Chapter 138:

Tying up loose ends

En Passant Grandmaster

"And just why are we doing this?" Mimoko glared.

"Cuz it's quick and efficient," Iori grinned.

"No, I'm asking why I'm wearing a bikini for this."

"Cuz you agreed to, that's why."

A day after the girls got back to Japan, they all set out towards Lagoon Pathways hotel to take care of some unfinished business. Since Carol and Iori had performed extraordinarily during the Pewler incident, Mimoko allowed to let them subject her to a dare. Both immediately requested Mimoko shave her head again which she shot down immediately. Thus, her dare ended up being wearing a bikini for the whole day.

"Dang girl, you really got all my good points," Daria grinned as everyone entered the secret puzzle cafe at Lagoon pathways.

"And are you being challenged?" Mimoko growled.

"No, but there is a certain SPCM I'm eager to see again."

"Is the gauntlet format even permissible?"

"I mean, as long as you follow everyone's rules and offer up all the relevant points, it should be allowed, but I'm not sure. Though if you play everyone one after another that's completely fine."

"We'll go with that then."

"Perfect, so then want me to put out the summons, or do you want each one to come individually?"

"All at once. I'll be taking a few pot-shots too," Iori snickered.

Daria nodded and put out the summons. A few minutes later, all the American SPCMs along with Maestro Frisch appeared in the cafe.

"And why the hell did YOU of all people summon us?" Sheila snarled.

"Important business, that's why. Now, who wants to give the explanation?"

Iori quickly volunteered and began pacing as she explained. "So as you all are aware, me, Mimo-chan, and Carol-chan got kidnapped by Desperados and were warped from London to New York in the span of a day. This was all the work of one ponytailed fucker named Manny Pewler, who's now dead-"

"YOU MURDERER! OUR COUNTRY IS DOOMED NOW!" Clifford cried.

A good look at the SPCMs revealed that most of them appeared to not be taking Pewler's death well. Mariano seemed to be the only one completely fine, though that didn't mean he wasn't upset on the inside.

"I still haven't forgiven you for what you did. And like, I'm never going to. Because what you did to me was like, really-"

"Yeah, shut up chatterbox, your nude dance is actually the reason everyone's here today," Iori snickered as she pulled the DESPER key case out of her breasts and opened it. "So anyone recognize this?"

All but one of the SPCMs didn't, but the one that did made sure to keep the fact hidden.

"Figured, see this is a DESPER key case, and if you don't know, DESPER keys can forcibly activate a DESPER even if it's not fully recharged. Now direct your attention to the inside. As you can see, there's 7 key slots and only one key left, get what I'm implying?"

"Are you daring to suggest one of us is a Desperado!?" Clifford fumed.

"Yeah, and it's fact."

"BULLSHIT!"

"See, not only were we all betrayed and sold out back at the hotel, but a DESPER was used twice during each match that was played there."

"Twice? Are you saying there are two Desperados?" Sandy asked.

"No, she's lying! I bet she's the Desperado," Sheila glared.

"Good point, but Carol, or rather Zinnia Broadstone is probably the one," Sandy declared as she shot a glare towards Carol.

"Then let's solve the mystery with some chess. And first off, Mimo-chan will be challenging... The dead SPCM, Imelda!"

Mimoko sighed and exchanged her points to challenge Imelda's AI. Just like with any other challenge, a chessboard appeared at the big table.

A screen featuring an animated picture of Imelda then appeared. "For this challenge, You play black with rapid time controls."

It sounded just like Imelda, however, it was nothing more than an AI designed to act and play like her, albeit minus the excessive smoking and short-fused personality.

"It's completely heartless. The AI is an insult to her memory," Clifford scowled as Mimoko sat down and began the game.

"And you think we'd program an AI that just curses and degrades anyone it plays?" Wiley glared.

"Speaking of completely heartless, why don't we play each other Mr. Heartless douche?" Iori snickered as she exchanged her points.

"You dare call ME heartless!? I and my family have been diehard Misericordia supporters for our entire lives! It's not fair, IT'S NOT FAIR! Manny had finally become president, and you... You killed him!"

"Well whatever, try and settle things here at the board," Iori snickered as she put the DESPER key case back inside her cleavage.

A chessboard appeared at the table next to the one Mimoko was playing at. The two headed over and quickly sat down.

"Normally, I have no issue with ladies going first, but you're the absolute worst kind of woman out there. Luckily, Armageddon rules are in effect, so a draw means I win even though you get more time."

"Wow, so you want ladies to go first just so you get better win odds. Talk about heartless," Iori snickered as she opened by moving her pawn to d4.

Clifford responded with a tongue click and moved his pawn to d6.

"Not a standard d5, huh. Well, not like it mattered. Get fucked!" Iori snickered as she flipped off Clifford and moved her king to d2.

Clifford's face began to contort in furry. "Do you know that I am rated above 2200 and am a candidate master!? Such insolence won't be tolerated!" he shouted as he moved his knight to f6.

"Candidate? So you were a politician too?" Iori taunted as she moved her pawn to e3.

"Not that kind of candidate! A candidate master is one that has achieved a rating of 2200 and or those who perform excessively well at tournaments which I have done. No norms are required and the title stays for life, so I need not worry about losing it when competing with snobs like you," Clifford scoffed as he moved his pawn to c6.

"More like you're afraid of losing elo. Bet you quit and became an SPCM so you could preserve your rating," Iori taunted as she moved her pawn to c4.

Based on the fact that Clifford's face began to contort even more, Iori figured she had hit the mark.

"Oof, that's his sore spot. Shortly after he got the title, he lost a big tournament and nearly dipped below 2000," Sandy sighed.

"SANDY! Do have some compassion for me!" Clifford shouted as he moved his bishop to g4.

"Sorry, I guess I shouldn't have said anything. Your opponent isn't the kind of compassionate person to try and offer you words of encouragement.

"Damn right bitch. Now let me show you all why this sucker quit, he was a pussy all along," Iori snickerd as she moved her pawn to f3.

Clifford retaliated by moving his bishop to f5, while Iori moved her queen to b3. "I AM A GIFTED MAN!" he shouted as he moved his pawn to e5.

"More like an egotist. Bet that's also why you try to be so active in politics, not to make anything better for people, but to inflate your ego and make others think you're some great human being. But you're just some pussy ass delusional nerd," Iori snickered as she captured the pawn at b7 with her queen.

"And you are a heartless degenerate imbecile. Protecting the b-pawn is overrated, especially when I can simply defend the rook like this," Clifford scoffed as he adjusted his glasses and moved his b-knight to d7.

Iori merely shrugged and moved her knight to c3, prompting Clifford to immediately capture the pawn on d4 with his e-pawn. Ioris simply captured said pawn with her e-pawn while Clifford moved his pawn to c5, allowing Iori to move her knight to b5 on her next turn.

"Things look even, maybe he'll draw," Sherbert mumbled as Clifford moved his rook to c8.

"I can't blame him for stopping after the title. Like, I achieved the IM title, but then dipped below 2400 after two bad tournaments. I was against high level players, but like it showed me that grandmasters were a league of their own," Katie rambled as Iori moved her knight to e2.

"Oi, can we stop talking about titles?" Sheila glared.

Katie went quiet and nodded as Clifford moved his pawn to g6.

"Hmm, wonder what that's all about. Well, I'll find out soon enough," Iori thought as she moved her knight to g3.

Clifford then captured the pawn at d4 with his c-pawn, prompting Iori to capture the bishop on f5 with her knight. Clifford simply captured said knight with his g-pawn, however, Iori simply captured the pawn at a7 with her queen, giving her an edge. The game was still pretty even at that point, until Clifford made a massive blunder and moved his knight to d5.

"NO! I-"

"No take-backs, sucker!" Iori laughed as she mercilessly capitalized on the blunder and captured the knight at d5 with her c-pawn.

"Ngh, whatever! Your pawn is trapped!" Clifford fumed as he slammed his rook down on c5.

"Sure, take it," Iori thought as she moved her pawn to b4.

Clifford saw through the trap though and quickly moved his rook to c8.

"What's wrong, thought you said my pawn was fucked," Iori taunted as she moved her king to d1.

"I said it was TRAPPED! Well, whatever. It's useless there anyway," Clifford scoffed as he moved his queen to e7.

"Heh, we'll see," Iori thought as she moved her bishop to f4.

Clifford responded by moving his queen to f6, while Iori moved her rook to c1, setting up a rook trade. However, Clifford refused and moved his knight to c5, unknowingly blundering into mate.

"Oh the delicious irony. Time to get fucked*! Check!" Iori gleefully shouted as she slammed her knight down on c7, forcing Clifford to move his king to d8.

As Iori moved her night to e8, Mimoko meanwhile had just won her game and glanced over at Iori's board. "What is she doing? That was mate in 9, but now it's no longer guaranteed. Though I imagine she's still going to win anyway," she thought.

"And here I was afraid. Well, you may have gotten lucky against Imelda and Katie, but it ends here against me," Clifford scoffed as he tried to hide his nervousness and captured the knight at e8 with his king.

"Lol, that's a long ass nose ya got there, Pinocchio," Iori taunted as she moved her bishop to b5.

"My nose is VERY small!" Clifford retorted as he moved his rook to c6.

"Guess that makes you a lying master then," Iori snickered as she captured said rook with her bishop.

"I bet you cheated! Yes, you cheated!" Clifford shouted as he desperately moved his king to d8.

Everyone let out a collective sigh.

"Sorry Cliff, but you know matches like these are sanctioned, plus we've been watching the whole time. You lost," Sandy sighed as Iori moved her queen to b8.

Clifford immediately went pale as his hand began to tremble.

"What's wrong? E7's the only move you can make, so no use thinking about it," Iori snickered.

Tears began to pour out of Clifford's eyes as he realized what was about to happen. He was going to lose, not just to a Queen's Bongcloud, but also get mated thanks to the pawn at d5 he had deemed useless.

"No... NO! I'm elite... I'm special," he cried as he struggled to move his king to e7.

"Nah, your pathetic self just came to the surface. Guess I was right since to the victor, go the spoils. Checkmate," Iori snickered as she moved her queen to e8, winning the game.

The full game:

White: Iori Ishikiridokoro (1344) Black: SPCM Clifford Glassblower (2000)

1. d4 d6

2. Kd2 Nf6

3. e3 c6

4. c4 Bg4

5. f3 Bf5

6. Qb3 e5

7. Qxb7 Nbd7

8. Nc3 exd4

9. exd4 c5

10. Nb5 Rc8