The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Chapter Seven: The fight for Notre Dame

The next night, Esmeralda was tied to a beam to be burned at the stake in front of Notre Dame. Frollo tried to reason with Esmeralda to save her life. Let Maddie choose him and she would be let go but Maddie would be his, or she would burn. Esmeralda spat at him. While all that was happening, Quasimodo watched from where he was chained. Laverne, Hugo and Victor tried to break him from the chains but Quasimodo had given up. Quasimodo told them to leave him alone so they did.

Quasimodo stepped closer to the edge to see what was happening. Frollo had put a burning torch on the bonfire to get it started. Now finding some strength, Quasimodo pulled and tugged at the chains keeping him where he was. The bells chimed as the Cathedral rumbled at Quasimodo trying to break free until the chains finally snapped, and some of the Cathedrals pillars fell from all the pulling of the chains. He didn't know he could do that. But he wasn't in shock right now. He had to save Esmeralda.

In her room, Maddie ended up freezing the door and breaking it open. Escaping she started singing. "Oh, Frollo... surely you didn't think I bought your whole... act? I should be thanking you, really. You were the last push I needed. Interesting... now where's Esmeralda?" Asked Maddie.

'Won't live in your shadow anymore, forever shut behind these doors. Imprisoned as you bully and you dictate. Pandering to your every call, pointlessly talking to the walls, finally I'm knocking down the doors. This really isn't anything personal, I just can't have you getting in my way. This story's gonna change and go my way! For the first time in forever I'm getting what I really want. For the first time in forever, I'll have my say and you can watch. I'm stronger now than ever and it's time I take my place for the first time in forever. Nothing's in my way, oh, nothing's in my way...did you think I'd just keep taking it? Letting you crush my self-worth bit by bit? Well, now you'll learn just who you're messing with! The Maddie you knew is dead and gone, finally done being your pawn, which begs the question, do I let you live? Oh, don't look so surprised. Surely you can't have seen this going any other way. Get down and bow, it's coronation day! For the first time in forever, I'm not looking for your support. For the first time in forever I am free to rise above! I don't care for your approval, we have nothing more to say for the first time in forever, nothing's in my... None of this had to happen, Frollo. We could have been friends. But I've run out of chances. And you've run out of time. Do you wanna build a snowman? I've lost count of all the times, I tried getting you to stop this madness to open up and see that the gypsies were innocent and that Quasimodo isn't a monster. I reached out when you were hurting me, powerful to the end. You hurt me completely, I just wanted a friend, a friend! For the first time in forever, I can see clearly what to do. There's one thing that always held me back and that one thing was you. Now you've had your last tomorrow cause your time is up today. For the first time in forever. Oh...nothing's in my way. Nothing's in my way' sang Maddie as she makes it to the burning.

Grabbing a rope, he tied it to a gargoyle and swung down to the side. Esmeralda was unconscious. Quasimodo swung down to the platform and untied Esmeralda. Maddie told Quasimodo to leave with Esmeralda while she ran. And that's what he did. He used the rope to go back to the Cathedral. He climbed up with Esmeralda over his shoulder.

Once he got to the highest level in the middle of the Cathedral, he held her up yelling 'sanctuary'. The crowd cheered with him. Quasimodo then put her in a room to rest while Frollo ordered his men to seize the Cathedral.

Quasimodo and his friends then started throwing anything and everything down the Cathedral to stop everyone from coming in. Phoebus had managed to escape the cage he was in thanks to Maddie and helped the rest of the Gypsies out of their cages. Using a beam Quasimodo threw down, the guards tried to pound open the doors of Notre Dame. The Gypsies and the townspeople fought Frollo's army with Quasimodo and his friends defending the Cathedral from inside.

Hugo and Laverne even tried a catapult which they didn't use right but still worked perfectly for Hugo. Victor got the birds that kept following him to help. Then they tried one last thing to keep the guards and Frollo out. They dumped some lava into the drains where water would go and pour out the mouths of the gargoyles. The lava pooled down making the guards run. But Frollo was already getting into the Cathedral. Using the sword he had on him, he broke through the rest of the door and headed up the Cathedral to Quasimodo.

Quasimodo and Maddie burst into the room Esmeralda was in saying they beat them but she didn't respond. Maddie tried to make her drink some water but nothing. She was dead. Frollo killed her. Quasimodo and Maddie burst into tears and cried by her side. They were too late. They didn't save her in time. Frollo walked in and put a hand on Quasimodo's shoulder.

"You killed her," Quasimodo growled.

"It was my duty," Frollo said, "horrible as it was. I hope you can forgive me. There, there, Quasimodo, I know it hurts. But now, the time has come to end your suffering, forever."

Frollo raised a dagger ready to stab him, but Quasimodo sees the shadow. He turns and struggles with Frollo only briefly, before wresting the dagger from his hands and backing him into a corner.

"Now, now, listen to me, Quasimodo," Frollo said cowering.

"No, you listen!" Quasimodo said, "All my life you have told me the world is a dark, cruel place. But now, I see that the only thing dark and cruel about it is people like you!" He threw away the dagger.

Esmeralda weakly called out for Quasimodo. He quickly went to her side, relieved that she was still alive. Frollo took out his sword so Quasimodo ran with Esmeralda and Maddie in his arms. Frollo followed only to see they were both gone. They hadn't run around the corner otherwise Frollo would've seen them. He looked over to see Quasimodo hanging into a gargoyle head with one hand and Esmeralda and Maddie in the other. Frollo swung the sword at them as Quasimodo kept dodging, hitting his side on a ledge at one point. Quasimodo helped Esmeralda and Maddie back onto the Cathedral while he continued to try and escape Frollo.

And that's when he finally revealed to Quasimodo that his mother didn't abandon him, but tried to save him from Frollo just like Quasimodo is trying to save Esmeralda and Maddie. Now it's time for Frollo to kill Quasimodo like he should've done twenty years ago. He knocked Quasimodo off the gargoyle he was standing on but he dragged Frollo with him. Quasimodo hung into Notre Dame as Frollo held onto the cape Quasimodo was wearing. Quasimodo, however, was losing consciousness. Whether it was from the abuse or the smoke, he didn't know.

Frollo managed to swing to a gargoyle head and stand on it, ready to kill Esmeralda and Quasimodo at the same time. Esmeralda was trying to make sure Quasimodo didn't fall into the fire below. But the gargoyle underneath Frollo began to crack and break from under him because Maddie froze it. He stumbled and fell but hung into the gargoyle. It came to life, scaring Frollo before it finally broke off from Notre Dame because Maddie unfroze it causing Thanos to fall into his fiery grave.

Esmeralda's grip on Quasimodo was slipping until he fell too.

But Phoebus caught him and brought him back on the safe grounds of the Cathedral. Seeing Phoebus, Quasimodo hugged him as a Thank you for the save. Esmeralda and Maddie ran down relieved that Quasimodo was Okay. Maddie ran to him and hugged him. Not before she kissed him on the lips. Quasimodo was flustered. This was his first kiss. Maddie led the way before Quasimodo finally kissed her back properly. Esmeralda came over to see the two.

She smiled for her sister before doing the same thing with Phoebus. Quasimodo pulled away and smiled at Maddie. And she even confessed that she loved him. I mean, who wouldn't? He's such a sweet and amazing person. Quasimodo now felt really happy. He finally has someone in his life that loves him.