-PHASE OPEN-

Jacques draws his card and rolls the Field Dice. It lands on a 6. Next, he eyeballs a card of his that gets nearby Faith’s. ‘If that’s another LV. ACE card, I’ll be ready for it this time…’

After spreading out cards, he sits there flipping the Range Dice. He looks back at Faith and The Queen of BurningHEARTS.

They are not even paying attention…

The Heart Queen is changing the colors of her fireballs while juggling them. Faith has sparkles in her eyes as they laugh together. Distracted by their fun, The Heart Queen does not notice she dropped them! Bouncing like rubber balls across the War Grid! They might land on Dee’s head!

In the nick of time, Faith stops them with her aura. Ah! Getting better with it! She makes a pouty face at The Heart Queen, who pleads for forgiveness by raising and lowering her head. Up and down. Up and down.

Faith lets it slide. ‘We’ll leave together…’ Faith thinks with sentimental eyes and glimpses down.

Jacques has been analyzing everything. “I, too, have someone I love.”

Faith and The Heart Queen turn in surprise. There is sincerity to his words…

“The difference between you and I, though…is my RESOLVE!” The all too familiar feeling of malice to his words returns. “I give up a King card from my hand! Range Strike!” Rolling the Range Dice, it lands on a 4.

“Counter Roll! I give up a 5 card from my hand!” Faith counter rolls the dice!

But it lands on a 4 too…

“Close but not enough! You’ll overcome your counter curse eventually!” Jacques replies.

The mist returns, crashing into the War Grid and swirling into a spiral. When it parts…it is The Queen of NightSPADE again!

*AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH* The veins in her right-hand bulge, and the fingers lengthen, as do her nails.

Curving into a razor-sharp claw. The Queen of NightSPADE uses it to dig into her own abdomen! Kneading into it hard, sweating, and biting her lip. She is not in pain. This is raw pleasure…

The Heart Queen backs up, but Faith does not look away.

Loudly moaning, The Spade Queen pulls out a chunk of her flesh like a mound of clay! Her other hand holds in freshly spilled guts. Veins bulge on her forehead, never breaking eye contact with Faith.

The Queen of NightSPADE’s elongated tongue slobbers on and slaps her breasts. The moans become softer as she holds the flesh up. A cackling storm brews behind her…

The creeping electricity rotates, taking form into the shape of numbers…

Flashing quickly between various numbers like a roulette wheel, it stops on a 3.

Then the 3 snipes the chunk of flesh, like a spear of lightning striking a wild animal. The chunk of flesh pulsates and squeals like a slaughtered pig as blood gestates from its sides.

At first, The Spade Queen coddles it close like a mother with a newborn baby. Then, with no maternal instinct at all, she lets it drop into the swamp below.

Faith and The Heart Queen watch intently…

…air bubbles…

‘…is it going to drown?’

The bubbles sneak around the tiles, then all pop to a halt.

The Spade Queen conjures a chain and sends it to the depths below like a fishing lure! Then, she hoists up a coffin caked in tar.

It has a Spade symbol on the lid…and a large hole in the corner…

Standing the coffin upright, it creaks open…

A horned skull, a tattered cloak, and armor. It drags itself into view. All bones, except for the flesh-bud throbbing from a crack in its head. Tendrils winding all the way down to its ribs like a parasite. Red eyes that poke out like a seeking light in a cave.

The forsaken King of NightSPADE! Forcefully risen from the dead!

Despite its fierce and formidable appearance, there is a pitiful way to how the bones shift. Unable to resist any of the movements commanded of it. It struggles to raise its head…

*SMAAAAAAAAAAACK* *SMAAAAAAAAAAACK* The Spade Queen sadistically whips it with the chain.

Faith winces.

The whipping cracks the King’s bones even more, but it has another effect…

With each crunching whip to its spine, The Spade King is charging with energy, its red eyes whirl, and black sparks build up and crackle between its teeth. The Queen of NightSPADE is charging him up!

“That’s not fair! Cards cannot work together like that!” Faith angrily points at Jacques.

“I ALREADY PROMISED THAT I DO NOT CHEAT!” Jacques reminds her. “If you need me to make this perfectly clear to you…”

The brutal whipping continues…

“THE QUEEN OF NIGHTSPADE IS OUR MASTER!!! WE ARE NO MORE THAN HER LOWLY ESTEEMED SLAVES!!! SHE IS OUR POWER!!! OUR POWER IS ONLY FOR HER AND HER ALONE!!! WE’LL PLAY BY YOUR RULES, THE CORRECT CARDS WILL DO WHAT IS COMMANDED OF THEM, BUT IT WILL ALWAYS BE THANKS TO AND IN SERVICE TO OUR QUEEN!” Jacques proclaims, “EAT UP EVERY BITE OF THIS KING’S RANGE STRIKE WORTHY OF A BRAT! WAIL OF NIGHTFALL!!!”

The Spade King cocks his head back, the tendrils rind open in its mouth like a tulip, and it lets out an ear-piercing wail.

Faith and The Heart Queen cover their ears.

Sound waves rumble across the Burning Lands like an earthquake! Rippling through the magma!

Faith panics and looks down to inspect her side of the grid. Three cards, a gap, then another card in her back row. ‘…no…no…he can’t…please…’

Only three cards in that back row fall to the assault. Jacques chose to split the power of the strike there. Three suits of burning armor shatter like glass to the wail.

“Hmm…no Royal Rank cards…” Jacques studies Faith’s expression. “…Phase Close…”

Faith in a frenzy seizes the Field Dice.

“…you forgot to draw your card, young lady…” Jacques chuckles.

Faith also draws a card, almost dropping it. Next, she rolls the Field Dice. It lands on a 1. Faith blanks out…

“Go on…move it…” Jacques says.

“W-what?” Faith blurts out.

“Move your Queen…” he responds, cracking a smile.

The Spade Queen has not left the grid. She has a hand over her mouth and is laughing at Faith.

“S-stop that!” Faith’s eyes water.

She gets ignored…the laughter grows louder!

The Heart Queen has a worried look on her face.

Faith closes her eyes and moves a card. Any card at all! Opening her eyes again…she had moved a different card to the side, not that the enemy would know either way…

“I also refresh my hand!” She discards the cards in her hand to draw a new set. “…Phase Close…”

“Phase Open!” Jacques draws a card and rolls the Field Dice. Landing on a 3. “I add two cards to the field and move another forward!” He takes the Range Dice and starts flipping it again. “When you first arrived here…I’m sorry if I almost frightened you...It’s just that we were talking and…”

Faith looks at him.

“We b-both t-thought you were p-perfect.” Jacques is stuttering, his face disturbed. “I h-had to feel them for myself! Your hands are beautiful! I wanted to know…our touching skin. Just like the good ol’ days, they reminded me of hers.”

“She got angry with me though…she gets cross when I try to get close with the female guests…baby needs to be scolded sometimes! I’m always so forgetful.” He removes the leather glove from his right hand.

Faith gasps. Jacques’ hand is horribly mangled and bruised, the pinky finger loose and near out of socket.

“S-scolded me good! She was in the room with us earlier! How could I be so STUPID and RUDE by not introducing her to you and your brother!”

Faith doesn’t understand. Hobbes had greeted them at the front door…no one else was there in the upstairs game room except for her, Dee, and…

“She’s still h-here…let me introduce you to Mother…” Jacques taps the side of the stone slab…

All the character cards on the War Grid fade away…

The room goes pitch black…

*FLAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSH* The room is illuminated in an emerald glow.

When Faith sees something…she holds back the urge to vomit and averts her eyes…

The stone slab is now transparent…filled with a green liquid…

…it is a preservation chamber…inside, floats a corpse…feminine in some areas…still dead in other places…it is almost as if it is regenerating…the alive parts create a stark contrast to the rest…

“Strong souls…flesh…that was what she wrote to me…” Tears roll down Jacques’ face. “I can be forgetful, but when it comes to every word in her journal…I etched them in my heart! I’ve spent long agonizing years without her kindness, her endless warmth. An idiotic child such as myself may not deserve it…but I crave more…baby needs more. PLEASE, BABY NEEDS MORE! PLEASE, MOMMY! PLEASE…” Jacques heaves, barely getting a grip on himself. “I am closer than ever…”

When Faith had looked away, the walls and parts of the floor became transparent too…

There are indeed gears and other mechanisms behind the stone walls and underneath the floor…but so are tubes…body parts…other items best not described…

Faith against her better judgment looks forward. She sees water droplets hitting the top of the slab near the corpse’s hand…

Jacques is drooling all over it. “I was a naughty baby. Very naughty. A naughty baby should listen to his Mommy. It would hurt…sometimes…but her hands…always soft..."

“Soft for my baby…soft for my baby…soft for my baby…” Jacques’ left eye twitches. “Y-you belong t-to her now! Every last inch!” There is a bitter resentment in his eyes. He taps the side of the stone slab again, and the room returns to normal. Jacques wheezes and tries to collect himself.

The omnipresent white eyes…The Queen of NightSPADE slowly drifts back to the War Grid…giving Faith a cold dead stare…

It dawns on Faith that the corpse’s hair…and face…almost resemble…

The Queen of NightSPADE glides her hand across Jacques’ face.

Jacques holds it and kisses it. “…I will bring Mother back to me...” His turn continues. “I may not have any cards in my hand, but I call an Emergency Strike!”

Two skull warriors on the grid are devoured by the swamp below against their will. Tar wriggles up and around the Queen’s leg. She moans as it climbs up to seal her self-inflicted wound from before.

Jacques rolls the Range Dice. It lands on a 9. “Yes! Even the game understands my plight! But…I’d rather skip the theatrics…” He points at a lone card on Faith’s side of the grid. “She is there, correct?”

Faith is totally silent.

“That wench, your disgraceful Queen, I’ve been studying how you move cards on the grid. I guessed if not in the back row, then surely there!”

Faith wells up with tears.

Jacques continues, “…well, I already committed to targeting that space, so let’s flip it around, please…” He makes a swiping motion. The chosen card on the grid spins…

…it is indeed The Queen of BurningHEARTS poker card…

The Heart Queen reveals herself, slowly going forward. Faith grabs her arm. Not wanting her to leave.

“You need not worry about any fancy displays of power…” Jacques steals the poker card from the grid using his aura. “This one requires a personal touch!” He ever so slightly tears the side of the card…

The Heart Queen feels a sharp pain radiate in her left shoulder, then it rips itself open, and she drops her scepter…

Faith yells out, “STOP IT!”

Jacques pauses…

“You cannot tear that one! You can’t! Stop!” Faith begs. She shakes wildly in her chair. Bawling her eyes out.

“Come on now…it’s just a card…I intend to use a +3 Power Strike on it! Before you get all official judge on me…I KNOW THE RULES!” Jacques prepares to rip the card more…

“I made the rules! NOT YOU! I never said anything about tearing up cards!” Faith loses balance on the chair and falls to the ground. Crying beside the still-unconscious Dee.

“You know what, fine! Let us read the damn rule book together, then!” Jacques lifts a finger.

Faith is levitated upright in a black aura.

Jacques snatches the Expert Guide with his aura and opens it up. “WHICH PAGE?”

“I-I don’t remember…” Faith struggles to answer in between crying.

“PAGE ONE?”

“…no…”

He rips a page all the way out. “PAGE TWO!?”

“…no…”

There goes another one. “THREE? FOUR? FIVE?”

Not even replying anymore, Faith just cries.

The Spade Queen is biting her own finger. She loves all of this! Watching this poor girl squirm.

“I found it! Cards defeated in a Field Clash or Range Attack. Heh.” Jacques stops for a moment to bring over his black pen with his aura to cross out the word Attack and write over it. “STRIKE are to be removed from the war grid. Nothing about HOW that needs to be done!”

“Simple-minded brat! If this aspect concerned you this much, THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE WROTE IT DOWN!” Jacques beats the book on the edge of the stone. “You have play-tested the game, right?” Each hit causes the book to bend. “Children love to misplace or abuse game pieces! Did you consider that!?!?” The binding and pages loosen. “YOU KNOW IT ALL BITCH! KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! THIS CHEAP PAPER IS ONLY WORTH AS MUCH AS YOUR BRAIN!”

The Queen of BurningHEARTS feels a tug on her arm again. Faith squeezes the Queen’s arm as tight as she can…

Jacques carries on. Savagely beating the book harder and harder against the stone. The Heart Queen watches Faith as she tries to bury her face in her arm. It is the only thing Faith knows what to do.

She never should have come here. After endless bouts of humiliation, why would she ever think this time would have been any different? If she could go back…do it all over…only play with just Dee…Papa…and…

The Queen of BurningHEARTS retrieves the scepter, but it may snap in half from her blood boiling over grip…

The two Queens are goading each other with their eyes…

Lightening her hold on the scepter. The Queen of BurningHEARTS intertwines her fingers with Faith’s.

“I’m sorry. It was my fault they found me. I’m causing trouble for you again, like always…” This is The Queen of BurningHEARTS’ voice. She has spoken for the first time. “I’m no good at games anyway, right?”

When Faith looks at her face, it’s like static…

…the long summer nights under the stars…the long summer nights listening to stories…the long summer nights…alone…

…the rain never stops…

…I don’t want to read that book ever again…

…every page, I see her face…

…every page she slips away…

…the rain never stopped…

“It was fun, Faith. If only for a little bit longer…” The Queen of BurningHEARTS lets go. “I’m sorry for being too weak, too clumsy, too dopey, and making you…”

…a single teardrop lands on Faith’s hand…

“...remember, it’s your game. You’re going to win, ’kay~?” Her gaze leaves Faith as she marches closer to Jacques and The Queen of NightSPADE.

“WAIT! DON’T-” Faith’s voice becomes muffled.

From afar, Jacques tightens Faith’s ribbon around her mouth. She cannot pull it off as it glows with his black aura as she desperately tries to scream through it.

Jacques laughs. “Well, now! Despite being so rude to me before, you apparently have some shred of dignity!” He chucks the Expert Guide behind him. “WE MUST RESPOND IN KIND! Let us grant you a death worthy of a brat’s Queen!”

The Queen of NightSPADE grins inhumanly wide and hones razor claws.

“Oh! Hold on…” Jacques clasps his hands. “Ms. Roos might be too sensitive for this!” He loosens the ribbon from her mouth and slowly moves it up. “…this is more humane…”

The Queen of BurningHEARTS smiles at Faith one last time…

Jacques says to the sweet, gentle Faith, “It will only be a second…I’ll leave the card right here...” He puts the poker card down…giving it a light pat…

The ribbon now covers her eyes…she can’t see…

…

…

Faith hears an ear-splitting SCREAM and the sounds of the wood tiles being thrashed around. She wants to scream too...but the words are trapped in her throat…

“All better…you can look now,” Jacques says.

Faith removes the ribbon…she is getting dizzy…it feels like she is in a tunnel…the echoing laughter…tears…

The Queen of BurningHEARTS' lifeless body swings in front of Faith. Her clothes are ragged, and her head pointing down…

The Queen of NightSPADE is holding her up by the cape. Swaying Faith’s champion left and right. Nice and slow…

“What are you looking at, young lady? Your card is still sitting right here! I kept my promise of not ripping it!” Jacques taps the promised poker card. “You can have your precious card back now! Please keep it in the discard pile for me, dear!”

Faith can barely understand a word he says…she zones out…

Bored with her toy, The Queen of NightSPADE releases the cape.

As her lifeless body descends, The Queen of BurningHEARTS chars like paper…her hat gently dancing like a chipping autumn leaf in the wind…

…Faith blacks out…

-CHAPTER END-

-PHASE CLOSE-