Miss Amazing thought. She couldn't move except to fight. If only she could get the stone it would be easy--wish that the mask wasn't the only way to turn back, wish that The Queen was instantly defeated, things like that. But since she could only fight as a chess piece, she couldn't reach into her belt pouch to touch the stone. And even if she could, wishes are quite dangerous, while superhero stories usually leave everyone alive unless there's a shock ending or the characters live in Genosha.
The Queen, who had a black hat added to her costume much like Miss Amazing's white hat, was standing on the black queen's home square.
"It's your turn, Miss Amazing" she said. "Standard chess rules, except the pieces have to fight it out, and losing the Queen is as bad as losing the king. I do hope you know how to play chess. I wouldn't want to lose the pleasure of capturing you myself."
Jon knew little about playing chess. Fortunately, neither did The Queen.
Jon shuddered a bit when Julian, dressed as one of his pawns, had to capture one of the opponent's pawns. The two students were forced to throw punches at each other, and finally the black pawn was knocked down. But Jon was very relieved when the enemy pawn just walked over to the bleachers, chains materializing around him.
"I thought you were going to kill him!" exclaimed Miss Amazing.
"I'm only here to kill you!" replied The Queen.
"Then why this deathtrap? You could just come over here and kill me now!"
"I can't do that. The chessboard spell binds me as much as you."
"Thanks for revealing your plans!" yelled Miss Amazing. Villains tended to do that a lot for some reason. She wondered when Karyn would show up--she did go to the same school, and if she was Amazing Boy, surely she would have discovered the mask in her locker or bookbag or whatever by now.
Thirty moves later, many of the pieces were gone, but Jon hadn't yet fought the Queen. "Are you trying to avoid me?" yelled Miss Amazing's nemesis.
"I don't want to fight you!" yelled Miss Amazing, and gave another order. His/her friend Chad, dressed in a white pawn hat and costume, moved to the last rank of the board....
