Herr_Kitzeln
TMF Poster
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2003
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After a 5 year writer’s block, “his” continuation has finally arrived. This is part 1 of a ten part series. I’m at the halfway point now.
The following I give thanks to:
The Sci-Fi TV show “Sliders” for helping me find the plot hook I needed.
To my friend Tom for helping me break through my writer’s block and to help me keep my promise.
And a special dedication to Milagros317, for wanting to see a continuation of my original story.
“He’s” back, and better than ever!
The Travels of Pimpenstein
Pimpenstein meets The Black Rose
Prologue
It was a beautiful day. The weather was clear with a few clouds and the air smelled with a tang of fresh salt. Lina and I were just getting our bearings as our large sailboat rocked with the ocean tides. Seagulls were sounding as I was trying to find our heading.
Lina broke the silence, “Brand? Do you know if we’re near land?”
“Oh yeah,” I said as I pointed out, “The seagulls are the indicator that we’re near land. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried about that. I’m just worried about where we are.”
“I know what you mean hon. We’ll find out soon enough.”
It didn’t take long for that. Almost immediately, a Coast Guard ship began hailing us.
“Attention Unknown Ship,” said an unknown female voice, “This is the Coast Guard ship ‘Liberty Bell’. You are trespassing in American waters. Identify at once!”
I answered on our ship’s radio, “Attention Liberty Bell. This is the ship ‘Ody - Z’. We are in need of assistance and safe port. Can you assist?”
“Of course Ody - Z. Maintain present course and follow us in. We are currently on route to port in San Diego. Can you follow?”
“Yes. Lead the way and we’ll follow. Over and out.”
“Roger Ody - Z. Upon docking, you are to proceed to meet with the captain at once. Out.”
After several hours, we arrived at one of the marinas in San Diego. After docking, Lina and I went to meet with Liberty Bell’s captain. The captain was not at all what I expected. She stood almost 6 feet tall with long blonde hair in a bun and blue eyes. With her stood 2 of her top officers, one with red hair, and the other with black hair. Both women bore military bearings and were at the ready. No pushovers anywhere in the lot.
“Hello,” I said, “My name’s Brand, captain of the Ody - Z.”
“I am Commander Longwaters of the ship Liberty Bell,” the blonde woman said, “And these are my executive officers, Lieutenant O’Shea and Lieutenant Commander Steele.”
“How do you do,” I said as I nodded slightly.
“Tell us now who you are. Where you are from?”
“I will, but not right now. I have some urgent business to attend to. Meet me at my ship at 18:00 hours for dinner and cocktails, and I’ll tell you everything.”
I whispered some instructions to Lina and she left to attend to them. After Commander Longwaters and her entourage left, I left to take care of personal business. I went to my bank and deposited something there, and then I went and got groceries for us. When the hour struck, everybody I asked to come was there; Jim, Corey, Liz, and all of our friends. Commander Longwaters and her execs were there as well. They were dressed in their dress uniforms while my friends were dressed casual. As I arrived, Regina rushed out and embraced me in a tight hug, as if she hadn’t seen me in years.
“It’s okay Reg,” I said as I parted from her strong hug, “Just take it easy. Right now, let’s have something to drink. Shall we?”
We all went to my ship’s bar and galley for drinks and got everything ready for dinner. When everyone got his or her drinks, Jim decided to speak.
“Now would you mind telling us what this is all about?”
“Sure Jim,” I responded. I pulled out a small device that looked like a mad scientist’s version of a VCR remote and pushed a button on my large keyboard. “To begin, on that fateful day when Lina and I had our first major argument two years ago, I began a journey where fantasy and reality; merged into a timeless dream…”
The music from my keyboard began filling the room.
Chapter 1
A Disappearing Act
The portal closed as I exited. I just activated my device and I got sucked through a vortex and now I’m on a new world. This world had dense jungle growth everywhere. The last thing I remember was Lina and I having an argument about what I was going to do now that I was unemployed. After Lina left, I went back to working on a device that I hoped was going to be the next generation of tazer. After viewing my surroundings, I looked at my device and found I had approximately three months, for the readout indicated that it was counting down and it was showing 89 days, 15 hours, 23 minutes, and 47 seconds. I began trekking through the jungle and close to midday, I found an old temple. It looked like an old Aztec temple and I found an incredible urge to go inside. I rested a bit for the trek in the jungle was long and tiring.
“Wait Brand,” Ann interrupted, “How did you come up with such a device?”
“By accident Ann,” I responded as I served everyone some soup, “Just like the potato chip. Now please reserve your questions until I’m done. Agreed?”
Everybody nodded in agreement.
“Good. Now as I was saying…”
After resting for a moment, I went inside the pyramid temple and followed the corridors until I was in what I thought to be the central chamber. On the pedestal floated above what looked like what I believed to be a sword. The glow emitting from there was strong, but soft. I felt a slight tingle as I reached for the sword and also felt something in my soul as if some force was telling me to get the sword. As I held the sword in my hand, I felt astonishment throughout my whole being, as if this sword was meant for me. The sword emitted a beautiful white glow from its blade that appeared to be made entirely of yellow-white light. It felt light in my hands, and its hilt bore a beautiful golden tone with a comfortable grip in black. The sword contained a very gothic look to it. From the hilt sprouted four small prongs surrounding the base and sharply angled towards the end of the blade, and the blade of light was straight with the curvature at the tip indicating that the blade was sharp on one side. When I slightly released my grip, the sword progressively shrank until it finally disappeared. I tested by doing a slashing motion and the sword was back in my hand instantly. I left the temple shortly after and continued trekking until I got to a very large fortress with old style cannons everywhere.
The other strange thing I noticed was that my wedding ring was gone.
I walked inside and discovered that this fortress was large enough to be like a shopping mall. Shops were everywhere with every kind of ware imaginable. I noticed that the people were looking at me strangely, probably due to the fact that my clothes were unlike theirs. I went to what said to be a bar or pub and sat at one the empty tables there. A waitress came and asked what I wanted. I told her nothing for I didn’t believe that the money I had on me would pass as legal tender here. Then a woman came over and sat in the other chair. She had on an outfit that made her look like Han Solo only her hair was red and somewhat short, with light and smooth complexion and beautiful green eyes. Her facial features made her look like she was upper crust. She had a sword on her left hip that appeared to be a saber. When she spoke, her voice sounded with command.
“He’s part of my crew,” the mysterious woman said, “Give him whatever he wants.”
I told the waitress I just wanted some stew, bread, and some beer. After the waitress brought my food and left, the mystery woman began the conversation.
“Hope you don’t mind me being forward like this,” she began, “I couldn’t help but notice, but you are very noticeable.”
“Oh yeah,” I said, “I do kind of stand out.”
“I wanted to ask you if you would like to come aboard my ship and be part of my crew. I am on my way to find a lost mine said to have unlimited riches in diamonds and other precious metals. If you help me, I can make it worth your while and you would be very wealthy.”
I looked at my device and the readout showed an arrow in red, indicating that the distance to my destination or target was very far indeed. I was not a fool.
“I accept,” I replied, “I need to head out that way anyway.”
“Excellent,” she said, “We set sail at sunrise. Come on board my ship and we can get you settled.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Chapter 2
Booking Passage
I left the pub with the woman and followed her to the ship that was furthest docked. The ship was large, probably a brigantine. The only thing I noticed was the flag on top. It was black, like a pirate flag, and the symbol in the middle looked like a thorny rose with a skull surrounded by some rose petals.
I stopped at the end of the gangplank and couldn’t go another step. I noticed that every person I saw on board the ship was a woman. The red haired woman came back and took my hand.
“You can relax my friend,” she said, as if she knew my question, “Have you never seen a pirate crew entirely of women?”
“No, can’t say that I have,” I said.
She took me below deck and showed me to her quarters. She offered me a seat and sat across from me behind a desk. She pulled out a leather case and took out the map inside. The map looked like it was a world map for she placed a knife on one spot that appeared to be the port we’re currently docked. She then pulled out another map, but didn’t unroll it as yet. I decided to ask her the one question that was bothering me.
“Why did you help me back there?” I asked.
“Just the look of your face was enough,” she replied, “You looked a little lost. I wanted to help.”
“You’re right. Thank you. Now, where exactly are we going?”
“We’re heading to an island located 150 leagues southeast of here.”
She took another knife and drove the tip to the spot where the island would be on the world map. She then unrolled the other map and placed it on top of the other.
“Upon arrival, we will head to the center of the island where an ancient city still stands. It is said there is a diamond mine underneath the city’s largest temple where there is still a fortune of diamonds there, and other precious metals.”
“How long will it be for us to reach our destination?” I asked.
“Roughly 40 days; if the winds favor us. Let me show you to your quarters now.”
She called to one of her guards and she escorted me to my cabin. It contained a modest bed, a small table and two chairs, a dresser, and a closet of sorts. I tried to open the closet door only to find it was locked. It didn’t matter to me at the time, so I just took off my shoes and lied on the bed and fell right to sleep. I didn’t realize how tired I really was.
Chapter 3
“He” Meets the Pirate Queen
Three weeks passed and everything was going very well. I helped out whenever and wherever I could. Sometimes I would help take care of the ship, participate in various games going on, or at night, I would tell stories. The next two weeks however, the wind just died and everyone started to get bored within the first week. My stories weren’t appealing to all onboard the ship and some of women there started to look at me with lustful eyes. I quickly went below deck and looked around for something that could help pass the time. I gathered some bones of dead animals and handed them to some of the women who followed me and showed them how to make dice out of them.
With that out of way, I went to my quarters and found a small plate of food on the table. The woman with red hair was sitting on one of the chairs and asked for me to sit down. I did and began eating while she began the conversation.
“I saw what you did below,” she began, “Thank you.”
“No problem,” I said, “It was my pleasure.”
“That should keep them from being bored for some time. By the way, we haven’t properly introduced ourselves. My name is Rosa de Leon, also known as ‘The Black Rose’.”
“My name’s Brand. Brandon Irons.”
“Like I said, I am thankful for what you did down below Brand, but it will not entertain them for long.”
“I think it will, for the products they finish will keep them entertained for a very long time.”
“I think you are right. However, some of them will look for other avenues of entertainment.”
“Maybe, but we won’t need to worry until the time comes. Somehow, I have reason to believe this conversation is geared more toward you. Is it not?”
“Yes. I too can get bored like the rest of my crew, but as captain of my ship, I cannot allow my crew to see that.”
“So what did you have in mind?”
The Black Rose wasn’t quick to answer. All that happened was I feeling a hard blow on the back of my head and when I awoke, I found myself tied down on the bed. I was barefoot and my shirt was also removed. The Black Rose was standing at the foot of the bed with one of her guards. The guard left immediately and she then sat down next to me.
“Untie me, now,” I said. My voice had a little edge to it.
“This is how I relieve boredom,” she said, “I always choose one person from my crew for this. Usually, I reserve this to punish the worst person in my crew. But in your case, I will use this for my own entertainment.”
“Don’t,” I warned, “You’ll be very sorry if you do.”
“You’re in a position unsuitable to give orders,” she replied, “Besides; I think you will feel better after I am done.”
With that being said, she sat down next to my feet and began tracing her finger on the sole of my right foot like a paintbrush. Basically, it was like she was warming me up for something more. Her nails didn’t go much further than her fingertips, but she had skill to compensate for this. My mouth was already curled into a smile and I was trying extremely hard to keep the laughter in, but I knew it was only a matter of time before the laughter would break out. After several minutes, she changed techniques and started using all her fingers while pulling my toes back in an effort to increase the tickling, and it worked. I began laughing and she began searching for any soft spot she could find.
“Plheeheeheeheease. Stahahahahahahap. Nohohohohohoho mohohohohohore. Stahahahahp tihihihihcking mhihihiy feeheeheeheeheeheet hahahahahahahahahahahaha,” was all I was able to say.
“No,” the Black Rose said, “I continue for one hour at the very least. But I am not completely heartless. Here.”
With that, she stopped and began massaging my feet with her thumbs. She would concentrate on my “hot spots” for a while and then move to another location. I was sucking much needed air while she took one of the goblets, filled it with water, and allowed me to take a few sips. Afterwards, she placed it aside and got on top of me. Her surprised look was something I didn’t miss.
“Now this is a surprise,” she said, “I never would have thought that this could happen.”
I knew exactly what she was saying. My manhood was “on the rise” and I blushed, for I was very emberrased about the whole thing. Rosa got off and stripped down to nothing. She then got me stripped and got back on top of me. Normally, if I were still single, this would be fun. But now, I was feeling very uncomfortable.
“We still have a half an hour left,” she said, “I think you will enjoy this portion more than me.”
At that, she began tickling me on my sides. We were “joined at the hip” while she was doing this. She began taunting me while tickling and was moving her hands all over. I tried not to laugh during the entire time, but I knew it was a futile task. When she began tickling me on my midriff, that familiar blackout came about.
Chapter 4
Retuning the Favor
I woke up the next morning feeling exhausted. I noticed that I was alone and went on deck to see what was going on. I looked about and saw everyone engaged in every form of activity. The wind picked up again and the sails were bulging. As I went back below deck, one of the Black Rose’s chief officers came to me and told me that we should arrive at the island within 1 month. I asked her to accompany me as I went to my quarters and I looked at my device counting down, I found out I still had 44 days, 5 hours, 13 minutes, and 25 seconds. The arrow also glowed yellow, which indicated I was getting nearer to my destination.
“Where’s the Black Rose?” I asked.
“She’s in her quarters,” she replied, “She’s ordered everyone that she’s not to be disturbed.”
“I think she’ll want to see me.”
“Maybe, but she will be very upset if she’s disturbed. You’re not mad about being ‘punished’ are you?”
“No. However, I feel that I owe her something for last night.”
She paused while she thought about this. She then asked me to come with her to her quarters and she pulled out her trunk. She opened it and pulled out a small wooden box containing a large golden feather. She handed it to me and told me that it is a Phoenix feather with very high tickling power.
“Thanks,” I said, “Do you want this feather back after I’m done?”
“You can keep it,” she said.
“Are you sure? A feather like this must be very rare.”
“I am.”
I went down to the Black Rose’s quarters and found her sound asleep. She looked very peaceful and sometimes I would hear her mutter my name. I knew she was probably dreaming of me. I began looking about for anything I could use to bind her down on her bed. After looking for 5 minutes, I found some leather straps and an old pair of stocks. I got the leather straps ready on her bed and used the other two to hold down the stocks. Now began the delicate task of getting Rosa’s hands into the straps and her ankles into the stocks. I managed to get her feet into the stocks and one of her hands in the straps before she woke up.
“Get me out of this right now!” she yelled.
“No,” I said, “I will not.”
“But my crew, they will wonder what is going on.”
“I spoke with your crew earlier. They have everything covered. They told me that you’re such a good captain that they can run everything until we get to our destination, which means that you and I are going to have a lot of fun together.”
I went over to Rosa’s side to get her right arm tied up, but she struggled and fought at every turn. She tried to punch me in the stomach before I got hold of her arm and tied it to the strap. I then went over to the stocks and examined her feet. They were roughly size 7 ½ with shapely toes and they went down in order with her big toe just slightly longer than her second toe. Her arches were high and milky white, and soft as silk. I was playfully stroking her foot while examining every detail.
“You have such an adorable foot Rosa,” I said, “You must really spend a lot of time taking care of these babies.”
“Please Brand,” she pleaded, “Don’t tickle my feet. Please?”
“Since you put it so nicely, I will.”
I then started stroking on the sole of her right foot with just one finger. She was giggling like a schoolgirl as I was doing this. Indeed, her foot was soft as silk, and she was wiggling her foot with such energy that I knew she had to be extremely ticklish. I noticed that her laugh was slightly deeper, but still beautiful.
“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Plheeheeheeze! Nohohohoho mohohohohohore! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”
“Very well,” I decided to change tacks on her and with the golden feather given to me, I began using it on her feet, the woman was right, it did have a very high tickling power. Needless to say, Rosa began laughing a lot harder and she was shaking her head so violently that her red hair was now an absolute mess.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLHEEHEEHEEHEEZE STHAHAHAHAP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
I then began using my feather on her legs and found that her laughter began dying down, but with some moaning mixed in. Eventually, I stopped to let her gasp for breath while I collected my thoughts.
“Would you mind letting me go now,” Rosa said while gasping for breath, “If you continue, I will not be able to survive.”
I went over to her side and undid one of her arm bonds. She immediately undid her other bonds and came over to me. To my surprise, she grabbed my head and kissed me.
“Thank you Brand,” she said after letting go, “That was actually fun. Do you mind if I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“How about you and I use tickling as a form of betting until we get to our destination? We still have a long journey.”
I thought about it for a time. Like a sledgehammer, an idea hit me. I thought of my favorite game that could be played for stakes. I told her about the game and within a moment, she pulled out a leather case that had two sets of dice, fifteen men per player, and doubling cube. She knew right away what I was talking about.
“I see you heard of this game before,” I said, “What about stakes?”
“How about a minute per man left on the board?” Rosa asked.
“Done. Now let me ask you something. How come you didn’t show this to me when I first arrived?”
“You never asked. I only play this whenever we get to a town that has a gambling place.”
“I see. How about we start playing today? Up to three games per day, winner has option. My midriff is off-limits though.”
“Not unless the betting cube reaches ‘64’. Agreed?”
“Agreed. Now let’s go topside and see what’s going on?”
We both left her quarters after she put away her leather case. On deck, activity was high. Rosa saw her navigator and got her bearings. Afterwards, she came back to me and asked to join her for dinner. Dinner was served and once we were done, she pulled out her backgammon board. We began playing in earnest.
Chapter 5
Land-ho!
The final month at sea went by without event. Most of the time, the crew carried out their duties. Whenever Rosa and I played our games most would stop and watch. Each day, one of us would win by the slimmest of margins. True to her word, Rosa never went to my midriff unless the betting cube reached 64, which didn’t happen if I had any say on the matter. On our last day, we played our first two games where we each won a game. Now, we were nearing the end of our third game and the doubling cube was on my side showing 16. Rosa had men left while I had six. I placed the cube on Rosa’s side with side 32 facing up.
“Double,” I said.
“I accept,” Rosa replied.
I rolled the dice and my face went to a fond smile as both dice came up 6’s. I removed four of my men leaving only two on my first point.
“Maybe it wasn’t a good double to accept after all,” I said.
Right away, Rosa took the cube and placed it on my side, showing 64.
“Double,” she said.
“Of course I accept,” I said, “There’s only one roll that can allow you to win.”
You have to know the situation of the game. Rosa had four men on the board, two on her 6 point with one on her first point and another on her second. I had two on my first point that meant any roll would allow me to win.
“You are going to need a great deal of luck to get out of this,” I said.
Rosa rolled her dice and I closed my eyes as they stopped. I couldn’t believe what showed.
“Double 6’s,” she said with a smile, “Fancy that.”
I felt the blood drain from my head as she picked up her pieces and took them off the board. I got up from the table and sat down on the bed. I was really going to regret this. I would have to deal with two hours of Rosa’s tickling with her tickling my midriff to boot. I was not happy, to say the least. Just as Rosa was getting things ready, one of her crewmembers came bursting in.
“Captain! We’re nearing land!” she said very excited.
“We will make landfall shortly,” Rosa said, “Leave us.”
The crewmember left and Rosa turned to me with hunger in her eyes. But she kept her composure.
“Another time?” she said.
“That’s no problem,” I said, “You and I can use this as a form of celebration when we find the diamonds.”
“Don’t be long. We leave when we are ready.”
“I’ll be there right away.”
As Rosa went topside to disembark, I went to my quarters to get my device, and some other supplies, including a large sack to put my diamonds in. As I arrived topside, Rosa was waving me to get into her boat. I got in and we started making our way inland once we’re ashore. Rosa ordered her crew to make camp after arriving at the ancient city. Indeed, it was ancient; every building was made of stone and appeared very neglected. It was late in the night and Rosa said we needed to be at the ready at dawn. Rosa had my bedroll next to hers and said we are going to be very rich. I looked at my device. The arrow was now green and the countdown showed I had two weeks left.
My face broke into a fond smile as I went to sleep.
Chapter 6
Demons and Diamonds
At dawn we woke up ready to take on the new day. We got our stuff together and we all made our way to the temple. The trek was long and we managed to make it by midday. After resting for a short time, we began making our way into the temple and began working feverishly to load up our bags with diamonds that were lying on the ground. Seeing all those diamonds there reminded me of the movie Congo, and the ancient city of Zinj. I was loading as much as I could into my bag. Then, Rosa said to stop and head back to camp. After getting outside, the sun was setting and everyone was whooping and hollering. Everyone was celebrating and getting drunk. I, on the other hand, stayed sober and kept my wits about me.
“How come you’re not celebrating?” Rosa said.
“I wish to stay alert,” I said, “I have a very bad feeling about this.”
“Don’t be,” she said, “We are rich. We will have no more worries.”
“I wish it was that simple,” I said. After that, I got into my bedroll and went to sleep.
Over the next few days, I helped in getting the diamonds out and stored onto Rosa’s ship. I also found some good size gold nuggets here and there. On the last day, my bag was almost full and I was looking for a secret place to make my exit. My device showed just over 2 hours left and the arrow was now blue, which showed I was close, very close to my destination. I went to a shaft and found that a gigantic diamond blocked it. I got out a chisel and hammer and painfully managed to get out a two very huge pieces. Then, a demonic scream echoed around and a powerful gust flowed throughout the caverns. When I managed to make it to the main chamber, I saw about a dozen demons pinning down all the women and began tickling them. All the women were screaming and laughing and Rosa was laughing the loudest. The demon holding her down used two of his arms to hold her while his other two tickled her from under her arms down her sides and would stay at her slim tummy for a short while before going back up and doing the whole thing over again.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHA! PLHEEHEEHEEZE! NOHOHOHOHOHO MOHOHOHOHOHOHORE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“Hey!” I shouted. But none of the demons were listening. They were too busy in tickling my friends. I “unsheathed” my sword and went to the demon that was tickling Rose. I slashed and two of the demon’s arms were severed and the demon turned to me.
“Why?” the demon hissed, “We serve you, our lord and master.”
“I’m not your lord and master,” I said, “Begone!”
I thrusted my sword into the demon’s chest and the demon vanished in a kaleidoscope of color. Rosa got up and drew her sword. She looked at me for a moment, then turned and charged towards the demons with a fierce battlecry. The both of us made short work of the demons. When it was over, Rosa looked at me with a look of suspicion.
“That demon seemed to know you,” she said.
“I know,” I replied, “But I don’t understand why.”
I went down the shaft I came out from and found the huge chunks of diamond that I chopped out. I placed one in my bag and gave the other chunk to Rosa.
“Here,” I said, “I’m sure you can fetch a high price for it.”
I then pulled out my device and found the arrow still being blue and the countdown showed only just a few seconds. When the “timer” reached zero, I pressed a button and an electrical surge reached from my “remote” into the air. A moment later, that very same portal opened.
I was about to enter when Rosa shouted, “Wait! Will I ever see you again?”
“Only time will tell Black Rose,” I said, “May the winds be on your back. Farewell.”
I jumped into the portal and whisked away to my next destination.
To be continued…
The following I give thanks to:
The Sci-Fi TV show “Sliders” for helping me find the plot hook I needed.
To my friend Tom for helping me break through my writer’s block and to help me keep my promise.
And a special dedication to Milagros317, for wanting to see a continuation of my original story.
“He’s” back, and better than ever!
The Travels of Pimpenstein
Pimpenstein meets The Black Rose
Prologue
It was a beautiful day. The weather was clear with a few clouds and the air smelled with a tang of fresh salt. Lina and I were just getting our bearings as our large sailboat rocked with the ocean tides. Seagulls were sounding as I was trying to find our heading.
Lina broke the silence, “Brand? Do you know if we’re near land?”
“Oh yeah,” I said as I pointed out, “The seagulls are the indicator that we’re near land. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried about that. I’m just worried about where we are.”
“I know what you mean hon. We’ll find out soon enough.”
It didn’t take long for that. Almost immediately, a Coast Guard ship began hailing us.
“Attention Unknown Ship,” said an unknown female voice, “This is the Coast Guard ship ‘Liberty Bell’. You are trespassing in American waters. Identify at once!”
I answered on our ship’s radio, “Attention Liberty Bell. This is the ship ‘Ody - Z’. We are in need of assistance and safe port. Can you assist?”
“Of course Ody - Z. Maintain present course and follow us in. We are currently on route to port in San Diego. Can you follow?”
“Yes. Lead the way and we’ll follow. Over and out.”
“Roger Ody - Z. Upon docking, you are to proceed to meet with the captain at once. Out.”
After several hours, we arrived at one of the marinas in San Diego. After docking, Lina and I went to meet with Liberty Bell’s captain. The captain was not at all what I expected. She stood almost 6 feet tall with long blonde hair in a bun and blue eyes. With her stood 2 of her top officers, one with red hair, and the other with black hair. Both women bore military bearings and were at the ready. No pushovers anywhere in the lot.
“Hello,” I said, “My name’s Brand, captain of the Ody - Z.”
“I am Commander Longwaters of the ship Liberty Bell,” the blonde woman said, “And these are my executive officers, Lieutenant O’Shea and Lieutenant Commander Steele.”
“How do you do,” I said as I nodded slightly.
“Tell us now who you are. Where you are from?”
“I will, but not right now. I have some urgent business to attend to. Meet me at my ship at 18:00 hours for dinner and cocktails, and I’ll tell you everything.”
I whispered some instructions to Lina and she left to attend to them. After Commander Longwaters and her entourage left, I left to take care of personal business. I went to my bank and deposited something there, and then I went and got groceries for us. When the hour struck, everybody I asked to come was there; Jim, Corey, Liz, and all of our friends. Commander Longwaters and her execs were there as well. They were dressed in their dress uniforms while my friends were dressed casual. As I arrived, Regina rushed out and embraced me in a tight hug, as if she hadn’t seen me in years.
“It’s okay Reg,” I said as I parted from her strong hug, “Just take it easy. Right now, let’s have something to drink. Shall we?”
We all went to my ship’s bar and galley for drinks and got everything ready for dinner. When everyone got his or her drinks, Jim decided to speak.
“Now would you mind telling us what this is all about?”
“Sure Jim,” I responded. I pulled out a small device that looked like a mad scientist’s version of a VCR remote and pushed a button on my large keyboard. “To begin, on that fateful day when Lina and I had our first major argument two years ago, I began a journey where fantasy and reality; merged into a timeless dream…”
The music from my keyboard began filling the room.
Chapter 1
A Disappearing Act
The portal closed as I exited. I just activated my device and I got sucked through a vortex and now I’m on a new world. This world had dense jungle growth everywhere. The last thing I remember was Lina and I having an argument about what I was going to do now that I was unemployed. After Lina left, I went back to working on a device that I hoped was going to be the next generation of tazer. After viewing my surroundings, I looked at my device and found I had approximately three months, for the readout indicated that it was counting down and it was showing 89 days, 15 hours, 23 minutes, and 47 seconds. I began trekking through the jungle and close to midday, I found an old temple. It looked like an old Aztec temple and I found an incredible urge to go inside. I rested a bit for the trek in the jungle was long and tiring.
“Wait Brand,” Ann interrupted, “How did you come up with such a device?”
“By accident Ann,” I responded as I served everyone some soup, “Just like the potato chip. Now please reserve your questions until I’m done. Agreed?”
Everybody nodded in agreement.
“Good. Now as I was saying…”
After resting for a moment, I went inside the pyramid temple and followed the corridors until I was in what I thought to be the central chamber. On the pedestal floated above what looked like what I believed to be a sword. The glow emitting from there was strong, but soft. I felt a slight tingle as I reached for the sword and also felt something in my soul as if some force was telling me to get the sword. As I held the sword in my hand, I felt astonishment throughout my whole being, as if this sword was meant for me. The sword emitted a beautiful white glow from its blade that appeared to be made entirely of yellow-white light. It felt light in my hands, and its hilt bore a beautiful golden tone with a comfortable grip in black. The sword contained a very gothic look to it. From the hilt sprouted four small prongs surrounding the base and sharply angled towards the end of the blade, and the blade of light was straight with the curvature at the tip indicating that the blade was sharp on one side. When I slightly released my grip, the sword progressively shrank until it finally disappeared. I tested by doing a slashing motion and the sword was back in my hand instantly. I left the temple shortly after and continued trekking until I got to a very large fortress with old style cannons everywhere.
The other strange thing I noticed was that my wedding ring was gone.
I walked inside and discovered that this fortress was large enough to be like a shopping mall. Shops were everywhere with every kind of ware imaginable. I noticed that the people were looking at me strangely, probably due to the fact that my clothes were unlike theirs. I went to what said to be a bar or pub and sat at one the empty tables there. A waitress came and asked what I wanted. I told her nothing for I didn’t believe that the money I had on me would pass as legal tender here. Then a woman came over and sat in the other chair. She had on an outfit that made her look like Han Solo only her hair was red and somewhat short, with light and smooth complexion and beautiful green eyes. Her facial features made her look like she was upper crust. She had a sword on her left hip that appeared to be a saber. When she spoke, her voice sounded with command.
“He’s part of my crew,” the mysterious woman said, “Give him whatever he wants.”
I told the waitress I just wanted some stew, bread, and some beer. After the waitress brought my food and left, the mystery woman began the conversation.
“Hope you don’t mind me being forward like this,” she began, “I couldn’t help but notice, but you are very noticeable.”
“Oh yeah,” I said, “I do kind of stand out.”
“I wanted to ask you if you would like to come aboard my ship and be part of my crew. I am on my way to find a lost mine said to have unlimited riches in diamonds and other precious metals. If you help me, I can make it worth your while and you would be very wealthy.”
I looked at my device and the readout showed an arrow in red, indicating that the distance to my destination or target was very far indeed. I was not a fool.
“I accept,” I replied, “I need to head out that way anyway.”
“Excellent,” she said, “We set sail at sunrise. Come on board my ship and we can get you settled.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Chapter 2
Booking Passage
I left the pub with the woman and followed her to the ship that was furthest docked. The ship was large, probably a brigantine. The only thing I noticed was the flag on top. It was black, like a pirate flag, and the symbol in the middle looked like a thorny rose with a skull surrounded by some rose petals.
I stopped at the end of the gangplank and couldn’t go another step. I noticed that every person I saw on board the ship was a woman. The red haired woman came back and took my hand.
“You can relax my friend,” she said, as if she knew my question, “Have you never seen a pirate crew entirely of women?”
“No, can’t say that I have,” I said.
She took me below deck and showed me to her quarters. She offered me a seat and sat across from me behind a desk. She pulled out a leather case and took out the map inside. The map looked like it was a world map for she placed a knife on one spot that appeared to be the port we’re currently docked. She then pulled out another map, but didn’t unroll it as yet. I decided to ask her the one question that was bothering me.
“Why did you help me back there?” I asked.
“Just the look of your face was enough,” she replied, “You looked a little lost. I wanted to help.”
“You’re right. Thank you. Now, where exactly are we going?”
“We’re heading to an island located 150 leagues southeast of here.”
She took another knife and drove the tip to the spot where the island would be on the world map. She then unrolled the other map and placed it on top of the other.
“Upon arrival, we will head to the center of the island where an ancient city still stands. It is said there is a diamond mine underneath the city’s largest temple where there is still a fortune of diamonds there, and other precious metals.”
“How long will it be for us to reach our destination?” I asked.
“Roughly 40 days; if the winds favor us. Let me show you to your quarters now.”
She called to one of her guards and she escorted me to my cabin. It contained a modest bed, a small table and two chairs, a dresser, and a closet of sorts. I tried to open the closet door only to find it was locked. It didn’t matter to me at the time, so I just took off my shoes and lied on the bed and fell right to sleep. I didn’t realize how tired I really was.
Chapter 3
“He” Meets the Pirate Queen
Three weeks passed and everything was going very well. I helped out whenever and wherever I could. Sometimes I would help take care of the ship, participate in various games going on, or at night, I would tell stories. The next two weeks however, the wind just died and everyone started to get bored within the first week. My stories weren’t appealing to all onboard the ship and some of women there started to look at me with lustful eyes. I quickly went below deck and looked around for something that could help pass the time. I gathered some bones of dead animals and handed them to some of the women who followed me and showed them how to make dice out of them.
With that out of way, I went to my quarters and found a small plate of food on the table. The woman with red hair was sitting on one of the chairs and asked for me to sit down. I did and began eating while she began the conversation.
“I saw what you did below,” she began, “Thank you.”
“No problem,” I said, “It was my pleasure.”
“That should keep them from being bored for some time. By the way, we haven’t properly introduced ourselves. My name is Rosa de Leon, also known as ‘The Black Rose’.”
“My name’s Brand. Brandon Irons.”
“Like I said, I am thankful for what you did down below Brand, but it will not entertain them for long.”
“I think it will, for the products they finish will keep them entertained for a very long time.”
“I think you are right. However, some of them will look for other avenues of entertainment.”
“Maybe, but we won’t need to worry until the time comes. Somehow, I have reason to believe this conversation is geared more toward you. Is it not?”
“Yes. I too can get bored like the rest of my crew, but as captain of my ship, I cannot allow my crew to see that.”
“So what did you have in mind?”
The Black Rose wasn’t quick to answer. All that happened was I feeling a hard blow on the back of my head and when I awoke, I found myself tied down on the bed. I was barefoot and my shirt was also removed. The Black Rose was standing at the foot of the bed with one of her guards. The guard left immediately and she then sat down next to me.
“Untie me, now,” I said. My voice had a little edge to it.
“This is how I relieve boredom,” she said, “I always choose one person from my crew for this. Usually, I reserve this to punish the worst person in my crew. But in your case, I will use this for my own entertainment.”
“Don’t,” I warned, “You’ll be very sorry if you do.”
“You’re in a position unsuitable to give orders,” she replied, “Besides; I think you will feel better after I am done.”
With that being said, she sat down next to my feet and began tracing her finger on the sole of my right foot like a paintbrush. Basically, it was like she was warming me up for something more. Her nails didn’t go much further than her fingertips, but she had skill to compensate for this. My mouth was already curled into a smile and I was trying extremely hard to keep the laughter in, but I knew it was only a matter of time before the laughter would break out. After several minutes, she changed techniques and started using all her fingers while pulling my toes back in an effort to increase the tickling, and it worked. I began laughing and she began searching for any soft spot she could find.
“Plheeheeheeheease. Stahahahahahahap. Nohohohohohoho mohohohohohore. Stahahahahp tihihihihcking mhihihiy feeheeheeheeheeheet hahahahahahahahahahahaha,” was all I was able to say.
“No,” the Black Rose said, “I continue for one hour at the very least. But I am not completely heartless. Here.”
With that, she stopped and began massaging my feet with her thumbs. She would concentrate on my “hot spots” for a while and then move to another location. I was sucking much needed air while she took one of the goblets, filled it with water, and allowed me to take a few sips. Afterwards, she placed it aside and got on top of me. Her surprised look was something I didn’t miss.
“Now this is a surprise,” she said, “I never would have thought that this could happen.”
I knew exactly what she was saying. My manhood was “on the rise” and I blushed, for I was very emberrased about the whole thing. Rosa got off and stripped down to nothing. She then got me stripped and got back on top of me. Normally, if I were still single, this would be fun. But now, I was feeling very uncomfortable.
“We still have a half an hour left,” she said, “I think you will enjoy this portion more than me.”
At that, she began tickling me on my sides. We were “joined at the hip” while she was doing this. She began taunting me while tickling and was moving her hands all over. I tried not to laugh during the entire time, but I knew it was a futile task. When she began tickling me on my midriff, that familiar blackout came about.
Chapter 4
Retuning the Favor
I woke up the next morning feeling exhausted. I noticed that I was alone and went on deck to see what was going on. I looked about and saw everyone engaged in every form of activity. The wind picked up again and the sails were bulging. As I went back below deck, one of the Black Rose’s chief officers came to me and told me that we should arrive at the island within 1 month. I asked her to accompany me as I went to my quarters and I looked at my device counting down, I found out I still had 44 days, 5 hours, 13 minutes, and 25 seconds. The arrow also glowed yellow, which indicated I was getting nearer to my destination.
“Where’s the Black Rose?” I asked.
“She’s in her quarters,” she replied, “She’s ordered everyone that she’s not to be disturbed.”
“I think she’ll want to see me.”
“Maybe, but she will be very upset if she’s disturbed. You’re not mad about being ‘punished’ are you?”
“No. However, I feel that I owe her something for last night.”
She paused while she thought about this. She then asked me to come with her to her quarters and she pulled out her trunk. She opened it and pulled out a small wooden box containing a large golden feather. She handed it to me and told me that it is a Phoenix feather with very high tickling power.
“Thanks,” I said, “Do you want this feather back after I’m done?”
“You can keep it,” she said.
“Are you sure? A feather like this must be very rare.”
“I am.”
I went down to the Black Rose’s quarters and found her sound asleep. She looked very peaceful and sometimes I would hear her mutter my name. I knew she was probably dreaming of me. I began looking about for anything I could use to bind her down on her bed. After looking for 5 minutes, I found some leather straps and an old pair of stocks. I got the leather straps ready on her bed and used the other two to hold down the stocks. Now began the delicate task of getting Rosa’s hands into the straps and her ankles into the stocks. I managed to get her feet into the stocks and one of her hands in the straps before she woke up.
“Get me out of this right now!” she yelled.
“No,” I said, “I will not.”
“But my crew, they will wonder what is going on.”
“I spoke with your crew earlier. They have everything covered. They told me that you’re such a good captain that they can run everything until we get to our destination, which means that you and I are going to have a lot of fun together.”
I went over to Rosa’s side to get her right arm tied up, but she struggled and fought at every turn. She tried to punch me in the stomach before I got hold of her arm and tied it to the strap. I then went over to the stocks and examined her feet. They were roughly size 7 ½ with shapely toes and they went down in order with her big toe just slightly longer than her second toe. Her arches were high and milky white, and soft as silk. I was playfully stroking her foot while examining every detail.
“You have such an adorable foot Rosa,” I said, “You must really spend a lot of time taking care of these babies.”
“Please Brand,” she pleaded, “Don’t tickle my feet. Please?”
“Since you put it so nicely, I will.”
I then started stroking on the sole of her right foot with just one finger. She was giggling like a schoolgirl as I was doing this. Indeed, her foot was soft as silk, and she was wiggling her foot with such energy that I knew she had to be extremely ticklish. I noticed that her laugh was slightly deeper, but still beautiful.
“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Plheeheeheeze! Nohohohoho mohohohohohore! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”
“Very well,” I decided to change tacks on her and with the golden feather given to me, I began using it on her feet, the woman was right, it did have a very high tickling power. Needless to say, Rosa began laughing a lot harder and she was shaking her head so violently that her red hair was now an absolute mess.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLHEEHEEHEEHEEZE STHAHAHAHAP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
I then began using my feather on her legs and found that her laughter began dying down, but with some moaning mixed in. Eventually, I stopped to let her gasp for breath while I collected my thoughts.
“Would you mind letting me go now,” Rosa said while gasping for breath, “If you continue, I will not be able to survive.”
I went over to her side and undid one of her arm bonds. She immediately undid her other bonds and came over to me. To my surprise, she grabbed my head and kissed me.
“Thank you Brand,” she said after letting go, “That was actually fun. Do you mind if I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“How about you and I use tickling as a form of betting until we get to our destination? We still have a long journey.”
I thought about it for a time. Like a sledgehammer, an idea hit me. I thought of my favorite game that could be played for stakes. I told her about the game and within a moment, she pulled out a leather case that had two sets of dice, fifteen men per player, and doubling cube. She knew right away what I was talking about.
“I see you heard of this game before,” I said, “What about stakes?”
“How about a minute per man left on the board?” Rosa asked.
“Done. Now let me ask you something. How come you didn’t show this to me when I first arrived?”
“You never asked. I only play this whenever we get to a town that has a gambling place.”
“I see. How about we start playing today? Up to three games per day, winner has option. My midriff is off-limits though.”
“Not unless the betting cube reaches ‘64’. Agreed?”
“Agreed. Now let’s go topside and see what’s going on?”
We both left her quarters after she put away her leather case. On deck, activity was high. Rosa saw her navigator and got her bearings. Afterwards, she came back to me and asked to join her for dinner. Dinner was served and once we were done, she pulled out her backgammon board. We began playing in earnest.
Chapter 5
Land-ho!
The final month at sea went by without event. Most of the time, the crew carried out their duties. Whenever Rosa and I played our games most would stop and watch. Each day, one of us would win by the slimmest of margins. True to her word, Rosa never went to my midriff unless the betting cube reached 64, which didn’t happen if I had any say on the matter. On our last day, we played our first two games where we each won a game. Now, we were nearing the end of our third game and the doubling cube was on my side showing 16. Rosa had men left while I had six. I placed the cube on Rosa’s side with side 32 facing up.
“Double,” I said.
“I accept,” Rosa replied.
I rolled the dice and my face went to a fond smile as both dice came up 6’s. I removed four of my men leaving only two on my first point.
“Maybe it wasn’t a good double to accept after all,” I said.
Right away, Rosa took the cube and placed it on my side, showing 64.
“Double,” she said.
“Of course I accept,” I said, “There’s only one roll that can allow you to win.”
You have to know the situation of the game. Rosa had four men on the board, two on her 6 point with one on her first point and another on her second. I had two on my first point that meant any roll would allow me to win.
“You are going to need a great deal of luck to get out of this,” I said.
Rosa rolled her dice and I closed my eyes as they stopped. I couldn’t believe what showed.
“Double 6’s,” she said with a smile, “Fancy that.”
I felt the blood drain from my head as she picked up her pieces and took them off the board. I got up from the table and sat down on the bed. I was really going to regret this. I would have to deal with two hours of Rosa’s tickling with her tickling my midriff to boot. I was not happy, to say the least. Just as Rosa was getting things ready, one of her crewmembers came bursting in.
“Captain! We’re nearing land!” she said very excited.
“We will make landfall shortly,” Rosa said, “Leave us.”
The crewmember left and Rosa turned to me with hunger in her eyes. But she kept her composure.
“Another time?” she said.
“That’s no problem,” I said, “You and I can use this as a form of celebration when we find the diamonds.”
“Don’t be long. We leave when we are ready.”
“I’ll be there right away.”
As Rosa went topside to disembark, I went to my quarters to get my device, and some other supplies, including a large sack to put my diamonds in. As I arrived topside, Rosa was waving me to get into her boat. I got in and we started making our way inland once we’re ashore. Rosa ordered her crew to make camp after arriving at the ancient city. Indeed, it was ancient; every building was made of stone and appeared very neglected. It was late in the night and Rosa said we needed to be at the ready at dawn. Rosa had my bedroll next to hers and said we are going to be very rich. I looked at my device. The arrow was now green and the countdown showed I had two weeks left.
My face broke into a fond smile as I went to sleep.
Chapter 6
Demons and Diamonds
At dawn we woke up ready to take on the new day. We got our stuff together and we all made our way to the temple. The trek was long and we managed to make it by midday. After resting for a short time, we began making our way into the temple and began working feverishly to load up our bags with diamonds that were lying on the ground. Seeing all those diamonds there reminded me of the movie Congo, and the ancient city of Zinj. I was loading as much as I could into my bag. Then, Rosa said to stop and head back to camp. After getting outside, the sun was setting and everyone was whooping and hollering. Everyone was celebrating and getting drunk. I, on the other hand, stayed sober and kept my wits about me.
“How come you’re not celebrating?” Rosa said.
“I wish to stay alert,” I said, “I have a very bad feeling about this.”
“Don’t be,” she said, “We are rich. We will have no more worries.”
“I wish it was that simple,” I said. After that, I got into my bedroll and went to sleep.
Over the next few days, I helped in getting the diamonds out and stored onto Rosa’s ship. I also found some good size gold nuggets here and there. On the last day, my bag was almost full and I was looking for a secret place to make my exit. My device showed just over 2 hours left and the arrow was now blue, which showed I was close, very close to my destination. I went to a shaft and found that a gigantic diamond blocked it. I got out a chisel and hammer and painfully managed to get out a two very huge pieces. Then, a demonic scream echoed around and a powerful gust flowed throughout the caverns. When I managed to make it to the main chamber, I saw about a dozen demons pinning down all the women and began tickling them. All the women were screaming and laughing and Rosa was laughing the loudest. The demon holding her down used two of his arms to hold her while his other two tickled her from under her arms down her sides and would stay at her slim tummy for a short while before going back up and doing the whole thing over again.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHA! PLHEEHEEHEEZE! NOHOHOHOHOHO MOHOHOHOHOHOHORE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“Hey!” I shouted. But none of the demons were listening. They were too busy in tickling my friends. I “unsheathed” my sword and went to the demon that was tickling Rose. I slashed and two of the demon’s arms were severed and the demon turned to me.
“Why?” the demon hissed, “We serve you, our lord and master.”
“I’m not your lord and master,” I said, “Begone!”
I thrusted my sword into the demon’s chest and the demon vanished in a kaleidoscope of color. Rosa got up and drew her sword. She looked at me for a moment, then turned and charged towards the demons with a fierce battlecry. The both of us made short work of the demons. When it was over, Rosa looked at me with a look of suspicion.
“That demon seemed to know you,” she said.
“I know,” I replied, “But I don’t understand why.”
I went down the shaft I came out from and found the huge chunks of diamond that I chopped out. I placed one in my bag and gave the other chunk to Rosa.
“Here,” I said, “I’m sure you can fetch a high price for it.”
I then pulled out my device and found the arrow still being blue and the countdown showed only just a few seconds. When the “timer” reached zero, I pressed a button and an electrical surge reached from my “remote” into the air. A moment later, that very same portal opened.
I was about to enter when Rosa shouted, “Wait! Will I ever see you again?”
“Only time will tell Black Rose,” I said, “May the winds be on your back. Farewell.”
I jumped into the portal and whisked away to my next destination.
To be continued…
