The Decline and Fall

**The Decline and Fall** was a role-play that took place in March 2018, shortly after the 2017/18 Groupy McGroupface Presidential Elections concluded. It revolved around the death of Alexander Hamilton, showing what led to it and the aftermath. It was the final role-play feature Alexander Hamilton, a character that had had a leading role in both the 2016/17 Groupy McGroupface Presidential Elections and The Senate (RP), as well as a supporting role in the 2017/18 Groupy McGroupface Presidential Elections. Other major characters in The Decline and Fall included Hamilton's nemesis Aaron Burr, defence lawyer Saul Goodman and prosecution lawyer Barok Van Zieks.

## Storyline

**MARCH 2018:** A man begins to count down from ten... Aaron Burr is seen with a gun in his hands and his eyes are filled with fury. The countdown ends and gun shots are heard. The crowd become hysterical. One man from the crowd runs forward and declares "He's bleeding!". Time rewinds...

**NOVEMBER 2017:** Senate Leader Alexander Hamilton and Governor Burr meet in the Hamilton Restaurant (named after Senator Hamilton) in Washington, D.C. to discuss the upcoming Republican Presidential Primaries. For the primaries, Senator McMullin had been the chosen candidate by the leadership for the Presidential Nomination, however Burr had began to deduce that McMullin was soon to withdraw from the race. After Hamilton confirmed this allegation, Burr asked Hamilton as to whether he would be interested in endorsing his own Presidential candidacy. After debating several issues, and discussing the state of the Republican Party, Hamilton still refused to commit to an endorsement, simply saying "I'll think about it" before exiting.

The following day, Alexander Hamilton made the decision not to endorse Burr, but instead to write an open letter condemning Burr's Presidential Campaign. In this open letter, Hamilton claimed that Burr did not have actual beliefs of his own and was simply a 'people pleaser'. At Burr's Campaign Headquarters, Campaign Manager Sean Spicer presented the letter to Burr, to which Burr responded to by threatening to kill Hamilton. Spicer eventually calmed him down, and organised for Burr to hold a rally, therefore allowing him a chance to rebut all the claims. Spicer assured him that Hamilton was a 'nobody', and the campaign could still easily be won.

Several days later after voting had taken place, Governor Burr, Sean Spicer and all of the campaign aides circled around a television together, anxiously awaiting the results. It was announced that Burr had only gained 100 votes, meaning he had 2% of the overall vote. Burr became extremely aggressive towards Spicer, failing to understand how they could have done so badly. Spicer admits that Hamilton's letter destroyed the campaign and there was no coming back from that. Burr then demanded everyone to leave him alone, after which he grabbed a pen and paper and began to write a letter to Alexander Hamilton. He then wrote to Hamilton, demanding that the two of them fight each other in a duel with guns.

**MARCH 2018:** After providing exposition and setting the scene to those watching, Burr began his duel with Alexander Hamilton. Once the countdown ended, Burr immediately fired his gun and time stopped. Alexander Hamilton stood there alone, whilst the bullet launched itself towards him. He then delivered a monologue to all of those watching the role-play unfold:

*"I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory. I see it coming; do I run, or fire my gun, or let it be? There is no beat, no melody... Burr, my first friend, my enemy. Maybe the last face I ever see. If I throw away my shot, is this how you'll remember me? What if this bullet is my legacy?... Legacy... What is a legacy? It's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me; Groupy McGroupface, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me. You let me make a difference. A place where even orphan immigrants can leave their fingerprints and rise up. I'm running out of time, I'm running and my time's up, wise up... eyes up. I catch a glimpse of the other side. My friend John Laurens leads a soldiers' chorus on the other side. My son is on the other side; he's with my Mother on the other side. Major Roadworks is watching from the other side, teach me how to say goodbye. Rise up, rise up, rise up... Eliza... my love, take your time. I'll see you on the other side. Raise a glass to freedom."*

Hamilton then proceeded to aim his pistol at the sky. Burr screamed "WAIT!", but the bullet had already been fired and struck Hamilton. As a reflex action, Hamilton shot into the sky. The scene became chaotic, with everyone rushing to Hamilton. The police quickly enter the scene, arresting Burr on suspicion of murder.

It was soon reported on GCNN that Senate Leader Alexander Hamilton had died after being fatally shot. It was revealed to the pubic that Burr had been arrested and was awaiting trial. As a result, Lieutenant Governor of Legoland Thomas Jefferson assumed the office of Governor. Newsreader Stohk Ihmage spoke of all of Hamilton's great achievements, including fighting for the independence of Groupy McGroupface, helping the Founding Fathers to create the Treasury Department, running for President in 2017 and later being elected to serve in the Senate, soon becoming Republican Senate Leader. Stohk ended this speech by declaring that Hamilton "does not get enough credit for all of the credit he gave us". Former President James Hewett, Vice President Tim Kaine, Former Presidential Candidate Hercule Poirot, Senate Whip Evan McMullin and Governor Will Conway all tweeted their condolences to Senator Hamilton's family. Hewett declared in a tweet that as a result of Hamilton's death, "the group chat would never be the same".

Republican Party Chairman Henry Kissinger, assisted by House Leader Abraham Lincoln, met with Republican Senators Evan McMullin, Boris Johnson, Tim Scott, Kelsey Grammer and Roy Moore to discuss the future of the party. The Senators declared that they had been unable to decide among themselves who should lead the party, and therefore they wanted assistance from Kissinger and Lincoln. Eventually, Kissinger came to the conclusion that they should all take a vote as to who should become Senate Leader, with the rule that nobody was allowed to vote for themselves. Senate Whip Evan McMullin was then elected as Senate Leader, who then asked Boris Johnson to serve as his whip.

A month later, the court trial of The State Vs. Aaron Burr took place. Barok Van Zieks fought for the prosecution, whilst Saul Goodman served as the defence. The Judge presiding over the case was Jude Dicial. In his opening statement, Zieks ridiculed Burr's motive for killing Hamilton, however gave incorrect information regarding the disagreement between the two men. Burr stood up to defend himself, to which Zieks simply dismissed him, saying it was not his job to know "who's elected to what position". Zieks provided the argument that Burr was responsible for the murder of Hamilton, and should therefore be prosecuted for it. He stated that it would have been exactly the same had the roles been reversed and Hamilton's bullet had killed Burr. Goodman made the argument that Burr was simply acting in self-defence, due to the fact that some people allege Hamilton fired his gun first. To give evidence for this conclusion, Goodman brought William P. Van Ness to the witness stand. Ness was a federal judge and served as Aaron Burr's second at the duel, overseeing Burr's actions. He claimed that whilst the gun shots were seconds apart from one another, it appeared that Hamilton shot first, with Burr simply shooting back in self-defence. In opposition to this, the prosecution brought Eliza Hamilton, the wife of Alexander, to the witness stand to explain her husband's state of mind. To provide evidence that Alexander did not intend to fire his weapon, she gave the judge a letter that he had written her shortly before his death. Goodman later cross-examined the witness, asking Eliza if her husband had displayed any suicidal tendencies before his death. Whilst Eliza denied this this, she claimed that even if he theoretically had shown suicidal tendencies then it should not play a role in the overall verdict because what Aaron Burr had done was undeniably murder. Judge Jude Dicial soon called for the court for a recess break, in order to allow him to reach a full conclusion. After doing so, he re-entered the court an hour later to deliver his verdict. He declared that Burr was guilty for the murder of Alexander Hamilton, and that he would serve prison time of a duration to be decided at a later date. Dicial allowed Burr the opportunity to respond to the verdict, during which he stated that "death doesn't discriminate between the sinners and the saints... it takes and it takes and it takes. Alexander aimed at the sky, he may have been the one to die, but I'm the one who will pay for it. I survived but I'll pay for it." He also gave his sincerest apologies to Eliza Hamilton, wishing her everlasting happiness. After doing so, he was escorted out of the courtroom by police, ready to take him to his prison cell.

## Cast

**Buttons99999**

* Alexander Hamilton
* Aaron Burr
* Stohk Ihmage
* Evan McMullin
* Boris Johnson
* Kelsey Grammer
* Roy Moore
* William P. Van Ness
* Eliza Hamilton

**GrandpaGames**

* Saul Goodman
* Sean Spicer
* Henry Kissinger
* Tim Scott

**Red498**

* Sean Spicer
* Abraham Lincoln
* Barok van Zieks