Chapter 938:

In control of the game

En Passant Grandmaster

The game began with Arina moving her pawn to e4 and Miyako responding with pawn to e5.

"I know how to play this game. If you know what's good for you, resign now before you piss me off any further," Arina glared as she moved her knight to f3.

Miyako was half-tempted to do that, yet her mouth remained closed and smiling as her hand slowly gravitated towards her f-pawn and moved it to f5.

Arina stared at the board, scowling as she let a minute tick off her clock before moving her pawn to d3.

In the viewing booth, Vasily turned off the mic before laughing. "She decided to defend, but against the Latvian, you need to attack. It is still even, but is Arina good enough to keep it that way?"

Back at the board, Miyako found her hand moving on its own again, this time, moving her knight to c6. "Why is my body moving on its own!? Is Vasily trying to make me lose? But, is this losing? I've never played chess before," Miyako thought as Arina moved her knight to g5.

Miyako began reaching for her queen, yet her body froze, and was hijacked again, grabbing the knight instead, and moving it to f6.

As she returned to idle position, Miyako tried to muster every fiber of her body to try and break free of Vasily's control, but nothing. All she could do was watch and wait, as a puppet on a string.

"I hate that look on her face. I'm not going to lose. I'm not going to look hideous forever," Arina thought as she moved her knight to c3.

Still under foreign control, Miyako moved her bishop to c5, prompting Arina to launch her knight to d5 for an attack.

"She's got those knights in close. They can move in weird ways, right? I don't like that," Miyako thought as she moved her pawn to h6.

Arina then moved her bishop to e3, causing Miyako's face to suddenly morph into a deranged smile.

"Shut that ugly mouth of yours!" Arina fumed.

Miyako tried to muster the words to tell her she wasn't doing this out of free will, but not even a sound could be vocalized as she captured the bishop at e3 with her bishop.

Arina had foreseen the play, and recaptured with her f-pawn almost instantly, yet what she had completely overlooked was Miyako's h-pawn, which could now capture her knight at g5. That being said, Arina didn't seem the least phased by her knight's capture, and moved her queen out to f3, signifying her intent to keep up the aggression.

The subtle pawn to d6 was the next move Miyako found herself making as Arina decided to capture the pawn at f5 with her e-pawn.

Then Vasily's voice permeated through her mind. "Miyako, what is the best move? Point."

Miyako slowly wiggled her fingers, finding that control had been seeded back to her, at least over her hands. Her arms remained locked in place, preventing her from reaching over and touching a piece.

"Only you can hear me. Now Miyako, point. You have 10 seconds."

Panicked, Miyako pointed randomly at the center of the board.

"Good... Good... Capturing the knight is the best move, but sometimes, it's better not to make the best move, in order to get... something unexpected..."

Just as quickly as the freedom had come, it was taken away as Miyako's hand grabbed the g-pawn and moved it to g4.

"I hope when you lose they decide to yank all your teeth out instead of shaving your head so I don't have to see your hideous grin ever again. Check," Arina glared as she captured the knight at f6 with her knight.

"No, I don't want that either! Can't we draw? Yes, they said we could draw after 20 moves, but can I even offer her one?" Miyako thought as she captured the knight at f6 with her queen.

"I will allow it, as should you lose, you'll find yourself without the teeth to eat solids," Vasily's voice echoed through Miyako's mind.

"R- Really?" Miyako thought as Arina captured the pawn at g4 with her queen.

"Yes, if you get past 20 moves, you will be permitted to speak freely with your opponent, hopefully to offer them a draw, but resign if you so choose to," Vasily chuckled as Miyako captured the pawn at f5 with her bishop.

Some relief found its way to Miyako, though whether Vasily would actually follow through with his promise was not on her radar.

"Did she just appear to look... relieved? Must be my imagination," Arina thought as she slid her queen across the board to a4.

Miyako then moved her queen to h6, giving Arina slight pause. "She's got everything lined up on that far column, but her bishop is wide open," she thought as she moved her pawn to e4.

In that moment, Miyako's face suddenly came to life, her eyes and grin widening as her jaw began flapping as if she was meant to be laughing.

"The fuck!? Why are you laughing like a mime!?" Arina fumed.

Miyako waved her finger before slowly moving her queen to e3.

"Not even gonna say "check"? You damn freak," Arina scoffed as she moved her king to d1.

Miyako mockingly stuck her tongue out as she moved her bishop to g4, causing Arina's eyes to bulge with fury as she was forced to move her bishop to e2. "YOU WANT ME TO PUNCH OUT YOUR TEETH INSTEAD OF THEM!?" she roared as Miyako captured the bishop at e2 with her bishop.

Miyako let loose a shrug as Arina trembled with even more fury as she moved her king to e1. "I'M PULLING ALL YOUR HAIR OUT TOO!"

"No-you're-not," Miyako mouthed as she twiddled her finger around in the air before moving her bishop to g4.

This forced Arina to move her king to f1, naturally infuriating her, but it was the infuriator that was completely scared out of her mind. "No! Please, make me stop doing this! She looks furious! I don't want her to hurt me!" Miyako thought as she found herself picking up her king and jiggling it in her hand.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW!?" Arina shouted.

Miyako's smile relaxed, but in doing so, appeared far more sinister. She then grabbed her h-rook, holding it next to her king, before slamming it down on f8 and the king on g8.

"Checkmate. Black has won," the voice from the board stated.

Slowly, Arina's rage began to morph into horror. "Huh... Ch- Checkmate? No... She moved the king and-"

"Castling. Perfectly legal. But a castling mate? That's rare. To think Russia's own in this would humiliate herself so. I'm sure as a member of our esteemed figure skating community, you know how we respond... to failure," Vasily's voice crackled through the loudspeaker.

Arina began hyperventilating as a guard approached her holding a bottle filled with liquid. "No, please no! NO! DON'T PUT THAT STUFF ON MY HAIR!?"

"'Hair'? You don't have any, nor will you ever again. Boris?"

The guard nodded and unscrewed the cap, holding the bottle above Arina's head as brown liquid came pouring out.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! MY SKIN! IT'S MELTING MY SKIN! STOP! STOP!" Arina cried.

"HAHAHAHAHA! 'It's melting my skin'? That's just soda!"

Arina went quiet and slowly examined the liquid dripping down her head. Touching it, she felt no pain, and upon licking it, she could confirm it was indeed soda.

"I told you that you'd only receive further punishment if you find yourself at the bottom after facing all your comrades. But look at you; you lost to a woman who never played chess before, and in humiliating fashion. Then there was your screaming, oh, and you wet yourself. If the world could see you now, they'd laugh. Laugh at what a joke and failure you are, Arina Drobysheva."

As Arina began to silently sob, Miyako found herself walking away, still forced to smile. It wasn't until she was back in her cell with the door locked, that she regained control of her body. Panting, she sunk to the ground in a flood of sweat as she glanced out through the bars at Arina.

"You alright?" the black-haired woman asked.

Miyako wanted to say she wasn't, but her panting suddenly stopped with a calm smile forcing its way to her face.

"You will not tell anyone about your... condition," Vasily's voice chuckled within Miyako's mind.

A second later, Miyako was back to panting and sweating.

"Oi!" the black-haired woman cried as she leapt down from her bunk.

"I'm fine! Really! I just, had a long match. I somehow won," Miyako wearily smiled.

The black-haired woman frowned and shook her head as she climbed back into her bunk.

The full game:

White: Arina Drobysheva Black: Miyako Suwabe

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 f5

3. d3 Nc6