Chapter 13: Underneath the Surface

“Really now,” Madison grumbled as she tightened her legs around Monroe’s waist, “did you actually think I wouldn’t exploit your EP’s biggest weakness of only activating against attacks aimed directly at you?”

Monroe clenched her teeth in frustration, then gave a soft grin.

“And did you actually think,” Monroe replied in turn, “that you could hold me down with such stubby little legs?”

Monroe twisted her body around and ducked down, slipping out of Madison’s hold. Madison hit the floor and lunged ahead, leaving her trident behind as she flung her arms at Monroe. Monroe stepped back, her long strides easily outpacing Madison’s shorter reach.

Back in the stands, Quincy put his hands over his face.

“Oh, I just can’t bear to watch this! These dazzling moves by Monroe are all but guaranteed to make my own fighting abilities seem lifeless in comparison.”

“It is rather impressive, isn’t it?” Jefferson remarked. “Despite specializing in long-range combat, Monroe is more than capable of handling herself in close-quarter skirmishes. On the other hand,” she glanced to Madison’s abandoned trident left planted in the ground, “Madison has almost no experience fighting without Three Branches in hand.”

“So you believe that Monroe to be the most likely victor of this match, then?”

“Not necessarily…after all,” she looked back to the two fighters “…there’s something more lurking underneath the surface of this match…”

Monroe smirked as she continued dodging another grab from Madison.

“Stay still…” Madison muttered as she lunged at Monroe.

“Sorry, baby! But you’re never going to catch me…”

Monroe suddenly stepped forward, sweeping her leg and knocking Madison’s feet off the floor in a singular, fluid motion.

“…especially not with your face planted straight in the ground!”

The crowd drew a collective gasp as Monroe readied her rifle for a point-blank shot against the defenseless Madison as she continued to fall.

“You’ve slighted me for the last time, baby!” Monroe screeched. “From now it’s goodbye `Jefferson and Madison’…” her fingers pressed against the trigger of her gun, “…and hello `Jefferson and Monroe’!”

Madison closed her eyes, letting out a disinterested sigh as she fell.

“You should stop focusing so much on getting back at me…and start focusing on the fight at hand.”

“What—?”

Monroe stopped talking as three prongs shot out of the ground, tearing across her legs.

“Executive Power,” Madison spoke cooly as she hit the floor, “Ratification: Three Branches!”

“Gahhh!” Monroe screamed, stumbling back, tripping over herself as she dropped her rifle from her hands.

As she fell, Monroe looked to Madison’s trident planted in the ground, her eyes twisting into a vengeful glare.

“You left your weapon behind on purpose…” she hissed, “…all so you could secretly extend its tips beneath my feet!”

Monroe hit the ground with a sharp wince. She started moving towards her rifle, but Madison leapt onto her arm, locking it in place.

“I’ve been waiting to do this,” Madison spoke as she brought back her fist, readying a heavy punch, “for a very…very long time.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Monroe spoke frantically, “I surrender! I surrender! For real this time!”

“Jeanne Monroe has surrendered!” Taft declared with a swift slam of his gavel to the ground. “The match is over. The winner, is [The Sage of Montpelier], Jamie Madison!”

Madison shook her head, dismounting off Monroe without giving her a second glance.

“Y-yeah, you better run!” Monroe quipped as she started to rise. “Why, if I had just five more seconds in the ring, I swear, I’d—"

Monroe winced as she placed down her injured leg, her knees buckling as her body started falling back to the floor.

A hand suddenly reached out for her, grabbing hold of Monroe and keeping her upright just before her body collided with the ground.

“Are you alright?” Madison asked as she lifted Monroe back to her feet.

“…I am,” Monroe mumbled, “…th…thanks…”

Madison gave a silent nod, leaning Monroe against her as the two walked out of the arena side by side to the roar of the crowd around them.