A sinister makeover

Everyone exited the secret puzzle cafe and entered the salon.

"Do we all HAVE to shave our heads?" Tenju nervously asked.

Much to her dismay, she was met with a resounding, "YES!" from everyone. However, she was not concerned about going bald herself. Rather, it was her sister Taira, whom she absolutely didn't want to go bald, especially with how maliciously the others were acting.

"Taira... Don't worry, Onee-chan will save you," Tenju thought as she sat down along with Safumi and Doraaki.

Within minutes, the three were completely devoid of hair. Tenju began to tear up at her new appearance, but remained strong. She had to prevent Taira from being shaved at all costs.

However, her efforts were in vain as Taira gleefully hopped into the chair.

"We only held off on shaving her to surprise you. Now, let's see that pretty face she's always hiding," Michiko sneered as she flicked on the clippers.

"NO, NO! Don't shave her! She can wear a bald cap! Just don't let her-"

Tenju was interrupted by Michiko letting out an audible gasp. Tenju began to cry as she guessed what had happened.

"Why'd you gasp like that?" Xiao lin asked as she walked over. A look of disgust spread over her face briefly, before she shrugged it off and walked away.

"Oh don't worry, I'm not half-assing the job," Michiko sneered as she turned the clippers back on and continued shearing Taira. "Don't look just yet, once she's smooth, you can all see what she looks like under that veil of hair."

Tenju began to cry uncontrollably, prompting Ai to restrain and gag her. Then a few moments later, Michiko turned Taira to face everyone else eliciting a gasp from everyone. Now that all of Taira's hair was gone, there was nothing left to cover up the hideous scars that covered the top half of her head and face.

"Wow, to think you were so hideous under that hair. What a turn-off. Michiko, ink her," Ai glared.

Tenju's eyes went wide with horror. "MMPH NGH MMPH!? MMPH NGH MMPH NGH [HOW COULD YOU!? WERE YOU NOT OUR SAVIOR]!?"

"So that's why you were only challengable after beating the rest of us. You didn't want to risk having your secret revealed, you scarred heap of shit," Michiko sneered as she grabbed a tattoo gun.

"Hahaha! I am shit, make me even shittier," Taira cackled, much to Tenju's horror.

"She was never like this. What did they do to her!?" Tenju thought as she tearfully glared at Ai.

After what seemed like a torturous eternity, Taira's makeover was finished. Vulgar tattoos now covered every inch of her head and face, further ruining her appearance. Even her scars had been viciously inked over, though worst of all was the fact that everyone was hurling jeers and insults at her, and she seemed to enjoy every second of it much to Tenju's horror.

"Why so sad? full-body tattoos are peak femininity, so you should be grateful we fixed her look," Mizuse sneered as she removed Tenju's gag.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU ALL!? TAIRA WAS BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY SHE WAS, BUT YOU ALL MOCKED HER AND GAVE HER THOSE EVIL TATTOOS!"

"I said it was peak femininity, did I not? Well no matter. Ai-sama, care to ink me up too?"

Ai gleefully accepted, under the condition that she also throw in some piercings, which Mizue accepted.

Tenju continued to watch in horror as Mizuse was soon covered in tattoos and vulgar piercings.

"My, I guess I see your point. Next to a goddess like me, that scarred heap of shit really is a blemish on women's beauty," Mizuse sneered as her makeover was completed.

Tenju immediately burst into tears, yet still kept one strand of hope alive. It would be all or nothing, but if she could pull off her plan, Taira and everyone would be saved.

As Ai began begging to be shaved next, Tenju interjected by asking about when she could get her DESPER. Ai immediately shot her a death glare, yet Michiko smiled and summoned the Ultima-master. Tenju was taken aback by the Ultima-master's startling appearance, yet didn't waver as she stared directly into it's glowing red eye and agreed to join the Desperado league and receive a DESPER.

As soon as the DESPER was in her hands, she immediately turned and activated it. A simple chessboard appeared as Ai found herself forcefully walking towards it as Michiko began to go pale.

Tenju's eyes widened as she gazed at Ai's rating, but that in turn caused her to let loose a murderous glare. "Now for the conditions. I win, and Taira along with all the others return to normal. That includes restoring their appearances as well!"

Ai stood blankly for a bit, before a sinister smile appeared on her face. "Very well, you lose, you become incapable of killing yourself and become immortal and un-aging for 100 years straight. You'll also forget about my rating and league status completely. All of which, being irreversible."

"Fine by- ...!?"

Tenju went pale as an error message appeared on her DESPER informing her that the conditions of her wager could not be satisfied.

"Wh- Why?"

"Two possible reasons. First, Ai-sama wasn't the one that initially inflicted the punishment. And two, the one who did made it irreversible, meaning even if you beat them, the punishment will never be reversed. My, did you not know that? What an imbecile!" Mizuse cackled.

Tenju immediately began to tremble and go pale. Yet she didn't have long to lament as due to Ai being forced into the match, she had to play. The revelation had completely crushed her fighting spirits, leading her to open the game by dejectedly moving her pawn to h4.

"The Kádas opening? Can't function?" Ai sneered as she moved her pawn to e5.

Tenju was unable to think clearly and moved her rook to h3. Ai naturally took advantage of Tenju's dejected state and moved her knight to f6. Tenju made a better play on her third move by moving her pawn to d3, but Ai already had the edge and further solidified her control of the board by moving her pawn to d5. Tenju simply stared at the board and silently cried as she moved her bishop to g5.

"Not even thinking. Well, looks like Ai has this in the bag," Michiko thought as Ai captured the rook at h3 with her bishop.

Tenju merely sobbed harder before dejectedly captured the bishop at h3 with her knight.

"Oi, you're already down to 2 minutes. You're gonna run out of time," Safumi sneered as Ai moved her pawn to c6.

Tenju didn't bother to retort as she captured the knight at f6 with her bishop, and was thrown even deeper into the pitfall she dug when Ai captured said bishop with her queen. Out of options, Tenju moved her knight to c3 as Ai moved her bishop to c5.

"Taira... I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Tenju thought as she moved her pawn to f3.

"Check," Ai sneered as she captured the pawn at h4 with her queen.

Had Tenju moved her pawn to g3, she could have lasted longer, but short on time and no longer possessing fighting spirit, she moved her knight to f2, sealing her loss as Ai promptly captured it, forcing her to move her king to d2.

"Checkmate. Guess unlike Scar heap, you're dumb as shit," Ai sneered as she moved her bishop to e3, winning the game.

Tenju fell to her knees as the DESPER deactivated, yet she didn't feel any different.

"NOW it's time to SHAVE ME BALD!" Ai maniacally grinned.

"Very well, you were a good girl. Now for real, I'll shave you proper," Michiko smiled.

This time, Michiko really did shave Ai completely bald. All while Tenju laid on the floor with a dejected lifeless look on her face. "Taira... I'm sorry."

The full game:

White: SPCM Himitsutan (Tenju Kuroshiro) (1326) Black: Ai Kamuro (?)

1. h4 e5

2. Rh3 Nf6

3. d3 d5

4. Bg5 Bxh3

5. Nxh3 c6

6. Bxf6 Qxf6

7. Nc3 Bc5

8. f3 Qxh4+

9. Nf2 Qxf2+

10. Kd2 Be3#