Serena was up with the first light. She stretched her arms
and legs as much as she was able. Last night, she’d been given more
freedom of
movement.
At sunset, Michelle had returned, leaving Serena helpless
in a den of five ticklers. Her feet were prized as the epitome of
ticklishness,
and they were free to tickle while Jelex thought up her punishment. At
first,
she’d been tied hand and foot, but when the pizzas came they realized
either
she needed to be able to eat or someone would have to feed her. They
chose the
former option, and Serena had been treated to an eerie experience.
While eating
dinner, the five tickle stooges were very much like her friends. No
tickling
then or for a little while after while the food digested. Their talking
was
amiable and, while somewhat narrow in topics, idle gossip.
But then the free ride had ended.
Felin had put on a movie she’d made of tickling Raye that
afternoon. The picture flicked on, showing both Felin and Raye standing
in a
bedroom. Her bedroom, Serena realized
– this must be her video camera! Raye was wearing only a pair of
underwear, and
trying to assume a fighting stance while keeping her breasts covered.
This
ungainly and largely ineffective pose had evoked hilarious laughter
from the Negaverse.
Serena had to admit that it was a
funny shot. Raye had yelled and lunged at Felin. Felin neatly parried
the punch
with her tail and jumped to the side. Raye turned with her and fired
off a
vicious roundhouse kick. Felin caught it with her tail and wrapped up
the
ankle. She quickly scrabbled her nails on Raye’s sole, causing her to
overbalance and nearly fall. Raye yanked her foot straight down in an
axe kick,
breaking Felin’s grip. They stared at each other, Raye wary and tense,
Felin
smiling and ready. Raye came forward again, intending to grapple this
time.
Felin caught her hands and Raye pressed in close, forcing Felin to the
wall.
Syia needled Felin about the shocked expression on her face.
Raye pulled Felin forward and grabbed her under the shoulders
to put her in a full Nelson. Felin kicked vainly until Raye twined a
leg
between Felin’s, trapping her. But that move proved to be her undoing.
Felin
smiled and ceased struggling. Raye was beginning to giggle. Serena
realized
that Felin’s tail was not held. Felin pressed into Raye, causing her
grip to
weaken. Then Felin tore out of Raye’s grip and they faced one another
again.
Like lightning Felin’s tail struck out and caught Raye
under her arm. Raye giggled and pulled away. Just as quickly the tail
came in
from the other side, brushing along her ribs. Raye jerked away, and
Felin
caught her behind the knees. Raye swayed, giggling harder now, and her
attempts
to cover herself came a second late; Felin’s tail was there and gone in
an
instant, forcing Raye to her knees in laughter. Now Felin didn’t even
bother to
pull back, as Raye was reduced to feeble swats at her tail. Raye
collapsed face
first onto the carpet, still laughing. She tried to roll away but it
was to no
avail. Finally Felin moved in with her deft fingers and finished Raye
off. When
Raye was too weak to fight any longer, Felin rolled her in a bed sheet
and left
her on the bed.
“Home movies,” Serena snorted. “Always bore the hell out of
me.” No one seemed to particularly care about her jape. So Serena was
resolved
to sit moodily and listen to the chatter of Felin, Jelex, Syia, Megan
and
Michelle.
Somehow or another ticklish feet became the subject of
discussion. Although Serena had not been paying much attention to the
conversation anyway, she heard that particular subject come up.
“I think Michelle’s feet are more ticklish,” Megan was
saying.
“Nah, Syia’s are,” Michelle objected. “You’re just trying
to make everyone gang up on me.”
“How perceptive,” Felin chuckled. “I’m going to agree with
Megan.”
“Me too,” Syia said. “What do you think, Jelex?”
Jelex smiled and inclined her head toward Serena. Serena
let out a little squeak. Felin’s tail wandered over and brushed on her
soles.
But Serena had an ace up her sleeve.
Felin frowned. “What happened?” Serena had managed to keep
a straight face. Her feet were like prunes from being waterlogged. They
were
far less ticklish than her usual smooth, creamy-white arches.
Serena laughed. “I was in the water too long. Apparently
Jelex didn’t save me fast enough.”
“She has a point,” Megan said. “Wait until tomorrow, then
the shriveled skin will be back to normal.” She grinned at Michelle.
“Which
brings us back to you.”
Michelle had become uncomfortably aware of her feet,
resting on a stool. “Oh no you don’t.” She tried to pull her feet up
under her
body. “What gives? No! You’re cheating!” Michelle burst out with an
imploring
glance at Syia.
“Well, now, the shoe is on the other foot,” Syia said. “Or,
more correctly, the shoe is not on.
Last night you found it fitting to curl your tongue between my poor
helpless
toes-“
“Oh, shut up,” Felin chuckled. “Stop whining.” She began to
get up, but Syia stopped her.
“Watch this.” Syia concentrated and found a nerve in
Michelle’s feet. As Serena saw the terrible toll, she had begun to grow
afraid.
This is going to be
bad…
The Scouts had had an eventful night, to say the least.
Amy and Mina had straggled back at around four o’ clock,
after they had finished their day. Both had resolved not to let the
tickling
episode upset their plans, so they were in the best mood of all the
Scouts.
They found Raye still rolled in a sheet, unable to free herself.
Immediately
she went over to Serena’s video camera. “The tape’s gone!” she
shrieked.
“What? What tape?” Mina asked.
“Felin made a tape of this afternoon! I looked like an
idiot! She’d better not try and blackmail me or…! Ooooooh!” Raye was
furious.
“Say, Raye, what were you wearing when this tape was shot?”
Amy asked.
After being thrown out into the hall, Amy and Mina waited
for Raye to cool down. She stalked out, dressed this time.
“Where’s Lita and Serena?” Raye asked. She felt like easing
some tension by tickling the living daylights out of Serena.
“I don’t know. She’d better get back soon or we’ll need
to…”
“Call for pizza. Har har. Yes, I know. You’re not funny.”
As the clocked ticked past six, the Scouts began to grow
increasingly edgy. Finally Amy volunteered to go fetch the two.
As it was, Amy nearly missed Lita under all the sand. She
had laughed herself hoarse long ago and her face was bright red. “Lita!
Are you
OK?” Amy yelled as she tore at the pile of sand.
Lita merely made some noises. She was clearly unable to
speak. Even laughter no longer escaped her parched lips. Amy knew that
she must
have been suffering for a while. When Amy finally dug Lita out, she saw
the
cause of her torment. When exposed, the feathers darted away,
scattering to the
winds. They had staggered back together, where Raye did relent to
calling for
pizza. But there was still no sign of Serena.
Serena felt peaceful watching the sunrise. She could almost
forget that she was tied to a recliner in a dungeon of tickle-happy
fiends.
Unfortunately her feet had smoothed out overnight, so they were going
to be a
target today.
It was about seven before Felin awoke. Serena considered
herself lucky to see such a sight. The torture was almost worth it.
Felin was
bed head writ large, with her fur sticking up at odd angles all over
her body.
Serena immediately burst into laughter. Felin moved like the dead
possessed for
the coffee machine, ignoring Serena completely.
“Stupid… nothing wrong with coffee… just to help me get up,
that’s all…” she muttered. While she waited for the coffee she got out
a bowl
and poured cereal, and began to munch robotically.
Jelex was up fifteen minutes later. By then Felin had
poured her coffee and had flicked on the news. “Mornin’, Sailor Moon,”
Jelex
said with a grin as she passed by. Jelex made herself two slices of
toast and
poured a glass of milk. “The humans say that stuff makes you shorter,”
Jelex
said to Felin. “You don’t want to be any shorter, trust me.” Felin
spared one
eye to glare and resumed watching TV. “Pay attention,” Jelex said with
a grin.
Even at this early hour, she seemed to be herself. A morning person…
Serena
hated morning people. “You don’t want to spill, do you?” Red hands had
begun to
crawl like spiders over the furniture. Felin managed to put her coffee
down
before they swarmed her, crawling over her body. Felin was still too
groggy to
fight them off, so she sat there and giggled while the hands reigned
freely
over her. Eventually she got up and yelled at Jelex. Jelex laughed.
“But you’re
awake now, aren’t you?” Felin gave her an evil stare and resumed
drinking
coffee.
Syia was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It seemed that she’d
been awake for a while already. “I’ve got the prototype of my next
invention
ready!” she gushed. Of course, at this time of the morning that did not
draw an
enthusiastic response. “Fine, you’re missing out on a breakthrough in
the
making.” Syia settled a thin silver circlet over Serena’s head and
pushed a
button. Suddenly Serena felt so incredibly drowsy… she closed her eyes
and
began to snore.
“Wait a minute!” Syia objected. Felin and Jelex were sniggering.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen!” Syia removed the thin band from
Serena’s
forehead. Her eyes snapped open. “It needs adjustment…” she muttered to
herself. Syia took the circlet and returned to her room.
Michelle and Megan arrived at the same time. Michelle was
finishing brushing her hair. “Who fell asleep first?” Jelex asked.
Michelle
grinned wickedly, while Megan smiled sheepishly. They began to prepare
eggs.
Serena eyed the brush Michelle had put down. Her hair was a mess.
Felin noticed. “Hey, Michelle, toss that hair brush.” Felin
neatly fielded it and untied Serena’s wrists. Serena nodded and began
to brush
out her hair. She kept at it longer than usual to keep her hands free.
But
neither Jelex nor Felin was paying attention. Felin had her hands
behind her
head, resting on the couch near Serena. Glancing around, she slowly
lowered the
brush to Felin’s underarms.
Jelex caught her eye. For a second Serena’s heart froze.
But to her astonishment Jelex grinned and nodded encouragement. Thus
emboldened,
Serena rubbed the hairbrush under Felin’s fuzzy arms. Felin shrieked
with
laughter and covered her armpits. Serena moved to her stomach, and when
Felin
tried to cover that spot, Serena used her free hand to tickle her
underarms
again. Felin was hopelessly trying to cover all her ticklish spots at
once.
Neither Jelex nor Megan nor Michelle moved to help her.
This isn’t so bad…
“Okay, where is Serena?” Raye asked.
“Probably captured,” Lita replied. “I haven’t seen her
since about one yesterday.”
“Hmm…” Amy pondered. “We have to get into the house next
door.”
“Is she even there?” Mina wondered. Raye grinned.
“I have a plan.”
The telephone rang. Michelle picked it up without much
thought.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Hi. Is Serena there?” Raye asked.
“Sure. Just one sec-“ Michelle stopped dead. “Very funny,
Sailor Scouts,” she snarled into the phone. She slammed it down.
“Telemarketer?” Megan asked.
“Shut up.”
“Well, she’s over there,” Raye said.
“That was pretty clever,” Lita admitted. “So now what?”
“Our best point of entry is the second floor,” Amy said.
Syia got up and stretched. She’d been working for a while
now, and she needed some fresh air. Syia opened the doorway to the
walkway and
looked at the sea. It was actually very pretty. Syia had turned back to
go
inside when she felt nails pricking at her ribcage! Syia melted into
giggles
and fell to her knees. “Oh, stop, staaaaaaaaaaap pleeeeeeeze!” she
giggled. Who
had her? Probably Michelle. It didn’t really matter, because whoever it
was had
her trapped. “Come on! Pleheeeeeeheeeeeze! I need to finish my
invention!”
Suddenly Syia was whirled around to face Raye, of all
people. “What invention?” she asked menacingly. Syia was too shocked to
answer.
In that quick second, Raye plucked the glasses off Syia’s face and
tossed them
to Amy, standing in the doorway.
“No fair!” wailed Syia. “I can’t see!” She gasped and
chuckled in laughter as more hands arrived to torment her. And now,
without her
glasses, her power was reduced. Syia was vaguely aware of being moved
inside.
Syia was bound to a chair, still cackling madly. Raye
dialed up the Negaverse again. This time the answer was a harsh “What?”
from
Michelle.
“Let’s play guess who!” Raye held the phone close to Syia.
When Raye placed the receiver next to her ear again, she heard a thump
and
silence. But they hadn’t hung up, just dropped the phone. A new voice
spoke
into the phone.
“Say, what’s going on over there?” Jelex asked. “Do you
really have Syia?”
“Yes,” Raye answered. Jelex laughed.
“Listen to me, I’ve got some advice. Her feet are sooooooooooo
ticklish it’s unbelievable.
Just like your friend Serena’s here.”
Now it was Raye who was shocked into silence. What was that
for? Raye immediately suspected a trap. “Why should I believe anything
that you
say?”
“No reason.” Jelex laughed again. “By the way, we won’t
trade Serena for Syia. Sorry.” This time the phone was hung up. Raye
placed her
phone in the receiver.
“Well,
your friends won’t trade back for you. That means you’ll be our guest
for a
little while.” Syia squinted at Raye, causing her to laugh. “That’s
pretty
funny. You look like a mole.” Then Raye felt her muscles lock and her
feet left
the ground. “What-? Hey!” Raye would have been flailing had she been
able.
“What’s wrong, Raye?” Amy asked. She, too, was bound and
floated in midair.
Syia grinned. “Two down, two to go. Where’s my old friend
Lita?”
Raye saw a pair of hands sneak from behind the chair.
“Cootchy cootchy coo!” Lita teased. Her fingers poked gently at Syia’s
sides.
Raye felt her bonds weaken and she fell to the ground. “We have to keep
her
laughing, that’s the only way to make sure she can’t use her powers.
When we
wear her out we can stop.”
Raye saw an opportunity. “Jelex said your feet are
unbelievably ticklish. What do you say to that?” Syia didn’t say
anything. Raye
tugged off her shoes and saw that Syia had to fight down giggles even
then.
“Oho! It seems that you’re extra sensitive. I wonder how your feet will
tolerate the torturously soft touch of a feather?” Syia’s eyes said it
all; she
was terrified of feathers. It was part of the reason Michelle was able
to break
her down. Raye giddily scampered off to get her feathers. Syia was
shaking with
laughter as Amy delicately worked her fingernails into Syia’s armpits.
It
worked just as well on her as it did Serena, Amy noticed. Syia was incredibly ticklish, and her tight
gray shirt didn’t help her much now.
For Lita, it seemed that Syia had gotten softer since
they’d been in the dungeon. But then, it was hard to look tough when
you were
giggling like a schoolgirl as someone tickled you under the arms.
Without her
glasses she was also much less intimidating. They had a way of glinting
when
she had an evil thought. Next Lita examined Syia’s feet. They were
small, really
no different than normal feet except for the obvious fact that they
were white.
Her toes were tiny, but her arches were high and smooth. Syia
apparently did
little work physically if she could help it. Lita ran a nail up her
arch. Syia
gasped and began to laugh uncontrollably as Lita torturously stroked
her nail
over the skin.
Then an excellent idea struck Lita. “As I remember, you
liked to lick my toes. I never told you how that felt. Well, they say
actions
speak louder than words, so I guess I’ll show you.” Lita lowered her
tongue to
the small crevice between the toes and slid it back and forth.
Syia screamed in laughter and began to buck. She strained
at her bonds, thrashing wildly, but she was not able to escape Lita.
Raye
entered the room with a few feathers. “Mind if I join?” she asked.
“Not at all.” Lita smiled wickedly. “Where’s Mina? She
might want to help.”
Raye shrugged. “Shower.” She bent down and teased Syia’s
arches with the point of the feather.
Syia was in tears now. “Ohhhh pleeeeeze staahahahaaaaaap!”
she sobbed. “No… not there aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! Aahahahaahahahaa oh
God no!
Stahaaaap! Stop… pleeeeeeease!”
Amy moved down from the armpits because they were soaked in
sweat from Syia’s struggles. But her stomach was no less soft. To Amy,
it
seemed like nice soft dough, just the right shade of white. Amy kneaded
Syia’s
flesh like it was indeed dough. Gently squeeze a few times… spread with
the
fingertips… repeat. Syia begged for mercy. Amy guessed that the hard
exterior
covered a more girlish interior, similar to Raye. It was certainly fun
to be on
the tickling side for once.
“Just give her a while,” Jelex was saying. “Syia can get
out by herself. As soon as they let their guard down, she’ll escape.”
“Are you sure?” Megan asked. “When you tickle her, she
folds up and laughs herself to death. She can’t even use her powers
then.”
“But you can’t tickle her forever,” Felin objected.
“Eventually she’ll fall unconscious, and unless they institute
round-the-clock
watch on her she can find time when they’re not paying attention.”
“What if they take her glasses?” Michelle asked. “She
really can’t do anything then.”
“Syia told me she’d worked that out,” Jelex said. “I hope
so, for her sake.”
Syia was sleeping peacefully, totally exhausted from the
extensive tickling torture of the Scouts. The Scouts had moved back to
a more
or less normal routine, and it was the late afternoon before Syia woke
again.
From what she could see, there was no one watching her, but then making
out any
details at all was difficult. She squinted furiously, looking for…
there! Her
glasses were on the table next to the chair. Syia concentrated and
focused on
bringing her glasses over to her face.
Syia did not see the feather that rose to brush on her
feet. As soon as she felt the familiar brush on her soles the glasses
fell and
she squealed in laughter. “Naughty, naughty,” Mina teased. She set the
glasses
back onto the table. Syia huffed and was forced to sit there
half-blind.
She heard the Scouts talking and laughing with one another,
and she gave thought to snaring them all. But it would not accomplish
anything.
So Syia resolved to bide her time. She wondered how her invention was
coming
along, if any of them had tried to fiddle with it. She hoped not; it
didn’t work
yet anyway.
Serena’s day had been far less peaceful than Syia’s. Her
feet were ready for torment again, and the rest of her as well. The
first thing
that had happened was that Michelle put Syia’s circlet on her head and
activated it. That had been merely unpleasant; she’d belched up a storm
until
the device was turned off.
The real problem had arrived later. Megan had come to the
house with two of her omnipresent tiliking in tow. They’d promptly
begun to
lick her soles like dogs. Then, with this incentive, Megan began a
hopeless
quiz; Serena was asked where she was most ticklish and what her
tickling
weaknesses were. The result of this was the tiliking moved to her toes.
Their
method was ungodly in its torment. Each of her toes had been carefully
licked
over like they were candies. Megan gave explicit instructions that
Serena was
not to fall unconscious. The tiliking had entertained her for about an
hour,
during which time they had eaten their fill, and then they slept.
Megan, too,
was sleeping, so Jelex decided it would be a good time to torment Megan.
As
Serena watched in amazement, Jelex made some kind of red jelly in her
hand. She
spread this jelly carefully over Megan’s tummy, ribs and armpits. Megan
began
to giggle in her sleep. Jelex smiled and walked away. Soon Megan was
laughing
hysterically and when she woke up she darted for the bathroom, where
Jelex
apparently had been waiting. Serena heard another screech of laughter.
Well,
that was OK. When they were torturing each other they weren’t torturing
her.
Syia’s
shoulders ached from being bound over her head all day. Syia welcomed
the
discomfort, as it went a long way in defeating tickling. Syia stared at
her
glasses, so near yet so far. There was a string tied to one of the arms
and
whenever she tried to move them noises alerted the Scouts to her plans.
She’d
been punished several times; Syia could remember the hands wickedly
sliding
over her worst weak points. She’d laughed herself silly as the well
cared for
nails of Raye and Amy delicately twisted into her skin.
A
movement in front of her interrupted Syia’s reverie. A small dark
purple square
had appeared on the floor, and Felin’s head poked out. She glanced
around,
silently, and deftly extricated Syia’s spectacles. She placed them on
Syia’s
face, nodded, and slid into her portal again.
With
her vision returned, Syia felt able and powerful once again. Her mind
focused
as her vision did, and the crisp clarity her glasses granted her
empowered her
psychic abilities. With a thought, Syia’s bonds undid themselves, and
Syia slid
quietly off the chair. Now was the perfect time for revenge…
…But
Syia had no desire to be recaptured if a Scout attacked her
unexpectedly.
Revenge could wait. Making sure that she stayed out of the line of
sight of
anyone in the dining room, she padded upstairs, opened the door, and
ran across
the catwalk and into her room. Safe at last. It was interesting to note
how
short the border was between captivity and freedom.
Serena’s
heart sank as she saw Syia return.
“Hey!”
Michelle greeted her. “Syia’s back! Now we can give Sailor Moon a
break.”
Serena glared at her. It was indeed true that they’d tormented her
constantly
for the past two hours. Megan was still idly running a feather rod
under her
arms. Jelex relaxed on the couch, only two red hands still remaining on
Serena’s feet.
Syia
grinned. “Good. Make sure she’s rested, because I want her to be in
perfect
condition when I test my invention.” Felin nodded and shook a red pill
out of
the container. Serena shut her mouth and would not open it. Felin
laughed.
“Open
up, little one, or I’ll pry your mouth open.” Serena sighed and opened
her
mouth. She knew that if she resisted they’d tickle her as punishment,
then
tickle her to make her mouth open, and then
tickle her for whatever experiment they were about to perform.
Syia
brought her silver circlet out into the living room and continued to
work. For
lack of anything better to do, Serena watched Syia work, wondering what
could
possibly result from that small circle of silver. Suddenly Jelex stood
and did
a double take out the window. She strode to the door, opened it, and
stepped
quickly outside. It had happened so suddenly that no one said anything,
just
stared at the door.
In a
few minutes Jelex came back, carrying a girl held by four hands. The
girl was
wearing blue shorts and a loose light blue shirt. She had flip-flops
on, and on
her round face was a large pair of glasses. A braid of dark brown hair
hung
over her shoulder down to her chest, with a yellow ribbon tied in a bow
at the
end. She seemed thin, but that was because of the loose shirt she wore.
Somehow
Serena found herself critiquing her choice of clothing. She seemed to
exude a
goody-two-shoes kind of aura. Serena figured that this was what had
drawn Jelex
to her. The Negaverse loved cliches.
The
girl was obviously terrified. Her big blue eyes were wide open, staring
around
the room. A hand was clamped over her mouth. Syia looked up from her
work. “So,
what about her? If you brought her in because you think she looks like
me,
you’re wasting your time.”
Jelex let the
girl go with a little push, and
she squeaked and fell to the floor. “Megan, scan this girl and tell me
I’m not
crazy or delusional.” Megan, her curiosity piqued, pressed her earring
to scan
the girl. Then she frowned, scratched her head, scanned Serena and
frowned
again.
“I
don’t think you’re delusional, Jelex,” Megan said finally. “I can’t
believe the
readings.” The girl whimpered from her place on the floor, glancing
nervously
at each person as they spoke.
Now
Syia was interested. “Let me take a look.” She concentrated for a few
minutes,
shaking her head every so often.
Finally
the poor girl could stand no more. “What do you want with me?” she
sobbed.
Tears rimmed her eyes. No one spoke to her, so finally Serena answered
her.
“They’re
going to – mmmphhhh!” Felin closed a hand over her mouth.
“Don’t
ruin the surprise, or you’ll regret it.” Felin gagged her with a
dishcloth.
Then she turned to Megan. “What’s up?”
Michelle
walked over and whispered in her ear. A cruel smile formed on Felin’s
face as
she talked. Felin grinned at everyone else, and they nodded back
agreement.
Serena saw that they were savoring the fear on the girl’s face. Felin’s
tail
began to creep along the floor towards the girl. She screamed and
crawled away,
and ended up in a corner. The tail wound around her wrists and pulled
them over
her head. Felin then lifted her to a chair and set her down.
“Oh,
please don’t hurt me!” she wailed. No one responded, and Michelle
slipped her
flip-flops off. The girl stared, mute with terror and a slight bit of
confusion. But that ended when Michelle pulled a wicked-looking feather
out. It
was a soft yet stiff brown feather, her very best, and also treated in
oil. “Oh
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” the girl screamed. “Oh… please… don’t tell me
you’re going
to tickle me!” Megan’s grin and nod were all she needed. “No! Oh,
please,
please, you don’t know how ticklish I am! My sisters tickle me all the
time!
They make me wet my pants sometimes!” At this rate, Serena reflected,
she’d dig
a hole to the core of the Earth. “And especially feathers!” she went
on. “They
torture me for hours with feathers! My feet are so sensitive and I
can’t stand
it!”
“Really,
now?” Jelex asked, unable to refrain from teasing. “What would you do
if we
held you here captive and tickled you whenever we pleased?”
“Noooooo!
I have nightmares like that!” she sobbed again. Her braid quivered as
she shook
her head. “I’ll do anything! Just please don’t tickle me!”
“But
how could we resist?” Michelle asked. She held the feather just inches
from the
girl’s foot. “Just up, and down, and up, and down, over and over while
you
scream with laughter. Isn’t that fun?”
“And
what about up here?” Megan asked, pointing at her upper body with a
feather
rod. “Let’s take a look.” Syia obliged, and the shirt floated up and
over her
arms, where it was shredded to pieces.
Even
Serena gasped. The reason her shirt had been loose was obvious. She was
flushed
bright red from embarrassment. Jelex grinned. “What, too shy to show
off? I
love the shy ones. It makes the fear shine so much brighter.” While
Jelex and
the others taunted the girl, Syia returned to work. It was obvious that
she
wanted to finish quickly.
“So,
where do we try first?” Felin asked. “I personally think that these
armpits are
perfect. They’re smooth and hairless. Look at her!” Felin’s fingers had
been
advancing toward the girl as she spoke. The girl was whimpering and
trying
fruitlessly to pull away. Felin jabbed at her, and she screamed in
terror.
Everyone laughed.
“But
you heard what she said,” Michelle countered. “Her feet are obviously
very
weak. I bet that just one stroke of this feather will make her laugh.”
Megan
traced over her body with the feather rod, just inches off her skin.
“Here, her
ribs look like good spots. And her stomach is taut enough so that we
can use
feathers on it. Her legs are nice and tanned. You know, I think that
just about
everywhere is going to be a good
spot.”
“Let’s
find out.” Jelex leaned in close and put on her diabolical grin. “Tell
me,” she
said with an evil smile. “Where are you the most ticklish?”
“I-I-I…”
the girl babbled in fear. Megan laid a hand on Jelex’s arm and
whispered into
her ear. Then she turned to the girl.
“This
will be a demonstration for you. If you don’t cooperate, you’ll end up
like
her.” Megan pointed to Serena. “Think about it carefully. We may not be
able to
resist tickling such a wonderfully sensitive body unless you tell us
what we
want to know.” Jelex, Megan and Michelle walked back over to Serena.
“Now
just a minute!” Serena objected.
“Yes,
it will last only a minute,” Michelle said. “Try not to be too
stubborn.” Her
long brown feather brushed softly against her sole. Serena had to bite
her lip
not to chuckle. “Oh, come on, Serena, we’ve been through this before.”
Jelex
made a handful of that weird jelly and spread it on her stomach.
It
felt as if a million tiny fingers were crawling on her skin. Serena
threw back
her head and roared in laughter. Her chest jerked spasmodically as she
drew in
ragged gulps of air. Then, to make it worse, Megan stuck some of the
old-model
vibrators between her toes. Serena bucked so hard that the rope started
to
fray. Quickly Megan removed the clips and Jelex gathered the jelly.
“So
there you have it,” Michelle said, not missing a beat. “Tickle torture.
And we
only were going for a minute. Your turn may be hours long.” From her
appearance, the girl seemed to have been beaten into submission by
words. Syia
saved her from the need to respond, though.
“Ha!
I think this should work!” She held her band of silver up. “Who should
I try it
on?”
“Serena,”
Megan said. “There’s no point in ruining our fun with this one.”
“Yeah.
I mean, Serena’s seen it all by now. This girl’s untouched, she’ll be
more
fun.” Michelle nodded agreement.
“I
don’t particularly care,” Jelex said.
“Right,
it’s settled. Serena will be the guinea pig again.” Syia slid the metal
circle
over Serena’s brow. She pulled out a modified remote with a knob on the
side as
well as the start button. Syia punched the button, and turned the dial
just a
fraction.
Serena
frowned. There…just between her shoulders was a persistent itch. It was
supremely aggravating. She wiggled in an attempt to relieve herself.
“She’s
not laughing.” Jelex frowned.
“It
itches,” Serena complained. Megan and Michelle sniggered. But Syia held
up a
hand.
“Right
now I’m at two percent power. Let’s go up to ten percent.” The itch
grew and
was joined by others. The itches slowly became light pressure, and the
sensations began to slowly wander. Syia clicked the dial up a few more
notches.
The pressure resolved itself into light touches. Now Serena had to
fight to
keep the smile off her face. Syia stopped there and grinned. “Now I’m
at about
fifteen percent. Tell us what you feel, Sailor Moon.”
Serena
was in a pickle. She was going to have to concentrate with all her
might to
keep her voice steady. “There’s annoying itches everywhere,” she lied.
“Can’t
you untie me? Itches are aggravating, but they won’t convince me to do
anything.” There, that had been fairly steady.
“So
you won’t mind if I turn this up a little bit.” Syia made a huge jump
to
thirty-five percent. Suddenly Serena found herself on the losing end of
a
battle. It seemed that feathers had begun to brush all over her body.
But that
was ridiculous, there were no feathers.
“Heeheehee…
h-hey! What is this…?” Serena could not restrain the giggles that
bubbled up.
“Ah!
I knew it would work!” Syia grinned triumphantly. She
twisted the knob violently.
Serena’s
eyes shot wide open. A conglomeration of the most diabolical tools of
tickling
had converged on her. It felt like vines, feathers, brushes, fingers,
tongues,
all at once and everywhere at once. Serena screamed in deafening
laughter.
“AHAAAAAAHAHAAAAAAHAHHHAHA NO! STAHAAAAHAAAAAAAP!
AHAHAHAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
AAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAHAHAAHAAA PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE!” Serena
had
felt torture like this before. But what she did not know was that the
middleman
had been eliminated. Usually when she was tickled, her skin was
stimulated to
send tickle messages to her nerves. Over a long period of time, the
nerves
would begin to dull and shut down from constant overstimulation. Syia’s
invention sent those tickle signals directly to her nervous center.
Therefore
Serena could not become desensitized. And, even worse, since the device
that
was making the tickle sensations was so close to her brain, it started
a
massive feedback. Serena became exponentially more ticklish every
second. It
was unending and it fed upon itself; Serena never had a chance. After
just a few
seconds of pure torture, Serena fell unconscious.
“Wow.”
Syia removed the circlet.
“Next
time, set that thing lower,” Megan suggested. “It’ll make for a better
session.”
“Yeah,
I know, but I wanted to see the limit on this thing.” Syia cackled.
Behind them
a moan of fear came from the girl’s mouth.
“Oh
my god…” she sobbed. “It’s like my nightmares. You people are crazy
maniac
ticklers torturing poor girls that you pull off the street. You’re so
cruel!”
she shouted. “What have we ever done to you?”
Felin shrugged. “Actually, that particular girl has ruined
our plans more than once. A minor nuisance, she is.”
“But
other than that, yes, we are maniac ticklers who torture girls that we
pull off
the street,” Jelex said. The girl stared at her, nonplussed. Jelex
threw up her
hands. “Why does everyone expect us to deny that?”
“Enough
talk,” Michelle said. “Let’s begin. I’m dying to see how ticklish this
girl
really is.” Without waiting for a response she slid a fingernail over
the
girl’s sole.
“Heheeeheeehehe
please! Noooooo don’t tickle my feeheheeeeeet! Not there!
Eeheeeeheeeeeeeheheheheheh stop! Staahaaaaap!”
Megan
rubbed her hands together in delight. “We haven’t even gotten started
yet.”
Megan traced her fingernails along the girl’s ribs. The laughter rose
and fell
in a crescendo as Megan went closer to her armpits and came back again.
Each
time, she moved a little closer.
Jelex
was gently squeezing her thighs and stomach. Each time, the girl jumped
and
squealed. Jelex began to squeeze harder. Her hands were merciless,
digging into
the flesh at her legs and midsection. Tears had begun to sprinkle from
the
girl’s eyes.
Felin
moved down to her feet to assist Michelle. Michelle was still keeping
the
torment bearable. She was giggling at the jerking of the soles in front
of her.
Felin placed her fuzzy fingers between the girl’s pudgy toes. Even
before she
wiggled them, the laughter became louder. When her fingers began to rub
against
the flesh between her toes, it ratcheted the laughter up a few
decibels.
“AAHAAAAAAHAH
AAAHAHAAAAAAAAAHAHA STAHAAAHAAAAP! IT’S TOO MUCH! PLEEEEEEZE, STOP!
HAHAAAAHAAAHAAAAAA! NO! DON’T USE
FEATHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERS!”
Michelle took out her long brown feather and stroked the soft down over
the
girl’s arch. Two more feathers began to wiggle against her bared ribs.
Megan
bent her feather rod to fit the shape of an armpit. With this in hand
she
started to run the soft yet firm feather along the contours of her
underarm. By
now the girl was shrieking in nonstop laughter, begging ceaselessly for
it to
stop. Her ultra-sensitive skin had brought her to the brink in a matter
of
minutes. The girl knew that it was far worse than anything her sisters
had
done, but she did not know that this was just the tip of the iceberg.
“There’s
a lot of energy being given off over there,” Amy said. “It looks like
they’re
giving Serena a hard time.”
The
girl was finally given a break. She panted, drawing in as much cool air
as
possible lest she be tickled again before she caught her breath. Felin
was chuckling.
“I
haven’t had that much fun in a while. I’d forgotten how to savor that
look of
abject terror.”
“And,
finally, a ticklish specimen to play with that isn’t Sailor Moon,”
Jelex added.
“I think she goes back with us.”
“Agreed,
definitely,” Megan said. “I think we can give her a rest now.” When
Jelex
raised an eyebrow Megan explained. “I just said that we
should give her a break. I didn’t speak for them.” Megan
indicated the tiliking.
“Or…”
Michelle said, a wicked grin spreading over her face, “you didn’t speak
for her, either.” Michelle pointed at the
unconscious Serena.
Syia
laughed. “We’ll save that for tomorrow, I think. The device needs to be
reset
and charged.”
“The
‘Device’?” Felin asked with a laugh. “Not very inspired.”
“Tell
us what it does, and maybe we can come up with a good name,” Michelle
suggested.
“This
device generates a certain electrical field…” Only Felin remained
listening.
Jelex, Megan and Michelle tuned it out and went back over to the girl.
“Hey,
wait a minute,” Megan said suddenly. “We don’t even know this girl’s
name. If
we’re going to tease her, it’ll be easier if we can call her by name.”
“Good
point.” Jelex reached the girl first. “What’s your name?” she asked
with her
teeth bared in a grin.
“J-J-Jessica,”
she squeaked.
“Ah.
Welcome, Jessica,” Michelle said. “I’m Michelle. As you may have
noticed, I
love feathers. There’s nothing more satisfying than watching people
collapse
under the assault of soft, feathery strokes over their ticklish
points.”
Michelle leaned in close with an insane smile on her face.
“My
name’s Megan,” Megan continued. “You see those two on the floor?” Megan
pointed
to the two sleeping tiliking. Jessica squeaked. Apparently she hadn’t
seen
them. “They’re called tiliking. They are creatures designed to tickle
helpless
girls like you. In fact, it’s what they live for. They feed off of the
energy
you emit when tickled, so there’s nothing you can do to make them stop.
Not
pleading, not crying, not even falling unconscious. The only person
they listen
to is myself. They do whatever I command. And, in case you’re thinking
that
they’re not too fearsome, you haven’t felt their tongues. It’s the
worst
torture you’ll ever feel. Did your sisters ever lick your little toes?”
Jessica
nodded in fear. “Y-yes, they licked my toes once. They said that they
needed to
teach me a lesson, s-so they tied me to a bed. Then my sister said
‘You’ll
never think of ratting on us again after this.’ She s-stuck out her
tongue,
a-and licked right there, between my big toe and second toe. I begged
her to
stop, she was making me pee myself, but she kept on licking. Then my
other
sister began to slide her tongue between my middle toes, and…” Jessica
broke
into tears.
Megan
nodded, a smile etched onto her face. “Good, because what I’m about to
say will
be worse. The tiliking will lick between your toes. But their tongues
are much
longer, and they’re rougher too. And they’ll take care not to let you
black
out.”
Jelex
recited her litany. “I’m not human, in case you hadn’t already
noticed,” she said
with a dry grin. “I have many hands. In fact, I have enough hands to
hold you
completely still and then be able to tickle the life out of you
afterwards.
Also, I can produce a natural substance that’s similar to jelly, but it
feels very different.” Jessica needed no
explanation on how it felt different. “I love pranks. You might find
yourself
waking up one day with your feet about to be washed in a basin of red
jelly.
Or, we can quiz you. That’s always fun, ask that girl over there.”
Jessica’s
lip quivered. “You’re all heartless. How can you possibly know how it
feels to
be tickle tortured?”
Megan
snorted a laugh. “Of course we know. All of us are very ticklish. Even
Jelex,
though she doesn’t like to let people see.”
“Shut
up,” Jelex said, with mock gravity. “It’s bad enough that I’m afflicted
with
this human weakness. I don’t need your commentary.” Megan and Michelle
giggled.
“What? It’s not funny. If you’re thinking about tickling me, I’ll make
both of
you cry your eyes out – aaaah! Hey! Stop that, or I’m going to –
eeeek!” Jelex
covered her mouth in embarrassment.
“Eeeek?”
Megan giggled. “I think we have a mouse here.” She and Michelle poked
at
Jelex’s tummy viciously. She collapsed as Megan pushed her over.
“I
wonder what’s under these boots?” Michelle asked with a grin. She
pulled one of
Jelex’s high-heeled boots off.
“Don’t
even – aaaaahhh! God, you’re like a vulture!” Jelex cried. Megan was
easily
getting around Jelex’s swats.
Michelle
found that Jelex did not have any toes, but her feet were molded to
perfection.
She reacted normally to the soft white feathers that danced on her
sole. Jelex
got away when she phased into the floor, leaving a boot behind. She
reappeared
behind them an instant later.
“Payback
time!” Michelle and Megan both took off, running from the hands. Felin
caught
Megan around the ankle.
“Tsk,
tsk, you’ve been caught and now you will pay the penalty.” The tail
twined up
around Megan’s leg until it had wrapped up her whole body. She was
helpless
with giggles.
Jelex
had meanwhile caught Michelle. “Syia, if you would?” Jelex set Michelle
on the
couch and plucked off her socks. Syia grinned and bent her head down to
Michelle’s feet.
Jessica
was in a state of complete confusion. In the blink of an eye, they had
gone
from taunting her to torturing each other. Was this a normal
occurrence? She
hoped so. For now, she feigned sleep, trying to divert attention away.
Later,
with everyone collapsed into chairs, the Negaverse discussed its next
move.
“Someone
should go see Neflite,” Felin said. “He might think we skipped out on
him.”
“Whatever,
you can go see him if you like. I’m more interested in finding more
like her.”
Jelex jerked a thumb at Jessica, still pretending to sleep. “And, Syia,
we
should get a simple explanation of what your doohickey does.”
“Basically
it tickles the victim by imitating nervous sensations of tickling,”
Syia
replied.
Jelex
smiled. “There, see? You can explain without the scientific crap. How
effective
is it?”
“Very,
I think. But since Serena’s still out, I can’t give you a description
of how it
feels.”
“I’ll
try it and tell you,” volunteered Felin.
“Why?”
asked Megan. “Oh, never mind, you like to be tickled too. It’s good to
see that
I’m not completely crazy.
Syia
placed the circlet on Felin’s head. “It’s not fully charged, so it
won’t go
past forty percent.”
“That’s
OK, I want to be conscious afterwards.” Syia turned the device up to
ten
percent. “Hmm… it itches. I can feel light pressure on a few places,
but it’s
no more than if one of you held your finger on that spot.” Syia went up
to
fifteen percent. Felin squirmed. “That’s starting to tickle. It’s just
light
finger tickling, but it’s aggravating.” Syia notched it up five more
percent.
“Th-that feels like Jelex in the morning,” she quipped unsteadily.
“It’s like there
are hands stroking my body.” Five percent more. “Oh heeeheeee! Th-that
tickles!
The hands are vicious! T-they’re poking and squeezing at my weak
points!” Felin
was fidgeting constantly now. Syia raised the power. “Aaahaaaeeheee!
Brushes!
There’s brushes running under my arms! Oh man, stop!” Syia, grinning,
pushed
the power to thirty-five percent. “Aahaaahaha ahaha st-staaaaaap!
Pleheeeheeeze
shut it off! They’re everywhere! Brushes everywhere!” With a shrug,
Syia turned
the device off. Felin panted happily.
“Sailor
Moon mentioned feathers, I think. You said there were brushes. What’s
that
mean?”
“I think that it means Felin
hates
brushes,” Megan said with a grin. “With all that fur, it must be
torture for a
hairbrush to stroke it the wrong way.”
“Let’s
find out,” Jelex said.
“Give
me a break!” Felin cried. “I just voluntarily subjected myself to that
so you
could have a better understanding of how it works!”
“Okay,
okay,” Megan chuckled. “Can I try?”
Syia
blinked. “Can you try? It’s not a
toy. Wait…” Syia thought about it a second. “Okay, you can try. There’s
something I want to see.”
“What’s
that?” Megan asked as she settled the tiara on her head.
“I
want to see the rate of desensitization,” Syia said. “If this thing
desensitizes quickly, there’s no point in a protracted session.” When
Megan
nodded, Syia continued. “I’m going to start you at one-quarter power.
Ready?”
Syia turned the dial to 25%.
Megan
began giggling immediately. “Heehee heeeheee! It does feel like hands!
They’re
on my tummy and under my arms!” Megan continued to shake and giggle,
trying not
to reach up and pull the circlet off. It amused the others to see Megan
trying
to cover her ticklish spots against phantom ticklers. How could she
wiggle away
when there wasn’t anyone to wiggle away from? Syia set the remote down
and
waited. After about five minutes, Syia nodded and noted something. To
Michelle,
it didn’t seem that she’d stopped laughing any. In fact, she was
laughing
louder.
Soon
Megan was not giggling at all; she was consumed by outright laughter.
“Staahaaaaaaaaap! Staaaaap! Turn it down! Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeater!
Aahahaahehehee eheahahaha!”
“I
thought you said you were leaving it the same.” Jelex grabbed the
control from
Syia, where she noticed that the dial was still on 25%. Megan tore the
band
from her head and tossed it aside, then lay back panting.
“It
was the same. The device causes an odd effect.” Syia cleared her
throat. “I
need to run one more test. Any volunteers?”
Silence.
“Come
on, this is for the advancement of science.” There were still no
takers. Then
Jelex spoke up, a mischievous grin playing about her face.
“If
the advancement of science is so important, you
put it on!” Syia opened her mouth, closed it, and glared at Jelex.
“I’ll
remember this.” Syia snatched up the circlet and placed it on her head.
Raye
knew that tonight would not be a restful night. She was worried about
Serena,
especially after Amy had detected the massive emissions from the other
house.
Her stress and worry caused her dreams to turn against her.
Raye
was walking along the boardwalk by the beach, enjoying the wind and
sunshine.
She was usually more aware of her dreams than most people, as they
sometimes
gave her useful insight into the future. So Raye had no objection to
the wind
in her face as she leaned on the rail to observe the sea.
“Pretty,
isn’t it? Unfortunately a lot of beaches are contaminated by pollution.
That’s
why no one’s down there.” Raye turned, ready to object but stopped
short when
she saw Amy standing behind her. “At least, in this reality it’s
polluted.” She
smiled.
“Why?
And what are you doing in my dream?”
“Well…”
Amy began. “In this particular reality, there are certain constraints
on how
far you can go. One end of the boardwalk goes into the sea. The other
end is
under construction and closed off. There’s no substance to this
dimension other
than the boardwalk.”
“Well,
then let’s take a walk. If we’re being kept here, it must mean that we
have to
find something.”
“Something?”
Amy said. “Like what?”
“I
don’t know…” Raye answered. “A clue, maybe, to help us defeat the
Negaverse.”
Raye shook her head. “Dreams don’t have to make sense. Let’s go.”
They
walked for a little while, but their passage seemed blurred and
insignificant.
Raye could not later recall what had transpired during the walk. Her
next
memory was of she and Amy standing in front of a store.
“A
video arcade?” Amy asked, slightly puzzled.
“I
feel… drawn to it.” Raye quietly
stared at the place for a few seconds. Just as she was turning to
leave, a
person entering the store caught her eye. “Huh? Lita? Hey, Lita!”
Lita
stopped short, open door in hand. “What? How’d you get into my dreams?”
“Funny,
I was about to ask the same question.” Raye sighed. “What’s in here?”
“I
don’t know,” Lita said. “But it seems cool. I’m going in.”
“Drawn to it?” Amy asked with
a small
grin.
“Shut
up.” They entered. The first oddity that Raye noticed was the absence
of
people. Other than the attendants, the machines seemed to be operating
without
the presence of people.
A
shrill scream followed by laughter caught Raye’s attention. “What?
Quickly,
let’s go see!” Raye ran over to the source… where she confronted a
hilariously
laughing Mina and Lita. Their game cars had taken massive spills,
causing a
ten-car pileup.
“Oh
man!” Mina said, laughing her head off. “You should have seen that!
Going at
120 mph, weaving through traffic… never saw the median! Boom!” Mina
slumped in
the seat, weak with laughter.
“Yeah,
yeah, that’s nice and all, but why are we all in the same dream?”
Raye’s
question fell on deaf ears. Mina and Lita had inserted two more tokens.
Even
Amy was watching their cars race dangerously into traffic on interstate
highways. Raye threw up her hands and went to find the attendant.
“Can
I have some tokens?” she asked.
“Sure!”
the tall, red-haired girl replied, handing over a sack. “There you go!”
“How
much?” Raye asked, wondering if she had any money with her.
“Oh
no, it’s free! We’re running a promotion! First ten customers in every
day get
a bag of tokens free!” The girl gave a wide, slightly dopey grin. Raye
went
back to Mina and Lita.
She
got back in time to see another spectacular crash with a car
pinwheeling across
the highway. Still laughing, Mina and Lita inserted more tokens. The
machine
ate Mina’s. “Hey! Gimme back my coin! Attendant!” Mina yelled. A girl
hurried
over. “The machine ate my coin!”
“Hmm…”
The attendant opened the machine and retrieved Mina’s token. Then she
looked at
the four of them. “There’s four of you… Would you like to come to the
back and
try our latest game? We need to field-test it.”
“Okay!”
Lita said, and was up before anyone said anything. Mina followed
eagerly, Amy a
bit hesitant, with Raye fuming in the rear. Darn it, there had to be a
reason
everyone was sharing the same dream! And all anyone wanted to do was
play
arcade games!
They
stepped into a large, silvery room. “Wow!” Mina said.
“Far
out,” Lita added.
“A
most impressive display of three-dimensional image transmission,” Amy
concluded.
“What?
asked Raye.
“This
is a VR room,” Amy answered.
“That’s
right,” the attendant confirmed. “I’ll be the operator. Come this way
to the
outfitting room.” Each girl was given a visor and a sword. “These
interact with
the game environment,” the attendant said. “Whenever you’re ready, go
stand by
the entrance.”
When
they reached the appointed place, the operator’s voice came over the
loudspeaker. “Okay, ready? 3…2…1… go!” The scene changed into a dark,
moonless
night. An ancient castle loomed up before them.
“Let’s
go!” Raye said. Well, if everyone was going to ignore her they might as
well
have some fun. The opened the creaky door and stepped inside.
Up
in the operator’s booth, Megan smiled.
The
girls battled the usual gamut of creepy monsters springing from hidden
passages
or dropping from the ceiling. They could hear Megan, who occasionally
gave them
advice or help if they were stuck on a puzzle. Eventually they came to
a large
wooden door.
“Good
job so far,” Megan’s voice said. “You all seem to be OK. If you hit the
button
on your visor, you can see how much life you have remaining.” While the
girls
did this Megan held her hand over the microphone and giggled. Dreams
were so
much fun… especially when you were in control.
“Having
fun?” Syia asked. She had come up with this coexisting dream idea.
Megan
nodded, reflected a moment on the oddity of running virtual reality in
a dream,
then spoke again. “Okay, when you’re ready you can face the first
boss.” Megan
flipped a switch to speak with Jelex, who was in the room. “Here they
come. Get
ready.”
Raye
peeked into the room. It was a large foyer with a stairway running to
the next
floor at the end of the room. The room was lit well, with candles
burning along
the length of the room. “Quietly,” Raye whispered. They crept out into
the
room.
A
steady drip…drip…drip… caught Lita’s
attention. “Look over there!” she whispered. There was a puddle of red
liquid.
“Eew!
Blood!” Mina cried. She cringed. Amy looked up at the ceiling. A pool
of blood
was on the ceiling, and drops were coming down at a regular rate. Amy
felt
queasy.
“Let’s
just get out of here.” Everyone nodded agreement.
They
had just turned away when the dripping came faster. Soon it became a
deluge.
When all the blood had dripped down, it reared up as a huge blob of
slime!
Accompanied by screams, the blob sloshed over to them and, when the
Scouts got
out of the way, kept going. The blob stopped when it hit the wall and
began to
collapse in on itself.
“That
was too easy,” Lita said.
“So
true.”
Raye
tensed. Here it was – the real fight. The blob had just been window
dressing. A
nagging thought pulled at her. That voice…
“Oh,
crap,” Lita said, deadpan. “I can’t believe this.”
Jelex
rose from where the blob had collapsed. “Seriously, did you think that
you’d
all be in the same dream for no reason?” She flung some jelly.
Mina
dodged, but it became apparent that Jelex hadn’t been aiming for her or
any of
them. Two candles sputtered out.
A
sudden shock of fear swept over Raye. In total darkness, what could
they do?
Fshhhh… fshhhh… fshhhh… One by one the candles were smothered.
“And
now-“ Jelex licked her fingers – “the fun begins.” She pinched out the
last
candle. The room was plunged into darkness.
Rustling
filled the room. Tentacles had appeared and were going for the Scouts.
Having
no way to see them, none of them could avoid their fate. Each one
screamed or
yelped as tentacles wrapped around their ankles and hauled them away.
Raye
was aware of being pulled down a long passage that sloped toward the
ground.
Down, down she slid along the smooth surface, earning a slightly sore
rear end
but little else. She finally hit the ground with a thud, but before she
could
move manacles clamped over her wrists and pulled her against the wall.
This
room, too, was totally dark. She heard each of the other girls hit, and
in
Lita’s case she heard curses from the dark as she struggled against her
bonds.
The
lights flashed on. “Hello, and welcome to our underground dungeon of
torment,”
Syia greeted them. “To be honest, we had planned to string you along a
bit
longer but anticipation got the better of us. Oh well, you’re here now.”
Raye
said nothing. Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!
She screamed at herself. Concentrating very hard, Raye found that the
environment seemed to be washing out. She grinned. That was before she
felt the
furry fingers on her stomach. A touch all too familiar – Felin’s. “You
don’t
get to leave until we’ve finished,” she chided Raye.
“Screw
off!” a voice shouted from behind Syia. Syia turned, allowing the girls
a look
at the victim: Serena. She was kicking and cursing at a laughing
Michelle and
Megan. Serena hung by her wrists over a large vat. Raye could not tell
what was
in the vat.
Jelex
phased through the ceiling. “Everyone’s here, good,” she laughed. “We
decided
that since this is a dream, we’re going to throw you to the lions.”
Amy
wasn’t fooled. “Lions being what?”
Felin
laughed. “You’re quick, little one. The lions are an assorted variety
of
tiliking, Tickle Treants, Venus tickle traps and a Feather Flower.
Sound like
fun?” Behind her, large white tentacles leapt out of the vat and
snatched
Serena. She fell with a scream. There were a few moments of silence,
then
Serena’s muffled screeching was audible through the container.
“She’s
ours to play with,” Michelle said, “so we didn’t feel the need to come
up with
anything special.”
Stone
rumbled against stone as the floor pulled away from under the Scouts.
Now their
chains, and nothing else, held them. Megan whistled, and three tiliking
bounded
up, jumping about like eager puppies. Megan petted them, spoke quietly
and
pointed to the hole. Each tiliking landed with an easy grace, and they
prowled
underneath the captives. Syia spoke. “So, who will be first?” She
examined each
of them, a slight grin on her face. Megan whispered something in her
ear, and
Syia studied Mina. Mina’s face gave away her obvious dislike of
tiliking. Syia
nodded and gestured, and Mina’s chains gave way.
Mina
fell into the pit with a screech. It was floored by sand, so quick
movement was
going to be difficult. Not that this bothered the tiliking any, of
course. Mina
sourly sized up the situation and realized that she could do nothing of
consequence. She sighed, crossed her arms and waited. The tiliking,
sensing her
obvious surrender, sauntered up slowly.
“Come
on, aren’t you even going to run?” Megan shouted. Mina shook her head.
“Your
loss,” Syia said. The tiliking bowled Mina over and lapped at her skin
with
their rough tongues.
“Heeeheeehahahaa
eheheheeeeahahaahh staaaaaaaaaap! Stahaaaaap them! Pleheeeeeeeeeeze!”
Mina
cried, rolling in the sand. The tiliking had her covered no matter
which way
she went. They seemed to be more aggressive than usual. As they licked
at the
undercurl of Mina’s toes, she exploded in laughter.
“Sweet
dreams,” Syia chuckled. She gestured, and Mina faded away. The tiliking
leapt
out of the hole.
“So,
who’s next?”
Mina
awoke with a jerk. She was sweating all over and breathing heavily.
Lita
mumbled something in her sleep and moaned. Suddenly everything hit Mina
in a
rush. They were all still trapped in the dream! “Lita! Lita! Wake up!”
Mina
yelled, shaking Lita.
Lita,
still hanging on the wall, was cursing and trading insults with
Michelle. Syia
watched with a faint grin on her face, pondering whom to choose next.
“Lita,”
Syia said finally. “I think we’re going to have to do something about
that foul
mouth of yours.”
“Burn
in hell!” Lita shouted.
“You’ll
be the one going to hell,” Michelle fired back. “Tickle
hell.” A slow grin spread over her face. “Down in tickle
hell, there are demons that live just to tickle your soul away. Or
should I say
sole?”
Syia
groaned. “I hate puns. Now, Sailor Jupiter, it’s time to – what?” Lita
had
begun to fade and flicker. Her image flashed brighter and darker. Syia
gritted
her teeth, and Lita stabilized.
“What
happened?” Felin asked.
“She
was trying to wake up. But she couldn’t have so much control as to –
ah. Mina
woke up, and she must have tried to awaken Lita.”
“Damn!”
Mina hissed. Lita wouldn’t get up. They must have locked her in there.
So, if
she couldn’t wake Lita, what about the Negaverse? It would be risky.
But she
couldn’t leave her friends to suffer. Besides, if she played this
right… a plan
began to form. Mina ran.
Lita
fell into the sand with a thud. Across from her a tree had sprouted,
wielding
tons of vines. Lita tried to dodge aside but the sand hampered her. The
vines
twined her up, leaving only her feet and underarms exposed.
Syia
giggled. The Dream Controller was the best idea she’d ever had. If only
there
was a way to make this control real.
Suddenly
Syia felt her control of the dream cut off. The whole room shook and
the lights
flickered. The Tickle Treant disappeared. “What?” Syia screamed.
Mina
materialized, floating in midair over the pit. “You don’t have control
anymore!” she said triumphantly. “I have taken the power!” She waved,
and the
Scouts fell from their bonds, assuming their Scout forms. There was a whump and Serena flew out of the large
vat to land beside them.
“Stop!”
Syia screamed at the top of her lungs. “You have no idea what you’re
doing! You
could tear the fabric of this dimension!”
“Shut
up, and stop trying to scare us,” Lita said cockily. “You’re just mad
because
we have the upper hand.
Amy
had her visor out and was running a scan. “Mina, stop!” she yelled.
“Syia’s
right! You’re causing a massive disruption in the stability of this
dimension.
Our real forms are being sucked into another reality!”
Mina
looked unsure. “But this is only a dream. Surely anything I do can’t
really
affect us?”
“That
device was made to exert control over an existence other than the one
we live
in,” Felin said. “If you don’t have absolute focus, then your will can
be
extended onto another plane and open a gate to that other plane! You’re
messing
with the very fundamental nature of existence!”
Now
Mina looked panicked. “But how do I turn it off?”
“Too
late,” Megan said. The sand in the pit had begun to swirl, slowly. Soon
it
picked up speed, until the vortex had plucked every last one of them
into the
black center.