Armin Justice vs Zayn - Round 2

Zayn took a few seconds to make his move, I imagined that his eyes were darting around the board, imagining his pieces and my pieces engaging in an all-out war, each move resulting in the loss of life until we found ourselves equal in terms of remaining units.

It sounds like the two of us would be equal in terms of advantage, right? Well, you'd be wrong to think that.

If Zayn made the wrong move, let's say he took my bait. Let's say his knight killed mine. If that were to happen, my other knight would take his e4 pawn, which would then force him to move his queen allowing me to then take his bishop on g4. Of course, that knight would be killed by Zayn's other knight, but I would react by slaying his rook that resided beside his king.

His king would have no other choice but to slay my bishop, leaving his king out in the open, free to be attacked by my queen after my bishop takes d4! All of this played in my head in just a second! I could feel myself entering a flow state, one where I could see endless possibilities as if I were witnessing different timelines or alternate realities of our battle!

Zayn was like me.

He too had this spatial vision in his mind, the ability to see the future and predict these metaphorical alternate realities or timelines and snuff them out before they get the chance to exist. Though, I don't think he realized it until it was too late.

"Queen to a3."

Zayn retreated his queen, placing her directly in front of my knight, leaving me with only a single option and erasing those aforementioned metaphorical alternate timelines in my brain.

"You can see them too, right?" I asked Zayn as I moved my knight. We didn't have time to sit idly while we chatted. "Knight takes c3."

"What do you mean?" I could feel Zayn adjust his weight backward as if my words made him reel back slightly. He moved his pawn while waiting for my response. "Takes C3."

I aimed my eyes directly at Zayn as if I were staring right into his soul. "The future timelines shattering. Alternate dimensions are being erased as our warriors exchange lives. Infinite possibilities in an infinite void, floating like glass shards in space." 

It wasn't until I said this out loud that I realized how much of a psychopath I sounded like. The murmurs in the crowd stopped and I could feel everyone's gazes on me. 

"So that's how you see without eyes..." Zayn didn't sound disturbed, he sounded more impressed than anything. 

"Yes and sometimes, the timelines that are destroyed can be reforged, yet changed. Like right now. Knight takes e4."

I mentioned before that I wanted to bait out his knight to leave his pawn on e4 open for the taking. That opportunity, that timeline where I won the match via that move was lost, though it wasn't lost forever. Once I took his pawn on e4, I could see in my own head the pieces of that winning timeline, like glass, being put together. 

However, just like if one were to try and put the broken glass back together, it could never be the same as it was before it shattered. The overview of the board was completely different, yet the goal of commanding my knight where I wanted it was the same.

Zayn was stunned for a moment. I think this moment was when it really hit him; I think he was finally starting to understand what I meant when I said there were other timelines, and what it means to see a timeline restored in another's eyes. 

I could feel him hovering his hand over his knight before stopping himself. "No." he then moved his hand to his bishop and commanded it to kill my e7 pawn. "Bishop takes e7."

The shattered pieces in my mind left a gap that I failed to notice, now my queen and my rook were in danger. If I take the bishop with my queen, his queen will assassinate mine from above. It was the perfect bait, though I wouldn't fall for it.

"Queen to b6." I moved my queen to the right side of the board where she was safe, leaving my rook for the taking. However, the other twin paladin that remained unmoved, the rook in my right-hand corner, was waiting to strike the moment Zayn's bishop takes f8."

Zayn didn't take the bait. He too could see the timeline in his mind, the one where this single mistake leads to a landslide. 

My rook, the one waiting on a8, was nothing more than a distraction. I wanted him to think that this unit was the threat to his bishop, but in reality, my other bishop, the one on the other side of the pawn that split our two bishops apart was the real threat. You see, if I were to have taken his bishop with mine, my bishop would have the perfect line of sight to either kill his queen or force her to move.

Once she moves, it leads to me inevitably commanding my units to kill her and the king, ending the match even faster than in the original timeline in my head, the one that deviated the moment Zayn and I traded knights.

"Bishop to c4." Zayn moved his out of the way of his backline so his rook and king could castle. It was a brilliant move, especially while I was under all of this pressure from me. However, I wanted him to do that. It was all part of my timeline! 

If I wanted to prevent the castle, I had to force him to make another move, so I did!

"Knight takes c3." 

It took everything I had to hide my smile here. My knight was practically taunting his queen, telling her to come to kill him, practically begging. But Zayn was too smart, we both knew this. He wouldn't be foolish enough to fall for my bait, so for the third time, he passed up on getting a free kill.

"Bishop to c5." I could hear in his voice that he knew that his situation was dire. It was subtle, but there was the tiniest hint of defeat. Now, there was pressure on my queen, but I didn't care.

"Rook to e8. Check." 

The crowd murmured as I forced his king to make a move. My rook, the twin paladin of my army, was ready to charge the battlefield and destroy Zayn's king. There was only one question that remained: How would Zayn protect his king."

"King to f1." Zayn simply moved his king over to his right, allowing it to be protected by his pawn and knight. Now, my queen was back to being in danger. His bishop stood face to face with her, ready to kill her if she chose not to remain where she stood. If she were to take the bishop instead, the pawn would be there to trade. 

Regardless, I would be sacrificing my queen here.

"Bishop to e6." After I made this move, Zayn was completely halted in his tracks. For about ten seconds, he just sat there and I presumed he was just starting at the board. I heard him exhale, which then turned into a soft chuckle.

"I see them. The timelines..." I could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. "And in every single one, I lose."

Zayn paused for a long time, and his clock was running out. Rather than letting his timer run out, I could hear Zayn tipping over his king.

"It's over. I resign."