Time to tango

Everyone stared in shock.

"No fucking way, you're not real ghosts... are you?" Iori nervously stammered.

"What your eyes see before you... is reality," Chihuahua chuckled.

"Should've named yourself "Cryptic". Hmm? What's the deal with you?" Iori scowled as she zeroed in on Urraca.

While Urraca's skin was white and her face painted in theme with the others, her eyes still looked normal compared to her compatriots' all blue eyes.

"I'm... the normal one," Urraca nervously grumbled.

"The "lucky one" is the more proper term. Now, back to business... The three of you have a choice; become my subordinates outright, or try to fight your way to freedom through a 4v4 chess match," Chihuahua stated.

"'4v4!? But there's only three of us!"

"Then you start 0-1 in the hole. Now, just like in the tournament, you win the match if you get 2.5 points. Draw, and we go back to square one to repeat until morning. But before we begin, should you choose to fight for the chance at freedom, losing will result in much harsher treatment for all of you. Oh, and I guess we should all show you these..."

Everyone's eyes widened as the Mexicans displayed their WWCF cards. Urraca's was normal, and with her rating of just 1984, she clearly didn't appear to be a threat. However, the other three were a different story. Initially, their cards had been turquoise, with their ratings all being under 2000. Now, all their cards were dark blue, with their ratings now being much higher. Fernanda's had now jumped to 2464, Tristin's was now 2594, and Chihuahua's was a jaw-dropping 3134.

"H- How is that possible!? Maestros have black cards, and are unable to hide their ratings like you did, so why do you have a rating over 3000!?" Mimoko stammered.

"Oh? That is observant of you. But we're of no obligation to tell you," Chihuahua scoffed.

"Then what if we win?"

Chihuahua's gaze narrowed. "I'm giving you the freedom and guarantee you'll never be bothered or hurt again by the Huesos fantasma cartel, yet you want more?"

"Didn't you say it yourself, knowledge and information are the most important things you can get."

Chihuahua stared directly into Mimoko's soul. The frightening aura emanating from her naturally made Mimoko's knees quake in fear, but she stood her ground.

"Very well. But you'll play me, and should the team lose, you will be given an exclusive punishment of having your pretty face skinned off. Don't worry, I'll ensure you survive the ordeal, so no need to worry about your life. That is the price of greed. Trisitn, you are to handle Barbro. Fernanda, you deal with Iori. And Urraca, you sit out."

Everyone nodded and summoned chessboards with their WWCF cards. The water from the fountain then began to swirl through the air, creating a veil of water surrounding the players.

"No backing out now, and need I remind you you'll be starting this out at 0-1. Now, let us begin."

Mimoko clenched her fist and opened the game by moving her pawn to d4. Iori mimicked her on her board while the remaining board saw Tristin open by moving her knight to f3. Chihuahua then moved her knight to f6, prompting Mimoko to move her pawn to c4, and then came a move that truly surprised her.

"Knight c6, the Mexican Defense, aka the Black Knights' Tango. This opening was made famous by Mexican grandmaster, Carlos Torre, who once forced Frank Marshall to resign in just 7 moves after he failed to properly counter the opening."

"Wait, that shit's THAT powerful!?" Iori gasped.

"No shit it is, which is why I wanna play it against ya," Fernanda cackled as she moved her knight to f6.

Iori being Iori, graciously accepted the challenge and moved her pawn to c4, allowing Fernanda to move her knight to c6.

As for Barbro, she moved her pawn to d5, allowing Tristin to play the Reversed Mexican Defense by moving her knight to c3.

"I'm so sad, I can't play the same as the others, so this is the best I can do," Tristin sobbed as Barbro rolled her eyes and moved her pawn to d4.

"Now I'm sure you know, but no helping each other out," Chihuahua chuckled as Mimoko and Iori both moved their pawns to d5.

"Same goes for you, ghostie," Iori retorted as Chihuahua and Fernand bot moved their knights to e5.

Mimoko moved her pawn to e4, prompting Chihuahua to move her pawn to e6. She then moved her pawn to f4, leading to Chihuahua capturing the pawn at e4 with her knight.

Iori meanwhile, decided to start with pawn to f4 first.

"Hahaha! What was that!? You just blundered away the path your "genius" friend carved out for you!" Fernanda laughed as she captured the pawn at c4 with her knight.

"Who said I was worse?" Iori scoffed as she moved her pawn to e4.

"Uh, your friend had the right continuation, you botched the order, and now you're screwed. Oh, but this does actually have a name," Fernanda sneered as she moved her knight to b6.

"What is it?" Iori asked as she moved her knight to c3.

"The Horsefly gambit. That means you're nothing but a gross shit-eating tábano [horsefly]!" Fernanda laughed as she moved her pawn to e6.

"Oh? Ya know flies buzz around dead shit, right? So if I'm a fly, it means your ass is dead," Iori retorted as she captured the pawn at e6 with her d-pawn.

"Huh? You trying to act tough!? Ghosts already ARE dead, meaning you can't do shit to us!" Fernanda fired back as she captured the pawn at e6 with her f-pawn.

"You said you can heal people, right? Then heal yourself back to the point where you're living enough to feel pain from the assbeating I'm about to lay on you," Iori smirked as she moved her bishop to d3.

Fernanda gritted her teeth in fury as she slammed her bishop down on c5. "You can't touch me."

"Then I'll fuck up your mind," Iori countered as she moved her pawn to e5.

"Try me, edgelord!" Fernanda fumed as she slammed her f-knight down on d5.

"Then let's dance, bitch. Check," Iori snickered as she moved her queen to h5.

"Quite the noisy one, that Iori. I'll have to consider my gagging options for her," Chihuahua thought as Mimoko captured the knight at e5 with her f-pawn. "Oh? Do you think you can get away with that? Check," she scowled as she moved her queen to h4.

The match had just begun, but the tango was already well underway on all fronts.