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Rated: GC · Campfire Creative · Fiction · Fantasy · #2045856
A group of greedy, very ticklish thieves & treasure hunters explore an abandoned castle.
[Introduction]
A letter appears on your desk. How it got there, you don't know, but opening, you see the following note:

         Deep in the South American jungle of French Guiana, there is an abandoned castle. A colonial palace of the Marquis de Soyeux, who briefly governed an ill-fated colony. Before it's collapse, many rumors were spread of the opulent Marquis: his wealth, possibly augmented with gold stolen from Amazonian tribes; and his debauchery, with beautiful young women from around the globe serving as his personal harem, treated luxuriantly in exchange for satisfying his exotic whims. In the chaos of revolution and disaster, the Marquis was abandoned in his distant jungle abode, forgotten to history.

This is where you come in. I am assembling the best group of treasure hunters the world has ever seen, with the goal of finding the lost treasures of this decadent noble. I know the location of the estate, and how to get through the untamed jungle. Once inside, we're not leaving until we get what we came for. Gold, jewels, and whatever other secrets we find there. And to do that, I need you. Come, and get an equal stake in the bounty.
         -Samira Diouri
Boss of the Black Feather Syndicate


But what this band of treasure hunters and thieves is about to realize is that they're in for more than they bargained for. The mansion is filled with booby traps, and perhaps even the ghosts of desires long dead, yet still unsated. Each of the treasure hunters have one thing in common: they are all very, very ticklish. And these booby traps are perfectly designed to exploit just this vulnerability.

---
Each participant to the campfire will start by filling out a character sheet, which should have the following:

Name:
Country of Origin:
Specialty:
Height:
Appearance:
Personality/Backstory:
Tickle spots:

If you need a sense of what should go in any of those, look to mine as an example. Specialties are what you were brought along on the excursion for. It could be things like: muscle, lockpick/safecracker, historian/archaeologist, cat burglar, jungle guide/naturalist, servant to the Diouri family… you could even be an undercover law enforcement agent or secretly a member of a rival crime syndicate. Think up something fun to be.

Rules:
-All characters must be ticklish. Doesn't have to be all over, but they have to have ticklish spots.
-No violence. We're solving our problems with a softer touch here.
-Erotic tickling and sexual situations are allowed/encouraged.
-Because of that, all characters must be at least 18.
-Please try to write your entry sooner rather than later, and at least within a couple days of it being your turn. If you can't manage that, message me.
-In fact, feel free to send me a message with any questions or concerns. Hopefully this campfire works.
Name: Samira Diouri
Specialty: Crime Boss
Country of Origin: Morocco
Age: 28
Height: 5'8" (172 cm)

Appearance: Tan skin with a Mediterranean complexion. Large dark eyes; black hair in a braid that hangs down to the small of her back. Clothes: a small black sleeveless tank top, skin-tight black shorts with a belt containing various pockets filled with small items, heavy black boots.

Personality: From a young age, Samira had been groomed to take over the organization from her powerful father. As a result, she has become an expert in projecting a commanding aura, always seeming to be in perfect control. Her talents lie not in physical strength or some kind of genius, but rather in using people to get what she wants. Samira is stubborn and persistent, never letting go of something she has set her eyes on. She is willing to reward those loyal to her, and vindictive to those that cross her.

Tickle Spots: Samira is very ticklish, which is something she has managed to keep secret to everyone but two of her maids. Her smooth thighs, up to the curves of her hips, to her flat, taut stomach are all unable to resist shivering under a feathery touch. The entirety of her bare midriff is a ticklish hot zone, with particular sensitivity at her waist and lower abs, the area between her belt and navel. But her most ticklish spots are higher still: Her inner arms and armpits are tremendously ticklish, and she is unable to restrain her laughter for more than a moment when tickled there. The sides of her breasts also share this vulnerability, and Samira has also noticed that being softly tickled in these places will also begin to arouse her, something she strongly wishes to hide. So far, she has managed to keep her ticklishness, and the pleasing effect it can have on her, to all but one of those maids.
Name: Maximilian "Max" Kovacs
Place of Origin: Polk, Nebraska
Specialty: Archaeologist, Linguist
Age: 25
Height: 5'11"

Appearance: Caucasian, mildly sunburned on back of neck and shoulders. Messy brown hair and gray eyes, wears square, wire framed glasses that have a string on them to keep from falling off. Clothes: crumpled button down shirt, khaki shorts, a cheap watch, a safari vest with pockets for numerous magnifying glasses, hammers, and trowels, and wears a floppy outdoor hat. Keeps a hunting knife strapped at his waist, for cutting ropes or vines.

Backstory: Since he was a boy, Max wanted to distinguish himself from the rest of his placid family of corn farmers, and realized he wanted to get the hell out of his tiny town and explore the world. Max took an interest in the intrepid life of an archaeologist from "Indiana Jones" and soon was digging up bones and pieces of pottery from the cornfields. He was the first in his family to graduate from college, majoring in Archaeology at Arizona State and minoring in Spanish and French. He was soon enamored by Samira Diouri after crossing paths with her in an expedition to Northern Africa. He soon agreed to accompany her with several others in the trip to French Guiana.

Personality:
Enthusiastic and anxious, Max Kovacs is perhaps over-eager in his attempts to seem like a seasoned and knowledgeable archaeologist. Max tries to impress people by doing daring or stupid things, since he wants others to appreciate his skills. While kind and loyal to a fault, he is naive to the bad things people can do and often doesn't recognize if he's being lied to or duped.

Tickle spots: Ever since his older sisters pinned him down in the grass and tickled him half to death when he was little, Max has been incredibly ticklish through his life. Tickling his armpits or sides immediately result in him losing basic motor functions and he becomes little more than a squirming baby. His feet are also quite ticklish, as a single nail on his arch sends him into hysterics. His ticklishness is the kind of obvious "secret" that every enemy, girlfriend, or acquaintance he's ever had has discovered.
Name: Mei Li (Otherwise known as Maylee)
Country of Origin: Japan
Specialty: Martial Arts, Flexibility
Age: 27
Height: 5’5” (165cm)

Appearance: Slightly pale skin, with no tan spots on almost anywhere of her curvy body. Keen and observant black eyes; long black hair tied in a pony-tail, down to her rear. Clothes: Sunglasses, a white blouse tied in a knot at her waist, leaving her belly exposed, black shorts and boots. She also wears a Jade necklace around her neck, as a lucky charm.

Personality: A normally quiet person, she prefers to only fight when it’s necessary, and believes that it is possible to use non-violent means to solve any problem. She doesn’t mind doing what her leader might tell her to do, as long as she gets paid at the end of the day, her greed and lust for money rarely overcoming her other responsibilities. However, when push comes to shove, she doesn’t mind busting out her fists, or using her dexterity to escape a sticky situation.

Tickle Spots: Once, when she was training with her master in the mountains, he had once tested her on her sensitiveness, by using the one method she thought would be easy for her to withstand. Tickling. As soon as his fingers wiggled against her sides, and stroked the soles of her soft feet, she immediately burst into girlish laughter, falling and rolling to the floor, laughing in hysterics and begging for him to stop. After much experimentation (and laughter on her side), she found out that she was actually deathly sensitive on her underarms, thighs, belly, and especially on the bottom areas of her breasts. However, there was one area that was known to her to be ticklish, and her only, which would be her extremely sensitive rear, which she would NEVER allow anyone to touch, much less tickle. After learning that she was ticklish, she has tried to keep it hidden, deep in the bottom of her heart, learning to hide and endure it… for a little while. At least until this latest escapade.
A Non-Existent User
Name: Rebecca Kittleton
Country of Origin: United States
Speciality: Tracking, Trap Disarming
Age: 28
Height: 5'6"

Appearance: Dark skin, brown eyes and curly hair dyed green in a ponytail. Clothes: Prescription glasses, sleeveless brown shirt, camouflage vest and shorts, and greenish-brown boots.

Personality: Rebecca is a renowned poacher, though she's less well-known for her hunting skills than she is for her discovery (and sale on the black market) of the genuine crystal skull. Her keen observation skills, honed over years of tracking prey, make her extremely skilled at noticing small, important details other people might overlook. Her greed and skill set make her an ideal trap finder for a certain treasure-seeking crime boss, assuming Rebecca doesn't try to steal all the treasure for herself.

Tickle Spots: Rebecca is ticklish on every part of her body, but her top three spots are (in ascending order) her feet, her armpits, and her nipples. She hates being tickled, however, and being tickled anywhere other than on her womanhood will fail to arouse her at all. This is, of course, something she hasn't had to worry about for a long time, though, because she radiates an aura of intimidation, discouraging would-be ticklers (and most other people) from getting too close to her.
Name: Sasha 'Fox' Volkov
Country of Origin: Canada
Specialty: Scout (stealth and climbing/infiltration)
Age: 26
Height: 5'5"(165cm)

Appearance: A very pleasant one, it must be said: Killer curves, sculpted muscles, a body slender yet youthful and sumptuously vibrant- and all neatly packaged within the glossy obsidian fabric of a (...Leather? Spandex? Latex?) full-body cat suit. Fox exclusively wears a single black garment that covers her entire body, including the top of her head, holding tight as her skin and not much thicker. While concealing her exact appearance, hair colour, and other finer attributes, the taut confines of the get-up offer the curious a full view of Fox's entire body, haughtily flaunting every one of her generous curves and highlighting the symmetrical lines of her toned muscles beautifully. The suit is sufficiently form-fitting that it includes separate pockets that adhere tightly to each of Fox’s toes; the only loose section of the entire expanse being a semi-solid ‘mask’ over her mouth that allows her to speak and breath comfortably.
         Above the flat curve over her chin, a broad vizier of two joined yellow patches marks out the front of her face, in the shape of a rounded horizontal hourglass. With the exception of this patch of colour, the suit is otherwise all one monotone shade of midnight. The vision-patches conceal built-in scope, infrared, and limited night-vision capabilities, while adjustable instruments that greatly improve and filter Fox's hearing are located in two conical modules mounted on top of her scalp, looking for the entire world like a pair of fox-ears. They even twitch and swivel slightly when they pick up noise!
         With designs based off of the chromatophores of the mimic octopus, the suit can instantaneously harden itself in segments in response to kinetic force, displacing the impact from knifes or masonry over a much wider area for maximum resistance. So as not to debilitate Fox's sense of touch when scaling a cliff or navigating a cave, this system also works in reverse to greatly enhance her touch reception of light pressure; for example, when it detects the relatively gentle caress of a inquisitive human hand.
          Millions of tiny retractable 'Gecko Claws' on Fox's hands, elbows, thighs, knees, and feet grant her superb climbing ability, even without her natural athleticism and agility. The broken archways of jungle ruins, stalactite-punctured cave ceilings, and the slippery trunks of massive tropical trees offer little resistance to Fox when she’s in a curious mood.
         The suit's fabric also contains millions of microscopic air pockets that can expand and feed into Fox's facemask, giving her an emergency air supply capable of lasting for hours. It is also highly effective at shedding even extreme heat, great at trapping it in the event of extreme cold, non-conductive of electricity, and is highly resistant to dangerous acids, alkalis, radiation, and caustic materials.

Trivia #1: Fox never takes her suit off, even for a moment (luckily, it has an internal wash/groom cycle and can dispose of human waste automatically), sleeping, working, and scouting in it. As she can adjust the mouth-piece to allow her to eat, she prefers to do this n private. Allegedly, this is all by choice and used to maintain a mysterious aura. In practice, the garment has no other zippers. A reason for this apparently inequitable design feature is suggested below.

Trivia#2: After accepting a shady job offer from the equally shady Anvil Industries fresh out of college, Sasha travelled to a secluded region in North-East Nigeria, closing in on an ill-defined but promising position on the mega-corp's generous payroll. An inexact time after her arrival at the facility, Sasha was abruptly fitted with her Suit and suffered an unexpected change in employment contract terms.
         Details are hardly necessary, but suffice it to say that she escaped, a fugitive from one of the most powerful and amoral corporate entities on Earth. After shenanigans across the Sahara and beyond, Sasha eventually found shelter with criminal noteworthy Samiri Diouri, putting her suit to work in exchange for protection from Anvil's agents.

Trivia#3: Fox loves her suit, and probably would never mind not being able to take it off again (whether it would mandate a lifetime spent banished to fetish convention and Comicons or not), except for one catch. The entire interior is lined with minute swaying bristles and strategic vibrators, all of which respond to a specific signal from a specific device.
         When activated, the suit will instantly stimulate all of Fox's touch and erotic pleasure receptors, effectively triggering a ticklish seizure in the hapless scout while simultaneously arousing her to the razor edge of release; theoretically, for as long as the handler desires. The device has a gauge of intensity control for the user to tailor it relative to just how obstinate Fox is being at a given time, but by default the device is set to 'crippling'.
         The detonator in question is currently held by Crime Boss Samiri Diouri by way of insurance, and she seemingly intends to keep it that way.

Personality: Fox has had a hectic few years and still isn't entirely sure what to make of them. Mostly she keeps quiet until she gets the measure of her comrades, hiding behind her mask until she gets to know them, then opening up a bit more. At this stage, she is largely resigned to working for the Mob for much of the rest of her adult life, but still entertains fantasies about stealing the 'detonator' and escaping, putting her reluctant association with criminals corporate and mundane alike far behind her.

Notable Weak Points: As her armour actively works against her in regards to a light caress, even Fox's most militant foes have found it a matter of simple expediency to try and tickle rather than pummel her into defeat. Ripe targets around the lower curves of her chiselled belly, her full thighs, and tight derrière, although though seizing and attacking her feet will also effectively paralyze the scout with excessive laughter.
Samira led the group out of the dense jungle and into the courtyard of the ancient castle. It had taken days to get here from the port, first taking canoes down the river into the hinterlands, then trekking through the Amazonian forests to their destination. Presumably the Marquis had built his villa in this remote place in order to be undisturbed, although so few records remained that none could really say.

Samira wiped sweat from her brow with her forearm, casting an envious glance at Sasha… no, the 'Fox.' With that black full-body suit, she should be the least capable of handling the muggy heat, yet it was quite the opposite. Fox had been able to trek eagerly through brush with an almost superhuman energy, not once complaining about the heat. Although Samira did notice the way the suited woman carefully avoided brushing against any of the ferns or vines along the narrow path. Samira's hand moved absentmindedly to the small bag at her belt containing the remote, her key to the Fox's loyalty. She grinned, happy to have her own little superhero for this job.

"Whew." Max sighed, his brown locks damp on his face. "Why couldn't we have taken a helicopter? It would've taken hours instead of days." The man looked around with eager eyes, his enthusiasm overcoming the fatigue.

"Because we don't want to get the attention of the authorities, Max." Samira told him. Max was the least familiar with her extra-legal methods, but he didn't seem to mind them as long as he could come along. "If we find anything too heavy to carry out, we'll come back with a chopper and be in Brazil before anybody even notices. But first we need to know exactly what we have."

The Cheateau de Soyeux stood before them at three stories tall, the façade having only the specks of pink paint clinging to its walls. Trees and plants seem to have reached the East Wing, growing directly into the building itself, almost merging with it. It was clear that no one had been here for decades, perhaps even centuries. The treasure seekers spread out across the courtyard, taking a minute to marvel at the surroundings. The grounds were mostly free of overgrown vegetation, filled with the remains of stone paths and what were once opulent fountains. There were also a large number of marble statues of young women about the age of the adventurers, as if a moment in time of a generations old party were frozen in monochrome.

The raven-haired leader looked up at the mansion, backpedaling slowly as she tried to get a sense of the place. It would probably take a while to explore this place, and even longer to uncover what they were seeking… Samira became lost in thought for a moment as she planned, slowly walking backwards… Then she felt the distinct sensation of a fingertip wriggling against her left side, at her lower back. The ticklish feeling made her open her dark eyes wide and jump, twitching and twisting around to protect herself and identify the tickler in question, an unwilling smirk already on Samira's full lips. To her relief, it was only one of the marble statues. This one was a beautiful topless woman (perhaps Aphrodite herself?), her hands outstretched as if begging to be embraced. She must have backed into one of those hands, the pointer finger managing to tickle her in the process. Yet Samira could have sworn that the touch had wriggled and moved against her in an incredibly ticklish way. She shook her head at the thought, dismissing it as a superstition one of her servants would have told her before bed as a child. Statues couldn't move, and places long abandoned didn't acquire a soul of its own.

Samira turned around, wanting to make sure no one saw the embarrassingly spastic moment. She was behind the group now, and everyone appeared to be looking at the villa. Although she might have been in Fox's field of view, it was impossible to tell with that mask of hers. Composing herself and brushing her bare sides free of the lingering sensation, she walked forward. Rebecca had set down their supplies and was at the front gate, an imposing and ornate double door. The green-haired woman grabbed the handle and pulled, first regularly, then with full force. The door didn't budge.

"Hey Boss!" Rebecca called out to Samira, turning around, "this door is rusted tight as if it was welded that way. We're not getting in through here unless you brought something violent." Samira scowled, as their supplies were designed to get in and around, not through. Ropes, flares… but no dynamite or welding torch. Besides, they might destroy the very valuables they had come for that way.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Samira said loudly, getting everyone's attention. "There's not much info on this place, and what's there is more myth than anything else at this point. But I'm convinced this jungle castle is hiding something very, very valuable. We find it and anything else worthwhile in there, we get out, everybody gets rich." Samira reached into a pouch at her belt and pulled out a small folded paper that unfurled into a large blueprint of questionable detail. "The villa has three stories, in an East and West wing connected by a ballroom. There's likely multiple basement floors, and the architecture indicates hidden passages in the walls, but we don't know where. We start by looking for another way in, spread out and keep sharp! You never know if some long dead booby trap is going to come to life just for us!"

The group dispersed, some looking to the right, others left of the door. Max seemed intent on studying something about the door itself, either an inscription or something in the design, Samira couldn't tell. She knew he could get easily distracted by an academic detail. Samira herself wandered back to the marble garden, moving amongst the statues with her eyes cast downward, wondering if there were any subterranean entrances, or if they might have to scale the structure and enter though windows. Her eyes kept glancing at the feminine statues suspiciously, part of her still wary from her incidental bump-in earlier. The beautiful marble faces all seemed have a serene smile on their face that Samira found somewhat eery.
Inwardly groaning at the extremely humid temperatures of the huge Jungle that they were trekking through, Mei Li raised a hand the wipe the sweat off her brow, beads of sweat already coating her lithe frame. Ahead of her, she could see Samira leading the forefront through the jungle, hacking and slashing her way through the fauna with a machete in hand. Next to her was a female named ‘Fox’, whom she heard rumor has it that Samira kept on a tight leash by a small remote that never leaves her person.

Stifling a giggle as a fern brushed past her midriff, she heard the Archaeologist of the team, Max, excitedly trekking through the lush expanse of leaves and tall grasses, forging a path ahead of her in his haste. “Wow, someone’s excited about seeing some ancient treasures and wonders. I hope he won’t get the rest of us in trouble in all his archaeological fantasies…”

Raising her right hand to wipe adjust her sunglasses this time, she almost got blinded by the white rays of the sizzling sun as they, moving her hand to shelter her eyes again. As she continued walking forward, she failed to notice a lone tree branch sticking out of the way. Marching on, the tree branch dug into the hollow of her right underarm, the leaves at the end of the branch lightly stroking against her skin. She let out a soft squeal, instantly clamping her arms down. As she conspicuously looked around, she let out a sigh of relief as no one noticed that embarrassing moment.

Pushing aside the leaves, she finally emerged unto the front of the legacy that De Marquis left behind, the mansion which was Cheateau de Soyeux. Walking along the stone path, she found Samira giving instructions to the rest of the team. After the instructions were given, and the team split up to find a way into the mysterious castle, Mei Li’s sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a few cracks in the opening of the walls to the west of the main door. Grinning, her boots quickly made their way to it, where she found that if she sucked in her tummy, she could barely squeeze her way through the tiny opening.

“This should be a cinch. I’ll be the first one to find a way into the mansion. Maybe I’ll even be the first one to find the treasure that De Marquis hid here…” Grinning from ear to ear, she pushed herself through the crack in the decaying wall. When she emerged, she found herself in hedge maze. “What kind of person builds a hedge maze… In the jungle! I better find a way to the mansion, before I get lost in this stupid thing. Which way was it… Ah yes, to the right.” As she tried to keep to the right of the maze, she soon however got a little lost, trying to find a way out. “Darn this place… Should have at least brought a match or a torch to burn all these stupid hedges down… Maybe if I turn here…”

As she turned around corner, she felt her hand, which was feeling around the walls of the hedge maze, suddenly get pulled into one of the walls! Gritting her teeth, she planted her feet onto the ground, and tried her best to pull her arms out of the walls. However, whatever that gripped her hands suddenly stopped pulling, and instead pushed her!

Caught off guard, she gasped in surprise, her feet caught off balance, her whole body making a wobbly half-turn. As she used her hands to steady herself on the wall, whatever that had caught her arms just now, pulled the rest of her arms into the walls again, this time pulling her with her back against the walls of the hedge, and her arms trapped inside by whatever mechanisms or traps in this maze, this time leaving her no room to move.

“What kind of stupid trap is this… No matter, I will break myself free of this in a matter of seconds… Hopefully sooner rather than later…” Try as she might however, after a few minutes she still couldn't break free of whatever was holding her arms, leaving her waiting, hopeful that one of the members of her group would find and free her, before another trap in this dastardly hedge maze was activated…
A Non-Existent User
Rebecca stared intently at the walls of the structure, ignoring Mei Li, who was stumbling around to her left. Something... something about the walls was nagging at her mind. At first, she thought it was simply her hunter's instincts trying to identify the claw marks of every animal that had ever touched these ruins, but the more she scanned the structure, the more certain she was that something was not quite right.

"This castle is ancient but... I don't think it's as old as the legends say," she said in Mei Li's general direction, though she was really speaking more to herself. "Half of the damage is man-made, and although it seems random at first, you can see a pattern to it if you ignore the natural damage. It's as if someone intentionally designed the building look old."

Rebecca paused, expecting some sort of response from the martial artist. But there was nothing. Rebecca turned to look at Mei Li, but saw no one. "...And I'm talking to myself. No matter; she probably didn't have anything significant to add to that conversation anyway."

Rebecca continued to walk along, analyzing the wall carefully until she came to a crack just large enough for a person to squeeze through. Leading into the crack was a very obvious and very fresh trail. Rebecca couldn't stifle a growl; Mei Li had decided to rush in ahead of everyone else! That girl had probably rushed in to find the treasure before the rest of them could, which annoyed Rebecca for two reasons: 1) she didn't want anyone stealing the treasure before her and 2) it was foolish to go it alone so early in the expedition while they still didn't know what to expect.

Grumbling and groaning about her temporary comrade's stupidity, Rebecca went back to the front of the mansion to tell the others. Unfortunately, the nerd was the only one there, still analyzing the front door and taking notes. "Where's the boss and the wanna-be ninja?" she asked in growing exasperation.

"You're the first one back," Max replied without taking his focus off the door. "You know, this architecture is very strange; it doesn't match the time period these ruins supposedly date back to at all."

"Yes, yes, that's all very fascinating," Rebecca said with a wave of her hand. "Now help me find the boss-lady; I found a way in."

"Ah, excellent!" Max exclaimed finally putting away his notebook. "Then let's hurry; I can't to see what secrets lie inside."

"Neither can I," Rebecca mumbled with a greedy glint in her eyes. "Neither can I."
Samira was moving deeper amongst the statues, slowly wandering farther from her group. She hadn't seen any sign of a hatch to a cellar or basement level, but there was plenty of ground to cover. The outer courtyard was immense, and the statues numbered in the dozens. Could there be over a hundred? They were made by a very talented sculptor, that much was certain, each one looked incredibly life-like. And if the Marquis was willing to spend so much outside his walls, one could only imagine what riches lie within.

As Samira moved between a pair of close-together statues, she tripped on a stone, stumbling. She turned and backed into one of the marble pair: a burly male satyr with a leering grin, who looked to be staring eternally at a beautiful young woman who returned his lustful gaze with a coquettish smirk. Samira felt the bare skin of her lower back against the cool stone of the satyr's chest. But when she tried to move forward again, she found that she couldn't. The Moorish woman was somehow stuck against the statue!

She looked down, and found out why: the satyr's hands had closed around Samira's arms in a vice-like grip, she couldn't budge the stone at all. Some kind of trap, triggered when someone touched the statue? Why would this be here? Her dark eyes turned to the other statue, the young woman. This one too had changed. It was another topless woman, like the other statue that had caught Samira's attention. But this one had been modestly covering her chest with her arms, keeping her bosom chaste from the eyes of the ever-ogling satyr. But no more: the statue had abandoned its modesty and her arms were now reaching out to Samira.

In fact, the statue was actually moving! Samira couldn't believe her eyes, but the marble woman moved as if coming to life. Those empty eyes stared back at Samira as it grinned impishly. The statue's fingers reached out, almost like a blind woman's, to grope at her, pawing at her bare belly. The slow, probing touch tickled. It definitely tickled. The marble golem moved with a distinct slowness, as if each 'muscle' movement for it was like moving through molasses. But it continued to grin at her, and the fingers moved over Samira's midriff, mapping out the lines and curves of her skin. It made for a slow and barely bearable tickling. Samira grinned and shut her mouth tightly, trying to pull her arms free of the iron grip of the satyr holding her arms tight behind her. But she was trapped, held tight against one statue while the other leisurely tickled. Samira felt as if she were going mad, not understanding how such a thing were possible. But she couldn't expend any mental effort to figure out how such a thing could be. All her mind was focused on one increasingly herculean task: don't laugh. Don't laugh!

It was getting harder by the moment. The statue woman's fingertips traced along the line between Samira's inner and outer abdominals, as if patiently mapping them along with each quiver and flinch the touch provoked. But as Samira flinched, the statue would double back, retracing its touch along that particular nerve ending irresistibly. But Samira was resolute, she couldn't laugh. The others would hear, and know. She couldn't reveal such a weakness to them. But she was feeling giddy, that flighty sensation building in her belly. It wasn't unpleasant, and in a more private place she might have let herself go. An increasingly louder part of her mind was telling her, commanding her to do so. She couldn't resist, not when those stone fingers caressed her lower tummy, her ticklishly sensitive waist. It was just going to tickle her and tickle her and tickle her…!

Just when Samira was about to burst, the surreal experience suddenly stopped. She was let go, and dropped to her hands and knees. She panted, giggling under her breath as she tried to recover her composure. She looked back at the statues, both of which were now in their original poses, the satyr leering at the girl who tried to chastely cover herself yet encouraging the satyr with a flirtatious grin. Had Samira imagined the whole affair? Could it have been some heat-induced day dream? No, it had been too real. She could almost still feel the touch on her stomach as she stood. She wanted to examine these statues, closely yet very cautiously…

"Hey, boss!" Rebecca yelled, pulling Samira's attention away from the bizarre episode. "Your little ninja found a way inside, c'mere!" Rebecca and Max were close by, but didn't seem to have seen her earlier. Good. Samira nodded and followed after them, wordlessly gesturing to be shown the find.

As Samira walked next to Max, the man's eyes noticed the woman's chest rising and falling with unusually heavy breathing, the exposed skin glistening with a sheen of sweat, the flushed look on her face... "Samira, are you ok?" He asked innocently, now keeping his gaze at eye level.

"I'm fine, Max." Samira replied dismissively, wanting to put whatever had just happened to her firmly in the past and keep moving forward. "Just too much sun and heat, that's all. I'll be glad to get inside this place." The group reached the crack in the wall, which didn't look like much. Still, it seemed just large enough to get Mei Li through. "I'm going in after Mei Li. Stay here." She commanded the two, as Samira wedged herself into the crevice. It was tight, and despite sucking in and forcing herself through as much as she could, she couldn't quite get to the outer end, finding herself stuck horizontally: in from the waist up, with her ass hanging outside. "Max, give me a push!" She said loudly to carry behind her. She felt the man's hands on her rear, applying a gentle pressure but also sliding across the curvature… "Max! A push, not a fondle!" She heard an indistinct murmur of apology on the other side of the wall, and a much more forceful push that propelled her through the crack.

Samira stood at the other side, turning to face her comrades. "Good. Try and see if you can make this thing any bigger. I'm not sure I'll be able to fit through again to get back, and there's no way Max will squeeze through this thing as is." Max nodded and began examining the wall intently, while Rebecca grumbled but obeyed. It was good enough, and Samira turned inward to pursue Mei Li.

The room she found herself in was indeed strange. Samira seemed to be in a hedge maze, but… indoors? Some kind of odd inner courtyard? The blueprint didn't indicate anything like this. It couldn't be too large, and yet it seemed to be quite the sizeable space. Sunlight shone in from a wall of windows, putting her in mind of a greenhouse, although Samira had never heard of a hedge maze in a greenhouse before. Still, there would be time to figure this out later. Max might know something. But for now Samira had to find Mei Li.

Despite the maze, that didn't turn out to be difficult. Samira heard sounds of movements in the hedge, and simply followed. She found Mei stuck in the brush, and on examination could see why: Somehow her arms had gotten wrapped in vine-like braches, the thin wooden appendages wrapping themselves around her arms. Perhaps some kind of trap had uncoiled the strange plant on her at the right moment. Should Samira have brought a botanist along? Put it looked like the vines could be removed by hand, although she understood that the way they had caught Mei Li's arms, the woman wasn't able to free herself. "Samira!" Mei Li called out on seeing her. "I'm glad you're here. I ran ahead, but got stuck in some kind of trap…"

"I can see that." Samira replied, trying to glare at Mei despite the comical pose she was stuck in. Mei's arms were stretched out and struck in the brush. Her back was arched, stretched out her exposed midriff, that bare belly… the pose reminded Samira of what she herself had just experienced. It gave her an idea, an impulse to karmicly repay what had been done to her minutes before. "You shouldn't have run ahead like that. I told you to be careful here." Samira said reproachfully, giving a ticklish poke to the other woman's side.

Mei Li gasped and flinched, sucking in her stomach instinctively. "I was just t-trying to scout ah-h-head! Hehehe!" Mei Li broke into giggling, as Samira traced fingertips over the outstretched belly in front of her. Mei Li looked back in wide eyed surprise as Samira used both hands to gently but very ticklishly trace the girl's abs, repeating the same movements that had been done to her as if she were playing a ticklish game of telephone.

"While we're in this place, you're working for me." Samira told her sternly, as her fingertips curled and exposed Mei Li's belly, which was beautifully receptive to the tickling. All she had to do was poke here and stroke there… while Mei Li's running ahead was really only a minor infraction, she had to instill order and a sense of command. At least, that's what Samira told herself, even if this tickling felt more like payback against the marble statue of that inhumanly well-made girl, slowly tickling her, slowly tickling her… Samira wriggled her fingers across that shaking belly delightedly. "I have to be able to trust you. I wouldn't want to think you were trying to grab any treasure for yourself…"

"I -hehehe- wasn't!" Mei Li gasped as she laughed, trying to protest as she quickly buckled under Samira's surprisingly talented fingers. "You cahahan trust me-eheheEHE! Plehehease! Stahahahap!" Mei Li begged and giggled girlishly, submitting to Samira. The compliance was exactly what Samira wanted. Yet it meant ending the tickling, something that disappointed her. She had wanted to keep going, to keep tickling her just a bit longer… a fingernail spiraling closer and closer to the girl's bellybutton had to stop, as after a lingering moment Samira ended the torment.

"Good. I'm glad we understand each other." Samira said in a generous tone, as she reached up to break the branches holding Mei Li. As Samira reached up and released Mei from the trap, the ninja couldn't help but notice the soft skin of Samira's arms so close to her, and the smooth hairless underarms she exposed as she reached out. As Mei Li was released, the thought of retaliating, tickling Samira back, briefly crossed Mei Li's mind. While it was tempting, she quickly banished the thought from her mind, deciding it was better to obey the boss than to tickle her and potentially invoke her ire again. Besides, she didn't even know if the powerful woman was even ticklish.

"We can keep this little incident between us, as far as I'm concerned." Samira said, which got a relieved nod from Mei Li. "Now come on, let's get back to Rebecca and Max at the crack in the wall. We've got to figure out how to get everyone else in here, I'm not sure I can even fit through that hole again." The two retraced their steps, both now mindful of anything trying to ensnare them, Mei Li, not to mention the others unaware that Samira had just come from her own encounter with a ticklish trap (at least as far as Samira knew. With each of the four focused on something specific, none could say what Fox was up to).
Max was absentmindedly peering through the crack in the wall, but his mind kept drifting back to the ornate sealed double doors on the outside of the Marquis's palace. They seemed different than the rest of the building: in much better condition and sealed tight with a strong bond that he had been unable to unlock with the more primitive hand tools in his coat pockets. It was also a stunning piece of architecture which belied clues about its owner, namely that he liked to mix in European culture with tribal customs in his strange colony. The classical influences were obvious in the delicately crafted and, Max had to admit, arousing sculptures which were placed in the decadent and immense courtyard.

He had to fight to keep back his distaste when the green-haired woman suggested they break down the double doors. While he admired Rebecca's straightforwardness when compared to the mysterious "Fox" (where had she wandered off to?) or the quiet Maylee, she obviously had no idea of the historical value of the Marquis's lair. To be honest, Max figured she was already getting a bit impatient, or maybe even greedy...

"He-hey!" Max was jolted out of his thoughts when someone poked him right in the side. He spun from where he was peeking through the crack to see Kittleton grinning at him predatorily, her nimble finger outstreched.

"Did you hear that, Indiana Dork?" she asked. When he shook his head, she explained. "It was a shriek of laughter. I think the boss found ninja girl! No doubt Diouri has her own ways of punishing little girls who want to rush in ahead of her." Max hadn't heard a thing, but as a testament to Rebecca's tracking senses Samira appeared at the other side of the crack in a few seconds, a red-faced and embarrassed Maylee right behind her.

Samira seemed in no hurry to try to squeeze through the little crack again, so she instead explained to Max and Rebecca that they needed to find a way to widen it so everyone could get through. "There's some sort of maze inside. we'll need everyone to fully explore the damn place. Do either of you have any tools that can make a bigger opening?" she asked them.

"I have some chisels and picks, but nothing heavy-duty enough to crack these rock walls." he answered. Maybe if you'd let us take the helicopter, we could have brought bigger tools he almost said, but kept his thoughts to himself. It wouldn't be good to upset the boss already. "Maybe Fox has got something stashed away in her suit." Max told Samira. "Or perhaps she can use her suit's augmentations to help out. Though I haven't seen her since we arrived at the courtyard."

Samira Diouri's eyes seemed to light up. "Where did Fox scurry off to?"

Max shrugged. "Last time I saw her she was with you." Rebecca nodded in agreement, taking a seat on a stone. Samira shook her head in exasperation at this, then seemed to absentmindedly finger some object in her pocket for a few seconds before speaking up again. "I want you two to find her immediately!" she said, pointing at Max and Rebecca. "When you find her, bring her here and see if she can help us. Mei Li and I will see what else we can find in here."

Rebecca got up from her seat and cracked her back, then motioned for Max to follow her. "I can probably find her trail, but make sure you stay behind me and don't get in my way." she reprimanded him. Max trudged along behind the expert tracker. back through the jungle to the courtyard where they had last seen the mysterious Fox, lamenting in his mind about how useless he was turning out to be.
---
Fox resisted the urge to sigh as her heavy trail pack slid off her arms to rest against a block of moss-encrusted masonry. It hadn't been a pic-nick, packing the heavy thing for kilometers across streams, over logs, under logs, and through foliage so dense it seemed a single contagious bush or trunk rather than a collection of smaller plants. But, hey, at least they were here now; she stretched, idly flashing through her vision filters to take in the location in greater detail.

Over her head, the entrance arch to the mansion's inner courtyard rose wide, proud despite the flora growing over it like squatting sea-life. Away to either side led a tarnished fence of iron spikes, running off into the undergrowth, doubtless inset to the great irritation of jaguars back when the place would have been worth entering.

Before Fox, the proud facade of the old chateau rose elegantly, flying buttresses and vaulted arches opening to the air in unspoken invitation. Still, Fox could see the wild tangle of jungle creeping up on the majestic cold building from either side, slathering the east wing with fresh greenery. The courtyard the little party stood in was also only partially overgrown, a testament to the solidity of its paving rocks and the skill of its masons (though the plumbers got no such accolade; all the fountains were dry), and its abundance of random decorative statues still stood as if laid yesterday.

The others had mostly set their own packs down closer to the main doorways. As Fox watched from her post near the entrance, Samira backed right into one of the sultry statuettes as she surveyed the building, jerking away again at the unexpected contact. Fox made sure to keep her chin tilted back to give the impression she was looking at the building. The Boss did unpleasant things to people who thought she was getting jumpy. Luckily, Rebecca called her over from her position near the door next to Max, distracting the crime lord from any suspicious inquiries. The two talked for a moment, and then Sam took a step back again, scowling.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" She called out, with a voice capable of tongue-lashing toughened hitmen the world over. "There's not much info on this place, and what's there is more myth than anything else at this point. But I'm convinced this jungle castle is hiding something very, very valuable. We find it and anything else worthwhile in there, we get out, everybody gets rich." The mobster scanned over a faded map. "The villa has three stories, in an East and West wing connected by a ballroom. There are likely multiple basement floors, and the architecture indicates hidden passages in the walls, but we don't know where. We start by looking for another way in, spread out and keep sharp! You never know if some long dead booby trap is going to come to life just for us!"

On cue, the quartet spread out, Mei Lei moving off down the wall, tracing a few sizeable cracks in the stonework intently, leaving Max and Rebbeca to examine the walls and doorway proper with every bit as much intensiveness. The Boss, meanwhile, wandered off between the statues dotting the courtyard, perhaps hoping to flank the building to the side or rear and find a lower window. As she herself located a promising window and began moving, Fox could understand the archeologist's interest, but hardly the poacher's.

In any event, if Rebecca did a bit of literal digging on the side, it was only for the best, thought Fox as she broke into a run across a clear stretch of courtyard. At a sprint, she leapt off the projecting arm of a statue, raised as if the carven owner were languidly gesturing at something inside the castle. In midair, Fox spayed herself wide, biting back a chuckle at the familiar damnable tingling that ran over her thighs and feet. Later that instant, she struck against the flat wall of the building, limbs lowering her gently down in a vertical push-up as they absorbed her momentum. In one smooth motion, Fox began to climb, scuttling upwards like a huge spider.

Beneath and off to her left, the Boss, the Hunter, the Archeologist, and the Ninja seemed too engrossed to notice, though Fox was just in time to catch the sight of Mei Lei's feet slithering in through a crevice in the wall. Of course the ninja would get in first, she thought ruefully, working herself into a rapid climb. She had landed almost above the first story to begin with, counting on its disappointing lack of visible windows, and, crawling as easily as over horizontal ground, she soon worked her way up to the eaves of the second. Soon she had pulled level with the first row of arches- only to pull back, frowning under her mask.

In front of the stained glass, all the windows had sets of large and generous bars over them, maybe as a simplistic form of protection against adventurous monkeys. How had she not seen them from below? Fox shook her head and scuttled higher, rounding to the corner of the building to her right as she ascended. The final ledge projected out father than it predecessors, as if with a theatrical flare, ornately decorated all the way around.

Punctuating the underside of the edifice rested leering gargoyles, jaws open wide to spout rainwater at the next monsoon, hands clawed at their sides as if to grab at her when she passed. One rested straight in her path, grinning with inhuman smugness at the intruder's approach. Fox climbed straight up the front of the thing without an afterthought, levering herself over the projecting head and between the statue's carven wings.

From her new perch, Fox arched her head back in dismay at the practical balcony above her, before giving a mental shrug and leap-frogging straight up. Her outstretched arms seized the lip, adhering tight, and she heaved herself up, grunting softly as the rough stone ground against her ribs. She had just made it a precious few inches, when she jerked under the sensation of something around tight her ankle, arresting her progress. Irate, Fox kicked out at it absently, feeling her foot glance off something hard, once, twice- and then hike to a halt as something closed around it as well.

Fox perked up, scrabbling at the ledge supporting her, wiggling back and forth as she strained to pull her feet free. It had to have been the gargoyle she had gotten caught on; there was nothing else around nearly so rigid or situated in the same area that she could have become entangled with. Only, how on earth did she manage to get both feet stuck so precisely? Gee, that screw-up had taken skill. Fox craned her head back to check, but, thrust out on the ledge, the angle was entirely wrong for her make out much of anything below her own shoulders.

The would-be explorer's musings were cut short as something flashed in to glide sneakily along the inside of her hip, before flicking back out again. Under her mask, Fox's eyes widened to the size of the patches representing them, as she let out a shocked gasp. What- what the heck was that? She took a series of deep breaths, squirming her lower body side to side as if to dislodge some non-existent attacker. The rings around her legs held firm. Like a nightmare under sunlight, the sensation of sudden touch faded away, and Fox slowly regained her breath, focusing on wriggling her feet around in an attempt to slide her feet out of the accidental stockade holding them. Almost... There...

…When the movement struck again, slower and more certain, a pinprick of distinct touch and pressure starting at her waist and curving down the inside of her thigh mischievously. Fox almost fell backwards, biting her lip, shaking furiously to avoid whatever she had slipped against. Damn it- she must have knocked against part of the statuary; she’d have to be more careful in the future.

For the millionth time, she cursed her suit, and its infernal ability to make even an accident contact with a piece of over-blown drainage equipment tickle hellishly. Still there was nothing for it but to keep trying to extricate herself, and hope that she hadn't gotten stuck too desperately. Who knew what Sam would say or do if she had to tell the team she was hopelessly stuck: Leave her up here completely, or thumb her Leash to see if she could shock her Scout loose of the wall?

Fox’s train of thought crashed headlong when another probing stroke slithered across her abdomen electrically. She giggled unwillingly, struggles redoubling, breath bated for the onrush of the strike doubtless already fast in the coming.

To someone looking out from one of the windows immediately below, they would have likely been bemused to see Fox's lower body, twitching and struggling as it worked against the hold of an impossibly smug gargoyle, idly holding two wiggling feet in a masonry grip as it stared out over the grounds. A watcher would have been fortuitously treated or rudely scandalized by a show as Fox's rear jerked back and forth- and witness to a wonder as the gargoyle's wings stretched lazily out, bat-claws reaching high in a lazy flap, solid stone moving with glacial fluidity to gently trail the fantastic claws adorning each wing over its captive's generous curves.

Increasingly bewildered, Fox was also becoming highly fed up with the random bursts of ticklish feeling molesting her with an ever-rising rapacity. Attacking at long intervals at first, the stroking was fast speeding up, scratching over her hips and belly as if the entire building had conspired to trap and target her most sensitive areas. No longer could there have been a way that the recurring touch was some kind of accident.

What the devil was going on? Was this an actual trap up here? The possibility of accidental contact had vanished by the sixth stroke, and as she struggled, claws flickering in her palms as she adjusted her purchase, Fox herself had long lost count of how many times she had been teased. The exact interval seemed random, excruciating and impossible to predict. The laughter of every stroke built on the tail of the response before it, and increasingly the 'treasure hunter' was reduced to simply trying to hold on rather than actively pull herself up out of the trap.

Faster, ever faster, now reaching almost as high as her navel and making her stiffen, now goosing above her knees and eliciting a wild series of minute kicks, now stroking lovingly over her pelvis and demanding a broken belly-laugh –the prodding and stroking only seemed to grow more eager with every incident. Fox was besides herself, terrified of falling back and breaking her legs, terrified of being permanently incapacitated in the trap, and increasingly terrified of that next stroke that was always on the way. Fox couldn't see it, but to an impartial observer, the gargoyle's wings moved as fast as a frightened duck's as they toyed with their prey, eager probing over everything in reach.

At yet another swirl inside her hipbone, Fox there her head back, instinct at long last overriding her fear enough to slap downwards. She never caught the wing as it beat back down again, but it was enough to jeopardize her grip as she laughed uproariously. Her hand slipped; focus on her claws flickering on and off, threatening to tip her backwards. Fox scrabbled at the ledge, desperate with laughter, sliding backwards. Her free hand reach down and pressed against the back of the statue's neck, fingers scrabbling wildly in almost a scratching motion.

And just like that, her legs came free.

Fox popped upwards like a bubble, yelping as something broad and gently curving slapped lightly on her rear to hurry her along. She scrambled forward onto the ledge eagerly, shaking and gasping as she spun around and held tight against the wall, staring back down into the courtyard. Nothing. Along the ledge, all was still, exactly as it had appeared from below. Fox shuddered, rubbing herself vigorously to weed out the lingering sensations, at a loss to explain the bizarre incident.

After a long moment to recover her breath, Fox turned, beginning anew her climb to the next level and roof. At this point, only one thing was clear, she thought with a shudder as she passed wide around the minuscule effigy of a tree frog: Don't trust the statues.
----
Turning away from the crack in the wall, both Samira Diouri and Maylee walked further into the maze, the Asian woman trailing slightly behind her boss. Absentmindedly, Maylee rubbed her hands against her stomach, still remembering the feeling of Samira's fingers poking and prodding her midriff for disobeying her orders and venturing out ahead of the rest.

"It's not my fault if everyone's slow... All of them were doing their own things. Rebecca and Max were looking at that stupid old door, while you and that mysterious 'Fox' wandered off to who knows where. I was the only one who actually found a way into this decrepit place. I just hope we can actually find a entrance to this damnable building."

Pondering in thought, Maylee failed to notice when Samira raised her hands, a signal for them to stop. Incidentally, as she bumped into her boss, her elbows lightly jabbing at Samira's sides, making her wince at the corner of her mouth. As Samira looked back, she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as Maylee looked elsewhere, not noticing what she had done.

"Hey watch it Maylee! You have to pay attention to my hand signals. There could be any number of traps in this maze that it's creators could have put to stop people like us from exploring. You wouldn't want to get trapped in any of those traps now, would you? Or would you like another ticklish lesson as a reminder?" Grinning, Samira emphasized her point, wiggling her fingers in the air.

Maylee gulped, not caring for another one of Samira's fiendish 'lessons'. "I-It's ok, I'll pay more attention to my surroundings, thank you very much."

Flicking her hair, Samira haughtily continued forward, gesturing for Maylee to follow. "You better. I'm not going to be the one to save your ass again if something were to happ-eeek!" As she was busy talking over her shoulder to her companion, she failed to notice a trapdoor in her path, hidden beneath the cover of a few vines and leaves. It opened up, causing Samira to quickly grab the closest thing around her to prevent her from falling, which incidentally was Maylee's leg.

Not expecting this, Maylee gave a small grunt as she fell to the floor, both Samira and her quickly getting dragged into the hole. Thinking fast, she used her hands to grab the ledge of the hole, her body dangling freely with Samira just barely hanging onto Maylee's ankles.

"Look like someone wasn't watching her surroundings, eh boss?" Gritting from the effort, Maylee tried to climb out, but with the additional weight, and with Samira holding her ankles, preventing her from using her legs, that was a near impossible task.

"Whatever you do, don't let go! I can't even see how far this hole leads. It's too dark for me to make out anything. Can you climb to get us out?" Looking into the dark depths of the hole they almost fallen into, the Crime Boss couldn't even make out the bottom of it, only noticing the moss lining the walls of the hole.

"I can't get us out, you're too heavy for me to pull the both of us!" Her breath getting more labored, she gritted her teeth from the exertion, her arms starting to feel the pain of holding two people's weight.

Trying to think of a way out, Samira swing her body slightly towards the mossy wall, to check if there were any purchases for them to climb out with. However, when her body made contact with the walls of the hole, she felt the feathery moss tickle her bare legs and sides. Gasping out loud, she quickly clamped her mouth shut and started to squirm, trying to get away from the tickly moss.

"H-Hey! What are you doing down there! Stop squirming around! I can't hold on for long if you keep doing that!" Maylee tried to turn her head, to see what Samira was up to below her. However, due to her awkward position, she couldn't bring herself to do it, unable to see Samira's ticklish reactions to the moss.

Even as she tried to push herself away from the wall with her feet, Samira would just end up touching the walls again, squirming like a ticklish pendulum. "Maylee, could you find us a way to get out of this, and quickly!"

"Easier said than done Samira, with you squirming below me and all! I can't hold on much longer!" After a few more seconds of feverishly holding up Samira's squirming body as well as her own, Maylee felt her fingers slip, as the both boss and ninja felt the forces of gravity pulling them down into the hole.

After a moment of free-falling, Maylee was the first to notice both of them landed in something... Wet. Quickly swimming to the surface, she burst her head out into the air, gasping for breath. Within a second, she could also hear a second person breaking the water, and gasping for breath. "Samira, are you there? I can't see a thing, it's too dark in here!"

"Just hold on, I have a water-proof torch in here somewhere." Reaching into her belt, she quickly dug out a small torch, shining it around. There they both found out they had fallen into an underground lake. They quickly swam to the shore, Maylee sitting and catching her breath while Samira shone her torch around the save, trying to find a way out.

"I heard about these caves. The Mansion's architects had included these cave systems in the blueprints of the building. I never would have expected them to integrate them into their traps though. I have to admit, that's highly ingenious..." Samira continued to think, her mind wandering from her task.

"You can share all of this with our fellow trap disarm-er later. So do you have the blueprints on you? Maybe we can use that to find our way out of here?"

"No, I didn't bring the blueprints with me. I left it at the campsite on the surface. I do recall however, that the cave systems below the mansion do link up with the basement of the mansion... Maylee, come over here, I found a way forward. Let's quickly go, and meet up with the rest." Not caring for her damp clothes, Samira carried on through an open tunnel, shining her torch along her path.

"Wait up, my clothes are still wet! Tch, can't you just wait for just a few more minutes?" Taking off her damp blouse, leaving her in a black bikini top, she tied her blouse around her waist, and quickly jogged after her impatient boss, also wanting to quickly get out of these ominous tunnels.

Fox stood on the rooftop, surveying the grounds from on high. All the windows on the west wing of the building seemed shut and locked tight. In addition, the balconies on that wing were covered with those damnable gargoyles. Fox was definitely not getting near them again if she could help it. But the east wing definitely had opened windows, she had seen tree branches and vines snaking their way inside the top floor. Walking gracefully across the roof, Fox deftly leapt onto the thickest branch at the edge of the building. From there, Fox shimmied along the branch into the open room. It turned out to be a plant-covered bedroom. A canopy bed lay in the center, with generations old dressers at the walls. All of it was overgrown with ivy and moss, as Fox hopped to the floor to examine the surroundings.

***

"Fox! Get over here already!" Rebecca yelled, for the final time. "That does it, the masked avenger ran off somewhere. Let's get back to the boss lady."

Max nodded beside his comrade, wishing he could make himself more useful. He had no idea were the costumed woman had gone off to. "Can't you… I don't know, track her somehow?"

Rebecca huffed in annoyance. "I can tell she went up the wall over there," Rebecca pointed to a spot. "But I can't follow her up that way, I'm not a gecko. Maybe she found a way in from the roof or one of the upper floors. Either way, if the Boss really wants to find her, she has her ways." Rebecca leaned in towards Max conspiratorially. "I hear she's got some kind of remote that keeps the Fox in line. That with the press of a button, she can… stimulate her little super villain into obeying her every beck and call. Makes me wonder what exactly she has Fox do for her, huh?"

Max listened wide eyed, blushing at the scandalous innuendos Rebecca was making. "I… wouldn't know. This is my first time meeting this Fox character."

"But not the first time dealing with Diouri, is it?" Rebecca said with a wry smirk. "Saw the way you were 'helping' her through that crack in the wall. Smitten with our fearless leader? You might want to be careful, Professor, she's probably more than you can handle."

Max looked away, struck silent for a moment, before changing the subject. "Let's examine that door again!" He exclaimed, heading back to the mansion's gate. "I think there's something I overlooked!" He hurried on, eager to do something in his own element. Rebecca silently shrugged and slowly followed after him.

"Look!" Max said, becoming enthusiastic. "The door seems oddly newer than its surroundings, perhaps put in years later as a replacement door? In any case, while the construction is European, the locking mechanism itself has New World elements. Instead of a deadbolt, it uses…"

Rebecca cut off Max from his increasingly energetic monologue. "Can the lecture, poindexter. Whatever it is, can you open it?"

"Yes! Please, if you could put your hands here and here…" Max gestured at two spots at one side of the double door, Max moving to the opposite end. "Now, turn counterclockwise…"Max moved in mirror, and the two of them exerted themselves against the resisting old mechanism. Then, with a surprisingly loud metallic THUD! Something changed in the door, the latch loosened, finally allowing it to pushed open to access whatever was inside.

"Wow, you figured it out." Rebecca said in astonishment, gaining a bit of respect for the bookish man. "Now let's get inside, I'm sick of waiting out here."

***

Samira cursed her luck. She hadn't even gotten the entire group inside the villa yet, and she had already fallen into a trap. Two, if she were willing to count those statues, but that was an encounter Samira was firmly trying to put out of her mind, almost convincing herself that she had dreamed up the whole thing. Tickling statues, indeed! But that hadn't been the only ticklish thing. While clinging to Maylee's ankle, Samira had kept bumping up against some kind of strange moss. The texture was feathery soft, and even scraping against it had tickled her bare thighs terribly. She considered herself lucky that Maylee hadn't noticed.

But now the two of them were in some kind of underground cavern, dripping wet. Samira paused to remove her soaked shirt, taking off the sopping garment to hook it onto her belt so it could hang dripping at her side. It left Samira wearing only a dark red bikini top, but considering their recent swim, as well as the dampness of the cave tunnel, it was a more appropriate choice of clothing. The pause also allowed Maylee to catch up to Samira, the lithe woman jogging up to her. "Thanks." The shorter woman said, appreciating even the short pause from the impatient woman.

"Right. Let's keep going. Stay behind me, Maylee, the light is faint enough as is without someone standing in front of it." The two proceeded single file through a somewhat narrow passage in the rock, barely illuminated by the pocket torch. It made Samira wish she had brought a larger flashlight, but it was impossible to account for every contingency in her pocket. The Moroccan woman thought about the group back at ground level and internally cursed. Samira trusted Max not to get up to any mischief other than getting caught up in some archeological find, and Fox would have to come running when Samira 'called' for her. But Rebecca was another story entirely . Samira was counting on the tracker's greedy nature to drive her to whatever treasures lie inside. Yet that also meant she needed to be kept under a watchful eye. But at this rate they might be separated for some time. Samira consoled herself with the knowledge that she seemed to have instilled some amount of 'loyalty' in Maylee just now.

The Moroccan woman continued her thoughts, internally absorbed as the two moved through the otherwise uninteresting tunnel. It seemed to be gently inclined, but it was honestly difficult to tell. The passage wound left and right, and Samira had lost all sense of what direction they were heading in, just hoping the passage led to some kind of door to the chateau itself.

Ahead of them on the ground was an odd looking purple mushroom. It was rather large, about the size of a fist, bright purple in color, and quite bulbous. It round object almost looked as if it were under an internal pressure. Samira observed the fungus with a flick of her eye, but paid the sessile life form no mind, not even bothering to avoid stepping on it with the toe of her boot. But as she did so, the purple mushroom exploded in a cloud of fine mist, purple spores flooding the dim light from the torch. "Ah!" Samira cried out in surprise, dropping the flashlight and belatedly moving her arms up to protect herself. The torch fell to the ground and shut off, rolling away behind both of them, leaving the pair in complete darkness.

"What happened? What was that?" Maylee asked from a few feet back, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Some kind of fungus, it popped when I stepped on it." Samira answered, her voice tense. "It got some kind of gunk all over me. Maylee, see if you can find the flashlight. I think it rolled by you." Maylee got to her hands and knees, feeling the ground with her hands for the light source. Samira assessed her own situation. The purple mist had coated its spores on her exposed skin, covering her from waist to neck in a substance that adhered stickily to her wet skin, bonding with the water. The result was some kind of purple paste that made her skin tingle strangely.

In fact, the tingling feeling was getting stronger. It was starting to tickle, as if hundreds of tiny feathers were vibrating against her the skin of her belly, sides, chest and arms. Stroking, brushing, teasing, over and over... Samira regretting taking off the wet shirt, she'd have protected a good amount of her torso had she still been wearing it. Samira's belly quivered as the tickly sensation kept slowly building, slowly becoming more harder to ignore. She tried to wipe the sticky stuff off of her stomach with her hands, but it wouldn't come off! The tan woman only succeeded in rubbing the stuff into her skin even more as if it were some kind of balm, intensifying the sensations even more. Samira leaned against the wall of the cave tunnel as she tried to think, her mind increasingly preoccupied by the tingling feeling on her body.

Maylee kept crawling back, slowly moving around and trying to feel out the flashlight. Why couldn't Samira help me with this? she thought in annoyance, the task taking twice as long alone. Maylee worried what would happen if she couldn't find it, or if the flashlight had broken. Who knew how long the two of them would be down here if they had to move in total darkness, and they'd have no way of seeing traps ahead of them. Maylee could hear the Boss breathing heavily, and realized the stuff that came out of the fungus might be doing something to her. "Hey boss, are you ok?" She asked with legitimate concern.

"I'm f-fine." Samira said with difficulty. "Just find tha-hat light!" Maylee heard the breathy tone in Samira's voice, the quaver in it. Clearly something was affecting her somehow. But it was strange, her voice didn't sound pained. Actually, more the opposite. It almost sounds like she's…

The feeling was still getting stronger. All across Samira's front, at least the portion that wasn't covered by the bikini top, was feeling a growing ticklishness. As if soft brushes were fluttering along the curves of her hips, against her waist. Like gentle but maddening fingertips exploring every inch of her tummy, lovingly caressing each sensitive spot. Even around the perimeter of her breasts, the parts exposed, weren't spared from the growing tickling from the sticky coating of spores. Samira's belly shook with held in laughter, her teeth clenched tightly. If Maylee could see the forced smile, the way Samira quivered, the ninja would easily figure out the cause. It made Samira thankful for the pitch black. Yet if she didn't figure out how to get this stuff off of her quickly, she'd burst into fits of laughter. Then Maylee would know! Know exactly how ticklish Samira was, how it made her weak as a kitten, how it made her giggle girlishly, how even despite the circumstances, it was causing a pleasant warmth to start to well up inside her. After tickling the other woman only minutes earlier, Samira could only imagine what might be done to her in return.

Despite the distracting thoughts and ticklish haze in her mind, Samira finally got an idea. Her wet shirt! Now if was little more than a damp cloth, but should be perfect for wiping herself clean of this accused stuff. She quickly got the shirt from her belt and used it to wipe the stuff off of the skin of her midriff. Even this self-made contact tickled, causing her to twitch and shiver, but the gunk was coming off! The wet cloth managed to bind the spores away from her damp skin. Samira patiently and slowly wiped herself free of the ticklish substance, and not a moment too soon. Her resistance was at its limit, she felt like she couldn't resist that inhumanly constant tickling for a second longer. Unfortunately her shirt was now little better than a dirty old rag now, filled with the sticky, teasing substance. Her skin still tingled with a lingering sensitivity that she dearly hoped would pass, but it seemed like the gunk was off her skin completely. If Maylee could get the light, she could examine herself to be positive.

"Aha!" Maylee exclaimed in triumph, and with perfect timing for Samira. "I found it, Boss!" Maylee fumbled with the instrument for a moment, as both waited tensely to see if the thing still worked.
The heavy door creaked open, and Max and Rebecca stepped forward into some kind of well-furnished vestibule. Even this small reception room was extraordinarily well furnished: several chairs and a silverware-furnished table were set up, as well as a closet for coats. All items in the vestibule were covered in a layer of dust, which Max noted was not as thick as he might have thought. Another door, this one made of wood with the Marquis's coat of arms in gilded iron, stood at the end of the vestibule as an entrance into the main hall. There might have been a guard by the door at one point, but the entry room was unsurprisingly vacant.

Max sighed with relief when he saw that this second door was unlocked. Before he could nudge it open, however, he heard a loud clink! behind him. Rebecca had snapped an emerald off of a goblet from the small table, and was appraising it with her flashlight. Satisfied that the gem was genuine, the green-haired woman rubbed the dust off with a rag and stuffed it in her pocket. Max's nose twitched in scholarly indignance. Rebecca was basically tomb-raiding, an action that gave real archaeologists around the world a bad name.

She turned towards the young explorer. "What're you looking at? Might as well make some small profits, since we haven't found Samira and the rest yet." The woman pushed past him and opened the door that lead further into the mansion. Max followed, thinking that nobody would miss one lone emerald.

The main hall of the complex building was more opulent then the two adventurers could have imagined. It was obviously made to satisfy the tastes of an indulgent European. The enormous hall was dotted by several sitting areas with well-crafted sofas and chairs, as well as many, many doorways branching off to the sides. Much of the floor was covered by a thick, enticing red carpet, which while somewhat faded over the years was still far from threadbare. Its walls were of elegant wood, with provocative tapestries hung in many places to complete the room's hedonistic feel. The hall ended in a grand gem-studded staircase of marble, which lead up to the second and third stories of the chateau.

The only light in the area was the glow of some small skylights, so Max and Rebecca needed their flashlights to fully glimpse the room's splendor. A look around this room suggested that the mansion was designed for one thing: pleasure. The air still had a perfumy smell to it after hundreds of years, and there were games of chess and unopened bottles of what had once been fine wine sitting on a few tables. The place must have been vacated quickly and hurriedly for them to leave all this.Max thought.

As Rebecca liberated a table's drawers of its gold chess pieces, Max studied some of the paintings on on the wall with a few tools. The first was of a tanned, exotic woman in a skimpy cotton dress, who he figured was probably a native South American. She was looking innocently at Max, with a hint of fear in her eyes. The artist was obviously talented; the Marquis had been known to hire only the finest artisans. Max took a tiny pair of scissors and delicately removed a minuscule piece of fabric from the work of art, wondering what substance in the canvas kept the painting looking so unblemished for so long. He moved on to the next alluring painting.

This one was as large as the last, a life-sized portrait of a fashionably dressed blonde woman which was also oddly spared the wear and tear of other parts of the building. The pale, powdered woman seemed to stare down at Max and a smirk was visible on her painted lips. Her blue eyes seemed to follow Max as he inspected the work. No doubt a member of the Marquis's inner circle of mistresses, thought Max to himself as he took yet another sample of the fabric. It almost seemed like the woman in the painting was giving him an angry frown for his actions.

Finished with his job, Max turned away from the portrait to tell Rebecca that they should keep looking for Samira. To his surprise she was nowhere to be seen, though there was a door opened to a side corridor where she might have gone. Damn treasure hunters and their impulses!

He had just taken a step towards the open door when he felt a soft poke on his side. "Eeee!" With a most unmanly yelp, Max jumped into the air and spun around. Nothing but the painting, smiling cruelly at him. Confused, he turned back to face the rest of the room. Then he felt them pinching at his sides and stomach- and looked down to see two red-nailed, pale hands lecherously tickling away at his midriff. Laughing ferociously, he tried to pull away, but the womanly hands that were prodding and squeezing his body refused to let go. They were inhumanly strong, and pulling him backward towards the painting!

With laughter pouring from him, Max finally managed to wrench away from the tickling painting and fall to the carpet. He caught his breath and turned around look at it, but nothing was amiss. It seemed so real, though: he could still smell sickly perfume in the air, and the arms of the mistress seemed to be in a slightly different position than before. He backed up and walked away, not sure as to whether his experience was real or a hallucination.

Then he heard it- a trembling cry from the corridor Rebecca had wandered down. "HeheheHEEELP!" she yelled, obviously in some sort of trap. Max grabbed his tools quickly and sprinted away towards the sound of her voice.


The room looked like it might have been cosy once upon a time. The wallpaper looked like it might have been tasteful once, but now it was stained and peeling. There were a few drab paintings on the walls, but the most distinctive feature in the room was the Queen-sized, ornate, four-poster bed, which almost took up three quarters of the small bedroom. With her scouting instincts, Fox took a quick measure of the room. On one side of the room was the window, and on the other side of the room was the door, divided by the massive bed. There was a clump of ivy near the foot of the bed that filled Fox with trepidation. The gargoyles had somehow known about her vulnerability, and magically came to life to exploit it… who was to say history would not repeat itself? She had a bad feeling, and she was not about to take that chance.

Fox vaulted over the bed, scooting over it quickly, pleased that she had so cleverly circumvented what was probably one of the room’s traps. Of course, it was right when she was feeling so smug and pleased with herself that another one of the traps in the room sprung.

As Fox was scurrying along the bed on her hands and knees, marvelling at the texture and softness of the featherbed, she yelped as she suddenly felt sashes wind around her wrists and ankle.

“What the f-” she gasped, twisting and slamming up and down in the feather bed, as she looked up – the very curtains of the 4 poster bed had inexplicably roared to life, ensnaring the scout in the confines of the plush bed. But that wasn’t the half of it… as Fox wriggled and writhed in the bed to try to free herself, she bounced up and down like a mischievous child jumping on a bed, feathery plumes spurted out of the old bedding and floating up into the air.

Held down on her stomach, Fox could only crane her head around and gasp as she felt the feathers slowly descend on her trapped body. She shuddered as the feathers landed on her upturned soles, the back of her knees, and her lower back like falling snowflakes. Naturally, her trust obsidian catsuit was doing a tremendous job amplifying all this ticklish sensations. She let loose her first proper giggle as a feather trickled down the nape of her neck all the way down to her small of her back, sending shivers down her spine as it did so. She was so upset with herself for laughing and her predicament that she pounded her fist into the bed in frustration. Too late did she realize she had only exacerbated her situation, as even more feathers puffed up from the bedding!

As more and more feathers descended on her ticklish skin, Fox looked up through tear-streaked eyes and saw that the open window she had utilized to enter was letting in a breeze, buffeting the feathers into the air, so they spun around in ticklish arcs. Or maybe it was magic? Some curse? With what had happened with the gargoyles, who could say?

All she knew was this was tickling her far more than it had any right to tickle. Fox was fast learning that she had a soft spot for feathers, quite literally. Those soft bristles really did a number on her, especially with her suit multiplying every minute sensation she felt. She wondered if she would even be feather ticklish without the suit there, egging her ticklishness on with its damn sensory receptors. Her back and butt was getting the brunt of the attack, the easiest place for the feathers to land and stroke as they floated about like pollen. Fox’s ample rump twitched and twerked with every landing, and she was eternally grateful that at least no one was here to see her embarrassing situation. How would they be able to take her seriously once they learned how ridiculously ticklish she was? Her only consolation was that despite her supreme sensitivity, she had not burst into hysterics quite yet. Soon the feathers would stop their dance, and she would be able to see about freeing herself, Fox decided, biting her lip as she decided to bide for time. Right now, the sashes had tightened till she her whole body was as taut as a drum, so she saw no other option.

Of course, things did not go quite as planned. It started with a tingle at her left armpit. Fox gritted her teeth and craned her neck down to stare at it wondering how a feather had somehow managed to land there. She stared at the feather, wide-eyed, as it twirled back and forth, as if guided by invisible hands. And then it hit her.

Or I suppose it should be they hit her.

The feathers clustered around Fox’s body swarmed to life, flying around their trussed up captive like a hurricane. Fox realized then the initial attack had been a warm-up, and this was the real thing. She roared into the pillow in an attempt to express the ineffable mirth that was bubbling up within her, as squads of feathers flew after each of her ticklish spots.

Only her ribs and stomach were spared, due to her body being held flat against the bed, though a few feathers stroked and poked at the sides, flying up to get the stomach whenever Fox’s body bounced against the bed in impotent ticklish frustration. Fox almost felt like she was a statue being cleaned by an overzealous servant, as there were so many feathers dusting her from head to toe. They even went after her ears, which Fox had never imagined would be so ticklish, but she probably had the suit to thank for that one.

The feet had it worst though, as each foot had a host of feathers attending to them, tracing shapes and writing letters, sweeping up and down the arches or flitting beneath the toes. Fox did her best to keep her ticklish toes curled, to protect the astonishingly sensitive webbing between them and the base of those slender, shapely digits, but it really was easier said than done when you had a horde of feathers hitting your armpits, butt, knees, thighs, and sides at the same time.

As Fox screamed with muffled laughter, her fingers and toes opening and closing desperately, she suddenly had a moment of mad inspiration, as her fingers made contact with the curtains that had snared her wrists. They were thin, just like real curtains, so in desperation, Fox retracted the Gecko claws at her hands. The claws were usually used for climbing, but they were pointy enough that perhaps they could weaken the fabric enough for it to be torn… hopefully.

This hope gave Fox new energy, as grunted and giggled as the feathers continued their merry paths across her helpless body. By the time she was about one quarter through the fabric, the feathers seemed to somehow sense the danger, and they suddenly re-clustered around her armpits and breasts.

Progress stalled briefly, on account of all the evil feathers grouped there coupled with her hypersensitive underarms, but Fox knew she was too close to give up. Despite the fits of silent laughter, she pressed through, and after the threads were three quarters ripped, she gave an almighty tug, and freed her wrists!

All at once, the feathers fell to the ground lifeless. Fox was breathless and panting, but she knew better than to rest on this bed. She freed her ankles, and then walked to the door on shaky, tingly feet.

“Just my lucky… two traps in a row. The others cannot be having luck as bad as mine,” Fox groaned, as she pushed open the doorknob and entered the corridor.
Carefully shining the torch around, Maylee led the party of two through the multiple tunnel networks, trying to find a way out of these dark caves lined with various stalactites and stalagmites, water droplets constantly dripping from the ceiling. Still partially annoyed at Samira for dropping the torch, and leaving them in pitch black darkness for a time, she put it past her after she had questioned her boss on dropping the torch a few seconds ago, when she had also asked why Samira shirt looked a little more… purplish.

“T-There’s nothing wrong with me at all Maylee. I just happened to drop my torch as my foot tripped over something. My shirt? I think that it’s the lack of light making it look a little purple. We should probably keep moving to find an exit out of here. Or would you like me to help motivate you?”

After the threatening undertone of her answer, Maylee quickly shined her torch, suddenly interested in finding an exit to the surface. As the both of them continued walking, Maylee still quietly fumed in her head, still trying to figure out why was Samira’s voice in the darkness following when she had dropped the torch.

“I get that it might have been an honest mistake, but you don’t need to sound so bossy all the time… And the way she said it… How do I get the feeling that she was hiding something from me? Maybe I should ask her about it later. But she seems so uppity about it…”

Maylee continued to walk forward, not noticing Samira slow down as she spotted something shiny along the floor of the tunnel walls. Curiously bending down, she peered closely and spotted a few flowers managing to thrive in the pitch blackness of the caves beneath De Marquis’ Mansion.

“Amazing, if I remember correctly… this one, which has a sleek inner style with no petals is called a Kusuroi Hertiguri. It’s regarded as quite a strange flower, having a long main body of the flower, with almost no petals on its side. However it has several pollen grains lining the main body, making it’s texture almost equal to a feather’s touch… As for the other one… I vaguely remember it being a Koofsu Basuchi. I can’t remember what special properties it has, although I remember it has something to do with its pollen or nectar… Better bring some back for Max to inspect. He’ll sure love to get his dusty hands on these…”

Not wanting a repeat of her earlier incident, she carefully took out two small glass jars from two of the pockets on her belt, and carefully placed one of each flower in each jar, sealing the lids tightly and placing the glass containers back from where she took them. She quickly jogged up to the waiting Maylee who was impatiently tapping her foot, shining her torch light at Samira.

“What were you doing back there? I almost lost you in here you know!”

“I was just getting some samples for Max to study later. You never know what we might find down here. Wait… is that light I see? Shine your torch ahead Maylee, I think we’ve found our ticket out of here.”

As both of them quickly strode into the next tunnel, they both gazed around at their surroundings, finding themselves in a small cave. Samira walked forward, curious as to what this area was, and why there was a cave in the tunnels. As she tried to feel around the cave walls, she felt two long objects attached to the cave walls by metal holds.

“Maylee, could you shine your torch over here for a bit? I think I found something!”

Moving the torch light around, both of them quickly noticed a giant door in front of them which was man-made, as well as two old wooden torches that were held on the sides of the door by metal clamps. Quickly taking a lighter out of her numerous pockets, Samira lit the tops of the torches, surprised that the blackened torch head actually caught fire, casting light all over the room. Quickly casting glances around, both Mafias Boss and Ninja could see the old door that was built into the natural rock walls of the cave, as well as two painted arrows pointing to holes on either side of the room.

“Urghh… This door won’t budge, no matter how much I kick or punch it. Help me down it Samira, I think this should be the door leading to the basement of the Mansion!”

“Save your energy Maylee, I don’t think even with the two of us we can brute force that door down. I’m more interested about these arrows however… And these two holes on the opposite sides of the room… They might be the key to opening that door.”

Looking closer into the holes, Samira noticed something peculiar. There was a lever, deep inside the hole that if one was to reach and pull, they needed to stretch their body all the way to do it. Furthermore, Samira could guess that there was another similar lever in the other hole across the one she was looking at. This means that it would take two people to actually pull both levers at the same time. As for what the levers were meant for, Samira didn’t even need to think before she came to a conclusion.

“Maylee, could you go over to the other hole and reach inside? There should be a lever in there, located at the end of it. If my suspicions are correct, if we both pull it at the same time, the door should open, letting us out of here.”
Grunting, Maylee put down her bag, and stood in front of the hole, reaching forward as Samira did the same with her own hole. “Whatever you say boss…”

As they both grabbed the lever with their hands and gave it a strong tug, both of them heard the sound of a latch clicking, as the sound of the door creaked opened from behind them. However, both of them failed to realize that the trap had been sprung, a large and heavy rock dropping from the ceiling of the mouth of the holes they were in, preventing them from squirming out, trapping their upper bodies inside and their lower bodies, from their rears down to their feet, outside of the hole.

“S-Samira! What’s happening! Why can’t I move! Something’s trapped me in here! Samira? Can you hear me? Samira?” Shouting with an underlying panic in her voice, she tried to struggle her arms in the tiny hole trapping her upper body, as she felt the cold air of the cave caress her longs legs. What she didn’t realize was that the hole she was in was soundproof, the same as with Samira’s hole, not allowing them any form of communication at all.

“Maylee! What’s happening out there! I can’t seem to get out of here! I think we might have triggered a trap that the architects might have placed her to prevent people from-eep! Something’s touching my rear!” To an outside observer, it would be quite strange to see two pairs of legs, one silky pale and another pair quite tanned, coming out of two holes on the sides of the walls. What the both of them didn’t and couldn’t know was that as they both got trapped in their respective holes, ghostly semi-transparent hands started to materialize in the cave, slowly floating towards the adventurer’s exposed legs. Samira felt it first, what started as a light breeze across her legs, soon turned into one finger, then two wiggling across the back of her legs, turning her knees weak as a small forced grin crept up on her face.

“Maylee, is thahahahahaat you! Stop it right now! “Clenching her fists, she tried to move her legs around to try and deter whatever mischievous forces were wiggling against the back of her knees. All it did was serve to encourage the hands, as they continued their tickly ways, more fingers teasing the back of her thighs and her knees, causing her to burst out into girlish giggles.

“I don’t think I can get out of this Samira, I think I nee-ehehehheeed heheheheelp! Haahahahaa! Something’s teeehheheeckling me!” Giggling at her own predicament, she felt wispy hands pry apart her pale thighs, attacking the inner areas with long ticklish strokes, causing the proud ninja much ticklish grief.

“Who’s tickling me, is that you Maylee! Whatever’s tickling me doesn’t feel like normal fingers, it almost feels as if the air itself was doing the tickling! It feels so damn annoying!” Soon, her giggles turned into full out laughter, her fists pounding against the smooth stone of the surrounding walls she was trapped in, the ghostly fingers finding a sweet spot in the undersides of her rear that was just poking out of her skin-tight shorts, the naughty fingers twitching and skittering all around the Moroccan’s wiggling rear, making Samira laugh even more than before, loud hearty laughter constantly pouring out of her mouth.

“Get out of my thighs! I can’t stand it over there! Whatever’s tickling me, stop it! Stop, stop, stop!” Tears of mirth forming at the corners of her closed eyelids, Maylee feebly struggled, her hands clawing at the walls, trying to find some way to alleviate her torment. The fingers around her legs finding a ticklish spot at her inner thighs, the fingers prodding and digging into her sensitive skin, causing her eyes to pop wide open as a another stream of hysterical laughter poured out of her mouth.

Feeling the ghostly hands and fingers roam around their thighs, with a naughty finger pulling Samira’s shorts back for another to tickle her in her ass-crack, while two ghostly apparitions squeezed both of Maylee’s thighs, both girls couldn’t help but laugh hysterically inside their own soundproof boxes. After much tickling and laughing, both girls felt whatever was ticklishly assaulting their lower body slow down, before stopping altogether. Catching their breath, both women finally felt the rock that was trapping them slowly lift up, granting them their freedom. Samira slowly crawled out first, leaning against the wall and catching her breath, while Maylee flopped to the ground, completely exhausted.

“Huff… Huff… Samira… Did you feel anyone um... tickling you just now, when you got trapped inside the hole? I felt what felt like hands roaming all over my legs. Was it you boss?” Maylee asked, cocking at eye at the gasping Samira.

“I got trapped by the mechanisms too, Maylee. I couldn’t get out too, until it opened up a few seconds ago. I didn’t feel anything tickling me though.” Samira manages to gasp out, averting her eyes while lying to her partner, not willing to tell Maylee that she also had the same treatment.

“W-Well, let’s just pack our things and get out of here. This place is giving me the chills-Ahhhh!” Bending down to grab her backpack, Maylee tripped on the torch that she had placed on the ground, falling backwards and into the hole that she was previously in, her back facing towards the ground. As she desperately tried to get out, her hands incidentally made contact with the lever, activating the trap again, causing the rock above the hole to come onto her hips, trapping her upper body inside the hole again, but this time with the tops of her knees facing away from the hole instead of towards, her legs in a M-Letter shape.

“S-Samira! Damn, I tripped on something! Can you help me out of here? Samira? Can you hear me?”

On the other hand, Samira glanced back, surprised at the sound of the torch rolling around to her feet. Looking up, she says Maylee’s legs hanging out from the hole, her open thighs a tempting invitation. When she got closely, she could barely hear Maylee’s voice through the think rock walls

Thinking to herself, a grin slowly crept up on Samira’s face. “If I can barely hear Maylee as she is now, she probably couldn’t hear me just now! That was why she asked if I was tickled. Wait… If she can’t hear what’s outside… She doesn’t know what or who is outside… I think I should teach Maylee why she should be so careful of her surroundings... Hahaha….”

Grinning, Samira leaned down in front of Maylee’s slightly twitching thighs, dragging a finger across her knees, moving towards her inner thighs. Inside, Maylee felt a sensation along her legs, causing a lop-sided smile to already appear on her features.

“Eeek! No, not this again! Whoever is outside, you better stop, before I find a way to fre-eehehehe myself! Samira! Help!” Giggles poured out of her lip again as she felt multiple digits skitter all over her thighs, making her howl in ticklish agony. Samira grinned even wider, seeing, Maylee’s legs randomly swing around, trying to dislodge her wiggling fingers.

“My my… Such ticklish legs, Maylee. Haven’t you learned to be more careful? And exposing your legs like that… You’re just asking for some tickling right here, aren’t you? Coochie Coo Maylee! Wait… I wonder what happens if I add this…” Taking the ‘Kusuroi Hertiguri’ flower from her pocket, she foxily started to stroke Maylee’s soft inner thighs with long, slow strokes.

Inside the hole, Maylee gave a gasp of air, before bursting into screeching laughter, her whole body shaking and in spasms, her arms wildly flailing about, her legs thrown into a hysterical dance of thrashing, her mind not even able to form coherent sentences anymore as the feathery flower continued its ticklish trail along her shaking thighs, tears of mirth flowing freely again from her eyes.

“Ahhh… If only I could hear her laughter. I think this is enough though. I shouldn’t drain too much of her energy. After all, we still have the whole mansion to explore.” Putting the flower back into her pocket, she quickly sat down at the opposite corner of the room, feigning unconsciousness. A few seconds later, the trap reset, releasing a gasping Maylee out into the room again. Samira slowly opened her eyes, standing up and walking to Maylee.

“Maylee, did you see what happened? One minute I heard you trip, and the other I was unconscious. Did anything happen while I was out?”

“Yea, something decided to have fun and tickle my legs again! Whatever, let’s quickly get out of here Samira. This place gives me the creeps. And anyways, the doors opened up already. Let’s get going!” Grabbing her bag and her shirt, she quickly moved on, not waiting to hear Samira nagging behind her.
Maylee and Samira pushed open the heavy doors leading out of the cavernous passage and into the castle proper. Samira was glad to finally make it inside. It seemed like the very place was conspiring to keep her out. First the statues, then the crack in the wall which only led to some kind of hedge maze, the fall into that odd cavern…

And the way things kept stopping her. Samira had already been tickled multiple times today, and it was starting to be beyond coincidence. Something in the traps here had a penchant for tickling whoever fell into their clutches. It was very strange. It was almost like they were being played with. And it seemed beyond reasoning that the Marquis de Soyeux would be able to construct such elaborate traps. It was almost as if there were something unearthly going on...

But Samira didn't have time to dwell on the ticklish occurrences, instead focusing on the present. The room she and Maylee were in wasn't what they'd expected to be connected to cave tunnels. Instead of a Spartan hallway, the door opened up to a luxurious parlor. Chairs and couches surrounded a circular central dais. The central platform was padded and soft, almost like a bed, but Samira noticed various restraints were built into the furniture, indicating a more illicit intent. She could just imagine the Marquis and his inner circle of hedonistic debutantes gathering to play they decadent games. Was the star of the show a willing participant, or some helpless victim? It was impossible to tell now, so many years later.

There were also small tables with goblets and trinkets; the walls adorned with luxuries. There were tapestries, some with images of beautiful women of European and more exotic appearance to the French viewers. The walls were also adorned with long plumes from peacocks and other large birds, some of which Samira had never seen before. Some kind of Amazonian monstrosity?

"Maylee." Samira said suddenly, having taken enough time gawking. "Look around the room. See what you can find. Valuables, jewels… as well as anything that will help us learn more about this place. This room wasn't on my blueprints at al…" Maylee nodded at her employer and began quietly searching the room.

Samira, suddenly feeling a bit fatigued from their adventure so far, sat down in what was clearly the Marquis's seat. It was wide and abundantly soft, Samira practically sank into the chair. Perhaps it was because she wanted to get off her feet, but the seat felt incredibly comfortable. Almost like it was molding itself to her form. Samira leaned back and sighed contentedly, imagining how it must have felt like to be that opulent nobleman. The sheer power! No one could tell him no this far from Versailles, he was a virtual god here. Everyone snapping to all the desire's… yes, just as it should be. Indulging in every want, every need to touch and tease and…

"Hey Boss." Maylee said, pulling Samira out of her reverie and standing next to the luxuriant chair. "I found some gemstones, probably worth a nice price. Also rolled up one of those tapestries, it looks valuable too. Max would know more." Maylee looked around the room apprehensively. "What do you think this room was used for?"

"What? Why, its obvious, Maylee." Samira said, her voice taking on an odd tone. "Let me show you!" With that, Samira grabbed Maylee by the wrist and pulled her into the Moroccan's lap. "This was where the nobles got to amuse themselves, play with their toys. Like this!" Gripping Maylee's wrist tightly with one hand, Samira reached out with her other to tickle the ninja's bare belly.

Maylee yelped and squirmed in Samira's grasp. Her nails wriggled deviously along the smooth skin of her stomach, quickly bringing the Japanese girl to giggles. Fingers zigzagged from one side of her midriff to the other in quick little motions that made her belly shiver and tense. But despite some squirming, Maylee couldn't seem to wriggle free of Samira's grip. Her hand had an iron grasp on her wrist, which was now twisted behind her back as she lay across the chair in her boss's lap, completely vulnerable.

"Hehehehey! Stohohohohop it bohohohosss! Thahahahat tihihihickles!" Maylee tried to protest, although she realized that she was in for another round of tickling. Samira had placed her perfectly, trying to maneuver out of her lap just brought her stomach ever closer to those wriggling fingernails. And that just made Maylee slam down again, bouncing in her captor's lap. Giggles were quickly turning into full fledged laughter as Maylee tried to figure out what had gotten into Samira. Unlike before, Maylee hadn't done a thing to set her off. There didn't seem to be any purpose this time, almost as if Samira was just tickling her for fun.

"Just imagine, Maylee…" Samira said, as her tickling hand enthusiastically squeezed at the girl's hips. "How the Marquis and his mistresses would play… grabbing a girl just like this, and tickling her until she positively exploded!" Neither of them had any idea what actually had gone on here, although considering what had already happened today, the idea that the Marquis and the others tickled people to hysterics here seemed completely logical to Maylee.

"And not just tickle, but at the same time tease them until they begged for more!" Samira continued, with an almost mad glint in her eye. Her tickling hand roved over Maylee's bare body, across her stomach, and began ticklishly caressing the undersides of her breasts. The girl howled with laughter, obviously a sensitive spot, to Samira's obvious delight. She softly but methodically stroked and squeezed, in a way that was quickly making Maylee blush and feel some more than just tickling.

"Ahahahaha! Nohohohoho! Pleheheheheease! Sahahahamira!" Maylee begged, using Diouri's first name for the first time. It was that very thing that pulled Samira out of her hedonistic daze, her eyes focusing again, her fingers stopping their delicious torment. Samira looked down at Maylee almost confused, as if waking from a daydream. Right. I'm not the Marquis, nor any of his noblewomen. What am I doing? Samira thought to herself, releasing her grip on Maylee and letting her up, not understanding how she had managed to hold onto the more athletic woman.

"Ah… anyway." Samira said, clearing her throat awkwardly as Maylee recovered her composure. "We should keep going. I want to find a way back up to the others, although who knows what we'll find at this rate…" Maylee nodded silently. She eyed her boss carefully, warily observing again the restraints on that padded central dais, and all the odd feathers hanging on the walls. Both of them were struck with their own sense of urgency to get out of this odd room.

***

"Mahahax! Get over hehehehere!" Rebecca yelled, her quavering voice echoing through the hall. Max charged towards the sound of her voice, both in order to rescue her from whatever was happening to her, and to get away from those strange paintings. Had he really seen those pale hands tickling him? Did that painting actually come to life to tickle him? It was beyond strange, but there were more important tasks at hand…

Max rounded a corner and found Rebecca in a rather bizarre situation. She was holding onto some kind of large jewel with has being pulled by some invisible wire up into a hole in the ceiling. Rebecca was holding on tight to it, an agate, an opal? It was hard to tell with the tug-of-war going on for it. Rebecca's arms were held high over her head, holding onto the gem tightly. It seemed like the two were at an impasse: the stone couldn't lift Rebecca, and Rebecca couldn't pull it down.

But a third factor made was making itself known. Two feather dusters had emerged from either wall in the narrow hallway and had positioned themselves on either side of Rebecca's underarms, and wiggled ferociously. The brushed up and down the outstretched hollows in an alternating rhythm, and it was clearly having an effect on the woman. She giggled and cursed, squirming in place but not daring to do the one thing that would stop the tickling: letting go.

"Mahahax! Hehehelp me get thihihis jewel! It's wohohohorth mihihihillions!" Rebecca commanded through her giggling, becoming increasingly distracted by the devious tickling. Max paused for a moment to take in the absurd sight with a lopsided grin. It reminded him of raccoon traps: the animal wouldn't open their fist to let go of their treasure, and their hand would remain stuck in the hole. The principle was the same here, the ticklish tracker getting her just deserts for her greed.

"Shouldn't you just let go? We can find the jewel later once you've… ah… recomposed yourself." Max said sensibly. He understood the desire for the jewel, but the intense greed Rebecca was demonstrating stuck him as a little silly. Did she really need it right this second? And did she honestly think she could best the inanimate objects tickling her, which seemed to have all the time in the world?

"I need it behehehehefore Samira gehehehets hehehehere!" She sputtered, barely understandable at this point. But Max got the jist: if Samira didn't know about the gem, Rebecca wouldn't have to share the bounty. Max shook his head in a combination of annoyance and amusement. He watched for a moment as the feather dusters softly brushed the outstretched hollows, each stroke bringing fresh giggles out of the woman. Max debated with himself whether to lend a hand or leave her to the trap. Rebecca would surely hold a grudge, then again the sight of her being tickled like that was almost too tempting to resist...
Finally coming to his senses, Max remembered how angry his fellow tracker would be if her were to take advantage of her in such a precarious position. “Oh all right. But this is the last jewel that you’re taking, Rebecca Kittleton. Or else something like this might happen again, and I won’t be there to help you!” Annoyingly crossing his arm across his chest, he stepped forward, grabbing the jewel with both his hands, yanking it down from the string pulling it up.

Hearing a loud snap, the invisible wire snapped under both their combined strengths, causing both Max and Rebecca to fall onto the ground. As Max slowly got to his feet, he noticed a smiling Rebecca holding the opal up to her eye level, giving it one last careful inspection. “Whew, and not a scratch on this baby! This should sell quite nicely on the black markets… Let’s get a move on, you slow dusty archeologist! Let’s see what other treasures we can find in this big mansion before Samira and Maylee gets back!”

Sighing to himself, he stood to his feet, quickly giving chase to the excited tracker who bounded out of the room, in a hurry to discover more gems and jewels to hoard for herself. “Slow down, who knows what lies in this mansion? There could be any manner of traps and mechanisms designed to stop people like us from entering or leaving this place if we’re not careful. I rather much like to keep my head on my shoulders, thank you very much.”

“Oh relax Maxy. If the traps are just like the previous one, all we have to fear are just a few inseey bitty tickles, or something along those lines. Or are you scared because… You’re ticklish? Is the brave archeologist a little sensitive? Tickle tickle!” Turning around, she caught Max off guard, digging her fingers into his ribs, causing him to let out an Un-manly yelp, before a few giggles unwittingly escaped from his mouth. He quickly pushed Rebecca away from him, who stood with her hands on her hips, a Cheshire cat-like grin on her features.

“I’m not ticklish ok! Y-you just caught me off guard that’s all! Let’s just quickly go, there’s a room up ahead with an open door. Maybe you can find something of your tastes inside.” Flustered, he quickly jogged over inside the room, Rebecca following him with a sly smile on her face. As he took a look around the room, he idly thought to himself. “Just a few minutes ago you were the giggling one, trying to get that opal. I wonder who’s the more ticklish one out of the both of us, you mischievous poacher….”

“Wow… This room is so spacious… But at the same time so empty. Hey, why are there two statues in the middle of the room?” Glancing ahead, he noticed a curious Rebecca walking towards the statues. “Hmmm… what do you think this room could have been used for, Ma-” Before she could finish that sentence, both of them heard a loud slamming sound behind them. As they turned around, they saw that the door that was previously open was now locked tightly shut. A quick turn of the knob also revealed what both of them were suspecting. They were locked in.

“So it seems that we got trapped in here… I can’t seem to find a way out too… All the windows in this room seem to be bared shut. Any ideas, Max?” Walking around, Rebecca tried to feel the walls with her hands, hoping for a secret way out, or maybe a fake wall that would open up into an exit. Not hearing a response from Max, she turned around, annoyed. “Max, what are you doing, we need to find a way out of this room!”

“Wait Rebecca, I think I might have found something interesting… Come over here and take a look!” As the tracker strode over, Max pointed towards a plaque in front of the two statues, which showed two smiling joker faces on it. “I think this might be the key to solving this puzzle so that we can escape! Although I’m not sure of make of it…”

“Two Joker faces? Hmm… Wait a sec… These statues… Don’t their faces look coincidentally like… Samira and Maylee?! And these two feather dusters on the floor… You think they might have something to do with the puzzle?” Picking up a feather duster, she stood in front of the marble-statue look-alike of Maylee, who she admitted, looked very life-like and stunning in a Victorian age dress that ended at just around her knees that the sculptor had so aptly chosen for her. One thing she noticed was that in the statue, Maylee didn’t seem to be smiling. Instead, her lips were locked tightly in a small pout.

“Yes, I think you’re right! And both of them don’t seem to be smiling in the statues. You think that maybe… We have to use the feather dusters to clean the statues in some way or the other? Maybe that’s the answer to the puzzle that will get us out of here!” Max stood in front of his statue of Samira, her own outfit a long trailing, regal looking Victorian gown, who also had a tight-expression on her face.

“Oh well, it can’t hurt to try, can it? Let’s see, here looks a little dusty… I think I’ll start over... here.” Giving the plummy duster a few experimental swishes in the air, Rebecca quickly got to work on Maylee’s neck, slowly swishing the feathers of the duster this way and that.

“I think I’ll start here then. Here looks like the dustiest spot…” Nervously, Max lifted his duster, a and got to work on the taut area of Samira’s belly.

***

“Hey Maylee, you find anything over there? Nothing but tapestries and paintings on my side.”

“Sigh… I can’t seem to find anything over here either. Have we searched the center of the room, the one with that big round dia-hahhahahahaaa!”

Bursting into giggles, a wide grin appeared on Maylee’s face as she was caught off guard by the feathery sensations moving across the nape of her neck.

“What’s wrong Maylee? Did you find anything-hehehheeehee!” Gripping her belly, Samira quickly covered her mouth with one hand, a smile also forming on the corners of her mouth, despite her best efforts.

“Boss, Heheheheeelp meeeheheeehee! What’s happening now, I don’t see anything around me, but something’s tickling my neck! Hehhehehehahaa!” Trying to cover her neck with her hands, she let out a few more giggles, not knowing a way to block the ticklish feathery feeling.

“I-I have no idea what’s happening as well M-Maylee. Maybe it’s just some k-kind of trick in this room?” Gritting her teeth in order not to let out any giggles, Samira tried to suck in her belly to try to get rid of the devious ticklish feathers fluttering across her belly. It was a futile attempt however, whichever way she moved her belly, the feathers stroking across it also seem to be moving in tandem with her.

***

“I think I cleaned quite a bit of dust off this look-alike Maylee statue. Hey, this statue also has long legs, just like our Maylee! Hmmm… What a nice coincidence. These legs of hers are also looking quite dusty. Coochie Coo, statue of Maylee!” With a sly smile, Rebecca squatted down, lifting her duster to start stroking at the statue’s long pale legs.

“Over here looks a bit dusty too… I guess I have to clean the dust off of here as well. This marble statue is quite dusty over her indeed… I think I have to clean extra meticulously over here…” With a leery grin, Max raised his feather duster, starting to stroke it lightly over the tops of the exposed breasts of Samira’s statue, sometimes dusting lightly on the sides of the marble-white globes.

***

Meanwhile, in the floors deep below the mansion, if one could explore that deep, one could see a hysterically laughing female Asian who had fallen to the floor, her hands trying to frantically move across her longs pale legs, trying to cover them from who-knows-what that was assaulting them. One could also see a curvaceous Moroccan who was giggling quietly to herself in a corner of the room, both hands randomly moving across her heaving chest as she tried her best to not let out any laughter.

“Boss! Something’s tickling my lehehehheheheegs now! I can’t do anything about it! It feheheheheeeels like feathers stroking across them!”

“J-Just hold on Maylee, maybehehehehee it will go away in a feehehheheew moments!” Cursing herself and whatever was deciding to tickle her breasts, she accidently let out a few giggles while trying to answer Maylee, hoping that the latter couldn’t hear her amidst her own laughter.

“I caahhahahahan’t stand it, these downy fehehheheeathers moving across my thighs! Mahahahahaake it stop, aahahahhaanyone! Aaahahhahhaaaa! No wait, not-THHAHAHAHHahhahahaa! HHAHAhahahahHAHAhahaaa!” Bursting into shrieking laughter, Maylee curled into a small ball on the floor, her head thrown back in laughter as she frantically pawed her black shorts with both hands.

“I don’t know whhahahahaats happening as well Maylee-HeehhHehehhhhee!” Giggling like a little schoolgirl now, Samira leaned against the wall, crossing both her arms underneath her chest, the dam of laughter that was building inside her about to break free in a tidal wave of hysterics.

***

“I can’t see it, but I’m sure you must be quite dusty over there, Maylee. A few harmful strokes won’t hurt, especially if it’ll keep this statue dust free!” Coyly, Rebecca’s hand wandered further into Maylee’s dress, the feather duster now stroking across the spot between her rear and her inner thighs.

“My my, these statues do look quite dusty almost everywhere. Even the nooks and crannies that one would not know where to look for, I, Maximilian Kovacs, shall clean every speck of dust off this statue!” With a strange hungry look in his eyes, the archeologist rapidly started dusting in both of his statue’s underarms with a new vigor, strangely determined to clean every area.

After a few more moments of ‘cleaning’, both of them heard a clicking sound, as the door that was previously locked now was wide open. They both put down their feather dusters, smiling to each other a figuring out the puzzle.

“Well, it looks like cleaning the statues was part of the puzzle after all! Too bad there’s no treasure in this room though. Oh well, onwards we go! Maybe the next room will have something exciting!”

“H-Hey! Wait up, don’t leave me alone over here! Hold up!” Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he quickly raced after the eager tracker, quickly bounding out of the room after her.

In a hurry to leave the room, what both of them didn’t see was that the pouting faces of the two statues were now replaced by wide smiles, with a glint of laughter in both of the statue’s marble eyes.

***

“Huff… Huff… I think it’s stopped… Samira… I don’t feel anything tickling me anymore…” Maylee said, lying on the floor, gasping for breath after the ticklish ordeal of having her body stroked across by feathers just few moments ago.

“Are you alright? I think we should continue searching. Maybe after that little experience, we might find something different that we can use to get out of this room.” Also a little out of breath, Samira leaned with her back against the wall, her eyes trying to scan around the room for anything of interest, or if anything had changed.
As Fox strode down the corridor, the sensors on her suit detecting faint echoes of laughter throughout the sprawling chateau, she felt her heartbeat hasten. She half-expected some kind of tentacle monstrosity to pop out at her at any second as she walked on the creaky wooden floorboards.

She was relieved when her suit suddenly detected movement from a pair of people in the room south of here. Breaking into a jog, the nimble scout began climbing and hopping purposefully to her destination. There were other rooms that she walked past; some with their doors flung open as if to invite her, and some with their doors closed tightly as to tempt her into exploration. But Fox was having none of it. Her feet still tingled where the feathers had done a number on her. She would reunite with her backup first. If nothing more, they could be used to test the waters first… and if Fox could somehow get her hands on the remote Samira had…

Fox pushed the thought from her head as she vaulted over a low settee. Be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the present, she thought, as she skidded to a halt outside a pair of heavy doors. She could hear low voices at the other end of the door. With a grunt, Fox slowly pushed them open and slipped inside.

Inside the room, Fox glimpsed the profiles of a hat-wearing tall guy who could only be Max Kovacs. Whispering in his ear as they walked to the next room was a green-haired girl that could only be Rebecca Kittleton, whom Fox had always privately rather disliked. She wondered if Samira had hired the hipster-ish girl just to spite her. Reconnaissance and scouting was Fox’s speciality! What was the big idea hiring another tracker? It was like when your boss assigned someone to follow you around and ‘assist’ you, when in reality that person was your replacement in a short while.

Either way, before Fox could call out to them, they disappeared beyond the doorway, and the door shut firmly behind them.

“Hey, Kovacs! Kittleton!” Fox shouted, pounding on the door, but there was no response. If they had heard, they gave no indication.

***

“Did you hear something?” Max asked, glancing at the door that had shut loudly behind them

“What’s wrong, Bat Max? Are you afraid of more tickle monsters coming to getcha?” Rebecca smirked, as she wiggled her fingers threateningly towards him.

“I was just asking,” Max said, turning pale. “Let’s move on…”

***

Fox tugged at the door, but naturally, it refused to open. Grumbling under her breath, she turned around to see if there was a lever or puzzle somewhere that she had to deal with. In her experience, this sort of thing seemed to be the dorm. No one considered just making an alarm system anymore – it had to be environmental puzzles or nothing. It really was like they were hoping for uninvited guests, Fox thought to herself.

She looked around the room. The room was empty aside from a pair of life sized marble statues. Upon closer examination, the statues bore a disturbingly similar resemblance to two of Fox’s companions – they looked just like Samira and Maylee! There was no mistaking those Asian features nor the smug smirk on statue Samira’s face. Where had these statues come from? Fox kept her eyes glued on the statues, noting the Victorian era garb both statues wore instead of the modern clothing they wore now. Was it just a coincidence? Some kind of long lost descendant? Fox doubted it, as she stared at the wide smiles both statues wore. They were several feather dusters discarded on the floor, and a plaque with a Joker’s grin at the foot of the statues.

Fox quickly worked out the puzzle. “It’s not nearly as satisfying as tickling ‘boss’ in person,” she said, as she picked up the feather duster and positioned herself in front of Samira’s statue, which was clad in a long, regal looking Victorian gown with short sleeves that cut off around her knees, leaving plenty of flesh on display. It was a very Samira outfit, all things considered, Fox decided, as she began feathering the statue with gusto. Fox knew her armpits were a bad spot, so she twirled the feather dusters in there first, wondering if she could bring the statue to tears of laughter.

***

“Whahahahawhy is thihihihis hapenihihihing agahahain!” Samira cried out, as she tucked her hands under her armpits as if that would stop the sensation of feathers twirling all over her sensitive underarms. No matter how she twisted her arms and body, it felt like a swarm of feathers were spinning right into the hollows of her hairless armpits.

Then without even giving Samira a moment to catch her breath, the feathers dipped down to her sides, gliding from the hipbones up to the highest ridge along her ribcages. This sudden jolt of tickling was enough to bring Samira to her knees, the Moroccan crime boss overwhelmed by such a savage stream of tickling hitting her so soon after the previous wave. To make matters worse, the tickling seemed to have intensified somehow, though a short while ago she would not have thought that possible. The feathers really seemed to have it out for her this time.

After tantalizing Samira’s taut belly for a few moments, with a sudden gust, the feathers jumped back up to her sensitive underarms again, the tickling impact making Samira’s arms wobble so she tumbled unceremoniously to the floor.
As Samira was rolling around on the floor laughter while the feather continued to sweep over her body with impunity, she noticed through bleary eyes the sight of Maylee hovering over her. She had a smile on her face, though it clearly wasn’t the smile of tickle-induced laughter.

“Hmmm, you’ll forgive me for doing this, boss, but I feel like you’ve tickled me a ton today,” Maylee said, as she sat down on the back of Samira’s shins. “This feels a bit like just deserts, you know?”

As Samira gave an indignant squeal of protest, Maylee began unlacing the boot of Samira’s right foot. “It looks like someone up there agrees with me. I’m not the one getting tickled after all!” she smiled, shrugging.

Samira was so shocked by the insolence of her subordinate that she didn’t even know what to say, but the feathers currently dancing at her neck kept her busy enough. Before Samira could even muster the brainpower to come up with a coherent response to this insubordination, the eager Asian had stripped off both of Samira’s heavy black boots, and was making short work of Samira’s white ankle socks too. Before long, Samira’s bare feet, slender and bronzed from the Moroccan sun, were exposed to all the elements – in particular, Maylee’s teasing fingernails.

“Wow, these are really soft!” Maylee exclaimed girlishly, as her fingers gave an experimental skitter down the tanned brown soles, making Samira squeak and squirm even harder than the already was from the feathers. “I wish I had the time to get as many pedicures as you,” Maylee said, gesturing to the black nail varnish that adorned each of the Morrocan’s toes as she gave each of them an experimental scratch. “Well, maybe not if it makes them this ticklish!” she giggled, as Samira howled with laughter as her slender digits were teased by Maylee’s expert, dexterous touch.

“Stahahahap, Mahahahay Leeheeee! I comahahand it!”

What was that? You’ll have to speak more clearly, boss,” Maylee giggled, as her fingers scratched wildly all over Samira’s deep, high arches, driving the black-haired crime boss into frantic hysterics. The feathers were still working hard, as they were currently sliding along Samira’s inner thighs.

Samira’s dominant mien had been shattered by the invasion of feathers and feathers to her ticklish body, and she felt so mortified by having her ticklish feet in the hands of someone who was supposed to take orders from her. How would she have a modicum of authority now? Trapped on her stomach, and overpowered by the tickling, there was nothing Samira could do but pound her fists on the floor in frustration. Sometimes she was laughing too hard to even do that, such as when Maylee began poking her little fingers along the gaps and webbing of Samira’s pedicured toes, which tickled the crime boss more than she could have imagined. And all the while, the feathers raged across her body…

***

“Well, this has been disappointing,” Fox said, putting her feather dusters down. She had dusted almost every inch of flesh on the dusty statue, but nothing was happening at all. It would have been better if there had been at least a reaction of some kind – a smirk, a giggle, a light going off somewhere, but there was nothing! “Well, that was a waste of time. Sums up our time together well, eh, ‘boss’?” Fox said disdainfully, chucking the duster casually at the Samira statue. It bounced off her marble chest, and clattered to the floor.

“There must have been something I missed,” Fox mused, scratching her head as she bent down to examine the plaque again. “There’s gotta be something…”
The marble statue of Samira bent its head down to stare at the oblivious cat-suited scout. Her grin widened. It motioned to the Maylee statue, which nodded in response. Silent as, well, statues, they both reached out with arms as strong as stone for the unsuspecting scout…

***

Feeling the feathers finally decide to leave her, Samira found she had the energy to pull her feet out from the Asian’s girls grip. “Enough!” she ordered, putting all the intimidation she had left into her voice. Jolted as if suddenly waking from a dream, the hungry grin on Maylee’s face disappeared and was replaced with a nervous smile of abashment.

“Sorry, boss,” Maylee smiled weakly, noticing the red-faced glare on Samira’s face. “It was too good a moment to pass up,” she confessed, passing Samira back her heavy black boots and socks like a peace offering. “Forgive me, pretty please?”
Name: Hitomi Watanabe

Country of Origin: Japan

Specialty: Linguist, locking picking and general knowledge

Height: 5'5"

Appearance: A short woman with black hair cut in a neat fashion around her neck. Has dark eyes that're usually downcast and avoid looking into others. Very pretty, although she hides it behind a nervous demeanor and her body is rather slender. Her clothing is currently a black tank top with shorts, a sun hat and a backpack filled with survival gear. A holstered gun is at her waist.

Personality/Backstory: A quiet woman with a strong sense of justice, Hitomi joined the police at a young age, her investigation skill and ability to sift through information to find links between crimes soon netting her a job at the organised crimes section at the Criminal Investigation Bureau. Despite her skills though, Hitomi's shyness and inability to stand up to others meant she was bound for a desk job for several years. Tired of this, she was determined to prove that she could be a decent field agent by using her skills to track down the notorious Samira Diouri to her current position. Using some holiday time, Hitomi was determined to capture the crime boss herself and finally become the agent she's always wanted to be.

Tickle spots: Practically all of Hitomi's body is one big tickle spot, the agent being almost agonisingly ticklish all over her skin. Despite (Or because of), her sensitivity though, she very much enjoys being tickled and teased, it being quite easy to arouse her with a few wiggling fingers. Her worst/favourite spots to be tickled are her butt cheeks, a few soft strokes there able to leave her a giggly mess on the floor, hoping that the tickling will carry on.

***

Wiping away the sweat on her brow with her arm, Hitomi gasped in relief as she saw the large mansion before her. At long last! Her search for this place was done! It had taken days to track down Samira's paper trail and then find her tracks to this place, but it looked as if it was going to be all worth it. Taking a swig from her water canteen before placing it back into her bag, Hitomi stepped forward to the large mansion.

Despite her eagerness to get to work, Hitomi had to look at the building and marvel at how well it had held up all these centuries, and how marvelous it looked. She spent some time slowly making her way around it, taking in the sight before quickly remembering why she'd come here in the first place. Taking a breath to steady her nerves, Hitomi got closer to the mansion, coming across the doors that Max and Rebecca had left wide open.

"Oh... my." Hitomi breathed out as she stepped into the main foyer, the sheer scale of wealth making her eyes widen. She couldn't believe so much gold and finery could be in one place and untouched like this. Once again though, her devotion to justice reminded her of why she'd come in the first place. Fighting off the temptation to pocket some of the gold for herself, Hitomi saw an open door leading to a small side corridor and started to walk down it, figuring it was a good a place as any to start.
A Non-Existent User
Rebecca was furious enough to shoot Max. Not because Max had done anything to deserve it nor because he was an annoying nerd nor even because Rebecca wanted all the treasure for herself. No, she just didn't want him around while she was having second thoughts about being here.

Ever since she'd grabbed the beautiful but rigged gemstone a few rooms back, it had become increasingly apparent to Rebecca that this mansions traps were tickle-oriented. Rebecca hated being tickled... but oh, the opal looked so valuable, and there simply had to be other treasures hidden in this place besides it. Torn between her greed and her fear of tickling, the only thing keeping Rebecca grounded in her haughty, dominant persona was Max's nerdy presence. So long as Max was nearby, any sign of her own aversion to tickling had to be concealed.

He's really lucky Samira insisted I leave my weapons behind, Rebecca thought as they trekked through the hallway they now found themselves in. On either side, open doorways revealed bedrooms full of restraining equipment, probably meant housing servants and slaves. I have half a mind to leave him chained to one of these beds. ...Maybe I should, there'd be more treasure for me if-

Suddenly Rebecca stumbled into the wall as the hallway started shaking. "An earthquake?!" Max shouted just before disappearing from view as the hall segmented, the various parts spinning and shuffling around with other parts of the mansion. The area Rebecca was in seemed to spin faster and faster and... Rebecca blacked out.

When Rebecca came to, the hallway appeared to be normal again, but there was no sign of Max anywhere. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. "M-max?" she called out, checking to see if she was really alone. Upon deducing she was, she yelled, "Whoever heard of a castle with rooms that mix shift around like that?!" But as she stood up and dusted herself off, Rebecca grinned, "Well, no problem; now I can get out of here... and pocket any treasure I find for myself along the way."

Rebecca turned, going back towards the door she had entered the hall from, but instead of seeing the two statues from before, she found herself in the hedge maze Samira had told them about. ...Right, shuffling hallways means I have no idea how to get back to the entrance. This might be a problem. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts Rebecca turned back toward the hall. I doubt there's anything of value out here, and I don't need to get more lost than I already-

The door closed and locked.

Rebecca blinked and analyzed the door. There was no lock on it, nor any sign that it was booby trapped, yet it had closed by itself and would not open! So how? How was this happening? How was she, the tracker/trap-finder of the group, failing to find any traps? Rebecca turned back to the hedge maze, now the only route she could follow and a thought occurred to her. The way everything had played out so far felt intentional as though some mischievous force was experimenting with their group--as though they were someone's lab rats.

Suddenly, Rebecca longed for some help. She'd even settle for Max.
Samira sat up, panting heavily on the floor, trying to come to grips with the last few minutes of her life. The repeated bouts of phantom feathers that insidiously tickled her body, roaming all over as if she had no clothing at all. To be fair, that was somewhat true at this point, now clad in the bikini top and shorts, the purple, tickling spore laden shirt had been balled up and tucked into a small sack at her belt, completely useless as protection. Samira couldn't see those feathers, couldn't touch them… but oh how they could touch her: teasing her underarms until she couldn't help but giggle out loud, caressing her hips in a way that made her knees buckle. It wouldn't have been so bad had she been alone, free to writhe and laugh her way through it, it might even have been pleasant. But then there was Maylee, who had seen everything and then taken advantage of her moment of weakness to tickle her feet!

Samira was overwhelmed as she came back to her senses, grabbing her socks and boots back from the now subservient Maylee. "Just… find a way out of this room! And quickly, before those damned feathers come back!" Maylee nodded eagerly, realizing that she had been let off for her transgression this time. Either because it was fair payback for all the tickling she had endured under Samira's well manicured nails, or merely that Maylee had earned a bit of respect by showing she could tickle back… the Asian woman couldn't say. But she looked around the room with a renewed energy; she didn't want to those ghostly feathers to get her either. Hopefully leaving the room would fix that problem, or they'd both be in real trouble.

The leader of the Maghreb underworld had just gotten back to her now protected feet when she heard Maylee exclaim. "I think I see a way out! Samira… boss," Maylee changed the title after a moment's hesitation, starting to feel familiar with her employer, "Look up above the dais, there's a trap door! If I can just reach it…"

Samira climbed onto the central dais with Maylee, looking up at where she was pointing. "Good work, but I can't reach it either. Here, stand on my shoulders, and pull me up once you get up there." Samira commanded, steadying herself and Maylee climbed on top of her. Samira tensed momentarily as she felt hands on her back, instinctively readying herself for another tickling. But she was just being jumpy, and Maylee quickly stood on her shoulders to open the latch at the ceiling and climb up. More quickly than Samira had expected, the lithe Japanese woman had swung up, and was ready to pull Samira up with her. The two exited the cursed room and its phantom feathers, and found themselves one floor up.

Neither could tell who floor this was, but it seemed like they were still subterranean. The two of them were in a long hallway, with doors on either side. "We should check these rooms for information, not to mention valuables." Samira told her comrade. "I'll take the first door on the left, you check the one on the right." Maylee nodded wordlessly and turned to the first door on that side, not making any gesture to draw the wrath of her boss. She was curious why her employer hadn't tickled her to tears after her little playtime with Samira's feet, but she wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth, and didn't want to switch Samira from tolerant to aggressive again.

Samira entered the room on the left: a bedroom. A dusty bed was in one corner, and faded furniture adorned the room. All in all it was fairly standard, and nothing appeared worth taking. No metals that withstood the test of time, no jewels… the only striking thing about the room was its rather large full-length mirror. Too large to move, although it looked luxurious with a silver trim. As Samira gazed at it, she realized something very odd about it. In the reflection, the room appeared in perfect order, as if it were centuries ago. The faded colors were vibrant; the dust and cobwebs gone.

As she approached the mirror, Samira noticed another very important difference: her own reflection. It was wearing some kind of nightie, a revealing garment of a sheer fabric that looked to be quite comfortable in the equatorial heat but equally scandalous for those old times. Samira marveled as her differently dressed self, it looked exactly like her, moved just like a reflection, it just wasn't wearing what she was. It was mind boggling.

Then something changed, as if the mirror decided it wanted to play a new game. The other Samira grinned devilishly at Samira, the kind of flirtatious smirk she had used to get her way with simpleminded men many times before. The doppelganger raised her left arm, and with her right began dragging her nails down the skin. Samira, the real one, flinched, as she felt the sensations as if it were happening to her own body. She tried to brush the feeling away, but found that she couldn't, she could still feel those nails dragging down, and down…

The mirror-Samira stood calmly, tickling herself with one nail tracing a circle around the edges of the armpit while staring at the real thing. Samira squirmed and tried to cover herself, but it was no use, she felt giddy, trying to stifle a grin as the mimic knowingly teased her, unable to look away from those identical eyes. "S-stop tha-hat! Hehehe!" Samira said, letting out a giggle. The other woman only shook her head, and delved her nails under that arm, stretching the hollow taut while digging in with the free hand. The effect on Samira was immediate, she laughing and hugged herself, but nothing she could do could lessen the sensation. It was as if she were calmly presenting herself to the tickling touch, feeling the tickling over every taut patch of skin there. It was maddening.

The doppelganger didn't seem to be able to talk, but it didn't need to. It's purpose was made abundantly clear as it tickled and teased Samira's sensitive underarm, then moving down to caress her own taut tummy over the silky fabric. She was free to tease with both hands now, and Samira's belly quivered and tensed, feeling the touch of nails on the other side of silk perfectly. Samira wanted to look away, felt like she needed to look away from the mirror to break the spell. But somehow she just couldn't, staring weakly into her own reflection as it tickled itself, tickled her. Those nails casually wandered across that compliant belly, while Samira's own shook as she laughed aloud, thankful that she had shut the door behind her, doubting Maylee would hear. Then again, perhaps Samira could use the help.

The doppelganger wasn't satisfied with just tickling those spots. Its hands moved up again slowly, caressing the undersides of Samira's chest with a knowing touch, as if the mirror-thing also possessed Samira's knowledge, exactly the best places to touch her and how. Could it also feel the reactions somehow? Samira couldn't think or reason on it as she bit her lip and stifled a moan as she felt her breasts massaged just so. It was exactly how she would please herself in a moment of privacy, but with the touch of someone else's hands… it was terribly arousing. Samira felt her face reddening, her breathing getting heavier…

…Only to have the doppelganger reach down with one hand and softly tickle her inner thighs, tickling mixing in with the lust in the most infuriating yet somehow delicious way. It slowly repeated the process, rubbing her nipples and stroking those little erogenous spots only she knew about, only to tickle her inner thighs before she could start to seriously begin enjoying herself. Yet each time she began to enjoy it anyway, the feelings merging into something greater. And all the while she couldn't manage to tear herself away from her own eyes and she openly giggled and moaned, irresistibly attractive sounds to any who would hear. Those dark orbs so like her own that seemed to swirl with devious intent, as if it had just found a new toy, and wanted to take its sweet time unwrapping it and playing with it for the first time.
Somewhere in the mansion depths, the archaeologist awoke.

Max groaned. The world was dark; he must still have his eyes closed. His head pounded and he felt sore, as if he'd been carelessly shaken around in a blender. What had happened? He remembered walking down a hall with Rebecca, then an ear-splitting crack and the world moving. That's right, it was some kind of earthquake! he recalled. If the quake was enough to literally split the hallway in half and move him all this way then the entire colony must be rubble, and he was lucky to have survived.

It was only when he sat up that he realized his eyes were open, and he was instead wreathed in pitch blackness. Panicking at the thought of being buried alive, Max felt around for the telltale debris and cracks that would have followed an earthquake. All he could feel was smooth, polished stone floor. As his hands felt around, they bumped against the high-powered tactical flashlight that was hanging from his belt. Samira had insisted they all carry one, but he had forgotten about it. Max switched it on, and had to squeeze his eyes shut from the sudden influx of light. When they adjusted, he looked around and his jaw dropped.

There was no sign of the mysterious earthquake ever happening. Instead of a fractured pile of rubble, he was in a long hall of polished stone. Behind him, where there might have been a door or entrance, there was a sheer rock wall. It was as if some omnipresent force had deposited him here on purpose.

Rebecca was nowhere to be seen, and neither were any of his fellow conspirators for that matter. His equipment was all intact, though scattered on the floor around him. While Max had thought that his experience with the portraits earlier were strange, nothing came close to this current turn of events. He suspiciously took a step down the dark hall, then another until he was walking forward at a brisk pace, guided only by the shaky beam of his flashlight.

Max could intuitively feel himself getting closer to his destination as he wandered ahead down the path, taking numerous lefts and rights and feeling the walls for any buttons or levers. He took a final right turn and this time saw a pinprick of light, a lit torch, at the end of the passage. But as soon as he took one step forward, his flashlight sputtered out and left him fumbling in the darkness. Struggling to find new batteries in his pouches, Max stumbled forward and heard a loud twang as he broke a device that sounded suspiciously like a tripwire.

The air around him started to get thicker, like some sort of fume was being released into the atmosphere. Max coughed heavily into his sleeve, accidentally inhaling some of the gas. The choking miasma began to weigh his mind down. Though he tried to stumble closer to the pinprick of light at the hallway's end he could feel his vision twisting and morphing. The darkness of the passage seemed to brighten and voices started to ring in his ears. Max screwed his eyes shut in an attempt to ward the hallucinations off, but he forced his eyes open when he felt a sharp poke in his side.

Max gasped. Instead of the underground tunnel, he was totally naked in some kind of bawdy ballroom, tied with his arms over his head to a plush couch. He looked down at himself to see his skin looked several shades darker than normal. Through the brightly-colored haze, numerous male and female partygoers in masques were frolicking around him, the men chortling and the females pointing and giggling from behind themed masks. To Max's confusion and horror, he deduced that this was exactly the type of ball that the Marquis of the mansion might have held hundreds of years ago. Opening and closing his eyes to no avail, Max could find no way to escape the gas-induced hallucination.

He let out another giggle when someone else's finger found its way to his armpits. He looked up to see a female figure in a Greek comedy mask grinning down at him, brushing her fingers in his armpits. As the woman kept up the laugh-inducing torment, she called in French over to a busty friend in a tiger mask. While the first haughty noble buried her index fingers in his exposed (and shaved) armpits, her acquaintance reached lower and skittered her buffed nails around his midsection evoking peals of insane laughter from him with each tweak of a rib.

"Heeehahaha! Please, stohohop, I can't take it!" Max begged as they continued working him over

The two were soon joined by a short man, who was obviously drunken on wine. He amused himself by sawing toucan feathers through Max's toes, while he begged unsuccessfully for mercy. The people seemed to either enjoy his pleas, or perhaps they didn't even understand him at all. His laughter drew in more onlookers, and through the colorful haze of the hallucination dozens of hands seemed to extend from the crowd to tickle, prod, squeeze, and even massage his naked body. Then the brash colors, delighted talking, and music began to fade, and it all went dark.

Max sat up, gasping, on the cold stone floor. He had awoken by the torch he had seen earlier, which was next to a wooden door. Almost able to still feel the fingers on his body, Max turned to reason to make sense of the situation. Some type of hallucinogenic gas had affected his brain and made him see things. But how could he feel the tickling so vividly, and how were the hallucinations so similar to the tales he had heard about the Marquis's estate? The longer he was in this mysterious place, the more questions were raised about its existence. He crawled to his feet, and reached for the knob of the door in front of him, eager to put this phenomenon behind him.

The archaeologist opened the door to find himself face to face with the martial artist, Maylee.
“M-Max? What are you doing down here? I thought you were with Rebecca, trying to find a way into the mansion?” Exclaiming in surprise, Maylee almost fell backwards onto her rear at seeing her fellow raiding companion down her in the tunnels below , an extremely unexpected sight.

“Why, and I thought you and Samira did the same thing? It seems we both got separated from our partners. Actually you see, after both you and Samira left to explore that giant hedge maze, Rebecca and I managed to open the front door, and we went to explore inside the mansion…” Catching Maylee up on what has happened so far, all Maylee could do was nod at the peculiar events that had happened to the archaeologist and the tracker while she and Samira were exploring the tunnels underground.

“So yes, after getting out of that room with the statues, there was a sudden earthquake and I blacked out. When I came to, I found myself down her in these tunnels, where I promptly found you.” Failing to mention his little escapade with the hallucination trap, he felt it was best if Maylee didn't found out. After all, what kind of archaeologist would fall prey to such an obvious trap? His reputation would go down the drain faster than how long it took him to laugh when those imaginary feathers were tickling him.

“Well, there have been a lot of strange things going on in the tunnels beneath De Marquis’ Mansion. Don’t tell Samira, but I think these tunnels are haunted…” Maylee gave a shiver, closing the door to the room behind her, finding nothing but a few dusty barrels and crates inside it. Nothing worth noting about for their current escapade.

“Speaking of Samira, where is she? Did you run ahead of her, leaving her alone in these tunnels?” With an inquisitive raise of his eyebrow, Max questioned Maylee, who had a look of embarrassment appear across her face, before she started making her way towards the door that Samira had gone through.

“As a matter of fact, both Samira and I decided to just explore different rooms. Now, if you could kindly wait out here, I’ll go ahead and have a look on why our delightful boss is taking so long…”

Quickly making sure her shirt was knotted properly, she grabbed the knob of the door, giving it a hard twist. She was rewarded by the door slowly opening, giving her a look into the room. A quick glance revealed a sparse room, filled with an old bed, as well as a few chairs and tables.

What she saw in the front of the room however, Maylee could never expect. There, sitting in front of large mirror, was her boss, Samira, giggling like a school girl, her hands moving all across her body, as if trying to protect her body from something touching it. Maylee also noted, her boss was also moaning to herself, her erect nipples showing through her tight shirt a testament of how aroused her boss was feeling. Curious as to what was happening, Maylee started to walk forward, unknowing of the trap that her boss had fallen into.

“Hey boss, what are you doing? Are you ok? Why are you umm… Giggling to yourself?”

“M-Mayleehhheheeehee! Stay back, don’t walk in front of the mirror! Aahaahahhaaa!”

Her warning came a second too late however, for as soon as Maylee stepped forth, a mirror image of her, wearing a skimpy, translucent Victorian night gown, smirking as in both her hands, she held a long, plummy feathers. As Maylee stood there in shock, looking as Samira’s reflection traced it’s nails over its body, which left the real Samira giggling and moaning from arousal, she noticed her own reflection move on its own with a mischievous smile, lifting the edge of her gown with one hand, and inserting the feather in with the other hand to stroke over the bottoms of her breasts.

Caught off guard by the feathery sensations on her real body, Maylee burst out into guffaws of laughter, not knowing how to prevent her mirror self from tickling ‘her’ own body. Seeing a nice reaction from the real life Maylee, the Maylee in the mirror gestured towards the mirror image of Samira, who was busy stroking her fingers around her own tanned body, causing the Samira in the room to laugh in hysterics.

After a quick discussion, both reflections looked towards their counterparts with impish grins, ready to start their ticklish plan.

When Maylee looked up, she saw both reflections facing each other, with both of them raising one arm. “No wait, not that-EHHEHEHAHAHAHAA!” Giggling anew, she saw out the corner of her eye, Samira’s reflection scratching its nails across her reflections underarms in earnest, making the Maylee who was receiving the tickling to go ballistic with ticklish laughter. Samira on the other hand, was not faring too well either, Maylee’s reflection swishing the feather that she had across the hollows of Samira’s reflection, and sometimes exploring to the tops of her breasts, making the real Samira hysterical with cackling laughter, both of the real Maylee and Samira unable to tear their eyes away from their reflections tickling each other.

Teasing this way and that, Samira’s reflection wiggled its fingers all over its belly, along with the reflection of Maylee lightly brushing the tip of the feather along the crack of her ass, eliciting wide grins and belly-shaking laughter from the proud leader of the exploration team. Sometimes, Maylee’s reflection would use it’s hair to stroke across her breasts through the sheer thin fabric of her gown, while Samira’s reflection bent down to Maylee’s legs, squeezing her knees and skittering it’s nails all across Maylee’s sensitive inner thighs, causing the Maylee in real life to burst out laughing like a lunatic, frantically using her hands to touch her own chest, trying to stop the tickling, while her own legs started to wobble from the immense ticklish sensations.

After a while though, Maylee started to feel whatever was holding her in place weaken, as she could move her eyes slightly away from the mirror. A quick glance at her boss also revealed the same thing. If she could just lash out with her boot… And break that stupid mirror…. This would be all over…
It was just when Fox turned her back to scan for possible places to climb out of the room (would it be too much to hope for air ducts in the ancient chateau?) that she suddenly had flashbacks of the gargoyles that had sprung to life to torment her during her initial entry. And if one statue was no different from another…

Fox’s sensors picked up the movement a second before the two statues were on her with surprising speed. Both the Samira and Maylee statue wore matching Cheshire grins, though Fox was in no position to note this, as they straddled her body. Fox tried to wiggle free, but they had her firmly pinned. One of them, knowing her luck, probably the Samira statue, was sitting on her back, the heavy weight of the marble statue keeping her glued to the floor. Its fingers were questing into her armpits in a determined, insistent fashion, as if trying to tickle the resistance out of her. It was doing a good job, as aside from a bit of wiggling, the most resistance Fox was managing to put up was beating her fists on the dusty floors in a fit of ticklish frustration. The second statue soon added its fingers to the mix, making matters even worse for the sensitive scout. Marble fingers, sharpened to fine points, skittered across Fox’s soles while the statue sat on Fox’s calves, ensuring there was nothing she could do but sit and take it as the marble fingernails glided up and down her catsuited soles, transmitting every sensation throughout her reluctant body. Fox made a valiant effort at rolling around in ticklish mirth, but the two heavy statues meant she would be going nowhere further than a few centimetres to the left or right.

For what felt like the umpteenth time today, Fox’s mellifluous laughter erupted from her and bounced across the walls of the beautiful carved room as if to mock her with her own ticklishness. Badass Sasha 'Fox' Volkov, super-scout extraordinaire, brought down by tickles yet again. She would have been embarrassed if she wasn’t laughing so hard to worry about such things. Her thoughts went back to Samira, who always kept the threat of the ticklish detonator hovering over her… do the job well, Fox, or I turn this on… I’ll turn this on, and turn your beloved suit against you, and tickle every inch of your body at once! Samira enjoyed demonstrations of the power she had over her too, often justifying it with some teambuilding exercise BS. Fox was sick of it all. She was sick of always being on the receiving end… the one time she got to tickle anything, even a statue, it tickled her back!

Wait, weren’t the statues ticklish too? Fox paused for a moment trying to think as the Samira statue’s fingernails continued to plunge wildly in her super sensitive armpits. Maybe it would be possible to retaliate somehow… Fox closed her eyes and tried to think as the Maylee statue was doing what Fox could only assume was the French version of this little piggy to her poor toes, which tickled ridiculously much. Before long, the Samira statue was even beginning to prod and poke about her ribs and sides too, just to mix things up. Thanks to the tickling temporarily leaving her armpits alone, Fox was able to reach her hands back to graze the Samira’s statues knees. After a few experimental squeezes and scratches, Fox could feel the tickling hands of the Samira statue at her stomach grind to a halt. The statue stood up from its tickling position and slowly marched its way back to where it was originally. Over the din of her diminished but still significant laughter, Fox could just about make out the sound of gears grinding within the doors. Of course, the scrabbling at her feet was still doing ineffable things to Fox’s mind, but it was a moral victory of sorts.

***

“Thihihihihis doesn’t mahahahake any sehehehense!” the real Samira hollered in complaint, as she suddenly felt her knees being squeezed and grazed in addition to the ungodly things the Maylee reflection was doing to her chest. Samira had accepted the weird French magical thing that seemed to be going on in this haunted chateau, but would it be too much to ask for consistency in how things worked? It was like the universe was just picking on her!

***

Thankfully, with the Samira statue absent, Fox was easily able to twist her poor ticklish body around; while she was not quite able to pull them out, by rotating her lithe, flexible body 180 degrees, she was in perfect position for a counterattack, as she drove her claw-like hands straight for the hollows of the Maylee statue’s arms, which were outstretched as they continued their fiendish, ticklish machinations on Fox’s shapely, velvety feet.

***

Elsewhere in the mansion, Maylee too felt the unfair prongs of fate as her underarms came under attack in addition to the savage tickling the Samira reflection was inflicting on her toned, muscular stomach, though she did not vocalize her frustrations quite so strongly. Her mind was preoccupied on the mirror, surely if they broke it, this strange spell would be broken… but it was easier said than done for our ticklish treasure hunters, however.

***

Panting to catch her breath, Fox walked on shaky feet as the Maylee statue strode purposefully away from her and returned to its position next to the plaque. Pushing the doors open, she found herself at a crossroads, with doors leading left, right, and forward. Opting for the pathway to the left, Fox followed the corridor till her infrared sensors detected a presence at the next room. Perhaps it would be Max, whose earnest nature Fox admired, or Maylee, whose quiet and humble attitude was refreshing in a business filled with braggarts and bullies. Reaching for the doorknob, Fox discovered it was locked, but the flimsy wooden door didn’t look especially sturdy, and after borrowing a nearby bust, Fox quickly made herself a new entrance.

“You’re not very stealthy for a scout, are you?” Rebecca Kittleton said drily by way of greeting, as she stood at the entrance of a large and foreboding maze.
Fox felt her heart drop. “Just my luck…” she thought in dismay. “Whom do I end up with but her…”

“Good to see you too, Kittleton,” Fox said, rolling her eyes, but the effect was missed due to her mask. “Sorry I was AWOL for a while there. To make a long story short, don’t take your eyes off any statues. Like don’t even blink. Blink and you’re dead. Anyway, let’s go out and see if we can find our way out of this godforsaken place, eh?”

As Rebecca grunted in agreement, and the pair began walking along the maze, Fox found herself wondering if it would be possible to organize some kind of convenient accident. She eyed the exposed dark skin of the other woman, and mused if she might be as ticklish. Seeing that poser with the silly green hair and the hipster glasses in a ticklish situation of her own might improve Fox's mood immensely…
Having made her way through the corridor, Hitomi stopped short as she heard desperate laughter coming from a room up ahead. Pulling out her gun, she made her way towards the entrance to see... two statues tickling someone. The sheer sight of it caught Hitomi completely off guard and she could only stare at the completely bizarre spectacle before her. Despite being made of stone, the statues made good work on using their fingers to work over the woman, making howl with laughter from their wiggling touches.

After a few moments to get used to what she was seeing, Hitomi recognised the woman being tickled by the statues as the notorious Fox, an agent of Samira! This was just the break she'd been hoping for, one of Samira's inner circle captured and at her mercy as she got her first major lead against the crime boss. And if she didn't tell Hitomi where Samira was, the police agent had found one way to get her to talk. Noticing a feather duster on the floor, Hitomi started to think of the many ways those soft plumes could work over Fox's body, making her giggle and writhe, pleading for Hitomi for it to stop as the agent would...

Blinking as she came back down to Earth, Hitomi suddenly realised that the laughter had stopped and Fox, thankfully having missed the agent, going through a set of doors on the other side of the room. Cursing under her breath, Hitomi started rushing forwards, knowing how much of a threat Fox was now that she was free and didn't trust getting the drop on her from a room away. She rushed through the doors, the set closing behind her and leaving Hitomi alone. Looking around her, she heard footsteps to the left so she slowly made her way down there.

After hearing a loud bang, Hitomi paused and then heard voices, had Fox met someone else from the group that was here? Needing to find the answer, the agent made her way down the corridor only to stumble across a door leading to a hedge maze. Looking at it in surprise, Hitomi wondered just how this had got into the building before resolving on moving forward, having to catch Fox before losing her completely.

Holstering her gun, for now, Hitomi started to walk through the maze, the minutes ticking by slowly before things started to get odd. Her backpack started to get caught on branches, the lanes of the maze seemingly getting thinner despite them being easy enough to fit through only moments ago. If she didn't know any better, Hitomi could have swore that the hedges themselves were leaning in. Remembering the tickling statues from earlier, the police agent realised she couldn't really dismiss that possibility...

As her back got snagged once more, Hitomi growled with frustration before switching positions, standing to the side now as she started to walk sideways to get through the maze. The hedges got closer and she was soon brushing against the leaves, letting out a surprised giggle as she felt one of them flick into her ear. Looking around her, Hitomi realised that the way she had come was now sealed off and the branches of the trees were indeed getting closer, as if reaching out to her.

"NooOYYAHOOO!!" She squealed, feeling several of the branches move up her thin tank top, sliding underneath and brushing against her belly. She jumped and tried to push them away, only to feel more branches and leaves brush against her smooth armpits. As agonisingly ticklish as she was, Hitomi was soon laughing as more leaves joined in, tickling her skin more and more as it became exposed from her desperate thrashing attempts to escape. Her tank top rode up, exposing more ticklish skin to be teased by the seemingly alive hedges that delighted in making the police agent jump.

"SOMOMONEHEHHEEEEHEELPPAAHHAAA!!" Hitomi cried out of reflex. As much as she enjoyed tickling, she doubted she wanted to be stuck in a place like this...
Samira was at her wits end. It was useless to resist or fight this tickling from the other side of the mirror. There was no use in protecting yourself, and looking away from the scene seemed impossible. Maylee was beside her, equally hysterical, and equally spellbound. They were both caught in the hypnotic gaze of their mirror-selves, a knowing stare that was devilish and sultry, four jet black eyes glittering triumphantly at them.

Inside the mirror, Maylee and Samira had turned toward each other. Samira was having a glorious time exploring every inch of Maylee's taut tummy, Mirror Maylee stretching obediently to allow perfect access to the silky skin. A fingernail twirled at the edge of her navel, before sinking in to wiggle playfully, causing the real Maylee to howl with laughter, clutching at her belly in vain. Meanwhile, Maylee's other was using her two feathers to brush and tease Samira's breasts, dragging the plumes in spirals across the delicious, full orbs. The silky fabric of the mirror image's nightgown only seemed to enhance the feeling, making Samira giggle huskily and moan.

Samira's tickling had turned decidedly sensual, and was having a significant effect on the woman. She was no longer able to stifle the occasional moan, nor the telltale undulating of her hips instinctively calling out for attention, nor the pertness of her nipples through the fabric of her top, even more noticeable on the shirt-less Moroccan. Samira noticed her doppelganger had the same physical state, but couldn't tell whether it was because her body could somehow effect the mirror image, or because got an equal kick out of doing this to her. But her nipples were noticeable under the silky gown, and mirror-Maylee took advantage of the beautiful sight. Feathers dragged over the top, then sawed against them below, then on top… a sensation that was starting to cause the tanned skinned woman to feel the vestiges of her self-control slip away. Oh no… if this keeps up, I'm not going to be able to take it… She thought in a haze of ticklish lust.

Maylee wasn't fairing better, although her torment was more straightforwardly ticklish. Mirror-Samira was teasing the undersides of Maylee's breasts with her nails, skittering softly but deftly in a way that was unbearably ticklish for the Japanese woman. No amount of shaking of protectively grabbing herself did any good. But Maylee was definitely feeling as if she was starting to regain control… something in the grip on her was weakening. Maybe the mirror wasn't designed for more than one person at once? Maylee didn't think hard on why, and couldn't. Not when her own eyes stared down at her with a gleeful look. She saw mirror-Samira's hands reach ticklishly across Maylee's body, nails trailing down her back… even her back felt ticklish! A shuddery, feathery sensation that made Maylee want to make sure Samira never got a chance to do that to her for real. But she realized what was happening, watching wide eyed in anticipation as those nails swept down her back, down and down…

At the first feeling of fingernails teasing her rear, Maylee shrieked with high pitched laughter, unable to even be embarrassed by the tickling to such a sensitive zone. As Samira's nails explored the delicious curve of her cheeks, Maylee couldn't take it any more, and with a burst of adrenaline jumped up at the mirror, lashing out with her right boot. She kicked the mirror with a ferocious force, the doppelgangers staring wide eyed in horror as the mirror cracked, the whole structure tipping over and falling to the floor with a shattering crash. Maylee fell to her hands and knees, gasping for air through giggling breaths as she recovered from her most ticklish experience of the day. Which was saying something. Were these strange ticklish episodes getting worse?

Samira sat on the ground for a long moment, trying to collect herself. While she was glad to be free of that damned mirror, the torment had stopped just when she had reached a precipice of arousal. Just a few more seconds, and I would've… it was probably the worst moment to have stopped, leaving her desperately wanting, almost not caring if Maylee saw, the Japanese woman having seen so much already. And now those licking flames of lust had withdrawn to smoldering hot coals, leaving Samira to deal with the frustration and denial as she slowly came back to her senses.

"Boss. Hey boss. Diouri!" Maylee called out to her gently. "You ok?" Samira turned to Maylee, and the flushed face and intense look in her eyes told the story better than anything. Maylee gulped, taken aback by the intensity of expression directed at her. "It's over now, c'mon." Maylee offered her hand, pulling Samira up to her feet as the crime lord finally started to come back to her senses, putting on the aura of invincible leader once again, although Maylee could still observe the alluringly pert nipples making themselves known from the other side of Samira's top. "We need to get Max, I'm sure he's wondering what the hell is going on."

Before Samira could ask, Maylee bounded to the door and opened it, letting Max Kovacs into the room. "What was taking so long?" Max asked in mild annoyance. "I heard voices and some thumping… Samira! Are you alright? What… happened to your shirt?" Max asked with concern, noticing Samira for the first time.

"Max? How did you get here? Where are the others?" Samira asked, returning to the business at hand, folding her arms across her chest. After another round of explanations, everyone was up to speed. At least, minus a few ticklish episodes each exempted from their story.

Max eyed the fallen mirror curiously. "Hmm, interesting framing." He said, his academic curiosity easily taking over. "It seems like a mix of western and new world influences, maybe even African… Voodoo culture?" He started muttering to himself as he peered over to the mirror's surface. Maylee and Samira flashed a look of concern, but they couldn't stop him before… "Oh, the mirror is completely shattered. I suppose the glass wouldn't be important anyway." The two sighed audibly in relief, not wanting that particular scene to start again.

As Max examined the mirror, it made him think about the noises earlier. Thumping and voices of some kind, it had been so hard to hear behind the thick door. Then he had an idea: there appeared to be a mark low on the mirror, possibly from a shoe or boot. Maylee must have kicked the mirror over, and Samira probably gave her a verbal thrashing for it... Max thought. Samira did have a temper, and could be unstoppable once she got hot-blooded. Max congratulated himself on solving that little mystery, and decided he shouldn't dwell on being left in the hall. Better out there than in here with an angry Samira.

"Let's move on, Max." Samira said. "There's nothing worthwhile in here, and the real treasure has to be further in." She said, trying to leave this haunted room as quickly as possible without admitting why, before something else strange happened. Max reluctantly got up from the mirror, as if another minute's inspection would have led to a revelation, as the trio stepped back out into the hall.
Things were only getting worse (Or better, depending on how she chose to look at it) for Himiko within the last few minutes. The hedges had shown that they had more than branches and leaves as several vines started to push their way through the foilage to start tickling her. It had only been on, wiggling into a spot right below her ribcage but it was soon joined by others. Several tips of vines were soon wiggling into her torso, making the police agent's laughter go up several notches as she thrashed about in the bushes.

Despite her calls for help, Hitomi had to admit she was enjoying this on some deep level. Having always been ticklish, she nevertheless loved the feel of light touches sending her into a ticklish frenzy, making her feel hot and pleasant deep inside. The vines seemed to go along with this, worming under her tank top and tickling her bare skin, skirting around her navel and making her shriek with laughter. It seemed to go on for some time, moans punching through the laughter as Hitomi stopped crying out for help as her brain was overwritten by the ticklish and pleasurable sensations going through her.

All of a sudden, it then stopped, the vines withdrew, the leaves pulled back and the pathway was now suddenly wide open. Caught off guard and already weakened, Hitomi fell onto her back, her backpack cushioning her fall as she let out a gasp of air. As she lay on the ground, partly relieved that it had stopped, rather disappointed over it as well, she blinked and tittered as she felt the ticklish sensations brushing over her still. It was then that Hitomi looked to her right and saw two pairs of legs, one set of them looking very familiar...
“What am I doing here… Why am I eating without a care in the world… in this creepy dining room… along with Samira and Max?!” Questioning herself as she helped herself to another helping of chicken in the center of the table, Maylee turned her head and saw both her boss and her fellow archaeologist also calmly eating and helping themselves to the food on the table. The creepy thing was however, all of this was done in absolute silence, not a word coming from either of their mouths.

Closing her eyes, she slowly chewed, swallowing down the succulent chicken. “What are we… doing in here!”

--- Five Minutes Ago ---

“Look at all this silverware in this room! This must be the De Marquis’ Dining room. Such extravagant cutlery! What a long table! Can you just imagine what kinds of exotic foods De Marquis and the people inside this mansion ate?” In awe at the room which the trio had just stumbled into, the excited Archaeologist wandered down the long dining hall which had one long ornate table with a large regal tablecloth draped over it, along with several chairs along its length. Grabbing a dusty porcelain plate, Max held it up close to his eyes, inspecting it carefully.

“All these paintings… They look quite creepy… The women in these pictures all have monotone expressions… It’s all quite weird, don’t you think so boss?” Maylee said, standing under a picture of a regal-looking woman in a chair, with a blank expression on her face.

“Let’s just move on Maylee, Max. Since we’re on the ground level, we should be able to rendezvous with Rebecca and Fox.” Absentmindedly, Samira placed one of her hands in her pocket, feeling the reassuring comfort of the device that would make her prideful scout a giggling mess on the floor.

“The door in front of us should lead to the main hallway. Let’s get a move on before-” Before Samira could finish that sentence, two loud slams were heard. Turning to look what it was, they found out both the doors that they went through, and the doors that they wanted to go through, were now both closed shut. After a few minutes of tugging, it was concluded the doors were really sealed shut.

“What now boss? Maybe there’s a puzzle to get out of this room, just like in the previous rooms.”

“Yes, there might be… Hold on a second, was all this food here before?” Turning their heads to the long table, they found it was now filled with various delicious and exotic foods. Marinated chicken, seafood cuisine, bowls of piping hot stew and the likes filled the table, from one end to the other, along with bottles of age old wine.

“I don’t remember seeing all of this here… I don’t remember seeing that hourglass and bust there before either!” Pointing towards the center of the room, Max exclaimed out, drawing Maylee and Samira’s attention. Walking closer towards it, Max noticed hands covering the statue’s mouth, its eyes having a startled expression. “You think this is a clue to solving this riddle?”

Samira thought for a few seconds, before connecting the obvious dots. “An hourglass… Relating to time… Hands covering the mouth, telling us to be silent…. If I’m correct, which I usually am, all we have to do is to remain silent for a certain period of time, and we’ll be let out of this room. And since all this food has appeared, what say we take a break as well. It’s not like anyone else is eating all of this anyway.”

Shrugging, Maylee walked over to the table, pulling out a chair and sitting down. Samira followed suit, taking her seat next to Maylee, as Max took his seat on the opposite side. Grabbing their cutlery, all of them started to dig in, filling up their mouths with the delicious and succulent food that some mysterious entity had given them. Out of the corner of her eye, Samira could see the sand starting to trickle down the hourglass, proud that she had solved the puzzle easily.

Underneath the table however, the mysterious forces and entities in this house had other plans. As Max continued to eat, he felt a cold wind blow under the table. Widening his eyes, Max snuck a peek underneath. Not to his surprise, all he saw were two pairs of feet, both in boots, one tanned, and one pale. Looking up, he didn't see any change on both of his companion’s faces, passing the sensation of wind on his legs as just part of his imagination running wild, not wanting to speak a word in fear of the puzzle resetting, as well as a reprimand from Samira.

Maylee was the next to feel something off about the room. As she was about to put a glass of red wine to her lips, she felt the sensation of cold fingers stroking the length of her legs, underneath the table. She almost let go of her glass, eyes also widening in surprise. Looking down, she too didn't see anything under the table, and continued drinking her drink, although a smile had started to appear on her lips, the feeling of constantly stroking ice-cold fingers against thighs.

Samira meanwhile had to deal with the feeling of ice-cold feathers stroking against her feet inside her boots, a large grin already appearing on her features, her pride not allowing her to laugh as she continued to grin and bear it, both her hands forming fists on the table.

It was a hilarious sight to behold, if one could see it. An archaeologist, gritting his teeth in a forced smile as he felt invisible hands squeezing his knees, A martial artist, with a wide smile on her face, her hands in her inner thighs trying to stop whatever unseen forces there was from caressing them, and a grinning crime boss, stamping her feet softly under the table to try and get those phantom feathers out of her boots.

Unbeknownst to them all, the mansion’s antics were just beginning, it’s ‘eyes’ already looking at Max, about to open the zipper to Max’s pants underneath the table… Ready to step it up a notch….
Samira also realized how odd it was, sitting down to a full meal like this. The chateau was long dead, there was no reason why there should be food here. Let alone the sumptuous banquet laid out before them. It was as if they had momentarily been taken back to the Marquis de Soyeux's time. But they had been running around all day, and as soon as she looked at the food, Samira had suddenly felt starved. And whatever voice in her head that would have warned her about eating strange food was silenced, replaced by an overwhelming urge to eat her fill. The others seemed to be of the same mind as they ate, casually waiting for the sand to spill down the hourglass.

The food was delicious, clearly prepared by an experienced chef, Samira noted as she chewed a cut of lamb. The wine was also of an excellent vintage, and she couldn't resist helping herself to another glass. It was only as the meal was ending that her thoughts seemed to resurface again. Was there anything strange in the food? In the wine? She should have checked. She tried to take a mental inventory of herself. She felt drowsy, but that might just be from a normal full meal and the fact that it was starting to get late. There was also a… giddiness that she felt. A strange energy. But before she could put a finger on why, or whether it was the wine, those strange sensations started under the table…

***

Samira squirmed and shuddered as she felt phantom feathers roam her soles. Her footwear did her no good, the ghostly plumes moved through them as if they didn't even exist. She felt them drag their length up and down both arches, not tickling too intensely. It was as if the cold ethereal tickle tools were playing with her, not tickling so hard as to make it impossible to win, but testing her almost… although Samira would have loved to get her hands on the proctor given the exam. Then the Moroccan felt a feather snake between the toes of each foot, pulling itself over one then under the other, the space in between each toe feeling the cold ticklish touch.

It made Samira slump in her chair, leaning over and resting her body weight against Maylee in the seat next to her. The paler woman was having her own problems, feeling the sensation of cold fingers grazing up and down her thighs. Their pace was slow, teasing… just bearable but completely maddening. Shooing the invisible things away with her hands did her no good, and it was all Maylee could do to remain tightlipped. As she felt Samira lean against her, Maylee slumped into her as well, the two trying to use the other for support.

Yet instead of being encouraging, being against each other made it harder to keep control. Samira could feel the way Maylee wiggled against her in telltale ticklish movements, and the way she was holding in laughter. It felt contagious, and made Samira all the more conscious of the tickling. Maylee, stop laughing! Samira thought hard at her subordinate. I can't focus when I can feel you moving against me like that!

Samira was similarly distracting Maylee, who could Samira's belly shaking with barely restrained mirth. Wow, something must really be tickling the boss. I wonder where she's getting it? Maylee wondered, finding herself increasingly curious about Samira's own ticklishness. I know her feet are ticklish firsthand, but maybe other places are even worse? Like that shaking tummy there, I bet it is… Maylee divided her attention between resisting her own tickles and fantasizing about Samira's.

Max, meanwhile, had it the worst of all three. Somehow, his khaki shorts had been unbuttoned and unzipped, leaving them loosely hanging on his waist in the chair. Meanwhile, what felt like a cold feather duster was moving back and forth against the back of his thighs and his rear. The fact that he was sitting in a chair seemed not to matter at all, it was like he was hanging in midair as the feathers 'dusted' his backside. He gritted his teeth in order not to laugh, squirming in his seat. But he realized if he moved too much, his shorts would fall to the floor… a decidedly unprofessional thing to do in the presence of Samira and Maylee.

But then he felt something more. It was a delicate feminine hand, and it was stroking along the length of his member. Another identical hand started to lightly tickle his balls, and the effort required to sit still and not laugh escalated dramatically. Feathers swished against his buttcheeks mischievously, and as that hand expertly caressed his cock, he felt it begin to grow obediently to attention.

An image flashed in Max's mind, as if put there by someone or something. For a moment, the room was full of noble looking frenchmen and women. All had the same look of desperately resisting something, or as if something was terribly fully. Meanwhile, attractive young maids bustled around the table, clearing places. The maids had the most devilish smiles on their faces, and he noticed occasionally one would crawl under or out from the table, the legs and ass alluringly on display in black stockings as they crawled under the table. Maids crowding underneath to tickle and tease their guests in a titillating game of resistance after the main course…

And then the image was gone, and Max snapped back to reality. At least, a reality where what seemed like the ghosts of maids were tickling nether-regions in a way that made him want to explode, from laughter or pleasure it was getting harder to say. He looked down and noticed that most of the plates were now gone, the hourglass almost emptied as well. If he could just resist a little longer…

***

"We should search her." Fox said to Rebecca. Despite her reservations about Samira Diouri, Fox's bodyguard instincts flared up at the unknown women panting and giggling on the ground in front of them.

"Is that your expert opinion, masked avenger?" Rebecca drawled sarcastically. Fox rolled her eyes, a gesture completely lost on Kittleton behind that mask. Fox knelt down and patted down the Asian woman. Still giddy, the girl twitched and giggled as Fox's hands explored her body and moved through her pockets. Fox grinned at the fidgeting, and perhaps made a slight effort to make the 'pat down' a much more ticklish thing than normal. Hitomi didn't try to resist as she recovered her breath from the earlier tickling, and realizing that not only was she outnumbered, that she couldn't outfight the infamous Fox in close quarters if she tried.

Fox grabbed the gun out of the holster and tossed it at Rebecca. While she didn't want the tracker to have a gun either, it was better the devil you knew that the devil you didn't. Then Fox found the wallet in Hitomi's pocket, pulling it out and seeing her badge. "Hmph, a police officer… a Japanese one? I can't read it, but I can tell that much."

"Police? Shit." Rebecca cursed to herself. "If the police are here already, we should bail. I'm not going to jail for this little treasure hunt."

"Wait. Japanese police woman shouldn't have any jurisdiction here." Fox retorted calmly. "Besides, Samira hasn't even done anything big over there. At least, not that I know about. Drug smuggling… human trafficking… no murder, not even assault. Nothing to trigger going half way around the world. So…" Fox turned her masked gaze back to Hitomi, who had now recovered herself and was staring back at the two of them. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Max gritted his teeth, straining to keep his composure as the womanly hands stroked his body. While for the most part they were invisible, every once in a while when his vision strayed from the hourglass he could see a pale, ghostly hand floating by him. Besides the cluster of feathers stroking his butt, a pair of phantom digits had begun to brush over his ears with their invisible but still effective nails. But worse of all were the two hands playing with his manhood: one gripping the firm shaft, slowly pumping, and the other tickling his balls playfully.

As he felt his cheeks blaze in embarrassment (Max had never received a handjob before), the only thing that comforted him was that his two compatriots, Maylee and the Boss, we're experiencing similar ministrations and couldn't be bothered to look over at him. Elegant Samira was frantically drumming her feet on the floor, evidently feeling the ghost hands on her soles, whilst Maylee was gritting her teeth and clenching her thighs together.

Again an image flashed through his mind: this time of two maids, one a pale Frenchwoman behind him fluttering her fingers on his neck and ears, the other of a much darker Native skin tone. The latter was the one teasing his cock under the table. Then he flashed back to the present, albeit with the hands still tickling away. As they tickled and pumped, Max felt a heating sensation in his groin, which continued to rise until, driving him into a craze, until- with a whoosh, the last of the sand pattered to the bottom of the hourglass.

The three adventurers collapsed over as their punishment ended for now, each panting and giggling as the sensations subsided. Max quickly tucked his penis back into his pants, thought with difficulty as it was fully erect, and pulled his pants back up before the other two could notice. As they had completed the "challenge", a door had slid open from the wall to reveal an exit.

"What the hell is wrong with this place" Maylee whined, betraying her generally quiet manner. "Ever since we got here, It's been nothing but tickling for every step of the way! And not a single coin to show for it..."

Samira looked disgustedly at her subordinate. "Would you like to leave? By all means, just walk out!" She motioned to the massive mansion room around them, with the only way out being forward, and certainly not leading anywhere but further into the mansion's depths. "As for riches, Maylee..."

Samira Diouri swaggered over to Max. Already aroused from the tickling, Max turned a deeper shape of red as the sultry middle eastern woman reached down toward his waistline and...grabbed the knife he kept at his belt. She gave the tool a flourish, then picked up a bejeweled cup and pried out the ruby set in it. She tossed the gem at Maylee, who caught it, then slid the knife back to Max. He fumbled with the blade before tucking it back into its sheath.

"There ARE riches here, Maylee, ones which I intend to find and seize for myself, I mean our group. These simple rubies and silver plates are but a taste of what is surely hidden here in the depths!" said Samira assuredly. "Something here might think it is toying with us, but I ensure you that no one will get the better of the Diouri Family!"

She rose to her feet from the table and paced over to the entrance that had opened up. While Maylee also stood to loyally follow her, Max stayed sitting, immersed in his own thoughts. Part of his brain told him that what was going on here was surely supernatural, yet the more analytical, scholarly part told him that what he had experienced was nothing more than an elaborate series of traps coupled with his wild imagination.

For now the skeptical part of his brain won out. Surely there must be a logical explanation behind these ticklish traps. Max made sure all his tools were in place and went to join his employer at the entrance to the next room. A haze of lightly perfumed steam wafted out of the room, which obscured its interior. All one could see from the entrance was the wet tile floor. It made no sense to have this kind of damp steamy room next to a dining area, but then again even to a trained archaeologist, pretty much everything in the Marquis's estate was hard to make sense of.

The two women were already clothed in light, thin clothes which where slightly ripped from earlier experiences, but Max had to roll up his sleeves when he felt the warm humid air of the room before him. Samira walked in ahead, and then Maylee pursed her lips and followed her delicately. Ever cautious, Max practically had to be forced into following them into the wet, steamy room.
"Oh... phooey." Hitomi thought as she recognised Fox standing above her. Her fears soon worsened as the bodyguard's fingers started probing her body, making her twitch and give out adorable squeaks with each ticklish sensation going through her. Already on edge from her experience in the bushes, the fingers going into her ribs and sides made the police agent very giggly indeed and she was helpless as the fingers searched her body.

With her gun gone, Hitomi stopped giggling and gave a gulp from her nervousness increasing. Although not the best of shots, it had been her best defence and now, she was pretty much helpless. Looking from Fox to Rebecca, Hitomi tried to think of a reasonable lie even as her skin still tingled with ticklish sensations.

"I-I'm here for... for..." She hesitated, unable to think of something straight away before her eyes looked towards the bushes, noticing that they were shifting once again, their roots crawling across the ground while vines started to slowly reach out towards Rebecca. Her eyes widening, Hitomi tried to roll away, but her backpack got in the way, it being too big for swift movement and she was stuck on her back after rolling, not unlike a turtle.

"No! Not again!" She called out as the vines latched around Rebecca and crawled towards Hitomi and Fox, although not entirely sincerely, the hope of being tickled never exactly far from her mind.
A Non-Existent User
Hitomi's scream came too late for Rebecca to avoid the vines. "Hey, what the heck?!" she called out as they quickly restrained her and rushed towards Fox and the mysterious policewoman. As they hurried to catch the other humans, the vines brushed against Rebecca's sides, tickling her slightly, though her vest protected her to some degree. Nonetheless, she barely restrained giggles as she watched the wanna-be ninja dancing around trying to avoid the vines.

Fox was skilled, no doubt about that, but her efforts were in vain. The vines were coming in from every direction now, and the hedge maze was too narrow in this section for even Fox to escape them forever. First, one managed to snare her ankle, then another, her wrist. In a desperate effort to somehow make the vines give up, Fox lifted up the gun she'd taken from the Japanese woman and fired it into one of the hedge walls the vines were coming from.

That was a mistake. An angry sounding hiss erupted from the walls, and a thousand vines rushed at Fox, seizing the gun and taking it off to parts unknown. Rebecca barely had time to be upset that she wouldn't get her hands on a firearm when the vines dug into her, the policewoman, and Fox in a furious flurry. Instantly, Rebecca squealed as vines dug into her armpits and went under her clothes to attack her belly, sides, ribs, and even breasts. The vines even tore off her shoes and socks to get her feet. The attack came so fast and mercilessly, Rebecca didn't have an opportunity to brace herself, bursting out in huge gusts of laughter.

Nearby, the policewoman seemed to be suffering more or less the same punishment as Rebecca, but her laughs were coming out quieter and with more gasping in between. Every so often, she'd say, "Not, again," "Please," or would moan, revealing that, unlike the poacher, she didn't entirely hate this.

But Fox seemed to have it worst. The vines dug into every inch of her fully covered body, as looking for some place where they could get under her suit. Not that they needed to; Fox was already screaming and roaring with laughter. For Fox, the vines treated no spot as private, tickling her underarms, sides, ribs, breasts, tits, belly, navel, thighs, ass, feet, and even her genitals. If Rebecca weren't being tortured a fair bit herself, she probably would have felt a bit sorry for Fox. But she was, so Rebecca's only real concern was escaping the relentless tickling she was enduring.

By now, the vines had discovered Rebecca's most sensitive spot -her nipples- and Rebecca was thrashing every way should to try and break free. But it was useless; the vines were too strong and showed no signs of stopping anytime soon...
Fox and Rebecca both tugged at their leafy bonds, trying to do anything to worm away from the vines and branches that seemed to know just how to tickle them. Rebecca suffered from pinpoint attacks as soft leaf tips incessantly brushed against her nipples through the thin fabric of her top. A stronger touch crept under her arms, vine tips wriggled under the outstretched hollows like tiny fingertips. The twin torment made Rebecca squirm instinctively, bucking without any coordination or forethought.

Fox was subject to a much more complete attack. Plant matter seemed to coat her body as it wriggled against every possible surface, worming against the fabric of her suit, every touch amplified into an intense tickling against her skin. Almost no spot seemed spared: her belly was brushed by an countless feathery leaves, her thighs prodded and poked, her buttocks caressed almost lovingly… but every touch was just as ticklish as the last, and Fox was stuck in a haze of constant laughter. The only spot spared were the soles of her feet, and the masked woman realized with alarm that coiling vines were trying to raise them, exploiting even this last spot, something Fox was desperate to avoid.

Hitomi was back in her mix of enjoyment and resistance, yet paradoxically the bushes were exploiting her the least. Perhaps the botany reveled in its torment, or maybe it simply didn't want to give the Japanese policewoman the satisfaction. Or maybe the plants had no will of their own, merely commanded by whatever supernatural or gardening technique made them this way. In any case, as Hitomi giggled and moaned from soft leaves fluttering against the bare skin at the small of her back (her shirt ridden up at this point), and still more wormed their way to the front, gently teasing her waistline with a patient stroking tickle. Hitomi had closed her eyes, and was losing herself to the feelings it caused, making her overwhelmingly giggly, and also lighting a hot fire deep within her, one that was steadily growing…

Yet in a moment of lucidity, Hitomi realized that the vines holding her in place had loosened, even to the point that she could pull free. The woman hesitated for a long, mirthful moment as her body invited the tickling, and she admitted to herself that she was even stretching out her belly invitingly, pulling her skin taut in order to facilitate even more tickling along her lower belly. But she realized that this might be her only chance to get away from these criminals. With a burst of energy, Watanabe yanked her body away, and without even looking darted deeper into the mansion. Clearing her vision of laughter induced tears, Hitomi opened her eyes just in time to realize that she was barreling towards a set of downward stairs. Too late to slow down, she tripped and tumbled down the carpeted stairway, thankfully plush enough to keep her from injury. Once Hitomi stopped tumbling, she sat up in pitch black, hugging her waist as the lingering tickles finally left her mind. It would have been nice to stay for just a minute longer. Hitomi thought to herself, the little fire within her still burning on as she tried to figure out where she had gotten herself to now.

Fox and Rebecca didn't even notice the interloper escaping. They were too busy with their own troubles. Every time Rebecca tried to grab one of the branches clinging to her, leaves would rapidly feather her nipples and send her curling up and gasping. Each soft brush against the stiffened skin sent shockwaves of sensitive feeling to her brain. Each time Fox tried to rip a piece of foliage away from her or into pieces, its compatriots tickled all the harder, or renewed its efforts to yank her feet off the floor. It occurred to neither of them to try helping out each other rather than fight the attacking plant matter individually. The two women were in easy reach of each other, but would they try cooperating, even if the idea occurred to them?

---

As the trio of Samira, Maylee, and Max walked into the steamy, tiled room, they realized they were standing in a bathhouse or pool. A large, shallow pool took up the majority of the room, with benches and towels placed around the edges. Along the walls was a tiled mosaic, depicting men and women lounging in the bath, seemingly happy and chatting with one another. Some were touching each other, others were getting in and out of the tub, and it looked like an idyllic scene. The water itself had a milky color to it, perhaps enhanced with some kind of mineral or compound. It may have been what was giving off the perfumed scent that was floating off the water. They could tell from the steam and humidity that the water was pleasantly warm, and as the three inhaled the pleasant odor, they all got the urge to get in.

Samira remembered her encounter with that strange fungus that tickled and sensitized her skin in the caves. That bath might be a good chance to wipe off any of that fungus that might still be on me. Samira thought, remembering with a slight shiver how effectively that substance had tickled her simply by making prolonged contact with her skin. Besides, I could use a chance to wipe away the sweat from today. "Ah, just what I needed!" Samira exclaimed aloud to her compatriots. "A nice warm bath…" Maylee nodded in agreement next to her. For some reason, none of them thought about how odd it was that there would be a hot bath in this long dead place, or how each room managed to lead them to yet another ticklish situation. They inhaled the perfumed humid air deeply, and moved forward.

Samira disrobed, throwing her top against the wall with a cavalier air. She was more careful with her belt, setting it down gently, its pockets and bags containing several important items she didn't want to damage. Maylee did the same, casually stripping and dropping her garments against the wall next to Samira's. The two women eased themselves into the water, finding it just at neck level for both of them to sit against the bath's floor.

Maxed looked on in astonishment and embarrassment as the two beautiful women stripped naked in front of them. Certainly, nudity and mixed bathing were common in a number of cultures. But North Africa and Japan were not among them! Still, it was difficult to be analytical as his eyes stole glances at the Maylee's back side as she slid in the water, as well as Samira's long, tanned legs. They sunk in the milky water, which concealed their bodies, but the hint of breasts just beneath the surface was beyond tantalizing, and Max's blood still ran hot from the teasing he had endured just moments before. He then realized Samira was looking up at him quizzically. "What are you waiting for, Max?" She asked in a tone that was gentle, yet brooked no dissent. "You're just as sweaty as the rest of us. Get in already!" Max could only nod dumbfounded, and turned around chastely to take off his clothes. He covered his manhood with his hands as he slid into the water on the opposite side of the girls, not daring to move too close to them. His thoughts kept wandering to imagining their wet skin, their firm bodies…

Samira had no problem flaunting her body. She had always considered her beauty a tool to be used, and found Max's flustered looks amusing. But she didn't give it a second thought as she felt herself relaxing in the shallow pool. The milky water was just the right temperature, and the perfumed scent was perfect. She felt her muscles relaxing one by one as the water soaked her skin. She grinned, as the warm feelings kept washing over her, making her feel better and better.

Maylee seemed to be experiencing the same thing, a happy expression also on her face as she sighed contentedly next to Samira. Then she turned to the Moroccan woman, a curious expression on her face. "Samira…" Maylee said softly, "your skin looks so smooth…" her hands reached out nimbly under the water, stroking down Samira's side. "Very smooth! I'm jealous."

The beautiful crime boss stiffened under Maylee's touch. But instead of the sharp rebuke she would normally do, Samira snickered and slowly tried to bat at Maylee's hand. "S-stop that, Maylee! That's e-he-nough!" Maylee wasn't so easily deterred, deftly moving around Samira's defensive hand and reaching out to paw at her more, both hands reaching out to her stomach with soft strokes. They both giggled, Samira out of ticklishness, Maylee out of mischief, both women acting as if drunk.

"Why should I, boss?" Maylee asked in a whisper in Samira's ear as she leaned in. "Is it because… you're ticklish?" With that word, Samira gasped and Maylee started to tickle her more enthusiastically, wriggling her fingers against Samira's hipbones under the water. Samira giggled girlishly, and Maylee seemed to revel in being able to tickle the boss like this.

"Quihihit thahahat Mayleehehehee!" Samira commanded to no effect. "Or I'll gehehet you toohohoho!" Samira retaliated, reaching out to pinch at Maylee's ribs. The Japanese woman shrieked and began to laugh as well, but didn't stop her attack. One of Maylee's hands moved down to Samira's thighs, squeezing the smooth skin there. Her other slowly crept up Samira's stomach, which shivered wonderfully under the touch. She even made a quick little skitter under Samira's breasts, which earned a gasp and a delightfully ticklish twitch out of the darker skinned woman. But it was getting more difficult for Maylee to keep focusing on tickling Samira, as she tickled back in turn. Samira's well-manicured nails wriggled against each rib, and worked their way up under Maylee's arms. The urge to defensively pull them down to her sides was growing, but Maylee found the feel of Samira's ticklish skin irresistible, and something pushed her to keep going. It was addictive, the soft skin, the ticklish reaction…

Max's jaw dropped as he watched the erotic sight, the two women naked and playfully tickling each other. What had gotten into them? It could have been the wine, both of them had drank it, but Max hadn't had any. Perhaps it had been especially potent, or mixed with some chemical. Then again, it might have been in something Max had been exposed to as well. The food, or even the perfumed milky water, in which case it would be only a matter of time before Max succumbed to this giddy playfulness as well. But for the moment Max seemed to keep his senses. Then again, as he watched the two nude women splash and tussle as they both giggled, he found his manhood stirring again, firmly erect yet thankfully concealed in the translucent water, yet another distraction in this house that had given them nothing but.
Giggling as she laid there on the carpet, Hitomi took a moment to allow the last lingering ticklish sensations leave her body as she sat up and then slowly got to her feet. In her effort to escape, she'd lost her gun, her rucksack and her presence had been found by the very criminals she'd hoped to capture. The police agent sighed, realising that her attempt to break out on her own was far from being the success she had hoped it to be.

As if to make matters worse, she was now in a pitch black corridor, unable to see anything in front of her beyond a few feet as the light from the top of the stairs just about gave enough illumination for her to make out the first part of the room. Taking several slow steps forward, Hitomi's ears rang with the laughter of Fox and Rebecca, the two evidently still being teased by the plants and vines. A dual feeling of relief and envy took over the police agent for a moment, the thought of being teased in such a manner almost made her want to go back, but she thought better.

Inching her way forward through the corridor, Hitomi was cautious at the thought of more traps and made her way only through the smallest steps. Her caution rewarded her when she suddenly felt a warm breeze brush against her chin and she paused that instant. Crouching down, Hitomi put her hand towards the ground and almost tumbled into the pit right in front of her before she managed to right her balance. A quick brushing of her fingers around her against the floor revealed it was only a small one and didn't take up the entire width of the corridor.

So, a pitch black corridor with random pits that a person could fall down? From the feel of the air, it seemed like the pits themselves led to a warm, damp area. Perhaps some kind of hot spring of some kind? Either way, the pits were too deep to make out any light at the bottom and Hitomi didn't quite fancy the plunge just yet. Instead, she made her way down the corridor, finding more and more pits along the way, slowly making her way around them as she finally reached the end of the corridor when her head banged against the door.

Muttering a few curses as she rubbed her head, Hitomi still had to contend with the darkness as she felt around the sides of the door, looking for a handle or anything. In her search, she found something sticking out of the wall, a lever of some kind. Without thinking, she yanked it down, gasping and wincing as the corridor lit up brightly, showing the extent of its rich decorations and surroundings. The door to her right swung open, followed quickly by the trapdoor right underneath her.

Letting out a squeal, Hitomi's grip on the lever managed to stay strong enough for her not to plummet down into the depths below and she hung there, arms above her head as she faced the wall, panting heavily. She managed to get one leg up to the side of the pit, her foot exposed a little as it rested there and she hoped that some help would come. Although, considering the others in this place, it was more likely to be the complete opposite...

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