Alright some things I want to say before you read this story. 1- If you don't understand chess that's fine because the story isn't really about chess but more about the battle of the two ideologies Cody and Noah support, though the story is still focused around the chess game so if you don't get it you probably won't enjoy it as much. 2- Sorry about using the chess coordinates (Ex: A2 or F8) but I couldn't think of a better way to describe the movements of the chess pieces while maintaining accuracy. I know it may be difficult to follow, so I'm sorry about that (if you really care you could always get your own chessboard out and map it out to follow along). Hope you enjoy!

"'I do not fear an army of lions led by a sheep. I fear an army of sheep led by a lion.'- Alexander the Great." Noah quoted to his friend who was sitting across the chess table.

"Your point being?" Cody retorted.

"I am the lion. I will lead people by whatever means necessary and they will follow me." Noah elaborated.

The two friends were enjoying a nice relaxing afternoon at Cody's house. After a long day at school, Noah had come over to hang out for a while, and they had decided to settle down in Cody's bedroom where all of us stuff was. Both boys sat on either side of a chess table that was set up in the corner of Cody's room, but they had not begun to play just yet. Instead, they were finishing up a debate they were having on their walk home: What is the best way to achieve success, through deception or kindness? Noah had sided with deception while Cody took the opposite stance, as was the usual. The two hardly agreed on any topic whether it be philosophical, political, or spiritual.

"Who's to say that the lion can't lead nicely?" Cody proposed with a cheeky smile.

Noah rolled his eyes at his friends helpless optimism, "Who has ever heard of a nice lion Cody? Lions are fierce and will do anything to survive. They aren't nice. Zebras are nice and look where that's got them."

"Hey Noah, I see what you're saying, but I just don't think that you have to be ruthless to succeed. Plenty of CEOs and business owners are nice. Bill Gates gives a boatload of money each year to charities and he's the richest man in America!"

"Oh please Cody, don't tell me you actually believe that he does that because he truly believes in those causes. He does it for tax reasons and to look good in the press so that you buy his products because he seems like a nice guy."

Cody just couldn't bring himself to look at the world so pessimistically. His friend may think he had the world figured out, but Cody wasn't so sure, "Whatever man. It really doesn't matter because neither of us are suddenly going to change our opinions. How 'bout we play a little chess?"

Noah gave up his case and agreed to play. They set up the board and since Cody had the white pieces, he got to go first. He already knew what Noah was going to do, and he was sure Noah knew the same about him. They had played together so often that the first few moves of any chess game where automatic and could be executed in mere seconds. He moved one of his pawns up two slots to E4. Noah responded automatically as Cody expected and moved his pawn up two as well (which was actually backwards from Cody's perspective) to E5. With the two pawns in a gridlock, Cody moved his knight on the right to F3. Noah responded by moving his queen out diagonally to F6. The real game had now begun, where strategy was key to win. Knowing that he couldn't do anything of true importance right now, Cody decided to play it safe a move his second knight into the field of play to spot C3. This way he would hopefully be able to trick Noah into a trap through to the deceptive routes of the knights. Noah retaliated by moving up another pawn, this time to spot D5. Cody took the newly moved pawn with his knight from C3 to D5. He held his hand on the piece to make sure that he was in the clear, which he verified he was. Happily he took his prisoner, signifying the start to the war. In an attempt to force Cody's knight back Noah moved one of his pawns one space to C6. Cody looked over the board and realized that he now had an opportunity to take Noah's queen with his knight. Eagerly, he went for the kill but was stopped when Noah's voice brought his attention to a minor flaw in his plan, "Wow I'm surprised you would be willing to give up your knight so easily. Typically you aren't the type for sacrificing players."

Cody then realized what Noah was talking about. If he used his knight to take Noah's queen, Noah would then use his pawn to take Cody's knight. Sure the queen was much more powerful than the knight, but that didn't mean the knight didn't still have value. The knight was a very good piece on its own, and there would be other opportunities to take the queen. While it might have been the smarter, more strategic thing to do, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Every piece was valuable, and he didn't want to play the way Noah would play, he wanted to play his own game, and that meant not making sacrifices unless they were absolutely necessary. Then, he saw another move that was perfectly fine, and didn't require a sacrifice. He moved his knight to space C7.

"Check." Cody declared confidently to Noah, but to Cody's surprise Noah was chuckling. Angrily, Cody demanded, "Dude, didn't you hear me? You're in check!"

"You just had an opportunity to take out my most powerful piece and still put me in check, but you didn't do it because you didn't want to lose your knight. This is exactly what I was telling you about Cody. Sometimes you got to give up something to get more in returnYou can't succeed that way, because eventually that decision will return to bite you in the butt."

"I guess we'll see Noah, but if I'm not mistaken you're in check. Now move."

Noah made one of the few moves he could by taking his king out of check and putting it on D7. Cody then followed by taking Noah's second most valuable piece, his rook, and captured it at space A8.

"Ha, there you go Noah. Now I've taken a piece without having to sacrifice another at all! See I told you there is always an alternative way than blatant sacrifice."

Noah just chuckled and moved his bishop on the right half of the board (from Cody's perspective) to C5. Cody realized that his knight was now trapped in enemy territory with no way to escape. He had fallen victim to one of Noah's traps. Noah elaborated his plan further by saying, "Dude did you think I didn't see this coming? I was just using your unwillingness to sacrifice as a way to not only trap your knight that you love so much, but also as a way to gain positioning and open up my board."

"But you lost your best piece!" Cody exclaimed.

"Sacrifices are necessary to succeed."

"I just can't believe that. Every piece in the game and in life for that matter are necessary components to achieve victory. You can't just dispose of them when they are no longer of any use!"

"Oh come one Cody, you can't actually believe that."

"Of course I do. Just look at Total Drama Island. Gwen and Owen were the two finalists and they both were nice and didn't scheme their way to victory."

"Well that may have happened once, but what about Total Drama World Tour. Alejandro and Heather both made it to the finals and they are two of the nastiest competitors the game has ever seen. I even said, "He's slippier than an eel dipped in grease swimming in motor oil," and I appreciate when people scheme their way to the top. And you should know better than anyone. Alejandro deliberately distracted you so that he could win and get you eliminated. You experienced it first hand! Schemers are the victors."

Cody remembered the instance well. He always wondered what would have happened if he didn't check for Sierra, but he had never regretted his decision, "There have been too many good people that have succeeded in Total Drama through trust, kindness, and compassion for me to believe that. Beth got to the finals on friendship alone in Total Drama Action, Owen won the whole thing in Total Drama Island by being a good guy, and a whole lot of our other friends have gotten far in the game through kindness."

"That may have worked a few times for a few people, but there are always exceptions to the rule. That's all they are, exceptions. The schemers have always gotten farther in the game than the nice guys and that's because they are willing to play through deception, sacrifice, and self-preservation. Duncan got in the top 5 in all of the first three seasons and Heather got in the top 3 twice. How did they do it? By looking out for themselves above all others."

It was then that the chess game turned into a whole new battlefield for Cody. Instead of looking at his pieces as regular old knights and rooks, he saw them as his friends who fight for kindness. Each piece was one of his friends. He was the king, Sierra the queen, Trent the bishop, Gwen the knight, Owen the rook, and Beth the pawn. He knew there were more people who would side with him, but he didn't have enough pieces for them. Then he looked at Noah's pieces. His rooks were Duncan, knights were Courtney, bishops were Alejandro, queen was Heather, pawns were Justin, and the king himself was Noah. All of these people represented the scheming, cheating, and overall crappiness (excluding Noah. He just happened to believe in the same philosophy) that was associated with the Total Drama series. This was no longer an ordinary chess game, it was a fight for how to succeed.

In an attempt to open up his attack, Cody move his right bishop in the same way Noah had moved his to square C4. Noah knew Cody couldn't do anything to hurt him so he went further on the offensive and moved his queen up to F4. Cody saw Noah was moving in to try to put him in check, so to bolster his defense he performed a castle, placing his king on square G1 and rook on F1. Sure enough, Noah continued on the offensive by taking out Cody's pawn at E4. This was the first piece Noah had taken of his, and from the looks of his current predicament, it wouldn't be the last. Cody moved his queen one space to the right to give her an opening to get out into the battlefield. This put her at E1. Noah took advantage of a small oversight by Cody and took his undefended bishop with his queen at C4 which he had forgotten about and neglected. Cody could see that Noah was going to try to take his rook next turn so he attempted to prevent it by placing his knight at E5, putting Noah in check, temporarily forcing Noah to delay his plan by a turn. Noah easily escaped by moving his king to D6, which put Cody in more of a pickle than he was before. No matter what Cody was going to lose a piece and there was no way to prevent that. To try and at least block off his path to his rook Cody moved his pawn up to D3 eliminating what was probably the most likely choice for Noah. Then he realized his mistake. He had a wide open chance to take Noah's queen with no repercussions, but alas he had taken his finger off his piece signifying the end of his turn. Noah didn't seem to notice that his queen was even in danger so Cody kept silent in case he would have the same opportunity next turn.

"I thought you weren't willing to lose any of your pieces," Noah prodded, "Yet you're going to allow me to take one piece and sacrifice the other? What happened to all that bullshit about how everything is just as valuable as each other?"

"I do not sacrifice my pieces but if I am not given a choice in the matter, I have to try and save as many pieces as I can. And that's what I'm doing."

Noah moved his queen to C2 and took another of Cody's pawn. There was nothing Cody could do so he moved his pawn up to G3 which Noah retaliated to by moving the bishop he had not touched all game to H3 leaving Cody's rook in jeopardy. He couldn't do anything for his own rook so he decided to at least get a rook for himself, so he moved his knight to F7, taking one of Noah's pawn. This also had the added benefit of putting Noah in check. Noah, who had clearly not seen this moved his king out of check by putting it on D7. Cody took the opportunity to take the second of Noah's rooks with his knight at H8, but as soon as he did this Noah took his own rook with his bishop at F1. Cody took that very same bishop with his queen at F1, but then Noah attacked with his bishop again at F2 taking out a pawn and putting Cody in check. Now Cody had a moral dilemma. He could take Noah's bishop right now and pretty much clinch the victory, but if he did he would sacrifice his queen. He had told Noah that he didn't want to sacrifice at all, and up to this point he hadn't given up a piece unless he had to. Noah was taking a huge gamble on what Cody would do, but in the end Noah's gamble paid off. Instead of doing the smart thing and taking Noah's bishop so that his queen would be taken and the Noah's queen would be taken too, he did the humane thing and spared a life so that more could live. Cody knew that this wasn't a real war, but he treated it that way, and there was no way he could make that sacrifice.

Cody moved his king to G2 and out of check leaving both queens and a bishop still alive on the board. Then Noah piped up, "Your compassion that you hold so dear just lost you this game. Sacrifice is a part of life Cody, you have to accept that. Just like anticipating your opponent's actions and in that department you're an open book."

Cody ignored this. Noah may have had the upper hand now, but Cody knew he could turn it around. Cody moved his remaining bishop to F4 in order to give him another piece in the battlefield and an opening to take one of Noah's knights. Unfortunately for him, Noah saw through his plan and moved his king to C8. Cody refused to sacrifice his bishop so instead, he moved it one space to the left to E5. Noah moved one of his pawns up one to C5 letting Cody take another pawn with his bishop at G7.

Noah and he were truly stuck. No one could make any truly important moves at the moment, so Noah just moved another pawn up 2 spaces to H5. This helped Cody realize that he could move one of his knights again, so he decided to reopen that dimension of his game. He moved his knight in the top right corner of the board to spot F7. Moved the pawn he had just moved the same pawn he had just moved last turn, this time to F4. Cody was attacked the pawn with a pawn of his own at F4 until Noah commanded his bishop to take that pawn the very next turn. Then Cody saw it. His chance to win the game! Down on Noah's side of the board, Noah's king couldn't move anywhere. All Cody needed to do was slide his queen down to F5 and the game would be over in a couple of turns and Noah would be checkmated. Just as he was about to make his final push, Noah uttered the one word that could possibly ruin Cody's plan, "Check."

Cody rescanned the board and saw exactly what Noah was talking about. Because Noah had moved his bishop, his queen was now able to attack Cody's king if he did not move it. He tried to find someway to avoid Noah's advance, and he ended up simply moving his king back one space and to the right to H1. Now that he was out of check, it was Noah's turn once again. As long as Noah didn't mess up Cody's plan, he would have checkmate next move. Fortunately for Cody, Noah didn't do anything of real importance. All he did was move his knight to A6 probably just to get it back into action. With him in the clear, Cody moved his queen up to F5 and declared, "Check."

Noah was caught off-guard by this sudden turn of events. Obviously he had not foreseen the sudden change of events that put him on the defensive. Noah did the only thing he could do and moved his king to B8, which was the only spot not in Cody's path. Cody moved his queen two spaces to the left to D5. Noah took Cody's knight at A8 and Cody responded right back by sweeping his queen down to D8, putting Noah in check once again. Noah attempted to save himself by barricading himself in the corner and blocking himself off at all sides by moving his knight to B8. Cody had anticipated this moved his bishop to E5 to setup his final move. Noah moved one of his pawns up two to A5, but it was too late. Cody took Noah's knight at B8, leaving Noah nowhere to go. Anywhere he moved he was in check, and he couldn't take Cody's queen because it was protected by the bishop. With a smile Cody declared confidently, "Checkmate."

Noah obviously hadn't even noticed he was in danger because he was stunned silent. Without any other options, Noah flicked over his king and declared defeat, "Wow Cody, you actually won. I didn't even realize I was in trouble till it was too late."

"Well, to be honest, I didn't even realize I had anything that could put you in trouble. I just had so many pieces that I guess I was bound to trap you eventually." Cody said laughing it off before adding, "I guess that's why it's important to keep as many pieces on the board as you can."

Cody, who was looking down as he said it, looked up to see how Noah reacted to this jab at Noah's previous arguments. He was smirking, "Well what do ya know… I guess your way does have some merit to it Cody. Don't get me wrong, I still think I'm right, but maybe scheming isn't always the best way to go about winning."

Cody laughed, "Couldn't have said it better myself buddy."

The two reset the board for the next time they wanted to play. Then Cody asked Noah, "Hey you want to go play Super Smash Bros?"

Noah nodded and the two were off to enjoy the rest of their afternoon.

Hope you enjoyed it. This was my first Total Drama story, so I hope it turned out okay. Again, sorry if it seemed a little weird with all the chess coordinates, but I figure it was the best way to write this story. Anyway, if you have any questions/comments feel free the to review. Thanks for reading!