Hidden in plain sight

At the secret puzzle cafe in Berlin, Red Reaper angrily tapped his fingers on the table until finally Skaberghast warped in. "You sure were insistent on interrupting my nap and having me come here. So why is that?" Skaberghast yawned as he took a seat.

Red Reaper responded by slamming the DESPER key down on the table causing Skaberghast's eyes to widen. "How did you get this!?"

"An idiot gave it to me."

"Should've just mentioned it. There are things that get me moving you know," Skaberghast grumbled as he examined the key.

"Is it real?"

"Sure looks like it. See, it's glowing green. Kaiser, you got a lab? This isn't the kind of thing I wanna waltz back to Stanford with."

"But of course. Übel! Show the professor to the lab," Red Reaper ordered.

A portly mustachioed man with hair that covered his eyes rose and saluted before leading Skaberghast away.

"And now, to resume the hunt. Bring me another prisoner!"

...

"Yup, it's pretty easy to replicate for one of the guys that constructed the DESPER. Raymond really was a sneaky bastard having these made, but now thanks to an idiot, we got the edge back. Who was this idiot by the way?"

Red Reaper explained who the mysterious executive was causing Skaberghast to smirk. "Ah, it's her. Always trying to impress Raymond. Idiot really stepped in it now. So you heading back to London?"

"Yes."

"Then word of advice: The WWCF's got a secret..."

Red Reaper's gaze narrowed as he heard what Skaberghast had to say. "And does it work?"

"Been there to lounge a few times, so should be good. Not for the faint of heart those as any slight noise can easily spook ya. But for you, I think any hypothetical horrors would be scared shitless if you showed up there."

The soldiers then arrived with a new sacrifice, allowing Red Reaper to enter a DESPER match, but not before first receiving one of the newly-made DESPER keys to test out.

"Should work fine, but just in case, I'll stay in Berlin till you test it out," Skaberghast called out as Red Reaper and his victim warped away.

...

At Buckingham Palace, Scharlachrot scowled as she stared at video footage of a medical team attending to Melania. "Fuck, everyone's out now!"

"Everyone, but you," Bette snarled as she entered the control room.

"And you're not going to help in reigning in Mimoko?"

"I wanna smoke to calm myself down," Bette snarled as she began smoking.

"There's a designated smoking room. Get your ass there before your face ends up as bloodied as Melania's."

"Huh? What happened to her?"

"She got slugged in the face after her match. No clue why."

"You're always clueless. How the hell are you number 2? You're only 1800, you barely do shit, and you molest the queen like she's your sex toy."

"She IS my sex toy."

Bette crushed her lighter in her hand. "You have any idea how much we respect her? She's trying her damndest to keep shit afloat, but all you do is leech off her as her lover!"

The accusation couldn't be further from the truth as in actuality, Scharlachrot was often the one running things due to how incompetent Heather was at basic managing skills.

"Rant all you want to my face; I'm second in command, you're not," Scharlachrot huffed as she turned her attention back to the cameras. "What the... ...!?"

Grabbing the microphone, Scharlachrot frantically ordered all troops city-wide to head to the underground.

"Huh? What gives? I just sat down," Bette fumed as Scharlachrot kicked over the sofa she was on.

"This is an emergency protocol! The WWCF snuck a chess center into the depths of London!"

"WHAT!?"

Bette quickly forgot about relaxing and her grudge with Scharlachrot as she joined her in storming out of the palace. That being said, there was still something important on her mind.

"What about Mimoko?"

"Vittoria will handle her. You know how she gets when facing someone strong."

"Ah, that maniac. The moment she hears someone strong is nearby, she becomes a maniac..." 

...

In the prison area, Sir Grobhand glanced up as he heard rustling at the cell door. "Ho? Is that Jake I see?"

"Yeah, buddy, but uh, shh. Jailbreak," a middle-aged man with greying hair whispered.

"A colleague? Is he the baron that plays the Borg?" Numakawa asked as he walked over.

"Nay, he be Jake Moriarty."

"Moriarty!? As in-"

"Yeah, famous bros. I'm just a guy in the fam, though," Jake nodded as he managed to successfully pick the lock on the cell. "Be free big brain man... Though if you wanna date-"

"Hahaha! My apologies, but I don't eat dates. I hear they poison monkeys," Numakawa laughed as he made his escape.

"Uh, not- Whatever. Sir Grob, man, BB be pissed you went out. The Fairies too."

"That's on them. I wanted to gallop to my domain, but they all screamed "curfew". Why must London close every time they wish to hunt?"

"Well, we better run now. I found a chess center down underground, and after hearing you got caught, I dragged a cam over to it. Fairies will be swarming it, but not us. Let's run to the domain of yours."

"Talley-ho then!"

...

Fairy troops stormed down the dark stairs with electric lanterns in hand. With Scharlachrot at the helm, they soon reached a room with a high ceiling, and a chess center within it.

"How the hell did they build this!?" Bette fumed.

"We're about to find out," Scharlachrot scowled as she marched up to the counter.

"Greetings, I am CCB Ro-buddy," the robot on duty bowed.

"How long have you been here?"

"We officially opened a half-hour ago."

"UNDER WHOSE AUTHORITY!"

"Unauthorized to reveal."

"How did you even build this without us finding out?"

"Unauthorized to reveal."

"Any Fairy League members come by here before us?"

"Yes, it was..."

Fury plastered itself on Scharlachrot's face as she began charging out. "FUCKING TRAITOR! I'LL KILL HER FOR THIS!"

But as Scharlachrot reached the surface, her path was blocked by a frightening duo.

"It was down to the wire, but they really managed to get that chess center up n' running just in time," Hagemi grinned.

"I'll say. I'm glad that Desperado that wandered in didn't catch us on footage when he dragged in that security cam," Daria chuckled as she opened her fan.

"M- MAESTRO HIMITSU!?" Scharlachrot cried.

"Yes, now I'm here to retrieve Mimoko. Care to tell me where she is?"

Other Fairies began crowding behind Scharlachrot as they all stared up at Daria and Hagemi.

"We've got the manpower... POWER THROUGH!" Scharlachrot ordered.

"Maestro, you got this?" Hagemi smiled.

"Naturally. This is what I came prepared to do," Daria smiled back as she summoned a chessboard with her WWCF card, bringing the Fairies to a halt. "If anyone here can beat me, I'LL become your hostage, but if I wipe you all out, you'll become mine."

"And if there's a draw?" Scharlachrot asked.

"The game is played again until someone wins. Oh, but there will be a time-limit of 30 minutes."

"You can't beat all 100 of the soldiers here. Everyone! Attack!"

Boards sprung forth en masse as Daria found herself in a simul with 9 grunts plus Bette to start.

"Guess you all think lowly of maestros. Seems I need to show you all why I was made a maestro and deemed too good for chess," Daria thought as a cold scowl began to form on her face, unnerving all around her.

The monster that had once brought the chess world to the brink of ruin with her prowess had resurrected.