Atomic artiljerija

Alya let out a shriek as the trapdoor opened beneath her and she fell into the blueberry juice. She was then sucked through the room before being spat out into the kiddie pool, sticky and blue.

"And now to barter with Anastasia," Okisato thought as he headed for Anastasia's table.

As he arrived, Anastasia glanced up. "Ah! You're that guy from a night ago!"

"Yeah, thanks for the ticket. I enjoyed the Ichiko Rojas show. Now, could I ask you for another favor?"

Anastasia began to get nervous, but calmed down after Okisato explained it all.

"Eh!? You want me to testify on your teammate's behalf!?" Anastasia gasped.

"That's right. Your one of the few people I know of that seemingly saw the whole thing unfold. The French women's team doesn't get along well with our team, and are likely still bitter after their 4-0 loss. Thus, any chance they can get to get back at us, they'll take. And worse, the twins now have Iori-chan's cold, but she didn't intentionally try to spread it to them."

"True... I didn't see everything perfectly, but she did launch herself through the window, bowling us all aside. I did see everything from the kiss on. She got up, and seemed a little worried, but not quite, until she realized her mask had slipped down. Then she quietly began shuffling as far away as she could. But it sounds like she wasn't trying to kiss that girl intentionally, so I'll testify on your teammate's behalf."

"Thanks."

As Okisato turned to leave, he came face-to-face with a grinning face of bandages.

"Been a while. So mind filling me in on what's happened since I was thrown in the slammer?" Diederich sneered as he flashed a malevolent smile.

"Ask your teammates, or did they beat you up for asking?"

"Gramps was pissed, surprised I can still talk proper with how much he was pummeling me. And I wasn't asking about everything as whole, just who's in the lead."

"Then you'll just have to wait for the standings report tomorrow morning, or try to manually figure everything out on your own. I'm here to relax and unwind, not think about the tournament."

"But you refused to fight ole Peter, all cuz you wanna face him in the tournament."

"We mutually agreed not to face each other because if we did, we wouldn't be playing at our best. Even if we played against each other in a variant, a win could still have a psychological effect. Thus, we won't play each other tonight."

"Then how about me?"

"I just won a game, so there's a cooldown in effect. Go challenge someone else if you're that hungry for battle."

"I've been waiting for a revenge match, ya know. And gramps refuses to accept my challenge. The inmates at the prison were nothing but fodder. I want a good opponent to slay, and you're top of the list."

There was no shaking Diederich off. Okisato didn't mind facing and humiliating him once again, but with the cooldown rule in effect, it meant Diederich would now be hounding him until it expired. The only idea he could think of to get rid of Diederich was to have someone else challenge him, but that could end up being easier said than done.

Diederich wanted to fight someone strong, so weak fodder wouldn't cut it. Mimoko was also out thanks to losing to Peter, and considering Iori already took care of Ionuț for him, he didn't want to foist another opponent on her, even if she'd be fine with it. Thus, his final option was Peter.

"Why not challenge someone like Peter-"

"Oi, you trying to get rid of me? Not happening. I've played Peter way too many times, and lost enough to know that guy's just out of my league. Maybe you got a bit high on your horse after you beat me faster than gramps, but I'm smart. You play that opening against me again, you won't win."

There was some truth to those words. Diederich did have Okisato on the ropes most of the game, with Okisato in an agitated state thanks to Ginji's stunt. Of course now, Okisato was in a much clearer state of mind, and could take down Diederich with another one of his openings with ease. But that didn't mean he wanted to wait around with him until then. But it looked like that would be the case, as with Diederich refusing to challenge Peter, Okisato would be stuck waiting with him.

"Fine, if no one else challenges you-"

"Then take a seat and wait. We can discuss what to wager and what to play in the meantime," Diederich snickered, blocking Okisato's path.

"There seriously no one else you'd want to challenge as an appetizer?"

"Gramps said no, so you're the only one left."

Desperate, Okisato did a quick scan of his surroundings, stopping after noticing someone that just might be able to solve all his problems. "So you don't wanna face Miralem?" he asked aloud.

"Who?"

"Miralem Artiljerija of Bosnia. Ever heard of him?"

Diederich shot Okisato a confused glance. "Nope, but gramps is the de facto High Representative of that place, so it's pretty much our vassal state for all I care."

"Oi, wanna say that again?" Miralem snarled as he marched over.

Since his back had been turned to him, Diederich was unable to notice that Miralem wasn't too far behind him, and with Okisato calling his name aloud, Miralem's attention would naturally be directed towards him. But Diederich didn't seem the least bit intimidated by Miralem, despite the two being almost eye level with each other. In fact, the look in his eye was saying, "You're insignificant."

Whether that was true or not, Miralem perceived it as such, naturally angering him. "Oi, how about I kick your ass right now."

"Well get in line. The oni-tiger's been here waiting since sunrise," Diederich sneered.

"And why do you get to be first to rematch him, huh? That and you pissed me off. I'm takin' ya on, even if I gotta put up all my pocket change!"

Diederich shrugged and smirked as he headed towards the 6B tank. "Don't try running, oni-tiger. I'll be back to make you bleed blue, soon."

After placing down the bet, Miralem and Diederich faced off in a game of atomic chess.

"I've heard this variant is a fast one, guess that means I can unleash my power from the start!" Diederich maniacally grinned as he ripped off his eyepatch and slammed his pawn down on e4.

"Heh? You get wild on the chessboard? Now that's a funny coincidence. I do too!" Miralem grinned as he slammed his pawn down on d4.

Now immersed in his world, Diederich hopped atop his knight and rode it to f3, but as soon as Miralem captured the pawn at e4 with his d-pawn, destroying said pawns, the knight Diederich was riding was also destroyed, sending him hurdling to the ground.

"GAH!" My horse, I thought it was safe. Well, I'll just have to take aim at you directly. CHECK!" Diederich shouted as he regained his footing and ordered his bishop to move to b5 with the wave of his hand.

In that moment, Miralem began to grin from ear to ear as he grabbed his queen and rose. D.R. Passant got the message and immediately began playing Bosanska Artiljerija.

"Huh? Why's there music playing? Tch, he's got 5 minutes, don't tell me he's going to bore me with a musical number," Diederich grumbled as Miralem began singing.

"Junak do junaka rodila nas majka. Našu Bosnu cuvamo. Pjevaj Bosno dušmani nek znaju, da se lako ne damo. Pjevaj Bosno dušmani nek znaju, da se lako ne damo. Sarajevo, Rogatica, Višegrad, Vlasenica. Tu mi leži pokraj srca. Zvornik, Tuzla, Kalesija, Devetak i Kiseljak. Svaki borac veseljak. [Hero next to hero, born by our mothers, we guard our Bosnia. Sing Bosnia, let the enemy know, that we won't easily give up. Sing Bosnia, let the enemy know, that we won't easily give up. Sarajevo, Rogatica, Visegrad, Vlasenica, they lie close to my heart. Zvornik, Tuzla, Kalesija, Devetak and Kiseljak, every fighter is a jolly fellow]."

And in that moment, Miralem leaped into the air, pulling his fist back as shock began to find it's way to Diederich's face. Then came the moment everyone was waiting for. "ARTILJERIJA! BOSANAC SAM BEKRIJA! ARTILJERIJA! BOSANAC SAM BEKRIJA! HEY-EY MOJA BOSNA PONOSNA [ARTILLERY! I AM A BOSNIAN BEKRIJA! ARTILLERY! I AM A BOSNIAN BEKRIJA! HEY-EY! My proud Bosnia]!" Miralem sang as he slammed his fist down, capturing the pawn on d2 with his queen, destroying both pieces along with the bishop on c1, the queen on d1, and the king on e1, winning the game. "Checkmate!"

Diederich let out a scream as he flew backwards, slamming into the plexiglass walls and then down to the ground, rolling onto his back. He grimaced in pain as he slowly tried to rise off the ground. "Th- That attack! Who the hell are you!?"

"Miralem Artiljerija. Etch it into your head," Miralem smirked.

A demented smile slowly began to spread on Diederich's face, but he wouldn't be in the moment for long as the trapdoor opened beneath him, catching him by surprise as he tumbled into the blueberry juice. He was then sucked through the room before being spat out into the kiddie pool, sticky and blue. And in true Diederich fashion, he began floundering like a fish out of water, prompting Raymond to smack his stomach with his cane, causing a fountain of blueberry juice to spurt from Diederich's mouth.

"The juice is edible and safe for consumption. Nonetheless, we do ask that you try not to try and drink it while in the tank. There is a juice stand over yonder if you're that inclined to try drinking the juice," Raymond stated, as Diederich's teammates came to fetch him.

And with that, Okisato didn't have to worry about Diederich harassing him any more at the Bermuda party. As for Miralem, he made his way to the stage along with his teammates in order to give an encore performance. With how bombastic the visual displays were, Bosnia's performance of Bosanska Artiljerija quickly blasted into contention for winning the whole karaoke contest. While it was uncertain if it truly would win, one thing that was certain was the rivalry that was now born between Miralem and Diederich.

"Hmm, Bosnia and Prussia are close in the standings. Perhaps they could face off next round after all," Raymond thought.

The full game:

White: Diederich von Richthofen (2704) Black: Miralem Artiljerija (2548)

1. e4 d5

2. Nf3 dxe4

3. Bb5+ Qxd2#