Hair on the line [Side Story 6 Intro]

September 5th, 2024, Paris, France.

Sirens blared as Daria sat restrained in a salon chair. Her hair was wrapped up in a towel while her face and mouth were covered in beauty cream.

"My, to think such a hot mommy would come to me for a makeover. Guess now you're stuck with me since Michiko's pretty much dead, or I guess wishes she was dead," a woman's voice sneered.

"Mmph ngh mmph!"

"Sorry mommy, but in my salon, hot mommys and all hot women in general, get the trendiest and sexiest cut in the world, B.A.L.D. BALD! Oh and no eyebrows, eyelashes, or hair follicles either. Sorry, but I have an uncontrollable bald fetish you see. Well, goodbye hair!" Melisha maniacally grinned as she flicked on the hair clippers.

"Damn you Ina. Why'd you recommend such a deranged stylist!?" Daria thought.

...

15 minutes earlier, Daria bid Mimoko good-bye as she headed off to Stream festivalen in Tokyo with Iori and Carol. Once they were gone, she quickly changed into a basketball jersey with the insignia of a prestigious Hokkaido college on it.

"Not going to tell anyone about this?" Ichimitsu asked as he lowered his paper.

"No. I'm the only one that can do this," Daria scowled.

"Why not ask Mimoko's friend?"

"He wouldn't be able to do anything. In fact, I deliberately lied about not knowing anything in order to throw him off."

"Why?"

"Because he wouldn't be able to handle this, at least in a way that would save Doraaki's life. Michiko truly inflicted a vile punishment upon her. Well I'm off."

Daria then put on a pair of Basketball sneakers before warping away. However, her destination was not Hokkaido, but rather Paris France.

As she arrived at a secret puzzle cafe in France, she poked her head out to notice the place was empty, save for a blue-haired girl manning the counter. Daria quickly did her hair and makeup so as not to startle the girl too much, though she still got an odd look for her basketball attire.

"Um, Mastro Himitsu? Why are you here? I don't think anyone's challenged you."

"Oh don't worry about it, Fifi. I've actually got some business with a WWCF official here."

The blue-haired girl nervously nodded as Daria headed out. Daria made her way outside the hotel and eventually stopped before an ominous-looking salon.

"Ina said the stylist here was not only talented, but also a WWCF official. But I've never heard of her. Well, I hope she can at least give me a good enough makeover so I can pass off as a high schooler," she thought as she entered.

The stylist, Melisha Kamaleon, raised an eyebrow as Daria entered. "Maestro Himitsu, huh. Seems like Ina sent me a very nice toy to play with," she maliciously thought as she greeted Daria.

Things started out fine, with Daria asking for a style that would make her look 20 years younger. Yet things quickly went awry when Daria suddenly found herself restrained to a salon chair and gagged with facial cream. Worse, her hair was now in danger of being permanently destroyed. While going bald was actually something on Daria's bucket list, she didn't want it to be permanent, nor did she feel bald was the right style for her mission.

As the clippers grew ever closer to her hairline, Daria prepared for the worst, but suddenly, Melisha turned them off.

"Well, I'd love to forcefully shave you against your will, but for someone like you, I need to give you a chance first," she snickered as she peeled the facial mask of Daria's face and mouth.

"And that chance would be?"

Melisha smiled as she summoned a chessboard with her WWCF card. While the rating displayed on Melisha's card was only 222, Daria suspected her skill was much higher, especially after what Ina had told about her.

"I hear you're a WWCF official, yet I've never seen or heard of you before."

"Oh, that's just because I change up my image."

"You're on the executive governing board, yes?"

Melisha went quiet before smiling and clapping. She then displayed her true rating of 2922, however that didn't phase Daria in the slightest.

"Well, now that you know my secret, I'm going to have to ensure those lips of yours are sealed up nice and tight with my finest superglue once you lose. Oh, and once your skin's all smooth, I'm inking every inch of it to make you look like a basketball," Melisha sneered.

"And when I win, you'll give me a makeover that makes me look 20 years younger WITHOUT cutting my hair shorter than shoulder-length. And while we're at it-"

"I won't tell you a damn thing about the executive board."

Daria sighed and begrudgingly accepted the fact as one of her arms was freed allowing her to play more easily. She opened by moving her pawn to e4, while Melisha moved her knight to c6. Daria declined the Nimzowitsch Defense by moving her knight to f3, and after Melisha moved her pawn to e5, it was a standard King's Pawn opening: King's Knight variation. Daria then decided to make it an Italian game by moving her bishop to c4.

"An Italian game in France? You must want me to shave you," Melisha taunted as she moved her knight to f6.

"You were the one that chose not to employ the French defense," Daria argued as she moved her pawn to d3.

"It's SO boring though," Melisha snickered as she moved her bishop to e7.

"I'll admit it's not one of the flashiest openings out there, but it certainly has it's merits," Daria sighed as she castled king's side.

Melisha also took the chance to castle king's side while Daria moved her pawn to h3. Melisha then began her attack by moving her pawn to d5, forcing Daria to capture it with her e-pawn or lose her slim advantage. Melisha quickly captured said pawn with her knight, while Daria instinctively moved her rook to e1.

"Well, I can certainly see why you're a top player. A shame Redfield decided to keep your existence a secret," Melisha sighed as she moved her bishop to e6.

"I don't mind. In fact I can understand why we were forced to semi-retire in a sense," Daria nodded as she captured the pawn at e5 with her knight.

Melisha scowled and captured said with her knight, but was on the defensive after Daria captured said knight with her rook. She opted to move her pawn to c6 as Daria brought her rook back to e1.

"Hoh? Retreating the rook?" Melisha sneered as she moved her bishop to d6.

"You have one of those micro chips in your brain, yes? Then you should know the reasoning behind moves like that," Daria glared as she moved her knight to d2.

"My, insulting me because of my microchip? Well unlike Ziegler, I don't over-rely on it," Melisha sneered as she moved her pawn to b5.

"I can see that," Daria scoffed as she moved her bishop to b3.

Melisha began to scowl. "Not everyone is as gifted as you at chess," she snarled as she moved her queen to c7.

To her surprise, Daria quickly apologized for the remark and moved her knight to e4. She also calmed down a bit and moved her pawn to c5, however, she soon became frustrated again as Daria moved her pawn to c4.

"I'm going to empty the entire bottle of depilatory cream on your head. Check," Melisha snarled as she moved her bishop to h2.

"Empty threats," Daria glared as she moved her king to h1.

"I think not. In fact, the entire bottle of wax and two whole cans of shaving cream, in addition to my state of the art hair removal laser, ARE ON THE MENU!" Melisha retorted as she captured the pawn at c4 with her b-pawn.

Daria stared for a few seconds before capturing the free pawn at c4 with her d-pawn as Melisha clicked her tongue and moved her knight to f6.

"Seems you're starting to crack. Check," Daria glared as she captured the knight at f6 with her knight.

"And this is bad for me how?" Melisha glared as she captured said knight with her g-pawn.

Daria didn't say a word and simply moved her queen to h5. Melisha wasn't deterred by the threat and moved her a-rook to e8. But after Daria moved her bishop to h6, a bead of sweat began to run down Melisha's face as she moved her bishop to e5.

Smelling blood on the water, Daria moved her bishop to c2 as Melisha frantically moved her pawn to f5. Yet that did little to stop Daria from capturing the rook at f8 with her bishop. Melisha was forced to capture said bishop with her king, allowing Daria to move her a-rook to d1.

Desperate for counterplay, Melisha opted to capture the pawn at b2 with her bishop, but that proved futile as Daria simply captured the pawn at f5 with her bishop. Melisha attempted to create counterplay once again by moving her bishop to c3, but Daria was simply winning at this point and inched closer to victory by capturing the bishop at e6 with her bishop.

"Damn it! If I take that rook, I'll lose my queen. I'll double up," Melisha thought as she moved her rook to e7.

Daria countered by moving her rook to e3, and after Melisha moved her bishop to d4 and Daria captured it with her rook, mate was inevitable.

"Damn it!" Melisha fumed as she captured the rook at d4 with her c-pawn.

"My, that frustrated about capturing a rook?" Daria taunted as she captured the pawn at h7 with her queen.

"You know damn well... Ugh. So what style would you like, ma'am?" Melisha grumbled as she captured the rook at e3 with her d-pawn.

"Hmm, maybe I'll go blonde. Oh and checkmate. You played well up until the middle game," Daria smiled as she moved her queen to h8, winning the game.

The full game:

White: Maestro Himitsu (Daria Inoue) (3200) Black: Melisha Kamaleon (2922)

1. e4 Nc6

2. Nf3 e5

3. Bc4 Nf6

4. d3 Be7

5. O-O O-O

6. h3 d5

7. exd5 Nxd5

8. Re1 Be6

9. Nxe5 Nxe5

10. Rxe5 c6

11. Re1 Bd6

12. Nd2 b5

13. Bb3 Qc7

14. Ne4 c5

15. c4 Bh2+

16. Kh1 bxc4

17. dxc4 Nf6

18. Nxf6+ gxf6

19. Qh5 Rae8

20. Bh6 Be5

21. Bc2 f5

22. Bxf8 Kxf8

23. Rad1 Bxb2

24. Bxf5 Bc3

25. Bxe6 Re7

26. Re3 Bd4

27. Rxd4 cxd4

28. Qxh7 dxe3

29. Qh8#