Chapter 7

We see the same room for the seventh, and final, time. And now it contains one woman and three men. One of them men is lying unconscious against the front wall, and the other two men and the woman are lying unconscious against the back wall. All four of them have white skin, although it's hard to tell that about the man in the front because he's covered in dirt. The boy against the front wall looks to be about sixteen, the woman against the back wall looks to be in her thirties, and so does the man on her left, and the man on her right looks to be in his fifties. The man at the front has short, brown hair, and he's wearing a ragged, short-sleeved, gray shirt, a red bandana that's tied around his neck, long, black slacks, and brown, flat-soled shoes. A brown cap is lying on the floor next to him. The woman in the back has short, very curly, dark red hair, and she has on lots of make-up. She's wearing a long-sleeved, pink dress with a full skirt, and with flowers and frills on the hem, dark pink gloves, a huge, furry, pink shawl, and pink high heels. A huge, pink, circular hat with tall, green feathers and white lace on the bottom is lying on the floor next to her. The man on her left has short, black hair, and he has a short beard. He's wearing a long-sleeved, black shirt, long, black slacks, a red stole, and black dress shoes. And the man on the woman's right has short, dirty, blonde hair, and a beard and a mustache. He's wearing a long-sleeved, red shirt with a collar, a sleeve-less, brown vest, long, brown slacks, and black boots. The four slowly start to stir, and then open their eyes… The man against the front wall has brown eyes, and so do the three against the back wall. They stare at each other in horrified silence for several seconds, and then the boy at the front breaks the silence…

"'Oo the 'ell are you three?" he asked, glaring at the three against the back wall. None of them answered, but continued to look at him like he was a clump of mud that was letting off a very disgusting odor. They were silent for several more seconds, and then the boy demanded once more, "'Oo are you three?" Again, no one answered him, but the woman turned to the man on her left and said in a very thick, Spanish accent, "Piangi, where are we?" The man named Piangi looked at her and said, "I have no idea Carlotta." "Well what happened? How did we get from the Opera House to here! And where are we?" "I don't know Carlotta!" the man snapped. Carlotta sniffed distastefully, pulled her shawl tighter around herself, and turned away from Piangi. The man on Carlotta's right was now looking at the boy, and the boy was glaring defiantly back at him. Then, to everyone's surprise, the man stepped forward and extended his right hand to the boy. "I'm Joseph Buquet." The boy glared at Buquet for several more seconds, and then he stepped forward, shook Buquet's hand, and said, "I'm Gavroche Thénardier." He was smirking. "Buquet are you crazy?" Carlotta whispered, her voice full of fear. Piangi was looking at him as though he were mad. "What?" Buquet snarled. "He's only a little boy!" Gavroche laughed coldly. Buquet, Carlotta, and Piangi all turned to look at him. "'Only a little boy'!?" Gavroche repeated. He was sneering. "I'll have you know," he continued, glaring at Buquet. "little people are stronger, faster, and smarter than most people give us credit for! So don't you dare judge me until you've seen what I can do!" "And what exactly can you do?" Carlotta asked coldly. She was sneering now too. Gavroche smirked widely and drew himself up to his full height (which wasn't very tall). "I've lived on the streets my whole life, so I'm very street smart. I'm good at stealing food and money without being caught, and I know my way around even in the dark! And I'm a good fighter!" Carlotta burst out laughing. Gavroche glared at her. "And what can you do?" he snarled. "Me?" Carlotta said. "What can I do? My dear little boy, do you not know who I am!?" "Who are you?" Gavroche snarled. Carlotta stopped laughing. She and Piangi looked at Gavroche in shock. Or rather, Piangi merely looked shocked. Carlotta, however, looked as though Gavroche had slapped her. "Gavroche Thénardier," she said with a sneer. "my name is Carlotta Giudicelli. I'm the most celebrated and popular Soprano at the Opera Populaire in Paris! I assume you know what that is? But, then again, maybe not…" Gavroche's eyes narrowed angrily, and he glared at Carlotta. "I do know what the Opera Populaire is, thank you very much!" he snarled. I've just never heard of you! However, I have heard of the young, beautiful Christine Daae!" Gavroche grinned. Carlotta exploded. "Of course!" she snapped. "Of course you've heard of Christine and not me! Of course you've heard of Christine! Everyone in Paris has now! She and her lover are plotting against me! Aren't they Piangi?" She turned to her companion, who nodded. Carlotta turned back to Gavroche and continued her rant. "I'm by far the best! The only reason everyone loves her is because she's young and beautiful! And she's sleeping with our patron, the young, handsome, and charming Vicomte, Raoul de Chagny!" Gavroche smirked. "I agree with you on one thing: Christine is beautiful! She's very beautiful! Much more beautiful than you!" Carlotta snarled. But it was Piangi who spoke. He stepped forward, glaring at Gavroche with all the loathing in the world in his eyes, and said, "Now see here, Gavroche Thénardier! I won't have you insulting my lady like this!" "Your lady!?" Gavroche said, his smirk widening. "You mean, you two are lovers!?" "Yes!" Carlotta snapped, taking Piangi's hand. "Ubaldo and I are lovers in every sense of the word!" Gavroche snorted with laughter. "What?" Piangi snarled, glaring at Gavroche. "Ubaldo!?" Gavroche repeated, almost choking with laughter. "That's your name!?" Piangi and Carlotta both snarled. "Yes it is!" Piangi snapped. "And I would thank you not to make fun of it! And, besides, what about your name? 'Gavroche'. What kind of a name is that?" The laughter died on Gavroche's face, and he scowled. Buquet, Carlotta, and Piangi all smirked at him. However, Piangi's smirk seemed more triumphant than Carlotta's or Buquet's. "At least my name's more pleasant-sounding than yours!" Gavroche said coldly. "People who know me say my name with the utmost respect! And people definitely respect me now because I've been helping my friends fight a revolution!" Carlotta laughed coldly. "And you think that helping with a revolution makes up for having a weird name?" Gavroche nodded vigorously. "I know it can!" he replied in that same cold voice. "I'm small enough that I can sneak behind enemy lines without being caught, and I can bring back my friends news of our enemy's plans. And I'm fast enough that I can leave the barricade and dodge any bullets that the enemy fires at me or my friends, and I can get us more ammunition. And besides," he threw at Carlotta, who was still laughing. "I'd like to see how you'd fare in a revolution!" The laughter died on Carlotta's face, and Gavroche smirked, triumphant once more. Not one of the three made a reply to Gavroche's statement for several minutes, but just continued to glare at him with mounting dislike. Finally Buquet said in a cold but calm voice, "And why would Carlotta want to fight a revolution? She's mostly content with her life. And fighting a revolution would be a man's place, not a woman's. And if you're so keen on picking on people, why don't you leave them alone and try me for a change?" Buquet's eyes were cold and narrow, and he was glaring at Gavroche. Gavroche looked Buquet up and down, as thought he was sizing him up. As though he was deciding whether or not he dare take Buquet up on his offer. Finally he smirked and said, "You seem to think that I should be afraid of you, Buquet. But why should I be? You're nothing but a caveman!" Buquet snarled coldly. Gavroche laughed. "A caveman, am I?" Buquet growled, advancing a few steps towards Gavroche, who didn't retreat. "That's what I said!" Gavroche replied with a sneer. Buquet flashed him a nasty grin. "If I'm a caveman, Thénardier, then I'm strong." There was a mad gleam in Buquet's eyes now, and Gavroche was starting to feel slightly nervous. But he refused to show it, and said bravely, "So?" "So that means I'm strong enough to kill you." Gavroche clenched his fists and barred his teeth. "I'd like to see you try and kill me." he growled. Buquet laughed, continuing to advance towards Gavroche, who continued to stay put. It was a cold, merciless laugh. "Oh I could kill you very easily Thénardier." Buquet replied. "Very easily." "Yeah," Gavroche growled. "And you can get that ugly cow to help you!" Carlotta and Piangi snarled. Gavroche lowered himself slightly, ready to jump at Buquet. There was a moment of tense silence, and then Buquet, Carlotta, Piangi, and Gavroche all leapt at each other… But before any of them could reach their prey, everything suddenly went black, and they were all whisked away, back to their own stories…