A/N: Please note that I wrote this in a bit of a ranting way so it may not be my best in more ways than one. Also, I picture Iowa very differently than from what the official personification is like, but it would not matter too much...I think. So be cautious of OOC if it irks you.

You Will Never Be Better Than Me

The knock on the door resonated throughout the room.

Nothing moved to answer the door.

The knocks came again.

Everything stayed completely silent.

Two more knocks on the door.

Still no answer.

"I'm coming in," says the voice outside the room.

With the metallic "Clack!" the door slowly opened.

The head of a woman with long blonde hair poked into the room that was filled by warm sunlight.

"Iowa? It's me, Jersey."

New Jersey looked around the room. Everything was neat and tidy. The bed was made, the bookshelf was neatly organized, and the cosmetics were all neatly arranged.

Except for the round table by the window. One of the two chairs was on its side and the tabletop had an unfinished chess game.

New Jersey stood the fallen chair back onto its legs and looked at the board. She nervously looked at the letter in her hand and then back at the board.

There were a total of seven pieces left on the board; two white and five black. White had the king and a pawn. Black had the king, the queen, a bishop, a knight, and a rook.

The white king sat at G3. The black king has not moved from its starting point. The black queen was at H8, the black bishop in E1, the black knight at F6, and the black rook in A2.

There was nowhere the white king could go without running into trouble and the places it could go would only delay the endgame.

1,500 miles from Hawaii, there is a deserted atoll contaminated by the weapons of the Cold War. No one steps onto this island anymore, except for those that are interested in the wildlife…

…Or six steel-bodied warriors that had a disagreement.

A powerful volley rang out as nine sixteen-inch projectiles slammed into the target; a Ship Girl. She was thrown off her feet and was sent tumbling along the ground into a building. The shooter, who was a Ship Girl as well, dug her limbs (or the three that she had left; one arm and two legs) into the asphalt. She slid from the recoil, making huge scars in the landscape.

Looking back at the building, she could see it collapse on the Ship Girl she had shot.

"Yes, ma'am," she said as she received her orders. As she walked towards the collapsed building, she cursed about her broken Number 4 turret.

When she made it to the rubble, it was very obvious to her that her target was still alive.

"You know, if you didn't destroy one of my turrets, you would be as good as dead."

With inhuman strength, she began lifting and throwing large chunks of concrete as she dug out her victim.

Several meters behind her was another Ship Girl with similar equipment.

Their equipment was of a split-hull design with two superfiring turrets on each side instead of only one like their predecessor. They also bristled with secondaries and anti-aircraft armaments.

The Ship Girl that was not digging showed signs of battle on her body, but was not as badly damaged as her comrade. She found something on the ground and tossed it to the woman behind her, who was the leader of the group.

The leader (who was unscathed) caught the small metal object. It was the badge of the woman under the building.

It was an oval shape with an eagle in flight and a battleship underneath. On the sides, it said;

"Our Liberties We Prize, Our Rights We Will Maintain."

And on the top and bottom;

"USS Iowa, BB-61."

Scraping could be heard as Iowa was dragged by her hair from under the building by the one-armed Ship Girl. Two more battle damaged Ship Girls approached and watched the last lead battleship of the United States Navy get thrown at the feet of their leader.

"Thank you, Louisiana," the leader said.

Louisiana nodded and took a couple steps back.

Iowa lay on her chest, bleeding heavily from many gaping wounds. Her equipment was missing large chunks, but she still had her main guns even if only Turret 2 still worked. Her clothes were basically nonexistent from the constant shelling she endured.

"Puh…S…Mo…" Iowa tried to speak.

"What's that?" the leader asked, mockingly putting a hand to her ear and crouching in front of Iowa. "Were you about to say, 'Please, Montana. I'm Sorry'?"

Iowa raised Turret 2's Number 1 and 3 guns and fired at Montana. The would-be successor to the Iowa-class was thrown back several feet. The rest of the Montana-class Ship Girls began kicking and hitting Iowa. One of them, Ohio, took her anchor and impaled it in the side of Iowa's turret and yanked on it, ripping out the side of the turret as well as gun Number 1.

"Stop!" Montana ordered, and they did.

Montana groaned and stood back up. She gripped her chest and only suffered torn clothing.

Iowa mumbled something again.

"What was that?" Montana shouted.

"You piece of shit Montana," Iowa grinned.

"How dare you say that to the one who is superior to you?!" Montana bellowed. She grabbed Iowa by the neck and lifted her to eyelevel.

"Superior you say?" Iowa kept her grin.

"Yes!"

"And yet I, one Iowa, did so much damage to all of you?"

"The fuck is your point?!"

"How are you superior to me?"

"Firepower! Ability to take punishment!"

"You don't have my speed," Iowa strained. "My agility. And most importantly, my combat proven record."

Iowa choked and unintentionally spat out blood.

Montana dropped her and began wiping her face. Iowa laid on her back and chuckled.

"Who the hell do you think I am?!" Montana demanded.

"Nothing. You're worthless," Iowa croaked.

"My father is the one giving you paychecks," Montana threatened as she grabbed what was left of Iowa's collar.

"So what if you are the president's daughter?" Iowa asked rhetorically. "It doesn't make you better than me."

Montana tightened her grip.

"You aren't human," Iowa declared. "None of you are!"

She looked at Louisiana who had metal sticking out of her amputated arm and the others who all signs of metal underneath their skin.

"You are all cyborgs. Created by the government to compete against the Ship Girl. Because why? None of us spirits wanted to come back to help!"

"You came back!" Montana spat.

"I never left. Stuck in Mothball for over sixteen years. Rusting…rotting…feeling cold…and useless. Threatened to be scrapped more than once by your father alone!"

Montana's fist hit Iowa in the head with a thunderous punch.

"Ha…Wa ha ha ha ha!" Iowa cackled. "You can't hurt me. Any feeling of touch died in Mothball."

"Then you aren't any more human than us," Montana concluded.

"That's where you are wrong. Very, very wrong."

Montana hadn't flinched, but some of the others did.

"You see, I, USS Iowa, have a soul. Theresa, the body of the human I am in now, also has a soul. Theresa still is flesh and blood and my spirit gives her extra strength. I know what she thinks and she knows what I think. My weapons aren't forcefully strapped onto her, as they are more supernaturally attached. And I don't force her to carry or do what she doesn't want to. I ask first."

Montana just rolled her eyes as Iowa continued.

"Most importantly, I was born."

"So? We were born too," Louisiana butted in.

"No, no, no," Iowa lightly shook her head. "I, meaning me, Iowa, was born. On July 27, 1940, I was conceived. Two years later on August 27th, I was christened with the breaking of the champagne bottle and was launched. Born. That was when my soul came into existence.

"You guys on the other hand…you were never born. Never laid down. Never conceived, never launched, never christened…Never! You got none of that! You are soulless!"

"We are still human," Ohio said.

"No, you are not," Iowa denied.

"Yes, we are."

"Nope."

"Yes, we-" Ohio was interrupted when Iowa grabbed one of Montana's breasts and yanked hard on it, ripping off the flesh from her torso. Montana did not even flinch.

Underneath the skin was metal and synthetics. No muscles and no bone.

"You didn't even feel that," Iowa said. "And that heart of yours…is not even beating."

Iowa forcefully moved Montana's hand onto her chest.

"Feel that?" Iowa demanded. "That is my…Theresa's beating, human heart. The one she was born with. And yours…is in some medical waste bin."

Iowa shook her head.

"The same goes for the rest of you. You had 99% of your body replaced with machinery and synthetics. Your souls are long dead. And so are your bodies.

"You will never be better than me. You will never be a real ship or Ship Girl."

Montana made an annoyed sound.

"By the way," Iowa said with a grin, her eye twitching. "You seem to be destined to never have a battleship named after you, Montana."

That seemed to do the trick.

Montana screamed and slammed Iowa repeatedly into the ground by the neck. Iowa was punched several times in the face before being stood up, Montana still holding her neck.

"This is where you die," Montana declared.

…

New Jersey looked at the board again and found that the white pawn on H8.

Well, going by the rules…

She knocked the pawn off the board and placed the white queen in its place.

"You are as short sighted as ever, Montana."

…

Iowa made a raspy laugh.

"What's so funny?" Montana demanded.

"What you said. You won't kill me…or sink me," Iowa answered.

Montana brought Iowa closer so her guns dug into Iowa's skin.

"Well, whether you like it or not, you die here."

"I know that," Iowa said, trying to nod. "But not by you. You will never sink a ship."

"I'm about to right now."

"Let's see. I sunk at least one during my careers," Iowa said, going off on what seems to be a tangent. "Katori, I think?"

Montana just scoffed.

"Loading guns."

"So that's at least one," Iowa continued. "And there are five of you here so…"

Iowa moved her hand and gave something to a fairy.

It was a milky white shell.

The fairy went into Iowa's Turret 2 and started loading Gun #2.

"What do you think you're going to do with that?" Montana asked scornfully. "It's a practice shell being loaded into that gun of yours that doesn't work."

"Oh, it works," Iowa clarified. "I never fired it so I could use it for redemption. But the consolation prize is sinking you guys."

"Pfff," Montana brushed it off.

"And you think that is a practice shell? You didn't learn much about what my weapons are capable of," Iowa said.

No one said anything.

"That is actually the Mk23. Also known as 'Katie'. It is a 20 kiloton nuclear shell."

Now that got some reactions as Iowa continued.

"You see, you will never be better than me. You will never take my spotlight. You will never take my throne as Queen of the Battleships."

The turret swiveled and aimed at the ground.

…

New Jersey knocked down the black king.

"Take care of the girls for me," was what Iowa said in her letter.

…

"Checkmate."

Iowa smiled and fired.

A/N:Like I said in the beginning, this is basically a rant.

And since misconceptions and assumptions seem popular in today's world, I'll explain the chess pieces.

I chose white for Iowa because I see her as more pure than the Montanas, NOT BECAUSE OF RACISM.

Why I see Iowa as more pure is exactly how Iowa explained it herself. She was laid down, launched, and christened. And most important of all, she existed.

The Montanas never did, which is why I see them as impure.

Now, ships like Akagi's sister ship, Amagi, or Kaga's sister ship, Tosa, or even the heavy cruiser Ibuki, I have absolutely no problems with because they were at the very least, laid down. It's like they were conceived but were then aborted and used for something else, like parts.

Poor Kentucky.

I fear that World of Warships would taint the Kancolle FF just like what World of Tanks has done to Girls und Panzer, because I cannot stand it when people get all their information from video games only. It just leads to so much wrong information. (CoD fandom is a perfect example)

Also, "Queen of the Battleships". I know Yamato and Musashi pack the bigger guns, but Iowa and her sisters have served longer than any other battleship as well as being the last battleships built by the USN.

Okay, rant over.

For those that follow my Kancolle Iron Maidens story, I am still writing it and, hopefully, Chapter 3 should be out by the end of September to early October.

To everyone, feel free to leave a review or comment, take care, and I'll catch you guys in my next story.