Chapter 227:

A fiendish filet

En Passant Grandmaster

As soon as she returned to her uncle's office, Sandy wasted no time in activating her DESPER.

"W- What are you doing!?" Hermie stammered.

"I'm saving you! Now id I win this chess game, you'll return to normal," Sandy stated as a chessboard materialized in the office.

Hermie quickly found himself forcefully sitting down at the black end of the board while Sandy sat down at the white end.

"I'll save you, uncle Hermie," Sandy declared as she opened by moving her pawn to a3.

"'Save me'!? I've been enlightened! I don't need saving!" Hermie fumed as he moved his pawn to f6.

"No, when I win this game, we're gonna go fishing together," Sandy glared as she moved her pawn to e4.

"YOU HEARTLESS TRASH! YOU'D FORCE ME BACK TO MY HEARTLESS WAYS JUST FOR YOUR EGO!? I'D RATHER DIE!" Hermie shouted as he slammed his pawn down on a5.

"It's for your own good," Sandy sighed as she moved her pawn to d4.

"Clearly you need a proper baptizing from Manny when this is over," Hermie snarled as he moved his pawn to g6.

"No, when I win, you return to normal and renounce that bastard for all he's done," Sandy sated as she moved her pawn to h4.

Hermie began to grit his teeth in fury. "Alright! You wanna be that way and slander Manny like some heartless Ratiocinato radical, you lose, you get a baptism from Manny himself and renounce your heartless ways!" he glared as he slammed his knight down on c6.

"I'd rather die than praise that man," Sandy scoffed as she moved her knight to c3.

"HOW DARE YOU! YOU'D REJECT COMPASSION LIKE THAT!?" Hermie fumed as he slammed his knight down on a7.

"Yes, because death is the more compassionate option of the two," Sandy glared as she moved her pawn to h5.

"So you'd heartlessly kill yourself just to preserve your heartlessness. How heartless," Hermie frowned as he moved his pawn to e5.

"That statement was so cringe, I think I might throw up," Sandy growled as she captured the pawn at g6 with her h-pawn.

It was then that Hermie's eyes went mad with a fury Sandy had never seen from him before. "You... You captured a piece!?"

"Um, yeah? It's the name of the-"

"HEARTLESS TRASH! HEARTLESS, HEARTLESS, HEARTLESS, HEARTLESS, HEARTLESS, HEARTLESS, HEARTLESS, HEARTLESS, HEARTLESS! THIS IS THE EPITOME OF HEARTLESSNESS! MANNY NEVER CAPTURES PIECES!" Hermie shouted as he repeatedly slammed his pawn down on h6.

At this point, Sandy decided to quit the banter and focus on winning. While she was far from being the world's greatest chess player, she could easily see that she had a winning position. Now all she had to do was convert the win, and hopefully her uncle would return to normal.

She made the right play by moving her bishop to c4, while Hermie continued to hurl insults and moved his knight to b5. Sandy tuned out the insults and moved her pawn to g7, Hermie suddenly captured said pawn with his bishop, sending the piece flying.

"Whoa, thought you said capturing was "heartless"."

"It is, but it's justified in the act of fighting heartlessness with compassion. Manny himself never captures, but we his swords of compassion do in his steed."

Sandy began chuckling in sheer disbelief and shock at the absurdity of her uncle's words. "You're lucky I'm about to win, otherwise you'd be too far gone."

"You shan't win, heartless trash!"

"Sorry, but this "heartless trash" is about to win. Check," Sandy stated as she moved her queen to h5.

Hermie began to scowl and moved his king to e7, but Sandy simply moved her queen to f7, leaving him with no other move but to move his king to d6. Sandy then captured the knight at b5 with her knight, once again triggering a series of "heartless" insults to be hurled at her as Hermie was forced to move his king to c6.

"S- Stop forcing me back!" Hermie stammered as Sandy moved her queen to d5, forcing him to move his king to b6.

"No, I'm winning this, and we're going fishing together," Sandy glared as she moved her queen to c5.

Sweat began to run down Hermie's face as his hand began trembling. " H- H- H- Heartless," he meekly mumbled as he moved his king to a6.

"Checkmate. Now let's go fishing," Sandy smiled as she captured the pawn at c7 with her knight, winning the game.

As the board began to vanish, Hermie began hyperventilating as he glared at Sandy.

"Uncle Hermie?"

"I... I... HATE YOU!"

Sandy froze in shock, but before she could react further, something horrific happened; Hermie was suddenly stripped and skinned alive on the spot. She fell to the floor in horror as metal tentacles suddenly emerged from her DESPER and restrained Hermie and then began filleting him like a fish, all while he continued to scream how much he hated Sandy until his dying breath.

"WHY!? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!? I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS!" Sandy shouted as she slammed her fist down on her DESPER.

The DESPER then displayed a message, stating that this current punishment was a part of the original punishment Hermie had received after his initial loss to Pewler, meaning it took precedent over any punishments Sandy put forth.

As Sandy began to wallow in sorrow, Lakisha watched secretly from afar.

"So she's won her match then?" Pewler asked as Lakisha called him.

"Correct."

"My, to think she'd be so heartless as to fillet her own uncle. Truly a vile woman," Pewler sneered as he poured himself a glass of wine.

"Won't she try to use this to bring you down, sir?"

Pewler let out a chuckle as he took a sip of wine. "Lakisha, who am I?"

"A senator- No, Compassion."

"Yes, I am compassion. And if I am compassion, any acts I say are compassionate are "compassionate". If I say filleting your uncle when he's lost his way is compassionate, it is "compassionate". If I say manga is heartless and must be burned on sight to preserve the compassion of the world, it is "compassionate" to burn it. If I say it is compassionate to lick all the bird feces off the sidewalks and statues, it is "compassionate". And what I say is "compassionate", all my followers heed as gospel."

"But what if it turns people against you?"

"Then demonize the alternative more. All I need is the reigns of the presidency, then my power is unlimited. Though I guess in a sense I've swooned our current president enough to where I could simply become president tomorrow if I so chose, but since I can do that, why make haste? Kon Iving didn't make haste, because it didn't change a thing. He was inevitable, just like I am. Besides, waiting until the next election will only strengthen my organic support base, so why risk an uproar now, when I can wait a mere 3 years until a hero's parade? But do keep an eye on Miss Shores. This moment will decide what path she takes, and since she is a Desperado, we are unable to touch her."

Lakisha nodded and hung up as she resumed her surveillance of Sandy.

Back inside, Sandy cried and vomited at what had become of her uncle. To the average passerby, the elegant meal atop the table looked like a mouthwatering fishy feast, but in reality, it was what Hermie had been reduced to. She wanted to just run away and cry, but her day got even worse as Imelda blocked the doorway.

"And why are you crying? That man was only cozying up to Manny in order to betray him in the end," Imelda glared.

"Wha-"

"I SAID THAT HEARTLESS TRASH WAS LYING ABOUT HIS ALLEGIENCE TO MANNY! Manny just told me, so I came rushing over to eliminate him, but it seems you did the job, just. Now, lets do a loyalty check," Imelda sneered as she stabbed a fork into a piece of meat and shoved it towards Sandy's face. "Eat it all. Or are you another heartless poser?"

Time slowed for a bit as Sandy's mind began to break. She wanted to refuse, and run, but more people had come, and worse, they were Pewler die-hards. They quickly began chanting, "Eat him, eat him!" and it was then, Sandy decided. She decided that she would kill every damn Pewler sycophant and began tearfully devouring her uncle.

"NO TEARS, DAMMIT! YOU HEARTLESS OR COMPASSIONATE!?" Imelda shouted as she kicked Sandy in the shins.

Sandy sucked up her tears, as she was forced to smile and even jeer along with the sycophants as she ate her uncle. "I'll kill them all, I'LL KILL THEM ALL!" she thought.

...

"And from that day forward, I began targeting die-hard Pewler sycophants," Sandy somberly smiled as she finished telling her story.

Sheila stood with her jaw hung open, unsure of just how to process everything.

The full game:

White: Sandy Shores (850) Black: Hermie Shores (n/a)

1. a3 f6

2. e4 a5

3. d4 g6

4. h4 Nc6

5. Nc3 Na7

6. h5 e5

7. hxg6 h6