Throwing down the gauntlet

Taira moaned with pleasure as Michiko smacked her ass with a riding crop. “That’s for messing up!"

"Speaking of messing up, what happened with you?" Michiko snarled as she glared at Xiao Lin.

Xiao Lin simply sat silently sulking as the hooded woman also sat in silence and shook her head.

"So you couldn't hear what happened."

"I am allowed to say that while we are partners in crime, certain conditions prevent me from explicitly revealing things," Xiao Lin scowled.

"Like why that DESPER you got didn't work?"

"I assure you- ... It seems I cannot speak that. My apologies."

The hooded woman also bowed, before suddenly warping away. Michiko then turned her attention back to Tenju and Taira and ordered them to go on a walk.

…

“What the hell is wrong with them!? How dare they punish Taira for losing! If I find the ones that beat her, I’ll avenge her,” Tenju thought as she and Taira walked down the trail.

She immediately stopped as soon as she came face to face with the chess club and Hagemi.

“To think we’d encounter such a revolting sight by taking the long way. Did that faker intentionally blockade the lobby so that we’d be forced to take the back way and see this sight?” Hagemi glared.

“DON’T INSULT TAIRA!” Tenju roared as she whipped out her DESPER.

“I was referring to you, Tenju. The sight of you dehumanizing your sister and walking her on a leash disgusts me.”

“IF I DON’T, THEY’LL BULLY HER! I’M DOING THIS TO SAVE HER!...! DID ONE OF YOU BEAT HER!?”

“Yes, I did,” Mimoko nodded as she stepped forward.

“You… YOU! I’m avenging Taira now! I win and you die!” Tenju shouted as she activated her DESPER.

“Very well. If I win, you and your fake maestro agree to our formal challenge to team 4-way chess.”

A simple chessboard, table, and chairs appeared as Tenju headed for the white end of the table while Mimoko headed for the black end.

Once both were seated, Tenju immediately opened by moving her pawn to e4 while Mimoko moved her pawn to e6.

"Dear Tenju, do you know what that's called?" Taira sneered as Tenju moved her pawn to d4.

"What what's called?" Tenju asked as Mimoko moved her pawn to d5.

"The opening," Taira smiled as Tenju moved her knight to d2.

"Like hell I do. Heck, even you have trouble with that stuff," Tenju growled as Mimoko moved her pawn to c5.

"French Defense: Tarrasach, Open, no, now that you just moved your g-knight to f3, it's a French Defense: Tarrasch, open, Euwe-Keres line," Taira nodded.

"When did you get so good at the openings?" Tenju asked as Mimoko captured the pawn at d4 with her c-pawn.

"From Ai-sama's love of course," Taira blushed as Tenju scowled and captured the pawn at d5 with her e-pawn.

"You're wrong," Okisato glared as Mimoko captured the pawn at d5 with her queen."

"No, I was right, boy. It only changed to a French Defense: Tarrasch, open, Chistyakov defense once the queen captured the pawn," Taira glared as Tenju moved her bishop to c4.

Okisato went quiet and nodded as Mimoko moved her queen to d6, followed by Tenju castling on the king's side. Mimoko then moved her knight to f6 as Tenju moved her knight to b3.

"So a queen trade it is then," Mimoko thought as she moved her knight to c6.

Mimoko's predicted queen trade came to pass, but not before Tenju first captured the pawn at d5 with her b-knight, prompting Mimoko to capture said knight with her own. Tenju then captured said knight with her queen, while Mimoko captured said queen with her queen, and Tenju captured said queen with her knight on her next turn.

Mimoko then moved her bishop to c5, prompting Tenju to move her knight to the safety of b3. Mimoko slid her bishop back to e7, which led to Tenju simply moving her knight back to d4.

"Well that was productive," Iori scoffed as Mimoko castled on the king's side.

"Mimoko-sama is far smarter than you," Utami glared as Tenju moved her bishop to e3.

"I was referring to how dumb her opponent is, Baka-Utami," Iori snarled as Mimoko moved her rook to d8.

Tenju then panicked and moved her pawn to g3.

"Not the best move," Mimoko thought as she moved her knight to g4.

Tenju countered by moving her pawn to h3, but all that did was prompt Mimoko to capture the bishop at e3 with her knight, forcing Tenju to capture said pawn with her f-pawn on her next turn.

However, as soon as Mimoko moved her bishop to d7, Tenju began to smile. "HAH! Now you can't do anything to attack me!" she gloated as she moved her king to h1.

"Perhaps you should be more aware of the state you're in before gloating," Mimoko glared as she moved her a-rook to c8.

"Uh, I can just do this," Tenju snarled as she moved her bishop to b3.

"And I can just do this," Mimoko glared as she moved her bishop to g5.

Rather than protect the pawn with the rook, Tenju opted to instead advance the pawn to e4, prompting Mimoko to advance her pawn to a5. She then moved her knight to f3, prompting Mimoko to move her bishop to the safety of f6. Tenju didn't let up on her attack though as she advanced her pawn to e5, prompting Mimoko to move her bishop to e7.

"What;s wrong? I thought you were supposed to be good, but now you're just running scared. Well it's what you get for hurting Taira!" Tenju scoffed as she moved her pawn to c3.

"'Running scared'? Not in the slightest. In fact, things are looking quite dire on your end," Mimoko glared as she moved her bishop to c6.

Tenju began biting her lip in frustration as she moved her bishop to c2, however, things only got worse for her when Mimoko moved her rook to d2, prompting her to move her a-rook to c1 on her next turn.

Seeing no danger whatsoever, Mimoko moved her c-rook to d8, which let to Tenju staring in shock for a few seconds before opting to move her pawn to h4. She then advanced her rook to e2, prompting Tenju to move her king to g1, however that move sealed Tenju's fate as Mimoko promptly moved her bishop to c5, sending Tenju's king back to h1.

Even though Tenju was not great at seeing many moves ahead, she knew she was going to lose as soon as Mimoko moved her d-rook to d2.

"No! What can I do!? There must be some way out of this! Think, what would Taira do?" Tenju thought as she moved her bishop to e4.

"If you're wondering how to get out of this, there isn't a way. At best, you'll last three more moves before mate," Mimoko stated as she captured the bishop at e4 with her bishop.

"Th- THREE MOVES!? Ugh," Tenju groaned as she dejectedly moved her rook to f3, and watched as Mimoko promptly captured it with her rook.

Tears began to well up in Tenju's eyes as she moved her king to g1. "Taira, I'm sorry. I'm just too stupid," she thought as Mimoko captured the knight at f3 with her rook, forcing her to move her king to h1.

"Checkmate. Now, if you please, contact the fake maestro. We wish to do battle against her," Mimoko glared as she captured the pawn at g3 with her rook, winning the game.

The DESPER quickly deactivated as Tenju found herself heading back towards the salon. Taira meanwhile stared directly at Okisato before descending into hysterical cackling. “Oh you’ve done it now, boy.”

“That tone… Am I speaking to the false maestro via a proxy?” Okisato glared.

“Not bad, boy. But I guess you had your suspicions after you fought the Desperado league’s resident sex offender. However, these lovely ladies fully retain their personalities and wills. After all, I do want a harem full of lively bald ladies instead of soulless ones. Now, we are a bit preoccupied with Mizuse-chan’s EXTREME makeover, but once it's done, we’ll meet in the grand ballroom. There, we’ll have our showdown.”

Taira then went quiet before grinning maniacally and running off after Tenju. The gauntlet had been thrown, now all the chess club had to do was win.

The full game:

White: SPCM Himitsutan (Tenju Kuroshiro) (1362) Black: Mimoko Inoue (2714)

1. e4 e6

2. d4 d5

3. Nd2 c5

4. Ngf3 cxd4

5. exd5 Qxd5

6. Bc4 Qd6

7. O-O Nf6

8. Nb3 Nc6

9. Nbxd4 Nxd4

10. Qxd4 Qxd4

11. Nxd4 Bc5

12. Nb3 Be7

13. Nd4 O-O

14. Be3 Rd8

15. g3 Ng4

16. h3 Nxe3

17. fxe3 Bd7

18. Kh1 Rac8

19. Bb3 Bg5

20. e4 a5

21. Nf3 Bf6

22. e5 Be7

23. c3 Bc6

24. Bc2 Rd2

25. Rac1 Rcd8

26. h4 Re2

27. Kg1 Bc5+

28. Kh1 Rdd2

29. Be4 Bxe4

30. Rf2 Rxf2

31. Kg1 Rxf3+

32. Kh1 Rxg3#