
Rushing into her room was Prime, tapping her on the shoulder. She turned around and let out a half-assed smile. Prime could see she was hurting, but he still had to tell her.
"The people are waiting for you; let’s send you to the holographic dispenser.”
Madam Bourget nodded as she walked to the machine. She entered her feet inside as it scanned her from the outside. A percentage popped up as she started to fix her suit up, waiting for the mission to finish loading and send her to the people.
"You are doing alright," Prime asked sincerely.
"Yeah, I guess so.” The buttons beeped as she pushed her buttons into the sockets, “just a little tired.”
Madame Bourget put her eyes on her eye patch, feeling the rough bumps on her skin.
"Prime, how was your recovery?" Madam Bourget asked.
"Good, I wasn't in a blast zone like you were." Prime looked over at her and said, “Lieutenant C, I didn't sustain many injuries; it was still depressing seeing the bodies everywhere.” Prime said.
Madam Bourget could see through his body though; he was remorseful, but there was something odd going on with him. He knew he wasn't meant for something; whatever it was, it had to have been related to the bombing, but she could not put her finger on it.
"Prime, how are you feeling about getting a promotion and finally grasping what it means to be on the winning side?" Madam Burget said, eying him down from the corner of her eye.
Prime sweated slightly and turned to her, well, a half-assed one.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Well, it is all good, just more responsibilities, which is what I tried to avoid the entire time, you know," he laughed.
Madam Bourget did not want to interrogate him any longer as the percentages slowly rose for her to appear before the people. She fixed up her suit one more time and glanced at Prime. As he touched her arm to adjust the final things, a cold shiver ran through her body, and she smiled.
"It's weird, Prime. I know the reptiles caused the explosion and the death of Commander Zi, yet as I look at Lieutenant C, I wonder, Are they like us, you think?" Madam Bourget is related.
Prime had thought this was a trick to reveal himself, but it seemed she was genuine, her eyes did not lie, and he knew when somebody was in an act because he was always in one. He nodded his head and just let out a light smile in a manner to just say, "It's ok.”
Madam Bourget looked at him before a zapping sound blew right around her. Looking at him, she also smiled at him back before putting on her eyepatch and continuing to talk to the people.
She spawned in front of around millions of people, watching gleefully as she stood and appeared, and the cheers erupted loudly. Screaming seemed to have defined any words that could have been uttered. Some enchanted her name, some enchanted Pohl’s name, and most chanted Caldera.
"Huh,"Bourget spoke to herself; she couldn't help but feel a multitude of emotions. What she could feel, whatever it was, was not processing in her head.
Then a horn blew, and the people fell quiet after a few minutes; some screamed but were quickly shut down by their peers as they anticipated what she had to say. Ever since the tragedy, every commander was required to go virtually, so while it didn't feel real for her, she knew for the masses that whatever she had to say was important enough for them to go crazy.
"Dear Caldera.” Bourget started, stuttered, and closed her eyes, remembering Lieutenant C’s face as it was almost turned into ash. “We have faced a new tragedy, one that will be remembered for a millennium to come as Caldera becomes Caldera’s new independent state."
Madam Bourget was unable to finish her question as more cheers erupted from the crowd before dying down after another minute. The city squares' tension was palpable, the marble walls shining and reflecting over their faces. Madam Bourget is on the aisle of a skyscraper, her close-up projected to the ground below.
"And so, while we may have gone through these rough times together, we must never forget why we were strong to begin with. We have been considered weak by other nations, but that will no longer happen. Under the new rule, Caldera will prosper forever."
Madam Bourget looked around, anticipating cheers, but the tense atmosphere had made everyone too shy to speak. Madam Bouret painted; she did not want to scream any longer, yet screaming was all she wanted to do. She wanted to be brave, but she did not have the heart to expose the original plans. She did not have the heart to expose Prime; she was no longer becoming a machine in her eyes.
"So from now on.” She tried to hold back her words, but she could not deny her masters. Images of Pohl flashed in her head: “We will conquer the people who dare try to be our oppressors.” Her anger popped, and a vein was revealed on her forehead. Her eyepatch stuck to her eye, and she did not dare take it off.
Everybody felt the need to erupt in a form of happiness, but Madam Bourget was not finished; she had to complete her mission as a pawn. All she had realized this entire time was that she was a piece of a plan, and that was all.
She thought she was brave; she thought she was strong, yet she was too weak to even open her mouth to say the correct words.
"I call you all to announce that war is here, and we will make sure those who have tried to oppress us will fail.” She fell short of what she wanted to do, and finally, she understood she had lost, and instead of stopping, she continued to run.
"I declare Executive Order 3000.” She screamed at herself to stop; she truly did not want this.
"The total extermination of all reptiles on this planet," she said, letting out a single tear and her lip quivering. Everybody else cheered and remained happy, and Prime was left in awe as he could only laugh at the words she had just said.
Madam Bourget could only think that, right now, she had become the villain, and there was no denying it.
Pohl watched from his screen, his hand grasping at the armrest aggressively as it broke, his palms smacking onto his face, but he knew his plan was finally in motion; he had made that sacrifice to let her announce it, all for what? Away from all of them, in his marble mansion, sat Cold, who smiled, sipping his glass of champagne, and his waiters stood by his side as they tidied up his bathrobe.
—
Joshua and Hailey started a spar on the mat. She had gotten considerably better at fighting, and she was at the point where she could have been the best hand-to-hand combatant out of everyone Joshua was teaching. Quickly, her hand struck at Joshua’s face. He made sure to swat them away, but with a few friends, he was caught off guard.
In a sudden calculated move, a feint to the right made Joshua block too hard, and a left hook came and struck him in the face. Hailey smiled in success before her arm was grabbed and she was flipped to the ground. Removing her smug smile from her face. She scuffled and twisted like a wild animal before a foot landed on her ear. She groaned in pain and tapped his leg in surrender.
Joshua offered her his hand, and she accepted, jumping up and cracking her neck as she stood to the side.
"Well, everybody, I see nobody has beaten me in a spar just yet." Joshua laughed, and everybody else groaned in pain as they grasped their arms and necks.
Over time, Joshua had made good progress with these students. Man & Mal started to stop hesitating on their attack, Boo & Bam started thinking more logically, CC started to use her physical attributes to her advantage, and Hailey had now become so technically smart she was on par with the rest of them even though she never had a significant boost of power from her abilities.
Joshua was going to continue her talk when Grand Commander Croc entered the room, his silky robe swaying past the floor. Immediately, all the students bowed to him. Bam took a second to process before Boo forced his body dead and made sure his head was prostrating low enough.
Croc made a humming noise and slightly growled at them all, but his attention focused mostly on CC. She shook in his presence, and he looked down at her disgracefully. He walked to Hailey and grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Um, if I must say.” Joshua quickly read the room at the moment, but Croc’s finger rose, and Joshua stayed silent.
"Good job, Hailey. You have broken through many barriers coming through here, and I applaud you for it. You truly are one of the futures of our kingdom." He said this, letting his finger go from her neck and passing by all of them. He looked in dismay and flashed his hand out from his very baggy robe.
"I dismissed you all early; you too, Joshua, except CC; I need to have a more serious conversation with her.” He said it dismissively.
CC looked in fear, and Joshua wished he could have stayed, but he knew lately they were going to try and get rid of him. While they offered him so much stuff, both sides, Joshua and The Reptiles, knew this was only temporary, and one and another just used each other for their gain.
Joshua pushed the rest of the children slowly out of the room. It seemed most did not care about CC and were just happy class had ended early; they talked amongst each other happily, explaining their fights, the shows they watched, and more. Joshua walked through the sliding door and looked at the children.
"Hey you guys, make sure to go to your dorm rooms before curfew,” Joshua told them.
"Why are you not coming with us?” Bam asked curiously.
"I'm just going to stay here for a moment; you guys better not dare use my kindness to my advantage. You all have 20 minutes, so go now!" He ordered.
Hailey chuckled. “Eavesdropping.” and Joshua smiled and nodded. They all quickly ran up the stairs as they rushed to their dorm rooms. Only Joshua stayed, leaning his head against the wall, trying to listen to their conversation.
His ear glowed with energy, and it tingled as it started listening through the walls. After a few indiscernible noises over rusty pipes and water flowing through the walls, spiders sprawled around, and he powered his ear just enough to hear the conversation.
First, he heard a crash, and Croc seemed to have been enraged towards CC as he growled the loudest he had ever heard him growl.
"You are being one-upped by some idiots, some weaklings, and a girl who does not even have a reptilian ability worthy of being in this class. You are the perfect combination of strength, technique, and smarts, but somehow you are being outdone in every class I watch.” Croc hissed.
CC only stayed silent, but Joshua could hear her whimpering and tears falling down her cheek as she tried to hold back her emotions.
"You disappoint me one more time, CC, and I promise you, I will stop being so polite, but before I go, I want you to explain to me: What do you want?" He screamed.
CC could no longer hold back her tears. Her empty nostrils started sneezing hard, and her yellow-eyed tears puddled onto the floor. This had made Croc more enraged, as he kept screaming at her.
"STOP SLOBBERING OVER THIS MAT; I CURRENTLY HAVE A DAUGHTER WHO IS DIMINISHING MY LEGACY AND MAKING A WHOLE MESS OVER SOMETHING SHE DOESN'T EVEN OWN, SO EXPLAIN TO ME, IF YOU ARE DOING ALL THIS, WHAT DO YOU TRULY WANT?" He screamed even louder.
"I WANT TO BE A PRETTY HUMAN.” She screeched at him.
Joshua paused before entering the room to break up this argument. Croc had fallen silent and had just started to laugh. CC did not dare to say another word as Croc kept on laughing.
"Oh my god.” He laughed, grabbing at his stomach, “I didn't know my offspring would be a retard."
His footsteps did not rush away, and he made sure to leave her by herself quickly.
"Tomorrow we will talk, but I cannot stand to see you as my daughter right now.” Croc walked, and the sliding door opened. Joshua was on the other side at that moment, and Croc did not see him as he walked straight to leave the building.
Joshua checked to see if it was safe and peeked into the room. He saw CC bowed down to the floor. Crying miserable. Joshua walked into the room, and CC looked at him coming inside.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!” CC ordered, but Joshua did not, he instead pulled her into a hug as she cried into his shoulder and butted her head into him. Joshua could only feel sadness as she kept crying into his shoulder.