"Okay guys, you need to get in your spots. Let me find that chart..." Charlie addressed the light's new chess team. "It's in here somewhere... Ah, here we go." From a black binder, he pulled out a diagram showing where the pieces would go. He walked across the board, to the pawn's square furthest from the queen.
"Jasmine!" he called. Then he turned around and walked towards the other side of the board along the pawn line. "Bluestar, Soren, Jason, Lessa, Maerad, Cho, Ellen!" He walked down until he was standing in the rook's square and noticed the pieces were still standing in a confused bunch. "Go ahead and move!" he told them. The pieces moved into their squares, still looking a little confused.
"Sindri," he walked back across the board, "Sir Dinadan, Rachel, Kendall," he paused in a square, then moved on, "me, Deja, Holly, and Ember." Then he walked back around the pieces into his own square. "I'm Charlie Eppes, and I will be your king this match." he said. "Let's see: Does anyone know where the dark team is?"
He sounds like a teacher already, thought something that no one could see.
"Do we need the dark team?" asked the bishop standing on a black square.
"Well, they need to see the first move."
"They'll figure it out. The moved piece will be the only one which is in front of the row of pawns."
"Yes, well, okay. Jason, move up two." He removed a Post-It from the chart in his hands and placed back down. The dark-haired boy looked confused, but walked nonchalantly to the desired square. The game had begun.
An extraterrestrial paced nervously on its square. Nestled in the corner, it declared firmly, "Let's get this over with."
An irregularly large man standing in front of him produced a chess clock. "I am the official referee. I can declare us the winners."
"That wouldn't be right," worried a girl two squares down from the alien.
"Right? May I remind you that we are on the evil team?" an ugly creature with superficial resemblance to both prunes and dinosaurs, in front of the girl, sneered.
But before she could respond, she was approached by a young man. "Excuse me, ma'am, is this your square?"
She nodded.
"Oh. Dear. I was planning on occupying it."
"There's another bishop's square over there," she pointed eagerly.
"Er, I would have preferred to stand on this one. It's..."
"White?"
"So it is."
"Have we established that we are the bad guys?" the pawn repeated.
"I prefer "misinterpreted"."
Ashleigh remained reluctant to move.
Asmodean shook his head. "I'm being so rude. Let me be a gentleman." He strolled off towards the other bishop's square.
"Oh, you didn't have to sacrifice that for me...ah...oh well?" Asleif directed her attention towards the square to her right, where two brothers were engaged in a serious argument.
"You couldn't take anything, you weakling!"
"Here's the deal," Sirrus grinned, "You can be the knight when I'm taking, and to be fair, being taken. Otherwise me."
"Eh, okay," Achenar accepted grudgingly. He sat down outside the board as Sirrus took the square.
But he, too, would quickly leave it, to inspect the remaining pawns and claim the best for himself. "Mr...Macnair?"
The man addressed grinned. "At your service." Lugging an ax with him, he stepped next to the Drode.
"Hey, get out of the way, dude." A fireball attempted to pass Asmodean up.
"Excuse me, this is my square."
"I'm gonna be in front of you. Move it."
"You pose a risk to my square..." Asmodean knelt down. Indeed, the board was made of wood. This was not a comforting thought.
A boy noticed Trogdor. "Hey. You. Torch the board just enough so that this punk can't burn it again."
"I do not torch..." he replied arrogantly, "I BURNINATE! But if you wish..." Fire erupted from his mouth, scalding the squares.
Sparky edged past Asmodean.
"Burninating-person-thingie..." Andy Mitchell continued, "you can be my pawn."
A horseman galloped up between Andy and Asmodean. "Ready to cause havoc?"
An abominable snowman nodded.
"You should probably get between those two?" The rider pointed to the pyromaniacs.
He nodded and moved to the designated location.
A ferret approached another adolescent girl. "Would I be correct in assuming you are the queen?"
She nodded.
"I suppose I'll be your pawn. I've been beaten to the fringe spots, and I don't want to be the king's...Speaking of which, where is he?"
"The king for this side is just "Nothing"."
"Ah," Zigu said, taking his place in front of her. "How did you know that?"
"I can't really tell you that."
A hydrogen-bomb bounced next to Zigu. "Heya! I'm Ziggy!"
"Zigu."
"I know my own name!"
"I'm telling you mine."
"Zigu?"
"Yes..."
War galloped in front of Sparky, attacking Jason.
"Hmm," Charlie thought. "Soren, move up one." The barn owl wobbled forward, but toppled over. He slowly righted himself then tried to flap, but he was unable to leave the ground.
"Here!" Ellen called. She dug in her knapsack and found a stick. She tossed it to Soren's square. Deja placed Soren on the stick, reaching over the boarder of their squares. He took off and hovered, looking for a way to land.
Maybe Digger would have been the better choice, the unknown spectator thought of the burrowing owl and his ability to walk on land.
Briar? Deja thought Can you help me? But of coarse there was no answering plant magic to right the stick. So she made a metal cap out of the living metal on her hand and screwed it on the end. Then she threw it and the stick stayed upright. Soren landed, looking a little embarrassed.
Ziggy moved forward two squares and grinned at Jason.
Charlie picked up another Post-It and placed it down. "Cho, go up one." She blinked then strolled forward.
Zigu brandished his rapier and moved next to Ziggy. Then he turned around. "What did I do that for?"
"I dunno," Ziggy answered honestly.
"Jason, you can take the ferret." The small boy drew forth a crystal and a bright light like a sword appeared. It sliced through the ferret's head and the body disappeared. Triumphantly the boy stepped into the vacated square.
War galloped forward and attacked Jason viciously, cutting off his head. Jason disappeared.
"Maerad, move up two." Grumbling, she moved.
War directed his horse to Maerad's left.
"Ellen, up one." She stepped forward tentatively.
War retreated to the square in front of the Drode.
"Bluestar, next to Soren." Charlie commanded. The gray cat yowled and complied.
Asmodean strutted out in front of War.
"Soren, you can move up one." The owl took flight and grabbed the stick in the process. He settled back down.
Ziggy moved another square forward.
"Lessa, go up one too." She walked ahead nervously. The gold dragon that shared her square bugled and followed her.
Asmodean walked purposefully to Holly's square. Seizing the One Power, he killed her, leaving no trace of his action.
"Ember, take him." Charlie responded. Ember stepped forward.
"What do I do? Bore him with a math lecture?"
"You do math too?" Charlie asked.
"Yah. What do I do?"
"Maybe you could use your pencil?" She gripped her pencil and stabbed it into his eye.
"Ow!" He stumbled backwards and disappeared.
Ziggy moved to Lessa's square. The moment he had waited for had finally arrived, even if he would only be wasting it on a pawn. "Ziggy-boogy-doog!"
Instantaneously, both of them disappeared. The ash produced from the explosion drifted in every direction, settling on Maerad's square in particular.
Maerad coughed and fell over.
"UP ONE!" Charlie cried in concern.
She managed to crawl up, but died anyways.
The dark queen, by instinct, began to move towards Kendall before realizing that something was wrong. Why am I doing this? she thought. She tried to stop, but it was as if her feet were moving on their own. She started to remember something...
Who is there. Is that you, Ember? Are you the one in charge of this chess game? Was I in charge of the other team? Do I have to take Kendall? She's one of my favorite characters, and I thought you told me you didn't sacrifice queens!
Meanwhile, she was still walking towards the square. Just tell me you need me to, give me a good reason. I don't want to kill her!
She had reached the square. She stopped. She started to lift her fist... NOOO! she thought, I WILL NOT! with the last of her will she turned around and walked back towards her square.
"I don't?" the rook on h1 said to herself. "It's a trade, for one thing. And I want to deny you the right to castle...this isn't working." She let the queen return to her original square.
Andy stepped off his square and began walking to his right. As he crossed from g8 to f8, he disappeared from view for a moment. Then he came back, panting, and fell to his knees.
Charlie looked at Kendall and shrugged. She looked back at him accusingly.
"Why'd you let that happen? I'm the most important piece on this board. We need to win!"
"It's obvious that whomever's in charge there is loosing control. That queen looked like she wanted to take you, but was told not to. But we really need something offensive. I just can't count on their leader to keep you safe. What would you want?"
"To kick their asses." Kendall replied simply.
"Fine, Deja, move two diagonally to your left."
She stepped forward, brandishing her staff and glaring at the other queen.
What did I do to have my favorites all hate me? The distressed queen thought to herself.
Andy recovered enough to take another step to his right. "Check."
Charlie looked at Kendall apologetically. "I think you have one thing wrong, you are the most powerful piece on this board. The king is the most important. Deja, move in front of me."
She stepped backwards without taking her eyes off the opposing queen.
War's horse galloped two squares closer to the light half of the board and one to his left, placing him between the queens.
Charlie looked apologetically at Deja, then at Kendall. "Ember," he called, "Move up one."
The girl looked up, looking deep in thought. "What?"
"Move up," Charlie repeated.
"Oh." She took as step forward.
War moved to Deja's square and pierced her through the chest.
Charlie grimaced and then looked at Ember. "Take it," he told her. Grimly, she nodded. Slowly she walked over two squares and lifted her pencil. Then she decided to do something else, she took her graphing calculator from her pocket and lifted it over her head. The red horse whinnied and bucked backwards. The two fell over and disappeared. Ember stepped into the square.
Ember waved to the rook across the board-like her, it had started on a white square. "You're in charge."
"What!" Charlie asked, stunned and surprised. "You're in charge of their team? You, you..." he couldn't complete his sentence from anger.
"You're in charge." she repeated to the alien. It was too stunned to reply, so she continued. "Rachel! When-" She tried to finish the sentence but no words came out. "Stupid noninterference statutes."
The alien finally replied. "But I hate chess! What do I do?"
"Win." She waved Andy forward. He produced a remote control that directed a robot to topple her off her feet.
"Check," he said casually, sweeping hair out of his face.
Charlie took a deep breath and looked across the board. He noticed that the opposing queen was crying.
"Ember!" She shouted. She sat on her square.
"Kendall," Charlie ignored the other queen, "Take the rook in front of me."
She pulled a stack of chips from her pocket and gave them to Andy. "Have a good time in Pine Valley. Say hi to Zach for me; he's in charge of the casino. Have a good time loosing." He looked at the chips confused then ran off the board.
A pink portal appeared off to the side of the board. Andy stepped through
and held on to the chips.
Kendall pulled out her cell-phone and
dialed. Surprisingly, it still worked.
"Hi Zach, this is Kendall. I've sent
someone to your casino with the old
chips. Can you take care of him for me?
Don't let him know the chips are out
of date, he may suspect something.
Thank you, I'll explain when I get back.
Love you, bye."
The alien began computations. "Okay, we're just going to finish this. Uh...you?" it asked the queen. "Mind moving in front of Sparky?"
"No, not at all." She stood up and walked over.
"Okay, Kendall, walk over there until you are on the other side. Then say 'Check Mate,'" Charlie whispered.
Kendall took a deep breath and walked over.
"CHECK MATE!" she proclaimed.
"No it isn't!" the alien retorted. It scrutinized its team's queen. "Well...maybe it is."
"What do we do now?" asked a small, childlike being from the light's back corner, his high voice carrying above the rest of the noise.
"Well, they still have to move so Kendall can take their king," Charlie told the kender.
"Well, I could just magic him away," Sindri told him.
"But we're playing chess. You can't 'just magic him away' in chess."
"I still could."
"I thought kender didn't have magic?" The opposing queen asked.
"But I do!" The kender said proudly. "It all started with this prophecy that one of my family would have magic from the sun instead of the moons. My Uncle..."
No one was listening, but the kender rambled on.
"So what do we do?" Kendall asked.
"Like I said, wait for that alien to make his move."
The alien was now more confused than before, which was saying something. "But...I thought it was over?"
"Evidently it isn't," Andy drawled from off the board, "so hurry up."
"But...what do I do?"
"Whatever you want."
"I don't want to do anything!...well, maybe we'll get lucky. Take the rook," he instructed the queen.
"But," she stammered, "I don't want to take the rook. He's so funny."
"Okay then...come up with a move, and make it."
"Okay," she said nervously. She moved one square to her right so that she was in front of Charlie. "Check," she said.
"Charlie," Kendall asked, "where's their king?"
"I'm not sure," he responded.
"How am I supposed to take a piece you can't see?"
"Well, I think that they castled. So he should be two to your right."
"What if you're wrong?"
"Then we lose."
"So I could technically take their queen and stop that."
"No. You'll be taken and we won't have another chance like this for a while. Take the king."
"So how do I take the thing I can't see?"
"I don't know. Be creative."
"Charlie, I just woke up from a coma. I can't be creative."
"Just think of something. I can't argue with you."
"This is for Zach, if I can ever get back to him." She sucked in her breath and stepped over to the square Charlie specified.
"Get out of here." She commanded.
"How do I know if he's gone?" she asked.
"That rook looked like he could feel him. Can you feel something there?"
"No."
"Then find him!"
Reaching around she felt a shiver run through her. "Is it ... a ghost? Are there such things as ghosts?" She grabbed and pulled. The presence left.
"He's gone, I think."
"Okay, now what?" Suddenly sirens blared. "GAME OVER. GAME OVER. GAME OVER." a voice repeated. A purple portal appeared on the square that was two to Soren's left. "LIGHT TEAM STAY HERE. DARK TEAM GO HOME." The voice said.
"What?" asked Charlie, once again confused.
"LIGHT TEAM..."
"Okay, whatever."
Meanwhile The dark team was moving towards the portal. The pieces jumped through the portal one by one. Finally only the queen was left.
"I don't want to go home either," she said. "I want to talk. You have always been my heroes, and I want to thank you for serving as my team."
"What, you were working for us? How?"
"You didn't kill me!" Sindri exclaimed.
"But why did you want to kill Kendall?"
"I didn't want to kill Kendall. That's why she didn't die."
"But, but... oh, never mind."
"I won't go home with the rest of that team. I will stay here to see what is happening."
"I don't think that you have much choice.
"I think I do." She sat on her square.
"PORTAL CLOSING. PORTAL CLOSING. PORTAL..." The purple portal began to disappear. A green portal appeared in it's place.
"LIGHT TEAM. GO HOME. LIGHT TEAM. GO HOME. LIGHT TEAM..."
The light team eagerly jumped through the portal and went home. The dark's queen stopped Kendall. "Before you go, don't ever lose Zach," she told her.
"I won't," the other queen promised.
They jumped through the portal, side by side.
The fire that had started when Sparky had crossed the board in a fervor sizzled as the board went up in flames.