Second thoughts

"Welcome back to the show! When we went to commercial break, I left everyone hanging without revealing which of these 5 lovely Moldovan ladies on screen is a DSPCM. Hair is on the line, as whoever gets this quiz wrong gets shaved bald like the girls competing in 6B, but guess right, and a thousand euros are yours! So without further ado, let's invite the lovely Moldovan women's team on to tell us themselves!" Kisha declared.

The 5 pictured women on the screen suddenly entered the set and sat down at the end of the long sofa.

"We still able to get everyone in?" Kisha asked.

The cameraman gave a thumbs up.

"Good, cuz I think this is the limit. Anyway, before we get the answer, introduce yourselves."

"Gladly. I'm Bianca Maria Ion. You know me, but this is the first time I've been on... with Crina," Bianca Maria blushed.

"My, you're so cute. Oh, I'm Crina. Crina Mătăsos. I was actually called here to collab with Malasangre, but I guess I'm now involved in a Ewetube game," Crina smiled.

"I'm Ionica Frâncu. I like doing yoga and I never wear socks," Ionica smiled.

"Dumitrița Ioniță. The hell didn't ya bring me on earlier for? I love games like these," Dumitrița pouted.

"I'm Iulia Iorga. I'm so happy to be back Kisha. Want to discuss all the stuff I've found out?" Iulia giddily asked.

"We don't have time, sadly. Malasangre's gotta leave soon. Anyway, mind telling us which one of you is Moldova's newest DSPCM?" Kisha asked.

"Sure. It's me," Bianca Maria smiled.

Nearly the whole couch groaned, with the exception of Pnina and Karina, who got it right.

"Fuck, my dreads," Rita groaned.

"Oof, and I'm booked for hardcore bald, nothing pussy like a simple buzzcut, right?" Sadie asked.

"This look like a buzzcut I'm sporting?" Mifsud snickered as she slapped her bald head.

"No mercy. Well, always wanted to have my head shaved once just to see how it feels," Zehava nervously laughed as she ruffled her long curly blonde hair.

"I made an error in judgement," Yanmin trembled.

"We all did. Fuck, everyone's gonna clown me online," Helle groaned.

"Ilze just got shaved... Now me... Talk about a wild honeymoon," Ināra trembled.

"Bald is the essence of spirituality. Tis not a fate to shun," Fidelma calmly proclaimed.

"Is my head really gonna be painted like a melon?" Mari trembled.

"That or we upgrade it to permanent tattoos," Mifsud sneered.

"T- TATTOOS!? Uh, paint please..."

"OK!"

"And with that, I think we all need to head out. The last thing I want is to miss this opportunity," Chun-hwa smiled as she rose from her seat.

"That means we gotta go too. So sorry, Kisha. We literally just came on, but now we gotta leave," Iulia frowned.

"No worries. You go bald, that'll make headlines," Kisha snickered.

"HEAD WILL BE SHAVED!" Iulia smiled from ear to ear, her cheeks beaming red with pride.

"Oh but first, we gotta discuss just two more DSPCMs. Just feel like it's necessary," Kisha stated as images of Esti, Isidora, Pilar, Violant, and a goth-looking girl with purple hair that obscured her left eye named, Montserrat Malhumorado, appeared on screen. "Esti, Pila, and Isidora are all Central Americans from the grand ole Greater Federal Republic of Central America. But the hell do they still call it that when the nation is now off the coast of Cambodia!? That's a gossip topic and a half for another day. And for Montserrat, she's Uruguay's only DSPCM. Apparently they want to have more there, but there's barely anyone interested and the ones that are don't fulfill the minimum rating requirement. Even for DSPCMs, you gotta have achieved an 800 rating at least once. Anyway, now you can all go. But don't go away, I still got some more guests scheduled to come on."

...

Urraca let out a heavy sigh, causing Uxue to turn around. "What's wrong?"

"Look, I know we're both bald n' all... But I really... really don't wanna do this."

"Why's that?"

Urraca slowly did a sweep of her surroundings before facing Uxue. "Just don't feel like having a stress overload, that's all."

...

In the hall, Tola trembled as she stood before the salon with Lea. She had made eye contact with Melisha, who was standing right at the salon's entrance, yet the look plastered upon Melisha's face was one of pure disgust.

"Why's she staring at me like that? Every time I inch closer, her glare gets worse. I- Is it racism? I hope not, but... I know it's a thing sadly," Tola thought.

The tuth of the matter was that Tola's indecisiveness was irking Melisha to no end. The two had been camped outside the salon for nearly 45 minutes, yet had refused to step inside.

"Tula probably goaded them- No, forced them to do this. Damn that fucking bitch, but sadly my lips are gagged when it comes to HER. Dammit Tola, you don't want to get shaved, so why the fuck are you still even here? Head back and SHE'LL follow you without question. And if you guys vacate... Hmm, the Interpols would get drafted and probably lose. Well, I don't know em anyway, so who cares about em... ..."

Melisha paused her thoughts as she found Tola right in her face.

"What's your problem with me?" Tola glared.

Slap!

"You're an idiot. Not only are you likely to get fodderized with your pitiful skill level, but you had to bring HER with you. That will cause so many problems," Melisha snarled as she glanced over towards Lea.

"Y- Your problem's with Lea? Then why-"

"You came in, so you play. Looks like Team New Zealand inches ever closer to not being able to partake," Melisha snickered as she tuned towards Ethelreda and Camila.

"W- Wait a minute," Alice stuttered as she walked over.

"What do you want?"

"Y- You can't shave them. They haven't stepped inside."

Melisha looked down at the ground, then back up at Tola before giving her a mighty shove, sending her flying away, prompting Lea to walk over to where she landed to help her up.

"Guess you were right. Now, get the fuck lost, both of you. You're not welcome here at 6B with a cheater like her," Melisha glared.

Tola wearily got up and frowned at Melisha, but ultimately heeded her words and left.

"Lucky you, New Zealand, you just got a big break. And Alice... You have my respect, but tell me just what motivated you to stand up to me," Melisha growled as she turned to head back into the salon.

Alice nervously nodded and followed her back in just as the Tanzanian women's team strolled by.

"And Ethiopia just left. Aisha, Linet, the time has come for you to showcase how our nation has developed it's chess prowess. Go forth, shave your heads with pride, and bring 10 million euros home to Nairobi!" Marji proclaimed.

The two nodded and headed inside without question. To them, being able to potentially compete would be tremendous for them.

"You're still not eligible, but there is a mathematical chance you could be even if all the teams I'm expecting to show up show up. Therefor, I'll give you both a shave," Melisha smirked as he sadistic persona returned tenfold.

...

Alya dejectedly walked with Olga to the salon. It was 10 minutes until 1, yet despite leaving the hotel room hours ago, all Alya had done was lead Olga around in loops, avoiding going anywhere near the salon.

"I don't wanna do this, and neither do you considering how many circles we've gone in, so why are we just refusing to head out or officially state we won't participate?" Olga growled.

Alya remained silent. She was always the more timid of the two back when she and Anastasia were still making videos together. When it came to doing dares, she was always the more nervous one, but nonetheless still did them with Anastasia's support.

"Bald is nothing... The pods... nothing. Everyone's doing it... I don't want to upset anyone else. Russia needs to participate, I want to see and play Anastasia. I want to apologize," Alya mumbled.

Olga's patience was wearing thin. She did not want to shave her head just because of Alya's flimsy whims, or shave her head at all for that matter. but despite the constant backtracks and loop arounds, the two were slowly progressing towards the salon. And finally, with 9 minutes to spare, the two stood before the salon.

"No, NO! LET ME JOIN! LET ME JOIN!" Ethelreda cried as she struggled to break free from her restraints.

"The glue wear off? Guess it has been a while. But I told you before. You can't join unless one of the other teams ahead of you drops out. The only one left is Russia, assuming Mongolia doesn't return last minute, and even if only one of them shows up, Korea's ahead of you and they won't give up their spot to you," Melisha snarled as she reglued Ethelreda's mouth shut.

"Yet you shaved us both anyway. What gives?" Camilla glared.

"Just my uncontrollable fetish, that's all," Melisha sneered as she did a cute wink.

Outside the salon, Alya trembled. "Anastasia... Just one step... Then we can play again and make up," she thought as she began to move her foot forward.

"HEY! Wassup, Alya-chan!?" a voice shouted.

Alya stopped and turned to notice Iori running towards her. "I- Iori-chan? What are you doing- You're here to be shaved. No, your teammates already got shaved."

"Yeah, and I'm sharing that shit so hard online. Mimo-chan's gonna kill me, but who cares. She'll get the royalties I think."

Alya couldn't help but laugh at the joke. "I really enjoy your brash edginess. Anastasia had that side to her too, but she hates me now..."

"I saw it firsthand. Kinda lame considering you're both now shells of your former selves."

"I don't make videos anymore."

"That's what I'm saying! And Anastasia? Mega lame! Girl's practically a state-sponsored channel with how much she's constantly shouting out the Ukrainian resistance army and trying to get all her subscribers to join them. She barely does any crazy shit anymore either, and even deleted all the shit she did with you. It's like she's not even the same person."

"War can do that. I used to be a simple mother raising my young, now I'm a widow with no family," Vesna glared as she trudged over.

Alya quickly became uncomfortable at the sight of Vesna while Olga began to roll her eyes in annoyance, knowing things were likely going to end in a shouting match.

"I've never met you before in person, but now I can see why Anastasia speaks so lowly of you; you truly are a pathetic and insensitive existence," Vesna glared.

"I- I just want things to go back to normal-"

"THEY CAN'T GO BACK TO NORMAL! You think that just because the war ended, all that happened in it had no effect om things!? Well you're dead wrong. MY FAMILY WAS SHREDDED TO BITS BY YOUR NATION'S TANK SHELLS! And many of my friends... They were butchered by that chainsaw-wielding serial killer you enlisted into your army. AND EVEN AFTER THE WAR, YOU STILL SUBJECT OUR RESISTANCE FIGHTERS TO SUCH INHUMANE DEATHS! You Russians really are nothing but devils, barring a select few."

"Hold up, what's this about a chainsaw-wielding psycho? I'd like their number," Iori grinned.

Vesna stared in complete disgust. It was natural a line like that would grab Iori's attention, but her smile coupled with her giddy tone only further worsened Vesna's already agitated state.

"I've heard the rumors surrounding you... Quite frankly I'm disgusted Anastasia was coerced into helping clear your name in the incident with the French team. You're nothing but an insensitive murder fantasizer aroused by the slightest hint of others' suffering."

"Well humans are sadistic by nature, so no shit. Anyway, I just wanna know more about the chainsaw psycho so I can play them. Fucking them up... That's something that makes me feel wet."

Vesna cringed in disgust, yet began to calm down a bit. "I'm not a fan of your personality, but if you wish to hunt and kill that monster for all she's done, Katryana Moskal is her name. She's here competing with the Russian team."

Iori smirked and began to head off, but stopped and immediately spun back around. "Shit, I'm helping Oki-kun look for the ghosties. Hey Alya, wanna collab and help me hunt a ghost?"

"G- Ghosts?" Alya trembled in confusion.

"Yeah, ever hear Mexican ghost stories? Well they're real and the ghosts from them are competing here. Two got away, but there's still a third we gotta try and find so Oki-kun can get his info. Come on, it'll be your revival," Iori grinned as she grabbed Alya by the arm and ran off with her.

Vesna and Olga both stared in silence, before each coming to separate realizations.

"I don't need to compete. Good riddance, salon!" Olga thought as she maliciously smiled and ran off.

Vesna on the other hand, began to sweat a bit. "No, I got distracted. I was coming here to look for Anastasia and Mira, because something's off about this event, but I still don't know what it is!"

But before she got the chance, Malasangre and it's entourage marched into the salon, completely blocking her out.

"And 1 on the dot. No Mongolia, no Russia, no Ethiopia, no Chile... Lucky you, New Zealand, you get to compete after all. Same for you, Tanzania," Melisha sneered as she smeared beauty cream over Aisha, Linet, Ethelreda, and Camilla's eyes before sealing them in pods. "Good thing you said you were with Korea, team Bulgaria. I'd have been VERY mad if a beauty like Radina wasn't booked for bald.

"The moment my girlfriend went bald, I was destined for an equally beautiful shave," Radina smiled as she flicked her hair.

"I'll give said girlfriend of yours a complimentary newlywed shave. Oh, and Moldova, Chile decided not to show up for some reason, meaning their spot was passed to Iceland... who didn't show up. That means you're competing whether you want to or not since you're here."

"Hold on, you just sealed up Tanzania, who was ranked below us," Bianca Maria pointed out.

"Ethiopia bounced too, but I know math and ran the numbers, determining that even if you did show up, there was a possibility they could participate, and so could you. Chair now."

"So that means you're going to tie me up, gag me, and shave my head, eyebrows, and pluck my eyelashes out too?" Crina smiled as she stared down at her sneakers.

"Yup, all 15 of you ladies are to be shaved per the rules, but the others are fine, unless of course they're contractually obligated to go bald."

"Guess that means me," Mari sighed.

Chun-hwa nervously smiled and fanned herself with her hands.

"You're acting all nervous, but you knew and agreed to this. Thus, I'll let you shave each other at your leisure. Just don't take TOO long. We do have a schedule. Oh, but for administrative purposes, you'll all have to tell me now who'll be competing for your teams."

Chun-hwa smiled and nudged Ye-bin and Ju-hye forward. "Our biggest stars of course."

...

Outside, a woman with long light green hair smiled as she stepped out of a limousine. Wearing a gold crop top, black sun hat, sunglasses, skinny jeans, and white sneakers, she pridefully strutted into the hotel.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" the receptionist asked.

"Yes, I'm looking for Malasangre."

"And you're name?"

The woman smiled and removed her hat and sunglasses. "Shift. Tina Shift."