Chapter 23:

Collective responsibility

En Passant Grandmaster Volume 4

Turning, the group found themselves faced with a woman in a hoodie, mask, and sunglasses.

"And can we help you?" Mimoko asked.

The woman slowly removed her mask and sunglasses, causing Carol to hyperventilate like crazy. "It's her... the one from my college days... Imelda Berrinche."

She quickly fell to the floor clutching her jaw as traumatic memories from her first encounter with Imelda came flooding back into her.

"Ah, your body remembers me. Even wore some good jaw-kickin' shoes today," Imelda sneered as she popped a cigarette into her mouth.

"Why are you here!?" Mimoko cried.

Imelda scowled and roundhouse kicked Mimoko in the face, sending her sprawling to the ground. "Anyway, I'm here to settle some business so a great and strong woman can focus on more important things," she smiled as she pulled out a DESPER.

Iori quickly threw herself on top of Carol to protect her, yet that had the effect of eliciting unhinged laughter from Imelda. "Look at you! You're actually trying to protect her! But here's the punchline; I'm here to eliminate YOU!"

As soon as Imelda activated her DESPER, Iori quickly found herself on a train platform in the middle of nowhere. Though it was still daytime, dark gray clouds along with a torrent of rain set a damper mood on things. Mimoko and Carol were nowhere in sight, though a large angry mob was present, standing stationary, but hurling insults at the first sign of Iori.

"MURDERER! HEARTLESS WHORE!"

Imelda chuckled as she motioned for the crowd to simmer down. "I echo your sentiment, my comrades, but fear not. I shall vanquish all, starting with the degenerate murderer herself, Iori Ishikiridokoro!"

Iori went silent as Imelda began to chuckle. "Surprised? I did a little digging on you and found out you had a little incident at a certain teahouse. You were cleared of suspicion at the time, but I decided to expose the truth."

"How so?"

"By detailing how you murdered everyone. It was mostly guess work, but what matters most is it proved your guilt."

"The fuck!? You're just saying I'm guilty based on a fanfic!?"

"There is a proper term. It's called "piecing things together"," Imelda sneered as she popped a fresh cigarette in her mouth. "Now then, shall we play?" she smirked as she motioned towards a chessboard.

Iori smirked as she stared out at the mob. "Now I just wanna ask one thing, you all united as one?"

"We are one! We will vanquish you, heartless trash!" the mob chanted.

"You heard the voice of the people. We are one, united against degenerate and heartless scum like you," Imelda sneered as she sat down at the board.

"Good, then losers die after getting sucked into a F5 tornado," Iori snickered.

"A tornado? Well aren't you malicious, but also stupid. DESPERs don't drag in innocent bystanders so my comrades aren't going anywhere."

Iori pulled up a minimized version of her WWCF card, and stared at the wager conditions, mumbling something under her breath before taking her seat at the board, and angrily moving her pawn to e3. Imelda moved her pawn to e6, all while the mob hurled jeers at Iori and angrily pounded on the barrier surrounding her and Imelda.

Iori tuned out all the noise and moved her king to e2, causing a nasty smirk to form on Imelda's face. "And why are you smirking?" Iori scowled.

"Because you've given up. I suppose you're trying to go out flashily, which I don't think you deserve, but sadly, seems you'll get," Imelda sneered as she moved her queen to f6.

"Who said I was giving up? I'm just showing you some disrespect," Iori snickered as she moved her pawn to d4.

"HEARTLESS WHORE! HEARTLESS WHORE!" the mob chanted as Imelda moved her queen to f5.

"Sheesh, can't those losers shut up?" Iori grumbled as she moved her king to e1.

"They have every right to jeer. After all, you're a vile and heartless villain that murdered her own mother and sister," Imelda sneered as she moved her pawn to h5.

"Yeah, don't care what you think," Iori glared as she moved her bishop to d3.

"Oh but society does care. Why should a woman who murdered her mother and sister in order to kill a compassionate champion of social reform like Rio Segawa be celebrated and even allowed to live a life?"

The mob quickly began chanting in support of Imelda as Iori shot them a scowl. "This coming from the mouthpiece of an omega racist that raped her own daddy to protect her image?"

Imelda snarled as she popped a fresh cigarette in her mouth, yet didn't lose herself fully to rage. "Nothing you do or say can save you. Your dark secret has been revealed, so naturally people will retaliate against you. This is check, Iori Ishikiridokoro," she scoffed as she moved her queen to a5.

"What makes you think I'm done? I got over 4 million subscribers. Some of which would beg to have me murder them," Iori smirked as she moved her bishop to d2.

Imelda couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Oh, you only further dig your grave, you stupid degenerate. Birds of a feather flock together, and naturally fall together as well. Once we deal with you, we'll simply clean up any remaining trash worldwide that still supports you. After all, if they like someone like you after learning who you really are, they themselves are heartless trash by proxy and must be cleansed or eradicated," she cackled as she moved her queen to b6.

"So you plan to go after my loyal subscribers if you beat me?" Iori asked as she moved her pawn to c4.

"Why wouldn't we? Clearly anyone that enjoys the brain rot you call content needs to either be euthanized or reeducated," Imelda scoffed as she moved her knight to f6.

"Yeah, my subscribers would all kick your ass," Iori glared as she moved her knight to f3.

"WE WILL WIN! WE WILL WIN!" the mob angrily chanted as Imelda captured the pawn at b2 with her queen.

"Huh? You all stupid!? She just hung his queen!" Iori shouted at the mob as she moved her knight to c3.

"Lying is common for despicable degenerates like you," Imelda mockingly sighed as she moved her bishop to b4.

A smirk began to form on Iori's face as she moved her rook to b1. "Well guess you are an expert on all things fib and falsehood. You're the biggest slanderer I've ever seen."

Imelda appeared to take offense to that statement and immediately slammed his queen down on a3. "Don't demonize us to try and save your heartless skin! I'm a respected public servant to Senator- FUTURE PRESIDENT Broadstone! We are women of integrity, justice, not lies and degeneracy like you and Zinnia!" she fumed as she popped an additional 3 cigarettes into her mouth.

"Uhp, looks like we got a hit! So Sally Slanderer, ready to finally get exposed?" Iori snickered as she moved her rook to b3.

The mob angrily began hurling jeers at Iori as Imelda slammed her queen down on a5. "That is NOT my name! I really do hate you. You have no redeeming qualities, you vile, offensive, degenerate, lying, murdering, shitbag, scumbag, heartless whore!"

"Whoa, thought you were the type that showed ladies respect, but you've been hurlin' insults at me and slammin' your queen into the board like crazy," Iori taunted as she captured the bishop at b3 with her rook.

Blood vessels began to burst on Imelda's forehead as she popped more cigarettes into her mouth. "I only respect compassionate women as do all my comrades and the worldwide masses as a whole. Filth like you are a disgrace to women everywhere!" she fumed as she captured the rook at b4 with her queen.

"And "compassionate women" must be the women who'll proudly grovel before your ugly fuck of a leader and blindly support her-"

"LIES, SLANDER, VILE WHORE!" the mob chanted as Iori ignored them and moved her knight to b5.

Imelda meanwhile stared at the board and clicked her tongue as she moved her queen to f8.

"Guess you saw the fork. Bye bye rook. Check!" Iori snickered as she captured the pawn at c7 with her knight.

Imelda gritted her teeth, crumpling the cigarettes in her mouth, as she was forced to move her king to d8.

"Wow, your lungs must be fucked with all that smoking you do," Iori snickered as she captured the knight at a8 with her knight.

"I made it a prize to be able to smoke as much as I want without repercussion!" Imelda shouted before suddenly going quiet. "Ah, of course. The battle may be lost, but the war is far from over, in fact no matter what you do, we will win," she thought as her smug grin returned.

Imelda then moved his pawn to b6 while Iori, scowling in confusion at Imelda's sudden mood shift, moved her queen to a4. "I get it. She's probably thinking that once this is over, the mob here will carry out her vengeance in her steed. Well too bad for her, I ain't a goody-two shoes," Iori thought as Imelda moved her knight to c6.

As the mob continued to chant and bang on the barrier, Iori tuned them out and moved her knight to e5, prompting Imelda to capture said knight with her knight. Iori, however, just captured said knight with her d-pawn, forcing Imelda to move her remaining knight to g4.

"Now bye-bye queen," Iori thought as she moved her bishop to b4.

"You think that childish threat will work on me? Rubbish," Imelda scoffed as she moved her queen to e8, unaware that she had just blundered the game.

"RUBBISH! RUBBISH!" the crowd chanted.

"Go ahead, shout your lungs out now. It won't stop the mate, and it'll make your screams much quieter when the F5 hits," Iori thought as she captured the pawn at a7 with her queen.

Imelda paused and stared at the board before suddenly recoiling in shock. Her smug smirk quickly began to fade as an annoyed scowl took its place. "Seems I'll be the martyr," she snarled as she moved her queen to e7.

"What do you mean?" Iori glared as she moved her queen to c7.

"I may fall, but everyone here? They'll continue on the battle, bring about your end."

"Not if they're all dead."

"Desperation, or perhaps delusion. You can never beat a mob, you can only run, but mobs can run too, and work together to drag you out of hiding. Even if you manage to flee the country, we WILL find you and drag you to the hell you so just deserve," Imelda coldly sneered as she moved her king to e8.

"Why don't you answer me a question; what's the one natural law of combat?" Iori coldly glared as she captured the bishop at c8 with her queen.

"I'm not entertaining excuses. You don't deserve them, heartless trash," Imelda scoffed as she moved her queen to d8. Yet as soon as she took her hand off the piece, Iori burst into maniacal laughter. "Are you trying to terrify us? We are not afraid. Though I may fall, my comrades will continue my will, thus neither I nor them are afraid-"

"Guess you hivemind idiots all forgot what I asked ya at the start," Iori maliciously smiled.

"More deflection-"

"You and your mob said you were one. Therefore if you lose, you all lose, right?"

A chill went down Imelda's spine as color began to vanish from her face. "No, that's impossible. The DESPER would never allow-"

"I checked my card and it said the wager conditions were good. Check em yourself."

Imelda immediately pulled her DESPER out of her pocket and ordered it to state the conditions for the wager. To hers and the mob's horror every single person in the mob would also be killed by the F5 tornado if she lost, due to them all consenting to being part of the wager according to the DESPER.

Quickly, the mob changed from an angry one to a terrified one as they began desperately banging even harder on the barrier. Some members tried to flee, but found themselves frozen in place. All while Iori watched in amusement.

"Huh? Why are you all so afraid? Don't you know the ironclad natural law of combat? Once you decide you're going to use violence, you fully consent that violence can be used against you as well. Think of it like carrying a knife. You can use it to kill others, but others could swipe it from ya and use it to kill you. Simple right?"

"STOP SPOUTING SUCH HEARTLESS DRIVEL! KILLING US ALL WOULD BE MASS MURDER!" Imelda shouted as she desperately swatted at the board, only for his hand to phase through the pieces.

"You should know DESPER matches don't count as murder."

"HAVE COMPASSION! IS YOUR MORAL COMPASS-"

"Why? Murdering 1 or 1000 makes no difference to me. In fact, it makes me feel excited knowing I just pulled off a major flex," Iori maliciously snickered as she grabbed her knight.

As Iori began moving her knight, Imelda found time slowing down. It was at that moment that she came to a horrifying realization. "When I was researching the case with her family, the police mentioned the possibility that it was likely the work of Japan's biggest mass murderer, the case chiller. Over tens of thousands of cold cases over the span of a decade were supposedly committed by a single mass murderer who was never caught. But, the timeline doesn't add up! She would have been a child when the killing first- No, that look in her eyes, she's the case chiller. Fianna, I'm sorry, I made the worst oversight in my entire life. We’re up against a devil in human skin," she thought as Iori slammed her knight down on c7, winning the game.

"Checkmate, now let's see you scream," Iori grinned as she whipped out her phone and began recording.

A massive dark tornado instantly appeared and began violently sucking up members of the mob as well as surrounding structures and plants. Iori leaned back and maliciously smirked as she watched the mob descend into terror as they were sucked into the dark tornado.

"WHY!? I- I DIDN'T LOSE THE GAME! I NEVER EVEN PLAYED!" one person frantically screamed.

"Nah, you all said at the start you were 'united as one'. That means when your rep dies, you all die," Iori snickered as the person was sucked into the tornado.

Imelda meanwhile desperately clung to the table as her followers were killed by the tornado. "YOU MADWOMAN! THIS IS MASS MURDER! YOU-"

"DESPER battles don't count, and did I not say earlier, the moment you decide to commit to something that could hurt someone, you sign an unbreakable vow that you accept that what you intend to do to others can be done to you without remorse. I should know, I upended so many families, and as a result, my own family life was upended, all due to my addiction," Iori coldly grinned as the table broke, sending Imelda screaming her way into the tornado, where she was torn to shreds.

Her DESPER flew out of his pocket and landed in Iori's hand as the tornado continued to spin for another minute before fading in an instant. It had fulfilled it's purpose and had killed Imelda and every member of the mob she had led, leaving Iori as the sole living human in the area. Corpses mutilated by the tornado quickly rained down, with what was left of Imelda's falling right before Iori.

"One shithead down, one more to go," Iori thought as she was warped away.

Once she was at her new location, the DESPER emitted a puff of smoke.

"And now the main event, she thought as she pulled out a DESPER key.

The full game:

White: Iori Ishikiridokoro (1344) Black: Imelda Berrinche (2021)

1. e3 e6

2. Ke2 Qf6

3. d4 Qf5

4. Ke1 h5

5. Bd3 Qa5+

6. Bd2 Qb6

7. c4 Nf6