by Vlane Carter
Chapter 10: King Me
“Jaden… Jaden.”
The familiar voice wakes Jaden. He is lying on his bed back in his guest room looking at Bellona from his artificial body.
“I’m back already?”
“Yes, you’ve been sleeping for six and a half hours since leaving the Spidone Solar System,” Bellona says.
Jaden looks across the room and he sees his human body floating in the virtual bathtub.
“The Gravhawk is okay?”
“Yes, it’s fine. You seemed to have had a nice, safe exciting trip. That is how we have fun, challenge each other and working as a team,” she says.
“Yes, it was exciting. I liked it. I feel so lucky. Was there any word from the elder council about me going back home?” He asks while sitting at the end of the bed.
“No, I’m sorry.”
“I need to get my mind off a few things. Do you know how to play chess?”
Bellona instantly downloads how to play the game from Jaden’s memories of his father teaching him.
“Now I do,” Bellona says, “I have something you might like.”
The room changes into a forest with tall trees. A life-sized chess game appears over the grass with leaves on it. Thousands of yellow and brown leaves slowly fall towards the ground. A brisk wind is blowing leaves through the air. The chess pieces look like men in shiny armor from medieval times. They stand at their proper places with the king and queen standing as the tallest pieces in the rear. The sky is very cloudy and the wind is howling in all directions. The leaves hit the standing chess pieces as they reflect in the shiny armor.
‘This is amazing. This is like a real life chess game. I had a dream similar like this, years ago. What are they?’ Jaden asks telepathically from his nanoeye viewing from above.
‘They are computer animated and programmed to follow the rules of the game.’
‘Cool. They look like real people.’
Jaden looks around the fifty by fifty foot chess area in the middle of the forest. The board is set up as always, with two rooks, two knights, two bishops, eight pawns, and a king and queen on each side.
‘I’m ready,’ Jaden says.
‘What color do you prefer?’
‘Black.’
Jaden moves to his side and concentrates on moving a pawn. The pawn walks a few steps and stands in one place. It makes clanking sounds as all the pieces of armor rub against one another. Bellona moves a pawn.
‘This is cool. They move like in Battle Chess, but better and more realistic. Do they fight each other also?’
‘You’ll have to see.’
‘Okay, why are there extra nanoeyes all around here?’ He asks.
‘There are spectators interested in watching this primitive game created by humans.’
He moves his knight as Bellona moves pieces. They continue to move the pieces one by one, very quickly. The pieces begin to fight each other with weapons. The loser is thrown to the side of the board by the other chess piece.
‘Did you see that? That was awesome. That piece was tossed like a wrestler.’
Other pieces are taken from both sides.
‘I wasn’t able to think so fast before, how are we playing so fast?’
‘You’re thinking is three times as fast as it used to be. You are using forty-five percent of your brain now. You can calculate things much faster,’ Bellona says.
‘Cool. You are playing like a supercomputer. You move right after I move.’
‘I’m thinking rather slowly. I’m averaging half a second a move,’ Bellona says.
‘Hmmm… I wonder,’ Jaden says as an idea comes to him.
Jaden goes into the king, still standing in his original place.
“I’m the king. Look at me. I’m able to move him, cool!” Jaden yells aloud.
Game Error is displayed above the game.
Jaden walks around the board inside the king’s body.
“This is cool; get out of the way you peasants! Bow down before your king!” He yells.
The pieces in Jaden’s way are pushed to the side, but they quickly stand in formation again.
‘I feel like I’m in my artificial body.’
‘Are you enjoying yourself Jaden?’
‘Yes I am.’
He walks to the white pieces and starts pushing them around.
‘You fake white knight. Bow before your real king.’
Jaden tackles him and he knocks over some other pieces. His metal shield and heavy sword with fire around it, stays in his hand. They quickly stand back up and walk to their original place in the game. Jaden stands back up and walks towards the side of the game where the taken pieces are. The pieces on the game move out his way.
‘You didn’t properly fight for your king and protect him in the Marino Kingdom. You must pay with your life.’
He pulls out a long sword and starts cutting his black pawn. The pawn lays on the ground bleeding.
Jaden walks over to his lost bishop chess piece.
‘Jaden the game. You’re tying up the game, it could be over already,’ Bellona says.
Jaden stays focused on the bishop in front of him.
“You’re next you coward. You were beaten up by a pawn. You can’t use your magic in chess?”
Jaden begins striking his sword on him.
“Arrggghhhh. That hurts. What did I do to deserve this?” The pawn asks while he falls to the ground in pain and begins bleeding.
“Oh you can talk huh?” Jaden asks him.
“Please spare me, your majesty,” the bishop says.
“You were beat by that little pawn. Look how much taller you are than him!” Jaden yells.
“It’s not my fault. I’ve always been the coward piece of the game,” the bishop pleads with his hands over his face, while looking up at the king.
“Okay, I’m sorry Mr. Bishop.”
Jaden helps him up and says, “I’m sorry about that old bishop.”
“It is alright sir, maybe you can get a pawn to the other side and you can win me back.”
“Win you back?” Jaden asks while looking at him puzzled, “How about I get you to the other side?”
He then lifts him by his long black gown and tosses him with all his might into the forest.
“Somebody king me! King me!” Jaden yells in an excited voice, while putting his hands into the sky.
“I’ll king you!” The white rook yells to Jaden while transforming into a giant rock creature about ten feet high. It leaves the chess game and slowly walks over to Jaden. He looks shocked by his size. It stands in front of him.
“Hey army friends, soldiers. I’m going to need some help here, Jaden begs while looking at his army continuing to look forward on the game.
“Don’t call your army now, you told the bishop he can beat the pawn because he was bigger. Now I’m bigger!” The rook says in a hideous voice.
“You wanted to be kinged?” The rook asks.
“Yes, I do.”
Jaden tries to lift the rook, but he can’t. The rook extends his rocky arms and crowns Jaden on his head.
“Shit! That hurt. Somebody protect your king. Save the king,” Jaden pleads.
His army continues to look forward. The rook continues to pound Jaden on the head into the ground with two hands. His head is halfway in the ground, up to his mouth in the grass. Leaves land on his huge crown and covers his face.
The white queen walks over to Jaden with her long dress while pulling some leaves along.
Jaden moves his head back and forth and the crown comes off with the leaves. He tries to talk while spitting out leaves.
“That is a sexy walk queen. How did you learn to walk like that?” Jaden asks.
“Are you going to play the game now, or do I need to have my rook king you some more?” The queen asks with Bellona’s voice.
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The wind blows the queen’s dress slightly as she stands directly over him.
“Is that a thong you are wearing under that long medieval dress?” Jaden asks.
She does not reply, but folds her arms.
“Hey queen, how about a threesome with my queen? You can be the vanilla ice cream in the middle.”
The queen moves out of the way and the white rook punches his head all the way into the ground.
“Okay, you win; I’ll continue to play the game,” Jaden says in a muffled voice.
Lightning strikes from the clouds and the black king goes back to his place in the game. Lightning strikes in the woods and on the white rook. They both return to their original places in the game. The white queen slowly walks back to the area in the game she was at. The pawn that was struck down stands back up on the side of the game. Jaden returns to the nanoeye above the game.
‘That was fun,’ Jaden says while continuing to move pieces in the game.
‘I’m glad you enjoyed your coffee break,’ Bellona says.
‘You had something to do with them talking and the rook crowning me into the ground right?’ Jaden asks.
‘A little, I figured it was more entertaining for you,’ Bellona responds.
‘Yes, it was.’
They continue to play very quickly while Jaden continues his conversation. Jaden is averaging two-second moves. The weather changes and it gets very cold. It begins to snow slightly.
‘It seems like the battles between the pieces is taking the most time,’ Jaden says.
‘I can turn that off if you want.’
‘No, it’s fine. I also like the snowing effect,’ Jaden says, ‘That was a cool fight with my knight and your rook. I finally got that white cocksucker rook that kinged me,’ Jaden says.
Her queen takes the knight. The black knight uses his sword to lift up the queen’s dress to reveal her red thong.
‘I knew she had a thong on. Why isn’t my queen wearing a thong? She has on old lady bloomers.’
The white queen uses some magic and twirls him around before tossing the black knight to the side. She moves into his place.
‘I knew that was coming. But that was a cool fight.’
They continue to play as more and more pieces are tossed to the side.
Jaden thinks to himself, ‘I have an idea. I can talk and play, I wonder if I can…’
His nanoeye goes into his knight that was just put out of the game. Jaden begins to control the knight and it begins to move. Jaden also concentrates on the game by also seeing through the king’s eyes in the game.
“Hey everyone look at me, I’m a dark knight. I have a black shield and all black shiny armor. This feels like déjà-vu.”
The black knight moves towards the white rook. Jaden raises his sword at the rook.
The chess pieces in the game continue to play in the background.
‘Your king is in check Jaden,’ Bellona says.
‘I see, I see,’ he says while continuing to concentrate on his outside the game battle.
“I’m seeking revenge for you dishonoring the king. Fight a real warrior, you fake three little pigs brick castle. I challenge thee,” Jaden says in an old English voice.
The castle transforms into the ten-foot high rock creature.
‘I’m multi-tasking Bellona. I’m playing the game and I’m fighting a one person war.’
‘Very good Jaden, you are developing your multi-tasking skills.
“Let’s fight now, Mr. Monster.”
Jaden swipes at the creature’s arm and cuts off some rock. It jumps back. The other white rook just thrown out of the game walks up to the side of his brother rook.
“Two against one huh? I’m not afraid.”
The two rooks combine into a forty-foot high stone monster and grows its arm back.
“Now I’m afraid!” Jaden yells and begins to run towards the forest on the left. It gives chase while the ground violently shakes. Powdery snow is still falling and covering the ground making it slippery. The rook creature shoots fiery rocks from his arm the size of cannonballs. The first few miss him. The explosion on the ground near him makes him fall and roll on the ground. He quickly gets back up and continues running. He uses a nanoeye to see behind himself. He notices he is about to be hit by one. He instantly turns around and his shield absorbs the powerful force from the rock. Pieces of fire and rocks fly in all directions. Jaden tumbles forward about twenty feet into the forest while sliding on the snow. He quickly gets back up and continues running into the forest. He continues to play the game with Bellona at the same time. The gigantic rook monster is knocking over trees trying to get to Jaden about to get up. It makes growling noises like a monster. It tries to step on Jaden, but he quickly rolls out of the way while still holding his sword and shield.
“Godzilla rook dude, your feet smell worst than a panhandler’s feet on the subway!” Jaden yells.
The creature answers with a scary monster’s voice, “How do you know? Do you go around smelling panhandler’s feet, rating them?”
‘Bellona, I know that is you giving this monster good come back lines,’ Jaden says.
‘I’m just enjoying the game and watching you interact out of the game with your new friend,’ she says.
Jaden stands up and cuts a tall tree next to him with his sword. The giant rook picks up the tree and throws it far across the game and into the other side of the forest.
Jaden looks up at the creature getting closer and closer. He takes a few steps back while holding his sword at it.
“Look Mr. Monster, I can get you a good job on Earth as a lumberjack. Good benefits. We can get that foot problem taken care of and you can clear out a forest in minutes. Even the forest protestors would be scared to protest around you,” Jaden calmly says, while putting his shield around his left arm up to his elbow.
“That ten pack of hamburgers I ate at your castle in New York City a few years ago, gave me the runs all night. What is in your burgers Mr. White Castle Monster?” Jaden asks in an odd voice to throw off the monster.
The rook monster looks confused while Jaden rolls forward at it and cuts its right leg off.
“You like….” As the monster falls down, it fires a rock cannon at him. It hits him and Jaden is propelled in slow motion twenty feet deeper into the forest. The monster yells as it hits the ground. There is a loud rumble and the ground shakes. Jaden tries to get back up to finish off the monster, but it quickly reattaches its limb.
“You are dead Jaden,” it yells.
“Yeah, yeah. I thought I was dead from diarrhea!” Jaden yells while running away towards the chess game.
‘Man I’m losing this battle and my chess game. Just my knight and king are left in the game.’
He passes the monster trying to get up.
He runs into the grassy area where the chess game is taking place and his captured pieces are standing around. The giant rook begins to run after Jaden again.
“Black taken chess pieces, help your fellow knight in need. Attack the pedicure needing monster with your weapons,” Jaden yells at them while running by the game. They just stand there facing the game.
He stops and tries to take the other black knight’s sword still in the game.
“Come on brother knight, you won’t be needing that,” Jaden says while trying to pull it out of his hand. The other knight moves, ignoring him.
‘Why did I just move him, if I was talking to him?’ Jaden asks.
‘You were too busy multi-tasking, your brain began to work independently while processing and playing the game in the background,’ Bellona says.
‘Jesus, I have to get used to this,’ he says.
‘Now can you get out of the game?’ She asks.
‘What if I don’t want to?’ Jaden asks.
The thumping continues and a grey rock on fire swishes by Jaden’s helmet.
“Shit!” He yell
s while running toward the forest on the right side.
The monster steps across the board game knocking the kings and other pieces over. They quickly stand back up in the same place they were.
‘Alright, I have to finish this bastard off, no more running. This is a virtual animated world. Size does not matter,’ Jaden says trying to psyche himself up.
‘Are you a coward or a warrior? Coward or a warrior?’ Jaden asks himself.
‘Your king is in check again, Jaden,’ Bellona says. He hears this in the background while he is concentrating on this large tree in front of him. Jaden calculates the distance the rook monster is behind him. The flying rock cannonballs continue to hit around him, while rock debris, snow and leaves fly around all over the place. Jaden quickly dodges to the left missing another projectile.
He jumps onto the tree and quickly runs up it vertically, knocking snow from his metal feet. Jaden is amazed he is actually running up the huge rainforest tree. The monster stops about fifteen feet in front of the tree aiming its cannon arm at Jaden over its head. Jaden stops sixty feet up the tree before the branches begin to give way underneath his weight. The monster fires while Jaden jumps above it. Puffs and clumps of snow fall off his lightly covered metal body. Everything seems to slow down around Jaden. The tree is hit while Jaden holds his flaming sword with two hands. The snow begins to come down heavily around Jaden as he is coming straight at the monster, yelling at the top of his lungs at it.
‘Checkmate Jaden. You lose,’ Bellona says.
The monster fires again and hits Jaden on his left arm. His shield and left arm are torn from his body. Jaden continues to fall towards the monster holding his sword with his right hand, as he breathes out cold smoke from his helmet. The monster tries to step back while it covers its face. Jaden, in the knight’s body, cuts the snow covered rock monster right through the middle of its body. It splits into two pieces while it roars like Godzilla. Jaden lands over the monster while his left arm and shield land far into the forest. The top part of the tree also falls to the ground behind them.
“Yeah, that is what you get. I learned that move from watching over fifty episodes of Voltron as a kid.”
“Now go soak your smelly big rock feet in a swimming pool of commercial bleach,” Jaden says, while cutting off the rook monster’s huge head as it lays helpless on the ground.
Jaden looks at the chess game, and sees his king lying on the ground being kicked by the white knight, king and pawn.
“Hey, leave him alone,” Jaden says while running back towards the game. Suddenly there is a huge rumble and the ground opens up around the chess game. He stumbles to catch his balance. A complete circle is formed around the game and the ground quickly spreads apart. The sky turns red and one foot round fireballs fall from the sky. Jaden catches his balance and runs then leaps over an open pit of lava coming from the split in the ground. He just makes the jump and all the chess pieces on both sides of the game begin to fight each other. Above the chess game says Royal battle. The pawns are fighting each other. The queens are pulling each other’s hair while the snow is all over them. Snow continues to fall as fire quickly burns the trees in the forest.
“Alright! A real medieval royal battle,” Jaden says while walking over watching everyone fighting each other while he drags his sword on the ground.
“What is this a freezing day in hell?” Jaden asks.
“No, this is when hell freezes over,” Bellona replies from the white knight’s body walking up to him.
Pawns and bishops from both sides are being pushed or knocked into the hot lava circling the area. Their hands wiggle as the hot lava consumes them. Their heads disappear into the abyss of yellow and red-hot lava. Lightning strikes in the woods where the giant white rook was killed and turned into bricks. The monster rook forms back together and stand back up with an angry look on its face. It roars loudly and Jaden turns around.
“Oh no, that bag of shit is back. Oops, I mean bag of bricks. I have to fight him again?” Jaden asks.
“No, you’ll be fighting me,” Bellona says while the other white knight walks up to him.
“I’ll deal with you in a minute. Black castles unite! Form a bricktron and go get that white castle over there!” Jaden yells.
The black rooks merge into a huge monster rook. The huge rook goes after the other rook, leaping over the hot lava pit towards the forest burning down.
“Finally, someone listens to me.”
The white knight merges with the other knight into a forty-five feet high knight.
The other black knight runs and merges with Jaden’s knight body as his left arm grows back with a shield around it.
Jaden looks around, as he is growing higher and higher. He also is forty-five feet tall. He sees the two monster castles punching each other in the fiery forest. Both of their bodies are on fire. They are also firing rock cannonballs at each other. Smoke and burning leaves are floating around everywhere. The pawns are pushing each other into the lava pit. Their screams go silent as their heads go under the lava. The white knight draws its sword directly in front of Jaden. Fireballs from the sky hit their bodies like hail raining from the sky. Bellona attacks Jaden as he blocks it with his shield. Some pawns are around Jaden’s feet.
“Get out of here, you little ants,” Jaden yells while kicking black and white pawns into the pit of lava with his huge metal boot.
The pit extends more into the forest area. Jaden looks around and sees the top of the white queen’s head sticking out of the lava screaming.
“The hot lava is burning my thong and lower body! Somebody help me,” the white queen yells.
A black pawn jumps on top of her head trying to push her down further.
“Get down and under the fire you, you floozy.”
“Ha ha, look at that. That pawn is tea bagging the queen into the lava,” Jaden chuckles while the pawn loses balance and falls in, “Oh my, that was hilarious.”
They continue to fight and Bellona attacks faster. Jaden tries to block and stays on the defensive. The clashing is so loud. When he tries to swing, she hits him directly in the chest and through his armor.
“Shit, that hurts,” Jaden says as he takes two steps back.
“You’ll be okay, you have to move faster and keep up. You wanted someone your size, here I am,” Bellona says.
“Yeah, yeah, you are just too fast for me,” he says.
“Me being faster than you is just an illusion and rules that you are limiting your mind to. If you thought faster and concentrated on just us fighting, you can be just as fast. Concentrate on my movements as I swing, and the direction I’m coming at you. Your mind will speed up and the attacks will slow down so you could be on offense and defense,” she says.
Jaden swings his black metallic sword as Bellona stops it with her sword. They continue back and forth. He notices that the fighting feels as if it is slowing down. Bellona quickly strikes Jaden in the lower body as he strikes her in the chest.
“Right in the hooter,” Jaden says while stepping back.
“I got you right in your invisible hotdog,” she says.
“Touché”
The two rooks fall into the pit of lava behind Jaden. They both scream in a huge amount of pain. Their bodies slowly descend into the hot abyss of lava.
Jaden and Bellona continue to strike each other as they turn in circles facing each other.
“Alright, this is getting boring. The hell with this,” Jaden says.
She swings over Jaden with her sword; he dodges and charges towards her grabbing her around the legs. She is lifted up while she loses balance. They continue towards the lava area while she hits him with her metal shield. They fall into the now large pit of lava, creating a large splash in all directions.
“Arrgghhh, it is hot as hell. So much pain; now I know what a lobster feels like being put in a pot of boiling hot water. Shit!” He yells, while Bellona’s body is under him, pu
lling him down.
‘Just ignore the pain,’ Bellona says telepathically.
“I can’t move my body. I’m paralyzed,” he says while struggling to reach land.
His right hand is out of the lava pointing towards the sky.
“I’m dying like the Terminator robot at the end of the movie. Remember me Chess World. Remember your hero knight who fought to the end for his king!” He yells while his head goes under the lava and his thumb pointing up.
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