Yu Yu Hakusho:Kōrudokēsu

Chapter 21 God Plays Chess

"... And that is checkmate... Yet again... Honestly Boz, I don't know why I even bother trying to teach you how to play this game. That's 13 losses and zero victories for you so far..." a young, pale-skinned man stated across a diner table to a very large, gorilla-like demon with glaring red eyes and bat-like ears protruding from the sides of his head. The demon snarled at his opponent, clearly frustrated that he had lost yet again to his chess mentor. The man simply sunk back into his seat, sighing heavily as the demon across the table glared at him. "Hey, don't get upset with me! I told you that you're much better at playing cards, but you didn't want to hear it, you just had to face me in chess! ...Still, I'll give you blessings for your efforts, your brother lost only three times before calling it quits..."

The demon Boz's face stretched outward into an awkward smile filled with jagged, rotting teeth upon hearing the praise of this young man.

At the other end of the diner in which the twosome sat, the pair of large glass doors opened apart widely. To any normal human being, there appeared to be no one there, almost as if the doors had been ripped open by a strong gust of wind. The manager of the establishment, an older gentleman, even remarked "not again!" before heading towards the doors to close them shut.

However, to the trained eye, this was no isolated incident. It occurred frequently, almost daily, just like the young man sitting in the booth towards the back-end of the diner. This was coincidence... This was a meeting.

This time, three demons came strolling through the door. One tall, lanky one wearing some sort of strange, religious garb. Another identical to the one sitting across from the strange human playing chess in his booth, and a third one, with green skin accented by scaly, almost fish-like features who appeared to be quite nervous, perhaps even terrified. This expression was expanded upon after seeing the suspicious youngster sitting towards the rear of the diner.

"Ah good... Doz and Qeebo are back." The young man stated calmly to the demon Boz, who was struggling to turn around in his booth to glance behind and see the new arrivals. "It also seems as though they've brought Lenjed along too..." he says, nodding towards the fish-like demon wearing a black leather coat who was being dragged into the restaurant by the other primate-like demon Doz by it's collar.

"God..." the lanky demon greeted the young man by kneeling before him and bowing his head, as if he were some sort of king or deity.

"You may rise, Son Qeebo..." the man said with a small wave of his hand, accenting that he was giving permission to the demon in religious garb to return to a standing stature.

As soon as the humanoid demon returned to his feet, he began speaking, his hand outstretched to the captive demon called Lenjed. "We've found him your worshipfulness... He is unarmed and alive, just as you had requested..."

"Good work my son, you are now dismissed." The young man waved his hand again, signifying to the demon he was to leave his sight, an order Qeebo complied to without question as he stepped away, bowing slightly as he did so.

"So Lenjed, where is my payment?" the young man asked in a somewhat irritated voice to the fish-faced demon who was sweating profusely.

"P-please Jax! J-just give m-me some more time! I-I can have your m-m-money by next week! I swear!" Lenjed stammered nervously.

"You don't seem to know how business works... So let me educate you here, friend..." Jax Amashi stated the word 'friend' in a very hostile tone of voice. "I tear a hole into the Kakai barrier for you and all your demons friends to invade the Human World, I get paid. If I don't get paid, I become very angry, as you can probably understand..."

Lenjed swallowed hard, the uncomfortable stirring feeling of nervousness becoming almost unbearable.

"I'm trying to recreate the universe into pure perfection... No more violence, hate, or ridiculous religious rhetoric. Despite how powerful I am, I still required funds if I am to achiever he same level of prominence as a god to not only my own people, but those of Spirit Realm and Demon World. Rebuilding all that filth is not going to be cheap, which is why I require the assistance of your master."

"Uh... Well... Jax, I'm not really serving Lord Karr anymore..." the fish-like demon confessed.

Jax sat silently for a moment, taking his coffee to his lips and then setting it back down upon the table after a brief sip.  "... Did you feel that he betrayed you in some way? Did he destroy your trust? Make you see that he was really a deceitful and false profit?"

"Well... Not exactly... Lord Karr was just... Sealed away again, by one of his former servants. I left as soon as I received word he would never rise again... And now I've found a new master, Lord Ortogi. He's actually very interested in your work and would like to propose a deal to you!"

Jax continued to sit there in silence, visibly upset by something Lenjed had just said. "...Lenjed... You have forsaken your master? Along with all of the beliefs you have abided by simply because Karr is now gone?... You have no sense of loyalty or honor... You'd be considered a heretic under my church! And I shall treat you as such!"

"Gah! No wait! Jax! You've got it all wrong man! I would never betray any master without probable cause to-"

"Silence! You have come here bearing insults in trying to create a new deal without paying off the previous one we had! And now you reveal yourself to be a hippocrite?!? Disgrace your religion?!? Abandon your beliefs?!? You are not worthy of life! I cast you out!"

Lenjed's screams of horror fell on death ears to the unaware owners of the diner. It mattered not, for they were very brief as soon as Jax Amashi revealed his true power to the demon.

A waitress came passing by, a pot of coffee in her hand to refill Amashi's cup, but the young man raised his hand to halt her advance.  "Careful dear... There's a bit of a mess right there..."