Yep, I had to split this up into two parts because it was so big XD

In this first part, Zashi finds a familiar koopa ally and after saving him from a tickly doom, they head off to a fortress full of tickly peril O_O Wooooooo...

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Disclaimer: Lots of tickling. Lots and lots of tickling.
Bowser, Yoshi, Koopas, etc. are all copyright to Nintendo
Zashi, Kapzak, and such are all mine.

- - -

Zashi's arrival to the Koopa Village was greeted with more laughter than he'd ever heard from it before. Concerned, he rushed forward into the village.

He quickly discovered the reason for the laughter; many of the residents had been locked into stocks with their feet stuck into cages – inside each those cages was a Fuzzy that was vigorously rubbing up against and licking their captive soles. Curiously, there were antennae on top of the stocks that were sending waves of energy somewhere, but Zashi couldn't tell where.

"Hold on guys, I'll help you out!" Zashi called out, running up to the nearest stocked koopa and trying to figure out the stocks. The lock on the stocks was quite strange – it didn't really have a keyhole, but it clearly unlocked somehow. And despite his best efforts, there wasn't any way to get the lock on the stocks open by hand.

"Hahahaha! Over heheheere!" another koopa, a blue-shelled one in a red scarf called out, and Zashi ran up to him. The koopa was one of the unluckier ones – he had two fuzzies, one at each of his soles, and they weren't giving him any quarter. "I saw them take the keheeehey into the woods!" he laughed, pointing in a direction beyond the houses, "Be cahahaareful!"

Zashi nodded, thinking the koopa looked familiar, "I'll be right back with that key!"

The yoshi ran off, feeling a little guilty about leaving them stuck like that for the time being. Still, he couldn't help them this way, he needed whatever key unlocked those stocks.

"Meee-ork!" cried the sounds of the Fuzzies in the tree above him. He gasped as he looked up – there were a lot of them. He stopped running forward and tried to back up, but he heard a springing sound behind him as they jumped down from all around him, surrounding him.

He was trapped. And unfortunately, he couldn't defend himself - the Fuzzies of this island weren't ticklish – one of the many wonderful "dangers" this island presented in order to help keep balance and harmony in the island.

Still, Zashi didn't exactly fear the beasties – they were, after all, quite fun to play with... when there wasn't a village that needed to be saved.

"Now now," Zashi said, grinning nervously, "I'm just looking for a key. I don't want any trouble."

"Too bad!" they said, "We are!"

And with that, they pounced onto him, sticking to his body, their rough fur tickling badly. Zashi fell backwards, helpless to stop them, as they latched onto his entire body, tickling him all over.

And what's worse was, he could feel them dragging him somewhere...

- - -

They took him to the tree tops, restraining him with the stringy web they often used, with his feet stuck together in front of him and his arms up. In front of him was a gold Fuzzy. Zashi gulped, rubbing his feet together nervously. He'd never met a gold fuzzy on this island before.

"Soooooo you want the key I have, hmm?" the gold fuzzy said, somehow brandishing a medallion with Bowser's face on it. "Bowser gave it to me so that I could have the Koopa village all to myself~"

Zashi gulped nervously, "W-well, I kinda wanted to save those Koopas, um..."

The gold fuzzy laughed – and when he laughed, the fuzzies next to Zashi rubbed up against his sides, making him laugh, too.

"Very well then... I welcome the challenge. Let's play a game~"

"Hehehe... oh?" Zashi said, nervously.

"If you can hold back your laughter for five full minutes... I'll give you the key and call a truce with the Koopa Village."

"And... if I fail?" Zashi said, gulping,

"Then I'll tickle you senseless and let you go."

"Really? You'll just... let me go?" Zashi asked, tilting his head.

"Yes. After all, as long as I have this key, you'll keep coming back~"

Zashi had to admit that he was right about that.

"Now... let's begin!"

Zashi steeled himself as the fuzzies moved into his sides, their rough fur pressing against those sensitive spots. Biting his lips, he did his best not to make a noise, or at least nothing resembling a laugh. Second by second, a minute passed.

Then several fuzzies moved towards his soles, licking over them. Zashi nearly screamed, but managed to keep his composure, his toes helplessly wiggling as the fuzzies licked them cruelly. Another minute passed.

Then the fuzzies returned to his sides while the other fuzzies nuzzled up against his soles, double-teaming him. To make matters worse the fuzzies at his side started moving up, down, and around, getting at his belly and pits at the same time.

"Mmmmmmm!!" he screamed through a closed mouth, breathing hard through his nose, tears in his eyes. This was the hardest challenge he had yet. But he managed to survive a third minute. Only two more to go.

When the fuzzies moved away, though, he got a bad feeling... which was only reinforced when the golden fuzzy himself moved forward, pressing his fur into both of the yoshi's soles simultaneously.

It was the most ticklish thing he had experienced – the very fine, soft fur of the golden fuzzy was reinforced somewhat by the magic of the island, and it felt like Zashi's feet were covered in feathers.

"MMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!" he screamed, arching his back and tugging on his bonds. It didn't help when the golden fuzzy licked at his soles – not only did it tickle worse than anything he'd experienced up until this point, but he could feel the saliva making his feet more and more ticklish with each lick.

With only thirty seconds to go, he couldn't take it anymore. He screamed with laughter, unable to restrain himself, as that golden fur swept over his soles.

In truth, he loved it, but he hated losing the challenge.

Strangely, after thirty seconds was up, the tickling stopped.

"Meeeork! I'm a good sport, so even though you lost, I'll give you the key!" the golden fuzzy said, smiling smugly, "I have no loyalty to Bowser and it's no fun having captives all the time!"

"R-really?" Zashi said, sighing with relief.

"Sure! But I'm-a give you several more licks for the road!"

"W-wait!"

Zashi couldn't stop the golden fuzzy from delivering several more sensitizing licks to his soles, making him giggle hard.

Still, the leader of the fuzzies was true to his word and Zashi found himself being lowered to the ground, the medallion in hand. The grass felt especially ticklish on his sensitized soles though, and he giggled all the way back to the Koopa Village.

- - -

Soon, all of the koopa villagers were freed, and the fuzzies fled back to their home in the forest.

The blue-shelled koopa bowed in gratitude, "Thank you so much! I'm Kooper."

"Kooper!" Zashi said, recognizing the name, "I remember you. You helped stopped a plot by Bowser a long time ago."

Kooper nodded, "Yep! Real proud of my accomplishments there. Still, Bowser's attacks got old so me and the others moved here to hide out and embrace the ticklish life style. Even the fuzzy attacks are better than before – last time, I got my shell stolen."

Zashi smiled, "Well, glad I could help you all out."

"Still, the events from before are repeating themselves – Bowser's established another fortress nearby, just like before, and he also employed those four geeks, the Koopa Bros."

"I remember those guys, too. Huh."

"They're actually the ones who captured us all – using powerful techniques that they never had before, they subdued us and locked us in those stocks for the fuzzies to torture."

"Well, I say we repay the favor."

Kooper nodded, "Yes, I plan to exact my revenge personally, if you'll have me."

Zashi grinned, shaking hands with Kooper, "I wouldn't have it any other way!"

- - -

It was a short trek to the fortress, with Zashi giggling every time they stepped on grass, much to Kooper's concern. Still, the golden fuzzy's saliva was starting to wear off, giving Zashi some relief.

Still, there were two troopas guarding the entrance. Zashi and Kooper hid nearby, watching them.

"So how are we gonna do this?" Kooper asked,

"Charging right in and tickling them into submission," Zashi said, grinning.

"No, then they'll just call for reinforcements and overwhelm us. Hmm..."

Kooper looked up at the tree they were under and grinned,

"I think we could get a little help on this."

"Hmm?" Zashi said before looking up as well. Several fuzzies were in the tree, watching them curiously, "Ohhhh, I see."

Gesturing them down, the fuzzies crawled down, Kooper backing away a few steps. After a whispered conversation, the fuzzies giggled and ran back up the tree.

"Alright, just follow my lead, Kooper."

- - -

The guards yawned at their posts. They were bored – there was some excitement earlier when they helped the Koopa Bros capture the villagers, but now there was nothing to do.

Suddenly, they heard what sounded like something crashing into a bush nearby and looked – aha! Kooper, that infamous rebel, and Zashi had both gotten stuck in a bush, their helpless feet flailing behind them.

"Oh, what a great plan that was, Zashi!" Kooper yelled harshly, "now they know we're here!"

"Sorry," Zashi said apologetically, "I doomed us."

"Yes you did~" the guards said, stepping forward. Protocal dictated they call for backup, but they wanted to have some fun. Stepping up to the helpless feet, they wiggled their fingers and prepared to attack those helpless soles.

Suddenly, they felt something fuzzy drop down and latch onto their bellies. A shriek of laughter was all they could get out before they were pulled up into the trees – quickly wrapped up and gagged by the fuzzy's webs, they were helpless to stop the mischevious fiends from nuzzling and licking their helpless soles.

At least they weren't bored anymore.

Zashi and Kooper stepped out of the bush that they pretended to be stuck in, looking up at the helpless troopas.

"I almost feel sorry for them," Kooper said, smirking.

"I actually kinda envy them," Zashi said, grinning shamelessly. Kooper shook his head at that, but admitted to himself that he couldn't disagree.

It was a simple matter to sneak inside the fortress after that, right through the front door even.

- - -

Inside the fortress, it felt more like a dungeon than a base for troops. Stocks, chains, and feathers lined the walls as far as the eye could see. Kooper grabbed a nice, large feather from the wall, which Zashi noticed looked a lot like the one the Feather Bros used against him before.

"This will come in handy," Kooper said, smiling. Zashi gave him a thumbs up.

Sneaking further in, they were kinda surprised to find no guards of any kind. Apparently, they were all on the outside. Either the Koopa Bros were that confident that no one could get inside, or...

Stepping into the next room, a door shut behind them, and several traps started to appear. First up were several circles of white energy started to swirl on the floor, almost like spotlights without a light source – standing still too long, one slipped under Zashi's feet and stopped, and and Zashi like there were a dozen soft feathers sweeping over his soles. He let out a surprised laugh.

Which was a mistake, as the moment he laughed, an automated cannon shot a net made of fuzzy material at him. Kooper managed to pull him out of the path of the net just in time, as the net's edges stuck to the ground.

"Be careful, or we'll be captured!" Kooper whispered, and Zashi nodded.

Unfortunately, it was clear that any noise would trigger the cannons – jumping and moving too quickly were out of the question. So they had to slowly walk forward, unable to avoid the ticklish energy circles that circled the floor. Zashi held his hand tight over Kooper's mouth, who returned the favor, and the two of them made their way across the floor, stifling each other's laughter.

Soon, they got past that trap, into the next room, only to encounter another trap – a narrow hallway with the floor covered in nibbling plants, and above them was a cannon ready to fire at them should they make a noise. Taking a deep breath, they started slowly walking through.

The small white plants immediately started nibbling at their feet, nipping at their toes and the sides of their soles, forcing them to keep each others' mouths covered just to make it through. Unfortunately for Kooper, he accidentally managed to step directly on a plant, which immediately started nibbling at his sole. Letting out a muffled, startled scream of laughter, the cannon swerved to aim at them – but thankfully, it was just quiet enough to avoid triggering the net. Still, Kooper was having a hard time getting his foot back on flat ground, because the nibbling plants were now starting to gather at his raised foot, nibbling all over those sensitive scales.

Trying not to laugh himself, Zashi made a risky move. He jumped into the air, carrying Kooper with him, with a loud "Hup!". Instantly, the cannon fired at them, but Zashi managed to dive to the end of the corridor, the net missing them by inches and landing uselessly on the plants.

"Are you okay?" Zashi whispered.

Kooper nodded, wiggling his foot, "Thanks... I wasn't sure how much more I could take."

After helping Kooper back up, Zashi continued forward, sneaking as quietly as he could. He wasn't sure how much more tickling punishment his feet could take... though in his confident opinion, he could probably handle a lot more than Kooper could.

Heading into the next room, though, they were met with another trap. The only way forward was across some monkey bars – the pit below was made up of some sticky goo that swirled with some magical force... clearly, not something they wanted to land in. However, all around the monkey bars were swirling balls of fuzzy energy – like fire-bars, but white and ticklish instead of fiery and hot.

"We don't have a choice," said Zashi, who gripped onto the monkey bars and started forward. Swallowing hard, Kooper followed after him.

The tickle-bars were impossible to avoid – as Zashi moved forward, one swept over his chest, tickling over the bare flesh there as well as his pits – biting his lip, he tried to avoid laughing – after all, he didn't know if there were any more cannons around. Despite his best efforts to keep his feet up, they swept over those, too. He let out a quiet grunt of laughter, hoping that it wouldn't fire off a cannon.

Kooper was having a harder time – not only did his feet suffer a lot of tickling, he also lacked his companion's fortitude – every sweep of the bars across his feet threatened to break him then and there. If the goo below wasn't sure to tickle him into senselessness, he'd have let go sooner.

Finally, Zash made it to the other side, and landed with a quiet sound. Turning around, he encouraged Kooper to keep going.

Kooper enjoyed being tickled, but having to keep quiet while also moving made it much harder to enjoy. He quickly rushed towards the end, managing to avoid one last tickle-bar to his feet, and flung himself onto the ground hard. Too hard.

Immediately, a cannon, hidden out of sight, fired a net at Kooper, trapping him in the white net of fuzz, which clung to every surface of his body and tickled fiercely.

"Nnnnnrrgghhh!!" was the noise Kooper made, trying to avoid making anymore noise, even though the net tickled fiercely at his body – it'd even got between his toes! Zashi delicately tried to pull the net away from him, though it was hard because the net tickled at his hands. Finally, with one great effort, he managed to rip the net apart.

A sound which definitely alerted the other cannons, Zashi barely pulling Kooper to safety as several nets struck where Kooper once was.

"Th-thanks, Zashi... I thought I was doomed..." Kooper said, leaning on his yoshi ally.

"No problem... I can go on ahead without you if you need me too."

"N-no! I came here for revenge and I'm gonna get it!" Kooper said, "Besides, uh... in retrospect... that was... kinda fun."

Zashi grinned, "Yeah, it was!"

To be continued in Part 2!