Chapter 106:

Thick fog and a Danish gambit

En Passant Grandmaster

Onlookers froze and began panicking as a thick fog began to envelop Okinawa city. Amidst the chaos, four men stood atop the highest building.

"I do say, Mr. Jekyll, is this weather not grand?" a well dressed man with a goatee smirked as he adjusted his monocle.

"Nevermore... NEVERMORE!" a man clad in a raven costume cawed as he flapped his arms about madly.

"Yes, this is perfect opportunity for a hunt," a man with a plague mask and deerstalker nodded as he held up a musket.

"Baskerville, why did you craft such a device?" the man with the goatee asked.

"COL Baskerville Moran to you, Dr. Hyde. And this serves to better psych up my mental state."

"Customs would have a fit if they laid eyes upon it," Jekyll cawed.

"It isn't even a real musket. Besides, we could simply just head back to London if things got dicey."

"Nay, the DESPER is on its own internal timer. Jumping time zones does not recharge it faster. Now make haste. I doubt the fog will persist once my match concludes," a hooded figure wearing a mask stated as they played a chess match against a terrified woman.

"H- How could you!? Do you know who I am!? I'm a congresswoman!" the woman shrieked.

"And before me, you are but prey to be hunted."

...

Mimoko scowled as she walked with Iori and Carol. "This fog really is bad. Don't get too far ahead."

"Relax, we can still see just fine. In fact, we're so bald we're practically fog lights," Iori smirked.

"HOH! Three lasses at 5 o'clock!" a voice hollered.

The three girls huddled up as three men approached them and began to surround them.

"What's with the get-ups? You cosplaying as British villains or something?" Iori snickered.

"We ARE British! Truly a foul mouth thee have, hairless whore," Col Baskerville glared.

"I apologize for my friend, how can we help you?" Mimoko asked.

Dr. Hyde stared at Mimoko before shaking his head and leaving. "We were simply out for a stroll. Our apologies for the confrontation."

Mimoko stared in confusion as did Hyde's equally confused comrades.

"Oi Hyde, why are you turning tail!?" Baskerville angrily whispered.

"She shouldn't be trifled with, lest we wish to become the hunted," Hyde whispered back.

"But was our mission not to hunt-"

"What was that about not getting hunted?" a voice rang out through the fog.

Everyone turned as Okisato emerged from the fog.

"Tanabe-kun? What are you doing here?" Mimoko asked.

"I came back in a hurry after confronting Pewler at WWCF HQ."

"Wait, what!?"

"I'll explain later. But have you encountered anyone named Zinnia Broadstone as of late?"

Mimoko shook her head as Okisato turned his attention towards Iori and Carol. Carol began to tense up while Iori began acting seductive.

"So how do ya like my look? I'm nice and smooth, just for you," Iori cooed as she began snuggling up to Okisato.

"I- I'm not into bald girls," Okisato grumbled as he tried to hide his flustered state.

"Hmm? You tryin' to play tsundere? I DID shave all my hair off and made it permanent, ya know."

"That's on you, not me."

"The fuck!? You can't just dump me cuz I went bald!"

"I was never dating you in the first place."

"What if Mimo-chan went bald?"

"Iori-chan!? What are you-"

"Oi, we should stop with the banter before these Desperados make a break for it," Okisato glared as he clamped his hand down on Baskerville's shoulder.

"So you think you can hunt me then away to the roof of the Tokyo sky tree with us, should you agree of course, oni-tiger," Baskerville glared as he lifted his musket.

"Fine by me."

Baskerville nodded and fired his musket. Within an instant, both Okisato and Baskerville vanished.

"Well, seems the cat's out of the bag. I much hoped to enjoy a hunt, but it seems we must head back. Mr. Jekyll, we shall take the hairless women with us. Just make sure-"

"You think I'll let you hurt my friends!?" Mimoko glared as she stood in front of Hyde.

"So you wish for a confrontation then. Very well, let's say you lose, and you take a swim in the Thames. Oh and you won't be able to stop swimming until you swim the entire thing or you drown and die. Thus, we shall play our game at the base of Big Ben!"

"Pray haste for me! I wish to fight thee. At the base of London's clock before my flock!" Jekyll declared as he whipped out his DESPER and pointed it at Carol.

"Hey what about me?" Iori cried.

"We shall spectate the matches, then have our bout," a voice stated.

Iori turned as a figure in a black cloak wearing a long-nosed mask emerged from the fog.

"Ah Phantom. Seems the fog persisted even after your match. Well it matters not, we'll be leaving," Hyde nodded.

"Then join my spectating flock, the hairless girl and Phantom will. For in London England on a foggy day, this girl's in for a thrill. Swim the Thames for the loser, the punishment we register," Jekyll declared as he activated his DESPER.

Before Mimoko's eyes, Jekyll, Carol, Iori and Phantom all vanished, leaving just her and Hyde.

"Hmm, still foggy. Anyway, if you wish to fight me, you must agree to of course," Hyde stated as he held up his DESPER.

Mimoko nodded and Hyde activated his DESPER. She quickly found herself in what appeared to be London, however just like in Okinawa, there was fog. It wasn't as thick, but still persistent nonetheless.

"Now, let us begin," Hyde sneered as he sat down at the chessboard that spawned.

...

Okisato gazed around at his surroundings. He was atop the Tokyo sky tree and had a nice view of the city. The only problem was the fact that he was in a DESPER match.

"Well my prey, the first move is yours," Baskerville nodded as he set his musket down and sat down at the board.

"I take it your DESPER's inside that yes?" Okisato asked as he moved his pawn to e4.

"Yes indeed. You see I am a sportsman and do enjoy the feeling of holding a musket. Thus, I had a custom made musket that fires a blank when my DESPER activates," Baskerville responded as he moved his pawn to e5.

"Not gonna play an England?" Okisato asked as he moved his pawn to d4.

"I believe you relinquished that, along with any hope you had of winning. You do know I'm rated 2212, don't you?" Baskerville scoffed as he captured the pawn at d4 with his e-pawn.

"More like YOU blew it! Bliv ødelagt [Get wrecked]!" Okisato maniacally laughed as he slammed his pawn down on c3.

"What on earth did you just speak?" Baskerville glared as he moved his queen to f6.

"Danish, since this is the Danish gambit!" Okisato replied as he moved his bishop to d3.

"I'm aware, which is why I've neutralized it," Baskerville retorted as he moved his bishop to c5.

"Nah, you botched it," Okisato taunted as he moved his knight to f3.

Baskerville shook his head and moved his knight to c6.

"Alright, we can play silently," Okisato snickered as he moved his pawn to e5, forcing Baskerville to move his queen to e6.

Okisato castled king's side while Baskerville moved his bishop to b6, giving him the opportunity to then capture the pawn on d4 with his c-pawn. Baskerville quickly retaliated by capturing said pawn with his bishop, but Okisato simply shrugged and moved his bishop to c2 leaving Baskerville flustered, resulting in him moving his bishop to c5.

"Time to mess with him," Okisato thought as he moved his knight to g5, forcing Baskerville to move his queen to e7.

Okisato then moved his knight to c3 while Baskerville moved his pawn to h6. Undeterred, he simply moved his knight to d5 and threatened the queen. Then, the decisive play happened; Baskerville captured the pawn at e5 with his queen.

"Thanks for the queen, dumbass!" Okisato laughed as he slammed his rook down on e1.

Baskerville went pale with horror. He had screwed himself by capturing the pawn with his queen. However, he tried his best to consolidate his loss by capturing the knight at g5 with his h-pawn while Okisato captured his queen at e5 with his rook.

"Well what do you know, I'm up in material. So much for that sacrifice," Baskerville chuckled as he captured the rook at e5 with his knight.

"Not for long, check!" Okisato declared as he captured the pawn at c7 with his knight.

Baskerville let out a frustrated scream as he moved his king to f8 and watched Okisato capture the rook at a8 with his knight. "This isn't over, I'M the hunter!" he snarled as he moved his knight to f6.

"Then hunt this," Okisato taunted as he moved his bishop to e3.

Baskerville promptly captured said bishop, but was faced with a crisis when Okisato moved his queen to d6. He opted to move his king to g8, while Okisato promptly captured the knight at e5 with his queen. Baskerville wasn't out of it yet as he moved his bishop to f4 while Okisato moved his queen to c3.

"Now you've been hit. Check!" Baskerville shouted as he captured the pawn at h2 with his bishop, forcing Okisato's king to f1.

Now brimming with confidence, Baskerville moved his knight to e8.

"He didn't see it... Oh, the reveal will be glorious!" Okisato maniacally thought as he moved his rook to e1.

"Oh? Were you targeting my knight?" Baskerville scoffed as he moved his knight to d6.

"More like your bishop. Check!" Okisato laughed as he captured the bishop at c8 with his queen.

Baskerville immediately burst into laughter. "You hung your queen! Oh what a foolish blunder. Well, your head shall look fine upon my wall," he sneered as he captured the queen at c8 with his knight.

"Guess that mask obscures your vision. Checkmate, BA-KA!" Okisato snickered as he slammed his rook town on e8.

"Oh please, I can escape to- NO!"

Baskerville went pale as he realized Okisato's bishop prevented him from moving his king to h7. He had lost the game.

"Now, time to die," Okisato snickered as Baskerville found himself running towards the edge.

"No, NO I- AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Baskerville's screams echoed as he leaped off the roof and fell to his death. With a mighty splat that sent his blood and guts everywhere as he hit the pavement below, he was dead.

Okisato then watched as a puff of smoke emitted from Baskerville's DESPER musket. "Guess he's dead. Wait, why am I not back to where I was before!? Hold on, is this the real sky tree!? But then that would mean..."

Okisato began to scowl as he came to the realization that DESPERs were capable of teleporting combatants to different locations, and not sending them back to their original location. This meant the same could be true for Mimoko and Co. But first off, Okisato had to get down, meaning he had to call in a rescue.

"Ugh, this is going to be a pain to explain. I can only hope Inoue-senpai at least didn't get teleported somewhere far."

The full game:

White: Okisato Tanabe (2550) Black: Col Baskerville Moran (2212)

1. e4 e5

2. d4 exd4

3. c3 Qf6

4. Bd3 Bc5

5. Nf3 Nc6

6. e5 Qe6

7. O-O Bb6

8. cxd4 Bxd4

9. Bc2 Bc5