Myds6

"Who are you calling inept- OOOHHH!!!" Martina moaned -- Nergui had inserted a thick gold coin into the smooth, dark coin slot between the brunette's legs, and proceeded to push the coin so far into the Caucasian's snatch that it was no longer visible.

but were promptly shut up when Shiori plugged their cooches in a similar fashion.

A huge golden chest was dragged out into the center of the room, and the three shivering Westerners aligned in a row in front of it.

Nergui grabbed a handful of golden romolis, each coin about three inches wide, and counted them in her hand.

Shiori looked at her quizzically at first, but when it dawned on her what her friend meant, she broke into a broad grin.

"Well, they came all this way for money. It'd be a shame to let them go home empty-handed," the Mongolian scoffed.

"What do you want to do with them, Nergy?" Shiori asked with a contemptuous sneer.

"If you don't hurt us, we promise to... uhh... f-fight for your cause in the future! F-for free!!" Carlotta improvised, sweat pouring from her temples.

Very soon, the three Europeans were naked from tits to bush, and stood back to back in a tiny, shivering triangle, while Nergui and Shiori circled them like vultures, allowing their blades to slide along their enemies' naked bodies like steel-tipped tongues.

"M-Martina, I'm s-scared!" Gretchen stammered, yelping as the edge of the valkyrie sword trimmed a few hairs from her moist black bush.

*rrrrriipppp!!* -- a single stroke from the valkyrie sword created a tear from Gretchen's collar to her crotch, which caused her clothing to fall from her body like a shed skin.

*SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!* -- a series of perfectly-aimed swings decimated Martina's clothing to nothing, leaving all her graces on full display

*THWUMP!* "NGGUUHH!!" -- the edge of the valkyrie shield somehow found its way all the way up into Carlotta's crotch

bringing her up on her toes and leaving a circular hole in her trousers, right above her dark little anus

"OOOHHH!!" -- Nergui's short sword pricked Gretchen mischievously in her unguarded fanny

and sent her falling flat on her shapely butt

*SWISH!* -- a cross-shaped slash from Nergui's short swords reduced Carlotta's top to ribbons, baring her freckled jugs

The mercenaries exchanged glances and smiled, while their opponents simply stared blankly ahead.

*CLUNK!* "UUMMPPHH!" -- Shiori's valkyrie shield mashed Martina's boobs flat

"Enough of talking," the duchess snapped. "Let's see some bloodshed. Remember, my Swiss darlings, EIGHT THOUSAND golden romolis for each killing blow. Don't disappoint me now."

"Mercenaries, eh? There's a special place in hell for those who join an invasion force for monetary profit," Shiori mumbled.

"We are the Sisters of Fortune," the first woman said, cockily raising up her sword and resting it over her shoulders. Tall and athletic, she had a cruel, angular face, a walnut-colored ponytail and cold steel grey eyes. Her clothing was yellow and black, like that of a wasp, with puffy sleeves and tight, striped trousers. A large black hat sporting a massive white plume covered half her forehead. "I am Martina, the Neckslicer."

The second woman wore red and yellow clothing of a similar style. Her hair was caramel-colored, but her eyes were almost identical to those of her sister. A red beret sporting a single black feather covered the back of her head. "I am Carlotta, the Bonecrusher," she said with a dark smile, brandishing a large, steel-tipped mace.

Finally, the third sister was clearly the youngest; a cackling, petite lass with dark brown pigtails, a perky, button-nosed face and dirt brown eyes. Her clothing was green and white, in addition to a studded leather vest and an enormous brown hat. Her slender hand was twirling a rapier. "And I am Gretchen, the Heartpiercer."

Down the road a ways...

"For whom?" Shiori snapped. "Clearly not the actual *people* of China, who have effectively been turned into slaves. It seems to me that you're just installing an aristocracy of Westerners who end up with all the wealth, while the real population are cut out of the profits!"

"Oh, spare me the lecture. Sisters, this is your cue," said the duchess, snapping her fingers and walking off toward the other end of the room.

The duchess walked over to the machine and began to operate the control panel. Immediately, the machine sprang to life with a series of whirrs and clicks.

Shiori picked up a coin and held it up to the sunlight. The coin had been re- branded with a profile of the duchess' head, chin haughtily raised, and the lettering said: "ONE GOLD ROMOLI. Printed by the Central Bank, Colony of New China."

"So this is where all the tax money went," Nergui scoffed, tearing down a piece of purple velvet and feeling it with her hand. "Have you no shame?"

"You're not much of an economist, are you?" the duchess replied. "If you could understand what you're looking at, you would quickly see that I'm the best thing that ever happened to this region. Isabel with her idols are nothing, *I* am the one the people should worship as their savior."

The second floor brought a refreshing change of color. This part of the pagoda had been refurnished in luscious purples and golds, and the paintings, sculptures and heavy velvet tapestries adorning each wall gave the place an atmosphere of spectacular, almost obscene, excess.

The most conspicious object in the room was a huge, clockwork-powered machine that seemed to be operated by a panel of thick, jewel-adorned levers.

"Well, well," a silky, Italian-accented voice purred nearby. "You must be the two... lesser components of the fearsome Eastern trio."

"Ouch! Well, the little slut did have it coming," Nergui remarked.

"A couple of hundred licks with that mallet and she'll think twice about summoning *anything* again," Shiori chuckled. "Hah! Wait, did something just change around here?"

When the mallet raised itself again, the shivering, marble- colored tush was sporting a detailed imprint of the Buddhist symbol, with its eight spokes meeting exactly inside that never-violated rose-colored cavity that winked so vulnerably in the ravine between the slightly separated buttocks.

The mallet raised itself into the air, and fell upon the oracle's youthful buttocks with a resounding CLANNKKK!! The impact sent vibrations through every inch of the blonde's gleaming white body, and caused her to howl like a baby banshee. When the mallet raised itself again, the shivering, marble- colored tush was sporting a detailed imprint of the Buddhist symbol, with its eight spokes meeting exactly inside that never-violated rose-colored cavity that winked so vulnerably in the ravine between the slight

"Your punishment has been prepared for you, and cannot be averted. As you have attempted to re-consecrate my temple in your own faith, so shall I re-consecrate your body with mine."

Next, a gargantuan white mallet appeared out of no- where, both of whose ends were decorated, in glowing raised lettering, with the wheel of Dharma.

"P-p-please," the oracle stammered, "if I m-must be punished, let me be im- printed w-with the symbol of the true Goddess, instead of this... h-h-heathen emblem!"

The young blonde was made to rotate through the air, so that her back and unclad buttocks were facing the bodhisattva. A new command word forced the naked girl to bend over, so that her firm, adolescent rear end was arched to its best advantage.

"That I cannot do. The crimes of Mariana and her minions are crimes committed against your world, not mine, and therefore it will be your task to administer the punishment. There is, however, one being in this room whose crimes transcend the boundaries between the worlds, and that is the woman who established this portal."

"B-b-but h-how?" Celeste stuttered, squirming against her invisible fetters. "I d-didn't summon you?"

"Oh, great bodhisattva," Nergui said, averting her gaze from the radiant being, "as you can see, we are in the process of waging war against a great evil from the West. Will you aid us in the coming battles?"

Celeste stopped squirming and turned pale as a ghost. The bodhisattva raised her hand and pronounced a single syllable. The next moment, the oracle's veil- like clothing had vanished into thin air, leaving the willowy little blonde completely naked.

Shiori was just about to turn to Nergui snd congratulate her for a battle well fought, when an ear-splitting, wind-like noise alerted them to the completion of the supernatural ritual that had taken place nearby. "Oh great," Nergui snorted. "Divine reinforcements."

"Correct," the otherworldly being said, in a deep, hollow voice that brought to mind the passing of immeasurable aeons of time. "I am the bodhisattva Jinyun, and I have come to restore balance to this troubled place."

"I take it you are not an emmissary of any Western goddess," said Shiori.

Instead of an angel out of the goddess's hosts, the young oracle had managed to bring forth something else entirely: a huge, golden-skinned woman levitating in lotus position. The mystical being seemed to exude an aura of pure calm and balance. Celeste, the young oracle, floated further away, seemingly para- lyzed by some unknown magic.