Rain and Rebirth [Season 5 End]

Everyone sobbed as Scharlachrot's casket was lowered into the grave. The skies themselves cried too as the rain only grew heavier.

"Heather-chan, you'll catch a cold if you don't get under the umbrella," Sorcha sighed.

Heather remained silent as she stood in the rain, staring down at Scharlachrot's coffin. Her hair now drooped down, soaked by the rain, yet she didn't care.

"He didn't even leave her pretty face. I can't even see my Scharlachrot's pretty face anymore... I'LL KILL THEM ALL!"

"Heather, we all feel the same, but we can't just go and declare war on everyone," Medeucesa nervously stated.

"They killed my Scharlachrot! Prussia, Russia, the Desperados, the WWCF, I'LL KILL THEM ALL!"

Now that Scharlachrot was dead, Heather's attitude had taken a turn for the worst. Gone was her lovable airheaded villainess persona, and in it's place, a broken and angry one. It was like she too had died as well.

"Heather, I know you're upset, we all are, but we can't just wage wars, it will only lead to more death and suffering," Sorcha sighed.

"I'll lead. I'm the queen, I'm strong. We rule a damn country, don't we? Then prepare are munitions!"

The grunts began shuffling uneasily as the executives sighed and huddled up. "We have to placate her, otherwise everything will fall apart," Bette whispered.

"Where we place her?" Plum asked.

"We just need to direct her anger at one person; the one who caused all her suffering," Vittoria glared.

"The reaper!? Are you insane? That madman would wipe us all out!" Bette glared.

"No, he may have done the deed, but how did he get that DESPER key? I was wondering why Scharlachrot was acting a tad paranoid, seems it was because she sensed a rat in our midst."

"Yeah, I remember too. She was suspicious because you n' Medeucesa had played friendlies against Desperados."

"Those? Ugh, they were just standard underground matches with no wagers," Medeucesa groaned.

"I never saw her so sad, I wonder if she felt she'd be eliminated back then," Sorcha sighed.

"We're getting off topic. I vote we direct her anger at Melania. She was a WWCF spy, and we've been against the WWCF from the start anyway. Plus, they'll settle things with chess, so no need to worry about lots of bloodshed," Vittoria stated.

Everyone nodded and decided to go with that.

"Good, now let's start by taking the new DSPCM hostage."

As the executives presented their plan to Heather, a disguised Ina watched from the crowd. "Scharlachrot Carmensinrot really was the backbone of this league. Now that she's gone, they'll get more sporadic. I'd also be looking at a torturous death if I get caught, so it's time to bail. But I'm certain the fairy league is truly dead," she thought as she vanished in a flash.

Heather glared at everyone before turning back to look down at Scharlachrot's coffin. "I called myself the queen of the fairies, but Scharlachrot was truly my fairy queen. Now that she's dead, so too is the magic that bound us together. Henceforth, I am Heather Spriggan, empress of the spriggan league. Our goal is to eliminate those who took our fairy Scharlachrot from us. And for her, we will make fairy chess the only way to play chess in the world!"

The crowd began rallying as Ina made her escape. "Yeesh, right on the money. Well, technically did play a part in selling out Scharlacrot, so I'd better fly. Hmm, wonder if those chess club folks will be in the crosshairs? Who knows."

...

On Tsar Grigori's warship, Melania sat in a chair, bound and gagged as Grigori approached her.

"No need to scowl, we'll provide you with kasha and the right to play chess. In fact, you should be thanking Kaiser Richthofen for taking you along for the ride. It sounds like the fairies are up in arms over your betrayal."

"Ngh, mmph ngh mmph [I never agreed to this]."

"But I do wish to talk with you. Now how about a game with Svetlana?" Grigori asked as he undid Melania's gag and freed one of her arms.

"You can't force me into a DESPER match, nor can you force me to play against my will."

"Then consider the time control 24 hours."

Svetlana then approached Melania and summoned a chessboard with her WWCF card as Grigori went to speak with Red Reaper.

"A shame she didn't have anymore DESPER keys on her," Red Reaper scowled as he finished writing his report.

"The question is whether or not she had anymore on her after giving you one."

"True, though if she did, they're likely in the hands of the fairies now. Anyway, my report is done, so send it to Professor Skaberghast posthaste."

...

At Stanford, Skaberghst scowled as Mona stood before him. "And you let Jackie run off?"

"She just had to go to the bathroom."

"Bullshit! You let her escape! Now you're gonna have to go retrieve her!"

"But she should still be-"

"Japan. Did you forget about the experiment? Now get your ass over to Kawaguchi."

"The experiment? ...! You're saying it was a success!?"

"Partially it seems. If Jackie ran off, it's likely the wager took effect."

As Mona began to head out, Olga barged in holding a stack of papers. She was too frantic to form a coherent sentence, so she just dumped the stack of papers on Skaberghast, before standing awkwardly, awaiting his response.

"And this? Research? Complaints? Office work? I don't like expending unnecessary energy you- ...!"

Skarghast instantly shot up as he gazed at the headline of the paper. "DESPER key research, and a hostage!? Seems like I'm motivated after all. Change of plans, I'll head to Kawaguchi."

...

In Paris, France, a beautiful woman with long multicolored hair hummed as she cleaned the salon. Suddenly, an exhausted and out of breath Ina staggered in.

"Bonjour, bienvenue. Comment puis-je vous server [Hello, welcome in. How may I serve you]?"

"Je veux Melisha, s'il vous plaît, et juste un masque pour le visage et les cheveux [I want Melisha, please, and just a facial and hair mask]."

"Ensuite, asseyez-vous, je préparerai la tondeuse, la crème et la cire [Then take a seat, I'll prepare the clippers, cream, and wax]."

Ina grimaced as the woman giddily grabbed her arm and shoved her into a chair. "I didn't request a shave."

"Désolé, je ne comprends pas le japonais [Sorry, I don't understand Japanese]."

"Bullshit! You're a native Japanese speaker!"

The woman didn't seem to care, but the moment she touched Ina's hair, a scowl appeared on her face. "You're wearing an intricate wig again."

"Well no shit, I don't want my real hair follicles destroyed!"

"Then it seems I'll be unable to properly service you, a shame."

"I came to you mainly to give you an update on Britain; the fairies are in disarray and planning to wage war against the WWCF as spriggans."

The woman went silent and sat down in an adjacent chair. She was known as Melisha Kamaleon, a WWCF executive board member known for infiltrating various underground chess leagues and destroying them from within. No one knew what her true face or name were, but for now she was going by Melisha Vousrendrechauve, a young stylist that had moved to Paris from the country side.

After hearing what Ina had to say, she nodded and pulled out her phone. "So they're getting antsy then. Well luckily the DSPCM we sent to London was Robuddy."

...

In London, the fairy, now spriggan executives stared in annoyance at the new DSPCM. He was a green robot with an LCD face.

"Greetings, I am Robuddy, the DSPCM here," the robot bowed.

"They were one step ahead of us. Well, since they went to the trouble of renovating this place behind our backs, we'll make full use of it," Bette glared as she sat down at the counter.

...

In Japan, the chess club all gathered at the school.

"You're lucky the school allows clubs to meet here during break," Maida grumbled.

"We've been through a lot. So it's nice for us all to reunite here," Mimoko nodded.

"Why're ya wearing your school uniform though?" Yuusuke asked.

"Because we're at school engaging in official club activity, that's why."

"Mimoko-sama looks great in her school uniform," Utami gashed.

"Yes, since this is considered official club activity on school grounds school uniforms should be encouraged," Maida stated as she glared at Iori.

"I didn't get any memos about uniform requirements. Besides, it's still our break," Iori grumbled.

"I know our school tends to have it's summer break a bit later than most schools, but it is still encouraged that you do abide by school rules should you come to school grounds for official club or academic related activity."

"So anything new on your end?" Okisato asked.

"I managed to get ahold of Kazuya Enoki's DESPER, but I can't even crack it open. It certainly is foreign tech, and that only increases my curiosity about it. It's a shame Numakawa-kun perished. He had such a smart mind.

"That's debatable."

"Hahahaha! I think not, Tanabe," a voice rang out.

Everyone turned to see Jackie standing before them.

"Why are you here?" Okisato glared.

"Ah, of course you don't recognize me. It is I, Syouma Numakawa!" Jackie declared.

"Huh?"

...

Maida furrowed her brow as Jackie finished making her case for why she was actually Numakawa. "You're claiming you were challenged to a match vs this Jackie Egghead with the prize for winning being that if you die, your consciousness will be uploaded into Jackie's mind, yes?"

"That is correct, and it appears as though her consciousness and memories have been erased, meaning she is effectively dead and I am the sole mind in control of this body," Jackie stated.

"And how are we to believe you?"

"I shall recount my last memories. You see, I engaged in a match to save Zenihara-san from a skeletal man, yet the bastard must have cheated as I played the perfect Grob opening and Grob gambit."

The act was certainly convincing, the only problem was that it could just be that, an act. While it did seem likely that Jackie at least had Numakawa's memories, there was no guarantee that her consciousness was truly gone.

"Maida-sensei, you're a woman of science, yes? Then you should know that this is really me," Jackie smirked.

"You certainly do act just like Numakawa-kun, but the woman whose body you've claimed to have hijacked is an affiliate of a Desperado."

"I am well aware, in fact I made a great escape from Stamford in order to get back here. All to continue my good student life."

"I think that girl is actually a college student so you can't re-enroll in high school," Okisato grumbled.

The fact seemed to shock Jackie greatly as she sunk to the floor and mumbled, "Bakana."

After sulking for a bit, Jackie rose and began to head out, promising to enroll in a university. As she left the school and headed outside, she found herself face-to-face with Skaberghast.

"Well, well, Jackie, or should I call you Numakawa? Hmm, we'll go with Jackie Numakawa."

"Ah, Skabby. Why ya here? I thought you were too lazy to do shit."

"I was going to just send Mona, but then I got a surge of motivation. And since I can warp to any secret puzzle cafe I've been to, I came to the closest one here and made my way to Kawaguchi. Now, let's have a nice chat over lunch."

[Season 5 End]