Inktobertale 2022 : Compilation of novels

21st of October : Chess

The sky, not unlike my mind, was heavy and grey on this fateful day. This was the last stand. The final feat. The ultimate battle. The dice throw that would determinate if the great general Ink would see the sun rise once more. But I was not alone. My most faithful friends were with me. My queen, mastermind with no equal, Ink looked at his side, and smiled at the sight of Dream wearing an elegant short yellow archer outfit, with a skirt around his waist. My towers, the unstoppable tanks, Standing on each side of his army, Fell and Delta were cracking their fists, ready to use them at any moment. My knights, fast as the wind, Aster on his blaster Betelgeuse, and Undertop Gaster riding a fancily-dressed circus elephant. And of course, my loyal, clever bishops. Science and Outer, both wearing large robes, levitated over the ground, awaiting calmly their turn. And of course me. My enemy had maybe greatly incapacitated me by stealing Broomie, restraining me to simple movements and weak attacks, but my superior strategy skills would do the trick. All my advanced brain needed was time, as our armies looked each other up and down, I was simulating every possible moves and their outcomes. I knew it would only be a matter of time before I found the perfe-

"Ink ?" 

Interrupted in his train of thoughts, the protector confusedly blinked and looked at Asgore, sitting at the other end of the chess board. After dropping by the Omega Timeline to help with a certain Librarby problem, Ink had been invited to stay for a while, and had agreed to a game with Asgore, without a second thought. "Have you decided your move ?" kindly asked the patient king, who had been sitting here for the past 12 minutes. "Maybe I can take the whites, so you can make your first move in response to mine..."

"No no, that's fine ! I already know what move I'll make, I was just thinking ahead !" answered Ink as he moved a pawn forward.

"Oh, alright !" replied Asgore with a smile as he played as well. "I was almost worried you didn't know chess for a minute." 

"Ha ! What a crazy idea !" laughed Ink as he internally struggled to remember the only thing he knew about chess, a book he had leafed through in Aster's tower. 

Foolish king, thinking his barbaric ways were an art that needed to be learnt over the years. I knew just as much as him by quickly looking over this battlefield. I had a plan. And it was starting right... now. He gestured towards a group of spaced black pawns, and Dream started running towards them, blades unsheathed... and leaped over them, in consecutive jumps, only stopping once he had passed over every pawn.

"Uh... Ink ?" asked Asgore as he watched Ink make his queen jump over his pawns.

"Yes ?" innocently replied the guardian.

"I think you've mistaken this for checkers."

Ink paused, and looked at the board. "...Oh."

...In a battle of death and life, honor is but a bonus. To save my troops, as the selfless general I was, I had not hesitated to sacrifice mine by lying. Telling my opponent that I'd mistaken his army for another was an equally blatant, and effective deception.

Ink simply got up and exited the house with a polite smile as Asgore apologized as hard as he could for not having been clearer over what game they were going to play.

 Whatever. I'll just be better prepared next time.