An unpleasant encounter

Much to everyone's relief, Mariano ended up taking them to the hotel for free as promised.

"YO! This place a skyscraper? How many floors it got?" Iori asked as she began filming.

"Over 50. The place is on the 8th floor. I'll show ya to the door," Mariano nodded.

The girls followed Mariano until they reached the restaurant. The bouncer let the cabby in without a second glance, but wouldn't let the girls pass until they showed him their WWCF cards. After confirming they had ratings, he allowed them to pass.

The inside looked very similar to that of the Secret puzzle cafes back in Japan, however it was much bigger and had more designated dinner tables and seating as well as a view of Times square below.

"Now welcome to my joint. Name's Mariano Mario and I run this place," the cabby stated as he headed for the counter.

"Wait, YOU'RE the SPCM!?" Iori gasped.

"Yeah, the cab's just my day job, this is my night job."

"In that case, I'd like to request a rematch with Maestro Himitsu," Mimoko smiled.

A few seconds later, Daria emerged from the back and embraced Mimoko in a hug.

"Okaa-chan! It was horrible! I got kidnapped and shaved bald... Waaaaah!"

"There, there. Let's calm down over some chess."

As the two began playing, Mariano watched in shock. "Hold up, she's the maestro's daughter?"

"Yes, and she's being targeted by Manny Pewler," Daria stated.

Carol tensed up as Mariano furrowed his brow. However, Mariano didn't lash out much to her relief. Instead, he calmly asked to explain what was going on.

Mimoko obliged and informed him of what happened with the Desperados in Okinawa as well as the Fairy league in London. Daria also informed him of the encounter she and Okisato had with Pewler at WWCF HQ.

"Hmm, I've always felt ole Wiley stretched the truth a bit on Pewler's character, but if all this is coming from you, there might actually be some truth to it."

"You don't believe us?" Mimoko asked.

"No, no, I believe ya. In fact, I hate that weasel Pewler slightly more than Wiley. Guy always rubbed me the wrong way, but Wiley's constant bad takes brought him down to the spot just above him. But if the Fairy League is involved, that's a whole nother issue."

"What do you mean?"

Daria stepped in and explained that Heather was not just the leader of the Fairy league, but also Britain's Prime minister and queen to boot. That meant The entire UK was essentially under her control.

"Them fairies are sometimes considered more radical than the Desperados. They'll kidnap, disrupt trade, and do a whole bunch of other inhumane stuff to try and get their radical agenda passed. If Pewler's not just a Desperado but in cahoots with them, we might need to call an emergency meeting," Mariano scowled.

Daria agreed and decided to call for the meeting at WWCF HQ. This prompted Mimoko to ask if it was possible to simply come with her to WWCF HQ, but Daria shot the proposal down as even if she did warp everyone with her, she'd have to warp them all back to the secret puzzle cafe here in New York.

"The HQ also doesn't have any resting quarters for non-officials, so you can't take refuge there and hunker down until the problem is resolved. It's best you all just make a beeline back to Japan."

Mimoko nodded as the game ended in a draw by repetition. As she and Daria got up, a young girl emerged from the back and scowled at them.

The girl was covered in tattoos and had an ugly mop of a hairstyle. It was if someone had just dropped a wet purple washrag atop her head and left it there to sit.

"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 and Daria. "So the prodigy and her dumb mom are here playing paddy cake. You think you can just show up wherever the hell you want!?"

Mimoko glared and immediately confronted the girl, asking what her problem was. The girl simply exhaled a puff of smoke into her face, taunting her by telling her that it was a shame Daria survived the Michiko incident.

This caused Mimoko to clench her fist and shoot the woman a look of pure disgust and rage. "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."

Mariano quickly interjected and asked the girl not to keep the patron who requested a match with her waiting. The girl clicked her tongue and began storming away, but not before muttering into Mimoko's ear, "I'll tell Manny about this."

The statement caused Mimoko to freeze with terror as she attempted to turn and call the girl back, yet Daria gently put her hand on her shoulder.

"Don't let her provoke you. She's never liked me."

"What do you mean?"

Daria explained that the girl was Wiley's granddaughter, Sheila Frisch. Mariano chimed in and revealed that since she hated her grandfather so much, she had publicly voiced her support for Pewler and the Misericordia party, even getting close with Pewler to the point where she had him on speed dial.

"So that's why she said that. But why does she hate Maestro Frisch?"

"Politics probably. Can't blame her on that front, but it does seem like she's forcing herself a bit. Not that I doubt she genuinely supports the Misericordia party, but it's just, it feels like she's being overly assertive in her support at times. Probably cuz she thinks that if she's not all in, people will doubt her true support," Mariano sighed.

"But then why does she hate Okaa-chan?"

"Perhaps that's a more personal reason. If I were to take a guess, she's likely jealous of how I raised you compared to how Wiley raised her," Daira sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Sheila's parents and Wiley's wife tragically died during a political protest turned violent. They were just eating at a restaurant when a protest broke out. At first, it was peaceful, but then it escalated and soon there were multiple casualties, those three included. Sheila was only 3 at the time and ended up being taken in by Wiley. However, the incident had it's toll on him and he became more bitter, forcing chess upon Sheila so that she could continue his legacy. As a result, Sheila grew up hating chess. I didn't force you to play chess at all, allowing you to do as you pleased with your life. That's probably why she hates us so much."

The revelation caused Mimoko to somberly nod and stare down at the floor. To her, chess was meant to be fun, so for someone to grow up not only hating chess but being forced to play it, saddened her. Daria took notice of this and warmly smiled as she offered to hang around for a bit before calling the meeting at WWCF HQ.

Iori and Carol meanwhile decided to do some puzzles to pass the time.

"I'd like to challenge Boomer's granddaughter and wreck her. How many points does it cost to challenge her?" Iori asked.

"Says just 100. Must be the scrub of the American SPCMs," Carol jibbed.

Mariano overheard the jibe and began to scowl, but kept his thoughts to himself as he cleaned a glass.

Eventually, Sheila finished her match and attempted to leave, only to be stopped by a grinning Iori.

"You're that kabuki maestro's daughter's friend. Move."

"Nah, I wanna challenge and rek you."

Before Iori could exchange the points though, she went on guard as someone grabbed her from behind and threw her into a table in the corner. As she attempted to rise, a girl with fair skin and long red dreadlocks approached her.

"Um, could you like, NOT bully Sheila? Sheila's a very, very, sweet girl. And she like, doesn't deserve to be bullied. She's like, totally compassionate, and compassion's like, a core tenant of the Misericordia mantra..."

The girl just rambled on, and on.

Iori attempted to get up, but the girl stopped her by slamming her foot into the wall, embedding it at least three inches deep.

"Um, like, my rant isn't like, done. So um, could you like, just sit and wait until it's all done? Because getting up in the middle of a lecture is like-"

"Calm down, Katie. No need to snap. You made your point," a girl with sun-tanned skin and a blonde bob warmly smiled as she placed her hand on the red-haired girl's shoulder.

"No need to calm her down, Sandy. That girl is the degenerate Ewetuber, Iori-chan," a bespectacled young man with a hideous bowlcut sneered as he walked up.

"WAIT! SHE'S IORI!? NOT WHOLESOME! Katie, lecture her!" a dark-skinned girl with multicolored hair shuddered as she approached the group.

The red-haired girl smiled but before she could begin, a loud whistle blew out.

"You damn hippies harassing someone again!?" a middle-aged woman with short orange and pink hair glared as she stormed over.

"Come on Hazel, no harm in stopping a lecture. Property damage, sure, but a lecture? Come on, girl. Let Katie talk," the blonde-haired girl sighed.

Daria let out a sigh and began to rise. "So they're as rambunctious as Wiley said they were."

"What do you mean?" Mimoko asked.

"Like Mariano and Sheila, those 5 are all American SPCMs, and they hold a reputation for being some of the rowdiest SPCMs in the world."