"YOU ARE A LIAR AND A FRAUD!"

Throughout the C.L.U.B room, a boy's angry screeching could be heard, shaking the very flimsy walls. Angrily pointing at the source of his troubles, Alfred Bradley continued his verbal assault. "TAKING ADVANTAGE OF PEOPLE DOWN ON THEIR LUCK! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!"

"'Taking advantage?'" Remaining relatively unbothered, Oliver stared at the angered student with annoyance. "Since when have I done that? I did nothing but help you!" This time, Maggie chose to jump into the argument. "Those people came to our club because you promised them prizes we did not have! We had to give some of our things away to make up for it!"

"You said you needed members fast. That was the fastest way it could happen. Sacrifices had to be made."

"At our expense?!" Alfred interrogated incredulously. Oliver then leaned across the desk to look at the two with a predacious glare. "Let me ask you something: did you have any new members sign up?"

"W-Well, yes, two. That isn't the poi-" After hearing the answer, the blonde leaned back in satisfaction, interrupting the braced boy. "Well then I don't see a problem! Your club's safe now. Am I missing something here?" He looked around for support from his own club members, but the three other students decided to stay silent.

After letting out a tired sigh, Maggie answered his question. "The problem is that you clearly lied to us in order to get our signature. We wish to retract the contract."

"Retract it?!" Oliver responded in shock. "You can't do that, it's already done! No take-backs!"

"Retract it... or we'll go to the headmistress." Alfred threatened, his tone lowered. The blonde simply scoffed with challenge. "Ha! Do it then. Let's see if your 'exquisite' club survives without our help. Eddie, get them out of here!"

"Hey, let's all calm down." Seina piped up. "There has to be some way we can solve this, right?" A tense silence fell into the room, no one else speaking up to calm down the situation. That was until a sardonic voice rose up from nowhere. "What if you guys play for it?" Nico proposed nonchalantly.

Everyone turned to her in confusion, Alfred displaying it verbally. "Excuse me?"

"Seems obvious enough." She continued. "Pick a board game. If you win, we'll tear up the contract, no drama."

"Nico..." Oliver rebuked her, only to be met by a pointed stare. Alfred looked at Maggie for opinion, with her shrugging her shoulders in response. He then looked back up with confidence. "You know what? Sure. If that's the only way to end this farce."

Everyone then gazed at the C.L.U.B president for an answer, who was silent with an irked expression. After a moment, he sighed. "Fine! I'm game, but WE get to pick!"

"Heh, like it would matter." The braced boy snorted. "Pick your poison. Risk? Scrabble? Sequence?" Oliver then beckoned his vice-president, with them doing a little side huddle. Following a whispered conversation, they both nodded as Seina announced their conditions.

"2 versus 2. We choose Candy World!"

The unexpected answer caused Alfred to sputter. "C-Candy World?! Seriously?" Oliver then interjected with a quick response. "You said it was our choice! Take it or leave it."

"We accept those terms." Maggie conceded, standing up from her chair. "We shall battle tomorrow. May the best team win." With those last words, the two members took their leave. After a couple of moments, Eddie burst out laughing at the absurd circumstances. "Candy World? I haven't played that shit since I was seven!"

"What else could we pick?!" Oliver reacted defensively. "We're going against board game nerds here! We needed to play something based on luck! Especially since someone came up with this stupid idea in the first place!" As he glared at the culprit, Nico snubbed his complaint with a smirk. "Don't freak over it."

"I got a little idea."

—OD!—

The Day of the Battle.

Within the Board Game clubroom, students filled up the space, chattering amongst each other as they awaited for the crucial game. As the students stood around the outer edges of the classroom, the competitors themselves sat at the table that was placed in the middle, one of them in awe of the audience.

"D-did I miss something?" Maggie said nervously, looking around at the many spectators that were in the room with them. "Why on earth are there so many people here?"

"Oh, this?" Oliver acknowledged from across the table. "We only did a bit of promotion for this grand event, that's all. That won't bother you, right?"

"Not in the slightest!" Alfred bluffed immediately. "I-in fact, we welcome it!"

From the circle of spectators, Nico and Eddie strolled up to the table, with Eddie holding a giant tray that held the set-up game of Candy World. After setting it down between the participants, Nico began to announce to the room through a microphone. "Alright everyone! The stakes have been set! We will now begin the first ever Bruma's Heart Candy World Clash!" As she announced the event, the crowd of students hollered and cheered in anticipation within the educational colosseum.

"Upon deliberation, it has been decided that the person to spin the wheel first will be the C.L.U.B Vice President, Seina Douglas!"

"Deliberation?! We didn't agree to that!" The braced boy objected out loud. The sly blonde let out a snicker in response. "Candy World official rules state that the youngest player in the group always goes first. Here I thought you knew that, Mr. Board Game Pro."

"Grr..."

"Now, if there's no other objections?" Nico questioned. When no one answered, she continued. "We will now start the game. Seina, you can go whenever you like."

"Alright..." Seina complied, softly flicking the spinner arrow. After cycling through the colors, the arrow landed on a picture of a peanut. Witnessing the result, her face lit up like a star. "I got the peanut!"

"Nice one!" Oliver exclaimed happily. The spectators around joined in on the good news, cheering Seina on as she moved her game piece up to the peanut square, resulting in her already being halfway to victory. On the other side of the table, Maggie and Alfred could only look on silently, both of them becoming more anxious over the final outcome of this competition.

–OD!–

Turn after turn, the arrow goes around the spinner for what seemed like eternity. All of the spectating students looked on in jittery excitement as the players closed in on the finish line.

On the game board, Seina still maintained the lead, only being a mere couple of spaces away from the finish line. Right behind her was Maggie's game piece, who narrowly caught up due to a few lucky spins and shortcuts. The other two players were still a considerable distance away, with Alfred stuck on a licorice spot and Oliver all the way back with Prince Sprinkles. After moving his piece up a couple spaces, the C.L.U.B president signaled for his partner to take her turn.

"It seems that it is Seina's turn once again." Nico reported from the sidelines. "If she gets anything but red, it will be C.L.U.B's win. Will she pass or fail? Heaven or Hell?"

"Geez... No pressure..." Seina muttered. Oliver put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Look, just ignore her. You're literally right there. All you need to do is spin the wheel and then you can hug Emperor Candy."

"I don't really wanna hug him, but okay..." As she flicked the spinner one final time, everyone silently watched the arrow in anticipation. Alfred gripped the table edge in despair while Maggie closed her eyes in perceived defeat. After what felt like forever, the arrow finally stopped, leaving the whole classroom with one unified thought between them.

Huh?

On the spinner, the arrow landed exactly on the tight white space between the double yellow mark and the red mark. Stunned silence filled the whole room until one spectator asked the question that everyone was thinking: "Well, is it yellow or red?" Oliver leaned in close to examine the spinner. Taking a moment to investigate, Oliver nodded and looked up to everyone.

"Yup, it is definitely yellow."

"Of course you would say that!" Alfred quickly accused. "It's clearly in the middle. We want a respin!" The spectators around the game muttered in agreement to his claim, much to Oliver's dismay. Being the judge, Nico nodded in acceptance. "Sorry Ollie, but the crowd has spoken. Spin again, Seina."

Watching the young girl flick the arrow again, Maggie's heart began to fill with hope. If the arrow lands on that red space, she would have a chance to win. Even though she was never a lucky girl, maybe... just maybe this one time-

"Purple! There we have it: Seina and Oliver takes the W for Candy World Clash!"

The entire crowd went wild as the result was announced, some in cheer and some in sorrow. However, it was nothing but static to Maggie as she continued to stare into nothing while her partner held his head in his hands beside her. Contemplating why the universe always seemed to be against her, the brunette spaced out for who knows how long, until a voice brought her back into reality.

"Excuse me? Hello?" The sounds of the victorious girl started to reach her ears and into her brain. Blinking a couple of times, Maggie recovered to answer. "Huh?"

"Oh, uh, I just wanted to say good game. I had fun!" Seina said, sharing a bright smile. While Maggie knew the girl was being genuine, it didn't dull the sting of defeat very much. Nonetheless, she prided herself on being a good loser. "Yes. Good game." She replied, trying to keep a light tone. Alfred, on the other hand, was not afraid to show his frustration over the result.

"Fine, you guys win." He yielded with a huff. "We'll keep your stupid name. You can leave now." Nico walked up to him, digging for something inside her bag. "We will," she started, as she found what she was looking for. "But first... here."

She pulled out a small bundle of cash to hand to him. Alfred looked at the puffy-haired student in complete shock of what she was trying to give him.

"W-What is this?!"

"Huh? This is from the wagers, obviously."

"Wagers? What wagers?" Maggie asked nervously. Oliver scratched the back of his head. "Well, since this was such a 'big deal,' Nico here thought we could spice it up by betting on it. We only invited a couple of people, but you know how stuff spreads." He explained as he gestured to the crowd around them.

"Wait a moment." Maggie said, trying to make sense of the situation. "Are you saying that everyone here only came to gamble on the game?!"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"...I do not know how to feel about this."

"Listen," Nico interjected with a more serious expression. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it: by itself, your club is boring with no chance of survival with how it is."

"Hey!" Alfred sheepishly interrupted, but the girl continued.

"-But look around you. You have a serious chance to do what you want AND gain something extra along the way. Embrace it." When she finished, Nico put the small bundle of cash between the two Board Game members.

The two looked at the money, then to each other. They realized that they were at a crossroads; either stay as they were or embrace modernity. Maggie tried to search for a confident answer from her, but even he looked uncertain on where to go. This time, it was her choice, and her choice alone. As she ignored all other factors, the brunette focused on the dream she had ever since she started the club to make the decision: To make people value board games again.

With that dream in mind, Magnolia's eyes steeled with conviction. Rising up from her seat, the Board Game C.L.U.B President gave her partner one last smile before she looked at the crowd, speaking with a brave voice that she never thought she would ever have.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE, WHO'S READY FOR ONE MORE GAME?! DOUBLE OR NOTHING!"

"YEAHHHHHH!" The crowd shouted back in unity.

And just like that, the Board Game Gambling Ring was born.

END!