Note: (( and )) denote "thoughtspeak".

As Takhisis attempted to control her pieces, Ender made his first move. He had no idea what his opponents would expect him to play. Snippets of conventional wisdom floated through his head…well, those were things not to do.

"Reepicheep. Go in front of Jimmy."

"Yes, my liege!" Reepicheep strutted out.

The game was on.

Hours later Takhisis had finally gotten her pieces on the board. A brief set up: from the dark's left to right: Dakar, Lucius Malfoy, Darth Vader, The Nameless, Takhisis, Tigerstar, Tybalt, and Raistlin Majere. The pawns were, in the same order, Thread, Jonnard, Wolfjackals, The 4 sisters, Chromatic Dragons, Hulls, The Ice Witch, and Winterking.

Takhisis moved the 4 sisters up one square…

"Jonas," Ender whispered, "can you go up?"

"How far?"

"Two…" Wouldn't one do? Couldn't he protect the kid a little bit? "Two squares."

Jonas nodded, face white, and stepped ahead.

"Finally!" Takhisis roared, even though Ender had only taken a little bit of time. She moved herself in the vacated spot left by the 4 sisters.

Ender looked over at Hulls and breathed a sigh of relief, but not for long.

"Mr. Wiggin?" the mountaineer asked him.

"Yes?"

"My knight is now in mortal danger from the opposing queen. May I please interpose myself?"

"You may…" How had he missed that?

"No!" Reepicheep squeaked. "Avenge me."

"…And then get himself killed by the bishop?" Rachel laughed.

"Reepicheep. Go ahead, two and one to the right," Ender sternly ordered.

He trotted out.

"4 sisters. Move up another one."

"FINE!"

"All right!" Rachel exulted.

"Good," Ender nodded approvingly. "You're learning."

"Take that icy thing down!"

"Uh…not quite. Reepicheep, take the pawn to your right."

Reepicheep gallantly walked over to Hulls' square and poked it with his tiny sword.

"Say check."

"Check!"

"Not quite… HULLS… DO YOUR THING!"

Nine of the Hulls appeared and surrounded Reepicheep. One pulled back its hood, revealing a skeletal face. It reached for its sword with a bone-white hand. The others drew their swords as well. Then the leader stopped reaching for his sword and began to chant. There was a flash of light that reflected off the drawn swords, and Reepicheep fell over, dead.

"What dishonor is this?" the mountaineer infuriately asked.

"They're not playing by the rules," Ender shrugged.

"So neither will we!" Rachel became exhilarated.

Ender stared out at Jonas silently.

"4 sisters, you can take that measly pawn."

"Now some action!"

Jonas turned back to Ender. "Look away," Ender instructed his team.

"Oh, and you're going to watch?" Rachel stuck out her chin.

"Yes, I am." Ender was not in a joking mood.

"Don't you have anything to say?" Meg rounded on Ender.

"I can't apologize. I can't."

"Wait, you just…kill me?" Jonas asked. "No…euphemism or anything?"

The four sisters surrounded Jonas. Suddenly he felt a wave of nausea hit him. He felt so sad. His body began to shut down…

"You think they know en passant?" Melinda asked.

"I won't risk it," Ender replied. "Moraine, Rachel, any way for you to get out of where you are without passing those…things?"

"You'd have to move this boy here," Moraine said.

"Okay. Benny, two forward."

"See you," Jennifer T. muttered, trying to keep it quiet.

He nodded, touching his cap.

"Wolfjackals, now is your time. Move two up."

"Grrrrrr. Bark bark. Grrrr."

Rachel laughed. "Idiots!"

"No." Ender sagged his shoulders. "They're too good. Remember when Reepicheep tried to take the pawn? They have some trick. Rachel…"

"Yes sir."

"Take the pawn in front of you."

"Sure." She shrugged and walked up to the square in front of the four sisters, where she morphed a grizzly bear and sank her claws into the sisters. Claiming the square, she demorphed. ((Ha-ha! Dark butt kickage!))

The four sisters momentarily disappeared, but soon reappeared on Takhisis' square. Only three were left. Takhisis disappeared.

"Anybody care to explain how we pulled that off?" Selenity looked stunned.

"Well," Melinda shrugged, "maybe there was a cloning machine…"

"Involving deon…"

Suddenly there was a bright flash and out of Takhisis' beginning square a large five headed dragon emerged. Each dragon head had a different color, red, blue, green, black and white. "YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME SO EASILY? I'LL SHOW YOU!" She roared.

"Well, there's a lot to be said for girl power," Rachel commented.

"GIRL! GIRL! I AM NO GIRL, YOU PATHETIC HUMAN!"

"Human?" Rachel started into her elephant morph.

"The men were strong as well, you know, before the tainting of saidin," Moraine started before realizing that nobody was listening to her.

During the meantime, the four sisters, Nameless, Hulls and Tigerstar were moving to the far edges of their squares. "I'm not after you. Dragons, move up in front of that rogue queen."

((Better a rogue than an evil dragon thing,)) Rachel held her ground.

"You can't even speak. Of course, that may be because I am a GOD…"

"Noren, up one," Ender quickly replied before Rachel could.

"Why?" The pawn turned to face his king.

"Because that's the move I want to make."

"And why should your move be the one we make?"

"Because I'm the king."

((So? Their queen's in charge,)) Rachel retorted.

"Why are you the king?" Noren continued.

"Because I was appointed to be the king."

"Who appointed you to be the king?"

((Not me,)) Rachel rolled her eyes.

"You know, that I inferred."

((If you reach the other side of the board,)) Rachel whispered conspiratorially, ((you get promoted.))

"You're just trying to get me to move up…you're in this with him, aren't you?" Noren challenged. "Or maybe you're trying to get me to not move up…" He tentatively placed one of his feet over the line.

"Do you want him to get into the strategy behind the move?" Melinda suggested.

"Yeah, that would help."

"Pass this on." Melinda produced a computer chip containing information. It went from her to Jennifer to Moraine to Ender up to Noren, who began to read it.

"I want to see!" Selenity exclaimed.

Melinda e-mailed it over to him.

"Hmm, okay." Noren stepped up.

"Wolfjackals, Grrr. Ruff Bark."

"Grrrr. Bark bark. Grrrrrrr."

The wolfjackals lunged for the pawn . The pack of ten allowed their leader to grab him by the throat and rip out his organs, scattering them throughout the square. The leader to the head and ate it while the rest of the pack fed…

"How could you let that happen?" Jennifer T asked indignantly while hoping the blue of Benny's Dodgers hat would give the wolfjackals blood poisoning.

Ender didn't meet her angered gaze. "Moraine, go four squares out."

"You gonna be okay?" she said gently. Her pawn was throwing up.

"No," Jennifer T. looked down sullenly.

Moraine reluctantly walked to b5. "Check."

"Why did she make such a stupid move? Oh well, Hulls, move up a square…"

"Moraine?" Ender called.

She twitched. "There's no possible…"

"I know. I just…" No emotion. "Rachel, diagonally up and left one."

Rachel tried to do this as an elephant, but lumbered so slowly that she finally demorphed and walked normally.

"Finally, here's my chance." Takhisis moved herself up two squares.

Ender and Moraine stared at each other for a second.

"Behind me?" Moraine mouthed.

Ender nodded. "If you want a chance to die, you may be getting it soon. Forward two."

"That doesn't matter." Takhisis threw a cloud of magic into Rachel's square. None of the white team could see anything, but a high piercing scream echoed around the board. "Now is the time for my fun." The cloud lifted and Rachel could be seen, bent over double, clutching her stomach. Takhisis reared up onto her hind legs. Streams of red magic flowed from her body and into Rachel's belly. They didn't seem to kill though, just make her hurt. "You will die nice and slow, and before you die, it will be said how you begged for me to kill you and get it over with." Takhisis took a step forward, a magical knife appearing in her claws. She lunged it into Rachel's abdomen and sent in more magic.

Rachel strained to morph the grizzly, but Takhisis' magic prevented her. "Do you want me to stop…it?" Moraine asked kindly.

"No you won't human girl. If I wasn't constrained by the rules you can only attack once… as it is, I'll have fun with you too…" But Takhisis sent a blue wall of magic to the side of the square anyway.

"N-no…" Rachel tried to stammer, but realized it was useless.

"Why do you have to do that?" Meg asked outraged.

"Well, she's been an annoying twerp all match, she thinks she has power she doesn't have, she is mortal and good, and she is the most powerful piece on the opposing team. I say I have a very good reason to do this. Besides, this is how I kill things." The black dragon head from Takhisis' current form breathed a cloud of green gas onto Rachel's head. Rachel coughed. The white dragon aimed at her legs, a white cloud enveloping them. When the cloud dissipated, Rachel was sitting on the ground, her legs frozen in place. Tears streaked her face, she could no longer scream because of the fumes in her lungs. A burning sensation racked her whole body. But she still wouldn't die. A yellowish liquid erupted from Takhisis, and the red dragon breathed on it. It was cooking oil, and it was burning Rachel's clothes. With her last breath she screamed, "I ... will ... nev...er... give ...up!" Rachel disappeared from the square and Takhisis took her place.

Ender clenched his teeth. "Go," he commanded the pawn and nodded towards Takhisis.

"Oh yah? I can't die. You forgot, I'm a GOD. Doesn't that make sense?" But it was too late. The unfortunate pawn walked into Takhisis' square. With a twist of its head, the blue dragon sent a bolt of lightning into its chest. It died a moment later.

Ender, shocked, sat down on his square to assess the situation.

"Well, that was your turn. Now let's see how you like to die..." Takhisis moved into Moraine's square, her green dragon head spurting poison gas with the black dragon, killing Moraine from the inside out. The white dragon decided that it would have some fun too, freezing her legs and vocal cords so that she could neither move or scream. She had reached for the One Power, hoping to balefire Takhisis to oblivion, but the god's magic had severed her, the ultimate humiliation. She died a full ten minutes later, her agony apparent only from her eyes.

Ender could not control his appearance any longer. Only a kid, he waved to Anakin. "C-come up and right. One. By me..."

Anakin did so, whipping out his lightsaber.

"Wolf barks. Grr. Grr. Grrrr!"

"Bark. Grrr. Grrllw!"

The wolfjackals moved up a square.

"Kill those dog – things!" Jennifer roared.

"They come back to life," Meg reminded her.

"Yeah, but not here. Remember the ones Rachel took?"

"Remember the one Reepicheep 'took'?" Meg made quotes in the air. "Or the Dragon Queen?"

"Do it, El Gato! Go for the goal!"

At this the solemn pawn guffawed so much he was temporally incapacitated.

"Meg," Ender directed.

She moved out, face to face with the wolfjackals.

The wolfjackals growled menacingly.

"Go," Meg stated. "Die. Or away."

The wolfjackals stayed put.

"I'm not moving, so get out."

The lead wolf took a step forward.

"Attack us first," it said.

Meg took off her shoe and threw it to her right, off the board. "Go fetch."

Six of the wolfjackals jumped off the square in chase, but before they reached the shoe disappeared to the square they started on.

"You must kill one of us..." The leader said.

"I don't ..." she whirled on Ender. "What am I doing here! I can't kill them."

"Or," the leader suggested, "you can take Gruf with you, I s'pose..."

She looked at him quizzically.

"Come on, we'll leave, Gruf, stay here for her answer." The remaining wolfjackals and their leader walked back to their square.

Meg petted Gruf.

"Don't pet!"

"Sorry."

"Alright, you're back, now it's time! CHECK!" Takhisis moved diagonally to the square next to the king.

Check, she'd said, and not mate, which meant there was some move left. There was no room to interpose, and any other square he could move to would be equally threatened. If this was it, he would end it on his own terms.

"Noren!"

"What?"

"If the game goes on ... without me, you're calling the moves."

"We can make a game tree!" Selenity and Melinda called.

"No. Noren's in charge."

Ender stepped over the line, and extended a hand to Takhisis.