Chapter 11: Monroe's Doctrine

Monroe planted her flag in the snow and raised her rifle, shooting down a squad of Hessian soldiers charging towards her.

“…the kid’s right!” one of the Americans on the sidelines exclaimed as he grabbed his sword, “Let’s show these Hessian’s who’s boss!”

The American troops gave a valiant yell as they stormed full-force into the enemy camp. A Hessian officers growled at their approach, shifting his eyes to the wounded body of Washington lying on the ground besides Monroe’s flag.

“Go for their General!” the officer screamed, “They’ll lose their morale once we cut off his head!”

“Not happening, baby!” Monroe shouted, shooting down another group of soldiers as they ran at her from the side. She gave a smirk, dropping it as she heard groans from Washington.

“Be…” he mumbled. “Behi…”

“Sir?” Monroe asked.

“Behind you!”

Monroe widened her eyes, turning around just as a Hessian soldier fired at her from behind. She tried shifting away, but the bullet rushed through the air, piercing through her chest and shooting up into the middle of her left shoulder before she could move.

Monroe stumbled back, looking out as the Hessian marksman cackled in front of her.

“That’s what you get,” the Hessian spat, “for waving around such a gaudy piece of cloth!”

Monroe clenched her teeth.

“This piece of cloth…” She muttered, grabbing hold of the flagpole, stopping her fall. “…is a symbol of freedom!”

She raised her rifle and fired, striking the Hessian down. Monroe smirked silently to herself as her body slid down the flagpole and collapsed to the ground, the snow around her turning a dark red as blood poured from her.

“Hang in there, kid!” the doctor screamed, rushing to her side. He turned her body over, examining the wound as he took out a handful instruments from his medical bad. “You’re going to be alright…but just barely…”

“…Washington…” Monroe spoke wearily, “…save…Washington…”

“I’m alright, lad,” Washington spoke besides her, “just got the wind knocked out of me, that’s all. You just focus on getting better, alright? Do that, and I promise you…the next time you step onto the battlefield, you’ll be a captain!”

“…a…captain…huh?”

Monroe smiled to herself as she drifted off to sleep, her head brimming with dreams of the day she’d command her own platoon of warriors into battle.

But that day would never come; at least, not in this war. Time after time, Monroe would try getting back onto the battlefield, only to be turned down at each attempt. Monroe did her best to put up a cheerful disposition at each of these setbacks, but on the inside, she raged at the injustice of it all.

“Never again,” Monroe grumbled as she found herself missing out on yet another battle, “never again shall I allow someone take me out of combat without putting up a fight!”

She wrapped her fingers around her rifle.

“This, above all else…will be my sacred doctrine…”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“…that’s what I told myself anyways,” Monroe mumbled as she paced about just before her match. “And I meant it too…but things are different now…” she looked to an electronic display of the tournament bracket before her. “After all, it’s not just my position on the line here…but the entire Democratic Republican Party’s…”

She closed her eyes, bringing her head into her chest.

“In the end,” she muttered, “I’m stuck between choosing to be loyal to my Party…or to be loyal to myself…”

She opened up her eyes, her gaze inadvertently drawn to the American flag mounted on the wall above her. She stared a moment longer, then gave a nod.

“…I suppose there’s only one thing for me to do…”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Back in the present, Taft darted his eyes between Madison and Monroe.

There seems to be a genuine tension between them, Taft thought to himself, far more than I would have expected from two members of the same Party…

Taft studied them a little longer, then shrugged his shoulders as he raised his gavel into the air.

“Let the match…begin!”

The gavel slammed down, but neither fighter moved at its crash. Madison waited for half a minute, then gave a furrow of her brow.

“Well?” she asked with a tap of her fingers across her trident. “Isn’t there something you’d like to say to everyone?”

“Hmmmm?” Monroe replied with a look of feigned confusion. “Oh, yes, I suppose that there is.”

Monroe nonchalantly raised both her arms into the air.

“I, Jeanne Monroe of the Democratic Republicans, have decided that I shall yield this match…”

Monroe lowered her arms, aiming her rifle directly for Madison’s head.

“…to no one!”

Monroe fired her gun, the bullet grazing the side of Madison’s face.

“Holy cow!” Thompson exclaimed, “Monroe has actually launched an attack against fellow Party member Jamie Madison! It looks like we might have a real fight on our hands here, folks!”

Madison rubbed a hand across her cheek, feeling the blood trickle down her face.

“So that’s how it’s going to be, is it?”

Madison shifted her gaze, darting her eyes between Monroe, Jefferson, and Grant. She paused for a moment, nodding her head as she pointed her trident towards Monroe across the arena.

“Executive Power…”

As she spoke, the tips of her tridents started wavering around like leaves rustling in the wind.

“…Ratification; Three Branches!”

The trident’s tips suddenly extended out in length, the elongated prongs shooting straight for Monroe.

“Don’t play with fire, baby!” Monroe shouted, nimbly twisting her body around the incoming prongs. “Else you’re gonna get burned!”

The crowd gasped as blood splattered across the ground.

Madison glanced down, noticing three fresh cuts carved along her arm.

“Whaaa?” Thompson screamed. “It looks like Madison took some serious damage just now despite being the one dishing out the attacks! What in the world is going on here?”

“It’s obviously a result of Monroe’s EP,” Truman mumbled, rubbing at his chin, “but I’ve got no idea how it works.”

Monroe smiled to herself as she shot up a peace sign.

“Executive Power: Monroe Doctrine, baby!”

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Monroe’s Flashback II. Monroe’s interaction with the doctor in the novel is almost entirely true: although he didn’t have a gun pointed at his head, James Monroe was indeed harassed by a passing doctor who mistook him to be a British soldier, after which James Monroe denied his offer to go into his house. The doctor then joined Washington’s march, and during their battle this doctor narrowly saved James Monroe’s life after receiving a near fatal wound.

The incident with Washington going down during the attack is half true: it really is the case that during this battle, James Monroe’s commander took an injury and went down, after which James Monroe heroically stepped in to lead the troops before chaos erupted, only to go down himself afterwards. However, this commander was not George Washington (as depicted in the novel), but rather William Washington (a distant cousin of George).