Scharlachrot's pin and skewer

In England, Vittoria sat with an uncomfortable look on her face as Heather stared her down.

"Vittoria, you're the last one that hasn't changed your federation to England."

"Hold up. Back when you were all cheery, you said it was fine if we represented our home countries. I mean, the Desperados-"

Slam!

"ARE YOU SAYING YOU'LL BETRAY ME!?"

"Sheesh! Take a chill pill, will ya! First off, just cuz we're Fairy league members doesn't mean our home countries can ban us from representing them. And second, England's one of the few teams actually banned from national competitions, so if I swap federations, I won't be able to participate in the Chess Olympics!"

"Why would you care about something so trivial, you never put in any effort anyway."

That line caused Vittoria to tear up and run away. "You don't know how much I've been looking forward to this! I hate you! You're not the Heather I once knew!"

From behind a corner, the other rainbow executives watched and sighed.

"Well that ended poorly," Bette grumbled as she exhaled a puff of smoke.

"I didn't think Vittoria would be the type to care about representing the national team," Medeucesa frowned.

"I'm more surprised both you and Bette agreed to swap federations. You're both some of your home nation's top female players," Sorcha frowned.

"True, but I'm pretty much the only good player from Greece. Sure maybe I'd get individual glory, but it'd wouldn't feel gratifying, so I took a gamble."

"What do you mean?"

"I went to Bette and asked if she'd team up with me."

Sorcha stared in shock, but allowed Medeucesa to continue. Turns out, Bette didn't really care about the Chess Olympics and said whatever. Then with two on the team, Medeucesa approached Heather with the proposal that they both join England and represent it alongside her at the Chess Olympics.

"And guess what, she agreed."

"The only problem though is that the WWCF banned us," Bette grumbled.

"Hmm? I thought Redfield wasn't the kind of man to do stuff like that," Sorcha frowned.

"He isn't, but the WWCF has two governing bodies. The main public one, and the executive board, and both voted overwhelmingly to ban us from competition due to our radical actions. I get it, we kidnap any and all WWCF members with high hostage value, but there's other nations allowed to compete that have done worse."

"You mean Prussia?"

"Well... That one's more of a one-man army. Sure there were calls to ban them from all international sporting competitions, but any who pushed for it ended up dead at the hands of that undead monster. And well, soon every international sports governing body was singing their praises and allowing them free reign out of fear the undead monster might kill them if they don't. Though one nation everyone still seems to stand their ground against in addition to us, is Russia."

"Even though it's been almost a year since the regime change?"

"Some think the Tsar is worse than his predecessor. In fact, I think he's far more conniving and intelligent, making him the more dangerous foe."

"But getting back on topic, how does Heather intend to get England to compete at the Chess Olympics?"

To that, Bette simply shrugged, and admitted she had no idea, assuming Heather would likely just march everyone to Budapest, demanding they compete, which would subsequently lead to them all being arrested.

Medeucesa, however, was a bit more confident. "When we approached her, I made it clear we'd only join if England participated in the Chess Olympics. And what did she say?"

Bette admitted she said "Yes", but felt it was just words. Afterall, Heather was too stupid to come up with a coherent plan, and following Scharlachrot's death, she was only getting worse, now hardening her heart and willing to sacrifice all to achieve vengeance.

"And there's the answer," Medeucesa grinned.

"Huh? What the hell are you blathering about?"

"Our spriggan queen's too dumb to come up with something that'll actually work, but our fairy queen wasn't."

"Ugh, she WAS our fairy-"

"Nope, who did she say was our real fairy queen?"

Bette paused and went pale as she understood what Medeucesa was alluding to. "No, you're saying that before she died, she set a plan in motion to allow England to compete!?"

"Bingo!"

...

"S- Scharlachrot? What are you doing!?" Heather cried as she laid hogtied on a bed.

"Negotiations. See the Chess Olympics are coming up and I want England to compete."

"B- But we're banned!"

"Which is why I'll get us un-banned."

"But how?"

Scharlachrot smiled and kicked off her slippers as she leapt into the bed next to Heather. "With the WWCF's own words, that's what. See, they only banned us because quote, "Due to the terroristic Fairy league taking control of Great Britain, England in particular, we have decided to ban England from all international chess competitions." But here's the thing, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, all which are under our control are allowed to compete."

"But didn't you say they were all seeking to rebel from my rule!?"

"Yup, but that's just publicly. See, privately, I made sure all of them were truly loyalists. Remember all those games you played against the parliaments all at once?"

Heather recalled the events in question. In them, she stormed into the parliaments of those three aforementioned nations and played all members simultaneously one on one in chess, beating all. Scharlachrot had activated her DESPER all those times, and made use of a loophole to inflate her rating in order to be able to force everyone into a match.

"But how did you even manage to pull it off? You still refuse to spill that secret!"

"That's because the less that know, the better. If the WWCF found out, I don't think even Redfield would give us a pass. That and Prokrutka would likely kidnap me in the middle of the night and haul me off to prison."

"Then I'd go with you!"

Scharlachrot smiled, but still proceeded to punish Heather with a hard slap to the ass. "Idiot, that would be throwing away all we've built up together. So if anything happens to me, you gotta step up in my place. I wouldn't forgive you if you didn't."

"DON'T TALK LIKE THAT! I- MMPH!?"

"Relax, I'm a meticulous girl. In fact, I'll tell you where to go to find my secret stash of instructions for being a good villainess," Scharlachrot smirked as she held her hand over Heather's mouth.

...

In the present, Heather stared down at a sheet of documents,

"The key to getting England into the chess Olympics is to exploit a loophole. See, the reason WHY we're banned is because they assume all that will compete will be Fairies. But that's where we exploit two nasty loopholes to pin them. First..."

...

At WWCF HQ, the main board gathered as Raymond spread documents around.

"And this is?" a member scowled as he stared at the document.

"Approval for a men's team from England."

"FROM ENGLAND!? Mr. President, we can't just approve-"

"Look at the member's roster."

The disgruntled official stared at the roster and went pale.

"Surprised, yes? England is a large nation," the official representing England sneered.

...

"First off, we wait until a week before the event before submitting the proposal. See the key is getting approval from the public board. Doesn't matter if the executive board denies us, all that matters is getting the public board's approval," Scarlachrot grinned.

"But I thought you said the executive board controlled all!" Heather stammered.

"Sure, but they're a trade secret, right? And good ole Redfield's more in the camp of allowing us to settle our differences at the chessboard, so if him and the main board, which according to public perception is meant to be THE governing board of the WWCF, approve England's participation, then how the hell can they turn around and deny it? And would the executive board really wish to expose their existence, just to deny England? I think not."

"But how will you get them to approve?"

"Simple, the first is the timing. By having the proposal occur in such close proximity to the event, all those on the board participating will likely be absent, and even if they show up, they'll have to abstain from voting due to conflicts of interest."

"Conflicts?"

"Yes, if they're competing, then them denying potential competition the right to play, could be viewed as an abuse of power, and on that matter, Redfield would force the matter to be settled in chess and force the dissenters to play our team in chess with our nation's participation on the line."

"B- But that's not guaranteed to get us in!"

"You're right, which is why I'm seeking to maximize our chances of being outright approved with the second point; the team composition itself!"

...

As the official stared at the line-up, any began scowling, though not for the reasons one might expect. These officials all despised the Fairy league, however, all the proposed members of the men's team, weren't fairies. In fact, most of them were Desperados.

While it was still an underground chess league, the Desperado league had sizeable influence within the WWCF and also had many members that controlled some major world nations.

Quite a few of the officials were either from said nations, sympathetic to the Desperados, or Desperados themselves. As such, they had no choice but to approve the measure as they didn't want to anger the league.

There were also many fearful of angering the league. Even though many of these folks condemned the Desperados and constantly voted for measures to punish them, that didn't mean they would vote to deny them participation due to their league affiliation. Not only was that prohibited by the WWCF by-laws, but even if it wasn't, denying England's team because it was composed mainly of Desperados would set off a chain reaction of other problems as a majority of the nations already competing had at least 1 Desperado on either of their men's and women's teams. What's more, the Desperados that were listed on England's roster had all been confined as prisoners by the Fairy league, so to deny them participation could worsen the state of things in England and hamper efforts to try and topple the Fairy, now Spriggan league's control over it.

"Baron von Borg, Sir Grobhand, Dr. Jack Howard Hyde, Marshall Baskerville, and Jake Moriarty. Most are Desperados though all have been held prisoner by the Fairies... Very well. We should at least accept a compromise i the name of peace. I vote to approve," a official sighed.

Daria and Vihaan, were in fact in attendance, but abstained from voting.

"Hmm? You don't technically need to abstain, since this is just for the men's team," Vihaan noted.

"True, but some might argue I'd be helping out my nation's men's team if I could vote against the measure."

"You'd vote against it?"

"No, I believe much like the president things should be settled at the chessboard. However..."

"'However'?"

"It's nothing. It seems the motion will pass, so you'll see soon enough," Daria sighed as she got up and left.

Of all the people i the room, only Raymond would have been able to figure out what she was alluding to with her words, and even actions.

"And with that, put out the official notice, immediately."

...

In Berlin, Red Reaper chuckled as he received a notice of the English men's team. "So this is your parting gift, Charlotte. I'll praise you at least for adhering to my teachings well. A shame you betrayed the Fatherland, you would have made an excellent commander. Though much to your regret, Prussia will not fall to such weak teams, though I suppose I'll inform the women of their new plight."

"Huh? Why would you tell the women? England only has a men's team," Diederich scoffed.

"Diederich, have you forgotten my teachings!? When looking at rules and regulations, always look for loopholes."

"Huh?"

Red Reaper responded to Diederich's confusion by kicking him in the gut, embedding him into the wall. "Perhaps that will stimulate your cognitive functions. Though I imagine the solution will reveal itself before you figure it out."

Sure enough it did.

...

Back at WWCF HQ, Daria sighed as an aide ran past her carrying a stack of documents. Her prediction had been right on the money. "And that's why I had to abstain, Vihaan. Because that very vote would lead to this next vote, where I most certainly would have a conflict of interest due to being on the women's team."

Inside the conference room, Vihaan and the others trembled at the new proposal before them.

"Why the pale faces? There is no choice but to approve," Raymond nodded as he calmly sat.

"B- But sir, we can't approve! They're all Fairies!" an official stammered.

"Technically Spriggans now."

"It matters not! Fairy or Spriggan, these women are all part of that radical league!"

...

"And once they approve the men's team, checkmate," Scharlachrot snickered.

"How so?" Heather asked."

"Because of the good ole bylaws and gender equality. If you allow a nation to have a men's team, you can't deny them the chance to field a women's team, as per the by-laws. Get what I'm saying? With the men already approved, they can't deny a women's team, even if it's composed of mostly Fairies!"

...

"Abigail Boffin, Medeucesa Indikó, Bette Oranje, Vittoria Giallo, and Heather Spriggan herself... WE CAN'T APPROVE THIS LINE-UP!" an official protested.

"You have no choice. Not only would it go against the by-laws to deny England a women's team after approving a men's team, but a majority of the women in this lineup were cleared to play for their original home nations prior to their federation swap. You have no choice, England will be participating at the Chess Olympics with a men's and women's team," Raymond sternly glared.

Everyone trembled in frustration as they begrudgingly approved the motion. Even though he had abstained, Vihaan was trembling in frustration as well.

"So Maestro Himitsu foresaw this. Damn her! If she had spoken up-"

"And that in of itself would be a conflict of interest as not only would it have lead to the men's team being denied, but also the women's team. Though I imagine she'll take responsibility by taking on the Spriggan queen herself, at the Chess Olympics," Raymond nodded as a small grin formed on his face.

...

In London, Vittoria stared in shock at her phone. "H- How!? I never changed federations, and even then, how did England get un-banned!?"

"Our Fairy queen," Heather stated as she strolled up. "Scharlachrot was our savior. She crafted this entire plan weeks before her death and it's paid off."

"But I never changed federations!"

"Not verbally, but writing's all that matters to the WWCF, and Scharlachrot already had your signature on the Federation change forms."

"When did she- ...Hahaha. That woman really was our savior."

"I'll ask you again though, will you join the English women's team?"

This time, Vittoria happily agreed to. "I get board 1 though."

"No, I'm queen of the Spriggans so I guard the 1st board.

"Heh, well you outrank me in all areas so I gues it's fine... Board 2?"

"Sure."