Chapter 125:

A heartless woman

En Passant Grandmaster

Mariano furrowed his brow as Mimoko finished explaining what happened. While he understood where the girls were coming from, he couldn't make a big decision on his own, thus he called for an emergency meeting with all the American SPCMs as well as Wiley himself.

"The maestro's probably swamped doing bullshit in Washington, so it'll probably just be us SPCMs and you guys," Mariano nodded.

"Do you all hate the maestro?" Mimoko asked.

"Politically, yeah."

"So then you support Pewler-"

"Nah, I hate that ponytailed weasel too. Of course, that's just me. Everyone else seems to love the bastard, especially Imelda and Clifford."

Carol began to get uneasy at the mention of those names. Iori quickly noticed and asked what was wrong. It turned out, that Imelda was actually the one Carol had mentioned that had tormented and brainwashed her back in college.

"I- Is it possible to tell her not to come?"

"Hmm, I get what ya mean. Girl idolizes Pewler and will snap at ya if ya don't follow his doctrine to the tee. Also smokes a damn tobacco store. I get smoking a cigar or two, but that girl smokes a whole damn pack whenever she gets ticked," Mariano groaned.

"I know. Her breath always stink like nicotine."

"Sadly I already put out the summons, so if she comes, she comes. Though changing gears, if what you're saying bout Pewler is true, that's a big deal. Like, HUGE deal. I'm sure ya know the guy's running for president, so if he's really a Desperado, we gotta stop him."

"Did Maestro Frisch never tell you about Pewler?" Mimoko asked.

"Course he did, but we just brushed it off as him being partisan n' all. Slander's the name of the game in American politics after all."

"So why do you believe it now?"

"Cuz it's commin' from you. You guys barely know Wiley and your game logs proved your story was legit. Besides, that guy always rubbed me the wrong way. Course keep that between you an me. Some of the others would throw an hour long hissy fit if they heard that."

"And why would I throw a 'hissy fit'?" a voice snarled.

Everyone turned to see a bespectacled young man with a half shaved bowl-cut clad in an argyle shirt.

"Ugh, guess they're showin' up early. This here's Clifford, he hails from Seattle," Mariano stated.

Clifford scanned the girls with his eyes and immediately zeroed in on Carol. "Traitor. Call off the meeting, unless it's purpose is to eliminate her."

"Oi, oi, could you take a chill pill, a young woman with sun-tanned skin and a blonde bob groaned as she entered the room.

"Sandy, this is not the time for fence sitting. You pledged to support Manny in the upcoming election, yes? Then we must eliminate this degenerate fanatic that slanders his good name!"

"ALOHA!"

The tension seemed to fizzle out of the room as an energetic dark-skinned girl with long multicolored hair entered the room.

"My name is Mililani! I stream video! I have 1 million subscriber! Call me Sherbert!"

Her Japanese was not the greatest and slightly worse than Carol's, however, she didn't seem embarrassed by it in the slightest.

"YO! It's batshit insane Sherbert-chan! I didn't know she played chess! We gotta collab!" Iori grinned as she began swarming Sherbert.

"KYAH! Too close! I sorry, you too toxic. I wholesome channel."

"You call trekking up volcanoes and surfing down em, wholesome?"

"It educational!"

"Hey, could you not bully a sweet angel like Mililani?" a voice snarled.

Everyone turned to find that the voice belonged to a young woman covered in tattoos and piercings sporting a hideous haircut.

"Well someone got rekt at the salon, or did ya lose a big bet?" Iori snickered.

"This was by choice. I have the right to sport any look I please," the woman scowled as she zeroed in on Mimoko. "You're the Japanese maestro's daughter?"

"Yes, I'm Mimoko-"

"Tch."

Mimoko was taken aback by the woman's hostile attitude. Though quickly found all eyes on her. It turned out, none of the other SPCMs were aware that she was Maestro Himitsu's daughter.

"Whoa, whoa. I knew you were a rising star, but you're sayin' you're Maestro Himitsu's daughter too? Well that definitely changes things. We gotta get you back to Japan."

"Mariano, her being a maestro's daughter does not warrant granting special privilege," Clifford glared as he adjusted his glasses.

"I agree completely with Cliff, she's probably just trying to gather us all here for her ego," the tattooed woman snarled.

Sandy let out a sigh and decided to introduce the tattooed woman. Her name was Sheila Frisch, and in addition to being an SPCM, she was also Wiley's granddaughter.

"Wait, you're the maestro's granddaughter!? Then why-"

"Shut your damn mouth. I heard you and your shitty mom got fucked by the Desperados all cuz your shitty mom wouldn't tell you jack shit. Well, never liked that kabuki bitch so serves her right."

Mimoko shot Sheila a look of pure disgust an contempt. "It takes a lot to REALLY piss me off. You're getting very close to doing so."

"Oo, so scary. I doubt you could even fracture my pinky with those noodle arms."

"These 'noodle arms' are all I need to grind your mental state to powdered bone and dust at the chessboard."

Sheila's glare quickly became more hostile as tension flooded back into the room. However, it was once again deflated by the arrival of a peppy young woman.

"OMIGOSH, OMIGOSH! Like, I heard there was an emergency meeting so I like rushed over here, but first I like had to tell my gal pals I had to go and so I said I had to go, but like not to the bathroom, cuz saying you have to go could mean that. So I explained and they said 'Yeah, yo go girl. We'll hold the fort', and so I like warped, but like I forgot my boba, and couldn't warp back. So I thought I'd get boba here, but then I realized I like warped to the wrong cafe, so I just warped and warped until I came here..."

The woman was a SPCM from Dallas named Katie Knox. She had fair skin, long dirty blonde dreadlocks, and was an infamous chatterbox. Sheila quickly shifted her focus to Katie and kindly asked her to stop the tangent. Mimoko was naturally shocked by Sheila's sudden personality shift, but quickly found herself back in her hostile glare.

"You piss me off. I only came here cuz of the summons, but once this shit's over, I'm bolting."

Luckily, Sheila decided to leave Mimoko alone. Unfortunately, the final SPCM to arrive completely reignited the tension.

"What the hell is that heartless lying degenerate trash doing here!?"

The voice belonged to the final SPCM, Imelda Berrince. She had a short fuse and was constantly smoking, though the most notable thing about her was her hideous haircut. Words could not describe the amalgamation atop her head. It was a horribly cut purple bowl-cut, but also an udershave and permed in random places. And that was only what was visible. If Imelda were to remove her Misericordia logoed beanie, the random shaved and spiked patches of her head would be revealed to all. Pewler's face had even been tattooed on her head further adding to the insanity. Whomever had cut her hair was either the most insane stylist around, or tortuously forced to do everything precisely how Imelda demanded. Either way, it didn't change the fact that Imelda's haircut was hideous.

Carol's heart immediately began to beat faster as Imelda began stomping towards her, while Mimko and Iori went on guard.

Sandy let out a loud sight. "Oi, chill out Imelda. Who cares what beef you had in the past, it's not the issue here."

"THIS HEARTLESS BITCH-"

"SHUT UP! Fighting's forbidden here anyway!" Mariano roared.

"Then I say we break that unjust restriction and slug her in the name of justice and all things right in the world," Imelda snarled as pulled another cigarette out of her pack.

"Uh, shouldn't you, like, cut back on the smoking? You smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke so much and smoking's like really bad-"

"Shut it!"

"Dear Katie, you shouldn't forget to show compassion for those that choose to smoke," Clifford sneered.

"Yeah, smoking's a right. You don't like the smell, leave," Shiela snarled as she began vaping.

"AY no smoking or vaping in da main room! I ain't spending more cash to air this shit out!" Mariano fumed.

"Then don't. You're calling the heartless fossil here, yes? Then make him inhale the fumes and die just a tad bit quicker. In fact, I'm gonna smoke another pack," Imelda sneered.

"You know most people don't like the smell of vape or nicotine," Sandy sighed.

"Prejudice and discrimination. Manny doesn't smoke, but he shows compassion to all who do, unlike that treasonous whore. She's a danger to not just our democracy, but the world at large. Worse, she's gone full degenerate and seeks to poison the minds of the masses!"

"Well that's bullshit," Iori snarled.

"You are no better. Then again, you do appear to be degenerate incarnate, which is no surprise considering your entire nation-"

"Chill, chill, chill. Remember, compassion. These two probably are just ignorant cuz they aren't Americans. We know our guy Manny well. He's hip, cool, and so compassionate he makes Ghandi look like a warmonger. So just chill, chill," Sandy pleaded as she patted Imelda on the shoulder.

Imelda decided to take Sandy's advice and backed off, but not before warning Carol that she WOULD be dealt with later. Iori however, wanted to settle things.

"Are you trying to play a hero? Take the hint and shut up. We haven't yet decided to help you. In fact, I think we should just call Manny to take care of things," Clifford glared as he adjusted his glasses.

"'Hero'? I'm challenging that bitch because she pisses me off," Iori snarled.

"'Challenge'? But we are merely visiting-"

Mimoko quickly cut him off and explained that SPCMs simply had to be met within any secret puzzle cafe in order to be challenged. Clifford and Imelda immediately discarded her claim, but were quickly shut up when it was proven correct.

"Alright bitch, I'm gonna fuck you up," Iori glared as she exchanged her points to challenge Imelda.

As the point transaction was confirmed, Imelda clicked her tongue in annoyance and pulled out another cigarette. "Rapid time, you play as black, we start," she snarled as she let out a puff of smoke and moved her pawn to e4.

"Oi, ya mind not smoking in my face?" Iori snarled as she moved her pawn to e5.

"Deal with it!" Imelda sneered as she lit another cigarette and moved her queen to g4.

"You know if you keep smoking like that, you'll die if you lose the match," Sandy sighed as Iori moved her pawn to g6.

"Did you forget? I got a tobacco immune body thanks to busting some Desperado," Imelda snarled as she moved her bishop to c4.

"So then do you hate the Desperados?" Iori asked as she moved her knight to c6.

"Nah, they make for some nice sandbags. Especially when they use their DESPERS, then I get a prize in addition to the elo," Imelda snarled as she moved her knight to c3.

"Then why are you supporting Pewler? He's a Desperado," Mimoko asked as Iori moved her pawn to d5.

"That's just flat out lies. Manny's compassion in human form. He's got the biggest heart around and wants to make the world more welcoming and nicer for all," Imelda glared as she moved her queen to f3.

"If you care so much about compassion, why not show some to Carol-chan?" Iori glared as she moved her knight to d4.

Imelda began to scowl and popped another cigarette in her mouth. "Traitorous, heartless degenerate trash like her deserves to be burned in a landfill! And degenerate trash like you should join her when I'm done trashing you!" she shouted as she moved her queen to d1.

"Oh, so no compassion for thy enemy. Alright then, you reap what you sow," Iori snarled as she moved her pawn to c6.

The move caused Mimoko to groan while Clifford began smirking. "We do show compassion when the heartless see the error of their ways and pledge to reform, just like a cartoon villain does when the hero beats them."

"Yeah, and heroes like Manny always win. So do the good folk like us that support him," Imelda sneered as she moved her knight to f3.

"Nah, I'm gonna kick your ass," Iori glared as she captured the pawn at e4 with her d-pawn.

"No you're not. And even if you did, it wouldn't phase me. Thanks to this shitty job, I've lost to numerous unsavory shit heaps. But when Manny becomes president, he'll make it so that everyone in the world will be as compassionate as him and the flock," Imelda glared pawn at d4 with her knight.

"So you're gonna turn yourself into a dystopian sheep robot?" Iori sneered as she captured the knight at d4 with her e-pawn.

Rage immediately bubbled up in Imelda as she angrily slammed her knight down on b5. "DON'T DISCRIMINATE AGAINST SHEEPBLOSSOM!"

Some of the other SPCMs like Clifford and Sheila agreed with her and began berating Iori over her comment. However, Iori paid them no heed and immediately put her pawn down on g7.

"Seems you're beginning to realize you were wrong, now apologize properly," Imelda glared as she captured the pawn at d4 with her knight.

"Uh, why? If you read Glasstone you'd-"

"THAT BOOK WAS MADE TO SLANDER SHEEPBLOSSOM!"

"How exactly?"

"Trash like Wiley began using the book as a basis to discriminate against sheepblossom when people started to become them. Sheepblossom are able to photosynthesize, and are capable of living greener and healthier lifestyles than humans. Not to mention, they are creatures of compassion. My sister used to work for the peace corps, but then she started berating me for my compassion and slandering Manny. When I told Manny about her, he handled everything perfectly, and the next time I saw my sister, she was a compassionate sheepblossom, and I was given the responsibility to guide her as a shepherd. But a few weeks later, heartless trash murdered her. They were vile degenerates polluting the air with their degeneracy, so I sought to eliminate them, but then, one of those degenerates pulled a gun out and murdered my sister just before she could finish off his buddy. The only happy ending about it is that the jury convicted the two and made them embrace the lives of sheepblossom as punishment. Manny told me the two are happily bleating and fighting against heartless trash, just like my sister did."

Iori shot Imelda a glare of pure disgust as she captured the knight at d4 with her bishop. "Guess you're too far brainwashed for reasoning. In that case, I'll make you bleed from every damn inch of your body."

"'Make me bleed'!? Violence is the tool of the heartless!" Imelda fumed as she popped another cigarette in her mouth before moving her pawn to c3.

"Well if you're a "compassionate" sheep, I'm a heartless wolf," Iori glared as she moved her bishop to b6.

"Villains never win in the end!" Imelda shouted as she moved her pawn to d4.

"My thoughts exactly. En passant!"

Imelda's eye twitched as Iori performed en passant and captured the pawn on d4 with her e-pawn. She immediately descended into rage and began violently popping the rest of the cigarette pack in her mouth.

"Oi, you trying to suffocate us all!?" Iori growled.

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Imelda shouted as she slammed her bishop down on e3.

Iori accepted the trade and captured said bishop with her bishop, while Imelda captured said bishop with her f-pawn.

"Just as planned," Iori thought as she initiated another bishop trade by moving her bishop to e6.

Imelda accepted and violently captured said bishop with her bishop, sending the piece flying towards Iori, who dodged and captured the bishop on e6 with her f-pawn.

"YOU FUCKING HEARTLESS PIECE OF SHIT! YOU SAY YOU'RE A WOLF, HUH? WELL MANNY'S THE SHEPHERD AND HE'LL TURN YOU INTO A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING!" Imelda shouted as she slammed her pawn down on b4 and began opening up a new pack of cigarettes.

"Wow, this is perhaps some of the most hysterical brainwashing I've seen yet. Though I'll bite. You said that ponytailed fuck's a shepherd? Well guess you didn't hear him cry wolf three times in a row," Iori snickered as she moved her queen to g5.

"HEARTLESS FILTH LIKE YOU WILL NEVER TRIUMPH OVER GOOD! APOLOGIZE NOW FOR INSULTING MANNY!" Imelda shouted as she moved her her queen to b3.

"Nah, you're the one that needs a reality CHECK!" Iori snickered as she captured the pawn at e3 with her queen.

"NO! YOU'RE HEARTLESS, HEARTLESS! YOU'RE A MURDERING, NO GOOD, PIECE OF SHIT, DEGENERATE, WHORE, BITCH, FUCK, EVIL, HEARTLESS PIECE OF SHIT!" Imelda shouted as she shoved a third pack of cigarettes into her mouth before moving her king to f1.

Unbeknownst to Imelda, she had actually been a bit accurate in her insult, however, there was no weight behind her words, just petty rage. Her stuffing her mouth full of cigarettes also added to her immaturity.

"Tell me one thing, what do you mean by that insult?" Iori glared as she moved her knight to h6.

"HUH!? Exactly what it means! You're heartless!" Imelda scoffed as she slammed her rook down on e1.

"And WHY am I heartless?"

"Stop trying to use heartless logic to excuse your heartlessness!"

"Oh, so you're putting no weight behind it. In that case, I'm the most heartless woman you'll ever meet in your life. Now watch closely, I'm about to perform a magic trick and make the king mate you by moving two spaces."

"By WHAT!? The king can't move two spaces except by castling. And once the king moves or castles, it can't castle-"

"And have I moved my king or rooks this whole game?" Iori sneered as her tone got a bit more unnerving.

A chill went down Imelda's spine as she stared at the board. Not once had Iori's king or rooks moved, and worst of all, a castling checkmate was possible.

"Castling checkmate!" Iori snickered as she castled on the king's side, winning the game before Imelda even had time to process what just happened.

Imelda quickly began to go pale with horror as tears began pouring out of her eyes and all the cigarettes fell out of her mouth.

"Wow, you just lost to a 1 in 95,000 game checkmate. Fitting for a low braincelled idiot like you," Iori snickered in a cold malicious tone.

Imelda merely cried harder as color began to vanish from her face. Everyone else had gone silent with shock while Mimoko and Carol were all grins and approached Iori.

"T- Thanks for that," Carol tearfully smiled.

"No worries, bitch had it coming. Bet she'll be cryin' herself to sleep for months," Iori snickered as her normal persona returned.

Mimoko let out a sigh. "You could be a little less edgy, but none the less, she did have it coming. I'm also impressed with your game. It was sloppy, but you managed to deliver a castling checkmate."

"So ya gonna shave your head and eyebrows again?"

Mimoko burst into laughter. "Never again. Though now you're off the hook for that stunt you pulled back in London."

"Lame. Well, guess now I'd better collect my spoils before she feints and you can't double combo her," Iori snickered as she turned to Imelda.

Tears continued to pour down Imelda's face, however, some color had returned to her face, and anger had begun to consume her. "I'LL NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE YOU, HEARTLESS TRASH! YOU SAID YOU'RE HEARTLESS, WELL NO REWARD FOR TRASH LIKE- ACK!?"

Everyone stared in shock as Imelda suddenly began hacking up blood.

"What's happening!?" Clifford cried in horror.

"The side effects of her chain smoking, that's what," a voice growled.

Everyone turned to notice Wiley standing behind them.

"I heard about the emergency summons, but that fucker Pewler, decided to try and force some bullshit through the senate so I had to do everything I could to stop it."

Imelda looked up and glared at Wiley as he confiscated the pack of cigarettes she had pulled out of her pocket.

"Seems my warnings fell on deaf ears. I said you could smoke, but not 20 whole packs a day."

"Why? Why am I dying? I have Caïssa's-"

"Caïssa clearly doesn't tolerate reckless health choices by the looks of it. I'm afraid this means your condition counts as a natural death. I tried to warn you, but you didn't listen. This is what you get."

Imelda shot Wiley another nasty glare before hacking up more blood. Then suddenly, blood began oozing out of every pore on her body. The experience caused Imelda to scream in pain as she felt as though every blood vessel inside of her had exploded. Her senses then began to weaken, though the pain didn't stop. The voices around her were getting harder to hear and the faces of those around her were beginning to blur, all except for one.

"Wow, guess you got a bit of mercy in the end. Now you won't need to vote for the Boomer, nor will you be voting for that ponytailed fuck, cuz you're gonna die. Guess I was right again, I really was the most heartless woman you ever met in your life," Iori maliciously smiled as she gave Imelda the middle finger.

It was then that Imelda truly realized just what kind of person Iori truly was. Fear consumed her as in her final moments, she stared directly at Iori and muttered, "Satan."

After that, she hacked up one last glob of blood before dying on the spot, leaving everyone in a state of shock, aside from Iori, Wiley, and one other person.

"Well wasn't that just a lovely coincidence. Seems every maestro just has to have a sus Desperado among their group," Iori thought to herself.

The full game:

White: SPCM Imelda Berrinche (1304) Black: Iori Ishikiridokoro (1188)

1. e4 e5

2. Qg4 g6

3. Bc4 Nc6

4. Nc3 d5

5. Qf3 Nd4

6. Qd1 c6

7. Nf3 dxe4

8. Nxd4 exd4

9. Nb5 Bg7