Checkmate

Chapter 2: This World of Games

"Senra, look! Doesn't this look nice?", a purple-haired male asked as he pointed towards one of the cotton candy trees which had bright red candied apples hanging on them.

"It does... Wow... Is everything here really made out of candy?", the blond male asked impressed as he looked around.

"Yup~ Well, the people aren't I think! But the rest is pretty much candy~ Anyways, you guys are free to wander here around~ I will let you have your privacy and go! If you need me just shout my name and I will come~", Oz told them before he turned to fly away, halting at last second and turning back around.

"And Sen-chan... Sorry...", the young boy apologized as he put his arms behind his back and rocked back and forth on his feet. "For announcing your role I mean..."

Senra widened his eyes surprised, not expecting the younger male to apologize about that but put on a soft smile before he patted the shorter male's head. "Don't worry. I just have to do my best to win despite that.", the blond male said as Oz nodded before his usual grin appeared.

"Mhm! Good luck then! Anyways, I won't disturb your date any longer and go to my beloved Alice-chan instead so bye bye~", Oz chirped, waving at the flustered pair before he flew away, not giving them any chance to deny his statement.

"A-anyways, should we just go around and explore this place?", the purple-haired male asked as the blond male nodded.

"Exploring the place~? Walking around in this place with just the two of you guys might be dangerous~ You might get eaten~ Literally~", a voice said as they looked around to see a man stumble out of a bush. Shima and Senra only looked creeped out by then man who had a heavy amount of make-up on him and was dressed in some dark brown suit with a pin on it and a hat, his long pink hair which was tied to a ponytail, peeking from under it.

They slowly backed away until they realized that the man was approaching them.

"Hi~ I'm Charlie~ I heard you two are participants of Oz's game of chess and chose this place~ And because you two look like such a sweet couple, I thought I might just guide you around here~ You know, so you won't walk into any weirdos~", Charlie chirped before laughing, freezing when he saw how Shima had grabbed Senra's hand before they ran away.

"...Eh?"

"Quick, let's get away before this weirdo gets us!", Shima shouted at the younger male who only nodded before running as quick as he could, clinging onto the purple-haired male so they wouldn't get separated.

"Eh~? Wait you two! I am not suspicious I swear!", Charlie exclaimed as he ran after them which caused Shima and Senra to quicken their pace, their face paling when they saw how fast that man was running.

"Crap, at this rate he will catch us!", the purple-haired male cursed. "We have to be faster then— Shima-san, look ahead of you!", Senra warned the older male who looked at him confused.

"What do you mean? Wha?!", Shima exclaimed surprised when he felt the floor giving in underneath him as he fell into a sea of dark brown liquid, pulling Senra with him as they were holding hands. And so, the two of them could only scream as they fell into the lake.

Before they could swim up though and try to find a way out, something pulled them by their waist and next thing they knew, they were hanging in the air while Charlie was standing underneath them, panting in exhaustion.

He slowly stood straight again as he crossed his arms and looked at them with a smile even though both of them could clearly see how pissed off he was. "Alright~ We are going to have a small talk now and before you run away, you are going to listen to me~ Got it?", Charlie asked as he gave them an unamused expression.