/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>45565017
Aya played the assault force on Marisa’s fort in the north. All she had to do was get past the bridge and Yoshitsune’s head was hers! Of course, Marisa’s side of the field had barriers and chokepoints to slow down attackers. It made maneuvering her own forces cumbersome, but easily threatened Aya’s soldiers from advancing. There was one change that gave Aya an advantage: Instead of having to move her units into Marisa’s territory, the promotion zone was in the middle of the bridge for both players.

“I get it already, it’s all quite novel and different. That doesn’t change the fact that this game is childishly simple.” The spirit appeared to take in the new rules quickly, taking a second to assign Marisa’s bombing units and jotting down a few flowcharts for her student to follow. It was decided that Kosuzu would act as referee because she was the most trustworthy person. Thus, the game began.

___

“OHOHOHO! Come on and face me, coward!” The situation was grim for Aya. The board wasn’t named after Yoshitsune’s last stand for nothing: Mima chose to defend the bridge and attack Aya from the eastern and western shores. The tengu reciprocated, defending her shores to protect her valuable aquatic and aerial pieces while trying to establish control over the promotion zone. It was a futile effort once Marisa promoted a special piece on her side into a unit worthy of its namesake. Benkei was land-bound, but could move multiple times and capture from a distance as long as he moved back to a land tile at the end of his turn. None could approach him, nor the promotion zone.

The sidelines weren’t quiet during these exchanges, offering many flavors of advice.

“You took the middle Sensei, now promote everyone and strike Aya’s general!”

Sanae was eager to add her opinion to Hana’s suggestion “No, send Benkei down the line to leave nothing but a bloody smear in his wake. For his lord’s sake!”

“There’s more than one battlefield. Even if the bridge is inaccessible, Aya can still strike from the river. If she stopped turtling, that is.” Mamizou didn’t give explicit support for either player, but Aya could still feel the daggers from her words in her back.

The crowd against her didn’t stop the tengu, however, as she moved her powerful horned falcon on a diagonal file to the neck of Marisa’s side of the bridge. It had a clear shot at Benkei from the north with lances to the south, blocking escape. All it was next to was a simple knight that couldn’t—

“Pichuuun, ze!” Aya immediately looked to Kosuzu for confirmation. The spectacled woman nodded, and the board released a plume of smoke as Marisa’s knight took Aya’s falcon and every tile of bridge connecting to Marisa’s land with it. “Now half of your army is useless! Even if they get past Benkei, they can’t even make it to land!” The student-master witch combo began filling the underside of the bridge with their aquatic units, finding a new, safe avenue between the shores to approach Aya from. It was a dangerous situation for the tengu.

“Oooh, you better give up now Aya. This is looking preeeetty bad for you.” Tewi’s tone was far too cheerful.

“She’s still got two bombs! She might try to blow up Benkei!” Aunn had a good idea, but Aya had something far more sinister in mind. After all, she was hoping for this situation.
Turn after turn, Aya filled the top of the bridge with grounded units to distract Benkei while she tried to deal with Marisa’s forces coming from below. The air was tense as the spectators pointed out each and every way Marisa could dismantle Aya’s defenses. Before long, Mima spoke up. “I’ll admit this was a pleasant distraction. However, even you have to see how futile this game is at this point. I’ve already secured two impenetrable shields and one nearly-unstoppable spear. Seriously, how do you expect to win when you can’t even move past the bridge?”

Adjusting her tokin, Aya grinned and moved a bishop to her end of the bridge. The passage was clogged with her own troops stopping the flow of Marisa’s promoted units and the immortal Benkei. After this turn, it wouldn’t be. “Simple. I’ll make sure you can’t either.” Aya said the magic word. “Piiii-chun!”

What followed wasn’t merely a puff of smoke. Cut off on both sides, the bridge had no choice but to obey the laws of gravity. The grand structure crashed violently into a swarm of whales, dragons, water-walking ninja and other creatures traveling underneath, unaware that their lives would be cut short by the weight of their allies. Thus, the bulk of Marisa’s naval forces and promoted pieces met a watery grave.