Chapter 61:

Proxy

En Passant Grandmaster


Yuusuke nervously gazed up at the large man before him.

"The muscle mass on his arms are nearly the size of my waist!" Numakawa shuddered as he analyzed Yuusuke's opponent.

"That's the point. Now, 5 rounds and we alternate between boxing and chess, so that means three rounds of boxing, and only two of chess," Haruki sneered as the bell rang and the round began.

Yuusuke quickly found himself flying through the air, only to slam hard into an invisible wall.

"Oh yeah, that's to prevent ya from flying out of the ring. Aren't I the epitome of goodwill?" Haruki sneered.

Yuusuke slumped down to the ground as the 10 count began. "1! 2! 3! 4! 5! 6-"

"I'm not down yet!" Yuusuke groaned as he stood up. The fight resumed as Rudolph charged for Yuusuke. "Just gotta last until the chess," Yuusuke grinned as he dove out of the way of the large man's swing.

"DOWN! 1! 2-"

"The hell!? He didn't hit me!"

"But you dove to the ground, that counts as a down. One more, and it's TKO," Haruki sneered as the fight resumed.

"Fine, I can dodge without going down," Yuusuke snarled as he began running around the ring.

Rudolph remained stationary until suddenly unleashing a jab which hit Yuusuke in the chest, and caused him to trip and fall over.

"TKO! The first match goes to Rudolph!" the loudspeaker proclaimed.

"The hell!? I just tripped!" Yuusuke fumed as he suddenly found himself trapped in a bubble.

"You went down. Now, losers go to the prison area. Don't worry, ya won't explode from the inside out till your whole team loses which will happen in just three short rounds. So who's next?" Haruki sneered.

Numakawa decided to go next. As soon as the match began, he quickly found himself down on the ground, but managed to get up in time. "I won't let brains lose to brawn."

"Well ain't that a hoot. Igor used to be a nerdy scientist like you before tsar daddy decided to have him be a guinea pig. As such, I'll play with ya," Haruki sneered as the man in the ring loosened up and began throwing lighter and slower punches. Thanks to that, Numakawa managed to last through the round.

"Remember what we went over," Okisato nodded as Numakawa sat down at the chessboard.

"No need. The brute shall easily be dispatched. You said it was a mindless robot, yes?" Numakawa laughed.

Numakawa opened by confidently moving his pawn to e4, followed by Igor moving his pawn to e6.

"See? He's stupid," Numakawa scoffed as he moved his pawn to d4.

Igor then moved his pawn to d5, while Numakawa moved his knight to c3. Next, Igor moved his bishop to b4, but instead of taking proper countermeasures, Numakawa confidently moved his bishop to d2.

"Ugh, that prideful idiot," Okisato groaned as Igor captured the pawn at e4 with his d-pawn.

"Why do you scowl? A mindless brute cannot mate," Numakawa scoffed as he captured the pawn at e4 with his knight.

"That's the thing, they aren't mindless," Okisato glared as Igor captured the pawn at d4 with his queen.

"Yes they are, now allow me to show you intellect in motion, check," Numawaka declared as he moved his bishop to b5.

Igor defended by moving his bishop to d7, which was immediately captured by Numakawa's bishop, prompting Igor to capture said bishop with his knight on his next turn.

Undeterred, Numakawa moved his knight to g5, however, Igor soon ramped up the pressure by moving his bishop to c5.

"What a farce," Numakawa scoffed as he moved his queen to f3.

Igor then decided to threaten the queen by moving his knight to e5, however, Numakawa burst into confident laughter as he captured the pawn at b7 with his queen.

"What a star, thanks for making this easy on me, check," Haruki sneered as Igor captured the pawn at f2 with his queen.

Numakawa's ego crumbled as he was forced to move his king to d1. "I'll attack next-"

"No chances for ya," Haruki sneered as Igor moved his queen to f1, forcing Numakawa to move his bishop to e1, but the assault was far from over.

With the bishop out of the way, Igor could now move his rook to d8, forcing Numakawa to either delay his mate by sacrificing his queen, or hasten it by moving his king to c1; he chose the latter.

"Checkmate, nerd," Haruki sneered as Igor captured the bishop at e1 with his queen.

"No, impossible! How can a mindless brute be so smart!?" Numakawa cried as he was imprisoned in a bubble.

"Because you have full control over your slaves, right?" Okisato glared at Haruki.

"Pin pon, you win," Haruki sneered.

"Wait, if he can control them, then that's cheating!" Mimoko cried.

"Oi, don't dehumanize my homies. They're all individuals with their own names and birthdays."

"But-"

"Using proxies is fully allowed, so long as they aren't identical clones of ya. My 6 homies are all people with diverse backgrounds and count as individuals."

"Perhaps maybe they once were unique individuals, but now, they're nothing more than hollow puppets," Okisato glared.

"Well then, who's gonna face my strongest boy then?" Haruki sneered as a giant of a man stepped forward.

"I-"

"No, we can't risk you losing," Mimoko glared.

"Oi, you aren't-"

"Yes, I need to face him."

"Not bad, if Oki-chwan stepped forth, I'd have swapped in my weakest guy. Though think you can last? One punch and your skull will collapse in on itself," Haruki sneered.

"Then I won't get hit. And if I don't get hit, I'll vanquish you on the chessboard,” Mimoko declared.


The full game:

White: Syouma Numakawa (900) Black: Igor Abdulov (n/a) (controlled by Haruki Kamoshida (2100))

1. e4 e6

2. d4 d5

3. Nc3 Bb4

4. Bd2 dxe4

5. Nxe4 Qxd4

6. Bb5+ Bd7

7. Bxd7+ Nxd7

8. Ng5 Bc5

9. Qf3 Ne5

10. Qxb7 Qxf2+

11. Kd1 Qf1+

12. Be1 Rd8+

13. Kc1 Qxe1#

Mario Nakano 64
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