The fairy commander's angst

Going back in time to shortly after Okisato beat Red Reaper a second time, Bette sighed as she sat down across from Medeucesa.

"So you lost too? Care for a quick game? 3 checks and your done?" Medeucesa asked.

"Sure, I could use a quick match after that slog," Bette grumbled.

"Prefect! So who'd you lose to?" Meduecesa asked as she moved her pawn to e4.

"I believe her name was Azenira," Bette replied as she moved her pawn to e5.

"Mine was a guy named Zago," Medeucesa replied as she moved her knight to f3.

"I had no idea there was such talent hiding within that club. It seems they must be rising stars if they can beat the likes of us two," Bette sighed as she moved her knight to f6.

"Why the downer attitude?" Medeucesa asked as she captured the pawn at e5 with her knight.

"Now that we're both out, we're likely going to lose the game," Bette grumbled as she captured the pawn at e4 with her knight.

"But Vittoria and Melania are still in the mix," Medeucesa countered as she captured the pawn at f7 with her knight.

Bette let out a snarl as she moved her queen to e7. "And you think those two are reliable? Melania's awol nearly 24/7 and Vittoria..."

"Oh, right. But if she plays someone strong, there's nothing to worry about. Oh, and check," Medeucesa snickered as she moved her knight to d6.

Bette stared oddly at Medeucesa before shaking her head and capturing the knight on d6 with her c-pawn. "I know you like to gamble on and off the board, but you should know gambling is quite the reckless addiction."

"But I like it. Heck, I even got "deuce" in my name. And speaking of deuces, here's check number two," Medeucesa snickered as she moved he queen to h5.

"And why are you keeping count?" Bette asked as she moved her pawn to g6.

"Cuz you lose. Checkmate," Medeucesa snickered as she captured the pawn at g6, winning the game.

"I can just-"

"Nuh-uh, we're playing 3-check, and you just got checked 3 times. You lose."

"Since when?"

"Since I said "3 checks and your done"."

Bette glared as she realized she had been suckered into Medeucesa's trap and lost the game. "I should have been paying more attention, though your reckless playstyle threw me off."

"Ara, what are you two up to?" Sorcha smiled as she strolled by.

"Oh hey Sorcha. Your head looks a bit shinier today. You not growing out your hair?"

"Ara, ara. I'm so glad you noticed. I actually went in the opposite direction and had my head lasered today."

"Doesn't that mean you'll be stuck looking like a hairless freak forever?" Bette growled.

Sorcha began to pout. "It's not freaky, it's sexy and beautiful."

"Great, you've been brainwashed into a bald fanatic."

"And the newest member of the flintskallig tjej gang."

"The what?"

"It's Swedish for "bald girl gang". It's what Astrid calls all her female followers that embraced the all-smooth bald look."

"Yeah, bald fanatic. Keep your baldness to yourself."

"Ah mo, I'm not gonna pester you all to shave your heads like me," Sorcha pouted.

"Ah, you made her sad. Why don't you cheer her up and shave your head. I mean, you shave your eyebrows and shaved your head once before, right?" Medeucesa teased.

"Yeah, and I regretted it. I even hated how I looked after I inked it. That's why I grew out my hair," Bette snarled.

"Certainly doesn't look like it grew back well. I mean, look at that receding hairline."

"Foreheads are cute! And my hairline is natural, thank you very much."

"Wow, wasn't expecting you to ever care about being cute."

"Want me to give you a facial reconstruction with my fists?"

As the girls bantered, Scharlachrot arrived. "And what are we talking about here? I heard 3-check, bald, and forehead so what's the gist? Someone lose a bet?"

"Always the sadist. Come to thing of it, your obsessed with baldness too."

"Nah, I ain't ever shaving my head. But Heathy, I'm gonna shave her smoother than Sorcha if she loses. Maybe even slap some tape on her mouth and strip her down too."

"You sure do enjoy subjecting our queen to BDSM-style humiliation."

"And she bawls her eyes out every time. But her moans are worth the tears."

"You really are just an all-around sadistic pervert. And worse, you act all high and mighty without lifting a finger. Why is that? Aren't you our second in command?"

Scharlachrot shifted her eyes away slightly. "It's because I'm the second in command that I can't risk falling in battle. Morale would plummet."

"Come to think of it, you've never played us in a casual game, nor have I ever seen your rating before," Medeucesa noted.

"Well, guess I'll come clean on that," Scharlachrot snickered as she pulled out her WWCF card.

Everyone present stared in shock at Schalachrot's rating. It was 0, the lowest you could possible rating you could get.

"H- How is that possible? I thought 100 was the lowest you could go," Bette trembled.

"Well no it isn't, it's 0. And as for why it's 0, I ended up training all the grunts, so naturally my elo dropped from it's peak."

"And that peak was?"

"Bette-chan, maybe we should give her some space. She probably has her reasons," Sorcha frowned.

Bette clicked her tongue and decided to leave. "If that elo reflects your real ability, that'd be downright embarrassing considering you'd be dumber than Plum Stupid himself."

Medeucesa also decided to leave, but did so in a more polite manner. Once Sorcha and Scharlachrot were alone, Scharlachrot let out a sigh.

"You really are to nice."

"Ara, you know I'm like the older sister of the league."

"And I bet you're here to confront me. You've been keeping your distance ever since your father arrived."

"No, I was simply piecing things together."

"You figured everything out?"

"Yes..."

A somber smile appeared on Scharlachrot's face as Sorcha correctly surmised why she sold her out to Muirchertach and Sir Grobhand.

"Well sure took you a few days, but yeah, you're correct."

"If so, then why did you prompt Iori and the others to try and find a Desperado within the league?"

"Because I'm certain there's a rat among us. How do you think Pewler was able to get all that info on us and use it to bend us to his will?"

"But he probably would have known from the start considering he was a Desperado."

"No, because I changed my name and face."

"You had plastic surgery? I never realized."

"Did a damn good job too. I looked like some ugly unattractive slut before, but look at me now," Scharlachot huffed as she jiggled her breasts.

"Ara, so you even had them-"

"My breasts are naturally this sexy, and so is my body. My face was the only thing they touched," Scharlachrot glared.

"Ara, there's no shame in admitting."

"I'm telling the truth!"

Sorcha sighed and realized Schalacrot probably wasn't lying. She then went back to the original topic at hand and asked who Scharlachrot was most suspicious of.

"To be frank, you were honestly one of my top suspects considering your ties to the league."

"Ara, but you know I never joined them, in fact I owe much to you and Heather for offering me a way out. That's why it stung so much when I was sold out. But I suppose I can understand why you did it. I heard you also tried to milk him of every cent he had."

"That's because I believed that was the price he'd need to pay. To be honest, your soothing and comforting personality made me wary it was all an act, but I've quickly learned more about you. Not to mention your record's clean."

"Hmm?"

"I checked everyone's game logs. There's only a few that really make me suspicious, namely Medeucesa and Vittoria. But that's only on the surface. Melania's just too suspicious to ignore. I mean, everyone forgets she exists until she's in the room, and she rarely socializes with us at all."

"She could just be shy and nervous despite her stoic exterior. But why are you suspicious of Vittoria and Medeucesa?"

"Because they played quite a handful of matches against known Desperados."

"But how does that make them suspicious?"

"Because they both lost to a fair number of them, and not during officially sanctioned tournaments. The only reason I can think of is that they're possibly Desperados."

"Why?"

"Because as you know, Desperados can't use DESPERs against each other, nor can they kill their fellow members, though I guess the last one is non-binding considering they offed Kamoshida. Well, not like I blame them for that, but still, attacking fellow Desperados is a huge breach of the Desperado code of conduct, at least when Gyro was still around. Then again, I guess Kamoshida broke it first considering he wanted to rape pretty much everybody, so I guess that's how'd the league would justify killing him off. To be honest, the sudden arrival of your father ruined everything, but luckily the oni-tiger arrived with his friends. But then, the reaper came..."

Scharlachrot began to visibly tremble, prompting Sorcha to comfort her. "Don't worry, once the game is over, he'll leave."

"I can only hope. That monster is an invincible anomaly. And if he's here, he might also be here to..."

It was all to clear to Sorcha that Schalachrot was scared to death of the reaper. Though she knew her own prowers had no hope of standing up to Red Reaper, she could at least comfort her with words.

"Thanks Sorcha, but even though I'm trembling years off my life, there is someone I've entrusted my life to in order to save me from death."

"And who's that?"

"Isn't it obvious? The woman I love so much."

Outside, Heater gallantly stood atop a building as her cape flowed in the wind. She had a perfect bird's eye view of the city, and of the game in general.

"So Vittoria has made contact. Then perhaps I'll have to enter soon. The grunts are nearly all wiped out too. I just need to wait for the perfect opportunity. Yes, then I can leap down from the building and surprise them. Yes, and this time I'll stick the landing. I won't let Scharlachrot humiliate me for losing, since I'll be winning," she giddily thought.

The full game:

White: Medeucesa Indikó (2406) Black: Bette Oranje (2383)

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nf6

3. Nxe5 Nxe4

4. Nxf7 Qe7

5. Nd6+ cxd6

6. Qh5+ g6

7. Qxg6#