Chapter 86:

Intermission battles

En Passant Grandmaster

As soon as Doraaki and Michiko returned, Ai ordered Michiko to take care of both Safumi and Mizuse.

"Working her like a slave driver," Xiao Lin mused as Michiko began dragging Safumi away.

"Would you like to help her?" Ai sneered.

"Actually, how about she fight me in a 1v1 DESPER match," Hagemi glared.

Ai went silent for a moment before smiling. "Sure, though do it outside. Oh, and take the statue with you."

Hagemi nodded and proceeded to help Xiao Lin carry out Mizuse. Once she and Xiao Lin were outside, they set Mizuse down.

"So are you ready to lose?" Xiao Lin asked.

"Nah, but I'm down for some kung-fu chess. I win, you return to your senses. I lose, I become your bitch," Hagemi grinned.

"Kung-fu chess!? Oh, I had no idea you were such a masochist. Kung-fu chess it is!" Xiao Lin grinned as she activated her DESPER.

Back inside, Mimoko and Doraaki began their game. Mimoko opened the game by moving her knight to f3, followed by Doraaki mirroring her and moving her knight to f6. She then moved her pawn to d4.

"Seems it's an Indian game: Knights variation," Doraaki mused as she moved her pawn to e6.

"No, it's an Indian game: East Indian, Anti-Nimzo-Indian variation," Mimoko stated as she moved her pawn to c4.

"Wrong, now the position is the same as a declined Queen's gambit," Doraaki huffed as she moved her pawn to d4.

"No, now it resembles that of an English opening: Anglo-Indian, Queen's knight variation," Mimoko stated as she moved her knight to c3.

"WRONG AGAIN! Queen's gambit declined: Ragozin defense!" Doraaki glared as she moved her bishop to b4.

"No need to get so worked up over it," Mimoko grumbled as she moved her bidhop to g5.

"But you were trying to act all smart and best me at my specialty," Doraaki snarled as she moved her b-knight to d7.

Okisato glared as Mimoko captured the pawn at d5 with her c-pawn. "I don't remember Himitsukun ever getting so worked up over something like that. Heck, I'm surprised she even knows what those openings are called. Even I can't remember much beyond a few notable ones," he thought as Doraaki captured the pawn at d5 with her e-pawn.

Mimoko then moved her pawn to e3 followed by Doraaki moving her pawn to c5. She then moved her bishop to e2 on her next turn.

"Check!" Doraaki shouted as she captured the knight at c3 with her bishop.

Mimoko let out a disappointed sigh and simply captured said bishop with her b-pawn, prompting Doraaki to move her knight to b6. Mimoko responded to the move by capturing the pawn at c5 with her d-pawn, forcing Doraaki to move her b-knight to d7.

Now Mimoko could bring her queen out to d4 with no issue. However, Doraaki didn't seem to care and captured the pawn at c5 with her knight.

"Lol, dumbass threw away her knight," Iori snickered as Mimoko promptly captured the knight at c5 with her queen.

Now Doraaki began to panic a bit and moved her bishop to f5. However, that move allowed Mimoko to move her bishop to b5, and force Doraaki to defend her king by moving her bishop to d7. Mimoko didn't let up though, and moved her knight to e5, leaving Doraaki with little choice but to capture the bishop at b5 with her bishop. However, that did little to help her as Mimoko simply captured said bishop with her queen, putting her in check once more.

She then made the decision to move her queen to d7, which only led to Mimoko capturing it with her knight. She proceeded to capture said knight with her own, but Mimoko stayed one step ahead of her and captured the pawn at b7 with her queen.

Now running scared, Doraaki castled on the king's side, leaving her knight on d7 for dead. After Mimoko captured said knight with her queen, Doraaki moved her pawn to d4. Mimoko simply captured said pawn with her c-pawn, frustrating Doraaki and prompting her to move her f-rook to e8.

With Doraaki on the ropes, Mimoko moved her rook to c1 while Doraaki moved her pawn to a5. She then moved her rook to c7, sealing Doraaki's demise, but rather than try to fight back, Doraaki gritted her teeth and mved her a-rook to d8.

"And that's it," Okisato nodded as Mimoko captured the pawn at f7 with her queen, forcing Doraaki's king to h8.

"Checkmate," Mimoko stated as she captured the pawn at g7 with her queen, winning the game.

"The hell did we let her play me for!?" Doraaki fumed as she slammed her fist down in frustration.

"To kill time until Michiko comes back from taking care of the losers. Speaking of which, I wonder how Xiao Lin's doing," Ai mused.

...

Utter chaos unfolded as pieces flew across the chessboard. Since multiple pieces could be moved in kung-fu chess, capturing the king was the only true way to win. In the end, Hagemi managed to win.

“Damn you! This is not the kung-fu chess I envisioned!” Xiao Lin fumed as her DESPER deactivated.

“But it is an officially accepted variant of chess. Though guess the DESPER doesn’t regard it as close enough to chess to justify imposing harsh penalties. Heck, you should be thanking me for suggesting it since if you had suggested it, you might have been subjected to a death penalty.”

“But it wasn't the form of kung-fu chess I wanted!"

"Well too bad. Chess boxing is about as far as things will go in terms of official chess fusion sports. Maybe you could get MMA chess, but-"

"You deceived me and made me waste my DESPER! I won't be able to use it until tomorrow. By then, things might be settled."

"So why ya so on edge?"

"MIMOKO INOUE MUST BE STOPPED, THAT'S WHY!"

"So ya fear her. Good. Considering you haven’t reverted to normal, I assume that either I didn’t beat the person who beat you and imposed the brainwashing on ya, you were never brainwashed and willing to sell your soul to the fake from the get-go, or maybe a combination of both to assume full control-"

“Like I’ll let things end here!” Xiao Lin fumed as she knocked out Hagemi.

The full game:

White: Mimoko Inoue (2714) Black: SPCM Himitsukun (Doraaki Soten) (700)

1. Nf3 Nf6

2. d4 e6

3. c4 d5

4. Nc3 Bb4

5. Bg5 Nbd7

6. cxd5 exd5

7. e3 c5

8. Be2 Bxc3+

9. bxc3 Nb6