Jaynin
4th Level Red Feather
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2003
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Part VI- Mind Games
Slowly, Neflite’s Tickling Dungeon was expanding. When he had started it had been himself, Aven, Neva and Jelex, and three humans. Now Neva was dead, Felin had replaced her and a gaggle of tickle imps worked here. Thirteen humans were available to give energy to the Negaforce. He had moved beyond the simple collection of energy to research into methodology and technology. Most significantly, he had moved from scrabbling to save his hide to high on the list of probable promotions. He hoped. Remembering his last visit to the palace brought a smile to his face…
Felin sat in her office, examining the latest breakthrough. The oil they had been producing was now refined so that only tickle reception was increased. It would be a major step forward in their efforts. The other major development was sitting in front of her, or its result was. Megan, a human girl, had been completely broken of her own will. She did whatever she was told, and the mere threat of tickling drove her into hysterics. She wore a black, skintight body suit. This suit also helped amplify tickling and also removed all impediments to touch. Unless she was told otherwise, Megan was not permitted to wear anything else. Thus she had to put up with the quick tickles the imps would sneak when she walked by. On one occasion they had managed to swarm her and make her collapse laughing.
“Megan, come here,” Felin commanded.
“Yes, Felin,” she replied. Megan got up and walked over to Felin, standing still. Just as a reminder, Felin let her tail twitch aimlessly. Megan’s gaze followed it, as she stood petrified with fear.
“Go and ask Aven for any human that is available.” Megan flinched; it meant walking through the lab again. She complied instantly, though.
Megan hated the lab. The imps were always teasing her and poking her, or trying the latest inventions on her. It seemed that they all managed to be between where she was and where she needed to go. She suspected that Aven always moved as far away as she could to make Megan walk through the lab more. She began her trek through the lab.
Felin knew that the imps tormented Megan whenever they could. It was just another tactic to reinforce Megan’s submission. She had with her a can of the oil with a horsehair paintbrush in it. The studies had shown that applying the oil with a brush produced the best results. Felin pondered breaking another human with it. Megan was mostly complete; she made a good assistant and spy. Felin decided to wait until she had a Sailor Scout to work with.
Holding her arms tight across her stomach, Megan hurried through the lab. It didn’t save her from all the feathers and brushes and the occasional vine. Finally she found Aven studying a device with brushes on the ends of robot arms.
“A-Aven?” she began.
Aven turned. “Hm? Does Felin want something?”
“T-the next available g-girl she wants in her o-office, please,” Megan stammered quickly.
Aven nodded. “All right. Can you carry something to Felin for me?” Aven asked with a small smile.
“Y-yes.”
“Good. Here is a tray of knickknacks I’ve come up with.” She handed Megan a large tray. It was too wide to carry. Aven laughed. “No, no, it’s easier to carry over your head. Like this.” Aven repositioned the tray so that Megan was grabbing the handles on either end. “Make sure not to drop it.”
Megan wanted to cry. There could only be one reason for this - to make her exposed when she crossed the lab. She nodded and hurried off.
There must have been a conspiracy, because everyone she met on the way back tried to tickle her armpits. She didn’t worry about not laughing, like she usually did, and concentrated on the tray. They were probably trying to make her drop it. She picked up her pace to a run. There! Felin’s office was in sight! Megan burst through the door, panting. She could hear laughter behind her.
“A-Aven says… pant, pant,… that the next human is being sent and… pant, pant,… she wanted to give you this.” Megan offered the tray.
“Oh, thank you.” Felin grinned. As she suspected, there was just junk on the tray. The tray was wide enough that carrying it overhead was the best way. Aven took a particular delight in paving the way for the imps. “Sit down, and have a drink.”
“Oh, thank you, mistress.” Megan sat in her special chair - one with restraints for wrists and ankles - and drank from a glass of water.
Felin looked up at a knock. “One ticklish human, delivered,” joked Jelex. “Mind if I watch? It’s a slow day. We got seven burnouts! Neflite’s been cutting back on gathering trips lately. Claims he’s got no time.”
“No problem.” Felin got the girl into the restraining table she had for her own use. She whined but said nothing. Most girls learned quickly that pleading often encouraged the ticklers. “Megan, get the can of oil.” Megan complied quietly. She expressed no sympathy for the victims anymore. “Megan, you obey me, right?” Megan shrank from those words.
For about the twentieth time that day Serena reread the note which Jelex and Aven had left her. “We know where you live, Sailor Moon. We know who you are. The tickling can come at any time, any place. See you soon… Jelex and Aven.” Serena shuddered. Bad enough that they knew whom she was, but they knew where she lived, too. They’d demonstrated their capability and willingness to break into her house and tickle torture her. What was she going to do? She had resolved not to give up, but this was a serious matter. She’d ask for advice at the meeting today.
With a heavy-hearted sigh she looked around the room. She suspected that a few of the girls not here today had been captured by the Negaverse. Serena tried to take her mind off of her problems and stared out the window. The world looked so happy on the surface, with no indication that a cold-hearted tickler lurked out there. The sky was blue, and the birds were flying without care, a blue jay, and a robin, and… what was that one? Serena gasped. A tickle imp! It must have been watching her, because when she saw it, it waved. It jumped into the open window and fluttered to the ground. Serena lost it in the jungle of legs and desks, but then it was right next to her.
“Hey!” it whispered, on the floor next to her. “You ticklish, Sailor Moon? Yes? I have nice feather here for you. You ticklish on your feet, right?”
“Shut up!” she whispered fiercely. It couldn’t just go around to the world announcing she was Sailor Moon! “I’ll squash you if you try to tickle my feet!”
“Oh?” it giggled. “Hey, I think not. Look at your feet! Cannot move them! Ha ha!”
Serena was astonished. Somehow, some way, her feet were strapped to the legs of her desk. “How…?”
“Serena, what are you doing?” asked Miss Horuna exasperatedly. “Stop talking in class. This is really it. You’ve been nothing but trouble all week.”
“Yes, Miss H,” Serena said dejectedly. If she wasn’t so talkative, … never mind, she’d never change. Serena was honest enough to admit that. Serena was forced, again, to sit grumpily while an imp had its way with her. It pulled off her shoe with some difficulty. Fortunately for the imp the shoe was not held to her foot in any way. The imp slid the shoe aside and tugged at her sock. This came off and was piled next to the shoe.
“Ah! I see, your feet ticklish. Especially here, between toes. Very ticklish, hmm? You like tickling?”
“No!” Serena hissed. She was starting to sweat nervously, dreading the results of tickle torment in the middle of class. This was really going to be a bad day…
“Too bad; I tickle anyway. Tickle tickle!” It rubbed the soft feather at the sensitive point between her toes.
“Oh heeheheheheheheeh! Stop that! Hahah aha hah ha! No tickling! Not in school! Eee hee hee!” Serena giggled. So much for holding in the laughter. She was just too ticklish.
“Serena, what is so funny? Never mind; I don’t want to know. Come up to the front. You’re going to be punished for these constant interruptions.”
“But I-“ the shackles fell away from her ankles. “I’m coming,” she sighed. Putting her shoe and sock back on, she lurched to the front.
“Now pay attention, class.” Miss Horuna was holding a pointer in her hand. “There is a new school discipline policy that I want you all to be aware of. As Serena is the first to make an infringement, I will demonstrate the new punishment with her.” Miss Horuna went over to a supply closet and rummaged around. Serena’s embarrassment was mixed with curiosity.
“Here!” she dragged a set of stocks on wheels to the front, along with a padded chair. Locking the wheels, she said, “Serena, sit down.” Serena sat, wondering why Miss H intended to put her in stocks. Maybe the new policy was public embarrassment. “Put your feet in,” she said, opening them. “As many of you have probably already guessed, this is a shaming punishment. But this is only the beginning. The administration has complied a list for each student of things that are embarrassing to them.” She began to remove Serena’s shoes.
“What!” Serena couldn’t believe this. “Who said you could go snooping into my life!”
“So what’s going to happen to Serena?” someone in class asked. Miss Horuna smiled.
“Why, Serena is terribly ticklish. I’m going to tickle her!” The class burst out in laughter.
“What? You can’t do that!” cried Serena, face reddening. Now her school was tickle torturing her! What else could go wrong? She felt like a total idiot. Besides, no one would let her forget this for at least a year. They’d probably think it would be funny to tickle her then.
“Can’t I?” Miss Horuna had two feathers. She swept them over Serena’s arches.
“Oh no ahahahahahahahahahh! Oh please! Not tickling! Haha ahahaha hahahahahah! Not there! Waah hahaha haahaha aha ha!” Serena couldn’t hold back the embarrassingly pleading laughter.
“Feel free to join in!” With a cheer the seats emptied as the class surrounded Serena. Their hands were everywhere, some people holding her arms up while the others tickled her armpits, her stomach, poked at her ribs…
“STOP!” Serena shouted, jerking upright. The class was still laughing at her. Only she was now sitting at her desk.
“Serena, don’t daydream in class, for the millionth time,” said Miss Horuna. She held a ruler, with which she’d been poking Serena.
“Oh, um, sorry, Miss H.” Serena apologized. It was really getting to her, she realized. On impulse she rummaged in her backpack and reread the note. That hadn’t been a dream. Serena had been hoping it was. Could she escape? The Negaverse chased her in her dreams now, too.
Serena meandered towards the temple after school and managed to be only ten minutes late. This was partly due to being afraid to be alone.
“Hi, Meatball Head,” Raye greeted her. “You’re closing in on the record. Only ten minutes late today.”
They all sat at the table, chatting and eating goodies. Lita had more cooking in the kitchen.
“Geez! You guys eat like there’s a famine! I’ll see if my other batch of cookies is done yet.” Lita laughed good-naturedly and went into the kitchen. She took pride in her cooking. Yes, the next two trays were done. She took them out and slid in another batch, while letting the first set cool. Suddenly she became aware of a high-pitched buzzing sound. Slowly, she reached for the flyswatter. She jerked her arm back with a whoop and looked around. Something had tickled under her arm, but what? The buzzing was still audible. Gritting her teeth, Lita spun.
“Hi!” said a tickle imp cheerfully, floating a foot from her face. Lita growled and grabbed for it, but before she knew it the thing was gone. The next thing she knew, tiny hands were tickling under her arm and all up and down her sides.
“Hehehehehehahheh hey! Where did you gohohoohogoohohohoho go?” As she slapped at her arm, the sensation was gone and the annoying buzzing was there again.
“Can’t catch me!” it taunted. With a blur of motion it was gone again, now tickling all over her belly. With a great whoop of laughter Lita doubled over, clutching at her belly. Only it was no longer there, and the tiny feathers of its wings brushed along her sides. When Lita tried to swat it away, it tickled under her other arm.
“Hehehehhaahahehehe stop! Pehehehehehehesehe pest! I’ll get youhouho!” Lita was squealing loudly, drawing the attention of the others. Realizing this, the imp tickled behind her knees, knocking her over, and made its getaway. Mina ran into the kitchen.
“Lita! Did you fall?” asked Mina, followed by the rest of the girls.
“No, I was attacked by the Negaverse.” Lita could tell they didn’t believe her.
“Oh, come on, Lita. We won’t make fun of you if you fell,” said Raye.
“No, wait,” said Serena. “I think it might have been. I was about to show you guys this.” She produced the note.
“This is real trouble, Serena,” said Amy immediately upon finishing the note. Each Scout concurred.
“The Negaverse is getting bolder. We have to be careful,” observed Raye.
“Yes. Watch yourselves and be aware at all times,” cautioned Luna. Mina was trying to slip off. “Don’t even think about it, Mina. It is time for the endurance session.”
“Awwwww!” complained Mina.
“Ha ha! Better luck next time,” laughed Lita.
Mina was all set up on the bed. “Oh, man, I hate all of you.”
Raye laughed. “Wait until we start.”
“Okay… go!” commanded Luna. Serena knew a very ticklish point of Mina’s. She pulled up her shirt and tickled the smooth armpits with her nails.
“OHAHHAHA HOHOHO AHA HAHHAAH HAHAHAH AHAAAAA! NOOOOOO WHAHAHAHAHAHA EEHEHEHEEH AHAHAHAAHHAAHAAAHAHAHA! AHAHAHA HAHA!” Mina tossed her head in a vain attempt to block out the tickling sensations. Lita was tickling down by her sides.
“The itsy bitsy spider…” Lita sang softly as she tickled Mina. Lita was using her hands like a spider, skittering along on the flesh of Mina’s sides. “… tickled the Sailor Scout,” she continued the song. “Down came the hands and made her scream and shout.” Mina tried to give Lita the evil eye, but she was squirming too hard to keep her focus. “Then came the feathers which tickled her to death, and the itsy bitsy spider danced up her sides again.”
“Hey, not bad, Lita,” laughed Raye. “Speaking of the feathers tickling to death, I think that you have very nice feet, Mina. For tickling, that is.” True enough, Mina’s small, creamy white feet were another weak point. Raye lightly scratched her sole with the point of the feather.
“Yes, I think that you take very good care of your feet.” Amy wiggled her fingers between Mina’s toes.
“OOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHA I HATE HATE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA HAHAHAHAHTE ALL OF YOU! EHEHEHEHEE HAHAHAHAHA STAHHHHHHP TICKLING! PLEHEHEHEHEHEEHAZE!” Mina cried. Serena responded by going all out on Mina’s upper body.
“Tickle, tickle, tickle! I’m the tickle monster and I’m gonna get you!” Serena giggled. Usually tickling made her laugh along with the victim.
Mina was bright red and out of breath. She was sweating and thrashing, tearing up Raye’s bed in the process.
“Hey! I like this bed!” Raye mock-protested indignantly. “In the name of Mars, I will punish you with tickling!”
“GAHAAHAHAHAH YOU’RE ALL SO MEAN! AHAHHA HAHAHAH AHAHAHAHA OH PLEAZE STOP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHA AHAHAHA I GIVE! I GIVE! HAVE MERCY PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHESE!”
Mina did not take her half an hour well. She was grumpy at having been tickled, promising revenge on the next victim.
“Go on, Amy, choose,” said Luna.
“Well, okay…” Amy reached in and plucked one of the two sheets of paper remaining.
“Raye? Buy some soundproofing,” Luna quipped. “Serena is next.”
“Oh no!” Serena moaned.
“Ah ha! We’ll see who is the most ticklish now!” teased Raye.
“Megan? Wake up, Megan.” Felin stood illuminated in the door to Megan’s cell.
“Oh, yes, of course.” Megan rubbed sleepy eyes and stood up.
“Megan, get dressed in the body suit. Then come to my office.” Felin turned and left Megan yawning and pulling on her outfit.
Along the way she met Jelex. “Good morning, Megan,” Jelex said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She must have pulled a really low trick to be so happy. Still, Megan was glad that Aven was not around. She did not like Aven, who often as not threw her helpless to the mercy of the tickle imps, or lack thereof. Jelex was tolerable when she was not plotting to make her get in trouble. Oddly enough, Megan had begun to grow attached to Felin. She did not realize that this was the objective of the psychological warfare she was experiencing. That, and the subtle pressure of dark energy Felin was feeding into her. It wasn’t designed to control her mind, but to encourage the growth of certain sections… Megan walked into the office.
“Ah, there you are. I have a present for you.” The same girl from yesterday was stretched out on the table again. The other day, she and Megan had gotten into a shouting match over Megan’s willingness to take orders from Felin and Jelex. Today she was gagged and blindfolded.
“A present for me? You are too kind, mistress,” mumbled Megan.
“Nonsense.” Felin waved it away. “You remember her? The nasty girl who made you feel bad yesterday? I have decided to allow you to have revenge on her. She has been treated with the tickling oil and is roughly ten times more ticklish. You can have a feather or a brush, your choice.”
Megan walked over to the girl. She waited for the internal turmoil, which never materialized. She realized that she did want revenge on her, and that she wanted very badly to tickle someone, which had been Felin’s intention. “I choose a paintbrush.” With the small, artist’s paintbrush in one hand and a large horsehair paintbrush in the other, she set to work. First she put both instruments down to be used for later. Megan straddled the girl.
“Well, hello again today,” she said to the girl. The girl made an angry-sounding noise through her gag. “What’s that?” she asked, putting her head near the girl’s mouth. The unintelligible noise was repeated. “Oh, okay. You want to be tickle tortured. No problem.” Ignoring the sudden pleas, Megan scrabbled her nails on the girl’s stomach. The noises cut into muffled laughing. “Yes, you like to be tickled. Say it.” More noises. “What? You didn’t say it. I think I’ll tickle you until you do!” Megan took the art brush and painted on her ribs while still tickling her stomach with the other hand. The laughter picked up in intensity. “Say it! Tell me you love to be tickled! Ha ha ha!”
Felin watched gleefully. Megan was being rebuilt, reconditioned in the Negaverse’s image. She was turning into a tickle torturer. Finally, the subtle angles of her work were coming together.
“Oh, don’t tell me that. We’ll just have to tickle you some more.” Megan took the paintbrush and stroked under the girl’s arms. The laughter became frantic and her efforts to get out increased. Megan moved the art brush to her navel. The blindfold had two wet spots near where the eyes were supposed to be. The screaming laughter was almost as loud as normal. Now Felin joined, rubbing her tail across the stomach. This caused an absolute spasm. Wild shrieks poured out around the gag. The girl was slamming her back into the table. Megan laughed.
“Now, feel the torment of tickle torture!” Megan attacked both armpits with her fingernails. Felin curled her tail around the girl’s stomach. The girl was laughing so loud that it was impossible that she could breathe. The gag didn’t help any either. She fell unconscious.
“Did you like that, Megan?” Felin asked solicitously.
“Oh yes!” Megan’s eyes were shining. “Can I please do it again?”
Felin smiled. “Of course.”
Serena walked through a forest at night. She knew that she was dreaming; the sky was black but it was light enough to see clearly. She walked without purpose in a straight line for a while. Then the large mansion materialized. Feeling no fear or trepidation Serena walked inside.
She walked into a greenhouse, but the glass was too opaque to see through, and it was black. So while it was not a “green” house, there was no such thing as a “black” house. Besides, plants flourished inside like they did normally. Serena was not alarmed at all to see the plants moving as if they were alive. She continued to walk, though she was aware that she had no idea where she was going.
Serena came to a yellowish strip in the ground that was like fly paper. She stepped over it, but the boundary extended so that her foot landed in the goo. She pulled away, leaving her shoe there, and took another step. The edge retreated further and her other shoe was lost. She also lost both of her socks in this fashion. When she was barefoot she stepped onto the other side. Distantly she was aware that being barefoot was a bad thing, but it did not slow her down.
The floor was like a plush rug now, but it was also moving slowly. Serena’s feet were tickled, but she smiled willingly and continued. Now barriers began to arise. Tangles of vines slithered under her clothing to torment her. Clouds of feathers brushed against her skin, torturing her. Shrieking with laughter, stumbling, falling, sometimes even giving up briefly, Serena trekked across the room. The devilish tools of tickle torture did not give her any respite. When she reached the far side of the room, however, all of the impediments retreated. Serena opened the door.
She was in a large glass cylinder. The door melted away, leaving her trapped inside. Still, Serena felt no fear. On the other side she had expected Neflite. What she got was Luna.
“It is time for the final test.” Luna spoke solemnly and slowly.
“Yes.” Serena nodded. She did not flinch as robotic arms with shackles restrained her in an X-shape.
“This is your final chance.” Luna threw a switch. Serena’s vision suddenly blurred and slid out of focus. Then came the horror. A sensation that was indescribable swept over her; the purest form of tickle torture she had ever felt. It felt like brushes, feathers, vines, leaves, hands, all of it and none of it, all rolled together in the worst feeling of tickle torture she had ever felt, all over her body. Serena degenerated into shrieks of laughter. Through the madness she heard voices.
“Weak, you are weak…”
“Worthless…”
“Cowardly wench…”
“Sniveling brat…”
“Hopeless…”
“Incompetent, stupid girl…”
“Lazy…”
Serena was devastated. She could hear the voices of her friends, of the Scouts, of Luna and Artemis, and of people she did not know. Her heart felt ripped out of her.
“A failure!” Luna cried. “You cannot save anything. You would fall before something so base as tickling? So be it, then you are condemned to an eternity of tickling as punishment.” Luna stalked out of view.
“NOOOOOOOO! Please!” Serena cried. “Please…give me a ch…a…n…ce…”
“Pleahahahahah!” Serena jerked awake. She was awake, but something was still tickling her…? With a lump of ice in her stomach she looked around. Nothing. No Jelex or Aven. Then who?
“Come on, get up, Serena!” said Luna from the foot of the bed.
“Aaaah! Luna!” Serena shrieked. Then she calmed down. “Oh, sorry, Luna. I had a bad dream. You were tickling me.”
“I was tickling you,” said Luna flatly. She waved her tail in the air.
“Why, you little pest!” laughed Serena. “I didn’t know you’d stoop so low!” The laughter died down. “Seriously, Luna, all I’ve had on my mind is tickle torture lately. It’s eating me up. I’m becoming nervous and paranoid again What should I do?”
“Maybe you should… err…” Luna had been about to suggest taking a day off and having fun, but Serena did that every day. “Just try to think positive. And have fun; don’t worry about everything.” Luna had the feeling that she’d regret saying those words.
“So, how about it?” Jelex asked.
“Perfect,” replied Aven with a smile. “The Dream Inducer is a success. Sailor Moon’s brainwave patterns were consistent with a nightmare.”
“I hear Felin has a plan to capture Sailor Moon,” Jelex said.
“Really?”
Serena was daydreaming off and on again in class. This turned out to be a very bad idea. The Dream Inducer, which was tuned to her brain waves, gave her a ticklish nightmare every time her conscious wandered. Miss Horuna had thrown her in a tank of red jelly that tickled…no, Miss Horuna was actually Aven in disguise…her classmates had been possessed by the Negaverse…tickle imps took over the school and locked her in a closet and the brooms had attacked her…Jelex was a guest speaker at an assembly…she had to pass the ‘Tickling Endurance Test’ in gym class…Aven sat next to her in class, tormenting her with feathers, but Miss Horuna never saw…they took a field trip to the Tickling Dungeon…
Serena jerked awake at the bell. Miss Horuna had not even bothered today. She gathered her stuff and was out the door so fast no one even saw her.
Mina was leaving the school when she heard a whisper.
“Pssst… Mina….” Megan was beckoning to her from around a corner. Robbed of their plan to capture Serena, the Negaverse had made a hasty decision to capture Mina instead.
“Huh? Megan?” Megan disappeared around the corner, and Mina followed.
“This way!” Megan called, going into an alley.
“What? Megan, where are you going?” Mina looked around the alley. “Megan? Where are you?”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!” Mina whirled around. Gas spurted from various vents in the alley. Megan wore a gas mask.
“No… Megan… why?”
Mina’s vision was fuzzy. She could see a white ceiling and bright lights, and indistinct figures in white were leaning over her. They were muttering to themselves and gesturing to her. Her first thought was that she was in a hospital.
The Negaverse had gone through a lot of trouble to set this up. They were really in an old storage shed that had been reworked to serve as an outpost. The room had been repainted according to Megan’s descriptions of a hospital. Felin reasoned that if they kept Sailor Venus off balance for as long as possible it would be beneficial. The drug they had come up with would dull any suspicion so long as Sailor Venus didn’t know who they were or where she was.
“Mmrrmph…” Mina mumbled. Her mouth wasn’t working quite right, and she still couldn’t see.
“Ah, you’re awake. We need to operate on you,” said one.
“We examined you when your friend brought you here. You were merely unconscious when you got here, but we discovered a minor problem that can be corrected.”
“Yes. Your skin is hypersensitive, and it makes you prone to nervous overload. We can correct this.” This was actually Jelex speaking, but Mina couldn’t tell, and Jelex wore a white mask that covered most of her face.
“Wha yur guhnna doh?” she muttered. She couldn’t move, but her fogged mind couldn’t come up with a reason why she’d be tied down. Mina put her immobility down to grogginess.
Felin smiled. “First, we’re going to determine exactly where you are over-sensitive. Then we will operate on your nerves to lessen the feeling you receive.
It made little sense to Mina, who couldn’t quite keep a train of thought, but one thought did shine brightly. No wonder I was so ticklish.
“Let’s begin!” Aven said. She grinned as she plucked a feather. Jelex her hands; she really didn’t need any other tools. Felin possessed her tail. “Now, tell us if you feel this.” She swept the feather on Mina’s foot.
“Eheheh… uh-huh,” she said with a dopey smile.
“This?” Mina gave another giggle as her other foot was tickled.
“This?” asked Felin as she twined her tail around Mina’s legs. A slightly greater amount of laughter came from Mina. Aven was still tickling her feet.
“This?” laughed Jelex as she tickled her ribs lightly.
“Uh-huh- heheheheehehahaha- ahl ahf iht,” she managed.
“Good,” Aven laughed. None of them stopped.
“Ahaahaha! I sahid I fhelt iht! Sthap! I’hm rheally tihicklihsh!” Mina protested with that goofy smile on her face. She didn’t know that her torturers were struggling not to laugh at her expression.
“We know, Sailor Venus… whoops! I mean…” Jelex was unable to catch the slip.
“Whaht! Hey!” Mina shouted. Suddenly the fog in her mind cleared and her vision focused. “Oh no! The Negaverse!”
“Good job, knucklehead!” shouted Aven. “The drug only works while she’s unaware!”
“Shut up! What difference does it make?” huffed Jelex.
Mina looked on in disbelief as Jelex and Aven argued. They looked really unhappy. Felin sat down next to Mina and sighed. “Why now?” she muttered. “There’s only one way to stop this.” Her tail whipped out and caught both of them around the stomach.
Both of them stopped in mid-argument laughing and trying to pry the tail off. Mina was now wondering if she was dreaming again. Aven and Jelex were on their knees laughing, while pleading with Felin to stop. Felin wore a gleeful expression.
“Ahahahahahah ha ha well, take this!” Jelex attacked Felin with some hands that tickled her upper body. Felin jumped and clamped her arms to her chest, but her tail didn’t let go.
“Gah haha ahah gah ahah go!” shouted Aven as she flung feathers at Felin. These wormed into her armpits and tickled behind her knees. Felin collapsed.
All three of them were laughing hysterically while rolling on the floor. Mina tried to get free while they were occupied, but it was no good. After ten minutes they called a truce and stood up. Now they were all in a good mood.
“You see – aha - how tickling improves your mood, Sailor Venus?” Felin was still trying to bring the giggles under control.
“Yes, it makes you forget all you troubles,” said Jelex with a sly grin.
“Wouldn’t you like to just float away for a while?” smiled Aven with her wings spread wide.
Mina stared in openmouthed shock. “My God, you’re just as ticklish as me and my friends!” she blurted out before she could stop herself.
“Why, yes,” said Felin as if it were completely normal. “But we’re not helpless little humans who fold up when tickled. We can fight back.”
“And we have the smarts to come up with stuff like this!” said Aven, triumphantly holding up a bucket of tickling oil. She had three large paintbrushes.
“Wh-what does that do?” asked Mina fearfully.
Jelex grinned. “This makes you approximately ten times more ticklish for a while.”
Mina nearly died. “Ten times?” she gasped.
Felin, Jelex and Aven all were showing barely suppressed grins at the fear in Mina’s eyes. “Ten times,” Aven confirmed. She dipped her brush in the oil. “We’re going to do this so slowly and torturously that you’ll go insane before we even begin the treatment. Are you ready?” Aven started at the toes and began to evenly coat Mina’s foot.
“OH NO OH MY GOD STAHAHAHAHAHP! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH PLEASE NOOOOOOOO! THAT TICKLES EEHEHEHEHEHHEHEEHEHAAHA! OH MY GOD STAAAP! AHAHAHAHAA HAHAHAH AHAHAHAHA!” Mina screamed as Aven took her time with the brush. Aven was carefully covering every inch of skin, brushing delicately between the toes and on them, “making sure the coating is even.” She spent a good three minutes doing that, brushing the bristles along her skin, each one a tiny thread of torment woven into one grand design, stimulating the nerves in her skin and pushing involuntary laughter up to her throat.
Mina panted as Aven withdrew the brush. “Oh…haha… that was… awful….heehee…”
Felin looked at her with amusement. “Just so you know, that was the upper part of one of your feet,” she said wryly. “We haven’t even finished the whole foot, or gotten to the legs, or upper body…”
Mina only now comprehended the true magnitude of the horror that she was to experience. And if she were to be made ten times more ticklish…! Fear clawed at her mind.
“And now, the sole,” said Aven with a flourish. She began again with the paintbrush. Aven covered as small an area as possible with each stroke, overlapping with each previous area.
“OH NO HAHAHAHAHAHAH OH GOD PLEASE NO! AHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAH HAHAH AAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE! ANYTHING BUT THAHAHAHAHT! STAHAHAHAHAHAHP PLEEEEZE!” Mina cried. Aven grinned and went slower. Time had no meaning for Mina. The tickling dulled her mind. It felt as if she had forgotten how to do anything but laugh as the oil-coated bristles of the paintbrush spread their fiendish substance along her skin. Aven spent another three minutes before she was satisfied.
“Having fun, Sailor Venus?” Jelex asked as she pulled up a stool next to Mina. Felin sat on the opposite side already. “We sure are.”
“I’ll get…you for…this,” Mina panted. “Wait…until my friends…get here…”
“Friends?” asked Jelex. “Ah, yes, your fellow Sailor brats. Mercury, I remember, was very ticklish on her feet. They’re small, and silky smooth like yours. Maybe when we get her we’ll put you two in a tickling contest.”
Mina stuck out her lower lip and said nothing. Aven continued where Jelex had left off. “Jupiter is really vulnerable under her arms! When she tries to use that silly lightning attack, she’s just begging to be tickled! Her arms are wide open! Yes, I think we’ll put her on a bar and see how long she can hang on before falling…into a tank of tickling jelly! How about it, Sailor Venus?” Aven raised the brush. “And as for you…”
The heel of Mina’s foot was no less ticklish than the rest. “OH PLEHEHEHEHEHASE NO! NOT THAT! OH PLEHEHEHHAZE! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP IT! NOHOHOHOHOHHO!” Tears formed in Mina’s eyes and ran down her shirt. Aven spent the standard three minutes making sure every side of her heel was coated.
“Your left foot is finished,” said Aven. “Now for the right…”
The next nine minutes were a similar torture for Mina.
“Okay, next!” said Felin joyfully. She pulled Mina’s shirt as far over her head as it would go. Mina reddened. This always embarrassed her. Felin dipped a brush into the can and began her work.
Mina was quite ticklish on her stomach. She jerked and quivered as the bristles of the brush slid over her skin, each one like a tiny finger. Felin was dragging it out even more than Aven had. The brush took a good minute to finish one stripe on her skin. Mina was trying so hard to hold back her laughter. But her reddened face, eyes squeezing out tears and half-giggles spurred the tormentors on in their efforts to break her.
“Oh no… hehehehahahah ahahahahah oh God NO! AHAHAHA HAHA HHAHA AAAAH STAHAHAHAP! OH PLEEEEEZE NO MORE! AHAHAHAHAHH OH PLEEEEZE HAVE MERCY! AHAHAHAHHHAHAHAH!” Mina lost the battle. The only reason that she had lasted so long was because her stomach was fractionally less ticklish than her feet. Felin dipped the brush and came again.
“OH PLEHEHEHEHEAZE NO… I’LL DO ANYTHING! PLEHEHEEHEAZE STAHAHAHAP! PLEEEEEAZE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!” The tormentors’ ears perked up at the magic words. Felin slowly put down the brush.
“Anything, you say, Sailor Venus?”
Mina sputtered in confusion. What now? Betray her friends or face more tickle torture. Did she have the heart to continue? Could she face herself if she gave up? Mina knew that she lost either way.
“…No.” Mina barely managed to force it out.
Felin shrugged and took up her brush again. “Suit yourself.” The brush began its torturous path across her stomach again. Mina’s throat was dry from laughing so hard when Felin finally finished.
“And now it’s my turn,” said Jelex with a grin.
Mina thought: Oh no… please… I can’t take it anymore… Somebody please help me… Oh no, NO!
“Where is Mina?” asked Raye grumpily. She had really been looking forward to tickling Serena out of her mind, but they had to wait for Mina.
“She was in school today,” offered Lita unhelpfully.
“I know that! I’ll bet she just ran out! She’s in cahoots with Serena!” Raye ground out.
“Yes, I’m afraid that I agree,” said Amy.
“It is just like Mina,” said Serena, with no conviction at all, as she was ecstatic at Mina’s absence.
Then, Raye heard Mina’s desperate plea on the edge of her mind. She jerked upright.
“What? What happened?” asked Lita.
“Mina’s in trouble!” Raye said. “We have to go - quickly!”
Mina’s vision refocused. Her mind had drifted with the awful torment inflicted by Jelex, and it took her a moment to realize that the tickling had stopped. Jelex was leaning over her.
“Ah, I knew you hadn’t gone unconscious. You were merely delusional as a result of my expert tickling.”
Mina wished she had gone unconscious.
“Now that the tickling oil has been applied, we can start with the tickle torture session,” purred Felin.
“No, please…” sobbed Mina. “No more, I beg you… Please don’t tickle me any more…”
“Why shouldn’t we?” asked Aven humorously. “We have here one of the most ticklish human beings awaiting torment, all ticklish areas wide open and screaming out to be tickled. You give us one good reason we shouldn’t drive you out of your mind.”
Mina remained mute.
“That’s what I thought.” A flashing red light interrupted her. “Huh?”
Jelex moved over and hit a few switches. “Perimeter alert - the Scouts are here. Do we stay and fight?”
“No,” answered Felin. “We’d have to fight them off and guard Sailor Venus, while they could just leave and come back whenever they wanted. No, this isn’t a good spot. Let’s make tracks for the Tickling Dungeon.”
Mina sighed in relief. Her friends had come!
Just before she left, Felin turned. “You got lucky, Sailor Venus. Don’t think you’ll get off so easily!” She pressed a button. A dozen mechanical hands sprouted from the walls. “So long!”
“AHAAHAHHAAHAHAH! I’LL GHEH-GHEH-GET YOUUUUUUU! AAAHAHAHAHAH!” Mina cried out anew as the torture renewed itself.
“I can hear it!” shouted Raye. “This way!” They burst through the doors to see a frantically thrashing Mina screaming with laughter under the precise torment of six pairs of robot hands.
“How do we stop it?” cried Serena.
“Here! Jupiter Thunder---CRASH!” Lita blasted the console with a lightning bolt. The hands hung limply from the wall. Mina was sobbing in relief.
“Oh! Mina, are you okay?” Raye ran over to free Mina.
“How bad was it?” asked Lita concernedly.
“A…awful. It…was awful…” Mina spoke hoarsely. “New… stuff. They have…oil which makes…you more…ticklish…”
“Oil that makes you more ticklish? That’s terrible!” cried Serena.
“It seems that the Negaverse is rapidly developing new weapons for use against us. If only we had our own weapons…” mused Amy.
“That…is important. They… they have a…weakness…” Mina said, determination shining through her exhaustion. “All…of them… are ticklish, like…we are. Really ticklish. But… they aren’t completely helpless… they can still fight back somewhat…”
“The Negaverse stooges are ticklish?” Raye said in disbelief. Then she smiled, a predator’s smile full of teeth. “Ha ha ha…”
“Something…else. I don’t know if I imagined it or not… Megan was helping them…”
“Who’s that?” asked Raye.
“A girl…from school… a human girl…” Mina looked defeated. “They broke her, and made her one of them…”
Slowly, Neflite’s Tickling Dungeon was expanding. When he had started it had been himself, Aven, Neva and Jelex, and three humans. Now Neva was dead, Felin had replaced her and a gaggle of tickle imps worked here. Thirteen humans were available to give energy to the Negaforce. He had moved beyond the simple collection of energy to research into methodology and technology. Most significantly, he had moved from scrabbling to save his hide to high on the list of probable promotions. He hoped. Remembering his last visit to the palace brought a smile to his face…
Felin sat in her office, examining the latest breakthrough. The oil they had been producing was now refined so that only tickle reception was increased. It would be a major step forward in their efforts. The other major development was sitting in front of her, or its result was. Megan, a human girl, had been completely broken of her own will. She did whatever she was told, and the mere threat of tickling drove her into hysterics. She wore a black, skintight body suit. This suit also helped amplify tickling and also removed all impediments to touch. Unless she was told otherwise, Megan was not permitted to wear anything else. Thus she had to put up with the quick tickles the imps would sneak when she walked by. On one occasion they had managed to swarm her and make her collapse laughing.
“Megan, come here,” Felin commanded.
“Yes, Felin,” she replied. Megan got up and walked over to Felin, standing still. Just as a reminder, Felin let her tail twitch aimlessly. Megan’s gaze followed it, as she stood petrified with fear.
“Go and ask Aven for any human that is available.” Megan flinched; it meant walking through the lab again. She complied instantly, though.
Megan hated the lab. The imps were always teasing her and poking her, or trying the latest inventions on her. It seemed that they all managed to be between where she was and where she needed to go. She suspected that Aven always moved as far away as she could to make Megan walk through the lab more. She began her trek through the lab.
Felin knew that the imps tormented Megan whenever they could. It was just another tactic to reinforce Megan’s submission. She had with her a can of the oil with a horsehair paintbrush in it. The studies had shown that applying the oil with a brush produced the best results. Felin pondered breaking another human with it. Megan was mostly complete; she made a good assistant and spy. Felin decided to wait until she had a Sailor Scout to work with.
Holding her arms tight across her stomach, Megan hurried through the lab. It didn’t save her from all the feathers and brushes and the occasional vine. Finally she found Aven studying a device with brushes on the ends of robot arms.
“A-Aven?” she began.
Aven turned. “Hm? Does Felin want something?”
“T-the next available g-girl she wants in her o-office, please,” Megan stammered quickly.
Aven nodded. “All right. Can you carry something to Felin for me?” Aven asked with a small smile.
“Y-yes.”
“Good. Here is a tray of knickknacks I’ve come up with.” She handed Megan a large tray. It was too wide to carry. Aven laughed. “No, no, it’s easier to carry over your head. Like this.” Aven repositioned the tray so that Megan was grabbing the handles on either end. “Make sure not to drop it.”
Megan wanted to cry. There could only be one reason for this - to make her exposed when she crossed the lab. She nodded and hurried off.
There must have been a conspiracy, because everyone she met on the way back tried to tickle her armpits. She didn’t worry about not laughing, like she usually did, and concentrated on the tray. They were probably trying to make her drop it. She picked up her pace to a run. There! Felin’s office was in sight! Megan burst through the door, panting. She could hear laughter behind her.
“A-Aven says… pant, pant,… that the next human is being sent and… pant, pant,… she wanted to give you this.” Megan offered the tray.
“Oh, thank you.” Felin grinned. As she suspected, there was just junk on the tray. The tray was wide enough that carrying it overhead was the best way. Aven took a particular delight in paving the way for the imps. “Sit down, and have a drink.”
“Oh, thank you, mistress.” Megan sat in her special chair - one with restraints for wrists and ankles - and drank from a glass of water.
Felin looked up at a knock. “One ticklish human, delivered,” joked Jelex. “Mind if I watch? It’s a slow day. We got seven burnouts! Neflite’s been cutting back on gathering trips lately. Claims he’s got no time.”
“No problem.” Felin got the girl into the restraining table she had for her own use. She whined but said nothing. Most girls learned quickly that pleading often encouraged the ticklers. “Megan, get the can of oil.” Megan complied quietly. She expressed no sympathy for the victims anymore. “Megan, you obey me, right?” Megan shrank from those words.
For about the twentieth time that day Serena reread the note which Jelex and Aven had left her. “We know where you live, Sailor Moon. We know who you are. The tickling can come at any time, any place. See you soon… Jelex and Aven.” Serena shuddered. Bad enough that they knew whom she was, but they knew where she lived, too. They’d demonstrated their capability and willingness to break into her house and tickle torture her. What was she going to do? She had resolved not to give up, but this was a serious matter. She’d ask for advice at the meeting today.
With a heavy-hearted sigh she looked around the room. She suspected that a few of the girls not here today had been captured by the Negaverse. Serena tried to take her mind off of her problems and stared out the window. The world looked so happy on the surface, with no indication that a cold-hearted tickler lurked out there. The sky was blue, and the birds were flying without care, a blue jay, and a robin, and… what was that one? Serena gasped. A tickle imp! It must have been watching her, because when she saw it, it waved. It jumped into the open window and fluttered to the ground. Serena lost it in the jungle of legs and desks, but then it was right next to her.
“Hey!” it whispered, on the floor next to her. “You ticklish, Sailor Moon? Yes? I have nice feather here for you. You ticklish on your feet, right?”
“Shut up!” she whispered fiercely. It couldn’t just go around to the world announcing she was Sailor Moon! “I’ll squash you if you try to tickle my feet!”
“Oh?” it giggled. “Hey, I think not. Look at your feet! Cannot move them! Ha ha!”
Serena was astonished. Somehow, some way, her feet were strapped to the legs of her desk. “How…?”
“Serena, what are you doing?” asked Miss Horuna exasperatedly. “Stop talking in class. This is really it. You’ve been nothing but trouble all week.”
“Yes, Miss H,” Serena said dejectedly. If she wasn’t so talkative, … never mind, she’d never change. Serena was honest enough to admit that. Serena was forced, again, to sit grumpily while an imp had its way with her. It pulled off her shoe with some difficulty. Fortunately for the imp the shoe was not held to her foot in any way. The imp slid the shoe aside and tugged at her sock. This came off and was piled next to the shoe.
“Ah! I see, your feet ticklish. Especially here, between toes. Very ticklish, hmm? You like tickling?”
“No!” Serena hissed. She was starting to sweat nervously, dreading the results of tickle torment in the middle of class. This was really going to be a bad day…
“Too bad; I tickle anyway. Tickle tickle!” It rubbed the soft feather at the sensitive point between her toes.
“Oh heeheheheheheheeh! Stop that! Hahah aha hah ha! No tickling! Not in school! Eee hee hee!” Serena giggled. So much for holding in the laughter. She was just too ticklish.
“Serena, what is so funny? Never mind; I don’t want to know. Come up to the front. You’re going to be punished for these constant interruptions.”
“But I-“ the shackles fell away from her ankles. “I’m coming,” she sighed. Putting her shoe and sock back on, she lurched to the front.
“Now pay attention, class.” Miss Horuna was holding a pointer in her hand. “There is a new school discipline policy that I want you all to be aware of. As Serena is the first to make an infringement, I will demonstrate the new punishment with her.” Miss Horuna went over to a supply closet and rummaged around. Serena’s embarrassment was mixed with curiosity.
“Here!” she dragged a set of stocks on wheels to the front, along with a padded chair. Locking the wheels, she said, “Serena, sit down.” Serena sat, wondering why Miss H intended to put her in stocks. Maybe the new policy was public embarrassment. “Put your feet in,” she said, opening them. “As many of you have probably already guessed, this is a shaming punishment. But this is only the beginning. The administration has complied a list for each student of things that are embarrassing to them.” She began to remove Serena’s shoes.
“What!” Serena couldn’t believe this. “Who said you could go snooping into my life!”
“So what’s going to happen to Serena?” someone in class asked. Miss Horuna smiled.
“Why, Serena is terribly ticklish. I’m going to tickle her!” The class burst out in laughter.
“What? You can’t do that!” cried Serena, face reddening. Now her school was tickle torturing her! What else could go wrong? She felt like a total idiot. Besides, no one would let her forget this for at least a year. They’d probably think it would be funny to tickle her then.
“Can’t I?” Miss Horuna had two feathers. She swept them over Serena’s arches.
“Oh no ahahahahahahahahahh! Oh please! Not tickling! Haha ahahaha hahahahahah! Not there! Waah hahaha haahaha aha ha!” Serena couldn’t hold back the embarrassingly pleading laughter.
“Feel free to join in!” With a cheer the seats emptied as the class surrounded Serena. Their hands were everywhere, some people holding her arms up while the others tickled her armpits, her stomach, poked at her ribs…
“STOP!” Serena shouted, jerking upright. The class was still laughing at her. Only she was now sitting at her desk.
“Serena, don’t daydream in class, for the millionth time,” said Miss Horuna. She held a ruler, with which she’d been poking Serena.
“Oh, um, sorry, Miss H.” Serena apologized. It was really getting to her, she realized. On impulse she rummaged in her backpack and reread the note. That hadn’t been a dream. Serena had been hoping it was. Could she escape? The Negaverse chased her in her dreams now, too.
Serena meandered towards the temple after school and managed to be only ten minutes late. This was partly due to being afraid to be alone.
“Hi, Meatball Head,” Raye greeted her. “You’re closing in on the record. Only ten minutes late today.”
They all sat at the table, chatting and eating goodies. Lita had more cooking in the kitchen.
“Geez! You guys eat like there’s a famine! I’ll see if my other batch of cookies is done yet.” Lita laughed good-naturedly and went into the kitchen. She took pride in her cooking. Yes, the next two trays were done. She took them out and slid in another batch, while letting the first set cool. Suddenly she became aware of a high-pitched buzzing sound. Slowly, she reached for the flyswatter. She jerked her arm back with a whoop and looked around. Something had tickled under her arm, but what? The buzzing was still audible. Gritting her teeth, Lita spun.
“Hi!” said a tickle imp cheerfully, floating a foot from her face. Lita growled and grabbed for it, but before she knew it the thing was gone. The next thing she knew, tiny hands were tickling under her arm and all up and down her sides.
“Hehehehehehahheh hey! Where did you gohohoohogoohohohoho go?” As she slapped at her arm, the sensation was gone and the annoying buzzing was there again.
“Can’t catch me!” it taunted. With a blur of motion it was gone again, now tickling all over her belly. With a great whoop of laughter Lita doubled over, clutching at her belly. Only it was no longer there, and the tiny feathers of its wings brushed along her sides. When Lita tried to swat it away, it tickled under her other arm.
“Hehehehhaahahehehe stop! Pehehehehehehesehe pest! I’ll get youhouho!” Lita was squealing loudly, drawing the attention of the others. Realizing this, the imp tickled behind her knees, knocking her over, and made its getaway. Mina ran into the kitchen.
“Lita! Did you fall?” asked Mina, followed by the rest of the girls.
“No, I was attacked by the Negaverse.” Lita could tell they didn’t believe her.
“Oh, come on, Lita. We won’t make fun of you if you fell,” said Raye.
“No, wait,” said Serena. “I think it might have been. I was about to show you guys this.” She produced the note.
“This is real trouble, Serena,” said Amy immediately upon finishing the note. Each Scout concurred.
“The Negaverse is getting bolder. We have to be careful,” observed Raye.
“Yes. Watch yourselves and be aware at all times,” cautioned Luna. Mina was trying to slip off. “Don’t even think about it, Mina. It is time for the endurance session.”
“Awwwww!” complained Mina.
“Ha ha! Better luck next time,” laughed Lita.
Mina was all set up on the bed. “Oh, man, I hate all of you.”
Raye laughed. “Wait until we start.”
“Okay… go!” commanded Luna. Serena knew a very ticklish point of Mina’s. She pulled up her shirt and tickled the smooth armpits with her nails.
“OHAHHAHA HOHOHO AHA HAHHAAH HAHAHAH AHAAAAA! NOOOOOO WHAHAHAHAHAHA EEHEHEHEEH AHAHAHAAHHAAHAAAHAHAHA! AHAHAHA HAHA!” Mina tossed her head in a vain attempt to block out the tickling sensations. Lita was tickling down by her sides.
“The itsy bitsy spider…” Lita sang softly as she tickled Mina. Lita was using her hands like a spider, skittering along on the flesh of Mina’s sides. “… tickled the Sailor Scout,” she continued the song. “Down came the hands and made her scream and shout.” Mina tried to give Lita the evil eye, but she was squirming too hard to keep her focus. “Then came the feathers which tickled her to death, and the itsy bitsy spider danced up her sides again.”
“Hey, not bad, Lita,” laughed Raye. “Speaking of the feathers tickling to death, I think that you have very nice feet, Mina. For tickling, that is.” True enough, Mina’s small, creamy white feet were another weak point. Raye lightly scratched her sole with the point of the feather.
“Yes, I think that you take very good care of your feet.” Amy wiggled her fingers between Mina’s toes.
“OOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHA I HATE HATE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA HAHAHAHAHTE ALL OF YOU! EHEHEHEHEE HAHAHAHAHA STAHHHHHHP TICKLING! PLEHEHEHEHEHEEHAZE!” Mina cried. Serena responded by going all out on Mina’s upper body.
“Tickle, tickle, tickle! I’m the tickle monster and I’m gonna get you!” Serena giggled. Usually tickling made her laugh along with the victim.
Mina was bright red and out of breath. She was sweating and thrashing, tearing up Raye’s bed in the process.
“Hey! I like this bed!” Raye mock-protested indignantly. “In the name of Mars, I will punish you with tickling!”
“GAHAAHAHAHAH YOU’RE ALL SO MEAN! AHAHHA HAHAHAH AHAHAHAHA OH PLEAZE STOP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHA AHAHAHA I GIVE! I GIVE! HAVE MERCY PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHESE!”
Mina did not take her half an hour well. She was grumpy at having been tickled, promising revenge on the next victim.
“Go on, Amy, choose,” said Luna.
“Well, okay…” Amy reached in and plucked one of the two sheets of paper remaining.
“Raye? Buy some soundproofing,” Luna quipped. “Serena is next.”
“Oh no!” Serena moaned.
“Ah ha! We’ll see who is the most ticklish now!” teased Raye.
“Megan? Wake up, Megan.” Felin stood illuminated in the door to Megan’s cell.
“Oh, yes, of course.” Megan rubbed sleepy eyes and stood up.
“Megan, get dressed in the body suit. Then come to my office.” Felin turned and left Megan yawning and pulling on her outfit.
Along the way she met Jelex. “Good morning, Megan,” Jelex said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She must have pulled a really low trick to be so happy. Still, Megan was glad that Aven was not around. She did not like Aven, who often as not threw her helpless to the mercy of the tickle imps, or lack thereof. Jelex was tolerable when she was not plotting to make her get in trouble. Oddly enough, Megan had begun to grow attached to Felin. She did not realize that this was the objective of the psychological warfare she was experiencing. That, and the subtle pressure of dark energy Felin was feeding into her. It wasn’t designed to control her mind, but to encourage the growth of certain sections… Megan walked into the office.
“Ah, there you are. I have a present for you.” The same girl from yesterday was stretched out on the table again. The other day, she and Megan had gotten into a shouting match over Megan’s willingness to take orders from Felin and Jelex. Today she was gagged and blindfolded.
“A present for me? You are too kind, mistress,” mumbled Megan.
“Nonsense.” Felin waved it away. “You remember her? The nasty girl who made you feel bad yesterday? I have decided to allow you to have revenge on her. She has been treated with the tickling oil and is roughly ten times more ticklish. You can have a feather or a brush, your choice.”
Megan walked over to the girl. She waited for the internal turmoil, which never materialized. She realized that she did want revenge on her, and that she wanted very badly to tickle someone, which had been Felin’s intention. “I choose a paintbrush.” With the small, artist’s paintbrush in one hand and a large horsehair paintbrush in the other, she set to work. First she put both instruments down to be used for later. Megan straddled the girl.
“Well, hello again today,” she said to the girl. The girl made an angry-sounding noise through her gag. “What’s that?” she asked, putting her head near the girl’s mouth. The unintelligible noise was repeated. “Oh, okay. You want to be tickle tortured. No problem.” Ignoring the sudden pleas, Megan scrabbled her nails on the girl’s stomach. The noises cut into muffled laughing. “Yes, you like to be tickled. Say it.” More noises. “What? You didn’t say it. I think I’ll tickle you until you do!” Megan took the art brush and painted on her ribs while still tickling her stomach with the other hand. The laughter picked up in intensity. “Say it! Tell me you love to be tickled! Ha ha ha!”
Felin watched gleefully. Megan was being rebuilt, reconditioned in the Negaverse’s image. She was turning into a tickle torturer. Finally, the subtle angles of her work were coming together.
“Oh, don’t tell me that. We’ll just have to tickle you some more.” Megan took the paintbrush and stroked under the girl’s arms. The laughter became frantic and her efforts to get out increased. Megan moved the art brush to her navel. The blindfold had two wet spots near where the eyes were supposed to be. The screaming laughter was almost as loud as normal. Now Felin joined, rubbing her tail across the stomach. This caused an absolute spasm. Wild shrieks poured out around the gag. The girl was slamming her back into the table. Megan laughed.
“Now, feel the torment of tickle torture!” Megan attacked both armpits with her fingernails. Felin curled her tail around the girl’s stomach. The girl was laughing so loud that it was impossible that she could breathe. The gag didn’t help any either. She fell unconscious.
“Did you like that, Megan?” Felin asked solicitously.
“Oh yes!” Megan’s eyes were shining. “Can I please do it again?”
Felin smiled. “Of course.”
Serena walked through a forest at night. She knew that she was dreaming; the sky was black but it was light enough to see clearly. She walked without purpose in a straight line for a while. Then the large mansion materialized. Feeling no fear or trepidation Serena walked inside.
She walked into a greenhouse, but the glass was too opaque to see through, and it was black. So while it was not a “green” house, there was no such thing as a “black” house. Besides, plants flourished inside like they did normally. Serena was not alarmed at all to see the plants moving as if they were alive. She continued to walk, though she was aware that she had no idea where she was going.
Serena came to a yellowish strip in the ground that was like fly paper. She stepped over it, but the boundary extended so that her foot landed in the goo. She pulled away, leaving her shoe there, and took another step. The edge retreated further and her other shoe was lost. She also lost both of her socks in this fashion. When she was barefoot she stepped onto the other side. Distantly she was aware that being barefoot was a bad thing, but it did not slow her down.
The floor was like a plush rug now, but it was also moving slowly. Serena’s feet were tickled, but she smiled willingly and continued. Now barriers began to arise. Tangles of vines slithered under her clothing to torment her. Clouds of feathers brushed against her skin, torturing her. Shrieking with laughter, stumbling, falling, sometimes even giving up briefly, Serena trekked across the room. The devilish tools of tickle torture did not give her any respite. When she reached the far side of the room, however, all of the impediments retreated. Serena opened the door.
She was in a large glass cylinder. The door melted away, leaving her trapped inside. Still, Serena felt no fear. On the other side she had expected Neflite. What she got was Luna.
“It is time for the final test.” Luna spoke solemnly and slowly.
“Yes.” Serena nodded. She did not flinch as robotic arms with shackles restrained her in an X-shape.
“This is your final chance.” Luna threw a switch. Serena’s vision suddenly blurred and slid out of focus. Then came the horror. A sensation that was indescribable swept over her; the purest form of tickle torture she had ever felt. It felt like brushes, feathers, vines, leaves, hands, all of it and none of it, all rolled together in the worst feeling of tickle torture she had ever felt, all over her body. Serena degenerated into shrieks of laughter. Through the madness she heard voices.
“Weak, you are weak…”
“Worthless…”
“Cowardly wench…”
“Sniveling brat…”
“Hopeless…”
“Incompetent, stupid girl…”
“Lazy…”
Serena was devastated. She could hear the voices of her friends, of the Scouts, of Luna and Artemis, and of people she did not know. Her heart felt ripped out of her.
“A failure!” Luna cried. “You cannot save anything. You would fall before something so base as tickling? So be it, then you are condemned to an eternity of tickling as punishment.” Luna stalked out of view.
“NOOOOOOOO! Please!” Serena cried. “Please…give me a ch…a…n…ce…”
“Pleahahahahah!” Serena jerked awake. She was awake, but something was still tickling her…? With a lump of ice in her stomach she looked around. Nothing. No Jelex or Aven. Then who?
“Come on, get up, Serena!” said Luna from the foot of the bed.
“Aaaah! Luna!” Serena shrieked. Then she calmed down. “Oh, sorry, Luna. I had a bad dream. You were tickling me.”
“I was tickling you,” said Luna flatly. She waved her tail in the air.
“Why, you little pest!” laughed Serena. “I didn’t know you’d stoop so low!” The laughter died down. “Seriously, Luna, all I’ve had on my mind is tickle torture lately. It’s eating me up. I’m becoming nervous and paranoid again What should I do?”
“Maybe you should… err…” Luna had been about to suggest taking a day off and having fun, but Serena did that every day. “Just try to think positive. And have fun; don’t worry about everything.” Luna had the feeling that she’d regret saying those words.
“So, how about it?” Jelex asked.
“Perfect,” replied Aven with a smile. “The Dream Inducer is a success. Sailor Moon’s brainwave patterns were consistent with a nightmare.”
“I hear Felin has a plan to capture Sailor Moon,” Jelex said.
“Really?”
Serena was daydreaming off and on again in class. This turned out to be a very bad idea. The Dream Inducer, which was tuned to her brain waves, gave her a ticklish nightmare every time her conscious wandered. Miss Horuna had thrown her in a tank of red jelly that tickled…no, Miss Horuna was actually Aven in disguise…her classmates had been possessed by the Negaverse…tickle imps took over the school and locked her in a closet and the brooms had attacked her…Jelex was a guest speaker at an assembly…she had to pass the ‘Tickling Endurance Test’ in gym class…Aven sat next to her in class, tormenting her with feathers, but Miss Horuna never saw…they took a field trip to the Tickling Dungeon…
Serena jerked awake at the bell. Miss Horuna had not even bothered today. She gathered her stuff and was out the door so fast no one even saw her.
Mina was leaving the school when she heard a whisper.
“Pssst… Mina….” Megan was beckoning to her from around a corner. Robbed of their plan to capture Serena, the Negaverse had made a hasty decision to capture Mina instead.
“Huh? Megan?” Megan disappeared around the corner, and Mina followed.
“This way!” Megan called, going into an alley.
“What? Megan, where are you going?” Mina looked around the alley. “Megan? Where are you?”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!” Mina whirled around. Gas spurted from various vents in the alley. Megan wore a gas mask.
“No… Megan… why?”
Mina’s vision was fuzzy. She could see a white ceiling and bright lights, and indistinct figures in white were leaning over her. They were muttering to themselves and gesturing to her. Her first thought was that she was in a hospital.
The Negaverse had gone through a lot of trouble to set this up. They were really in an old storage shed that had been reworked to serve as an outpost. The room had been repainted according to Megan’s descriptions of a hospital. Felin reasoned that if they kept Sailor Venus off balance for as long as possible it would be beneficial. The drug they had come up with would dull any suspicion so long as Sailor Venus didn’t know who they were or where she was.
“Mmrrmph…” Mina mumbled. Her mouth wasn’t working quite right, and she still couldn’t see.
“Ah, you’re awake. We need to operate on you,” said one.
“We examined you when your friend brought you here. You were merely unconscious when you got here, but we discovered a minor problem that can be corrected.”
“Yes. Your skin is hypersensitive, and it makes you prone to nervous overload. We can correct this.” This was actually Jelex speaking, but Mina couldn’t tell, and Jelex wore a white mask that covered most of her face.
“Wha yur guhnna doh?” she muttered. She couldn’t move, but her fogged mind couldn’t come up with a reason why she’d be tied down. Mina put her immobility down to grogginess.
Felin smiled. “First, we’re going to determine exactly where you are over-sensitive. Then we will operate on your nerves to lessen the feeling you receive.
It made little sense to Mina, who couldn’t quite keep a train of thought, but one thought did shine brightly. No wonder I was so ticklish.
“Let’s begin!” Aven said. She grinned as she plucked a feather. Jelex her hands; she really didn’t need any other tools. Felin possessed her tail. “Now, tell us if you feel this.” She swept the feather on Mina’s foot.
“Eheheh… uh-huh,” she said with a dopey smile.
“This?” Mina gave another giggle as her other foot was tickled.
“This?” asked Felin as she twined her tail around Mina’s legs. A slightly greater amount of laughter came from Mina. Aven was still tickling her feet.
“This?” laughed Jelex as she tickled her ribs lightly.
“Uh-huh- heheheheehehahaha- ahl ahf iht,” she managed.
“Good,” Aven laughed. None of them stopped.
“Ahaahaha! I sahid I fhelt iht! Sthap! I’hm rheally tihicklihsh!” Mina protested with that goofy smile on her face. She didn’t know that her torturers were struggling not to laugh at her expression.
“We know, Sailor Venus… whoops! I mean…” Jelex was unable to catch the slip.
“Whaht! Hey!” Mina shouted. Suddenly the fog in her mind cleared and her vision focused. “Oh no! The Negaverse!”
“Good job, knucklehead!” shouted Aven. “The drug only works while she’s unaware!”
“Shut up! What difference does it make?” huffed Jelex.
Mina looked on in disbelief as Jelex and Aven argued. They looked really unhappy. Felin sat down next to Mina and sighed. “Why now?” she muttered. “There’s only one way to stop this.” Her tail whipped out and caught both of them around the stomach.
Both of them stopped in mid-argument laughing and trying to pry the tail off. Mina was now wondering if she was dreaming again. Aven and Jelex were on their knees laughing, while pleading with Felin to stop. Felin wore a gleeful expression.
“Ahahahahahah ha ha well, take this!” Jelex attacked Felin with some hands that tickled her upper body. Felin jumped and clamped her arms to her chest, but her tail didn’t let go.
“Gah haha ahah gah ahah go!” shouted Aven as she flung feathers at Felin. These wormed into her armpits and tickled behind her knees. Felin collapsed.
All three of them were laughing hysterically while rolling on the floor. Mina tried to get free while they were occupied, but it was no good. After ten minutes they called a truce and stood up. Now they were all in a good mood.
“You see – aha - how tickling improves your mood, Sailor Venus?” Felin was still trying to bring the giggles under control.
“Yes, it makes you forget all you troubles,” said Jelex with a sly grin.
“Wouldn’t you like to just float away for a while?” smiled Aven with her wings spread wide.
Mina stared in openmouthed shock. “My God, you’re just as ticklish as me and my friends!” she blurted out before she could stop herself.
“Why, yes,” said Felin as if it were completely normal. “But we’re not helpless little humans who fold up when tickled. We can fight back.”
“And we have the smarts to come up with stuff like this!” said Aven, triumphantly holding up a bucket of tickling oil. She had three large paintbrushes.
“Wh-what does that do?” asked Mina fearfully.
Jelex grinned. “This makes you approximately ten times more ticklish for a while.”
Mina nearly died. “Ten times?” she gasped.
Felin, Jelex and Aven all were showing barely suppressed grins at the fear in Mina’s eyes. “Ten times,” Aven confirmed. She dipped her brush in the oil. “We’re going to do this so slowly and torturously that you’ll go insane before we even begin the treatment. Are you ready?” Aven started at the toes and began to evenly coat Mina’s foot.
“OH NO OH MY GOD STAHAHAHAHAHP! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH PLEASE NOOOOOOOO! THAT TICKLES EEHEHEHEHEHHEHEEHEHAAHA! OH MY GOD STAAAP! AHAHAHAHAA HAHAHAH AHAHAHAHA!” Mina screamed as Aven took her time with the brush. Aven was carefully covering every inch of skin, brushing delicately between the toes and on them, “making sure the coating is even.” She spent a good three minutes doing that, brushing the bristles along her skin, each one a tiny thread of torment woven into one grand design, stimulating the nerves in her skin and pushing involuntary laughter up to her throat.
Mina panted as Aven withdrew the brush. “Oh…haha… that was… awful….heehee…”
Felin looked at her with amusement. “Just so you know, that was the upper part of one of your feet,” she said wryly. “We haven’t even finished the whole foot, or gotten to the legs, or upper body…”
Mina only now comprehended the true magnitude of the horror that she was to experience. And if she were to be made ten times more ticklish…! Fear clawed at her mind.
“And now, the sole,” said Aven with a flourish. She began again with the paintbrush. Aven covered as small an area as possible with each stroke, overlapping with each previous area.
“OH NO HAHAHAHAHAHAH OH GOD PLEASE NO! AHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAH HAHAH AAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE! ANYTHING BUT THAHAHAHAHT! STAHAHAHAHAHAHP PLEEEEZE!” Mina cried. Aven grinned and went slower. Time had no meaning for Mina. The tickling dulled her mind. It felt as if she had forgotten how to do anything but laugh as the oil-coated bristles of the paintbrush spread their fiendish substance along her skin. Aven spent another three minutes before she was satisfied.
“Having fun, Sailor Venus?” Jelex asked as she pulled up a stool next to Mina. Felin sat on the opposite side already. “We sure are.”
“I’ll get…you for…this,” Mina panted. “Wait…until my friends…get here…”
“Friends?” asked Jelex. “Ah, yes, your fellow Sailor brats. Mercury, I remember, was very ticklish on her feet. They’re small, and silky smooth like yours. Maybe when we get her we’ll put you two in a tickling contest.”
Mina stuck out her lower lip and said nothing. Aven continued where Jelex had left off. “Jupiter is really vulnerable under her arms! When she tries to use that silly lightning attack, she’s just begging to be tickled! Her arms are wide open! Yes, I think we’ll put her on a bar and see how long she can hang on before falling…into a tank of tickling jelly! How about it, Sailor Venus?” Aven raised the brush. “And as for you…”
The heel of Mina’s foot was no less ticklish than the rest. “OH PLEHEHEHEHEHASE NO! NOT THAT! OH PLEHEHEHHAZE! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP IT! NOHOHOHOHOHHO!” Tears formed in Mina’s eyes and ran down her shirt. Aven spent the standard three minutes making sure every side of her heel was coated.
“Your left foot is finished,” said Aven. “Now for the right…”
The next nine minutes were a similar torture for Mina.
“Okay, next!” said Felin joyfully. She pulled Mina’s shirt as far over her head as it would go. Mina reddened. This always embarrassed her. Felin dipped a brush into the can and began her work.
Mina was quite ticklish on her stomach. She jerked and quivered as the bristles of the brush slid over her skin, each one like a tiny finger. Felin was dragging it out even more than Aven had. The brush took a good minute to finish one stripe on her skin. Mina was trying so hard to hold back her laughter. But her reddened face, eyes squeezing out tears and half-giggles spurred the tormentors on in their efforts to break her.
“Oh no… hehehehahahah ahahahahah oh God NO! AHAHAHA HAHA HHAHA AAAAH STAHAHAHAP! OH PLEEEEEZE NO MORE! AHAHAHAHAHH OH PLEEEEZE HAVE MERCY! AHAHAHAHHHAHAHAH!” Mina lost the battle. The only reason that she had lasted so long was because her stomach was fractionally less ticklish than her feet. Felin dipped the brush and came again.
“OH PLEHEHEHEHEAZE NO… I’LL DO ANYTHING! PLEHEHEEHEAZE STAHAHAHAP! PLEEEEEAZE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!” The tormentors’ ears perked up at the magic words. Felin slowly put down the brush.
“Anything, you say, Sailor Venus?”
Mina sputtered in confusion. What now? Betray her friends or face more tickle torture. Did she have the heart to continue? Could she face herself if she gave up? Mina knew that she lost either way.
“…No.” Mina barely managed to force it out.
Felin shrugged and took up her brush again. “Suit yourself.” The brush began its torturous path across her stomach again. Mina’s throat was dry from laughing so hard when Felin finally finished.
“And now it’s my turn,” said Jelex with a grin.
Mina thought: Oh no… please… I can’t take it anymore… Somebody please help me… Oh no, NO!
“Where is Mina?” asked Raye grumpily. She had really been looking forward to tickling Serena out of her mind, but they had to wait for Mina.
“She was in school today,” offered Lita unhelpfully.
“I know that! I’ll bet she just ran out! She’s in cahoots with Serena!” Raye ground out.
“Yes, I’m afraid that I agree,” said Amy.
“It is just like Mina,” said Serena, with no conviction at all, as she was ecstatic at Mina’s absence.
Then, Raye heard Mina’s desperate plea on the edge of her mind. She jerked upright.
“What? What happened?” asked Lita.
“Mina’s in trouble!” Raye said. “We have to go - quickly!”
Mina’s vision refocused. Her mind had drifted with the awful torment inflicted by Jelex, and it took her a moment to realize that the tickling had stopped. Jelex was leaning over her.
“Ah, I knew you hadn’t gone unconscious. You were merely delusional as a result of my expert tickling.”
Mina wished she had gone unconscious.
“Now that the tickling oil has been applied, we can start with the tickle torture session,” purred Felin.
“No, please…” sobbed Mina. “No more, I beg you… Please don’t tickle me any more…”
“Why shouldn’t we?” asked Aven humorously. “We have here one of the most ticklish human beings awaiting torment, all ticklish areas wide open and screaming out to be tickled. You give us one good reason we shouldn’t drive you out of your mind.”
Mina remained mute.
“That’s what I thought.” A flashing red light interrupted her. “Huh?”
Jelex moved over and hit a few switches. “Perimeter alert - the Scouts are here. Do we stay and fight?”
“No,” answered Felin. “We’d have to fight them off and guard Sailor Venus, while they could just leave and come back whenever they wanted. No, this isn’t a good spot. Let’s make tracks for the Tickling Dungeon.”
Mina sighed in relief. Her friends had come!
Just before she left, Felin turned. “You got lucky, Sailor Venus. Don’t think you’ll get off so easily!” She pressed a button. A dozen mechanical hands sprouted from the walls. “So long!”
“AHAAHAHHAAHAHAH! I’LL GHEH-GHEH-GET YOUUUUUUU! AAAHAHAHAHAH!” Mina cried out anew as the torture renewed itself.
“I can hear it!” shouted Raye. “This way!” They burst through the doors to see a frantically thrashing Mina screaming with laughter under the precise torment of six pairs of robot hands.
“How do we stop it?” cried Serena.
“Here! Jupiter Thunder---CRASH!” Lita blasted the console with a lightning bolt. The hands hung limply from the wall. Mina was sobbing in relief.
“Oh! Mina, are you okay?” Raye ran over to free Mina.
“How bad was it?” asked Lita concernedly.
“A…awful. It…was awful…” Mina spoke hoarsely. “New… stuff. They have…oil which makes…you more…ticklish…”
“Oil that makes you more ticklish? That’s terrible!” cried Serena.
“It seems that the Negaverse is rapidly developing new weapons for use against us. If only we had our own weapons…” mused Amy.
“That…is important. They… they have a…weakness…” Mina said, determination shining through her exhaustion. “All…of them… are ticklish, like…we are. Really ticklish. But… they aren’t completely helpless… they can still fight back somewhat…”
“The Negaverse stooges are ticklish?” Raye said in disbelief. Then she smiled, a predator’s smile full of teeth. “Ha ha ha…”
“Something…else. I don’t know if I imagined it or not… Megan was helping them…”
“Who’s that?” asked Raye.
“A girl…from school… a human girl…” Mina looked defeated. “They broke her, and made her one of them…”
