PeterVincentTGVK
1st Level Red Feather
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2007
- Messages
- 1,065
- Points
- 38
It wasn’t the first punch to Slant’s face that hurt more. That was for sure. No, the first punch had only bruised his cheek. It was the second one that split his lower lip.
“The next one won’t be above the belt, Bookworm.” Ellie threatened as she towered over the sleazy criminal. “Where is Zhou?” He looked up at the bosomy crime fighter. Of course, Slant didn’t know her as Ellie Wisden. He knew her as every other lowlife in Atlas City did: He knew her as The Leopard. Her costume was covered in faux leopard fur. The fabric covered nearly her entire body. She wore calf high, dark brown stilettos, and a mask that pulled over her head like a hood, covering her blonde hair. Then there were her goggles. They were multi-functional, with the ability to switch between normal, night, and heat vision. Finally, there was her utility belt. Not unlike Batman’s, the buckle was a metal, roaring leopard’s head which fired a small tranquilizer needle from it’s mouth if she so wished. That was what Slant could see. What he couldn’t see were the Kevlar plates that she had strapped inside of her costume to most of her body to protect her from blades and gunfire.
“I can’t help but feel rather like the white rabbit.” He offered a weak chuckle as he wiped the blood from his chin. His name was Richard Slant. He had been a Literature professor at Atlas University for many years and had an advanced obsession with the written word. However, his rather abrasive and inappropriate behavior with some of his more attractive students eventually caught the attention of the mob, as did his talents as an accountant. Once he was discovered in a sting, he was arrested and sentenced to many years at Atlas Penitentiary. He escaped a few months ago, though, and had recently gone public, claiming to know the location of Lavender, another prison escapee who had once been a brilliant horticulturist and genetic physicist. Of course, he had wanted to be paid for this information, but Ellie had decided that it was easier to just beat it out of him.
“I don’t have time for this.” She told him.
“Neither does he.” Slant muttered. His reply got Ellie’s curiosity.
“He as in?”
“Your trigger happy friend. Ricochet.” Slant clarified with relish. “Lavender, our unconventional conservationist, is holding him prisoner.”
“Where!?” Ellie shouted, stomping down on his leg. He grunted in pain.
“It’s a house in the projects.” He winced, rubbing his injured shin. “325 Beaumont.”
Ellie didn’t need to hear anything else. She delivered a final punch to render the well-read deviant unconscious. The projects weren’t far. She could only pray that Ricochet wasn’t already dead.
What was Lavender doing in a neighborhood like this? No plant could last too long in the dreadful environment. On the other hand, it wasn’t hard for Ellie to believe a criminal wanting to hide out here. There certainly wasn’t much traffic of any kind. The projects were mostly barren thanks to the mayor’s current relocation programs and, as a result, there didn’t seem to be another living soul on the whole block. Ellie scanned the house for Intel from a couple of buildings down the road. 325 Beaumont. It was easy to spot as it was the only house on the block that had lights on. Ellie could see yellow beams seemingly lining the closed curtains. She couldn’t see inside. Curses.
Ellie made her move, sneaking down the road, shifting behind various trees and bushes till she was at the side of the partially dilapidated residence. From what she could figure, it was a one story with three bedrooms. Only a fool would just walk in the front door. Ellie decided to try and sneak in through a cracked window on the left side of the house. There was a flourishing bush blocking her way, though. As she pondered how to get past it without making much noise, she failed to notice the single yellow flower at her feet which had no Earthly business being there. She did, however, notice when the flower emitted a small cloud of yellow smoke…
Everything was a dark yellow blur as Ellie came to. She blinked a few times in an effort to clear her vision and her head. After a short while, things became more clear.
Ellie would have been mortified to find that she was tied up, but it was nothing new to her. She wasn’t bound with a rope, rather, a long vine which came from somewhere behind her. It had her enveloped from just below her shoulders down to the middle of her stomach. As a result, her biceps were effectively strapped to her sides. Her forearms and hands were free, but she couldn’t move them too much, so they just rested on her thighs. She was seated on the dirty floor of what she assumed was one of the rooms in the house. This place was a rat trap. It looked like it might have once been a crack house. It was falling apart. Wallpaper was cracked and peeling. The two existing lights were yellow and flickering every so often. There was no furniture to speak of except for two items. One was a countdown clock on the wall to her left. The other item was what really had her attention: It was a metal box, about 2 by 3 feet wide and maybe a foot and a half tall. It was hard for her not to notice this box that was seemingly welded to the floor, because her feet were locked into it, like a reverse magician’s box. Her costume was completely intact with the exception of her stilettos. Her feet were naked inside the box and she felt as though there was something on her big toe, but she had no way to see it.
There was a crackling sound resembling feedback before Ellie heard the familiar voice of Cathy Conundrum coming from the walls. There must have been miniature mics and speakers hidden in them.
“Greetings, Leopard. Welcome to our base of operations. It’s not much, but you have to start somewhere. Especially when you’re wanted by Johnny Law.”
“Cathy?” Ellie hoped that she could be heard. “Where are you? Where’s Lavender? Where’s Ricochet?”
“Where’s Waldo?” Ellie’s blood ran cold as she heard the chipper yet sadistic voice of Jessica Jester. “Where’s the beef?”
“Jesus, how many of you are there in this house?” Ellie realized that she had bitten off more than she could chew. She was expecting to have to deal with one adversary, not three.
“Jessica and I are down here in the basement.” Cathy said. “We’re keeping you big strapping hitman friend company.”
“Let Ricochet go.” Ellie tried to reason with them.
“I don’t think so.” Jessica denied. “But don’t worry. He’s not hurt. And he won’t be, as long as you can get down here and save him.”
“Yes, all you have to do is get out of that room, make your way through the house, and confront us down here.” Cathy said. “I am sure that soon you will bump into Lavender at some point between that room and where we are. Now, I want to direct your attention to the metal box in the center of the room.” She instructed. “The one your feet are locked into. It’s not too uncomfortable is it?”
“No.” Ellie replied. There was some kind of fluffy cushioning around her ankles where they were locked.
“Good. There is a small pocketknife attached to a fairly loose key ring that we placed ever so gently around the big toe of your right foot.” Conundrum continued. “It’s only roughly the size of a pen cap, but it should be enough to cut through Lavender’s vine. I feel I must tell you though, that in that box, just under your feet, is a 6-inch-around pipe that leads down here. So I wouldn’t move those feet of yours around too much. Otherwise you will lose your only chance at freedom.”
“Get to the point, Cathy!” Ellie nearly shouted as her patience was widdling away.
“I am sure that you are familiar with the concept of Chinese Feather Torture.” Cathy chuckled softly. “Soon, the feathers in that box will start to attack your soles, dusting them in specific spots. If you can withstand the torture without audibly succumbing to it for one minute, the box will open, and you can take the knife and free yourself. Nothing about the trap is fatal, unless it’s possible to die laughing. Hahaha.
“Righty right.” Jessica chimed in. “Even the slightest titter will be enough to restart the clock. So put your serious face on, Leopard. Your loverboy is counting on you.”
“When I get out of here, I swear...” Ellie was cut short when she heard a mechanized whirring sound coming from inside the box. The countdown clock started, and Ellie braced herself.
The torture started simply as Ellie felt a feather at each of her feet, the sides of them slowly gliding up and down her insteps. Ellie felt the urge to smile as her ticklishness tugged at the corners of her lips. She was able to fight it off, though. She was 15 seconds in when the feathers began to move a little faster. Now, Ellie was smiling. She couldn’t help it. She wanted so badly to move her feet away, but she couldn’t risk losing the knife. All she could do was sit there, grinning like a fool. Suddenly, two new feathers came into play, their tips spinning against the centers of her outstretched soles.
“Hehehe...” She was unable to suppress a quiet giggle at this new sensation. The clock buzzed and started the countdown over. Damn. Though the clock started over, the torture didn’t. It got worse as the spinning feathers now moved up and down Ellie’s soles.
“Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe...” She giggled. The clock buzzed, but it didn’t start over yet. It couldn’t, because she couldn’t stop giggling. Yet another two feathers announced their presence, poking and drifting underneath her toes.
“HehHEhEHhEHHEHAHhAheahehAhehaehhaehahehaehHAEhaHEHAHEhAHEhAehaeHEHA...” The clock waited patiently, but Ellie was beside herself. She bounced up and down on her butt so much that the crooked floor was wearing the fabric of her costume thin. The feathers were too much for her. Six of them in total were now tickling her, three at each poor foot. Ellie hated being tickled. And thanks to Jessica, nearly every criminal in town now knew that. Ellie clenched her teeth angrily but her giggles still made their escape. She knew that she was being watched. That Cathy, Jessica, and possibly even Lavender were taking sick pleasure in her discomfort. This made her even madder. More furious…
The clock started counting again and Ellie realized that even though the tickling hadn’t stopped, she wasn’t laughing anymore. Her feet had become accustomed to the patterns of the feathers and her rage outweighed her sensitivity. After the longest minute of her life, the clock alarmed and the metal box snapped open. Ellie pulled her feet towards her and was just barely able to reach the knife. It took Ellie almost seven minutes to cut through the vine… but she did it. She grabbed her stilettos, hiding the knife in the left one for safe keeping, slipping them back on and thanking God that her feet were covered once again. She got up off of the floor, feeling her behind and noticing that there was a small hole in her costume over her left butt cheek. She sneered, humiliated, and walked out the door.
There was a small hallway that appeared to lead into the kitchen to Ellie’s left, and another longer hallway which had a distinct lack of lighting. Ellie decided to check the kitchen first. She walked in and instantly covered her mouth and nose. It smelled awful, like when one cleans out the gutters on their house. The overwhelming stench of foliage and mud was too much for the heroine. The floor was covered with sopping wet mulch and God knows what else. But there was no door or anything that might lead to the basement. Ellie turned back. She was happy to do it.
Once she was back where she started, she looked down the dark hall. Thank Heaven for night vision. She switched on the Night Vision mode on her goggles and saw down the hallway. The NV mode helped her to see while casting a green hue on everything. She immediately noticed Lavender standing at the end of the Hallway with her hands on her hips.
“Nice to see you again, Leopard.” Lavender, or Dr. Fang Zhou as she was once known, was quite pretty. She looked Asian, or at least partially Oriental. Her hair was short and dyed purple, causing it to match her sparkly, purple, leather catsuit. Of course, all Ellie could see was shades of green, so the violet nature of Lavender’s ensemble eluded her. “You know, cats generally can’t see certain colors, but they are said to have natural night vision. But no matter how much you wish you were, you are not a cat. Keep your goggles on or take them off. It’s up to you. But I have been standing right here for the last hour or so. My eyes are accustomed to this area enough that I can see you and the rest of this hall rather well.”
“You and the others can come quietly.” Ellie offered. “Or I can hand all three of you your asses. It’s up to you.”
“It’s your ass I am wondering about.” Lavender said. Ellie felt something very strange. Something incredibly thin had delivered a quick tickle to her left butt cheek, finding exposed skin from the hole in her costume. Despite herself, she jumped and swatted down at the air behind her and the sensation stopped.
“What the Hell was that?” She asked, startled.
“My new baby.” The batshit botanist replied. “I call it the Ghost Vine. So thin that it is barely visible, but nearly impossible to rip or cut. It grows from a combination of pheromones and the crud that you saw collected in the kitchen. And, like many of my other creations, it is quite self aware and single minded of purpose. It’s growing through the cracks in these walls and, unfortunately for you, it’s goal is to gently assault any source of body heat that it senses. You won’t be able to see it in the dark and with those goggles set on night vision with green being the vine’s base color, you won’t be able to see it no matter what. So, as I said, you can keep the goggles on or take them off, it makes no difference. Because I have no intention of letting you past me.” Lavender flicked open a switchblade. “Fancy a knife fight?” She challenged.
“Come and get it.” Ellie shot back. Lavender charged at Ellie, slashing wildly with her blade. Ellie was able to dodge the first few swipes, but one eventually tore a three inch slice into Ellie’s left side.
“Gotcha.” Lavender smirked.
“You’re wasting your time with that toy.” Ellie said. “Your knife can’t cut through my Kevlar.”
“Oh, my poor, ignorant feline...” A truly sinister look flashed across Lavender’s face. “Did you not hear a word I said? I don’t need to open your flesh. I just need to open your clothes.”
Ellie shrieked as the nearly invisible vine slipped inside her costume and a dozen paper thin tendrils wiggled against her bare side.
“Goddammi-hahahahahahahahahaha...” Ellie tried to grab the vine and pull it out, but Lavender took advantage of the distraction and slashed again.
“Your Kevlar doesn’t cover you completely, does it?” Lavender asked as her knife cut a slit in Ellie’s costume over her abdomen. More tendrils instantly flooded in, tormenting the crime fighter’s tummy. “Don’t worry. My vine will find the soft spots between the armor. Laugh for me, Leopard.”
Ellie grabbed desperately at her side and stomach, trying to pull the tendrils out. Lavender hadn’t lied though. As thin as they were, they were strong, and as long as Ellie was laughing, she was too weak to remove them. She slumped to the floor like a helpless child as involuntary giggles flowed beautifully through her.
“Where else are you ticklish, hmm?” Lavender calmly knelt down beside the hysterical heroine and took hold of her wrist. “Your underarms, perhaps?” Lavender made an incision in the fabric over Ellie’s left armpit and the blonde went crazy as the vine slipped in and danced about. Ellie was now rolling over on the ground, completely forsaking her dignity as Lavender laughed evilly.
“MAHAHAHAHAKE THEM STOHOHOHHOHOHOOHHPPPP!” Ellie pleaded with her adversary.
“I’m sorry, Leopard.” The villainess purred. “But I have no ear for cries of mercy.” Lavender sliced Ellie’s costume again, near her right inner thigh, and more vines attacked, seeking out the heat emitting from Ellie’s tender flesh. The heroine had no idea what to do. Escape would truly be impossible if she couldn’t destroy the horrible plant.
“NOOHHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOH MOHHOHOHOOHHOHOHOHOHORRRREE!” Ellie begged. Lavender just rubbed Ellie’s shoulder.
“There there…” She whispered sadistically in mock sympathy. “There there...”
Ellie looked up at Lavender with teary eyes and realized that there was another way out of this. She couldn’t destroy the vine. But she could distract it. She reached out with lightning speed and grabbed the zipper on the front of Lavender’s chest, yanking it all the way down to her groin. Before Lavender could protest, the vine pulled out of Ellie’s costume and attacked her newly exposed torso.
“AAAAAGGGHHH!!” Lavender screamed as she fell back. The tendrils tickled her chest, her ribs, her stomach, her sides, her nipples, under her arms, anywhere they could reach… “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Ellie crawled up from the ground and stood on her feet, catching her breath and watching Lavender fall prey to her own creation.
“Sorry, Lavender.” Ellie huffed. “I’d love to help, but I don’t have an ear for cries of mercy either. Once you’re unconscious, I’ll drag your sorry ass back to Atlas Penitentiary. All three of you bitches.
Ellie turned and continued down the hall, leaving Lavender to suffer. She came across a single door at the end of the hall. It had to lead to the basement. She turned her goggles back to normal vision and opened the door, ready to save Ricochet once and for all.
She slowly descended the staircase. She heard only silence. Odd. She had expected to hear Ricochet grunting through some kind of gag… or Cathy and Jessica conversing in some way. But she didn’t hear anything at all except for the soft creaking of the wooden steps. When she reached the bottom of the staircase, she turned to peer through an empty doorway. There was a large room with concrete walls. She didn’t see Jessica or Cathy… or Ricochet for that matter. She only saw a wooden stage with a wood stool in front of it and a rope that was tied into a noose. There was a blackboard nailed to the wall directly across from the stage.
“Not one more step, Leopard.” Ellie heard the hammer of a M1911 being pulled back behind her. Before she could turn, Jessica shoved her into the center of the room from behind her. Ellie stood back up but froze when she saw Cathy aiming the pistol at her.
“Now, now.” Cathy tisked. “We both know that your armor won’t do any good if I shoot you in the face.”
“I don’t understand.” Ellie was confused. “Where is Ricochet?”
“Hell if we know.” Jessica blurted out as she came into view, decked out in her tight yellow and blue jester costume. Cathy was dressed casually in a green turtleneck sweater and black smart pants. The small, Rubix cube tattoo on her forehead was plainly visible. Jessica somersaulted over to Cathy and stood side by side with her. “Probably cleaning his rifle, if you catch my drift.”
“Yeah, the thing is… we never really kidnapped him.” Cathy confessed, her aim steady. “We just needed to draw you out, so we paid Slant to make his claim about Lavender’s whereabouts, and here you are to save the day!”
“You see, Leopard...” Jessica chirped. “We figure we owe you for that little debacle with our maze a few months back. Now, we can only assume that you still have the blade that we had put on your tootsie...”
Ellie knew that Jessica and Cathy weren’t to be trifled with. She pulled off her left stiletto and let the pocketknife fall out from inside of it.
“Good. Now use the knife to cut off the rest of your ridiculous costume.” Cathy ordered.
“I won’t.” Ellie told the madwoman sternly.
“Your only chance to get out of here is to do what you’re told.” Cathy said. “Just one more game. You survive this… and we will give you Lavender.”
“I already have Lavender.” Ellie was having none of this. She pressed the button on her belt buckle and the tranq needle fired. Cathy was expecting the move, however, and deflected the needle in midair with a calculated swipe of her wrist. The pistol knocked the needle across the room and Ellie realized she had no other weapons. Cathy would shoot her before she could get close enough to disarm the clever criminal.
“Last chance, Leopard. The game… or the gun.” Cathy warned. “Cut off your costume. I don’t give a damn about your secret identity, so you may keep your mask on if you wish. But we want you bare from the neck down.”
Ellie sighed in frustration and bent down to pick up the knife.
“And don’t even think about getting smart with that little pig sticker.” Jessica advised. “You’re not faster than a bullet.”
Ellie understood that she didn’t have any recourse. She opened the pocketknife and started cutting away. The silence was unbearably uncomfortable as she tore and snipped away at her costume. After a minute or two, she put the pocketknife down and began unsnapping the clasps which held her Kevlar plates on. The worst part of the whole ordeal was when she removed the two plates from her heaving breasts, and the cool air of the basement caused her nipples to become erect in front of the deadly duo. Jessica walked up behind her and beckoned her to climb up onto the stool. Ellie did as she was told and Jessica hopped up onto the stage. Jessica was now sanding behind Ellie as the naked heroine faced the blackboard. Jessica took the noose and put it around Ellie’s neck. Ellie realized at that moment that either of the two villains could kick the stool out from under her and kill her right there.
“Just one more thing, Leopard.” Jessica whispered as she snapped a pair of handcuffs on Ellie’s wrists, effectively tying her hands behind her back. “Let’s see if you have the grace and balance of your namesake.” Jester mocked.
“I thought you said it was a game.” Ellie protested.
“It is a game.” Cathy went to the blackboard and picked up a black marker. “In fact, it’s a common children’s game: Hangman.” She drew a simple diagram of a noose on the board. “Nine letters. You get the answer right before I can finish the picture, we let you go. We won’t go with you, but we won’t stop you from taking in flower girl. You fail… well… I’m sure you can figure that one out for yourself.” She drew the appropriate dashes on the board. “Whenever you’re ready, Leopard.”
Ellie knew the game well. She had played it many times in her youth with her friends at school, usually during lunch hour. The trick was to find the vowels.
“A.” She guessed.
“There are two A’s.” Cathy filled them in.
“E.”
“There is one E.” Cathy drew the letter over the second dash.
_ E A _ _ _ _ A _
“I?”
“Oh, sorry Leopard. There are no I’s” Cathy drew the first line to represent the stick figure’s right leg. Ellie twitched and let out a rather girlish giggle as Jessica unexpectedly teased her right inner thigh with her gloved fingers. Ellie struggled to maintain her footing, nearly kicking herself off of the stool
“Stop that, you psycho!” Ellie shouted, much to Jessica’s amusement.
“Did I not tell you?” Cathy tilted her head to the side. “In our version of the game, you get a tickle in the appropriate spot when you make a wrong guess. I suppose you will just have to… how would you put it… grin and bear it.”
“DAMN YOU!”
Cathy and Jessica both snickered at Ellie’s helplessness and anger. After a few seconds, Ellie regained her composure. She knew she couldn’t reason with the two of them. She had to play along. She couldn’t risk any more vowels.
“You know, Leopard.” Jessica whispered. “The next one you miss, I’m gonna get you behind your knee.”
“P.” Ellie guessed
“There is a P.” Cathy filled in the letter.
_ E A _ _ _ _ A P
It helped, but not much. Ellie started guessing potential words in her mind. If she could figure out the letters in the middle, it would give her the edge.
“M.”
“Sorry. No M.” Cathy drew the other leg on the board, and just as Jessica had promised, Ellie felt a finger gently wiggle behind her left knee.
“Hehehehe...” She kicked her leg a little and almost lost her balance. This was intolerable. As skilled a tickler as Jessica was, Ellie started to realize the genuine possibility of dying at her hands.
“Tickle tickle...”
“Ungh!” Ellie grunted, choosing to endure the sensation rather than fight it.
“That’s enough, Jessica.” Cathy declared. “Your next guess, Leopard?”
“N!” Ellie growled through clenched teeth.
“Oh, dear.” Cathy shook her head. “Afraid not.” She drew a left arm on the board.
“Here comes Mr. Caterpillar.” Jessica teased, wiggling a finger under Ellie’s left underarm.
“Hahahahaha. Jessica-hahaha no! Hahahahaha...” Ellie tried to clamp her arm to her torso, but she only succeeded in trapping Jessica’s finger in place. The villainess gave her a few gentle pokes before pulling her finger free.
“Three guesses down, Leopard.” Cathy reminded. “And three guesses left. What’s it going to be?”
“H!”
“There IS an H! Isn’t this fun?” Cathy cheered as she filled in the H.
_ E A _ H _ _ A P
What could it be? Ellie was eager to guess the word but didn’t want to be wrong. She opted to pick another letter.
“O!”
Cathy didn’t even reply. She just drew the right arm to let Ellie know that there was no O.
“Look, Leopard!” Jessica beamed. “Mr. Caterpillar is back!”
“Hehehehehehehehehehehe...” Ellie turned from side to side on the stool as Jessica tickled under her other arm.
“Coochie coochie coo.” Cathy teased and laughed as she watched. “Turn your frown upside down.”
“Yeah, we wouldn’t want you to get upset.” Jessica taunted. “You know, the next line is gonna be the torso. And we all know how many magic spots you have on your chest and tummy.”
“B!”
“This just isn’t your day, is it?” Cathy drew the torso line.
“It’s okay.” Jessica said. “I know how to cheer her up.”
Ellie must have looked truly silly as uncontrollable laughter was seeping through her clenched teeth. Jessica was teasingly drifting her fingertips up and down the sides of the Leopard’s naked breasts.
“Tickle tickle tiiickle...”
“I’ll… I’ll kihiihihlll you...” Ellie thought she was going to cry having to withstand the ticklish torture of her breasts. Her engorged nipples were next on Jessica’s target list. The harlequin drew circles around them before flicking at the tips ever so softly.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Ellie was twisting and turning. The stool was wobbling. This might be it. This might be the end…
“Gitchy goo...”
“Enough.” Cathy ordered.
“Awww, but she was gonna faaaall!” Jessica sulked. “She was literally about to die from a booby trap!”
“I said enough!” Cathy insisted. “She only has one more guess.” She turned back to Ellie. “How about it, Leopard?”
Ellie lifted her head up, glaring first at Cathy, and then the board.
“T.” She muttered.
“There are TWO T’s!” Cathy wrote them out.
_ E A T H T _ A P
Ellie figured it out as soon as she saw it.
“Deathtrap!” She shouted. “The answer is deathtrap!”
“You are correct!” Cathy filled out the rest of the word on the board and Jessica applauded, clapping her hands loudly.
“Yay! You did it! I knew you could!” Jessica congratulated the furious crime fighter.
“Now let me go!” She demanded.
“Why?” Cathy shrugged. Ellie was stunned by the response.
“You said you would let me go!”
“Yeah, that’s the thing, though… we say a lot of things.” Jessica laughed.
“And besides, Leopard… you said the answer yourself. This is a deathtrap. Death… by tickle.”
Jessica jumped down from the stage and stood in front of the stool.
“Hey, Leopard.” She cackled wickedly. “With you up on that stool, I am in a perfect position.”
“No!” Ellie realized what Jessica meant. The jester was at face level with her bellybutton. Jessica just nodded giddily.
“Uh huh… here comes Momma!” Jessica pressed her lips against the outtie and blew.
Pbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbt….
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Ellie squirmed in spite of herself and the stool began to wobble again.
“Here comes another buzzer...”
Pbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbbttbtbtb…
Ellie rocked back and forth as hyperactive laughter fired out of her.
“Time to die, Leopard...” Cathy said cruelly.
Suddenly, there was a loud cracking sound. Jessica stopped zerberting Ellie and turned to see Ricochet, He had knocked Cathy out cold from behind with the butt of his suppressed SIG-Sauer P232 and was now aiming the gun at Jessica. Ellie had never been so relieved in her life.
“How many times I gotta tell you to stay out of bad neighborhoods?” He joked. Jessica took hold of Ellie’s calves.
“One more step and I’ll hang her, gun boy!”
Ellie and Ricochet exchanged a nod. She knew what she had to do. What she had to risk. She jerked her right leg free and delivered a knee directly to Jessica’s jaw, knocking the jester to the floor, unconscious. In doing so, she lost her balance and fell from the stool. Ricochet raced over and grabbed her. She groaned in pain, but she had only hung for a second. Other than some bruising, she would be fine. Ricochet helped her back up on the stool and climbed up onto the stage to pull the noose off of her.
“I found Lavender upstairs. I don’t think she’ll ever stop laughing” He uncuffed her and she hopped down to the ground, kicking Jessica in the stomach. Something for her to enjoy when she wakes up, Ellie thought. “Happy to see me?” He asked, putting his gun back in it’s holster.
“Are you kidding?” She asked, rubbing her throat. “Ricochet… can’t you see how choked up I am about it?”
Neither of them knew if it was okay to laugh at the joke. But Ellie had never been happier to be alive.
“The next one won’t be above the belt, Bookworm.” Ellie threatened as she towered over the sleazy criminal. “Where is Zhou?” He looked up at the bosomy crime fighter. Of course, Slant didn’t know her as Ellie Wisden. He knew her as every other lowlife in Atlas City did: He knew her as The Leopard. Her costume was covered in faux leopard fur. The fabric covered nearly her entire body. She wore calf high, dark brown stilettos, and a mask that pulled over her head like a hood, covering her blonde hair. Then there were her goggles. They were multi-functional, with the ability to switch between normal, night, and heat vision. Finally, there was her utility belt. Not unlike Batman’s, the buckle was a metal, roaring leopard’s head which fired a small tranquilizer needle from it’s mouth if she so wished. That was what Slant could see. What he couldn’t see were the Kevlar plates that she had strapped inside of her costume to most of her body to protect her from blades and gunfire.
“I can’t help but feel rather like the white rabbit.” He offered a weak chuckle as he wiped the blood from his chin. His name was Richard Slant. He had been a Literature professor at Atlas University for many years and had an advanced obsession with the written word. However, his rather abrasive and inappropriate behavior with some of his more attractive students eventually caught the attention of the mob, as did his talents as an accountant. Once he was discovered in a sting, he was arrested and sentenced to many years at Atlas Penitentiary. He escaped a few months ago, though, and had recently gone public, claiming to know the location of Lavender, another prison escapee who had once been a brilliant horticulturist and genetic physicist. Of course, he had wanted to be paid for this information, but Ellie had decided that it was easier to just beat it out of him.
“I don’t have time for this.” She told him.
“Neither does he.” Slant muttered. His reply got Ellie’s curiosity.
“He as in?”
“Your trigger happy friend. Ricochet.” Slant clarified with relish. “Lavender, our unconventional conservationist, is holding him prisoner.”
“Where!?” Ellie shouted, stomping down on his leg. He grunted in pain.
“It’s a house in the projects.” He winced, rubbing his injured shin. “325 Beaumont.”
Ellie didn’t need to hear anything else. She delivered a final punch to render the well-read deviant unconscious. The projects weren’t far. She could only pray that Ricochet wasn’t already dead.
What was Lavender doing in a neighborhood like this? No plant could last too long in the dreadful environment. On the other hand, it wasn’t hard for Ellie to believe a criminal wanting to hide out here. There certainly wasn’t much traffic of any kind. The projects were mostly barren thanks to the mayor’s current relocation programs and, as a result, there didn’t seem to be another living soul on the whole block. Ellie scanned the house for Intel from a couple of buildings down the road. 325 Beaumont. It was easy to spot as it was the only house on the block that had lights on. Ellie could see yellow beams seemingly lining the closed curtains. She couldn’t see inside. Curses.
Ellie made her move, sneaking down the road, shifting behind various trees and bushes till she was at the side of the partially dilapidated residence. From what she could figure, it was a one story with three bedrooms. Only a fool would just walk in the front door. Ellie decided to try and sneak in through a cracked window on the left side of the house. There was a flourishing bush blocking her way, though. As she pondered how to get past it without making much noise, she failed to notice the single yellow flower at her feet which had no Earthly business being there. She did, however, notice when the flower emitted a small cloud of yellow smoke…
Everything was a dark yellow blur as Ellie came to. She blinked a few times in an effort to clear her vision and her head. After a short while, things became more clear.
Ellie would have been mortified to find that she was tied up, but it was nothing new to her. She wasn’t bound with a rope, rather, a long vine which came from somewhere behind her. It had her enveloped from just below her shoulders down to the middle of her stomach. As a result, her biceps were effectively strapped to her sides. Her forearms and hands were free, but she couldn’t move them too much, so they just rested on her thighs. She was seated on the dirty floor of what she assumed was one of the rooms in the house. This place was a rat trap. It looked like it might have once been a crack house. It was falling apart. Wallpaper was cracked and peeling. The two existing lights were yellow and flickering every so often. There was no furniture to speak of except for two items. One was a countdown clock on the wall to her left. The other item was what really had her attention: It was a metal box, about 2 by 3 feet wide and maybe a foot and a half tall. It was hard for her not to notice this box that was seemingly welded to the floor, because her feet were locked into it, like a reverse magician’s box. Her costume was completely intact with the exception of her stilettos. Her feet were naked inside the box and she felt as though there was something on her big toe, but she had no way to see it.
There was a crackling sound resembling feedback before Ellie heard the familiar voice of Cathy Conundrum coming from the walls. There must have been miniature mics and speakers hidden in them.
“Greetings, Leopard. Welcome to our base of operations. It’s not much, but you have to start somewhere. Especially when you’re wanted by Johnny Law.”
“Cathy?” Ellie hoped that she could be heard. “Where are you? Where’s Lavender? Where’s Ricochet?”
“Where’s Waldo?” Ellie’s blood ran cold as she heard the chipper yet sadistic voice of Jessica Jester. “Where’s the beef?”
“Jesus, how many of you are there in this house?” Ellie realized that she had bitten off more than she could chew. She was expecting to have to deal with one adversary, not three.
“Jessica and I are down here in the basement.” Cathy said. “We’re keeping you big strapping hitman friend company.”
“Let Ricochet go.” Ellie tried to reason with them.
“I don’t think so.” Jessica denied. “But don’t worry. He’s not hurt. And he won’t be, as long as you can get down here and save him.”
“Yes, all you have to do is get out of that room, make your way through the house, and confront us down here.” Cathy said. “I am sure that soon you will bump into Lavender at some point between that room and where we are. Now, I want to direct your attention to the metal box in the center of the room.” She instructed. “The one your feet are locked into. It’s not too uncomfortable is it?”
“No.” Ellie replied. There was some kind of fluffy cushioning around her ankles where they were locked.
“Good. There is a small pocketknife attached to a fairly loose key ring that we placed ever so gently around the big toe of your right foot.” Conundrum continued. “It’s only roughly the size of a pen cap, but it should be enough to cut through Lavender’s vine. I feel I must tell you though, that in that box, just under your feet, is a 6-inch-around pipe that leads down here. So I wouldn’t move those feet of yours around too much. Otherwise you will lose your only chance at freedom.”
“Get to the point, Cathy!” Ellie nearly shouted as her patience was widdling away.
“I am sure that you are familiar with the concept of Chinese Feather Torture.” Cathy chuckled softly. “Soon, the feathers in that box will start to attack your soles, dusting them in specific spots. If you can withstand the torture without audibly succumbing to it for one minute, the box will open, and you can take the knife and free yourself. Nothing about the trap is fatal, unless it’s possible to die laughing. Hahaha.
“Righty right.” Jessica chimed in. “Even the slightest titter will be enough to restart the clock. So put your serious face on, Leopard. Your loverboy is counting on you.”
“When I get out of here, I swear...” Ellie was cut short when she heard a mechanized whirring sound coming from inside the box. The countdown clock started, and Ellie braced herself.
The torture started simply as Ellie felt a feather at each of her feet, the sides of them slowly gliding up and down her insteps. Ellie felt the urge to smile as her ticklishness tugged at the corners of her lips. She was able to fight it off, though. She was 15 seconds in when the feathers began to move a little faster. Now, Ellie was smiling. She couldn’t help it. She wanted so badly to move her feet away, but she couldn’t risk losing the knife. All she could do was sit there, grinning like a fool. Suddenly, two new feathers came into play, their tips spinning against the centers of her outstretched soles.
“Hehehe...” She was unable to suppress a quiet giggle at this new sensation. The clock buzzed and started the countdown over. Damn. Though the clock started over, the torture didn’t. It got worse as the spinning feathers now moved up and down Ellie’s soles.
“Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe...” She giggled. The clock buzzed, but it didn’t start over yet. It couldn’t, because she couldn’t stop giggling. Yet another two feathers announced their presence, poking and drifting underneath her toes.
“HehHEhEHhEHHEHAHhAheahehAhehaehhaehahehaehHAEhaHEHAHEhAHEhAehaeHEHA...” The clock waited patiently, but Ellie was beside herself. She bounced up and down on her butt so much that the crooked floor was wearing the fabric of her costume thin. The feathers were too much for her. Six of them in total were now tickling her, three at each poor foot. Ellie hated being tickled. And thanks to Jessica, nearly every criminal in town now knew that. Ellie clenched her teeth angrily but her giggles still made their escape. She knew that she was being watched. That Cathy, Jessica, and possibly even Lavender were taking sick pleasure in her discomfort. This made her even madder. More furious…
The clock started counting again and Ellie realized that even though the tickling hadn’t stopped, she wasn’t laughing anymore. Her feet had become accustomed to the patterns of the feathers and her rage outweighed her sensitivity. After the longest minute of her life, the clock alarmed and the metal box snapped open. Ellie pulled her feet towards her and was just barely able to reach the knife. It took Ellie almost seven minutes to cut through the vine… but she did it. She grabbed her stilettos, hiding the knife in the left one for safe keeping, slipping them back on and thanking God that her feet were covered once again. She got up off of the floor, feeling her behind and noticing that there was a small hole in her costume over her left butt cheek. She sneered, humiliated, and walked out the door.
There was a small hallway that appeared to lead into the kitchen to Ellie’s left, and another longer hallway which had a distinct lack of lighting. Ellie decided to check the kitchen first. She walked in and instantly covered her mouth and nose. It smelled awful, like when one cleans out the gutters on their house. The overwhelming stench of foliage and mud was too much for the heroine. The floor was covered with sopping wet mulch and God knows what else. But there was no door or anything that might lead to the basement. Ellie turned back. She was happy to do it.
Once she was back where she started, she looked down the dark hall. Thank Heaven for night vision. She switched on the Night Vision mode on her goggles and saw down the hallway. The NV mode helped her to see while casting a green hue on everything. She immediately noticed Lavender standing at the end of the Hallway with her hands on her hips.
“Nice to see you again, Leopard.” Lavender, or Dr. Fang Zhou as she was once known, was quite pretty. She looked Asian, or at least partially Oriental. Her hair was short and dyed purple, causing it to match her sparkly, purple, leather catsuit. Of course, all Ellie could see was shades of green, so the violet nature of Lavender’s ensemble eluded her. “You know, cats generally can’t see certain colors, but they are said to have natural night vision. But no matter how much you wish you were, you are not a cat. Keep your goggles on or take them off. It’s up to you. But I have been standing right here for the last hour or so. My eyes are accustomed to this area enough that I can see you and the rest of this hall rather well.”
“You and the others can come quietly.” Ellie offered. “Or I can hand all three of you your asses. It’s up to you.”
“It’s your ass I am wondering about.” Lavender said. Ellie felt something very strange. Something incredibly thin had delivered a quick tickle to her left butt cheek, finding exposed skin from the hole in her costume. Despite herself, she jumped and swatted down at the air behind her and the sensation stopped.
“What the Hell was that?” She asked, startled.
“My new baby.” The batshit botanist replied. “I call it the Ghost Vine. So thin that it is barely visible, but nearly impossible to rip or cut. It grows from a combination of pheromones and the crud that you saw collected in the kitchen. And, like many of my other creations, it is quite self aware and single minded of purpose. It’s growing through the cracks in these walls and, unfortunately for you, it’s goal is to gently assault any source of body heat that it senses. You won’t be able to see it in the dark and with those goggles set on night vision with green being the vine’s base color, you won’t be able to see it no matter what. So, as I said, you can keep the goggles on or take them off, it makes no difference. Because I have no intention of letting you past me.” Lavender flicked open a switchblade. “Fancy a knife fight?” She challenged.
“Come and get it.” Ellie shot back. Lavender charged at Ellie, slashing wildly with her blade. Ellie was able to dodge the first few swipes, but one eventually tore a three inch slice into Ellie’s left side.
“Gotcha.” Lavender smirked.
“You’re wasting your time with that toy.” Ellie said. “Your knife can’t cut through my Kevlar.”
“Oh, my poor, ignorant feline...” A truly sinister look flashed across Lavender’s face. “Did you not hear a word I said? I don’t need to open your flesh. I just need to open your clothes.”
Ellie shrieked as the nearly invisible vine slipped inside her costume and a dozen paper thin tendrils wiggled against her bare side.
“Goddammi-hahahahahahahahahaha...” Ellie tried to grab the vine and pull it out, but Lavender took advantage of the distraction and slashed again.
“Your Kevlar doesn’t cover you completely, does it?” Lavender asked as her knife cut a slit in Ellie’s costume over her abdomen. More tendrils instantly flooded in, tormenting the crime fighter’s tummy. “Don’t worry. My vine will find the soft spots between the armor. Laugh for me, Leopard.”
Ellie grabbed desperately at her side and stomach, trying to pull the tendrils out. Lavender hadn’t lied though. As thin as they were, they were strong, and as long as Ellie was laughing, she was too weak to remove them. She slumped to the floor like a helpless child as involuntary giggles flowed beautifully through her.
“Where else are you ticklish, hmm?” Lavender calmly knelt down beside the hysterical heroine and took hold of her wrist. “Your underarms, perhaps?” Lavender made an incision in the fabric over Ellie’s left armpit and the blonde went crazy as the vine slipped in and danced about. Ellie was now rolling over on the ground, completely forsaking her dignity as Lavender laughed evilly.
“MAHAHAHAHAKE THEM STOHOHOHHOHOHOOHHPPPP!” Ellie pleaded with her adversary.
“I’m sorry, Leopard.” The villainess purred. “But I have no ear for cries of mercy.” Lavender sliced Ellie’s costume again, near her right inner thigh, and more vines attacked, seeking out the heat emitting from Ellie’s tender flesh. The heroine had no idea what to do. Escape would truly be impossible if she couldn’t destroy the horrible plant.
“NOOHHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOH MOHHOHOHOOHHOHOHOHOHORRRREE!” Ellie begged. Lavender just rubbed Ellie’s shoulder.
“There there…” She whispered sadistically in mock sympathy. “There there...”
Ellie looked up at Lavender with teary eyes and realized that there was another way out of this. She couldn’t destroy the vine. But she could distract it. She reached out with lightning speed and grabbed the zipper on the front of Lavender’s chest, yanking it all the way down to her groin. Before Lavender could protest, the vine pulled out of Ellie’s costume and attacked her newly exposed torso.
“AAAAAGGGHHH!!” Lavender screamed as she fell back. The tendrils tickled her chest, her ribs, her stomach, her sides, her nipples, under her arms, anywhere they could reach… “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Ellie crawled up from the ground and stood on her feet, catching her breath and watching Lavender fall prey to her own creation.
“Sorry, Lavender.” Ellie huffed. “I’d love to help, but I don’t have an ear for cries of mercy either. Once you’re unconscious, I’ll drag your sorry ass back to Atlas Penitentiary. All three of you bitches.
Ellie turned and continued down the hall, leaving Lavender to suffer. She came across a single door at the end of the hall. It had to lead to the basement. She turned her goggles back to normal vision and opened the door, ready to save Ricochet once and for all.
She slowly descended the staircase. She heard only silence. Odd. She had expected to hear Ricochet grunting through some kind of gag… or Cathy and Jessica conversing in some way. But she didn’t hear anything at all except for the soft creaking of the wooden steps. When she reached the bottom of the staircase, she turned to peer through an empty doorway. There was a large room with concrete walls. She didn’t see Jessica or Cathy… or Ricochet for that matter. She only saw a wooden stage with a wood stool in front of it and a rope that was tied into a noose. There was a blackboard nailed to the wall directly across from the stage.
“Not one more step, Leopard.” Ellie heard the hammer of a M1911 being pulled back behind her. Before she could turn, Jessica shoved her into the center of the room from behind her. Ellie stood back up but froze when she saw Cathy aiming the pistol at her.
“Now, now.” Cathy tisked. “We both know that your armor won’t do any good if I shoot you in the face.”
“I don’t understand.” Ellie was confused. “Where is Ricochet?”
“Hell if we know.” Jessica blurted out as she came into view, decked out in her tight yellow and blue jester costume. Cathy was dressed casually in a green turtleneck sweater and black smart pants. The small, Rubix cube tattoo on her forehead was plainly visible. Jessica somersaulted over to Cathy and stood side by side with her. “Probably cleaning his rifle, if you catch my drift.”
“Yeah, the thing is… we never really kidnapped him.” Cathy confessed, her aim steady. “We just needed to draw you out, so we paid Slant to make his claim about Lavender’s whereabouts, and here you are to save the day!”
“You see, Leopard...” Jessica chirped. “We figure we owe you for that little debacle with our maze a few months back. Now, we can only assume that you still have the blade that we had put on your tootsie...”
Ellie knew that Jessica and Cathy weren’t to be trifled with. She pulled off her left stiletto and let the pocketknife fall out from inside of it.
“Good. Now use the knife to cut off the rest of your ridiculous costume.” Cathy ordered.
“I won’t.” Ellie told the madwoman sternly.
“Your only chance to get out of here is to do what you’re told.” Cathy said. “Just one more game. You survive this… and we will give you Lavender.”
“I already have Lavender.” Ellie was having none of this. She pressed the button on her belt buckle and the tranq needle fired. Cathy was expecting the move, however, and deflected the needle in midair with a calculated swipe of her wrist. The pistol knocked the needle across the room and Ellie realized she had no other weapons. Cathy would shoot her before she could get close enough to disarm the clever criminal.
“Last chance, Leopard. The game… or the gun.” Cathy warned. “Cut off your costume. I don’t give a damn about your secret identity, so you may keep your mask on if you wish. But we want you bare from the neck down.”
Ellie sighed in frustration and bent down to pick up the knife.
“And don’t even think about getting smart with that little pig sticker.” Jessica advised. “You’re not faster than a bullet.”
Ellie understood that she didn’t have any recourse. She opened the pocketknife and started cutting away. The silence was unbearably uncomfortable as she tore and snipped away at her costume. After a minute or two, she put the pocketknife down and began unsnapping the clasps which held her Kevlar plates on. The worst part of the whole ordeal was when she removed the two plates from her heaving breasts, and the cool air of the basement caused her nipples to become erect in front of the deadly duo. Jessica walked up behind her and beckoned her to climb up onto the stool. Ellie did as she was told and Jessica hopped up onto the stage. Jessica was now sanding behind Ellie as the naked heroine faced the blackboard. Jessica took the noose and put it around Ellie’s neck. Ellie realized at that moment that either of the two villains could kick the stool out from under her and kill her right there.
“Just one more thing, Leopard.” Jessica whispered as she snapped a pair of handcuffs on Ellie’s wrists, effectively tying her hands behind her back. “Let’s see if you have the grace and balance of your namesake.” Jester mocked.
“I thought you said it was a game.” Ellie protested.
“It is a game.” Cathy went to the blackboard and picked up a black marker. “In fact, it’s a common children’s game: Hangman.” She drew a simple diagram of a noose on the board. “Nine letters. You get the answer right before I can finish the picture, we let you go. We won’t go with you, but we won’t stop you from taking in flower girl. You fail… well… I’m sure you can figure that one out for yourself.” She drew the appropriate dashes on the board. “Whenever you’re ready, Leopard.”
Ellie knew the game well. She had played it many times in her youth with her friends at school, usually during lunch hour. The trick was to find the vowels.
“A.” She guessed.
“There are two A’s.” Cathy filled them in.
“E.”
“There is one E.” Cathy drew the letter over the second dash.
_ E A _ _ _ _ A _
“I?”
“Oh, sorry Leopard. There are no I’s” Cathy drew the first line to represent the stick figure’s right leg. Ellie twitched and let out a rather girlish giggle as Jessica unexpectedly teased her right inner thigh with her gloved fingers. Ellie struggled to maintain her footing, nearly kicking herself off of the stool
“Stop that, you psycho!” Ellie shouted, much to Jessica’s amusement.
“Did I not tell you?” Cathy tilted her head to the side. “In our version of the game, you get a tickle in the appropriate spot when you make a wrong guess. I suppose you will just have to… how would you put it… grin and bear it.”
“DAMN YOU!”
Cathy and Jessica both snickered at Ellie’s helplessness and anger. After a few seconds, Ellie regained her composure. She knew she couldn’t reason with the two of them. She had to play along. She couldn’t risk any more vowels.
“You know, Leopard.” Jessica whispered. “The next one you miss, I’m gonna get you behind your knee.”
“P.” Ellie guessed
“There is a P.” Cathy filled in the letter.
_ E A _ _ _ _ A P
It helped, but not much. Ellie started guessing potential words in her mind. If she could figure out the letters in the middle, it would give her the edge.
“M.”
“Sorry. No M.” Cathy drew the other leg on the board, and just as Jessica had promised, Ellie felt a finger gently wiggle behind her left knee.
“Hehehehe...” She kicked her leg a little and almost lost her balance. This was intolerable. As skilled a tickler as Jessica was, Ellie started to realize the genuine possibility of dying at her hands.
“Tickle tickle...”
“Ungh!” Ellie grunted, choosing to endure the sensation rather than fight it.
“That’s enough, Jessica.” Cathy declared. “Your next guess, Leopard?”
“N!” Ellie growled through clenched teeth.
“Oh, dear.” Cathy shook her head. “Afraid not.” She drew a left arm on the board.
“Here comes Mr. Caterpillar.” Jessica teased, wiggling a finger under Ellie’s left underarm.
“Hahahahaha. Jessica-hahaha no! Hahahahaha...” Ellie tried to clamp her arm to her torso, but she only succeeded in trapping Jessica’s finger in place. The villainess gave her a few gentle pokes before pulling her finger free.
“Three guesses down, Leopard.” Cathy reminded. “And three guesses left. What’s it going to be?”
“H!”
“There IS an H! Isn’t this fun?” Cathy cheered as she filled in the H.
_ E A _ H _ _ A P
What could it be? Ellie was eager to guess the word but didn’t want to be wrong. She opted to pick another letter.
“O!”
Cathy didn’t even reply. She just drew the right arm to let Ellie know that there was no O.
“Look, Leopard!” Jessica beamed. “Mr. Caterpillar is back!”
“Hehehehehehehehehehehe...” Ellie turned from side to side on the stool as Jessica tickled under her other arm.
“Coochie coochie coo.” Cathy teased and laughed as she watched. “Turn your frown upside down.”
“Yeah, we wouldn’t want you to get upset.” Jessica taunted. “You know, the next line is gonna be the torso. And we all know how many magic spots you have on your chest and tummy.”
“B!”
“This just isn’t your day, is it?” Cathy drew the torso line.
“It’s okay.” Jessica said. “I know how to cheer her up.”
Ellie must have looked truly silly as uncontrollable laughter was seeping through her clenched teeth. Jessica was teasingly drifting her fingertips up and down the sides of the Leopard’s naked breasts.
“Tickle tickle tiiickle...”
“I’ll… I’ll kihiihihlll you...” Ellie thought she was going to cry having to withstand the ticklish torture of her breasts. Her engorged nipples were next on Jessica’s target list. The harlequin drew circles around them before flicking at the tips ever so softly.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Ellie was twisting and turning. The stool was wobbling. This might be it. This might be the end…
“Gitchy goo...”
“Enough.” Cathy ordered.
“Awww, but she was gonna faaaall!” Jessica sulked. “She was literally about to die from a booby trap!”
“I said enough!” Cathy insisted. “She only has one more guess.” She turned back to Ellie. “How about it, Leopard?”
Ellie lifted her head up, glaring first at Cathy, and then the board.
“T.” She muttered.
“There are TWO T’s!” Cathy wrote them out.
_ E A T H T _ A P
Ellie figured it out as soon as she saw it.
“Deathtrap!” She shouted. “The answer is deathtrap!”
“You are correct!” Cathy filled out the rest of the word on the board and Jessica applauded, clapping her hands loudly.
“Yay! You did it! I knew you could!” Jessica congratulated the furious crime fighter.
“Now let me go!” She demanded.
“Why?” Cathy shrugged. Ellie was stunned by the response.
“You said you would let me go!”
“Yeah, that’s the thing, though… we say a lot of things.” Jessica laughed.
“And besides, Leopard… you said the answer yourself. This is a deathtrap. Death… by tickle.”
Jessica jumped down from the stage and stood in front of the stool.
“Hey, Leopard.” She cackled wickedly. “With you up on that stool, I am in a perfect position.”
“No!” Ellie realized what Jessica meant. The jester was at face level with her bellybutton. Jessica just nodded giddily.
“Uh huh… here comes Momma!” Jessica pressed her lips against the outtie and blew.
Pbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbt….
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Ellie squirmed in spite of herself and the stool began to wobble again.
“Here comes another buzzer...”
Pbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbtbbttbtbtb…
Ellie rocked back and forth as hyperactive laughter fired out of her.
“Time to die, Leopard...” Cathy said cruelly.
Suddenly, there was a loud cracking sound. Jessica stopped zerberting Ellie and turned to see Ricochet, He had knocked Cathy out cold from behind with the butt of his suppressed SIG-Sauer P232 and was now aiming the gun at Jessica. Ellie had never been so relieved in her life.
“How many times I gotta tell you to stay out of bad neighborhoods?” He joked. Jessica took hold of Ellie’s calves.
“One more step and I’ll hang her, gun boy!”
Ellie and Ricochet exchanged a nod. She knew what she had to do. What she had to risk. She jerked her right leg free and delivered a knee directly to Jessica’s jaw, knocking the jester to the floor, unconscious. In doing so, she lost her balance and fell from the stool. Ricochet raced over and grabbed her. She groaned in pain, but she had only hung for a second. Other than some bruising, she would be fine. Ricochet helped her back up on the stool and climbed up onto the stage to pull the noose off of her.
“I found Lavender upstairs. I don’t think she’ll ever stop laughing” He uncuffed her and she hopped down to the ground, kicking Jessica in the stomach. Something for her to enjoy when she wakes up, Ellie thought. “Happy to see me?” He asked, putting his gun back in it’s holster.
“Are you kidding?” She asked, rubbing her throat. “Ricochet… can’t you see how choked up I am about it?”
Neither of them knew if it was okay to laugh at the joke. But Ellie had never been happier to be alive.
