Chapter 563:

Return of the empathetic yandere

En Passant Grandmaster

At the roulette tables in Inferno's den, a young woman with a blonde buzzcut and no eyebrows clad in an orange t-shirt, sneakers, and chartreuse dress yawned as she watched the ball spin round and round. Fucking bag, both grandma and aunt. They have any idea how much hell I'm going through?" she grumbled as she moved all her chips to one square.

This woman was none other than Emmie Broadstone, a witch who had initially came to Japan a month ago in hopes of eliminating Carol and Iori, but failed miserably and as a result was shaved bald before her heart exploded and all her skin melted off. Her sister, Simone had a chance to save her after Skaberghast dragged her into a DESPER match, but after failing to beat him, poor Emmie had been left for dead.

She truly thought she was going to die, but then out of the blue came a shadowy woman garbed in a black cloak with a dark veil hiding her face completely. At first, Emmie thought this woman was a messenger of death, but quickly found out it was someone far worse.

...

Emmie trembled as a chessboard materialized before her. Equally shocking was the fact that her pain had instantly subsided and she no longer felt herself dying.

"Now, we're going to play. Should you win... your heart shall be restored, your skin shall be restored, your hair?"

"Uh, I don't mind being bald," Emmie shrugged.

"Lose, your heart shall be restored, your skin shall be restored, and your hair shall be restored."

"That doesn't sound too bad-"

"And you'll become my slave and use your witch powers only for me."

"Oh, forget what I said," Emmie grumbled as she opened the game by moving her pawn to e4.

The shadowy woman went silent and moved her pawn to e5, eliciting a scowl from Emmie as she moved her knight to f3. "Your level is low," she muttered as she moved her knight to c6.

"I barely know how to play this game! But my aunt and mother, they're grandmasters," Emmie snarled as she moved her bishop to b5.

"Are you implying you learned the Ruy López from them?" the woman asked as she moved her pawn to a6.

"No, they never bothered teaching me. Up until my aunt took an interest in chess about 10 years ago, my mother practiced in secret, and never really bothered to teach me," Emmie stated as she moved her bishop to a4.

"So you're self-taught?" the woman asked as she moved her knight to f6.

"Pretty much... Ngh," Emmie scowled as she moved her pawn to d3.

"You're trying to empathize with me," the woman snarled as she moved her pawn to b5.

"I can sense you're self-taught, but it isn't working!" Emmie cried as she moved her bishop to b3.

"Foolish. There are but two reasons why it's failed," the woman growled as she moved her bishop to c5.

"And I don't want to hear your misdirections. Check," Emmie glared as she captured the pawn at f7 with her bishop. "How do you like that! No more castling for you!" she proudly huffed as the woman captured said bishop with her king.

"Your foolishness on the board was foreseen long ago," the woman snarled as Emmie moved her queen to d2.

"'Foreseen"? Are you saying you can see into the future!?" Emmie asked as the woman moved her rook to f8. "Impossible. Us Broadstones can only see into the future via a ritual, and even then, the vision is often incomplete," she scoffed as she moved her queen to d1.

"Shall I resume telling you why your power failed to work?" the woman snarled as she moved her king to g8.

Emmie went silent and cautiously nodded as she moved her king to e2.

"First off, your power failed to activate because we are in the middle of a match. A match arbited by powers like those of the DESPER you experienced not too long ago," the woman stated as she moved her pawn to d5.

"Ah, that shit. Yeah, makes sense. Stupid me," Emmie grumbled as she moved her pawn to g3.

"How prudent to confess your own stupidity before me," the woman scoffed as she moved her bishop to g4.

"I was only referring to me not realizing that weird "des" thing was blocking my power," Emmie growled as she moved her queen to g1.

"And I was referring to you being stupid as a whole. Check," the woman stated as she moved her knight to d4.

Emmie began to scowl in dismay as she moved her king to f1, her spirits only drooping as the woman captured the knight at f3 with her bishop. Desperate for counterplay, she moved her bishop to e3, but the woman decided to ignore the attack and captured the pawn at e4 with her d-pawn.

"Well look at that. You botched the knight," Emmie smirked as she captured the knight at d4 with her bishop.

"No, it is you who's sealed your fate," the woman snarled as she captured the bishop at d4 with her queen.

Emmie clicked her tongue as she moved her knight to c3. "I still have-"

"Nothing," the woman interjected as she captured the pawn at d3 with her e-pawn.

"I know what I'm doing!" Emmie stammered as she moved her rook to e1.

"Losing?" the woman scoffed as she moved her pawn to d2.

"N- No. I'm not going to lose twice in a row!" Emmie trembled as she moved her rook to e3.

"Then what's this?" the woman asked as she captured the knight at c3 with her queen.

"A BIG BLUNDER! Comeback, baby!" Emmie grinned as she captured the queen at c3 with her b-pawn.

"No, it's why you fail to empathize with me," the woman growled as she captured the rook at e3 with her bishop.

"What do you mean?" Emmie trembled, fear returning to her as she captured the bishop at e3 with her f-pawn.

"The fact is true that I am self-taught in the ways of chess, but unlike you, I am a genius," the woman scoffed as she moved her pawn to d1 and promoted it to a rook. "Check."

"Uh, no? What idiot promotes to anything but a queen?" Emmie scoffed in confusion as she moved her king to f2.

"A multitude of reasons actually. The first is to avoid stalemate, and the second, to assert intellectual superiority. Checkmate," the woman huffed as she moved her knight to e4, winning the game.

Emmie's jaw dropped in dumbfounded shock. She had lost in humiliating fashion twice in a row. As the board vanished, Emmie's skin and hair began to return as did her heart. Finally back to normal, she stared at her hands, then slowly flicked her hair.

"I guess having hair again isn't so bad."

"You forget, you're my slave. Once you're fully clothed, you're to shave your eyebrows and buzz your hair short, then dye it blonde."

"Fully- KYAAH!"

Emmie went red in the face and covered herself up as she just now came to the realization she had been nude this whole time. And thus began her new life as a slave serving this mysterious woman in Japan.

...

Back in the present, Emmie sighed as she jostled a large sack of winnings in her hand. "Master really is a maniac. She made such a big deal about keeping me hidden, now she's willing to have me recognized? I can't get into her head, not like it matters if I could anyway. She's got that blessing thing, and I'm forbidden from harming her against her wishes. Ah, fucking Iori. I want to kill her, but I can't even embark on a reckless revenge scheme on my own free will. Fucking bag of an aunt, Agatha, you dragged me into this all to kill granny Salem. Damn grandma, should've been more thorough with reconnaissance. And you, mother, why didn't you fucking teach us chess? Could've had a chance if I was as good as you. Ugh, and after all that, irony decided to gift me some skill, but it's too late now. I'm a slave for life," she thought as she pulled out her WWCF card and stared at her current rating of 2296.

The full game:

White: Emmie Broadstone (669) Black: Shadowy woman (?)

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bb5 a6

4. Ba4 Nf6

5. d3 b5

6. Bb3 Bc5

7. Bxf7+ Kxf7

8. Qd2 Rf8

9. Qd1 Kg8

10. Ke2 d5