Chapter 310:

RA-RA-RASPUTIN

En Passant Grandmaster

As Rasputin summoned a board with his WWCF card, the hallway slowly became encased in a dark blue fog. The 13 players that had lost, also began acting strangely, as they began moaning and swaying from side to side, almost as if they were mindless zombies.

Lightning flashed as Vesna resolved herself and opened by moving her pawn to c4. Rasputin responded with e5, and the game soon morphed into an English Opening: Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto line after knight c3, knight f6, knight f3, knight c6, and g3 were played.

Rasputin moved his pawn to d5, before immediately calling for a drink. To Vesna's shock, the drink Ayane procured for Rasputin was some cleaning bleach from a nearby custodian cart, and to her greater horror, Rasputin chugged the whole thing like it was vodka.

"Madman, you chug bleach!?" she scowled as she captured the pawn at d5 with her c-pawn.

Rasputin slammed the empty bleach container down, before letting out a mighty burp and capturing the pawn at d5 with his knight. "They say it is poison, but it's like water to me."

Vesna glared and continued on in silence, moving her bishop to g2. Rasputin also moved his pawn to c5 in silence, but soon began clapping as Vesna captured the pawn at e5 with her knight. "And you're clapping why?"

"To set the rhythm!" Rasputin declared as he captured the knight at c3 with his knight.

"Chess is meant to be a quiet sport. Check," Vesna glared as she captured the knight at c6 with her bishop.

"Not when we are outside the playing hall, and Rasputin is playing," Rasputin declared as he captured the bishop at c6 with his b-pawn.

All the folks gathered round soon began clapping, led by Ayane as Vesna growled in annoyance and captured the knight at c3 with her d-pawn. "Vile how you brainwash them into becoming your cheer squad."

"'Brainwashing'!? Come on everyone you know you want to say it... SING MY PRAISES!" Rasputin shouted as he outstretched his arms.

As if on que, everyone began dancing and singing.

"RA-RA-RASPUTIN, LOVER OF THE RUSSIAN QUEEN!"

"I am a cat that really is gone!" Rasputin maniacally sang as he captured the queen at d1 with his queen.

"VILE EGOTIST!" Vesna shouted as she violently captured the queen at d1 with her king.

"You want ego!? I give you ego!" Rasputin declared.

Immediately after capturing the pawn at f2 with his bishop, Rasputin threw himself onto the crowd that had formed behind him, crowd surfing and be tossed in the air, all while the song and dance continued.

"Vile... VILE! I'll end this vile enslavement you've forced upon those good people," Vesna thought as she moved her rook to f1.

Rasputin meanwhile was in party mode, surfing atop the crowd, back to the board to move his bishop to c5.

"Ра-ра-Распутин, гигантская танцующая сила, он растоптал шахматный мир [Ra-ra-Rasputin, giant dancing powerhouse, he stomped upon the chess world]!"

Vesna gritted her teeth in anger and captured the pawn at f7 with her rook, while Rasputin was launched into the air by the crowd, landing before the board and moving his bishop to g5 before busting out his kozachok.

"Ra-ra-Rasputin, Russia's greatest love-machine, they didn't quit, they wanted his head!"

Veins of fury materialized in Vesna's eye as she slammed her bishop down on g5. She was struggling to avoid losing herself to rage, as if she did, it could effect her gameplay. Unfortunately for her, it was a mute point, as her move just now had greatly shifted things towards Rasputin.

Rasputin saw this too, and with an evil grin, he moved his pawn to h6, before dancing backwards. Vesna didn't quite see the danger, capturing the pawn at g7 with her rook, but she was angered by the constant singing of Ra-ra-Rasputin in Russian.

Rasputin had ever reason to revel in his ego as he had everything dancing in his hand, especially Vesna, who after h captures g5, captured said pawn with her rook, further worsening her already bleak chances.

"Ра-ра-Распутин, гигантская танцующая сила, он растоптал шахматный мир [Ra-ra-Rasputin, giant dancing powerhouse, he stomped upon the chess world]!" everyone sang as Rasputin danced over and moved his bishop to e7 as lightning flashed.

Now Vesna was beginning to get a tad nervous, but her rage still dominated her psych as she moved her rook to g6.

"You can't escape this dance theater of death!" Rasputin cackled as he danced over and moved his bishop to f5.

The glare still didn't vanish from Vesna's fave as she moved her pawn to h4, but began to weaken after rook d8, check forced her king to e1. "No, don't let him get to you," she reassured herself as Rasputin piled more pressure on her by moving his rook to d5.

But she was beginning to crack, and captured the pawn at c6 with her rook, allowing Rasputin to capture the knight at e5 with his rook. Vesna didn't care, and claimed the pawn at c7 by capturing with her rook, while Rasputin, still reveling in the song and dance, moved his bishop to g4 and began crowd surfing once more, this time while chugging a new bottle of bleach.

"Ра-ра-Распутин, бич замерзших земель Сибири. Он принес отчаяние всем своим врагам [Ra-ra-Rasputin, Scourge of Siberia's frozen lands. He brought despair to all of his foes]!"

As lightning flashed, a bead of sweat ran down Vesna's face as she moved her king to d2 and watched as Rasputin captured the pawn at e2 with his rook. One wrong move now and mate was guaranteed. Losing was not an option for Vesna, but things were looking bleak enough as is. Nevertheless, she found king d3, allowing the game to continue, but Rasputin could sense his prey weakening and returned to the board, moving his rook to h6, and refusing to return to the crowd, though naturally the crowd continued singing and dancing on their own.

And sure enough, Vesna blundered into mate by capturing the pawn at a7 with her rook.

"Pawns are your poison. Check!" Rasputin manically smiled as he slammed his rook down on d6 before stepping back a bit and busting out his dance moves once more.

King c4 was forced for Vesna, so she didn't think twice about the move, but bishop e6, check was the first time her scowl morphed into a worried frown the whole game. "No, I can't lose! There's lives other than mine riding on this!" she thought as she moved her king to b4.

"Ra-Ra-"

"-Распутин, не можешь убежать от Распутин. Ра-ра Распутин [-It's Rasputin, can't run away from Rasputin]," the crowd sang back to Rasputin as he captured the pawn at b2 with his rook.

"Ра-ра Распутин [Ra-ra Rasputin]!" Rasputin sang as Vesna frantically moved her king to a5. "You've danced to despair once more, Vesna Moroz!" he taunted as he moved his rook to d6, sending Vesna's king to a4.

Now reality had finally begun to sink in as after bishop d7, check, Vesna's only move was to capture said bishop with her rook, allowing for Rasputin to capture said rook with his rook.

With tears pouring out of her eye, Vesna covered her face with her hand and moved her pawn to h5. "I'm sorry," she trembled as the crowd did one final chorus, tossing Rasputin into the air as they did.

"RA-RA-RASPUTIN, LOVER OF THE RUSSIAN QUEEN. THERE WAS A CAT THAT REALLY WAS GONE..."

Rasputin then landed before the board and demanded one final chorus, while dancing with rook in hand.

Slam!

"Checkmate! You failed to save anyone again! Now wallow in despair as they suffer the starvation curse!" Rasputin cackled as he slammed his rook down on a7, winning the game.

As Vesna cried and lighting flashed, everyone did one final dance before the song ended with a flash of lightning, returning the hall to normal.

Rasputin had vanished, though the 13 players he had entwined in his hypnosis all laid motionless on the floor. They were alive, but now were at the peril of whatever hypnosis Rasputin had cast over them.

"N- No food... NO FOOD FOR A WEEK!? IS HE TRYING TO KILL US!?" Inez trembled as she regained consciousness.

"Relax, fam. I saw this commin," Muazzez grinned as she pulled a chocolate bar out from her pocket and muched it. "See, ya'll can eat just fine. Only thing is that if ya do, you'll have to participate in something nasty in 7 days. But I'm already bald, so it don't matter.

From his hidden hiding spot, Rasputin chuckled as everyone turned towards Ayane to demand she pay for dinner. "Your curiosity got the better of you. Now you'll guarantee those 12 partake in the conduit selection. And you, Vesna Moroz, will once again be forced to watch from the sidelines, in despair."

The full game:

White: Vesna Moroz (2499) Black: Rasputin Vasilyevich (2802)

1. c4 e5

2. Nc3 Nf6

3. Nf3 Nc6

4. g3 d5

5. cxd5 Nxd5

6. Bg2 Bc5

7. Nxe5 Nxc3

8. Bxc6+ bxc6

9. dxc3 Qxd1+

10. Kxd1 Bxf2