Knight race

Iori smirked as the blowtorch finally turned off. Cypress was now nothing more than a burnt skeletal corpse.

"That device was rad! I haven't felt this excited since my second to last kill. Best of all, I technically didn't do anything sooo it doesn't count as murder. That means I'm still good," Iori thought as she reached for the DESPER device.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke emitted from the DESPER as the chessboard and surrounding furniture began to vanish. Iori was immediately released from her restraints while Cypress' corpse fell to the ground and shattered into ash.

Iori clicked her tongue as she examined the DESPER. "Guess it's busted. Dammit, this thing could have been amazing, both for killin;, and streaming. Ugh, I should kick my ass. I'm not gonna relapse into murderin’ for pleasure, not after what I did," she somberly thought as she chucked the broken DESPER at Cypress’ remains. "Although, if there's more of these guys, and I hunt them down, and they challenge me, that's OK," she thought as a demented smile spread across her face.

Iori then noticed her phone laying on one of the counters and grabbed it. "Looks like it wasn't messed with. Welp, time to head to school, though first I gotta do my makeup," she grinned as her streamer persona returned. As soon as she was done, she checked the time on her phone. "MOTHERF*****! I'M GONNA BE DETENTIONED! Guess I'll be doing a surprise infiltration stream," she nervously grinned as she sped out of the salon.

...

At the abandoned lot, the game between Yuusuke and Zanni began to enter its endgame. Yuusuke moved his pawn to b5 followed by Zanni moving his pawn to f4. Next, Yuusuke captured the pawn at f4 with his e-pawn as Zanni captured said pawn with his g-pawn. Yuusuke then turned towards the other end of the board and moved his pawn to a5. Zanni meanwhile maintained his focus on the king's side and moved his pawn one space up to f5.

Sensing the oncoming threat, Yuusuke moved his king to d8. Zanni followed by moving his king to g4, causing Yuusuke to cautiously move his pawn to h6.

"Very well, things are completely in my favor. Oh how I savor the moment despair will reclaim you," Zanni thought as he moved his pawn to f6.

Yuusuke quickly moved his king to e8, forcing Zanni to move his king to f5. Yuusuke then confidently moved his king to f8, eliciting a smirk from Zanni.

"Such confidence, but I have a knight," Zanni thought as he moved his knight to e3.

Yuusuke then moved his pawn to d5, eliciting a laugh from Zanni. "What? Do you have some master plan I don't know about?" he sneered as he captured the pawn at d5 with his knight.

"Yeah, h5," Yuusuke smirked as he moved his pawn to h5.

"Scary, scary! You've frightened my horse," Zanni sneered as he moved his knight to c7.

"Check!" Yuusuke shouted as he moved his knight to d4.

Zanni happily rolled his eyes as he moved his king to g6, though he began to scowl as Yuusuke captured his pawn at c2 with his knight. "No, you're not getting out of this THAT way," he snarled as he captured the pawn at b5 with his knight.

The race was on. Yuusuke moved his knight to b4, followed by Zanni moving his knight to c3. Yuusuke then moved his pawn up to h4, but Zanni decided to threaten his knight by moving his pawn to a3, forcing Yuusuke to move his knight to the safety of d3. Zanni clicked his tongue and moved his pawn to b4, prompting Yuusuke to capture it with his a-pawn, Zanni to capture said pawn with his a-pawn, and Yuusuke to capture that pawn with his knight on his next turn.

"You think I was careless? No, I just want to snuff out all hope of victory for you," Zanni glared as he moved his pawn to h3.

Now the game was a battle of knights. Yuusuke moved his knight to d3, followed by Zanni moving his knight to e2. Next, Yuusuke moved his knight to f2 while Zanni countered by moving his knight to g1. Yuusuke then retreated his knight to e4 allowing Zanni to position his knight at f3. Yuusuke didn't seem phased though and moved his knight to f2.

"And now, you cannot win," Zanni sneered as he captured the pawn at h4 with his knight.

"You can't either, wanna draw now?" Yuusuke asked as he captured the pawn at h3 with his knight.

"Didn't I tell you when we started? The only way to trigger a draw while the DESPER is active is to either stalemate or trigger the repetition rule, and I have no intention of letting you achieve either!" Zanni glared as he moved his knight to f5.

"Too bad, check," Yuusuke snickered as he moved his knight to f4.

Zanni scowled as he stared at the board. "I played with my food too much," he growled as he moved his king to h6 while Yuusuke happily moved his king up to f7. "A draw will result in everything being nullified. I'll also be unable to challenge you again for the day until my DESPER recharges, though remember this, I had the advantage, and should we ever play each other again, I WILL beat you," Zanni glared as he moved his knight to d6.

"I hope I never see you again, creep!" Yuusuke scoffed as he captured the pawn at f6 with his king, stalemating the game.

Immidiately, the medieval torture room along with the chessboard vanished.

Zanni clicked his tongue as he pocketed his DESPER. "Well, now everything is null and void so we are back to where we started. The DESPER can only be used once a day, and if I want to kill you, I'd have to do it the old fashioned way which is currently not possible due to lack of resources and the unsuitable location. Seems you have been spared," he glared as he began walking away.

"Ugh, my pants are soiled. Guess I gotta run back home- GEH!? I'm THAT late!? If I return home, Okaa will kill me. Ugh, guess I'll head for the locker rooms and grab my gym outfit," Yuusuke sighed as he began trudging along.

"And why is he still alive?" a voice snarled.

Yuusuke turned to notice Gyro glaring at him.

"Regrettably, it ended in stalemate," Zanni sighed as he attempted to leave.

Gyro glared and immediately hurled a gyroscope into the wall, bringing Zanni to a halt. "Zanni, you played around too much. Just one look at him tells me you blundered an easy win due to greed. Cypress is dead, so I'm not in the mood for excuses."

"Cypress is dead!? How!?"

"I've yet to access the match data, but the burnt corpse I found was definitely his. Before the media and authorities swarm the place, I want to get rid of this boy," Gyro glared as he pulled out his DESPER.

"HUH!? But you said you couldn't use that twice a day!" Yuusuke cried.

"I said I can't use MY DESPER more than once a day, but that doesn't mean someone else with a DESPER can't immediately challenge you," Zanni chuckled.

"But I just got out of a match!"

"Boy, do you know what these feathers I wear are? They're buzzard feathers," Gyro glared.

"'BUZZARD FEATHERS'!? But they're red!"

"I dye them in blood. Listen boy, buzzards hover and wait until their prey is either dead or weakened to the point of no return before going in for the meal. And right now, you're easy prey for a grandmaster like me."

“G- Grandmaster!?"

"Yes, my rating is 2559, and I will not go easy on you."

The full game:

White: Dr. Arlecchino Zanni (1913) Black: Yuusuke Shousen (1478)

1. e4 d5

2. exd5 Qxd5

3. Nc3 Qe5+

4. Be2 Nf6

5. Nf3 Qe6

6. O-O Nc6

7. b3 g5

8. Nxg5 Qe5

9. Bc4 e6

10. Nf3 Qh5

11. d4 Bd6

12. Re1 Rg8

13. g3 e5

14. Ng5 Qxd1

15. Rxd1 Be6

16. d5 Bxd5

17. Bxd5 O-O-O

18. Nxf7 Rd7

19. Nxd6+ Rxd6

20. Bxg8 Rxd1+

21. Kg2 Nxg8

22. Bb2 Rd2

23. Rc1 Nf6

24. Rd1 Rd6

25. Ba3 Ng4

26. f3 Ne3+

27. Kh3 Nxd1

28. Bxd6 cxd6

29. Nxd1 b5

30. f4 exf4

31. gxf4 a5

32. f5 Kd8

33. Kg4 h6

34. f6 Ke8

35. Kf5 Kf8

36. Ne3 d5

37. Nxd5 h5

38. Nc7 Nd4+

39. Kg6 Nxc2

40. Nxb5 Nb4

41. Nc3 h4

42. a3 Nd3

43. b4 axb4

44. axb4 Nxb4

45. h3 Nd3

46. Ne2 Nf2

47. Ng1 Ne4

48. Nf3 Nf2

49. Nxh4 Nxh3

50. Nf5 Nf4+

51. Kh6 Kf7

52. Nd6+ Kxf6 *