A drawn out battle

Carol began to tear up as Pewler quickly moved his pawn to e4. "No fair! I demand odds or a draw, I can't beat you!"

"Unfortunately for you, the match has already begun. It seems the intellectual mind you once had during you college days has turned to mush after re-embracing the degeneracy you once tried to reject," Pewler sneered.

Carol scowled and moved her pawn to e5. "I may have been afraid back then, but now I'll... I'll face you head on and avenge Christian!"

"Well aren't you determined, but this is your slaughter," Pewler sneered as he moved his knight to f3.

Carol took a deep breath and thought back to the brief training pointers she had gotten from Mimoko before moving her knight to f6.

Outside the barrier, Mimoko watched the game intently. "I don't think she can beat him, but if she can force him into a perpetual check, that's probably her best shot at getting out of this. Then I can take out Pewler," she thought.

The game picked up steam with Pewler moving his pawn to d4, followed by Carol capturing the pawn at e4 with her knight. Pewler then moved his bishop to d3 while Carol responded by moving her pawn to d5. Pewler quickly decided to capture the pawn at e5 with his knight, while Carol opted to move her knight to d7, setting up a trade. Pewler excepted it and captured said knight with his knight, while Carol captured said knight with her bishop.

"And if you were thinking of subjecting me to a perpetual check, your hopes just got dashed. Time to start bleating." Pewler sneered as he castled on the king's side.

"I... I can win!" Carol trembled as she moved her bishop to d6.

"No you can't. You would have been a winner if you had been a good little sheep and not turned against me, I might have let you be a shepherd in my world, but you squandered your chance and in internet terms "got cancelled"," Pewler sneered as he moved his pawn to c4.

"YOU TRIED TO KILL ME! CHRISTIAN WAS MUREDERED BY YOUR MOB!" Carol shouted as she slammed her pawn down on c6.

"And how was that a bad thing? He too had abandoned our movement. Throughout history, it's customary for the good compassionate people of the world to unite together to bring the heartless villains to justice," Pewler sneered as he moved his knight to c3.

"Murderer, MURDERER!" Carol shouted as she castled on the king's side.

"Oh, and did your friend Iori not murder people too?" Pewler asked as he captured the knight at e4 with his bishop.

"Iori's cool!" Carol retorted as she captured said bishop with her d-pawn.

"Do you know that in order to murder a politician named Rio Segawa, she used her own mother and younger sister as sacrificial pawns, not just to kill Segawa, but also to shift blame away from herself?" Pewler sneered as he captured the pawn at e4 with his knight.

"Like I'd believe you. Check!" Carol glared as she captured the pawn at h2 with her bishop.

Pewler chuckled and shook his head. "Ah, a suicidal play. This will do nothing for you," he sneered as he captured said bishop with his king.

"I'm gonna check you!" Carol retorted as she moved her queen to h4.

Pewler simply slid his king to g1, allowing Carol to capture the knight at e4 with her queen.

Despite the difference in skill, the game was pretty even.

"Rook e1, queen h4, bishop e3, f-rook e8, rook c1, rook e6, g3, queen h3, queen f3, a-rook e8, pawn b3, rook f6, queen g2, queen g4, pawn d5, pawn h5, Carol-chan's playing really solidly. If she keeps this up, she might be able to get into a drawn endgame," Mimoko thought as she watched the game.

Pewler moved his bishop to f4, allowing Carol to check him by capturing the rook at e1 with her rook, but he simply captured said rook with his rook on his next turn. Next, a pawn trade occurred on d5 with Carol first capturing the pawn at d5 with her c-pawn, with Pewler following up by capturing said pawn with his c-pawn.

Carol then moved her pawn to h4 while Pewler moved his queen to e4. She then captured the pawn at g3 with her h-pawn, prompting Pewler to capture said pawn with his bishop. Then, Carol moved her queen to h3 and for a few moves, it looked as though she'd get a draw by repetition.

"Queen h1, queen h3, queen e2, rook h6, queen f3, bishop g4, queen g2, queen h5, rook e3, pawn b5, no! Ugh, this isn't fair. There's no way she can beat him," Mimoko muttered under her breath.

"Oh, she's been playing quite even the whole game. I say that qualifies as being evenly matched," Lakisha sneered as Pewler moved his pawn to d6.

"You desperados are pure evil forcing people into matches they can't hope to win," Mimoko glared as Carol frantically moved her bishop to d7.

"But chess is a game of skill. Everyone is given equal opportunity to win. If you lose, it's a skill issue," Lakisha scoffed as Pewler moved his rook to e1.

"Not quite. It's harder to win as black, and Carol-chan is forced to play black against a grandmaster-level player in a high stakes match," Mimoko argued as Carol moved her bishop to e6.

"And you just further proved my point. She's supposedly at a disadvantage with the black pieces, yet the game is still even. Just like your friend, Miss Ishikiridokoro, I imagine she had some hidden talent," Lakisha glared as Pewler moved his pawn to f3.

Mimoko turned to look at Carol. The poor girl was paler than a sheet and drenched in sweat as her brain worked overtime not to make a blunder. "She won't last if this goes on for too long," Mimoko thought as Carol nervously moved her bishop to d7.

"Stamina is part of the game, and it looks like she's just about run out," Lakisha sneered as Pewler moved his rook to e7.

Inside the barrier, Carol began panting as she moved her queen to c5, putting Pewler's king in check.

"So sorry, but you're no closer to perpetual check than you were from the start," Pewler sneered as he moved his queen to f2.

"I'll find it, I'll find it!" Carol shouted as she moved her queen to h5.

"No, you're beginning to fall. Did you know you actually had a slight edge, but now we're truly dead even now? Oh, you put up a good fight, but this was all foreseen by me. You know I'm a very intelligent and ambitious man," Pewler sneered as he moved his queen to e3.

Carol desperately moved her queen to h1, but that too proved to be futile as Pewler simply moved his king to f2. She then tried moving her bishop to h3, and that surprisingly seemed to work as Pewler moved his queen to e1 to counter.

"Check, CHECK!" Carol frantically shouted as she moved her queen to g2.

"My, only a little while longer to outlast you," Pewler sneered as he moved his king to e3.

However, Carol didn't give up and moved her rook to e6, prompting Pewler to capture it with his rook.

"Yes... YES! I got him!" Carol thought as she captured the rook at e6 with her bishop.

Pewler scowled as he stared at the board. However, his sinister smile quickly returned as he moved his queen to f2. Carol on the other hand was at her limit, however, she maintained enough mental strength to move her queen to h3, prompting Pewler to move his queen to e1. Carol immediately moved her queen back to g2 while Pewler moved his queen back to f2. Carol desperately moved her queen back to h3, but if Pewler didn't move his queen back to e1, she'd be in trouble. However, Pewler decided to do so, allowing Carol to move her queen back to g2, triggering the threefold repetition rule and ending the game in a draw.

Tears of joy began to pour down both Carol's and Mimoko's faces as the barrier and board vanished.

"You played so well. I'm so glad and proud," Mimoko cried as she embraced Carol in a hug.

"I'm worshiping that Caïssa goddess from now on. She... She really saved my dumb ass," Carol cried.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Mimoko went pale with horror as blood suddenly began gushing out of Carol's mouth. She turned to look behind Carol and noticed Pewler holding a machine gun.

"No, it seems Caïssa only seeks to protect Mimoko, not you," Pewler sneered as Carol slumped to the ground.

The full game:

White: Manny Pewler (2948) Black: Carol Cooke (550)

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nf6

3. d4 Nxe4

4. Bd3 d5

5. Nxe5 Nd7

6. Nxd7 Bxd7

7. O-O Bd6

8. c4 c6

9. Nc3 O-O

10. Bxe4 dxe4

11. Nxe4 Bxh2+

12. Kxh2 Qh4+

13. Kg1 Qxe4

14. Re1 Qh4

15. Be3 Rfe8

16. Rc1 Re6

17. g3 Qh3

18. Qf3 Rae8

19. b3 Rf6

20. Qg2 Qg4

21. d5 h5

22. Bf4 Rxe1+

23. Rxe1 cxd5

24. cxd5 h4

25. Qe4 hxg3

26. Bxg3 Qh3

27. Qh1 Qg4

28. Qe4 Qh3

29. Qe2 Rh6

30. Qf3 Bg4

31. Qg2 Qh5

32. Re3 b5

33. d6 Bd7

34. Re1 Be6

35. f3 Bd7

36. Re7 Qc5+

37. Qf2 Qh5

38. Qe3 Qh1+

39. Kf2 Bh3

40. Qe1 Qg2+

41. Ke3 Re6+

42. Rxe6 Bxe6

43. Qf2 Qh3

44. Qe1 Qg2

45. Qf2 Qh3

46. Qe1 Qg2 (Draw by repetition)