Alright, this duel might get a little bit confusing. If you do not know much about chess, I suggest you look at the author's note. I have tried my best to explain. If you don't get it, then I apologize. _

*Chapter 16: Checkmate! Or is it?*

"Hope? Hey, can you hear me?"

Hope slowly opened her eyes. "Hi Rue. Did we make it?"

"By the looks of it, yes. We are back in the town… or what is left of it."

Will and Max were already up, and so were the Soul Monsters. Neo was asking Will a question that apparently had nothing to do with their mission, by the murderous look Will was giving him. Olympion looked as bored as ever, while Ruecian and Gaston were scanning the area. Gaston suddenly started.

"Hope, there's a guard over there. If he sees us, we'll be thrown out. We have to go in the direction of the lake."

Hope nodded in agreement. "Ok, then let's go."

They walked quietly out of the town, and were soon making their way down to the lake.

*****

At the lake, Will decided on their next course.

"Let's take the long way around town and go to the mountains. Out of all the areas, I doubt guards are there."

"Good call," Rue nodded. "So let's get going."

"HEY, YOU!"

Neo flinched. "Great; we've been found."

About five officials were running down toward them, cutting off any escape route. "You four! Stop! Don't go any further!"

"Like heck if we listen to them!" Hope began frantically searching her deck. "Drat, drat, drat, I have no cards to get us across this lake! We're outnumbered if this comes down to a fight!"

They were getting closer, when suddenly, glowing swords rained down from the sky, paralyzing the officials.

"The Sealing Swords Of Light will only last a short time," Will said. "Let's get out of here!"

They ran quickly by, making for the mountains. After a while, they slowed their pace.

"That's odd… they should have been able to break free in time to follow us," Will said, puzzled.

"I activated my own Swords," Hope explained. "No problem in a little more time, right?"

"Good one," Rue complimented. "Let's just keep going."

*****

"Here we are," Hope said. "The mountains. They are way too tall to climb though."

"That's what this is for," Rue said, taking a card out of his pocket. "I came prepared; I brought some cards that aren't in my deck for use here. Such as the Dark-Piercing Light."

"Good," Max said.

"So I'll activate Time Capsule!" Rue shouted. "This card can transport us a considerable distance, so I choose the top of the mountain!"

A huge explosion occurred, and a cry of shock. When the smoke cleared, it revealed Neo barely holding onto the edge of a huge pit.

"A little help here?!" Neo shouted.

"Uh… right. Lifeline!" Rue threw down a rope which Neo caught. With some help from Will and Gaston, Neo was soon laying at the edge, gasping for breath.

"You idiot!" Will yelled. "That wasn't Time Capsule!"

"What the heck happened?" Rue looked at the card he was holding. "Oh, whoops. Looks like I picked up my spare Bottomless Pit Trap." Rue looked at Neo guiltily. "Er… sorry."

Neo got up, glaring. "If I was allowed to, my sword would meet your heart in a very painful manner."

"Won't happen again," Rue assured. He picked out another card, making sure it was the right card this time. "NOW I use Time Capsule!"

The Soul Monsters immediately retreated into their cards as four coffins appeared. Everyone got into the coffins, and waited patiently. After a few minutes, the coffins stopped moving, and everyone got out. The coffins vanished when they left them.

Hope was speechless. "Wow… the view is amazing!"

Indeed it was. Hope could barely make out the lake in the distance, although the sunlight coming off it nearly blinded her. The town was recognizable, and the forest was easy to see too. On the other side of the mountain was, as far as she could see, rolling hills. Beautiful green grass stretched far beyond her eye sight.

"So what now?" Will said. "We're up here, so what do we do? Look around? Max, what are you looking at?"

Max just pointed. It appeared to be a temple of some sort. The temple's right and left sides were black, while the front and back were white. The stairs leading up alternated between black and white. The columns looked like something in roman times; they too were black and white. There were many statues, all of monsters Hope didn't recognize. Apparently though, Max did.

"The Chess Demons…" Max said in awe.

Indeed.

Hope jumped as she heard a voice inside her head. Rue immediately brought the battle ax to an attack position, and Will glanced around wildly.

"That's Olympion," Max explained. "He can talk telepathically to anyone he wants to."

"Oh…" Hope shuddered. Olympion's voice was pretty creepy in her opinion. It wasn't like she would tell him that though.

"Should we go inside?" she suggested.

"I'm game. No pun intended," Neo joked.

"Lame," Will commented.

They all walked up the steps, Max in the lead. He threw open the doors, and they walked inside. Everyone stared.

It was a cubic room, with no other doorways. The walls were made up of huge, checkered black and white patterns. Chess Demons were shown doing battle. Hope turned away in disgust from one of the more gruesome ones; a Genocide King Demon hacking off a much smaller demon's head, blood flying everywhere. She instead looked at the floor, and saw the same pattern as on the walls.

"It's a chess board…" Hope was stunned by how it looked. "My dad taught me how to play chess, so I can recognize things like this straight off."

"Very clever."

The door behind them slammed shut behind them, leaving them in darkness.

"It looks like you found your way here. Good job. Are you ready to play my game?" the voice asked.

"It would help if we could see," Will noted.

"My apologies. Here, allow me to help."

Suddenly, torches on the walls sprang to life, crackling with fire. The light fell across a man and his Soul Monster. The customary black cloak of Generals was discarded by the man, and they got a good look at him.

The man wore a rather interesting array of clothing. His shirt was white, and his pants were black. One of his socks was white; the other was black. The shoe on his foot with the white sock was black; the other shoe was white. His hair was white, but he wore a black top hat over it. He wore a bow tie that had one side black, and the other white. All in all, he looked absolutely ridiculous, but fit the decor well. The only thing that wasn't black or white was the fiery, glowing orb.

The monster was quite the contrast. A horrifying mass of muscles and bones, the creature seemed somehow related to Olympion. However, compared to Olympion, this guy was a shrimp. One of his huge hands had three razor-sharp claws; the other arm ended in a sword. His evil, red eyes glared at them all.

"Welcome to your last battle ground, all of you. I am another General of Hell. You may call me Echecs. This is my fighter, Paul. He is a Hell Pawn Demon."

"So, you wish to duel one of us?" Will assumed.

"Obviously. The field is chosen, and the armies are ready. All we need is the king to lead them." He stepped forward, onto the position of where a black king would go. Paul stepped onto the queen's position.

"I will duel you," Max said. "Out of everyone here, I am the one who knows most about demons." He stepped onto the white king's position, Olympion stepping onto the queen's.

"The loser will die, but I think you already guessed that. So no more stalling, let's begin."

Max: 8000

Echecs: 8000

"White always goes first," Echecs said.

"Alright. I draw. Hah! I drew Demon King Of The Underworld: Hades, so my Deck Master's ability activates!" Olympion slashed Echecs across the chest. "Hm… I will lay one monster in defense mode, and one card face down. That will end my turn."

Max: 8000

Echecs: 7500

"I will summon Shadow Knight Demon! (2000/1600) A front-line attacker first turn. Usually pawns move forward first, but knights do have the tendency to jump ahead, wouldn't you say? He attacks your defensive monster!"

"You attacked my Twilight Zone Trainer! (100/2000) We meet equally."

"Ah, a stalemate. Just like when two pawns meet in the center of the field. Of course, there IS an easy way to get around that; kill one of the pawns, and the lock is broken. I will take care of that soon enough Max, but for now, I will just lay two cards face down and end my turn."

Max stared at him. "How do you know my name?"

"Let's just say I know more about you than you wish. Like how your dear daddy died…"

Max's temper flared. "What?! Shut up! You don't know how he died! There's no way!"

"Taunting your opponent is a good strategy, you know," Echecs lectured. "Oh, I know all of your past that you have tried so hard to bury. The painful memories that are your true weakness!"

Hope glared at him. "What are you talking about?"

Echecs laughed. "It is so typical that you didn't tell anyone. I don't blame you."

"Silence! I sacrifice Twilight Zone Trainer for Demon King Of The Underworld: Hades! Attack his Knight!"

"Your emotions have overruled your common sense, just as I planned. I activate Attack Nullification, ending your Battle Phase. Just be thankful that I didn't have a Mirror Force down."

"Argh… I'm done."

"It is my turn now. I draw…"

"And you lose 900 Life Points because of your Knight's effect," Max stated.

"Normally, I would. But not with Paul as the Deck Master. I do not have to pay for any of the chess demons when he is in this position. Quite a tactic, wouldn't you say?"

"Argh… so there is no penalty to you playing your Chess Demons!"

Echecs nodded. "You catch on quickly. Even when you were ten, you caught on quickly, didn't you?"

Max snarled.

"Now now, that isn't a nice thing to do. Act civilized! Bad sportsmanship will get you nowhere," Echecs taunted. "Now, before I make my move, I think your friends should have some back ground info on their dear friend, before he is sent to Hell."

"No!" Hope protested. "Max will tell us when he is ready, and not sooner!"

"He would, but I won't give him that chance. I will tell you everything."

"Just make your damn turn!" Max yelled.

"Patience; a good player takes his time planning moves. Now, where did it all begin…?"

FLASHBACK

A younger version of Max was walking home with a man that appeared to be his father. They were laughing happily together, talking about what appeared to be a baseball game.

"Son, I just need to pick up some money from the back, and then we can go home. Is that ok with you?" his father asked.

"Of course it is Dad!"

They were about to arrive at their destination, when suddenly, a man clothed completely in black stepped out of the shadows.

"Listen up, and listen well, because I'm not repeating myself. Empty all of your cash from your bank vault, and give it to me. If you do this, I won't be forced to go to drastic measures."

Max's father just shook his head. "No. My family needs this money. Please, just walk away quietly, and I won't be forced to report you."

The bank robber stood still for a minute, and then suddenly drew a gun, and fired. Max's father fell over, a shower of blood falling from the wound in his chest.

The robber swore and ran, leaving Max to sit over his father's body, sobbing, crying, begging him to wake up and comfort him…

END FLASHBACK

"Poor Max was only ten!" Echecs smirked. "How… tragic."

"How dare you!" Rue shouted. "You must have seen it; why didn't you help?!"

"Oh, I wasn't there. But I will explain in a minute how I knew."

"Max…" Hope said. "Is this true?"

Max seemed to not here her, and then slowly nodded. "Yes… it's true… how he knows is beyond me, though…"

"Why don't you continue the story, Max?" Echecs suggested. "You know better than me."

Max glared at him, but spoke his piece. "My mom was devastated… or so she seemed to be. But she had a boyfriend… my step father. They married shortly after my father's death. Neither me, nor my sister liked him. We loathed him and his hard, cruel, cold personality. He tried to make us like him, but I could see he didn't really care… A few days later, the bank robber was caught. I was asked if I recognize him, and I said yes. My step father was allowed to pick how he died. He said that if the robber agreed to be gunned down by a firing squad, he would give the robber's family enough money to last them for a while. That is one thing my step father was; very rich.

The robber agreed, as his family was poor. I thought nothing of this… but…" Max broke off, refusing to go on.

"Has your memory failed you, Max? Don't worry, I remember full well."

FLASHBACK

The firing squad were all aiming their guns at the robber. The robber simply stood there, waiting for it to be done. There were two spectators though.

"No! Let me go! I don't want to watch!" Max yelled. He tried to struggle out of his step father's grip, but it was too strong. "Please, let me go!"

His step father held his eyes open, forcing him to watch. He nodded. In a voice that was as cold as ice, he gave the order. "Do it."

Too many bullets to count flew into the robber. He gave one pained cry before falling, dead. Max was too horrified to struggle. The smell of too much blood was almost too much for him to bear. He just gave a soft whimper.

The step father whispered one thing to Max. Just one thing that changed his life forever.

"It is all your fault."

END FLASHBACK

Hope was trying to stiffen tears that were threatening to overwhelm her. "What a wicked man!"

"It was good for him," Echecs laughed. "It convinced him to run away with his sister, as far away as he could get from his mother and step father. He and his sister have lived alone for more than six years now. Quite a tear jerker, wouldn't you say?"

"How?" Max asked quietly. "How did you know?"

"Simple. I was one of the troops in the firing squad."

"WHAT?!" Max yelled. "You were one of the ones who killed that robber?"

"Yes, I was. Life is all about strategy, Max. For doing the horrible deed, I got a promotion in ranks. That was quite an advantage in the game of life for me, wouldn't you say?"

"That's it! I've had enough! Just make your move!" Max looked like he wanted to attack the cocky figure standing in front of him.

"Oh, all right. Story time is over, for now. I summon Hell Pawn Demon. (1200/200) And then I play the card Power Of Teamwork on my Pawn! (2800/1800) Now, attack his Dark Ruler! And my Knight will attack directly!"

Max gave a yell of pain at the Knight's sword slashed him across the chest, wincing as he looked at his Life Point counter.

Max: 6650

Echecs: 7500

"My Life Point counter must be wrong," Max muttered. "I should have lost 1000 more Life Points from that hit…"

"No, your counter is correct. Damage that my Knight does to you is halved."

"Well, I won't complain. Good… I drew X-E-N-O. I also drew Newt. Meh, that's where my chain ends."

Max: 6650

Echecs: 6500

"I summon Newt to the field, and equip him with my own Power Of Teamwork! (2700/1200) Next, I use Force! I will take half of your Pawn's attack power!"

"That was a poor move. My Pawn has an effect you know. I roll a die, and if it lands on three, my Pawn is safe."

The virtual die rolled around on the board, until it landed on a six. Max sighed with relief.

"Don't think you are off the hook yet! All strategies must have back-up plans! I activate my trap card, Reverse Dice! I get to reroll one dice roll this turn!"

The die landed on…

"Hah, a three!"

"No! Well, in that case, I will lay one card face down. Now, my Newt attacks your Knight!"

Newt rushed forward, but stopped as a barrier blocked the attack.

"What?"

"My Pawn's effect makes it so that you cannot attack any other Chess Demon on the field besides itself. Care to still try that move? Your hand never left the piece!"

"I end my turn…"

"A wise choice on your part. Now, don't think your face down card has me fooled. I know you probably think you are safe hiding behind it, so I will just have to dispose of it by playing Cyclone!"

"No! That was my Attack Nullification!"

"I am well aware of your other card, so I cannot risk playing another monster to join my army… yet. Hell Pawn, attack and destroy Newt!"

"I activate Torture Wheel! Your monster is trapped."

"For a short time. I end my turn."

Max: 6650

Echecs: 6000

"I set one monster in defense mode. I also switch Newt to defense mode. I'm done."

That's probably his X-E-N-O. I won't give him time to get it off though… "I play the magic card Black Hole! All of our monsters are destroyed!"

"So much for my X-E-N-O." Max looked worried.

"I will summon UFO Turtle! (1400/1000) Attack his Life Points!"

Max: 5250

Echecs: 6000

"I summon Gil Gars! Attack the Turtle!"

Max: 5250

Echecs: 5600

"Thank you. When you destroy my Turtle as a result of battle, I get to search for one card that is under 1500 attack, and is a Fire Main-Type monster. It is immediately summoned to the field. So meet my Inferno Demon Queen! (900/1500)"

"That's a pitiful monster. I lay one card face down, and that's it."

"Oh, is it? Well, each Standby Phase, I can increase one Demon monster on my field's attack by 1000! (1900/1500) Now, I summon Genocide King Demon! (2000/1500)"

Olympion snarled at his counterpart on the field.

"Now, my Queen will attack your Gil Gars! And my King will attack directly!"

"Not so fast! I use Cry Of The Living Dead to bring back Newt! When he is destroyed, your King will lose 500 attack points!"

Max: 5050

Echecs: 5600

"I advise you look again."

Max was shocked to see the King was still at 2000 attack. "How?"

"All effect monsters' effects are negated when destroyed by my King. Now, I lay one card face down and end my turn. I am afraid my Queen will lose her boost though. (900/1500) It doesn't matter though. You are in checkmate Max; just accept defeat!"

"Correction; I am in check. Checkmate is only when there is no hope left. But for me, there is!" Max drew and smiled. "I summon Demon Soldier, (1900/1500) and equip him with Mask Of Attrocities! That raises my monster's attack by 1000! (2900/1500) I lay one card face down, and attack your King!"

"Aw, what a pity. But I still have the option to castle! I can discard Death Rook from my hand (1100/1800) to special summon Genocide King Demon from the Cemetery!"

Max: 5050

Echecs: 4700

"I lay one more card down, and that's it.."

"You have escaped once, but now you lose! My Queen will give my King the power boost first of all. (3000/1500) And then, I summon Dark Bishop Demon! (300/1300)

Max smirked. "Tough luck. I use Tidal Wave! All our monsters are destroyed."

"What a pity. It's a good thing I kept these two cards. I play Emissary Of Peace! Now no monster about 1500 may attack. Then, I lay down one other card."

Max drew, and smirked. "I play Jar Of Greed, to gain two more cards. And by the looks of these cards, this duel is about to be over."

"My strategies have been all planned out! You cannot hope to win!"

"Think again. I summon another Demon Soldier, and play Cyclone! There goes your last hope. Now, Demon Soldier attacks!"

"I activate Attack Nullification to save myself."

"I lay one more card down, and I'm done."

Echecs laughed at his next card. "How lucky! I drew another Shadow Knight Demon! Attack Demon Soldier!"

Max: 5000

Echecs: 4750

Max drew, and shook his head. "All I can do is end…"

"Hah! Then it's over! I summon another Genocide King Demon! In one more turn, checkmate will be declared!"

Max laughed. "You fell for my trap!"

"What?"

"Behold, the card Ambush! When you summon a monster, I can summon one level four or lower Dark Main-Type from my hand! So I call forth Giant Orc! (2200/0)"

"That can't be! My strategy… All I can do is end…"

"Well, what do you know? I drew my Dark Necrophia!"

Max: 5000

Echecs: 4250

"I remove Gil Gars, Hades, and Twilight Zone Trainer to summon it! (2200/2800) She will attack your King, and my Orc will attack your Knight!"

Max: 5000

Echecs: 3850

"No… all my techniques… wasted… all I can do is summon another Dark Demon Bishop and attack Giant Orc…"

"I drew Newt."

Max: 5000

Echecs: 3350

"I summon Newt, and equip it with Demon Axe! You're the one in checkmate, Echecs!"

"No! It can't be!"

"Necrophia, attack his Bishop! Newt, destroy the king of the game!"

Echecs screamed as he was sliced by the axe-wielding demon.

Max: 5000

Echecs: 0

Echecs shook in fright and pain. "No… I have never lost… never… my plans… my tactics… were flawless…"

The spectators suddenly jumped away from the door as the statues of the Chess Demons flew in. Menacing cold, hard stone moved effortlessly toward the losers. Echecs and Paul didn't even have time to gasp before their heads were sliced neatly off. The Genocide King Demon statue picked up Echecs; the Inferno Queen Demon got Paul. They flew out of the temple as quickly as they had come. Hope looked outside, but they weren't even in sight.

To be continued…

Author's Notes: As you may have noticed, this chapter had a lot of chess terms. For those of you who don't play chess, I will explain what these terms meant.

#1: Echecs is Chess in a different language.

#2: The king always goes on his color on the board when setting the game up. The queen goes on the opposite of her color. So Echecs stood on a black square, and Max on a white square. Hence why the story said they stepped on as the black king and white king.

#3: In chess, white always moves first. Since Max was in the white king's position, he got to go first.

#4: When two pawns meet in the middle of a board, facing each other straight across, it is a lock. Neither pawn can move until another piece eliminates one of the pawns. Or that pawn could move diagonally… if there was another piece for it to capture. Confused? Don't worry. Just assume that when Echecs said his piece about pawns, he meant they were at a stalemate.

#5: Castling… ugh. Ok, I hope this is good enough to show you what it is. When you have moved neither a rook nor a king, you can castle. Let me explain what it is…

R##K (R=Rook, K=King, #=Blank Space)

Then when you castle, you move the king and rook into these positions…

#KR#

At least, that's how I have learned. You can also do this with the other rook. What I am getting at is that the rook basically moves the King into a more favorable position, hence the statement Echecs made.

#5: Check means that one of the kings is in a position that will kill him next turn. The player who controls that king MUST move him.

#6: Checkmate means the king will be captured next turn, no matter what. Game over. The player who controls that king loses.