Enigma

Okisato scowled as he stared at the board. He decided to open by moving his pawn to e4, with Phantom responding by moving his pawn to e5. Next came knight f3 and knight c6, giving Okisato some hope as he opted to move his knight to c3. 

"You've played just as Iori Ishikiridokoro did up until this point," Phantom stated as he moved his knight to f6.

A sadistic grin appeared on Okisato's face. "Then I'm gonna continue mimicking her, cuz knowing her, she'd definitely play THIS! Happy Halloween!" he snickered as he initiated the Halloween Gambit by capturing the pawn at e5 with his knight.

"Knights are valuable pieces, and this gambit just throws one away, all for what? Control of the board can change with a blunder," Phantom growled as he captured the knight at e5 with his knight.

"What makes you think I'd blunder? Now time to push the pawns and kick the knight," Okisato snickered as he moved his pawn to d4.

Phantom shook his head and moved his pawn to g6 followed by Okisato moving his pawn to e5.  Knight g8 and bishop c4 came next with d5 following shortly after. To the untrained eye, things looked pretty even. even more so after Okisato captured the pawn at d5 with his bishop, Phantom moved his 8-knight to e7, and Okisato moved his bishop back to g5. However, it was far from even. Okisato was at a disadvantage, more so after Phantom moved his knight to d7, forcing him to move his bishop again, this time to e4.

As Phantom moved his knight to f5, Okisato decided to go for the gutsy play of queen h5, further putting his prospects at risk. Phantom followed with the precision play of pawn to h6, sending Okisato's bishop retreating to e3. But then came c6 from Phantom, inviting Okisato to move his pawn to d5 and regain some ground. And then, a lucky break as Phantom opted to capture the pawn at d5 with his c-pawn.

Okisato saw his chance and instantly captured said pawn with his knight, and continued to be rewarded with Phantom's decision to capture the pawn at e5, instead of trading knight for bishop at e3. The tables had turned, however, the game was far from over. 

The grunt that was with Yuzuha watched intently as Okisato castled queen's side and Phantom moved his bishop to d6. "He turned things around. But that doesn't mean it's mate in 5 anytime soon," she thought as Okisato moved his bishop to f4.

Indeed she was right as even after king g8, g4, and g6, the game was heavily in Okisato's favor, yet still far from any decisive victory. 

"Should have moved the knight to g6 instead," Okisato snickered as he moved his queen to h3.

"Not in the slightest, the intent was to remove the queen from the equation, and move my knight back," Phantom stated as he did just that and moved his knight to g7.

Okisato scowled and moved his queen to c3. "Really feels more like I'm fighting a maestro with how much I'm gonna have to work for this," he grumbled as Phantom moved his knight to c6.

Upon hearing those words, Phantom paused and watched as Okisato moved his bishop to g3, before promptly capturing said bishop wit his bishop.

"Why the eerie pause?" Okisato asked as he captured the bishop at g3 with his h-pawn.

Phantom remained silent and moved his queen to d8, shutting down the conversation. Knight f4, bishop d7, pawn g5, pawn h5, bishop captures g6, queen e7, bishop captures f7, and king captures f7 all followed before Okisato got to deliver the first check of the game by moving his pawn to g6. And for the reaction, Phantom simply slid his king to g8, showing no emotion whatsoever. 

But after Okisato moved his knight to d5, it was time for a little payback. "Check," Phantom mumbled as he moved his queen to g5.

Okisato defended by moving his pawn to f4, but Phantom escaped the trap simply by capturing the pawn at g6 with his queen. Or so he thought.

"Check, Okisato snickered as he moved his knight to f6.

While he didn't have to, taking the knight at f6 with his queen was the best move Phantom could make, which is why he did it.

"Wow, you actually sacked the queen. Thought you'd try and defend her," Okisato snickered as he captured the now defenseless queen at f6 with his queen.

"It was the best move, boy," Phantom retorted as he moved his rook to f3.

"You really are a mystery, you carry a DESPER, but never use it, your data doesn't show up on my WWCF card, and you play like a maestro," Okisato rambled as he moved his queen to g6.

Phantom simply went silent and moved his bishop to e8.

"Not a talker huh. I'll pull back that mask of yours eventually," Okisato declared as he moved his queen to d6.

While things were certainly in Okisato's favor, the game was still far from over. Knight f5, queen e6 check, king g7, queen b3, rook f6, queen captures b7 check, bishop f7, rook d5, h-rook h6, rook e1, h-rook g6, queen d7, knight captures g3, rook g5, pawn h4, pawn b4, and knight captures b4 all came to pass, yet Okisato was still nowhere close to ending the game.

However, his next ploy was to unleash a series of checks, starting with rook captures g6, forcing the king to take said rook. Next came queen g4, forcing the king to h7, but granting Okisato both a pawn and another check by capturing the pawn on h4 with his queen. But after Phantom countered by moving his knight to h5, the series of checks came to a close.

Now the tango began with Okisato moving his rook to e7, Phantom moving his king to g8, and Okisato capturing the pawn at a7 with his rook. Phantom retaliated by delivering a check of his own by capturing the pawn at a2 with his knight, but Okisato moved his king to b2, forcing said knight to b4.

Okisato then delivered a check by moving his queen to g5, prompting Phantom to move his rook to g6. He then moved his queen to c5 while Phantom moved his rook to f6, but rather than go for another check, Okisato captured the helpless knight at b4 with his queen, prompting Phantom to retaliate by capturing the pawn at f4 with his knight. Slowly but surely, Okisato was getting closer to victory. 

After queen d4, rook f5, pawn c4, knight e6, queen g1 check, king f8, queen g3, knight g7, pawn c5, knight e8, pawn c6, rook f6, queen c3, bishop e6, and queen c5, mate was finally inevitable, but naturally, Phantom decided to cling on and moved his king to g8.

Okisato then moved his rook to a8, forcing Phantom's king to f7, but that did little to speed up the mate. It took queen h5 check, rook g6, rook captures e8, king captures e8, queen captures g6 check, king e7, c7, bishop d7, queen g8, and king d6 before Okisato finally had a chance to really end the game.

"And now I have two queens, Okisato snickered as he moved his pawn to c8 and promoted it to a queen, leaving Phantom with no choice but to capture it with his bishop, which was promptly captured by Okisato's queen.

Now, it was simply a matter of not blundering into stalemate, and the game was Okisato's. Phantom didn't make it easy, and moved his king to e5, but Okisato played smart and moved his king to c3. After king e4, queen e6 check, king f3, queen f5 check, king e2, and queen f4, the long slog was just about over.

"So this is it. You have potential," Phantom stated as he moved his king to e1.

"Potential you say? Now I'm even more certain you've got ties to the WWCF. Are you perhaps a double agent?" Okisato asked as he moved his king to d3.

Phantom simply ignored the question and moved his king to d1 in silence.

"Well I'll find out eventually. Checkmate," Okisato stated as he moved his queen to f1, winning the game.

The board vanished as Phantom slowly pulled back his mask, however, there was nothing but a black misty void behind it. 

"What's the deal with this!?" Okisato stammered. 

"I was required only to remove my mask, not explain things further," Phantom snarled as he put his mask back on. "Farewell, Okisato Tanabe." 

And with that, Phantom vanished. 

Now free once more, Okisato turned to Yuzuha and the grunt. "And what's the story with you?" 

The grunt smirked and removed her helmet and visor, revealing a light pink pixie with hime cut bangs. "I'm what you call a friend on the inside. Name's Ina. Ina Kirikawa. Now, where would you like me to start? I saw almost everything that happened after you left, even the kaiser's return. 

"You saw that!?"

"Yup. Here's how it went..." 

The full game:

White: Okisato Tanabe (2675) Black: Phantom (?)

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Nc3 Nf6

4. Nxe5 Nxe5

5. d4 Ng6

6. e5 Ng8

7. Bc4 d5

8. Bxd5 N8e7

9. Bg5 Qd7

10. Be4 Nf5

11. Qh5 h6

12. Be3 c6

13. d5 cxd5

14. Nxd5 Nxe5

15. O-O-O Bd6

16. Bf4 Kf8

17. g4 g6

18. Qh3 Ng7

19. Qc3 Nc6

20. Bg3 Bxg3

21. hxg3 Qd8

22. Nf4 Bd7

23. g5 h5

24. Bxg6 Qe7

25. Bxf7 Kxf7

26. g6+ Kg8

27. Nd5 Qg5+

28. f4 Qxg6

29. Nf6+ Qxf6

30. Qxf6 Rf8

31. Qg6 Be8

32. Qd6 Nf5

33. Qe6+ Kg7

34. Qb3 Rf6

35. Qxb7+ Bf7

36. Rd5 Rhh6

37. Re1 Rhg6

38. Qd7 Nxg3

39. Rg5 h4

40. b4 Nxb4

41. Rxg6+ Kxg6

42. Qg4+ Kh7

43. Qxh4+ Nh5

44. Re7 Kg8

45. Rxa7 Nxa2+

46. Kb2 Nb4

47. Qg5+ Rg6

48. Qc5 Rf6

49. Qxb4 Nxf4

50. Qd4 Rf5

51. c4 Ne6

52. Qg1+ Kf8

53. Qg3 Ng7

54. c5 Ne8

55. c6 Rf6

56. Qc3 Be6

57. Qc5+ Kg8

58. Ra8 Kf7

59. Qh5+ Rg6

60. Rxe8 Kxe8

61. Qxg6+ Ke7

62. c7 Bd7

63. Qg8 Kd6

64. c8=Q Bxc8

65. Qxc8 Ke5

66. Kc3 Ke4

67. Qe6+ Kf3

68. Qf5+ Ke2

69. Qf4 Ke1

70. Kd3 Kd1

71. Qf1#