ReBoRn: Spin-off
by AvidAkiraReader
A tall, thin male sat in a leather chair, facing a chessboard and his friend. His pale blonde hair shaded his mercury colored eyes, and his head relaxed on his left hand. Moving a white pawn forward, he drawled, "How does an object feel to be pushed around?" The man was dressed in a casual pair of sweats and a gray t-shirt; socks covering his feet from the cold, white tiled floor.
The chessboard was a simple black and white slab of marble, and while one man was white, his friend was commanding the blacks. His friend was a Venus Adept, and an Assist Trophy with his friend. His brighter, golden blonde hair was being shoved back, and his blue eyes were frustrated. But he deemed an answer to his waiting companion and competitor.
"How should I know Frank?"
Smirking, Frank deftly reversed the black pawn with his white. "It was only a question, Isaac, you don't have to answer it." A piano was placed in the room they were sitting in, side by side a shelf where music books were. Underneath that was a single file, thick with music sheets that Saki liked to compose. They were in the music room, but Frank had insisted on playing chess there. Why he would he that, Isaac would never know.
"A rhetorical question isn't like you, you know. Your more like the studious version of Lyn, albeit with a lower alcohol tolerance." Isaac grinned at Frank's peeved look, and moved a horse to take a castle. Dressed in a button up white shirt and checkered shorts, Isaac looked more of a dressy person than Frank. "The Great Gray Fox doesn't really ask questions that don't need an answer." Isaac teased his friend mercilessly.
Frank grunted his disapproval, and picked up one of the black pawns he had acquired before from the Adpet, admiring the sleek shine that accompanied the bulbous shape. "Says the man who was knocked out first. And I can ask rhetorical questions. It's part of humanity." He retorted, and then stole yet one more pawn from Isaac's black army.
Isaac pursed his lips at the stolen pawn, and grumbled, "Why couldn't you have Saki play with you?"
A Game of Kings
As Frank decimated all of his pawns, Isaac looked glumly at his bishops, Queen, and King. Isaac surveyed his minuscule amount of chess pieces, and consoled himself that he had gotten most of Frank's army too. Moving a bishop diagonally to steal Frank's last castle, Isaac allowed himself a small smile at Frank's intense look of concentration.
"It's funny, isn't it, when the army is small, but it can still conquer one side?" Isaac wondered out loud. Countless battles ran through his head, both of the tournaments and of the other worlds. Frank glanced at him with a piercing, puzzled silver look, and looked back at the chess board.
"Sure, Isaac. It just matters how smart the commanding leader is, is what matters in wars. 'Plan Delta: If the enemy is going by the river instead in boats, set up spears and sharp pieces of wood in the river bottom so they can be stabbed to death.'" Frank imitated the harsh words of an officer, and laughed afterwards when Isaac snickered.
Frank thought of moving his queen to different places to decimate Isaac's king, but it was a glaringly obvious move, and with chess, you had to plan, strategize, and be subtle. Something he had been trying to get Isaac to be since Frank had first introduced him to it.
Isaac, frustrated, glared at the black and white chessboard. The damn monochromatic slab of marble didn't provide much of a sight for Isaac, but he forced himself to look at it if only to win against Frank. Then he looked at the king, then at the queen. Growling, Isaac's eye twitched when he realized he could kill Frank's queen, and then…Yes! Moving his queen to a seemingly ridiculous spot, Isaac waited.
Patience was a key objective in this game.
Frank slid his king to a clearing, where it should stay safe until the end.
And so his queen was taken.
In utter disbelief, Frank watched as Isaac smugly took his white queen away, leaving him with two pieces: his king, and his horse. With a steel determination instead of blind panic, Frank smoothly maneuvered his horse to destroy Isaac's own queen, watching Isaac's lips curl into a wordless snarl.
Isaac looked at his remaining pieces: His worthless king, and a more valuable bishop. Raising mirthless sapphire eyes to Frank's emotionless silver eyes, Isaac allowed himself a small smile and a question:
"Why is the king so weak?"
Surprised, Frank blinked, and thought back. "I guess…the king is technically the most powerful piece in the game right? So the other pieces—"He was quickly interrupted by an aggravated Venus Adept.
"It doesn't make sense! The king is the most important piece, but he can only move one space! What about the queen? Why can she move all around the place?" Isaac ranted, "The queen is stronger-!"
Frank interrupted him abruptly, "Actually, the queen can't move like a horse." Isaac snorted in reply.
"So what? It can literally destroy everything with someone covering its felted bottom. And if a queen could move like a horse, then I guess that horses are the most powerful thing in the world, huh?" Moodily, Isaac rested his head on his arms, listless eyes gazing back and forth between the most important yet weakest, and it's third-in-command. Then he looked at Frank's.
A horse that could move in an L like shape, making it hard to kill with his own bishop.
And a king; a weak, impotent piece that would decide who would win the round.
Frank shifted in his chair, and considered which move to make. Isaac's bishop was one that could only move diagonally in the white spaces, therefore, his king was safe. A predatory gleam rose in his silver eyes.
Ah yes…That plan would work perfectly if he predicted Isaac's next hasty move right. If not…
Well, there was always Plan Beta.
There's always a plan.
Isaac mumbled to himself, and finally steeled himself for what would seem like the worst time in his life.
"Checkmate, player."
I want to think that this is a sequel to ReBoRn. But it's more of a spin-off. Ah well.