Part XII: First Strike

          Felin was walking around Tickling Dungeon I, looking for Neflite. She hadn’t seen him all day, and wondered if something might be wrong. Finally she found him in his office. He seemed to be there a lot lately, grumbling that this stupid human job required so much useless work.

          Neflite was concentrating on his screen. He jumped when Felin walked in. “Oh, hello, Felin. What do you need?”

          “I was just wondering if something was wrong,” Felin replied. “You’ve been in here a lot lately, and I didn’t want you to have another stress burnout.”

          “Oh, it’s nothing like that. This work is easy, but it’s so stupid and time-consuming, and it grates on my nerves.” To Felin, that seemed like it had been a canned statement, prepared in advance. Her intuition told her to probe further.

          “I see. May I look at what you’re doing? Perhaps I can help.”

          “No, that’s quite all right,” Neflite said, a bit nervously. Felin was suspicious now. Why was he so jumpy?

          Just go away, please, Neflite thought to himself. Not that he was doing anything unsavory or treacherous, but he was afraid of what his subordinates would think if they saw his new habit.

          Felin fell silent for a moment. Just better to wait him out, Felin thought. Her patience was rewarded as the speakers betrayed Neflite. (Author’s Note: Bonus points to anyone who guesses what he’s doing.)

          A guttural voice announced “Nuclear launch detected” and then everything went quiet. Felin walked around to see a normal desktop on the screen. But now Neflite was getting nervous. Very nervous. His hand kept twitching to a program on the toolbar. Felin merely waited.

          “I give up!” Neflite said, opening the program in a hurry. Too late, it seemed; an explosion rocked the screen and what seemed like splashes of blood flew everywhere.

          “Work?” Felin asked, raising an eyebrow.

          “All right, all right,” Neflite conceded. “I admit it. I’ve been hooked on these ‘games’ since I saw a student playing them on a school computer.”

          “Hmm. So, what is the point of this game?” Felin asked. Better not to be too pushy and make him defensive.

          “To blow up the other person.” Neflite had resumed clicking his way to victory. Felin said nothing, but her look said it all: Men! Well, there was really no problem with this, so it didn’t matter. Personally, Felin would have preferred a good session with one of their delectable prisoners than any human computer program. But, to each his own, and seeing as how Neflite did not actually participate in any activity directly, he must have a lot of spare time.

          Lita was in a miserable position.

          To be precise, a precarious position. Syia had come up with a new ‘game’ for them to play. She had requisitioned a large mixing vat for tickling oil to produce her own supply. But Syia had found a better use for it.

          Lita hung from a bar above the vat. Felin had suggested this scenario, and Syia decided to follow through on it.

          Lita knew what was to come. An effort to tickle her off the bar preordained for success, and then a plunge into that horrible vat.

          Yesterday, Michelle had been treated to torture by oil, and her pleading had caused Lita and the police officer to wince. Yet Syia had decided at some point that this was going too slowly. So, therefore, she had taken the can of tickling oil and dumped it over Michelle. The result had been horrifying for Lita and surprisingly pleasant for Syia.

          Every nerve in Michelle’s body had fired, sending wave after wave of tickling sensations through her body. Lita had been stunned at how desperate her laughter sounded. In the end, she groveled before Syia, begging for her to make it stop. Syia had taken her into the prisons and Lita hadn’t seen her since.

          In fact, Syia had called Felin for instructions. Michelle seemed about to break, she said, and requested advice on how to follow through and complete the process.

          “First, torture her again,” Felin had said. “Then, show some compassion. Be sympathetic. Offer some water and food, and ask her to carry out some small task. I’ll send you the newest innovation. We finally managed to make a remote-control tickling suit, so dress her in that. You’ll be able to tickle any area of the body with just the push of a button.”

          “Cool!” Syia was nearly drooling. It sounded like a lot of fun! “What do I do after that?”

          “Keep her around often, like an assistant. Start her with just small things, like ‘Go get that feather for me.’ Don’t ask her to do anything with the prisoners yet. And, every so often, remind her who’s in charge and tell her to repeat that you are her master. Keep this up for about two weeks or so. Then, when she does everything you ask, get her to participate. You’ll probably have to threaten her, and she might not be too enthusiastic. But keep at it. You’ll know when she’s broken. After that, she should begin to look to you for guidance on everything. This is where you can impart what mannerisms and rules she uses to make decisions. She may or may not keep her personality; I’m not too sure about that. Is that okay?” Felin finished.

          “Yeah, sounds easy enough. Okay, bye.” Syia was thrilled. She could have her very own pet human!

          Lita knew none of this. All she could think about was Michelle screaming pitifully and begging for mercy. And there she was, as if someone had hung a neon sign over her saying “COME TICKLE ME!”

          Syia leaned back in her chair and grinned. “Let’s begin, shall we?” She waved forward a pair of imps. They advanced, carrying feathers as tall as they were, and fluttered near her face.

          “Heeheehee! Is time for fun! You must hold on or fall into oil!”

          “Yes! We tickle you much, your armpits so ticklish!”

          “Shut up!” With nothing else to do, Lita bit at the imps. They dodged away, laughing. Then they split up and began to brush the feathers at the taut skin under her arms.

          Lita hated this. She was very poor at suppressing reactions to tickling, and she could feel an overwhelming desire to let go and close up her armpits. Lita laughed helplessly, her face contorted as she shut her eyes in an effort to concentrate.

          Syia waved two more imps up. They used only their hands, but the small, dexterous fingers could tickle worse than any feather. They dug their fingers into Lita’s skin.

          “Haaaahahaa staaaaaap! I hate you! Eeeeeheeehehe ahaahah ahaa heeee pleeeeeeeze!” Lita cried as the new arrivals added to her torture. Worse, the way the imps were close to her let them spread their wings and tickle her that way, too.

          “Haha! Tickle, tickle, tickle!” one of the imps teased. They were skilled, varying the speed of their strokes and changing positions often. Lita felt the strength in her arms begin to wane. She kicked her feet in a vain attempt to ward off the imps.

          Suddenly Lita felt some force prying at her fingers. She looked at Syia in horror as she saw the psychic tormentor grin wickedly. “No! You cheater!”

          “I make the rules here,” Syia replied. “And I rule that it’s time for you to take a dip!” The imps thought this very funny. Lita’s left hand was pried from the bar, and she got the minor satisfaction of clubbing one of the imps over the head with her arm. Then, with only one hand supporting her, Lita’s weight overbalanced and she fell from the bar.

          Splash! Lita fell into the open vat of oil. She rocketed to the surface with a scream. “AAAAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH OH GOD OH GOD NOOOOOOOOO! GET IT OFF! AAIIIEEEEEEAHAHAAHAHAAAAHAHAHAH OH PLEASE! SAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! HAAHAAAHAHAAHAHA AAAHAH AHAHAAHA!” Every single square inch of Lita’s skin felt like tiny fingers were probing it. She thrashed, trying to cover herself but unable to reach everywhere at once. Not that it would have mattered.

          “OH HEEEEEEEEEEELP! AAHAHAHAHAHA AHHAAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAA IT TICKLES! OH GOD I’LL DIE! AHAHEHEEHEHAHAHA EHAHAHA AHEHEHAHAH!” Lita churned the oil with her flailing attempts to swim to the edge. She was being tickled so badly that coordination of movement was an unattainable luxury. Lita no longer thought rationally; all that she could think of was tickling.

          Lita was not aware that Syia had raised her above the vat and was watching her scream and flail in midair. Eventually her gyrations shook the liquid off.

          “Ohhhhh…” Lita sobbed. Her eyes were full of tears. “Please, please don’t put me back in,” she begged pitifully. “I’ll do anything, just please no more tickling…”

          “Anything, you say?” Syia rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

          “A-anything,” Lita confirmed, knowing how much area that covered, but not caring. She and Syia did not know that this same scenario had played out before, with Serena and Felin in their places, but that Serena had refused to betray her friends.

          “Well, then, I think that you will have to join me and Michelle later. For now, just sleep. You need to be properly rested to scream loudly enough.” Syia gave a sinister laugh.

          Skipping with giddy anticipation, Syia called Felin on the direct link. “Guess what!” she exclaimed happily.

          “Hmm?” Felin asked, noncommittal.

          “I got a girl to promise anything in exchange for leniency!”

          “That’s pretty good,” Felin said, with more enthusiasm this time. “Who is it?”

          “A girl named Lita,” Syia bubbled.

          Felin frowned. “Lita… Lita…” She’d heard that name before… Felin shuffled the notices on her worktable. There it was! Lita. What was this list for? Felin scanned the title: Names and Addresses of the Sailor Scouts. Felin felt her jaw drop. Next to Lita was penciled in Sailor Jupiter.  Felin remembered that it had been the data gathered from spying on the Scout meetings.“Uh, Syia?”

          “Yeah?” Syia asked tentatively, not sure of the news.

          “I think you’ve just broken a Sailor Scout.”

          Syia was silent for five seconds. Then: “Are you serious?”

          “Yep,” Felin confirmed. “We think that it’s Sailor Jupiter. Listen, if you think that she’s going to break, do you mind if I come over? We can’t afford to take chances.”

          “Sure! Stop by soon, Felin. If you can, bring any spare girls here too. All I’ve got are three.”

          “Will do.” Felin hung up. She began to gather her painstakingly compiled weakness charts for Sailor Jupiter. These were an effort to classify the specific ticklish spots for each Scout, for use in the field. A quick glance showed that she’d marked the underarms and feet as the weak points.

          Syia jumped around maniacally. What a good day! If she really was Sailor Jupiter… Well, duh! Why not go and ask her directly? “Anything” covered a lot of ground.

          Lita lay miserably on her deluxe bed. Strange how her sleeping quarters were first class, given that she was a slave here. Was she a slave? The purpose of these places was to gather energy for the Negaverse. In that context, she was a resource. Better to be a slave, she thought. At least you were still a person then.

          “Hey! Sailor Jupiter!” Syia called.

          In her exhausted state, Lita could not suppress the automatic acknowledgement of her name. Too late she’d realized what she’d done. Syia laughed. “So, I have a Sailor Scout here. I wish I’d known sooner. I think that now you will have to dress in your sailor outfit. I love that thing,” she said with a dreamy expression. “It so wonderfully showcases your vulnerability. So, go ahead and put it on.”

          “Go to hell,” Lita spat. “I’m not going to accede to your sick fantasies.”

          Syia clucked. “Well, then, I suppose that you’d like to go back into the vat, hmm?”

          Lita froze. Syia had her over the proverbial barrel. “All right,” she said in a defeated tone.

          When she’d first arrived, she’d intended to transform and help when the Scouts came to save her. But now it seemed like a moot point. “Jupiter Power!”

          After the customary dazzling light show, Lita stood in her room in the persona of Sailor Jupiter, glaring miserably.

          Syia smiled. “All right, that’s much better. You can go back to bed now.” Syia left the barred window through which she’d been speaking.

          Serena was actually applying herself to a task in school. Unfortunately, this task wasn’t exactly what Miss Horuna had in mind.

          “Serena! I’ve told you a million times to pay attention! Do you want to go see Mr. Andersen again?”

          Oh God! Please, no! “Umm, no, sorry.” Serena flopped down into her seat. She’d been trying to concoct a plausible excuse for not going to Neflite’s office. It wasn’t going well at all. Serena gave up and daydreamed. She was imagining that she could resist all that stupid tickling, and just march up to Neflite and blast him into smithereens. Serena smiled. She could see the look of confusion on their faces as all their feathers and vines and so forth just rubbed against her and did nothing. Serena sighed contentedly. Her famous dopey smile crossed her face.

          “Last straw, Serena. Down to Mr. Andersen’s office. March!”

          Serena jerked upright. “But…but…”

          “No buts, Serena!” Miss Horuna was laying down the law.

          “Oh, please don’t send me there!” Serena cried without thinking. “Please! Anything but that! Nooooooo!”

          Miss Horuna, who had turned back to her instruction, looked at Serena uncomprehendingly. “What? What’s wrong with you?”

          The class burst into laughter. Red with embarrassment, Serena left the room.

          Neflite was humming to himself, filling out the paperwork he so detested. There was a knock at his door.

          “Come in,” he said without looking up.

          Serena entered and closed the door without thinking. But she did remember not to sit down. “Let’s get this over with.”

          “Hmm?” Neflite looked up, and was surprised by what he saw. He hadn’t planned for this! He began to panic. Sailor Moon was only supposed to come here when he requested her!

          Serena caught the look of consternation and laughed. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

          “Not at all,” Neflite countered. What to do? What to do? So long as she was trapped in here, it would be a good idea to take advantage of it. But Jelex wasn’t here, and he couldn’t call for her now, lest Serena figure out who she was. Felin was gone, having left for Tickling Dungeon II earlier, and he didn’t know what Syia was doing. Megan… Yes! Megan was free. And she could bring some tiliking too. Yes, this could work. “Please wait a minute.” He was struck by the normality of what he’d said, but it was unimportant. He opened a portal to Megan’s and stepped in.

          Serena stood, agape at the sequence of events. She was here, alone, in Neflite’s office. So… Serena giggled and strode over behind the desk. She shuffled quickly through the papers. Nothing important, just normal school paperwork. On the computer? No, just a video game, though Serena had to smile at that.

          Megan was sitting in her chair, in somewhat of a bad mood. This was becoming drudgery. Blah, blah, blah. She needed something new, someone else to try. So when the portal opened in front of her, she sat up gladly. Anything to break the monotony.

          “Megan? I’ve got a favor to ask,” Neflite said without preamble.

          “Go ahead. I’ve got nothing to do,” Megan replied.

          “Can you get a tiliking and come with me? I have Sailor Moon on ice, but nothing to do with her. Can you help?”

          “Sailor Moon? Oh, yes!” Megan laughed and clapped her hands. She raced off and grabbed her stuff, and beckoned a tiliking to follow her… and something else, as well.

          Neflite sighed in relief. He’d nearly lost it, all for such a stupid reason! So Sailor Moon had come to his office unexpected. Big deal. She was probably misbehaving, and if nothing else he could have just sent her back. Oh well.

          Serena had found only one thing of interest on the desk. Analysis of Internal Politics at Queen Beryl’s Court, the cover page read. Serena made a face. It sounded really dry and boring. Nevertheless, it was the only thing that pertained to any Negaverse business, so she read on. The next page was full of information on Zoycite. It seemed that she was trying to push Neflite off and take over. Serena frowned. Probably better if someone else did take over. Serena hated this tickling business. But, reading further, she found that Neflite had, for the moment, neutralized her. Darn. On the next page, a listing of Zoycite’s plots, suspected and actual, was given. One was starred, and Serena looked at it. Freed the Sailor Scouts from detention after ‘game show’. Serena remembered that. So, the reason she’d let them go was to make Neflite look bad? Neflite had written in: Unproven. At the time, I did not have enough influence to make accusations without some solid evidence. I do not have any evidence at all, but there is no other way the Sailor Scouts could have escaped. Bringing this matter up now will probably be counterproductive, however.  

Another entry caught her eye. Suspected phony inspection of Tickling Dungeon premises, the heading read. Next to it was marked: Countered.

          “Amused, Ms. Moon?”

          Serena squeaked and jumped a mile. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she quickly replaced the document even though it was in Neflite’s sight. He smiled. “Go ahead, you can read that. I don’t care.” He laughed. “As you noticed, I moved Zoycite out of the picture and now I am the top lieutenant.”

          “Whoop-de-do for you,” Serena muttered.

          Neflite stepped further away from his portal and Megan walked through, followed by a tiliking.

          “Noooo!” Serena ran to the other side of the room. Megan cackled.

          “What’s the matter, Serena? Don’t you like my tiliking?”

          “I hate them!” Serena snarled.

          “Too bad, Serena. Because the tiliking just adore you.” The tiliking was indeed staring at her hungrily. Megan knelt and petted its head, and it licked her like a puppy dog. Megan giggled. Her eyes traced down to Serena’s feet.

          “No!” Serena sat down and hugged her feet under her body. Megan giggled again. She had in her hand a chain. It trailed off into the portal. “I have a friend I’d like you to meet.” She tugged on the chain.

          A familiar voice came from the other end. “Hey! I’m coming, all right? Sheesh,” Mina complained. She stepped into the room in full slave regalia. Serena was horrified.

          “Oh no… Mina…”

          Mina looked away. “They’ve got you, too,” she said quietly.

          “Fortunately for Ms. Moon, we don’t have her yet,” Neflite explained. “If she were to vanish from inside my office, people would be suspicious. I don’t want that kind of scrutiny. So, we’re just going to have fun instead.”

          “Some fun,” Mina retorted. Megan laughed.

          “Ah, yes. The indomitable spirit of Sailor Venus. But now, it is Sailor Moon whom we must work on.” Megan walked over to where Serena was sitting. “I will make you beg, Serena. You can count on that.”

          “I’d like to see you try!” Serena challenged.

          “Really?” Megan smiled broadly. “In that case, I accept your challenge. Then you won’t mind sitting over here, hmm?” Serena shook her head. “Very well.” Megan began to rummage through the closet. “Ah! Stocks, for the lovely lady’s feet.” She wheeled them out into the center of the room. She snapped her fingers.

          The tiliking moved sinuously to Serena. She slapped it, but the tongue caught her wrists and held them fast. Slowly they elevated over her head. Then, with almost impossible ease, it flung her over and pinned her to the floor in its customary fashion.

          “That’s good enough,” Megan called. While the tiliking hissed at Serena in anticipation, Megan removed Serena’s shoes. Serena began to sweat nervously. She hated this part. Megan smiled as she examined Serena’s feet. They were very creamy and the soles were the perfect shade of white. Her feet were clearly incredibly tender, the most sensitive Megan could ever recall seeing. On impulse she hit her scanner. Then she frowned, tapped it, shut it off and restarted it. Then she gasped in surprise.

          “What’s wrong?” Neflite frowned.

          “Nothing is wrong,” Megan breathed excitedly. “In fact, everything is perfect! Do you realize just how ticklish our victim is?” Megan asked ecstatically.

          “Actually, yes,” Neflite grinned. “Every single time one of my people see you, Ms. Moon, they go straight to heaven. You’re quite popular.”

          Serena growled darkly.

          Megan laughed. “And now, the coup de grace.” She held up a feather for Serena’s inspection. Then, with wicked slowness, she lowered it to Serena’s bare feet, vulnerable in their inability to move.

          The moment the feather touched her arch, Serena knew she was in trouble. Her feet had always been her weakest point. She could never resist anything when the torturously soft touch of a feather stroked over her feet. Up to her toes it stroked, swirled around and swept back down to her heel. Serena burst into laughter immediately.

          “HAAHAHAHAHAHAAH OH PLEHEHEEHEHEHEHEHZE! NOT THERE! PLEASE NOT THERE! NOOOOOO EEEEHEHEHAHAHAHA HAAHAHA HEEHEHAHAHAA HAHA OH STAHAHAAAHAAAAAAP!” Megan, bereft of any special powers, had honed her tickling ability to great heights. The feather teasingly danced over Serena’s feet, circling around and continuing its torture in ever-changing patterns. Serena was powerless to struggle against the tiliking, and could only cry out in tortured laughter. Unknown to Megan or Neflite, when tickled like this Serena was powerless to really do anything, even if not restrained.

          Mina bit her lip in worry. She’d allowed herself to forget how horribly ticklish Serena’s feet were, and if a Negaverse creep could make her break like this using only one feather, the Sailor Scouts would be in a great deal of trouble.

          “I’ve got a present for you, Sailor Moon,” Megan teased. Serena was laughing too hard to even consider responding. “Another feather!” Megan laughed and doubled the torture.

          Even with the tickling rendering her nearly senseless, Serena was able to detect the second feather working at her foot. When she felt it join its twin in torment of her feet, she knew that she would begin to slip. Serena tried to arch her back and thrash in the reflexive motions, but the tiliking’s strength kept her solidly pinned. All she could do was toss her head, and the pooled tears in her eyes ran down her face onto the carpet of Neflite’s office.

          “OH PLEEEHEHHEHEHHEHEEEEZE NO MORE! STAHAHAHAHAHAAHP!” Serena begged. She was unable to breathe properly because she was laughing so hard, but she didn’t even notice. All Serena could feel was the two feathers on her feet. She forgot where she was, and her consciousness drifted. For a while she was sure that she was in the old subway station being tortured by Jelex.

          Mina was aghast. Sure, Serena was ticklish, but being fully subdued by only foot tickling? That was really bad.

          Serena began to turn a brilliant red, her usual reaction to prolonged or intense tickling. It heralded the beginning of her slide into unconsciousness.

          “All right, slow down, Megan. She can’t black out, you know. She has to go back to class.”

          “Oh, fine,” Megan said in good humor. She tucked her feathers away. Serena continued to laugh for about another ten seconds. Megan took the chain in her hands and lead Mina back to the warren, while the tiliking followed.

          Serena tried to sit up, but she was so thoroughly weakened that she had to lay down on the floor for a minute. Even then, her legs felt rubbery and unable to support her weight. She managed to slip her shoes and socks back on. “I’ll get you, Neflite,” Serena growled as she left the room.

          Serena wobbled down the hall and back into her class. “I hope your talk with Mr. Andersen did some good this time,” Miss Horuna said.

          “I’m never going to misbehave again,” Serena replied, half to herself.

          The whole class fell silent.

          “How on earth did he do that?” Miss Horuna wondered. “I’ll have to ask him!”

          Have fun, Serena? Jelex chuckled to herself. She smiled and examined Serena. Sure enough, the lack of energy, the general unsteadiness and the defeated attitude pointed toward another tickle torture session. Jelex only wished she could have seen it.

          “May I ask how you did that?” Neflite asked Megan when Serena had left. Megan had returned to his office for some questions.

          Megan smiled, a bright, proud smile. “I had a brainstorm the other day. The tickling oil that was developed is great, but it’s a little messy and hard to transport portably. So, I was thinking of a way to preserve the effects and make it easier to use. The result,” Megan continued, holding up a feather, “is here. These two feathers I just used on Serena were treated in tickling oil.”

          “I see. I was wondering how you managed to produce such an effect with so little area covered. Jelex and Felin were taxed to make Ms. Moon laugh so loud.”

          “Well, the other thing I was going for is efficiency,” Megan responded. “I can’t make a bunch of hands or use my mind to tickle girls, so I have to improvise. Sailor Moon has a legendary weakness on her feet. I never realized quite how weak it was, however.”

          “Good. Talk to Felin about these new feathers, and see if she can get them mass-produced. You’ll have to wait, though: Felin’s gone to see Syia at the airport. Call tomorrow.”

          “Okay!” Megan waved and jumped back to her warrens. Today had turned out to be pretty good after all.

          “Ouch,” Amy said. She’d just finished listening to Serena’s tale of woe from earlier today.

          “No, more like ‘Hahaha’,” Serena joked. “I really hate being this ticklish, you know.”

          “Don’t hate it,” Amy said. “It’s what makes you Serena. Besides, I couldn’t get you to jump otherwise!” Amy made like she was going to tickle Serena’s ribcage.

          “Aaack! No fair!” Serena protested.

          Amy laughed. “I can just hear you crying ‘No fair’ later today.”

          Serena grimaced. “Ugh, I’d forgotten.”

          “Okay, Amy and I are going to sneak in through the roof.” Raye said. They were ready to raid Tickling Dungeon II and liberate Lita. This plan had been carefully thought out the day before. “Serena…”

          “Yeah, yeah, I know,” Serena tried to smile.

          The plan called for a diversion so that a small group could sneak inside. The diversion had been the sticking point; Raye knew the way in, and with her knowledge of the layout could quickly get to the objectives. Amy was going with her to provide support. That left Serena as the decoy.

          Serena had volunteered, surprisingly enough. She had argued that she was the only one ticklish enough to hold the Negaverse’s attention for long. It had to be long enough for Raye to find Lita and Mina (they hoped) and get out. With the five of them, they could overpower Syia and make their escape.

          “Good luck,” Raye whispered. Serena nodded, swallowed and walked out of the growth around the airfield onto the airstrip.

          Syia was nearly jumping off the walls with energy. Paradoxically, this gave all of her captives a day off, since she had so much nervous energy that concentration was impossible. She couldn’t remember being so excited before. Two humans would be her pets, and one a Sailor Scout! Syia paced the floor, waiting for Felin.

          At long last Felin’s portal opened onto the floor. Syia rushed up. “What kept you?”

          Felin made a face. “The teleport generator broke down,” she said with a hint of annoyance. The generator was for those who could not create their own portals. Mostly, though, it helped to move large things through space. Felin could not make her own portals, as Neflite, Jelex and Syia could. It grated on her no end, but usually she was content with her job. The annoyance lasted only an instant, then Felin brightened and said, “But I made it here. I have your tickle suit, some weakness charts for Ms. Jupiter, and four delightful captives. Neflite and Jelex are going hunting this weekend, so these four can be spared.”

          “Wonderful. Can we move them into the prisons? We can go see Lita directly from there.”

          “Okay.”

          Felin and Syia had just finished squaring away their prisoners when an alarm sounded.

          “Perimeter alarm!” Syia shouted. She and Felin ran into the control room. There they relaxed.

          “Only Sailor Moon,” Felin grinned.

          “Just like yesterday,” Syia said. “Apparently, judging by this, the Scouts know their friend is here. Sailor Mars was poking around yesterday.”

          “Really? Where is she?” Felin asked.

          Syia made a face. “I got careless and she blasted me,” Syia admitted. “But that was yesterday. Let’s go greet Sailor Moon.”

          “Okay… they’re leaving,” Raye whispered. “Let’s move!”

          She opened the grille, and let down a rope. Shimmying quickly to the bottom, she glanced around. “No one here,” she called up to Amy.

          Amy came down, scanner operating, and pointed to an iron door set in the back of the room. “That way. Look out for imps; I detected a few on my scan.”

          By a sheer stroke of luck, they found Lita at the very first door they looked into.

          “Am I glad to see you!” Lita cried. “This Nega-creep’s a maniac!”

          “I know,” Raye said. “Stand back. Mars… Fire… IGNITE!” The door blew off its hinges and hung drunkenly against the wall. “Come on, we have to go! Do you know where Mina is?"

          “I haven’t seen her here at all,” Lita replied.

“Drat!” Raye hissed.

“I’ve only seen Michelle and a police officer with the maniac. Be careful,” Lita warned. “Syia is psychic. She can grab you before you even see her.”

          “Syia’s not here,” Amy replied.

          “How?” Lita asked.

          Raye winced. “Uhh… Serena’s outside.”

          “What! We’ve gotta help her!” Lita cried.

          “That’s the plan.”

          Serena was really having second thoughts. She crept around the airport, looking around nervously. She knew that they were going to pop up right next to her and make her scream.

          She was right. Syia tapped her on the shoulder. Serena did scream, but she held her ground. “What do you want?” she managed to ask.

          Syia laughed. “You know what I want.” It was true; Serena felt herself being lifted into the air.

          “Hey! Let go!” Serena flailed about. Half the flailing ceased as she felt her arms elevate above her head, against her will. “No!” She kicked her legs harder, as if to make up for the fact that her arms were immobile.

          “Oh, yes, Ms. Moon,” a different voice said from behind her. Felin entered her field of view. She used a claw to delicately part some of the material of Serena’s outfit and slipped her hands up the hem of Serena’s shirt.

          “Heeheehheeeehee nooooooo! Staaaaaaaap! This isn’t fair! Let me gooooooooooo! Pleheheheeheheeeeeeeze!” Serena cried, kicking her legs harder. It wasn’t hard to pretend that she was pleading for mercy; in fact, it was barely faked at all. Felin continued tickling her armpits, unperturbed. Syia moved in on the other side and began to tickle her ribcage. Serena’s sensitive skin quivered under the skillful assault of the tormentors. Serena’s kicking had hiked up her skirt so that her panties were visible, but she wasn’t aware of this.

          Felin and Syia halted just long enough to remove Serena’s shirt, and they were about to resume when Felin halted Syia. “Wait a second. Do you mind if I try something?”

          “Not at all, be my guest,” Syia cackled. Felin nodded and bent down to Serena’s tummy. She had six short whiskers sprouting from her cheeks, much like a real cat. On impulse she decided to see how well these worked. Felin’s whiskers gently pressed against Serena’s stomach, and she began to hum, causing them to vibrate. She pressed harder, bringing her facial fur into contact with Serena’s skin.

          Serena screamed in laughter. Smiling, Felin brushed her face across Serena’s midriff, increasing her torment. It was similar to blowing raspberries. Felin twitched her nose, dragging the whiskers across Serena’s skin again.

          “Oh, this is fun!” Syia clapped her hands softly. “What else can we do?”

          Felin grinned. “Here. This is always fun.” She began to tease Serena with her tail, withdrawing from her stomach. By now Serena was helpless with laughter. That was the very phrase that crossed Syia’s mind.

          Helpless with laughter… Helpless… “Felin, I want to see something.” She then whispered in her ear so that Serena wouldn’t hear.

          “Interesting,” Felin mused. She had stopped tickling Serena for the moment, and any delay, for whatever reason, was good. Felin nodded and began to tickle Serena again, and this time Syia joined in with her nails scrabbling on Serena’s ribs.

          It took Serena the better part of a minute to realize her arms weren’t held any longer. An oversight on their part? Serena immediately tried to cover herself, but she was laughing too hard to move! Both Felin and Syia laughed at that. They had obviously seen her effort.

          “You were right,” Felin said as her tail darted about. “The restraining almost isn’t necessary.”

          “Almost,” Syia said with a grin. “It will be, soon.” She looked significantly at Serena’s flailing legs. Felin picked up on her notion.

          “Oh, please, Sailor Moon,” Felin coolly. “Stop with the acting, we know that you’re not ticklish here.” She, too, traced her gaze down to Serena’s wildly kicking legs. Felin looked back with a wicked smile.

          “Nohohohhohohoh! I’m r-r-really ticklish here! Seriously!” Serena realized that it was ludicrous to insist that they tickle her anywhere, but anything to draw attention from her feet. They were too sensitive to withstand two assaults in a single day.

          Nevertheless, she felt her legs slow down, like they were mired in glue. Soon the effort of moving them was futile, and once again, her feet were going to be tortured. Just great. Both Syia and Felin moved down to her legs.

          “Now this is a prime location,” Syia said. She caressed Serena’s foot through her boot, causing Serena to shrink away. Serena was thinking about how weird that was.

          “Oh, wait a minute,” Felin interjected. “This was on my weakness chart for Ms. Moon here.” She produced a strip of blue cloth.

          “Noooooooooooooooo!” Serena screeched. She really, really, really hated being tickled blindfolded. She was realizing her greatest fear; merciless torture on her feet while blindfolded. She tossed her head, trying to keep the cloth at bay. Felin merely motioned to Syia, and Serena’s head was immobilized as well. She tried striking out with her arms, but Felin’s tail wrapped around her wrists, and as an afterthought, curled around her arms to her armpits. Felin affixed the cloth over Serena’s eyes.

          “Sweet dreams,” Felin said, untwining her tail. She removed Serena’s boots, which fell to the ground with a thud.

          Neither Syia nor Felin did anything for ten seconds. They were reveling in Serena’s whimpers of fear. Finally Felin’s tail began to brush lightly on her soles, much like Megan’s feather earlier that day. The natural oil that Felin secreted made the enhancements roughly equal.

          Syia, pulling her favorite trick, settled in to lick Serena’s toes. The combined torture sent Serena into hysterics for the second time that day.

          “OH HAHAHAAHAHAHA PLEEEHEHEEEEHEEEEZE! DON’T DO THAAAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAT! STA-STA-STAHAHAHAAHAHAAAAAAAAAAP! Please!” Serena begged. “I-I’m going to die! Staaaap! Stop tickling PleeEHEHEHEEEEEEEEEHHEEEE!” Serena was unable to finish her sentences as the tickling grew steadily worse.

          “Die? Of course not, Serena. Who would we tickle torture then?” Both Syia and Felin laughed evilly and continued to tickle the life out of the helpless Serena.

          Raye, Amy and Lita sneaked out of the hangar undetected. They could not fail to hear the pleading Serena.

          “Ooh,” Raye shuddered. “It sounds real bad.”

          “There’s two of them there!” Amy warned.

          “What? Are you sure?” Lita asked.

          “Of course,” Amy replied.

          “Hmm…” Raye considered. The plan had only predicted the presence of one main enemy, and also assumed that Mina was in the hangar. That was a bust. All they could do now was to grab Serena and escape, instead of forcing a decisive engagement here. “Amy, cover us with Mercury Bubbles. Lita, you come with me. Hit Felin; I’ll take Syia.”

          Serena felt extremely hot and flushed from her torture, which was why she welcomed the coolness that blew in without realizing its significance.

          “Damn! Scouts!” Felin cursed.

          “Down!” Syia hissed. Too late

          “Jupiter Thunder Crash!”

          “Mars Fire Ignite!”

          Both the lightning and the fireball were dead on target. Felin and Syia were hurled back, losing their bearings in the fog. They got up, and in a quick silent conference spread out slowly in a pincer movement.

          “Quickly! Serena, are you okay?” Raye asked, genuinely. Condescension and poking fun could come later.

          “I’ll be okay,” Serena said. She’d dropped to the ground when Syia had lost control, but she was on her feet, just a trifle unsteady. Raye took stock quickly. Serena was no good in a fight right now; just one brush of a feather or raking of nails would put her on the ground. It would be her, Lita and Amy.

          “Go, Serena. Get out of here now!”

          “But…!” Serena protested.

          “We’ll be right behind you, and besides, you’re in no condition to fight.” Raye cut Serena off quickly. “Move!”

          Wobbling and shuffling alternately, Serena made her way off the airstrip.

          The fog still covered the field. Amy, having been farther away to generate the fog, was somewhat behind Raye and Lita. Fog of war, Amy chuckled to herself in a personal pun.

          By sheer chance Felin walked right into Amy. Felin, having the initiative and quicker reactions, speedily wrapped Amy’s ankles up in her tail and hauled her up hanging upside down. “Well, well, well. I suppose you’re the one responsible for the fog, hmm?”

          “Let go, Nega-slime!” Amy protested as she tried to wriggle free. Felin smiled and sliced her shirt.

          “Let’s see how you like my new technique,” Felin giggled as she grabbed Amy’s wrists. She leaned in close and began to brush her whiskers and facial fur over Amy’s ribs. A raspberry, the humans called it?

          “Eheeheeheheehehee no! I’ll get you for this! You-you-you won’t get away…! Eahahahahaaa eheheheeh ahahahaheheha ahahaha!” Amy’s sweet laughter rang out into the fog, catching the attention of Raye and Lita.

          “Amy! They’ve got her!” Lita cried.

          Amy was giggling uncontrollably as Felin’s stiff hairs dragged over her skin. Felin began to lick as well, raising the tickling level higher. Then Felin heard the voices from the fog.

          “This way! Quick!”

          Felin grimaced. Three on one, those weren’t betting odds. “Have a nice flight,” Felin quipped as she flung Amy aside and darted back into the fog.

          Lita nearly tripped over Amy, who was laying on the ground. “Hey! You alright?”

          “Yeah. Come on, let’s move out fast!” Amy matched action to words and began to run. Lita and Raye were close behind.

          All three Scouts vaulted the fence, and were greeted by a relieved Serena.

          “Oh man, that was close!” Serena cried as they resumed their flight. The fog on the airfield was beginning to dissipate. The Scouts were well away before they stopped running.

          “So, Meatball Head, how was the treatment?” Raye asked, not quite leering.

          Serena shuddered. “Awful. Today stunk. That was the second time they’ve gotten my feet today! I thought I was going to go crazy.”

          “Not far to go, you’re already half crazy,” Lita joked. Serena stuck out her tongue. “Come on!” Lita said, running ahead. “I just can’t wait to get back home! Last one back gets tickled!” Lita laughed and ran ahead.

          “Hey! Wait up!” Serena shouted, dashing off. Raye and Amy traded quick glances before they, too, ran.

          When the fog lifted over the airstrip, Syia looked around and cursed. No Scouts left. They’d sneaked out right under her nose! Ooh, it was infuriating. She clenched her fists and ground her teeth. Felin laid a hand on her shoulder. “Loosen up. We don’t win them all, either. Sometimes they get away.”

          “But that was the second one in two days! Arrgh!” Syia growled. Felin backed off.

          “You can’t let one defeat ruin your whole perspective,” she lectured. Then she frowned. “What the hell am I doing? There’s only one surefire way to get your attention.”

          Syia looked up. “Wha-?” She cut off as Felin’s tail whipped around her exposed stomach. “Hey! D-don’t do th-th thahaahahaahahahaaat!” Syia giggled and tried to pry off the tail. Felin looked merry.

          “Hee hee! Nothing like tickle torture to get your attention!” Syia had doubled over in giggles. Felin moved up behind her and stuck her fingers under Syia’s arms. Syia howled with laughter and tried to clamp down, but Felin was already well entrenched. Felin flipped her over and reached up her shirt, where she ran her fingers quickly up and down Syia’s sides. Syia’s breasts bounced as she shook under Felin’s torture. Her glasses had been knocked askew and stained by tears.

          Felin smiled gleefully. Syia was almost as helpless as Sailor Moon. Her tail wound further up Syia’s belly until it covered her whole stomach. Felin stood and lifted Syia, who was still trying to free herself, but she was laughing too hard to do so. After about five minutes Felin let Syia drop, and she almost fell before catching herself. Once she was steady again, a process that took about thirty seconds, she cleaned and adjusted her glasses and looked at Felin.

          “Okay, I give. I’ll be more cheerful,” she said with a rueful grin. They began to walk back to the hangar. “Do you do that to everyone?” she asked.

          “More or less,” Felin grinned. “Only Jelex ever got the drop on me before. She’s good.”

          Syia laughed, her good cheer restored. “I’m surprised that you don’t gang up on Megan more than you do.”

          Felin shrugged. “We used to. But she was clever, and when she first tamed the tiliking she got Jelex howling like I’ve never heard before. They run a madhouse over there. Tiliking everywhere, and Jelex and Megan both are the biggest goof-offs we have. She’s got Sailor Moon’s best friend and Sailor Venus on leashes.”

          “Really?” Syia’s eyes sparkled. “I didn’t know that. I had been going to take Lita over to Megan’s since she can’t stand for her feet to be licked.” Syia flicked her tongue in the air like a snake. Felin laughed.

          “Well, let’s go see Michelle.”

          Michelle was waiting in Syia’s quarters at Tickling Dungeon II. She had been left there with the black fabric suit, similar to Megan’s, and had been given a choice; dress in the suit or be tortured and forced into the suit. So it was really no surprise when Felin and Syia saw the tall redhead dressed in a skintight black fabric body suit.

          “Good, I see you remembered my instructions,” Syia said. “Now, we’re going to play.”

          Michelle whimpered. “Oh, please, have some mercy.”

          Felin raised an eyebrow. “Mercy? What is this… mercy… you speak of?”

          Michelle moaned. In a few minutes, she was strapped to a table, arms and legs extended. Syia grinned. “Now, we have some fun,” she whispered. The body stocking, like Megan’s, amplified the sensations. When Syia began to lovingly stroke feathers over her feet, Michelle began to snicker and snort. Felin’s lithe fingers pushed giggles past Michelle’s throat, and between the two of them Michelle was soon convulsing with laughter.

          Felin split her tail and began to rub under Michelle’s arms while simultaneously running her fingers along Michelle’s ribs. Syia had meanwhile abandoned her feathers and was tickling the soft skin between Michelle’s toes. Michelle bucked frantically, pleading miserably. Felin and Syia pretended that they couldn’t hear poor Michelle’s cries.

          Syia now began a new technique that required much precision. Concentrating, she found the vulnerable nerve endings in Michelle’s feet, and with just the right kind of touch, she set off a reaction.

          For Michelle, it seemed as if tiny spiders had crawled under her skin. All along her nerves tickling sensations blossomed until they covered her whole body. Michelle screamed and shuddered wildly, unable to even see what was tormenting her.

          Felin and Syia continued in this manner until Michelle’s throat was so parched that they could not get her to laugh. With a wink at Felin, Syia undid the restraints and helped Michelle to a sitting position. She pushed a glass of water at her, and with a grateful expression Michelle drained it. Syia began to speak quietly with Michelle, sympathetic, and asked for a minor favor.

          Felin, with a final glance over her shoulder, left the room. Amazing how much a glass of water could do.