The key to victory

Going back in time a few minutes, Carol watched as Mimoko was warped away with Pewler. Lindsey, who had remained behind, strolled up to her and gazed down at her. Carol didn't have long to live, in fact it was a miracle she wasn't dead at this point. However, she would be very soon. Seeing Lindsey's cold disgusted stare also reminded her of an incident from college, back before Lindsey had become who she was.

...

One week after Carol first arrived at college, campus police busted down the door to the room of a girl known as LinZay.

"The hell ya dragging me out for!?" LinZay fumed as she was dragged out in nothing but handcuffs and a blanket wrapped around her.

"Why, it's because heartless degenerate filth like you abused one our dearest comrades, Zinnia Broadstone. Isn't that right, Zinnia?" Imelda sneered as she stood besides a trembling and bruised Carol.

For one week straight, Imelda had kept Carol locked up, forcing her to watch nothing but videos of Pewler's speeches, and forcing her to repeat the drivel, over and over again. While she had been subjected to a similar experience before by her family, she had never done so under such heavy physical trauma.

Slapping was as far as her mother would go, yet Imelda proffered kicking. Every time she didn't do her best to repeat the propaganda with vigor, a harsh kick to the face. But what had really broken her was the fact that crowds of students, all brainwashed and enamored with Pewler, would come to cheer on Imelda. This made it all the more clear that Imelda had control of the school and could do as she pleased.

Worse, no one had come to help her. The boy that had stood up for her on her first day, Christian Barnes, had been expelled. And now LinZay, the only other person that had stood up for her, was about to go too, yet all Carol could do was nod her head in agreement to Imelda's accusation.

LinZay shot Carol a look of disgust. "Oi, you fucking brainwashed? That bitch next to ya clearly beat the shit out of ya!"

Carol merely trembled and began muttering the propaganda she had been forced to repeat, over, and over again.

LinZay clicked her tongue, and managed to break free from the policemen before charging towards Carol and unleashing a powerful kick, sending her flying all the way into the wall at the end of the hall.

"Well guess now your bullshit's legit. Hopefully that killed ya, you piece of shit. Fuck you," LinZay snarled as the policemen pinned her down, and Carol lost consciousness.

Imelda sighed and pulled out some smelling salts in order to revive Carol, as she needed her conscious for something. As soon as Carol reawoke, Imelda dragged her into LinZay's room.

The sight that befell her lit Carol's eyes up with joy and admiration. Volumes of manga, vintage figurines and video game collectables, and erotic wall posters all adorned the room. It was exactly the kind of room Carol wished she had, however her mother strictly forbade it.

"Now burn it," Imelda snarled.

The world of wonder began to fade away as Imelda shoved a lighter into Carol's hand.

"FUCKING BURN IT I SAID!" Imelda shouted as she shoved her cigarette butts into Carol's cheek.

"I- I- I can't- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Carol screamed in pain as Imelda shoved a cigarette butt into her eye.

"Then I'll make you do it," Imelda snarled as she grabbed Carol's wrist, lit the lighter, and shoved her arm into the manga shelf on the bookcase.

Carol's other eye went wide with horror as she watched the manga go up in flames, then everything else as Imelda forced her to burn down everything.

Once the room was burned down, Carol was allowed to head back to her room. As soon as she got back, she had a mental breakdown and began slamming her head into her mirror as tears rolled down her face. Never had she been so disappointed with herself, yet she had done nothing. All that was burned into her mind was LinZay's look of purse disgust. Then with one final slam into the wall, she lost consciousness and fell to the floor.

...

Remembering that incident caused Carol to let loose a faint chuckle. "Shit, everything's getting blurry. I'm gonna die. Fuck that fucker, he really is the shittiest around. Mimo was in so much pain, she's already suffered before. As her friend, I can't let her suffer even more. And it's long overdue that I apologize to LinZay," she thought as she mustered all her strength to reach into her breasts and pull out a DESPER key and begin mumbling the conditions for the wager.

Lindsey's eyes widened in shock as her DESPER suddenly activated and the chessboard appeared once more.

"So you had one last trick up your sleeve. Well no matter, when you lose, your slow and painful death will resume," Lindsey glared as she headed towards the black end of the chessboard that spawned.

"Heh, guess Caïssa prevents anyone from dying before the match is over," Carol chuckled as she found herself sitting at the white end of the chessboard.

All her wounds were still present, though thanks to the DESPER, she had been restored to a state that she could at least play chess in.

"I win, all my wounds get healed, allowing me to live."

"As for my victory, I'll be warped back to Washington DC in the United States. I'll allow you to die here though simply from your wounds as an act of compassion as well."

"Alright, but one quick thing, are you really LinZay?"

A look of pure disgust and contempt overtook Lindsey's face as she glared at Carol. "I cast that degenerate past aside long ago."

"I see. I'm sorry I didn't speak up back in college," Carol somberly sighed as she opened the game by moving her pawn to e4. "If you lose, you'll go back to how you were when you were the hip and cool streamer, LinZay, and if that's not possible, you'll receive a quick and painless death."

Lindsey glared and silently moved her pawn to d6, while Carol followed by moving her pawn to d4. She then moved her knight to f6, while Carol brought her knight out to c3, prompting her to move her pawn to g3 on her next turn.

"That position, if Mimo's training serves me right, she's likely gonna fianchetto by moving that bishop to g7," Carol thought as she moved her knight to f3. Sure enough, Lindsey moved her bishop to g7, exactly as she had predicted.

Carol quickly moved her bishop to c4 followed by Lindsey castling on the king's side. Carol castled next, setting the stage for the oncoming battle.

"Now we begin the advance," Lindsey thought as she moved her pawn to c6.

Carol shrugged and moved her pawn to d5.

"Fool," Lindsey scoffed as she moved her bishop to g4.

"Me a fool? You're the one going back to d7," Carol smirked as she moved her pawn to h3.

Lindsey clicked her tongue in frustration as she did just as Carol said and moved her bishop to d7.

"Now time to get down and dirty," Carol thought as she moved her pawn to e5.

Lindsey immediately captured the pawn at e5 with her d-pawn, followed by Carol capturing the pawn at e5 with her knight.

"Fool, I've got the advantage," Lindsey thought as she captured the pawn at d5 with her knight.

"No, I'll still win the skirmish," Carol thought as she captured the knight at d5 with her knight.

"Well that's a free knight for me," Lindsey sneered as she captured the knight at e5 with her bishop. "And soon, that other knight will be mine."

Carol paused for a moment before moving her knight to the safety of e3.

Lindsey scoffed and quickly moved her pawn to h5, followed by Carol moving her rook to e1. "Let's see how she handles this," Lindsey thought as she moved her bishop to c8.

"I'm not trading queens," Carol thought as she moved her bishop to d3.

"Seems you truly are incompetent at this game. Trading queens was your best option, but now all hope is lost," Lindsey scoffed as she moved her bishop to e6.

"Why?" Carol asked as she moved her knight to c4.

"I am not about to educate my enemy during a battle to the death," Lindsey scoffed as she moved her bishop to g7.

Carol nodded and somberly moved her knight to e5. "I guess LinZay truly is gone."

Lindsey shot Carol a nasty glare as she moved her queen to c7. "I'm proud to have cast that degenerate past aside, now I am a successful woman and functioning member of society."

"No, you're a warped mirror of what I could have been. I'm sorry you took the fall. You were strong, unlike me at the time," Carol sighed as she moved her bishop to f4.

"You think I don't see you eyeing my rook? Well I'm not going to break my formation," Lindsey angrily thought as she moved her knight to d7.

"GOT HER!" Carol happily thought as she captured the pawn at g6 with her knight.

"So when cornered, you settle for killing pawns. Well a knight- ...! ...Tch! Damn you," Lindsey glared as she moved her queen out of the bishop's path to d8.

"Heh? I thought you weren't going to let me have that rook," Carol snickered as she captured the rook at f8 with her knight.

"Rooks are not the be all end all, and I doubt an idiot like you will be able to hold the position. This is an endurance match, and I'm the favorite," Lindsey glared as she captured the knight at f8 with her knight.

"Then I'll pull off an upset. Check," Carol snickered as she moved her bishop to h7.

Lindsey glared before suddenly widening her eyes in shock as she gazed at the board. "Damn you," she snarled as she captured the bishop at h7 with her knight.

"Now we shall make a trade?" Carol snickered as she captured the queen at d8 with her queen.

Lindsey stared at the board before shaking her head. "Truly an incompetent imbecile. You had the edge, but went for a stupid check and queen trade. Now, I'm winning," she thought as she captured the queen at d8 with her rook while Carol grinned and moved her a-rook to d1. As soon as Carol took her hand off the piece, Lindsey quickly captured the rook at d1 with her rook.

"And what was that about me being in a bad position? No I'm up a rook," Carol taunted as she captured the rook at d1 with her rook.

Lindsey didn't seem phased at all though as she captured the pawn at b2 with her bishop. "I may have no queen or rooks, but I still have both my bishops and a knight while she only has a rook and a bishop. And if we add up the points of the captured pieces, I'm ahead. This game is mine," she thought as Carol moved her bishop to h6.

Lindsey responded by moving her knight to f6 while Carol began her attack by moving her rook to d8, putting the king in check. Lindsey quickly moved her king to h7, forcing Carol to move her bishop to the safety of g5. But it wasn't safe for long as Lindsey moved her king to g6. Carol countered by moving her bishop to e3.

"As I thought, she can't mate me with just a rook and a bishop," Lindsey thought as she moved her pawn to b6.

"Seems I got excited too soon. There's still a ton of clean-up to do," Carol thought as she moved her rook to a8.

"Knights can be one of the most versatile pieces on the board, sometime more so than a rook," Lindsey stated as she moved her knight to d5.

"Yeah, knights are a pain, but they're also fun to play with" Carol smiled as she moved her bishop to d2.

"You play sloppily, that's why you're losing. You're an incompetent degenerate incapable of seeing the big picture, while I am an intellectual woman who can carve a path forward and conquer adversity. Though I wouldn't exactly call this situation adversity, more like a mild skin irritation," Lindsey scoffed as she moved her bishop to f5.

Carol stared in silence for a few seconds before moving her pawn to c4 and smiling. "Guess maybe you're still in there. I thought you said you wouldn't share any knowledge, but you've been lecturing me on my play. Thanks."

Lindsey glared in silence as she moved her knight to c3. Immediately after she took her hand off the piece, Carol gleefully captured it with her bishop.

"Now your knights are out of the picture too."

"Oh? Did you really think I'd be upset about that?" Lindsey glared as she captured the bishop at c3 with her bishop. "Now you only have 1 rook while I have two bishops. Mate is imminent."

"Nah, I feel relieved that the knight is gone. I can easily handle two dumb bishops," Carol grinned as she captured the pawn at a7 with her rook.

"So now you're pawn sniping. Futile," Lindsey scoffed as she moved her king to f6 while Carol silently moved her rook to c7. "It won't work, I see what you're doing," Lindsey glared as she moved her bishop to e4.

"Do you? Then I guess you can see that YOU will be mated," Carol taunted as she moved her pawn to f3.

"A rook can't win against two bishops," Lindsey scoffed as she moved her bishop to e5.

"But rooks are better at taking out pawns," Carol grinned as she moved her rook to b7.

"Well time for some payback then. Check!" Lindsey glared as she moved her bishop to d4.

Carol sighed and moved her king to h1. A confident smile began to form on Lindsey's face as she moved her bishop to g6. "Now my position is completely winning. Just a little bit longer and this farce will be over. Then I can return to Manny's side," she thought as Carol moved her rook to c7.

"Intending to advance those pawns? Not a chance," Lindsey scoffed as she moved her bishop to c5.

"Check," Carol glared as she captured the pawn at c6 with her rook.

"You really thought you had me? Well if you want something done right, you've gotta do it yourself," Lindsey sneered as she moved her king to e5.

Carol immediately moved her pawn to a4 eliciting a malicious smile from Lindsey. "HAH! I told you your pawns would never make it. Now this is the beginning of the end!" she laughed as she moved her bishop to d3.

"Really?" Carol asked as she moved her pawn to a5.

"Yes, go ahead and take the pawn! It will never reach my side of the board!" Lindsey sneered as she moved her bishop to d6.

"Guess you like eating your own words. Now I win," Carol grinned as she captured the pawn at b6 with her pawn.

"I think YOU'RE the one eating humble pie. You stood no chance against me from the start, in fact this was nothing more than a hindrance for me. You lost the game, and should have died instead of trying to cling to life and activate that DESPER key," Lindsey snarled as she moved her king to d4.

"First off, I drew that game and it was the hardest my brain's ever worked. Second, that fucker was a sore loser and shot me in the back. Then again, guess you've forsaken both logic and compassion. Anyway, I'll put your soul at ease, LinZay," Carol nodded as she moved her pawn to c5.

Lindsey slammed her hands down on the board. "STOP CALLING ME LINZAY! IT IS NOT WHO I AM ANYMORE!"

"Maybe you truly did cast that side of you aside, but from my perspective, you unwillingly had your personality altered by that fucker Pewler."

"Then your perception of me is dead wrong. I am Lindsey Cobbler, secretary to Senator- No, PRESIDENT Manuel Pewler of the United States of America!" Lindsey shouted as she moved her king to d5.

Suddenly, Carol burst into laughter. "'President'!? Look, I get you're confident that fucker will beat the boomer, but that's still months-"

"He'll be president following his game with Mimoko."

"Mimo won't lose!"

A malicious chuckle escaped Lindsey's lips, causing Carol to go pale. "It's precisely the fact that he's playing Mimoko that he'll become president today."

Carol's eyes widened in horror as she grasped Pewler's master plan. "He's gonna throw the game, and make Mimo look like the villain. Then, the president is gonna have the vice-president resign, promote Pewler to vice-president, then resign, allowing Pewler to become president," she trembled as she captured the bishop at d6 with her c-pawn.

"PRECISELY! And once he's president, he wins. Just like Kon Iving in Glasstone, he'll hold all the power and none will stop him! The planet will have to kill itself in order to put a hindrance on his plans, but unlike Kon Iving, Manny has a DESPER and can achieve so much more, much faster. He'll succeed in taking over the world and ruling over it! And I'll be at his side as one of the shepherds of his new world order!" Lindsey declared as she captured the pawn at d6 with her e-pawn.

Carol stared in silence for a few seconds before smiling. "You know the real reason Iving was able to become so unstoppable? It's because Duos Calceamenta was true to his name and was a goody two-shoes hero," she grinned as she moved her rook to c7.

"And what mental gymnastics are you attempting to pull off?" Lindsey glared as she moved her bishop to e4.

Tears began to pour out of Carol's eyes as she moved her pawn to b7. "The checkmate kind," she tearfully grinned.

Lindsey's eyes widened as she stared at the state of the board. "Impossible! I can't lose to a degenerate dissenter like you!" she fumed as she captured the pawn at f3 with her bishop.

"But you're about to," Carol grinned as she captured said bishop with her g-pawn.

Lindsey's face began to contort in anger as she moved her pawn to f5 while Carol moved her pawn to b8 and promoted it to a queen.

Lindsey clicked her tongue and moved her king to e5. "Even if I fall, as Minister Tyran did in the climax of Glasstone, President Pewler lives on, and with his DESPER, will survive the onslaught of missiles the degenerate old world will attempt to hurl at him as he evolves the planet to a Glasstone utopia!"

"Nah, that's not gonna happen," Carol smiled as she moved her queen to b2, forcing Lindsey to move her king to f2.

She followed up by moving her king to g2 as Lindsey moved her king to e3. Then, Carol moved her rook to c3. While she was still in a winning position, she had squandered her chance to end things as quickly as possible, and as a result, gave Lindsey one final shot at a victory.

"If it ends in stalemate, she'll return to the dying state she was in and die on the spot. Yes, it's just like Armageddon and I have the black pieces. This idiot is too stupid to see the lines. If I can just trick her, stalemate will become a reality," Lindsey thought as she moved her king to d4.

Carol responded by putting her in check again by moving her queen to b4, but despite the mate threat, Lindsey was feeling ever so confident about her chances of being stalemated. Her confidence only grew after she moved her king to e5 and Carol responded by moving her queen to b5. This allowed her to move her king to f6, forcing Carol to think carefully about her next move. She eventually moved her queen to d5, causing Lindsey to click her tongue and move her pawn to h4.

Carol then decided to capture the pawn at d6 with her queen, forcing Lindsey to move her king to g5. Now Lindsey was beginning to get worried again as she was now only two moves away from being mated, but Carol squandered her chance again and moved her rook to c4 instead of c5. However, despite that move, Lindsey was still only two moves away from being mated.

"She is cautious, and that's exactly why I have a chance. She's afraid of a stalemate and is trying to play as safe as possible. How naive, that will just cause her to stalemate anyway, especially if I make all the right moves," Lindsey thought as she moved her king to h5.

True to her prediction, Carol did indeed play cautiously and moved her queen to f8, unknowingly squandering yet another shot at ending things quickly.

"A shame the DESPER's preventing her from dying during the match, otherwise I would have won this long ago. Well no matter, stalemate is close at hand," Lindsey thought as she moved her king to g5.

Carol then moved her pawn to f4, causing a maniacal smile to form on Lindsey's face.

"Uh, what's with the smile?"

"Oh, nothing," Lindsey sneered as she moved her king to g6.

"If you think I'm gonna fuck up and stalemate you, you're wrong. I ain't that stupid. Check," Carol smirked as she moved her rook to c6, completely shattering Lindsey's hopes for a stalemate.

"As I said earlier, my death will mean nothing. President Pewler shall live and conquer the world after I'm gone," Lindsey glared as she moved her king to h7.

"Nah, because his ass is gonna die today. I told you earlier, the only reason Iving was so successful in Glasstone was cuz the hero was a goody two-shoes. But Iori's not like that, she's downright ruthless and sadistic," Carol smiled as she moved her queen to f7.

Lindsey glared in confusion as she was forced to move her king to h8. "Iori Ishikiridokoro? She's dead. She can't-"

"No she's not. When I took a look at the key case Iori gave Mimo, there were only 3 keys in it even though it could hold 9. And assuming she used one up against Horner, and couldn't reclaim the key we lost at the hotel, that means she'd have at least 5 keys left. More than enough to kill Pewler."

Lindsey went pale as she realized Carol might be right. "E- Even if your hypothesis is true, President Pewler would never lose-"

"I may have some smarts when it comes to chess, but Iori's diabolical. Don't worry LinZay, she'll avenge you. Oh, and just in case you didn't know, I uploaded my nudes as soon as I became a streamer. Checkmate," Carol smiled as she moved her rook to c8, winning the game.

The board began to vanish, and Carol's wounds healed immediately as Lindsey died a quick and painless death with a slight smile on her face. As her body fell to the ground, her DESPER emitted a puff of smoke.

"Good bye LinZay. I promise I won't ever allow myself to be brainwashed like I was back then. From now on, I'll do my best to top you as the world's horniest streamer," Carol somberly smiled.

...

In Washington DC, Pewler's speech continued, as a hooded girl managed to make her way to the front of the crowd. "Standard security formation, no snipers as far as I can see, just a good 10 ft and checkmate," Iori thought as she ran and leaped as fast as she could towards Pewler and pulled out her DESPER key.

"...And with Mahi Makihara's formal pardon, I now turn my attention to appointing a vice-president, who shall naturally be my- ...!?"

Before Pewler could react, he suddenly found himself warped to the Grand Canyon. "What is the meaning of this!?"

"Huh? I thought you knew Glasstone like the back of your hand. So surely you should know what happened to Kon Iving, the main antagonist, at the end of the book," Iori snickered as she threw off her hood.

Pewler scowled as he recognized Iori. "So that tornado was your doing then. I had my doubts, but now it's clear. You really are a murderer."

"What took ya so long to figure that out?"

"I researched the incident with your family, but now it's clear. To murder not just Jacque but a crowd of passionate supporters, you truly are an evil and vile woman, but that doesn't mean you've won. Now tell me the conditions."

"Loser gets the oh so brutal death of being gunned down by a firing squad of 44 fully loaded machine guns before falling into the grand canyon and having their corpse carried to it's basin. Oh yeah, and a drone camera will film the whole thing from start to finish and upload the vod to my Ewetube channel. Oh, and if I win, I get warped back to the riverbank overlooking downtown Kawaguchi in Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan."

A sinister smile began to form on Pewler's face. "So you choose to escape enslavement with death. Very well, ladies first as they say," he chuckled as he sat down at the black end of the chessboard. "And when I win, I shall be warped back to Washington DC where I will begin my reign as president. And if I may correct you, in Glasstone, Kon Iving is faced with the threat of incoming missiles, but he is not hit by them as the story ends right there. But a man like Kon Iving, who is clearly based off of me, would survive the nuclear onslaught like a cockroach and thrive as its sole ruler once the dust settles."

"Well that's one shitty fanfic. I heard what you did to Carol-chan. Mimo-chan was bawling her eyes out. Your ass is going to be completely and utterly fucked up in the most humiliating and gruesome fashion," Iori glared as she sat down at the white end of the chessboard.

The full game:

White: Carol Cooke (569) Black: Lindsey Cobbler (1812)

1. e4 d6

2. d4 Nf6

3. Nc3 g6

4. Nf3 Bg7

5. Bc4 O-O

6. O-O c6

7. d5 Bg4

8. h3 Bd7

9. e5 dxe5

10. Nxe5 Nxd5

11. Nxd5 Bxe5

12. Ne3 h5

13. Re1 Bc8

14. Bd3 Be6

15. Nc4 Bg7

16. Ne5 Qc7

17. Bf4 Nd7

18. Nxg6 Qd8

19. Nxf8 Nxf8

20. Bh7+ Nxh7

21. Qxd8+ Rxd8

22. Rad1 Rxd1

23. Rxd1 Bxb2

24. Bh6 Nf6

25. Rd8+ Kh7

26. Bg5 Kg6

27. Be3 b6

28. Ra8 Nd5

29. Bd2 Bf5

30. c4 Nc3

31. Bxc3 Bxc3

32. Rxa7 Kf6

33. Rc7 Be4

34. f3 Be5

35. Rb7 Bd4+

36. Kh1 Bg6

37. Rc7 Bc5

38. Rxc6+ Ke5

39. a4 Bd3

40. a5 Bd6

41. axb6 Kd4

42. c5 Kd5

43. cxd6 exd6

44. Rc7 Be4

45. b7 Bxf3

46. gxf3 f5

47. b8=Q Ke5

48. Qb2+ Kf4

49. Kg2 Ke3

50. Rc3+ Kd4

51. Qb4+ Ke5

52. Qb5+ Kf6

53. Qd5 h4

54. Qxd6+ Kg5

55. Rc4 Kh5

56. Qf8 Kg5

57. f4+ Kg6

58. Rc6+ Kh7

59. Qf7+ Kh8

60. Rc8#