Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Well I for one still can’t fathom why Yomiko is even allowed on the city council,” a voice said in a sour tone.

“Now Carol, the Fronds were a big help in bringing down Madame Solle a year ago. Their bravery is what kickstarted a major uprising against her tyranny in the first place,” another voice said.

“Yeah? Well they didn’t bother to regroup with the rest of the rebel forces. Sure they rescued what victims they met and took down all of Madame Solle’s enforcers, but they didn’t bother to think of the state they’d left them in or the need to rebuild. They’re just delinquents, and none of them should have a position on the city council,” Carol frowned. She was a woman with short black hair cut with sharp fringes and a piercing gaze behind her glasses that directed most of its scorn at Yomiko.

“With all due respect, me and the Fronds have helped in getting supplies to those that need it and in providing updates on the whereabouts of certain people. Sure we didn’t think things through at first-”

“And it almost led to you being Dr. Kitzel’s permanent test subjects,” Carol interjected.

“…..But we’ve helped since then. I know that rebuilding a city is more difficult than fighting against tyranny, but I’m willing to due everything in my power to help Hope City recover,” Yomiko said. With her black hair tied back in a ponytail and clad in orange Chinese-style garb and matching slippers, Yomiko gazed at Carol calmly but firmly.

“Hmph. Not like those words hold any water,” Carol frowned.

“Carol that’s enough…..”

“No Julie, it’s nowhere near enough,” Carol frowned, briefly addressing a woman with blonde, curly hair before turning her attention back to Yomiko. “In your rush to save Hope City you didn’t bother tying up your victims. One of Madame Solle’s enforcers, Wave, is unaccounted for, but you claimed that’s been taken care of. So either you’re lying and you have no idea where she is, or you’ve been keeping her location a secret, which is even worse.” Carol scowled.

“Wave isn’t a threat to anyone,” Yomiko said, narrowing her eyes. She and the other Fronds had visited the beach bunker where Wave and her former second-in-command Gina were residing, and the two had apparently become a couple. She didn’t know whether love or being tickled past the brink of insanity had caused a bigger change in Wave, but what she did know was that Wave had mellowed out and likely wouldn’t cause anymore trouble.

“So it’s the latter then. How wonderful. Then there was Dr. Kitzel’s place. Because you rushed in and rushed out like that, La Barriga was able to swipe some of her blueprints and prototypes. Incredible job you girls did, really,” Carol scowled. Yomiko was about to speak up, but Carol continued.

“That clown you girls defeated? Her whereabouts are also unknown. Rumor has it that two lackeys you defeated in the past have joined up with La Barriga, so the clown is probably there to. And yet despite your incompetence, the majority still voted in favor of your plan to have Leona and Rally at the helm of liberating cities under La Barriga’s control. You already left Hope City in a chaotic state until we came along thanks to your reckless behavior, why not do it again?” Carol shrugged sarcastically.

“That’s enough! This meeting is adjourned. Carol, I want you to think long and hard about your behavior just now. The Fronds are heroes, and just because they didn’t magically fix Hope City overnight doesn’t give you the right to treat them like this,” Julie frowned.

“But-”

“I said enough!” Julie groaned. The other city council members looked equally drained. Julie mouthed the words ‘sorry about her’ to Yomiko, who smiled gratefully and gave a brief nod before heading out of the room. She turned to her right and only took a few steps before being greeted by two familiar faces.

“Tough crowd in there?” Leona smirked playfully.

“You could say that again,” Yomiko sighed.

“This council stuff is boring and that Carol person’s always being a jerk! I don’t know why you don’t just ditch the place,” Rally frowned.

“Carol is……difficult to deal with. But I know that being on the council is the right thing to do. For the sake of helping Hope City return to some level of normal and protecting others in need, I’ll do whatever I can,” Yomiko smiled.

“Hrmmmph…..well if you say so,” Rally frowned, not entirely convinced. Leona was the same as usual: dark skin, spiky hair, freckles, the whole package. She was clad in her usual blue martial arts gi with torn sleeves worn over a dark blue shirt, with a black belt wrapped around her waist and a blue bandana around her head. And like usual, she was barefoot. She had traipsed into city hall barefoot and would walk about barefoot too. Seeing those big feet romp about wherever they pleased without any inkling of obeying the rules or at least wearing shoes aggravated Carol to no end.

The short and chubby Rally was as speedy as ever. Her pigtails bounced against her fair white skin as she pouted at Yomiko, who chuckled at this. Rally was wearing a red shirt, black shorts, and pink sneakers with white socks. She was quite the troublemaker, and the pranks she had pulled on Carol every now and then as retribution for her treatment of Yomiko only fueled the strict woman’s hatred of the Fronds.

“Still, she’s been giving you a really hard time lately,” Leona said with a smile. She suddenly grabbed Yomiko’s shoulders and turned her around, then lifted her up by the arms.

“Wha?! What are you-” Yomiko gasped in surprise.

“Exactly! You deserve to take a load off~” Rally snickered, lifting up Yomiko’s ankles.

“Girls…..” Yomiko frowned.

“Ah ah! No complaining!” Leona grinned.

“Exactly! Relaxation awaits!” Rally smirked. With that the two of them ran off with their friend in tow.

“You girls!” Yomiko protested with an embarrassed blush. But she didn’t struggle at all, and allowed the two to carry her down the hall. Seeing this sight, Julie chuckled while Carol scowled.

“Again?! We have a strict shoes on policy here!” Carol frowned, glaring at Leona’s feet as though they had broken about 12 different laws.

“Oh hush. You would probably benefit from kicking your shoes off every now and then. Why I’m almost convinced your feet are cramped in them with how much of a grouch you are,” Julie rolled her eyes.

“I would never dream of such a-hey!” Carol scowled, irritated that Julie was ignoring her gripes. Huffing in annoyance, Carol stormed off with her briefcase in tow.

Eventually Yomiko had been plopped down on a red lounge chair in one of the spare rooms.

“Girls, you really don’t have to do this,” Yomiko said with an awkward smile.

“We don’t?” Leona asked in feigned surprise.

“You didn’t resist at all though, so I bet you wanna be pampered~” Rally teased with a smirk.

“I-I just didn’t want to make a scene is all!” Yomiko insisted, her cheeks reddening.

“Yeah yeah. I’ve had it up to here with your lame excuses,” Leona shook her head while chuckling. Rally then yanked off Yomiko’s slippers and began rubbing her soles while Leona went behind her and rubbed her shoulders.

“Ooh……mmmm…..” Yomiko was about to protest again, but the relaxing feeling of the massage made her forget what she was about to say and let out a sigh of contentment, sinking further into the lounge chair.

“There, better?” Leona smiled, firmly rubbing Yomiko’s shoulders.

“Much better……” Yomiko let out a sigh of contentment, flexing her toes a bit as she relaxed.

“I’m no expert massage person or anything, but these feet sure do have an awful lot of tension in them!” Rally giggled, rubbing all over Yomiko’s feet. She started at the heels, then rubbed the sole and arch, and then the balls of her feet. Now she was currently rubbing Yomiko’s toes one by one.

“Oooh yes……” Yomiko smiled, closing her eyes as she felt herself melting from this relaxing massage. Leona and Rally glanced at each other and smirked.

“But you know…..” Leona smirked.

“No massage is complete without the stress relief!” Rally declared. And with that, the two of them launched a tickle team attack on Yomiko!

“GUH?! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHAT THE HEHEHEHEHEHECK!” Yomiko’s eyes flew open in surprise as her body started squirming in their grasp.

“Come on, you could use the laugh~” Leona grinned, dragging her fingers against Yomiko’s armpits.

“Yeah, these feet need all the tickles they can get!” Rally grinned, wiggling her fingers up and down her friend’s flinching feet.

“NO THEY DOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHON’T!” Yomiko shook her head, her feet waving from side to side as her toes wiggled and curled.

“Oh they do,” Rally smirked.

“And we’re more than happy to tickle you silly when you’re in need of it,” Leona chuckled.

“And even when you’re not in need of it,” Rally snickered. With that, the two began to bust out their more intense tickle methods. Leona dug deep into the hollows of Yomiko’s armpits while blowing big raspberries on her neck. Rally used her trademark speed, and her fingers became a blur as they spidered rapidly all over Yomiko’s soles and toes. She was going fast enough that she could squeeze her heels, dig into her arches, circle the balls of her feet, and scratch mercilessly at her toes and the gaps between them, all at the same time.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU GIRLS-PFFTAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

After a few minutes of this, Leona and Rally finally stopped to give Yomiko a break.

“Phew…..you girls are too much,” Yomiko sighed, wiping a tear from her eye. Her cheeks were now somewhat flushed from the tickles.

“But you had fun didn’t you? Otherwise you wouldn’t be smiling,” Leona noted while chuckling.

“Her toes can’t stop wiggling! I think she wants us to go another round on them!” Rally grinned excitedly.

“Knock it off you two,” Yomiko rolled her eyes. But she couldn’t stop smiling, and her toes continued to wiggle with excited energy after being subjected to those high speed tickles. Leona and Rally smirked at this and began to wiggle their fingers towards her armpits and feet her again, but they were interrupted by Julie entering the room.

“I know you three are having fun, but I think it’s time for Leona and Rally to get going,” Julie said with a smile.

“Oh yeah…..that’s right,” Rally nodded.

“I’ll give you a moment,” Julie said, heading out of the room. Leona and Rally released Yomiko from their grasp.

“I’m still a little skeptical about this,” Yomiko said.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about. We’ll be back before you know it,” Leona grinned.

“Last time we ventured into the southwest, we tickled a bunch of two-bit gangsters so badly that they turned chicken and ran off! We’re just gonna raid their crappy hideout to set up our own base there! It’ll beat having to go back and forth between there and Hope City all the time,” Rally shrugged with a grin.

“I don’t know…..it still seems risky to me,” Yomiko said, looking at them with worry.

“Aww come on, we’ve handled worse in the past. We’ve got this, trust me,” Leona smiled.

“……You two will be back?” Yomiko asked once more to confirm it.

“Yep, we’ll be back to tickle you silly before you know it! This time for twenty minutes with no breaks!” Rally giggled.

“…..When you come back, you’ll be the ones getting tickled. For thirty minutes,” Yomiko smirked slyly.

“Heh. We’ll see about that,” Leona smirked. She hugged Yomiko, and Rally ran up and gave her a super speedy fist bump. Then they headed out of the room, down some stairs, and out of the city hall.

“Good luck,” Julie smiled, showing them one of the cars in the parking lot.

“Ooh a flashy red one!” Rally grinned excitedly. Leona took the driver seat and Rally rode shotgun, and then they drove off. About two hours later they crossed the border into another state, and after driving for a couple more minutes they found themselves in front of the hideout they had scouted out a week ago. They stepped out of the car and exchanged smirks, then headed into the rundown shack.

“Hey this place is members only! Buzz off!” One of the thugs frowned. Her hair was dyed pink, and she had an all-black outfit and fingerless gloves. The other thugs here had similar outfits, but their hair was either dyed differently, dyed with two colors, or not all.

“Well then you must’ve dropped our application,” Rally smirked.

“Oh yeah? And where do you suppose it is then?” the thug frowned.

“Right here,” Leona smirked, punching the thug in the face, then tickling her sides while she was still reeling. The thug shrieked and backed up warily.

“Let’s get them!” one of the other thugs said. They all bunched up together while trying to approach the duo.

“You make this too easy!” Rally smirked. Bending down low, she rushed forward with surprising speed, becoming a blur as her fingers squeezed and prodded at the ribs and tummies of the bunched together thugs.

“Ghk! Hehehehe cut it ohohohohout!” a green-haired thug yelped.

“Nahahahahahahaha! Woah!” a blue-haired thug stumbled, grabbing the green-haired thug in the process as they tumbled and fell over. Eventually Rally came to a stop near Leona, smirking at her handiwork. Two of the thugs had been bested by her technique, with the pink-haired one looking too scared to keep fighting and making a quick call on her phone. The two thugs that were still standing were dazed after Rally’s technique.

“Hehe, I can keep this up all day! How’d you like the Screaming Spinner?” Rally snickered.

“You’ll be the one screaming you-uhm?!” one of the thugs shouted at Rally, but she was pulled in closer by Leona and spun around so that her back was facing the skilled bruiser, then grabbed in a powerful hug. This thug had spiky black hair, and was rather nervous now that she was in Leona’s grasp.

“Looks like you need to calm down. My Buzzing Bear Hug can help with that~” Leona grinned.

“What’s the Buzzing Bear HuuhahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA?!” the thug asked, but she soon received an answer in the form of firm fingers digging into her sides while Leona blew big raspberries into her neck. Over. And over. And over.

“Such a cute squeal! How did someone like you choose a life of petty crime?” Leona chuckled, keeping up her attack.

“CUT IT OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOOOOUT!” the thug screamed. She squirmed with all her might, but she just couldn’t break free. She didn’t even know her neck was ticklish before today, and it was knowledge she’d rather do without! She laughed and laughed, and eventually her struggles grew weaker. After a minute of this Leona let her go. The thug stumbled around while giggling in a half-delirious state, and then fell over, knocking herself out.

“There! Now it’s just y-ooogh?!” Leona grunted in surprise as the thug knocked her back with a palm strike to her stomach, making her crash through one of the poorly maintained walls.

“I’m not like the others! I at least trained for a few months!” a thug with hair dyed purple and red frowned, trying to grab Rally and tickle her.

“A few months? You’ll need to train more than that if you wanna catch me~” Rally smirked, evading the thug and aiming speedy tickles at the thug’s armpits.

“Ahahahahahaha! How is a fatty like you so fahahahahast?!” the thug scowled.

“Truly a mystery~” Rally snickered deviously, her speedy fingers tickling all over the thug’s sides and tummy until she fell over the green-haired and blue-haired thugs that had fallen over earlier. She glared at Rally one last time before falling unconscious.

“You still stuck in the wall Leona?” Rally asked with a smirk, noting her two large, slightly dusty feet sticking out from the wall.

“Yeah! Get me outta heeheeheeere?! Hahahahaha hey!” Leona yelped, laughing when she felt something tickling her feet.

“Alright alright, I’ll help~” Rally smirked playfully, lightly tickling Leona’s feet for a few seconds before grabbing her legs and helping her out.

“Mmmph, meanie,” Leona pouted, causing Rally to laugh like a little gremlin. Then they turned to the nervous pink-haired thug. Freezing up in fear, the thug ran past them towards the door, but tripped and fell in the trash can, which then fell on its side. Leona and Rally stared at this, and then burst into laughter.

“Hahahahaha oh man, she has to be the worst thug ever!” Rally snickered.

“Hehehe, you bet!” Leona chuckled. “And the position she fell in…..it’s almost like she wants us to get her feet~” Upon hearing those words, the thug froze up in fear and began struggling in the trash can.

“Stay the hell away from me!” the thug shouted, kicking her legs as Leona and Rally walked towards her.

“I’m serious! I got friends! …..They’re not here right now but I got them! And they’ll tickle the shit out of both of you!” the thug warned, kicking her legs more aggressively as Leona and Rally grabbed her ankles, then tugged off her boots.

“If you tickle me you’re dead, do you hear me?!” the thug screamed, though there was a slightly nervous edge to her voice as her socks were tugged off, exposing two small soles with a faint rosy tint to them.

“P-Please don’t…..” the thug whimpered, her fear now readily apparent in her shaky tone. But it was no use. These two members of the Fighting Fronds weren’t about to show any mercy.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHAHAHAT MY FEEHEHEEHEEHEET PUHLEEHEEHEEHEEEEEEZE!”

“Oh she’s definitely the most ticklish of these weak thugs~” Rally smirked.

“For sure,” Leona grinned. Her firm hands dragged up and down the thug’s right sole, not striking haphazardly but not really aiming for anywhere in particular. Meanwhile Rally’s speedy fingers spidered rapidly all over her left sole to draw forth as much laughter as possible.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NO MOHOHOHOHOHORE! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE STAHAHAHAHAHAHYAAAAP!” the thug screamed.

“Did you say more? Well alrighty~” Rally smirked, her fingers getting all over the thug’s round toes and deftly scratching between them.

“We’re more than happy to give you more,” Leona smirked, her firm hands digging deep into the thug’s arches.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHA I GIVE UHUHUHUHUHUHUHUP! HYAHAHAHAHAHAHA UHUHUHUHUNCLE!” the thug screamed. As they tickled her though, they heard a loud noise.

“Do you hear that?” Leona asked.

“Yeah…..it sounds like motorcycles, a whole army of them!” Rally exclaimed. Letting up on the thug, the two of them headed outside the shack and saw eight motorcycles approaching. Rally and Leona could instantly tell who they were, and scowled at the sight of them. When they liberated other towns, they had heard all sorts of stories. Stories of captivity and inhumane tickle torture. And they had also heard stories about the frontline members of La Barriga’s army: the Laughing Lovelies. A biker gang of ruthless ticklers who were also seasoned fighters.

The riders approached in a battle formation they’d likely practiced many times before, with four in the back, three in the middle, and one at the front. Of the three in the middle, the one on the left had purple hair done in a pompadour, the one in the center had spiky green hair and shades, and the one on the right was a redhead with a fiery blaze in her eyes. The ones in the back all had simple jackets, shirts, and boots, while the ones in the middle all had spiked jackets and buttons on those jackets. This meant the riders in the middle were the aces of the group, who reported directly to their leader.

And their leader…..the sight of her made Leona and Rally’s eyes widen for a variety of reasons. Her motorcycle was the largest and most stylish looking out of all of them, sporting a very dark blue color that was close to black and a white swirl pattern on the sides. But Leona and Rally didn’t even make note of the size of the motorcycle at first due to the sheer size of its rider. It was doubtful that a smaller motorcycle would even be able to hold a behemoth like her. Leona was the largest of the Fronds, yet the woman leading the Laughing Lovelies dwarfed her completely. With a biker cap planted atop her blonde head of hair, a dark corset around her body, and sturdy, massive black boots, she was larger than life in both beauty and ferocity.

“So you’re the boss of those jerks who ride in and leave ticklish devastation everywhere you go,” Leona scowled.

“You got that right. I’m-”

“Waaaaaait!” a voice shouted. Leona and Rally blinked in surprise, while the leader of the bikers let out a noise between a groan and a snort. They heard a sound of in the distance, but this wasn’t the sound of a motorcycle. It was…..a mobility scooter, which soon drove past the biker leader’s goons despite their scowls until it was to the left of the biker leader.

“Ha! I knew they’d show up here!” the girl on the mobility scooter laughed smugly. “Remember me?!”

“Uhm…..” Leona raised an eyebrow.

“Who are you exactly?” Rally tilted her head.

“Giada! How could you not remember me?!” Giada scowled. Standing there with shades and wearing a dark jacket, a gray shirt, tattered jeans, and dark boots was a former grunt they had taken down in the past. She brushed a hand passed her wavy dark hair in annoyance, her other hand resting on a plumeblade that was strapped to her waist.

“Oh, you’re that person who we beat up and tickled. Why are your jeans all messed up? You couldn’t afford new clothes when you crawled over to La Barriga?” Rally scowled.

“That’s none of your business!” Giada shouted.

“Are you done?” the leader of the bikers growled.

“Yes! But now you see I wasn’t pulling your leg about the Fronds showing up here a few weeks ago! So you can put in a good word for me and then La Barriga will make me a general! You’d do that for me, right Barb?” Giada asked hopefully. From those words the Fronds realized that the pink-haired thug likely called Giada, who then got in touch with the biker leader.

“The only people that get to call me Barb are my crewmates. It’s Big Barbara to everybody else. And the only word you’re gettin’ is a knuckle sandwich if you don’t shut the hell up!” Big Barbara shouted.

“But-”

“You’ll stay workin’ under Carmen. And by that I mean waaaay under the people who are actual members of Carmen’s crew. You’re too much of a bumblin’ idiot to belong to any major crew, much less be in charge of your own,” Big Barbara scowled.

“W-What about being a member of your crew?” Giada asked. At those words Big Barbara gazed at Giada and her mobility scooter in utter disgust.

“Just……get the hell out of my sight,” Big Barbara rolled her eyes, looking away from Giada and facing forward. The unfriendly glares from the other bikers told Giada that she should probably get a move on.

“O-On it!” Giada said nervously. She turned the mobility scooter around and drove it to the back, accidentally bumping into the motorcycles of the other members and earning their ire as well as a long, long groan from Big Barbara before she finally fled.

“Good fuckin’ grief……alright ladies, let’s do this,” Big Barbara smirked. The bikers drove forward with Big Barbara leading the charge, throwing a powerful punch at Leona. Leona tried to block it, but staggered from this attack. Skidding to a stop behind them, Big Barbara smirked as the bikers in the back rushed forward and began driving in circles around the duo. Leona and Rally fought back with tickles and attacks of their own, managing to knock two of the bikers off their motorcycles. However they got tickled all over their sides and tummies for a good while before they managed to do so, whittling at their strength enough that they were now panting and glaring at the remaining bikers with a shaky gaze.

The two remaining riders drove out of the way and behind Big Barbara, allowing for her aces to swoop in. The green-haired one drove towards Rally with chained manacles in her hands. Rally tried to perform a swift punch, but due to her exhaustion her attack came out too slow, and her right wrist was shackled, followed by her left.

“Wha-hey!” Rally shouted.

“Here you go Zanella,” the green-haired biker smirked, tossing Rally over to the biker with a pompadour. Zanella scooped up Rally with a smirk, and then began viciously tickling all over her tummy while driving off.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA DON’T TOUCH MY BEHEHEHELLIHIHIHIHIIIY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU JEHEHEHEHEHERK!” Rally screamed, trying to squirm out of Zanella’s grasp but having trouble thanks to the manacles.

“RALLY!” Leona shouted, trying to run after her friend. But she was cut off by the green-haired biker.

“GET OUT OF MY WAY!” Leona shouted, but before she could knock the green-haired biker over the redhead drove towards her, glaring right at her.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LET ME GOOOOOOO!” Rally shouted. But Zanella simply smirked and kept on driving while tickling Rally. She traveled ten meters, then twenty, then thirty, then forty. Rally wasn’t sure how long they had been driving for, but it was long enough that Leona was out of sight. Zanella’s fingers had been squeezing and prodding at her pudgy tummy the entire time, to the point that it now had a slightly reddish tint. Rally’s cheeks burned from how hard she was laughing, and the teary-eyed troublemaker of the Fronds felt like her head was spinning, something she usually only experienced when using the Screaming Spinner for too long. Her surroundings, Zanella, the bike, everything was just spinning and spinning as she squealed. At this rate she was gonna…..

Back with Leona, she glared fiercely at the redhead who was quickly approaching on her bike. She tried to reach forward and tickle her sides, but the biker was faster.

“Gahahahahahahaha?!” Leona backed up in surprise from the swift tickles to her sides and ribs. No doubt about it, this biker was a seasoned tickle fighter.

The biker drove around Leona, then barreled towards her once more. Leona sidestepped and had to contend with more swift tickles to her sides and ribs. Gritting her teeth, she managed to ward off her opponent’s hands and deliver a fierce kick to her bike, knocking her off it. The redhead tumbled to the floor, but soon repositioned herself by rolling into a crouch while glaring at Leona. She seemed ready to go another round with Leona, but before she could get that chance a loud bike drove up behind Leona, knocking her off her feet. Big Barbara grabbed Leona by the back of her gi and then shoved her into the ground. Leona got a face full of dirt, and the only part of her sticking out of the new hole in the ground was her feet.

“GRRMMMMMPH!” Leona shouted, her soles scrunching as her feet shuddered in rage.

“Judgin’ by that reaction, I bet this isn’t the first time you’ve been buried right?” Big Barbara smirked smugly, climbing off her motorcycle and heading over to Leona with steps that were loud and proud.

“Well, make the most of this situation, cause you won’t be going anywhere anytime soon,” Big Barbara smirked, sitting down next to Leona’s struggling feet and wrapping one leg around her ankles to keep those struggles to a minimum. And then she began firmly digging into Leona’s soles with her strong hands.

“MMMPH! HRRMMHMMHMMHMMMMMPH!” Leona’s muffed screams rang out as her feet squirmed and scrunched, defenseless against Big Barbara’s relentless tickling. By digging deep into soft areas like her arches and between her toes, she quickly had Leona at her mercy.

“Seems like your feet are your worst spot. Can’t imagine why you’d show them off so confidently then, that’s only askin’ for trouble,” Big Barbara smirked.

“GRHMMHMMHMMHMMPH! MHMMMHMMHMMHMM STHMMHMMHMMPH!” With head buried in the ground and her feet being tickled, Leona was quickly running out of air. This tickled so badly that she couldn’t focus on digging at the dirt enough to make the hole bigger. And even if she did, then what? Her feet were already trapped by Big Barbara’s leg, the tickles to her feet just wouldn’t stop, she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t see where the biker would strike next, she couldn’t stop laughing, and above all this monstrous tickler had her feet!

So Leona screamed, howled, and squealed, and of course laughed. She laughed. And laughed. And laughed. Until……

Eventually Zanella drove back to where the rest of the Laughing Lovelies were, and plopped the swirly-eyed, still giggling Rally next to her unconscious, dirt-covered friend.

“Alright, that’s a job well done if I say so myself. Throw these two in the back of the car. La Barriga’s gonna want a video of their failure, and fortunately they already look like complete fools,” Big Barbara smirked.

“Where are we taking them?” Zanella asked as some of the lower ranked bikers began loading the two into the back of the car, fetching the car keys from Rally’s pocket.

“To their old friend Gigglez. They’ve got plenty of catchin’ up to do,” Big Barbara said with a deep, husky chuckle.

“I can’t stand that clown,” the redhead scowled.

“You can’t stand clowns in general,” the green-haired biker smirked.

“What’s wrong with hatin’ clowns? Clowns are shit,” Big Barbara commented with a raised eyebrow.

“I like clowns…..” Zanella said. This got all three of them to stare at her for a few seconds.

“…..Anyways, I don’t like that clown either. So let’s just drop them at the front door and then drive off before we get dragged into any of her weird games,” Big Barbara declared.

“What, you scared of a clown?” the green-haired biker smirked. At those words Big Barbara drew close enough that her shadow was looming over the biker.

“You’re drivin’ the car. I’m ridin’ shotgun. And if you say that ever again, you’ll be the next slave at that clown’s carnival. Now let’s go.” Big Barbara said with a cold glare.

“Y-Yeah, okay I’m going!” the green-haired girl backed up in worry, then quickly ran to the car.

“What do we do with the car?” the redhead asked once the green-haired girl got in the driver seat.

“We’ll give it to Rocio. She’ll probably use the parts to make another ticklin’ device,” Big Barbara shrugged, heading around to the other side of the car. Eventually, the Laughing Lovelies drove off, with the two unconscious, bested Fronds in the back of the car.

Later that evening Yomiko was attending another city council meeting when Julie posed a question.

“Have the Fronds sent word to you about their return?” Julie asked.

“No they……haven’t.” Yomiko said. Red alarms blared in her mind. Taking out a few common thugs and taking over their hideout shouldn’t have taken this much time. And even if the journey back took a while due to car trouble, they still should’ve been able to send out a message by now. They had promised to send word to Yomiko’s place and city council when they were returning after all.

“Oh, brilliant! Your friends bit off more than they could chew and got themselves captured!” Carol barked in annoyance.

“Carol, please-” Julie sighed.

“They’ve been captured and are probably being tickled out of their minds! Who knows how deep in La Barriga’s territories they are! If we had formed a real plan and they had just traveled with the other rebels instead of jumping the gun, this wouldn’t have happened! But no! Figures that the same girls who got nabbed by Doctor Kitzel and couldn’t even be bothered to liberate Hope City the right way would screw everything u-” Carol shouted, but Yomiko suddenly stood up, leapt over the table to where Carol was, and grabbed her shoulders.

“What do you think you’re-!”

“Ten Torturous Strikes.” Yomiko said, looking at Carol with an ice cold fury. Unlike her friends, Yomiko had improved significantly as a tickle fighter. When she wasn’t working on the city council or hanging out with her friends, she trained, meditated, and broadened her knowledge on chi. The result of all of this was her Ten Torturous Strikes.

“WHAT THE HEHEHEHEHEHEHELL IS THIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIS?!” Carol screamed, wiggling around frantically in her seat. Holding Carol’s arms overhead, Yomiko went for vicious ticklish strikes on her sides and tummy. Then she went lower, squeezing Carol’s thighs and legs, and then removed Carol’s high heels and targeted the two pressure points at the very center of her soles. The result of targeting all these specific points was a thundering cascade of ticklish sensations that rocked Carol to her very core.

“OHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Carol whipped her head from side to side while laughing hysterically, her feet and body shaking. When Yomiko stopped, Carol fell backwards in her seat.

“Hehe…..heeeh…..” A permanent smile was plastered on her face, a few giggles still leaking from her lips despite having lost consciousness. Her body was twitching from the tickles, and her glasses had fallen off. Her primly cut black hair was in total disarray, and her cheeks were burning a bright red with tears running down them.

The other council members gasped in shock and chatted nervously about this, but Yomiko didn’t care about any of that. She leapt over the table and ran out of the room.

“Yomiko! Yomiko wait!” Julie shouted. Yomiko could hear sounds like Julie trying to run after her, but those sounds soon died down due to how quickly she was moving. Yomiko ran and ran and ran, out of the city hall and out of the parking lot. As she ran down the city blocks, her thoughts went to her friends, Leona and Rally. She thought of the horrible tickle torture they were being subjected to and how they were probably feeling scared as well as drained mentally and physically. She thought of what would become of them if the tickling pushed them past the threshold of what they could take, if their minds shattered and they went completely tickle crazy. That time when they had been captured by Dr. Kitzel had brought them dangerously close to that point. Sure they had better resistance to tickling now and would likely be able to last a week or two, but what about after?

This thought got Yomiko running even faster, and she eventually shouted.

“TAXI!” Yomiko screamed, waving her arms frantically. The taxi pulled over and the driver rolled down the window.

“How can I help you ma’am?” the driver asked.

“I need you to get me across the southwestern border of this state!” Yomiko shouted.

“On it!” the driver nodded, heading in the direction Yomiko specified. As she drove, Yomiko felt an aching pain shoot up her legs, coupled with fatigue. She belatedly realized she had been running with all her might for the past twenty minutes before remembering to hail a cab. Her feet were killing her, and she was panting very heavily. She only meant to close her eyes for a little while, but her running and constant fretting had her very fatigued, and before long, she had fallen asleep.

Some time later, Yomiko’s eyes slowly fluttered awake. To her surprise, her ankles were locked in the headrest to the right of the driver seat, and her wrists were tied up. Her slippers had been removed and were to her left on the backseat. Furthermore, the person at the driver seat was…..

“Who are you and what have you done to the driver?!” Yomiko shouted.

“Not you too!” Giada shouted in dismay. “The driver’s lying unconscious on the side of the road. More importantly, how did all of you forget me?!” Giada shouted in a tearful voice, pulling out her plumeblade and swishing it rapidly up and down Yomiko’s soles.

“EHEEHEEEHEHEEHEE WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAIT A SECOHOHOHOHOND!” Yomiko yelped, scrunching her soles and fumbling with the rope as she tried to get free.

“I’ve learned my lesson. We’re going on a road trip straight to La Barriga! It’ll take a couple of days and I don’t know where to look, but I’ll find her eventually and deliver you straight to her! Then she’ll gladly make me her second-in-command!” Giada shouted, driving furiously with one hand on the wheel, and the other on the hilt of her plumeblade as she swiped it up and down Yomiko’s soles.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHAHAHAHAHAHAT?!” This was insane! Yomiko had to get out of here no matter what! As Yomiko’s feet continued to shudder and jolt with each swipe of the plumeblade while she tried to get free, some caltrops were dropped onto the road, managing to hit one of the tires.

“Woahwoahwoahwoahwoaaaah!” Giada shouted, the taxi veering out of control and crashing into a nearby building. Yomiko looked around in confusion as a dazed Giada tried to get her bearings, when a woman walked up behind the car and over to the driver side. From what glimpses Yomiko could catch of her, the woman had gray skin and…..what were those strange lines running down her body?

“Grr, I don’t know who you are but you aren’t gonna ruin my plans!” Giada growled, stepping out of the car and swinging her plumeblade towards the woman. The woman evaded this strike, then the next before grabbing Giada’s wrist and delivering speedy tickles to her right armpit.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LET GOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Giada screamed. She tried to retaliate, but the plumeblade soon fell from her fingertips as the woman pulled her in closer. She wrapped one arm around Giada’s body to restrict her movements, and used her free hand to continue scribbling away at her right armpit with a methodical sort of ruthlessness. Faced with this onslaught, Giada could do nothing but laugh until the woman knocked her out with a chop to the neck. The woman then headed over to the car door, Yomiko’s dread rising bit by bit until the woman was kneeling on the driver seat and gazing at her. When Yomiko saw her, she gasped.

“You’re one of Doctor Kitzel’s creations!” Yomiko gasped. That explained the gray skin and the weird lines running down her sides and neck. The woman, who had short, wavy blonde hair that covered one of her yellow eyes, gazed dispassionately at Yomiko and her feet. Additionally, she was only wearing a yellow tank top and a yellow bikini bottom.

“As I thought, you’re one of the Fighting Fronds….Yomiko, I believe. And yes, I am one of the doctor’s creations. I am Machina,” Machina explained in a tone devoid of any inflection.

“Why did you stop the taxi? Because of some directive that psycho programmed into you?” Yomiko frowned, her feet shifting nervously as she struggled against the rope binding her wrist once more.

“…..No. I just couldn’t let another obvious kidnapping go unnoticed,” Machina replied curtly.

“Huh?” Yomiko stared in shock at those words.

“I was created to be the doctor’s silent, ticklish assistant. However-”

“A ticklish robot…..” Yomiko exclaimed in wonder. At those words Machina rested a hand on her feet.

“Do not interrupt me.” Machina frowned. Her tone was devoid of anger, but she was clearly annoyed enough by that comment to give an unspoken threat of tickling. Yomiko froze at those words and shut up while scrunching her soles. “During your raid on the doctor’s lab, I heard her loud, frantic laughs. And…..something changed. I don’t know why but……I ran out of the lab. And ran. And ran. I’ve been running for a while now, and I’ve seen all sorts of things. I’ve seen people kidnapped, never to return ever again. No doubt forced to be silent, tickle slaves, like what I was under the doctor. And that…..upsets me.” As she explained this, Machina clenched her fist while scowling. Then her expression returned to a more neutral state.

“I’ve been running around, helping some of these unfortunate victims and punishing their torturers. Although the first time, I did so they were horrified and thought I was an invention made by some woman named Rocio. That made me sad. So I started wearing a cloak,” Machina explained.

“But…..you’re not wearing one now,” Yomiko pointed out.

“Ah…..that’s because when I ran up to the car, a gust of dust and wind was kicked up when it crashed. And it blew away the cloak.” Machina said, lowering her eyes sadly.

“I-I see……” Yomiko said, trying to wrap her head around this. One of Doctor Kitzel’s robots had defected and become some kind of heroic ditz? It was too good to be true.

“Good. I am glad that you see.” Machina nodded. Then after some hesitation, she continued speaking. “I witnessed your friends being kidnapped,” she said bluntly.

“You did?! And witnessed…..what, so you just stood there and let it happen?!” Yomiko shouted at her. At those words Machina sighed before continuing.

“I cannot defeat the Laughing Lovelies on my own. If I tried to rescue them at that moment, I would be defeated and analyzed, which would no doubt aid in La Barriga’s wicked kidnappings and whatever else she’s plotting.” Machina replied. At those words Yomiko fell silent. She was still upset this robot didn’t even attempt to rescue her friends, but her anger was misplaced. La Barriga was to blame, not Machina.

“……Why did you save me?” Yomiko asked.

“You are one of the Fighting Fronds, a well-known hero. I need your help to defeat La Barriga.” Machina said, gazing intently at Yomiko to see what her response would be.

“…..Fine. I was planning to take her on even before she kidnapped my friends. And now that she’s taken them….she’s dead.” Yomiko replied with a determined glare. Hearing this, Machina nodded.

“Good. I will retrieve my cloak and then-”

“If you’re with me, you don’t need the cloak. I’ll vouch for you,” Yomiko shook her head.

“You would……do that? For me?” Machina asked, her eyes widening.

“Yeah…..you seem trustworthy enough,” Yomiko shrugged. Machina blinked twice at this, and Yomiko couldn’t help but smile a bit at that. Now that she wasn’t on guard, she could admit that this robot was rather cute. Minus the emotionless gaze of course.

“Very well. I will not retrieve my cloak. We will keep driving and head deeper in this state.” Machina said, noting a parked car.

“What will we find there?” Yomiko asked.

“A group of bandits. Their leader has ties to La Barriga so interrogating her is a good place to start.” Machina explained.

“Well then, let’s get going,” Yomiko smirked.

……And a few minutes later she was frowning at Machina in the new car.

“Why did you lock my feet up in the foot rest? Heck, why am I still tied up?”

“Do not be alarmed. I have no intention of tickling you. I just want to stare at your feet. I’m not planning anything else.” Machina replied with an unreadable expression.

“Even if you say that…..” Yomiko sighed.

“You have very pretty feet. I will stare at them until my external hard drive overheats.” Machina declared.

“Your external hard drive? Not your CPU?” Yomiko raised an eyebrow.

“Is there a problem?” Machina asked.

“No but……that sounds kinda perverted…..” Yomiko frowned, feeling uneasy.

“You are just jumping to conclusions.” Machina replied…..rather quickly.

“Alright, then what’s this external hard drive?” Yomiko asked.

“……..Anyways, we’re going to be driving along Route 66.” Machina said, quickly turning away from Yomiko and facing forward.

“You didn’t even answer my question!” Yomiko groaned. Her friends had been kidnapped, and her only ally was a heroic ditzy pervert of a robot.

“I am not a pervert.” Machina said in a low voice. Yomiko’s eyes widened at this, since it was the first time she detected an emotion in Machina’s voice: faint embarrassment. Then Machina turned back to her and replied in an emotionless voice.

“My feet are dexterous enough that I can drive without looking at the road. So I could stretch my body over to the backseat and hold your body close to me. Would like th-”

“Of course not!” Yomiko shouted, growing flustered and feeling exasperated with her travel companion.

She had a rough journey ahead of her.

Chapter Text

Machina drove along Route 66 with Yomiko in the backseat, the duo heading deeper into the state of Oklahoma. She was still blushing and her feet shifted with discomfort from Machina’s gaze, but there was nothing she could do about it. At one point on their journey they found the rundown shack where Leona and Rally had disappeared.

“It’s getting late. Let’s call it a night. Tomorrow, we ride in the same position.” Machina said.

“Why?” Yomiko scowled.

“Isn’t it obvious. Between me, a beautiful girl barely wearing any clothing, and you, a pretty girl with prettier feet on display, the bandits will no doubt come for us. And then we can interrogate them to point us in the right direction.” Machina explained.

“Wow…..you thought of everything,” Yomiko exclaimed. Maybe she had the wrong idea about Mac-

“Also, it allows me to stare at your pretty feet.” Machina added.

Never mind, she had the right idea about her.

“If we do this plan tomorrow, I’m riding shotgun and kicking my feet up on the dashboard.” Yomiko frowned.

“But……that does not allow me a full view of your feet.” Machina said.

“Exactly!” Yomiko shouted. Machina looked at Yomiko’s feet, then at Yomiko.

“Very well…..” Machina said. Despite her emotionless voice she seemed a little annoyed by Yomiko’s decision. Still, Yomiko was putting her foot down on this matter and wouldn’t budge an inch.

Machina released and untied Yomiko, and the two headed inside the rundown shack and found a creaking bed and a too soft, weird smelling couch to rest on.

I thought for sure she’d tickle me into agreeing if I didn’t go along with her wishes but…..she didn’t. She really IS different from Doctor Kitzel, Yomiko thought as she gazed at the robot, who was staring off into space. Although when Yomiko raised her hand, Machina didn’t notice.

She’s sleeping with her eyes open?! Yomiko stared in shock at this, then sighed and leaned on her side. Before long, she had fallen asleep.

The next morning, they drove down Route 66. True to her words, Yomiko had kicked her bare feet up on the dashboard as she sat next to Machina, who stole occasional glances at them. As they drove, they heard a sound like laughter coming from a bar.

“Should we keep driving? Or rescue them?” Machina asked Yomiko. The gaze she shot her almost seemed to be testing her, wondering if this girl was still the same hero she’d heard so much about.

“I don’t think you need me to answer that,” Yomiko smiled. She put her slippers back on, then exited the car and headed inside the bar. Seeing this, Machina got out of the car and followed after Yomiko, though not before glancing at a wanted sign of a pretty redhead named Queenie. A bounty of $100,000 was offered for her capture, and the angry, crude remarks present on the wanted poster meant it was likely written by one of the Laughing Lovelies. After gazing at this poster for a while longer, Machina followed after Yomiko.

The sight that greeted their eyes was a bar with dim pink lighting that cast shadows over the whole place. A couple of gagged girls were tied up with their ankles tied to the tables, their feet and tummies being tickled by mechanical back scratchers. And sitting behind the front counter with her boots crossed over it was…..

“Well well. Wasn’t expecting to see you here,” a girl with her hair dyed in every color of the rainbow said with a smirk. “You probably don’t remember me. I used to partner up with somebody else back in the day. The name’s-”

“Spectra. You’re that thug who had some pretty good kicks,” Yomiko frowned.

“So you do remember me. Perfect,” Spectra snickered, her eyes lighting up with delight. “I was worried I hadn’t made much of an impression during our previous fights. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong,” Spectra smirked. Her outfit was exactly as Yomiko remembered: a purple leather jacket was hanging loosely over a purple shirt, she had a purple miniskirt, and small but sturdy purple boots.

“Are you the owner of this place? Or the person who brought these people here?” Yomiko asked with a frown, walking towards Spectra.

“Neither. I’m just the bodyguard. The person who brought these people here was one of those bandits working for Carmen. As for the owner, she panicked when she saw you peeking through the window and is hiding in the back,” Spectra smiled coyly, gesturing to the back room with her thumb despite the owner’s shouts.

“So. You’re friends with those bandits then,” Yomiko nodded, her eyes narrowing as she drew closer.

“Pssht, I wish. To them I’m just a girl who picks up their deliveries every so often. What I’d give to run with a crew again….welp, taking many different requests to protect many different people has gotten me by. After all, easy cash makes an easy lif-YIIIIPE!” Spectra yelped when Yomiko suddenly rushed forward, avoiding having her legs pinned to the counter by a hair’s breadth. But Yomiko wasn’t done yet, and reached for her nostalgic opponent’s now uncrossed legs, which were now dangling above the counter. Spectra narrowed her eyes at this and grabbed the back of her chair, pulling her legs away and performing a handstand on the chair.

“What?!” Yomiko stared in shock.

“Settle down a little won’t you?!” Spectra shouted, swinging both legs roughly towards Yomiko’s head. Yomiko gasped and backed up, pulling her head away as Spectra’s kick left two notable dents on the counter.

“Kick back, relax~! Let’s take some time to catch up~” Spectra said in an easygoing manner. And with the smuggest of grins, she plopped down in her seat and returned to her original position, ankles crossed on the counter once more.

“Would you like my assistance?” Machina asked.

“Not yet,” Yomiko frowned, marching up to Spectra once more. Spectra lifted her legs off the counter and swung both her feet towards Yomiko’s face, but Yomiko blocked this attack with her arms and then managed to grab one of Spectra’s ankles.

“Why you!” Spectra growled, kicking aggressively with her other foot. Yomiko winced in pain as she blocked this attack with her free arm, then quickly ducked under one of the kicks and wrapped both of Spectra’s feet in an armlock. She unzipped one of Spectra’s boots with a swift motion and tried to remove it but…..

“Graaaaah!”

Lifting her body off the seat, Spectra grabbed the back of her chair and swung it down on Yomiko’s head.

“GYAAAAH!” Yomiko cried out in pain from this and fell to the ground, then quickly rolled out of the way when Spectra swung the chair down once more. She had failed in removing Spectra’s boots, but she had at least loosened one of them. That should make her movements more sluggish and allow for a counter-

“Hiiyah!” As Yomiko was thinking this, a boot was suddenly sent hurtling towards her face.

“What?!” Yomiko stared in shock, grabbing the boot and throwing it to the ground around the same time that the sound of a now-creaky chair being set down was heard. Shortly after this sound, another boot went flying towards Yomiko.

“NNGH!” Yomiko winced and staggered from this attack, which had scored a direct hit on her stomach. Her eyes widened in shock as she quickly ducked down, the badly dented chair soaring over her head and crashing through a window, becoming further destroyed. Yomiko looked back at the destroyed window, then at Spectra. Fortunately that string of attacks had gotten her opponent somewhat winded, so she didn’t get a surprise kick to the face. It gave Yomiko time to gather her bearings and assess what had just happened. Her opponent was currently standing there in rainbow colored socks. In other words, she had quickly realized that having one of her boots loose would slow her down, then quickly decided to launch both boots and the chair at Yomiko.

She’s gotten good!, Yomiko thought with surprise. Rather than leave herself open by setting down the chair and zipping her boot or continuing to swing the chair with clumsier moves, she used Yomiko’s attempt at creating an opening to her advantage.

“Heh, looks like you finally consider me a worthy rival,” Spectra smirked, tapping one socked foot on the floor as she waited for Yomiko to get back up. When she did, Spectra aimed a roundhouse kick at her, but Yomiko dodged and threw out a roundhouse kick of her own at the same time, hitting Spectra dead-on. Spectra groaned from this, rubbing her head and glaring at Yomiko.

“Don’t get carried away. You’ve improved, but so have I,” Yomiko said, narrowing her eyes.

“Tch! Don’t just brush me off!” Spectra shouted. She went for a jumping kick towards Yomiko’s head, which Yomiko ducked under as she rushed forward and tickled at Spectra’s sides while forcing her back. Spectra snickered a bit, then lashed out with a knee strike. Yomiko blocked this and grabbed her leg, but Spectra grabbed the front of the counter and lifted her other leg off the ground, kicking Yomiko in the same spot where the boot had struck. Yomiko staggered and moved back a bit, allowing Spectra to follow up with a leg sweep that caused Yomiko to fall to the floor. Spectra moved to remove Yomiko’s slippers, but her felt her foot twitch as she looked behind her. Machina, who had decided to intervene, was feeling the rim of Spectra’s sock and also touching her ankle.

“What the hell?! Get away, my fight’s with her!” Spectra shouted, knocking Machina’s hand away and springing to her feet as she tried to subdue this unwanted intruder with tickles. But before she could do so, Machina lashed out with an attack of her own.

“NEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE?!” Spectra yelped, backing up in surprise as she stared at Machina’s right hand. Or rather, what used to be her right hand. Because poking out of the groove where her hand should’ve been was…..

“An electro-tickler?!” Spectra stared in shock. Attached to her wrist was an electro-tickler, although it was different from the usual model. Instead of a taser that fired out nodes that would latch onto people and send tickly jolts coursing through their bodies, this looked like a black tuning fork with sparks coming out of it.

Scowling, Spectra blocked the electrotickler as Machina thrust it towards her and gave a few swift tickles to Machina’s sides. However before she could get any laughter to spill forth from beyond that shaky smile, Yomiko stood up and poked and squeezed her right side. Yelping, Spectra swatted Yomiko’s hand away and was able to briefly tickle her side, but didn’t get far before the electro-tickler jabbed her left side. Yomiko and Machina continued to block her attacks and tickle away at her sides as her laughter grew louder. With any luck their tickling would make her movements sloppy. Maybe she’d stumble, or overextend a kick.

“Ghmmmphehehehahahahaha! SEHEHEHEHETTLE…..” Spectra grit her teeth, twisting her body backwards as her hands touched the floor.

“DOWN!” Using her palms to support her body, Spectra planted both feet into their shoulders, kicking them with enough force to send them back a bit.

“Sheesh, you haven’t lost your stuff Yomiko. I’d recognize those nimble fingers anywhere. And you,” Spectra frowned at Machina, “are cheating.”

“I am not cheating. A criminal like you should know that the first rule of a tickle fight is that there are no rules. Anything goes.” Machina said in an emotionless yet firm tone. Spectra stared in surprise at that, then laughed.

“Heh. For a robot you seem oddly snarky. Like you’ve got passionate feelings about tickling behind those vacant eyes,” Spectra smirked.

“Vacant?” Machina replied, waving a hand in front of her face. “I see things clearly though.” Spectra rolled her eyes at that.

“Well I’d love to stick around and chat, but three’s a crowd. Later!” Spectra waved, running towards the broken window and diving through it.

“Wha-hey!” Yomiko frowned, diving through the window and trying to chase after Spectra. But the rainbow sock wearing criminal was a little faster, managing to reach her parked purple motorcycle, rev it up, and drive off. Eventually, she disappeared from sight. Yomiko sighed at this as Machina joined her.

“Damn it. Well, guess we’ll just stick with your plan until the bandits show up,” Yomiko shrugged.

“While I would love to stare at your feet more as we drive, there is no need for that. I slipped a tracker into her sock.” Machina explained.

“Really? ……When you were feeling the rim of her sock? I thought you were just trying to feel her foot,” Yomiko exclaimed with surprise.

“Well, that played a small part in my actions,” Machina admitted brazenly.

“Of course it did…..let’s free the girls here and give the manager a lesson before tailing Spectra,” Yomiko said, shaking her head as the two of them headed back inside and freed the tied up and gagged girls. They thanked Yomiko, let out a ‘hieee’ of fear at the sight of Machina, and quickly ran out of the bar.

“People will come around to you. Trust me,” Yomiko said, chuckling at Machina’s narrowed eyes and seeming displeasure. Then they opened the door, where a girl in a bartender outfit was sitting nervously at a desk, flinching upon their arrival.

“So the manager doubles as a bartender here…..well, whatever,” Yomiko shrugged, approaching the manager.

“H-Hey you’re not supposed to be back here! I’ll have you know this is a legitimate establishment! Hey! HEEEEEEY!” the manager shouted in horror, her chair clattering as Yomiko and Machina drew closer and closer.

After tickle-wrecking the manager, Machina and Yomiko took a break to eat all the snacks they could find at the bar. Or rather, Yomiko ate the snacks while Machina stared at her. Once they had finished taking a break, they were back in the car as Machina drove down Route 66.

“I am surprised that you haven’t asked me about my electro-tickler.” Machina said, her hand having returned to its normal state when she retracted the electro-tickler.

“It’s not that special. Anyways, we need to keep our wits about us. Bandits will probably try to attack us as we get closer,” Yomiko said. Machina turned to her and stared at her with wide eyes.

“W-What is it?” Yomiko asked, feeling a little uncomfortable with that gaze.

“……Sorry, my CPU shut down when you said it’s not that special.” Machina replied robotically.

“Was that really such a big shock for you?” Yomiko raised an eyebrow, then sighed. “I saw all sorts of crazy things when trying to bring down Madame Solle. Something like a different model of electro-tickler isn’t that surprising to me, and you being able to swap out your wrists for it also isn’t surprising.”

“I………………see.” Machina said.

“It really was a big shock for you huh? Your electro-ticklers are cool, alright? Now stop staring at me and pay attention to the road,” Yomiko frowned. Machina did as Yomiko asked, though a quick glance at her profile showed the robot still had a thousand-yard stare. Yomiko couldn’t help cracking a smile at that, and they drove onwards, avoiding potholes in the road. Whenever bandits approached their car or tried climbing on top of the hood, they swiftly dispatched them with their tickle fighting skills. At some points on their journey they heard frantic shrieks, and when they did they’d take a detour to rescue people and tickle people into submission. Sometimes they’d even see the bandits in the process of transporting tickle slaves via truck, and in those instances they’d engage in tickle road fights.

In any case, they eventually reached a dirt road. Continuing on this road for a few miles, they soon reached an area with dilapidated buildings on either side. In front of them was a more open area blocked by a series of barricades. There was a few meters between each barricade, and there was a burly woman with long purple bangs and a ponytail guarding the last one. Beyond that barricade, Yomiko saw a woman sitting on a rubber tire surrounded by other junk. She could’ve sworn the woman flashed her a smirk, even though she couldn’t tell for sure given the distance between them.

“Where’s Spectra?” Yomiko asked.

“Somewhere in that building,” Machina said, pointing to the dilapidated building on the left.

“She’s probably watching us,” Yomiko frowned. Or rather, watching me. Having a fan girl who was also a criminal that wanted nothing more than to beat and tickle Yomiko for the rest of her days was a real pain. Giving that building one last glare and catching a glimpse of something rainbow-colored, she turned back to the barricades.

“Ready?” Yomiko asked.

“Ready,” Machina nodded. They tickled and fought their way through a wave of bandits wearing beige scarves over their mouths and beige cloaks. After leaping over the first barricade, they heard the sound of a motorcycle driving towards them. Yomiko tensed up at this and turned around to see the motorcycle soar over the first barricade, skidding to a stop a few meters away from them. A bandit with beautiful curly black hair and a plumeblade tattoo on her loosely hanging beige cloak tilted her shades down while smirking.

“You’ve come to the wrong place. The girls who wind up at our base never return, they just get passed around like little-ah?!” the bandit began saying, then gasped when Yomiko ran up to her with a determined glare. The bandit tried to rev up her bike, but she was tackled and pinned down by Yomiko, who began poking and squeezing her sides and armpits

“Who are you? Are you with the Laughing Lovelies?!” Yomiko frowned, using her knowledge of pressure points to effectively tickle torture the captive bandit.

“AhahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA OH GEEHEEHEEHEEHEEZ! I’M NAHAHAHAHAHAHAT A LOVELY AND MY NAHAHAHAHAHAYME IS CARLEEHEEHEEHEE! CARLITAAAA!” The bandit shrieked, squirming around frantically as she tried to get away.

“Yomiko. I understand that you are worried about your friends. But she is clearly wearing the attire of the other bandits,” Machina said, resting a hand on Yomiko’s shoulder. Yomiko flinched from this and stopped tickling Carlita, looking down at the ground.

“From the doctor’s notes on the Fronds, I know of a few things. Leona is the fury of the group. Rally is the trickster of the group. And you are the voice of reason. So calm yourself. You are at your strongest when you have a clear head.” Machina said. Silence fell between them for a few seconds, and then Yomiko stood up.

“Machina……thank you,” Yomiko said, exhaling to cool her head, and then gazing at Machina. Her gaze was clear yet sharp, brimming with purpose.

“Beautiful.” Machina nodded.

“Eh?” Yomiko tilted her head.

“Nothing. I just thought that your expression just now surpasses the things I’ve heard about you,” Machina said, turning away from her. “And…..you’re welcome.” Machina said. From how her tone softened Yomiko could’ve sworn Machina was smiling, but with the robot’s back facing her she had no way of knowing. Carlita stood up, clearly in a foul mood.

“That was just a cheap shot! I’d easily beat you in a hear fi-HYIHIHIHIHIHIGHT?!” Carlita shrieked when she felt felt an electro-tickler jab her in the side, and she fell back to the ground while laughing and clutching her sides. Yomiko and Machina then leapt over that barricade, followed by the next one, where they encountered another bandit. This bandit had blue hair that jutted out in every possible direction, with two long blue bangs running down the sides of her head.

“The name’s Jesse. I’ll have you know I’m pretty good at tickle fighting!” the woman smirked, running up to Machina and trying to tickle her sides. But Machina backed up, then quickly rushed forward with a thrust of the electro-tickler jutting out of her right wrist.

“NeeheeheeheeHEE?!” Jesse stared in shock at this.

“Is that so? You don’t seem like much to me.” Machina replied dispassionately, continuing to use the electro-tickler on Jesse until she had fallen over in a heap of laughter. They then leapt over another barricade, Yomiko’s precise strikes and Machina’s electro-tickler working wonders in dispatching the bandits. As they fought them, they heard the sound of a motorcycle heading their way.

“Dammit, I’m not done with you!” Carlita shouted, her bike soaring over barricade after barricade as she steadily gained on them. Seeing this, Machina stepped forward. When the bike leapt over the barricade nearest to where the fighting duo was, she used her electro-tickler on the front wheel. This caused the bike to skid out of control when Carlita landed, barreling towards a group of bandits.

“Woahwoahwoah!” Carlita and the bandits screamed, and then a loud crash was heard. They were sprawled about on the ground, some under the bike, some over the bike, and some a good distance away from the bike. Either way, they wouldn’t be moving around for a while.

Yomiko chuckled at this, and then the two of them leapt over the last barricade, which also had a makeshift wooden archway. The muscular bandit standing under this archway scoffed at the sight of the two.

“You ain’t seeing the boss. So you better turn away now before-ah?” Turning in surprise from a sudden, the bandit saw a rock on the ground to her right.

“What are you trying to pull-”

“I apologize. My aim was off,” Machina said, throwing another rock that hit the archway directly, causing the structure to partially crumble on top of the muscular woman.

“Nggh-!” Staring in shock at this, Clarabelle stopped the wooden chunks by lifting her arms upwards, using her strength to keep the archway from collapsing. She let out a sigh of relief at that, then widened her eyes when Yomiko and Machina were standing right next to her.

“You wouldn’t dahahahahahahare?!” Clarabelle’s retort was cut off as she let out a shriek the moment the duo tickle attacked her armpits.

“What is your name?” Machina asked, pressing her electro-tickler directly into the center of the muscular woman’s left armpit as the tickly jolts danced all across the underside of her arm.

“Neeheeheeheehee! ClahahaharaBEHEHEHEHEHELLE!” The woman replied with a loud shriek.

“Clarabelle huh? Does that mean you kick like a wild bull when you’re tickled?” Yomiko asked while grinning, prodding and squeezing her right armpit.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA DON’T TEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE MEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Clarabelle shrieked. Her tone now longer sounded like that of a powerful bandit, but rather a squealing, heinously ticklish school girl.

“Well you know they say. The bigger they are the harder they-”

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA-AAAAH?!”

“-fall.”

Upon finishing that proclamation, Clarabelle stumbled backwards, and without her arms supporting the archway it quickly fell on top of her, trapping her underneath it and leaving her a tad winded.

“Oooh when I get out of here you are both dead!” Clarabelle shouted. She glared at the duo angrily……and then raised a perplexed eyebrow when she felt them unzipping her boots.

“Well we don’t have time to play with you either. But we have just the thing to keep you company,” Yomiko smiled.

“Vibrators. We pilfered them off of one of the bandits we defeated while driving here. I’m sure you’ll love them.” Machina emotionlessly stated, gazing intently at Clarabelle. Yomiko then slipped the two vibrator’s into Clarabelle’s socks.

“Wait a minute, wahahahahait a MIHIHIHIHIHIHINUTE!” Clarabelle screamed once Yomiko turned the dial on the vibrators to the highest possible setting, her feet waving from side to side as the bruiser struggled more desperately, trying to get free.

“That will no doubt hold her off.” Machina proclaimed, casting a glance at Yomiko.

“Yeah. And in the meantime we’ll take out the leader of these bandits,” Yomiko nodded. The two of them leapt over the struggling, laughing Clarabelle and into the main area of the hideout. Bandits slowly walked up to them, surrounding them on all sides.

“That’s enough.” Carmen raised a hand, still sitting on the tire.

“But-”

“Did you see what they did to the other bandits? You’d fall just as easily. Besides, I’m not just gonna sit here and let these two perras have their way with my gals.” Carmen smirked, speaking with a Mexican accent.

“Boss…..” one of the bandits muttered, all of them looking pleased by her consideration.

“Hmph. I thought there was no honor among thieves,” Yomiko frowned.

“Oh, rival bandit groups would absolutely get the business end of a plumeblade. And among ticklish thieves…..there’s no honor at all. All quick brush along someone’s side…..a little kiss of the feather……and you could have your riches snatched away just like that.” Carmen said with a snap of her fingers, her tone coy and sultry. “But my gals are my family. I would never betray them, and any who’d betray me simply aren’t my gals,” she shrugged.

“We’d never do that!” one of the bandits shouted.

“I know sweetie,” Carmen smiled softly at the bandit, then gazed at Yomiko and Machina with a smirk that showed she was a wild, feisty outlaw.

Carmen’s natural skin tone was like a mild tan, and with her ruby lips, brown, almond-shaped eyes, and brown curls that cascaded down the sides of her head and along her forehead, she was a sight to behold. A red scarf with a unique pattern was hanging around her neck, and the beige cloak and plain-looking brown boots that was the uniform of her group looked striking on her curvy figure. Underneath the beige cloak she was wearing a red shirt, and her pants were black.

“The Laughing Lovelies had to have passed through here on their way to wherever La Barriga is. Which means you know where they took Leona and Rally,” Yomiko frowned.

“True. But I don’t see why I should tell you,” Carmen smirked, sliding off the tire and walking up to the two of them with a confident stride as the other bandits backed off, standing a couple meters away to the left and right of them while waiting to see what would happen next.

“So you want to settle things with a tickle fight? You sure you want to go that road?” Yomiko asked with a raised eyebrow.

“If you’re trying to threaten me, it won’t work. I’ve heard stories about the Fighting Fronds. You’re very formidable. As a group. But right now you’re partnered with someone who you’ve never fought alongside. Isn’t that why the two of you always split up when I watched you take on my gals? In fact, I think I noticed a few times where the two of you overextended your attacks and nearly hit each other. And you think you can take me on with that sort of shoddy teamwork? Ridiculous,” Carmen smirked.

“Well. We shall just have to see about that.” Machina replied. Her tone was devoid of inflection as usual, yet firm.

“Before we begin, there’s something I’d like you to see,” Carmen smirked, tossing a video camera over to Yomiko. Catching it in confusion, Yomiko turned it on and checked to see what was recorded on it. And what she saw angered her.

She saw the backseat of a moving car, with her two friends sitting there. Leona’s face was covered in dirt, and Rally looked extremely dazed. Both of them were unconscious, and although Yomiko was relieved they weren’t being tickle tortured in the video, this didn’t ease her worries. If they had been tickled bad enough to lose consciousness, who knows what Gigglez would do to them.

“Did showing you that piss you off?” Carmen asked. Frowning, Yomiko tossed the camera and glared coldly at Carmen.

“Good. Then let’s begin,” Carmen smirked as she rushed forward aiming a series of swift chops towards their necks and torsos while also trying to sneak in some tickles. Yomiko managed to dodge and parry, but her attempts at counterattacking were warded by the bandit leader’s cloak. Machina’s electro-tickler had enough range to reach Carmen, but she wasn’t reacting in time to Carmen’s attacks, yelping and pulling back whenever Carmen’s tickles reached her. And when they were finally able to push Carmen back a bit and their attacks were about to land…..

“Not there Machina!” Yomiko exclaimed as Machina overextended an attack and accidentally bumped into her.

“I am sorry. I-” Machina began, but her words were interrupted by Carmen roughly kicking Yomiko.

“Urk!” Yomiko grunted, being blown back by the kick as she fell to the ground.

“What did I tell you? You two can’t face me if you’re tripping over your own feet!” Carmen smirked, squeezing Machina’s thighs.

“YEEEEK!” Machina let out a cute yelp unbefitting of her usual emotionless demeanor as she tried to force Carmen away with her left arm while trying to jolt Carmen with the electro-tickler attached to her right wrist.

“You’re a little too reliant on that,” Carmen smirked, evading this thrust with a sidestep. “Still, for a robot your body is pretty squishy. Almost like it’s made mostly of latex rather than metal. And you’re very pretty. So I know I’m going to enjoy this~” Carmen smirked, squeezing Machina’s thighs more viciously now.

“KYAAAAAH!” Machina yelped, shaking her head and puffing up her cheeks while trying not to laugh. Yomiko scrambled to her feet to try to help her when Machina’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Yomiko! The-PFFFT-rainbow socked girl is! NEEEHEEHEE! Heading this way!” Machina shouted, a few cute squeals slipping out as she said this. Yomiko widened her eyes at those words and turned around, looking to the left and right. She heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching and saw a motorcycle with no rider on it coming in from the left side. Then she looked up and narrowly blocked a kick from Spectra, who then flipped and landed on the ground.

“This is really not the time,” Yomiko frowned.

“When is it ever the time?” Spectra smirked, running towards Yomiko and throwing out a jumping roundhouse kick that Yomiko ducked under, followed by a leg sweep that she leapt over.

“Who is that? Is she a bandit?” someone from Carmen’s crew asked.

“No you idiot! She isn’t even dressed like us!” another bandit hissed.

“Well I don’t know who she is, but I really like her socks!” one bandit said excitedly.

“Tan bonita……” Carmen exclaimed while peering over Machina’s shoulder, finding herself as mesmerized as her gals were. These words made Spectra blush and smirk, her currently grounded socked feet wiggling happily.

“Heh. Now I’m even more ready to kick your ass and tickle you!” Spectra smirked, aiming another roundhouse kick at Yomiko.

“I’ve figured out your moves.” Yomiko frowned, ducking under this attack and then quickly aiming an axe kick at Spectra’s head when the rainbow-haired girl went for a leg sweep.

“NGGH?!” Spectra grunted from this, her face slamming against the dirt.

“You like to follow up your roundhouse kicks with either a leg sweep or a jumping roundhouse kick. From this distance you wouldn’t risk a jumping roundhouse kick. So, a leg sweep would be your go-to attack,” Yomiko explained. Her tone was calm, but her gaze was sharp as a knife.

“Get up so I can settle this petty rivalr-ah?” When Yomiko lifted her foot off from the back of Spectra’s head, she soon felt a hand clasp around her ankle.

“Bweh, gahk!” Spectra spat out dirt from her mouth before speaking. “Okay, I wasn’t expecting to get a face full of dirt. But I bet you weren’t expecting this!” Spectra smirked, removing Yomiko’s slipper.

“Don’t even think about ihihihiHIHIHIHIHIT?!”

“All I’ve been thinking about since that battle in the subway is getting the chance to tickle you again~” Spectra smirked, gazing fondly at the slender trembling foot caught in her grasp.

“LET ME GOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Yomiko shouted in annoyance. She swung her free leg, trying to kick dirt at her opponent. But Spectra simply shielded her face from this and went right back to tickling.

“Lemme think……no~” Spectra grinned slyly. Her eyes shimmered with excitement as she followed every movement that wriggling foot made in its attempts to evade her tickles. She slid her fingers along its sides, squeezed at the ball of her foot, and let her nails drag slowly along her arches, plucking at whatever wrinkles she found on her way down. Then her fingers scribbled rapidly up and down the length of Yomiko’s foot, loving how it wiggled more frantically from this and how the lovely owner of this equally lovely foot was getting louder by the second. She was especially excited by how Yomiko’s long toes wriggled and flexed from this torture, and would soon let her fingers roam around on those wiggly digits.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA DAMMIT!” Yomiko squealed, her cheeks reddening as she grabbed her leg and tried to pull it away.

Meanwhile Carmen had grabbed Machina’s right arm and was mercilessly dragging her sharp, ruby nails over her armpit.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP THAT RIGHT NOHOHOHOHOHOHOW!” Machina screamed, her body twisting and turning in Carmen’s grasp as she tried to get free.

“That laugh of yours is completely different from how dull your voice usually is. Which makes it even more adorable~” Carmen purred, her nails dragging along Machina’s right armpit lightly and slowly one moment, then utterly ravaging it the next.

“EHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” In Machina’s desperation, her left hand reached towards Carmen’s side, her fingers wriggling faster than humanly possible.

“EEHEEEEEP!” Carmen yelped from that, backing up and momentarily pausing her tickles before smirking.

“Not bad, but this won’t be ehehehehenough to stop meeheeheeHEEHEE!” Carmen said between laughs, continuing to scratch at Machina’s right armpit as Machina’s fingers moved at top speed, tickling as though their life depended on it.

“Boss!” one of the bandits shouted, tossing Carmen a plumeblade.

“Gracias!” Carmen smirked, snatching it and swishing it mercilessly against Machina’s right armpit. Machina’s almost crumbled completely from this, but she held her ground and kept up her offense against Carmen, wanting to be the one who won this tickle bout.

As Yomiko was tickled, her mind flashed to the earlier bar fight she had with Spectra. An idea popped in her head, and she glared at the rainbow-haired fiend.

“Yeeees~? Something you’d like say-ow!” Spectra yelped, reeling back from something that hit her in the face as she let go of Yomiko’s foot. When she glared at Yomiko and saw that her other slipper was missing, she realized what she had done.

“WHY YOU-!” Spectra shouted, throwing out another roundhouse kick, which Yomiko intercepted.

“Finally. You finally overextended a kick,” Yomiko frowned, wrapping that leg in an armlock as she began to tickle at Spectra’s socked foot.

“SNRK! Nrrghehehehehehe CUT THAT OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOUT!” Spectra shrieked, her socked foot wiggling like mad in an attempt to get free as she balanced precariously on one foot.

“Machina, I’m tossing her over to you!” Yomiko shouted, grabbing Spectra’s leg with both hands and tossing her towards Machina’s back. Machina, who had managed to eke out a slight edge in her tickle bout against Carmen, grabbed the bandit leader and spun her around so that their positions had swapped, then moved out of the way. This resulted in Spectra crashing and landing on top of Carmen, the plumeblade falling out of the bandit’s grasp in the process.

“Oof! What in the world?” Carmen gasped, trying to get up only to have her ankles pinned down by Machina. A groggy Spectra tried to slide off of Carmen only to have her efforts foiled once her ankles were caught in an armlock.

“You were having fun tickling me. So, I will return the favor.” Machina exclaimed robotically, harboring a grudge for lo the tickling she had endured. Worry fell over Carmen as her eyes widened.

“Between here and the bar, you’ve been throwing plenty of kicks at me. I’ll make sure to hold these tight so you don’t kick me in the face. And I’ll make sure to return the tickles you gave me earlier. With interest,” Yomiko informed Spectra coldly.

“Nggh! Wait a mihihihiHIHIHIHIHIHUTE!” Spectra shrieked, but Yomiko swiftly yanked off her socks and then began spidering her fingers up and down the baddie’s soles around the same time that Machina launched her own tickle attack after removing Carmen’s boots and socks.

“You are correct. I rely too much on my electro-tickler. So, I will not tickle you with just the electro-tickler,” Machina stated.

“I-It’s good thahahahahat you’re tahahahaking my advice but maybe don’t-pffthehehehe-use it on MEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Carmen yelped. She had done a good job evading the electro-tickler in her fight with Machina, but now that she had nowhere to run it was working wonders on her left sole, which reeled back and waved about as her toes spread and flexed. Meanwhile her other foot was being worked over by Machina’s speedy fingers running up and down its length, scratching with such persistence that Carmen instinctively scrunched that foot. Together, the two different sensations were chipping away at her resistance at a steady pace.

“With how delicate these were even with your socks on, it’s no surprise that they can’t handle any amount of tickling while bared. Also, I’m pretty sure this is my first time getting to tickle you on your feet. Lucky me,” Yomiko teased with a smile, dragging her fingers up and down Spectra’s soles and pinching and squeezing at any wrinkles that formed.

“NEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GET AWAY FROM MY FEEHEEHEEHEEHEET!” Spectra screamed, her feet darting from side to side in Yomiko’s grasp as her toes fluttered and curled.

Carmen’s feet were a slender size 6. They sported shapely balls, long toes with a noticeable span to them, gently sloping arches, and smooth heels. What they lacked in size was made up for in sheer beauty, and Machina made sure to divide her attention accordingly to Carmen’s weak spots.

Spectra’s feet on the other hand were larger and wider. At a size 8 and sporting a rosy tint from all the running around she’d been doing in her socks, there was plenty of room to scribble away at. They had round toes with fairly large digits, plump balls and equally plump heels that had deep, buttery smooth arches between them, and a waterfall of wrinkles that might as well have been Spectra’s own little rainbow.

“No wonder these feet managed to kick me so often given their size……since you were so keen on fighting me, you might be interested to learn that I’ve improved my special technique since the last time we fought,” Yomiko said.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHAAAAAAAT?!” Spectra shouted in disbelief.

“It’s now called the Ten Torturous Strikes……would you like to see it?” Yomiko asked with a smirk.

“NO I DON’T WANNAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! EHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEE, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Spectra screamed when Yomiko began pinching and prodding at specific spots on her feet, causing the ticklish sensations to steadily intensify. Seeing this, Machina thought back to her battle with Carmen, how her mistake had led to Yomiko being knocked back.

“I have to improve. In order to fight alongside one of the Fighting Fronds, I have to get stronger. My first step in doing so…..is coming up with a special attack of my own,” Machina said, her left hand retracting as an electro-tickler popped up in its place.

“W-What are you going to do?” Carmen asked, scrunching her feet warily.

“What I said I would do. Which is coming up with a special attack. So, here it is. Commencing,” Machina said, trying to get Carmen even more anxious by pausing for a few seconds before continuing.

“Special Attack: Electric Shock.” Machina declared, pressing both electro-ticklers together as they crackled menacingly, then rushing forward and pressing them against Carmen’s soles.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!” Carmen let out a shrill scream from this, her eyes widening as her cheeks turned a very bright red.

“Are you familiar with defibrillators? They’re normally used to help patients whose hearts have stopped, but you could also use them for traps. For example, if you dump water on the floor you could use it as an electric trap of sorts.” Machina explained to the screaming bandit.

“This special attack I came up with operates on a similar principle, minus being fatal. Picture a powerful, all-consuming ticklish shock advancing steadily upwards. That’s my special attack.”

After this proclamation, Carmen felt the huge burst of ticklish energy crackling all over her soles and toes, tickling every last inch of skin and even harder to reach areas like the cuticles. Carmen’s feet took a reddish tint from this as she felt the sensations creeping further upward. When it first tickled the backs of her legs, it felt like a light, somewhat ticklish massage. But that sensation quickly intensified to reach the same magnitude as the hell her soles were going through. When the sensation reached her hips and thighs she began to really struggle, her legs shaking up and down as she shrieked in ticklish panic.

“Oh? Not enough? Well let’s speed things up a little then,” Machina said, having the brunt of the ticklish shock focus on a tender area she had noted earlier: the very center of Carmen’s arches.

“OH DIOS MIHIHIHIHIHIHIYOHOHOHOHOHO! DOHOHOHOHOAHAHAHAHAHA! DOHOHOHOHON’T!” Carmen pleaded, gasping for breath as her ticklish suffering reached greater heights. The sensations crept up her stomach, past her chest, round her neck, and tormented her armpits and even the palms of her hands by coursing through her arms. It was no exaggeration to say that these electrifying sensations were gnawing at her mind, because they had literally reached her head to create a feedback loop of madness that didn’t seem to want to stop.

“TAHAHAHAHAHAHALK! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE I’LL TAHAHAHAHAHAHALK! JUST-PFFTHEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! MAHAHAHAHAHAAAAYKE IT STOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!” Carmen pleaded, tears rolling down her bright red cheeks. This bandit was utterly at her wits end, and it was clear she was ready to spill her guts out if it meant being spared from further torment.

“Very well.” Machina nodded, abruptly stopping the tickles. Yomiko finished up on Spectra, leaving her a laughing, twitching mess before turning to see what Carmen had to say. Carmen panted very heavily, fanning herself with her hands and taking many deep breaths before speaking.

“Your friends are at Gigglez’s Circus.” Carmen said.

“So that’s where that clown ran off to. Do you know where the circus is?” Yomiko asked with a frown.

“It’s near the southeastern border of this state. You’ll know when you see it since that part of town looks like a gathering of freaks,” Carmen frowned, shifting uncomfortably.

“Hmm, alright.” Yomiko nodded, a fire brimming in her eyes. Rushing into that circus, dragging Gigglez by the scruff of her neck, and rescuing her friends was her top priority.

“…..I’m surprised your ‘gals’ didn’t try to jump us while we were tickling you. Is that also part of your code of honor?” Yomiko asked with a frown.

“Yup. They had already been bested by you, and knew I didn’t want them to directly interfere. So they didn’t, even when things turned out unfavorably for me,” Carmen smirked.

“Well, that made things easier for us,” Yomiko nodded. “Come on Machina, let’s get going. If we’re lucky this should only take an hour or two,” Putting her slippers back on, Yomiko turned around and began heading off, with Machina following closely behind her. Having recovered, Spectra rolled off of Carmen.

“S-Sorry about screwing up your fight with the robot,” Spectra stammered while looking down.

“No need to apologize about that. Besides, you threw some impressive kicks and were holding your own for a little while,” Carmen smirked, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Thanks. I’m……not a member of your crew or anything like that,” Spectra said while rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

“Well I want you as one of my gals regardless,” Carmen smirked. Spectra grinned brightly at that, and as they had this moment and the others bandits grinned, Yomiko quickly ran back over to them with a deep scowl.

Using cables, old rope, broken hula hoops, and whatever other junk she could find in this place, Yomiko had soon tied up all of the bandits and Spectra.

“You bandits don’t know when to quit. And if I forget to tie you up Carol will never let me here the end of it,” Yomiko frowned while crossing her arms.

“Who’s Carol?” Machina asked.

“The most annoying person in the world.” Yomiko replied curtly, leaving with Machina.

“Oh, and the reason we were able to find you is because of a tracker we put in her sock. Let that sink in,” Yomiko turned around to say this to Carmen and the other bandits before leaving. They all turned to Spectra, glaring at her.

“Ehehe…..” Spectra chuckled nervously.

Well, we could’ve just gotten the info out of one of the bandits and still tracked them down, but that should at least keep them distracted for a bit if they manage to bust free. Enough to allow the other rebel forces to swoop in, Yomiko though with a grin as she and Machina entered the car, their eyes set on busting down a clown’s crazy circus.

Elsewhere, a fierce battle had just concluded. It was a battle free of casualties, yet all of the opposing forces were drained, too exhausted to fight. That was not to say that La Barriga’s troops hadn’t also suffered some losses: a couple of their own forces had fallen unconscious from laughing so much. Yet ultimately, the squads of female soldiers they fought against had fallen to their superior tickling might.

“And with that, Nevada’s border is now unprotected. We can advance further inward, take down whatever soldiers stand in our way, and then take the state for ourselves,” La Barriga smirked.

“Why are you so interested in a shitty state like Nevada anyways?” Big Barbara asked.

“Because it’s where Area 51 is,” La Barriga explained.

“Ah, Area 51. That place that chronicles all known information on aliens!” a female scientist said excitedly in a fairly annoying high-pitched voice.

“That’s just a baseless rumor,” La Barriga frowned.

In the aftermath of the fight, the enemy soldiers had been loaded into military trucks to transport them to other parts of La Barriga’s empire, where they would be tickle slaves whose purpose would be to entertain their captors for the rest of their lives. The Laughing Lovelies under Big Barbara, the Crushers under this female scientist, and La Barriga’s Elite Guard as well as all the other troops under them were all hanging back a good distance away, allowing the three commanders of those groups to converse amongst themselves.

“Actually, how we know that you’re not an alien. Some kind of space cockroach or something?” Big Barbara taunted.

“I am not a roach!” the scientist shouted angrily.

“You sure? Cause your name is Rocio and that sounds awfully similar to-”

“I am not a roach!” the scientist shouted again, her voice getting more high-pitched and annoying the angrier she got.

Unlike the Crushers who worked under her, Rocio was small and scrawny, standing at a height of 4’11. That was only one of the reasons that Big Barbara, who towered over her, loved messing with her. Another was the scientist’s choice of footwear: pink crocs that had the outline of a bunny’s face near the toe area and would make notable squeaks with every step she took. Another was the blue shirt with an orange kitten that she wore under her lab coat. Another was how her lab coat and freckled face were almost always covered in soot, yet her shirt and crocs never were. Another was her voice, like that of an annoying little gremlin. And another was her round, black eyes, which would get even wider and rounder whenever she was pissed, ironically making her look more adorable. But the biggest reason she loved to mess with her was the fact that Rocio’s long, scraggly hair which was done in a small ponytail had two long, noticeable strands that stuck out and drooped over her head. Kinda like antennae.

“Pretty sure I saw your antennae twitch just now,” Big Barbara smirked.

“They are not antennae, and I am NOT A ROACH!” Rocio shouted.

“Come on, you know nobody buys that with how tough you are. I’ve heard that your inventions explode in your face once a week, and yet you’ve never needed to go to the hospital for it. Almost like you’re as much of a bitch to kill as a cockroach,” Big Barbara snickered.

“If you call me a cockroach one more time, my legs are gonna go up places you don’t like,” Rocio glared at Big Barbara while smirking.

“What do you mean by that?” Big Barbara scowled.

“I mean that my foot is gonna slide right up your-”

“Enough you two,” La Barriga frowned, her back to her bickering commanders as her eyes gazed fixedly on the horizon. True to her name, she had a large tummy. Large enough that it poked out from under her black military coat even. She wasn’t as tall as Big Barbara, but she still had prominent muscles on her as well as a tattoo of a skull and two feathers crossed over each other just below her belly button. She had spiky red hair tied into a braided ponytail and two orange eyes that seemed to smolder with ambition and visions of scorched earth. Or the ticklish kind of scorched earth anyways.

Apart from her tank top she wore camouflage pants and green combat boots. A warlord who was always itching to enter the frontlines and always thinking about the next battle: that was the sort of person that had taken over the southwestern USA.

“Rocio, I trust you received Big Barbara’s gift?” La Barriga asked, glancing behind her at the ill-tempered scientist.

“Yes, I received a ping on my communicator about that. When my drones informed me it was from Big Barbara, I wondered what the hell they were on about. And when I saw it was a car I thought ‘what the fuck am I supposed to do with this?’” Rocio shrugged.

“I FIGURED you could tear in apart and use it for spare parts in makin’ your gadgets you little-” Big Barbara growled, but at those words Rocio raised a hand and cut her off.

“Blah-blahblahblahblah, shut up. I don’t care about what was going through your head because I know there’s nothing in there!” Rocio smirked, poking at her own temple in a mocking gesture. Big Barbara’s cheeks were now a bright red as she trembled with rage, and she looked ready to explode.

“I came up with my own plans for the car! Plans that’ll make it perfect for punishing those two annoying do-gooders and anybody else who gets any funny ideas!” Rocio declared proudly.

“Barb, settle down,” La Barriga said in a low, threatening tone. “What about that other thing I requested of you?” she asked Rocio.

“Ah yes, the Absolutely Safe Barrier of Awesome Repulsion. Or ASBAR for short,” Rocio snickered impishly.

“You didn’t have to give it an acronym, especially not one so…..never mind. Have you finished it?” La Barriga asked, turning her whole body around to face the scientist since that acronym truly bothered her. Rocio’s impish grin grew a little wider at that reaction before she continued.

“Yes, it’s finished. After pouring through Dr. Kitzel’s notes on those robots I was able to reprogram them to respond to my voice command. Then I showed them samples of your voice till they learned to obey you. So when you say the word, they’ll form an almost perfect barrier with you at the center, befitting of the almost perfect scientist that made them. Well, provided you find an energy source powerful enough to generate that barrier. And I bet Area 51 has exactly what you need. Truly, they’re impressive creations, but ultimately their creator is inferior to me in every way,” Rocio smirked.

“Got a big head for such a short stack,” Big Barbara scowled, still angrier about Rocio’s earlier comment.

“What do you mean almost perfect? Is there a flaw to the design? Or is that just your jealousy of Dr. Kitzel leaking out again?” La Barriga asked with a frown.

“When you first handed them over to me, you mentioned that one of the robots was missing. And looking through her notes, that robot is key to completing the barrier. Without it, anyone who tickles the four robots that make up the barrier will be able to dismantle it and get to you. If we had the missing robot the barrier would be completely impenetrable but…..” Rocio scowled.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll make do with what I have,” La Barriga shrugged. “Have you tracked down Queenie?” La Barriga asked Big Barbara.

“No….and she’s been pretty busy fannin’ the flames of rebellion. It isn’t enough to get the best of me and my crew but…..it’s annoyin’ that they keep springin’ up like cockroaches,” Big Barbara groaned.

“I know you said that purpose,” Rocio scowled.

“Guilty as charged,” Big Barbara shrugged smugly. “There’s also been some strange movements among the Tribals we conquered. They’re still payin’ their tributes, but some of them seem to be gettin’ funny ideas. San Fran still knows her place though, and since she is the strongest and most well-known Tribal chieftain she’ll be able to remind those rebels exactly where they stand,” Big Barbara smirked.

“Excellent. The Crushers and the Laughing Lovelies are free to take a few days off, as are the two of you. I doubt penetrating the rest of Nevada will take too much time,” La Barriga smirked. Big Barbara and Rocio perked up at that.

“Thanks boss!” Big Barbara grinned.

“We’ll more than make use of it!” Rocio giggled. Soon enough, the two of them headed off, shooting each other one last glare before going to their respective groups. La Barriga turned around, gazing at the horizon once more until somebody else approached her with languid steps.

“When we breach into Nevada, my crew’s ready to go at a moment’s notice. We’ll use the subway system and connect it to those mines Rocio told us about. That’s the real reason you’ve taken interest in that special ore, right? It’s vital for generating the barrier, but also for making the most of the intercontinental tickle ballistic missiles in Area 51,” Marisol said.

“You read my mind perfectly. And that’s why you’re second-in-command,” La Barriga smirked, turning to face Marisol. Big Barbara and Rocio had their own uses, but the person she had the most confidence in was Marisol. A dark-skinned miner with narrow gray eyes that could almost disappear in the deep dark underground, she had a miner cap perched upon her long, dyed pink hair. Her hair swirled a little in front of her face, and she was wearing muddy brown pants whose legs drooped over her large brown slip-ons and were held up by two blue suspenders. She didn’t wear a shirt underneath, instead only wearing a lacy black bra.

La Barriga respected her for many reasons, including how avant-garde she was.

“Getting into Area 51 is the fastest way to expand my empire,” La Barriga smirked.

“The remaining member of the Fighting Fronds is likely heading this way. But they’ll probably go to the clown first, which will buy us time,” Marisol smirked.

“Exactly,” La Barriga nodded, her eyes set on claiming Area 51 for herself.

“Ah, it’s so good to be on top! After you two messed with me I thought I’d be totally screwed! But fortunately La Barriga knows greatness when she sees it, and now I’m back and better than ever!” Gigglez grinned deviously.

“You’re the same lousy tickle clown you’ve always been!” Rally frowned.

“Pretty soon this place will come crashing down just like last time,” Leona smirked.

“Hehehe, oh really? I think you two jokers haven’t realized the position you’re in yet!” Gigglez smirked, squeezing the clown noses she had put over their noses. A honk sound rang out from this action as Gigglez snickered.

“And lousy? I think you’re just grumpy about all the tickles you and your friend have gone through since you got here~” Gigglez said while grinning smugly at Rally, who rolled her eyes in response.

When they had first woken up, Leona and Rally had found themselves trapped in these big, multicolored boxes with only their heads and feet sticking out. Their former adversary Gigglez had loomed over them with a crazy, sinister smile. She had wasted no time putting them through the tickle wringer all of last night, and earlier this morning she had slapped two clown noses on the helpless duo and painted their faces with clown makeup, much to their annoyance.

They were in a fairly open room with green and red striped wallpaper and a wooden floor that was painted pink. Gigglez was the same as always: the white clown makeup all over her body, the yellow crescent moon makeup on one eye and the blue star makeup on the other; they were exactly as the Fronds remembered. But it seemed like she had enjoyed some success at this twisted place, because she was wearing a stylish black fur coat over her usual purple shirt. The rest of her outfit had also changed, and she now had on baggy yellow pants and red, oversized clown shoes.

“Anyways, enough chitchat! It’s tickle tiiiiime~” Gigglez grinned, wiggling her fingers eagerly towards their flinching feet. When they first encountered this devious clown, they had made quick work of her, and so they didn’t have to suffer tickle torture under her. After having been trussed up as the perfect gift to Gigglez and enduring her revenge all of last night, they were sure of one thing.

They really, really hated her tickle talk.

“Ticky-ticky-too~! A wiggie-wiggie-woo~! Deedle-deedle-dee~!” Gigglez teased in a silly voice, her fingers eagerly scribbling up and down Leona and Rally’s soles.

“GahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA SHUTUPSHUT-UHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!” Rally screamed, her feet darting every which way as they tried to evade Gigglez’s fingers.

“The tickly-wicklies are never gonna stop! The tickles are gonna get all over your tootsies until you got abso-lute-ly loony~! Coochie-woochie-coo~! Skibidi-babidi-boop~! Diddly-diddly-doo~!” Gigglez teased.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! KNOCK IT OHOHOHOHOHOHOFF!” Leona screamed, her fairly large soles scrunching up tightly as they trembled and buckled under the clown’s treatment. Gigglez’s teasing was so silly that they couldn’t help laughing, which only made the tickling worse since it made it difficult to muster any sort of resistance to it. The more random the words that came out of this clown’s mouth were, the deeper the helpless duo fell into her insidious tickle trap until it was impossible to think of anything but her teasing words and how much this tickled.

For Gigglez, this was a dream come true. To be able to torture two of the girls who had humiliated her in the past was a treat more delectable than cotton candy. She had a vaster territory, far more tickle slaves than before, and plenty of ways to entertain those slaves thanks to the gadgets Rocio had so graciously provided her. And now she had the two best, most ticklish boxed up presents in the world at her fingertips. It was perfect, and nothing was going to stop-

“Boss?” a clown poked her head in.

“Ugggh, what is it Jugglez? Can you see I’m having the time of my life here?” Gigglez frowned at her clown minion.

“S-Sorry. But the circus crew came back with more tickle slaves,” Jugglez said.

“And? Is that really something you need to come to me about?” Gigglez tapped her foot impatiently.

“They brought the slaves in from Route 66. The place where Carmen’s crew normally picks them up. Some of them said something about being helped by a girl in orange and some gray robot. Does that sound familiar?” Jugglez asked with curiosity. Upon hearing those words Gigglez froze up.

“It’s her……the last of the Fighting Fronds. And she’s made friends with a robot, hehe, of course she has!” Gigglez giggled nervously, looking worried and agitated.

“Keep your eyes peeled! If you see anyone suspicious, I want them dragged here laughing and screaming!” Gigglez shouted.

“Got it!” Jugglez nodded, running off. Gigglez then turned to Leona and Rally, who were smirking.

“Oh you’re gonna get it now!” Rally smirked.

“We let you off easy last time but now…..Yomiko’s gonna make you wish you turned yourself in,” Leona smirked.

“She won’t be rescuing you. In fact, she’ll be captured soon enough!” Gigglez shouted in a panic, doubling her efforts on Leona and Rally’s soles to try to take her mind off the fact that the last member of the Fronds would be heading her way. But she was no longer teasing them, and no longer smiling. And the sense of dread crawling down her back wouldn’t die down.

Chapter Text

Yomiko and Machina drove for about an hour, soon reaching a neighborhood where all the buildings were either worn down or painted with graffiti of clown faces.

“Woah, what happened to them?” Yomiko wondered aloud, gazing at a few girls who were slumped near the side of a building and giggling weirdly.

“Victims of laughing gas bombs. I’ve heard that Gigglez likes to use plenty of them on her favorite victims while giving them a Giggle Rush. Then they’re dumped out here and laugh deliriously for hours.” Machina explained.

“Yeesh…..what’s a Giggle Rush?” Yomiko asked.

“It’s when Gigglez and the three highest ranked members of her circus decide to gang up on someone. From the people I’ve asked, they sometimes accidentally get caught up in the effects of the laughing gas bombs. But, when they’re engaging in a Giggle Rush they almost completely ignore it. Kind of like a drug enhancing their craving for fiendish tickle torture.” Machina said.

“So she has a more tight-knit crew and is crazier than the last time me and the Fronds faced her. Great,” Yomiko rolled her eyes. “And you’ve never tried to bust in and rescue anybody yourself?”

“Clowns are scary.” Machina replied with shifty eyes.

“Well, I guess that’s true,” Yomiko chuckled. As they walked down the street under a setting sun, they drew closer and closer to a circus tent. Although, perhaps the word tent wasn’t entirely correct.

“It’s so huge, and I can’t even see where it ends from here!” Yomiko stared in shock at the massive, purple and red-striped tent.

“It goes on for about a city block,” Machina replied.

“How?!” Yomiko asked, turning to Machina in disbelief.

“Gigglez has many ideas in her head, so she has many tickle based attractions. And all those attractions needed an absurdly large tent to accommodate them.” Machina explained. Yomiko sighed at that, then realized something.

“We’ll need disguises in order to get inside without alerting Gigglez. I’d rather not get immediately jumped by clowns,” Yomiko frowned.

“Understood,” Machina nodded, heading over to a nearby trash can and rummaging around in it, then pulling out shades and a rubber clown nose.

“Here you go,” Machina said, handing Yomiko the clown nose.

“There’s no way this is going to work. And why am I the one who has to wear the clown nose?” Yomiko frowned.

“Because shades are cool,” Machina replied curtly. Yomiko rolled her eyes and tried to snatch the shades away from her, but Machina moved her arm away and ran around while keeping them out of her reach.

“Okay okay, fine. I’ll be the clown you’ll be a robot wearing shades. Deal?” Yomiko groaned.

“Deal. Not like it was going to any other way,” Machina replied, her tone emotionless yet somewhat sassy. Machina slowly put the shades on.

“Hmph, what do you think?” Machina asked, striking a pose with her hand resting on her hip as she leaned slightly. She probably thought that pose looked cool, but it really just looked sexy.

“Not bad,” Yomiko nodded, frowning at the clown nose. After hesitating, she put it on.

“Pfft.” Machina exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand.

“What was that?” Yomiko frowned with a raised eyebrow.

“Nothing. Anyways, we should get going,” Machina said quickly.

“I still don’t think this will work,” Yomiko said skeptically. As they drew closer and closer to the tent, Machina kept glancing over at Yomiko and looking away with a ‘pfft’, causing the orange-garbed fighter to roll her eyes in annoyance. The front of the tent had a wooden sign with the words ‘Gigglez’s Circus’ engraved on it. The sign was surrounded by flashing pink and yellow lights, and the ‘i’ in ‘Gigglez’ had a doodle of her face where the dot would be. In front of the tent was a fat clown girl who was sitting down on a chair with her feet propped up on a barrel. The clown had a red rubber nose and a fuzzy blue wig, and was wearing a red and white clown outfit. She was chewing bubblegum, but when she saw the two of them her eyes widened and she swallowed her gum, then quickly stood up.

“Woah there! Where do you think you’re going?” the clown frowned.

“To see all the fun, tickly attractions!” Yomiko smiled, turning up maximum cheerfulness right now to try to persuade this clown.

“I really love tickling,” Machina replied emotionlessly.

“Hmmm. There are two girls who I was told to keep a lookout for, girls that would try to tear this circus down! You wouldn’t happen to know anything about them, would you?” the fat clown scowled, glaring at Yomiko while drawing closer.

“D-Definitely not!” Yomiko stammered.

“If I saw them, I’d tickle them and never stop,” Machina added helpfully. The fat clown narrowed her eyes at them, then looked at the photos of Machina and Yomiko she had been handed. Then she looked at the two of them in their disguises, and then looked at the photos again.

“Huh. Guess you’re not them,” the clown shrugged.

It worked?!, Yomiko thought with surprise.

“Well then……welcome to Gigglez’s Circus! The admission fee is 60 dollars per person~” the clown smirked.

“What? That’s a ripoff!” Yomiko frowned.

“What was that?” the clown scowled.

“Uh n-nothing!” Yomiko smiled, grumbling internally as she rummaged around in her wallet and managed to fish out 120 dollars. The clown accepted this with a broad smile.

“Welcome, right this way!” she grinned, stepping out of the way and letting them pass. When Yomiko turned around after heading through the entrance, the clown was already sitting down on her chair and counting the money with a miserly smirk.

“60 dollars? Seriously? Do rich families visit this place every week or something?” Yomiko complained once they were out of earshot.

“No. The only laughter in this circus is the ticklish kind, and the only people that ever show up at this place are people who were kidnapped. Most likely, she just wanted to line her own pockets.” Machina mused.

“That little…..! Ugh, whatever. It doesn’t matter right now,” Yomiko sighed. They headed down a hallway with a red and yellow checkerboard pattern on the floor and walls, hearing the sounds of laughter as they drew closer. They moved a green curtain covering the entrance, and wound up in a medium sized room with a green and purple tarp covering the room in place of a ceiling with wooden crossbeams supporting the tarp. The checkerboard floor was not present here. In fact there wasn’t a floor at all, only dirt. And what they saw made them stare in surprise.

A brunette, a redhead, and a blonde had all been forced into clown makeup and colorful wigs and costumes. They had been trapped inside colorful red and yellow booths with their feet locked in stocks and metal cylinders pressed up against their toes, with those cylinders being connected by sturdy wires to 20lb barbells. Jets of water were being fired from mounted water guns at their soles, causing them to curl their toes to try to lessen the effects of the tickling as they laughed. They could try to just let go of the bar and let the barbell fall, but the mechanism was designed in such a way that their soles would then be forced taut, leaving more room to tickle. Also, the barbell took longer to drop than to pull upwards, so inevitably the captives would feel compelled to curl their toes around the metal bar to stop the ticklish sensations. And whether the barbell went all the way up or all the way down, they were only given a few seconds of reprieve before it reset to its original position and this madness began anew.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA CUT IT OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOUT!” the brunette shouted, angry about the whole situation and trying to fight this as best she could.

“EHEEHEEHEEHEEHEHEE TOO MUAHAHAHAHAHAHACH!” the redhead screamed while throwing her head back in laughter, having completely given up.

“NEEHEEHEEHEHEEHEEHEE OH GEEHEEHEEHEEHEEZ!” the blonde shrieked, shaking her head from side to side as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“This is horrible!” Yomiko blurted out.

“Agreed,” Machina nodded.

“Horrible?” somebody said in surprise. Turning, they realized that a group of six similar looking clowns were sitting on a bench, each of them sporting white makeup, red rubber noses, and blue and red outfits with red clown shoes. They were all fairly short.

“Um. Horribly…..hilarious?” Machina offered in a robotic tone, but they didn’t seem to buy it.

“You two look funny. In fact if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were those two people the boss is freaking out about!” one of the clowns frowned.

“Well, we’re not.” Machina replied.

“I dunno. That gray-skinned girl looks kinda cool, but the joker she’s next to? Does she really strike you as annoying do-gooder material?” another clown asked while tilting her head. Yomiko’s brow twitched slightly at that comment, but she didn’t say anything.

“Just wait!” the clown frowned, pulling out the two photos and a black and red marker. She drew a clown nose on Yomiko’s photo and sketched shades on Machina’s photo.

“Aha! See?” the clown smirked, gazing at the two heroes and then back at her photos with a proud smirk.

“Oooh, now I get it!” one of the clowns smiled, with the others all nodding and coming to the same realization. Then they turned to Yomiko and Machina and scowled.

“Nice try! But you won’t get the better of us!” the clowns smirked.

“Well…..guess that’s that,” Yomiko shrugged, removing the clown nose and throwing it away.

“It was worth a shot.” Machina said, adjusting her shades. The clowns performed cartwheels, showing off by forming a stack with three clowns at the base, two in the middle, and one at the top.

“We may be small, but we’re fast enough to take you to squeal town!” The clown at the top of the stack leapt first, followed by the two in the middle. They and the three clowns on the bottoms began rolling along the ground until they had surrounded Yomiko and Machina. Machina turned to face the three clowns behind her as her right hand retracted and was replaced by an electro-tickler, while Yomiko squared off against the three in front of her.

They did a good job of keeping them away at first, with Machina jolting one with the electro-tickler and using her speedy fingers on another’s sides, and Yomiko aiming precise squeezes and pokes to one’s tummy and kicking away another. But these clowns were not just fast, they were also quick to recover, and it was hard to keep scoring tickles and hits on them given how short they were. It didn’t take long for one of them to slip under Yomiko’s legs and grab her left leg, followed by another grabbing her right leg.

“Nggh!” Yomiko tried to shake them off, but they had a good grip on her legs, and she could barely lift them up.

“Can’t kick us around anymore, can ya? I see your ankles poking out there so should I try getting your feet? …..No. You’ve got a spot that’s more ticklish than that,” the clown frowned, jumping up and standing on the shoulders of her two fellow clowns.

“No I don’t!” Yomiko frowned, panic starting to set in. Unlike the bandits who were just looking to tickle and grab loot, these clowns were masters in the art of forced mirth. Scouring the most ticklish spots and dragging those spots through hysteria-inducing tickles was what they lived for.

“No? Then why did you clamp your arms down~?” the clown smirked, wiggling her fingers towards Yomiko’s clamped arms and slipping her fingers into the small crevices.

“PFFT!”

“Come on, open up~” the clown smirked. Yomiko took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Thirty-

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Yomiko screamed, her arms opening up.

“There we go~” the clown smirked, dragging her fingers up and down the helpless fighter’s armpits as she firmly scratched them.

“EYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Yomiko struggled in their grasp, but it was hard for her to think straight when being tickled. Especially when her armpits were being tickled.

“Yomiko! Ah!” Machina exclaimed, then gasped when the clowns she was fighting charged her once more. She thrust her electro-tickler towards one of them, but that clown dodged to the left.

“I’ve gotten used to the range on that. And I see an openiiiiiing~!” the clown teased in a sing-song voice, jumping up and grabbing Machina’s arm, then tickling at her right armpit.

“Eheeheeheeheep?!” Machina yelped, groaning internally as the two other clowns tackled and pinned her down, the shades flying off her face. The weakness of her electro-tickler thrusts that was first pointed out by Carmen had been targeted yet again.

“Well we’re not gonna let ourselves get out-staged by others. Let’s find where her worst spot is!” one of the clowns smirked, holding down Machina’s right wrist as another clown held down her left wrist. The remaining clown smirked and climbed on top of Machina’s thighs, then began tickling all over her tummy while the two other clowns tickled her sides.

“NGGGH?! GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHAT IS THIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIS?!” Machina shrieked.

“Guess she’s never had a reaction this strong before!” the clown tickling her left side snickered.

“But who’s driving her crazier, you or me?” the clown tickling her right side giggled.

“You two are nuts. Her tummy’s clearly got it the worst,” the clown sitting on her tummy frowned, going even faster as her fingers started to claw at the walls of Machina’s belly button and worm their way deep into that tender area.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STOP THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!” Machina screamed. She felt her CPU overheating from this, making it difficult to think. If this continued she wouldn’t be able to think at all, only laugh and struggle aimlessly until this madness ended. Before that happened, she tried to come up with something, anything that could help her out of this situation.

As her arms struggled, her legs flapped up and down, and her tummy wiggled from side to side, Machina noted that one of the water guns was nearby. Glaring at it, Machina kicked again and again at the pedestal it was mounted on until it fell on its side, spraying jets of water at her and the three clowns.

“What the heck did ya do that for?!” one of the clowns shouted, the three of them all frowning at Machina.

“Haaah. For this. …..Although I’m only using one electro-tickler this time, Electric Shock!” Machina shouted, her electro-tickler sending a huge surge of energy into a puddle on the floor. The water from this puddle so happened to be connected to all of the drenched clowns, as well as herself.

“““GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA?!””” The three clowns all burst into hysterical laughter from this, and given their size and the fact that they were drenched, it didn’t take long for them to pass out. Unfortunately, the attack had rebounded on Machina as well.

“NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IT JUST HAHAHAHAHAHAD TO LAHAHAHAHAHAND ON MY BEHEHEHEHEHELLEEHEEHEEHEEY!” Machina let out a shrill scream, annoyance and frustration coming out clearly as she rolled around on the ground.

“What the?!” the clowns stared in surprise at the sight of their allies being soundly defeated, and Yomiko used this opportunity to slam her back into the clown tickling her armpits.

“Gah!” the clown gasped as she and the others fell over, with Yomiko looming over them menacingly.

“Um…..no hard feelihihihiHIHIHIHIHINGS?!” one of the clowns said, but she soon burst into laughter when Yomiko began squeezing her tummy.

“Ten Torturous Strikes!” Yomiko shouted, squeezing all over their tummies. Her fingers moved with such precision that she could move from one clown to the next with minimal effort and keep all of them laughing. Focusing on targeting pressure points, she had them laughing wildly within seconds, and after venting her full fury on them they all had comical swirly eyes and were too tired to keep fighting.

“You alright Machina?” Yomiko asked, looking over at her panting robot companion.

“I’m…….fine,” Machina groaned, panting with her limbs sprawled and tears on her cheeks. Yomiko’s staring caused Machina to raise an annoyed eyebrow. “What. Is. It?”

“I’m just surprised to see you look so angry is all. Your voice doesn’t even sound like it’s usual robotic self,” Yomiko said.

“Just…….go on ahead. I’ll catch up,” Machina gave a deep sigh.

“Got it,” Yomiko nodded, turning off the water guns and opening up all the booths to free the captive girls.

“Thank you…..” one of the captives said gratefully, still panting and trembling from exhaustion.

“You’re welcome,” Yomiko nodded with a serene smile, noting that Machina still hadn’t fully recovered.

Guess the jolts gave her more of a shock than I thought. Probably cause it got her belly button, Yomiko thought while tilting her head. She then headed to the other end of the room and through another green curtain into the next room as the former captives approached Machina.

“She’s got strange lines on her body…..is she a robot?” the redhead asked.

“Still, she saved us….” the blonde said.

“Yeah. Thanks for that,” the brunette grinned. Machina’s eyes widened and closed at that, then half-opened in a neutral expression.

“Hmph. All in a day’s work.” Machina declared. “Now praise me more. Please.” The three girls exchanged glances at that.

“Still, if she’s really a robot, I kinda want to see what she feels like!” the brunette grinned as they all crowded around Machina.

“My arms aren’t as well-built as those of an actual fighter.” Machina said as the brunette felt her arm.

“Are you kidding? It’s plenty well-built as is!” the brunette grinned, feeling her shoulders.

“Please feel my arms to your heart’s content.” Machina declared. She then stifled a chuckle when she felt the blonde poking the lines on her sides.

“Be careful.” Machina snapped.

“Sorry! I was just checking out your body…..is the skin latex? It feels nice, and these robotic lines look cool too!” the blonde grinned.

“Please poke me to your heart’s content.” Machina declared. She then felt the redhead lift up one of her feet and looked over at her in curiosity.

“Hmm, your feet are on the small side,” the redhead said.

“Sorry. Because of Doctor……my creator’s notes, I am well aware that bigger is better. So this may disappoint-”

“It’s wonderful! And so smooth too!” the redhead chirped.

“Please feel them to your heart’s content, but gently.” Machina declared with a firm nod. She had decided to let these three pamper and praise her for a little while.

Yomiko headed through a room that had a black and white checkerboard floor, black walls and a booth offering popcorn and cotton candy, with the clown behind the counter sitting there and snoring with her feet propped up. Yomiko gave them a brief tickle while smiling at their owner’s snickers, then heard the sounds of music. Drawn to this, she headed through a red curtain into a larger room with a dirt floor and a red and blue tarp covering the area and acting as a ceiling. There were a couple of colorful stages for practicing juggling tricks on, a ladder with a tightrope over a feather pit, and a metal rung that had a few colorful green trapezes hanging from it. As she took all of this in, she saw a green-haired clown singing with a few other clowns acting as backup singers.

“She flies through the air with the greatest of ease
A dashing young lady on the flying trapeze
She moves so swiftly despite her how she shrieks.”

“JUST MAHAHAHAHAHAHAKE IT STOP AHAHAHAHAHAHALREADY!” three female voices shouted.

“CUT! The line is ‘please stop you’ve been tickling for weeks’! Say it right!” the leader of the group scowled.

“BUT YOU’VE GOHOHOHOHOHOHOHONE OHOHOHOHOHOVER THE LINES TWENTY TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIMES!” one of the ladies shouted.

“AND WEHEEHEEHEE’VE BEEN TICKLED FOR AN HOHOHOHOHOHOUR!” another lady shouted.

“If you can’t say the lines right then I’ll go over it twenty more times!” the leader scowled. Peering up, Yomiko saw that an auburn-haired girl with a ponytail, a girl whose hair was dyed gray, and a black girl with frizzy hair had all been forced into clown outfits and makeup. Their legs were draped over the trapezes and their ankles had been tied to them, with their arms tied behind their backs. Devices that looked like drones with silly smiley faces were flying near their tummies and feet, tickling them with fine toothbrushes. Yomiko clicked her tongue in annoyance at this, then glared at the leader of the group.

“Hmph, what do you want?” the leader scowled, finally noticing Yomiko.

“There’s no need for them to bother with getting the lines right. After all, this show won’t ever be shown in front of a live audience. You’re just doing it for your own sick pleasure!” Yomiko frowned. The leader shook her head at that.

“Not true. I’m doing it for Gigglez too,” the leader smirked, heading up to Yomiko until there was only a short distance separating the two.

“Seesaw she’s…..” one of the clowns trailed off warily.

“Yeah, I know who she is,” the leader of the group, named Seesaw, smirked. This clown had a lanky build and was slightly taller than Yomiko. She was wearing a purple leotard and purple slip-ons, and her white clown makeup had a black teardrop under one eye and a green diamond over her other eye. Instead of wearing a rubber clown nose she had painted her nose lime green, with matching lime green lipstick. Her hair was dyed a similar lime green color and was a bowl-cut. With a smug gaze and a poised stance, she seemed to be assessing Yomiko’s strength.

Her nervous crew of clown acrobats had seemingly steeled themselves and were ready to fight. They had on green leotards and slip-ons, and were somewhat shorter than Seesaw. They also had on green rubber noses and their hair was dyed black.

“You’re the girl Gigglez is after. Well, one of them anyways. I’ll take you and the robot down, and then you can take the place of those girls up there,” Seesaw smirked, pointing upwards to the laughing ladies. Hearing this, Yomiko began chuckling.

“Hmm? What’s so funny?” Seesaw frowned.

“Oh nothing. I just thought about how Gigglez has surrounded herself with a bunch of weirdos this time around. Also, your feet are much bigger than hers. So I think the clown shoes fit you better than her. They fit your lame act too,” Yomiko smirked. At those words a vein bulged on Seesaw’s head.

“What do you know about fine performances huh?!” Seesaw shouted, aiming a roundhouse kick at Yomiko’s head.

“Well for one thing……” Yomiko said, grabbing her leg, “I know that a performance where some members are screaming in agony can hardly be described as fine.” Her eyes narrowed, and then she removed Seesaw’s slip-on in a swift motion.

“Also, your kicks are nothing compared to Spectra’s,” Yomiko sighed, pinching and squeezing all over Seesaw’s sole, then peppering it with swift scratches.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA DAMN IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIT!” Seesaw shouted, trying to pull her leg out of Yomiko’s grasp as the other clowns ran over to a green sports bag and opened it.

“Give up and let the girls down from there. If you do that then I’ll go easy on…..ah?!” Yomiko gasped in surprise when a round, green and black object hit her in the stomach. Green gas soon poured out of it and rushed into her face.

“Snrk?! Hehehehehehehahahahahaha!” Yomiko laughed in surprise, releasing Seesaw and backing away from the gas. Looking up, she saw that Seesaw’s lackeys were each holding a green and black object in their hands, and she also saw that the same objects were inside the green sports bag. And she remembered exactly what those objects were.

“Laughing Gas Bombs!” Yomiko gasped. The clowns holding them smirked deviously at Yomiko while rolling them in their hands, then began throwing them at her. Yomiko quickly dodged to the left, then leapt backwards. A shadow loomed over her, and she looked up in time to see Seesaw in midair diving down towards her. Grabbing Yomiko’s arms, she pinned her down near the gas from one of the Laughing Gas Bombs. She smirked down at Yomiko while holding her breath, then reached over and began tickling one of her armpits.

WHY THERE?!, Yomiko thought with a groan of annoyance, puffing her quickly reddening cheeks up as she shook her head as though trying to shake the tickles out of her mind. She also rammed her knee against Seesaw’s butt again and again, trying to get her to let go. Seesaw grunted in pain from this, but refused to let up. She could tell Yomiko’s armpits were quite ticklish, so she continued letting her fingers dance across this area with poise and grace.

Eventually, a more powerful knee strike to her rump forced her her to let go, giggling a bit from the laughing gas entering her lungs as she leapt away. But her fellow clowns were at the ready, and when she leapt away they threw more laughing gas bombs at Yomiko’s position.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Yomiko burst into a fit of laughter, and even when she rolled away from the gas she couldn’t stop laughing for a few moments. She noticed that Seesaw had disappeared again, and quickly rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding being pinned down.

“Give it up! We’ve got bombs to spare, and you can’t fight me and deal with them!” Seesaw smirked as she quickly stood up. Upon saying this three more Laughing Gas Bombs flew through the air towards Yomiko. Yomiko glanced at one of the colorful stages while panting, then frowned and got up, avoiding the bombs as she dived towards the stage. She reached out and grabbed the circus hoops, preparing to throw them.

“Yah!” However as she did so a slipper hit her hand, causing her throw to be off.

“What, you thought I couldn’t tell what you were doing?” Seesaw smirked, her long feet and the lime green nail polish on her toes now fully exposed. “Besides, did you really think something like that would work? We’ve done the hoops hundreds of times!” Seesaw smirked, leaping through the awkwardly flying hoops and twisting her body so she passed through them with minimal effort.

“Honestly, I don’t know what you were trying to do!” Seesaw taunted, picking up the hoops and spinning them around her waist, then tossing them through the air. Her fellow clowns snickered, leaping through the hoops and twisting their bodies to toss the hoops over to each other. The last three clowns threw the hoops away with a twist of their waist as they leapt through them, and then threw their Laughing Gas Bombs one after the other while still airborne. Yomiko dodged one of the bombs, but the other two made their mark. As she fell to the floor laughing, Seesaw approached her with a proud, crazy grin, and lifted her up while giggling from the laughing gas.

“You’re DEAD!” Seesaw smirked evilly. As soon as she said this, she was sprayed in the face with a jet of water.

“Sorry for taking so long. The ladies don’t know when to quit.” Machina said brazenly. She was holding a water gun from the previous room, having ripped it off its mounted pedestal. The rings the clown acrobats had tossed were all wrapped around the muzzle of the water gun. Additionally, she had snatched away their bag of Laughing Gas Bombs when they least expected it.

“Grr, get her!” Seesaw growled angrily. Machina fired her water gun at the approaching clowns, but they evaded this with ease.

“THE HOOOHOOHOOHOOPS! USE THE HOOHOOHOOHOOPS!” Yomiko shouted while still laughing from the gas.

“Hoops? …..Ah, I see,” Machina nodded. She threw the hoops at the approaching clowns, and fired the water gun at the hoops, resulting in them getting wet despite their attempts to dodge due to the water scattering in multiple directions.

“Now then, let’s begin in earnest.” Machina said, raising her electro-tickler up towards the jet of water. The ticklish electricity flew through the stream of water, reaching the drenched clowns.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHARGH!” they screamed, falling over in a fit of laughter.

“Did you plan thihihiHIHIHIHIHIHIS?!” Seesaw shouted, turning angrily to Yomiko as she felt the orange-garbed fighter squeezing at her sides.

“Nohoho……but it worked didn’t it?” Yomiko replied, glaring at her opponent. She was still exhausted from all the laughing she’d been doing, but the gas had finally subsided. And she wasn’t about to let Seesaw escape.

“GahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA let go of meeheeHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Seesaw screamed, now regretting breathing in the laughing gas earlier as she tried to fight back by tickling Yomiko’s armpits. She was so sure of her victory that she had gotten careless, and now she was paying the price.

“HahahahahahaHAHAHAHA no wahahahaHAHAHAHAY!” Yomiko frowned. Yomiko’s squeezes eventually won out, and Seesaw fell over in a fit of laughter as Yomiko continued to squeeze at her tummy and sides. Machina soon drew closer and fired a jet of water at Seesaw’s soles, causing the lime-haired clown to shriek with worry and curl her feet closer together as Machina tossed the water gun away and sat down on her ankles.

“Wahahahahait, don’t do IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIT!” Seesaw screamed, her laughter doubling in volume when Machina pressed the electro-tickler against her soles.

“Now you’re really screwed~” Yomiko smirked, squeezing the area near her belly button as Machina pressed the electro-tickler under the poor clown’s toes while holding them back with one hand.

“NYEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Making Seesaw scream hysterically after her earlier smack talk was very satisfying, and Machina and Yomiko kept going until Seesaw was a teary-eyed mess, clutching her sides as her body and scrunched soles shuddered. Seeing that she was unable to move an inch after that treatment, Yomiko smiled in satisfaction and looked over to the exit…..where a pink-haired clown was standing. Giving a gasp, Jugglez soon fled the scene. Machina was about to go after her, but Yomiko grabbed her wrist.

“It’s fine. I wasn’t expecting us to be able to go undetected forever,” Yomiko said. “Anyways, could you take care of those things?” Yomiko asked, pointing at the strange drones flying in the air, the ones that had been tickling the innocent girls all this time.

“Naturally.” Machina nodded, picking up the water gun and firing precisely at the drones until they wobbled, then veered towards the tarp, creating a hole in it from which the night sky was visible before they crashed outside.

“Oh thank goodness…..it’s finally over,” the girl whose hair was dyed gray sighed in relief.

“Now let’s see, how to bring them down……ah,” Yomiko noticed a remote in the bag that had the Laughing Gas Bombs. She pushed a down arrow button, and the metal rung the poor victims were hanging from started to slowly descend. When it was close enough that Yomiko could reach, she stopped and tossed the remote away, then untied the three of them.

“Thank you, you’re a real lifesaver. And the robot ain’t half-bad either,” the black girl with frizzly hair smirked. Machina nodded at that.

“It was nothing. I just hope you’re alright,” Yomiko smiled.

“We’ll manage,” the blonde with the ponytail grinned. They then all turned to Seesaw with frowns.

“N-No don’t-nohohohohOHOHOHOHOHO! DON’T TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLE!” Seesaw shrieked. The girls had dogpiled her and were tickling all over her body, letting out all their fury about being hoisted upside down and tickled. Yomiko chuckled happily at this sight, and then the two of them went over to bag of Laughing Gas Bombs.

“Two left…..guess we better make them count,” Yomiko said, handing one of them to Machina, who retracted her electro-tickler to catch it. She was now holding a quarter-full water gun in one hand and a Laughing Gas Bomb in the other, while Yomiko just had a Laughing Gas Bomb. They headed onwards through a blue tarp and wound up in an dimly area with a blue triangle patterned floor and yellow and pink polka-dotted wallpapers on the walls. A single mime with a black beret, white clown gloves, and a black rubber nose was waiting for them. Machina pointed her water gun at the mime and Yomiko was poised to throw, but the mime raised a hand to stop them, then pushed a button on a screen that was strapped to her chest. The screen turned on, showing Leona and Rally trapped in colorful boxes getting feathered on their feet by two plumeblades.

“Hehe, you’ve got no chance of escaping. You’ll be my little toys forever! Ticky-ticky-too! Giggity-giggity-goo~!” Gigglez teased, her plumeblades doing a mad dance up and down their soles.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STOP!” Leona screamed, scrunching her soles tightly. Her struggles rocked the box, yet she couldn’t escape.

“EHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE STOP SAYING THAHAHAHAHAHAHAT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE!” Rally shrieked, her smaller feet flailing about as much as they could. The clown makeup that had been painted on their faces was now running from how many tears they had shed, and their feet were red from being feathered, scratched, and god knows what else. After a bit more the screen suddenly changed, revealing a smirking face.

“Did you like the show?” a woman with wild red hair smirked.

“So you must be La Barriga. When I track you down you’ll wish you never-” Yomiko began, but La Barriga ignored her and gazed over at Machina.

“You’re…….one of Dr. Kitzel’s inventions,” La Barriga exclaimed, her eyes widening slightly.

“I don’t obey her directives any more. Now, only I set my directives,” Machina said firmly.

“Are you sure about that? You really think your interest in Yomiko and the other Fighting Fronds isn’t something she programmed you with?” La Barriga smirked, the mime posing smugly to mimic La Barriga’s tone.

“I……..” Machina paused, lost in thought.

“Don’t listen to her,” Yomiko said.

“And you really think you can trust an invention of Dr. Kitzel to help you on your quest to rescue your friends?” La Barriga smirked.

“She’s helped me thus far and has been a huge help in navigating this state. Plus she’s a fun although strange companion. So I trust her,” Yomiko replied, narrowing her eyes. “Now, call Gigglez off and release my friends.”

“That’s not going to happen. You and your friends will be delivered to me soon enough, and then you’ll get a front row seat to me consolidating my power over the entire United States,” La Barriga said. “When that happens, you’ll realize you should’ve listened to my warning and stayed hiding back in Hope City.” La Barriga concluded with a wild, ferocious smirk mimicked by the mime, and then the screen turned off as the mime returned to a neutral, wide-eyed expression.

“Damn it, I knew Leona and Rally would be put through tickle hell but this is horrible…..” Yomiko sighed.

“……Am I really that strange of a companion?” Machina asked while tilting her head.

“Yes. But I can count on you and that strangeness,” Yomiko nodded. “And……that strangeness will definitely come in handy since you might think of something creative,” she added, turning to Machina with a smile. After seeing what her friends were going through, she was even more determined to free them. And La Barriga seemed like a person every bit as wicked as Madame Solle, so she was going to put an end to her empire and whatever other plans she was up to. A very ticklish end at that.

“So? Are you going to fight us?” Yomiko asked while glaring at the mime. The mime shook her head, then pulled out a remote and clicked a button. This caused the other lights in the room to turn on, and what Yomiko and Machina saw made their thoughts come to a screeching halt.

Thinking back, there had been a strange, low whirring noise coming from the left side of the room, but Yomiko hadn’t paid it any attention once the mime showed her what her friends were going through. Now that the lights were on and she could see where that noise was coming from, she was stunned and very angry.

Tied down to spinning teacups with thick gags that muffled their screams completely were six girls. The seats were designed in such a way that their legs were forced to stretch out towards the center of the teacup. And what was at the center was a rolling brush. As the teacups spun round and round, their feet would be tickled by the rolling brush. Judging by how the ladies were all breathless, it was an effective and insidious tactic.

“Stop right there! You’re not getting to see Gigglez, so you might as well give it up!” a voice shouted. The mime had promptly fled, and in her place were three clowns. They all had pink wigs that looked as curly as Jugglez’s hair, but their outfits were different. One of them was a fat clown with a red rubber clown nose and a red and blue striped outfit, and she had four feather daggers in each of her clenched fists. Another was skinnier and had a feathery whip, a green and white striped outfit, and a green rubber clown nose. The last one was medium sized and had a purple and blue striped outfit as well as a blue clown nose. This clown had a staff with long feathers on both ends, and was twirling it.

“I’m guessing you must all be members of that pink-haired clown’s group,” Yomiko narrowed her eyes.

“We’ve come this far, so what makes you think we’d back down?” Machina stated bluntly.

“Heh, figured as much. That just makes things more fun!” the clown with the feather daggers smirked, running towards them while throwing her daggers at Yomiko and Machina. The two of them dodged, and Yomiko threw a Laughing Gas Bomb at that clown. The clown doubled over in laughter while clutching her sides as the other two clowns approached. The clown with the feather whip prepared to strike Machina, but before she could do so Machina threw a Laughing Gas Bomb at high speeds.

“Yeep!” the clown yelped, quickly swinging her whip up to knock the bomb straight upwards. In that instant, Machina closed the distance between them as the Laughing Gas Bomb exploded harmlessly in midair.

“Gah!” the clown gasped as Machina thrust the electro-tickler on her right hand towards the her.

As this went on, Yomiko evaded the thrusts of the clown with the staff, dodging and ducking as she gradually drew closer.

“Haaaah!” the clown shouted, spinning her staff and going for a swift thrust. Yomiko evaded this by a hair’s breadth, a relaxed expression on her face as her hands went for her opponent’s armpits.

“Ha! Gotcha!” the clown fighting Machina smirked, having used her whip to bind the wrist the electro-tickler was attached to.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Machina frowned, slowly pointing the water gun at the electro-tickler like a badass action movie hero.

“No waitwaitwaHAHAHAHAHAHEEHEEHEEHEET!” the clown screamed, bursting into loud laughter as the ticklish jolts started to crawl all over her belly. With Machina firing a constant stream of water at her, it didn’t take long for the clown to fall over. Machina pursued her, pressing the electro-tickler against the clown’s belly button again and again and earning many loud whoops and hollers for her efforts.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STOP!” the staff wielding clown shouted, trying to retreat from Yomiko’s tickles. In response Yomiko gave a powerful upwards kick to the staff, forcing the clown’s arms upward and allowing Yomiko to run her fingers up and down her tummy. She kept up the attack despite her wiggly opponent’s attempts at defending or escaping, and eventually the clown fell down in a fit of laughter, her staff clattering to the floor.

“Well, we made pretty quick work of them didn’t we?” Machina said, puffing her chest up in pride while throwing away the now empty water gun.

“Yeah, though the equipment we brought along definitely played a part in it. Although,” Yomiko smiled, “you’ve definitely improved at tickle fighting.” After hearing those words, Machina’s eyes widened, and she seemed to be quite pleased even if her lips didn’t part into a smile.

The two of them quickly freed the victims of the spinning teacups and then ran to the opposite end of the room, going through one last curtain with a star and crescent moon on it to enter a medium sized room with a dirt floor, two empty boxes, and some kind of arena. Standing there were Gigglez who had gotten up from her chair, Jugglez, and a larger clown.

“Aggh, you told me they had everything under control!” Gigglez frowned at Jugglez.

“I thought they did!” Jugglez protested.

“Where’s Leona and Rally?!” Yomiko shouted.

“Heh…..hehehehehehahahaha! I had our mime load them up!” Gigglez laughed evilly despite her impending dread.

Damn it, why do the Fronds keep ruining my fun?!, she thought angrily.

“So you’d better give up and…..wah?!” Gigglez yelped in shock when Yomiko ran up to her and shoved her out of the way, heading over to a door behind her. Unfortunately, this door was locked.

“Only I have the key! Even if you have this robot shock the hinges over and over it’ll still take ya five minutes to bring the door down! And by then the mime will be long gone!” Gigglez frowned, standing up and brushing the dirt off her outfit.

“I see,” Yomiko said quietly, turning to Gigglez with an icy glare. Shuddering, Gigglez backed up a bit.

“Guh…..heh, looks like you’re finally ready to fight. I’ll show you exactly why I’m the ringleader around here!” Gigglez grinned, running over to the arena. It was a slightly elevated stage with a red and white banner wrapped around it. Surrounding the stage was a 2 meter long pit with vibrating pink feathers all around it. Gigglez grabbed a nearby wooden board and positioned it on the edge of the stage, then climbed along it and onto the stage.

“Come on! Come and face me if you dare!” Gigglez declared defiantly as Jugglez and the burly clown stared in surprise.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Yomiko frowned, marching up to the plank with a concerned Machina following close behind her. Once she had made it to the stage though….

“Now! Jugglez, Brawna, help meeeee!” Gigglez cried out.

“What?” Jugglez stared, she and Brawna blinking in surprise. Even Yomiko couldn’t help being utterly bewildered.

“Are you deaf?!” Gigglez shouted, pulling out a comically large megaphone from her pocket. “HEEEEEELP!”

“Why you!” Yomiko growled, chasing Gigglez around the arena as she threw the megaphone away and tried to keep her distance.

“There’s the Gigglez we know…..” Jugglez sighed.

“Yup,” the burly clown nodded. This pathetic display was pretty embarrassing, but they sprung into action, the burly clown quickly yanking away the plank before Machina could climb up it. She swung the plank at Machina’s head to make the robot girl fall over, then moved it away. Setting the plank on a different part of the arena, the two clowns quickly made it up the plank and into the arena.

“Ha! Now you’re really screwed!” Gigglez grinned, running behind her two clown minions and shoving them forward. “Get her!”

Jugglez rolled her eyes at this as the burly clown shrugged and snapped the plank over her knee. Yomiko narrowed her eyes at this and tried to slip past them to get to Gigglez, but the burly clown swung the two pieces of the plank at her. Yomiko ducked one strike but got hit by the other, stumbling back a bit.

“Get with the program. You’re not getting to Gigglez,” the burly clown smirked, tossing the broken plank pieces away.

“I knew I could count on you Brawna!” Gigglez cheered to the burly clown while still hiding behind them.

“Yeah yeah,” Brawna waved off that praise as she and Jugglez stepped forward.

Jugglez had an average build and was clutching several plumeblades of different colors in her hands: red, blue, green, purple, orange, and white. A tiny blue hat was resting atop her curly hair, which was dyed pink and had two notable puffy tufts resting on either side of her face. She had a pink rubber clown nose and a pink and white-striped clown outfit. Her shoes were long and pink, and she also had white clown gloves.

Brawna was taller and more muscular than Gigglez and Jugglez, sporting two angular tufts on either side of her head that were dyed lavender. Her nose was painted lavender, and her clown outfit had lavender and blue-stripes. Her wide lavender shoes made notable sounds as she drew closer.

“Great…..just great,” Yomiko groaned, rushing forward towards Brawna. Ducking under the plank piece as it was swung, she began squeezing and prodding Brawna’s tummy as Jugglez began juggling the plumeblades.

“Kehehehehehehe cut that out!” Brawna growled, swinging her other plank down towards Yomiko’s head as she jumped backwards. She quickly prepared to jump back into the fray but a green plumeblade was suddenly thrust towards her left armpit, swishing rapidly against it.

“MmmmpheheheHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Yomiko yelped, backing up a bit as she stared in shock. Jugglez had quickly attacked with a plumeblade, then gone back to juggling them while approaching Yomiko.

“Surprised? I’m pretty good at juggling you know?” Jugglez smiled happily. As this went on Machina tried to search for some way to enter the arena, but there didn’t seem to be anything she could use to help her cross over. And even if she jumped she wouldn’t make it across the feather pit. Which meant she’d get tickled.

“Guh……” Machina stared at the vibrating feathers in the pit while shuddering with trepidation. She hated being tickled, and didn’t want to cross through the feather pit at all. She looked at Yomiko fighting, then back at the feather pit as her eyes narrowed. Then she steeled herself and took a running start. When Brawna saw this she gasped and pointed behind Machina.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!”

“Ah?” Machina looked over her shoulder in surprise……forgetting to jump and falling right into the pit.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Machina squealed, falling over and rolling around in the pit as vibrating feathers tickled her armpits, belly, and feet.

“Good grief…..” Yomiko groaned, turning her attention back to Jugglez. Her constant juggling made it hard to attack her, but Yomiko was persistent. She sidestepped one of Jugglez’s swift plumeblade thrusts, then tried to follow up with swift chop. But Brawna knocked her arm away with one plank and slammed the other against her stomach.

“Guh!” Yomiko grunted, staggering from this and falling to her knees.

“Yeah, that’s it! Just keep going like that!” Gigglez grinned, clicking a button on a remote to cause a net to fall on top of Machina just as she was about to enter the arena.

“KEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE OH COME OHOHOHOHOHOHON!” Machina shouted, falling back into the feather pit and groaning as she began rolling around once more. Jugglez and Brawna approached Yomiko while Gigglez stayed behind them.

Tch, getting past these two is a pain in an arena like this, Yomiko frowned. She tried to attack them once more, but they forced her back with a plumeblade thrust and another whack with a plank. Yomiko fell on her rump, landing near the edge of the arena.

“Looks like you’re finished now,” Brawna smirked, tossing the planks away and getting ready to punch Yomiko into the pit.

“Wait, something funny’s going on. Is it just me, or did the robot stop laughing?” Gigglez asked warily.

“You’re nuts, she’s right over…….there,” Brawna said as she turned to her left, only to see an empty net and nothing else. Moments after she stared at this in shock, Machina jumped from the opposite side of the arena, grabbing Gigglez.

“Hieeeee!” Gigglez yelped in fear.

“I wiggled out of that net, then held my laughter in. It was excruciatingly difficult. Actually, it was just plain excruciating. But I managed. And so will you,” Machina frowned, trying to drag Gigglez towards the pit.

“N-No! Let me go!” Gigglez frowned, pulling out a feather dagger and trying to brush it along Machina’s tummy. But Machina swatted it out of her hands, then help Gigglez’s arms behind her back while continuing to walk towards the pit.

“If you think I’m gonna just let you do that you got another thing coming!” Brawna frowned, quickly running over.

“And you,” Machina said, turning to Brawna with a scowl, “will pay for tricking me.”

“Shut up!” Brawna growled, clenching her left hand and throwing out a punch. Machina saw this and shoved Gigglez in front of her.

“AH?!” Gigglez gasped, and Brawna grunted in surprise and narrowly stopped her punch. Seeing this, Machina threw Gigglez at her stomach, then retracted both hands for electro-ticklers.

“Electric Shock!” Machina said, pressing both electro-ticklers against Brawna’s tummy and releasing a burst of ticklish energy all over it. As she let out a husky laugh, her body continued to stumble backwards from having Gigglez thrown at her and from the tickles.

While this was going on Yomiko charged at Jugglez once more. Jugglez frowned and performed another swift thrust of her plumeblade.

“Without Brawna covering you I can finally take you down!” Yomiko frowned, evading this thrust and tickling away at Jugglez’s armpits.

“Hahahahahaha oh nohohohOHOHOHOHO!” Jugglez yelped, falling over and dropping her plumeblades. Yomiko picked up the white and blue ones and feathered away at her armpits.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I WON’T LET YOU WIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIN!” Brawna yelped, grabbing the red and green plumeblades and feathering at Yomiko’s armpits.

“EEEK?! PFFT, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Yomiko shrieked. The two were locked in an intense bout, each one not willing to lose this fight.

Eventually, Brawna finally fell into the feather pit.

“Ngghehehehehehehe! If you think this is enohohohohohough to stop meeheeheehee…..”

“I don’t. But this is,” Machina said, retracting one electro-tickler as she reached in Gigglez’s pocket and pulled out the remote. Then she dumped a net on her. And then another. And then another. Until Brawna had been tangled up in the five nets.

“Hrrrrmphahahahahaha DAMN IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIT!” Brawna shouted, unable to untangle herself from all those nets. She had impressive endurance, but that meant nothing if she couldn’t get free.

“Now then,” Machina frowned, grabbing Gigglez once more.

“Nngh! No! I won’t let you!” Gigglez shouted, slipping out of her coat and tickling Machina’s tummy.

“Ghk! Whahahahahahahahat?!” Machina gasped, backing up in surprise.

“I won’t……I won’t lose! Not again!” Gigglez shouted in a nervous tone, scribbling her fingers faster and faster as she shoved Machina down, then ran behind her and kneeled on her arms before continuing.

“AhahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GET OFF ME!” Machina shouted, flapping her legs. Gigglez was a crappy fighter, but she was great at tickling and teasing.

“Heh…..hehe! No way, I finally have you where I want. Now ticky-ticky…..”

“Hey,” a voice said, resting a hand on her shoulder. Getting goosebumps all over her body, Gigglez’s neck slowly craned over to face Yomiko.

“I took care of Jugglez. Now, you’re going to tell me where that mime was driving to,” Yomiko frowned.

“I-I’m not telling!” Gigglez shook her head fearfully.

“Well we’ll just have to see about that,” Yomiko smirked.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Gigglez screamed. She had been locked in one of the booths at the water gun area. Yomiko and Machina were tickling her feet with the water jets, with Machina also jabbing them with her electro-tickler to make things even worse. Thanks to the water, the jolts fully enveloped Gigglez’s feet, hitting her with a wave of sensations unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

“You ready to talk yet?” Yomiko asked.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NEHEHEHEHEHEHEVER!” Gigglez shook her head. Her feet were size 6s that were painted white. Her toes wriggled and curled energetically, flashing their purple nail polish as they squirmed. Her silky smooth arches were sandwiched between plush balls and plump heels, and everywhere on her feet seemed to be crazy ticklish. Especially her frantically flailing toes. Yet she didn’t want to give in.

“Fine then, how about this?” Yomiko smirked.

30 MINUTES LATER

“Oh my, that looks pretty horrible. So, how about telling us what we want to know?” Machina said. Her tone was emotionless, but she gazed intently at Gigglez. The clown had her ankles tied to one of the flying trapezes and her arms tied behind her back.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOT HAPPENIHIHIHIHIHING! WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I CAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAN’T SEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Gigglez screamed. Her shirt had been pulled over her face, so she wiggled around in confusion and ticklish distress as the drones with the smiley-faces dragged their soft brushes all over her armpits, scrubbed across her belly, and even dipped deep in her belly button while brushing against the walls and center of this very sensitive area. And of course many of those brushes were sliding all over her soles, moving in circles along her heels, sliding up and down her arches, and pressing against the balls of her feet. Their heads were pressed firmly against the pads of her toes, and they scrubbed at them and the areas between them without mercy.

Having all those brushes tickle her was bad enough, but being unable to see anything made things even worse.

“You sure are stubborn,” Yomiko chuckled.

ANOTHER 30 MINUTES LATER

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAHAHAPPIT! YOU HAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAVE TO STOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!” Gigglez screamed. She had now been tied down to one of the spinning teacups with her arms behind her back. Her shirt and pants had been removed, revealing a purple lacy bra wrapped around her modest chest and matching purple panties.

“We ‘hahaha’ have to stop? I don’t think so,” Yomiko smirked, using her Ten Torturous Strikes on Gigglez’s thighs and even her inner thighs.

“This could all stop if you just talked,” Machina chided, pressing her electro-ticklers against Gigglez’s armpits. Yomiko and Machina sat to the right and left of her while tickling her, and the fuzzy rolling brush kept her feet occupied as the teacup spun round and round.

“I CAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAN’T! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA C’MAHAHAHAHAHAHAN!” Gigglez screamed. She had been laughing so hard that her cheeks were as red as her rubber clown nose, and tears had been streaming down them non-stop.

Yomiko and Machina exchanged glances, and then Yomiko smirked while Machina gazed more intently at Gigglez.

YET ANOTHER 30 MINUTES LATER

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHARGH! OH GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAD! EYAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Gigglez howled with crazy laughter while trapped inside a colorful green and red box. By now her spiky fuschia hair looked frazzled, the makeup under her eyes was running, and her feet had a rosy tint. Yomiko wielded two plumeblades on her sole and between the toes of her right foot, while Machina alternated between using her electro-ticklers and unleashing her speedy fingers all over Gigglez’s left foot.

Seeing how completely spent she looked, Yomiko gave Machina a nod as the two of them stopped. Yomiko narrowed her eyes at the tired clown, then spoke.

“It’s been about an hour and thirty minutes. But if you’re not ready to talk, we can always keep-”

“S-S-San Fran! San Fran!” Gigglez shouted quickly, scrunching her feet with fear.

“San Fran? They’re in San Francisco?” Yomiko frowned, finding that information dubious and preparing to tickle Gigglez yet again.

“No, San Fran has them! The most powerful and well-known of the all the different chieftains the Tribals have!” Gigglez shook her head frantically. Yomiko paused and glanced at Machina.

“I’ve heard a bit about the Tribals. They primarily live in the Wastelands in Texas……the southeastern part, I believe. But I don’t know about San Fran or any of the differences between tribes,” Machina said.

“So La Barriga’s incorporated the natives into her army. I imagine San Fran was paid handsomely?” Yomiko frowned.

“She was paid a decent amount, but she’s nothing but our mule. Since her territory is the largest among the Tribals, her surrender was a big help in transporting supplies and food through Texas to the rest of the army, and in getting me all this sweet stuff,” Gigglez giggled while smirking. Yomiko scowled at this and gripped her feet, squeezing them and getting the trapped clown to whoop and holler in the box.

“So she was forced to aid La Barriga then? And afterwards the rest of the Tribals fell in line with her help, is that it?” Yomiko scowled.

“YEEEK! Forced is a strohohohohong WOHOHOHOHORD! The TriBAHAHAHAHAHALS have a historEEHEEHEEHEEHEE OHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAPPIT!” Gigglez shrieked, her feet paddling and darting about frantically.

“Yomiko,” Machina said calmly, putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder. When she stopped, Machina nodded and turned to Gigglez. “What history?”

“Haah…..hahahaaaaaah…..they have a history of being hostile towards anybody whose not a Tribal. Even prior to La Barriga swooping in they’d tickle people silly, then leave them on the outskirts of their territory. So telling them to keep doing that while making sure those people stay kidnapped and helping in transporting tickle slaves to all parts of her territory really isn’t that big a leap ya know?” Gigglez shrugged with a smile. Machina grew irritated with that response though and pressed her electro-tickler against Gigglez’s soles, earning adorable, manic shrieks.

“Guess that’s where we’re heading next. Come on,” Yomiko urged with a tilt of her head, holding up a key with a clown face on it that she stole from Gigglez’s pocket. Machina nodded, frowning one last time at Gigglez before following after Yomiko as they headed out the back door. They then began their trek back over to their car.

“Is it really okay to just leave them like that? What if they escape?” Machina asked.

“They won’t. I gave a command to the drones to start tickling all the clowns a few seconds after we leave. That should keep them occupied long enough for other rebel forces to find and take care of them,” Yomiko chuckled.

“I see,” Machina nodded, her expression softening a bit. “And? Was I better this time?”

“Definitely. You’re well on your way to becoming a Fighting Frond,” Yomiko smiled. Machina momentarily stopped walking and gasped at those words, then quickly followed after her.

“I promise you, my teamwork and tickle fighting will be even better next time. So, how about you kick your shoes off and kick your feet up on the dashboard?” Machina asked.

“Yeah, not happening,” Yomiko replied curtly, quickening her steps as Machina gave an annoyed ‘mrrrr’ noise at that. Their next destination would be the Wastelands.

Chapter Text

Machina and Yomiko found an inn to spend the night at. That morning, they stocked up on many snacks, two sandwiches, and a cooler with ten bottles of water. They would be on the road for a long time, and while Machina didn’t need to eat, the same could not be said for Yomiko. And so they headed off, with Machina at the wheel and Yomiko eating and drinking water whenever she needed to. They would occasionally take breaks so Yomiko could use the restroom or so they could fill up the car with gasoline, but otherwise they advanced at a steady pace until they eventually reached a desert area with sparse trees off in the distance and parked the car. All in all, the journey had taken them 15 hours.

“It’s already night……we should take a break for tonight and investigate the Wastelands tomorrow,” Yomiko said, stepping out of the car to stretch her calves. There was some small shrubbery here and there, as well as a cliff side to the left of them. In front of them a small speck that might’ve been one of the Tribal’s encampments could be seen off in the distance.

“Wooooow…..” Machina monotoned, staring up at the bright, starry sky.

“This is your first time seeing something like this right?” Yomiko smiled.

“Mhmm. So pretty…..” Machina nodded. Her voice was emotionless as usual, but Yomiko could tell she was happy.

“Want to walk around a bit?” Yomiko asked.

“Sure,” Machina replied. They decided to take a walk, their steps making slight imprints in the sand as they trekked towards the cliff. Upon reaching the cliff fifteen minutes later, they looked up at the sky. The sight of it brightly gleaming from the light of the stars put Yomiko in a good mood, as though the sky was watching over her journey. So she lied down on her back and relaxed under the stars, with Machina soon following suit.

“What are your thoughts on them? The Tribals I mean,” Machina asked.

“Hmm…..well I can’t forgive them for kidnapping and tickle torturing people. And they’ll have a lot to answer for if they’re doing it to Leona and Rally too. But….…I know they’re in a rough spot. So I hope I can get them to see reason and fight alongside us. We made quick work of Gigglez and the bandits, but the Laughing Lovelies have lots of bikers in their crew. We need some extra backup,” Yomiko said.

“Hmm…..so you’re worried about them? As expected of a Fighting Frond,” Machina nodded in approval.

“H-Hey! You might be an honorary Fighting Frond, but you’re still a member you know? And it’s not like I’ll hold back on them!” Yomiko frowned, turning to face Machina. Before Machina could respond, they both heard one of the larger shrubs rustle. Glancing at each other, they peered over at the source of the sound. But when they did, whatever made the sound took off running, using the shrubbery to stay hidden. But they couldn’t stay completely hidden, and Yomiko could see that this girl was definitely a Tribal.

“Should we chase her?” Machina asked.

“…….No, it’s too dark. And she knows the land better than we do. She’s probably already escaped,” Yomiko shook her head. “Let’s call it a night,” she smiled while gazing at Machina.

“Mm…..alright,” Machina nodded. The two of them headed back over to the car and used the reclining function of the front seats to sleep, with Yomiko kicking off her shoes to get comfy. As they slept, someone watched them intently. This person’s eyes widened in excitement at the sight of Machina, but grew even more excited at the sight of Yomiko, gazing at her snoozing face.

The next day Yomiko woke up with a stretch, her feet curling into each other on the dashboard as the morning light shone on them and on her face. She pulled the lever on her seat so that it returned to her original position……and then turned to the right in surprise.

Standing on the other side of the car door was a Tribal. And upon locking eyes with Yomiko, she immediately took off running.

“Ah! Wait!” Yomiko gasped, opening the car door, then remembering to put her slippers back on as she chased after the Tribal. The Tribal was faster than her though, managing to keep her distance as she circled around Yomiko in the direction of the cliff.

“You don’t have to be scared, I just want to talk!” Yomiko insisted, losing sight of the Tribal when she went behind the cliff. Yomiko hurriedly headed around the cliff to catch up with her……only for a rope to snag around her ankles!

“What the?!” Yomiko gasped in surprise as the rope yoinked her sharply, causing her to fall to the ground as her ankles were dragged through an opening in a rock so fast that her slippers flew off. Looking over, Yomiko could see a rope attached to a branch, with the other end looped around her ankles. As she started to wrap her head around what had just happened, the Tribal from earlier came out of hiding, walking over to Yomiko and staring at her with a mysterious shimmer in her eyes.

“Um…..hi?” Yomiko gave a wary wave. The Tribal gazed at Yomiko some more, then smiled.

“Tia knew it. She’s Fighty Fronz!” the Tribal announced to some rather larger shrubs. Shrubs that suddenly grew legs and headed over to where the two of them were. As Yomiko stared in surprise at this, the shrubs were cast aside, revealing other Tribals.

“We heard of Fighty Fronz and how they saved Hope City. It was incredible!” The Tribal said while turning to face Yomiko again. “This one is called Tia!” she declared proudly while puffing up her chest in a self-introduction.

Tia had short, wavy black hair with two long fringes dyed red and purple. She was wearing some sort of white ancestral bra that had a unique pattern near its collar that could have either been a feather or some sort of eel. Speaking of feathers, two notable black-tipped white feathers were held in place by a red headband that had unique symbols on it. She had beige pants made from a soft, loosely fitting material that had a pattern of blue and red triangles near the top and bottom. Two light brown moccasins covered her feet, which bobbed up and down as she bounced excitedly. Her eyes were gray, and the skin tone of her and her comrades was a light brown. All of them seemed to have a certain fearlessness and boundless energy to them. And though Tia was pretty, her features were definitely on the sharp side, such as her keen eyes and somewhat angular nose.

Tia’s allies had similar outfits, though they had differently shaped feathers, different designs on their headbands, and different dye on the fringes of their hair ranging from yellow, to green, to white and gray, to blue and brown, to green and yellow, and so on.

What surprised Yomiko the most was the fact that Tia had black nail polish as well as a tattoo on one arm.

“The Tribals have access to stuff like that?” Yomiko asked in surprise, gazing at the tattoo.

“We are not savages. We have things like tattoo people and nail polish, yup!” Tia nodded proudly. “Although…….the villages have some new tools and devices now thanks to La Barriga. They had to agree to maintain long-distance talks,” Tia explained, her lips curling up into a frown.

“….Judging by your tone, I’m guessing you and your friends are rebels?” Yomiko asked. Tia gasped and nodded.

“Yup yup! Fighty Fronz are not just strong, also smart too!” Tia grinned happily.

“Well not exactly…..” Yomiko replied with a chuckle, thinking about how stubborn Leona was and how Rally would forgo a well laid plan if it meant pranking baddies. “And the rope trap was your doing too?” Yomiko asked.

“Right again! Tia is very good at rope traps! Make fun tickle traps too!” Tia giggled mischievously.

“So…..why did you trap me?” Yomiko asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Is it really a good idea to tell?” a Tribal with her fringes dyed gray and white asked.

“We already agreed when Tia said she found Fighty Fronz,” a Tribal with her fringes dyed yellow replied.

“It’s Fighting Fronds, actually,” Yomiko corrected.

“That’s what Tia said, Fighty Fronz!” Tia pouted.

“Right…..” Yomiko sighed.

“Anyways, Tia has very important request,” Tia said, giving a nod to the others. They all kneeled down and bowed their heads respectfully as Tia spoke. “Please don’t be too mean to Auntie!” Tia pleaded.

“Huh?” Yomiko stared in confusion.

“Planning to tickle punish, right? That’s fine. Tia thinks….they might need it sorta. But please don’t be too harsh on Auntie!” Tia pleaded once more.

“I really don’t know what you’re…..ah, were you the Tribal hiding in the shrubs the other night?” Yomiko asked, hit by a sudden realization. Tia nodded at that.

“Tia knows Fighty Fronz is angry. Has right to be angry, Tia thinks. But still, please don’t-”

“Again, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m after San Fran,” Yomiko frowned.

“San Fran is Auntie,” Tia said.

“WHAT?!” Yomiko shouted in surprise.

“Tia will explain everything later. Fighty Fronz also sound more angry. But-”

“I got it, alright? I won’t be too harsh with her,” Yomiko promised. “I’m not angry just…..surprised is all.”

“Fighty Fronz means it?!” Tia looked up at Yomiko with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Yes, I mean it,” Yomiko smiled. Tia looked very relieved at that, and smiled.

“We will wait for robot lady to wake up before telling more. In the meantime…..” Tia smirked, she and the others standing up and brandishing their feathers.

“You can’t be serious….” Yomiko deflated, scrunching her soles.

“Sorry, but you have very very nice feet,” Tia smirked playfully.

“Just my luck….” Yomiko groaned.

Some time later, Machina had woken up and was drawn to the sound of Yomiko’s laughter. This had led to a heated confrontation as the robot girl rose to tickle attack Tia and her group. Fortunately Yomiko was able to clear up her confusion and had now been released, her slippers on her still tingling feet. They all sat on the sand in a circle, Yomiko’s cheeks still flushed from all the tickling as she listened in.

“Tia was living happily with other Tribals in our lands. Tia mom got very sick and died, but Auntie was nice and took care of Tia for several years. And then the mean biker ladies came.” Tia frowned. “They were clever. As nice as Auntie was, they knew she was strong, that we were strong….no, we still are strong!” Tia insisted, frowning at Yomiko as if daring her to disagree.

“I didn’t say anything,” Yomiko shook her head, raising her hands in surrender. Tia nodded firmly at that.

“Anyways, they knew that we are strong. So they attacked the lands of other Tribals first, ones with less territory than us. After making deals with those Tribals, they launched an attack from many sides. Auntie and the others were pushed back at first, but they were able to hold their ground….until Tia was captured,” Tia said sadly, looking down at the sand. “Big scary biker leader promised to sell me into tickle slavery so harsh I would never see daylight again. Tia was still a kid, and had been captured along with other kids. Auntie had no choice but to give in.”

“That’s the same person that defeated Leona and Rally,” Yomiko scowled while thinking about Big Barbara.

“Big scary biker leader is a big jerk. When Auntie surrendered they let us all go, but she had to let fifteen adult Tribals be captured as tickle slaves and promise to capture anyone that wanders in these lands as tickle slaves. Some time later the bikers returned, giving some trucks for tickle slave transport and some other devices for heating up meat and staying in touch with them and big scary biker leader’s boss. It’s been five years since then,” Tia explained, lifting her head and facing Machina and Yomiko.

“Hmm, I see. Now I understand why you forced a promise out of Yomiko. San Fran is likely tickle torturing Leona and Rally right now, isn’t she?” Machina asked.

“….Not now….but when Tia checked a few days earlier Auntie was,” Tia said hesitantly.

“I can’t promise I won’t punish San Fran for that, but I promise I won’t tickle her for too long,” Yomiko said. “Of course, that’ll depend on how much remorse she shows.”

“Auntie will show remorse, she will!” Tia insisted with a frown. “The first year, she was reluctant and helped the bikers with a heavy heart. But then as the years went by, Auntie became scary. She started taking things more seriously after a talk with the big scary biker lady. And she started treating Tia more roughly, always glaring or barking orders,” Tia explained sadly.

“Hm. It sounds like she deserves a full force Electric Shock,” Machina gave her honest opinion.

“No, Auntie doesn’t deserve any shocks! She….she knows this is hard for everyone. So she made herself the villain, made other Tribals follow her lead, so that they blame her. Blaming her is easier than accepting a rough situation. Tia knows this, because Tia tailed her when she was going up to the cliff one night. Her cries….they could tear the sky in two,” Tia said sorrowfully. Yomiko listened wordlessly with a complicated expression on her face.

“So, Tia wants you to save Auntie with tickles. If it’s Fighty Fronz, they can definitely do it. Although…..is she Fighty Fronz too?” Tia asked, looking over at Machina.

“She’s getting there, bit by bit,” Yomiko replied with a confident smile.

“Yomiko….” Machina said robotically with wide eyes, seemingly touched by that remark.

“Well, getting into the San Fran’s territory would’ve been difficult, but with you here things have changed,” Yomiko smiled. “You can distract them with some pointless tasks while we sneak in and-”

“Oh, Tia hasn’t been living with Auntie and the others for a few months,” Tia smiled. That response took the wind out of Yomiko’s sails.

“So San Fran threw you out of the tribe then?” Machina asked, narrowing her eyes.

“No! Tia left on her own! Tia wasn’t sure she should, but then she heard about Fighty Fronz! Made friends! And messed with mean bikers!” Tia smirked proudly.

“Is the reason you left….so Big Barbara wouldn’t blame San Fran over this?” Yomiko asked.

“Ah….so that’s why big scary biker leader is only focused on Tia and her friends…..” Tia rubbed her head sheepishly.

“So that wasn’t the reason then. You just wanted to go on an adventure,” Yomiko sighed.

“Yup yup! Fighty Fronz are sharp as ever!” Tia smiled happily. Ignoring Yomiko’s disappointment with this answer or whatever Machina might be thinking behind her blank stare, Tia continued. “Made friends from other tribes. Friends that share Tia’s feelings! Together we mess with bikers with Tia’s rope traps! And other traps! Tickle them silly especially on big evil biker feet! But when they all band together, Tia and friends forced to retreat,” Tia sighed.

“So it’s a stalemate between your trickiness and their brute strength….so you have forces other than the ones gathered here?” Yomiko asked.

“Yes, but they are busy messing with bikers. Try to hold them at bay. But it’s not enough. With the other tribes helping bikers, it’s not enough. Even with pretty lady also messing with bikers it’s not enough,” Tia said.

“A pretty lady?” Machina tilted her head.

“Yup! Huge pretty lady, almost as huge as big scary biker leader! She found out about what we were doing and managed to track us down to one of our hideouts. It was scary! But she offered to help. Thanks to her and her team, took down three huge tickle slave trucks! But now bikers are more cautious, and not enough forces to stop them.” Tia explained.

“So we realized we’d need the help of a big tribe. Auntie and Tia’s tribe! And that’s why Tia needs help! We need to tickle Auntie and make her realize now is the time to strike! No more Auntie being scary while doing what bad bikers say! We need Auntie being scary while kicking biker butt!” Tia shouted.

“I see….I think I’m starting to see the full picture,” Yomiko nodded.

“You are?” Machina turned to Yomiko in surprise.

“I am.” Yomiko closed her eyes and parsed through all the information she just heard.

The huge pretty lady Tia’s talking about is probably that woman who was on that wanted poster, Queenie. She’s been working with Tia’s group, but they can’t make any headway. Tia’s also been going around from one place to the next, foraging for meat and berries in areas where the Tribals don’t usually venture off to. Maybe she’s even had to steal from stores every now and then, Yomiko thought, noting a few small specs of what might’ve been a granola bar on Tia pants. It hasn’t been easy for her, but she’s managed.

“Alright, we’ll help out. Though I think you already figured as much,” Yomiko smirked as she opened her eyes.

“Oh thank you! Fighty Fronz are the best!” Tia grinned excitedly.

“One more thing…..Fighting Fronds is just the name of our group. I’m Yomiko, and this is Machina,” Yomiko smiled.

“Yo-mee-ko and Ma-key-na. Hehe, your names are funny!” Tia giggled.

“I’m sure we will be able to reason with San Fran after tickling her. If she’s carrying out the tickle torture of these slaves with a heavy heart, then changing her mind shouldn’t be too difficult,” Machina said.

“W-Well……Tia sent scout to spy on tickling of Fighty Fronz. Auntie….seemed very happy tickling them. She loves their laughs, their smiles, how one is small and the other is big, how-”

“Okay stop,” Yomiko held up a hand, rubbing the bridge of her nose with two fingers as she groaned. “Any more than that and I’m going to seriously question if she deserves any sort of mercy.”

“You sure this is going to work?” Machina asked with a frown.

“Yup! Scout always comes to cliffside trying to see where Tia and others are. Always have to run. If we get drop on scout, then others will come. Then we get drop on them! And then things will be easier when we head to where Auntie and the others are!” Tia smiled happily.

“Makes sense I guess….” Yomiko muttered. Tia had only brought enough shrubs for her and her allies to cover themselves with. Yomiko had to make the most of things by using the rock from earlier to conceal her feet and a few branches to try to cover her body. As for Machina…..she was buried in the ground with only her head sticking out and a large leaf giving shade to try to make the gray-skinned robot blend in with a gray rock behind her.

“Tia is very impressed though! Yo-mee-ko make good use of Fighty Fronz abilities for digging!” Tia smiled at Yomiko.

“I never wanted to use the Ten Torturous Strikes for something like this….” Yomiko sighed.

“And I never wanted to be buried in sand!” Machina shouted, feeling very annoyed with her current position. Tia’s eyes widened at that response.

“Wow! Ma-key-na talked funny when we were sitting down. Strange tone and strange, barely changing face. But now sounds and looks mad!” Tia grinned in wonder and amazement, poking Machina’s cheeks playfully.

“Because I am mad!” Machina frowned, anger still clear in her tone.

“Ssh ssh, she’s coming! We’ll chat later grumpy-bot~” Tia teased, patting Machina on the head. Machina groaned at this, but decided to let it go for now. Her expression turned neutral and she closed her eyes, appearing to be one with the rock behind her.

“Wow, that position really suits you,” Yomiko said casually, earning a glare from Machina.

“Shut-”

“Sssssh!” Tia hushed them both with a finger to her lips, cutting off Machina’s retort as she and her friends hid behind the shrubs. Before long, a Tribal with swift steps headed this way and up the cliffside. She had shoulder-length hair dyed green at the fringes, and her brown eyes were half-closed as she seemed to be in a foul mood. She had a Texas bluebell fastened to the left side of her head with the help of a hair clip, and was wearing a blue ancestral bra, a pink headband, gray pants with a pattern of green and white triangles on the top and bottom, and a pair of brown moccasins on her quickly stepping slender feet. Her arms looked somewhat frail for a Tribal, but her legs were strong, as evident by her swift movements and how her pants hugged her powerful thighs. She was holding a feather spear in her hands.

She headed up the cliffside, then used her spear at a clump of sand near one of the rocks on the cliff. Ropes lashed out, flying in front of the Tribals’ face.

“Hmph. Does she really think a trap like this would work? Ridiculous,” the Tribal frowned, turning around and using her feather spear to trigger another trap. But then arms came out of one of the shrubs behind her. One of Tia’s friends, hiding on a lower level of the cliff, had grabbed the woman’s legs.

“What?!” the Tribal gasped in surprise, lashing out with her feather spear.

“Yeeheeheeheep!” Tia’s friend yelped from the feeling of feathers tickling her armpit, letting go of the Tribal. She was about to pursue Tia’s friend when an explosion of dirt suddenly appeared nearby. The Tribal stared in shock at this and clutched her spear tightly, wary of any attackers that might be coming in that direction. Because of this, she didn’t react in time to hands coming out of another one of the shrubs, lifting up one of her feet and looping a rope around it, then shaking it to give a signal to the others.

“What is thiiiiiiis?!” the Tribal shouted in shock, swinging off the cliff and winding up with her back against a large rock. Ropes looped her other leg as well as her arm, and she was soon tied to the rock in a spread eagle position.

“Hey there Cali~” Tia grinned, giving the familiar Tribal scout a wave.

“Doesn’t Tia know meddling’s been causing trouble for the rest of us?” Cali frowned.

“Not as much trouble as it would if Tia stayed! Mean bikers know Cali and others are not hiding Tia, so there!” Tia frowned, taunting Cali by putting a finger under one eye and sticking out her tongue.

“Tiaaaaaa!” Cali growled.

“Still, Cali chasing us because mean bikers are acting extra mean makes sense……anyways, Cali will be punished with tickles!” Tia declared. Cali’s angry glare grew even angrier at those words.

“Makes sense to me. And tiring her out should keep her from pursuing us,” Yomiko smiled.

“Yup! And since Tia’s gonna give Auntie punishment tickles, it only makes sense to give others punishment tickles too!” Tia giggled.

“….Can Cali ask one question? How did Tia make that huge dirt explosion?” Cali asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Me.” Machina said, heading over to them with a scowl while completely covered in sand.

“A robot?” Cali tilted her head in surprise. While buried in the sand, Machina had used her Electric Shock ability to break free, kicking up an explosion of sand and dirt.

“Tia already knew Ma-key-na was amazing, but Ma-key-na’s even more amazing now!” Tia exclaimed happily.

“….Happy to be of service,” Machina nodded, still irritated.

“Now then, Tia already knows where Cali’s weak spot is. Arms aren’t strong enough handle a bow very well, so naturally her armpits would be her worst spot!” Tia grinned, wiggling her fingers in the air as she drew closer and closer.

“Ghk…..” Cali stiffened, shifting against the restraints and narrowing her eyes.

“Cali can be pretty grumpy, but she’s really cute~” Tia teased.

“Shut up!” Cali shouted, her cheeks flaring up in anger. She then froze when she caught Machina’s icy, emotionless gaze.

“Got a problem or something?” Cali scowled.

“You’re the reason I had to get in that ridiculous position. I am going to punish you severely for that,” Machina frowned, her right hand retracting as an electro-tickler poked out of her wrist, pointed at Cali’s left armpit.

“That has nothing to do with-GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA?!” Cali shrieked.

“Oooh, Machina has tickly shocks too, how cool!” Tia giggled, wiggling her fingers up and down Cali’s right armpit.

“I won’t go all in on you. You should feel lucky,” Yomiko smiled, squeezing and prodding all over Cali’s belly.

“CALI DOESN’T FEEL LUHUHUHUHUHUHUCKY AT AHAHAHAHAHAHAHALL!” Cali shouted angrily, her arms and legs straining against the ropes in her attempts at escaping.

“Cali doesn’t? Hmmm…..then maybe her lucky rabbit feet need to be tickled too!” Tia chirped happily.

“CALI DOES NOT HAVE RABBIT FEET!” Cali roared, momentarily forgetting the ticklish sensations and shouting in indignation. Tia’s friends chuckled at that and removed Cali’s moccasins, exposing two slender feet. Their soles were a lighter color than her skin tone and were nice and slender, sporting long toes, high arches, and balls that were just plump enough to serve as good cushions when running while still being shapely. And of course, they were the longest among all the Tribals.

“Cali definitely have rabbit feet,” one of Tia’s friends snickered. They then brandished their feathers and began sweeping them all over Cali’s soles, making sure every last inch got plenty of attention.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA CALI HAHAHAHAHAHAHATES YOU SO MUHUHUHUHUHUHUCH!” Cali screamed, her long feet cringing and jerking about sharply from side to side with each stroke of the feather.

“Oh, is that so?” Machina replied emotionlessly but sarcastically, jabbing the electro-tickler more persistently against Cali’s left armpit. If she went any faster, the tickly jolts would start having a rave party on the tender flesh. Against this combination Cali howled with laughter, her struggles getting weaker as she let out particularly loud shrieks when the feathers started weaving between her long toes.

About half an hour had passed since Cali had gone to scout out for Tia. Since she hadn’t returned, other Tribals had gotten worried and decided to look for her. Three Tribals with the fringes of their hair dyed red, gray, and purple explored the Wastelands, soon finding Cali tied to a rock surrounded by shrubs, with a cloth gag wrapped around her mouth.

“Cali? Who did this to you?” the Tribal with red fringes asked in surprise.

“Mmmph! Bhmmmph yhmmm!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of there,” the Tribal with purple fringes said, the three of them working on trying to free her.

“Mmmmmph!” Cali shouted angrily, trying to tell them something. However they didn’t pick up on this, and before long assailants jumped out of the shrubs.

Soon enough, those Tribals had been tied up with their stomachs to the ground, their arms behind their backs, and a length of rope binding their ankles. Cali was grumbling in annoyance, having been taken down from the rock and tied in a similar position as the Tribals that had come to rescue her.

“Alright, that was easier that Tia thought it would be! And now we have more people to punish~” Tia smirked deviously, the bound Tribals squirming warily as Cali groaned in her gag. Then she gasped in surprise when Machina straddled her ankles.

“That’s the second time I’ve had to be buried in the ground,” Machina scowled, her body even dirtier than before. She had been forced to conceal herself the same way when the search party had come for Cali, and she was enraged about it. “I’m using both electro-ticklers this time. On your feet.”

“MMMMMPH?!” Cali let out a muffled shout of disbelief and anger, but that anger would soon give way to ticklish squeals.

This cycle continued went on until eight Tribals including Cali had been captured, tied up, and tickled mercilessly. Which naturally meant Machina had to be buried another two times.

“Alright! Now we move out!” Tia grinned. She and her friends led the charge, with Yomiko and a very aggravated Machina following closely behind them.

After trekking for a couple of minutes, they crouched down and tried to stay hidden by crawling along the sand. For Yomiko, this was an annoying but inevitable part of getting to San Fran. For Machina, this was slightly less infuriating than being buried in sand but still a huge pain. They had reached a location with several thatched huts, shrubs, and even several trees nearby. Tribals roamed all about the place, some of them were grabbing and transporting supplies, while others worked on tickling captive ladies. Three ladies were being tickled with feathers and fingers as Tribals grinned and taunted them. There was also four ladies in cracked wooden stocks: a raven-haired punk rocker with a mostly black outfit and a red shirt, an auburn-haired songstress with a loosely fitting outfit, a large blonde girl with blue suspenders and a plaid shirt who looked like a trucker, and nerdy redhead with a red hoodie, a green shirt, and jeans. They were tied up by vines and being tickled by some sort of crude machinery where two Tribals cranked a wooden lever, which caused ropes to be tugged as feathers spun slowly against their feet. When the lever was released, the feathers spun rapidly against their soles.

““““GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STOP IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIT!”””” they shouted.

“I thought you said the Tribals got stuff from the bikers,” Yomiko whispered to Tia.

“Yeah but only stuff like those water coolers and stoves,” Tia whispered, pointing to some nearby water coolers. “We design our own machines for giving many tickles!” Tia grinned proudly. Machina prepared to stand up but was stopped by Yomiko.

“I know you want to save those girls as badly as I do, but if we just rush in things will end poorly for us. Given how many of them there are…..it’s better to try to challenge San Fran directly, then worry about rescuing the victims later,” Yomiko said, noting several other laughing girls in similar situations.

“….If you say so,” Machina replied, not too happy about that. Tia’s friends then crawled into position near groups of five Tribals each before springing to action.

“What?!” one of the Tribals gasped.

“It’s Tia’s group! They’ve finally decided to betray tribe!” another Tribal shouted angrily.

“It’s not like that at all! We’re here to help!” one of Tia’s friends said.

“Ah?! Tia’s group has been nothing but trouble!” the Tribal glared at them with a slightly wavering expression. A tickle fight started to break out between the Tribals and Tia’s friends, all of them resorting to swift tickles and a few of them carrying feathery weapons. With a clear crawling path down the middle thanks to the fighting, Yomiko, Tia, and Machina headed on their way.

When they finally stood up after crawling for about thirty paces, they could see thatched huts with Tribals sitting on wooden chairs some distance away, resting after having foraged for berries.

“If we sneak we should be able to avoid them,” Tia smiled. They took a few steps forward when Yomiko suddenly felt fingers digging into her sides.

“YeeheeHEEEEP!” Yomiko yelped, quickly clamping her mouth as she and the others crouched down, hearing a rustling sound. Yomiko turned to the shrubs with a frown and checked the one closest her. But no one was there.

“Yomiko? What’s wr-WAAAAH!” Tia made a silly sound when she felt somebody raspberry her back, clamping her mouth and trying to blend in with her surroundings. The Tribals turned in their direction, forcing the trio to lie flat on their stomachs to avoid detection. Tia then gasped in realization.

“This is Forn! She’s really loves sneak attacking from shrubs!” Tia exclaimed.

“Well this time she wasn’t fast enough,” Machina frowned, noting a rustling shrub. Retracting her right hand for an electro-tickler, she thrust her arm towards that shrub.

“What? Where did she-gah?!” Machina was soon grabbed by her ankles and dragged to the ground, eating a face full of sand as fingers scribbled all over her soles. Machina let out muffled laughter and angry shouts.

“Oh! Forn tricked Machina with barely there string! Very clever!” Tia said, feeling respect for their opponent as she made note of the very thin wire wrapped around the shrub. Yomiko rolled her eyes at this, then gave Forn a few good squeezes on her tummy to get her to release Machina. Forn moved about quickly, three different shrubs rustling.

“Looks like she wasn’t able to cover her tracks this time,” Yomiko said, noting the imprints on the sand. Before Yomiko could head over, Machina lifted her head up while glaring angrily at the shrub in question and ran over to it, grabbing Forn before she could escape to another shrub.

“I am tired. Of being shoved. IN SAND!” Machina shouted angrily, using her Electric Shock technique on Forn’s tummy.

“OHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Forn howled with laughter. The fringes of her wavy hair were dyed white, and her black eyes were wide with horror. She was wearing a gray ancestral bra and matching gray pants with a red and yellow triangle pattern on the fringes. Her feet were clad in light brown moccasins, and her legs shook up and down frantically as she laughed. Additionally, she had a blue headband wrapped around her head.

“Machina, stop! Too much punishment, way too much!” Tia pouted, grabbing Machina’s shoulders and trying to pull her away from Forn.

“What the heck is going on…..here,” one Tribal frowned, coming a little closer due to all the commotion and noticing Tia, as well as two strangers.

“Ah! Um……this is a surprise tickle visit! And Tia brought friends!” Tia lied. The Tribal frowned at this and blew a horn, being tickled into submission by Yomiko moments later.

“There goes our element of surprise. Great work Machina,” Yomiko frowned.

“Hmph, she deserved it,” Machina replied emotionlessly.

“No time for Fighty Fronz to argue, we have to get moving!” Tia insisted. They ran inside a nearby hut and grabbed some feather spears, then headed out to see that a formation of Tribals had formed. Five of them were wielding feather spears, three were holding feathery arrows with their bowstrings pulled back and ready to fire, and the last Tribal all the way in the back had a well-built body and sturdy looking arms. This Tribal held no weapon and seemed more interested in hand-to-hand combat.

“Hold positions! When they approach, the archers fire first, then spear wielders rush forward!” the Tribal in the back shouted. The members of the spear wielder group all had similar looking outfits, and the same was true of the members of the archer group. The spear wielders all had orange headbands and the fringes of their hair were dyed red, orange, yellow, gray, and purple respectively. The archers had blue headbands and the fringes of their hair were dyed blue, lime green, and pink respectively.

“That’s Ia!” Tia gasped, her eyes widening as she gazed cautiously at her. The fringes of Ia’s hair were dyed purple and brown, giving the impression of a poison swamp buried just below the surface. This impression was supported by the menacing shimmer in her gray eyes, and she had rippling muscles. A gray headband was wrapped around her forehead, and she had on a lavender ancestral bra, beige pants, and brown moccasins.

“I’ll take the three on the left. You-” Yomiko began, but Machina interjected.

“No. I’ll take the three on the left. You take the other two,” Machina replied. Though her tone was emotionless, she glared at the Tribal formation that had formed in front of her. Evidently she was still annoyed by Forn’s tricks and wanted to take it out on some more Tribals.

“Alright then. Tia, you take care of those arches with your rope traps if you can,” Yomiko said to her.

“Won’t have time to set up rope traps…..Tia will just have to roll with it!” Tia said, pumping herself up.

Yomiko and Machina took off running. The Tribal archers swiftly fired their feather arrows: two at Yomiko and one at Machina. Yomiko broke the two arrows that approached her with swift swings of her feather spear while Machina lowered her body as she ran, letting the arrow soar over her. Machina then engaged the three Tribal spear wielders on the left while Yomiko fought the two on the right. As they fought the Tribal archers nocked their bows again, but Tia had already popped up right behind them, having dived between their legs.

“What Tia thinks she do-GAH?!”

“Sorry, but Tia has to see Auntie. Get out of the way!” Tia shouted, having wrapped a rope around the dyed pink archer’s dominant wrist, kicked one of her legs out from under her, and wrapped the other end of the rope around her ankle. This caused the archer to fall on her back and drop her bow and arrow, winding up in the sort of position where she couldn’t get up or untie herself.

“Shouldn’t have let guard down,” the dyed lime green archer said while scowling at their companion. The dyed blue archer looked at the fallen archer and seemed at a loss, prompting the dyed lime green archer to groan. “We have to stop her and those two! We can worry about the details later!” the archer shouted.

Yomiko fell backwards to evade the swing of the feather spear, then swung her leg out to trip the dyed yellow spear wielder she was fighting, quickly snatching away that Tribal’s feather spear.

“Ha! Just lucky. Don’t have what it takes to wield feather spear like Tribals can. Wielding two? Ridiculous,” the dyed orange spear wielder smirked.

“Hm….you’re probably right. Hold this,” Yomiko said, casually tossing one of the feather spears towards the spear wielder.

“Huh? Um?” the dyed orange spear wielder caught the feather spear, and while she stared at it in confusion, Yomiko rushed in with a powerful thrust of the other feather spear, swishing it against the Tribal’s belly button.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STAPPIT! HEEHEEHEEHEE CHEEHEEHEEHEEATER!” the dyed orange spear wielder squealed cutely, dropping one of the feather spears and swinging the other one haphazardly. Her swing was slower thanks to the tickling though, allowing Yomiko to effortlessly duck under it while staying on the attack.

“First you say I got lucky, now you’re calling me a cheater? Are all Tribals sore losers when it comes to tickle fighting?” Yomiko taunted with a smirk, dipping the feather spear deeper into the Tribal’s belly button.

“OHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GET OOOOOOUT!” dyed orange spear wielder screamed, swinging her spear more frantically. Her fighting stance was gradually collapsing from Yomiko’s attack.

“Three at once? Very arrogant, robot girl.” the dyed gray archer frowned.

“Underestimating us shall end robot girl!” the dyed red Tribal declared. Machina was evading all of their attacks, but she couldn’t seem to land any blows. In fact, all of her spears swings seemed to just miss them completely.

“Now it’s finished!” the dyed orange Tribal shouted, the three of them thrusting at high, low, and medium arcs. It was a perfectly synchronized attack, one that Machina had no chance of dodging.

So instead of dodging, she lightly tossed the feather spear, then retracted her hands for electro-ticklers and pressed both of them against the feather spear as it plummeted, catching the spear when it was sideways. Then she pressed it against the trio, catching them all in the stomach.

“““Ah?!’’’”

“Didn’t you know? Wood conducts electricity,” Machina said emotionlessly, though with a slightly snarky edge. The three Tribals groaned as Machina’s electro-ticklers charged up with energy.

“Electric Shock!” Machina shouted, sending a big burst of ticklish electricity that coursed through the feather spear, tickling all three of them. Once electrified, some of the frazzled feathers even brushed against their tummies, sweeping every last vein across them.

“““WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!””” The trio screamed, falling over in a heap of laughter. Machina pursued them as they fell, continuing to press the electrified feather spear against their tummies and making sure this tickled as much as possible.

The dyed blue archer charged towards. Tia glanced briefly at the struggling dyed pink archer, then used her foot to roll her over to the approaching archer. This caused the dyed blue archer to trip and fall. The dyed lime green archer standing behind Tia groaned at this and tried to grab Tia. Tia dropped to the ground and lied flat on her stomach, coiling rope around one of the archer’s ankles.

“That’s not happening!” the dyed lime green archer scowled, firing a feather arrow at Tia’s stomach. Tia rolled to one side, but she couldn’t completely evade the arrow, and it brushed against her side as it bounced off the ground.

“Hehehehehehe!” As Tia giggled from that, she tried to reach the archer’s other ankle, but thanks to the tickling she was a hair too slow and found herself restrained with an arm wrapped around her neck.

“ACK!” Tia gasped, struggling in the archer’s gasp.

“Tia’s caused too much problems lately. Been messing with tribe and bikers….no, just tribe too much. Chief not want to see Tia in pain, so sleep now,” the dyed lime green archer said, tightening her hold a little. Tia struggled in the archer’s grasp, then pulled out a piece of rope with two tied loops on either end had already been tied and tossed it over to Yomiko, who had subdued the dyed orange Tribal with her feather spear and was currently dealing with the dyed yellow Tribal, who was annoyed at the fact that she had let herself be tripped up by an outsider. As a result, this Tribal was moving swiftly and thrusting so fast that Yomiko couldn’t find an opening.

So when Yomiko saw the rope flying towards her it was practically a godsend. She grabbed it, wrapped one of the loops around the Tribal’s feather spear, and then threw the other end towards the Tribal so that the other loop wrapped around her neck.

“What?!” the Tribal shouted in shock as Yomiko tugged on the spear, forcing her opponent to fall forward and causing her thrust to miss Yomiko. Grinning, Yomiko closed the distance and began squeezing and prodding all over her opponent’s belly.

“Urk! Wahahahahaha?! Hohohohohow fihihihiHIHIHINGERS SO FAHAHAHAHAHAST?!” the dyed yellow Tribal screamed, trying to pull away from Yomiko’s fingers. But Yomiko grabbed the feather spear and gave it a sharp tug, once again forcing the Tribal to fall forward. She couldn’t escape from Yomiko and her awkward position made it impossible for her to use her feather spear to retaliate with tickles of her own. By the time she thought to use her free hand to fight back, she had already been overwhelmed by Yomiko’s tickle squeezes and was red-faced with laughter, only managing to get in a few clumsy, pitifully light tickles before falling over.

Having finished taking care of the three Tribal spear wielders she had been fighting, Machina noticed that Tia was in a bind. Retracting one of her electro-ticklers so that her hand reappeared, she grabbed the feather spear she had been using and chucked it in Tia’s direction. The feather spear wound up ramming the face of the Tribal holding Tia, causing that Tribal to let out a shout of pain as she dropped Tia. When Tia fell to the ground she finished what she had started, tying the other end of the rope to the Tribal’s other ankle, then shoving her to the ground.

“Tch!” the dyed lime green Tribal scowled, pulling another feather arrow out of her quiver, nocking it, and firing it at Tia. But Tia pushed the Tribal’s feet upward, and since the rope got pushed up along with them, it was now directly in the path of the feather arrow. As a result, the feather arrow hit the rope, which made a ‘twang’ sound as the arrow rebounded and hit the Tribal in the forehead.

“AGGH!” the dyed lime green Tribal shouted, rubbing her head in pain as Tia pulled out more rope. Before the Tribal could recover, Tia looped the rope around the Tribal’s wrists, forced her arms forward so they went in front of the rope that was wrapped around her ankles, and then tied another knot around that rope. Now the Tribal was in an awkward position where she was lying on her back with her legs and arms in midair, the rope around her arms having been tied to the rope around her ankles. She couldn’t lower her legs because her wrists were in the way, and she struggled to free herself while glaring angrily at Tia.

“This rope won’t hold forever, and once free be very….afraid….” the Tribal trailed off when Tia removed her moccasins, tossing them over her shoulder.

“Go on, Tia’s listening,” Tia grinned, wiggling her fingers in the air.

“Tia doesn’t have to-EEK! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOOOOOOO!” the Tribal screamed loudly the moment Tia’s fingers began rapidly scribbling up and down her soles. Try as she might, she couldn’t pull her feet away or move all that much in this peculiar position. And when Tia started scratching between her toes, she went ballistic.

Yomiko joined up with Machina, saw the tickling Tia was dishing out, and smiled. Machina picked up her feather spear, and the two of them headed past her and walked a few feet forward as they set their sights on, who observed Yomiko and Machina with her arms crossed. They gazed back at her, and this lasted for a few seconds before the duo rushed forward, with Machina thrusting her feather spear towards Ia’s left armpit while Yomiko swept her feather spear towards the Tribal’s torso.

“HAAAAAH!” In response, Ia deliberately trapped Machina’s feather spear between her arm and armpit, stifling a chuckle as she snapped Yomiko’s approaching feather spear with her palm, then proceeded to do the same to Machina’s just as the robot was trying to send electricity through the spear. Machina was momentarily shocked by this, but quickly grabbed the still faintly sparking spear shaft as it fell and poked Ia with it.

“Ghmmphehehe!” Ia let out a low chuckle from the sparse tickly jolts coming off the feather spear. Before Machina could electrify the spear shaft again to dish out some more serious tickles, Ia had knocked it away. Trying to stay on the offensive, Machina thrust her electro-tickler towards Ia, who dodged to her right and grabbed Machina’s arm, then pulled her closer, wrapping her in a choke hold.

“Not normal person, right? Only natural that Ia has to use extra force,” Ia said, tightening her hold as she slowly headed down to the ground, lying on her back.

“URK!” Machina struggled in Ia’s grasp, swinging her electro-tickler behind her. But Ia’s torso was just out of reach.

“Machina!” Yomiko shouted, trying to grab Ia’s ankles. But she was instead kicked sharply, causing her to fall to the ground as Ia’s legs wrapped around her neck.

“GAKH! HURKH?!” Yomiko grunted, grabbing Ia’s legs and trying to pry herself free. When that failed she tried reaching for her opponents’ moccasin covered feet, but that only made Ia tighten her hold. In a last ditch attempt, Yomiko squeezed and prodded the back of Ia’s knees and thighs, but that only got a few low chuckles out of her. It looked like she was only mildly ticklish on her legs.

“Quit struggling and give up. The sooner the better,” Ia smirked, confident that she had these two intruders on the ropes. But Tia had finished having her fun and rushed in, going for swift tickles on Ia’s tummy.

“URK! Humph….leave it to Tia to cahahahause more trouble for trihihihihibe!” Ia frowned, her tummy shifting a bit as she tried to maintain a good grip on Yomiko and Machina.

“Tia is guilty as charged~” Tia smirked, scribbling her fingers all over Ia’s belly and dipping her fingers into her belly button.

“GUH! WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Ia let out loud laughter when her belly button got tickled, and her grip slackened enough that Yomiko and Machina were able to slip out of her grasp and get a short distance away from her. Ia groaned, rubbing the spot that had been tickled while glaring at the two of them.

Tia rushed in and tried to send an already tied rope loop around Ia’s head, Ia evaded this, then scooped up and tickled Tia’s sides.

“EHEEHEEHEHEEK! IA NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Tia yelped, squealing and squirming in her grasp.

“Not so funny when it’s done to Tia riHIHIHIHIHIHIGHT?!” Ia taunted, but she was interrupted by an electric, ticklish sensation that made her drop Tia and pull away..

“Agreed. Which is why I’m going to make sure you’re the only one getting tickled,” Machina replied emotionlessly while gazing at Ia. She moved towards a scowling Ia and thrust the electro-tickler towards her left side again and again, managing to score a few ticklish blows. But Ia was able to quickly adapt, pulling Machina towards her and tickling her tummy.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Machina laughed while struggling furiously as Ia looked at her with amusement, until she felt some rapid, unwanted pokes on her belly button. Squealing and letting go of Machina, Ia was forced to take a few more of those pokes before grabbing Yomiko’s left arm in an armlock and tickling away at her armpit.

“EEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHA OH GOHOHOHOHOSH!” Yomiko yelped, trying and failing to escape this hold. Tia came to her aid, running up and delivering a few tickles to Ia’s belly button that made her shriek and once again forced her to release her opponent.

Yomiko’s group and Ia glared at each other while panting. It was three-on-one, yet given how quickly Ia recovered from their attacks and how good she was at tickle holds and grappling moves in general, it still looked like the match could swing either way.

As Ia took a step forward and prepared to be on the attacking side rather than the defending side this time around, a voice rang out.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” someone shouted, causing them to stop what they were doing as a group of spear wielding Tribals surrounded the trio. Squinting, Yomiko saw a figure about twenty paces away. Or rather, she saw what might’ve been a pink lock of hair twenty paces away in a tree looming over a lake, given how far away it was.

“AUNTIE!” Tia shouted happily.

Well, guess loud shouting runs in the family, Yomiko thought.

Tia’s shout was met with a few seconds of silence, then a loud sigh.

“ENOUGH SENSELESS FIGHTING! BRING THEM HERE!” the voice shouted, sounding somewhat more exasperated this time around.

Guess Tia’s a handful even for her, Yomiko mused.

“Yes Chief!” Ia nodded, giving one last glare at Tia. Giggling happily while grinning widely, Tia took cheerful steps as she and the others were taken to San Fran, with Ia at the lead and spear wielders flanking either side of them. After walking for a few minutes, they soon found themselves in front of San Fran. She had two Tribal spear wielders to her left and right as bodyguards. San Fran gave Ia a look, and Ia nodded and motioned to the Tribals flanking Yomiko’s group with a wave of her hand. The spear wielders dispersed to the left and right of Yomiko’s group and stood at attention, no longer closely guarding them. Ia also stood at the sidelines, wondering what would happen next.

San Fran had a face similar to Tia’s, though with a sharper jawline and narrow, gray eyes. Her body wasn’t as muscular as Ia’s and instead cut a perfect balance between slender and athletic, helped by the fact that she had pretty long limbs relative to the rest of the tribe. Her black hair was pointy at the fringes, which were dyed pink and red. She was wearing a pink ancestral bra that covered her ample chest, and the collar of this bra had a unique pattern that depicted a wolf with a body that seemed to be constantly changing between a normal wolf-like body and one where the wolf’s body looked like a cross between a fuzzy roller and a bristling hair brush. She had a quiver strapped on her back, and her bow was a short distance away. She had a red headband with three sparrow feathers underneath it, beige pants with a pattern of blue and red triangles that was the same as Tia’s, and light brown moccasins. Clipped to the left side of her hair was a gold colored hair clip with an ornate engraving of a Tribal chieftain ancestor.

“Tia. After leaving the tribe for a few months and causing all sorts of trouble, has nerve coming back,” San Fran frowned, speaking in the same stern, commanding tone that Tia had mentioned earlier.

“But Tia made sure to leave the Tribe before pulling her tricks! That way Auntie and the others wouldn’t be blamed!” Tia exclaimed, waving her arms.

Me and Machina both know that’s a lie, Yomiko thought. After all, Tia had personally admitted that the Laughing Lovelies’ decision to aggressively target her group was a happy accident that she hadn’t foreseen in the slightest. And yet San Fran’s eyes seemed to widen slightly, as though she partly believed it.

“…..That may be so, but Tia’s actions did still cause some problems with bikers for the tribe, including extra work hunting down slaves and extra loyalty promises. So San Fran has decided on the perfect punishment for-” San Fran paused when she saw the still sand-covered Machina march up to her. The spear wielders tried to block her by crossing their spears in front of her, but she shoved them out of the way and walked up to San Fran until their noses were practically touching.

“I’m using your lake,” Machina said flatly with an unamused frown.

“….What?” San Fran blinked in confusion. Machina ignored that though and walked past her towards the lake, then did the world’s most unenthusiastic cannonball as she jumped in the lake, sinking to the bottom. San Fran, Ia, Yomiko, Tia, and the rest of the Tribals all stared at the lake in surprise for a good while, until Yomiko finally broke the silence.

“She…..she’s been annoyed about being covered in dirt for a while now. So she’s taking care of that now,” Yomiko explained while still staring at the lake.

“San Fran sees….” San Fran nodded, staring at the lake as the waters began to stir slightly. Machina was likely washing herself off underwater.

“What was Auntie saying about punishing Tia?” Tia asked after a few more seconds had passed.

“…..Forget it. San Fran lost her train of thought completely,” San Fran sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Her stern tone from earlier had faltered somewhat as a result of Machina’s stunt. “Just explain why here, Tia.”

“Oh! Tia’s here to request the aid of Auntie and the rest of the tribe in finally putting a stop to those bad bikers!” Tia smiled cheerfully. This caused murmurs of discontent among the Tribals that were present.

“After all the trouble Tia caused, she thinks she has the right to petition us for help?” Ia frowned, voicing the complaints of the rest of the Tribals.

“Tia left tribe!” another Tribal frowned, which many Tribals voiced their disagreement at.

“T-Tia left so tribe wouldn’t be punished as bad, so there!” Tia frowned. This remark and the attitude accompanying it caused the complaints from the other Tribals to grow louder.

“ENOUGH!” San Fran shouted, stunning everyone into silence. Then she turned to her niece. “Tia has been messing with bikers from the sidelines, and it’s had no small effect on their plans. Tia may have left tribe, but her heart is that of a Tribal through and through. San Fran won’t have anyone say otherwise,” San Fran frowned, turning to each of the Tribals in turn with a sharp gaze that challenged them to say more. None of them did. Ia partly opened her mouth, but quickly shut up when San Fran’s gaze turned sharper. Nodding at that, San Fran’s gaze looked back at Tia.

“Still, San Fran is curious….why ask for San Fran and the tribe’s help now and not sooner? What makes Tia think this is the best time to strike?” San Fran asked, her gaze one that questioned Tia’s true intentions.

“Because Fighty Fronz are here!” Tia smiled, gesturing to Yomiko. This caused the Tribals to murmur loudly amongst each other in surprise as San Fran gazed at Yomiko.

“You’re Fighty Fronz?” San Fran asked while staring.

“It’s Fighting Fronds. But yes, I’m one of the members of that group. My name is Yomiko,” Yomiko said, giving a respectful bow. The Tribals gasped at that and murmured even more, while San Fran seemed pleasantly surprised by that gesture, muttering the name ‘Yomiko’ a few times to get the pronunciation right as she gathered her thoughts.

“San Fran sees that Yo….that Yomiko not disrespectful and rude like bikers. Although, that means Yomiko’s friend is also….” San Fran trailed off, looking back at the lake.

“She’s an honorary member of the group named Machina. She’s….a bit odd, but I trust her. And….this might sound corny, but I’m glad to have her as a friend,” Yomiko smiled. San Fran studied that response for a bit, then spoke.

“The famous heroes who liberated Hope City, Fighty Fronz,” San Fran said as Yomiko bit back the urge to correct her pronunciation of the group’s name. “….San Fran sees. So this is Tia’s reason for coming,” she said, turning to Tia

“Yup! Fighty Fronz have already been busy busting up baddie hideouts in this part of the country! The bandits, and the crazy clown! Any of the Tribals here heard anything about them lately?” Tia asked with a grin.

“Now that Tia mentions it….no, not really,” Ia said.

“Fighty Fronz are funny and silly and ticklish….” Tia said.

“That’s….well that’s not wrong but….” Yomiko frowned and blushed at those words.

“But they’re also brave and kind! They try their best to help people who are suffering! They came along with Tia to help out the tribe! And with Fighty Fronz help, we can launch an attack on mean biker leader!” Tia smirked proudly. Yomiko stared in surprise at that declaration, as did all the other Tribals. They turned to San Fran, who was contemplating all of this.

“What about Yomiko’s reason for requesting our help?” San Fran asked, gazing at Yomiko.

“Two members of the Fighting Fronds….and my best friends, Leona and Rally, were kidnapped by that biker person you’re after,” Yomiko said, causing the Tribals to gasp. “They got kidnapped while scouting out the Midwest for information on La Barriga. I’m partly asking for your help to rescue them, and partly to get revenge.” Yomiko explained.

“Does Yomiko have another reason?” San Fran asked.

“Yes. To finish what we started,” Yomiko said, gazing firmly at San Fran. “When I found out what La Barriga was up to, it disgusted me. I wanted to do everything in my power to stop her, and I still do. There are people….people on the council I’m a part of that would disagree with my decision to rush in. In fact, there’s one particular person who’s as stubborn as a mule and is constantly blocking me. But I can’t wait. Now is not the time to worry about handling things the right way. Now is the time to stop La Barriga and save as many people as possible, and on the front lines,” Yomiko concluded. San Fran nodded in approval at this response, and Tia gazed with wide-eyed wonder.

“Wow! To think Fighty Fronz is also like a spokesperson!” Tia exclaimed excitedly.

“Spokesperson? ….Ah, did I sound too much like a politician?” Yomiko asked, her cheeks reddening slightly with embarrassment. San Fran observed this response as well, then shook her head.

“No, that was well said. San Fran can see Yomiko has a big heart. Tia also seems to trust Yomiko. And Yomiko serious about this,” San Fran said.

“So does that mean…!” Tia grinned excitedly.

“But a big heart, Tia’s trust, and being serious isn’t enough. This is a big decision for San Fran, one that will change things for whole tribe. It can’t be made lightly. San Fran must see full extent of Yomiko’s resolve: in a tickle duel!” San Fran declared boldly, gazing at Yomiko with an intense, unwavering gaze befitting of a Tribal chief.

“But Auntieeeee!” Tia pouted.

“Don’t worry about it. I figured it would come down to this,” Yomiko smiled, patting Tia on the shoulder. Tia looked up at Yomiko in concern, but then gave a determined nod.

“Alright! Yo-mee-ko better win!” Tia said.

“I plan to….though I’d appreciate it if you got my name right,” Yomiko chuckled, turning as San Fran ordered her two body guards to take positions on the sidelines and to not interfere with this duel. Tia was also on the sidelines, hoping for Yomiko’s victory. Yomiko was asked to take fifteen paces away from San Fran to legitimize the duel, which Yomiko did.

“Alright. Are Yomiko and Chief ready?” Ia asked, looking between the two of them. Yomiko had a relaxed fighting stance, her knees bent slightly in preparation to charge forward. San Fran gazed sharply at Yomiko. Her quiver was still on her back, but her bow was on the ground in front of her. That was probably to make the duel more fair, though San Fran would probably be able to start firing pretty quickly even with that minor handicap.

“Very well…..begin!” Ia shouted. Yomiko sprang forward and began charging towards San Fran, who quickly dropped to the ground on her back and grabbed her bow. Nocking three feather arrows, San Fran fired them at angle, the arrows aiming at Yomiko’s right leg, stomach, and left armpit.

“Guh!” Yomiko quickly sidestepped while swinging her arm away. This ensured the feather arrows aiming at her armpit and stomach missed, but the one aiming at her right leg rebounded off the ground, hitting her right ankle at an angle that made her trip while also knocking her slipper away. San Fran rose to a standing position and nocked three more arrows.

Scowling, Yomiko stood up and began running once more, but having one slipper on and one off made her movement slower. Three more arrows were fired, with two heading for her legs and one heading between them in the hopes of making her trip if she tried to sidestep again. It was a perfect, unavoidable technique. Which is why what Yomiko did next surprised them.

“YAH!” Yomiko gave a short hop while tucking her bare right foot inwards and kicking with her left foot. Moving her right foot away helped her avoid one of the feather arrows, which soared just slightly underneath it. Her kick knocked another one of the feather arrows harmlessly away, and she had deliberately swung her foot in a motion that would make her other slipper come off. That slipper hit the last remaining feather arrow at an angle that caused it to fly rapidly towards San Fran’s belly button. San Fran sidestepped this, but the feather arrow still managed to brush across tummy and right side before falling into the lake behind her.

“Heeheehee! Not bad!” San Fran nodded, chuckling a bit from the tickles as she nocked three more arrows.

“Got you now,” a voice behind her said. San Fran turned around in surprise to see Machina partly in the water and clutching the feather arrow that had just hit San Fran in one hand, her electro-tickler pressed against the shaft.

San Fran wasn’t close enough for Machina to reach her, but she was close enough for her to reach her if she used the feather arrow for extra reach. Machina’s plan was to electrify the feather arrow, then thrust it to deliver very powerful tickles to San Fran with it.

“Electric Shock!”

“Wait Machina you’re still….!”

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA?!”

“….in the water….” Yomiko trailed off. After laughing wildly from her blunder—which caused ticklish electricity to course throughout her whole body—Machina had a silly smile plastered to her face and her eyes rolled in the back of her head. Then she fell back into the lake, likely sinking to the bottom. Yomiko sighed at that. As for San Fran….

“Pfft!”

….she held her sides as her shoulders shook, trying hard not to laugh. She had relaxed her bow arm as a result, and Yomiko took the chance to close the distance.

“Hm!” When there were only five paces between the two of them, San Fran took aim and fired, the arrows heading for Yomiko’s left and right armpits as well as her neck. Yomiko was able to sidestep and knock away one of the feather arrows, but she couldn’t evade all three at this distance, and one of them brushed along her right armpit.

“EHEEHEEHEHEEHEEK!” Yomiko recoiled from that sensation, pulling away and clamping her right arm against her armpit. San Fran took this chance to kick off one of the trees and climb up to one of the higher branches overlooking the lake.

“Fighty Fronz sure are strange, but San Fran doesn’t mind!” San Fran declared, grinning in amusement as she knocked three more arrows, once again aiming for Yomiko’s armpits. As Yomiko headed towards the tree, she rolled along the ground, her feet facing straight towards the sky at one point during this motion. This caused the feather arrows to graze her feet instead, and although this tickled a great deal and made her shriek and fall on her stomach for a moment, her quick action had at least kept the feather arrows away from her armpits. Yomiko leapt to one of the low branches as San Fran nocked three more feather arrows, which hit the branch.

“Urk! GNNGHEHEHE?!” One of the feather arrows brushed along the top of Yomiko’s foot, almost causing her to lose her balance. She stabilized herself by bending her knees and curling her toes against the branch, then leapt to the next one as San Fran nocked and fired three more arrows. She leaped from branch to branch, and was soon just one big leap away from the branch San Fran was on. As she leapt towards that branch, San Fran took three arrows from her quiver, nocked them, and fired, all with motion more fluid than any she had shown previously.

She can fire that fast?! Yomiko had more than a few complaints about how absurd that was, but she didn’t lose heart from this attack. The arrows tried to catch her mid-leap, but Yomiko kicked one foot off the tree trunk while she was in midair, allowing her to awkwardly adjust her position and come at the branch from a low angle. San Fran stared in surprise as Yomiko’s left leg managed to wrap around the branch, followed by her right leg which crossed over its neighbor. Yomiko was hanging upside down from the branch by her legs.

“Woooow!” Tia exclaimed in awe and delight. The other Tribals were shocked that this outsider had managed to pull a stunt like that, and San Fran was both surprised and impressed.

“Yomiko may very well be Tribal from another mother with those moves. But, as Yomiko is surely aware, these feet are ticklish,” San Fran smirked, pulling a feather arrow from her quiver and beginning to brush it along Yomiko’s feet.

“EEEEEP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Yomiko threw her head back in laughter, her feet unable to move all that much in this position. Not if she wanted to hang on to the branch anyways.

“Oh no! Yo-mee-ko!” Tia gasped. The other Tribals, who had previously been anxious, now smirked and felt assured of their chief’s victory.

“Let go and the tickling will stop,” San Fran smirked. Yomiko’s laughter was a treat for her ears and she wanted to hear more, so she began sawing the feather arrow between Yomiko’s toes, doing it at an angle that allowed her get between the gaps of both feet.

“UWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Yomiko clutched her head and let out her loudest screams yet, going absolutely nuts from this. But then she suddenly swung up and began pressing her palms against the branch, striking it rapidly in different spots.

“Woah!” San Fran gasped in surprise, staggering from this as the branch began to shake violently.

“How is that outsider managing to shake the branch as much as Tribal can with only her palms?!” one of the Tribals shouted in shock.

“Even if that outsider’s Fighty Fronz, it makes no sense!” Ia shouted. Tia looked at them, then looked up at the branch expectantly.

Yomiko was using her knowledge of pressure points to strike specific parts of the branch in an almost rhythmic sequence, causing it to shake more and more. Of course, San Fran still tickled her viciously this entire time, causing her right leg to slip. Soon enough, her left leg also started to slip, so she employed herself more strongly to the task of making her opponent fall. Before her left leg could slip completely she reached up with her left hand and gripped the tree branch, then gave one very powerful palm strike to the branch.

“Woooah!” San Fran finally fell, her bow and feather arrow falling from her hands, as well as all the feather arrows from her quiver. As the feathers fell from the quiver Yomiko swung her legs around and grabbed one, stifled a giggle from the feathery parts brushing up against her feet, then swung her legs while releasing it from her grasp. As it soared upwards Yomiko adjusted her position on the branch so that she was facing San Fran with her right hand holding onto the branch, then grabbed the feather arrow with her left hand as it fell.

“So this is Yomiko’s resolve….or perhaps Yomiko just really wants to tickle San Fran?” San Fran teased with a wink. She was in the same position Yomiko had been in previously: upside down with her legs wrapped around the branch, with one of her moccasins having fallen off. Yet she still seemed pretty relaxed in spite of that.

“Um….that’s only partly true….” Yomiko said, looking away with an embarrassed blush.

“But San Fran is no stranger to fighting in a position like this!” San Fran declared with an intense shout, extending her right arm and dragging her fingers against Yomiko’s right armpit in a swift scratching motion.

“GYAAH! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” In response, Yomiko extended her left arm that was holding the feather arrow and began brushing it against San Fran’s exposed sole.

“Ulp! Ohohohohoho, so thahahahahat’s where Yomiko strihihihihikes!” San Fran laughed. From how her foot flexed and scrunched a lot just from those first few swipes, the Tribal chief had a pretty ticklish pair on her.

“But San Fran’s feet aren’t as ticklish as Yomiko’s armpit so-”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOT YEHEHEHEHEHET!” San Fran’s confident smirk faded upon hearing Yomiko’s words. What did she mean by ‘not yet’?

Well it was quite simple, really. Yomiko was making use of her Ten Ticklish Strikes technique, only using a feather arrow this time. Because of this and because she was being tickled on her sensitive armpit, it took a bit longer to take effect. Still, she kept her focus and continued sweeping and thrusting the feather arrow at the pressure points, her course not deviating all that much despite the tickles. And eventually….

“GHMMPH?!”

….she had fully awakened the nerves in her opponent’s foot, allowing the tickles to have a much more staggering effect on the Tribal chief.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HOW DID YOMIKO DOOHOOHOOHOO THAHAHAHAHAHAT?!” San Fran shouted, digging at the center of Yomiko’s armpit with even more vigor.

“HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE NOT TEHEHEHEHEHELLING!” Yomiko shook her head, moving the feather arrow towards San Fran’s toes and slipping it between them, getting a very loud squeal out of her. It didn’t take long for the two of them to turn red-faced and teary eyed, and their grip on the branch was starting to slip. But neither of them wanted to surrender this match.

“Go Yo-mee-ko, go!” Tia cheered. She and the other Tribals couldn’t look away, curious to see how this tickle fight would turn out.

“GIVE UHUHUHUHUHUP! YOMIKO CAN’T WIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIN!” San Fran shouted amidst her laughter.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA SOUNDS HEEHEEHEHEEHEE LIKE YOU’RE WORRIED I’LL WIHIHIHIHIHIN!” Yomiko shot back. The laughter of these two soared to greater heights, creating a beautiful sound as their grip continued to slip bit by bit….

Meanwhile, Machina had pulled herself out of the lake.

“That was a grave error. One which I will not repeat,” Machina muttered to herself in her usual tone of voice.

“AAAAAH!”

Machina heard a shout followed by a splash, and when she turned around she saw San Fran splash into the water.

“Well well. Looks like I’ve been given a chance to rectify my previous failure.” Machina said, reaching for a nearby feather arrow with one hand as she pressed it against the top of the lake, moving her electro-tickler towards the shaft.

“Electric Sho….”

“Wait Machina, I’m still in the lake!” Yomiko shouted as she rose up from the lake, waving her hands anxiously as she spoke rapidly. “And you’re still covered in-!”

“…ck!” But Machina had already executed her attack, sending powerful jolts of ticklish electricity that filled the whole lake and naturally made Yomiko and San Fran laugh like maniacs. And since Machina wasn’t dry, her attack backfired on her as well.

“““WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”””

After a couple of seconds of them laughing like this, Yomiko, San Fran, and Machina all had silly smiles on their faces with their eyes rolled in the back of their heads. Yomiko and San Fran fell backwards and sunk below the depths, while Machina dropped the feather arrow as her body pitched forward, careening into the lake as well.

The Tribals all stared in silence. Of all the ways the fight could’ve concluded, this was not one they had anticipated. It was honestly rather anticlimactic. After a few seconds of this, Ia realized something and let out a shout.

“We have to help Chief! And Yo-mee-ko! They could drown!” Ia shouted.

“What about Ma-key-na?” Tia asked.

“What about Ma-key-na?” Ia replied with an unamused frown. That stunned Tia into silence as Ia gave out more orders. “Crazy robot girl can stay underwater no problem! Yo-mee-ko and Chief can’t! They have to be saved no matter what!” Ia shouted. With that, she and the other Tribals got into action. Ia and a few Tribals dove into the lake while a couple others surrounded the perimeter and stuck their feather spears in the lake so they could use them to pull up the diving brigade.

“I’m really sorry about what Machina did. Her heart is in the right place even if she’s not that bright,” Yomiko said. She was drenched and kneeled on the ground while apologizing on Machina’s behalf a few minutes after they had been rescued.

“I don’t have a heart,” Machina said matter-of-factly, causing Yomiko to groan.

“It’s quite alright. Though San Fran found it more than a little shocking,” San Fran said, making a pun as some Tribals returned with towels, helping dry off their chief as well as Yomiko and Machina.

“Super shocking! Tia was shocked by Yo-mee-ko fighting upside down and shocked by Yo-mee-ko fighting right-side up and shocked by the shocking!” Tia exclaimed, talking in a rapid-fire way as her arms flapped up and down excitedly. Yomiko chuckled at that, then turned to San Fran.

“I know that duel didn’t have a proper winner, but I’d appreciate it if you helped us,” Yomiko said to San Fran.

“I’d appreciate it even more if you released all those tickle slaves,” Machina said in a cold tone. Which wasn’t all that different from her usual voice.

“Pleeeeease Auntie?” Tia asked with puppy dog eyes. Machina’s robotic stare greatly diminished the effect that would have on San Fran, but she chuckled and shook her head.

“San Fran agrees that fight ended strangely, but San Fran will agree to Yomiko’s demands,” San Fran smiled.

“You will?!” Yomiko asked in shock.

“What about the tickle slaves?” Machina asked, pressing San Fran for an answer.

“Yes, San Fran will release them too. And to the winner go the spoils~” San Fran smirked, giving a look to the Tribals. They realized what their chief had in mind, and then seized her, Yomiko, and Machina while grinning broadly.

“Ah! W-What’s going on?” Yomiko gasped.

“Yeah Auntie, explain!” Tia frowned with her hands on her hips.

“She’s choosing not to honor her part of deal,” Machina said, glaring at San Fran. But that didn’t explain why the Tribals were taking their chief as well.

“It’s nothing like that. San Fran meant what she said: to winner goes the spoils. And who does Yomiko think winner is?” San Fran asked coyly.

“You, me, and Machina all passed out. So that just leaves….” Yomiko trailed off, looking at Tia. The two of them gasped in realization, with Tia’s eyes turning wide with delight while Yomiko’s turned wide with horror.

“Oh no. Come on, she already tickled me!” Yomiko frowned, squirming anxiously in the grasp of the Tribals holding her arms but too tired to resist.

“San Fran figured as much. And Yomiko is about to be tickled even more~” San Fran grinned impishly.

“…..You really are like Tia, in that you’re both trouble!” Yomiko pouted, earning a hearty laugh from San Fran and Tia.

“Ahahahaha, oh Yomiko is very funny!” San Fran grinned, causing Yomiko to sulk. Eventually they were brought to a place with some crudely constructed wooden chairs that had vines draped over them. Near these chairs were what looked like primitive, crank-able wooden feather wheels, loaded with feathers of all kinds. San Fran was restrained to one of the chairs, with the vines wrapped around her wrists, ankles, and torso. Yomiko and Machina followed soon after, restrained in the same manner. Yomiko was in the center chair, and Machina and San Fran were to her left and right.

San Fran willingly accepting a tickle punishment was not something Yomiko or Machina had expected, and neither of them were thrilled about being tied down and tickled.

“My energy isn’t fully restored, but it’s more than enough for me to use another Electric Shock and escape,” Machina said, glaring at the Tribals as San Fran’s other moccasin was removed.

“Don’t. The chair’s wooden so you’ll just shock yourself again,” Yomiko frowned at her. Then she stifled a giggle when the Tribals began cranking the feather wheels. This cause the feathers to brush slowly and infrequently against her feet, but it was still enough to tickle.

“Ulp! Hehehehehe!” Yomiko giggled from this, and she could see that San Fran and Machina were also giggling when she looked to her left and right. Eventually, the feather wheels were cranked all the way, and the Tribals holding the levers let go, causing the feather wheels to spin rapidly against their soles.

“““AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!””” Naturally, this got Machina and Yomiko laughing loudly, and thanks to the effects of the Ten Ticklish Strikes from earlier, it even got San Fran screaming.

“Oooh, Tia doesn’t think Auntie’s ever laughed this loudly from foot tickles!” Tia giggled, watching their ticklish reactions and the three pairs of wiggling feet with delight.

Yomiko’s feet were slender, with long toes, smooth balls, and high arches. As the feathers spun against them, they paddled about frantically.

Machina’s feet were medium-sized, with round toes, flat balls and arches, and somewhat squishy heels. While she was happy to have not been planted in the dirt again, she was clearly not thrilled about being tickled judging by how much her feet kicked and shook against the vines.

And then there was San Fran. Her feet were a slender size 9, her soles a lighter color than the tops of her feet. Her toes were long much like Yomiko’s, but she had curvy balls, deep arches and smooth heels. The Tribal chief’s feet were adorned with beautiful wrinkles that left ripples along her feet as they flexed and squirmed. And boy did they squirm, darting sharply to the left and right and kicking every now and then. They didn’t struggle as much as Machina’s feet did though. This was her suggestion after all, and she was more than willing to take it, even if it was having a stronger effect that she was used to.

“Who should Tia tickle…..” Tia mused, gazing from left to right at the three of them. After giving it some thought, she grinned.

“Tia will tickle robot girl!” she said cheerfully. That got Machina to give her a hard glare.

“DON’T YOU DAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHARE!” Machina shouted. Though her angry glare was quickly replaced by a forced smile of ticklish mirth as laughter continued to explode from her lips.

“Ia can help tickle Auntie. The other Tribals can tickle other spots on all three!” Tia grinned proudly.

“Well that sounds alright by Ia! …..And Tia?” Ia said.

“Yes?” Tia asked.

“Welcome back to the tribe. Ia said some hurtful things, but missed you,” Ia said apologetically. Tia’s eyes widened at that, but she soon smiled

“Tia forgives Ia!” Tia said happily.

“Ia appreciates that,” Ia smiled.

“Tia will forgive Ia even more after giving tickle payback!” Tia replied, her smile growing wider.

“O-Oh….” Ia froze, feeling uneasy now.

“But enough of that! Right now, tickle Auntie!” Tia ordered.

“G-Got it!” Ia nodded, hoping Tia would forget about that in a few hours time as she went over to San Fran and began wiggling her fingers against her toned stomach.

“GUH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH GOHOHOHOHOHOSH!” San Fran shrieked, her laughter doubling in volume as her back arced from the chair, bouncing up and down in her seat.

“All Tribals know how ticklish this area is, Chief~” Ia teased. A couple more Tribals surrounded San Fran and began scribbling their fingers against her tummy, causing her screams to turn into a fit of wild howling and cackling. Yomiko watched this with amusement as she laughed, then froze when two shadows loomed over her. Peering to her right, she saw a Tribal holding a feather spear, smirking and stroking the soft part of the weapon. Judging by the sounds coming from her left, she could tell that the Tribal standing there was doing the same with her feather spear. The spear wielder Yomiko was facing spoke.

“From Yo-mee-ko’s battle with Chief, armpits are worst spot right~?” the Tribal spear wielder said with a devious smirk.

“P-Please DOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Yomiko threw her head back in laughter and let out a wild scream, then shook her head from side to side.

“Chief said Yo-mee-ko wouldn’t lose to Tribals in terms of agility,” one of the spear wielders smirked.

“But Yo-mee-ko also wouldn’t lose in terms of big laughs!” the other spear wielder snickered. The two of them were feathering her armpits in circles, but that alone was enough to leave her in hysterics.

As Machina continued to grumble, laugh, and struggle against the feather wheels spinning rapidly against her soles, she saw Tia heading over to her with a cheeky grin.

“YOU’D BEHEHEHEHEHETTER-NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIY?!” Machina screamed, her eyes shooting wide open when she felt fingers scribbling against her tummy.

“When Tia found out Ma-key-na was robot, Tia wanted to give this a try! But wooooow….Machina’s tummy is really ticklish huh?” Tia smirked slyly.

“WHY YOU LIHIHIHIHIHIHITTLE-GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Machina glared daggers at Tia, but reeled back when she felt the fingers of many more Tribals tickling away at her tummy. The robot girl began thrashing more desperately, her torso twisting from one side to the next. But she couldn’t escape their tickles, and Yomiko’s earlier warning made her hesitant to use her Electric Shock.

In just a few minutes, many more Tribals were tickling their bodies so that the bellies, armpits, thighs, and knees of all three were given plenty of ticklish attention.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THIS TICKLES SO MUAHAHAHAHAHACH!” San Fran shrieked.

“EHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE NO MOHOHOHOHOHOHORE!” Yomiko squealed.

“EYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA MAKE IT STOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!” Machina screamed.

By now all three of them had tears streaming down their bright red cheeks, and they were all squirming and laughing uncontrollably. It seemed like this madness would never end. But after a few more seconds, the crank-able feather wheels finally stopped spinning, and the other Tribals took this as a signal to stop.

“Phew….it’s over,” Yomiko sighed, leaning her head against the back of the chair while panting heavily.

“This is only….the beginning….Yomiko,” San Fran said, smiling at Yomiko.

“Eh?” Yomiko froze, her head immediately turning towards the Tribal Chief.

“Oh yes. San Fran deserves much more punishment for her actions. This will continue until all pass out,” San Fran smirked. Though she was panting, she had a relaxed smile and looked like she could probably take more of this. In other words, this would probably go on for a very long time.

The absurdity of these two Fighting Fronds having to take even more of the punishment that should’ve exclusively been San Fran’s was something that Yomiko was too exasperated to point out.

“Yomiko?” Machina said.

“Yes?” Yomiko asked, turning to Machina.

“I hate this,” Machina said flatly.

“….Yeah,” Yomiko sighed, turning away. The two of them tensed up, and braced themselves for the inevitable.

When they eventually passed out a few hours later, Yomiko and Machina woke up in the hut of one of the Tribals. They heard laughter and peered outside, where they saw Ia in one of those restraint chairs being tickled on her tummy by Tia. After watching this for a few minutes, San Fran swung by.

“How do Yomiko and Ma….Ma-key-na feel?” San Fran asked with a smile. She had practiced Yomiko’s name a few times earlier prior to their fight but hadn’t done the same for Machina’s name, causing the robot girl to sulk.

“Terrible,” Machina said bluntly as her eyes narrowed.

“Better now that’s it over,” Yomiko quickly added while shooting Machina a brief glare, causing San Fran to chuckle.

“Yomiko and Ma-key-na’s clothes are still soaked. San Fran prepared Tribal clothing for both, so we can dry current clothing,” San Fran smiled.

“My clothing doesn’t need to be dried. It is swimwear, after all,” Machina frowned.

“San Fran sees….in that case, San Fran will tell Tia that Ma-key-na wants to be put in dirt ag-”

“I’ll change.” Machina said quickly. Surprised that her little joke worked, San Fran grinned and left the hut, giving them time to change. After a few moments, they exited the hut and gave their clothes to San Fran, who smiled and gazed at the two of them.

Machina was wearing a yellow ancestral bra and yellow pants with a yellow and with triangle pattern near the top and bottom. She had neglected to put on the moccasins San Fran had provided, and looked slightly annoyed. As for Yomiko, she was wearing an orange ancestral bra, orange pants with an orange and red triangle pattern near the top and bottom, and brown moccasins. Her eyes were darting back and forth as she looked at San Fran with a slightly embarrassed blush.

“Yomiko’s perfect,” San Fran said, smiling brightly at the sight of her.

“Ah….y-you really think so?” Yomiko asked, looking away bashfully.

“Mhmm,” San Fran nodded, walking up to Yomiko as she pulled out a necklace with a lizard on it and wrapped it around Yomiko’s neck, then pulled out a green headband and wrapped it around Yomiko’s head, placing three canary feathers underneath it.

“That necklace and that headband belonged to Tia’s mother, who’s been long dead.”

“…..Tia told me about that.”

“Would want Yomiko to wear them. Yomiko has true and skills of a Tribal, and now true appearance too,” San Fran smiled.

“I…..thank you,” Yomiko said, unsure of what to say. Still, the gift was deeply touching.

“San Fran and other Tribals will help Fighty Fronz on their journey. Will take a day or two to prepare though,” San Fran smiled.

“Got it,” Yomiko nodded.

“And the slaves?” Machina asked in a stern yet emotionless tone.

“Ah…..yes. Will take a few days or week to prepare in that case,” San Fran smiled.

“….You forgot until I brought it up just now, didn’t you?” Machina frowned.

“No,” San Fran said immediately, her smile faltering. It seemed like she had remembered something, because when she locked eyes with Yomiko her smile turned into a nervous one.

“….You’ve remembered what you did to my friends, right?” Yomiko frowned.

“Yomiko, San Fran-”

“It’s okay. I heard you mainly tickled them out of excitement rather than malicious intent. Who knows, maybe they wound up enjoying it a little,” Yomiko smiled. Those words caused San Fran to start starting at the hut behind Yomiko rather than looking at her directly.

“…..They hated every second of it, right?” Machina asked.

“Mhmm.” San Fran nodded, still staring at the hut. Yomiko let out a long sigh at that.

“Well, whatever. You’ve already been punished for that, so it’s fine,” Yomiko shrugged.

“There is something else,” San Fran said reluctantly, reaching in her pockets and pulling out a small device that looked like a touchpad. While wondering why taking that out would fill San Fran with dread, Yomiko hit upon the answer.

“Let me guess, that device contains a recording of what you did to Leona and Rally, complete with a message from La Barriga taunting me again,” Yomiko said with an unamused look.

“San Fran is deeply sorry. Here,” San Fran said, handing the touch pad to Yomiko. Yomiko then handed it to Machina, who fried its circuits with one of her electro-ticklers.

“Ah….” San Fran stared at that, then at Yomiko, who was smiling.

“Like I said, it’s fine. So long as you never do it again,” Yomiko said, still smiling. Though her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“S….San Fran will keep that in mind,” San Fran said, bowing a few times before leaving.

Later in the day, Cali and the other scouts that Tia, Yomiko, and Machina had tickled would show up scowling, likely having been rescued after Tia told San Fran where they were. The non-Tribals who had been tickled relentlessly had been released, with some of them sitting and smiling nervously as Tribals handed them food to eat, while others were brazen enough to dish out payback on their former captors and ticklers. Yomiko herself would wind up eating the berries and other fruits the Tribals had foraged and bathing in the lake that night. It was different from what she was used to, yet oddly enjoyable. Naturally, Machina had no need to eat, so she didn’t.

That night, Tia poked her head inside their hut.

“Is Tia interrupting anything?” Tia asked.

“No, you can come in,” Yomiko smiled. Tia headed inside the hut and sat down.

“Auntie said that everyone’s heading out in a few days. And Tia wants to join Yo-mee-ko!” Tia smiled.

“Hm? Well yeah, you and the others will be helping us fight the bikers off so we can get inside their hideout,” Yomiko said with a puzzled expression.

“No no no, Tia wants to join Yo-mee-ko! As in become Fighty Fronz!” Tia shook her head.

“I don’t like it,” Machina said immediately.

“Ssh. Are you sure Tia? We’ll be confronting the leader of those bikers, and eventually fighting La Barriga. Things will get a lot more dangerous than what you and your friends have been up to,” Yomiko said, giving Tia a concerned look.

“Tia knows! But Tia wants to join anyways!” Tia exclaimed. Yomiko gazed at Tia for a few seconds, then nodded.

“Very well.”

“Yomiko….” Machina frowned.

“Tia’s pretty skilled. Having her join us could be a big help,” Yomiko explained.

“So does that mean….?” Tia asked expectantly.

“Welcome to the Fighting Fronds. If you learn how to say the name right, you might just become more than an honorary member,” Yomiko smiled.

“YES!” Tia shouted, running around happily. Yomiko could tell Machina still had misgivings about it, but the robot had decided not to voice them.

Soon they would set their sights on the biker responsible for capturing Yomiko’s friends. And she couldn’t wait to make her pay.

Chapter Text

A few days before Yomiko, Machina, Tia, and the rest of her tribe set off to confront the Laughing Lovelies, three pick-up trucks rolled by, kicking up dirt as they parked a short distance from where the Tribe was. San Fran, Ia, and some of the other Tribals frowned at that, with some of them pulling out feather spears and arrows while the unexpected visitors with hostility. But when Tia saw who was climbing out of one of the trucks, she squealed.

“It’s the big lady Tia talked about! The lady who helped Tia save all those tickle slaves!” Tia exclaimed excitedly, running past the guarded Tribals and heading up to the truck.

“Tia!” San Fran called after her. Yomiko and Machina exchanged glances, then ran after Tia, who was running up to the large girl that had come out of one of the truck.

“Big nice lady!” Tia grinned, leaping towards the girl.

“Woah! You’re….that Tribal girl I teamed up with before. Tia, right?” the girl asked with a raised eyebrow, catching Tia and setting her down.

“Yup!” Tia nodded with a smile.

“Heh. Glad to see you’re still doing alright,” the girl grinned. Yomiko and Machina soon caught up to Tia.

“So this is….” Yomiko trailed off, she and Machina’s eyes widening from the sheer size of the girl in front of them.

“This is lady Tia was talking about! Big lady with big heart and bigger feet!” Tia grinned.

“They’re not that big,” the girl, who couldn’t be anyone else but Queenie, murmured with slight embarrassment while scratching her cheek. Then she smiled at Yomiko and Machina. “I take it you two are friends of Tia’s, right? Thanks for sticking up for her. The name’s Queenie. ….Heh, kinda surprising getting to talk to the Fighting Fronds.”

“….You’re welcome,” Machina replied emotionlessly, still staring.

“You……know who we are?” Yomiko asked, only half-registering Queenie remark since she couldn’t stop staring.

“These days, who doesn’t?” Queenie grinned. Standing at a height of 6’4 with broad, muscular arms, Queenie smiled as her allies began climbing out of their trucks. She was a redhead with wavy, shoulder-length hair that partly draped over the right side of her face. She had blue eyes and a scar on her left cheek. A dark purple tank top covered her ample chest, and she wore it underneath a brown trench coat that she had tossed on the driver’s seat. She was also wearing navy blue pants, and two large Dolce Vita style western boots.

“Tia can’t just run up to outsiders!” San Fran frowned, turning to Tia with a scowl after running up to her. Then she turned to Queenie and craned her neck upwards.

“Woah….” San Fran stared.

“Woah is right. Tia told me you’d turned into a hard-headed person who shouts and barks orders, so I’m surprised to see that you’re not as scary as she claimed. ….Does that mean you’ve changed your mind?” Queenie asked.

“….Tia, what have you been telling big lady about San Fran?” San Fran frowned at Tia.

“Nothing that wasn’t true at the time!” Tia said, backing up with a nervous smile.

“It’s nice meeting you! I’m Yomiko and this is Machina! So, what made you decide to stop by?” Yomiko replied while talking rapidly and stiffly, trying to cover for Tia.

“Me and my girls have been scouting out the territories of the various tribes to see when and where tickle slaves would be brought in and taken away. Helps with tickling the Lovelies into submission and busting their trucks open to rescue people,” Queenie shrugged.

“When my girls were scouting this tribe’s encampment at night, they told me that there were no sounds of laughter except for those coming from Tribals. They also me that the heavy air around this encampment had mysteriously disappeared.”

“To be able to spy on Tribals without Tribals knowing…..big lady must have reliable friends,” San Fran said with surprise.

“Well, my scouts couldn’t risk getting close enough to spy on you without blowing their cover, which is why I’m surprised to see that you’re on board. Given the things Tia told me, I thought she was gonna overthrow you and become the new tribal chief or something,” Queenie grinned. Those words caused San Fran to glare sharply at Tia, who turned away and stared at a rock while sweating bullets.

“Hahaha! I guess what she told me about you holds somewhat true at least,” Queenie laughed.

“The scouts also told me about you two,” she said as she turned to Yomiko and Machina. “Given your bounties, I figured you had something to do with the encampment’s more cheerful vibe and the lack of tickle slaves,” she grinned.

“Wait, we have bounties?” Yomiko asked, feeling somewhat worried about that.

“Yup. Mine’s bigger though,” Queenie smirked smugly.

“For now.” Machina added emotionlessly, though with a slightly combative edge to her voice.

“Oho. I like that attitude,” Queenie smirked, gazing at Machina as Machina gazed back at her. Neither of them backed down.

“Does your group of questionable character have a name?” Machina asked with a frown.

“Questionable character…..ouch. My team name isn’t as catchy as ‘Fighting Fronds’. We’re just called the Renegades,” Queenie smirked, pointing behind her with her thumb. Some of the girls behind her had leather jackets, some had their hair dyed, some wore blue or black shorts, and some wore boots much like Queenie’s in different colors or wore black or green hiking boots. But all of them wore tank tops and looked like they’d been in their fair share of tickle fights.

“The Renegades….I like it,” Yomiko smiled.

“Thanks,” Queenie grinned.

“So, big lady-” San Fran began.

“The name’s Queenie,” Queenie corrected.

“….Queenie. San Fran still hasn’t heard what made you decide to stop by,” San Fran said.

“Right. Well, it’s because-”

“Wait.” Machina frowned, turning to San Fran and pointing at Yomiko.

“What’s her name?” Machina asked.

“Yomiko.” San Fran replied.

“What’s her name?” Machina asked, pointing to Queenie.

“Queenie.” San Fran replied, feeling puzzled.

“What’s my name?” Machina asked, pointing to herself.

“Ma-key-na.” San Fran said, raising a brow in confusion. Machina’s brow briefly furrowed at that.

“I see. That’s all I wish to confirm,” Machina said, crossing her arms, closing her eyes, and nodding. Yomiko, Tia, San Fran, and Queenie all stared at that. Then Queenie snickered.

“You’re mad that she got my name right in one try and still can’t get a handle on yours, right?” Queenie smirked.

“Of course not,” Machina replied, a slight frown appearing on her face.

“Hey, boss! Quit wasting time and get down to business already!” one of the Renegades called from behind her.

“Yeah yeah, I was getting to it,” Queenie called behind her with a slight frown. She turned back to Tia and the others and gazed at them in turn, then grinned.

“Wanna team up?”

“So basically, the moment your scouts told you that the situation in this tribe had changed, you immediately decided to try to form an alliance with them the following day? Don’t you think that’s bit hasty?” Yomiko said with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe. But sitting around doing nothing isn’t my thing. I’d rather take action then wait around. Chances like this don’t come around often after all,” Queenie shrugged with a grin, her allies sharing similar sentiments judging by their smiles.

Yomiko, Machina, Tia, San Fran, Ia, Queenie, and several Tribals and members of the Renegades were sitting cross-legged in the Tribal encampment while chatting amongst themselves.

That attitude and that grin on Queenie’s face were something quite familiar to Yomiko.

She’s like Leona. Though she’s bigger and more muscular, Yomiko thought.

“So, Queenie wishes to team up with tribe and Fighty Fronz to stop the bikers, correct?” San Fran asked.

“That sums it up, yeah,” Queenie smiled.

“Tia trusts Queenie, and Queenie seems like nice lady. But San Fran does not,” San Fran said, narrowing her eyes.

“Neither do I,” Machina said.

“Come on, are you holding a grudge against her or something?” Yomiko frowned at Machina.

“If Queenie wants to earn San Fran’s trust, tell story,” San Fran said.

“Tell….story?” Queenie tilted her head.

“Queenie’s story. Story of Reney-gaades. If San Fran satisfied, San Fran will work with Queenie,” San Fran said, gazing firmly at Queenie.

“Auntie, come on! Nice big lady-”

“Queenie.” San Fran corrected.

“Queenie can be trusted!” Tia frowned. But San Fran ignored Tia and continued glaring at Queenie, waiting for her to speak. To Yomiko’s surprise, Queenie stiffened a little as San Fran pressed her, looking somewhat hurt and reluctant to say more. Her fellow Renegades also rubbed their arms and looked away awkwardly, some of them looking sadly at Queenie.

“Well?” Machina asked emotionlessly, pressing Queenie as well. Queenie looked back and forth between San Fran and Machina, then sighed.

“I, and many of the people you see here, used to fight for La Barriga,” Queenie said.

“What?!” Ia shouted. The declaration got her and a few Tribal spear wielders to jump up in shock as Tribal archers trained their feather arrows on Queenie. The Renegades tried to rush forward to shield their leader, but Queenie raised a hand to stop them.

“You reaction makes perfect sense,” Queenie sighed, looking down at the ground with a self-deprecating scowl “I helped supply her armies with food and water as they conquered the south-west. More specifically, I brought that stuff to the Laughing Lovelies,” Queenie said. That caused the mood of the Tribals to grow even more sour, but Yomiko realized something.

“That’s why your wanted posters all have crude scribbles from the Laughing Lovelies,” Yomiko said.

“Heh. Yeah, I pissed them off the most when I deserted. And then I pissed them off even more when I started targeting them,” Queenie smirked. The Tribal archers lowered their weapons, but Ia and the spear wielders stayed on guard.

“So Queenie was part of their supply chain?” San Fran asked.

“Yeah, though I was basically a member of the crew. I rode a motorcycle and everything,” Queenie said, her smirk fading as that self-deprecating scowl appeared yet again. “I traveled in and out of the areas where all the fighting took place, riding into towns to fill this large burlap sack with food and water, then riding back and getting it to the Lovelies before riding out again. There were many others like me that did those kinds of tasks. This went on for about a month before I was given the chance to ride with the Lovelies and join the action. Lucky me,” Queenie said bitterly.

“So that means that up until that point….” Yomiko trailed off.

“I hadn’t joined the front lines. And the day I did, I was as good at tickling people into submission as the rest of the Lovelies. Better even. On that same day one of the Lovelies, Zanella, asked me why I hadn’t tied up any of the people I’d tickled. I was confused by that, and asked her why we’d need to do that. And she told me: ‘ain’t it obvious? We’re taking them back as tickle slaves.’” Queenie said, her scowl growing darker. Her imitation of Zanella’s voice was pretty crappy, but the information she was telling them was so shocking that they didn’t bring it up.

“I was horrified. So…..I ran. I ran to my motorcycle, got on it, and drove as far away as I could,” Queenie said.

“Queenie deserted,” San Fran remarked, which Queenie nodded at.

“Yeah. After that, I probably would’ve paid for some gas and kept on driving had these three girls not found me,” Queenie said, gesturing behind her with her thumb at three of her allies.

“It was their first time on the front lines too. They had deserted just like me, and managed to track me down. That’s when I realized two things. One, I wasn’t the only one who was good at riding a bike and hated what the Lovelies were up to. And two, that I couldn’t let them get away with it.” Queenie said, glaring at San Fran, Yomiko, Tia, and Machina in turn. No doubt about it, her resolve was the real deal.

“I’m guessing you found other members of the Laughing Lovelies with similar misgivings, as well as some of the people who were resisting against them, and they joined you in cracking down on those tickle slave trucks,” Machina guessed. Queenie nodded wordlessly at that.

“Still, you didn’t kidnap any tickle slaves personally. So you don’t have to beat yourself up over it,” Yomiko said, trying to comfort Queenie. But the redhead shook her head at that.

“No, I didn’t. But by bringing them food and water, I helped them take over a few cities. And I was stupid enough to believe this war was serving a noble cause. Like a dumbass, I thought that because there weren’t any casualties, La Barriga could be trusted.” Queenie scowled. Everybody sat in silence for a few moments after hearing those words, and then Machina spoke up.

“Well, you are rather stupid for believing that,” Machina said.

“Machina…..” Yomiko frowned.

“But you don’t feel that way anymore, right? You’ve taken it upon yourself to do everything you can to save people from becoming tickle slaves and interfere with the Laughing Lovelies. I imagine you’ve even hit their supply line a couple times, right?” Machina asked.

“Well, yeah but-”

“So stop beating yourself up over it. Sure, you spent a month as a moron, but you’ve spent more months not being a moron. Though there’s no easy cure for idiocy,” Machina remarked, closing her eyes and crossing her arms.

“Machina, that was almost sweet and then you had to blow it at the end. Also, you’re one to talk given how you shocked yourself twice when we fought San Fran,” Yomiko frowned. Machina ignored that comment completely while Queenie’s eyes widened from Machina’s words.

“Wow…..guess you’re not as cold as you look huh?” Queenie grinned at Machina.

“And you’re not as empty-headed as you look,” Machina replied.

“Ouch. But….thanks,” Queenie grinned, her mood having improved greatly as she extended an arm towards Machina in a handshake.

“If you want to thank me, prove you’ll be useful in taking down La Barriga, starting by helping us take down Big Barbara,” Machina said, shaking Queenie’s hand.

“Hrmm, I’m the one who came to you for help dealing with Big Barbara, so being bossed around feels a little strange. ….Meh, whatever,” Queenie shrugged.

“Tia didn’t know nice big….that Queenie was going through so much,” Tia said sadly.

“Ah it’s okay. It’s nothing to feel down about,” Queenie grinned. She then turned in surprise when she noticed that the spear wielders were sitting back down.

“San Fran understand’s Queenie’s story. And….San Fran is prepared to fight alongside Queenie,” San Fran said, her expression firm but more relaxed.

“I appreciate that,” Queenie grinned.

“So that’s it? She doesn’t have to fight you like I did?” Yomiko asked.

“That was different. ….Besides, if San Fran had her way, she may spend weeks on Queenie~” San Fran grinned, casting a glance at Queenie’s boot-covered feet. Many of the Tribals smiled at that, and the Renegades snickered as Queenie blushed and gave a loud cough to try to change the subject.

“Right, so um…..”

“You completely lost your train of thought didn’t you boss?” one of the Renegades snickered.

“I-I did not!” Queenie shouted, her cheeks growing a little redder.

“You’re a badass on the field, but you can be pretty adorable sometimes~” another member of the Renegades snickered.

“W-Why you!” Queenie growled. As she stood up and grabbed the collar of the snickering person who said that, Yomiko spoke up.

“You were going to tell us your plan,” Yomiko said. Queenie and her snickering comrade spun their heads to face Yomiko.

“That’s…..that’s right!” Queenie nodded, sitting back down and slapping her hands on her knees.

“Hehehehe, Queenie is funny too! Now San Fran is sure she can trust Queenie~” San Fran grinned.

Me too, Yomiko thought with a smile as Queenie grumbled and began explaining her plan.

“Alright, today’s the day. Is everybody ready?” Queenie grinned, wearing her jacket once more.

“We’re ready,” Yomiko said, speaking for herself, Machina, and Tia.

“San Fran and the Tribals are more than ready,” San Fran smiled.

“Alright. Then let’s move out!” Queenie grinned.

A few days later, it was finally time for them to set off and do battle with the Laughing Lovelies. They had eaten a very large dinner the previous night in preparation for this excursion. In the days leading up to it, Queenie had used a communicator to ask for her fellow Renegades to bring plenty of pick-up trucks, warning them to travel separately and along different routes to avoid drawing the attention of the Lovelies. As for San Fran, she had made sure to get all the girls at the encampment who would’ve been forced to become tickle slaves to safer places. Or at least, the ones who didn’t want to see any action. The ones who were angered when they learned that they would’ve been captured by the Lovelies and used as their tickle entertainment decided to join the fight, and those individuals numbered a dozen. In addition to this, San Fran had managed to contact five other minor tribes. These tribes had a bone to pick with the Lovelies, and upon realizing that San Fran’s tribe, one of the larger tribes, was taking the fight to them, they readily agreed to join.

“Even with all this help, we’ll probably be outnumbered 1 to 3,” Queenie said.

“San Fran likes those odds,” San Fran smirked.

“Heh. Me too,” Queenie smirked. Her gaze was more relaxed than San Fran’s, but she was clearly eager to get going.

This encampment had just enough trucks for the San Fran and the Tribals, Queenie and the Renegades, Yomiko, Machina, and Tia to ride in. The encampments of the minor tribes didn’t have as many trucks to work with, but they did have a few motorcycles built for two that they could double-up on with members of the Renegades. And in any event, they wouldn’t make up the main fighting force.

The plan was simple: everybody would ride out in different directions towards the Tribals who were working with the Lovelies and the places where the Lovelies were camped out on the Wastelands. At each of these locations, members of the Renegades and Tribal spear wielders and archers would head out after parking the truck just out of sight. The archers would take positions all around each of these spots, while the spear wielders and members of the Renegades would sneak around and strike with the element of surprise. That was the key to victory: quick, sudden attacks that their foes wouldn’t see coming. After each of those attacks they’d take cover and change positions, then strike once more. In other words, they’d have to fight battles of attrition.

But there was one spot where they wouldn’t be able to make use of guerrilla tactics. That spot was where a large portion of the Lovelies were camped and had flat land as far as they eye could see. It was also the spot where Queenie, San Fran, Ia, Tia, Yomiko, Machina, three people who would’ve been tickle slaves, and a bunch of Tribals and members of the Renegades were heading. Among those Tribals were some of Tia’s allies.

“If we break through this encampment, we should be able to get into the bar the Lovelies frequent. They go there so often it’s practically like their secret little getaway. If we want to bust Big Barbara, that’s the spot we have to crash,” Queenie said.

“Hmmmph, I don’t like this plan,” Machina frowned.

“I don’t like it either,” Yomiko said, crossing her arms.

“I know how you girls feel, but it’s the only way. If we want to get to Big Barbara, we have to wait for the Tribals and my girls to fight off the Lovelies enough to make them clear a path that we can drive down. If we don’t get to that bar and take down Big Barbara, it’ll all be for nothing,” Queenie said.

“But-”

“If we get held up here, eventually one of the Lovelies will send a message to the supply line, and they’ll send reinforcements that’ll take us all down. In order to prevent that from happening, we have to get to that bar, lay down the tickle hurt on the bikers who are on standby, and head further inside and take down Big Barbara. If we do that then maybe they’ll lose the nerve to fight, and even if they don’t they won’t be getting any extra food, water, or reinforcements. Which should make it easier for the Tribals and my girls to take them down,” Queenie explained.

“But Tia wants to help Auntie and the others!” Tia frowned.

“San Fran will be fine Tia. Or does Tia think San Fran will fall that easily?” San Fran asked, cupping Tia’s cheeks while smiling.

“Well no but-”

“Then trust San Fran, Tia,” San Fran smiled.

“Well…..okay,” Tia nodded reluctantly, pulling away.

And so they set off, with the Renegades driving trucks Tribals riding in the backseat as they dispersed in various directions. As for Yomiko’s group, she, Tia, and Machina were riding behind five truckss, with Queenie driving behind the wheel of the front-most truck. This truck had her motorcycle tied to the back of it, and all of the trucks had Tribals sticking their bodies partly out of windows, riding on the back of them, or riding on top of them with their stomachs pressed flat against the roof, all with bows and feather arrows at the ready.

Incidentally, Tia didn’t know how to ride a motorcycle, so she was riding on the backseat of Yomiko’s motorcycle.

“Hmm? What the hell is that?!” one of the Laughing Lovelies shouted, noticing five trucks that were kicking up a storm of dust. The Lovelies hadn’t been expecting anyone to be crazy enough to go for a frontal assault, so they had been slacking and hadn’t noticed these trucks until they were about 100 paces away.

“Tribals, take aim and fire!” San Fran shouted over the sound of the truck. She was riding shotgun with Queenie, and the moment she made this shout she nocked three feather arrows in her bow while leaning out the window. The other archers had also nocked their feather arrows, and at the speed the trucks were driving the Tribals finished nocking, aiming upwards, and firing when they were about 70 paces away. The Lovelies, who had stopped eating breakfast and scrambled to their motorcycles in surprise, wound up shouting in shock and falling over laughing as feather arrows brushed against their sides or tummies. Some of the arrows knocked over their bikes, resulting in a few unfortunate Lovelies getting trapped under their bikes. They struggled to shove the bikes off themselves and get up while the ones who had fallen from the feather arrows tried to scramble on their feet and get to their bikes. Queenie had slammed her foot down hard on the gas pedal.

“Queenie?” San Fran looked at her with surprise, her body lurching forward from the sudden change in speed. But Queenie paid her no heed and issued out her next order.

“Alright everybody, stick to the plan!” Queenie shouted. She kept right on speeding towards the area where most of the Lovelies were gathered, slowing down slightly when she saw them shouting in shock and diving out of the way. She maneuvered around the Lovelies in her path that were still trapped under their motorcycles, then sped up and barreled right into several of their bikes. Kicking up a lot of dust as she made a u-turn, Queenie rammed into more bikes before making one last turn, parking her truck about 60 paces away from where the Lovelies were encamped. The other trucks parked slightly behind Queenie’s truck, forming a barricade that obscured Yomiko, Machina, and Tia from the sight of the Lovelies.

“Oh….that was…..” San Fran said, panting anxiously after those sudden maneuvers.

“Not something you’re used to, right? Sorry about that,” Queenie smiled, patting San Fran’s back.

“Our boss loves making an entrance,” one of the Renegades grinned.

“Damn straight!” Queenie smirked, winking through the rear view mirror. “Alright girls, let’s get rolling!” she roared excitedly. The Renegades gave excited shouts of their own, then ran out and fetched their motorcycles from the back of the pick-up trucks. They mounted and rode off into battle, each of them holding a chain in one hand. Queenie was riding the high of this charge since it was the biggest operation her group had ever tried, and untied her motorcycle from the back of her truck. Before she could mount it though, San Fran put a hand on her shoulder.

“Stick to the plan. Those were Queenie’s exact words, yes?” San Fran asked, gazing into Queenie’s eyes.

“Ah! Y-Yeah but-”

“Yomiko, Tia, and Ma-key-na will charge big bad biker bar with Queenie. That was the plan. San Fran knows Queenie is excited, but don’t lose focus,” San Fran smiled at her.

“I….yeah, okay,” Queenie nodded. Leaning back against the truck with a frown while crossing her arms, Queenie observed the action while itching to jump in herself.

San Fran climbed onto the roof of the truck and nocked three arrows. The Renegades drove towards the Lovelies, using their chains to grab the arms and legs of ones on bikes or on the ground, then following up with rough tickles. Some of the Renegades even used the chains to lift the Lovelies onto their laps and then took them for a ride, tickle squeezing their tummies and sides while driving in circles and only dropping them to the ground when they were red-faced from laughing. Those who were unfortunate enough to still be stuck under their bikes when the Renegades swooped by had their ankles chained, their boots peeled off, and their soles mercilessly tickled. Which naturally had them screaming within seconds.

As the minutes ticked by, the loud laughter of the Lovelies reached Yomiko, Machina, Tia, and everyone else on standby. But soon enough, the Lovelies that had managed to reach their bikes began beating back their opponents with sheer numbers and the merciless onslaught of tickles that came with those numbers. Even the feather arrows that were still being fired weren’t enough to deter them. The Renegades were forced back, though instead of retreating back over to the trucks, they dispersed. From San Fran’s vantage point, the fighting was now taking place to the left and to the right of the area before her. Which meant that a path had been cleared straight down the middle.

“Looks like my girls cleared a path. Not exactly the way I expected them to, but let’s move out!” Queenie said, mounting her bike. The trucks were parked in such a way that there was a narrow opening down the middle, and this was the opening that Yomiko and Machina drove through, with Queenie following closely behind them on her own motorcycle: a sleek, bulky blue vehicle with dark green zigzags on its sides. As she drove, she felt something land behind her and whipped her head back in surprise.

“San Fran? What are you-”

“San Fran is coming too,” San Fran smiled, having landed on the back of Queenie’s vehicle as she was driving.

“My bike doesn’t have room for two!” Queenie protested.

“Then San Fran will hold on tight,” San Fran smirked, wrapping her arms around Queenie’s waist. “Besides, Queenie is daredevil, right? Getting scared over something like this isn’t like Queenie.”

“I warn my girls against pulling stunts like this all the time because I don’t want them to wind up kissing the road at 60 miles an hour!” Queenie frowned. “And didn’t you tell me-”

“To stick to the plan, yup. San Fran knows. But San Fran wants to come with anyways,” San Fran grinned. Queenie grumbled at that, facing forward once more when she felt San Fran’s fingers tracing her abs over her shirt.

“Queenie has a very strong body,” San Fran noted.

“Keep your hands to yours-GRAHYAAAH!” Queenie let out a sound between a growl and a squeal that made her motorcycle swerve a bit.

“Very ticklish too~” San Fran smiled impishly, having given Queenie’s abs a brief squeeze as she went back to delicately tracing the abs of her supposedly tough companion.

“D-Don’t do that again. I can’t drive properly if you tickle me…..” Queenie murmured while blushing.

“Hmm…..so if San Fran did this in special derby with cushioned road and cushioned everything so no pain, Queenie would be up for it,” San Fran smiled, holding Queenie more closely.

“Let’s just…..stay focused, okay?” Queenie frowned, blushing brightly.

“What’s going on back there?” Yomiko asked. Tia, who was riding in the backseat of that motorcycle, gasped.

“Auntie’s scored nice big lady!” Tia exclaimed.

“That’s not what scored means,” Machina said flatly.

“….Though now that you mention it, they seem oddly close,” Yomiko mused.

“See?! Now look what you’ve done!” Queenie shouted, her blush turning crimson.

“San Fran hasn’t done anything. But if Queenie wants, San Fran can do lots of things~” San Fran smirked slyly, the fingers that had been tracing Queenie’s abs now moving further downward near her hips. By now steam was practically coming out of Queenie’s ears, and the sounds of their motorcycles and of the Lovelies shouting as they drove past them was something that she felt was completely drowned out by the fast beating of her heart. After driving like this for fifteen minutes though, she was shaken from her reverie by a biker that came up from behind them.

“If you think we’ll just let you drive to Big Barbara, you’ve got another thing coming!” A voice shouted. It was the biker whose purple hair was done in a pompadour, Zanella. Accompanying her were two other bikers. Her outfit consisted of a leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders, a black shirt, black pants, and black boots.

San Fran, whose bow was on her shoulder, turned around and took out three feather arrows from her quiver, nocking and firing them. The three bikers swerved around her arrows, but one of them caught got in the belly and fell off her bike laughing, while another had the front wheel of her bike take a direct hit and swerved into some brambles. But Zanella hadn’t been taken out and continued to get closer and closer as she narrowly evaded every one of San Fran’s shots.

“Tch! In an open place like this I can’t shake her off!” Queenie frowned. Hearing those words, San Fran stood up on the back of the motorcycle.

“Huh? What are you-” Queenie asked, but San Fran shut her up with a quick kiss on the cheek.

“San Fran will take care of biker lady,” San Fran smiled. Then she leapt when Zanella’s bike was a short distance away.

“Hah! You must be really stupid if you think that’ll work!” Zanella smirked, moving to her right to evade San Fran’s leap. But San Fran turned her body in midair, nocked three arrows, and fired. The arrows hit the front and back wheel of the bike and grazed Zanella’s tummy, making her snort loudly. The combination of these three hits caused Zanella to lose control of her bike and swerve directly into San Fran, who grabbed her and the handlebar to force the bike and its rider to take a tumble.

Queenie stared at this and San Fran, who faced her. The tribal chief, whose face and body were now covered in dirt thanks to the tumble, turned and gave Queenie a thumbs-up, then got to work subduing and tickling the struggling Zanella.

She’s amazing, Queenie thought. She glanced behind her for a few more seconds while, then faced forward, riding with a smile and a faint blush. Tia, who saw that San Fran had jumped, looked sad for a few moments, then faced forward in seeming acceptance of her aunt’s decision.

They rode for thirty minutes, then entered a town with dirt roads and medium sized buildings, with some of those buildings being made of wood and some being made of a mix of wood and stone. Along the way, they met one more obstacle on their journey to the bar. a group of five bikers including Gilera—who was at the front of the group—were on the road in front of them.

“Those girls are the ones they told us about!” Gilera shouted.

“But there’s only four of them. The report from the Lovelies in the Wasteland said there were five heading into town,” one of the bikers said.

“Who cares?! We can’t let them get to that bar!” Gilera growled. She had spiky green hair and shades and was wearing a sleeveless leather jacket with spikes on it, a black shirt, and black pants and boots. The four bikers behind her had their hair dyed pink, gray, white, and blue, and she and her crew all held chains.

“You girls ready for your first high speed tickle fight?” Queenie smirked.

“Hopefully it’ll be my only high speed tickle fight,” Yomiko frowned, feeling uneasy about the idea of tickle fighting on a bike.

“Alright, I’ll take the lead then,” Queenie smirked, speeding past Yomiko and Machina and heading straight for Gilera and her bikers, her chain clenched tightly in her right hand. Upon seeing who it was, Gilera scowled.

“Queenie! You’ve got some nerve coming back here!” Gilera growled, driving even faster the moment she saw her as the rest of her bikers tried to keep up. Yomiko and Machina parked their motorcycles as they saw that Queenie and Gilera’s bikes were 30 paces away. Then 20. When they were 15 paces from colliding, Queenie swerved to her right so sharply that her right shoulder almost touched the ground, but her maneuver paid off as Gilera’s chain flew straight overhead. Queenie uprighted herself, then used her chain to grab a wooden beam that was resting in a nearby barrel. Grabbing the chain with both hands, she hurled the beam towards the rightmost biker’s bike, the one who hair was dyed gray. This biker let out a scream as she was knocked off her bike and then began croaking when she felt a chain wrap around her neck.

“GAHK! HACK!”

“Don’t worry, you’ll soon be breathless for a completely different reason,” Queenie smirked. Having wrapped her chain around the biker’s neck while she was still airborne, she hoisted the biker into her lap and veered around the other bikers, driving past them.

“Grr, damn it! I’m gonna string her up on the roof of the local church and make her howl so loudly it’ll drown out the church bell!” Gilera shouted angrily. Then she noticed that the Fronds were gone.

“Where did they go?!” Gilera shouted.

“One of them went that way, the other went that way,” the girl whose hair was dyed blue said, pointing to the right and the left. Yomiko and Machina had stopped at a crossroads after all. It only made sense for them to split up.

“Bah, cowards! You, go that way! You, go that way!” Gilera barked orders to the bikers whose hair were dyed pink and white, ordering them to travel to the roads on their right and left respectively. “As for you, since you’ve got a keen eye you’re coming with me to take out Queenie! Come on, let’s move it!” Gilera shouted. The four Lovelies revved their motorcycles, then set off in pursuit of the Fronds.

“There you are!” the dyed white biker smirked when she saw Machina disappear around a corner on her left. Turning around that corner, the biker saw Machina driving down the road on her motorcycle.

“Judging by your appearance, I’m guessing you’re some kinda robot! Ha, guess I’ll get to learn how much tickling a bot can take before it breaks!” the dyed white biker laughed, driving after Machina at high speeds. She drew closer and closer to Machina until she was about 60 paces away, then saw Machina slow down and make a clumsy turn around the corner on her right. This was just priceless!

“That’s what you get for riding without knowing what you’re doing, dumbass!” The biker laughed. Because of Machina’s clumsy maneuver, the dyed white biker was now only 30 paces away. More than close enough to reach the robot with her chain. She swung it towards Machina while swerving effortlessly around the corner.

“Ah?!”

….and was greeted with a barrel flying right at her. The barrel hit her in the stomach, knocking her off her bike and making her fall on her back.

“Ghmmmph!” The dyed white biker was now trapped underneath the barrel and tried to roll it off her body.

“That’s not going to work,” Machina said plainly, sitting on top of the barrel while holding a plank of oak wood. With the extra few pounds this added, the dyed white biker was completely trapped.

“How…..how?!” the dyed white biker shouted.

“Because you’re a….what was it you said earlier? A dumbass.” Machina replied, her tone snarky despite being emotionless.

“Haaah?!” the dyed white biker growled, her cheeks flaring up with anger as she struggled. This made the barrel budge a little, but not enough to make any real difference in her situation.

“If you wish to prove me wrong, tell me how I did it. I’ll give you a big hint: plank.” Machina said, waving the plank of wood.

“Plank?” the biker repeated.

“Plank.” Machina nodded. She observed the biker—whose brain seemed to be sizzling as she tried to figure it out—with barely contained amusement.

Machina’s bike was parked outside a wooden storefront, and there were several planks on the wooden landing of that storefront, so Machina must’ve grabbed the plank she was currently holding from there. But that didn’t explain anything!

“Well, have you figured it out?” Machina asked.

“I…..um….”

“Hmm, as expected,” Machina nodded, a thin smile briefly appearing before returning to a neutral expression. “I used the plank as a lever to launch the barrel as I passed. Incidentally, that was the reason I slowed down.”

The dyed white biker couldn’t believe this. She had let herself be duped by a damn robot, one who’d probably never even ridden a motorcycle before! It was infuriating beyond belief! As she continued to struggle while glaring at Machina, the plank, and the store, she realized exactly where they were.

“Wait, this is….”

“Correct, it’s one of the places you and your fellow bikers frequent for hair dye. It sells all kinds of cosmetics, including moisturizer, makeup, lipstick, and skin care lotions. Apart from their dyes, I believe their lotions are their pride and joy. They’re remarkably potent, or so I’ve heard,” Machina said matter-of-factly.

“How could you possibly know all of-”

“Some of my information is leftover data from Dr. Kitzel, while other is from my own personal gathering I did prior to meeting Yomiko. Which do you think it is in this case?” Machina asked.

“You damn robot! How dare you spy on the Pitstop!” the dyed white biker shouted.

“Oh my, you actually guessed correctly. How shocking,” Machina replied emotionlessly, raising an eyebrow.

“Feh! So you’re gonna dump that crap on my belly and then tickle me, is that it?” the dyed white biker scowled.

“I never said I was going to use it on your belly specifically. Though I appreciate you giving up that information willingly,” Machina said, causing the biker to curse under her breath. “That’s not the only thing I’m going to do though.”

“Ah?”

“Me and Yomiko know that the your boss and the other Laughing Lovelies were the ones who handed Leona and Rally over to Gigglez’s crew. Do you know what Gigglez did to them? She tickled them mercilessly while their faces were covered in clown makeup, as though it was all part of one big joke.” Machina said, scowling at the biker.

“Y-You don’t mean….”

“Well, the joke’s on you now.” Machina said bluntly. The store owner walked outside, staring at the sight in front of him with bewilderment.

“Apologies for using your barrel without asking, but it had to be done, sir. Could you fetch your finest lotions and a few of your dyes? I would greatly appreciate it,” Machina said. The store owner glanced at the vulnerable member of the Lovelies, then smiled and nodded, heading back inside.

“Well then, things are about to get very interesting for you and your tummy,” Machina said, a small smirk appearing on her face.

“Damn yooooou!” the biker shouted, anger and fear both present in her voice.

The dyed pink biker turned around the corner and saw Yomiko standing in the middle of the road about 100 paces away. Nobody else was there, and her bike was parked a short distance away.

“Did your Tribal companion ditch you or something?” the biker stopped and called out. Yomiko said nothing, instead making a ‘come at me’ gesture with her left hand.

“No answer huh? Well, that’s fine by me. Let’s get right down to it then!” the dyed pink biker shouted, grinning with wicked glee. She must be crazy if she thinks she can take my charge head on. But I guess we’re all a little crazy, aren’t we?!

The biker drove towards Yomiko at high speeds, closing the distance bit by bit. 70 paces. 60 paces. 50 paces. When she was 40 paces away, something was suddenly dragged out in the middle of the road about 20 paces in front of her.

“What the?!”

It was a cluster of very sharp pieces of glass, all of which came from broken glass bottles. The pieces were tied close together with rope to form a makeshift row of caltrops. And they had been dragged to the right all of a sudden which meant….

Whipping her head to the right, the pink dyed biker saw Tia near a crate. She had likely been hiding behind it when she had tugged on the rope of the makeshift caltrops, and now she was grinning slyly at the biker.

“You little sh-”

Unable to slow down in time, the biker hit the concentrated cluster of glass shards. Her front wheel was taken out and her bike kept skidding forward, heading towards the wall of a stable house.

“AAAAAAH!” the dyed pink biker shouted as she and her bike crashed through the wall, the impact causing her to fly into a pile of hay.

“Gah!” She shook her head to shake off the hay, then looked to her left and right at the stables containing horses and goats, who seemed shocked to see her.

“Now the playing field’s more even,” Yomiko said, entering the front door of the stable house and glaring at the biker.

“How dare you use such a dirty trick!” the dyed pink biker scowled.

“The Lovelies are no stranger to pulling dirty tricks. I’m just fighting fire with fire,” Yomiko shrugged. She then assumed a relaxed fighting stance and slightly bent her knees, glaring at her opponent.

“Bah! I’ll beat you, bike or no bike!” the dyed pink biker shouted, rushing towards Yomiko and sending her chain out at her. Yomiko lowered her body and whipped her head back to evade this, then grabbed the chain with both hands as she turned around, putting her whole body into tossing her opponent.

“Wooooah!”

The biker was sent flying and hit one of the low beams. As she staggered to her feet while clutching her head, Yomiko quickly went behind her and wrapped her opponent’s chain around her arms.

“Ah! Hey let me go!” the dyed pink biker frowned. She struggled and tried to ram the back of her head against Yomiko’s face, but Yomiko evaded this and gave her foe a few quick squeezes on her sides, corralling her into one of the stables that had a goat in it. A few moments after she had done this, Tia poked her head in the stable.

“You got the stuff?” Yomiko asked.

“Yup!” Tia grinned, holding up a bottle of honey with a wand in it and a corked, full bottle of milk.

“Perfect~” Yomiko smirked. Tia set down the bottles, then grabbed a white towel and held down the biker’s ankles while Yomiko removed her boots and socks.

“What’s the honey and the milk for? Gnnng, what do you think you’re doing?!” the dyed pink biker shouted, her wide, squishy soles and deep arches being exposed.

“Giving goat a treat,” Tia grinned, wrapping the towel snugly around the biker’s ankles and tying it to keep them from kicking as much. Then she uncorked the bottle of milk and splashed some of it on the biker’s soles.

“Eek, cold!”

“Biker said ‘eek’?” Tia grinned smugly.

“She must have very sensitive feet~” Yomiko smirked. She took the wand out of the honey bottle and dabbed the biker lady’s feet with it.

“Urk! Come on, you can’t be serious….r-right?” the dyed pink biker lady asked nervously, her feet rubbing against each other warily. Yomiko and Tia couldn’t help but snicker at that: the barefoot doofus was spreading the milk and honey around all on her own. They set the two bottles close by while leaving them open, and then Tia called out to the goat.

“Come here goat! Treat for you!” Tia smiled happily. The goat stared at the two of them warily, then sniffed the air and stared at the biker’s feet. Then it began lazily trotting over.

“W-Wait a second! Isn’t this too extreme?!” the dyed pink biker lady shouted, struggling in fear as the goat drew closer and closer.

Gilera and the dyed blue biker drove after Queenie, who they could still see quite plainly a little off in the distance. But after a few sharp turns and one alleyway maneuver from their target, they had last her completely.

“Damn it! Where did she go?!” Gilera shouted.

“Beats me,” the dyed blue biker shrugged. Gilera cursed at that, wondering if she should’ve brought one of the other Lovelies with her instead. But after a few moments, she heard the sounds of loud laughter. Laughter that unmistakably belonged to the biker Queenie had captured.

Gilera and the dyed blue biker exchanged glances, then drove off in search of the sound. Eventually, they came to a dental office, with the sound of laughter coming from within. Queenie’s bike was parked at the side.

Such an obvious trap!, Gilera thought with a smirk.

“Queenie’s hiding in there. Go get her,” Gilera ordered the dyed blue biker.

“What’ll you be doing?” the biker asked.

“Watching and making sure she doesn’t escape out the back. Now get going!” Gilera barked. The dyed blue biker hesitated for a few moments, then parked her bike and headed inside. As she did so, Gilera glared at the buildings behind her.

There’s no way she’s in that dentist’s office. She must be in one of these other buildings. But which one? Gilera scowled at each of the nearby buildings, her eyes sweeping over the windows as she tried to catch a glimpse of anyone who might be hiding in the shadows.

“OHOHOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!”

As she was doing this, she heard a sound that made her immediately turn in the direction of the dentist office. It was laughter. More specifically, the laughter of the biker she had just sent in to check the place.

Shit, is Queenie actually in there?, Gilera thought, gazing at the building with a sense of foreboding.

No, wait. Maybe she gave the dentist some kinda tickle weapon to fight back!, Gilera thought.

“You were right Queenie. This worked perfectly!” a voice said.

“That’s it, you’re dead!” Gilera shouted, leaping off her motorcycle so fast it fell over, then kicking down the door of the dentist’s office. Following the sounds of laughter, she went down a hall that had doors on both sides and opened the door at the end of the hall.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GILERA HEHEHEHEHEHELP!”

“NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I CAHAHAHAHAHEEHEEHEHEE! TOO MUAHAHAHAHAHACH!”

Upon opening the door, she saw the dyed blue biker writhing on the floor from electro-ticklers. Not tuning fork-shaped ones like what Machina used but the classic kind: tasers that fired out nodes. These electro-ticklers were all lined up on a table with a unique setup and wire arrangement that allowed for all of them to be activated at the push of a button. The biker currently had thirty nodes latched onto her tummy and sides, and she couldn’t mount any sort of resistance thanks to the constant tickly jolts.

The biker whose hair was dyed gray was strapped to a dentist chair. Electric toothbrushes whose buttons were forced in the on position were taped to her soles, and her feet were kicking around like mad as she struggled like a maniac.

Apart from them, the only other person in the room was the dentist: a middle-aged woman in a brown blouse with mousy hair, glasses, and black flats.

“If she’s not here then where-HACK?!”

“Gotcha.” Queenie frowned. She had emerged from one of the other doors in the hall and immediately wrapped her chain around Gilera’s throat. Clutching the chain in both hands, she lifted the green-haired biker a few feet off the ground.

“GAHK! URK!” Gilera’s chain quickly fell from her hands and clattered to the floor.

“Thanks for helping take down these bikers, they’ve caused all sorts of trouble for all of the businesses here!” the dentist complained.

“Ah it’s nothing. All in a day’s—mmmph—work!” Queenie grinned, giving a strong tug of the chain when Gilera tried kicking her shins.

“I wasn’t expecting you to barge in here with one of those pesky bikers chained up, but I really wasn’t expecting you to open up your jacket to reveal all those electro-ticklers like some electro-tickler dealer!” the dentist exclaimed.

“Ah come on, you’re making it sound like I’m so shady!” Queenie snickered.

“And the way you set up all those electro-ticklers was also amazing!” the dentist grinned.

“Well, I was able to manage that thanks to a device I stole from the trunk of Rocio’s car when I saw her across the street by chance one time,” Queenie smiled.

“Thanks for all the help! …..Um, are you gonna let her go eventually?” the dentist asked, pointing at Gilera.

“Hmm?” Queenie peered over at Gilera. The biker’s face and neck had turned a deep shade of purple, and her hands were clawing weakly at the chain.

“Gah!” Queenie yelped, dropping the chain and Gilera with it. “Um, you should make sure to tie her up before she recovers,” Queenie said.

“Right.” the dentist nodded.

“As for her, if it seems like she’s getting used to the shocks and is about to get up, dump this on her,” Queenie said, pulling a hip flask out of her coat pocket that contained water and tossing it over to the dentist.

“Ah, okay! But wait, so that means you’re letting me keep these electro-ticklers?” the dentist asked, blinking in surprise.

“Of course. Laughter’s the best medicine after all! Later!” Queenie smirked, giving a brief wave before heading off.

She’s a bit of a ditz, but she’s pretty sweet and cool too!, the dentist thought happily. Then she looked down at Gilera, and a mischievous smirk grew on her face.

Twenty minutes later, Yomiko, Tia, Machina, and Queenie all arrived in front of the bar. Evidence of their handiwork could be found all across town.

The dyed white biker was currently tied to a circular table with red, blue, and green dye smeared across her face to make her look ridiculous. The store’s bottles of lotion were on sale for 50% off, and they were flying off the shelves since it came with the promise of getting to use that lotion on the feet and very tender tummy of this angry biker, with the latter getting the loudest screams out of her.

The dyed pink biker had fallen over to one side while laughing, her hair drooping over her face and covering her eyes. The honey and the milk had been deliberately tipped over her feet by the goat, and it was licking away happily at its red-faced, teary eyed treat.

The dyed gray biker was still writhing like a maniac from the electric toothbrushes buzzing against her feet, though she had since been gagged.

The dyed blue biker was covered in water and shrieking like a banshee from the electro-ticklers, her hair having turned frazzled from the jolts.

And of course, Gilera had been strapped to a different dentist chair in another room. She had electric toothbrushes taped to her feet, to each toe, and to her belly. But her absolute worst spot was her armpits. For them, the dentist had tried using a special anesthesia to make her captive’s limbs go slack, then dragged two hairbrushes vigorously along their hollows. The idea was that since she feel anything on her arms and could only feel what her pits were going through, it would lead to a more explosive reaction. And it did just that. The eager, delightfully devious dentist gazed down at Gilera’s expression while the biker begged desperately for this to end.

Thinking back on this with smirks, the Fronds and Queenie parked their motorcycles across from the bar, then gazed up at it.

“This place is bigger than I expected….” Yomiko murmured. It was a medium-sized, rectangular building constructed from wood, with the outside of the structure painted black. The windows were tinted black, meaning they could only vaguely see the silhouettes of people inside without being able to make out their faces or the layout.

“The overall structure feels more in line with a club rather than a bar,” Machina said.

“Well, considering that they bring tickle slaves here as they sit around having drinks, it’s kind of like a club,” Queenie shrugged.

“A club where the entertainment is tortured, ticklish screams….how wonderful,” Machina said, narrowing her eyes as she glared at the place.

“Let’s find big scary biker leader and tickle silly!” Tia frowned.

“Right,” Yomiko smiled. The four of them headed inside. The lighting in the room was a dim red, which only bolstered Yomiko’s feeling that this was sort of like a club where the Laughing Lovelies unwinded. Some bikers were sitting at the bar counter, chatting and drinking while harassing the bartender, who had a stiff, anxious smile plastered on her face. Some of them were playing poker at round, wooden tables, the stacks of money resting on top serving as their wagers. One of them was snoring and drop dead drunk, and two of her comrades had taken advantage of this to play a little game where they tugged off her boots, forced her feet on the table, and tried inserting matches between her toes without waking her up. To make the game more difficult, every time one player inserted a match they had to swish a feather along her toes based on the number of matches between her toes plus one. There was many a time when the biker let out a sound between a snore and a squeal as they played, but she hadn’t woken up yet, and currently the matches on one foot had been lit. Finally, all the way in the back of the room there was an arm wrestling match going on between two bikers, one whose hair was dyed half pink and half gray and another who looked more rugged. The rugged looking biker smirked, slamming the other biker’s hand against the table.

“Ha! Told you that you wouldn’t stand a chance!” the biker smirked. Then she turned to the front door at the same time as all the other bikers save for the sleeping one did, staring at the Fronds.

Yomiko saw that the rugged looking biker in the back had spikes on the shoulders of her jacket, indicating that she, like Zanella and Gilera, was one of La Barriga’s top enforcers. She was a redhead with shoulder-length hair that was somewhat wild looking. She was wearing a black leather jacket, black fingerless gloves, an orange shirt with the words ‘Get Off The Road!’ on it in white letters, tattered blue jeans, and black gloves. Physically, her build wasn’t all that different from her fellow bikers, but her amber eyes blazed with fury and indignation at the sight of these intruders.

“It’s Queenie and one of those Fighting Fronds!” the biker, named Harley, shouted.

“Why are they partnered with a robot and a Tribal?” one of the bikers asked.

“Who cares?! Gilera failed to stop them and now they’re here for our boss! Get them!” Harley shouted, aggressively pointing in their direction as though she wanted to stomp them into oblivion.

“Graaaaaaah!” Her shout led to the bikers rising up and dashing towards the four girls like wild beasts. Seeing this caused the bartender to duck under the table. The biker who had been sleeping woke up from this commotion, then saw the lit and unlit matches between her toes.

“GAH!” She shook the foot with the lit matches and then stumbled out of her seat, which put them out. Still feeling tipsy, the biker stumbled over to the source of the commotion.

“Well, this is a warmer reception than I was hoping for,” Yomiko frowned, taking a fighting stance.

“You scared?” Queenie asked with a smirk.

“Nah. I’m used to this thanks to journeying with Leona and Rally,” Yomiko smirked. With that, the four of them got to work. Yomiko and Machina delivered a few fast squeezes and shocks that forced the bikers back squealing, while Tia started setting up rope traps along the legs of the stools, chairs, and tables, tripping up some of the bikers and leaving them vulnerable to Electric Shock and the Ten Ticklish Strikes.

The drunk biker soon tottered over, swinging her fist at Queenie. Queenie evaded this and vigorously tickled away at the biker’s tummy, then shoved her against the counter. She effortlessly lifted the biker by the hips until her tummy was near her face.

“Heh, looks like I finally got a chance to bust out by special att-huh?” Queenie peered up at the biker, who was now snoring. Due to her drunken state, she had fallen asleep from Queenie’s tickles. In fact, she seemed to be sleeping even more soundly now.

“Oh come on!” Queenie pouted. Noticing a few approaching bikers, she groaned and threw her drunken foe at them. The bikers fell on their backs from this, struggling to get up from under their comrade.

The first wave of bikers had soon been dealt with, but Harley had called for backup, and more bikers were stomping into the room. Scowling at the four girls, Harley motioned for the bikers to stop with her hand, then pointed out a few things.

“Watch the floor, there’s traps down there. Avoid Queenie’s arms, don’t get careless. And surround them, then attack! Don’t just come at them from one direction! As for the drunk….leave her there. Now go!” Harley shouted. The bikers let out a shout, then charged. They followed Harley’s warning, gazing at where the ropes were on the floor and avoiding them as they surrounded the girls in a semicircle.

The Fronds and Queenie stayed on the attack, but they were steadily getting boxed in.

“EEHEEHEEHEHEEHEE!” Yomiko shrieked, squeezing at a the sides of a biker who had tickled her tummy.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Hmmmph!” Tia got tickled on her sides a bit, then frowned. She wrapped a tied rope loop around a biker’s arm and tugging it, then giving some rapid scribbles to that biker’s armpits.

“EEEK! KEEHEEHEEHEEHEE NRRRRGH!” Machina growled, going for several quick jabs on the tummies of three bikers that made them fall over. Though three more bikers soon took their place.

“Guh! Hmmmphehehehe! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Queenie laughed from five bikers tickling at her belly. She shoved one against the counter, another against the wall, and slammed the heads of the last three together, knocking them all out. She smirked at that, then groaned in annoyance when more bikers tickled away at her tummy.

Whenever they succeeded in landing solid tickle combos on any of the Lovelies, those bikers would swap out with ones waiting to jump in. This meant Yomiko’s group had to kept fighting bikers with energy to spare on all sides save for the side where the bar counter was, while they slowly grew more and more fatigued. And this grew even worse when Harley rushed in.

“DOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHA?!” Yomiko screamed and backed up from tickles to her armpits, failing to land any of her own before Harley switched targets.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YEEP, EEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Tia laughed from some tickles to her tummy, then screamed when those tickles reached her thighs. She lashed out with her rope, but only managed to loop the arms of two other bikers, missing Harley completely.

Harley’s tickle attacks were as quick and ferocious as a storm, and with her retreating behind her fellow bikers each time there was no way to mount a counterattack. Her viciousness only served to tire the Fronds and Queenie out even more.

“Ah? Nnngh, damn!” Queenie growled. Two bikers had grabbed her arms with chains, forcing them to stretch out despite how much she strained against their efforts.

“We finally caught you!” a biker whose hair was dyed half purple and half red smirked.

“You’re gonna wish you never betrayed us!” a biker whose hair was dyed half orange and half white shouted, the two of them tickling away at her exposed armpits.

“GUH! SNRRK! KEHEHEHE! HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Queenie tried to clamp down on her laughter, but some loud chortles slipped through the cracks.

“Oh no, Queenie!” Yomiko gasped. All she and her friends needed were a couple more seconds to get to Queenie, but in the time it would take them to reach Queenie she’d likely get dragged off considering that two more bikers were driving to lift her up by the legs.

“Take this!” Before that could happen though, the bartender stood up, reached over the counter, and hit one of the bikers on the back of the head.

“Ow! Why you-gwoh?!” It was a weak hit, but it distracted that biker long enough for Queenie to give her chain a sharp tug with her arm, causing the biker to stumble towards her. She did the same for the other biker, holding both of them by the neck with one arm each.

“N-No hard feelings riHAHAHAHAHAHA?!”

“W-Wait, don’t do that to MEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! HAHAHAHAHAHA STOP!”

Queenie was peppering the necks of the two bikers with rapid raspberries. Yomiko watched Queenie do this while fending off against the bikers, feeling a wave of nostalgia.

Leona…., Yomiko thought, reminded of her barefoot friend’s Buzzing Bear Hug, a move that she’d used on many a baddie and even on Yomiko herself a few times. Queenie tossed the two bikers at the ones that were grabbing her legs, and once those bikers had fallen over she wrapped her chain around one of their ankles, hoisting it up.

“Queenie, drop her and head to the counter! At this rate they’re going to overwhelm us!” Yomiko shouted. Queenie looked over her shoulder and saw Yomiko leap over the counter of the bar, followed by Machina and Tia, who had to be helped by Yomiko.

“You have a plan?” Queenie asked, dropping the biker and climbing over the counter.

“Yeah. ….Sorry miss, can we use these bottles?” Yomiko asked the bartender.

“Help yourself. We’re all dead anyways,” the bartender sighed, thinking Yomiko and the others wanted to have a last drink. Yomiko smiled and grabbed a bottle from the shelf, popping off the cork and launching it at the head of a nearby biker. The others instantly realized what was going on and started grabbing bottles, uncorking them right at the heads of the approaching bikers.

“Gah! Ow! Argh!” the bikers yelped, staggering backward and rubbing their heads.

“Come on, what are you idiots doing?!” Harley shouted, shoving her fellow bikers out of the way and punching away the approaching corks as she drew closer to the bar counter.

Of course, firing corks wasn’t the only thing the girls were doing. They had also poured the alcohol over the counter, and it had made a pretty large puddle over the floor: one that all the bikers, Harley included, were standing in.

“Alright Machina, it’s all on you!” Yomiko encouraged with a grin.

“Being trusted this much feels nice. And this next part is going to feel even nicer,” Machina replied, wielding both electro-ticklers and pressing them against the liquid on the counter.

“ELECTRIC SHOCK!” Machina shouted intensely, pumping a great deal of power into this attack. The jolts of electricity went over the counter and trailed down the drops of alcohol to the puddle on the floor, sending a powerful surge of ticklish electricity that shot up through their feet to tickle their whole bodies

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” This naturally had explosive results, making all the bikers howl like maniacs while their bodies trembled from the shocks. And Harley, whose hand was an inch away from grabbing Queenie’s neck, wasn’t unscathed.

“FUHUHUAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAACK!” Harley shouted, glaring at Queenie with intense rage as her mouth twisted into an expression of forced mirth.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA?!” Even the sleeping biker’s eyes shot open from this attack, and she wound up convulsing on the ground and flailing her arms and legs while laughing wildly.

After twenty seconds of this, Machina stopped. The bikers all dropped to the floor and lost consciousness, Harley included.

“Ahh, that was even better than when I got those clowns. Mmm, that made my external hard drive overheat a tad….” Machina said with a small smile, letting out a sigh of contentment.

“External hard drive? What do you mean by that?” Queenie asked.

“You don’t wanna know,” Yomiko said flatly.

“It’s nothing like that. I’m not a pervert,” Machina insisted with a frown.

“Tia learned new side of Ma-key-na…..” Tia muttered, backing away from Machina a little.

“It’s not what you think!” Machina frowned, a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

“That actually worked? The bikers….you beat them? You beat all of them?” the bartender exclaimed in disbelief, her jaw wide open.

“Well, all the ones on this floor anyways,” Queenie shrugged, taking a brief headcount of the bikers. “But yeah, this should be a little over a fourth of the bikers in this place,” she said as her eyes paused on the drunk biker. This biker was now snoring like a grizzly bear, a small grin on her face as her bare feet and body still twitched from the shocks.

She must be having the best damn nap ever right now, Queenie thought with a snicker.

“In that case, we better get going,” Yomiko said to Queenie, then turned to the bartender. “Thanks for helping us,” she smiled.

“Thank you! These girls pay less than half of their tabs! It’s a miracle this shady place is even still running!” the bartender frowned.

“Well, hopefully it won’t be running any longer. I say you take the amount you’re owed, give the owner of this place what’s his, and get the hell out of here,” Queenie frowned. After saying this, she leapt across the counter and headed further inside, with Yomiko, Machina, and Tia following behind her.

The bartender frowned at the prone forms of the bikers and decided to take Queenie’s suggestion, rummaging around in their pockets for enough money to cover their tabs. Or at least, enough money to get out of town.

The Fronds and Queenie headed further inside and entered the next room, which had the sounds of laughter coming from a series of doors along the left wall. They went door to door, tickling the crap out of any bikers they found and rescuing a grand total of twenty tickle slaves, who thanked them before escaping. When they reached the opposite side of the room, they found a door that led to a series of stairs descending downwards. They exchanged looks and nodded, then descended.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they passed through a doorway and entered a room that was well lit, with yellow lights along the ceiling. To their right was a counter that three more bartenders had been manning, though they had stopped due to the commotion that had been going on upstairs. In front of them were members of the Lovelies near the left and right walls of the room, sitting on cushioned chairs and sofas while glaring at the intruders.

“Tch! Gilera’s one thing but Harley failed too? ….Hello, Queenie. Considerin’ the tactics you use on our trucks, I figured you didn’t have the balls to come here.”

And sitting in the back of the room with her legs spread out on a big black couch—with a tickle bazooka leaning on the left side of the chair and her bulky motorcycle leaning on the right—was Big Barbara.

“Barb, come on. You know me better than that,” Queenie smirked.

“You’re not a member of my crew anymore. You don’t get to call me ‘Barb’,” Big Barbara glowered at Queenie.

Yomiko had heard a lot about how monstrous this biker was, but that didn’t stop her from being blown away by the sight of her. Big Barbara was a 7’0, muscular beast of a woman. She had striking blue eyes that narrowed with barely contained rage at the sight of these four. She was wearing a dark corset that left her sturdy shoulders and muscular arms on display and hugged her ample chest, a golden key chain with a logo consisting of a golden cap draping over the letters ‘LL’, black pants that hugged her well-built legs so tightly it was a miracle they didn’t rip apart, and massive black XXL boots. A black biker cap was perched on her blonde head of hair, which was tied back into a bun. If Queenie was a storm of beauty and strength, Big Barbara was a hurricane.

“Aww come on Barb, don’t give me the cold shoulder. Not my fault your ladies couldn’t protect their trucks,” Queenie smirked.

“Get. Them.” Big Barbara ordered through gritted teeth. The bikers in the room, who numbered at least another two dozen, stood up. Some of them held chains, while others held plumeblades. And after all the fighting the girls had already done upstairs, they were in no shape to square off against these kinds of numbers. As Yomiko’s mind raced to try to come up with a way to deal with this situation, Queenie spoke up.

“Looks like you’re the one who’s changed Barb,” she shrugged.

“What do you mean by that?” Big Barbara frowned.

“You used to be the sort of leader who’d sometimes dish out a world of tickle hurt on about a dozen rebels at a time. At least from the info me and my girls gathered. But now you’re too scared to go up against four people? My oh my, how the mighty have fallen~” Queenie smirked. Those words made the Lovelies stop approaching and turn to Big Barbara, who scowled.

“I’m not scared you little-”

“Big Barbara’s just a big ticklish scaredy-cat. Talk about pathetic~” Queenie taunted.

“ALRIGHT, YOU WANNA GO?! LET’S GO THEN!” Big Barbara shouted, rising from her seat so fast some of the cushions fell off.

“That’s more like it. I can’t believe you were seriously about to have them fight for you. Don’t you recognize who this is?” Queenie smirked, gesturing with her thumb to Yomiko.

“Ah?” Big Barbara’s head, which had been smoldering with rage, cooled down somewhat as she gazed at Yomiko, then twisted into a cruel smile.

“You’re one of those Fighting Fronds, right? You came all this way to rescue those two losers, didn’t you? Even takin’ on Gigglez and Carmen. How noble. But they’re not here anymore, and now you’re gonna become a helpless, laughin’ wreck just like they did,” Big Barbara smirked.

“If they’re not here, then where are they?!” Yomiko shouted.

“With Rocio, our scientist. That girl’s as slippery as a cockroach….even has antenna like one,” Big Barbara shrugged, thinking of those two long, thin strands on that obnoxious scientist’s head. “And she’s persistent as hell when it comes to testin’ her tickle machines. You won’t be able to catch her as easily as you found me,” Big Barbara smirked. Yomiko frowned at those words and took a few steps forward. She was finally face to face with the woman who had tickled her friends mercilessly and captured them, a person working under La Barriga whose actions had led to her friends being passed from one tickler to another, and finally to some crazy scientist. She had a huge bone to pick with her.

“Ha! I like that look in your eyes. And I bet this’ll piss you off even more,” Big Barbara smirked, pulling out a remote and pointing it at the wall to her right: no, at the TV screen. It turned on and showed a pre-recorded video. One of Leona and Rally.

Yomiko gasped as she stared at the screen. It showed footage of Leona and Rally tied to the bar stools on the upper floor, their feet tied to a table. They were being tickled mercilessly on their feet and bodies by the Lovelies, who were wielding plumeblades. After a few minutes of this, the video cut to them looking like red-faced, teary eyed messes. But would their suffering end? Of course not. Big Barbara herself headed up to them, taking a seat near their feet and facing the camera.

“I’m so glad to have you two right where I want. I can’t stand Gigglez, so handin’ you off to her felt like a waste. But it looks like I get to torture you for the next few days. Lucky me~” Big Barbara smirked.

“Y-You….won’t get away with this,” Leona said, panting heavily.

“When Yomiko finds you, she’ll…..give you far worse…..tickling than what you’ve done to us!” Rally frowned while panting. Yomiko noticed to her horror that her friends didn’t look as confident as they had in the video Gigglez had shown her some time ago. They were holding strong, but it seemed like their sanity was starting to slip.

“If she manages to get here, I’ll tickle her so badly it’ll put what you two have been through to shame!” Big Barbara laughed, raking her strong hands up and down their soles.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NO MOHOHOHOHOHOHORE!” Leona screamed, kicking her feet up and down, though without the force they normally had.

“NEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE CUT IT OHOHOHOHOHOHOUT!” Rally shrieked, her feet darting about, though nowhere near as fast as usual. This part of the video went on for a few more minutes, and then the scene changed. La Barriga was sitting in a small room with a map of the U.S. behind her.

“You saw that? That’s on you. Sure, I trusted that clown as far as I could throw her, but she had her uses. I recently heard word that rebel forces captured her and Carmen. As well as some chick with dirty rainbow socks who I’ve never even heard of before,” La Barriga scowled.

The rebels!, Yomiko thought with a gasp. Her plan had been to bust up the bases of La Barriga’s top enforcers, then let rebel forces and whatever troops her fellow Hope City council members were sending come in a few days later to capture them and help restore those places to normalcy as she headed further onward in search of her friends. And it looked like they’d been doing a number on La Barriga’s forces judging by her annoyed scowl.

“So I’ll make your friends suffer. By the time you see this message, they’ll be with Rocio, helping test her tickle machines and my army’s weapons. It’s the perfect use for them don’t you think?” La Barriga smirked, the message ending soon after. Those words made Yomiko even more upset, made her feel like blood was rushing to her brain and-

“Yo-mee-ko.”

And then suddenly, her head cleared up. Peering behind her, she saw that Tia had grabbed her right hand and was looking at her with worry.

“Tia….”

“We’ll get them back, don’t worry,” Queenie said, putting her hand on Yomiko’s left shoulder.

“Queenie….”

“You’re at your best when your head is clear, so don’t lose focus you moron,” Machina said, hugging Yomiko from behind. The moment she did this, Yomiko took a deep breath. Then she glanced behind her at Machina.

“….You’re fidgeting a lot, you know. I’m guessing you feel awkward hugging people?” Yomiko smirked.

“Mmph. Not my fault. Tia and Queenie were already on either side of you,” Machina snapped emotionlessly.

“And you didn’t want to be left out, right?” Yomiko grinned playfully.

“Nnngh…..” Machina’s eyes lowered, and she gave a small pout that Yomiko chuckled at.

“I’m good now. Thanks girls,” Yomiko smiled, breaking away from the hug. Then she fixed a calm yet stern gaze at Big Barbara.

“Tch. I was hopin’ you’d look angrier than that,” Big Barbara scowled.

“I’ll make you pay for what you did to them…..no,” Yomiko shook her head, turning to her friends with a smile, then turning back to Big Barbara with a frown. “We’ll make you pay,” Yomiko said, brimming with conviction.

“Is that right? Then let’s see you try it!” Big Barbara roared with a wild smirk as she clicked another button on the remote. This caused the left and right walls of the room to move back, doubling its dimensions. The floor in the center of the room sunk by a few feet, forming a circular pit with a diameter of 15 paces that was kind of like a skateboard rink.

“A cage match….how typical,” Queenie rolled her eyes.

“If you can’t take the heat, then get off the street!” Big Barbara smirked, climbing on top of her motorcycle and revving it up, then driving into the pit. Seeing that the other bikers had taken positions along the wall and showed no sign of intervening, the Fronds and Queenie jumped down and landed in the center of the rink.

“Now let’s see if you girls can handle me on my turf!” Big Barbara laughed wickedly, driving her bike—with its sleek, bulky black build and white swirls—in circles along the walls of the rink, lashing out at the four of them with her chain. Each swing was quickly followed up by another, and she was clearly skilled at fighting like this.

“Tch, damn it! Getting close is gonna be harder than I thought!” Queenie scowled, parrying a few of Big Barbara’s chain strikes with her own chain.

“Havin’ second thoughts about comin’ here and talkin’ mad shit to me?” Big Barbara roared with a feral grin, her chain whizzing towards Queenie’s cheek.

“Guh! Hardly!” Queenie scowled, wincing from the blow but holding her ground. Because Big Barbara was driving around so fast, chain strikes were coming from all directions and the four girls had to stay on their toes in order to avoid all these attacks.

Machina frowned, dodging chain strikes while observing the path Big Barbara was taking. Then she ran to her right, trying to intercept the biker with an electro-tickler.

“Oooh, nice try! But that’s not gonna work!” Big Barbara smirked, swerving her bike away at the last moment to evade this attack as she wrapped her chain around Machina’s left ankle and tugged.

“Ack!” Machina grunted as her back hit the ground, and then looked up with a gasp as the chain and her body were lifted up till her left foot was chained on top of one of the handlebars.

“That stunt Zanella likes to pull, where she drives around while ticklin’ someone? I taught her how to do that,” Big Barbara smirked as she kept on driving, reaching towards the robotic girl’s gray foot, which stiffened warily.

“And now I’m gonna take you for a ride, one that’ll make you go absolutely nu-huh?” Big Barbara frowned when she saw a loop of rope around her neck, whipping her head sharply in the direction of the perpetrator.

“Tia’s got big scary biker leader!” Tia frowned.

“You haven’t got SHIT.” Big Barbara scowled, grabbing the rope and giving it a mighty pull.

“Woah?!” Tia gasped as she soared through the air towards the still moving motorcycle, landing in the lap of its cruel rider.

“Hmm? You’re-” Big Barbara paused as she gazed at Tia, her expression darkening.

“That’s right! Tia and her team of Tribals have been messing with big scary biker leader’s big evil trucks and plans!” Tia frowned.

“I see. Then that makes this personal for both of us!” Big Barbara shouted, restraining Tia with one arm. She tickled all over her tummy with her right hand while tickling Machina’s foot and steering with her left hand.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NO! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAHAPPIT! BAD BIHIHIHIHIHIHIKER!” Tia shrieked, squirming around in Big Barbara’s grasp.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NO FAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAIR!” Machina shrieked, her foot wiggling and squirming but unable to escape.

Though she was occupied tickling two people and wasn’t lashing out with her chain anymore, Yomiko and Queenie found that they couldn’t catch her. And it seemed like her firm hands were doing a number on Tia and Machina as she clawed at their tickle spots. Once she tickled Tia and Machina until they blacked out, then Yomiko and Queenie would be next. They had to act before then.

“What Machina pulled upstairs was something pretty impressive. I’ve never seen anything like it. So I’m betting on her busting out of there!” Queenie shouted. Yomiko looked at Queenie in surprise and watched as the strong redhead examined the path Big Barbara was taking and ran to her left, diving along her stomach as the fearsome biker drove by.

“You can’t reach me, dumbass! Haven’t you already realized that by-”

“I’m not trying to,” Queenie smirked.

“What do you…..” Big Barbara frowned at Queenie, then trailed off in shock when she saw that the leader of the Renegades had dove for Machina instead, slapping the robot’s back with her palms to help hoist her up a bit. And it was just enough that her electro-tickler could reach the chain.

“Ah….”

“Now who’s the dumbass?” Machina frowned, pressing her electro-tickler against the chain.

“Gnnngh! Y-You!”

“Electric Shock!” Machina shouted, pumping as much energy as she could into this attack. The electricity traveled up the chain and up Big Barbara’s forearm, delivering powerful tickly jolts to her left armpit.

“OHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Big Barbara let out loud, husky laughter from this as she struggled to control her bike. Her grip on Tia had loosened somewhat, and Tia immediately took this chance to grab the handlebar and turn it sharply to the left.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WOOOOOAH!” Big Barbara shouted. The motorcycle fell over, causing Tia to fall off of it and the still chained Machina and Barbara to tumble along the ground along with the bike, winding up pinned under it. Big Barbara growled and tried to get up, but found that a length of rope with two loops on each end had suddenly wrapped around her wrists and was quickly tied tightly, with one end being tied to the handlebar.

“What the?!” Big Barbara shouted, glaring sharply at Tia, who was sitting near the handlebar. Tia panted while glaring at Big Barbara, walking around the bike over the blonde bruiser’s right armpit. Big Barbara’s eyes widened slightly at that, and she saw Yomiko run towards her and lie down on the bike, her fingers poised to strike as she glared firmly at the leader of the Laughing Lovelies.

“We finally have you where we want,” Yomiko frowned, fixing her with a stern and focused gaze. Big Barbara clicked her tongue at that, then turned to her left at Machina, who was lying down next to her with her left leg still chained to the handlebar. Machina seemed drained from both the tickling and from using Electric Shock after having used the most powerful version she’d ever used not too long ago. Still, she had both electro-ticklers out and narrowed her eyes at Big Barbara.

“Well, you sure did take me for a ride. Let me return the favor,” Machina said emotionlessly while glaring at her foe.

“DAMN IIIIIIT!” Big Barbara shouted in anger. That shout signaled the start of Yomiko, Machina, and Tia’s tickle attack. Tia had removed the two feathers from her headband and was swishing them against Big Barbara’s right armpit, Machina was jabbing her left side and armpit again and again with her electro-ticklers, and Yomiko was squeezing and prodding all over her ribs and tummy.

“Coochie coochie coo! Bet big scary biker leader feels extra sorry for messing with Tribals now huh?” Tia taunted slyly, moving the feathers in slow circles along Big Barbara’s right armpit.

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall. And it looks like you’re no exception,” Machina said, staying on the attack with her electro-ticklers.

“Come on now, just give up already you big ticklish baby~” Yomiko teased with a coy smile, paying special attention to Big Barbara’s ribs.

“EheheheHAHAHAhahahaha! OhohohoHOHOHOHOHO! DOHOHOHOHOHON’T CALL ME THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!” Big Barbara had tightened her facial muscles and tried to fight back her urge to laugh, but a few chuckles slipped out, then yelps, and finally guffaws. The novelty of getting to tickle a big behemoth who deserved it wasn’t lost on any of the girls.

“YEEHEEHEEHEEHEEP?!” Tia yelped.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA?! DARN IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIT!” Machina shrieked.

“EHEEHEEHEHEHEEHEE?! NRRRGH, FIGURES YOU WOHOHOHOHOULDN’T GO DOWN EEHEEHEEHEEASY!” Yomiko shouted.

After a few seconds of going all in on Big Barbara, she had launched a counter attack. Her firm hands lashed out in all directions: squeezing at Tia’s thighs, digging into Machina’s belly and belly button, and scratching at Yomiko’s armpits. For someone as big as she was, she could move pretty fast. And judging by where she was aiming, she probably had second-hand knowledge of their worst spots.

Rocio!, Yomiko frowned as she thought of that scientist whose face she didn’t even know. She probably had info about Machina from whatever that unseen adversary had told her about Dr. Kitzel’s creations and notes. Yomiko’s own tickle spots may have been uncovered in the same way or…..Yomiko didn’t want to consider it, but she may have gotten the information straight from the horse’s mouth: that is, straight from her friends. As for Tia, she had probably figured out where her worst spot was from the tickles she had dished out while still on her bike.

This sudden onslaught caused the Fronds to reel back. They tried to stay on the attack, but Big Barbara’s viciousness was making that difficult, and their tickles were starting to falter a bit.

“You’re not getting away that easy!” Queenie growled, having finally gotten up after her earlier dive as she grabbed Big Barbara’s boots, unzipping them. Big Barbara’s eyes went wide at that, and then-

“GRAAAAH!”

In a burst of strength, she shoved Yomiko and Tia away, swung her legs to force Queenie away, and hurled the motorcycle off her body.

“AAAAAAH!” Machina, who was still shackled to the handlebar of the bike, wound up soaring through the air and slamming into the bike as it hit the wall on the opposite side of the rink.

“Ma-key-na!” Tia shouted as Yomiko and Queenie looked behind them, gazing at their robotic friend with worry.

“At least…..say my name…..right,” Machina murmured. She tried to move her limbs over to her shackled foot, but it looked like that throw compiled with her earlier fatigue and gave her quite a shock. It would take at least half a minute before she could move again.

“THAT DOES IT!” An angry shout made all four of them turn in the direction of a red-faced Big Barbara. She fumed while furiously glaring at them, looking the most pissed she’d ever been. But to their surprise, she gave a powerful jump and leapt out of the rink.

“What?” Yomiko stared in disbelief.

“Big scary biker leader…..ran away?” Tia asked, blinking twice.

“Can somebody please assist me?” Machina asked impatiently.

“Ah! Yeah, just a sec!” Yomiko said, standing up and heading over to Machina. Tia put her feathers back under her headband and sat cross-legged, taking out some rope and tying a few loops and knots as Queenie stood up. Given that she was the tallest of the four, she could easily peer over the pit at what Big Barbara was up to, and froze.

“I’ve almost got it,” Yomiko said, kneeling next to Machina and untying the chain.

“GET DOWN!” Queenie shouted.

“What do you-AAAH?!” Yomiko gasped as Queenie suddenly tackled her, the two of them falling to the left. As Yomiko was about to ask Queenie what was going on, she received her answer.

“EEEEYAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WHAT IS THIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIS?!”

Machina let out a very loud shriek, her eyes shooting wide open. She had been ensnared in a weighted net that had these small, red, circular sensors all over it. The only sensors that had activated were the ones near her body. Many purple feathers poked out of ridges in the middle of those activated sensors, and the sensors began spinning rapidly, which in turn caused the feathers to spin rapidly against her armpits, her neck, her sides, her belly, her belly button, her thighs, her legs, the backs of her knees, and all over her feet from the edges of her heels to the tips of her toes. It was no surprise that she was going wild from what was essentially a series of tiny feather wheels spinning against her body. As Yomiko stared in shock at this, she heard the loud sound of someone landing a short distance away.

“Damn, I was hopin’ I’d get both of you with that,” the owner of that voice said while scowling. It was Big Barbara, holding a bazooka in her right arm. The bazooka had a faint trial of steam coming from it.

….So that’s what happened, Yomiko frowned.

“First you make this a cage match where you’re just driving around on your bike, now you’re busting out a tickle bazooka? How shameless are you?” Queenie frowned as she and Machina stood up while Tia hurriedly ran over to their side.

“It’s only a prototype. But it’s more than enough to take you down. Besides, the shit you pulled on my trucks was way dirtier,” Big Barbara scowled, glaring angrily at them.

“…..Tia, try to get Machina out of there. We’ll hold her off,” Yomiko said, keeping her eyes trained on Big Barbara.

“EHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! H-HUREEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Machina pleaded while wriggling around under the net.

“Tia’s on it!” Tia nodded, running over to her as Yomiko and Queenie stood in front of them to block Big Barbara.

“Heh. Looks like you girls really care about each other. Which means you won’t be able to dodge this if you really wanna protect the Tribal!” Big Barbara laughed, firing her tickle bazooka at Yomiko.

“Haah!” Queenie let out a shout as she threw her chain towards the approaching net, causing it to wrap up the chain and fly harmlessly past Yomiko. Momentarily baffled by this, Big Barbara tried to fire her tickle bazooka again. But Queenie managed to close the distance and rammed into the tickle bazooka with her shoulder as it fired, causing it to miss once more. Then she wrapped Big Barbara in a powerful hug.

“Nnngh! What the hell do you think you’re doin’?!” Big Barbara growled.

“Trying….to keep you….from firing that thing again!” Queenie shouted, lifting Big Barbara about a foot or two off the ground. Her heavy foe resisted fiercely, making lifting her up any further rather difficult. Growling in annoyance, Big Barbara pointed the tickle bazooka at Queenie and was about to fire when Yomiko rushed in from her right.

“Ten Ticklish Strikes!” Yomiko shouted.

“URK?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHAT THE HELL IS THIHIHIHIHIHIHIS?!” Big Barbara shouted, surprised by how much this tickled as she struggled against Queenie’s grasp even more.

“Surprised? She’s prepping you up for my special attack~” Queenie smirked, looking over at Yomiko while keeping a tight grip on Big Barbara. Yomiko smiled and gave a brief nod, then continued her work.

Earlier, Yomiko had noted that tickling Big Barbara’s ribs got a bigger reaction out of her. So she started there, squeezing and prodding five pressure points along her ribs, then three along her tummy.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ENOUGH!” Big Barbara shouted, pointing the tickle bazooka at Yomiko and firing just as Yomiko managed to squeeze two more spots under and over her belly button.

“OH NO-PFFTAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Yo-mee-ko!” Tia, who had finished freeing Machina from under the net, gasped as Yomiko fell a short distance away from her, caught in the very same sort of net and being feathered all over. The force of net knocked her slippers off as it slammed into her, so even her feet weren’t spared from this attack. Big Barbara smirked ruefully at that.

“Ha! Having a good laugh down there?” Big Barbara taunted.

“You’re about to have an even bigger one,” Queenie said, glaring at Big Barbara.

“Oh shit….” Yomiko’s earlier attack had caused Big Barbara’s struggles to weaken, allowing Queenie to lift her a few extra feet off the ground so that her corset covered belly was near Queenie’s lips. And also….

“Rising Raspberry!”

….it had heightened the nerves throughout the blonde biker’s whole body.

“OHOHOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NO!” Because of this, Queenie’s raspberry was powerful enough that the corset may as well have not even been there.

After a few raspberries, Queenie released a stumbling, dazed looking Big Barbara.

“Take this!” Before she could recover, Queenie gave the wicked biker an uppercut so powerful it sent her hat flying and knocked her right out of her boots. Big Barbara’s massive frame soared through the air as she crashed on the opposite side of the rink, landing with her back to the wall and her legs spread out.

Queenie whistled at the sheer size of Big Barbara’s feet, then picked up the tickle bazooka.

“Damn, those are some big puppies. And they’re about to get exactly what they…..deserve?” Queenie aimed at Big Barbara, then paused when the biker fell forward, her right palm resting on the ground. Her hair bun had come undone, and her hair now looked almost like a lion’s mane. When she lifted her head up, Queenie gasped at the intensity of her glare.

“Shit, even after that you’re still not done?!” Queenie scowled, firing the tickle bazooka. Big Barbara rolled to her right, then her left as Queenie kept firing. When she reached Queenie, the stubborn leader of the Laughing Lovelies knocked the tickle bazooka out of her hand with a deft swing of her arm and grabbed Queenie’s hands while began pressing against them, shoving her back a few feet.

“Gnnng!” Queenie retaliated in kind, her muscles straining against Big Barbara’s broader, more powerful ones as she tried to avoid getting pushed back any further. As this contest of strength went on, Tia was busy untying Yomiko from the net when she heard the loud thud of the tickle bazooka falling nearby. Tia stared at it for a few moments, then redoubled her efforts in trying to free Yomiko. Machina, who was already freed, slowly stood up and ran towards Queenie and Big Barbara with shaky steps, then stumbled and fell on her face.

“Machina!” Queenie shouted. Big Barbara snorted derisively at that futile action, then gave a shove that forced Queenie back a bit. She pressed her advantage until she felt something at her arch that made her yelp.

“GYAAAH!”

“I deliberately fell. It put me in the perfect position to do this. Besides, I’m too drained to manage a dive in my current state,” Machina said. She was using one of her electro-ticklers to lightly prod at Big Barbara’s sole. Because of her previous two uses of Electric Shock and the intense tickling, she didn’t have the energy needed to use anything more than faint tickly jolts.

“HAAAH!” But judging by Queenie’s smirk and shout, that was more than enough to make Big Barbara’s fighting stance to crumble as she was able to force the blonde behemoth a foot back.

“GNNGHEHEHEEEEK!” Big Barbara shrieked, and Queenie shoved her back another foot. As she shoved Big Barbara, Machina crawled along the floor, jabbing her electro-tickler at the blonde baddie’s foot again and again. She had quite the tantalizing view of the biker’s taut arch, and she pressed the electro-tickler against it out of curiosity.

“EYAHAHAHAAAAAK!” The reaction was explosive, and Queenie was able to push Big Barbara a few feet back this time.

“Oooh, looks like I discovered Big Barbara’s big, naughty little secret~” Machina said with a slight smirk. Those words got Queenie and Big Barbara to stare at Machina.

“You good Machina? You don’t normally say things like that,” Queenie said with a raised eyebrow.

“I…..yes, I’m fine. Dr. Kitzel, my creator, programmed me with all sorts of knowledge, most of it tickling related. She probably programmed me with some saucier teasing lines,” Machina explained.

“You sure it’s just that? If this big jerk helped awaken something in you, you could just say so,” Queenie grinned.

“….Well, I….yes, I might be a little excited,” Machina admitted, looking away bashfully as she crawled along the floor, admiring the shape of Big Barbara’s foot as she passed.

“Knew it. I’m getting excited too~” Queenie smirked, gripping Big Barbara’s hands more tightly.

“Look. Look at those bikers, the girls you ride with. I bet they’re wondering how their leader could be pushed this far back,” Queenie said while leering at Big Barbara. Those words made Big Barbara freeze as she looked up. Some of the bikers were disappointed, some looked annoyed, and some looked bored. But all of them seemed to collectively doubt their leader’s prowess.

“No….” Big Barbara muttered, her eyes widening as she shook her head in horror.

“And now they’re gonna get a front row seat to their tender footed leader’s ticklish downfall. They’ll get to see what a big, ticklish baby you really are~” Queenie smirked.

“NO!” Big Barbara roared.

“WOOOOAH?!”

“AAAAH?!”

In a sudden burst of strength, Big Barbara managed to shove Queenie and kick Machina away. Queenie fell on her back, catching the robot who had landed on her stomach.

“I’m NOT a baby!” Big Barbara shouted, leaping on top of Queenie and Machina and clawing at their bellies and sides with her firm hands.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH GOHOHOHOHOHOHOSH!” Queenie shrieked, trying to get away and defend Machina as best she could.

“EHEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA QUIT IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIT!” Machina shouted, jabbing Big Barbara’s tummy again and again with the electro-tickler. That got some yelps and chortles out of this beast of a biker, but she showed no signs of slowing down.

“You’re the bahahahahaybies! Actin’ all high and mighty just cahahahause you stick your nehehehehecks out for each ohohohohohother! In the end, all that meheeheeheeans is that you’ll be screaming togehehehehether! It was like thahahahahahahat with those two losers toohoohoohoohoohoo! They thought they were unstoppable, and then I came along and now they’re just bahahahahabblin’ ticklish little bahahahahaybies! You’re on this stupid fuhuhuhuckin’ quest to save people who are that pathet-” Big Barbara shouted while smirking wickedly, turning in Yomiko’s direction to see what kind of expression she’d make from hearing all of this. When she did so, she froze.

Yomiko had been untied by Tia, and the two of them were sitting down on one knee while holding the tickle bazooka. Yomiko’s fingers were touching the button as she gazed at Big Barbara.

“The only pathetic one is you,” Yomiko said. Her gaze had traces of anger, but more than angry, she looked disgusted.

“Agh?! H-Hey!”

““YOMIKO, DO IT NOW!”” Queenie and Machina shouted. They were holding onto Big Barbara’s arms to keep her from escaping.

“LET GO OF ME YOU-GAAAAH!” Yomiko pressed the button, and the net flew towards Big Barbara and wrapped around her body. Big Barbara fell on her back with the weighted net pinning her down. Before long the sensors turned on, the feathers poking out of the ridges in their centers and tickling away at her body.

“GHMMMMMPH!” Big Barbara clenched her jaw as tightly as she was clenching her large, wriggling feet, managing to keep from laughing with Herculean effort. She struggled under the net while red-faced, trying to rack her brain about what Rocio had told her about the prototype tickle bazooka, information that she had only half listened to. There was still a chance she could escape from this net! There was no way she’d lose here!

“Coochie coochie coo! Naaaaw does it tickle too much you big baby~?” Those words made Big Barbara’s thoughts screech to a halt as she turned to the source: Yomiko. The feathers brushing against her armpits—against her feet—felt more unbearable than ever upon hearing her say that.

“N-No…..I’m not a—SNRK—baby…..” Big Barbara murmured, shaking her head with wide, fearful eyes as her lip trembled, twisting into a wide, shaky grin.

“So huge, yet so soft and ticklish. Sorry, but it’s hard not to view you as a big ticklish little baby~” Yomiko smirked slyly.

“No I’m NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEEHEEHEHEHEEHEEEEK! I’M NOT A BAHAHAHAHAYBEEHEEHEHEEEEEE!” Big Barbara let out a loud howl, followed by a tidal wave of rich, hysterical laughter. She kicked and squealed while thrashing around in the net, but whatever escape plan she had come up with had clearly escaped her mind in her ticklish panic. At last, this stubborn, troublesome, downright monstrous behemoth had fallen.

The realization made the four girls let out a collective sigh of relief. They stood up, looming over their fallen foe.

“Well, well. It looks like the shoe’s on the other foot now, doesn’t it?” Yomiko taunted with a smirk.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WHEN I GET OHOHOHOHOHOUT OF HEEHEEHEHEEHEEHEERE YOU’RE SO DEHEHEHEHEHEAD!” Big Barbara shouted, glaring murderously at Yomiko.

“Barb Barb Baaaarb~! You don’t get it. It’s over for you. Your days of terrorizing cities and forcing girls into tickle slavery under La Barriga are over. You won’t be riding off into the sunset ever again. There’s nowhere for you to run,” Queenie smirked, walking behind Big Barbara and sitting down, then spreading out her legs and using them to pin down the wicked biker’s arms. Big Barbara stared fearfully from this action, and her laughter rose as her arms were now forced taut, giving the feathers easier access to her pits.

“Besides, big weak biker baby feet are too huge to run away! Hehehe, where they gonna go~?” Tia teased, taking out her two feathers and adding them to the feathery hell the poor biker’s meaty feet were already being put through, twirling them between her toes.

“NONONOHOHOHOHOAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Tia’s action got Big Barbara’s laughter to rise a bit, and the feeling of Queenie clawing away at her armpits made it skyrocket. As she struggled feebly against their tickles and her feet kicked around, she was forced to accept what they had just said, realizing that she was completely at their mercy. That realization made her earlier bark and bite vanish completely, being replaced with the kind of fear experienced by the supremely ticklish.

Big Barbara’s feet were a size 18. They had stout, unpainted, plump digits that wriggled like mad from Tia’s feathering. Creamy arches so deep and soft that one could practically sink their fingers in them and between any wrinkles that formed, of which there were many right now. These lovely arches were sandwiched between squishy, plush heels and balls that weren’t the least bit rough or dry despite her choice in footwear. Stripped of her boots, Big Barbara’s feet were two of the most appealing, beautiful, massive tickle targets out there. And they were now utterly defenseless.

“Coochie coochie coochie~! Queenie was right: bigger they are, harder they laugh!” Tia giggled, weaving the feathers in circles under and along each of the bad biker’s toes.

“That’s not exactly what I said, but that’s also very true~” Queenie smirked, digging into the hollows of Big Barbara’s pits.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!” Big Barbara pleaded. The spinning feathers got everywhere else on her feet and pits, and she was clearly coming undone from all this tickling judging by her bright red cheeks and loud, desperate laughter.

“Already asking for it to stop? My friends are putting up with far worse on a regular basis from that scientist you mentioned. Speaking of, where would we find Rocio?” Yomiko asked with a frown. Those words made Big Barbara freeze while staring at her. She was still laughing her head off, but it seemed like she had no intention of talking.

“No answer, huh? Very well. Machina, you’re up,” Yomiko said. Machina nodded at that, knelt down next to the blonde bruiser’s feet while gazing fondly at them, and then got to work, using what little energy she had as she pressed both electro-ticklers against the curves of Big Barbara’s arches.

“NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GET THE BOHOHOHOHOHOT AWAHAHAHAHAHAY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA COME OHOHOHOHOHOHOHON!” Big Barbara screamed, scrunching her soles up even more the moment those tickly jolts began jumping across her feet.

“My name is Machina. And you deserve every second of this,” Machina said emotionlessly, plucking at every last one of those wrinkles with her electro-ticklers.

“HUHUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *SNORT*!” The girls all paused in surprise when they heard that line, with Tia being the first to speak up.

“Big bad biker leader snorted like little piggy!” Tia exclaimed. Big Barbara’s cheeks turned a deep shade of red the moment Tia those words.

“You wanna snort some more for us, piglet~?” Queenie smirked, doubling her efforts on Big Barbara’s armpits. Tia and Machina did the same for her toes and arches.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *SNORT*! QUIHIHIHIAHAHAHAT IT ALREHEHEHEHEHEADY! I’M *SNORT* NOT GONNA TEHEHEHEHEHEHELL YOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO!” Big Barbara shook her head, her massive feet flexing and flailing about, paddling up and down in their attempts to resist as they quickly took on a rosy tint.

“Is that so? Well then I’ll just have to conduct a more thorough assessment of a certain spot right…..here,” Machina said in her usual tone while gazing intently at Big Barbara’s feet, pressing her electro-ticklers against the spot where the arches met the balls. When she struck that spot, Big Barbara went silent for a few seconds. And then she screamed.

“EYAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *SNORT**SNORT*! NAHAHAHAHAHAHAT THEHEHEHEHEHERE NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Big Barbara shrieked, throwing her head back and howling with wide-eyed laughter as tears trickled down her burning cheeks.

“Mmm, and here I thought there wouldn’t be anything today that would make my external hard drive overheat more than it did upstairs. I’m so glad to be wrong~” Machina said with a small smirk, pressing her electro-ticklers against that spot again and again.

“If you want it to stop, then tell us where Rocio is,” Yomiko said.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *SNORT**SNORT*! NOTTELLINGNOTTEHEHEHELLIHIHIHIHIIIING!” Big Barbara shook her head, shouting those words amidst manic yelps and snorts as though it was some kind of mantra she had to keep repeating in order to not spill any info.

“Alright, you asked for it. Machina, move away for a bit,” Yomiko said. Machina pouted at that, but moved away. Yomiko moved towards Big Barbara’s feet, which were still being feathered, and began using the Ten Ticklish Strikes to heighten her fallen foe’s nerves. She squeezed two pressure points just below the toes, three on the balls, three on the edges of her heels, and two on the arches. The helpless and huge victim of these tickles squirmed and snorted all the while, and when it was over she lost it completely.

“NOOOOOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IT’S SO MUCH *SNORT**SNORT* WOHOHOHOHOHOHORSE!” Big Barbara squealed, staring at her feet in shock and bewilderment before throwing her head back in laughter once more.

“Can I continue now?” Machina asked expectantly.

“Yup,” Yomiko smirked. Machina grinned at that and went back to wielding the electro-ticklers on Big Barbara’s feet, paying special attention to her arches and her most tender spot. Naturally, the feathers continued spinning everywhere that Machina wasn’t tickling.

“You know, maybe she’d be more willing to talk if more feathers were messing with her~” Queenie smirked, climbing off of Big Barbara’s arms and kneeling next to her left side. She then gripped her corset tightly and ripped apart a huge chunk near her tummy. The sensors near it activated, and soon her tummy would be subjected to the same feathery torment her feet and armpits were going through.

“Come on, snort and squeal some more you big, ticklish baby~” Yomiko smirked.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *SNORT**SNORT**SNORT*! PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Big Barbara pleaded, her cheeks turning crimson as she snorted and shrieked wildly.

Tears streamed down her cheeks without end, and she couldn’t stop laughing. She could barely even think of anything other than the constant tickling she was going through. But after fifteen minutes of this excruciating attack, she finally spoke.

“SHE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAS A LAHAHAHAHAHAHAB IN *SNORT**SNORT**SNORT**! OKLAHOHOHOHOHOHOMA! IT’S THE ONLY OHOHOHOHOHOHONE SHE *SNORT**SNORT**SNORT*! TOLD ME ABOHOHOHOHOHOHOUT! OH PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE NO MOHOHOHOHOHORE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *SNOOOOOOORT*!”

“Do you have an address?” Yomiko frowned. Big Barbara nodded frantically, squealing out the address between snorts and wild laughs.

“Alright, that takes care of that. Come on girls, let’s get goi-”

“Where the hell’s all that noise coming from?”

Yomiko and the others tensed up when they heard that voice. It was Harley’s voice! The four of them looked up as Harley entered the room and peered over the pit, looking down at Big Barbara’s laughing form.

“…..What the fuck?” Harley muttered, gazing at the sight with an unreadable expression. Then she turned to the Lovelies and gave a them a nod. About a dozen bikers crowded around the pit along with her, and then they and Harley jumped down. Yomiko and her friends assumed fighting stances, but they didn’t like their odds. They were all still pretty exhausted from fighting Big Barbara, save for Machina who seemed to have recovered somewhat.

Big Barbara noticed Harley and the bikers and smirked. At last, freedom was hers! Oooh she’d lay a tickle smack down on these four for sure!

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GET ME *SNORT*! GET ME OHOHOHOHOHOUT OF HEEHEEHEEHEEHEERE!” Big Barbara shouted.

“Forget babbling like a loon and laughing so loudly it woke me up, you can’t even speak without snorting? Sheesh….were you always this damn pathetic?” Harley asked coldly. Those words felt like a bucket of cold water, and Big Barbara stared at Harley in shock.

“I arrived late, but did these girls call her anything?” Harley asked one of the Lovelies while pointing at Yomiko’s group.

“They called her a big baby,” one of the Lovelies spoke up.

“A big ticklish baby,” another one added.

“Heh. A big ticklish baby. Fits perfectly, doesn’t it?” Harley leered at Big Barbara, who was now gripped with terror. “Well then, let’s give this big, ticklish baby something to really cry and scream about~” she said with a cruel smirk. Yomiko and her friends stared in surprise as she and the other bikers approached Big Barbara, some of them brandishing plumeblades.

“N-NO PLEHEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH GOD NOHOHOHOHOHO! DOHOHOHOHOAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *SNORT*! DOHOHOHOHON’T TIHAHAHAHACKLE MEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! *SNORT**SNORT**SNORT*!” Big Barbara’s mind once again sank into the murky haze of tickle hysteria as her former allies tickled and feathered mercilessly over every last inch of bare skin the rotating feathers weren’t already taking care of. And soon the rest of the Lovelies had jumped into the pit to join in on the fun.

Yomiko and her friends exchanged glances at this and snickered at Big Barbara’s expense, then hurriedly climbed out of the pit, with Yomiko fetching her slippers along the way. When they climbed out, they noticed that many of the Laughing Lovelies communicators were lying on chairs and couches. The bartenders in the room had already fled in the wake of all the chaos.

“I heard about what you did to one of the bikers in town. You think you can rewire these communicators so they ping all the Lovelies that aren’t here?” Yomiko asked Queenie.

“Huh? W-What makes you so sure I’m capable of that? I just used one of Rocio’s devices,” Queenie exclaimed in surprise.

“Well there was a mess of wires on the dentist’s table, entirely from the electro-ticklers being partly taken apart. Which means you had to rewire them. …..I think you’re smarter than you let on,” Yomiko smiled, tossing one of the communicators over to Queenie, who caught it and stared at Yomiko. Machina hit on the reason why Queenie was being evasive and smirked.

“You don’t want to be called a nerd, right?”

“Shut up, tin can.” Queenie scowled and then sighed, sitting down on one of the couches. She plopped many communicators in her lap and then got to work cracking them open, rewiring them, and tying all their wires to each other and then to one communicator she was using as a sort of master controller. When she had finished twenty minutes later, she pushed a button on that communicator. This caused all the communicators she wasn’t working with to be pinged at the same time, proving that it had worked.

“Woah….” Yomiko muttered in surprise.

“Queenie is best nerd ever!” Tia grinned.

“I don’t like hearing that…..” Queenie frowned while blushing. “But…..yeah, it’s pinged all of them, and on speaker mode at that. When they hear their boss snorting louder than the pigs at an animal farm and laughing up a storm, they’ll hopefully lose the will to fight,” she smirked.

“…..You were a big help in tracking down Big Barbara and helping us beat her…..and in helping me get some closure about everything that’s happened,” Yomiko smiled.

“Ah don’t mention it,” Queenie shrugged while grinning.

“No, I mean it. ….Welcome to the Fighting Fronds,” Yomiko smiled, extending her arm for a handshake.

“So does that mean…..” Queenie gasped in surprise.

“Yup. You’re an official member now,” Yomiko smiled.

“Woah….that’s….I don’t even know what to say. Thank you!” Queenie smiled brightly, standing up and shaking Yomiko’s hand.

“Wait…..official member?” Machina scowled. “I’m still an honorary member!”

“Tia’s also honorary member! Queenie just joined but official member?” Tia frowned. She and Machina glared at Yomiko while approaching her menacingly.

“Ah?! U-Um, you two are both official members now too!” Yomiko hastily replied.

““For real?”” Machina and Tia both asked with frowns.

“Yup!” Yomiko nodded, smiling nervously.

“….Well, it’s about time,” Machina nodded, accepting that response.

“Yaaaay, Tia is Fighty Fronz for real now!” Tia grinned, running round happily while waving her arms. Yomiko let out a long sigh of relief as Queenie laughed. Somehow, dealing with those two was scarier than going up against Big Barbara, La Barriga, or whatever other tickle villains came her way.

“Anyways, let’s get going! Our next stop is Oklahoma!” Yomiko declared. With that, the new force of tickle fighting heroes, the Fighting Fronds, headed out of the bar and went on their way.

Chapter Text

“Hehe, you look like you’re losing your mind~” an annoying, high-pitched voice said as she opened a set of metal double doors. Inside was a girl with short black hair done in a bowl cut who was restrained to a chair that had yellow cushions. The girl had been stripped to just a bra and panties and was being tickled mercilessly on her armpits, sides, and belly by robot hands, with fuzzy rollers going up and down her feet.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA TURN IT OHOHOHOHOHOHOFF! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE PLEEEEEEASE!” The girl pleaded, squirming around weakly in her seat. She felt her heart sink when she saw the two metal doors closing.

“Yup, that’s definitely my best tickle chair yet~” the owner of that annoying voice laughed. The laughter of her victim could no longer be heard, but that was only natural. This room, and all the other rooms this person had her victims stowed away in, were all sound-proofed. As expected from the wicked scientist and high-ranking member of La Barriga’s forces: Rocio.

She was currently in her Oklahoma based lab. The scientist had round, black eyes, and long, scraggly brown hair done in a small ponytail, with two long and thin strands coming out from the top of her head of hair. Big Barbara would often mock her by calling them antenna and calling her a roach.

“Well Big Barbara won’t be calling me that anymore! Apparently she’s still getting paraded in the Pitstop as the town tickle toy, and it was her own bikers that betrayed her! Talk about embarrassing! Though, it’s a shame we never got to settle who’d win in a tickle fight but….nah, I obviously would. She’s all brawn and no brains!” Rocio laughed, showing off her sharp teeth as she grinned smugly.

The 4’11 scientist was wearing her usual outfit: a lab coat over a blue shirt that had an orange kitten on it, khaki shorts, and pink crocs with the outline of a bunny’s face near the toe area that made squeaks with every step she took. She wore mismatched socks, with a blue sock with two white stripes near its hem on her right foot and a smaller yellow one with red polka dots on her left foot. And her lab coat and freckled face were caked in dirt as usual: evidence of the fact that she was hard at work designing new inventions.

The room she was in had brown tiles on the walls, a yellow ceiling, and white tiles on the floor. It was circular in design and was large enough that seven other sets of metal double doors similar to the ones she just closed were present. Each of those metal doors had black card reading devices attached to the wall on their right. In addition to these doors, there was a simple wooden door that Rocio had opened to enter this room and a table with three computers: a small one for coming up with schematics for new inventions, a medium-sized one for surveillance, and a widescreen one for playing Tetris whenever she felt like unwinding. There were several other tables in the room with spare parts and bags of Doritos and other snacks resting on them. In addition to this, she had a small fridge and a green bean bag.

Basically, she had everything she needed to carry out all her work in this one room, though she naturally had other rooms for storing inventions and extra spare parts that wouldn’t fit here.

“But you are easily my most cherished test subject right now~” Rocio smirked, swiping a key card against a card reader to open a set of metal double doors. This revealed a brown haired girl with a ponytail that had a black ball gag in her mouth and was clad in a pink straight jacket, her body strapped to a metal table. The girl’s toes had been tied back to a yellow gel-like structure akin to stocks that was fixed to the other end of the table. A white metallic device attached to the left wall was looming over her, and many electric toothbrushes attached to robotic arms were coming out of this device, their bristles scrubbing all over her feet and getting the pad of each toe. A plastic tube was connected to the straight jacket through a hole in the table, with the other end being connected to the wall.

“Good morning! Or is it night! Hehehe, you have no way of knowing cause you’ve spent seven whole days in this room!” Rocio laughed wickedly.

“MHMMHMMHMMHMMM! LHMMT MHMMHMMHMMPH OHMMHMMHMMPH! PLHMMHMMHMMSE!”

“Hahaha, I know right? It’s amazing that you’ve been tickled 24/7 for a full week without ever passing out, needing food or water, or even needing to use the bathroom!” Rocio laughed, closing the doors.

“And it’s all thanks to that straight jacket. It’s my greatest invention yet! I’m already a much better tickle scientist than Dr. Kitzel, but with this I’ve surpassed her!” Rocio smirked. She had a habit of talking to herself when nobody else was around, especially when gloating about her genius.

“Which is why it’s aggravating that La Barriga would choose to make one of Dr. Kitzel’s inventions her ace in the hole,” Rocio scowled, looking over at the table that had all the spare parts. This table had drawings for the schematics of four robots that resembled Machina, as well as Machina’s own schematics.

“Well whatever. La Barriga’s free to play with inferior tech if she wants to,” Rocio grumbled, still upset by it. Then she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. One of the cameras fizzled for a second, then turned back to normal. Plopping herself into a swivel chair, Rocio clicked a few buttons on the computer to change the camera feeds, then gasped in shock.

“The Fighting Fronds?!”

One of the camera feeds showed that Yomiko, Machina, Tia, and Queenie were now inside her lab. “How did they…..ugggh, Big Barbara squealed! Even when soundly de-feeted she’s a thorn in my side!” Rocio shouted angrily. Then she narrowed her eyes and scrutinized the feed more, looking at Machina.

“That’s…..” Rocio slid the swivel chair over to the schematics, pulling out Machina’s schematics and comparing them with the girl in the camera feed.

“It’s her. It’s definitely her.” Rocio set down the schematics and stared at the camera feed, thinking of what to do next when she saw them reaching a branching path.

“Nnrrrgh, I’m curious about her but now’s not the time. This lab is just my home away from home so it’s not that heavily guarded. I have to get out of here…..though I can still have some fun~” Rocio smirked. She stood up and ran out of the room, her crocs making squeaky sounds all the while.

“Hmm. Sneaking in was remarkably easy. Almost too easy,” Machina frowned.

“You’re right. This feels off…..” Yomiko frowned.

“We haven’t encountered any of the Crushers, and she’s supposed to be their leader. ….Maybe she’s got a another lab out further west,” Queenie shrugged.

“Hrmmm…..makes sense to Tia!” Tia smiled.

The four of them were standing in a hallway after having broken into Rocio’s lab. This hallway had a similar design to the room Rocio was working in, and they had currently reached a fork in the path where they could go either left or right.

After defeating Big Barbara, Queenie had gotten in touch with members of the Renegades. She received a report that some of the Laughing Lovelies had surrendered, while others were still holding their ground. In particular, the ones under Zanella, who had managed to slip away from San Fran’s grasp, were battling quite fiercely. A few members of the Renegades drove a pick-up truck out to meet the Fronds an hour later and left riding the borrowed motorcycles, leaving them the pick-up truck and two water coolers containing a dozen water bottles each, as well as some snacks and sandwiches.

The Fighting Fronds drove for a few days, taking breaks to use local restrooms, grab meals at local diners when they had run out of snacks, and sleep. Queenie also made sure to keep tabs on how the battle with the Lovelies was progressing…..though judging by how much she blushed during some of those conversations, that wasn’t the only reason she was calling.

More importantly, Queenie found out that some of the other smaller groups that had been rebelling against La Barriga were participating in the fight with Laughing Lovelies, led by a small, specialized task force that claimed to have come from Hope City. A certain person popped up Yomiko’s head upon hearing those words: Carol. If anyone would be first in line to mobilize a group like this for the purposes of stopping La Barriga, it would be Carol when she’s fuming about a recent humiliation.

Which means she must’ve helped the rebel forces capture Carmen, Spectra, and Gigglez’s group. ….I don’t know how I feel about that, Yomiko thought with a frown. On the one hand, she was glad that Carol was offering assistance to the Laughing Lovelies, and her forces being hot on Yomiko’s trail was oddly reassuring. On the other hand…..well, she was still an aggravating person to deal with, and she and Yomiko hadn’t exactly parted on the best of terms. And there was no chance in hell of Carol being at the helm of this group. She was probably still back in Hope City, grumbling about Yomiko and her friends. Which meant she was doing this by the book, and the real reason she sent this task force in the was likely to make sure Yomiko did the same. That thought irked Yomiko, but she decided to shelve that in the back of her mind for now.

In any case, they had soon arrived in Oklahoma at the address Big Barbara had mentioned. Machina was back to full strength and had used one of her electro-ticklers to fizzle out one of the cameras for a brief moment, which brought the Fronds to their current dilemma: the forked path.

“If we all go down one path and it winds up being a dead-end, Rocio might escape in the time it takes for us to try the other path,” Yomiko mused.

“In that case, we better split up. Me and Tia can go left…..unless you think we should go right instead?” Queenie asked.

“No, I was planning on going right anyways. I just hope she hasn’t escaped by now,” Yomiko said. She and Machina went right, while Queenie and Tia went left.

The path Queenie and Tia were taking eventually curved at one point, then lead into a hallway narrow enough that Tia had to walk behind Queenie. When Queenie neared the end of the hall, her eyes widened at the sight of Rocio coming around the right corner.

“They caught me by surprise. Still, I can probably escape just…..fine…..” Rocio said to herself, then turned and saw the staring Queenie and Tia.

“Well, looks like it’s our lucky day!” Queenie frowned, rushing towards Rocio.

“Ah! Wait just a second!” Rocio gasped, raising her hands in panic and looking away anxiously. Queenie reached towards her and Tia, who was running close behind her, threw a few rope loops that flew under Queenie’s arm towards Rocio.

“Ah?!”

“What?!”

But Queenie’s palm and Tia’s rope never reached Rocio, instead bumping into the air itself.

“An invisible wall?!” Queenie gasped.

“An invisible glass wall. I set it up in front of the entrance of this hall a few minutes before you got here,” Rocio snickered.

“So you pretended that you stumbled across us by accident.” Queenie frowned.

“Yup! Though I wasn’t expecting both of you to run up here at once, you’re making things way too easy!” Rocio laughed, pulling out a remote and clicking a button. This caused a metal door to close behind them, blocking their way out.

“If you think this glass wall will hold…..” Queenie frowned, slamming her fists against it.

“Well it’s sturdy enough to take several hits even from someone as big as you. Which is enough time for me to do this~” Rocio smirked, clicking another button on her remote. This caused sleeping gas to flood the room.

“Ah!” Tia took off her headband and wrapped it around her mouth and nose while trying to control her breathing while Queenie kicked aggressively at the glass wall. She managed to make a few cracks appear on it, but she soon lost consciousness from the sleeping gas, with Tia following soon after.

The path Machina and Yomiko took was long, with many unnecessary twists and turns that seemed designed to just waste their time. Eventually, they arrived in a large room with a runway in its center, a few motorcycles, and a mud brown car that belonged to Rocio. There was also something in the center of the room that was covered by a green tarp. On the right side of the room was a steel wall, and on the left was a garage door.

“Well well, looks like you’ve finally made it!” an annoyingly high-pitched voice declared over a microphone. Peering up, Yomiko and Machina saw that there was somebody standing in a walkway with long glass windows two floors above them in an alcove at the back of the room, peering at them through the windows. She was standing in front of a control panel that had a small microphone perched on it, which she talked into while smirking.

“So you must be Rocio! Where are Leona and Rally?” Yomiko shouted. Rocio blinked in surprise.

“…..I can’t understand a word you’re saying from up here,” Rocio said. Yomiko and Machina were both taken aback by this.

“Hrmm, guess I should’ve tweaked the design of this room so your voices would echo…..whatever! You’re just in time for a wicked little game I just came up with!” Rocio smirked, clicking a button that caused two circular metal panels on the back wall to open up. Robot hands came out of those panels, and they removed the tarp.

“Queenie?! Tia?!” Yomiko exclaimed in shock as Machina stared in bewilderment. The two of them were gagged and trapped in a blue sports car with their arms locked overhead in the headrests and their feet forced into metal stocks that were built into the dashboard. Their shoes had been removed, leaving Tia barefoot and Queenie in holey black socks.

“This is a little gift I got from the late and not-so-great Big Barbara. I could’ve taken it apart and used whatever spare parts I salvaged for designing some other invention, but then I got the brilliant idea to just turn the car itself into a big tickle machine!” Rocio smirked proudly. Yomiko did not like the way that sounded.

“If you hurt them-”

“You’re saying some hero stuff down there, right? I still can’t hear you, so it’s probably not important,” Rocio snickered, causing Yomiko to scowl. “Anyways, the car has preprogrammed movements that can be activated at the push of a button, like driving around in circles or in a straight line. And in this case, a straight line is exactly what I need!” Rocio smirked, slamming her fist against one of the buttons on the console. This caused the garage door to open.

“With constant tickling on their feet and a dirt road like the one outside, they’d be laughing their way off into the sunset. Or they would, if there wasn’t a cliff half a mile down that road! The cliff leads to a lake, so they’ll be going from ‘ha-ha-ha’ to ‘glub-glub-glub’ once they fall in! Hehehehahahaha!” Rocio laughed evilly. Queenie and Tia looked horrified by that proclamation, and Yomiko and Machina glared angrily at the wicked scientist.

“You can either use those bikes to help rescue them, or come for me. The choice is yours,” Rocio smirked, pulling out a white remote and clicking a button that caused the car to start driving off at 80 miles per hour towards the garage door. Yomiko could also see that some panels on the dashboard had opened up to reveal circular scrubbers attached to metal arms, and though they were currently tickling Queenie and Tia’s soles at a slow pace, that would likely change as the car picked up speed. Yomiko looked around the room in a hurry, and noticed a crowbar in a pile of junk.

“I’m going after them! You go after Rocio!” Yomiko said, grabbing the crowbar and climbing on top of one of the motorcycles.

“Right!” Machina nodded. As Yomiko drove off after Queenie and Tia, Machina glared at Rocio.

“Oooh, I’m so scared! Not!” Rocio smirked, taking out a hammer and smashing the remote she had used on the car, then tossing the hammer away. Machina saw a series of metal steps leading up to a black door two floors above her, and began ascending those steps three at a time.

Oh wow she’s actually pretty fast….well, I could probably design one that’s faster if I wanted to. Kitzel’s tickle machines are nothing compared to mine!, Rocio thought, closing her eyes and nodding with a smirk. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Machina was fifteen steps away from reaching her.

“Huh?! Already?!” Rocio shouted in shock, running to the opposite end of the hall towards a door. The moment she opened it, she heard the door behind her slam open.

“You won’t escape,” Machina said coldly.

“Hieee!” Rocio shrieked, quickly shutting the door. When Machina ran down the hall and reached the door, she heard nosy sounds coming from inside the room. She furrowed her brow, then slammed the door open. Peering around, she saw that all the tables in the room had been flipped save for one on the far wall that had three computers, sending metal parts and Doritos all over the floor. Apart for parts of the wall where a bean bag and fridge rested, she could see that every other wall had white metal doors.

“So this room is where you keep the girls you’ve forced to be tickle slaves? Or I guess you see them as test subjects instead,” Machina frowned, entering the room and moving with careful steps, not wanting to step on any sharp metals or Doritos. She looked left and right as she roamed about the room, peering over and under the tables.

“No answer? Your cowardice is embarrassing. Don’t you feel ashamed by it?” Machina asked, thinking that even Gigglez wasn’t this cowardly as she moved further into the room while continuing to search around. Even after reaching the center of the room she still couldn’t get a grasp on where Rocio was, and she was getting impatient.

“Show yourself already you sniveling little roa-”

“I am not a roach!” Rocio shouted.

“Hm?!” Rocio emerged from behind Machina, having hidden underneath some spare parts. Her fingers grabbed the robot’s sides and began tickling away at them.

“Ulp?! Hehehehehehehe!” Machina giggled, squirming away from Rocio’s touch and stepping on a Dorito. She frowned at that and quickly moved her foot away, allowing Rocio to dive down and start tickling it.

“As I thought, the texture of your body feels exactly the same as those other robots Dr. Kitzel designed. You really are one of her creations!” Rocio smirked.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! O-OTHER ROBOHOHOHOHOTS?!” Machina asked in surprise, her foot wiggling and shaking in Rocio’s grasp.

“You’re the missing component of the Absolutely Safe Barrier of Awesome Repulsion. Also known as ASBAR,” Rocio snickered impishly.

“THAT ACROHOHOHONYM IS AWFUHUHUHUHUL! AND WHAT DO YOU MEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEAN BY MISSING COMPOHOHOHOHONENT?!” Machina shouted.

“I know! It’s just soooo terrible~” Rocio sighed happily, ignoring the rest of what Machina had said and seeming very proud of that acronym. Her words had Machina at a total loss.

I’m not the only one? I thought Kitzel designed me and only me to be her assistant…..and her robotic tickle test subject too. But there’s others like me? And La Barriga’s using them to form a barrier? And I’m the missing piece of that barrier? I’m not the only one? I…..have sisters?

This information was such a bombshell for Machina that she hadn’t tried escaping from Rocio’s grasp yet and was half-ignoring the small, nimble fingers that were scribbling up and down her sole. But when those fingers headed further down and scratched at her heel, she squealed.

“HOHOHOHOHOHOW LONG ARE YOU GONNA DO THAT FOHOHOHOHOHOHOR?!” Machina shouted, pulling her leg out of her grasp and trying to kick Rocio.

“Woah!” But Rocio evaded this due to her short stature and soon retreated behind another table, her crocks making a fast squeaka-squeaka-squeaka noise as she retreated. Machina whipped her head in the direction of the sound and peered over a table. But there was nobody there, and she soon heard another squeaka-squeaka-squeaka as somebody darted from the left side of the room to the right.

“Flitting about here and there like a bug, you really are a roach,” Machina frowned.

“I am not a roach!” a voice shouted, jumping out from a table in front of Machina and reaching for the robot’s tummy. Machina was faster this time though, retracting her right hand for an electro-tickler and thrusting it towards Rocio’s tummy.

“WOOHOOHOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Rocio let out a loud shriek and two a few steps back, tripping over some of the snacks she’d laid out as she fell on the floor.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have dropped all that stuff if you were just gonna trip over it anyway, you idiot,” Machina said emotionlessly, thrusting her electro-tickler towards Rocio yet again.

“Hieee!” Rocio shrieked, grabbing one of things she had tripped over and throwing it towards Machina, then quickly turning her back on her opponent and clutching her head.

“Huh?” Machina stared in surprise at what was approaching her: a jar of butter. Machina couldn’t stop her thrust, and the electro-tickler hit the jar, causing it to explode. Rocio blinked twice when she realized she wasn’t writhing on the floor from ticklish jolts, then chanced a glance at Machina. The robot’s face and stomach were covered in sticky butter.

“Snrk!” Rocio stifled a giggle at that. Machina scowled, then thrust her electro-tickler once more.

“Hieee!” Rocio shrieked once more, grabbing another thing she had tripped over and holding it behind her back as she turned away from her opponent once more. This time, she was holding a bag of popcorn, and the popcorn in the bag popped and burst right out of it.

“Mmnrrrgh…..”

Thanks to the butter, Machina now had many popcorn kernels sticking to her face and body. When Rocio saw this, she burst into laughter.

“Pfft! Bwahahahahaha! Heeheehahahahaha! Oh you should see how stupid you look right now! Gahahahahahaha!” Rocio fell on her back laughing, showing off her sharp teeth as she fell over while kicking legs against the floor. Her annoying high-pitched laughter and all the squeaking sounds her crocs made as her legs hit the floor aggravated Machina to no end. The back of her lab coat and hair, as well as the soles of her crocs, had some popcorn and butter on them. Though Machina had clearly gotten it worse.

Scowling, Machina retracted her electro-tickler and tried to grab Rocio’s legs. But Rocio rolled away from this and dived behind another table.

“Hahahahaha! Pissing off one of Dr. Kitzel’s creations is the best! Ahh, this is much better than Big Barbara’s gift!” Rocio laughed. Machina peered behind the table, but of course, the obnoxious scientist had disappeared. Now in addition to the squeaka-squeaka-squeaka sound, Machina could hear the crunch-crunch-crunch sound of popcorn.

“Arrrrgh!”

The robot girl found herself growing very, very frustrated with her foe.

Meanwhile, Queenie and Tia were trapped in a car speeding down a road, with Queenie at the driver’s seat and Tia to her right. Circular scrubbers spun all over their soles. In the case of Queenie, there were plenty of holes near the heel, arch, and ball areas of her socks, and the scrubbers would target them. Before long the scrubbing grew so vicious that it was starting to steadily shred away at her socks.

“MHMMHMMHMMHMMHMM NHMMHMMHMMHMMO!” Tia screamed into her cloth gag, her feet waving all around and bumping into each other.

“GHMMHMMHMMHMMPH! THMMS SHMMHMMHMMCKS!” Queenie shouted angrily into her gag, almost as aggravated by her socks being torn apart as she was by those persistent, relentless scrubbers going all over her feet: her least favorite spot to be tickled. Her feet kicked violently in an attempt to break out of the dashboard’s built-in stocks, but they didn’t budge at all. And this was growing more and more unbearable by the second, partly due to the increase in speed and partly because in shredding her socks, the scrubbers exposed more and more bare, ticklish flesh to torment. In addition to feeling ticklish panic, the two of them also felt true terror at the thought that this car would crash if Yomiko didn’t make it in time. Still, there was one saving grace about this predicament.

At least it’s only our feet getting it, they both thought. As soon as they thought that, some more circular scrubbers attached to metal arms came out from the sides of their chairs, whirring at high speeds as they moved towards Tia and Queenie. The two gagged, trapped Fronds stared in horror as the scrubbers grew closer and closer, then pressed against their sides, bellies, and armpits.

“MHMMHMMHMMHMMHMMMMM! OHMM NHMMHMMHMMO!” Tia screamed, squirming in her seat and trying desperately to pull her arms down. The added tickling made her feet flail about even more, bumping into each other with greater frequency.

“GHMMHMMHMMHMMPH! DHMMHMMN IHMMHMMHMMT!” Queenie’s arms strained against the headrest that was pinning them down as though trying to rip it apart. Her soles scrunched like mad and kicked even more fiercely against the stocks, but it was all for naught. And as the intense scrubbing continued, they could see something at the edge of the horizon.

A few rocks and grassy shrubs…..and beyond that, water!

A lake?!

The lake was still some distance away, but the car they were in was rapidly speeding towards it.

“Queenie! Tia!”

As they stared in horror, they heard a loud shout and the sound of a motorcycle some distance away from the vehicle. When the motorcycle Yomiko was riding caught up to the left side of the car and was driving alongside it, they let out shouts of relief amidst their muffled laughs.

“Hold on!” Yomiko said, observing the ridges of the door to try to assess any weak points. She then prodded specific spots on the door, using the Ten Ticklish Strikes to try to loosen it even a little bit. Then she wedged the crowbar underneath the door and pressed down with all her might. After ten tense seconds of her riding alongside the car and pressing down on the crowbar, the door opened. Seeing this, Yomiko immediately used the crowbar to pry the headrest of Queenie’s seat open just enough that she could pull her arms out. Queenie took the cloth gag out of her mouth and forcefully ripped the headrest near Tia’s seat out while laughing from the scrubbers, then reached for the lock of the stocks that had trapped the tender-footed Tribal’s feet and snapped it with a forceful tug. Then she grabbed Tia and tossed her over to Yomiko, who dropped her crowbar so she could catch her.

“Queenie, hurry up and break the other lock!” Yomiko shouted, adjusting her position so that she was holding Tia in her lap with one arm while using her free hand to drive and steer the motorcycle.

“I GOT IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIT, DON’T WORREHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Queenie insisted. As she said this though, all of the scrubbers from Tia’s seat reached over and began tickling everywhere else on her tummy. Some of them were even tickling the tops of her feet, and because her socks had now been fully shredded, her soles and toes weren’t safe at all from this onslaught of tickles.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH COME OHOHOHOHOHOHOHON!” Queenie shrieked. Though her arms were free, all the extra tickling was making it hard to think straight and even harder to bust the lock.

If she can’t break it, I don’t think me or Tia would do much better!, Yomiko thought with worry.

“QUEENIE!” Yomiko shouted more anxiously. The car had crossed past the bushes and was now 30 paces away from the lake. 20 paces. 10 paces.

When the car was half-way over the cliff, Queenie finally succeeded in breaking the lock and jumped out of the car, reaching out with her arms and gripping the top of the cliff with them. She couldn’t find any footholds and wondered how she was going to pull herself up when Yomiko’s bike finally reached the cliff. She quickly parked it and dove towards the cliff, grabbing Queenie’s arms and pulling her up. The two of them stared at each other while panting, then smiled and hugged.

“Queenie’s safe!” Tia squealed happily, tackling both of them and hugging them.

“Ack! Easy there, we’re still near the ledge,” Yomiko frowned.

“Oof. Still a little winded from all the tickling,” Queenie grunted in slight pain from that tackle, but smiled and ruffled Tia’s head. Eventually Yomiko and Tia pulled away from the hug.

“We should probably get back to Machina. Though now that you’re safe, I have to ask…..why were your socks so holey?” Yomiko asked.

“Ah…..well between funds for gas and food, me and my girls were stretched thin even with some of us working odd jobs. I and a few others had to take a hit as far as personal spending was concerned, so I just had the one pair. And I’m not the best at dry cleaning, so the holes just wound up getting bigger and bigger and…..hey don’t laugh!” Queenie frowned.

“Hehehe, sorry sorry! Your crew seemed to be doing well and all, so I’m just surprised that their leader’s socks had holes for days!” Yomiko giggled.

“And now socks are all shredded!” Tia laughed.

“Alright, that’s it! I guess you didn’t have enough tickles, Tia! And maybe you want some too huh, Yomiko?!” Queenie frowned, wrapping her arms around their necks and pulling them close to her, then raspberrying their napes.

“Eeeheeheeheek! Queenie nohohohohohoho!” Tia yelped.

“Hahahahahahaha! Okay okay uhuhuhuhuncle!” Yomiko laughed. The two of them squirmed around from this playful ambush, unable to escape. Queenie smirked at that, then stopped after a few seconds of this.

“We should get back to Machina,” Queenie said.

“That’s what I said, but then you tickle attacked us…..” Yomiko frowned.

“Because you teased me!” Queenie shouted with slight embarrassment. “Anyways, let’s get a move on!” The motorcycle Yomiko had rode all the way here only had one seat, and Queenie was the largest of the three girls. So she sat in the seat with Tia in her lap while Yomiko sat behind her and wrapped her arms around the redhead Renegades’ waist, and before long they drove off.

“Where are you?!” Machina shouted angrily, storming all over the room. She now longer cared about stepping into spare parts or discarded snacks and was searching everywhere for Rocio. But there seemed to be no sign of her anywhere.

“Are you sticking to the wall like a bug or something? If so, then you really are a ro-”

“For the last time, I am not a ROACH!”

Machina froze, then stared up at the ceiling, seeing the obnoxious scientist falling from above.

“GHK!” Machina avoided having Rocio fall on top of her by a hair’s breadth, and Rocio’s stomach slammed against the narrow side of a table that had been flipped over, momentarily knocking the wind out of her.

“ACK! Ah!” Rocio gasped as Machina grabbed her by the scruff of her lab coat and hoisted her up until she was at eye level with the very irritated robot.

“Finally. You will pay dearly for making a fool out of me,” Machina frowned, her right hand retracting to reveal an electro-tickler.

“Hieee!” Rocio yelped at the sight of the electro-tickler, then squirmed around in Machina’s grasp.

“You’re not going to escape you little-ah?!” To Machina’s surprise, Rocio pulled her arms out of the sleeves of her lab coat. Once she landed on the ground, she wiggled her fingers against Machina’s tummy.

“EEHEEEHEEHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Ooh, looks like your tummy’s your worst spot. That’s different from the other robots just like you~” Rocio smirked, continuing to tickle Machina’s tummy as the robot girl was now only clutching the scruff of a lab coat, not her troublesome opponent.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I HATE YOOHOOHOOHOOHOO!” Machina shouted angrily.

“Ooh, say it again! It feels almost like Dr. Kitzel herself is burning with rage from behind bars!” Rocio laughed mockingly, snatching the lab coat from Machina’s hands and throwing it at her face.

“Ah it’s been fun messing with an inferior scientist’s work and seeing what makes it tick. But I’ve gotta make my escape!” Rocio smirked, her crocs making squeaky sounds as she ran over to the beanbag and grabbed it, pulling it away from the wall. This revealed a hole, and beyond that hole was a metal chute. Her own secret escape slide. Machina, who had thrown the lab coat away, saw that and scowled.

“Scurrying about here and there and then escaping through a hole in the wall? I’d expect nothing less from a-”

“I’M NOT A RO-oh crap!” Rocio yelped, getting so distracted that Machina able to quickly close the distance. Rocio grabbed the beanbag and threw it at her, but Machina knocked it away and reached for the small scientist.

“Hieee!” Rocio shrieked as she fell backwards through the escape chute, sliding down and down the winding chute until she landed into a pile of shirts at the bottom, all of which belonged to her test subjects.

“Uggh, never thought I’d be forced to use the escape chute, and I definitely didn’t think I’d be forced to slide down it the wrong way. But it worked, I’m free!” Rocio shouted, bursting from the pile of shirts with her arms raised upwards and a bright smile on her face. The chute had led her back into the open room that had the motorcycles and her car in it.

“The chute’s only big enough for someone small and perfect like me to slide down, so that robot won’t be able to catch me. And by the time those Fighting Fronds manage to get back here, I’ll be long gone!” Rocio smirked while talking to herself. She pulled out a roach shaped key with two buttons on it, and clicked one that made her brown car beep as it unlocked. She quickly ran over to the driver’s side and opened the door, turning the key in the ignition. She began driving in reverse, when something landed roughly on top of the hood, making it cave in slightly and shattering the side windows.

“Gyaah! W-What the heck?” Rocio shouted in shock, stopping and looking around in worry. Then she saw Machina’s upside down face staring at her ominously through the windshield.

“AAAAAAH!” Rocio screamed in horror and slammed down on the gas as she drove in reverse.

“Get off my damn car!” Rocio shouted, making a sharp 180-degree turn with the car that caused Machina to fall near the back of the car, which she gripped tightly.

“Get off get off GET OOOOOOOOFF!” Rocio shouted, driving like a maniac as she swerved the car into the other motorcycles that were down here, then against the wall. Then she swerved the car round and round in circles. Machina gripped the back of the car tightly and touched the area directly over the back left wheel before falling off.

“Heh….hehehehe! About time!” Rocio shouted, letting out a laugh that was half nervous and half deranged as she drove towards the garage door. When she had almost reached it though, she saw Yomiko, Queenie, and Tia. They were riding on a motorcycle and driving towards the garage door.

“Is that…..that’s Rocio!” Queenie exclaimed.

“Get out of the car! You’ve got nowhere to run so you better….!” Yomiko began to say.

“AAAAAAAAH!”

But Rocio wasn’t having any of it, shouting like a maniac and flooring the gas.

“What the hell?!” Queenie stared in disbelief.

“Roach lady’s gone insane!” Tia gasped.

“I AM NOT A ROOOOOOOOACH!” Rocio shouted, driving straight for the motorcycle Queenie was riding. Queenie couldn’t change course completely at this distance, so she swerved the bike to the right at a very low angle. Sparks shot off from the bike as it bumped against Rocio’s speeding car, but they had managed to drive into the garage just as Rocio was coming out and avoid becoming roadkill. Rocio turned back to look at them and clicked her tongue in annoyance, then turned the car to the right and kept on driving at top speed, eventually escaping.

Queenie gradually came to a stop, then looked at Tia and Yomiko.

“Is everybody okay?” Queenie asked.

“T-Tia’s fine!” Tia exclaimed, though she looked terrified by the sudden maneuver they had to do.

“Y-Yeah I’m good,” Yomiko nodded, panting heavily now that the immediate danger of getting crushed by a car had passed. The three of them saw the popcorn and butter covered Machina approaching and stifled a giggle.

“Heh. What happened to you?” Queenie asked, trying not to snicker.

“It’s a long story,” Machina frowned.

“I-I see. Well, it looks—snrk—sillier than that disguise you had me wear when we broke into Gigglez’s hideout,” Yomiko said, her shoulders shaking as she tried very hard not to laugh.

“I…..am aware of that, yes,” Machina said, her frown turning into a deep scowl.

“Hahahahahahaha! Machina became popcorn monster!” Tia laughed openly. That cheerful, giddy laugh made Yomiko and Queenie finally lose it, with Yomiko falling off the motorcycle while laughing and Queenie giving a full on belly laugh at the sight.

“Stop laughing right now! It’s not that funny! And Tia, why is this the moment where you finally said my name right?!” Machina shouted, her hands on her hips as she glared at the three of them.

Incidentally, she had already gotten Yomiko’s name right two days ago.

“Hehehehehe, oh gosh…..thanks for that Machina,” Yomiko giggled, wiping a tear from her eye as she stood up.

“Looks like while we were on a one-way tickle ride to the bottom of a lake, you had your own problems to worry about,” Queenie grinned slyly.

“But….now roach lady is long gone. How will Fighty Fronds catch her now?” Tia asked sadly.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I stuck a tracker on her car. We’ll know exactly where she’s heading,” Machina reassured them, though she was still frowning due to everything she’d put up with.

“Really? Well that makes things simpler,” Yomiko smiled.

“Let’s bust out everybody that’s still trapped in this place before following her,” Queenie grinned.

“Good idea. Maybe along the way I’ll find where she keeps her shower,” Machina remarked. The other three Fronds glanced at Machina once more, then snickered.

Rocio drove westwards towards a city, then parked in front of a restaurant. The cashier stared when she saw the popcorn and butter sticking on the short scientist’s hair and her shoes as well as the dirt on her face, but decided to serve this strange customer her order when she saw her pull out a wallet. Rocio sat down at a table and munched on some quesadillas, even plucking out some of the popcorn that was still stuck to her hair and munching it.

Mhmmhmm, after a long and hot car ride these are the perfect temperature!, Rocio thought while snickering to herself. Once she had finished her meal and drink, Rocio headed outside the restaurant and headed to her car while munching on another popcorn kernel, when she saw something that gave her pause. A few blocks in front of her, there was a pick-up truck parked in front of her. Rocio frowned in suspicion for a few moments, then entered her car and started driving, heading in the direction opposite the pick-up truck and taking a left. As she drove down the street, she could make out the pick-up truck driving behind five other cars, in the direction she was heading. Rocio narrowed her eyes at that through the windshield, but when she drove past a green light the pick-up truck that was five cars behind her took a right turn.

Was that the Fronds? Or was it just a coincidence? I couldn’t get a good look at them and I don’t know if they’re smart enough to tail me from a distance like that, Rocio mused. Then she frowned and turned left at the next light.

After driving for many miles, she parked her car in front of a rundown motel to the left of a dirt road, with no other buildings or people in sight. She pulled a pair of folding binoculars out from one of her pockets and peered out the window of her car. She saw dust being kicked up in the distance, and soon caught a glimpse of what was driving towards her: a pick-up truck. The same pick-up truck she had eyeballed earlier.

“I knew it was them! Ohh, they’re so annoying!” Rocio shouted while stamping her foot against the floor of her car.

“But how the hell did they find me?! Unless….” Rocio froze and ran out of the car, touching all over the car and moving to the back wheels. Feeling something attached to the area just above the wheel, she pulled it out. It was a small, circular tracker.

“Agggh, it was the damn robot’s doing! Curse you Dr. Kitzel!” Rocio grumbled, clenching her fist. She threw the tracker to the ground and stomped on it over and over until it had been thoroughly destroyed.

“Well, it’s a good thing I came here,” Rocio smirked. Turning to face her car, she gauged the position of the approaching truck through the window’s reflection, panting and pretending to be tired. Once it was close enough that she could vaguely make out Queenie’s face behind the wheel, she moved with a deliberately sluggish gait as she headed inside the motel and shut the door. Then she took off running, closing her eyes as she passed by a circular table with a single piece of paper on it, then stacking a few chairs on top of each other so she could hoist herself through a hole in one of the ceilings and listen for the approach of the Fronds, opening the back window ever so slightly.

The moment she heard them enter one of the rooms and heard the door sound of a door closing, she lifted the window open and leapt out of it, landing in one of the bushes behind the motel. Emerging with leaves and a single twig stuck in her hair, she ran over to her car. The squeaky sounds her crocs made and the sound of her starting up her car were of no concern to her any more: they wouldn’t be able to hear her leaving even if they pressed their ears against the doors.

“That’s how this place is. It’s haunted, and you can’t hear any noises from outside as long as you’re in one of the rooms,” Rocio smirked, beginning to drive out of there and casting one last look at the motel through her rearview mirror in the light of the setting afternoon sun.

“They chased me all the way here while thinking they got the drop on me. Well the joke’s on them! They just drove right into their tomb….or rather, into a horrifying place of eternal tickling~” Rocio snickered.

The Fighting Fronds drove to the parking space in front of the motel and stared at it in shock.

“Rocio came all the way out here to a motel that looks like…..this?” Yomiko asked incredulously.

“I wouldn’t wish a place like this on my worst enemies,” Queenie shook her head.

“Roach lady is very strange!” Tia frowned.

“Considering that her face and lab coat are usually dirty, maybe she different ideas about what places make great rest stops,” Machina shrugged.

“Hmm….might explain why none of these rooms have front windows,” Queenie commented.

The Fronds had arrived in front of a two-story motel, the sun just about to disappear over a horizon with a few dark clouds. The motel looked worn down, its brown roof having holes in it and its manilla walls caked in mold and peeling away. The hinges and door knobs of each of the red doors were so rusty it was a miracle they hadn’t fallen off. To the left was a simple sign supposed to read ‘MOTEL’, but the ‘M’ and ‘T’ had fallen off onto the nearby pavement, so it just read ‘OEL’. And as mentioned by Queenie, none of the rooms appeared to have front windows, though there were likely windows in the back.

Before arriving here, they had freed all of the girls that had been trapped in Rocio’s lab and helped drive them in turns to a nearby city that some of the Renegades had breached, letting the members of her group assist them. Machina had taken a thorough shower and washed away all traces of Rocio’s mischief. Queenie was unable to fetch a new pair of socks, but she and Tia had their footwear safely protecting their feet once more.

Climbing out of the truck, Machina headed over to Rocio’s car and felt the spot where she had put the tracker as the other Fronds came up behind her.

“As I thought, she found it and removed it,” Machina said, opening up the trunk of Rocio’s car.

“Uhh, what are you doing?” Queenie asked.

“Ssh.” Machina quickly hushed her, examining the back of the trunk. There were a few random gadgets and a messy pile of spare lab coats, all of which were dirty. A compartment opened up in Machina’s neck, and she pulled a small tracker out of it. Then she grabbed the lab coat at the bottom of the pile and slipped the tracker in one of the pockets, putting that lab coat back at the bottom and messing up the pile again so it looked almost exactly as she found it.

“Good idea. At least if she manages to escape, we’ll be able to find her,” Yomiko smiled. Machina nodded at that, and the Fronds stepped up to the first floor landing of the motel and opened one of the doors.

The room was medium-sized, with a damp and damaged carpet covering the entire floor, two cushioned chairs whose springs were showing, a small kitchen, and two beds whose red sheets were in disarray. There was also a circular table with a single piece of paper on it.

“Huh. I’m starting to doubt if even Rocio would want to be in a place like this,” Queenie frowned as the four of them entered the room.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Yomiko agreed, frowning at the state the room was in. The door then suddenly closed behind them.

“Ooookay, that’s a little odd,” Queenie said while looking behind her.

“Hm? What’s this?” Tia asked, picking up the piece of paper and showing it to the other Fronds. A message had been written with an orange marker, and Yomiko read it aloud.

“Rules of the Mirthful Motel:
No Laughing, Screaming, or Running Around
And Most Importantly, NO FEET ON THE FURNITURE!”

“Huh. Those are some strange rules,” Queenie murmured.

“Yeah…..they sure are,” Yomiko nodded.

“So who gonna do it?!” Tia asked excitedly.

“Huh?” Machina stared at her in surprise.

“Definitely not me!” Yomiko raised her arms while grinning.

“What has gotten into you…..two?” Machina said, then stared as Queenie swung her boots off her feet and landed on one of the cushioned chairs.

“Ohh, Queenie!” Tia pouted.

“I was gonna trick Tia and do it!” Yomiko frowned.

“Heh. You snooze you lose,” Queenie smirked smugly, wiggling her feet on one armrest of the chair while the rest of her body was scrunched up on the seat and the other armrest.

“Mmmph…..Tia will be first in next room!” Tia declared, swinging her moccasins off her feet and running to the door.

“Oh no you don’t!” Yomiko shouted, swinging her slippers off her feet as she followed closely behind Tia, who had opened the door.

“Guh! Hey wait up!” Queenie shouted, not bothering to put her boots back on as she chased after Yomiko and Tia.

…..Huh? Machina blinked in surprise at the open doorway, then shook her head as she followed after her friends.

Yomiko, Tia, and Queenie went door to door, bouncing on beds, cushioned chairs, and the occasional sofa, laughing and shouting energetically at each other as they did so.

“Oh come on Machina, don’t you want to give it a try?” Yomiko asked Machina when she saw that she wasn’t joining in on the fun.

“I’m fine….but thank you,” Machina said emotionlessly, crossing her arms and leaning against a wall. Yomiko had gone back to bouncing on a cushioned chair before Machina had finished saying those words. It was as if she, Queenie, and Tia had been overtaken by a sudden burst of manic energy.

And it all started with that piece of paper, Machina thought, turning to the circular table in this room. Like all the circular tables in all the rooms they’d been in, this table had a piece of paper resting on it. One that had the same message as the one in the first room they’d checked. Machina glared at that message intensely, but didn’t feel any different.

Is it because I’m a robot? It’s because I’m a robot isn’t it? Machina felt both relieved and somewhat annoyed by that revelation as she continued to chase after the girls from one room to the next, having long given up on telling them to stop and calm down.

Eventually went up to the second floor of the motel, and Queenie began bouncing on the bed of the first room they checked.

“Hahaha! This is so much fun!” Queenie laughed happily, acting like an overexcited kid. Yomiko and Tia weren’t much better given that they were both bouncing on a couch.

“Huaaaaaah?!” Queenie shouted in surprise as she suddenly sank through a hole in the bed. She disappeared, along with the sheets, the mattress cover, and the mattress.

“Queenie?!” Machina shouted, bending down and looking under the bed. She saw a hole in the floor close up, Queenie’s shouts disappearing as well.

“GYAH! W-What’s going on?” Tia asked, looking around anxiously and backing up towards the closet, then letting out a scream as the closet door opened and she fell backwards through it. Machina ran towards the closet and peeked inside, but Tia wasn’t there.

“Machina what’s-ah?!” Yomiko shouted. She was sitting on a sofa pressed up against a wall, and that wall and the part of the floor it was situated on suddenly spun, sending her to the neighboring room.

“YOMIKO!” Machina shouted, pressing her fingers against the wall to try to trigger the mechanism and rescue her. But she stopped when she felt a sudden chill running down her spine. Or rather, since she was a robot, it more like her instincts were screaming at her.

Machina quickly dived under the bed, staying as still and quiet as a corpse as she gazed at the wall. She couldn’t see anything, but she could tell by a few bizarrely shaped shadows that appeared on that wall that something was in the room, searching. After a couple of tense seconds, the bizarre shadows disappeared. Machina quietly crawled out from under the bed, then ran to the door and opened it, heading out of the room and turning around to face it as she backed up against the metal railing. Once again her instincts screamed at her, and as there was nowhere to hide she turned stiff as a mannequin. The bizarre shadows appeared once more on the wall in front of her, and she waited for a full minute while standing completely still. After a minute passed, the form of the invisible being that had been watching her finally came into focus.

It was a tall, light green, floating, transparent woman with a pointy nose, dark green lips, and striking eyes. The woman had short whitish green hair that jutted out in spiky bangs on her left side, dark green lips and nails, and a dark green blouse reminiscent of a secretary’s outfit. The woman was also barefoot.

“Hmm. Could’ve sworn I heard something….” the ghost lady frowned, glaring right at Machina as she said this.

She can’t see me!, Machina thought with surprise.

“Hmph. Better go tell the others that one got away,” the ghost lady said, turning away from Machina and floating towards the wall. Before she could get away though, Machina retracted her right wrist for an electro-tickler and thrust it towards the ghost’s feet in a very swift motion.

“YEEEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA?!” the ghost lady let out a shrill scream that was at odds with her prim and proper appearance.

“A ticklish ghost….” Machina muttered, her eyes widening slightly as she wrapped an arm around the ghost’s ankles to test something.

“Who are you?! Where did you even come from?!” the ghost lady shouted.

Well that confirms that she couldn’t see me, Machina mused. As Machina had stopped the tickles, the ghost lady’s legs began to pass through Machina’s arm as she tried to reach the wall. When Machina moved her arm away and pressed the electro-tickler against the ghost lady’s feet, she screamed once more, and Machina could feel the ghost’s ankles as she wrapped her arm around them once more.

When she’s being tickled, I can grab her. And when she’s not, she’ll just pass straight through. Fascinating.

Machina heard a shrieking sound and retreated back to the railing with the ghost lady in tow, widening her eyes as she saw three more ghosts poke their heads out of walls. A red one, a blue one, and an ominous looking purple one: all of them transparent just like Yurei. The sight of them made Machina momentarily forgot to use her electro-tickler on the ghost lady she was holding, but she quickly rectified that before ticklish specter could escape, then leapt backwards over the railing as the ghosts approached. The leader almost managed to reach her ankle but just barely missed, her long nails grazing the bottom of Machina’s foot instead. Stifling a giggle at that, Machina landed in the parking lot in front of the motel, then looked up at the second floor. All of the ghosts were gone. She looked to her left and right, but there were no odd shadows or signs of them.

Huh? Why aren’t they chasing me?

“You. What’s your name?” Machina asked emotionlessly.

“Why shohohohohohould I tell you-YEEEHEEEK! YUREHEHEHEHEI, MY NAME IS YUREHEHEHEHEHEI!” Yurei shrieked.

“Yurei huh? Hey Yurei, why didn’t those ghosts follow me?” Machina asked.

“There is nohohohohothing you can do to mahahahake me-GYAHAAAA! ME AHAHAHAHHAHAND THE OHOHOHOHOHOTHERS ARE HEEHEEHEHEEHEEHEE! BOUND TO THE SECOHOHOHOHOHOND AND FIRST FLOOHOOHOOHOOHOOR OF THE MOHOHOHOHOHOTEL! WEEHEEHEEHEEEEEK! WE NORMALLY CAN’T COME OUT THIS FAHAHAHAHAHAHAR!” Yurei explained amidst shrieks and squeals.

“You’re here right now, aren’t you?” Machina raised her brow.

“BECAUSE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BECAUSE YOU’RE TEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHA! BECAUSE YOU’RE TEEHEEHEEHAHAHACKLING MEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Yurei screamed.

She’s very ticklish, Machina thought, feeling her external hard drive heat up a little. And the contrast between her business-like appearance and her wild laughter makes this oddly enticing. I could do this all….no, best not get distracted right now. Machina thought all of this while her expression remained completely neutral.

She had adjusted the intensity of the jolts coming from the electro-tickler to get those first two confessions out of Yurei, but had now set the electro-tickler to moderate intensity, tickle jolting the captive ghost’s soles as she gathered her bearings. It was now night outside, with a sudden heavy overcast of clouds. She couldn’t hear a single sound coming from within motel, although she knew that her friends were most likely being tickled. And Rocio’s car was gone.

I didn’t even hear it leave. If….If you’re closed off to outside sounds when you’re in those closed rooms, it would make sense. Yomiko and the others spent quite a bit of time in some of those rooms after all. ….Well, it’s quite fortunate that I planted that tracker then. And if that’s really how this place works, then I should rip off the doorknob from each door so I can hear if any sounds are coming from inside the rooms.

Thinking all of this, Machina observed the struggling, shrieking Yurei.

She didn’t notice me at all when I was right in front of her. But the moment I activated one of my electro-ticklers and rushed towards her, she turned in my direction. Which means these ghosts detect people through sound.

Naturally, Machina also took the time to observe Yurei’s feet. They were the same light green color as the rest of her body. Slender size 9s, with curvy balls, high arches, and smooth heels. The robot girl was a little surprised by the fact that she was actually tickling a ghost, and this was definitely one of the more bizarre experiences she’d had.

“NYEEHEEHEEAAAAA! IT DOESN’T MAKE SEHEHEHEHEHEHENSE! ALL THE OTHERS WENT CRAZY THE MOHOHOMENT THEY READ THE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THE PAPER SO WHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIY?!” Yurei shouted, her soles scrunched up very tightly.

“I’m a robot. Specifically one created by Dr. Kitzel-”

“DR. KITZEHEHEHEHEHEHEL?! UGGH, THAT BRAT RAHAHAHAHAHANTED ALL THE TIME AHAHAHAHAHAHABOUT HER AND NOW HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! WHEN I DIE ONE OF HER ROHOHOHOHOHOBOTS COMES FOR MEEHEEHEEHEEHEE?! HOW PEHEHEHEHEHERFECT!” Yurei growled. Those words made Machina’s eyes widen.

“…..You know Dr. Kitzel?” Machina asked, lowering the intensity of the tickly jolts.

“Hehehahahahahaha! I know her nahahahahahame!” Yurei frowned, glaring at Machina as though asking when she planned on stopping.

“But you don’t know her personally,” Machina mused. “Earlier, you said ‘that brat’. Were you referring to Rocio?”

“Urk! T-Thahahahahat’s not, uhuhuhm….” Yurei faltered, allowing Machina to realize that her guess was spot on.

Of all the places she could have driven off to, she chose here. And she left not long after we arrived. Which means this was a trap planned by her. And that would mean she knew there were ghosts haunting this place. But how? Unless….

“You and the other ghosts are haunting this place, which means you died here. But there are no visible wounds on any of you,” Machina said.

“Sohohohohoho?! That doesn’t mean-”

“Were you and the other ghosts tickled to death as a result of Rocio’s experiments?” Machina asked. Yurei froze once more, still laughing from the tickles. Machina assessed that response, and then considered something else.

“Nobody in their right mind would trust a receptionist that looks like her.”

“So the rivahahahahalry between you crazy scientists lives ohohohohohon in her roBAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Yurei shrieked, staring at Machina as the intensity of the jolts went up.

“She would’ve needed someone more ordinary behind the receptionist desk. Someone with better communication skills than her who isn’t always covered in dirt or dressed like a fashion disaster. Someone…..like you,” Machina said, narrowing her eyes as she pressed the electro-tickler against the curve of Yurei’s left arch while increasing the intensity even further.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I DIDN’T KNOHOHOHOHOHOHOW! IF I KNEHEHEHEHEHEHEW I WOHOHOAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I WOULDN’T HAVE DIALED THE NUHUHUHUHUHUMBER ON THAT STUPID FLYHIHIHIHIHIHER! GYAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Yurei screamed, her feet wriggling and struggling in Machina’s grasp as the robot girl gazed intensely at Yurei for several tense seconds.

“Hmm…..it seems like you are not lying,” Machina said, greatly lowering the intensity of the electro-tickler. “Alright, here’s what happened, I think. Rocio used this place during her early start as a tickle inventor, with you managing the register. You didn’t know what was going on…..I’m guessing because she sound-proofed all the rooms and told you she was conducting some other, harmless experiment. She wound up experimenting with tickling devices so intense that those three ghosts…..the girls who they used to be, died. And when you found out what she’d been up to and what had happened, she tied you down and left you to the fate of one of those tickle devices, which inevitably lead to your death. When the police investigated this motel, the bodies were buried and the motel was left to fall into disarray. But your souls all lingered, searching for girls to tickle and tickle until…..well, forever I imagine. Is that about right?”

“Hehehehehe! You figured all thahahahahahat out on your ohohohohohown?” Yurei asked in shock while giggling from the tickles.

“I am a Fighting Frond after all,” Machina said with a small, smug smirk.

“Fighting…..Frohohohond?” Yurei blinked in confusion.

“Hmm, guess you haven’t heard of us. One last question, is Yurei your real name?” Machina asked.

“You meheeheeheean the name I had in life? No, I dohohohohon’t remember. I see bihihihihits and pieheeheeces of my past life but….” Yurei trailed off and looked away. “So cahahahahan you let me go nohohohohohow?” she asked with a raised brow.

“No. If I let you go, then when I attempt to rescue my friends you’ll try to stop me, right?” Machina said.

“T-Thahahahat’s…..”

“And besides, there’s important that requires my attention: your last rites. If being tickled with cruelty is how you became ghosts, then to send you to the other side I’ll tickle you…..with love.” Machina said with a neutral expression.

“Is a robot even cahahahahapable of lahahaHAHAHAHAHA! ALRIGHT I TAHAHAHAHAKE IT BAHAHAHAHAHAHACK! YEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEK!”

Her shrieks really are adorable. But what she needs right now….is love.

“Well it’s also for the sake of your victims, but we’ll save them. It’s not like you threw them into paintings where they’ll be tickled for all eternity, right? That would just be absurd,” Machina remarked.

“A-ABOUT THAT, WE MAHAHAHAHAHAY HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I SAID MAHEEHEHEEHEEY! DOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MREEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Yurei flailed her arms around frantically while screaming in ticklish panic. Machina glared at her for a few moments, then sighed and lowered the intensity of the electro-tickler, which had briefly been set to its maximum setting.

Well, nothing can be done for them now. Best to send these ghosts to the other side before they claim more victims, Machina thought, taking a few moments to lament the fact that they had failed to save some two or three dozen people. Then she got to work, prodding the electro-tickler against Yurei’s feet.

“YEEEHEEEK! Hehehehey, w-what are you doohoohihihihihing?” Yurei asked in confusion.

“Tickling you. Isn’t that obvious?” Machina’s voice carried a slightly taunting tone, which Yurei frowned at. Yes, the robot girl was still tickling her. But while before she had been doing it to subdue and punish Yurei, now the touches felt….oddly playful. She stroked and prodded Yurei’s feet, being purposeful with each ticklish strike without being too ruthless and never halting her tickles long enough for Yurei to escape.

“You won’t be able to escape, so just laugh. Tickle tickle.” Machina said. The emotionless tone she said those words with almost made Yurei explode with laughter.

N-No, it’s not that funny!, she chided herself mentally as she tried to rein in her laughter.

“Time for a wooooorld of laughter. Giggity giggity goo.” Machina teased, saying all of that with a deadpan tone and expression. That did the trick.

“YEEHEEHEEHEEHEEK! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH GOHOHOHOHOSH, HEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA!” Yurei squealed, laughing from both Machina’s voice and from how much this tickled. Her long feet curled into each other as her toes wiggled and curled in a lively manner. Machina briefly smiled at that, then returned to a neutral expression.

“Your feet seem a lot livelier now. Like they’re having a ha-ha-happy time.” Machina said emotionlessly, this time playing up her emotionless tone a little.

“KEKEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! YOU’RE DOAHAHAHAHAING THAT ON PURPOHOHOHOHOSE!” Yurei accused, but she couldn’t help laughing even more. Her laughter grew even louder when Machina pressed the electro-tickler against a spot just below the ball of her right foot where it met the arch.

“Looks like I found your worst spot. Archn’t you glad?” Machina said emotionlessly, wincing a little after saying that. But it had the intended effect.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ARCHN’T YOU?! GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Yurei laughed wildly, clutching her sides and even kicking her feet out of Machina’s grasp when she pulled the electro-tickler back, nearly spinning upside down before Machina pressed the electro-tickler against that spot once more and grabbed the gleeful ghoul’s ankles, forcing her back into a more upright position. Her form seemed to be shimmering slightly, and the outline of her body was starting to crumble.

It looks like storing Gigglez’s bad puns in the back of my CPU proved useful, Machina thought.

“Time to put the finishing touches. Or rather, the finishing tee-hee-heeckles.” Machina said emotionlessly. Seeing that even that line had kept Yurei laughing, she released Yurei from her armlock, then quickly retracted her free hand for an electro-tickler, pressing them against the spot where the arch met the ball for both feet.

“Electric Shock! …..You’ve heard of getting a hot foot, now you’ve got a….shock foot.” Machina added emotionlessly.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! SHOHOHOHOHOCK FOOHOOHOOHOOT! GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NYEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Yurei let out her loudest shriek yet, ghostly tears pouring down her cheeks as Machina made sure to use an Electric Shock that wasn’t too intense and was instead just a touch stronger than the tickling she had inflicted thus far. After pulling off this technique, Yurei’s ghostly form began crumbling starting with her torso, specks of her ethereal body floating upwards and disappearing from sight.

“She went on and on about Dr. Kitzel all the time, but never said anything specific. When I found out what she had really been using the motel for…..I got the sense that Dr. Kitzel was a psycho just like she was. At least one good thing came out of her,” Yurei said, smiling at Machina as her legs and upper half began crumbling.

“Those bad puns and word choices…..I know you were just doing it for my sake, but thank you.”

“Yup, I did it for your sake. And now I’ll do this for my sake,” Machina said.

“What do you-EYEEHEEEEK! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU JEHEHEHEHEHERK!” Yurei shrieked. Her feet were still intact, and Machina couldn’t resist playing with them a little

“Heh. Got one last cute shriek out of you~” Machina said, flashing a small, playful smirk at Yurei as she stopped.

“Hmph. If I had still been human, I would’ve gotten you,” Yurei pouted.

“Not a chance,” Machina replied, still smirking. Yurei chuckled at that.

“….Rather than helping out with such twisted research, I wish I’d met a robot like you sooner. One who’s mischievous, crafty….and a bit of a goofball~” Yurei smiled softly. Her feet and head soon crumbled completely, disappearing into the sky.

“I am not a goofball,” Machina pouted while crossing her arms. Yurei had gotten the last laugh with that playful jab, which only made the robot girl even more peeved. But after feeling annoyed for a few moments, she sighed.

“Happy to make your last memory a gut-buster, Yurei,” Machina said with a small smile. Her expression then returned to a neutral one as she gazed at the abandoned motel, casting a brief glance at the receptionist room that had its blinds up.

That seems like perfect place for the leader of these ghosts to be. Best safe it for last, Machina thought. She went over to one of the water coolers in Queenie’s pickup truck and grabbed one of the water bottles, clutching it in her left hand as she steeped up to the landing of the motel. When shadows on the walls and blue ghost lady appeared soon after and stared at her, she remained still as a statue. After frowning and looking around in confusion for a few moments, the ghost left in a hurry.

Mmph. She retreated faster than Yurei did, so I couldn’t grab her. I was hoping I would be able to subdue another one so there would be one less ghost for me to deal with but….

Machina briefly pouted in annoyance at that, but her expression soon returned to a neutral one as she focused on the task at hand. She moved by taking four or five soft steps at a time, then stopping whenever eerie shadows appeared on the walls. By doing so, she was able to break off the doorknobs of the first floor of the motel, starting from the right and going to the left. When she broke the doorknob of the second to last room, she heard laughter. Yomiko’s laughter.

“Yomiko!” Machina shouted, quickly rushing in.

“AGGGH! So you’re responsible for all those strange sounds! I couldn’t even find you!” the blue ghost lady who had kept trying and failing to find Machina was here, and so was Yomiko.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MAHAHAHAHAHACHINA RUHUHUHUHUHUN!” Yomiko shrieked, still concerned for her friend’s plight even in this situation. She had been trapped inside the sofa she had been sitting on earlier, with only her head and feet sticking out. Her head was sticking out of the bottom of the sofa, while her feet were protruding out of the cushion farthest away from her head and had been bound with what looked like floating guitar strings. Two floating ghostly blue hair brushes dragged back and forth against the balls of her feet, two ghostly blue guitar picks were strumming against her arches at bizarre rhythms that changed so abruptly she could never get used to it, and ten ghostly blue toothbrushes with light blue bristles were brushing away at the pads of every last one of her trapped, trembling toes. Yomiko’s cheeks were crimson from how hard she had been laughing, and tears streamed down them without stopping.

“Bah! I finally figured out how to get the best beats out of her and you just HAD to show up!” the ghost lady scowled.

This ghost was light blue, with her hair and clothes being a dark blue. Her face was a mix of cute and aggressive, as her eyes were narrow and her chin was angular, while the rest of her features were softer and more adorable. Her long blue hair was all scraggly at the top and trailed down into two spiked bangs, and she had dark blue lips. She had blue ghostly earrings with a skull pattern on them, and ghostly blue skull rings on the third and fourth finger of her left hand. She was wearing a dark blue choker, a dark blue leather jacket, and dark blue pants. And much like Yurei, this ghost was barefoot.

Well, now that I think of it, they were all barefoot, Machina mused.

“Well, sorry for spoiling your fun,” Machina replied flatly.

“Arrrgh, I was hoping to tickle her for a few more hours!” the ghost lady growled while clutching her head.

“Huh? What are you talking about? It’s only been a few minutes at most,” Machina said.

“Haaah? I’ve been at her for the past five hours! Are your eyes not working or something? Go on, take a look!” the ghost lady scowled. Machina observed Yomiko’s expression, her somewhat haggard appearance, and the way her laughter sounded when it came out.

Yomiko wouldn’t be in this state from only a few minutes of tickling. In other words…..this place goes through time dilation. Only a few minutes passed outside, but for Yomiko and the others…..and all the other people who were unlucky enough to wind up here, it felt like a few hours.

“A few minutes out there, a few hours in here….” Machina nodded. “What’s your name?”

“Aaahn? The name’s Ghoulia, what’s it to you?” Ghoulia scowled.

“Nothing. I just want to know the name of the ghost who dared to treat Yomiko like this before tickling her to a crying mess,” Machina said bluntly.

“Ohhh, is that right? You really think you can take me?” Ghoulia asked.

“Yes.” Machina instantly replied.

“Nrrrgh, I’ll make you eat those words. I’ll mess you up so bad you won’t know frontways from backways from sideways from all kindsa ways!” Ghoulia shouted, flying swiftly towards Machina. The robot girl evaded this attack by sliding on her knees, thrusting her electro-tickler towards Ghoulia as she passed.

“BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Ghoulia laughed from that, clutching her side and spinning in midair. She also wound up flying a lot farther than expected. Seeing this, Machina ran over to Yomiko.

“I’ll rescue you Yomiko,” Machina said, swinging her electro-tickler at the air to make all the ghost tickle tools disappear and then swinging her head towards the door. But there was no sign of Ghoulia. Machina tilted her head at that, and then saw something rushing towards her from the corner of her eye.

“HAAAAAH!” Ghoulia shouted as she flew through the wall towards Machina, who tried to thrust her electro-tickler at the approaching ghost while rolling away from the couch. But Ghoulia changed direction as Machina moved, diving right into her as the robot girl felt her body go rigid. She tried to stand up, but stumbled and fell. She thought of raising her left hand, but raised her right one instead. Even the room was starting to look dizzying.

“Nahahaha! I told you I’d mess you up! Haha, to think I’ve possessed a robot!” She heard Ghoulia’s voice coming from within her.

“What….did you do?” Machina asked.

“Nahahaha! Are you scared? Hah, not only did I possess a robot, I’m even making her shake and shiver! Well since you asked so nicely, I’ll tell you tin can! Your senses are all outta whack! Left is right and up is down! You won’t be able to move around like that at all! Soon Phantasma will be here and she’ll tickle you to tears. And then we have all eternity to break you!” Ghoulia laughed evilly.

“Ah, so you can’t control my body at all then, just disorient me?” Machina replied bluntly.

“Wha? W-What gave you that idea?!” Ghoulia shouted.

“Well if you could, you would’ve tried using my electro-ticklers on me,” Machina noted. Ghoulia froze and stuttered as Machina kept speaking. “I figured at least one of you ghosts would be able to use possession, so this isn’t all that surprising,” Machina shrugged.

“S-Shut the hell up! There’s no way you knew this was gonna happen! So don’t act like you prepared some kinda countermeasure!” Ghoulia shot back angrily.

“Alright, I won’t then. I’ll just show you,” Machina said, clenching her fist to break the water bottle, causing the contents to splash all over her body.

“What are you…..wait no!” Ghoulia shouted warily.

“Me rolling to this side was deliberate. At least Yomiko won’t feel this next part. Electric Shock! …..HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” With her body drenched, she didn’t even need to aim properly in order to use Electric Shock on herself. And the powerful tickle jolts even affected the crass ghost that was possessing her.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!”

The force of those tickles ejected Ghoulia from Machina’s body and made her fly through a wall, her feet still sticking out the other end. Machina groggily stood up, then quickly jabbed at those blue soles with her electro-tickler.

“AGGHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Ghoulia let out a couple more laughs as her feet flapped about, then disappeared through the wall. When Ghoulia showed no sign of returning, Machina sighed and leaned against the wall while recovering from the effects of using Electric Shock on herself.

She ran…..what a coward, Machina thought, heading over to Yomiko as she retracted her electro-ticklers.

“Haah….haah….thank you for-YEEEP!” Yomiko yelped when she felt Machina slide a finger down her left foot, frowning at her friend.

“Sorry. The position you’re in right now is just…..well, it’s perfect. My external hard drive has never heated up this much before,” Machina said emotionlessly, looking away with her hands behind her back in a bashful gesture.

“W-Well, try to calm down. We still have to rescue the others, who’ve probably been getting it just as bad as me and for longer,” Yomiko reminded, blushing with embarrassment from Machina’s comment.

“Hrrmmph…..okay,” Machina frowned slightly, looking reluctant as she started tearing through the couch cushions. “How did she even trap you like this?” Machina asked.

“It wasn’t her, it was Phantasma. She grabbed me and made me phase through the sofa, adjusting my limbs until they were in this exact position before letting me go. And when she did, I was stuck,” Yomiko frowned.

“Well, she picked an excellent position. Yup, a very excellent position,” Machina nodded, staring at Yomiko’s feet and giving them another quick tickle.

“NEEHEEHEE! Machina…..” Yomiko narrowed her eyes.

“Sorry. I’ll get you out of there in a moment,” Machina said with a sly grin. After tearing apart the couch cushions, the robot girl then got to work tearing apart the couch itself until Yomiko’s legs, arms, and finally her head came free as she fell under the now ruined couch.

“Do you know where your slippers are?” Machina asked, having returned to her neutral expression.

“No…..the ghosts must’ve stashed them away somewhere,” Yomiko sighed, rolling out from under the couch and slowly standing up, taking a moment to stretch her arms and legs.

“Well, that’s probably for the best,” Machina nodded.

“Is that your external hard drive speaking again?” Yomiko frowned.

“No. Well…..yes, but no. These ghosts can’t see you if you move quietly and stay completely still whenever something feels off. Being barefoot might make that easier,” Machina shrugged.

“Huh…..anything else you found out about the ghosts?” Yomiko asked.

“Odd shadows appear on the walls whenever they’re about to show up. If you bust the doorknobs, you can hear what’s going on inside the room. And in order to make them cross over to the other side, we have to tickle them…..with love.”

“…..I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not,” Yomiko crossed her arms.

“I’m very serious.” Machina said. Her robot friend’s emotionless voice contrasted greatly with how crafty and mischievous she could be, so Yomiko was still pretty skeptical but….

“Well, your lies are usually pretty obvious, so I believe you,” Yomiko smiled.

“Thank you. In that case, believe me when I say that your feet, in that position I rescued you from, looked the most inviting they’ve ever-”

“Okaaaay, I’m leaving!” Yomiko said, blushing brightly from the deadpan delivery of that statement, from the intensity of Machina’s gaze, and from how her robot friend had been talking faster and faster.

In any event, the two Fronds headed to the last room on this floor, and after breaking the doorknob for that room proved fruitless, they slowly headed up the stairs to the second floor, having to stop many times when a red ghost lady appeared in front of them. Whenever that happened, Yomiko held her breath to try to keep her body as statuesque as that of her robot friend, who didn’t have to breathe at all. When they reached the second floor, they started from the leftmost door, moving with slow steps and stopping whenever eerie shadows appeared on the walls. When Machina broke the doorknob of the door in the center of this floor, they heard Tia’s laughter coming from inside. They looked at each other and nodded, then headed inside.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! QUIT TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLING TIA PLEEHEEHEHEEHEEASE!” Tia shrieked, then let out a surprised gasp when she saw Yomiko and Machina standing there.

“So you’re the one who scared off Ghoulia. Her screams rang pretty clearly from up here,” the red ghost lady smirked.

“You must be Phantasma,” Machina frowned.

“The one and only, at your service. How did you like being trapped in a couch?” Phantasma smirked, glancing at Yomiko.

“How do you think?” Yomiko asked, crossing her arms.

“Well you were laughing a lot, so I bet you loved it~” Phantasma snickered, causing Yomiko to narrow her eyes.

Phantasma’s body was transparent and a lighter shade of red than her clothes and hair. Her lips were ruby red, and her dark red hair was short and parted down the middle with a long swirl sticking out from under the right side of her hat. Her eyes were round and wide, though not quite as wide as Rocio’s. With her dark red top hat, dark red suit, white shirt that had a dark red glow surrounding it, and fancy dark red dress pants, she looked like a magician. Well, a barefoot magician.

Tia was trapped in a mattress with her head, arms, and legs sticking out. Two ghostly red feather dusters were swishing against her arches, two small ghostly red plumes were swishing against her heels, ten long ghostly red feathers were swishing against the pads of her toes, and a red ghostly fuzzy string was sawing between her toes.

“For my next trick, how about I trap you in a wall? Or in the ceiling? Or maybe you’d to be trapped in another sofa? Your long feet do make for excellent pillows after all~” Phantasma smirked, removing her hat and stretching her arms out like a showman.

“Very funny. The last time you trapped me you caught me completely by surprise. That’s not happening this time,” Yomiko frowned.

“Is that right? You say that now, but you’d be surprised how easily you’ll….GAH! Haha, somebody’s feeling awfully grumpy, huh?” Phantasma said, yelping in surprise when Yomiko showed up and narrowly avoiding her attempts to squeeze her sides, then smirking as she disappeared through a wall.

“Come back here you…..nnngh, whatever. Let’s help Tia out,” Yomiko groaned.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HURRIHIHIHIHIHIIIIY!” Tia shrieked. Machina went over and bent down near Tia, warding off all the ghostly tickle tools with her electro-tickler and then tearing through the mattress. When she had freed Tia’s head and arms and had almost freed her legs though…..

“ULP?!”

….she felt her own legs get pulled through the floor!

“Machina?!” Tia exclaimed in shock. Yomiko leapt away just as a red hand reached through the floor and tried to grab her ankle.

“Figures you’d go for something underhanded,” Yomiko frowned, sitting on a cushioned chair

“Hey if it works, it works,” Phantasma smirked. Her arm searched around for Yomiko, but once she saw that she couldn’t find her, she gave up on that and went back to tugging on Machina’s legs, pulling her body further and further downwards. When she was done, Machina’s head and wrists were stuck on the same floor Tia and Yomiko were on, while her legs, torso, and armpits were stuck on the bottom floor.

“Nggh! What kind of magic trick is this?!” Machina frowned, struggling as she tried to free herself.

“The kind that has you laughing so hard you just can’t stop!” Phantasma smirked, summoning a bunch of feathers. A silly smile soon appeared on Machina’s face, and she burst into laughter.

“Machina!” Yomiko shouted in worry, preparing to leap off the chair.

“DOHOHOHOHOHOHOHON’T! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE FREE TIA FIHIHIHIHIHIHIRST! IF SHEHAHAHAHAHAHA GETS ALL THREE OF UHUHUHUHUHUS GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH MY GOHOHOHOHOHOSH!” Machina screamed. Her body was wriggling and kicking a ton from four ghostly red feather dusters brushing against her pits and sides, four ghostly long feathers cutting across her soles and whatever wrinkles formed, and four ghostly red plumes swishing in circles against her tummy.

“Hehe, a ticklish robot makes the perfect assistant for my act~” Phantasma said, grinning brightly with stars in her eyes as she wiggled her fingers towards Machina, who stiffened warily.

“S-SAVE TIA QUIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLY!” Machina yelped, a hint of fear entering her voice.

“Right!” Yomiko nodded, lying on her stomach while on the chair and reaching for the mattress, then bringing it closer. Phantasma perked up at that response and flew near the ceiling, reaching into the floor above her. Clicking her tongue when she realized Yomiko had likely lifted the mattress onto the seat, she floated back over to Machina.

“I can tell that my assistant’s got a pretty tender tummy. If this act is to be a true showstopper, I’ll have to give it some more attention~” Phantasma smirked, stars appearing in her eyes once more as she scribbled her fingers rapidly up and down Machina’s tummy.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THIS ACT IS TEHEHEHEHEHERRIBLE!” Machina shouted as Yomiko freed Tia’s legs from the mattress.

“*GASP* How dare you!” Phantasma gasped, glaring at Machina as the robot girl returned her gaze while wiggling and laughing.

“Hmph. I was gonna use raspberries for the finale but….now I see that’s too tame. I need to bring out the big guns!” Phantasma smirked. Machina, Yomiko, and Tia’s ears all perked up as they heard a loud whirring noise.

“EHEEHEEHEEHEHEE W-WHAT THE HEHEHEHEHECK?! IS THAHAHAHAHAHAT A POWER DRIHIHIHIHIHILL! YOU’RE GONNA DRILL MY BELLY BUHUHUHUHUTTON?!” Machina screamed in horror, squirming around more violently.

“Oh it’s a drill alright, but not the kind of drill you’re thinking of~” Phantasma chirped, a bright and devious grin on her face. She had summoned a red ghostly drill brush who’s head was small enough to fit in Machina’s belly button. She was pressing down on the drill brush’s button while inching closer and closer to that spot.

“We have to run swiftly, then move slowly when we’re outside of the room, and take pauses if there’s anything off. Ready? Go!” Yomiko shouted. The two of them ran out of the room, then stopped when they heard Machina’s laughter suddenly stop.

“Hmm? What? That’s a boring reaction. Come on, give me some loud laughs!” Phantasma frowned.

“KYAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! GETITOUTGETITOHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! UWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Machina let out a shrill scream while throwing her head back in wide eyed, ticklish hysteria.

“There we go! Now that’s the kinda laughter you’d expect from a finale! And I think I want to hear several encores of it!” Phantasma smirked.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NONONOHOHOHOHOOOO!”

Machina had been through her fair share of tickling before and after partnering up with the Fronds. Yet even when she was still working under Dr. Kitzel and occasionally being tickled by her, she hadn’t felt anything shake her CPU as badly as this. It was like a small, fuzzy roller had been inserted in her belly button and was spinning rapidly within it, brushing against the walls and every last inch of her belly button at high speeds. The poor robot girl couldn’t think straight at all, much less muster the strength needed to pull off an Electric Shock and escape her current predicament.

Yomiko and Tia pausing at this reaction let them avoid being detected by Ghoulia, who was glaring at them with a wide-eyed stare but unable to see them. Then she heard the sounds of Machina laughing from the lower floor and smirked wickedly, flying down there.

“Let me have a go at her! I need to pay her back good for making me look stupid!” Ghoulia smirked, knocking away the feathers and digging her nails into Machina’s soles.

“NYEEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOT YOU TOOHOOHOOHOOHOO!” Machina screamed, her feet kicking and scrunching.

“We have to hurry!” Yomiko said, turning urgently to Tia.

“R-Right!” Tia nodded. Fortunately the ghosts didn’t steal her rope, so she pulled several lengths of rope out of her pockets and tied them together, nodded once the length was right, then tied one of the ropes around her waist and leapt off the second floor.

“Tia?!” Yomiko shouted in surprise, grabbing the other end of the rope just before it fell off the railing. She planted one foot against that railing and gripped the rope tightly as Tia swung towards the room where Machina was.

“AAAAAAH!”

“What the hell?!” Ghoulia shouted.

“Huh?! Some kind of death-defying trick?!” Phantasma gasped. Letting out a war cry, Tia pulled out the two feathers from under her headband and began spinning around wildly, sweeping her feathers in circles like some kind of spinning feathery top of doom.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOT AHAHAHAHAHAGAIN!” Ghoulia screamed.

“EHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ONE-UPPING MY PERFOHOHOHOHORMANCE IS NO FAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAIR!” Phantasma squealed. Tia’s feathery onslaught brushed along their tummies and soles many times, and eventually the ghosts fled while still laughing, the ghostly feathers tickling Machina disappearing soon after.

“Oooh…..guhbuba!” Tia felt dizzy from all that spinning and shook her head to shake off her dizziness, then blinked twice at Machina’s body.

“Machina safe!” Tia smiled happily.

“Hahahaaah…..Did she…..seheheriously…..throw heheherself…..off…..the second flohohohoor?” Machina asked Yomiko with a raised brow while panting and giggling from the lingering sensations.

“Yes….Tia, don’t do anything insane like that again,” Yomiko frowned.

“But it worked!” Tia pouted.

“Tia…..”

“O-Okay, Tia promises!” Tia nodded as she quickly untied herself from the rope, which Yomiko let go as the excitable Tribal headed over to Machina.

“Are you okay Machina? Tia’s never heard you laugh so loudly,” Tia exclaimed, looking at Machina with worry.

“I’m…..fihihihihine. Just gottahahaha…..regain my strehehehength. Haah…..hahahaaah…..” Machina said, slumping her head forward as she panted and squirmed a bit. Her whole body still tingled from the tickling and her CPU was in disarray, but after thirty seconds she was no longer giggling or panting.

“Tia didn’t get good look at room. Was spinning and trying to save Machina. Soooo…..curious about what made Machina laugh tons,” Tia said.

“Your guess is as good as mine, since my head’s still up here. But….it felt like something really fuzzy spinning rapidly in my belly button,” Machina said while grimacing.

“GAH! That sounds horrible!”

“It was. ….Alright, I think I have the strength needed to free myself,” Machina said, summoning two electro-ticklers.

“Electric Shock!” Machina shouted, generating a strong electrical charge from her position in the floor. The worn floorboards groaned heavily and gave way, causing Machina to land in the arms of Tia, who wobbled with the robot girl in her grasp and then set her down on a nearby cushioned chair. Machina peered up at the ceiling of the room she was in. It now had several broken off pieces missing, and the rug of the previous room had three large holes where her arms and head had previously been trapped. Then she looked at Tia, who was putting her two feathers back under her headband.

“Before we go and rescue Queenie, I have two questions. The first is if you know where your shoes are, and the second is how long you were tickled for,” Machina said.

“Tia doesn’t know where moccasins are. As for second question….” Tia looked away awkwardly while rubbing one of her arms. “….Tia was tickled for nine hours.”

That answer made Machina’s eyes go wide open. Nine hours?! If that’s the case, then Queenie’s most definitely been getting it longer than that.

“We should hurry,” Machina said.

“It’s a little hard to do that when we have to stop every three steps,” Yomiko said from the upper floor.

“I know. But we still have to hurry. Tia, you wait here and save your strength. I have to check the other doors on the second floor,” Machina said.

“Shouldn’t Machina save strength too?” Tia asked, noting that Machina still seemed somewhat winded after all the tickling.

“When we rescue Queenie and send off all these ghosts, I’ll gladly rest for as long as I can. But right now, I have to break down those doors quickly so that we can help out Queenie,” Machina said firmly. Tia gazed at Machina with worry but nodded, realizing she couldn’t talk her robot friend out of it.

Machina slowly headed up the stairs, then headed along the second floor, taking pauses every now and then. She broke the doorknobs of each of the remaining doors, but no laughter came from any of them.

As I thought, she’s not here, Machina thought with a frown, her gaze trailing over to the receptionist room. Then she looked at Yomiko, and the two of them nodded. Heading back down the stairs slowly with brief pauses every now and then, they reached the first floor where Tia was waiting and then all three of them slowly headed over to the receptionist room. When they were ten paces away from the room, the door suddenly opened a crack, causing the three girls to freeze.

“My act was completely upstaged! They’re not like any of the others girls we’ve tickled before!” Phantasma said in a panicked voice.

“Her acts are nothing special but I gotta agree! Let’s just give them back their friend and find a room to hole up in until they get out of here!” Ghoulia shouted, a mix of worry and anger in her voice.

“I’ve never known you to be a coward,” a different, nasally voice said in a condescending manner. “Is it because you got defeated so easily by that robot girl, and then when you tried to get revenge on her you lost just as easily to someone else?”

“That’s got nothing to do with it! I’d totally beat them if they tried to come at me again, but that’s not the point! Come on, just leave the girl and let’s bail! They’ll be plenty of girls just like her!” Ghoulia shouted, more anger entering her voice as the Fronds slowly drew closer and closer.

“No, there won’t be any like her. None of the others were as big as her. And they even called her a queen. She’s perfect…..the perfect vessel,” the nasally voice said passionately.

“GHMMMHMMHMMPH! MMMMMMHMMHMMHMMPH!” Queenie screamed into a cloth gag, her eyes wide with ticklish panic. She had been tied on top of the table of the receptionist room, a room triple the size of the motel rooms with an oak floor and mahogany for the walls and ceiling. Four floating ghostly purple waternberg wheels slid up and down her armpits, and four floating ghostly flat pointed knitting needles were prodding her tummy and digging into her belly button. And her large, blushing red size 14s were being worked over by twelve floating ghostly purple backscratchers, with two at her toes, two at the balls of her feet, two at her heels, two at her insteps, and the remaining four at her arches. All them clawed at her plump, tender soles, and it was clear that the torment her feet were being but through was what was driving her the craziest.

“She’s been tickled for 18 hours by now. And look at her. She lost the ability to think straight a few hours ago. She won’t be able to mount any sort of resistance to my possession. If you really think I’ll let go of a perfect, larger-than-life vessel such as her, you might as well fly out the door. That’s why you opened it part-way, right? You’re so scared of those girls that you forgot none of us need to use the door, that we can just fly through walls,” the nasally voice said in a bitter tone.

“I-I’m not scared!” Ghoulia shouted.

“OOGA BOOGA!” Tia shouted as she opened the door.

“GYAAAAAAH!” Ghoulia screamed, flying away and whirling around in surprise.

“Tia…..we had the element of surprise,” Yomiko frowned.

“Hehehe, ghost punk scream is funny!” Tia laughed, causing a vein to bulge on Ghoulia’s temple as she glared angrily at Tia.

“Eek! That’s the girl who upstaged my act!” Phantasma shrieked nervously.

“You mean the girl who spun like a maniac and messed me up when I was about to mess that robot’s brains up!” Ghoulia scowled.

“I don’t have a brain. I have a CPU,” Machina said matter-of-factly.

“Can it, tin can!” Ghoulia shouted.

“WOULD ALL OF YOU SHUT UUUUUUUP?!” the voice from before shouted, her voice cracking as she let out a high-pitched scream that wouldn’t lose to Rocio in terms of sheer annoyingness. Yomiko, Tia, and Machina all turned to the owner of that voice, and Machina’s eyes widened slightly as she recognized the purple ghost lady that had tried to grab her. The ghost lady glared at her while panting heavily and irritably, then sighed.

“Well Ghoulia, it looks like you won’t get to fly off now that they’re here,” the ghost lady said, her nasally voice returning to a casual, conversational tone.

“I wasn’t planning on running in the first place, and even if I was, I’m definitely not doing it now!” Ghoulia scowled, shooting the ghost lady a brief glare, then glaring fiercely at Tia. The cheeky Tribal smirked at that, which only made Ghoulia even more pissed.

“GHMMHMMHMMRLS! MHMMHMMHMMHMM HMMMLP MHMMHMMHMMHMMPH!” Queenie pleaded, still being tickle tormented even now. The Fronds looked at her with worry, then frowned at the purple ghost lady. The ghost lady seemed amused by the attention a sinister smirk soon growing on her face.

“Since you already know the names of these two, I suppose I’ll give you mine. My name is Okiko,” the ghost lady said, her smirk widening as she flashed a full set of thin, pointed teeth.

Okiko’s hair, clothes, and lips were a darker shade of purple, while her transparent body was a lighter shade of purple. She had purple hair so long it was partly draping over the table she was floating over, and it obscured parts of the right and left sides of her face, completely covering her right eye. Her visible left eye and its sclera were a pure, murky purple, with no white in them at all. She wore a short-sleeved purple dress with lavender polka-dots on it and a purple and lavender plaited miniskirt, both of which were horribly tattered. Which, combined with her hairstyle, eye, and teeth, gave off an eerie vibe. And of course, like the other ghost’s her light purple feet were bare, one leg crossed over the other as she reclined in midair while grinning smugly. Ghoulia was floating slightly in front of Okiko to her left and looked aggravated, while Phantasma was floating behind her to her right and was staring fearfully at Tia.

“We heard what you were saying before you walked in. If you really think we’ll let you take over Queenie’s body, then you-”

“See? She called her a queen! And she has the body and looks of one too!” Okiko’s excited shout interrupted Yomiko. Ghoulia rolled her eyes at that remark, and Phantasma briefly locked eyes with Okiko before staring at Tia once more. “To think, once I take over this body I’ll get to be a queen! I’ll get to leave this shithole of a motel! And I’ll get to have tons of maids, some to keep my mansion in order, and the rest to tickle every single day to my heart’s content!” Okiko sighed while clasping her hands together, a dreamy expression on her face.

“The hell?! That’s what you were planning?” Ghoulia stared incredulously at Okiko.

“You’ve never been able to possess people for more than half an hour, so I’m not sure that’ll work,” Phantasma said skeptically.

“I’ve never broken down anyone this badly before possessing them though~! And just look at her! It was made to be!” Okiko said, beaming at Queenie, who narrowed her eyes in disgust while continuing to laugh from all the tickle tools. Ghoulia crossed her eyes and muttered ‘stupid, stupid plan’ over and over while Phantasma seemed very interested in staring at the wall for some reason.

“Nrraagh! You two just lack vision!” Okiko scowled, glaring at the two of them.

“ENOUGH! You’re not taking over Queenie’s body no matter how badly you want to!” Yomiko frowned.

“SHUT UUUUUUUP!” Okiko let out a high-pitched scream, her voice cracking yet again. “I don’t care what you say, I’m going to be a queen and that’s final!”

“She’s not even a-”

“I SAID SHUT UUUUUUP!” Okiko’s scream was so loud this time that the Fronds, Ghoulia, and Phantasma all covered their ears, while Queenie rolled to her side on the table and winced. Making all the tickle tools instantly disappear, Okiko dived towards Queenie’s body with a feral grin.

“Annhf…..Annhf…..MMMPH!” Queenie panted in the gag, then shouted in horror as Okiko dived inside her body, feeling her mind go blank. After a few seconds, she ripped the ropes off her body and sat up on the table

“Ahahahahaha! Ahh, I knew it! What a wonderful body!” Okiko smirked, laughing openly while hugging her possessed body. Queenie’s eyes and teeth now resembled Okiko’s, but the voice that came out was Queenie’s own.

“Get out of her body!” Yomiko shouted, running up to the possessed Queenie. Before she could bust out her Ten Ticklish Strikes, Okiko roughly grabbed Yomiko’s neck.

“GAH! ACK!” Yomiko gasped for breath, grabbing the arm that was holding her.

“A powerful body too! Perfect in every-SNRK?!”

“URK…..that body’s not yours!” Yomiko frowned, reaching over to squeeze and prod at Queenie’s armpit, causing Okiko to let out a few laughs

“Mmphehehehahahahahaha! Cut that out!” Okiko shouted, throwing Yomiko towards the wall. Staring at this and frowning, Machina quickly ran behind Yomiko, catching her and breaking her fall as she crashed through the wall.

“Machina….” Yomiko frowned.

“That was reckless, I know. But you would’ve taken much more damage,” Machina said.

“….Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” Yomiko smiled at her.

“Duly noted. Now get off me,” Machina frowned.

“Oh! Uh, right!” Yomiko nodded, climbing off of Machina as the robot girl extricated herself from the wall. The three of them then glared at the ghost girls.

“Get them!” Okiko shouted, climbing off the table and charging towards Yomiko. Machina slid across the table just as Okiko climbed off it, giving her a brief jab with one of her electro-ticklers that allowed Yomiko to get plenty of tickly squeezes in on her possessed friend’s tummy. When Machina reached the other end of the table, she set her sights on Phantasma. Tia headed around Yomiko towards Ghoulia, but the blue ghost simply scowled, then flew towards Machina.

“I don’t see any water bottles on you! I’m gonna mess you up for real this time!” Ghoulia shouted, flying towards Machina.

“Machina!” Tia shouted, quickly tying a loop on one end of rope and tossing that end towards the light fixture in the room while grabbing the other end tightly. Then she swung on the rope and went soaring over the table, flying in Ghoulia’s path just as she was about to possess Machina.

“Huh?” Machina said emotionlessly, her eyes widening.

“What the?!” Ghoulia gasped in shock. She wound up diving straight into Tia’s body as it bumped into the wall on the left side of the room.

“Aaaugh, you messed me up! But I’ll still mess you up! You won’t be able to tell frontways from backways from sideways now!” Ghoulia’s voice resounded in Tia’s head.

“….So blue ghost lady can’t fully possess Tia?” Tia asked.

“Can it! I’m not fully possessing you cause I’m already the best!” Ghoulia shouted.

“Blue ghost lady make excuses,” Tia frowned.

“I said can it! Phantasma, hurry up and force her legs through the floor!” Ghoulia shouted.

“R-Right!” Phantasma nodded, flying over and trying to do just that. Machina narrowed her eyes at that and dove in front of Tia, landing in a kneeling position as she retracted her other hand for an electro-tickler. She moved one towards Tia and thrusted other a little to Phantasma’s left before moving her arm inwards, blocking one of Phantasma’s escape paths.

“Gah!” Seeing this, Phantasma tried the only escape path left to her: phasing through the opposite wall.

“You won’t escape!” Machina frowned, thrusting the electro-tickler towards her escaping foe at the same time she thrust her other one towards Tia.

“Sorry Tia….Electric Shock!” Machina shouted, sending a powerful surge of ticklish electricity through both electro-ticklers that reached Tia and Phantasma.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH GOHOHOHOHOHOHOSH!” Tia screamed.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA DARN IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIT!” Phantasma screamed. The Electric Shock was powerful enough that Ghoulia came flying out of Tia’s body while howling with laughter.

“I’ll deal with Phantasma, you deal with Ghoulia!” Machina said. Using Electric Shock after having crashed through a wall and getting tickled mercilessly not too long ago made her movements a little sluggish.

“O….Okay,” Tia nodded, feeling similarly winded. But they still stood up and faced their opponents.

“Queenie, snap out of it!” Yomiko said urgently, evading the arms that tried to grab her as she went all around her possessed friend, using the Ten Ticklish Strikes on her tummy to heighten her nerves before wiggling her fingers all over it.

“HeheheheHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ENOUGH!” Okiko shouted, barreling right into Yomiko and slamming her against the wall.

“GUH!” Yomiko staggered from that as Okiko stepped away, lifting Yomiko up by the hips.

“Possessing this queen has taught me a few things about her. The first is that she’s pretty good at tickle fighting. And the second is that she has a special technique~” Okiko smirked. Yomiko’s stomach was now at eye-level, and her lips moved closer.

“W-Wait just a-”

“Rising Raspberry!” Okiko smirked, taking a deep breath and blowing a big raspberry on Yomiko’s belly button.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Yomiko screamed.

“Oooh, what a cute sound. Let’s hear more, shall we?” Okiko smirked, blowing another big raspberry.

“NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU HAHAHAHAHAHAVE TO STOHOHOHOHOHOP!” Yomiko insisted, her cheeks already reddening.

“I don’t have to do anything. I’m a queen, remember? …..Mmm. This is my first time lifting someone so effortlessly and tickling them like this. And it’s giving me quite a rush!” Okiko laughed, her cheeks reddening a bit.

“QUEEHEEHEEHEENIE! SNAP OUT OF IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE!” Yomiko pleaded, her head shaking frantically from side to side as she struggled in her possessed friend’s grasp. Yomiko was quickly realizing that the Rising Raspberry was a deadlier technique than gave it credit, partly because Queenie had an impressive pair of lungs on her and could keep each raspberry up for ten seconds, and partly because if you didn’t get free after the first two raspberries it was near impossible to escape. Yomiko’s cheeks grew redder and redder as she let out beautifully desperate laughter, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

“Yes….give me more!” Okiko smirked, clearly on a power trip.

“HEEHEEHEHEEHEEHEEHEE! QUEEHEEHEEHEENIE IF YOU HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IF YOU DOHOHOHOHOHOHON’T STOP I WON’T BUY YOU CASHMERE SOHOHOHOHOHOHOCKS!” Yomiko shouted. The moment she said those words, the raspberries stopped.

“Cashmere…..” the possessed Queenie murmured with widened eyes.

“What the hell? So there was still a bit of fight left in you?!” Okiko growled, trying to regain control of Queenie’s body as Yomiko panted.

“I’ll buy you several pairs. I teased you about your holey socks because I found it funny….but I also found it kind of sad. Your boots are so fashionable and your clothes look great on you, but…..well, feet as pretty as yours deserve better than worn socks. And since your socks are all destroyed, I feel like treating you to something nice,” Yomiko smiled. Queenie blushed from having her feet complimented, letting Yomiko go.

“Arrgh! Stop resisting!” Okiko scowled, trying to bring Queenie’s body back under control. Queenie’s face muscles tensed and her hands opened and closed repeatedly, but otherwise she didn’t budge an inch.

“Thank you Queenie. And sorry, this next part’s gonna hurt a little…..and then a lot,” Yomiko said, returning Okiko’s shove from earlier by kicking off the wall and roughly shoving her possessed friend towards the table. Queenie grunted in pain from that, and then Yomiko began squeezing, poking, and wiggling her fingers all over Queenie’s sensitized tummy.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP THAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!” Okiko shouted in Queenie’s voice, trying even harder to regain control of her borrowed body. She managed to move her right arm and tried to grab Yomiko, but Yomiko ducked under this attack and continued tickling away at her friend’s tummy, digging into her belly button now.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GET OHOHOHOHOHOHOUT OF THEHEHEHEHEHERE!” Okiko let out a shrill scream. Her cheeks flared up in anger as her other arm regained its freedom, and she tried to grab Yomiko. But thanks to the tickles, her movements were slow enough that Yomiko was able to just barely dodge it, backing up a bit and crouching down as she went for a leg sweep. The maneuver caught Queenie’s ankles and made her stumble, the back of her head slamming against the table as she fell.

“AUUUGH!” Queenie clutched her head, her shout sounding like a mix of her own voice and Okiko’s actual voice.

“Sorry about Queenie!” Yomiko quickly apologized, then pressed one palm against the table as she leapt over it. She dived under the table and grabbed Queenie’s arms in a tender manner, and she felt her muscles go slack from that gesture: proof that Queenie had managed to briefly regain control of her body and that she trusted Yomiko even if she didn’t fully understand what she was planning. Yomiko then tugged on Queenie’s arms until her body from the chest upwards was sticking out of one end of the table. Then Yomiko leapt over the table once more and pinned down Queenie’s feet.

Machina thrust her electro-tickler straight towards Phantasma, who managed to evade her thrust this time and grab her left arm.

“Heh….hehe, I did it! And once I pull you through this wall, I’ll be able to throw an encore of my previous performance!” Phantasma grinned, her earlier wariness being replaced by smug satisfaction as she grabbed Machina’s other arm.

“Yes!” Phantasma smirked, bringing both arms towards the wall.

“…..You must be a fairly awful performer. A good performer would keep tabs on all the acts and tricks of her contemporaries. And she wouldn’t announce her intentions either,” Machina said.

“Huh?! I’ll have you know I’m a great performer! And where is this coming from any….way….” Phantasma trailed off when she saw that Machina’s electro-ticklers—which were both pretty close by thanks to the spooky magician grabbing them—were crackling with ticklish electricity.

“You forgot about my own little trick. Electric Shock!” Machina shouted.

“EYAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Phantasma laughed wildly from the jolts of ticklish electricity hitting her tummy and pits, then let go of Machina’s arms and slowly collapsed on the floor.

“I wasn’t able to put as much power into that as the previous one….but it looks like it did the trick,” Machina said, observing her fallen opponent as she took a moment to regain her strength. Then she sat down next to Phantasma and draped her legs over the spooky magician’s arms as she prodded her with an electro-tickler.

“AGGYAHAHAHAHAHA! W-WAIT DOHOHOHOHOHOHON’T!” Phantasma squealed. Much like with Yurei, the moment Machina started tickling Phantasma it became impossible for her to escape, her arms pinned down by Machina’s legs. If Machina stopped then Phantasma would be able to phase right through, so she made sure to stay on the attack.

“I noticed you screamed pretty loudly during both Electric Shocks. And I think it has to do with your tummy,” Machina remarked emotionlessly, prodding Phantasma’s tummy.

“EHEEHEEEHEEK! NAHAHAHAHAHAHAT MY BEHEHEHEHEHELLY!” Phantasma squealed, gazing pleadingly up at Machina with an adorable pout. If Machina had a heart, it would’ve skipped a beat from that gesture. As is, her external hard drive was starting to warm up.

“Relax. I won’t be anywhere near as cruel as you were to my belly. Your act was about driving me insane with laughter, but my act is making someone who’s deathly terrified of tickling enjoy it immensely,” Machina said.

Phantasma couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Make her enjoy it immensely? This robot girl had to be insane! And yet, something changed when Machina resumed tickling her.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HMMMMM?!”

“Is something the matter? You sound cute,” Machina remarked. Phantasma felt her cheeks redden from that comment despite the deadpan delivery of it, but what was really getting to her were the confused feelings bubbling within her that resulted from the robot girl’s change of tactics.

“GYAHAH! NYEEHEEK! STAHYAHAHAHAHAHAP!”

“Oh my. Tickling your tummy gets all sorts of adorable sounds out of you~” Machina said. Peering through teary eyes, Phantasma saw a coy smirk on Machina’s face, then squeezed her eyes shut and laughed even harder.

Machina was using her electro-ticklers to playfully prod Phantasma’s tummy in a rhythmic way. The moment one electro-tickler was lifted away from the spooky magician’s belly, the other one would make its mark. Sometimes she’d suddenly increase the pace, sending Phantasma into a spluttering and shrieking fit before abruptly slowing back down to the original tempo.

“You make an excellent assistant for my act,” Machina smiled.

“YAHAHAK! WOOHOOHAAAA! LEEHEEHAAAU! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I’M NAHAHAHAHAHAHAT YOUR ASSITAHAHAHAHAHANT!” Phantasma shook her head, squirming from side to side as she tried to suck in her tummy. Ghostly tears trickled down her cheeks, which were redder than usual.

“You sure? Hmm…..that act you put me through was pretty annoying. And I’m guessing you were planning on doing it to an assistant of your own while you were still alive, right?” Machina asked with a neutral expression, gazing into Phantasma’s eyes.

“SOHOHOHOHOHOHO?”

“Pulling a stunt like that and not expecting any repercussions is foolish. Unless….perhaps when you were still alive, you were hoping your assistant would one-up your tickle act and pull a hilarious showstopper, with you as her assistant for the day?” Machina asked while tilting her head. At those words, Phantasma’s entire face turned crimson.

“W-W-WHAHAHAHAHAHAT ARE YOU TAHAHAHAHAHALKING ABOUT?” Phantasma stammered, no longer struggling as much as she looked at Machina in surprise.

“I think you know exactly what I mean,” Machina said, continuing to gaze at Phantasma.

“HEEHEEHEHEEHEEHEE! I’VE NEHEHEHEHEHEVER….!” Phantasma began to protest, but those words and Machina’s unwavering gaze caused repressed memories from when she was still alive to flash in front of her one after the other, memories she hadn’t even been cognizant of. A show where she had used a modified Zig-Zag Girl illusion as an excuse to tickle all over her assistant, her excitedly telling her assistant about their new gig in Oklahoma, explaining that she was planning on going for an escape act where she’d be locked inside a box, her assistant suggesting an extra slot in the box for her feet for maximum comfort, the days leading up to the gig, including the time her assistant hurriedly hid the box under a tarp, the time she tickled Phantasma’s feet with a feather when she believed she was sleeping, the time Phantasma spied through a window of the apartment they were staying in and saw the assistant modifying the box, how the assistant had taken the box with her and promised to put the last few finishing touches, how Phantasma’s car had broken down a couple miles past the border, how she’d been forced to seek shelter in a dilapidated motel, and how she had fallen asleep that night while giddily picturing how far her assistant would go.

“Hmm….aside from your laughter, you’ve gotten pretty quiet. ….I won’t give you what you’ve been waiting for. There’s only one person in your life who could’ve done that. But I’ll give you something pretty close,” Machina said in a reassuring tone before quickly flashing a mischievous smirk. Phantasma’s eyes widened at that as she remembered one other memory: the memory of her assistant’s smirk when she fell asleep after her feathery fun, unaware that Phantasma had been watching her. Machina’s smirk was the spitting image of her assistant’s right now.

The moment she thought this, the electro-ticklers pressed down against the top and bottom of her belly.

“AGYABABA! YAHUHAAH! JYAAAYEEEK! HUHUAHAHAHAHAHAHA NAHAHAHAHAHAHAT MY BEHEHEHEHEHELLY BUHUHUHUHUTTON!” Phantasma pleaded, letting out her most adorable squeal yet as her back arched.

“Your laughter is some of the silliest I’ve heard, and I’ve tickled an actual clown. Such a perfect, ticklish little assistant~” Machina smirked. Those last words and that smirk overlapped with what Phantasma imagined her assistant would’ve said had she shown up that day, had she not been tickled out of her mind that day and for the remainder of that week.

“NYAHAHAHUHUAHAHAHAHAHA I’M NAHAHAHAHAHAT YOUR AHAHAHAHASSISTANT! AIEEEHEEHEHAHAHAHA!” Phantasma protested once more, but a twinkle of genuine joy shimmered in her eyes as she gazed at Machina. She flashed a bright smile and then her body crumbled apart, the individual parts flying upwards and dissipating before they hit the ceiling.

Hmm, if I am able locate my blueprints and if they contain a way to separate my body parts at will, I could pull some some stunts that would make people’s heads spin. Well, provided they were seated too far away to tell I’m a robot anyways, Machina mused, playing around with that idea in her head.

Well, food for the thought I suppose, Machina shrugged.

“Blue ghost punk is going down!” Tia shouted, having pulled her feathers out from under her headband once more as she spun and swung them towards Ghoulia, who was evading every strike with a mix of worry and annoyance. She had also tied a loop around a length of rope and thrown the other end snugly through a cracked portion of the wooden ceiling, creating a makeshift noose that she stood in front of as she swiped her feathers at Ghoulia.

“Gnnng! Don’t get cocky! You may have messed me up once, and the tin can over there might’ve messed me up twice, but I’m not gonna lose to you!” Ghoulia shouted, giving a ticklish swipe along Tia’s belly that made her giggle and back up a bit, then flying towards her with the intent of confusing her senses again. If she got lucky, maybe she’d be able to make her fall on her face and lose consciousness.

I’ve got this in the bag!, Ghoulia thought with a proud smirk. In response to her charge, Tia simply stepped around and behind the noose, then crouched down while sweeping her feathers upwards.

“MREEK!”

“Tia will mess blue ghost punk up again. Poor silly ghost punk~” Tia snickered. Ghoulia’s neck was now inside the noose, and because Tia was lazily fanning her feathers along Ghoulia’s tummy, the ghost punk couldn’t phase her way out of this when the cheeky Tribal tugged on the other end to tighten it. This didn’t hurt at all since Ghoulia was a ghost, but it made escape far more difficult and left her in a position where she was prone and vulnerable, her curled toes touching the floor. Her jacket had also partly slid off her body, exposing her pits.

“Silly blue ghost punk, quit hanging around~!” Tia teased, continuing to lazily fan her feathers along Ghoulia’s tummy.

“NrrrgheeheeHEE….” Ghoulia grumbled, trying to reach up and untie the noose. When Tia stopped feathering her belly and quickly moved the feathers towards her armpits, Ghoulia immediately clamped them down.

“Blue ghost punk isn’t tough as she thinks~!” Tia chirped happily, moving the feathers faster now as she zigzagged them all over her freaky foe’s tummy, her tickle attack leading her to Ghoulia’s belly button many times.

“GnnngheheheHEHEHE! When I gehehehehet out of HEEHEEHEEHEERE I’LL MAHAHAHAHAKE you eat those wohohohohohords!” Ghoulia shouted, squirming from side to side as her arms reached for the rope once more, this time succeeding in grabbing it. But when Tia quickly moved her feathers towards her pits again, the ghost punk clamped her arms down once more. Tia blinked twice at that and then grinned brightly.

“W-What? The hell’s that look supposed to meheeheeheean?” Ghoulia frowned, laughing when she felt Tia’s feathers brushing against her tummy once more.

“Oh nothing~” Tia said, smiling coyly.

“Wipe that smihihihihirk off your face! This isn’t fuhuhuhuhunny!” Ghoulia shouted.

“Hehehehe! Tia think blue ghost punk is super funny!” Tia giggled. Ghoulia scowled at that, but her scowl was soon replaced with a smile of forced mirth thanks to Tia’s persistent feathering.

“Blue ghost punk’s nervous feet don’t like feathers,” Tia smiled, bending down and sweeping the feathers along all the wrinkles those scrunched soles offer.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! SNRKEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!

“And blue ghost punk definitely hate belly tickles,” Tia grinned, twirling her two feathers round and round in Ghoulia’s belly button.

“OHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHA! KNOCK IT OHOHOHOHOHOHOFF!” Ghoulia shouted, her cheeks turning a deeper shade of blue as she wriggled like a worm, grabbing the rope once more.

“But where blue ghost punk really hate being tickled….” Tia grinned widely, moving her feathers towards Ghoulia’s pits as the ghost punk quickly let go of the rope and clamped her arms down again. Tia smirked and messed around with her a bit, swiveling the feathers in her belly button, then moving them towards her pits, then back at the belly button as Ghoulia went from grabbing the rope, to clamping her arms down, to grabbing the rope again in tandem to Tia’s movements.

“…..Is the pits!” Tia smirked, swishing the feathers against Ghoulia’s armpits.

“GHMMMMPH! HRRRMPH!” Ghoulia grit her teeth and resisted the urge to laugh, her trembling arms remaining clamped over her pits.

“Will blue ghost punk stay strong? Suspense is killing Tia~” Tia teased slyly. Though the ghost punk’s arms were clamped down over her pits, there were still narrow little crevices for Tia’s feathers to tease at, which was giving Ghoulia trouble judging by her reactions.

“NRRRRGH! SHUT UP YOU LITTLE-NYAAARGH!” Ghoulia let out a shriek, then forced it down with a groan as her lips trembled, her cheeks turning an even brighter shade of blue.

“Ghost punk tried hiding pits with jacket. Must mean ghost punk often messed with because pretty pitties!” Tia grinned, continuing to slide the feathers up and down along the narrow crevices.

“I SAID SHUT UHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!” Ghoulia screamed, unable to take it anymore as she burst into laughter, her arms no longer clamped to her sides.

“Blue ghost punk may have been tickle bullied. Became punk to be all tough. But still softie~” Tia teased. Now that Ghoulia’s armpits were fully exposed, Tia waved the feather rapidly against them while grinning brightly.

“NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU MAKING FUHUHUHUHUHUN OF MEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE?!” Ghoulia scowled, thrashing around in the noose as her jacket began to slide further and further down her arms.

“Nope! But bestie definitely had fun with blue ghost punk pitties!” Tia grinned, momentarily stopping her tickle attack. The words were so stunning to Ghoulia that she didn’t even think of phasing through the rope, instead staring in surprise as the jacket slipped a little further down.

“….What are you-”

“Blue ghost punk had bestie, right? Must’ve! Bestie found out blue ghost punk’s secrets…..especially ticklish secrets~” Tia teased. Ghoulia gasped as she saw flashes of her human life, including some girl who had visited her two-room flat, sat down on her arms, and tickled away at her armpits. And with those memories came the feelings she experienced at that time. Feelings so intense that Ghoulia now tried to escape from the noose. But Tia feathered at her armpits before she could try phasing through it, and observed Ghoulia’s expression with a smile as she continued.

“Unlike with bullies, pitty tickles felt special this time. Blue ghost punk not sure why: maybe because it’s bestie? And uh….” Tia hesitated, not sure of what else she was missing. “And uh…..and w-well, blue ghost punk died here because this was rest stop on way to meet bestie who paid for gang tickle session!” Tia exclaimed rapidly.

Surprisingly, that wild guess sparked other memories in Ghoulia. Memories of that girl….her friend, showing her a flier for special tickle club, of scoffing and insisting she wasn’t scared when her friend teased her, of her friend showing the club’s website and the different ticklers, of her getting goosebumps when she saw their top ticklers nails, of her insisting she was only doing this to prove how tough she was, and of her squealing like a schoolgirl in the motel at the thought of seeing her friend at the club the other day. Tia stared in shock at Ghoulia, who was staring off into space.

“Tia was right? Ah….o-of course Tia was! And now Tia will give pitties the feathery fun of a lifetime!” Tia grinned brightly, moving the feathers in erratic spirals on the hollows of Ghoulia’s pits.

“MNNNGYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Ghoulia threw her head back in laughter, her jacket finally falling off completely.

“Coochie coochie blue ghost punky~” Tia teased, gradually picking up the pace. Ghoulia shrieked and squealed, but to Tia’s surprise she soon grabbed the rope once more in spite of what her pits were being put through.

“IF YOU THIHIHIHIHIHIHIHINK I’LL LOOHOOHOOHOOSE THAT EASILY YOU GOHOHOHOHOHOHOT ANOTHER THING COHOHOHOHOHOMING!” Ghoulia shouted, fumbling with the rope and succeeding in untying herself, then falling on top of Tia as she began tickling her tummy.

“Eheeheeheeheehee! Get away from TiahahahaHAHAHA!” Tia yelped, squirming from Ghoulia’s attack as she tried to fight fire with fire. But Ghoulia prevented that by pinning down Tia’s wrists with one hand.

“Not happening! You had your fun, now it’s my turn~” Ghoulia smirked, feeling a rush that she knew was more than just a simple desire for revenge as scribbled her fingers all over Tia’s tummy, then worked her way downwards and dragged her nails along the Tribal’s thighs.

“EYAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DON’T TICKLE THEHEHEHEHEHEHERE!” Tia screamed, struggling around a lot more now as her legs shook.

“Nahahaha! Looks like I found your worst spot. Now I’m REALLY gonna mess you up!” Ghoulia grinned smugly, squeezing and clawing at Tia’s thighs.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Tia shook her head from side to side while laughing wildly, shaking her legs up and down as she tried to twist her body away from these touches. Realizing that there was no chance of that happening, Tia threw her two feathers upwards and steeled herself, fighting back the urge to laugh as she blew hard on the feathers to send them even further up. One of them whisked against Ghoulia’s armpit, making her snicker and slow down for a bit.

“Snrkehehehe! Did you seriously think that would stop-GYAAAAH!” Ghoulia let out a loud shriek, letting go of Tia and falling on her back while clutching her right ear. That had caught her completely off-guard because she didn’t even KNOW she was ticklish there. Before she could regain her composure, Tia ran up to Ghoulia and trapped her right arm in a leg lock, snatching the feathers as they floated back towards the ground and wielding them both on her armpit.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH MY GOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOSH!” Ghoulia let out a wide-eyed scream, tears rolling down her now very bright blue cheeks. She twisted and turned in Tia’s grasp, then slapped her free hand against the ground repeatedly.

“Is blue ghost punk trying to tap out? Makes no sound when hit floor, so Tia not sure! In that case, Tia finish it off!” Tia grinned brightly, swiveling the quill end of one feather and the plume end of another on the very center of Ghoulia’s armpit.

“DOHOHOHOHOHAHAAAAAAA!” Ghoulia let out a shrill scream, the two different sensations and Tia’s pure joy being transmitted quite clearly through her sensitive pit. And then her body began crumbling away, dissipating upwards starting with her torso as the individual pieces vanished before they reached the ceiling. Tia released Ghoulia from her grasp and grinned at her panting form.

“….Pssht. That wasn’t all that rough. I bet I could handle even more~” Ghoulia smirked, stretching her arms overhead as her lower and upper halves crumbled while flashing a coy gaze at Tia. Seeing that, Tia moved her feathers towards Ghoulia’s pits.

“Oooh, so close~” Ghoulia smirked. Her arms and pits had disappeared before Tia could reach them, and now only her feet and everything from her neck upwards remained.

“Better luck next TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIME?!” Ghoulia squealed adorably, then stared in surprise at Tia.

“Tia had last laugh~” Tia snickered, waving the feathers in the air teasingly after having directly feathered Ghoulia’s inner ear.

“Tch…..well, I’m not ashamed to admit that you messed me up pretty good,” Ghoulia smirked, her face and feet dissipating not long after uttering those words.

“Hehehe! Tia is proud Tribal! Messing up baddies, evil bikers, and even ghosts is what Tia made for!” Tia grinned.

The two of them had finished off their opponents around the same time they saw Yomiko sitting down on Queenie’s ankles and lazily swiveling a single finger against each sole.

“Hehehehehehe! When I get out of here you’ll HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP DOING THAT!” Okiko shouted, her own voice coming out rather than Queenie’s.

“Evil purple ghost leader is still inside Queenie….” Tia said sadly.

“That’s probably for the best,” Yomiko said. Those words made Tia and Machina stare in shock, and even Queenie briefly regained control of her body just to stare in disbelief.

“Yomiko want Queenie stay possessed?!” Tia shouted in horror.

“No! But if Okiko kept going around possessing all of us and tickling each of us in turn, eventually we’d all be too tired to fight back. At least if she’s stuck inside Queenie, she can’t get the rest of us,” Yomiko said. Queenie’s body was still stuck under the table, and there was little chance of her being able to get out from under there while being tickled. Even more so since this was the sort of table that had a narrow opening barely tall enough to fit Queenie’s body, which was how Yomiko was able was able to trap her in the first place.

“So that’s why you’re doing that,” Machina noted, pointing to Yomiko’s fingers as they swiveled against Queenie’s soles.

“If I keep tickling her, she can’t get out of Queenie’s body. Maybe she was too perfect a vessel or something,” Yomiko shrugged.

“Quit touching my feeheeheeheeheet!” Okiko shouted.

“They’re not your feet, they’re Queenie’s. ….From what Machina told me, we have to tickle you with love in order to make you cross over to the other side. And now I’m curious if that’ll still work while you’re possessing Queenie. If so….then it means we not only get to send you to the next life, but….well, we also get to give Queenie’s feet some love~” Yomiko smiled. Those words made Machina’s and Tia’s eyes widen, and it also made a bright blush appear on Queenie’s face.

“Wha….what do you mean by thahahahat?” Queenie stammered.

“Me, Leona, and Rally often tickle each other silly whenever we weren’t taking steps to bringing down Madame Solle’s empire. Being part of the Fronds means being part of group tickle fights Queenie~” Yomiko smirked. Machina gave a small smirk and sat down near Queenie, draping her legs over her friend’s sturdy arms to pin them down as she brought out both of her electro-ticklers. Tia grinned excitedly and dived under the table, causing Queenie to stiffen when she felt the Tribal’s palms resting on her tummy.

“DON’T YOU DARE!” Okiko shouted, the blush disappearing from Queenie’s face for the brief moment she regained control of Queenie’s body. But it quickly reappeared when Queenie was back in the driver’s seat of her body. “D-Don’t do thihihihihis, seriously,” Queenie said meekly. As she couldn’t see Yomiko or Tia from her current position, she looked up at Machina with an uncharacteristic pleading gaze that made the robot girl’s external hard drive heat up immensely.

“Hiding this level of adorableness from me is a crime Queenie~” Machina smirked, sending a shiver down Queenie’s spine.

“Queenie squishy belly need lots of love!” Tia grinned, lifting her hands from Queenie’s tummy. Which only increased her worry.

“Not as much as these feet. So much room to work with~” Yomiko teased, causing Queenie’s feet to scrunch as her cheeks grew a little redder.

“ARRRGH! Quit regaining control of your body you-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Okiko let out a loud scream the moment the three Fronds began their attack.

“You picked a bad time to get back Queenie’s body,” Machina smirked, prodding Queenie’s armpits in a rhythmic fashion much like what she did for Phantasma. Only she was doing it at a much faster tempo this time.

“Hehehe, Tia bets she’d feel it even if she didn’t show herself!” Tia snickered, spidering the fingers of her left hand all over Queenie’s tummy while using her free hand to twirl two feathers in her belly button.

“Ten Ticklish Strikes!” Yomiko smirked, squeezing and prodding three spots under Queenie’s toes, two at the centers of the ball of her foot, one at her heel, and four at her arch. Then she did the same for Queenie’s neighboring foot, grinning when she saw both feet reel back in shock, Queenie’s stout toes fanning out and then wiggling due to their heightened sensitivity.

“I know what you’re thinking Queenie. ‘Do you really have to use Ten Ticklish Strikes on me Yomiko’? But how can I show these feet all the love they deserve if I don’t use my special technique?” Yomiko grinned, pressing her fingers against Queenie’s feet and feeling them tense up.

“Besides, now that I know how tender they are, I just have to try it~” Yomiko smirked with playful mischief, dragging her fingers rapidly up and down Queenie’s soles.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH GOD MY FEEHEEHEHEEHEEHEET!” Queenie shrieked, regaining control of her body and staring in the direction of her feet, or rather, at the table that was blocking her feet and Yomiko’s expression from view.

“I know. They’re the prettiest tickle magnets I’ve ever seen. Trust me, I’ve tickled my fair share of feet~” Yomiko smirked. She didn’t even need to see Queenie’s face to know that her blush had grown a little brighter from that comment.

“HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! GIRLS STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA COME OHOHOHOHOHOHOHON!” Queenie squealed, her wide, lovely size 14s and plump toes wriggling and flexing every which way. Her plump heels pressed against the floor as though trying to hide, but they couldn’t evade Yomiko’s fingers. Her head leaned to one side, then the next as tears welled up in her eyes.

“That’s not happening,” Machina smirked, increasing her tempo yet again and focusing on the center of Queenie’s armpits.

“Queenie’s needs lots of tickles so she has lots of laughs and feels warm and fuzzy inside!” Tia declared happily, raspberrrying Queenie’s belly button over and over while sweeping the feathers in circles along the rest of her tummy.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Tears began trickling down the ravishing Renegade’s cheeks as she threw her head back, letting out wide-eyed cackles mixed with cute squeals. Sure, she and her crew had horsed around, but only a scant few times. And never like this, with tickling so intense yet oddly sweet, and ticklers that clearly wanted her to have the time of her life while obviously a field day tickling her. It was different from Rocio or Okiko’s ruthless torture or any of those brief moments with her crew. Queenie’s chest heaved up and down as she laughed, her cheeks and heart burning with a passion previously unknown to her, like some kind of forbidden fruit. And the one who had first ignited that passion was….

San Fran…..oh god. If these girls are driving me this nuts, just how nuts will she drive me when I see her again? And….will I secretly enjoy every second of it? The thought made Queenie’s blush reach her ears.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Damn it, how are they able to treat their friend like THIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIS?

In the back of Queenie’s consciousness, she heard the complaints and laughter of a nasally sounding voice: Okiko’s voice. The tickling was so intense that the purple specter could no longer keep their consciousnesses completely separate, so Queenie could hear her thoughts and even feel her emotions.

What’re you talking about? They’re out here giving me a wild tickle pampering I didn’t even know I wanted. Besides, you’re enjoying this too~, Queenie taunted.

WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That’s just from being stuck in your head! It’s just your feelings being transmitted to MEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!

You sure? See that’s the thing about possession, you never really know where the host’s feelings end and your own feelings begin, Queenie smirked.

OH SHUT UHUHUHUHUHUHUHUP!, Okiko shouted angrily, causing Queenie to snicker.

As weird as it is, I do kinda feel like a queen now. A queen of laughter maybe. So just kick back, relax, and laugh your head off. And while you’re at it, try to be a little more honest with yourself, Queenie smiled.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I SAID SHUT UHUHUHUUUUUUP!

Oogh…..lose the ugly scream though. You sound better without it.

Okiko’s head was a spiral of confusion. She wasn’t sure if what she was feeling was from Queenie, herself, or some mismatched blend. What she did know was that her consciousness was getting swept up by this sensation.

It’s awful, it’s amazing, it’s horrible, IT FEELS INCREDIBLEEEEEE!

She was fighting a losing battle and was powerless to stop it. Perhaps she didn’t want to stop it at all.

“Time for the finishing touches!” Yomiko smiled, grabbing bundles of flesh at Queenie’s arches and squeezing them in the most merciless yet delightfully playful way possible as she forced her friend’s feet to wave from side to side.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LET GO OF MY FEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEET!” Queenie squealed, though deep down she hoped Yomiko never let go, or at least not for a few hours.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MOHOHOHOHOHOHOHORE!, Okiko screamed.

“Hmm, let me think…..no~” Yomiko smirked, squeezing a very special area on these bundles of flesh. That being the center of Queenie’s arches.

“AIEEEEEE! NYAHUHUHAHAHAHAHAHA NAHAHAHAHAHAHAT THEHEHEHEHEHERE ANYWHERE BUT THEHEHEHEHEHEHERE!” Queenie squealed, her eyes widening as she let out the most adorable, silly sounding laughter imaginable. Her tummy wiggled and squirmed from Tia’s tickles, but there was nowhere to go. Machina’s legs had her arms completely pinned down. And her feet—oh her poor, precious feet—had been sensitized beyond their wildest dreams and were getting it on her worst spot, an area that seldom made contact with the ground, let alone got touched by anyone.

Yomiko was teasing in her approach, sometimes squeezing fast, other times squeezing intermittently and leaving Queenie at the edge of her seat wondering when this wickedly delightful torment would resume. And through it all, Queenie’s feet received the kind of tickling that rocked her to her core, scooped her up, and never let go.

AGGYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA! Queenie heard Okiko go absolutely insane from this, and then felt her fly out of her body. Okiko continued howling with laughter while flying all around the room towards the ceiling, then let out a few weak chuckles as she slowly descended to the floor, landing on it with her limbs sprawled out. Yomiko, Tia, and Machina stopped tickling Queenie and tensed up at this, wondering if they’d have to go another round with this specter. But then they saw her body beginning to crumble, starting with her torso. A panting, red-faced, and teary eyed Queenie saw this and smiled.

“Heh. Now that was a beautiful laugh,” Queenie grinned.

“Haah….haah….nobody’s ever called my laugh….or anything about me beautiful. Rocio called me an ugly girl fit worst machines on. She…..said she couldn’t stand looking at me,” Okiko said, her legs and upper half gradually crumbling as she looked away sadly.

“Well I can tell you right now, your smile’s worth a million bucks,” Queenie grinned. Okiko stared at Queenie in disbelief, then slowly smiled. At first it was a hesitant smile, but it soon turned into a bright one that showed off her full set of thin, pointy teeth.

“So noble, even after getting possessed by me…..guess you have the heart of a queen,” Okiko smiled.

“And you’ve got the looks,” Queenie smirked.

“Hahahahaha! That’s not true and you know it!” Okiko laughed openly, gazing fondly at Queenie one last time before leaving without a trace. Seeing that, Queenie looked away and stared at the ceiling while panting heavily.

“That was…..intense,” Queenie said, slowly regaining her composure.

“Indeed it was,” Machina nodded.

“Super intense!” Tia agreed with a giggle.

“Ready for round two?” Yomiko asked with a smirk.

“….Give me a break. A few…..minutes at least. I…..need to catch my breath,” Queenie said while panting.

“Sure. Wouldn’t want you to pass out, your highness~” Yomiko teased, then laughed. Tia soon joined her. Even Machina, who had never laughed openly except when being tickled, laughed. And after pouting at the three of them for a few moments, Queenie laughed as well.

That night in the abandoned motel, the bonds between the Fighting Fronds grew stronger than ever and many a laugh was had by all. Especially Queenie.

Chapter Text

After spending a rowdy, laugh-filled night at a haunted motel, the Fighting Fronds were back on the road. While driving in the direction of the tracker Machina had placed in Rocio’s trunk, they took the occasional pitstop for gas and take-out meals. One of their first major stops was a clothing store where Yomiko, true to the promise she had given Queenie while she had been possessed by Okiko, had bought her several pairs of cashmere socks. The large, ravishing biker had been in dire need of a new pair of socks considering that her last pair had been torn to shreds during a brutal tickling, and Queenie was thrilled beyond belief to have them. So thrilled in fact that her socked feet were propped up on the dashboard, wriggling happily in their cozy confines.

“Yomiko…..my external hard drive is-”

“I know. But you’re gonna have to deal with it,” Yomiko told Machina, who was currently at the wheel and driving while glancing at Queenie’s feet out of the corner of her eye.

“If Tia was driving, she’d crash for sure,” Tia said, sitting in the back seat with Yomiko and staring intently at Queenie’s wiggling feet.

“Not you too Tia….” Yomiko frowned at Tia….and then went back to looking at Queenie’s feet.

“Ah, these feel so nice~! This more than makes up for the three of you ganging up on me the other night,” Queenie smiled, letting out a sigh of contentment.

“Wait. Are you teasing us on purpose?” Yomiko narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

“Nooooope~” Queenie grinned, giving a stretch where her right foot rubbed against its neighbor as her toes spread out, then relaxed and returned to their original position.

“Yomiko, this is all your fault,” Machina said, alternating between staring at the road, Yomiko through the rearview mirror, and Queenie’s feet.

“Yeah, you’re right. I take full responsibility for this,” Yomiko nodded, crossing her arms and sighing.

“Come on, the person who gave me such a great gift shouldn’t look so down~” Queenie snickered, teasingly flexing and curling her socked feet.

That night, Queenie had been punished with tickling by the other Fronds. And the next day, she was still teasing everybody in the car, her socked feet wiggling around. That night she was tickle punished once again. And the next day, those teasing feet were at it again. Punishing her night after night didn’t seem to change anything. If anything, she teased everybody with greater vigor. It was like that very first time they gang tickled her while telling her how much they loved her had awakened something in the blonde bruiser.

This journey to rescue Leona and Rally just got more difficult, Yomiko thought with a deep sigh.

The Fronds pressed onwards, resting, showering, and goofing off at inns by night and traveling and stocking up on food, water, and gas by day. Though they were in hot pursuit of Rocio, she had managed to elude them thanks to the lead granted to her by the mayhem at the haunted motel. So the Fronds had let Machina take the wheel, first driving into Colorado, then driving into Utah a few days later. In a week’s time, they had finally driven far enough within Utah that Machina was able to get a stronger signal, and within two hours, they had found a cube shaped warehouse with tinted windows, white brick walls, and only a sparse few apartment buildings near the complex. Also present in the area lining the front of the facility were some damaged cars, many with broken windows, as well as large piles of random pieces of metal and junk.

“Is this really her main lab? It looks like a dump,” Yomiko frowned.

“You saw what her workplace looked like back in Oklahoma. This fits her perfectly,” Machina said, parking the car a bit away from the warehouse so as not to alert Rocio of their approach.

“Now then….” Machina trailed off, then immediately reached for Queenie’s feet. But the big footed tease reacted quickly, pulling her stompers out of reach and shoving Machina so hard that she tumbled through the car door and landed on the ground.

“What.” Machina got back up, staring at Queenie with surprise.

“Heh. Bet you thought I’d gotten rusty over the past few days. Well you thought wrong! I’m now even more in tune to my tickle spots thanks to you bozos!” Queenie declared with a proud smirk.

“Hrrrmph.” Machina frowned, preparing to climb back in there and give Queenie the tickling of a lifetime, but she was stopped by Yomiko raising a hand.

“We’ve goofed off enough over these past few days. If we don’t hurry Rocio might escape again,” Yomiko said.

“Exactly! Gotta keep your priorities straight Machina~” Queenie grinned slyly.

“And besides, we can always tickle her later tonight,” Yomiko added.

“…..H-Hey you can’t be serious right?” Queenie said nervously. Though she seemed to have perked up a bit from what Yomiko had said. Sighing at that, Yomiko climbed out of the car, followed by Tia. Queenie was the last to exit after putting her boots back on.

“Last time we tried sneaking into her place, she spotted us pretty quickly. Since there are more cameras here, we can expect her to find us within moments,” Machina said as they walked up to the facility, reaching a fence surrounding the front area that said ‘DO NOT ENTER’.

“Well, it couldn’t hurt to try,” Queenie smirked, grabbing the lock on the doors of the fence and snapping it with a good tug.

“That’s rich coming from the biggest person out of the four of us. She’ll probably spot you first,” Yomiko grinned, the four of them heading into the area leading up to the warehouse and sticking to the leftmost side of the fence, moving past the cars and piles of scrap metal while avoiding the line of sight of the cameras near the front door.

“If that happens then Queenie just beat up whoever tries messing with her!” Tia smiled.

“And tickle them silly. But yeah, that too,” Queenie smirked. The four of them advanced in good spirits, and when they neared the cameras, Machina used her electro-ticklers the same way she had used them in Oklahoma to make the cameras fizzle out briefly. During that time the Fronds quickly slipped into the warehouse before the cameras turned back on.

They moved through the facility with careful steps, trying to both evade the sight of as many cameras as they could and not make too much noise. Reaching the end of the hall, they headed up two flights of stairs, then walked a short distance to a metal door with some sounds coming from it. Nodding to each other, they had Queenie take the lead, following closely behind her as she swung the door open.

“Ah….” Tia let out a soft gasp at the sight in front of her. The four of them were standing on a steel walkway overlooking a wide, open room with gray walls and many rectangular light fixtures on the ceiling with bright white lights illuminating the ground floor. Many burly women were hard at work in what appeared to be a factory. They waited at the end of one of three conveyor belts, scooped up pieces of processed metals, then quickly trudged across black floor tiles over to workstations in the far back of the room where they worked at assembling whatever tickle weapon or trap designs La Barriga had requested for them, as well as a few suggestions Rocio had in mind. It was rough labor, and there was many a time when the workers reached into their overall pockets for a cloth to wipe away sweat. But despite having soot on their faces and brows matted with sweat, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

“Yup, these girls are definitely the Crushers,” Queenie said in a low whisper.

“Same girls roach girl leads? They’re so big! Much bigger than roach girl!” Tia whispered.

“They would be able to beat her with ease, but they haven’t. Which they either respect that obnoxious little bug or share her wickedness,” Machina whispered, her irritation quite clear in her expression.

At the front of each conveyor belt, piles of scrap metal not unlike the piles outside the building could be seen and would get processed near the end of the belt. These piles were dropped on top of the conveyor belts by metallic claws with three pincers, and each of those claws were controlled by a member of the Crushers, who was sitting inside a yellow crane-like machine with several red levers and buttons to control the different arms the claw were attached to. The other Crushers wore rusty orange overalls, white shirts, black caps, rusty orange gloves, and beige boots. The woman operating the machine wore dark blue overalls, a red shirt whose sleeves were rolled up, a red cap, red gloves, and beige boots. Since her attire was different from the more uniform outfits of her coworkers, it was clear that she was a higher ranking member of the Crushers.

“Let’s try not to draw their attention,” Yomiko whispered. The Fronds moved quietly along the metal walkway, trying not to make much sound. Unfortunately there was a small screwdriver lying in their path that Queenie tripped on, banging her head against the railing. This caused all the Crushers, including the one in the machine, to stare up at the walkway.

“Queenie! Are you okay?” Yomiko asked, helping up the large Frond as she clutched her head in pain.

“Uggh…..yeah I’m fine,” Queenie grinned reassuringly, pleased to see that the three of them immediately went over to her with concern. At least she thought Machina was concerned. It was kind of hard to tell with her blank expression.

“It’s the Fighting Fronds! Those damn pests must’ve tracked Rocio here!” the woman in the machine said.

“But Smasher, I thought you said-” one of the Crushers began to say to the Crusher in the machine.

“I know what I said about the freaky motel! Rocio said they’d be doomed to eternal tickle torment, but they must’ve found a way out! Just get them!” Smasher barked. The Crushers growled in annoyance while glaring up at the Fronds. Those at the workstations picked up the finished inventions and set down the ones that still needed work. Those waiting at the conveyor belts for processed metal started heading up to the Fronds. Fortunately there were no stairs or ramps that directly led up there, just two metal ladders directly built into the side of the walkway overlooking the room. This gave the Fronds ample time to cross over to the door on the other side of the walkway. Or at least, it should have.

When the Fronds tried racing towards the door, the three metal claws operated by Smasher barreled towards them. Queenie gave a mighty shove to the metal claw heading towards her, causing it to hit the wall on the opposite side of the room. Tia saw one of the metal claws approaching and lied down flat on the walkway, her small size causing the claw to barely miss her. For the last claw, Yomiko saw it approaching Machina and didn’t have much time to think, so she pushed her robot friend out of the way. As a result, the claw grabbed her by the arms, hoisting them upwards.

“Eh?” Yomiko murmured in surprise. She was pulled off the walkway, then lowered down just enough that the toes of her slippers were touching the main floor. Looking around, she saw that Crushers were in front of her and behind her, closing in on her with smug smirks. It dawned on her that with her arms stretched upwards, her armpits were completely exposed with no shot at her protecting them.

“W-Wait just a sehehecAHAHAHAHAND!” Yomiko shrieked, barely able to get the words out before the Crushers started tickling her armpits and sides.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHOHO! GET AWAHAHAHAHAY!” Yomiko shrieked, swinging her legs around and landing a few kicks on the stomachs and faces of the Crushers. Unfortunately this prompted one of them to angrily restrain her ankles in an armlock, remove her slippers, and go to town on her slender feet.

“Yomiko in trouble! Tia will help!” Tia exclaimed, getting back up and pulling out a length of rope. When the mechanical claw that had missed tried to grab her again, she rolled to one side and leapt on top of the railing, wrapping the rope around the metal arm the claw was attached to. Then she kicked off the railing, swinging down the arm like she was zip-lining.

“What?!” Smasher exclaimed with shock.

So that’s what she wanted that for, Machina thought. When the Fronds were about a hundred miles away from where Rocio was hiding, Tia had insisted they make a stop at a convenience store, saying that it was important. After stopping at the convenience store and buying some vegetable oil and a few vials, Tia had worked to quickly open the bottle of vegetable oil and pour it into the vials. The whole bottle was too big to fit in her pockets, but she could easily stuff five or so vials in them and still have room to spare for her ropes. When she had pulled out the rope just now, she had poured the vegetable oil from one vial on it, allowing her to slide down the metal arm easier instead of getting stuck halfway.

As Tia slid down the metal arm, she gave a meaningful gaze towards Machina.

What is she….ah. Machina recalled that Tia had filled three of those vials with water from one of the water bottles in the water cooler that was stashed in the trunk of the car.

I got it. And besides, she’s going to need my help to deal with the rest of them.

“Queenie, I’ll leave the rest to you,” Machina said. Queenie turned to the robot girl in surprise at those words, then grinned.

“Alright! Dunno what you’re planning, but you can leave it to me!” Queenie grinned, giving Machina a thumbs up. Machina nodded at that, then stared emotionlessly at an approaching mechanical claw and the one that had missed Tia.

“Ha! Got you right where I want!” Smasher smirked. Machina performed a maneuver where her right palm rested against the walkway, supporting her body as her left hand seemingly flailed aimlessly in the air. Both hands had been grabbed by the mechanical claws as Machina pushed off her palm and leapt in the air. But….

“Electric Shock.”

….she had retracted both of her hands for electro-ticklers moments before her hands got grabbed, performing a full power Electric Shock to force the metal claws to release her.

“Huh?! What the hell did she do? And why aren’t the controls responding?!” Smasher shouted, angrily twisting levers and smashing the buttons for those respective claws. But they didn’t budge at all, having been paralyzed by Machina’s attack. When Machina fell back onto the walkway she quickly retracted her electro-ticklers and scrambled to her feet, then kicked off the railing and landed on top of the metal arm. The trail of vegetable oil left by Tia’s rope as she slid down the metal arm provided a lubricant for Machina, allowing her to slide down it as though surfing.

This is really fun!, Machina thought to herself.

She’s pretty daring….., Queenie thought, watching her robot friend slide down with carefree, albeit expressionless, bliss.

“And since she took care of the other two mechanical claws before heading down, all I have to worry about are you jerks!” Queenie shouted, giving a mighty kick to the Crusher on the ladder to her right, then doing the same for the Crusher on the ladder to her left. Her kicks were powerful enough that the front most member on both ladders ended up bumping up against into the girls behind them, causing some of them to fall off and slowing down their climbing progress.

Eventually, Tia successfully landed outside the door of the machine Smasher was operating.

“Ah! You’re not getting in here!” Smasher scowled, standing up and holding the door handle tightly. In response, Tia pulled out a vial of water out of her pocket, then opened it and emptied the contents, causing water to seep under the door.

“Huh? The hell are you spilling water for?” Smasher frowned.

“For me.” Machina said, landing next to Tia, then retracting both of her hands for electro-ticklers.

“Guh! Wai-!”

“Electric Shock,” Machina said, ignoring Smasher’s shout and using an Electric Shock that wasn’t quite as powerful as the one she had used on the mechanical claws but was still powerful enough to make the most out of that puddle.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” The attack went right through the soles of Smasher’s boots, sending jolts that climbed all the way up to her thighs. Though her feet got the worst of it, with many ticklish sparks flying all across her feet and toes. By the time the attack had finally subsided, Smasher stumbled out of the door and fell on her face, having lost consciousness.

“Tia bet she has super silly expression right now!” Tia smirked.

“Definitely,” Machina nodded. Then they noticed some of the Crushers glaring at them.

“….I may not be able to fight that well thanks to the vegetable oil,” Machina said.

“Oh yeah….in that case, Machina can operate machine thingy and help Yomiko!” Tia exclaimed, pulling out some more rope and handing it to Machina.

“Right,” Machina nodded, heading through the door and closing it, then slipping due to the vegetable oil on her soles shortly after. Tia heard Machina say ‘ow’, then pulled out more rope as she focused on the oncoming Crushers.

Around the same time that Machina and Tia were sliding down towards Smasher and Queenie was kicking the Crushers on ladders, Yomiko’s plight had gotten worse as the girls that had brought over finished tickle inventions were now testing them out on Yomiko.

“Do you like this more?” one of the Crushers smirked, wiggling her finger against Yomiko’s right armpit. Attached to that finger was a metal finger sleeve with a single blue feather attached to it. The feather was moving rapidly over the center of her armpit was made using a piece of a plumeblade, and appeared to be vibrating to maximize its effectiveness.

“Or do you like this more?” another one of the Crushers smirked, holding a device that resembled a gray suction cup that was attached to a black metal handle with a few buttons on it, and the suction cup was connected to the metal arm via a few small curved metal beams running between the two. The suction cup had ridges running along its circumference that was attached to a black metal handle that had a few buttons on it. Two small, fuzzy rollers rested in the center of the suction cup. The suction cup aspect of the device ensured that it would stay latched onto the victim and was impossible to remove as long as it was turned on. When the rollers were activated, an oily substance was released from the ridges of the suction cup. That substance was currently trickling down Yomiko’s left armpit, acting as a lubricant that made it even easier for the fuzzy rollers to slide up and down it.

“OHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHA! WHIHIHIHIHIHIY WOULD YOU MAHAHAHAHAKE SOMETHING LIKE THAHAHAHAHAHAHAT?!” Yomiko screamed, glaring at the suction cup device as she laughed out loud.

Of course, her other spots weren’t spared. Her belly was being tickled by vibrating gloves, with the Crusher that was using them having slipped her hands under Yomiko’s shirt. Her right foot was being tickled by a bunch of small, ladybug shaped drones with scrubbers attached to them that could obey simple commands and were able crawl all over that foot without bumping into each other. Her left foot was being tickled by a device that was essentially an egg beater, only with metal tines like that of a comb attached to it instead that was able to precisely rake all over that foot in unpredictable patterns.

“HIIYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! CUT IT OHOHOHOHOHOHOUT!” Yomiko shrieked. Her cheeks were a bright red, and tears welled up in her eyes as her feet shook around as much as the Crusher holding them in place allowed them to, her torso twisting and turning. But her arms couldn’t get out from the metal claws at all, which made the tickles to her sensitive armpits the absolute worst out of all the sensations she was currently experiencing.

When she felt like her head and the room were spinning out of control, she suddenly felt the metal claw holding up her arms release her. This was a shock to the Crushers, but Yomiko, who had basically become stir crazy from all those tools, sprung into action almost immediately.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GET AWAHAHAHAHAY! STOP TIHIHIHIHICKLING MEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Using her knowledge of pressure points, Yomiko swung her body up and jabbed the girl that was holding her ankles in the neck, causing her to crumple to the floor. This caused the girl that was using the plunger device to stumble slightly towards the fallen Frond. Yomiko took advantage of this and planted both feet in that girl’s stomach, kicking with all of her strength.

“LEHEHEHEHEHET! GOHOHOHOHOHO! OHOHOHOHOHOF! MEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” But Yomiko was still winded from all the tickles, especially since the tickling at her left armpit and right foot hadn’t stopped yet. And even if she was in top form, her kicks weren’t quite as strong as Queenie’s. So it took her a few attempts of grabbing the metal arm to pull the Crusher in close, kicking her, grabbing it again, and kicking again for her to finally reach the release button of the device, pushing it as she gave another kick to that girl to get some distance and using the momentum to slide under the legs of one of the Crushers who had tried to grab her. With great effort, Yomiko ignored the tickling on her right foot and rolled three times to get more distance between her and her foes. Then she reached over and swatted the ladybug drones off of her.

She calmed her irregular breathing and rubbed her still tingling foot a bit, then stood up and assumed a relaxed but vigilant fighting stance, glaring at the remaining Crushers. The one she had jabbed in the neck was unconscious, but she still had five others to deal with. Glancing over to her right briefly, she could see that Tia had seven Crushers to worry about. The young Tribal was dealing with them by using her small size to her advantage, slipping under and between them and using her rope traps to make them stumble. But she hadn’t managed to subdue any of them yet, and it was possible that one or more of them would prioritize Yomiko.

Yomiko snapped back to attention as the five Crushers starting charging towards her. Before she could make a move, the girl at the head of the pack was grabbed by a mechanical claw. The Crushers behind her froze in shock at this development, and even Yomiko was caught off-guard.

“Ah?! Get the hell off me you-gyaaaaah!” The girl was tossed across the room, slamming into three of the Crushers that Tia was evading with such force that they fell unconscious. The girl that had been tossed lifted her head up and weakly glared in the direction of the machine, then stared in surprise when she saw who was driving it as she lost consciousness. This drew Yomiko’s attention to the machine, and she saw that Machina was riding in it. Two of the Crushers that had been trying to grab Tia were shocked by this sudden development, while the other two Crushers looked over their shoulders, then scowled and kept trying to open the door and get at Machina. But their efforts were in vain as Machina had used the rope Tia had given her and wrapped it around the handle and various points across the door, ceiling, and floor of the machine. That door wouldn’t budge no matter what they did.

“Thanks for the help Machina!” Tia smiled, wrapping a piece of rope with three loops around one Crusher’s arms and neck, creating a perfect opportunity for Tia to tickle her tummy.

“Snrkehehehahaha! Cut that-HACK!” The Crusher tried to grab Tia, but that only caused the loop around her neck to tighten. It seemed like she couldn’t move her arms at all now without that loop tightening, which forced her to take the onslaught of tickles from the Tribal that had now tackled and pinned her down. And that was something she wasn’t too happy about.

The Crushers closest to Yomiko stared at their fallen comrade, then at Tia’s Tribal trickery, then finally back at Yomiko. In the time it took for them to do all of that, Yomiko was already directly in front of one of them.

“Ten Ticklish Strikes!” Yomiko shouted, tickle squeezing several spots on that Crusher’s sides, ribs, and tummy.

“Guh?! Hrrrmphehehehe knock it-OHOHOHOHOAHAHAHAHAHA!” The Crusher had been about to shove Yomiko away when her ticklishness suddenly rose from that technique. The striking sensations caused her to back up into two of her allies, and Yomiko took advantage of this opportunity to shove her while she was off balance. When she fell over and brought two other Crushers to the floor with her, Yomiko leapt over them to deal with the girl at the back of their group, the very same Crusher who had used the suction cup gadget on her.

“Why you!” the Crusher shouted, thrusting the gadget towards Yomiko. The Frond evaded the thrust with minimal movement while slipping her left hand under the handle, then struck the suction cup part of the device with her right palm, causing it to swing up and smack the Crusher in the face.

“Agh!” The Crusher staggered a bit and rubbed her aching nose, then saw that Yomiko was gone. She scowled in confusion, but didn’t have to wonder where the Frond had gone off to as she soon felt fingers squeezing and stroking her armpits. Judging by the strange tingle she started feeling within the first few touches, she guessed that Yomiko was implementing the same technique that had made her comrade fall over.

“P-Pleheeheeze….not the armpihihihihits….” the Crusher snickered through clenched teeth, her cheeks turning a striking red from her efforts at keeping silent.

“Should’ve thought of that before you tickled mine,” Yomiko smirked. She struck the last ticklish spot right at the center of the girl’s armpits, then wiggled her fingers against their hollows at a moderate pace while still sneaking in many a ticklish squeeze at their centers.

“NOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” the Crusher screamed, bursting into wild laughter. It didn’t take much effort to make her fall over, and once she did, Yomiko snatched her suction cup gadget and clicked it on after pressing it against her fallen foe’s left armpit: the exact same spot it had gotten Yomiko on not too long ago.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOPSTOPSTAHYAHEEHEEHAHAHOHOHO!” The Crusher’s laughter turned surprisingly silly sounding, so much so that Yomiko couldn’t resist running all ten of her fingers over the neighboring armpit. Her burly victim squirmed around from side to side at first, trying to shake her off. But eventually she grew tired from all the tickling to now sensitized armpits and just lied there and took it. Grinning, Yomiko tickled all over her right armpit at different speeds and angles, planting ticklish squeezes all over that area. When her foe seemed too exhausted to move, Yomiko stopped, though she didn’t remove the gadget. Couldn’t be too careful….and besides, this baddie could probably take it~

She then turned to face the remaining Crushers, who had gotten back up after angrily elbowing the one who had fallen on them. That Crusher was now at the back and was the one with the drone remote. The two Crushers in front of her were the one with the vibrating gloves and the one with the egg beater comb gadget. The one who had been sent flying earlier was the one with the vibrating feather gadget, so Yomiko wouldn’t have to worry about her.

Still, I wish the one Machina tossed had been one of these two, Yomiko thought with a frown. When the two of them rushed towards her, she ran to the conveyor belt and dived over it in a single move, sliding between two piles of scrap metal moving along the conveyor belt. The two Crushers scowled at this, and the one with the vibrating gloves tried to do the same thing. But because she was bigger than Yomiko, she struggled to scramble off the conveyor belt and wound up getting her vibrating claw stuck in one of the piles of scrap metal.

“Damn it!” she growled, pulling her hand violently out from the pile. When she did so, Yomiko grabbed that hand and pressed it against the Crusher’s tummy.

“HUHUHAHAHAHAHAHA!” the Crusher shrieked, flopping about on the conveyor belt like a fish out of water as Yomiko shoved her opponent’s other hand into another pile of scrap metal. The Crusher realized that pile was a few seconds away from reaching the processing portion of the conveyor belt and panicked, which only made it even more difficult for her to pull the vibrating glove out. Clicking her tongue, the Crusher with the egg beater comb gadget dropped it and grabbed the legs of the panicking Crusher on the conveyor belt and pulled with all of her strength. During this time Yomiko turned to the Crusher with the remote, then bent down and picked up two ladybug drones that had scurried under the conveyor belt and had nearly reached her feet.

Raising an eyebrow with a ‘really?’ expression, Yomiko threw both of the drones at the Crusher’s belly. As her belly was still sensitized from the earlier use of the Ten Ticklish Strikes, the force Yomiko threw them with was enough to make her wince in pain and drop the remote on the conveyor belt. It was quickly snatched up by Yomiko, who fiddled with an analog stick on the remote to make the drones scurry down the Crusher’s tummy, slipping under her shirt to tickle her directly.

“AIEEEEE! NAHAHAHAHAHAT MY BELLY BUHUAHAHAHAHATTON! HEEHEEHEEHAHAHA SNRRRK! THAHAHAHAHAT’S NOT FAHAHAHAHAHAHAIR!” the Crusher squealed, clutching her sides while shrieking with laughter, then falling over and slamming one fist against the floor before it even crossed her mind to try to reach inside her shirt and get them out. When the Crusher who had freed her foolish comrade’s hand and was still pulling her legs turned towards the laughter in surprise, Yomiko threw the remote at her head, then slid across the conveyor belt.

While the Crusher who had gotten hit by the remote winced in pain, the one who had fallen back on the conveyor belt rolled towards the pile of scrap metal nearest to her in her panic to get away from the processing region, then fell over onto the floor along with random pieces of metal. Yomiko went over to the fallen Crusher and pressed one of her vibrating claws against her stomach, then shoved a nearby pile of scrap metal on top of her to keep her from getting away. As the Crusher laughed and struggled under the pile of scrap metal, Yomiko removed her other vibrating glove and put it on. Then she headed over to the Crusher who had swatted away the drones and stuck two fingers in her belly button.

“UWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!” Yomiko’s ticklish squeezes were pretty effective even without the use of the Ten Ticklish Strikes. With her dreaded technique coupled with the vibrations from the glove, the poor Crusher didn’t stand a chance. Within a couple of seconds she looked like she was floating between consciousness and unconsciousness, but Yomiko stopped the moment she saw the Crusher she had hit with the remote pick up her egg beater comb gadget.

“You’ve given us the run around long enough! Take this!” the Crusher shouted, clicking the button on her gadget and thrusting it towards Yomiko. She charged fast enough that Yomiko didn’t have time to dodge. But she didn’t need to.

“Ah.”

Thanks to the protection of the vibrating glove, blocking and snatching that gadget away proved to be easy. Yomiko pressed the button of the egg beater gadget, then gave that Crusher a very devious smirk.

“W-Wait a second, we can talk about tHIHIAHAHAHAHAHAS! OH NOHOHOHOHOHO!” Wielding the vibrating glove on the Crusher’s left thigh and the egg beater comb gadget on her belly proved to be a smart move. Those many tines running across her tummy and belly button were bad enough, but it seemed like her thigh was even more ticklish judging by her reactions to Yomiko squeezing it. Her ticklish misfortune would continue until the Crusher under the pile of scrap metal finally freed herself.

“Okay, that does it! You’re dead you….uh…” the panting, red-faced Crusher stared as Yomiko wordlessly turned towards her, clicking on the egg beater comb gadget.

“…..How about a trUHUAHAHAHAHAHACE?!”

Yomiko went back and forth between the three of them and the one with the suction cup gadget still stuck to her left armpit, tickling them viciously and using the Ten Ticklish Strikes on the two Crushers she hadn’t busted out that technique on. After a couple of minutes, two of them had been tickled unconscious and the other two were too exhausted to keep fighting.

Yomiko glanced over to see how Tia was doing and saw that the Crusher with the loop around her neck had fallen unconscious, while the other three Crushers couldn’t move all that much as their arms and legs had all been tied together in a weird arrangement. Not like they were moving much right now anyways given that Tia had removed the feathers from her headband and was sweeping them rapidly all over their bellies and feet. Their discarded boots were strewn all about them, and the three girls were red-faced with laughter while weakly struggling against their bindings. Seeing this, Tia stopped, put the feathers back under her headband, and smiled brightly at Yomiko.

During the time Yomiko and Tia had been fending off Crushers, Queenie had been going back and forth between the ladders on her left and right, kicking the Crusher at the front of each ladder to fend them off. But as she went for another kick, her leg was grabbed.

“Ah!” Queenie gasped.

“That’s enough out of you!” the Crusher who had grabbed her ankle barked, sporting many bruises on her face. She pushed Queenie’s foot roughly enough that the Frond fell over, then climbed up onto the walkway. Before she could get revenge on Queenie though, a metal claw swung towards her and grabbed her, then yoinked her off the walkway so that she was now directly over the ladder.

“Gaaah! Put me down right now!” the Crusher shouted, glaring at Machina in the machine.

“Gladly,” Machina said, pushing the button that would release her.

“AAAAAH!” the Crusher screamed, falling right on top of her allies that were on the ladder. This caused them to all fall to the floor in a heap. Nodding at that, Machina then controlled the metal claw to grab the front most Crusher on the neighboring ladder.

“Guh….” The Crushers at the front of the ladder froze in terror at that.

“Huh? What’s going on?” the Crushers at the bottom of the ladder asked, startled by the sudden sound and finding its source: a pile of their unconscious comrades. They barely had time to gasp before they fell to the floor, making up the base of a neighboring pile of Crushers the moment Machina hit the release button.

Queenie scrambled to her feet and peered down at the two piles of fallen Crushers with shock, then turned her gaze to her robot friend.

“Thanks for the save Machina!” Queenie grinned.

“It was nothing,” Machina said, though she carried herself with an air of pride.

Machina untied the rope she had wrapped around the door, handing it to Tia as Yomiko put her slippers back on. Tia handed Machina a vial of water, which she used to wash any lingering vegetable oil off her soles. Then they climbed back up the ladder and rejoined Queenie, heading through the door on the other side of the walkway.

Rocio had been taking a snack break and munching on chips when the Fronds had entered. She finished around the time Yomiko began fighting the Crushers, staring in shock once she saw what was going on through the camera screens. When it was over, she saw Machina walking alongside Tia and scowled.

Her. She’s the reason they were able to find me. I don’t know how, but I know it’s all her fault! Damn Kitzel tech!, Rocio thought angrily, glaring at Machina through the camera screens. After a few moments though, she smirked.

Well whatever. This works for me. I was hoping the ghosts would take care of all four of them, but this gives me another shot at nabbing her! I already broke all of your other toys Kitzel~

Snickering while thinking this, Rocio grabbed a walkie talkie and switched it to one of the channels.

“The Fronds are here. But I bet you heard all the commotion. I need you to capture one of them for me. ….Yep, the robot! You read my mind~” Rocio said, an impish grin on her face.

The Fronds went up another flight of stairs, then walked down the hall and opened the door to reveal a room slightly smaller than the one they had just come from. This room had gray walls and several electromagnets hanging along its white ceiling. Four Crushers had their backs turned to the Fronds and were fiddling with knobs on wireless consoles to make the electromagnets lift piles of scrap metal up, then send them crashing back down. Presumably the reason they were doing this was to get the scrap metal in a certain arrangement, or maybe to get certain pieces of metal that were highly important to their tickle gadgets. The Fronds couldn’t really make heads or tails of it, but they tried to sneak past the Crushers and reach a door in the upper right portion of the room. They managed to get to a series of ridiculously oversized boilers in one part of the room when extra Crushers came out to attack them.

“Waah, more baddies!” Tia exclaimed in surprise.

“Hmph. They were hiding behind those massive boilers the whole time,” Yomiko scowled. There were now six extra Crushers in the room, and the ones that had been twisting the knobs of the electromagnets twisted them off all at the same time, then smirked at the Fronds.

“So they were faking the whole time,” Queenie scowled. The Fronds began to do battle with the Crushers, but with this many of them coming at them all at once, fending them off with their respective tickle methods was proving to be difficult. Machina was having an especially rough time because she had already spent a great deal of energy using powerful versions of her Electric Shock technique twice in such a sort span of time. She moved around as nimbly as she could in her current state, jabbing the three Crushers that were surrounding her over and over with her electro-ticklers. They snickered and yelped from these attacks, but eventually two of them grabbed her arms while the third one went behind her and slapped her back roughly from behind, causing her to fall forward towards….

“An elevator?” Machina murmured in surprise

It was the sort of elevator that could only be activated by people with a certain level of clearance via a key card. And the elevator doors opened to reveal a Crusher that was holding up a smaller electromagnet.

“Gotcha~” the Crusher smirked, cranking up the knob of the electromagnet to one of the higher numbers. Machina stared in surprise as she was pulled towards it, the Crusher spinning her around at the last second so the electromagnet got stuck on her back. Then the Crusher tripped her over so she fell on her back.

“Rocio’s been expecting you.” the Crusher smirked, clicking the button for the top floor and stepping out of the elevator.

“Hrmmph. Get back here.” Machina frowned, trying to get up and grab the Crusher. But since Machina was a robot, she found that she couldn’t move all that much in this position. She felt like a turtle that had been flipped on its back and couldn’t get up.

The Crusher stepped out of the elevator with a smug grin, taking a key card out of her pocket and tossing it through the elevator door as it was closing. The last thing the Fronds saw was a frowning Machina waving her arms in the air as she struggled to get up.

“MACHINA!” Yomiko shouted. In her time traveling with Machina, this was the first time she’d seen her get kidnapped. And though the snarky, perverse, and sometimes ditzy robot could be a bit of a handful (in part because it was difficult to tell what was running through her head at any given moment), Yomiko had grown quite attached to her. So to see her scooped up like that angered her greatly.

“That was easier than I thought it would be. Course, it helps to catch your enemies off-guard. I bet you Fighting Fronds know all about that though,” the Crusher smirked. Like with Smasher, this Crusher had a more distinctive outfit compared to the others. She wore brown overalls, an orange shirt with its sleeves rolled up, an orange cap, brown gloves, and brown boots.

“Fighty Fronz know all about kicking baddie butt!” Tia shouted, pulling out some more rope while frowning at the Crusher.

“Heh. We’ll see about that. Smasher probably stayed in her machine all safe and far away from the action. What an idiot. In a tickle brawl or any brawl, there’s no better place to be than up close and personal!” the Crusher declared with a proud smirk.

“That’s our Wrecker for you!” the other Crushers cheered. It seemed like this person named Wrecker was the boss of the Crushers in this area.

“No better place to be than up close and personal huh. On that point I agree!” Queenie smirked, then frowned when she saw even more Crushers rush in through the door at the upper right portion of the room.

“You’re going to regret thinking you can take us,” Yomiko frowned, glaring at Wrecker.

“Heh. Well bring it on then!” Wrecker smirked, rushing towards Yomiko alongside with three other Crushers.

Machina continued struggling around in the elevator, trying to at least hit one of the buttons. She sadly had no luck in that endeavor, and when the elevator stopped moving Machina ceased struggling, thinking of what to do. She couldn’t get up, she couldn’t remove the electromagnet even when she reached behind her, and the knob was unreachable in her position. As the doors opened, the answer hit her.

I can’t believe I did not think of it sooner….Yomiko would definitely chew me out about this, so I’ll keep silent about it, Machina thought, happy she had figured out a way out of that unpleasant situation as she focused on her current unpleasant situation: a face-to-face meeting with the most annoying scientist ever.

“There you are! I wasn’t expecting to see you ever again, and I bet you weren’t expecting to get captured so easily!” Rocio smirked at Machina, flashing her sharp teeth.

“It’s you.” Machina said, narrowing her eyes.

“Whaaat, you’re not happy to see me? Still pissed off about getting covered in popcorn or something?” Rocio taunted.

“No,” Machina replied bitterly.

“Good! Cause that was all on you! I swear, you might be a clumsier oaf than Big Barbara was! But I guess I’d expect nothing less from Kitzel’s inferior tech~” Rocio smirked smugly.

“Mrrrr….” Machina scowled. The elevator she was currently stuck in had a circular design and a narrow opening, so she couldn’t make out the full room. But she could see a few half-eaten bags of chips lying on the floor, a table, and two trash bags filled with eaten bags of snacks. And she could of course see Rocio. Same black hair with those antenna-like strands sticking out. Same cute blue shirt with an orange kitten on it that was at odds with her personality. Same annoying smugness. Same infuriatingly squeaky pink crocs. And of course, she had dirt on her face and lab coat, no doubt from working on more sinister tickle gadgets and machines.

“Well would you look at that. Wrecker even threw away her key card without being told! I knew she was perfect for this job!” Rocio grinned, her crocs squeaking against the floor as she casually headed up to Machina.

“Now you’re all trapped with nowhere to go~” Rocio smirked, leering down at her.

“That’s what you think.” Machina frowned, retracting both of her hands for electro-ticklers. The magnet pulled them in closer with no need for any extra effort on Machina’s part, and the jolts caused the device to short-circuit.

“Ah!” Rocio gasped, falling over in shock. Machina rose up with fury, leaping towards Rocio while thrusting her electro-ticklers down towards the wicked scientist, pursuing her as she rapidly scurried back into the room…..towards a remote hooked up to a water cannon.

Machina’s eyes widened moments before she was blasted, being drenched with water. And of course, being covered in water meant the tickly jolts from the electro-ticklers were now jumping across every last inch of her body.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Machina’s fatigue from her earlier uses of Electric Shock coupled with the sensations running all over her body caused her to fall backwards and bang her head against the electromagnet, losing consciousness. Seeing this, Rocio let out a sigh of relief.

It’s a good thing I set up that water cannon in advance and put it in a spot where she wouldn’t be able to see it from inside the elevator while still being juuuust close enough for me to reach, Rocio smirked, standing up and looming over the drenched robot girl.

And now I’m gonna find out what makes you tick~

“Haah! Graah!” Queenie shouted, knocking two Crushers away, then shoving a third one into two more Crushers. Tia had set up a few minor rope traps around the room, causing some of the Crushers to trip into each other and creating perfect opportunities for Tia to tickle them. As for Yomiko, she threw out a swift kick whenever she needed to get some distance between herself and her foes, but mostly went for quick tickly squeezes to their stomachs and knees that made it difficult for the three burly girls and the equally burly Wrecker to nab her.

“Still think being on the frontlines is a smart move?” Yomiko asked, going for more thorough yet still quick squeezes on Wrecker’s tummy and pits to make her realize the gravity of her situation.

“GRAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Wrecker shrieked, practically leaping away from the sensations as she and the three other Crushers she was with glanced at each other, then glared at Yomiko.

“Tch. Guess it’s time for us to get serious!” Wrecker shouted, pulling out a remote and twisting the knob on it as several of her comrades all around the room, not just the three fighting Yomiko, moved away from specific black floor tiles they were standing on.

“HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE?!” Yomiko yelped.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHA?!” Tia shrieked.

“Mmmpheeheeheehee?!” Queenie snickered. Yomiko and Tia quickly leapt away from the floor tiles they were standing on, while Queenie ignored the sensations long enough to slam the heads of two Crushers together, then stepped away from that floor tile and the two unconscious Crushers. The three of them peered at the tiles and frowned.

“Vibrating floor tiles. That explains why Queenie was less affected since she wears boots and thick socks. It’s also pretty underhanded,” Yomiko frowned.

“Heh. Well that’s the thing about fighting on the frontlines. You gotta be prepared for the other side’s tricks!” Wrecker smirked. The Fronds frowned at that and steeled themselves, realizing that this fight would be more arduous then they thought.

Machina’s eyes fluttered, and she woke up to sight of Rocio’s face peering down at her.

“Wakey wakey! Had a good nap?” Rocio smirked.

“Mmmph.” Machina pointedly looked away from Rocio.

“Aww come on, don’t be that like that!” Rocio snickered, leaning her head to the side so she was gazing directly at Machina again. The robot girl responded by turning her head to the other side.

“Sheesh. You’re easily the grumpiest out of all of Kitzel’s creations,” Rocio shook her head while shrugging.

Machina was in a medium-sized room with gray tiles on the floor and a single table with a few white cabinets behind her. The ceilings and floor of the room were white. While she couldn’t gauge where she was as the door was closed, she guessed that this room was connected to Rocio’s main room in a ‘keep your friends close, keep your tickle victims closer’ kind of way. She was pinned down to a metal table with straps forcing her arms overhead and running along her legs. Her hands had been encased in a black rubbery material, neutralizing her most powerful attack. The middle portion of the underside of the table was bulky, possibly because it contained a plethora of tickle tools. At the foot of the table, her ankles were locked into a metal fixture with two grooves that acted as stocks. The table was likely designed so that the metal fixture could be removed and replaced when need be, and Machina’s attempts at kicking against them was met with them hardly making a sound, let alone budging. The legs of the table must’ve also been either incredibly short or adjustable, as Rocio, despite being 4’11, towered about a foot above Machina.

“Do you know why I’m so thrilled to have you where I want?” Rocio asked with a smirk. Machina didn’t look at her or respond though. Pouting at that, Rocio wiggled a finger under her chin.

“Guess you want me to make you laugh before you talk. I’d be more than happy to do the same to your friends if they manage to get up-GYAAAAAH!” Rocio let out a scream when Machina, who had been twisting her head away from the chin tickles, suddenly chomped on her finger.

“OOOOOW! Let go! Let-AAAAGH! Curse you Kitzel!” Rocio screamed, slapping Machina’s cheeks again and again to try to get her to let go. When that failed, she wiggled the fingers of her free hand against Machina’s armpit. That got the robot to let out muffled chuckles, then finally release Rocio’s finger when she started laughing.

“Hoooo….you will PAY for that!” Rocio scowled at Machina, pointing an accusatory finger at Machina…..which of course prompted Machina to try to get a bite out of it.

“YEEP!” Rocio yelped, withdrawing her finger and backing up a bit. “Are you a rabid dog or something?!” Rocio shouted in annoyance.

“That was payback for putting Queenie and Tia in that tickle car, and for tricking us into going to that motel.” Machina replied with a hint of sass.

“Grnnngh….”

“But yes. I know why you brought me here: to force me to become part of that horribly named forcefield La Barriga is using. You think you’ll be able to brainwash me like you did with my sisters, but it won’t…..hm?” Machina raised an eyebrow when she saw that Rocio was laughing.

“….What’s so funny?”

“Ahahahahaha! You didn’t even know Kitzel made other robots just like you until I clued you in, and now you’re calling them your sisters! Oh that’s rich!” Rocio said, her irritating laughter filling the room as Machina frowned at her.

“You care about them even though you’ve never even met them. That’s hilarious! Is that why you stuck another tracker on my car when you realized I’d removed the previous one? Did you think following me would give you a shot at saving them?” Rocio smirked smugly.

“Yes. But, I’m also the kind of girl who loves crushing fleeing cockroaches.” Machina said flatly.

“I am not a roach!” Rocio shouted, glaring angrily at the robot girl. Machina’s expression didn’t change, but there was clear amusement shining in her eyes. Which only angered Rocio even more.

“Hmph, you’ll regret making jokes like that. Anyways-”

“But I wasn’t joking.” Machina said, a small smirk dancing at the corners of her lips.

“ANYWAYS! Earlier you said I wouldn’t be able to brainwash you. Feel free to believe that if you want. It’ll make breaking you so much more satisfying~” Rocio teased, pulling out a remote and pointing it at the table as she pushed a button. This caused something to come out from underneath the table, and Machina furrowed her brows at the strange noises before flinching when she felt something at her feet. Peering down, she saw that a fuzzy pink roller attached to metal arms was spinning rapidly against them, going up and down their lengths.

“Hrrrmph…..mmmmph!” A silly smile appeared on Machina’s face, and she shook her head from side to side while refusing to laugh. Her feet scrunched up and waved about while her toes curled and splaying in an alluring manner.

“Is the reason you don’t wanna laugh because I’m the one tickling you? That’s totally it isn’t it?” Rocio teased slyly, poking Machina’s right cheek. Frowning at that, Machina tried to bite Rocio’s finger.

“Whoop! Haha, too slow! The tickling’s distracting you, isn’t it? And I haven’t even gotten to your worst spot~” Rocio teased, giving three quick pokes to Machina’s tummy.

“HrrrmpheeheeHAHAHAHA! KEEP YOUR HAHAHAHAHANDS TO YOURSEHEHEHELF!” Machina shouted, her tummy jumping a bit.

“Hehehehe, no way! All it took was a few pokes for you to start shrieking from one little roller? How embarrassing~” Rocio said, smirking smugly at Machina. Machina very much wanted to wipe that smirk off this scientist’s face with merciless tickles, but she had no chance of doing so in her current position. So she instead scowled in annoyance…..though that scowl soon disappeared as more laughter escaped from the captive robot’s mouth.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Machina laughed, squirming around on the table and scrunching her feet tightly, inadvertently leaving plenty of wrinkles for those rollers and their many fuzzy, rapidly spinning fibers to brush up against.

“Well? Do you regret insulting me and biting my finger yet?” Rocio smirked.

“HEEHEEHEHEEHEEHEEHEE!”

“Well? Say something!” Rocio shouted. Then she noticed that though Machina’s feet were squirming quite a bit and she was already laughing, she didn’t seem all that bothered by these sensations. And she was glaring evenly at Rocio the entire time.

“Hrmm. Well, I already knew going for your feet wouldn’t be enough to break you. I’ll move on to using other tools….after giving you something special~” Rocio smirked, putting the remote in her lab coat pocket. Her crocs made squeaky noises as she headed past Machina towards the table at the back of the room. Setting the remote down, she pulled something out from one of the many compartments in the wall, then placed it over Machina’s ears.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHAT AHAHAHAHARE YOU-ah?” Rocio slipped clunky headphones over Machina’s ears, and the moment she did so, the robot girl was hit with many different sounds. A buzzing sound like that of many flies trapped in a room. The sound of many cicadas. A scurrying sound like that of cockroaches in an enclosed space. And two repeating phrases:

“You are a ticklish tool
You serve La Barriga’s forces.”

It was a cacophony of irritating sounds, with the hypnotic message thrown in the middle of all of it. It was aggravating beyond belief. It was….

“THE CAHAHAHALL OF THE ROHOHOHOACH…..” Machina said between laughs, looking appalled.

“I am not a roach! And my hypnotism is perfect! Once I break you with tickling, you’ll stay broken!” Rocio smirked happily, the fuzzy rollers now heading up to Machina’s toes.

“HRRRMPHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE THAT’S ONLY IF YOU MAHAHAHAHANGE TO DO SOHOHOHOHOHO!” Machina shot back, her toes splaying, then curling as her feet darted about to try to distract themselves from these sensations.

“Heh. You’ll change your tune soon enough~” Rocio smirked, grabbing the remote and clicking two more buttons. This caused two paintbrushes attached to metal arms to sweep back and forth against the backs of her knees and two gloves attached to metal arms to head towards her thighs. These were no ordinary gloves though, these were grooming gloves dripping with baby oil, and when they pressed against Machina’s thighs they began scrubbing against them like mad.

“OHEEHEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHA?!” Machina yelped, her eyes widening slightly before squeezing shut as her struggles grew more pronounced.

“Oooh! It looks like those grooming gloves are having more of an effect on you that the rollers! Though that’s probably because your thighs have it worse than your feet~” Rocio taunted. The palms of the grooming gloves dragged rapidly up and down Machina’s thighs, their many nubs scrubbing away at the delicate skin. Combined with the tickling to her feet and the more harmless swipes from the paintbrushes, this was starting to give the robot girl a rough time.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS CHAHAHAHAHANGES NOHOHOHOHOTHING!” Machina retorted, twisting and turning on the table.

“You’re right. I need to add even more tickle tools~” Rocio smirked, clicking another button on the remote.

“THAT’S NOT WHAT I-HYEEHEEHEEHEEEEK?!” Machina began to protest, then let out another shriek when she felt something brushing up against her armpits. Purple things attached to thin rods….were they pipe cleaners? They were nestled within circular apparatuses connected to metal arms, and they moved as erratically as party streamers flying out of a horn, or grass blades blown around by the wind. Because of this, they were able to get a few good shrieks and squeals out of Machina even though her pits weren’t anywhere near as sensitive as her thighs or midriff.

“You like them? When I was breaking your….snrkehehe, ‘sisters’,” Rocio said, snickering at the term of endearment Machina had given to her fellow robots, “I made sure to keep my creative juices flowing. I was constantly coming up with new tech to use on the next one, and the one after that, and the one after that. They proved very helpful victims….I mean, test subjects~” Rocio smirked. “That device is a more recent invention. Though it probably works best on people who have extremely ticklish feet or armpits,” Rocio shrugged.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEEHEEHEEHEE IT’S NOT AS AHAHAHAHAWFUL AS YOU AHAHAHAHAHARE!” Machina shot back. Though truthfully, she’d rather these weird pipe cleaner like implements left her alone. Especially since she still had to put up with all the other tickle tools and the obnoxious sounds coming from those headphones, sounds that were ten times worse than they’d been at the onset of this torture.

“Hmph. I guess being annoyingly defiant runs in all Kitzel bots. But I know the spot that’ll make you beg for mercy!” Rocio smirked wickedly, putting the remote in her lab coat pocket and heading behind the laughing robot girl over to the table, then pulling something out from one of the cabinets and returning to Machina’s side. Machina stared in surprise at seeing something so mundane in the hands of such an obnoxious person. Then a sliver of fear entered her expression as she realized why Rocio had brought it out at this exact moment.

“Y-YOHOOHOOHOOU….”

“Yup, you guessed it! It’s tummy tickle time~” Rocio smirked. What the short statured scientist was holding up was none other than a bottle of lotion. Squirting some of it onto her hands, she began rubbing her palms against Machina’s belly.

“HYEEK! WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Machina let out a yelp when Rocio touched her belly, jumping up a bit in her restraints as she kept laughing from the rest of the tools.

“If you’re getting squirmy just from me touching your belly, you’ll HATE when I actually get going~” Rocio smirked, spreading the lotion across every last inch of Machina’s tummy and sneaking in the occasional tickle. When she came to her belly button, Rocio stuck a lotion covered finger inside it and just wiggled it all around in there, tickling the walls and center of the delicate button.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHA! HYEEHEEHEEHEE GET OUT OF THEHEHEHEHERE! HAHAHAHAHAHA YOU DAMN ROHOHOHOACH!” Machina shrieked, her frustration from this whole situation reaching its boiling point as she let that insult freely fly out.

“I AM NOT A ROACH!” Rocio shouted, wiggling her fingers angrily all over Machina’s belly and belly button.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES YOU AHAHAHAHAHARE! HAHAHAHAHAHA STOHOHOHOHOP!” Machina shrieked, her tummy bouncing up and down as she tried to shake of Rocio’s fingers. But they were quite nimble, and no amount of struggling against the straps could shake them off. Especially not when Machina’s annoyance with her situation kept those insults coming out rapid fire, further stoking the flames of Rocio’s fury. It was only when Machina had run out of different ways to call Rocio an insect a few minutes later that the seething scientist finally relented on that tummy.

“Grrrr, out of all that lousy Kitzel’s inventions, you are easily the most annoying! I bet you said all that on purpose to mess with me and waste time didn’t you?!” Rocio shouted.

“HEEHEEHEEHEE! WHATEHEHEHEVER EXCUSE HELPS THE BED BUHUHUHUHUGS SLEEP AT NIGHT, YOU INCLUHUHUHUDED!” Machina shot back, still laughing from the other tickle tools.

“Graaaah, ENOUGH!” Rocio shouted, roughly scratching her hair and causing her ‘antenna’ to flop about from side to side, then stopping and giving Machina a deep scowl.

“You’ve awakened the wrath of a tickle scientist whose superior to Kitzel in every way! And that means I’m gonna tickle you far worse than she ever did!” Rocio shouted, her anger from Machina’s snarky remarks prompting her to rapidly press a bunch of different buttons. As Machina laughed from the tickles the rest of her body was going through, her eyes widened in horror at the sight of all the tickle tools looming over her: two soft bristled toothbrushes, two feather dusters, two warternberg wheels, and two hair brushes. All of them were attached to metal arms that had a loose, pipe-like design. Meaning they’d be able to move swifter and more erratically.

“You are a ticklish tool
You serve La Barriga’s forces.”

That irritating phrase, mixed in with all the other disgusting noises in those headphones, had called Machina’s mind back to her time under Dr. Kitzel. She had been a mindless puppet, a mere tool for Dr. Kitzel to test her tickle inventions on. The robot girl rejected that phrase with every fiber of her being. After all, she’d changed the moment the Fronds attacked Kitzel’s place, when she escaped, and when she’d heard about them in the news. And she’d changed even more on this journey. She’d been given a chance to rescue two of the people who had saved her without even realizing they’d saved her, to become a Fighting Frond alongside another one, and to meet two more people who had grown dear to her. She thought she’d moved far past the person she used to be, the person who Kitzel intended her to be. And yet.

“EYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OHOHOHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!”

With those many tools ravaging her tummy with no hope of escape, and those words repeating over and over, a part of Machina began to wonder if she really was nothing more than the horribly ticklish tool she’d been created to be.

“Have some laughing gas in the face!” one of the Crushers shouted, throwing a Laughing Gas Bomb at Yomiko. Yomiko took a deep breath, then moved slowly and deliberately, stretching out her arm out her arm and letting the bomb roll along it without losing its momentum. Doing a twist of her body that was both swift and casual, she got the bomb to roll along her back and up her arm. With one final shake of her arm, the bomb flew straight towards the Crusher that had thrown it, affecting her and the four other Crushers near her.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” The Crushers shrieked, falling to the floor.

“Yomiko…..mrrrmph, is amazing!” Tia smiled, struggling a little with one of the Crushers she had tied up but finishing off the knot as that Crusher was added to a pile with four other Crushers.

“Pbbfffft! How’d you even manage to pull that off?” Queenie asked, finishing off using her Rising Raspberry on one of the Crushers, then throwing that Crusher against two more Crushers that she quickly barreled towards and knocked unconscious with two swift blows to their foreheads.

With the five Crushers under the effects of laughing gas that Yomiko was subduing with swift squeezes and tickles, the three that Queenie had just subdued, and the five that Tia had dealt with, they had taken care thirteen Crushers. Yet more Crushers filed into the room.

Clearly, many of these Crushers had been sent here by someone else.

“I’ve dealt with Laughing Gas Bombs before….in any case, they’re clearly just stalling for time.” Yomiko frowned.

“Like hell we are! You really think you stand a chance against us?!” Wrecker shouted in annoyance. Despite her earlier bravado, she started keeping her distance after a certain point in the fight, only swooping in for sudden tickle attacks or to try to shove one of the Fronds into the clutches of her allies. And she was the main reason it was taking the Fronds longer than usual to fend off all these opponents. Sure, the sheer numbers was problematic enough, but it was the constant changes in the arrangement of which floor tiles were vibrating or not that was a real problem. It didn’t seem to bother Queenie too much thanks to her boots, but whenever Yomiko and Tia wound up with the misfortune of landing on a vibrating floor tile, whatever advantage they had over their opponents was instantly overturned, and they were forced to quickly retreat and regroup to avoid being overwhelmed groups of Crushers. That they hadn’t fallen yet and had even managed to subdue a good number of Crushers was due to them coordinating their attacks and even swapping off when needed to get a momentary breather. Even so, the vibrating floors were causing them to progressively get winded, so Wrecker wouldn’t be wrong in thinking they’d be overtaken sooner or later. Only…..

“You shout a different thing every time you activate the floor tiles. ‘Now’, ‘There’, and ‘Get Ready’.” Yomiko said.

“Huh? What’s your point? Why are you wasting time noticing stupid stuff like-”

“You can’t select individual floor tiles with that remote. You can only select three specific arrangements,” Yomiko shrugged.

“Tch! So what?!” Wrecker scowled.

“Well, since we’ve taken out a few Crushers, we can do this,” Yomiko replied. With that declaration, she, Queenie, and Tia all jumped on top of their respective Crusher piles, standing on the backs of their fallen foes.

“And with that, you can’t rely on those floor tiles any more,” Yomiko informed Wrecker.

“Then we’ll just throw Laughing Gas Bombs at your friends, then take care of you!” Wrecker shouted, a few Crushers throwing them at Queenie. In response, Queenie kicked the unconscious body of one of the Crushers towards those bombs. This shielded her from the gas and also caused three Crushers to be pinned under their ally.

“I’ve already memorized those three arrangements. Queenie and Tia are also pretty bright, so I bet they’ve caught on too. We’ll just take out the Crushers throwing Laughing Gas Bombs faster than you can call out and change the arrangements,” Yomiko said, narrowing her eyes at Wrecker.

“You…..” Wrecker growled.

“We’re getting back Machina. And you’re not going to get in the way of that,” Yomiko said, showing a smile brimming with confidence.

Though beneath that smile, a part of her was still worried they’d be too late to rescue Machina from whatever horrible tickle torture Rocio was putting her through.

I was worried I’d be too late to help Leona and Rally too, and rushed in recklessly. It’s why Giada had managed to capture me. So I better keep a clear and open mind.

With that, Yomiko took another deep breath, burying any thoughts other than defeating the foes before her.

The many tools running across Machina’s tummy were doing quite a number on the trapped robot girl. The warternberg wheels dragged methodically up and down her sides as well as the left and rightmost parts of her belly, leaving their ticklish mark wherever they went. The feather dusters sweeped playfully against the uppermost and lowermost parts of her tummy, with the latter fortunately not going low enough to reach her external hard drive. If she wound up being forced to….because of a psycho like Rocio, Machina would be burning with shame and fury. As is, the feather dusters continued their dance while ignoring the suffered shrieking their playful touches were causing. The two hairbrushes dragged viciously against the skin directly above and below her belly button, not attacking that delicate button but still dragging mercilessly against her skin. Finally, her belly button had been invaded by the two toothbrushes, an army of fine bristles well suited to gingerly scrubbing away at that crevice without giving it any room for escape.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHOHOHEEHEEHAHAAAAA!”

Every inch of her belly and belly button was being ravaged by tickle tools, and her frenzied thrashing did nothing to ease the sensations her tender tummy was going through. The tickling to her belly was wildfire compared to what was being inflicted on the rest of her body, and powerful enough to truly rattle the normally emotionless and unflappable robot girl. And if the tickling was rattling her, it went without saying that the repeating message was having an equally potent effect.

“You are a ticklish tool
You serve La Barriga’s forces.”

Maybe it would be better to submit. The moment that thought popped up in Machina’s head, a bunch of other thoughts crossed her CPU. Her first time meeting Yomiko. Snickering when she made Yomiko wear a clown nose as they snuck into Gigglez’s circus. Being buried under dirt by Tia and her friends. Tickle shocking herself when trying to attack San Fran while still drenched from falling in a lake. Fighting bikers alongside Queenie and her friends. Rushing into a haunted motel to rescue her friends from wicked tickle ghosts. Tickling the living daylights out of Queenie while feeling her external hard drive heat up terribly from it.

Memories that were both good and annoying flashed in her mind, alongside the faces of her three friends: Yomiko, Tia, and Queenie.

She recalled Queenie’s desire to crush Big Barbara and mess with the Laughing Lovelies to atone for her mistake.

She recalled Tia’s desire to reach her aunt San Fran’s heart and reclaim the freedom of not just her tribe, but all other tribes from the Laughing Lovelies.

She recalled Yomiko, one of the original Fighting Fronds and the person she had been traveling with from the beginning, a person who was on a mission to save her friends while still fighting against ticklish wrongdoing and rescuing any tickle slaves she found on the way there, whose wish to save her friends aligned strongly with her wish to bring down La Barriga’s tyranny.

Finally, she recalled her promise to help Yomiko on her journey, how she had originally made that promise to return the favor for what the Fronds did for her back then as well as due to her own small misgivings about La Barriga’s actions. How after a certain point, she had continued fighting alongside Yomiko as a friend, not to repay a debt. And how she had finally acquired a wish of her own: the wish to see the sisters whose faces she didn’t know and to save them from being part of a poorly named defensive barrier.

THERE’S NO WAY I CAN GIVE UP HERE!

The tickling was still unbearable, the irritating sounds continued resounding in Machina’s ears, and that infuriating message kept playing over and over. But none of that could make the conviction resonating within her very being waver in the slightest. The hellish sensations she had been trapped in hadn’t changed in the slightest, but she’d resolved herself to push through them for as long as it took for her situation to change. When these ticklish sensations finally subsided, she took a breath, then exhaled. Breathing wasn’t something she needed to do given that she was a robot, but that simple, very human act helped her gather her bearings, helped her scattered thoughts collect themselves. She gave another long breath and exhale, and then smiled softly while thinking of the three silly people that had influenced her enough to do something silly and unnecessary like that.

“It’s been thirty minutes since I unleashed all those tools on your belly. I even cycled out tools every five minutes, even for the rest of your body! Your tummy’s been tickled six ways to Sunday, no, a hell of a lot more than that!” Rocio grumbled, turning away from Machina and scratching her hair roughly as she complained, then stopping and gazing at Machina. “….What the heck are you smiling for?” Rocio scowled.

“Nothing. Just thinking of something silly.” Machina said, still smiling.

“You shouldn’t have the luxury of thinking of anything in your situation, much less smiling!” Rocio shouted.

“If I want to smile, I will. I don’t care if a roach who likes torturing and deriding others is bothered by that,” Machina said. Even now her smile still remained, and it was an earnest smile rather than one intended to mock. Which only angered Rocio even more.

“I AM NOT A ROACH!” Rocio shouted. At those words Machina’s smile faded, her eyes looking at the headphones still stuck to her ears, then back at Rocio. Then she raised an eyebrow and made a ‘really?’ expression.

“Bah! I’ve had enough of this! I’ll stick with the current cycle of tools for the rest of your body and change the ones at your belly! Then we’ll see if you maintain that cool gaze!” Rocio frowned, seemingly annoyed by the determination she could see in Machina’s eyes.

The tools resumed tickling Machina again. For her tummy, the tools selected were two grooming gloves, two electric toothbrushes, and a fuzzy roller. The grooming gloves targeted the left and rightmost parts of her belly, the electric toothbrushes focused on the upper and bottommost regions, and the fuzzy roller focused on everywhere else, including her belly button.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA! HIEEEEK?!”

Accompanying these tools was a shrill, high-pitched shriek.

“What was that?” Rocio asked aloud, snapping to attention as her round eyes darted over each of the tools currently tickling Machina’s belly, her ears perking up along with her ‘antenna’ as she tried to discern which tool had caused that reaction. And after a few seconds, she figured it out.

“It’s the roller!” Rocio exclaimed with a gasp. She pushed a button on the remote to make the roller focus on Machina’s belly button, but that only got the occasional wild shriek. Meanwhile the robot girl felt a strange sense of deja vu from that fuzzy roller going across her tummy.

“Arrgh, it’s not enough! The rollers are too big to get in there directly! I need a different approach!” Rocio scowled. She stopped all the tickle tools and put the remote back in her pocket, then headed over to the table at the back of the room and opened one of cabinets, checking through an assortment of different drill brushes until she found one that was an exact fit. When she returned with a smirk she showed it to Machina, even giving a few presses of the button to try to spook her. What she wasn’t expecting was for the robot girl to look deathly terrified!

“Hehehehe, that’s a great look on your face! And it gives me an even better feeling about this!” Rocio smirked wickedly. The reason why Machina was terrified was because everything finally clicked for her. The fuzzy roller. The drill sounds. Both of them called to mind one very specific moment: the belly button tickling she had endured at the motel when Phantasma had pulled her through the floor. Her position had made her unable to see the tool, yet somehow the mere sound of that drill and the similarity between its fuzziness and the fuzziness of the roller that had just run across her belly button made Machina more than sure that this was the very same tool that had tormented her at the motel.

“You can’t use that! You can’t!” Machina shouted, trembling on the table.

“What’s the matter? Afraid of a little drill brush~?” Rocio smirked, pressing down the button of the drill brush and moving it closer and closer to Machina’s belly button.

“D-Don’t come any clo—HYAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Machina let out a shrill scream, arching her back off the table, then bouncing and thrashing like a fish out of water.

“So this tool alone is enough to get that kind of reaction out of you. How interesting~” Rocio grinned wickedly, showing off her full row of sharp teeth as she kept the drill brush inside of Machina’s belly button. It was all coming back to the poor robot. The feeling of helplessness. The fear of her belly button being injured when she heard a whirring noise. And that fear being dashed away and replaced with a wildfire of mind-numbingly ticklish sensations focused on her belly button, the very same sensations she was experiencing right now.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU HAHAHIEEHEEHEEEE! YOU HAHAHAHAVE TO STHYAHAHAHAHAP!” Machina pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes within seconds.

“Hahaha, no way am I doing that! You should’ve thought before insulting me and getting all cocky! You sealed your own fate! And it’s about to get so much worse~” Rocio smirked, using her free hand to pull out her remote and clicking a bunch of buttons on it. Machina wondered what the cruel scientist was up to, then saw all the tickle tools from earlier start whirring. The tickling to her belly button was so intense that she completely forgotten that Rocio had many, many more tools to work with. Machina stared fearfully through teary eyes at the implements now looming over her defenseless tummy: two electric toothbrushes, a fuzzy roller, two warternberg wheels, and a hairbrush. All of which were eager to join the drill brush in adding to Machina’s suffering.

“PLEHEEHEEHEEASE DON’T! PLEASEPLEASEPLEEHEEHAHAAAAA! OHOGYAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!”

What few thoughts hadn’t been scattered when the drill brush came into play were now melting—no burning—as the awful and horribly ticklish sensation that had scrambled her CPU back at the motel was now joined by a bunch of lesser, but still awful sensations that compounded on the downright diabolical tickle hell her belly button was going through.

“You are a ticklish tool
You serve La Barriga’s forces.”

And with her thoughts scrambled, that repeating message and those irritating sounds grew ever louder…..

“Damn it…..” Wrecker grumbled, observing the current situation and thinking of how it got to this point. And then she remembered it was because she didn’t heed Yomiko’s warning.

When the three Fronds were standing on top of piles of Crushers, their remaining foes had tried to nab them. Most of them were forced back by tickles, and the few that weren’t had bit off more than they could chew and been tickled into submission. Getting annoyed with this, Wrecker ordered them to throw their Laughing Gas Bombs at Tia. Being the smallest of the three, Tia could leap over to the pile where Queenie was and there’d still be a bit of room for the two to stand on. And Yomiko made good on her promise from earlier, leaping off the pile of Crushers she had been standing on and rushing towards the people who threw those Laughing Gas Bombs.

Wrecker tried switching floor tile arrangements while shouting out the signals, but Yomiko had learned every arrangement, and could switch from tile to tile faster than Wrecker could call out the signals to her comrades. When Yomiko subdued four Crushers with the Ten Ticklish Strikes, Wrecker became impatient and swapped arrangements without shouting it out as Yomiko leapt from one tile to the next.

“I had a feeling you’d try that.”

Yomiko had declared that, then performed a handstand on the vibrating tile. Wrecker’s brash decision had caused eight Crushers to start snickering. Sure they were wearing boots, but they didn’t have the added protection of socks that Queenie did. Taking advantage of this chance, the Fronds spread out, subduing the snickering Crushers one by one and giving them something to really laugh about, and taking advantage of Wrecker’s growing frustration with the situation to goad her into getting hasty with the remote a few more times.

It had still taken a good half hour, and the Fronds often had to retreat to the Crusher piles to catch their breath. After all, tickle fighting this much was exhausting, especially since the numbers on the opposing side insured that they couldn’t launch an attack without getting tickled a bit in turn. But eventually, they had brought about this situation where only four Crushers remained, including Wrecker.

“That does it!” one Crusher shouted, charging recklessly. Tia pulled out two vials of vegetable oil and poured the contents directly in the path of that Crusher, causing her to slip. Then she quickly tied her up and began feathering her silly.

Another Crusher rushed at Queenie and grabbed her arms, trying to match her in a contest of strength. Queenie eventually forced that Crusher to her knees, then used her sturdy legs and boots to wrap her foe in a leg lock so firm that the baddie may as well have had her feet locked in stone. Queenie removed that Crusher’s boots, then dug viciously into her soles, grinning and teasing her all the while.

The third Crusher charged at Yomiko while holding a Laughing Gas Bomb, trying to throw it at point-blank range. Yomiko slid under her legs, then tripped the confused Crusher, who landed on her own weapon and burst into a fit of chortles and shrieks.

“Graaah, damn it all!” Wrecker shouted, throwing the remote away and charging at Yomiko. In response, Yomiko dropped down and went for a quick leg sweep, then pressed her hands against Wrecker’s tummy.

“Ten Ticklish Strikes!” Yomiko shouted, expertly squeezing the tickle spots on Wrecker’s tummy, then shoving her over to Tia. Tia slipped rope around Wrecker’s wrists and tied them around her back, gave her a few swipes of the feather along her belly button, then shoved her over to Queenie. Then Queenie rose up and lifted Wrecker up with her.

“Rising Raspberry!” Queenie smirked slyly, taking a very deep breath and blowing a big raspberry on Wrecker’s belly button.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOOOOO!” Wrecker screamed, struggling fiercely in Queenie’s grasp. She didn’t want to accept losing like this. She didn’t want to accept losing period! But when Queenie released her seven powerful raspberries later, Wrecker was panting with exhaustion with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

“We did it!” Tia smiled happily.

“Hell yeah we did,” Queenie smirked.

“I’m gonna need a nice cold shower after all of this,” Yomiko said, making her two friends laugh. They were all pretty winded, but they pulled it off. At that was left was for them to tickle the crap out of these three Crushers and Wrecker while regaining their strength and rescue Machina.

And so, the Fronds unleashed tickling so ferocious it made the unlucky four wonder why they ever got the bright idea to stand in their way at all.

Machina had lost all sense of time. The drill brush alone would’ve achieved that effect, and there were plenty of other tools she was forced to worry about.

Two oiled up massaged gloves scrubbed vigorously against her armpits, their many bumps dragging all over their delicate hollows

A plethora of colorful feathers sweeped over the tops and backs of her legs, leaving them no room to escape.

Two hairbrushes dragged vigorously against her soles and raked across any wrinkles formed by her cringing, wriggling feet.

Ten electric toothbrushes scrubbed every last toe, their stems, and the gaps between them with slow, methodical cruelty that no amount of wiggling could alleviate.

Two paintbrushes moved in crazy eights and zigzags on her thighs, traveling so erratically that Machina had no chance of getting used to it.

Two feather dusters swished up and down her sides, coaxing her to sharply jolt to one side or the other in an attempt to escape their dreadful fluffiness.

And of course, her tummy. Her poor, poor tummy. After tickling her for several minutes, Rocio had figured out the perfect assortment of tools to accompany the drill brush: a bunch of fuzzy rollers. Since a fuzzy roller brushing against the robot girl’s belly button was what had betrayed her weakness, why not try a bunch? Machina had many, many reasons why not to try a bunch, but she couldn’t think of any of those reasons right now. Not with those rollers moving at different speeds and brushing every last inch of her belly. The drill brush in her belly button remained ever present, now held by a robot hand attached to a mechanical arm that was connected to the same table Machina had been screaming and shrieking on for a good while. Rocio had complained about her arm getting tired and came up with that quick and easy fix. That was all well and good for her, but very, very bad for Machina. Those soft, rapidly spinning bristles incessantly attacked the walls and center of her belly button in a way that no other tool could—one that was quickly driving Machina mad.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HOOHOOAHAHAHAHAAAAA!”

At first Machina had pleaded earnestly for Rocio to stop tickling her tummy, or at least get rid of the drill brush. But eventually, Machina’s pleas turned into incoherent tickle babble.

It’s too much.
It tickles.
Please stop.
STOP!

Those were the only four thoughts that passed through her mind during her ticklish ordeal, whenever she wasn’t listening to the repeating message or sounds instead. Her earlier conviction still lingered somewhere in the back of her mind, but it was drowned out by the sounds, the repeating message, the fuzzy rollers, and especially the drill brush. Machina’s CPU was well beyond scrambled, and with each passing second, the thought of submitting to Rocio just to end it all seemed more and more inviting.

The tickling droned on, and on, and on. Until eventually, a loud banging noise was heard on the other side of the door. Scowling, Rocio got up and left the room, shutting the door and leaving Machina alone with all the tickle tools tormenting her.

“What is it?” Rocio frowned at the Crusher who had interrupted her fun.

“The Fronds are gonna get up here in a few minutes!” the Crusher exclaimed.

“What? But it’s only been twenty minutes since I started really breaking her! What happened to Wrecker?!” Rocio shouted.

“She lost! You had me send over most of the Crushers that work under me to back her up, and she still lost!” the Crusher said, relaying this news with the same shock and worry she no doubt felt upon laying eyes on the Fronds.

“Alright, calm down!” Rocio frowned, her mind racing as she tried to come up with something.

“…..So it’s just you and me then, Basher?” Rocio asked.

“Yeah,” Basher nodded.

“Alright…..you’ll control the big machine in this room. I’ll turn on the feather fans, flip some tables, and mess up the room more than it usually is to give me places to hide. Between the feather fans and me getting the drop on them with tickle gadgets when they least expect it, they won’t know what hit them!” Rocio smirked evilly. Basher, who had initially been nervous, eventually flashed a smirk of her own.

Good. At least she still has a spine. Let’s hope she keeps it in the coming battle, Rocio thought, feeling aggravated by the Fronds tenacity, Machina’s included.

The Fronds had advanced up the facility as fast as they could, reaching a floor where twenty girls were locked behind rooms on either side of the hall, being tickled mercilessly by machines. There had been four Crushers on that floor. The last Crusher, who looked kind of important, had run away. But not before Tia handed a looped rope to Queenie, who swung it like a lasso to snatch away that Crusher’s key card, which had been hanging from her belt. Making quick work of the other three Crushers, they used the key card to open all the doors and turned off the tickle machines, freeing the tickle captives. Then they headed on their way up a few more flights of stairs until they reached Rocio’s room. Tables were overturned, and trash bags and half-eaten bags of chips were all over the place. Two feather fans were spinning near the top of the room’s left wall. And sitting in a bronze colored rectangular machine that had two large, five-digit metal hands and was up against the room’s right wall…..was the Crusher who had run away from them earlier.

“Where’s your boss?” Yomiko asked with a frown.

“Beats me.” Basher shrugged with a smirk. Queenie noticed something out of the corner of her eye and gave a troubled look to Yomiko and Tia. The two turned in the direction of Queenie’s gaze and saw a steel door. That door had a card reader next to it, meaning it could only be opened with a key card. And through the window of that door…..was Machina’s desperate, howling form, being mercilessly tickled all over her body.

“MACHINA!” Yomiko shouted. The Fronds then heard a low rumble, followed by a much louder groan as something headed towards them.

“Tch!” Yomiko clicked her tongue, and the three Fronds spread out, rolling in different directions moments before a metal hand grabbed the area they had just been. Queenie lifted her head up and spotted Rocio, though her body was mostly obscured by the overturned table she was hiding behind.

“Well that was easy!” Queenie smirked, shoving the table aside and about to grab Rocio when she froze up at the sight of the gadget she was holding.

“Ha! That’s my line!” Rocio smirked. The gadget was painted black and had a handle with a big red button on it and a purple suction cup at its front, making it somewhat resemble a gun. Clicking the button caused the suction cup to fly at Queenie’s tummy, latching onto it. Queenie tried to remove it, but she then felt a funny sensation. One that she’d felt quite a few times during the nightly tickle attacks the other Fronds had inflicted on her. This was….

“EHEEHEEHEHEEHEE! AN ELECTRO-TIHIHIHIHIHICKLER?!” Queenie shrieked in surprise. The sudden tickle jolts were so powerful that she immediately fell to the floor, rolling around and kicking her feet in the air.

“Queenie!” Tia shouted, pulling out some rope and trying to rush over and help her. But a metal hand slammed down in front of her to block her path, and then another shoved a table towards Yomiko, pressing her up against the wall and preventing her from reaching Queenie.

“Not just any electro-tickler! One with more power than any other electro-tickler ever conceived! Aaah, another brilliant invention from me. Well, I guess the initial idea came from my Crushers, but I made changes that vastly improved it!” Rocio said, showing off her sharp teeth while praising her own ingenuity. Indeed, this gadget was similar to the suction cup gadget Yomiko contended with earlier. And the electro-tickler aspect implemented by Rocio was definitely deadlier than the rollers implemented in the original gadget, at least in Queenie’s estimation. But she’d never know for certain because as she gritted her teeth to try to shut out the sensations and tugged at the suction cup, she was grabbed around her chest by a metal hand and yoinked upwards so sharply that the suction cup fell off of her belly.

“Woah?!” Queenie gave a shout of surprise.

“Perfect timing! Bring her to the feather fans~” Rocio smirked.

“You got it!” Basher smirked, the metal hand lifting Queenie towards the feather fan. The muscular Frond struggled in the metal hand’s grasp, a vein bulging on her head as she gripped the hand and tried to pry herself free. She stopped when she was turned around and made to face the feather fan. Instead of just being a fan with a single row of feathers running around its circumference, this fan had a smaller row within that one, a smaller row within that one, and so on. The feathers also didn’t appear to be damaged in the slightest despite the speed the fan was spinning at.

….Well, at least I’m still wearing my boots, Queenie thought.

“You think the feather fan can’t get at your feet because you’re wearing boots, right? Hahahaha, oh that’s priceless! Did you really think that I wouldn’t run tests on the paranormal activity at that motel?” Rocio smirked. Queenie looked over her shoulder in shock at Rocio, then looked back at the feather fan with trepidation.

“Let’s just say I acquired sufficient samples of ghost tears, amplified those samples experimentally, and then dumped a bunch of feathers in them! Those are the sorts of feathers in those fans, feathers that can tickle right through clothing!” Rocio laughed wickedly. “Oh, and La Barriga was interested enough in them that she had me design weapons that could fire them or something. Though only her personal forces use them,” she added with a shrug. Queenie barely registered that last part though. The phrase ‘tickle right through clothing’ had her on red alert. She was brought closer and closer to the feather fans until those many feathers finally made contact.

“SNRKEHEHEHEHEEEEK! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Within seconds, Queenie burst into loud laughter. True to Rocio’s words, those many soft feathers tickled her midriff directly as though the shirt wasn’t even there. A similar effect happened with her legs, where she felt the sensation of many feathers brushing up and down them, getting her hips and thighs as well. And her feet….oh gosh her feet. With her boots and socks on, they could barely wiggle much at all, which made them an easy target. The ample protection she gave to her worst spot had been used against her, and now only served her feet up on a silver platter for those many rapidly spinning feathers, which made sure to leave their soft, cruel mark over every inch of those large, delicate canvases and plump toes. Even her armpits, which were covered by the metal hand due to the position she had been grabbed in and should have been protected, were being mercilessly teased by the gentle, incessant caressing of those feathers.

“Ah it’s such a shame I don’t have see-through goggles to look at those big widdle tootsies shudder and shake!” Rocio teased with an obnoxious laugh, one that grew louder when she saw that Queenie’s reactions became stronger after her taunt. “No matter what I tried, I couldn’t figure out a way to get those ghost tears to work for anything other than feath-gahck!” Rocio’s rambling was interrupted when a loop had been wrapped around her neck and tugged sharply.

“Let Queenie go now!” Tia frowned, gripping the other end of the rope tightly.

“Fat chance of me ever doing th-gyaah!” Rocio yelped, her comment leading to the rope being tugged so sharply that she fell on her face, greatly closing the distance between her and Tia.

“Not happening!” Basher shouted. Moving the metal hand that was still pressed up against the table that was pinning Yomiko, she had it slam down between Tia and Rocio, landing on the rope that had been restraining her boss. Rocio hurriedly removed the rope around her neck, but Tia ran on top of the metal hand just as quickly, kicking off of it when Basher tried to move it upwards as she pulled out some more rope that she snagged around Rocio’s leg.

“Gah!” The hastily made rope loop caused Rocio to trip and bang her head against a table. Groaning in annoyance at this, she saw that Tia had pulled two feathers out of her headband. Stepping on the rope with her foot, Tia moved it further back, causing Rocio to bang her head yet again, this time against the floor.

“Why you!” Rocio growled, then stiffened when she locked eyes with Tia.

“Roach girl is big meanie! So Tia will be big meanie too!” Tia frowned, brandishing her feathers. That determined gaze made Rocio’s heart race, and she quickly reached over and grabbed a remote, pressing a button.

“Hm? What did roach girl doheeheeheeHAHAHAHAHAHA?!” Tia yelped in confusion, staring at her feet. Something had climbed into her moccasins and was tickling away at her feet!

“First off, I am not a roach! And second, that’s for me to know and you to-hiee!” Rocio shrieked. This annoying pest of a scientist had likely used an improved version of the drone gadget that had tickled Yomiko earlier, but Tia didn’t know or care about that. Inspired by the willpower Yomiko had displayed during that fight and again when fighting Wrecker’s group, and even further back when fighting Big Barbara, Tia clenched her fists and toughed it out after a moment’s hesitation, then charged at Rocio. The expression she made while doing had led Rocio to crouch down in fear and cover her head, much like when Machina had charged at her back at the Oklahoma base. However…..

“Huh? W-What just-waaah!”

That momentary hesitation the tickling provided an opportunity for Basher to grab Tia’s waist with a mechanical hand, hoisting her upwards sharply enough that the feathers felt from her hands.

“Oooh, that’s so unfair! Roach lady is a coward and cheater! Be more like big bad biker lady! At least she fought us herself!” Tia pouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Rocio.

“I am not a roach! And of course Big Barbara would agree to something like that, she’s stupid! That’s why she lost so pathetically and why I’m gonna win!” Rocio frowned.

“….Roach lady is really big coward,” Tia frowned.

“ENOUGH! Basher, take her to the feather fan NOW!” Rocio scowled.

“Yeah yeah,” Basher rolled her eyes, controlling the mechanical hand so that it brought Tia up to one of the feather fans.

“ULP?! EHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Like with Queenie, those many soft plumes ignored Tia’s clothes and tickled her directly, causing the captured Tribal to shriek and squeal. Her worst spot was her thighs, and they were getting a good helping of the feathers as they quickly swept across the delicate skin. But the area that got it the worst was actually her feet. The drones were still in Tia’s moccasins, and Rocio had set them to move on autopilot. These drones, which were designed after roaches rather than ladybugs, could scurry around a lot faster. Their scrubbers also had many more bristles than the ladybug drones, and even spun faster. This meant Tia had to deal with cockroach drones scurrying in and out of her toes while their scrubbers brushed rapidly against every last inch of skin in those tender crevices, in addition to what the feathers were already inflicting on her. The unique properties of the feathers meant that they could tickle the same spots the drones were tickling even while they were still latched to that region. And unfortunately for Tia, the feathers and drones attacking the same spot simultaneously was something that happened very, very often for her.

Rocio smirked at the sight of the wildly screaming Tia, then scowled when she saw Yomiko approaching her.

“You’re not getting away from me again!” Yomiko frowned, leaping over one of the tables and evading the strewn about pieces of garbage as she closed the distance. Scowling at that, Rocio ignored the rope that was still around her ankle and dived behind one of tables. Yomiko narrowed her eyes, not wanting to rush behind the table and chance getting attacked. It was only when Yomiko saw Rocio’s head poke out in confusion that she rushed at her, performing a leg sweep that slammed right into the scientist’s head and caused her to slam against a wall face first.

“My head again…..gah!” Rocio stared in shock as Yomiko followed up her attack from earlier, kicking off the ground and charging towards Rocio. With no time to escape and little time to react, Rocio grabbed the nearest tickle weapon and fired it.

“EYAAAAH OHOHOHOHOHOHO COME OHOHOHOHOHON!” Yomiko shouted as she was sent flying backward, crashing into one of the upturned tables before landing on the floor.

“That was scarily close. But….hehehehe, HAHAHAHAHA! I did it! I did what even Big Barbara and Dr. Kitzel couldn’t do! I beat the Fighting Fronds!” Rocio declared. Her high-pitched, irritating laughter filled the room as Yomiko clenched her fists and struggled, resisting the urge to laugh despite how absolutely unbearable the sensations she was currently experiencing were.

Rocio tossed the device she had used to the side. It was a tickle bazooka. Like the one Big Barbara used…..no, that had only been a prototype. Unlike the prototype, Yomiko had been propelled back by a sensation that felt like being blasted with five Laughing Gas Bombs at once. Afterwards, she found herself in a predicament similar to the one she had been in during her fight with Big Barbara: trapped beneath a heavy net, with sensors detecting her exposed tickle spots. The difference was that she fell down, a device attached to the net activated, covering Yomiko and the entire net in a watery mist. Then the entire net electrified, channeling the same sort of energy as electro-ticklers with the watery mist from earlier making the effect more potent. Additionally, the many sensors didn’t just have feathers. Instead they had a Swiss Army knife of tickle tools: a feather, a small hairbrush, a small electric toothbrush, a steel backscratcher, and a massage pen set on the highest setting were jutting out of the ridges of each sensor. And yet despite that, the tools were all able to move around with far greater autonomy than the feathers of the prototype, allowing them to fully torment whatever region they were focused on. In the face of all this tickling, it was a miracle that Yomiko hadn’t caved yet.

“Let me get those out of the way, you won’t be needing them~” Rocio smirked, tugging off Yomiko’s slippers.

“GNNNGHEHEHEHE!” Four more sensors activated, and Yomiko now had two of each of the sensor’s tools tormenting both her feet, in addition to the sensors that had already activated the moment she had been captured: the ones at her sides, belly, and of course her armpits. Yomiko glared angrily at Rocio, tears welling up in her eyes as her cheeks turned a bright red, a silly grin quickly spreading across her face despite her fiercely resisting.

“I don’t know why you’re still trying to fight it. Your friends, including Machina back there, are all screaming their heads off~” Rocio smirked, pointing behind her with her thumb. “And that’s nothing compared to what I did to your other friends~” Saying this and ignoring Yomiko’s glare, she grabbed a remote and clicked a button to turn on a small, square shaped TV that was built into the very same wall where the feather fans were. This meant Yomiko would have a good look at what Queenie and Tia were going through and whatever else this fiendish foe wished to show her.

Static fizzling appeared on the TV, then disappeared to show Rocio wave at the camera.

“Hi there! Today we get to take another look at how two ticklish, annoying heroes are doing!” Rocio smirked, stepping aside and gesturing to her captives. Leona and Rally had been restrained to metal tables. Their armpits were being scratched at by mechanical arms, their tummies were being ravaged by many soft bristled toothbrushes, and two fuzzy rollers were pressed up against their feet and spinning rapidly against them.

Yomiko watched the scene unfold with frustration, glaring at Rocio and the image on screen in turn while fighting back the rising tide of laughter that was threatening to burst as a result of her current predicament. Leona and Rally had been passed from one tickler to the next, and yet they still had to endure more tickle torture….it made Yomiko feel bitter. Still, the current torture they were suffering wasn’t much different from what Dr. Kitzel had done to them in the past. It was only a small saving grace, but it at least filled Yomiko with hope that her breathless, teary eyed friends hadn’t broken completely.

“That was just a warm-up. Now we get to the really good stuff~” Rocio snickered, fast forwarding to three days later. When she did, Yomiko’s eyes widened in horror.

Leona was in a room that was almost completely blanketed in darkness save for a single dim light source directly overhead, and she was seated in a black, padded lounge chair. She was gagged, but not with something simple like a ball gag or a cloth gag. Instead her face was covered with a leather muzzle gag. What that entailed was this: a leather gag was covering her mouth, with two straps attached to that gag running across the sides of her face and over the sides of her head. Two more straps intersected at a strap in the center that past Leona’s forehead and over the center of her head. Another strap went across the middle of her forehead and wrapped around her head. All of these straps were securely fastened to a series of latches at the back of her head. Finally, an extra strap was wrapped around her neck to keep the gag on. This would have been horrific enough on its own, but Leona was also trapped in a leather straight jacket that hugged her body tightly, emphasizing her natural curves and figure regardless of her own feelings on the matter. At the other end of the lounge chair, her large feet were trapped in a pair of cold, unfeeling black stocks that had been built into the chair, her toes all tied back with black cords. Curiously, those weren’t the only cords wrapped around Leona’s toes. There were other black cords, wrapped around her toes, the chair, the stocks, even her straight jacket and muzzle. Every single one of those cords was tied to various points all around the room, though those points couldn’t all be seen due to how dark the room was.

Leona gazed fearfully from the gag, and Yomiko could see in her eyes a sense of tiredness and despair. She had seen fear in Leona and Rally’s eyes in the video Big Barbara had shown her, but this was on another level. Leona was beyond spent, and the hope that Yomiko would rescue her and Rally seemed to have nearly vanished. Seeing Leona with that look in her eyes, the gag hugging her spiky hair and body so tightly, the leather straight jacket, and all those cords, Yomiko thought she looked like a caged animal right now. Who would treat someone so horribly? She gave a wary gaze to Rocio, who flashed her sharp teeth in a wicked smirk, then gazed at the TV once more as though beckoning Yomiko to watch. Yomiko didn’t want to watch at all, she didn’t even want to accept that her friend was in such a state. But she soon turned back to the screen.

“Good morning Leona! Are you ready for today’s session?” Rocio grinned at Leona, who responded by looking back at her captor in scared silence.

“Come on, don’t you think you should give me a nod?” Rocio smirked. But Leona stayed silence. “Sheesh. Your screw-up from yesterday must’ve really left you shaken.” Rocio grinned, pulling a pen out of her pocket and clicking it.

“Alright, same as yesterday. If you last a minute without screaming or squirming one bit, I’ll let you go,” Rocio smirked. Yomiko couldn’t believe her ears. That was impossible! Even more so for Leona, who sported the most ticklish soles out of the original Fighting Fronds! But Leona’s fearful eyes gained a slight edge of rage, showing her readiness for this torture.

“Glad to see there’s still a bit of hotheaded idiot left in you. Let’s see how long that lasts~” Rocio smirked, dragging the pen back and forth against Leona’s left heel, first at a slow pace, then at a more rapid pace. She repeated the motion for her right heel, then advanced upwards, moving the pen in an arc, then trailing back down. The pen left its mark in the form of blue squiggles all over that sole, yet even as it began to attack the neighboring foot, not a single peep came out of Leona, and her feet and body didn’t budge an inch. Yomiko could see Leona’s face was tensed up under the gag, her eyes furrowing in deep concentration. The straight jacket hugging Leona’s body was such a snug fit that underneath it, Yomiko could see Leona’s knuckles pressing against the fabric. Her tough friend was likely clenching her fists so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

“SNRKEHEHEHEHE! H-HAHAHAHAHANG! NRRRRRGH! HANG IN THERE LEONAHAHAHARRRGH!” Yomiko shouted, letting plenty of laughs escape in process. But Yomiko didn’t care about that. As she grit her teeth once more, she prayed that Leona would beat Rocio at her own game. It was as she thought this that Rocio dug the pen into the barefooter’s right arch, causing Yomiko to gasp.

“…..!” Leona gave a breath somewhat sharper than normal as her eyes widened, but thankfully that breath wasn’t loud enough to trigger anything bad.

“Hmm. Not bad,” Rocio smirked, digging the pen into her arch while zigzagging it rapidly over that delicate area, and yet….

“…..!!” Even though Leona’s feet were her worst spot, even though her arches were a veritable goldmine that could get her shrieking in seconds, Leona just let out another somewhat sharper than normal breath and squeezed her eyes tightly, being careful not to tilt her head even the slightest bit downwards or rustle in her bindings. The fact that she was able to pull off something like this given what Yomiko knew of her was nothing short of amazing. Rocio was getting impatient in the video, digging the pen even deeper and suddenly swiping the pen at random angles. Leona’s face was a bright red and tears were rolling down her cheeks, but she was able to keep from laughing or squirming, even though she must’ve felt an unbearable urge to do so.

“YOU CAN DOOHIEEEEEK! DO IHIHIHIAHAHAHAHAAAAAT!” Yomiko shouted, even more laughter spilling out as she felt herself beginning to buckle under the intense tickling she was going through. How ridiculous. If Leona can manage to keep from moving a muscle when tickled on her worst spot, I’ve got no room to complain!

But as she thought this, Rocio went for a different movement in the video: sliding the pen from the base of Leona’s heel up the outer edge of her foot and stopping under her big toe.

“GNNNGH!” Leona grunted, her foot twitching. Yomiko stared in disbelief, then cast an angry glance at Rocio. Given her knowledge of pressure points, she knew exactly what this little sneak had done. She’d taken advantage of a natural reflex, forcing Leona’s foot to involuntarily curl. The fact that Leona was staring with a mix of surprise and dismay proved that Rocio had never moved the pen like that before, which was also why that sudden movement made her fail where other equally sudden movements didn’t.

“Forty five seconds. You were so close, yet so far~” Rocio teased in the video. Yomiko looked back at the screen in horror, gazing at Leona’s fearful eyes while wondering just what would happen now.

And then she got her answer. The slight movement of Leona’s foot and the sound she made had activated two tools: a steel backscratcher and a purple Boa feather. Rising up from panels in the floor, the two tools that were attached to metal arms quickly got to work, with the backscratcher slowly dragging back and forth against Leona’s squishy heel, while the Boa feather weaved each of Leona’s toes, dragging slowly back and forth and teasing every crevice.

“There see? The tools are moving so slowly right now. And again, all you have to do is last a minute without laughing or squirming at all. You should be able to do this easily~” Rocio mocked, observing Leona’s fear gleefully as she watched and waited. Leona tried her best to keep her feet still, to ignore the nerves in her feet screaming at her to pull away from these ticklish touches. But after just twenty seconds, she caved.

“MRRRMPH!” Leona let out a muffled shout, her toes wriggling slightly and tugging on some of the cords in the process. This triggered the next tool as two metal hands attached to metal arms came out from the panels in the walls. Two hands gripped the sides of each foot, digging deep into them. The other two messed with the balls of her feet.

“GHMMMPH!” Leona didn’t even last a second from this, her feet twitching as she let out another shout.

“And here I was trying to be thoughtful by making the tickle tools go for your worst spot last. Oh well~” Rocio shrugged smugly. Two vibrator wands with white tips and four black knitting needles attached to metal arms came out from panels in the floor. The knitting needles began swiveling in place at the middle of Leona’s soles, pressing against the delicate flesh. Meanwhile the vibrator wands pressed up against the thick, meaty balls of her feet and and moved around them in slow circles, taking the place of those metal hands that had previously been tickling them. Leona’s eyes went wide as saucers, clenching her teeth tightly as she fought these sensations and all the other sensations that were being inflicted on her poor feet with all her might.

“MRRMPHMMHMMHMM!”

But that resistance only lasted five seconds before she let out muffled laughter and wriggled her feet about desperately, triggering even more of the cords. This caused two more tools attached to metal arms to appear: a pair of hairbrushes with metal tines. They rose out from panels in the floor and began vigorously brushing Leona’s arches.

“GRHMMPH! MRHMMHMMHMMHMM!” Leona couldn’t fight back her laughter anymore, nor could she help shaking her feet every which way. A bunch of smaller robot hands popped out of panels in the walls and floor, and they continued coming out until there was enough of them to tickle every single inch of skin the other tools weren’t taking care of, with a few extra ones joining in the tickling of Leona’s stout toes. The outer edge of her heel, the ankles, even the rarely touched tops of her feet; not a single spot was spared. The many metal arms moved back and forth while working over Leona’s feet, creating a scene out of some mad science experiment. A mad roach’s experiment at that.

As the icing on the cake of Leona’s misfortune, eight panels that formed two four-paneled squares opened up in the ceiling. Two medium-sized tankers of baby oil with a plastic opening at the bottom descended from the ceiling, lowered by metal arms and positioned directly over Leona’s feet. Two more metal arms came descended from the ceiling and squeezed those tankers, causing baby oil to gush out of them and drip down Leona’s soles. As though waiting for that cue, all the tickle tools at her feet sped up, with those two brushes being the fastest of them all.

“MMMMPHRRRMPH! NHMMPH! GRHMMHMMHMMHMMPH!” The baby oil ensured that the tools could slide effortlessly up and down the brawler’s beefy bare feet, and nowhere was this felt more strongly than at her arches. The metal tines raked across her wide arches as though plowing a field, effortlessly cutting across any faint wrinkles the barefooter managed to make in her frantic struggles as they ravaged those delicate valleys. In the face of all this tickling, Leona gave a howl of anguish, shaking her head desperately as her eyes shot wide open one moment, then squeezed shut the next. Her loud laughter and frantic struggles made her look like a complete madwoman.

“Looks like you failed again. Ah well. There’s always tomorrow right~?” Rocio teased with a smug smirk. She gazed at her helpless victim one last time to relish in her ticklish suffering, then began to head out, her crocs making their distinctive squeak sounds with each step.

“See you in twelve hours~” Rocio said, leaving after making that sinister remark. Yomiko watched in horror as the tools continued to mercilessly torment her friend’s bare feet. Then a couple of seconds later, the scene displayed on the TV jumped to four hours later, displaying a teary eyed Leona with cheeks that were still a tad flushed. She had fallen unconscious, taking faint, barely audible gasps of air as her feet, which now sported a crimson hue from all the tickling, slumped back against the stocks. A few seconds later, Leona woke up groggily, her feet giving an unconscious wriggle as she woke up. A cute trait of Leona’s that Yomiko was quite familiar with from the times she and Rally had slept over at her place, but one that Yomiko wished her friend didn’t have at the moment. Because the moment her feet wiggled, a feather duster and a warternberg wheel attached to metal arms poked out. The feather duster swept up and down the length of her right foot, while the warternberg wheel did the same for her left foot but at a slower pace.

“MRMMMPH?! NHMMMMPH!” Leona was unprepared to be tickled so soon after waking up, so she shouted in shock, then shifted her feet and body in horror. This act triggered many of the cords, causing sixteen massage pens and two pre-oiled grooming gloves to emerge from the walls and floors. The massage pens lined up along the sides of her feet, four per side, eight per foot, and pressed against the already tickle-weary skin at the highest setting. The grooming gloves scrubbed along and between her toes, their many nubs getting under and between each toe while rolling each plump digit in their fingers.

“NHMMHMMHMMPH! LHMMT MHMMPH OHMMMT OHMMMF THMMMPH THMMHMMHMMNG! MHMMMHMMPH PLHMMMHMMSE!” Leona pleaded desperately, shaking her head from side to side as her feet banged against the backs of the stocks. But her pleas were met with the cruel whirring of more machines joining in on tormenting her poor soles, tickling them with such vigor that Leona gave a wild howl, staring at the ceiling with teary eyes while cursing her horrible, ticklish fate from the bottom of her heart.

Yomiko had no doubt that Leona had lost consciousness two more times, and that she’d woken up the same way those times as she had in the footage she just saw: panicked, confused, and terrified. That realization made Yomiko’s heart sink. And along with her heart sinking, her own attempts at resisting the tickling she was going through faltered.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Hehe, that’s more like it! But you’re still holding out on me. Still holding onto hope that Rally’s doing just fine? Well let’s change that!” Rocio smirked.

“HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! NOHOHOHOHOHO WAHAHAHAHAHAIT!” Yomiko shouted, not wanting to see any more. But Rocio ignored her and skipped ahead to Rally’s treatment, and a fresh wave of dread washed over Yomiko as she faced the TV.

Like with Leona, the room Rally was in was completely blanketed in darkness. Unlike Leona though, the only source of light in the room came not from above, but from within the very device Rally was trapped in. She was inside of a clear view casket with soft white lights coming from the ridges all around the edges of the casket. Naturally, the casket had been given Rocio’s personal flair. Instead of the ridges on the outside and inside of the casket being painted gold, all of them were painted an ugly, muddy brown. The four golden angel figures that would typically be found outside the casket on each of the four corners facing away from the casket had been ripped off and replaced with crudely glued on figures of Rocio, all of which were painted a muddy brown. As they were all facing the casket with their wicked smirks and sharp teeth, they may as well have been gargoyles leering at their captive. The inside of the casket wasn’t much better, with Rally’s head leaning back against a dirty pillow and a dirty, worn out mattress.

Another difference between her situation and Leona’s was that at the moment the video started, laughter could already be heard from within the casket. With black straps attached to the edges of the casket pinning her arms overhead and also running over her thighs, knees, and ankles, Rally had no chance of escape as many tools attached to mechanical arms that jutted out of holes in the mattress tickled away at her. Robot hands wiggled their digits up and down her armpits and sides. Two paintbrushes that were 4 inches thick were swishing about very rapidly as they went up and down the region between the heels and the balls of her small, wide, and chubby feet. They were going so fast that it was like they were doing a jig on those shifty little canvases. Her round, adorable toes each had a massage pen pressing up against them at the highest setting, sending ticklish vibrations throughout that digit. Every so often the pens would tease the stems or the area between the gaps, getting her toes to fan and wriggle rapidly for a few seconds before calming down. Finally, her pudgy belly had two vibrating gloves squeezing its sides and four feathers moving in circles all around her belly button, which was being tickled by a small roach drone that had latched onto her belly button and was tickling it with dozens of small, spinning feathers.

“That was a prototype. The current roach drones are way better,” Rocio said with a smirk, though Yomiko wasn’t paying attention to her at all. She was instead focused on the form of her friend, who was in a pretty haggard state. Her hair was frazzled, her reddened cheeks were stained with tears, and every last one of her tickle spots sported a rosy hue. To top it all off, she was barely squirming much at all, only twitching a little every now and then while pretty much letting the tickle tools have their way with her. Curiously, there was also a faint mist inside the casket.

“Good morning! How’s your third day in the coffin of cackles going? Also known as COC for short,” the Rocio in the recording asked from behind the camera, snickering at that horrible acronym.

“Haha…..hahaha…..heeheehee….” Instead of a proper answer, Rally only responded with exhausted, forced laughter that was a far cry from the speedy fighter’s usual fast-talking, snarky demeanor.

“I see you love the coffin and the acronym, how perfect! Super glad you agreed to test the effectiveness of coffin’s gases for me! I wasn’t sure I’d perfected it, but the fact that you’re still conscious and healthy after 48 hours of non-stop tickling? Yeah I’m pretty sure it works,” the Rocio in the recording smirked. Her words made Yomiko’s eyes widen in horrified realization as she continued to speak.

“Now I know what you’re thinking: ‘but Rocio, how could you possibly know that? What makes you so sure I didn’t pass out a few times?’ That’s a pretty stupid question, but I’ll answer it anyways! There are two concealed cameras in the upper corners of the room, and I checked the recordings from those cameras earlier today. As for why I brought this camera here when this room already has two cameras? Weeeeell I wanted to get some good angles for the scrapbook~” the Rocio in the recording snickered as Yomiko felt a pit sink in her stomach from what Rocio had done.

She’s been tickling Rally for 48 hours, and Rally hasn’t passed out even once during that time. But how….ah! It must be that vapor! Yomiko wasn’t sure how she’d done it, but Rocio had figured out a way create some sort of gaseous vapor that had kept her friend fully conscious and healthy throughout her 48 hours of hell.

Rally isn’t any thinner than usual even though all that laughing should’ve burned a ton of calories. So that vapor also prevents her from burning calories…..maybe even from becoming dehydrated too?, Yomiko mused, noting that although Rally’s laughter came out sounding exhausted, her voice wasn’t the least bit hoarse.

If it maintains her vitals too, then that means…..

“That she could be tickled like that for a very, very long time with no hope of escape, right?” Rocio said, guessing what Yomiko was thinking as she turned to her with a smirk.

“More laughter huh? Gosh, you can’t even get a word in can you? Well, I’ll cycle out the tools. A ten second break’s better than nothing right?” the Rocio in the recording snickered. “And who knows? Maybe you’ll get another one a few days from now when I return,” Rocio smirked, stepping in front of the camera to adjust a knob on the front of the casket. When she did so, the tools all stopped and even the roach drone stopped and retreated back through one of the holes in the mattress. Rally’s feet slumped forward as she panted heavily, her chest heaving up and down. Within a few seconds though, more tools presented themselves, and Rally gazed at them with an expression that said ‘why me?’. It seemed like a small bit of fight was left in her, but how long would that last while being tickled from dawn till dusk again and again?

When the ten second break ended, the tools attacked.

“OHO! HEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Given little time to recover, Rally’s laughter first came out as a mix between a gasp and a chuckle before turning into an explosion of frantic squeals and snickers. Yomiko had always liked hearing that laugh. Whether it was through her quick-witted rapid fire remarks to her fellow Fronds or her unique snickering, Rally never failed to put a smile on the Fronds face. But now Yomiko only felt great despair and anguish upon seeing her friend’s desperate, ticklish struggle. Currently, Rally was being tormented on her armpits with two small paintbrushes, her sides with robot hands, and her feet with a series of nodes that seemed to be delivering concentrated tickle shocks like that of an electro-tickler all over them. As for her belly, it was being swarmed by rollers much like Machina’s was right now, with an electric toothbrush methodically scrubbing all around inside her delicate belly button.

Satisfied with that reaction, Rocio began to leave, her crocs making those annoying squeaking sounds.

“I hope you won’t be completely insane by the time I get back. I want to be there personally when you finally break~” the Rocio in the recording said in a sinister tone before leaving.

Those words, and the sorry state Rally was in, caused Yomiko’s efforts at resisting her own ticklish torment to fade away completely.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Yomiko let out a shrill scream, rolling around frantically on the ground as the many tickle tools coming out of those sensors began to fully overwhelm her.

“Oh, it looks like you’ve finally given up!” Rocio smirked happily, showing off her sharp teeth as she gazed down at Yomiko thrashing around on the floor. Yomiko didn’t even feel like fighting anymore. She had failed to rescue her friends, failed to keep her new ones out of the clutches of wicked ticklers. She had even failed to find out what La Barriga was up to, no doubt dooming many others to a ticklish fate. So what was even the point of resisting anymore?

“Hahaha, that pathetic look in your eyes is perfect! Thank you for bringing me knew tickle victims, yourself included! I’ll make sure to test my tickle gadgets thoroughly on-”

While was Rocio smugly declared her intentions, the video jumped abruptly to La Barriga. She was inside a jeep with three women in the backseat and another woman riding shotgun. The three in the back looked like members of her personal guard given their military outfits, while the one who was riding shotgun was dressed in a mining outfit and a black bra and gave off the air of being another one of La Barriga’s enforcers. But if she was, she was someone that Yomiko and the rest had never heard of.

“Hello there. If you’re watching this video, it probably means you’ve beaten Big Barbara. Rocio informed me of the torture she’s been putting your friends through, so I imagine they’ll have broken completely by this point. She told me that she has a plan to deal with you….what’s that? Ah yes, more than one plan,” La Barriga nodded after the woman riding shotgun whispered something to her.

“If Big Barbara couldn’t stop you, I don’t see why she’d be able to. But you’ll be far too late to stop me, and she’s the perfect distraction to hold you off. Even someone cowardly and pathetic like her can be a good distraction. Mostly because she’s as annoying and persistent as a roa-” The TV was turned off before La Barriga could finish that sentence as Rocio tossed the remote aside.

“I AM NOT A ROACH!” she shouted, kicking the TV screen over and over again with her right foot as her croc made annoying squeaks with each kick. Stopping and fuming with annoyance, she scowled. “Tch, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about! I defeated the Fighting Fronds! Not her, not Big Barbara, not Kitzel, ME!” Rocio shouted angrily, even glaring at Basher in the machine as though daring her to say otherwise. Basher had been snickering a bit from Rocio’s hilarious outburst, but the moment the scientist’s round, glaring eyes turned her way she immediately shut up.

This outburst also had an effect Yomiko, who thanks to the tickling was currently laughing so hard her sides were hurting and had tears freely flying from her eyes and down her cheeks. Her friends, old and new, had been captured. Leona and Rally looked like they were well on the way to being tickled insane, or at the very least on the way to becoming despondent enough to accept their new reality. Her friends were all currently being tickled viciously. Even she was rolling around on the floor, struggling to think of a way out of this situation. But…..

“HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!”

For the first time since facing the TV, Yomiko cast her gaze upwards, looking at Tia and Queenie through teary eyes. They were beyond hysterical from those feather fans, their clothes absolutely useless against those many plumes. They gazed back at her with teary-eyes….but also determination, as well as expectation. Expectation that Yomiko would find some way to overturn this seemingly unwinnable situation.

It’s not too late to save them. It’s not too late to save Machina. And it’s probably not….no, it’s not too late to save Leona and Rally either!, Yomiko shook her head and slammed it back against the floor, knocking the worst case scenario out of her mind.

…..And there’s somebody else I’m forgetting. It’s not too late to save…..ME!

Rocio scowled at Basher until she heard the sound of Yomiko slamming her head against the ground, then turned to her. When she did, the look in Yomiko’s eyes gave her pause, but she didn’t get a chance to ask about that as Yomiko did the unthinkable: pressing her feet up against the net. The net coursing with powerful, ticklish shocks.

“HAHAHAHA—NYEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHA!” Yomiko’s shrieking spiked sharply and grew a tad sillier, but Rocio didn’t laugh at that sight as she had a sneaking suspicion that something was amiss.

“What are you do-ah!” Rocio gasped when she saw that Yomiko was feeling all over the net with her fingers and toes, tapping certain areas with both even as her feet frantically spammed from the tickles.

“Y-You’re using the Ten Ticklish Strikes on a net, and with your feet too? Are you nuts?! There’s now way you’d be able to pull something like that off, not while you’re all tied up and laughing your head off!” Rocio barked in annoyance. Yes, it tickled horribly. It tickled far more so now with her feet pressed up against the net.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Even so, Yomiko fought against the tickling and her instinctive desire to distance herself from those sensations any way she could, focusing on the task at hand. She searched carefully, fighting past the ticklish sensations and searching the areas where the rope was at its weakest, relying on her innate intuition rather than her laugh-addled mind. When she struck those ten spots, the net had grown somewhat looser. Recognizing this, Yomiko grabbed onto the net with all her fingers and toes, then shoved it away from herself with all her might.

“GRAAAAH!” The net flew off of Yomiko’s body, the ticklish jolts and many tickle tools no longer assaulting her senses as it landed in one corner of the room. Once there was no longer any captive in its grasp, the net stopped electrifying itself and the tickle tools returned back to their sensors.

Panting heavily, Yomiko stood up shakily and glared at Rocio. She began slowly approaching the scientist, who took a nervous step back from the intensity of her gaze.

“Ah….”

But then she tripped and fell on her face, lying motionless. Though she’d tried powering through it, she’d still been tickled quite a lot over these past couple of minutes, and the Crushers had also done a number on her not too long ago. So her collapsing suddenly from exhaustion wasn’t exactly shocking.

Seeing that sight, Rocio stood there, still staring warily at Yomiko.

“What are you doing? She’s down! Hit her with the tickle bazooka again!” Basher shouted. But Rocio didn’t move at all. And the reason for that…..

“Urk…..”

…..Was the look Yomiko gave as she lifted her head slightly off the ground.

Those damn eyes again…..

It was the same look Machina had given her before she had busted out the rollers, the same look Tia had given her when she had ignored the drone tickles, and the same look Yomiko had given her when she had resolved to press her feet up against the net and free herself, tickle shocks be damned.

“How are you all able to keep fighting even after all that tickling?! You’re way too damn persistent!” Rocio shouted in terror, grabbing the tickle bazooka she had discarded on the floor and pointing it at Yomiko. But she had forgotten completely about the rope that Tia had wrapped around her ankle, which she had forgotten to untie when she was smugly rubbing in her victory. Yomiko grabbed onto that rope and tugged it sharply, causing Rocio to yelp and fall over as the tickle bazooka flew from her hands and landed behind Yomiko.

“Guh!” That sight made Rocio stiffen, and seeing Yomiko stand up once more with a sharp gaze made her blood run cold. Still holding onto the rope, Yomiko pulled Rocio in closer.

“Gyaah!” Reacting quickly, Rocio pulled out the remote for the roach drones and sent the remaining ones in the room at Yomiko’s feet. In response, Yomiko let go of the rope and bent down low, performing a leg sweep that sent all of the approaching drones flying.

“That’s impossible!” Rocio squeaked, dropping the remote in fear as she tried to scamper over to another device. Yomiko stepped on the rope as the scared scientist tried fleeing, causing the back of her head to hit a table and her face to hit the floor once more.

“Why is it always my head?! Ah?! Yeeek!” Rocio shrieked when she saw that Yomiko was just a few feet away from her now. The scientist reached over and grabbed the suction cup device, trying to turn it on Yomiko. But Yomiko swatted it out of Rocio’s hands. The scientist even tried quickly inflating something, but Yomiko snatched it away and tossed it behind her as it expanded into an inflatable bondage set in a corner of the room.

“Hiee!” Rocio shrieked in fear, crouching down and covering her head with her hands as Yomiko prepared to tickle Rocio senseless for the torture she put her friends through.

“Bah!” Basher grunted in annoyance and quickly ran out of the machine, bumping into one of the levers in the process. As Yomiko began tickle squeezing Rocio’s sides, Basher grabbed her left arm and wrapped it in her chain, then did the same for the right arm so that Yomiko’s arms were chained up behind her. Lifting her up by the chain, Basher slammed Yomiko on top of a table as Rocio looked up in surprise.

“No! Let me go!” Yomiko shouted, kicking and struggling in the chains. She had been so close to giving this wicked scientist what she deserved!

“Give it up already! Rocio, get your ass off the floor and finish her already!” Basher shouted, fed up with her boss’s cowardice and still holding tightly onto the chain. Those words proved to be just the shock the scared scientist needed to snap her out of her fear.

“Don’t talk to me like that! And I was planning on finishing her with or without your help!” Rocio scowled, angrily hopping to her feet and once again forgetting to remove the rope that was wrapped around her ankle. Then she began scribbling her fingers all over Yomiko’s feet.

“HEEHEEHEEHEHEE NOOOOOO!” Yomiko shouted, her long feet paddling about and trying to get away from Rocio’s small, eager fingers. Because she was still exhausted from all the tickling, she didn’t have enough strength to break free or kick Rocio away. And it wouldn’t be surprising if she were to pass out within a few minutes of this.

“Phew…..huh?” Queenie sighed with relief when she felt the tickling stop, then stared in surprise. The arm that had been holding her had moved a short distance away from the feather fan, giving the large girl a chance to catch her breath.

“That Crusher must’ve bumped into one of the levers when she ran to help Rocio….how are you holding up Tia?” Queenie asked.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA TIAHAHAHAHAHA HOLDING UHUHUHUHUHUHUP! HEEHEEHEHEEHEE BUT WAY TOO TIHIHIHIHIHICKLY!” Tia shrieked, laughing from the feather fans as she wiggled in the mechanical arm’s grasp. Queenie also noted that Tia was kicking her feet quite rapidly, to the point that they were struggling more from the tickles than the rest of her body.

“I’ve gotta go help Yomiko. But I’ll help you out a little first Tia. Hrrrmph! Ghmmmph!” Queenie grit her teeth, gripping the mechanical arm that was holding her and trying to pry it open, straining with all her might. She eventually got it to open up a little, then worked to squeeze her large frame up and out of the hand. Once she’d accomplished that, she then bent down over the mechanical arm and reached for Tia’s moccasins, yoinking one of them as several roach drones fell out.

“HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE THAHAHAHAHANK YOOHOOHOOHOOHOO!” Tia said gratefully while still shrieking from the feather fans and the roach drones that were in her other moccasin.

“No prob! Can’t do anything about the other one though since I can’t really reach it from here,” Queenie shrugged. Scowling down at Rocio and Basher, Queenie threw the removed moccasin directly at Rocio’s head as she leapt off from the mechanical hand. The moccasin caused Rocio to fall back in pain, and Basher looked up moments before Queenie landed on top of her. Basher’s head slammed against the table with a mighty crash, and Yomiko stared in surprise as the impact caused Queenie to be sent flying. To minimize the damage as much as possible, Queenie crossed her arms over her body and steeled herself. Luckily, her fall was broken by the inflatable bondage set.

“Huh?!” The rubbery restraints closed over Queenie’s limbs as she fell on her stomach. As she’d landed on it the wrong way, she now had her face pressed up against a rubbery mattress. Though it seemed like this device wasn’t made for someone of her size, so her hands and feet were both notably dangling over the mattress. This meant that all Queenie had to do was press her feet against the floor and she could upright herself, which she did immediately.

“How’s the Crusher?” Queenie asked Yomiko, given that she couldn’t see in front of her face right now.

“….Unconscious. You could’ve gotten hurt falling like that Queenie!” Yomiko frowned.

“Heh. Well it all worked out didn’t it? I’m just glad you’re alright…..you are alright, right?” Queenie asked, frowning at the rubbery mattress that was preventing her from confirming her friend’s condition. Yomiko sighed at that attitude and the gutsy maneuver Queenie had made, both of which reminded her a lot of Leona.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for the save Queenie,” Yomiko smiled. Then she heard a few squeak sounds and turned to Rocio, whose crocs had given away the fact that she was slowly stepping away. Seeing Yomiko’s gaze, Rocio panicked and started running away.

“You’re not getting away that easily!” Yomiko frowned, pressing her back up against the table and then leaping off it. When she felt her legs wobble from that and stumbled against the table, she clicked her tongue.

I’m in no state to chase after her. Especially not with these chains wrapped around my arms. …..But she might be able to do it! Thinking this, Yomiko quickly came up with a plan.

“Queenie, stand over here!” Yomiko urged her friend.

“Over here?” Queenie asked, following the sound of Yomiko’s voice.

“Yes, that’s perfect! Get ready to catch Tia when she falls!” Yomiko said, running over to the machine.

“Okay I can do-when she FALLS?!” Queenie asked in shock. Yomiko ignored this and sat down in the machine, then wrapped her leg around the lever controlling the mechanical arm holding Tia and tugged it slightly, pulling her away from the feather fans but not too far away from where Queenie was. Then she used her toes to press the release button for that arm.

“CATCH TIAHAHAHAHA, QUEENIE!” Tia shouted, pulling out some rope.

“Ah! What the hell are you two doing?!” Queenie complained, bending down at an angle so the mattress was pointing upwards. Tia landed on it, then bounced off it towards the fleeing Rocio.

“TAKE THIHIHIHIHIS!” Tia shouted, swinging off her other moccasin with enough force to make the roach drones fall out of it.

“What the-GAH!” The moccasin hit Rocio’s head, flying upwards. Rolling on the floor before coming to a stop, Tia looped a rope around Rocio’s neck and tugged it sharply, causing the scientist to slam the back of her head against an upturned table. In Rocio’s attempts to get free and shake Tia off, she wound up getting hit by the moccasin while it was on the way down. The impact from it hitting the back of her head sharply caused her to slam face first against a wall.

“Uh….guh…..bweh….” Rocio stumbled around in a daze from all those blows to her head one after another, then fell over, losing consciousness. Seeing this, Tia removed the rope that was wrapped around Rocio’s neck and the rope still around her ankle, using both ropes to hogtie Rocio. Once that was done, Tia let out a sigh of relief.

“We did it! Roach lady’s down!” Tia beamed brightly, bringing a smile to Yomiko and Queenie’s faces. It had been a hard fought battle, but they finally won.

“Machina! We have to rescue her!” Yomiko said, remembering that she was still being tickled.

“Ah, right!” Tia nodded, quickly swiping the key card from Rocio’s pocket and swiping it over the card reader. But once she did, she hesitated.

“What are you doing? We have to hurry!” Yomiko insisted.

“Tia knows but um…..ah! Wear this! And wait outside a bit!” Tia said, forcing something onto Yomiko’s nose. Yomiko wasn’t sure why Rocio even had something like this…..but it was very familiar to her.

“Okay, but why-”

“Tia will give signal, then you both come!” Tia said, cutting off Yomiko as she headed inside. She frowned at Machina’s laughing form, then turned off all the tickling devices and gazed at the panting robot girl.

“Machina…..are you okay?” Tia asked with worry, Machina panted for a bit, then began speaking with her eyes closed.

“…..Machina? Who is that? I am only a tool who serves La Barri-” Machina opened her eyes partway through her speech, and then widened them at the sight of Yomiko with her arms chained behind her back and wearing a clown nose, and Queenie with her face and body completely obscured by a rubbery mattress save for her hands, feet, and the top of her head.

“Pfft…..” A silly smile appeared on Machina’s face. She didn’t know how Queenie had wound up in that position…..and that clown nose reminded her of when she and Yomiko had teamed up on Gigglez.

“Don’t laugh.” Yomiko frowned, narrowing her eyes.

“Snrkehehe….” Machina snickered. That glare, juxtaposed with that clown nose, was just too funny.

“Queenie, do dance!” Tia said with a smile.

“Huh? You want me to dance? But I don’t know how to-gah! Hahahahahaha cut that ohohohohout!” Since Queenie was taking too long, Tia decided to go behind Queenie and tickle her sides, causing her to wiggle a bit. From Machina’s perspective, it looked like a rubbery wall with hands and feet doing a little shimmy.

“Ahahahahaha! Heeeheeheehee oh gohohohohosh! Whahaha! What hahahahappened to you twoohoohoohoo?” Machina asked as she finally burst out laughing.

“Well it’s great to see you in such good spirits,” Yomiko said with an unamused frown. “Were you seriously planning on pranking us by pretending to be brainwashed?”

“Yes. But now I’m so glad that failed! Heeheeheehee!” Machina replied, continuing to laugh at the expense of Yomiko and Queenie.

“Tia know laughter best medicine! But Machina already have tons of ticklish laughter. So Tia came up with this!” Tia grinned proudly, stepping out from behind Queenie.

“That’s why you wanted me to wear this clown nose….” Yomiko frowned. Sighing, she headed a little closer to the restraint table.

“Hey, Machina.”

“Ah, yes?” Machina asked, giving Yomiko her full attention.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Yomiko smiled.

“…..Yes, I’m glad about that too. ….B-But, trying to have a serious conversation with that clown nose on is just….pfft,” Machina grinned, snickering some more.

“….Yep, you’re definitely the same as usual,” Yomiko sighed at that attitude.

“Tia, can you help us out already?” Queenie frowned from behind the rubbery wall, prompting her and Machina to giggle.

And so, after Machina, Yomiko, and Queenie were all freed and after Tia and Yomiko got their footwear back on, they untied the unconscious Rocio and forced her onto the inflatable bondage set, then hogtied Basher on top of the table with her own chains. And after a short while, the two of them woke up.

“Urk! Oh no, not you…..” Rocio stiffened.

“Oh yes.” Yomiko retorted. “You’re going to get everything you dished out on my friends and so many others….”

“And Tia and Queenie tickle naughty Crusher lady for earlier tickles!” Tia smirked, she and Queenie looming menacingly over Basher as she squirmed warily in the chains while eyeing them.

“….But I’m not just doing this for revenge. I need answers. Where are Leona and Rally? And what’s La Barriga plotting?” Yomiko frowned.

“Beats me. Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Rocio replied in a snarky tone, prompting Yomiko to slam her palms against the rubbery mat on both sides of Rocio’s head while glaring at her from close range.

“Hiee!” Rocio yelped, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Obviously I can’t. And she didn’t say what she was up to at the end of your sick tickle torture video either,” Yomiko frowned, her head now looming directly over Rocio’s.

“W-Well then I guess you’re outta luck….” Rocio said, opening her eyes and nervously looking away from Yomiko.

“No. I think you know exactly what she’s up to. I just have to get it out of you. And I’m not the only one who has a bone to pick with you,” Yomiko said, climbing off of the inflatable bondage set. Rocio blinked in surprise at that, then scowled when someone else climbed on top of the inflatable bondage set and gazed down at her.

“Hey.” Machina said in a tone as flat as her emotionless gaze.

“Damn Kitzel robot!” Rocio scowled angrily.

“My name is Machina. Call me mistress Machina, if you please,” Machina said, her emotionless tone making it tough to tell whether she was being serious or not.

“Like hell I’m doing that! I’d never bow down to Kitzel’s tech, least of all the most annoying robot she’s ever…..uh…..” Rocio flinched when she felt her crocs fall off her feet, scrunching her socked soles up tightly.

“What’s wrong? You were saying something about my friend who you shamelessly tortured, right? Feel free to continue,” Yomiko said, wiggling her fingers against those small, curled up size 5s.

“NYEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! DON’T TOUCH MY FEET YOU-HRRRMPHAHAHAHAHA!” Rocio screamed, her small feet kicking about quite a bit even with the socks on.

“You know, you shouldn’t tickle people so horribly if you can’t take even this much,” Yomiko taunted with a smirk, her fingers gradually moving faster and faster.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA SHADDAHAHAHAHAHAP!” Rocio shouted, her cheeks reddening as she glared down at Yomiko in annoyance, her feet jerking sharply away from each touch. Though that wasn’t the only thing she had to worry about.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AND I DON’T NEED YOU MEHEHEHEHESSING WITH ME TOO, KITZEL ROHOHOHOHOBOT!” Rocio shouted, glaring murderously at Machina. After lifting up Rocio’s shirt, the robot girl had retracted both of her hands for electro-ticklers and was using them to alternately prod at Rocio’s belly, first with the left one, then the right, then left, and so on.

“That’s mistress Machina to you,” Machina replied flatly, gazing directly into Rocio’s eyes as she started slowly increasing the speed of her prodding.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! SCREW YOOHOOHOOHOOHOO!” Rocio screamed, throwing her head back in laughter.

“You comfortable?” Queenie smirked slyly at Basher.

“I’d be more comfortable if you-nrrrrgh!” Basher began to retort, then felt feather slip under her shirt and tease her right side.

“What’s that? You’d be more comfortable if you were laughing and if these boots and socks were out of the way? Well why didn’t you say so?” Queenie smirked, removing Basher’s boots forcefully, followed by her socks. The cool air of the room had scarcely touched her feet before she felt strong, firm hands scratching away at them.

“Hrrmphehehe! Hehehehahahaha!” Within a few seconds of Queenie’s scratching and Tia’s feathering, Basher burst into laughter.

“Well, you’re better at keeping it together than your boss,” Queenie smirked, digging her fingers in a little deeper.

“Won’t last long!” Tia chimed, swiping her feathers along Basher’s left side, then moving them towards her tummy.

“Eeek! Neeheeheeheehee knock it ohohohohohoff!” Basher scowled at the two of them. However her scowl quickly gave way to laughter, and she was clearly having a rough time dealing with their attack. Especially now that Tia’s feathers were teasing her tummy and Queenie’s fingers were tickling her arches.

“I’ve got a good feeling this next bit will make you scream~” Queenie smirked.

“Tia think so too!” Tia grinned. With that, Queenie dug her fingers into the very center of Basher’s arches while Tia’s feathers zeroed in on the big bruiser’s belly button.

“OHOHOHAHAHAHAHA! Y-YOU…..HRRRPMPHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Basher shrieked.

“There we go~” Queenie snickered.

“Baddie better get comfy, cause Fighty Fronz won’t stop!” Tia grinned deviously. Basher’s soles scrunched up tightly, and she was now rocking around slightly on top of the table. But she couldn’t move around enough to fall off the table, let alone get free and far away from these two eager ticklers.

The tickling had only lasted a few minutes, and yet these two were already red-faced with laughter. And that was before Yomiko used the Ten Ticklish Strikes to make things even worse for poor Rocio and before Machina began prodding her belly button with her electro-ticklers. In any event, after a couple more minutes the Fronds felt like it was time to ramp things up.

“Seems like you still don’t want to talk. Alright then, guess I’ll have to use this,” Yomiko said, holding a remote and pushing a few of the buttons on it. Rocio was still having trouble with Machina’s prodding, but looked over at Yomiko and widened her eyes when she saw what she was holding. It was none other than the remote for the roach drones.

“Where…..ah, there they are,” Yomiko said as six roach drones scurried up to her. Yomiko pressed another button while pointing the remote at Rocio, then lifted the socks up enough that they could directly attack Rocio’s heels.

“ULP!” Rocio stiffened from that, her feet immediately kicking around to try to shake them off. But Yomiko wouldn’t let her and tugged the socks back down, trapping the drones in them.

“UWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHAHAHA NONONOHOHOHOHOHO!” Rocio shook her head, her small feet flexing, curling, and waving about frantically.

“With the sensitivity of your feet having risen, having them trapped with those drones must feel pretty terrible right?” Yomiko smirked, giving Rocio’s toes a few pinches. The pleasant squeaks she got as a result of that action prompted her to squeeze those small digits in earnest while the drones scurried all over the rest of her feet.

“NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Rocio’s socked toes splayed and wriggled like mad as her laughter turned into a mix of silly snickers and shrieks.

“Looks like it’s time for my own special attack. You’re the person I most want to use it on, so I’ll make sure to savor this,” Machina said, pressing both electro-ticklers against the edges of Rocio’s belly button.

“Electric Shock.” Machina said flatly, a surge of energy coursing through her electro-ticklers to deliver a powerful tickle shock that got every inch of the wicked scientist’s belly and belly button, with some of those tickly jolts even reaching her back.

“YEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! OH MY GOHOHOHOHOHOSH!” Rocio screamed, her back arching off the table as she stared Machina with a look of sheer, ticklish panic.

“Oh come on. That’s nothing compared to what you did to my belly button. You can’t seriously break from something like this. Not without calling me mistress Machina at least,” Machina said. During the entire time she had been tickling her, her emotionless gaze didn’t leave Rocio’s eyes. Being looked down at by a Kitzel creation, who tickle tortured her with a casual demeanor, filled Rocio with an unimaginable level of shame and embarrassment that only made things tickle even more.

Naturally, Basher’s torment also grew worse. Tia had found the suction cup device lying around was using on Basher’s belly, sending powerful ticklish shocks to Basher’s belly button as Tia cheekily feathered any exposed areas on Basher’s tummy and sides. Meanwhile Queenie went for quick, rapid raspberries on each of Basher’s toes while continuing to deeply scratch at the center of the Crusher’s arches.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OHOHOHOHOKAY YOU CAN STOP NOHOHOHOHOW!” Basher said between gales of laughter, having a rough time with this.

“Did you hear something Tia?” Queenie asked.

“Baddie wants more!” Tia grinned.

“Yeah, she totally does~” Queenie smirked, the two of them picking up the pace.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NO I DOHOHOHOHOHON’T! HAHAHAHAHAHA STOOOOOP!” Basher screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Looks like the last of your lackeys has thrown in the towel. Of course if you don’t feel like talking, we can keep this up all day and all night. Trust me,” Yomiko smirked.

“NYEEHEEHEEHEEK! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA ALRIGHT! I’LL TALK I’LL TAHAHAHAHAHALK! JUST GET THIS STUHUHUHUHUPID ROBOT OFF MEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Rocio shrieked, desperate for mercy. Yomiko frowned at that though and squeezed between Rocio’s toe gaps while Machina went for a more powerful Electric Shock.

“I’m not stupid. I’m mistress Machina. Say, ‘have mercy on me mistress Machina’. Say it. Or I’ll never, ever stop.” Machina said, pouting slightly from Rocio’s insult as she continued her merciless electro-tickling onslaught.

“I’LL NEVER-MREEHEEHEEHEE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAVE MERCY ON ME MIHIHIHIHISTRESS MACHINAHAHAHAHA!” Rocio let out a shrill scream when Machina moved her electro-ticklers just a little bit closer to the center of her belly button.

“Wow, she actually said it…..” Yomiko stared in surprise.

“Of course she did. And soon, all of you will,” Machina declared, clearly beaming with pride despite her emotionless tone and expression.

“Yeah, no.” Yomiko shook her head, shutting that idea down immediately. At least, she’d like to believe she shut that idea down….it was hard to tell from the way Machina was looking at her. Though that gaze made Yomiko notice something else.

“You didn’t bring up your external hard drive like you usually do. Was that to spook Rocio or….?”

“No. Torturing her is satisfying. Very satisfying. Especially after what she just put me through. But….for whatever reason, my external hard drive hasn’t heated up one bit. Perhaps roaches just don’t excite me,” Machina mused, retracting her electro-ticklers as Yomiko used the remote to command the roach drones to stop.

“I’m not a-” Rocio began to say, but she was silenced by Machina pressing a finger against her lips.

“Ssh. Just answer Yomiko’s question, alright?” Machina said, a hint of menace in her voice. That caused Rocio to freeze up and forget about saying her usual remark. Seeing this, Machina smirked slightly, then moved her finger away and allowed Rocio to speak. Queenie and Tia also stopped what they were doing so they could listen.

“La Barriga’s been steadily advancing west with her forces. She’s probably a hop, skip and a jump away from busting into Area 51,” Rocio said, smugness entering her voice once more now that she wasn’t being tickled.

“Area 51?” Yomiko narrowed her eyes. What could possibly be there? Yomiko didn’t have the slightest idea, but Queenie scowled and crossed her arms at those words, prompting the other Fronds to stare at her.

“Queenie?” Yomiko tilted her head.

“…..Remember how me and my girls raided supply trucks and slave trucks? Well, some of those trucks contained pickaxes, small drills…..and gelignite. I couldn’t figure out why La Barriga would be carrying something like gelignite. Can’t exactly tickle people that have been blown to bits. But if she’s trying to break into Area 51, then it all makes sense,” Queenie said while frowning.

“Big scary biker leader’s boss….is planning to dig tunnel?” Tia asked, slowly catching up to what Queenie was saying.

“Yeah…..unless she’s already dug it and is storming the place as we speak,” Queenie muttered in annoyance.

“She hasn’t. Until I see it with my own eyes, I won’t believe she’s gotten that far,” Yomiko replied, gazing firmly at Queenie. She had been about to give up when wrapped up in the tickle bazooka’s net, but she’d managed to pump herself up for one last push. Now that she’d resolved herself to rescue Leona and Rally and stop La Barriga, she wouldn’t lie down in defeat or accept that it was too late.

Seeing that, Queenie widened her eyes, then smiled.

“Yeah…..yeah you’re right,” she grinned.

“Hehe! Sure, believe whatever’ll make you feel better. And when La Barriga launches the tickle missiles at Area 51 and graciously allows you to spend the rest of your life being tickled insane along with your friends, you’ll say ‘I told you so’,” Rocio smirked deviously. However her words didn’t cause any of the Fronds to waver. All it did was annoy them.

“You know, we had to take the long way to get up here. On the way, we didn’t notice any rooms that looked like that place you were keeping Leona and Rally in. So I’m willing to bet this place has a basement. One that can be accessed by your key card,” Yomiko said, holding the key card up and showing it to Rocio.

“Shall we take a look?” Yomiko asked while frowning at her.

“N-Now hang a second. I was just kidding! I’m sure your friends haven’t completely lost their minds! They’re only halfway broken! Though maybe a little more than th-hieee! Nonono, wait!” Rocio shrieked, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head as Machina lifted up the inflatable bondage set that was holding Rocio while Queenie lifted Basher off the table by her chains. They brought them over to the elevator and Yomiko swiped the key card against the elevator’s card reader, ready to confirm her suspicions.

“MMHMMHMMPH! PLHMMHMMSE LHMMHMMT MHMMPH GHMMHMMHMMHMM!” Basher pleaded, her voice muffled.

“YEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHA! I WANT OUT I WANT OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOUT!” Rocio screamed, going hysterical within the first few minutes.

“Oh come on, I thought you’d be excited to test your own inventions. It’s like a brand new discovery for you~” Yomiko snickered.

“And I bet she picked you to help her out because you’re the toughest lackey she’s got. So you’d better be prepared to prove just how tough you are,” Queenie smirked at Basher.

Sure enough, there was a basement floor in this facility, and it could only be accessed with Rocio’s key card. Upon reaching that floor, the Fronds dropped the two captive baddies and got to work freeing any tickle victims unfortunate enough to wind up here. Once they’d rescued all of them and sent them up to the first floor via elevator, the Fronds then searched for the two rooms where Leona and Rally had been kept at. Basher had been put in the same setup as Leona, complete with a straight jacket, a muzzle gag, and all those cords connected to her body and trapped toes.

“Hehehe, baddie nowhere near as tough as Fighty Fronz member! Only ten seconds and she lost!” Tia laughed happily. In just ten seconds, Basher had laughed and shook around far more than she should’ve. And within thirty, she had four backscratchers at each sole and arch, four robot hands tickling the sides of her feet, two brushes at her heels, two feather dusters at the balls of her feet, and ten electric toothbrushes scrubbing at the pads of her toes and between every single gap. Judging by her muffled screaming and begging, this army of tools was doing an excellent job of breaking down Basher’s defenses.

“Rocio lost in just five,” Machina smirked. The scientist had been locked in the clear view casket, with the gas that would keep her vitals in check firing off shortly after the casket was closed. Her limbs had quickly been restrained by straps, and a plethora of vibrating robot hands began digging into her armpits and sides, while feathers, electric toothbrushes, brushes, back scratchers, and paintbrushes attacked every inch of her bared feet in a sporadic and unpredictable fashion as though they had a mind of their own. Her small size 5s with their smooth heels, flat arches, curved balls, and round, bubbly toes kicked and shook frantically, the manic wriggling of her toes even more noticeable now that her socks were out of the way. Because Machina still held a grudge for what Rocio had done to her, she had fuzzy rollers get all over her tummy, setting them to change patterns every few seconds to keep Rocio a squealing mess. With the gas keeping her fully conscious, she wouldn’t be granted the small luxury of passing out. Which, considering the cruel tickle torment she’d inflicted on Yomiko, her friends, and many others, was exactly what she deserved.

“OHMMMHMMHMM WHMMHMMHMMY?! MHMMHMMHMM PLHMMHMMHMMSE!” Basher pleaded desperately in her gag as tears rolled down her burning cheeks. Making things even worse for her was that Machina had analyzed the components of the casket, learning that the casket had a system for expelling and recycling the mist used to force the lees to remain conscious, which is what had allowed the torture to continue without end. Before starting up the tickles and with Queenie’s knowledge of machinery, they had managed to construct a similar system in the room where Basher currently was. It involved two fan-like devices on stands that blew the vapor directly into Basher’s face. The fan-like devices had a few other tubes jutting out of the top of them, with these acting as collection tubes and connected to the body of the device. The bodies of both devices were connected to tubes that were connected to a filtration device that took the form of a metal box. This filtration system could convert the drug from liquid to vapor and vice versa, meaning Basher would never lose consciousness, her vitals would remain stable, and she would have to deal with all those tools ravaging her feet…..well, forever.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU CAHAHAHAHAN’T DO-NYEEHEEHEEHEE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAHAHAPPIT!” Rocio screamed, glaring at her captors through teary-eyes…..though her glare quickly turned into a panicked, pleading gaze. When Rocio had replaced those angels with figurines of herself, she thought it was a fun and clever way of constantly reminding Rally that she’d fallen into her clutches. Now with those same figurines leering at her, she felt horrified. It was like those wickedly smiling faces were laughing at her misfortune….at the beginning of a horribly ticklish fate with no end in sight.

The Fronds spent a good half hour relishing in the torment of Rocio and the Crusher foolish enough to directly aid her in that last battle. Then they shut the doors of their respective rooms and ran over to the elevator.

“We have to hurry over to Nevada, where Area 51 is. It’s not too late…..but she’s definitely very close to reaching her goal,” Yomiko said.

“Right!” Queenie nodded.

“Let’s save Leona and Rally…..and my sisters,” Machina said, narrowing her eyes slightly.

“No tickles for Queenie tonight! Tonight, Fighty Fronz FIGHT!” Tia declared with a proud smirk.

“…..Come on now, I’m sure we can squeeze in some tickles after it’s all over right?” Queenie asked sheepishly. This caused the other three Fronds to laugh, putting them in a good mood for a rescue mission. A rescue mission where they’d tickle anyone who dared to stand in their way.

“I’m impressed we’ve been progressing this smoothly,” La Barriga smirked.

“It’ll take a couple more hours, but the tunnel will soon be complete,” Marisol smirked.

Marisol, the dyed pink-haired, dark skinned miner clad in muddy brown pants and a black bra. And La Barriga, the dyed red-haired, stout bodied warlord clad in a black military outfit. The two of them were chatting in a fairly large underground space held up by an intricate network of support beams. Close to where the two were talking but not close enough to overhear their conversation were soldiers in black uniforms, three of which had stars on their outfits: La Barriga’s Elite Guard. Near them were four female robots with bikinis that matched their hair color and vacant stares, sporting the same gray bodies as Machina. Close to the center of the underground space was a mech, built down in this underground space using the blueprints Rocio had uncovered. Dr. Kitzel’s blueprints.

Some of the miners under Marisol—the Merciless Miners as they were known—could be seen eating their meals, while others were advancing upwards to continue digging the tunnel that would lead under Area 51. Others even did so while dragging along girls with rope wrapped around their ankles: people who’d been forced to help dig the tunnels. And some of them….were partaking in a different sort of entertainment.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…..” Leona laughed.

“NEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE…..” Rally squealed.

The two of them had been restrained to gurney’s that were elevated two feet off the ground, and the miners were tickling away at them. Staying entertained while hard at work digging a hole was important, though Leona and Rally were less than thrilled about this. Their laughter came out as tired and drained, and whatever hope they still had was tucked far, far away. They hadn’t heard of any news since Yomiko had bested Gigglez…..and it was hard not to fear the worst.

Things would turn up for them though as a miner scampered down from the tunnel that led outside.

“A transmission just came in from the Laughing Lovelies! But it wasn’t Big Barbara! And whoever it was, they were howling with laughter before the transmission cut!” the miner said.

“What?” Marisol stared in disbelief. La Barriga looked just as shocked, and even the workers that had been tickling Leona and Rally froze in shock. Sure she’d sent that prerecorded message, but she didn’t think they’d actually manage to beat Big Barbara. If they beat her, what chance did Rocio have?

This news caused the eyes of the two dejected, defeated Fronds to light up.

“Looks like your info gathering has a lot of holes in it!” Leona smirked.

“Yomiko toppled Big Barbara and you didn’t even know it! Heck, she’s probably gotten even further than that. I bet she already made Rocio scurry around in fear and squeal about your plans. How nice of you to dig a deep hole. When Yomiko and her new friends drop by, no one will be able to hear you scream in surrender~” Rally teased with a smirk. Those words caused Leona to grin brightly, as it had been a while since she heard her speedy friend rip into a villain with just the right amount of snark. And it pissed off the miners, who began tickling them twice as viciously.

“…..You said the hole will be finished in a couple hours, right?” La Barriga muttered in annoyance, gazing at the torture the Fronds were being put through.

“…..Yes. I’ll see what I can do to speed things up,” Marisol nodded with a frown, heading off to help her miners with the tunnel. La Barriga watched her head up the tunnel, then turned back to the two Fronds with a scowl, observing their torture as though each ticklish scream and squeal would dash away any chance of their words turning out to be true.

Chapter Text

Hurrying back into their truck, the Fronds drove to a nearby restaurant and ate a quick meal, then went to a store and acquired some extra rope for Tia. After that they kept on driving, drinking water from the water bottles in their cooler whenever they felt thirsty. Within six hours, they had arrived in Nevada and reached a decrepit building that had been deemed unsafe due to a water main leak. Coincidentally, this building was about a hundred feet away from the entrance to Area 51.

The Fronds exchanged glances and nodded at each other, then stepped out of the truck. Ignoring the fence with the sign saying condemned property, Queenie snapped the lock, allowing her and the other Fronds to head onwards. When they reached the entrance to the property though, Machina cut in front of Queenie and motioned for her to stay back.

“You’re too loud. They’ll hear your big, drop dead gorgeous feet stomping about within seconds,” Machina said.

“I…..yeah, I guess that’s true,” Queenie said, scratching the back of her head as she blushed from the ‘drop dead gorgeous’ comment.

“Do you need help from us?” Yomiko asked. While she and Tia wouldn’t be as loud as Queenie, their approach would still probably be heard by anybody lurking in the basement.

“No. There’s probably only a few people guarding the entrance. Most of them will be waiting underground, inside the tunnel. Additionally, I have regained my strength. They will not know what hit them,” Machina said. Her gaze and tone were emotionless, but the other Fronds could tell she was confident about this.

“Alright. But be careful,” Yomiko said, the memory of Machina’s capture still fresh in her mind.

“Of course. I will never, ever let myself be captured like that again,” Machina replied. With that, she slowly stepped inside the house. The rest of the Fronds saw her advance towards the back of the house and disappear behind a corner. A short while, they heard the sounds of laughter: some of it from Machina, but most of it from voices that were unfamiliar to them. This laughter went on for a few minutes, and then Machina poked her head around the corner.

“You can come in now,” Machina said. The Fronds headed inside and down the basement with Machina leading the way. They saw miners that were still giggling from the residual sensations of Machina’s electro-ticklers, some of whom had been tied up with cables. Towards the back of the room was a hole in the wall, and beyond that was a tunnel with lights fixed on the walls every five feet. The tunnel was wide enough that Yomiko and Machina would be able to stand and move shoulder to shoulder, but if Yomiko and Queenie tried it they’d wind up feeling cramped. Perhaps if Queenie and Tia tried it, they’d have a little room to spare given Tia’s small size, but it looked like the fastest way for them to advance was for Yomiko and Machina to take the front, Queenie to wait in the back, and Tia to be in the middle. The tunnel stretched forward for about sixty feet, then dipped down at a slight incline.

“When we head down that incline, there’ll likely be more miners waiting for us. Alright, Machina you’ll-”

“Be right by your side,” Machina replied, giving Yomiko a meaningful gaze.

“That’s…..that’s right. Um, Queenie-”

“I’ll be at the back,” Queenie grinned, gesturing to herself with her thumb.

“And Tia will take middle!” Tia smiled.

“…..Huh.” Yomiko murmured, blinking twice. She was surprised they knew exactly what she was going to say before she said it.

Then again, it was also like this between me, Leona and Rally, Yomiko thought with a smile. She thought of the journey she’d gone on with her friends back then, and how the journey she’d been on with Machina and the others had been just as hectic. They’d been through a lot, and through it all they’d stuck together and forged even stronger bonds.

“Let’s get going then. The sooner I can see Leona and Rally’s faces when she gets to meet you three, the better,” Yomiko smiled, thinking her friends would like these three girls as much as she did. Queenie smirked and nodded at that, Tia giggled, and Machina gave a small smile. Then the Fronds journeyed into the tunnel, their eyes set on rescuing the two original Fronds from whatever horribly tickly torment they were going through right now.

Elsewhere, La Barriga was waiting impatiently for the tunnel to finish being constructed, her personal army exchanging glances with each other and their boss. Naturally, construction had been advancing at a steady rate since she last asked Marisol. Even so, she couldn’t help being antsy. Not after what Rally had said.

She then heard a sound that caused her to look up. It was a miner hurrying down the entrance tunnel, the tunnel that led to the abandoned building. Seeing that miner approaching with a look of worry gave La Barriga a good idea of what she was about to say.

“It’s them! The Fighting Fronds are here! They’re currently heading down the tunnel, tickle-fighting their way through the miners stationed there! Of course I didn’t get to see it myself. I was told this by another miner, who said she was told this by another miner. She also said that other miner said she was told that by another miner and….uhm?” the miner stared in surprise as La Barriga headed over to the other tunnel, the one that would lead directly under Area 51 when it was completed. Then she took a deep breath.

“HOW MUCH LONGER TILL THE DAMN TUNNEL’S FINISHED?!” La Barriga bellowed. The miner jumped in surprise, and La Barriga’s shout echoed up the tunnel. After a short wait, an answer was given.

“…..VE …….ES! …..ORCES…..ERE…..ADY…..GO!”

La Barriga furrowed her brows at that answer, and took another deep breath.

“WHAAAAAAAAAT?!” she bellowed. After another wait, she received another answer.

“…..MOMENT!” This voice was different from the first voice and sounded clearer. La Barriga heard the sound of footsteps growing closer. Eventually the sound stopped, though she still couldn’t see anybody.

“CAN YOU HEAR MEEEEEE?!” the voice shouted. La Barriga rolled her eyes at that.

“YES!” she shouted.

“OKAAAAAY! SORRY ABOUT EARLIEEEEER! MARISOL’S NOT GOOD AT SHOUTIIIIIING!” The voice shouted. This person’s shouts seemed to be inevitably accompanied by a voice crack, but La Barriga didn’t care about that right now.

“WHAT DID MARISOL SAY?!” La Barriga shouted.

“SHE SAID ‘FIVE MINUTEEEES’! THOUGH I GUESS NOW IT’S FOUR MINUTEEEES! SHE ALSO SAID ‘GET YOUR FORCES READY TO GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!’” the voice shouted, overemphasizing that last part with many voice cracks.

“SHUT UP AND GO BACK UP THE TUNNEL!” La Barriga shouted, wincing from the voice cracks.

“OKAAAAAAAAY!” the voice replied. La Barriga then heard the sound of receding footsteps and groaned.

“Alright, let’s get moving!” La Barriga barked, heading up the tunnel while closely followed by a four robot girls and Elite Guard. At the same time, a few of the miners who had been chatting, eating, or tickling Leona and Rally stood up and went up the tunnel that lead to the abandoned building, hoping to hold off the Fronds. Among those were the three higher ranking members of the group.

“Are you nuts? We’re the Merciless Miners! You can’t just….gah! HehehehaHAHA!”

“The who? I’ve heard of the Crushers, the Laughing Lovelies, even groups that were taken down before I joined the Fighting Fronds like Gigglez’s Circus Crew and the Route 66 Bandits. You don’t ring a bell at all,” Queenie taunted from her position at the back as Yomiko squeezed the hips of a nearby miner.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA! T-That’s becahahahause La Barriga kept us a SEHEEHEEHEECRET!” another miner shrieked, being prodded at by Machina’s electro-ticklers.

“Well, she clearly didn’t do that because of your tickle fighting skills,” Machina commented, satisfied to see the miner shrieking more and more the closer her electro-ticklers got to her belly button.

“It also doesn’t sound like La Barriga. In all of the videos I saw of her, she loved to gloat,” Yomiko said.

“Maybe evil miner leader likes being sneaky, and told big scary biker leader’s boss to keep her and evil miners secret?” Tia offered.

“That’s….yeah,” Yomiko nodded, squeezing at the ribs of the miner she was fighting once she realized how ticklish they were.

“Hmm. She didn’t keep her fully secret since she showed her face in the last video we watched. She even revealed the faces of the highest ranking members of her personal guard. But perhaps hiding her name is as far as she was willing to go. And, since the message was prerecorded, she must have thought we’d never get that far,” Machina said, pressing her electro-ticklers against the belly button of the miner she was fighting. After a couple more seconds of tickling those two, Yomiko and Machina pushed them back into the three miners behind them. Then Tia slipped past them with an excited gleam in her eyes, quickly using her rope to tie the limbs of those five miners to each other as Yomiko and Machina doubled their efforts on those fallen miners, who were fittingly shown no mercy. Other miners tried to stop Yomiko and Machina, but Queenie grabbed Tia and gently set her down behind her, then gave a few good punches and kicks to force those miners back down.

This was the method the Fighting Fronds had used to progress down the tunnel thus far: Yomiko and Machina would go on the tickle offensive, Tia would tie down fallen foes, and then Queenie would swap places with her and keep miners at bay until Yomiko and Machina were finished with the fallen miners, then swap back with Tia. The members of the Merciless Miners that had gone up the tunnel to deal with them all had unusual pickaxes with a purple rubbery head instead of a more typical metal head. These pickaxes didn’t hurt at all the few times they had connected with Yomiko and Machina. Instead, vibrations seemed to instantly shoot from the hilt of the pickaxe to the head whenever it made contact, resulting in highly concentrated tickle vibrations reaching the area that had been struck. There was no doubt in the Fronds’ minds that these pickaxes had been designed by Rocio, and they had initially taken Yomiko and Machina by surprise. Even so, it seemed like the Merciless Miners hadn’t been in a good tickle scrap during the months they’d spent working on this tunnel, and that resulted in those pickaxes not being as big of a problem as they could have been.

“Well that’s a mistake she’ll live to regret!” Queenie smirked, answering Machina’s earlier statement as she planted a solid kick into the shoulder of one of the miners. “Also, Tia….La Barriga isn’t just Big Barbara’s boss, so you should come up with a different name for her.”

“….Biggest evil worst tickle baddie of all?” Tia said after some thought.

“I….guess that’s a little better?” Queenie tilted her head.

“Barriga the Boastful,” Yomiko said.

“La Cosquillador,” Machina said.

“I like the sound of that first one but that second one….did you combine the Spanish word for tickling with ‘conquistador’?” Queenie asked with surprise.

“Mhmm. As expected of Queenie, you figured it out immediately. You’re smart in surprising places, just like how your feet are impressive in surprising places. No, they’re impressive all over,” Machina said, a slight proud smirk dancing on her lips.

“Sheesh, you really can’t get enough of my feet huh?” Queenie blushed sheepishly. “Still, if you’re just saying that to butter me up and make me say the name you came up with for La Barriga is better, you’re outta luck. Both of those names are so good that I can’t choose!”

The Fighting Fronds were having such a leisurely time subduing the Merciless Miners compared to their encounter with Rocio and the Crushers that they were chatting about silly stuff like this. And eventually, after subduing thirty miners, they finally came across a new sight: a mine cart track.

“Man, if we found a mine cart this could go a lot faster,” Queenie lightly grumbled.

“You’d get stuck in it,” Machina said in a matter of fact manner while turning towards Queenie. Her remark caused Tia and Yomiko to laugh, and Queenie could’ve sworn she saw Machina give a small smirk before looking away.

“Why you….” Queenie pouted, then widened her eyes at the sight of the next couple of miners. Up till now, the miners they had encountered were all wearing white t-shirts, black jeans, black gloves, and black boots. The group of miners they were currently facing were still mostly wearing those uniforms, but there were three miners standing behind them wearing different outfits: two of average build standing side by side, and a burlier one standing behind them.

The one on the left had short black hair with sharp fringes, black eyes, a softer looking face, and a cheeky grin. She was wearing a white t-shirt, bright red gloves, black jeans, and red boots, and took a lax stance while holding a black can of oil with a crooked lever in one hand.

The one on the right had shoulder length blonde hair with white, spiky fringes that were partly covering her forehead, red eyes, lavender lipstick on her lips and sharper facial features. She was wearing a maroon leather jacket over her white t-shirt, maroon gloves, black pants, and maroon hiking shoes. She also had a black satchel wrapped around her waist that rested on her left hip, with her left hand hanging casually near the satchel.

The woman behind them had tanned skin, shoulder length brown hair with curled fringes, and a more rugged looking face. She was wearing a white short-sleeved button up shirt whose buttons strained against her large frame, dark green gloves, dark green pants held up by rusty red suspenders, and green boots. Unlike the two miners in front of her, she wasn’t carrying anything.

“Your boss sent her three strongest miners after us all at once? Man, either she’s getting desperate, you’re not all that tough apart from each other, or both!” Queenie smirked.

“Marisol didn’t send us! She’s busy with the tunnel!” the large miner at the back barked.

“Eloise….” the miner with the red gloves frowned at her larger comrade.

“What?”

“Why the heck did you tell them that?! Heck, they probably didn’t even know Marisol’s name until you blabbed it!” the miner with the red gloves pouted, her voice sounding young and high-spirited.

“Whoops, my bad Hinata….” Eloise muttered, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly as she apologized to her comrade. The Fronds perked up at the information that had been revealed to them.

“She’s still not finished with the tunnel? And you three really think you can stop us from heading down and giving Marisol and La Barriga the tickle beatdown of a lifetime?” Queenie smirked.

“Stopping you will be a breeze. Though even if we somehow fail to stop you, we can definitely slow you down for a long time,” the miner with the maroon jacket informed them in a coy, sultry sort of tone.

“Soleil….” Hinata began to say.

“Don’t worry. Even though I said that, I don’t plan on losing,” Soleil smirked, reaching in her satchel and pulling out a handle, followed by the rest of her weapon as she smacked the nearby cave wall with a crisp snap. The weapon she had pulled out was a feather whip, a weapon lined with many small, purple feathers running along its entire body. These feathers would bristle and vibrate at high speeds when a button on the hilt was clicked. Wasting no time at all, she immediately lashed out with her feather whip. The Merciless Miners who were in the way pressed up against the walls, allowing the feather whip to pass between them and head towards Yomiko and Machina.

“Urk!” Seeing the incoming feather whip, Yomiko tried to deflect it like what she had done with the Laughing Gas Bombs back at the Scrapyard. But two factors made this impossible. The first was that Soleil had aimed for Machina, forcing Yomiko to press up against her robot friend in an awkward stance while trying to deflect it. And the second was that there was nowhere for the feather whip to be safely deflected to while fighting in a tunnel. So when Yomiko moved to deflect it, the feather whip rebounded off the ceiling and the wall, then whooshed in front of Machina. Seeing this, Soleil gave a sharp tug of her feather whip just as the front part of the whip rebounded off another wall and went behind Yomiko. The result was that she’d coiled Yomiko and Machina together in the feather whip, the two of them forced to stand together with their chests pressed up against each other and Yomiko’s left cheek and Machina’s right one pressed against each other when they quickly away to face Soleil.

“Damn it, this is a annoying position to be trapped in,” Yomiko scowled, struggling in the grasp of the feather whip.

“Yeah, this is….a very unusual position to be in. Um, Yomiko?” Machina asked.

“Yes?” Yomiko replied, getting the sense that her robot friend was about to say something absurd.

“Well….um, I thought that only staring at feet or tickling people could get my external hard drive to heat up, but-”

“Okay stop. Don’t finish that sentence,” Yomiko scowled in annoyance.

“Well, time to turn this bad boy on~” Soleil smirked, clicking the button on her whip. This caused the feathers coiled around Yomiko and Machina’s bodies to start tickling at high speeds.

“MrrmpheheheheHAHAHAHAHA!” Yomiko yelped.

“EHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Machina shrieked. The feather whip had coiled around their legs, torsos, and shoulders. This meant those swiftly moving feathers could get at the backs and tops of their legs, their sides, and even their armpits. Though that last spot couldn’t be targeted as well since their arms were currently clamped at their sides, it was still more than enough to quickly get loud laughs out of Yomiko. The feathers were moving so fast that Yomiko’s pants and shirt didn’t offer the level of protection they normally would, though Machina was still getting it the worst.

“Yomiko! Machina!” Tia gasped, trying to free them from the grasp of the feather whip. Her efforts were halted by two miners that slipped past the bound Yomiko and Machina and gave Tia two good whacks with their vibrating pickaxes.

“ULP! PFFTAHAHAHAHAHA! HEEHEEHEEHEE BAD MIHIHIHIHIHINERS NOHOHOHOHOHO!” The two whacks sent highly concentrated vibrations to Tia’s right armpit and left side, making her shriek and back up. Queenie rushed forward to help her, but to her surprise the miners didn’t press their advantage on Tia, instead slipping past her.

“Huh?” Queenie blinked in surprise. Her momentary bewilderment allowed them to land two good strikes on Queenie with their vibrating pickaxes. Queenie recovered quickly from this and slammed the heads of those two miners against each other to knock them out, but as soon as she had finished doing so, two more miners who had used their pickaxes to slip past Tia came up to her, followed by another two miners.

Queenie found herself being pushed back, giving the miners who had managed to slip behind Tia more space to maneuver around in. Before long, there were six Merciless Miners between Queenie and Tia and four between Tia and the two feather whip wrapped Fronds. As for those two Fronds.

“Yah-Yah-Yah!”

“Ho-Hu-Ha!”

Two miners were chanting to an odd rhythm, and they struck their pickaxes against the armpits, sides, and tummies of the two Fronds to the tune of that beat.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THIS SUHUHUHUHUCKS!” Yomiko shouted.

“NYEEHEEHEEHEE QUIT HITTING UHUHUHUHUS!” Machina screamed, glaring at the two smugly chanting miners. They struggled fiercely against their restraints, very much wishing they could fight back right now. The concentrated vibrations only added to the tickle torment they were going through, especially when those pickaxes struck at their most tender spots.

“This is almost too easy. At this rate….hm?” Soleil looked up in surprise at the miners Queenie was dealing with. They had been doing a good job whacking their vibrating pickaxes against her tummy and armpits, but though Queenie laughed very loudly from their repeated strikes, it still wasn’t enough to topple her. Queenie shoved the two shoulders of the miners in front of her to make them stagger into the ones behind them, then lifted up one of the miners so sharply that her head wound up trapped in a freshly made hole in the ceiling.

“Rising Raspberry!” Queenie smirked, lifting up the miner’s shirt and blowing a huge raspberry in her belly button.

“MHRRMMPH! MHMMHMMPH! GHMMHMMPH! KHYHMMHMMPH!” the miner’s muffled screams rang loudly in the hole from that action, her hands opening and clenching as her legs kicked around like mad. Queenie made sure to kick away the miners that tried approaching her during this time, and after a minute of raspberries she pulled the now dazed miner out of the hole, then threw her at four other miners, pinning them down. Some of their pickaxes wound up trapped under their arms or bellies, and this caused the quite mirthful miners to laugh wildly and struggle furiously underneath each other, ironically making it even more difficult for them to get up.

“Huh?” Soleil stared in surprise. And that wasn’t the only change that had happened on the battlefield.

“Wooooah?!” Three miners had tripped over a trip rope that Tia had set up between the cave walls. Lashing out quickly with her rope, Tia had ensnared the three miners in such a way that their arms and wrists were tied in front of their chests, with the vibrating pickaxes forcibly clasped in their hands and positioned over their belly buttons. Extra rope went around the pickaxes, their arms, and their waists to keep them from moving their arms away, and of course their ankles had also been secured.

“Bad miners mean to friends of Tia! So time for punishment~” Tia smirked, squeezing the thighs of the three tied up miners.

“““EheeheeheeHYEEEK! GahahaHAHAHAHAHA!””” Tia’s tickles caused them to squirm, which caused the vibrating pickaxes to swing down at their belly buttons. Which made them squirm even more. Within just a few squeezes, Tia had locked them in a situation where the vibrating pickaxes would strike their belly buttons indefinitely, with no shot at them escaping.

“Hehe, why miners tickling themselves? Why miners tickling themselves~?” Tia teased smugly, stopping the thigh squeezes when she was confident the pickaxes would do all the work for her.

“DAHAHAHAHAMN BRAHAHAHAHAHAT!”

“GET THIS STUHUHUHUHUPID ROPE OFF UHUHUHUHUS!”

“HAHAHAHAHAHA CUT IT OUT AHAHAHAHALREADY!”

The shouts of the three misfortunate miners rang out, but Tia paid them no heed, instead snickering at their plight.

“Looks like they could use some backup,” Hinata said with a slight frown, moving to assist the miners. But she then heard Eloise lifting something up behind her.

“You. The big girl all the way in the back. You said things would go faster if you had a mine cart right?” Eloise scowled, lifting a mine cart off the track.

“Uhhhh Eloise…..?” Hinata said nervously as she, Soleil, the other Merciless Miners, and the Fronds all looked at her with surprise.

“WELL HERE’S YOUR DAMN MINE CART!” Eloise shouted.

“Get down!” Soleil ordered the other miners, using her free hand to grab Hinata as she dropped to the tunnel floor.

“YEEK!” Hinata yelped from being suddenly grabbed. And then Eloise gave a mighty throw, hurling the mine cart up the tunnel.

““AAAAH!”” Yomiko and Machina both shouted at the sight of a mine cart flying straight for their heads. Before it could hit them though, they were tackled from behind by Tia, who forced them to the ground as the mine cart whizzed safely overhead. All the miners that hadn’t been knocked over by Queenie or subdued by Tia dropped down. Queenie tried to do the same, but one of the miners was bold enough to swing their vibrating pickaxe at Queenie’s stomach before ducking for cover.

“HIEEHEEHEEK! Why you-OOOF!” As a result, Queenie got hit directly in the stomach by the mine cart, landing on the tunnel floor with her limbs sprawled out. After hitting her, the mine cart hit the ceiling, then landed right on top of the fallen Frond’s stomach with enough force to knock the wind out of her.

“Oooh….bwaah!” Shaking her head in a daze and getting her bearings, Queenie gripped the sides of the mine cart and tried to shove it off her body.

“NYEEHEEHEEEEE?!” But her efforts were interrupted by two miners swinging their vibrating pickaxes against her armpits, causing her to drop it.

“How do you like that? Not so tough now are you!” one of the miners said.

“Take this! And this! And some of this!”

“HAHAHAHAHAHA YOU DIRTY LIHIHIHIHITTLE-HEEHEEHEEHEE! GRRRRMPH!” Queenie grit her teeth, trying her best to ignore the ticklish sensations and how much they were making her arms tremble as she gripped the mine cart once again, managing to lift it a short distance off her body.

“Damn, how tough is she?!” one of the miners complained.

“Get her feet, she can’t be tough everywhere!” another miner shouted.

Those words made Queenie’s eyes widen and her toes curl up in her boots. Her body was completely trapped under the mine cart save for her arms, head, and ankles. Which of course, meant her feet were easily accessible. She felt many hands grabbing at her boots, practically ripping them off of her feet followed by her socks.

“NONONOHOHOHOHOHO! WAIT A SEHEHEHECOND DON’T-HEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHA! DON’T TICKLE MY FEEHEEHEEHEEHEET!” With a loud shriek, Queenie let go of the mine cart, feeling momentary pain from that action that was quickly painted over by the feeling of many, many concentrated vibrations striking all over her feet.

“Oh yeah, this seems to be working way better!” one of the miners laughed. Their vibrating pickaxes struck at her heels, arches, soles, the balls of her feet, and every one of her plump toes. Meanwhile two more miners were still using their vibrating pickaxes on her armpits.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OHOHOHOHOHOHO STAAAAAAAP!” Queenie screamed, her cheeks quickly reddening as her feet waved, scrunched, and flailed about like crazy. She gripped the mine cart once more and tried to lift it off her body, but with all the tickling to her feet her arms were trembling too much to make the cart budge.

“Queenie! Guh! Uh oh!” Tia turned to Queenie with worry, then yelped at the sight of more approaching miners. Diving between the legs of one miner, she wrapped rope around that miner’s left leg and dived back under that very same miner, then tied the other end of the rope around another miner’s right leg. This put those two miners in an awkward and wobbly position, allowing her to shove them towards two more approaching miners. One of those miners was toppled, while the other pressed up against the wall to evade Tia’s attack, stepped over the trip rope, and then tried to swing her vibrating pickaxe down on Tia. But she then widened her eyes when she saw that her pickaxe had been blocked by a rope that was tied between the upper portions of the tunnel wall.

“Hehe. Bad miner was looking at her feet, failed to look above!” Tia giggled, pulling out the two feathers that were underneath her headband as she sweeped them against that miner’s tummy.

“NeeheeheeHEEHEE! QUIT IHIHIHIT!” the miner yelped, instinctively pulling back…..which resulted in her tripping over the trip rope and crashing into the four miners that were trying to get up as well as another miner.

“Hey. You look like you’ve been having fun,” Hinata said with a cheeky smirk, stepping past and over the fallen miners as she gazed at Tia.

“Ooh! Special bad miner enters!” Tia smirked, quickly setting up a cross network of ropes that went along the upper and lower portions of the cave walls, crossing over the center.

“Wow, you can set those up pretty fast~” Hinata smirked, having slipped over, under, and through the ropes right as Tia was setting them up.

“Huh?!” Tia gasped as Hinata circled behind her. Tia stepped back, but her foot slipped on a puddle of oil that Hinata had dropped when she slipped past Tia.

“But unfortunately for you, I’m faster! Now fall in your own trap!” Hinata smirked, tickling Tia’s sides a bit before shoving her, causing Tia to land right in the center of those ropes. Hinata was expecting to see a look of dread on Tia’s face, but she was surprisingly calm.

“….Tia knew it. Knew bad miner would try to knock Tia into center of ropes. Knew bad miner would rush in without looking,” Tia smirked.

“What? What do you mean by-EYAAAAH?!” Hinata screamed in shock as a rope loop snagged around her left leg then hoisted her upside down. Her momentum caused her to barrel into the miners that were tickling Queenie while dropping her can of oil, and she finally stopped with her leg stuck in a hole on the ceiling. The very same hole Queenie had made not too long ago.

“Hehehe! Tia knew bad miner would only notice some rope traps, then rush in. That’s why bad miner stood back and waited, right?” Tia asked with a cheeky grin.

“Tch, damn Tribal brat!” Hinata clicked her tongue, trying to reach up and untie her leg. But she was stopped by Tia quickly wrapping rope around her wrists.

“Bad miner has bad, bad manners! Didn’t let Tia finish!” Tia pouted, then smiled. “So, Tia made sure to make rope trap that would get bad miner, and that rope trap would activate when Tia hits center. Hehehe, bad miner fast, but Tia has fast fingers!” Tia grinned deviously. Hinata scowled at that, then heard someone roaring behind her. It was none other then Queenie, who had managed to throw the mine cart off of her body once the constant vibrating pickaxe strikes to her feet had stopped, the cart landing to the side of the tunnel.

“Haah…..haah…..whew! Thanks Tia,” Queenie smiled, giving the Tribal a thumbs-up.

“Queenie is very welcome! But Queenie needs to head down and help Yomiko and Machina!” Tia said, pointing down the tunnel at Yomiko and Machina, who were still laughing from the feather whip and vibrating pickaxe strikes, and the Merciless Miners that were trying to head further up. Tia’s trip ropes and other rope traps were slowing them down, but they’d get past them eventually.

“Tia will take care of special bad miner and bad miners Queenie knocked down if they tru funny business. Queenie should help Yomiko and Machina!” Tia insisted.

“Alright alright,” Queenie shrugged with a grin, deliberately stomping on the heads of any fallen miners that tried to get up, then lightly shoving Hinata’s body to the side and slipping past her.

“But you’ve gotta promise me you’ll totally wreck them~” Queenie smirked, playfully ruffling Tia’s hair.

“Hehehe, Tia will super wreck them!” Tia giggled.

“Glad to hear it. Alright, bring it on you cave-dwelling chumps!” Queenie shouted, rushing down the tunnel…..and slipping on the oil puddle.

“Ah!” Tia gasped.

“Ah.” Queenie muttered. The largest member of the Fronds took a tumble, falling down the tunnel with such speed and force that she barreled through Tia’s rope traps without getting snagged in them, tripped four miners, then rolled over Yomiko and Machina and slammed into the two miners that had been swinging their vibrating pickaxes at the bound duo, forcing Soleil to sidestep as those miners tumbled down the tunnel.

“Shit, my elbows and knees feel sore….ah! Are you two okay?” Queenie asked, lifting her head up and turning around when she heard Yomiko and Machina’s laughter close by.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU LAHAHAHAHANDED ON TOP OF UHUHUHUHUS, WHAT DO YOU THIHIHIHIHIHINK?!” Machina scowled, giving her usual snark while still laughing from the high speed feathers tickling her sides, the backs of her legs, and her armpits.

“WEHEEHEEHEE’LL BE FIHIHIHIHIHINE AS LOHOHOHOHONG AS YOU FREEHEEHEEHEE UHUHUHUHUS!” Yomiko shouted, squirming around while being feathered rapidly on all the same spots as Machina.

“Right, sorry I-ulp?!” Queenie gasped as she was lifted a short distance above the ground, and turned her head to see that Eloise had grabbed her by the shoulders and was scowling at her.

“You really think stumbling down here gives you any shot at getting past us?” Eloise scowled.

“….Hey, are you the one who threw a mine cart at me?” Queenie frowned in suspicion.

“Yeah, so what?” Eloise said, her glare growing more furious.

“Nothing. Just wanted to make sure,” Queenie shrugged, then clapped both her hands against Eloise’s ears.

“AGGH!” Eloise shouted, dropping Queenie and clutching her ears protectively.

“Now that I know you’re the one who did that, I don’t feel bad about fighting dirty!” Queenie scowled, sucker punching Eloise. This caused the burly member of the Merciless Miners to tumble down the tunnel, past a sidestepping Soleil and into more miners who were waiting in the back.

“This is why she should’ve waited for the other miners before rushing in….” Soleil grumbled.

“You’re next!” Queenie frowned, lunging towards Soleil. Since the feather whip went along the track between Queenie’s leg, she couldn’t run towards Soleil without stepping on the feather whip again and again due to her size, squealing and howling with each step. But she miraculously avoided losing her balance and falling over. Seeing her draw closer and closer, Soleil clicked her tongue and pressed a button on the feather whip, causing it to release Yomiko and Machina, then swung the whip towards Queenie’s right leg to try to ensnare her. But Queenie jumped over the feather whip as it swung towards her, then landed on top of a surprised Soleil, forcing the feather whip out of her grasp.

“Now then….”

“Don’t even think about-”

“Rising Raspberry! …..Though since I didn’t lift you up I guess it’s just a raspberry,” Queenie shrugged, then blew a big raspberry on Soleil’s tummy.

“HYAHAHAHAHAHA! DAMN IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIT!” Soleil screamed, trying to fight her away out of Queenie’s grasp. But with her arms pinned down she had no shot at escaping Queenie’s raspberries, which she planted all over Soleil’s smooth tummy.

Meanwhile Yomiko and Machina took a moment to recover after all the time they spent being tickled, then looked over at Queenie. Or rather, at her upturned feet.

“Her feet have gotten pretty dusty after falling on us….I mean, after falling down here,” Machina commented.

“You’re still mad about that? But yeah, they definitely have,” Yomiko nodded. Then they both turned to each other.

““Still cute though.”” They both said.

“Could you girls quit teasing me all the time?” Queenie blushed, turning her head towards them while pouting as she scrunched her feet a little. Then she heard a creaking noise and stared down the tunnel.

“Seriously?” Queenie narrowed her eyes. The creaking noise she heard was the sound of Eloise lifting another mine cart off the track.

“….You’re really something else,” Queenie groaned, climbing off Soleil as Yomiko and Machina quickly jumped in, with Yomiko pinning Soleil’s arms and Machina pinning her legs.

“Just get down this time Queenie!” Yomiko shouted, beginning to squeeze at Soleil’s armpits.

“You don’t want to get stuck under another mine cart, right?” Machina said, narrowing her eyes as she yoinked off Soleil’s shoes and socks.

“I don’t, but I don’t want her to just keep throwing mine carts at us! So I’m not gonna duck!” Queenie shouted, stretching her arms out as she glared at Eloise.

“Go ahead and throw it! Or are you too scared to do it now that I’m ready?!” Queenie barked at Eloise, issuing a challenge to the burly miner.

“Ha! It doesn’t matter how ready you are, you’ll fall down just like before and then we’ll get your feet again! And this time I’ll join in to make sure you stay down!” Eloise shouted, chucking the mine cart right at Queenie. Yomiko, Machina, and even Tia—who had begun using her feathers on Hinata’s tummy and the tummies of nearby miners after seeing that Queenie had landed safely—looked away since they didn’t want to see a mine cart ram into Queenie again.

“Tch! You girls shouldn’t write me out that easily!” Bending her knees slightly, Queenie had her arms stretched out in front of her to receive the mine cart. When it slammed into them, she grit her teeth and gripped the top of the mine cart. The force of the impact was enough that Queenie’s hands immediately wound up pressed painfully against her chest, and her left foot got lifted partly off the ground. But….

“HAAAAAH!” Slamming that foot firmly down against the tunnel floor, she shoved against the mine cart with all her might, sending it careening down the tunnel.

“WHAT?!” Eloise stared in surprise. The mine cart slammed against the track, the wall, and the ceiling as it tumbled down, then finally slammed right into Eloise’s stomach.

“GUOOH!” Eloise grunted, then tumbled backward. Her large body and the still tumbling mine cart slammed into a good two dozen miners that were still waiting for a chance to jump in, effectively taking them out of commission.

“Haah….haah….” Queenie panted heavily after pulling off that reversal, her arms slumping. When she lifted them up again, she saw that her hands were tingling.

“Queenie, we’ll take care of things from here,” Yomiko said.

“But-”

“No buts. Your hands are tingling, and you’re clearly exhausted. You’ve been fighting hard ever since we got wrapped up, and even had to deal with that mine cart throwing jerk. Now that we’re free, it’s time for us to return the favor,” Machina said, prodding Soleil’s feet with her electro-ticklers.

“Besides, there’s something very important we need you to do. We need you to head back up the tunnel where Eloise threw that first mine cart and shove it back onto the track. ….You’re not the only one who’s tired,” Yomiko said, the memory of her time trapped in the feather whip still fresh in her mind. “I think only Tia’s in top shape right now, and if more miners come up the tunnel we’ll eventually be overtaken.” The confused shouts and mutters of miners could be heard further down the tunnel. They didn’t know what to make of the upturned mine cart and all the sprawled out miners, but eventually they’d squeeze their way through and start advancing up to where the Fronds were.

“Before that happens, we’re gonna blow right through all of them,” Yomiko smirked.

“Heh. Got it!” Queenie smirked, hurrying back up the tunnel.

“Now then, it’s time to return the favor for all the trouble you caused,” Yomiko frowned, squeezing at Soleil’s armpits as Machina delivered sporadic tickle jolts all over her feet.

“OHOHOHAHAHAHAHA! What are you IHIHIHIHIDIOTS waiting FOHOHOHOHOR! Help MEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Soleil screamed, her feet paddling and scrunching as she struggled in their grasp. Some of the miners that had been trying to approach Tia turned and went for Yomiko and Machina. Seeing this, Machina released Soleil’s feet and evaded the vibrating pickaxes of the miners, striking with her electro-ticklers whenever an opening presented itself. When she’d made their fighting stances crumble, she tackled them and forced them into a heap, then used a weaker version of her Electric Shock technique on two Merciless Miners at a time, gradually sapping their strength to fight back as they howled in protest.

“Bad miner and all other bad miners gonna get it now!” Tia smirked, sweeping her feathers against Hinata’s tummy and lashing out with her feathers and ropes at any miners that tried approaching her.

“EHEEHEEHEEHEE! You WIHIHIHIHIHISH! HEEHEEHEEHEE you can’t KEEHEEHEEHEEP that up forEHEHEHEHEVER!” Hinata shot back smugly even while she was shrieking and wriggling like a worm from the feathers sweeping against her tummy.

While Tia took care of those miners to the best of her ability, Queenie shoved aside any miners that were in her way but didn’t do much more than that as she ascended up the tunnel. She felt bad about not offering her Tribal friend more support, but Tia flashed Queenie an understanding grin, then went back to messing with more Merciless Miners. Smiling at that, Queenie continued heading upwards and shoving miners out of her way until she finally reached the mine cart, lifting it up and onto the track. She quickly stuffed her discarded cashmere socks into her boots and tossed her boots into the mine cart.

“Alright let’s get a move on!” Queenie shouted loud enough for Yomiko and Machina to hear it. Smiling at that, Tia picked up the oil can and poured a generous amount onto the nearby rails, then set it aside and went back to feathering the approaching miners. Cracking her knuckles, Queenie gave the mine cart a mighty shove, then quickly leapt in it. Hearing the sound of the approaching mine cart, Merciless Miners screamed and dove for cover. Those that didn’t were swiftly rammed into, quickly losing consciousness after hitting the tunnel floor a few times.

“AAAAAH!” Hearing the sound of the approaching mine cart, Hinata quickly hoisted up her upside down body. The mine cart passed safely underneath her, but Tia, who had pressed her body against one part of the tunnel and stowed her feathers back under her headband, had hopped in the mine cart as it passed.

“Bye bye bad miner~” Tia teased, waving smugly at Hinata.

“Oooh I hate that Tribal!” Hinata scowled, grumbling in annoyance as she struggled against the ropes, still stuck in an upside down position. Her eyes widened when she saw that the cart was picking up speed at an alarming rate.

“Tia, what did you do?” Queenie asked, frowning in suspicion.

“Tia oiled tracks!” Tia replied cheerfully.

“You WHAT?!” Queenie shouted in shock. Holding Tia close so that the Tribal wouldn’t fall out, Queenie watched as Yomiko and Machina’s forms grew clearer and clearer, the cart racing faster and faster towards them.

“HOP ON NOW!” Queenie shouted. Machina immediately stopped what she was doing and leapt backwards without looking, while Yomiko was a little slower and leapt sideways. Queenie moved Tia over to her left side and shielded her from getting crushed as Machina and Yomiko landed in the cart, with Yomiko landing awkwardly.

“Oh no….” Soleil muttered, letting out a brief shout when the mine cart rammed into her, then losing consciousness. Yomiko adjusted her position in the cart, and she and the other Fronds lied down as flat as they could as they barreled through Eloise and a bunch more Merciless Miners. This mine cart ride went on until they rammed into another mine cart at the end of the track, at which point the cart they were in jumped slightly, then remained motionless.

“Is everyone okay?” Yomiko asked.

“I am fine, though I was rather startled by how fast the mine cart traveled,” Machina said.

“….Tia, are you okay?” Queenie asked, looking over to her left at Tia.

“Gaaah…..Tia feels like head spinning….” Tia said, feeling disoriented.

“That’s why you shouldn’t have oiled the tracks. Though I guess it helped us get here faster,” Queenie shrugged with a sigh. “Anyways, can you two get off me? I need to put my socks and shoes back on.”

“Ah, right. Sorry about that,” Yomiko said.

“It’s perfectly fi-GEHEEEK?!” Queenie yelped from a brief squeeze to one of her toes.

“We’ll get off of you now,” Machina nodded.

“NYEHEEHEEHEEK?!” Queenie shrieked from a few prods of electro-ticklers to her feet.

“Queenie arms were all sore? But what about feet? If feet feeling sore, feather massage is way to go! Plus, perfect way to sweep all the dust away!” Tia chirped happily, scrambling on top of Queenie’s ankles and pulling out the feathers from her head band, then rapidly fluffing them up and down the large Frond’s equally large soles.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT’S NO MAHAHAHAHASSAGE, YOU’RE JUST TIHIHIHIHICKLING MEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! WAHAHAHAHAHA GET OHOHOHOHOFF!” Queenie screamed.

When climbing off of Queenie and out of the mine cart, Yomiko and Machina had each snuck in a few tickles. But their bit of playfulness had naturally gotten Tia excited, so she just went all in with her feathers. Queenie’s feet wriggled about and bumped against the sides of the mine cart a few times, but she was careful not to kick around too much as she didn’t want to hurt Tia. Eventually after a minute, she scooped up Tia and pouted.

“Not funny Tia.”

“Tia thinks it was very funny! Queenie found it funny too, else Queenie wouldn’t let Tia tickle for so long before grabbing Tia~” Tia teased with a cheeky smirk.

“Mrrrr…..” Queenie pouted and blushed at that, then handed Tia over to Yomiko, who placed her safely back on the tunnel floor. The three of them smiled and giggled at Queenie, who rolled her eyes, then put her footwear back on with a slight grin.

There were a few more Merciless Miners waiting for them down at the end of the tunnel, but the Fronds made quick work of them. They stepped into an open cave area with level ground that was about a hundred feet across, and seventy feet from one cave wall to the other. A few members of the Merciless Miners were waiting at the bottom, glaring in annoyance at the intruders. There were some smooth rock surfaces here and there that acted kind of like chairs, with lunch bags and bottles of water near those rocks. Behind those and the miners was another tunnel going upwards at a slight angle. There was also a strange mech in the area, but what really caught their eye was that near upper left corner of the room, wrapped on two gurneys, were none other than….

“LEONA! RALLY!” Yomiko shouted joyfully, feeling a few tears welling up in her eyes. Leona and Rally had already turned to the sight of miners being tickled into submission nearby, and when they saw Yomiko step out along with three unfamiliar faces, they grinned.

“Did you miss us?” Leona grinned.

“She missed us so much she’s choking up a bit! Are you about to cry Yomiko?” Rally teased.

“We’ve been tickled horribly in the past too, there’s no need for you to get that worked up,” Leona chuckled. Though she and Rally also had tears welling up in their eyes. They were glad to see Yomiko again, and happy she had finally come to their rescue.

“Hehe….it’s great to see you two bozos again,” Yomiko smiled, relieved that they hadn’t been broken down completely by their tickle torture.

“Likewise,” Rally grinned.

“Maybe you could introduce us to your new friends,” Leona smiled, gazing at the three girls standing behind Yomiko.

“The latest members of the Fighting Fronds you mean,” Yomiko smirked, putting her hands on her hips.

“Huh?” Leona blinked in surprise.

“They’re Fighting Fronds members? Not honorary members?” Rally asked in surprise. This was easily the most shocking news Leona and Rally had gotten in a long time.

“Yup. I’ve had one pretty crazy journey getting here. But-”

“Hey, don’t just ignore us!” one of the Merciless Miners shouted. Frowning, Yomiko turned to the miner, then back to Leona and Rally.

“We’ll talk after you save us,” Leona said.

“We’ll be rooting for you though!” Rally chirped, bringing a smile to Leona’s face.

“Right,” Yomiko nodded, then turned to the Merciless Miners….and that strange mech.

“About time you took notice of me,” Marisol said from inside the mech.

“That design…..kind of reminds me of that mech me, Leona, and Rally fought back in the day. The mech belonging to Dr. Kitzel,” Yomiko frowned.

“This mech is based on her designs. Rocio supplied the schematics and the parts, and me and my crew took care of assembly,” Marisol shrugged with a smirk.

Its overall build looked the same as Kitzel’s mech: a bulky body, bulky arms and legs, and a pilot concealed by a glass covering. But there were a few differences. For starters, instead of a green and black design, this mech had a blue and white design, with white pieces of metal on the shoulder and knee joints and white lining all around the arms and legs. Additionally, the mech had white drills at the end of each arm instead of hands. White feather drills. And the third was that there was a series of small holes running across the belly of the mech. Yomiko had no doubt that something bad would come out of those holes. And finally….

There’s no weak spot, Yomiko thought with a frown. When Yomiko, Leona, and Rally had fought against Dr. Kitzel, her mech had left her belly noticeably exposed, and after tickling it enough, they had managed to make her mech overheat and fall apart.

Even so….there’s still a way.

“So your miners carried it down this tunnel piece by piece, and then you assembled it down here? Seems a little excessive, don’t you think?” Queenie asked while smirking.

“La Barriga said the same thing. Yet here you are. My decision to assemble this proved to be the right call,” Marisol smirked. From within the mech, they could see the dark-skinned miner’s face, gray eyes, long, dyed pink hair that swirled a bit in the front, and muddy brown pants held up by blue suspenders. It was a little surprising that she was wearing no shirt underneath that and instead only had a lacy black bra covering her chest, but an avant-garde miner was nowhere near as shocking as any of the other things they’d encountered on this journey.

“I take it La Barriga is beyond that tunnel you’re guarding?” Machina asked.

“Do you expect me to answer th-”

“Yeah, we just finished the tunnel! She’s raiding Area 51 as we speak!” a miner shouted proudly, her voice cracking twice. Marisol sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

“Marisol? Did I say something wrong?” the miner asked.

“No, bad miner said something very good!” Tia smiled.

“Ah, good!” the miner nodded.

“Thanks to that, we now know that La Barriga hasn’t finished raiding Area 51. Which means you’re just stalling for time,” Yomiko smirked.

“Call it what you like. You think you can overtake me, but this place will be your tomb: one built on your own laughter!” Marisol shouted.

“Hehehe! Bad miner leader gave adorable little shout!” Tia giggled.

“Yeah that shout was weirdly soft? Maybe you should have squeaky throat there do your shouting for you!” Queenie laughed.

“I’d be glad to do it!” that miner shouted, her voice cracking again.

“Please don’t.” Marisol frowned. Letting out another sigh, she glared at the Fronds.

“Feel free to laugh. I’ll give you something to really laugh about soon enough,” Marisol smirked.

“….She gave up on trying to shout,” Yomiko commented.

“Seems like it,” Machina mused. Marisol groaned in annoyance, scowling as she began moving the mech towards them.

“So….Yomiko has plan for scary robot, right?” Tia asked hopefully.

“It doesn’t have a weak spot like Dr. Kitzel’s mech did, but it should still need to vent every now and then. When the mech is venting, it’s tickle spots should be exposed. The mech will vent for longer and longer the more we tickle her. And if we tickle her enough, it’ll fall apart,” Yomiko explained.

“Huh…..works for me!” Queenie grinned.

“Spread out! Stay away from the mech and try not to get surrounded by miners!” Yomiko warned. The Fronds all leapt away as Marisol struck out with a feather drill. A group of five Merciless Miners tried to swing their vibrating pickaxes against the fallen Yomiko, but she rolled away, then quickly hopped back to her feet and began squeezing at their hips.

“Woah….is it just me or did Yomiko get better at tickle fighting?” Leona stared in surprise.

“Well, she had to pick up the slack after we both got caught. You go Yomiko! Make those miners scream!” Rally cheered with a smirk.

“Oh don’t worry, I plan to!” Yomiko grinned. Getting to hear her long missing best friends again put a spring in her step, which naturally led her to be extra merciless with the tickle squeezes she was giving to those Merciless Miners.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” the miners all laughed, trying to get away from her. The Merciless Miners the others were dealing with had also tried to get the Fronds while they were down, but Machina and Tia had rolled away. The only one who had trouble rolling away and wound up getting tickled a bit was Queenie, but she forced them back with a few good kicks, then got back on her feet and began grappling with those miners while digging her fingers into their sides and tummies.

Some of the miners Yomiko was dealing with swung their pickaxes at her while backing up, but their swings were sloppy enough that she could dodge and duck under them effortlessly. Eventually she even managed to snatch up one of those pickaxes.

“Let me borrow this for a bit, alright?” Yomiko smirked at the shocked miner she’d stolen that pickaxe from, then began to subdue all five miners with a mix of squeezes and vibrating pickaxe strikes to their sides, armpits, tummies, and knees. And eventually, they all collapsed in a fit of laughter.

“A few hard knocks and that’s all it takes for you to crumble harder than an unstable mine shaft? How embarrassing~” Yomiko teased.

“It sounds like Yomiko got sassier too~” Leona smirked.

“Hey Yomiko, you trying to steal my thing or something?!” Rally shouted in annoyance.

“Ah! I-I am not!” Yomiko shouted back, blushing with embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Tia was using her ropes to get miners to trip over each other and to lasso pickaxes from their hands, occasionally rolling under or away from them to reposition herself. She’d been doing a good job playing keep away and scribbling her nimble fingers against three of the five miners that were trying to get her when she heard the sound of the mech approaching her. Tia gasped at that and tried to roll away, but one of the miners, the one with the voice crack, bent down low and managed to score a direct hit on Tia’s tummy with her vibrating pickaxe.

“EEP! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Tia let out a squeal from the concentrated vibrations as she was blown back over to the mech, which then stomped on her legs.

“AAAAH! …..Ah?” Tia screamed from that action, then tilted her head when she felt no pain. The soles of the mech were oddly rubbery and squishy, so even though it was standing on top of her legs, she felt no pain.

“Dr. Kitzel wasn’t planning on using this thing to hurt people. Just to tickle them so badly they pass out.” Marisol smirked, her left feather drill whirring ominously.

“Ah! Oh no!” Tia gasped, trying to get out from under the mech. But it was no use, and the feather drill soon lifted up her shirt and pressed against her belly button. Tia let out a silent scream at that. And then….

“NYEEHEEHEEHEE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA TICKLES! KEEHEEHEEHEE REALLY TIHIHIHIHIHICKLES!” Tia screamed, her eyes shooting wide open as she flailed her arms from side to side. She tried once again to free her legs out from under the mech, but when that didn’t work she just thrashed around while laughing hysterically.

“Looks like this mech is the real deal.” Marisol smirked, pressing the feather drill even deeper. It felt like hundreds of very small white feathers were spinning round and round in her belly button, and Tia could feel every last vein of every one of those feathers.

“GAHAHAHAHAHA! BAD MIHIHIHIHINER LEADER HEEHEEHEEHEE SHOULD FIGHT TIAHAHAHAHAHA FOR REEHEEHEEHEEAL!” Tia shouted angrily.

“Hmm….nah I’m good~” Marisol smirked, keeping up the tickle drilling.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHA! EHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Tia screamed as she managed to fumble for some rope, then wrapped it around the mech’s leg and tried to pull it off of her legs. But this didn’t work either.

“Still, for someone who’s supposed to be losing it, you’re resisting an awful lot. Which means isn’t your most ticklish spot. Girls, figure out what’ll make this Tribal really lose it~” Marisol grinned deviously.

“Hey! Leave her alone!” Queenie shouted, shaking off two miners that tried to grab her as she stormed up to the mech. The mech whose upper half turned to directly face her.

“What the-!” Queenie stared.

“This is an upgraded version of the mech Dr. Kitzel used on the original Fighting Fronds. It having a flexible torso should come as no surprise. Now then, take this!” Marisol smirked, clicking a button. This caused electro-tickler nodes—from the original model of electro-ticklers and not the kind Machina used—to fire out of those small holes on the mech’s chest, latching pretty much everywhere on Queenie’s upper body.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BWAHAHAHAHAHA OH GEEHEEHEEHEEZ!” Queenie shrieked, immediately bursting into loud laughter from the vast network of tickly jolts dancing across her upper body.

“So that’s what comes out of those holes,” Yomiko muttered.

“Pfft.” Machina covered her mouth with her hand, repressing her snickers, then going back to fighting the other miners.

“Oh come on. I didn’t mean it like-Queenie!” Yomiko frowned at Machina’s sense of humor, then shouted in worry at Queenie.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS WOHOHOHOHORSE THAN MACHINA’S ELECTRO-TIHIHIHICKLERS!” Queenie screamed, struggling against the tickles as her legs wobbled.

“Don’t make me come over there and prove you wrong,” Machina said, narrowing her eyes slightly as she forced two miners back with her own electro-ticklers.

“Well if she’s still able to tease you, that means Queenie has things under control,” Yomiko smiled.

“What? What are you talking abwuuuh?!” Marisol gasped when the mech took a sharp dip forward, then glared at Queenie. The beautiful bruiser had grabbed some of the nodes and was tugging on them, forcing the mech forward with sheer strength.

“HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE DAMN STRAHAHAHAHAIGHT!” Queenie grinned, responding to Yomiko’s words amidst her howls of laughter. Keeping a firm grip on the nodes, she inched closer and closer to Marisol’s mech with shaky steps. Then she grit her teeth and charged forward, ramming into the mech.

“Gaaah!” Marisol shouted, stumbling off of Tia’s legs and into the miners that had been striking at the prone Tribal with their vibrating pickaxes, sending them tumbling a short distance away before the mech fell on its rear.

“Haah….haah…..phew! Thanks Queenie!” Tia smiled while panting heavily.

“Haah….haah…..whew! You’re welcome.” Queenie grinned, panting just as heavily. When the mech had fallen over, the electro-tickler nodes had fallen off of Queenie’s upper body. Which she was thankful for, as despite her earlier bluster, those nodes had taken a toll on her.

“Don’t get comfortable!” Marisol shouted. Her shout was still soft-sounding, but Queenie and Tia didn’t tease her about that because the mech was looming menacingly over them. As they stared in surprise and tried to prepare themselves for what the mech would try next….it suddenly squatted down on the spot and started venting.

“What? Oh come on!” Marisol groaned, tugging the levers to try to get the mech to move.

“Yomiko was right! Lots of tickle spots exposed!” Tia exclaimed excitedly. Because the mech was venting out steam, openings at Marisol’s sides and tummy had been exposed.

“You two feel free to get her. I’ll take care of these miners,” Yomiko smirked, heading over to the group of miners that Tia had been dealing with while holding up a vibrating pickaxe.

“I’ve got my hands full at the moment,” Machina said to Tia and Queenie, still prodding miners with her electro-ticklers.

“Looks like it’s up to us then. Let’s give her a good tickling Tia!” Queenie smirked at Tia.

“Yeah!” Tia nodded happily, rushing forward.

“Stay back! Don’t even think about…..mmphehehehe!”

“Tia not gonna think then. Tia will just tickle!” Tia giggled deviously, wiggling her small fingers all over Marisol’s tummy and even giving it some tickly squeezes.

“Cut that ohohohout right nohohohohow!” Marisol scowled, unable to escape.

“Come on, you were trying to tickle us into submission earlier. Surely you can dish out what you take, right?” Queenie smirked, having gone behind the mech as her arms reached around its waist to tickle at Marisol’s sides.

“Hahahahaha! Grrnghehehe get awahahahaHAHAHAY!” Marisol shouted.

“Ooh! Even bad miner leader’s loud laughs sound soft and cute!” Tia chirped, gradually picking up the pace as moved her other hand towards the trusty feathers in her bandana.

“ENOUGH!” Marisol gave yet another soft sounding shout as the mech suddenly stood up, lashing out with its feather drills.

“YEEP!” Tia yelped, avoiding the feather drill by lying down flat on her stomach.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!” Unfortunately, the other feather drill scored a direct hit on Queenie’s stomach, the force of the ticklish impact sending her flying a couple feet away.

“Queenie! Are you alright?!” Yomiko asked, having subdued another miner before calling out.

“Y-Yeah…..but between this and the electro-ticklers from earlier, I’m too tired to move! You’re gonna have to cover me for a minute!” Queenie shouted.

“Sorry, but you’ll have to deal with the rest of these miners. I’m coming Queenie!” Yomiko turned an apologetic gaze to Tia, then took off running towards Queenie.

“I’m not letting that happen!” Marisol frowned, swinging her feather drill at Yomiko. Yomiko stared warily at the oncoming feather drill, then slid under it. Upon reaching where Queenie was, she stood up and assumed a fighting stance.

“Wow, that was pretty impressive Yomiko,” Queenie said.

“Yeah, that was amazing!” Leona agreed.

“I prefer rolling though,” Rally added with a smirk and a shrug.

“Thanks….but I think the reason that worked at all is because her arm was moving a little slower than usual,” Yomiko mused.

“Eh? Is that so?” Queenie blinked in surprise, peering over at a frowning Marisol. The miner looked around the inside of her mech as though assessing its condition, then began moving towards Yomiko and Queenie, the mech making slight creaking noises as she advanced.

“Bad miners need to go down! Tia needs to help friends!” Tia frowned, knocking the miner with the voice cracks away, then knocking another miner down on top of a fallen miner and tying up their ankles and arms in such a way that they were forced on top of each other, with one’s back to the cave floor, and the other miner’s chest pressed against her fallen comrade.

“S-Sorry! I’ll get off you now!” the miner on top said, blushing from this unusual position as she struggled against the ropes.

“Bad miners will go nowhere!” Tia frowned, yoinking off their boots and socks and scribbling her fingers up and down their bare feet, getting everywhere from the edges of their heels to the tips of their toes.

“EHEEHEEEK! OH NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” the miner on top shrieked.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA STOP THAHAHAHAHAHAT!” the miner on the bottom shouted in annoyance. The sight of their feet scrunching and wriggling while bumping into each other made Tia snicker mischievously and incited her to pick up the pace while scouring for their really bad spots. Though when she’d finally found those spots, she heard another miner approaching.

“That’s enough out of you!” the miner with the voice cracks shouted, swinging her vibrating pickaxe down. Tia rolled out of the way, and the pickaxe wound up striking the arches of the miner on top.

“NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PFFTEEHEEHEEHEEEEE!” the miner on top squealed adorably from that, her body rustling against the bottom miner, who groaned and blushed faintly in response.

“Ah! Sorry! GRAAAH!” the miner with the voice cracks apologized, then pursued the rolling Tia with a shout. Tia tried rolling in a different direction, but the miner leapt and struck the area Tia was rolling towards, preventing her from going that way.

“Grrr, squeaky throat miner is really annoying!” Tia pouted, her back lying against the cave floor.

“Thank you! Now get hit already!” the miner shouted, her voice cracking once more as she swung the vibrating pickaxe down towards Tia’s tummy. But Tia pulled out some rope and held it between her hands, using it to stop the pickaxe.

“Nooo!” the miner shouted.

“Yes!” Tia shot back while frowning, wrapping her rope around the vibrating pickaxe and kicking the miner away. She swung the pickaxe round and round with her ropes, then let go. It spun at high speeds, then slammed into the miner’s stomach.

“WAHYEEHYEEHAHAHAHYEEEK!” the miner let out an odd sounding laugh accompanied by many voice cracks. The vibrating pickaxe had tickled far more than usual due to the extra centrifugal force, and the miner was sent flying, skidding across the cave floor a few times before coming to a stop.

“Oof. Even squeaky throat miner’s laughs are annoying,” Tia frowned, rubbing her ears. She ran over to confirm that the miner was out for the count. Once she saw that she was unconscious with her limbs sprawled out, Tia grinned.

Meanwhile, Yomiko was contending with Marisol at the same time that Tia was dealing with those miners.

“Step aside. I’ll deal with you later,” Marisol frowned, wanting to take care of the exhausted Queenie first before dealing with anyone else. Partly because she was still annoyed at having been tickled, and partly because Queenie was an easy target.

“Yeah….no.” Yomiko frowned.

“Fine!” Marisol shouted softly, tugging one of the levers to pull back the mech’s arm, then pushing it as the mech swung its feather drill at her.

Okay Yomiko. You’ve already figured out how to deflect Laughing Gas Bombs and feather whips. Still, that feather drill and the arm attached to it are the largest thing you’ve ever tried to deflect, Yomiko thought with a frown, listening attentively to the sounds of the metal creaking. When the feather drill came rushing towards Yomiko’s tummy at a slight downward angle, she bent down low and ran forward, palm striking the three joints that were creaking the loudest on that arm. As the feather drill’s momentum carried it towards a wide-eyed and anxious Queenie, Yomiko gave one last double palm strike to the mech’s elbow, forcing the arm to jerk upward sharply. Seeing that, Yomiko and Queenie sighed with relief, while Marisol looked annoyed.

“How is that even possible?!” Marisol frowned.

“I can show you again if you’d like,” Yomiko smirked, standing upright and assuming a fighting stance again. Truthfully, pulling that off had taken some swift, very precise moves, and Yomiko was a tad winded. But she was confident she could pull it off two more times, which would give Queenie enough time to recover.

“….Don’t bother. I’ll just go for something I know will work,” Marisol smirked, relaxing the arm of the mech. Queenie, Yomiko, and Machina—who had just finished dealing with a group of miners—all froze up from that action. They knew exactly what Marisol was about to do: fire off her electro-ticklers. If Yomiko moved out of the way, Queenie would take a direct hit…..no.

Even if I just stand here and take it, some of the nodes might still hit Queenie! As Yomiko fretted over how to best defend Queenie from the electro-ticklers, Machina rushed forward and leapt sideways, the nodes all latching onto her as she passed by.

“Ah….” Yomiko and Queenie stared in surprise at that, and a moment later, Machina screamed.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Machina shrieked, thrashing all about on the ground and laughing wildly but resisting the urge to try to pull those nodes off her body.

“You want to go down first? Fine by me,” Marisol smirked, observing Machina’s ticklish suffering with amusement.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ELEHEHEHEHECTRIC SHOHOHOHOHOHOCK!” Machina shouted, expelling a great amount of charge from her electro-ticklers into the nodes. The jolts coursed rapidly up the nodes and straight towards the stomach area of the mech.

“What do think you’re-GUH?! KEEHEEHEEHEHEE WHAT THE HEHEHEHEHELL?!” Marisol shrieked in disbelief, being hit with a ticklish jolt powerful enough that she could feel it against her tummy despite being inside the mech. And because the mech had wrapped around her form snugly, she couldn’t simply suck in her tummy to avoid the touch of those tickly jolts. She had the mech back up sharply to get away, having the nodes return to their holes. Sighing in relief once the tickling had stopped, she glared in annoyance at the Fronds. Machina had been helped to her feet by Yomiko, and Queenie had finally recovered enough that she could stand up.

“You always do the most reckless things Machina,” Yomiko shook her head while chuckling.

“Well, it worked. So I see no problem,” Machina replied. Yomiko and Queenie smiled at that, then frowned at Marisol.

“Don’t get cocky! You just traded one exhausted ally for another!” Marisol shouted softly, lunging forward with her feather drill. As Queenie bent her knees while preparing to dive away and as Yomiko prepared to leap to one side with Machina in tow, Marisol’s charge was slowed down. Turning the upper half of the mech around to see what had happened, Marisol scowled. A rope had been wrapped around her leg, with the other end tied to one of the large rocks on the cave floor.

“You!” Marisol glared at the one responsible. Tia, having finished dealing with the voice cracking miner, had quickly snuck up behind Marisol’s mech while doing what she was best at: tying knots.

“Tia won’t let bad miner leader tickle friends crazy! Awful tickling under roach lady will not happen again!” Tia frowned.

“This changes nothing! You’re only delaying the inevitable!” Marisol shouted softly, the mech’s leg continuing to strain against the rope, then snapping as she thrust her feather drill towards Yomiko. But before it could connect, the mech squatted on the spot yet again.

“Are you kidding me?!” Marisol shouted, aggressively tugging at the levers. But the mech wouldn’t budge at all. And because it was venting, Marisol’s tummy and sides were once again exposed.

“Since we’ve all finished up with the other miners, let’s make the most of this chance,” Yomiko smirked, heading over to a group of fallen miners and tossing three vibrating pickaxes over to her friends, then picking one up herself. As her surprised friends wondered what she was planning, Yomiko grinned.

“Oh, I just want to use these vibrating pickaxes to tickle her to a beat. And I think it’ll work wonders on her,” Yomiko explained.

“Huh…..seems like Yomiko’s gotten sillier too,” Leona stared in surprise.

“Nah, she was always silly. She’s just found another group of goofballs to help bring it out more~” Rally snickered.

“T-That’s enough out of both of you!” Yomiko frowned while blushing with embarrassment. “Anyways, let’s get on with it!” The Fronds got into position, with Queenie going for the left armpit, Yomiko going for the right armpit, and Tia and Machina taking care of Marisol’s belly. The beat they went for went something like:

Plink Plink Plunka-Plink Pliiink! Plunka, pl-in-ka plunka, plunka pliiiink!

The Fronds struck each spot in turn in the order of Queenie, Yomiko, Tia, and lastly Machina. When a vibrating pickaxe had made its mark, another one would follow less than a second afterward, giving Marisol no chance to recover. Yomiko and Queenie focused primarily on the bottoms, tops, and center of the hollows of Marisol’s armpits. Tia and Machina had a lot more to work with though, so their vibrating pickaxes would strike all over Marisol’s tummy, sometimes getting close to her belly button.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP! STOP THAHAHAHAHAT RIGHT NOHOHOHOHOW!” Marisol screamed. Being tickled with concentrated tickle vibrations on her pits and tummy was bad enough, but the way they fired off one after another made things even worse. And the mech was creaking more and more, now making an odd rattling noise.

“The mech will get up any moment now. Before that happens, everybody will strike the four corners of her belly button all at once! And this time, each of our hits will be at the exact same time!” Yomiko relayed that information quickly to her friends, and though they were surprised by this sudden change in tactics, they nodded and got to work. Yomiko took the upper right position, Machina took the upper left corner, Queenie took the bottom right corner, and Tia took the bottom left corner. They struck the four corners at the same time while keeping to the beat Yomiko had set earlier.

Plink Plink Plink, Plunk-Plinka PLINK!

“OHOHOHOHAHAHAHA! NONONOHOHOHOHO! HAHAHAHAHAHA GET AWAHAHAHAHAY!” Marisol screamed wildly, feeling like her entire belly button was the stage for a rock concert of concentrated tickle vibrations, one that was playing at the loudest volume possible!

“Hehe! Even bad miner leader’s craziest screams sound softer than you’d think!” Tia giggled, finding Marisol’s muted shouts and reactions to be hilarious in a different way from more wild reactions. Grinning at the rather mirthful miner, the Fronds kept up the ticklish beat to her belly button.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I SAID GEHEHEHEHET AWAAAAAAY!” Marisol screamed, finally regaining control of the rattling mech as she swung her feather drills wildly in all directions. Thankfully, they’d managed to drop down to the cave floor in time since the mech was in worse condition, but that maneuver had still left them vulnerable.

“That does it! You’re finished now!” Marisol shouted softly, setting her sights on Yomiko since she was the one who had come up with that infuriating idea. She swung her feather drill down at her, but it abruptly stopped moments before it could connect. Even the drills stopped spinning.

“Oh great. What n-” Marisol began to say moments before the whole mech fell apart, with Marisol falling out of it.

“That crazy swinging of those feather drills must’ve sped up its collapse a little,” Yomiko mused. Marisol tried to flee, but she was tackled by Queenie.

“Gah! No! Let me go!” Marisol scowled, struggling in Queenie’s grasp.

“Nope! We’ve got to give you the tickle wrecking you deserve~” Queenie smirked.

“It’s what Fighty Fronz love doing!” Tia grinned deviously, pulling out some more rope. Queenie brought Marisol over to one of those smooth rocks that the Merciless Miners liked to sit on, and Tia quickly tied Marisol’s arms behind her head, then roped up her ankles. Once they were satisfied that Marisol was going nowhere, Yomiko and the others headed over to the gurneys that Leona and Rally were trapped on.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Yomiko smiled, freeing the two of them.

“You kept us waiting faaar longer than the time it took you to tickle wreck that miner, remember? Still, at least you eventually swooped in and helped us out,” Rally smirked.

“Seriously, I don’t know how much more we’d be able to take,” Leona smiled. Then she pulled Yomiko and Rally into a group hug. Yomiko and Rally stared in surprise at that, and with a smirk and a shrug from Rally and a smile from Yomiko, they returned the hug. They stayed like that for a good minute, then finally pulled away.

“Still, you’ve been doing a great job messing up La Barriga’s stuff. I knew you missed tickle fighting~” Leona grinned with a wink.

“Hehe. Well, my friends being in a bind is as good a reason as any to get back into it. Though it’s not only me. Carol sent out a special task force to assist the scattered—or I guess previously scattered—rebel groups in subduing the remaining members of La Barriga’s forces and rescuing anyone we might’ve missed,” Yomiko explained.

“Carol has?” Leona asked with surprise, remembering how irritable that councilwoman had been. She recalled how Carol had given her bare feet the stink eye—which was had been a first for Leona—because it violated the Hope City Council’s rules. She tried to match up that person with what Yomiko had just said about her and was drawing a blank.

“Huh. Well, I guess that councilwoman’s good for something then. Still don’t like her though,” Rally sniffed in annoyance.

“Me neither,” Yomiko smirked. Then she gestured to Machina, Queenie and Tia. “These girls are friends I made along the way. I couldn’t have gotten this far without them. Leona and Rally, meet Machina, Queenie, and Tia. Machina, Queenie, and Tia, meet Leona and Rally,” Yomiko smiled.

“Is that a robot? Her design looks kinda familiar….” Rally mused.

“Is that a chubby runt?” Machina replied emotionlessly.

“A sassy robot too! I think I’m gonna like you~” Rally smirked slyly, zooming behind Machina.

“What? How did you-”

“Though personally, I think of myself as a cannonball,” Rally cut Machina off, folding her arms behind her head with a cheeky grin.

“….Well, I can see why,” Machina nodded, reevaluating her initial impression of Rally.

“Wow…..you’re even bigger than me. Wanna tickle tussle sometime?” Leona grinned, tilting her head back a bit to gaze up at Queenie.

“Heh. Sure thing. Heck, you can feel free to get the drop on me when I don’t expect it,” Queenie grinned.

“Heh. You must be pretty confident about your tickle fighting skills then,” Leona smirked, shaking hands with Queenie.

“Naturally,” Queenie smirked, both of them giving a firm grip on that handshake. Granted, part of the reason Queenie was willing to accept that handicap was because it meant she’d get tickled more, but she didn’t say that.

“And….ah, you must be one of the Tribals! We heard that you’ve been fighting the Laughing Lovelies,” Rally grinned.

“Yup! Auntie and other Tribals tickle bad bikers really good! And Tia helped get bad biker leader!” Tia grinned happily.

“Anyways, now that introductions are out of the way…..shall we?” Yomiko smirked, gesturing to Marisol.

“Oh absolutely,” Leona smirked.

“My tickling skills are rusty, so practicing on someone who’s got nowhere to run should help with that~” Rally smirked. Despite saying this, her fingers wiggled so quickly that they left a slight blur, and she gazed deviously at Marisol while her speedy digits drew closer and closer.

“S-Stay back! You’re after La Barriga aren’t you?! So-”

“Sheesh. You’re really quick to throw her under the bus now that you’ve no longer got that mech to protect you huh?” Queenie shook her head while chuckling.

“We’ll chase down your boss and give her the tickle comeuppance she deserves. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun~” Yomiko smirked.

Before long, the Fronds new and old had all gotten into position. Leona was raspberrying Marisol’s neck over and over while wiggling her fingers against her armpits. Queenie was scratching at her sides, her firm hands digging deeply into them to haul out as much laughter as they could. And Tia and Rally were getting her belly, with Rally’s speedy fingers tickling all over the trapped miner’s tummy while Tia’s soft feathers swirled round and round in her belly button.

“Looks like I’ve still got it. But there’s only one way to find out for sure. So let’s compete to see who can drive her crazier~” Rally smirked at Tia, alternating between going at that tummy with her speediest scribbles ever and opting for slower but still speedy little strums.

“Hehe! Rally is on!” Tia grinned, letting her feathers dance energetically in Marisol’s belly button.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA DON’T DO THAHAHAHAHAHAT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEEHEEHEEHEEASE!” Marisol screamed, her tummy bouncing up and down as she squirmed from side to side while struggling against the ropes.

That left Machina and Yomiko to take care of the miner’s feet. They were a size 8, with their bottoms being a slightly lighter color than her usual skin tone. They were a little on the wide side, with shapely balls, arches that sank slightly and sported some wrinkles from their anxious squirming, oval-shaped heels, and short but stout toes. For them, Yomiko had opened up with the Ten Ticklish Strikes to make them more sensitive. Afterwards…..well, Machina confessed that she had a lot of fun with Yomiko’s rhythmic pickaxe idea. So the two of them picked up their vibrating pickaxes and then went ham on Marisol’s feet, striking away at her heels, soles, arches, insteps, the balls of her feet, and the toes at a beat that was twice as fast as the one they had used previously. Because Machina and Yomiko were perfectly in sync, they could easily maintain this speed as the minutes stretched by, and the beat they were dishing out on Marisol’s feet was one that was absolutely relentless.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAP! STAHAHAHAHAP! NOT MY FEEHEEHEEHEET! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHOHO!” Marisol screamed, her feet wriggling and writhing from the cacophony of ticklish vibrations dancing all over them. She became a red-faced, teary eyed mess within the first few minutes, and her limbs strained against the ropes holding them down, desperate to escape. But she had no such luck, and Fighting Fronds would show her no mercy.

After a half hour of this, they finally stopped.

“Ah that was fun!” Leona grinned.

“Nothing beats tickling a baddie silly!” Rally snickered.

“Well, nothing except getting each other anyways,” Yomiko shrugged with a smile. “Let’s head up the tunnel and go after La Barriga,” Yomiko said, preparing to head off.

“About that….we’re staying down here,” Leona said.

“What?!” Yomiko exclaimed in shock, spinning around to face them,

“Somebody’s gotta stay down here and make sure the other Merciless Miners don’t wake up and try setting her loose,” Rally shrugged.

“But-”

“Besides, I think you four got La Barriga covered. We’ll hold the fort down here, so just make sure you tickle the crap out of her,” Rally smirked. Yomiko stared in surprise at that for a few moments, then smirked.

“You bet I will! ….Though I don’t like saying goodbye to you two after just rescuing you,” Yomiko pouted, hugging Leona and Rally.

“We’ll be fine,” Leona reassured Yomiko with a grin.

“Yeah. So leave the mushy stuff for later alright?” Rally smirked, her nimble fingers wiggling against Yomiko’s sides.

“Nyeeheek!” That got Yomiko to pull away immediately and frown at Rally, who was grinning impishly at her. Seeing that, Yomiko shook her head and smiled, then turned to Machina, Queenie, and Tia.

“You heard them. It’s up to us to bring down La Barriga and save Machina’s sisters, so let’s get to it!” Yomiko declared, leading the charge up the tunnel. When they left, Rally turned to Leona in surprise.

“Did she say ‘sisters’? Machina has sisters?” Rally asked in disbelief, earning a shrug from Leona. With that, they prepared themselves to deal with any miners that might enter the room, while Yomiko’s group stormed up the tunnel towards their final confrontation with La Barriga.

Chapter Text

La Barriga and her Elite Guard stormed into Area 51 through the tunnel they had dug underneath the facility, catching the troops stationed there by surprise. They had managed to clear through many floors in the facility before the Area 51 troops finally recovered from this surprise attack and started mounting a fierce resistance in one of the hallways.

“Hold your positions! We can’t let the warlord get beyond this point!” a female general shouted.

“Thanks for letting me know how close I am to getting what I want. Keep firing!” La Barriga shouted. The Area 51 troops were all carrying the sort of electro-tickler fitted with nodes, only these electro-ticklers were modified so that the nodes could be fired twelve feet and could make people lose consciousness within seconds. It wasn’t enough to deter La Barriga’s Elite Guard given that they and their leader were all armed with rifles that fired out red feathers, feathers that had been engineered by Rocio to be able to home in on tickle spots and tickle people through clothes. Still, they had been able to make a couple members of La Barriga’s Elite Guard lose consciousness, and they should’ve been able to stall La Barriga’s forces for another hour, which would be just enough time for the reinforcements the general had requested over walkie-talkie to get here.

“Alright, you four are up!” La Barriga shouted to the four bikini clad robots standing behind her. The next instant they all leapt forward, evading the electro-ticklers and feathers being fired off by leaping along the walls and crawling along the ground and ceiling with nimble movements, subduing four Area 51 troops with high-speed tickles. Then they took down another four, and another four after that.

“Good. Now get back over here!” La Barriga shouted. The robots leapt behind La Barriga’s Elite Guard, giving her forces a clean shot at several of the Area 51 troops.

“Alright now get back out there!” La Barriga shouted, prompting the robots to jump out again. After subduing a few more troops they’d be called back, at which point La Barriga’s Elite Guard would fire off another volley of feathers. With this tactic of having the robots jump in and out, the Area 51 troops were starting to be subdued at a faster rate.

“Do you still think you have time to wait for back up?” La Barriga smirked wickedly.

“Nrrrgh! Troops, hold your positions! Don’t let her overtake you!” the female general shouted. But she could tell at a glance that they wouldn’t be able to keep that up for long.

Of course, La Barriga hadn’t stormed that hallway with all of her forces. Some of them were hanging back on the other floors. After learning that Big Barbara and Rocio had fallen to the Fighting Fronds, she didn’t believe for a second that Marisol would be able to stop them. Still, she figured Marisol would have at least tired them out enough that the members of her Elite Guard she had ordered to wait there could make quick work of them. But those hopes of hers were swiftly dashed.

“Bad soldiers won’t get Tia!” Tia declared, looping ropes around the weapons of three soldiers and giving those ropes a sharp tug to cause their feathers to miss.

“Damn it! We’ve gotta get these ropes off before-GAAAH!” the female solider gasped as she and her three companions were all forcibly bunched together by Queenie.

“You were saying?” Queenie smirked, scribbling her fingers against the tummies of the soldiers that were on the left and right while unleashing her raspberries on the center one.

“““HAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOOOOOO!””” the trio of female soldiers screamed in ticklish horror, unable to escape thanks to Queenie’s firm grip.

The moment the Fronds had ascended up the tunnel, they’d seen female troops with white uniforms and blue shirts either lying unconscious or still clutching their sides while giggling. Most of them had their shirts lifted up, and all of them were barefoot, with their shoes and socks strewn about the place. That was enough for the Fronds to confirm that these were the Area 51 troops, and after they glanced at their forms for a little longer (with Machina spending a little TOO long staring at their feet) they carefully moved to the other end of the room and peeked into the next room. Seeing members of La Barriga’s Elite Guard standing alert, the Fronds had tossed one of the boots into that room to momentarily distract them. From that point on, they’d advanced through the facility while left many screaming, teary-eyed soldiers in their wake.

“Ten Ticklish Strikes!” Yomiko smirked, delivering rapid squeezes to precise spots on the bellies of two of La Barriga’s soldiers.

“NyeeHEEHEHEE! Oh nohohohoho! N-Next comes…..” the female soldier gulped.

“Me. Electric Shock,” Machina said, delivering a burst of ticklish energy to both of their tummies.

““AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!””

All of the rooms and hallways in this facility looked the same: black and muddy brown tiles on the floors, smoky gray walls, and ceilings that were a lighter shade of gray. But none of that mattered to the Fronds. Whenever they spotted one of La Barriga’s troops—with their black uniforms, bright red shirts, white gloves, gray pants, black boots, and oversized black hats—they sprung into action. By now they’d bested so many of them that the remainder were wary of certain team attacks they had seen in action. But that wariness didn’t stop them from getting tickled silly with their hats falling from their heads, their boots and socks flying through the air, and their cheeks turning redder than their shirts as they screamed and begged for mercy.

If they’d been hoping for some of the Merciless Miners to come up the tunnel and aid them, then they were out of luck, as the moment some of the miners had recovered enough to head down the tunnel, they were forced to contend with Leona and Rally.

“Annnd done! This is almost too easy!” Rally smirked., having tied Soleil up in her own feather whip the moment she’d tried capturing Rally with it.

“Nrrgh! Let me out at once!” Soleil frowned.

“Hmm, nah. Let’s see how to turn this baby on….here we go!” Rally grinned, clicking a button on the whip that caused the feathers wrapped around Soleil’s body to start spinning against it at high speeds.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HOW DAHAHAHAHAHARE YOU USE MY WHIHIHIHIHIHIP AGAHAHAHAHAINST MEEHEEHEEHEE!” Soleil shouted in frustration, wriggling around like a worm as she struggled to free herself.

“You gonna cry about it or something? ….Wow, you really ARE gonna cry about it! I see some tears forming already!” Rally snickered.

“THAT’S BECAHAHAHAHAUSE IT TIHIHIHIHIHICKLES! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE DAMN BRAHAHAHAHAHAT!” Soleil growled with fury. In her current position, she couldn’t reach the handle of the feather whip to turn off the feathers or free herself, forcing her to sit there and take it.

“Hold on a sec, I gotta help out Leona,” Rally grinned, zooming over to her friend that was being surrounded by miners. She shoved two miners, rapidly tickled the sides of two other miners, and squeezed the knees of three other miners, which caused their formation to completely collapse and allowed Leona to force back those that weren’t subdued by her rougher tickles.

“Argh, you were our ticklish entertainment! Don’t think you can defeat us just like-guh?!” Eloise’s angry shouts were cut off by Leona spinning her around and holding her so that her back was to the Frond.

“You seem pretty grumpy. I think you’ll love my special kind of hug~” Leona smirked.

“Nrrgh, don’t!” Eloise growled, struggling in Leona’s grasp. But she hadn’t fully recovered from her encounter with Yomiko’s group. And even if she had, it wouldn’t have been enough for the burly miner to escape.

“Buzzing Bear Hug!” Leona grinned, raspberrying Eloise’s neck again and again while wiggling her fingers up and down her sides and belly.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! CUT THAHAHAHAHAHAT OHOHOHOHOHOUT! HEHEHEHEHEHE PLEEHEEHEEHEEASE! GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEEHEEHEEHEEASE STAHAHAHAHAHAP!” Eloise screamed, shaking desperately in Leona’s grasp as she threw her head back and howled with laughter. When Leona finally released her, a red-faced, teary-eyed, and dazed Eloise fell to the cave floor on her knees, her head crashing down a moment later. Satisfied at the sight of the unconscious miner who had fallen on her face, Leona turned her gaze to the remaining miners, who were now hesitating.

“Well? Don’t tell me you got cold feet?” Leona smirked.

“If their feet are cold I’ll warm them up. Anybody who wants to lose their socks and shoes is more than welcome to come on over! Well I say that, but really those socks and shoes are gonna fly off whether you chickens come here or not! So coochie coochie coo, we’re gonna tickle yooou~!” Rally teased, lying down on her back and wiggling her fingers and pudgy toes rapidly and teasingly when saying that last remark. That gesture got the miners to back up and look even more nervous, causing Rally to giggle impishly. That is, until she noticed Leona had also frozen up.

“Hmm? I was just going with the flow, but did that actually scare you?” Rally stared in surprise.

“Ah! U-Um well….maybe a little?” Leona admitted with a nervous smile.

“A little? Well maybe I wanna tickle your feet a little. And maybe that ‘a little’ can become a little longer, like say….an hour or two longer~” Rally snickered deviously, now wiggling her fingers and toes in Leona’s direction.

“GAH! M-M-Miners! We have to get the miners first!” Leona blurted out anxiously, looking even more nervous once that gesture was directed at her, causing Rally to laugh.

“Heeheehahaha! Alright, Bigfoot. I’ll leave you alone for now~” Rally teased smugly, standing back up as she and Leona assumed their tickle fighting stances. The fact that Leona was more scared of Rally than the miners was a good sign that they had this in the bag…..though Leona still hoped that Rally would forget all about wanting to tickle her once they’d bested these miners.

“Alright, tie those girls up. Once you’re finished, head two floors down. If the Fighting Fronds arrive, take them down! You three and you four, come with me,” La Barriga said, heading down the hall with her three generals and the four robot girls as the troops she’d ordered fulfilled her wishes, then headed the opposite direction to guard the area two floors down. La Barriga opened the door and saw a floating blue energy core.

“Rocio did say I’d need a good source of energy for that barrier, and it looks like Area 51 has it,” La Barriga smirked, pulling out a prod from her uniform’s coat pocket and sticking it in the energy core, then prodding one of the robot girls with it.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” that robot girl’s eyes went wide, and a second later she was on the floor, her eyes squeezed shut as she laughed while kicking her legs. La Barriga observed this with mild surprise, then smirked.

“Looks like this is my kind of energy. Alright, you three next,” La Barriga smirked. The remaining robot girls stiffened, but eventually came up one by one and let La Barriga prod them. Once that was done, La Barriga’s group advanced into the next room. It was a spacious area with a large control panel and a screen displaying the area outside. The control panel also had two spots to insert keys into: one on the far left, and one on the far right.

“Time to launch the tickle nukes!” La Barriga smirked. They had already snatched the two keys off of that Area 51 general after tickling her until she was a sorry husk of her former self. Tossing one of the keys over to one of her generals, La Barriga went to one side of the console while the general went to the other side, and they twisted their keys at the same time. Only, the key La Barriga was holding didn’t twist at all, even though it was a perfect fit for slot.

“What the…..a fake? That general made a fake key?!” La Barriga scowled. Tossing the key aside, her eyes searched all over the room, then rested on a framed picture that was on a shelf. One showing the general of this facility and another girl standing next to each other and smiling while standing outside of Area 51. There were other photos of the general and that girl standing in the park while wearing yoga pants, a photo of them playing table tennis, and several photos of the snoozing general being buried at the beach by the girl, with one photo showing the girl holding up a feather and winking mischievously.

“That girl….she’s one of the commanders at this facility! She should still be unconscious out in the hallway we just came from! She has the key! One of you, I don’t care who, get out there and-”

“NYEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEEK! WHOOHOOHOOHAHAHAHAHA!”

La Barriga’s words were cut off by the sound of wild laughter coming from the room they’d just been in. A short while later, the Fighting Fronds entered with a panting Machina. La Barriga frowned at Machina, then gazed at the robot’s electro-ticklers, which were both out and crackling powerfully with blue energy. Even her hair was crackling with blue energy.

“You stuck those electro-ticklers into the energy core….and then blasted yourself full force with that energy. You’re either very brave or very dumb,” La Barriga frowned.

““She’s very dumb.”” “Machina big dummy.” The other Fronds blurted that out at the same time, with Tia saying the latter remark.

“What? No, it was cool.” Machina said, turning to look at each of them in surprise.

“No, it was pretty dumb,” Yomiko sighed.

“You didn’t even tell us what you were up to before you did it,” Queenie commented, tilting her head with a raised eyebrow.

“Machina used Electric Shock on Machina with strange energy that Machina only just encountered…..Machina is crazy dummy,” Tia shook her head.

“Oh come on. I could tell at a glance that La Barriga had used that energy source to power up ASB….the thing Rocio called it,” Machina corrected, refusing to use Rocio’s acronym. “So I decided to even the playing field. You didn’t seriously think I used that energy on myself without thinking, right?” Machina asked, gazing at each of her friends in turn. They all wordlessly looked away though, causing Machina to frown.

“I don’t have time for this nonsense. Step aside, or I’ll crush you,” La Barriga frowned.

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Queenie smirked, standing in front of the door to block it as the other three Fronds stood in front of her: Tia in the middle, Yomiko on the left, and Machina to the right. La Barriga narrowed her eyes at that, and the two opposing sides glared at each other.

Judging by the uniforms of the three soldiers standing before the Fronds, they weren’t the rank and file troops they had tickle brawled with on the way up here. These were La Barriga’s generals. They all wore the same black uniforms, though these uniforms had one, two, or three stars on the pads of each shoulder, with a matching number of stars present on their hats. Instead of the usual bright red shirts, their shirts were a darker, bloody shade of red, but otherwise their outfit was the same as the one the other soldiers were wearing.

The general on the left was the shortest of the three and had green eyes, short orange hair with the sides sticking out sharply to the left and right, freckles, a round nose, and soft features. She was the most adorable looking of the three and only had a single star on the shoulders of her uniform and her hat, but she had an expectant gaze that was trained on the three Fronds, and her hand dangled near the blaster pistol at her hip as though she was ready to draw it at a moment’s notice.

The general on the right was the largest of the three and was a head taller than La Barriga. She was a muscular Asian woman with her hair tied back into a long ponytail, black eyes, ruby red lipstick on her lips, shades, and sharper features than her shorter ally. She had two stars on the shoulders of her uniform and on her hat. She removed the larger blaster that was slung around her shoulder, training it on the Fronds with a confident smirk.

The general in the center wasn’t as tall or muscular as the general on the right or as short and spry like as the general on the left. She had a more average build. Yet she had three stars on the shoulders of her uniform and her hat, and had the sternest features of the three. She had tan skin, brown eyes, a sharp nose, and a mop of black hair that was a bit shorter than the general on the left. She had a bazooka slung around her shoulder and carried it with ease, narrowing her eyes coldly as she glared at the Fronds.

As for La Barriga, she looked the same as always. Black military coat with four stars on each shoulder and a few medals over her left breast pocket. Black sleeveless shirt underneath. Tummy so large it poked out prominently under said shirt, with a tattoo of a skull and two feathers just below her belly button. Camouflage pants and green combat boots. Spiky hair that was dyed red and tied back into a braided ponytail. Orange eyes that blazed with anger at how this band of heroes had managed to get all the way here and were now interfering with her when she was on the verge of reasserting her dominance throughout the USA.

“Private Catalina, go for the one at the door. You two, decide amongst yourselves who you want to go for,” La Barriga said, addressing the general with the freckles, then the other two generals as she took a couple steps back. Then she ordered two of the robots to stand a few feet behind her on her left and right while the other two moved so they were standing a few feet in front of her on the left and right.

“Well? Do any of those three catch your eye, Raquel?” the muscular general said with a provocative tone while smirking at the tanned general.

“That’s Captain Raquel. Insubordination is unbecoming of you, especially now of all times. You would do well to remember that, Sergeant Chen,” Raquel said stiffly, her cold eyes resting on Chen’s own.

“Tch….you’re always so damn formal. So, did you figure out who you wanted to get?” Sergeant Chen asked. She was met with silence as Raquel continued gazing at her, and when that silence grew uncomfortable Sergeant Chen let out a groan.

“Uggh. Did you figure out who you wanted to get, Captain Raquel?” Sergeant Chen asked while scowling. Hearing that response, Captain Raquel nodded and turned away, gazing at the Fighting Fronds once more.

“Yes….as I recall, our biggest losses were caused by the Tribals rebelling against the Laughing Lovelies. That young Tribal is not only involved, but was probably one of the people who led the charge. To make up for the Laughing Lovelies’ failure, I will make that Tribal suffer so horribly she’ll wish she’d never rose against La Barriga,” Captain Raquel said, her eyes narrowing as she focused on Tia, who stiffened a bit at that gaze while frowning back at her.

“Right. In that case, I’ll get the robot and the other one, whichever tries to challenge me!” Sergeant Chen smirked. Private Catalina had been observing this conversation with a casual gaze, but seeing that it had ended, she turned back to the Fronds.

“Now go! Get that key and make the Fighting Fronds scream! Activate Barrier!” La Barriga shouted, issuing her orders and then shouting a voice command that activated a blue force field of pure ticklish energy, with herself at the center and the robots latched onto four points all around the force field, their bodies orbiting around the barrier. Hearing that declaration, La Barriga’s generals rushed forward, with Catalina pulling her blaster pistol out of her holster and running towards Yomiko while firing her blaster pistol as Chen ran towards Machina. This meant that they were moving diagonally towards their respective targets, Catalina’s speed ensuring this formation didn’t result in them crashing as Raquel went down the middle towards Tia.

“Woah!” Catalina’s fast firing took Yomiko by surprise, and she pressed her body up against the wall to evade the shots. Tia took out a pre-tied lasso and tried to nab Catalina with it, but Raquel snatched the rope out of the air while running, then tugged it sharply to make Tia stumble into her grasp. Her free hand immediately went for the Frond’s left thigh.

“EEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA DON’T TICKLE THEHEHEHEHERE!” Tia screamed. Raquel roughly tossed the Tribal behind her, causing Tia to roll against the floor a few times and robbing her the chance of getting payback. Catalina hadn’t slowed down at all, and after giving a few more warning shots near Yomiko’s position, she ran towards the wall and kicked off it, making a beeline for Queenie. The moment she kicked off the wall though, Yomiko grabbed her ankle and forced her to the ground.

“That’s enough out of-aah?!” Catalina was undeterred by this action, and with a slight frown wrapped her other leg around Yomiko’s neck, then spun around. Then she started firing her blaster at Yomiko’s stomach.

“Hehehehehe!” The blaster fired off small bursts of ticklish energy, prompting Yomiko to giggle.

Still, it doesn’t tickle anywhere near as much as Machina’s electro-ticklers. The rapid-fire nature of the weapon was a little annoying, but it shouldn’t be enough to pose a threat.

The moment Yomiko thought that, Catalina began firing her blaster at her armpits.

“EEK! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHOHO!” Yomiko screamed. Individually, the blasts didn’t tickle all that much, but this blaster could fire off several shots per second, and Catalina seemed to have an itchy trigger finger. With so many shots coming one after another and all of them targeting Yomiko’s worst spot, her grip on Catalina’s ankle loosened. Seeing this, Catalina tugged her leg away sharply and lifted her other leg away from Yomiko’s neck, then continued her advance towards Queenie.

“You’re not getting past me!” Queenie frowned, spreading her arms out as she stood in front of the door like an immovable wall. In response, Catalina threw the blaster over Queenie’s head. Queenie looked up at it in momentary confusion, then looked back at Catalina in time to see the Private slide between her legs, snatch her blaster out of the air as it fell behind Queenie, then take off running.

“What?!” Queenie stared in surprise, looking over her shoulder as she saw Catalina run to the other end of the room with the energy core and out the door.

“Stop her Queenie!” Yomiko shouted, running over to help Machina. Chen was trying to tickle Machina, alternating between an up close and personal approach and using her blaster. Though Machina wasn’t fighting back, only dodging.

“Right!” Queenie nodded, chasing after Catalina.

“You poured all that energy into yourself yet you won’t use it? Come on, give me a taste! Unless you’ve already realized that you don’t stand a chance against me.” Chen smirked.

“This energy’s not for you. It’s for rescuing my sisters,” Machina replied, gazing back at Chen with emotionless eyes.

“Ha! That’s one way of admitting you’re a coward,” Chen smirked, pressing Machina’s back against the wall while pointing her blaster at her stomach. She was about to take aim when she felt hands squeezing at her thighs.

“Snrkehehehehe?!” Chen looked over her shoulder and gave Yomiko a very sharp glare.

“Leave Machina alone you-huh?!” To Yomiko’s surprise, Chen turned her whole body around, blaster included, and fired it a moment later.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA?!” Yomiko laughed in surprise, being sent flying a short distance from a ticklish blast that was much stronger than the ones from Catalina’s blaster pistol. As Chen fiddled with a nob on the blaster to cool it off—effectively ‘reloading’ it—Machina kicked her roughly in her rear.

“Gah?! Stupid damn robot!” Chen grumbled, trying to stand up and retaliate against Machina only to be pulled back to the floor by Yomiko.

“I’m your opponent,” Yomiko said firmly, having grabbed Chen from behind. She currently had her right arm wrapped under the sergeant’s chin.

“Why yoooou!” Chen growled. Machina nodded gratefully at Yomiko, then looked over at Tia and Raquel’s fight. Having learned her lesson after a few failed attempts at lassoing her foe, Tia was now just keeping her distance, waiting for the right moment to tie up her opponent. Noting that, Machina turned her gaze to La Barriga, who was protected in her force field.

“Struggle all you want! You won’t be able to bring it down!” La Barriga smirked.

“Don’t worry sisters. I’ll disrupt her barrier no matter what. And I’ll save you all. By tickling you….with love.” Machina said emotionlessly, ignoring La Barriga completely. Upon saying those words, her eyes widened slightly. She could’ve sworn that, for a brief moment, the faces of her siblings twitched upon hearing those words. Whether that was them sarcastically smirking in amusement from Machina’s last statement or just her eyes playing tricks on her was something she was unsure of.

“But, it gives me a good feeling that I’ll be able to save you all, like how Yomiko saved her two friends,” Machina said, a small smile on her face. With that, she kicked off the floor and headed straight for La Barriga.

“Hey, quit running away! Get back here!” Queenie shouted. Catalina ignored that shout though, her feet running across the floor and the unconscious Area 51 members while her eyes darted around, observing each of their faces to see if any of them matched that of the girl who was with the general in those photos she’d seen.

“What’s the matter? Too scared to fight me?” Queenie shouted. Her voice and footsteps sounded closer, but she was still a good distance away. So Catalina ignored her provocation and kept on running.

“Hey, I’m talking to you! At least say something!” Queenie shouted. Her voice sounded alarmingly close, prompting Catalina to peer over her shoulder as she kept running, then widen her eyes in surprise. She had been sure Queenie had been farther away but…..had she been chasing Catalina at only half-speed this whole time? If so, that would explain how she was now rapidly barreling towards her like an angry freight car.

Catalina narrowed her eyes at that, then fired rapid blasts from her pistol as she kept running, thinking that would be able to slow Queenie down a little. But it didn’t slow her down even a little as she reached out and tried to grab Catalina. In response, Catalina squatted down on the spot, then aimed a sharp kick under Queenie’s chin.

“Gah!” Queenie groaned and backed up a bit from that, rubbing her chin. Seeing this, Catalina turned her gaze back in front of her, then widened her eyes. Several feet away and lying unconscious was the girl from the photos, the commander who was close friends with the general of this facility. Seeing this, Catalina’s eyes narrowed as she holstered her blaster pistol, then ran towards the unconscious commander.

“Ah? Hey, get back here!” Queenie shouted, chasing after Catalina. She once again got close to grabbing her, but Catalina jumped and kicked off the left and right walls, then the ceiling before landing an axe kick on Queenie’s head.

“AUGH!” Queenie groaned, then crumpled to the floor. Catalina relaxed a bit at that, then searched the commander’s pockets for the key. When she didn’t find it she checked the coat pockets, then the inside pockets, and finally pulled it out. She pocketed the key, gazing at the fallen Queenie as she stepped over her…..and then her eyes widened slightly when she saw Queenie’s finger twitch. Wasting no time, she began running back in the direction she had come from. But she didn’t get very far before she heard another shout.

“HEY! I’M NOT DONE WITH YOU!”

The volume startled her, but she kept on running, ignoring the sounds of Queenie’s footsteps as they closed the distance at a rapid rate…..her somewhat softer footsteps? And what was that strange clopping noise? Catalina chanced a glance over her shoulder, and got a boot to the face.

“GHK!” Catalina fell to the floor, her hat falling off her head. Upon hitting the floor, she immediately pulled out her blaster pistol and pointed it down the hall, only to get another boot to the face, causing the blaster to fly from her hands.

“There. That was payback for kicking me twice,” Queenie frowned. As she gazed at the Frond’s socked feet, Catalina realized what that clopping sound from earlier had been. Queenie had yoinked off both of her boots and put them on her hands, clapped them together a few times as she approached, then swung them off her hands at Catalina’s face once she was within striking distance.

The two of them were now in front of the doorway leading to the room with the energy core, and beyond that was the room where the other Fronds were fighting. They glared at each other for a few tense seconds before Queenie spoke up.

“If you want to throw down, then just tickle me! Don’t just kick me and use the blaster to play keep away! The reason you didn’t knock me out when you saw my hand twitch is cause you were planning on tickling me after launching the tickle nukes and didn’t want to wait for me to regain consciousness right? So what are you waiting for?!” Queenie said in a provocative tone, glaring at Catalina as she issued her challenge.

“Ridiculous…..” Catalina muttered. Though her eyes darted towards Queenie’s socked feet, whose toes were wiggling slightly.

“So you can talk. But what’s really ridiculous is how you’re trying to deny it! Come on and show me already! Does this kitty have claws, or is she just a pus-woah!” Catalina wrapped her legs around Queenie’s legs and gave a sharp tug, causing the large Frond to fall on her back. Catalina briefly released the captive Frond, but only to adjust her position. The end result was Queenie’s ankles being wrapped in a double leg lock with Catalina’s right leg crossed over her left one, her socked feet inches away from Catalina’s hands.

“Nrrgh! Damn you’ve got strong legs…..” Queenie frowned, struggling to get out of Catalina’s grasp. Catalina then removed her right glove and showed off her nails to Queenie while gazing at her with the same intensity of a lion gazing at a zebra before pouncing.

“Ah…..w-what do you know, turns out you do have claws,” Queenie said with a nervous chuckle, giving a powerful shake of her legs as she tried to get free. Her efforts only made the Private’s legs shift slightly as she continued gazing at Queenie for a moment longer, then turned her attention to her socked feet. Removing her other glove, she pinched the toe area of one sock, then the other. Then she tugged at both socks at once, a mysterious gleam in her eyes.

…..Nah, there’s nothing mysterious about it. I was right about her wanting to tickle me. I just hope the others are having better luck than me, Queenie thought with a nervous grin as her bare soles were quickly unveiled.

“Gah! Bad soldier needs to stay away!” Tia frowned, evading Raquel’s attempts to grab her.

“Quit struggling!” Raquel scowled, growing impatient. Tia grew nervous whenever Raquel’s hands approached her thighs, but was doing a good job of keeping her distance, in no small part due to the trip ropes she’d set up while rolling around the room. Eventually she managed to roll between Raquel’s legs and loop some rope around her neck, then tugged it sharply. It was her hope that Raquel would instinctively drop her weapon and try to remove the rope, as that would give Tia a chance to tie some rope around her ankles and knock her over. Instead of doing so though, Raquel flipped her bazooka in her right arm so that it was pointing behind her, then leaned back slightly and took the shot.

“GAH!” Tia gasped as a glob of some strange green goo was fired at her, pinning her to the floor with only her head and feet uncovered by it. The goo then wriggled a bit, and as Tia looked down at it in worry, it began vibrating. This meant it was tickling everywhere on her body save for her back—which was pressed against the floor—and her feet.

Naturally, that included her thighs.

“ULP?! MMMPHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHAT THEHEHEHEHERE NOHOHOHAHAHAHAHA!” Tia screamed, struggling as much as she could against the goo. At first she couldn’t feel her hands, but after a bit she could feel her limbs moving around, straining against the goo. Maybe if she kept at it she could get free.

“Before you manage to get free, I’ll make sure you’re too exhausted to mount any sort of resistance,” Raquel scowled, setting down her bazooka and taking a seat, then yoinking off Tia’s moccasins before digging mercilessly into the trapped Tribal’s soles.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA HELP! TIA NEEDS HEHEHEHEHELP!” Tia shrieked, shaking her head from side to side. Her feet wriggled and flapped about, and tears quickly welled up in her eyes from having to deal with this on top of the vibrations. After grabbing Chen from behind while on the floor, Yomiko had gone for squeezes on her left side and any ribs her left hand could reach, earning snickers and shouts in the process. When she heard Tia call for help, she sped up her tickles for a few seconds, then released Chen and tried to run over to help her friend. But when she tried to do so, her arm was grabbed and she was forcibly turned around.

“Going so soon?” Chen smirked, planting her knee in Yomiko’s stomach.

“OOF!” Yomiko groaned, then was pinned to the floor with her arms overhead.

“I haven’t even gotten a chance to properly mess you up for getting in my way!” Chen smirked, scratching Yomiko’s left armpit.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NRRRGH, DARN IHIHIHIHIHIHIT!” Yomiko struggled in Chen’s grasp, wanting to get away from the tickling and help Tia. But she was having trouble getting free, forcing her to put up with this and that smug face looming overhead as she laughed and squirmed.

“I’ll help you in a bit Tia. But first I have to help my sisters,” Machina said.

“Have fun trying! Rocio tickled their personalities right out of them. There’s nothing for you to save! If you miss them so much, why not join them as the missing piece of this barrier? At least then you’ll get to be with them,” La Barriga smirked.

“No. I want to be with them and my friends, and I won’t settle for one or the other,” Machina replied in a deadpan tone. As she talked, Machina rammed her electro-ticklers against the force field that had been imbued with the same energy, searching all around for a weak point on the barrier.

“You’ll get to see them plenty of times,” La Barriga insisted with a wide smirk.

“I prefer spending time with them and tickling them myself, not them being strapped to tickle machines or paraded around by your forces. Also, I hate you. For everything you’ve done to my friends, for everything you’ve done to the Tribals, for everything you’ve done to the many people you’ve terrorized and forced to become tickle slaves, and for what you’ve done to me and my sisters…..I’ll make sure you suffer,” Machina said, glaring coldly at La Barriga.

“Well, guess that’s that then,” La Barriga shrugged, opening up her coat to reveal the inside pockets of her coat, which had several sets of missiles and some metal parts. She took out the metal parts and began putting them together quickly to assemble…..something.

Before she tries anything, I’d better help out my sisters, Machina thought with a frown, continuing to ram her electro-ticklers against the force field until she found a spot that she could press a little deeper into.

“Electric Shock! Electric Shock!” Because she had blasted herself with a great deal of energy from that core, Machina could throw out one Electric Shock after another without feeling any fatigue. So she kept doing so on that spot until the force field had been reduced enough that one of her sister’s bodies was completely outside it. This sister had red hair that swirled to the left side of her head, and a red bikini.

“I’ll help you break out of this, dear sister. I’ll tickle you…..with love.” Upon making this declaration Machina once again saw her sister’s face twitch a little, and brimming with hope, she began prodding her sister’s body with the electro-ticklers. Not aggressively, but with gentle, playful taps as she tickled her sides, belly, and armpits.

“GAH! MRRMPHEHEHEHEHE!” It didn’t take long for Machina’s red-haired sister to begin laughing from that, her hips swaying from side to side. But she still refused to break away from the barrier, and her eyes looked vacant.

“Wow. You’re awfully ticklish aren’t you? Shaking around like a leaf,” Machina teased emotionlessly, continuing her playful prodding. Curiously, though she had been orbiting around the force field a moment ago, the moment Machina got on the attack her body and the bodies of her remaining siblings remained stationary on the force field. Still, that made things easier for the robot girl, so she wasn’t complaining.

“HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!”

“I already told you it’s not going to work,” La Barriga smirked, continuing to assemble what was now starting to look like a rocket launcher.

“If I give these hips a visit, will that really get you squealing? Let’s find out.” Machina deadpanned, speeding up her playful prodding a little as her sister’s hips became the focus of those tickly jolts.

“EYAAH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PFFTHEHEHEHE QUIT IHIHIHIHIHIT!” The red-haired sister said amidst squeals, her eyes no longer looking vacant and seeming to shine a little as she gazed at Machina.

“Wait, what?!” La Barriga stared in surprise, having finished assembling the head of the rocket launcher. The red-haired sister’s voice had a light and airy quality to it, making her squealing sound almost melodic.

“Nope. I’m never gonna leave these hipsies alone. Tickle tickle little hipsies~” Machina teased, a small, playful smirk on her lips as she kept up the playful tickles.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA! I-I SAID CUT IT OHOHOHOHOHOUT!” the red-haired sister squealed, feeling tears well up in her eyes as her hips shook faster and faster. This tickling and teasing, delivered by someone who clearly just wanted to mess with her rather than make her suffer, was no doubt working wonders on her. Especially since it was her own sister doing this!

“The hipsies can’t get away, they can’t get away~ At this rate I’ll play with these hipsies all day~” Machina teased slyly. As she said these words though, her eyes gazed intently into her sister’s as though asking her ‘what do you want to do’? Was she afraid of breaking away from the barrier and being punished with tickle torture? Very. But emotions she thought had been killed off were welling up one after another, causing a spiral off confusion not helped by her sister’s tickle antics or her unmistakable joy in making her laugh like this. If there was one thing she felt like doing right now, it was…..

“HAHAHAHAHAHA I WAHAHAHANT TO TIHIHIHIHICKLE YOOHOOHOOHOO!” the red-haired sister screamed out, breaking away from the barrier with her fingers wiggling towards Machina’s tummy. Machina backed up a bit with a wide-eyed stare, but a second later a shock seemed to run through her sister’s body. Whether it was due to breaking away from the barrier or a result of fully recovering her personality wasn’t clear, but Machina made sure to catch her before she fell.

“Hehehehehe!” the red-haired sister giggled and squirmed in Machina’s grasp, with Machina realizing the reason why a moment later.

Ah that’s right. I caught her with my electro-ticklers. No wonder she’s giggling. Machina could have retracted her electro-ticklers before grabbing her sister, but considering the constant sparks coming off of them, she got the sense that would be a bad idea right now.

Better to just let the energy leak out for- Before she could finish that thought, she was forced to pull her sister to the side as four tickle missiles flew over the spot where they had just been. This forced Raquel to get down as two tickle missiles whizzed over her head. As for the other two tickle missiles, one hit the wall while the other scored a direct hit on Chen when Yomiko forcibly turned her body in its direction, causing her to fall to the floor laughing and creating an opportunity for the Ten Ticklish Strikes to be unleashed on the baddie’s torso.

“Watch where you’re aiming!” Raquel growled.

“It’s your fault for being in the crossfire! Hurry up and finish that Tribal already!” La Barriga scowled. Then she noticed Machina glaring at her and returned her gaze.

“What.” La Barriga said flatly while scowling.

“You’ve got some nerve trying to shoot my sister,” Machina frowned.

“Shut up! I’m trying to hit you! And if I hit that turncoat in the process, then that’s even better!” La Barriga shouted, loading some more tickle missiles into the rocket launcher.

“…..Wait here for now sis,” Machina said, jumping over to one side of the room and laying her sister down against the wall.

“Hehe….would’ve gotten you….” the red-haired sister muttered while smiling.

“….Yeah. Had you not passed out there, you definitely would have,” Machina smiled. Then Machina stood up and walked away from the wall, glaring at La Barriga while thinking of what she’d do once she got her hands on that warlord.

The moment Catalina had removed Queenie’s socks, her eyes had widened, and a faint blush had appeared on her freckled cheeks. After that she began lightly strumming her nails along Queenie’s soles, starting off slowly and gradually getting faster. By now she was rapidly skittering her nails over every last inch of Queenie’s feet, dragging them up and down her soles and wriggling them between each plump digit.

She’s really good at this!, Queenie thought with worry as she laughed, her feet darting around what little they could in Catalina’s double leg lock. It had only been a few minutes since she’d been trapped in this position, but during that time, Catalina hadn’t spoken a single word, only stealing occasional glances at Queenie. As her fingers scribbled and scratched at those soft feet, a sigh leaked out.

I heard news of what the Laughing Lovelies did to Big Barbara. Why wasn’t I there? Her feet are bigger than these, Catalina thought with a frown, continuing to punish the feet before her with her nimble scratching.

…Still, I bet her feet aren’t anywhere near as pretty as these are. I bet this girl takes better care of her feet than Big Barbara does. And now they’re all mine. These large, wide, tender bare feet are all mine, Catalina thought, her cheeks reddening a little more as her gaze sharpened slightly.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OKAHAHAHAY, YOU’VE PROHOOHOOVEN THAT YOU’RE HEEHEEHEEHEE NO SLOHOHOHOUCH AT THIS! HAHAHAHAHAHA YOU CAN SLOW DOHOHOHOHOHOWN NOHOHOHOHOHOW!” Queenie screamed, her cheeks turning a striking shade of red as tears welled up in her eyes. Catalina didn’t slow down one bit though, nor did she bother looking at Queenie.

“HEHEHEHEHEY! I SAID SLOW-HIEEEK!” Catalina had decided to indulge in the large Frond’s request and lazily flicked her finger along her right arch, earning an interesting sounding shriek out of her. Catalina looked up at her in surprise, then looked back at Queenie’s right foot while narrowing her eyes, giving light, teasing flicks of her finger along that arch.

“NYEEHEEK! HIYAAHA! O-On second thohoHAHAUGHT you can GOHOHOHO back to tickling FAHAHAHAHAST! You’d love that RIGIHIHIHIGHT?!” Queenie shrieked, half-pleading and half-demanding this as her foot shook notably, scrunching up. Those adorable shrieks happened less often when her foot was scrunched all the way, so Catalina pulled back the toes of that foot and tested every last inch of that arch with wavy squiggles and figure eights. When she’d found a spot on the center of that arch that got the loudest screams out of Queenie, she investigated Queenie’s left arch and found that its center got similar screams out of the bootless do-gooder. She looked back at Queenie and flashed a wide eyed, vicious smile that showed off her teeth, like that of some feral, sadistic demon cat. Seeing that, a nervous shudder ran through Queenie’s body as she shook her head.

“W-Wait! Don’t-OHOHOHOHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA NOOOOO!” Queenie let out a scream that echoed throughout the hall and was loud enough to be heard in the room where the Fronds were fighting. Using her left hand to hold back Queenie’s big toes, she used her thumb and pointer finger to gingerly scratch at the center of both arches.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHA! S-STAHAHAHAHAHAP! HAHAHAHAHAHA PLEEHEEHEEHEEASE!” Queenie screamed, tears rolling down her rosy red cheeks.

That’s driving you crazy isn’t it? I’ve found your weakness you big footed wonder. And you have only yourself to blame for that~, Catalina thought. Her feral look from earlier had relaxed into a coy gaze as she grinned eagerly, taking in every last wriggle, every nervous shake those lovely feet did as they struggled in her grasp. In this moment, she had eyes only for these stunning soles.

Such soft feet….and these deep, gorgeous arches are even more sensitive! To think you stuffed them in those boots and good-looking socks and took care of them day after day just for me! Catalina thought this with a swoon as she continued stroking at the juicy centers of those delicate arches with her index and pointer fingers.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HUHUHUHUHAHAHAHAHA!”

Look at you, can’t even get a word in anymore. I don’t know how you figured it out, but you’re right. I want them. I NEED these feet. I don’t even need tools. I don’t need anything other than my nails running up and down these precious puppies every day and every ni-

“ULP?!” Catalina stiffened from a sudden sensation at her tummy, halting her tickle attack.

“Haah….haah….you’re something else. But it looks like….I finally got you to stare….at only my feet for a couple seconds. That gave me enough time to grab this,” Queenie said, holding Catalina’s blaster pistol. That explained the sensation from earlier, and it also explained why Queenie had bothered with this farce.

“You were running circles around me earlier, so I figured the only way to beat you was to distrahaHAHAHA! HEY LET ME FINIHIHIHIHIHISH!” Queenie protested. She fired the blaster pistol repeatedly at Catalina’s tummy, pulling the trigger like her feet depended on it since…..well, they kinda did. Catalina continued exploiting Queenie’s weakness, glaring angrily at Queenie with pursed lips.

“Mmmph…..hehehehehehe!” But she couldn’t take those weak bursts of ticklish energy when when they were striking the same place repeatedly, so her grip gradually loosened. Queenie swung her legs up sharply, breaking free from Catalina’s double leg lock and standing up. Panting, Queenie fired the blaster pistol repeatedly at Catalina’s tummy, armpits, and sides. This slowed down Catalina’s normally quick movements enough to create an opening that Queenie took advantage of. Tossing away the blaster pistol, she grabbed Catalina’s legs and yoinked off her boots, then forced them upwards while holding them both in her left arm. This meant Catalina was now lying on the floor with her legs and feet pointing up towards the ceiling, with her ankles restrained by a standing Queenie.

“Cheater! I can’t even fight back!” Catalina growled.

“I couldn’t fight back in that double leg lock either, not until I managed to reach your weapon. So it’s fair game,” Queenie shrugged with a grin.

“Graaaoh!” Catalina roared in fury, struggling in Queenie’s grasp.

“….Did you just roar at me? Oh you’re just full of surprises~” Queenie snickered.

“Grrrr, you should’ve stayed put as my ticklish scratching post!” Catalina growled.

“Nah. I’ve got someone else waiting for me, who wants my feet as her ticklish scratching post. So I can never be yours,” Queenie replied with a smirk.

“Graaaoh!” Catalina roared once more.

“Snrk! That’ll never not be funny to me!” Queenie said, snickering about that roar. “Still, I don’t wanna hear you growl or roar. I’d much rather hear you purr~” Queenie smirked, yoinking off Catalina’s socks and baring her small feet. The moment she did so, Catalina’s expression changed. Instead of a furious wildcat, she now looked up timidly like a nervous kitten as her feet curled bashfully into each other. Smirking deviously at that, Queenie began getting some much needed payback.

After getting hit by the Ten Ticklish Strikes, Chen had slipped away once again, adjusting her shades and grabbing her fallen tickle blaster. This forced Yomiko to fight at mid-range and avoid getting too close, but even when she did come in close Chen would retaliate with quick and vicious tickles to her armpits and hips. Her earlier use of the Ten Ticklish Strikes only ensured that the playing field was now even whenever she was close enough to strike, not that she could overwhelm this wicked general. Currently they were in a deadlock where Chen would sometimes pin down and tickle Yomiko, and Yomiko would sometimes pin down and tickle Chen, with Yomiko dodging the blasts from her tickle blaster all the while.

Machina had found an opportunity to use her Electric Shock to free Tia, who was now being extra wary of Raquel. Since rolling between Raquel’s legs had resulted in her getting trapped, she no longer risked going for that maneuver. So she instead circled round and round Raquel, evading the blasts of goo and Raquel’s attempts to grab her as she continued to search for an opening that wouldn’t give Raquel a chance to counterattack.

Of course, that task and Yomiko’s attempts at defeating Chen were made more difficult now that La Barriga was firing tickle missiles from her rocket launcher. She’d always fire two missiles at the other two Fronds while saving the other two for Machina. This time Machina had rolled away to dodge one of the missiles, then used her Electric Shock to make another missile explode a safe distance away from her.

“Quit trying to resist! If you accept defeat right now, you won’t suffer too much!” La Barriga scowled.

“I bet you said the same thing to all the people you conquered, then proceeded to tickle them horribly,” Machina deadpanned.

“Tch. Suffering builds character!” La Barriga frowned, loading some more rockets.

“That’s rich coming from the warlord who’s hiding behind a barrier,” Machina scoffed. She had been striking the weaker parts of the force field for a while now, which had granted her access to the shortest of her siblings: one with an orange bikini and and orange hair styled in a bowl cut.

“Let’s see how ticklish you are sis,” Machina said emotionlessly, gently prodding her sister’s sides and tummy.

“Yeep! Mhrrrmph!” the orange-haired sister gave faint yelps and squeaks, but didn’t laugh all that much.

“Oh? Think you can hide your laughter from your own sister?” Machina asked, narrowing her eyes a bit as she sped up her playful prodding without overdoing it.

“Mmmphehehe…..I’m not that tihihihicklish…..” the orange-haired sister murmured with a vacant gaze, only shifting her body a little from those touches.

“Not….”

“HIEEEK!”

“That….”

“GYAAAH!”

“Ticklish?”

“WAHAHAHAHA!”

Machina asked this with a raised eyebrow, attacking her sister’s armpits on a slight suspicion. She prodded the left one, then the right one, and then the left one again while punctuating each word, nodding once she’d confirmed her worst spot.

“You lied to me. To your own sister. Now I have to punish you,” Machina said emotionlessly.

“N-No waHAHAHAHAIT! HAHAHAHAHAHA WAAAAAIT!” the orange-haired sister shrieked, laughing in earnest when Machina began prodding her armpits more persistently. She twisted and turned on the force field without pulling away, hoping from one foot to the other.

“Oh yes. I have to punish these pretty pitsies~ Pretty pitsie punishment time~ Pretty pretty pitsies~” Machina teased slyly, her electro-ticklers prodding the tops and bottoms of each armpit in a playful rhythm that would suddenly speed up or slow down in tempo, all while never going too agonizingly fast or painfully slow that her sister couldn’t take it.

“NYEEHEEHEEHEE! ENOUGH WITH THE PREHEHEHETTY PITSIEEHEEHEES AHAHAHAHALREADY! I’M NOT PREHEHEHEHETTY!” the orange-haired sister screamed, shaking from side to side.

“That’s not true at all. I’ve got a pretty little sissy with pretty little pitsies! Pretty ticklish pitsies too~” Machina teased with a chuckle.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” the orange-haired sister screamed, feeling like she was going nuts.

“Pretty pitsies~ It’s really bad on your pitsies right~? Being under La Barriga is the pits right~?” Machina teased.

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA YEHEHEHEHEHEHES! I MEAN NOHOHOHOHOHO!” the orange-haired sister gasped and shook her head when she realized what she’d been made to say.

“Still lying to your sis? Looks like a special punishment is in order. Electric Shock….the weakest version anyways,” Machina clarified before using the technique on the centers of her sister’s armpits.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” the orange-haired sister screamed in surprise, looking at her armpits with a comical, teary eyed expression before throwing her head back. By now her once vacant eyes were shining brightly as she looked up at her sister, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

“These pitsies want the super shockies~? Then they’ll get the super shockies~” Machina teased, frowning when she saw La Barriga lifting her rocket launcher again. She fired all four missiles at Machina this time, and in response Machina used stronger versions of Electric Shock again and again, firing off each burst the moment each of those missiles were about to leave the barrier as she protected herself and her sister. Machina’s sister looked on in awe, astonished that the same technique that had been used to mess with her moments ago was now being used to protect her. Machina’s smile faded as she gazed intently at her sister’s eyes.

“What do you want sis? Do you want to keep working for La Barriga, or do you want to choose a life of your own as I did?” Machina asked.

“Ah….”

“If you do choose a life of your own, I promise I won’t let anyone make you suffer ever again,” Machina said firmly.

“I….”

“Although…..I will still mess with these pretty pitsies every now and then~” Machina added, breaking out into a smile as she went back to using controlled bursts of her Electric Shock technique on the delicate centers of her sister’s armpits. Her sister pondered this question as best she could while laughing from the ticklish jolts dancing across her armpits. She thought about how Machina had called her pretty, and how she’d protected her from those tickle missiles just now.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA I WAHAHAHAHANT TO GO WITH YOU BIG SIHIHIHIHIHIS!” the orange-haired sister squealed, finally breaking away from the barrier.

“Noooo!” La Barriga shouted in frustration. Like with the red-haired sister, the orange-haired sister lost consciousness as soon as she broke away from the barrier, with Machina catching her.

“Big sis…..” Machina muttered, surprised by how much she loved hearing those words.

“Don’t worry, big sis will protect you,” she smiled, hugging her sister more snugly, then setting her down against the wall next to the red-haired one. With two of her sisters having been rescued, the barrier had shrunk to half its size.

“How?! How are you doing that?!” La Barriga shouted.

“I’m tickling them…..with love,” Machina replied emotionlessly. La Barriga scowled at what she thought was a dumb joke, and pointed her rocket launcher at Machina.

Only two more. After that….you’re done for, Machina thought, looking at La Barriga with a gaze that, from the outside at least, radiating a dispassionate sort of determination.

“Ready to give up yet?” Queenie smirked. She had mercilessly scribbling her fingers against Catalina’s small yet squishy feet, making sure not to miss a spot. The heels, the soles, the arches, the balls, and every last one of those toes: all of them were utterly at Queenie’s mercy.

“Hahahahahaha! N-Nehehehehever!” Catalina scowled, her feet scrunching up tightly as they squirmed what little they could in the strong Frond’s grasp.

“Hmm, I’ve never used my Rising Raspberry technique on somebody’s feet before. But this feels like a good place to start,” Queenie snickered.

“Y-Yoohoohoo wouldn’t dahahare….” Catalina growled angrily.

“Seems like this kitty’s still grumpy. But this’ll fix that in no time at all! Rising Raspberry!” Queenie smirked, blowing a big raspberry into Catalina’s right foot.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Catalina screamed, her eyes shooting wide open as she stared up at what her poor feet were being put through.

“Hehe. Oh I think these paws love raspberries~” Queenie snickered, blowing another big raspberry on the captive private’s left foot.

“HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE NO THEY DOHOHOHOHON’T! GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Catalina screamed, thrashing around in frustration on the floor.

Eventually Queenie added her fingers to the mix. Whenever she was raspberrying one foot, she dragged her fingers deeply against the tender flesh of the neighboring foot, and when she was taking a big breath in preparation for another large raspberry, her fingers were already preying on the foot that had just been raspberried.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA STOHOHOHOHOHOP! HEEEHEEHEEHEE STOP RIGHT NYAHAHAHAHAOW!” Catalina screeched.

“‘Nyaow’?” Queenie asked with a smug grin.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU KNOW WHAT I MEEHEEHEEHEEHEEAN! NYAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAPPIT AHAHAHALREADY!” Catalina screamed. Chuckling at the funny sounds that continued to escape the wicked solider’s lips, Queenie picked up the pace.

“YEEHEEHEHEEHEE! NYAHAHAHOOHOOHAHAHAAAAA!” Screeching wildly while scratching her head in frustration, Catalina’s flailing arms reached for her feet, wanting the yoink them away from all of those sensations. This proved futile though, and she fell back to the floor in laughter when her pinky toes were raspberried.

“Do you give up?” Queenie asked again, looking down at her red-faced and teary eyed captive while focusing all of her efforts on those pinkies.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA YEHEHEHEHEHES! JUST STOHOHOHOHOP! HAHAHAHAHAHA STOOOOOP!” Catalina screeched, looking up at Queenie pleadingly. Chuckling at that adorable expression, Queenie stopped tickling Catalina, but maintained a firm grip on her ankles.

“If you mean it, then toss the key you swiped over here. If you do that, I promise I’ll only raspberry you a few more times to make sure you’re too tired to get back in the fray,” Queenie said while frowning. Catalina panted fearfully and slowly reached in her pocket, pulling out the key.

“Yeah, that’s it. Just give it over he-” Before Queenie could finish that sentence, Catalina tossed the key through the doorway at full force. In all likelihood, the key had landed in the room where the other Fronds were still fighting. Queenie stared at that in disbelief, then turned to the now glaring Catalina with a scowl.

“That does it! Now I’m gonna finish you off!” Queenie scowled, raspberrying Catalina’s right pinky toe while squeezing, wiggling, and mercilessly scratching the neighboring pinky toe along with its stem and delicate gap.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOUR FRIEHEHEHENDS WON’T BEHEEHEEHEEHEE AHAHAHAHABLE TO STOP-NYEEK?! NYAHAHAHAHAHA STOP THAHAHAHAHAHAT!” Catalina screamed, unable to even taunt Queenie properly now that the Frond was tickling her purely out of frustration.

Back with the rest of the Fronds, the fighting raged on. Tia was still searching for an opening, Machina was trying to rescue another one of her sisters, and Yomiko was currently being pressed up against a wall by Chen, whose blaster was pressed sideways against her neck. Yomiko was gripping the back of the blaster with her hands to try to pull it away, but that unfortunately left her armpits vulnerable.

“Heh, what’re you gonna do now? Let me choke you out with my blaster, or lose because your pits are too damn ticklish?” Chen smirked, wiggling her fingers against Yomiko’s left armpit as she kept her other hand pressed against the blaster to keep it against Yomiko’s neck.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Urk!” Yomiko let out a groan of pain, giving Chen an annoyed glare. Every time she’d get close to moving the blaster away from her neck, the tickles to her armpit would cause her grip to falter and allow Chen to push it back there.

CLINK-clink-clinkclinkclink

As this struggle continued, it was interrupted by a series of sounds near the floor. Everyone turned to the source of the sound: a key that had suddenly appeared.

Yomiko and Chen stared in surprise at that. Recovering from her surprise a few beats sooner than Chen, Yomiko lifted her legs off the floor and planted both of her feet into Chen’s stomach as she kicked it.

“GUOOH?!” Thanks to the Ten Ticklish Strikes increasing the sensitivity of Chen’s midriff, this kick made her stagger backwards, rubbing her stomach in pain. Then she realized she wasn’t holding her blaster anymore, and looked up to see Yomiko holding it.

“My turn,” Yomiko frowned, firing the blaster at Chen’s stomach.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” The impact of the ticklish burst of energy sent Chen flying to the other side of the room, where she slammed against the wall and fell to the floor. Yomiko fiddled with the nob of the blaster to reload it, then prepared to shoot again. In response, La Barriga fired all four tickle missiles, which headed straight for Yomiko.

“That’s not happening. Electric Shock!” Machina shouted, using the strongest versiom of her technique to send out a burst of energy large enough to destroy three of the missiles. Glaring at the fourth missile, Yomiko tossed the blaster upwards and took a brief breath, then did the same thing she’d done to deflect the Laughing Gas Bombs back at Rocio’s lab and Marisol’s mech in the Mine. She’d need faster movements than the ones she used for those bombs, and those swift movements would still need to flow in a natural, wave like motion. Thinking this for only a moment, she executed the movement the next, letting the missile travel up her arm in a wave that was more akin to a stormy night at sea than her more usual movements. It went along her back and down her right arm, and with a twist of that arm it was now heading in Raquel’s direction.

“Tch!” Clicking her tongue, Raquel quickly sidestepped to evade the tickle missile as Tia ducked. La Barriga growled in annoyance as the tickle missile exploded harmlessly against her barrier, watching as Yomiko grabbed the blaster out from midair and fired it at Chen when the latter had tried to tackle her. It scored another direct hit, causing the sergeant to laugh wildly and slam against the wall.

“Arrrgh! Captain, get that key NOW!” La Barriga shouted at Raquel, given that she was the closest to the key and the control panel. She was growing increasingly frustrated with how much trouble her generals were having with these annoying pests, but none of that mattered so long as the tickle nukes were activated.

“….Got it,” Raquel nodded, biting back a complaint about how that tickle missile had almost hit her as she reached down towards the key…..and then widened her eyes slightly.

“Hehehe! Bad solider lady so worried about tickle missile, she jumped right into own trap! Hehehaha!” Tia laughed happily. When Raquel had sidestepped earlier her booted feet had wound up in a wad of vibrating goo. Though thanks to her boots the vibrations were having no effect on her at the moment.

“Shut your mouth, Tribal. Your people should’ve remained under our heel. Apart from us, you’re pathetic,” Raquel frowned.

“Oh Tia will get under heels and feetsies and toesies soon, don’t worry. Hehe, and Tribal would never get caught in own trap, so if Tia, Auntie, and all other Tribals pathetic, then bad solider lady must be super duper pathetic~” Tia teased. Those words made a vein bulge on Raquel’s temple as she gazed coldly at Tia.

“Captain! Raquel! Oh for the love of-quit arguing with that Tribal and get the key already!” La Barriga shouted. Tia took out some rope, and as Raquel narrowed her eyes at that and waited for the Tribal to make a move on her, she surprised her by instead throwing the rope.

“Catch it Yomiko!” Tia shouted. Yomiko had been lying down on the floor behind Chen and pressing the blaster against the sergeant’s neck in a similar manner to what she had gone through not too long ago when she heard that shout. She saw the approaching rope, then snatched it out of the air.

“Thanks Tia! Now then…..” Yomiko frowned at Chen and wrapped the rope around Chen’s arms and wrists so that they were tied to the blaster, which prevented her from reaching behind her and tickling her way out of Yomiko’s grasp. Then Yomiko swung her slippers off her feet and began wiggling her toes against Chen’s tummy.

“GAH?! HAHAHAHAHAHA YOUR TOHOHOHOHOES! WAHAHAHAHAHA HOHOHOHOHOHOW?!” Chen shouted in disbelief once she felt those toes tickling her tummy through her uniform.

“Yomiko has very skillful toes! Tia saw firsthand!” Tia smirked proudly.

“And that was while I was hanging from a tree branch. Compared to that, this is much easier,” Yomiko smirked, her long toes wiggling nimbly against Chen’s sensitized tummy while her arms continued to grip the blaster, pressing it against Chen’s neck.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-ACK! WAHAHAHAHAHA-GHK!” Chen laughed from the tickles and groaned in pain from the blaster pressed up against her neck. The burly general was still trying to resist by pulling the blaster away from herself, but because Yomiko could press down against it and still keep up the tickle pressure, Chen was fighting a losing battle.

Raquel narrowed her eyes in frustration, feeling partly responsible for the sergeant’s predicament-

“Raquel, SNAP OUT OF IT!” La Barriga shouted, loading some more missiles in her rocket launcher. That shout made Raquel spring into action, quickly reaching down and grabbing the key. She then flipped her bazooka behind her and tried to point it at Tia, but Tia had crouched down and was tying rope around the goo trapped captain’s legs. Thanks to Tia’s small size, this put her in Raquel’s blind spot and somewhere she couldn’t be hit. The two of them glared at each other for a moment, and then Raquel turned away and inserted the key into the control panel. The next instant her hand was on the trigger of the bazooka, but Tia was a beat faster, lassoing the bazooka and giving it a sharp tug downwards, then quickly rolling away as Raquel pulled the trigger. The goo Raquel had fired wound up landing on top of the pile she was already standing in, making it big enough that it now enveloped her boots completely and reached part of her legs above the boots.

“Ghmmph!” Her boots had done a good job of protecting her from the ticklish vibrations, but she could now feel them quite clearly through her pants.

“Ah! Guh!” Tia yelped, her moccasin covered feet having landed in one of the wads of goo on the floor. Before they could be completely enveloped, she tugged her feet away with all of her might and out of her moccasins.

“Geez….” Tia frowned at the sight of her moccasins covered in goo, then turned around and glared at Raquel, noting that the goo resting at the top of her boots seemed to be slowly seeping downwards. Smirking at that, Tia pulled out some more rope, then rolled back over to Raquel’s blind spot.

“Tch! An underhanded trick!” Raquel scowled at Tia.

“No way Tribal tricks more underhanded than spreading yucky goo everywhere!” Tia said while wrinkling up her nose in disgust.

“Ignore her and get ready to twist the key on my command!” La Barriga shouted, running over to the other side of the control panel, then scowled when she saw Machina perform a cartwheel and a flip to land sitting right on top of the control panel. Specifically, the spot where the key was to be inserted.

“Get out of the way!” La Barriga shouted, continuing to charge towards Machina. All she had to do was ram into her, and then the barrier would send her flying while laughing from ticklish sensations coursing all over her body. Glaring furiously at the approaching warlord, Machina pressed both of her electro-ticklers against the barrier.

“ELECTRIC SHOCK!” Machina shouted, busting out the strongest version of the technique. Because her barrier was only half its former size, the impact from this blast was powerful enough to knock La Barriga on her rear, causing the rocket launcher to fall out of her grasp.

“Uggh…..You’re just delaying the inevitable!” La Barriga scowled, getting up a little slower than usual due to the impact from Machina’s attack, then hurriedly rushing to where the rocket launcher had fallen. The attack just now had reduced the barrier enough that Machina could tickle away at another one of her siblings. Making the most of this chance, Machina leapt off the panel and headed over to her sister.

“You’ve got a pretty interesting hair style….” Machina muttered in surprise. This sibling had a sharp nose and jawline, and was wearing an aqua blue bikini. But what really caught Machina’s eye was her aqua blue hair. It jutted out at angle over the right side of her head almost like a pompadour, giving the impression of an arrow resting on her head.

“Do you need gel to maintain that or does it just naturally like that? I can’t see myself ever styling my hair in that way,” Machina said, beginning to prod her sister’s tummy and sides with her electro-ticklers. The tickling prompted her to giggle, but she didn’t react to Machina’s comment.

“My friends think I have a weird sense of humor. Personally, I think they’re the ones who are weird. So, while I’d never style my hair like that, I don’t dislike it. In fact, I think you rock it,” Machina said emotionlessly, trying to do a thumbs up only to remember that retracting her electro-ticklers would be a bad idea right now before going back to her playful tickle attack. Those last words got her sister to raise her eyebrow, but it was Machina’s forgetful attempt at a thumbs up that got the corners of her lips to turn a little further upwards and a faint light to appear in her previously vacant eyes.

“Hehehehehe…..damn dohohohork…..” the aqua-blue haired sister said with a small grin dancing on her lips.

“Dork? Are you talking about me? As your big sis, I won’t stand for that,” Machina narrowed her eyes with a small smirk, speeding up her electro-tickler prodding without overdoing it.

“Hahahahahaha! So that mahahahahakes you a big dohohohohork then?” the aqua-blue haired sister shot back with a snarky and tomboyish tone, her grin turning into a smug smirk as the light in her eyes grew a little brighter. Machina widened her eyes at that smirk, then grinned.

“Knock it off!” La Barriga scowled, momentarily stopping her reloading of the rocket launcher as she tried to ram into Machina with the barrier. In response, Machina backed up a bit, then busted out an Electric Shock to fend off the warlord.

“Ssh. I’m talking with my sis right now,” Machina pouted, turning her attention back to her sister.

“That attitude just makes me want to gobble you up with tickles! And it also makes me want to ask what my ‘cool’ little sister’s doing riding with someone La Barriga?” Machina grinned, continuing to prod at her sister’s sides and tummy, then gave some more gentle prods to other places like her hips and thighs.

“HIEEEK?! You sahaHAHAHAYING I’m not coohoohoohool?!” the aqua-blue haired sister scowled, letting out loud shrieks when Machina’s electro-ticklers prodded at her upper thighs.

“As uncool as those shrieks….and as the wild sounds you’re gonna make when I do this~” Machina’s smirked, pressing the electro-ticklers a little more deeply against those thighs as she began exploring their ticklishness.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NO FAHAHAHAHAHAIR!” the aqua-blue haired sister screamed, her tomboyish laughter growing more wild as her body wiggled frantically from side to side. Though she still didn’t pull away from the barrier.

“See? That’s not cool at-hmm?” Machina frowned, noting two more tickle missiles approaching her. Scowling, Machina busted out another Electric Shock, but since she was still winded from the tickles, she was only able to harmlessly destroy one of those tickle missiles.

“EHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEK!” The other tickle missile had scored a direct hit on her, causing her to burst into laughter. She only managed to avoid being blown away by wrapping her electro-ticklers around her sister’s legs in time—which of course let to them pressing against her sister’s upper thighs.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA SEEHEEHEEHEE?! HEEHEEHEEHEE YOU’RE WAY LESS COOHOOHOOHOOL THAN MEEHEEHEEHEHEE!” the aqua-blue haired sister smirked smugly while laughing from the electro-tickler jolts.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHA! W-We can be uncool dorks together, without being under La Barriga. What do you say?” Machina asked with a smile. Her sister thought about it for a bit, then grinned.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHA DEEHEEHEEHEEAL!” the aqua-blue haired sister grinned, breaking away from the barrier. Before her consciousness faded completely, she gave one last remark.

“For the record though….you’re the bigger dork….sis,” the aqua-blue haired sister smirked, falling asleep in Machina’s arms and giggling slightly from the electro-ticklers.

“Whatever you say, my adorkable little sister~” Machina snickered. She could’ve sworn her sister’s sly grin grew a little bigger from that ‘adorkable’ comment, but she wasn’t entirely sure. In any case she brought her over against the wall so that she was sandwiched between her red-haired and orange-haired sisters, with one leaning against each shoulder.

Heh. That’s the farthest thing from cool, but it sure is cute~, Machina thought with a sly grin.

Still, between that tickle missile and using another Electric Shock, I’m not exactly in top shape right now. I’ll probably only have enough strength to rescue the last of my siblings before collapsing. The reason La Barriga didn’t capitalize on my exhaustion with the other two tickle missiles is obvious…..it’s because I have an excellent poker face, Machina thought, beaming with pride beneath her emotionless expression.

Either she didn’t realize I’m more exhausted than I’ve let on…..or else….

Trailing off and looking over her shoulder, Machina saw that Yomiko was giggling and struggling to get up near the entrance of the room, while Chen, who had lost her shades, had stood up and was trying to mount one last bit of resistance. Tia had left Raquel’s blind spot and was having a rough time trying to avoid the wads of goo that were being fired from Raquel’s bazooka as well as the piles of goo that were all over the area of the room they were fighting in.

…..Or else she prioritized Yomiko and Tia, Machina thought with a frown, then quickly deduced what had happened.

Yomiko got directly hit by a tickle missile, while Tia was forced out of Raquel’s blind spot by another tickle missile. That might make things more difficult for them, especially Tia. If I had more strength to spare I’d help them both, but I don’t. And if I don’t rescue the last of my sisters, we’ll never be able to get La Barriga. I’m the only one who can reach their hearts. So….

“Let’s give it our all, Fighting Fronds!” Machina shouted. That shout caused Yomiko and Tia’s eyes to widen for a moment, and then they both smirked.

“If Machina says so then Fighty Fronz won’t lose!” Tia smirked.

“Sheesh, it’s almost like you’re trying to hog the position of leader or something,” Yomiko smirked.

“Huh? You mean I’m not the team leader?” Machina deadpanned. Yomiko knew her well enough to know that there was sheer smugness resting behind that seemingly blank expression.

“Oho, now I have to win so I can tickle you like crazy for that comment!” Yomiko smirked. Machina nodded happily at that.

“Well, try your best then,” Machina said with a sly grin. Then she turned away to face La Barriga and her heavily reduced barrier, which now only had a radius of about five feet.

“Grrr! To think rogue Kitzel tech would stand in my way and try to ruin my plans!” La Barriga scowled.

“I’m more than just Kitzel tech. I’m Machina. And I’m ten times the tickler than her and that annoying roach girl,” Machina boasted emotionlessly. Then she threw herself back at the task of rescuing her final sister.

While that was unfolding, Chen tried to tear through the rope that was wrapped around her arms and her blaster with her teeth, but gave up on that when she saw that she was no closer to getting free.

“AAAAAH!” Shouting in rage, she charged towards Yomiko in the hopes of ramming into her and knocking her unconscious. Yomiko knew she wouldn’t be able to dodge this since she was still winded, so she instead dropped down to the floor and went for an upwards kick. It wasn’t quite as powerful as it normally would have been…..

“Guh…..”

….but thanks to Chen charging at full speed, that kick still planted itself quite snuggly into her stomach, causing her to crumple to the floor. Sighing at that, Yomiko decided to finish what she’d started, heading behind Chen once again and holding the blaster against her neck while unleashing her toes on the sergeant’s tummy.

“GAHAHAHAHAHA! URK!” Winded from Yomiko’s kick and far too tired to escape, Chen’s neck and face quickly turned a cartoonishly exaggerated purple from this tactic.

Tia was running out of places she could leap to, and Raquel knew it. Deftly swinging one of her arms while snickering from the vibrating goo that was dropping further and further down her boots, she’d managed to knock Tia in the air, right in the direction of the goo.

“Ah….”

Tia stared with wide-eyed as her body soared closer and closer to that pile of goo…..and was stopped from falling in by two large hands.

“That damn cat took longer to black out than I thought she would. Still, it looks like I got here just in time,” Queenie grinned, having reached over the wad of goo to catch Tia just before she fell.

“Queenie! You saved me!” Tia smiled cheerfully.

“Of course I did. Can’t have you going tickle-crazy on me,” Queenie grinned.

“GHMMMPH?!” Raquel let out a loud groan while pursing her lips.

“Looks like bad soldier lady’s outta time. Tickly goo is messing with feetsies, right~?” Tia smirked slyly at Raquel. La Barriga gave a deep scowl at this exchange then charged towards the control panel.

“Ah!” Machina tried to stop her, but since she was already exhausted, she was too slow. La Barriga and Raquel twisted their keys at the same time as Queenie kicked off the ground, landing on the control panel and rolling over to where La Barriga was.

To the surprise of everyone, twisting the two keys DIDN’T launch the tickle nukes. Instead a robotic voice played over a speaker.

“Are you sure you wish to launch the tickle nukes? If so, press the red button now. If you do not do so within the next ten seconds, the nukes will not launch. Ten….Nine….”

“Damn safety protocols!” La Barriga grumbled. To avoid that button being pressed by accident, it was protected by a glass cover. Before La Barriga could run over and lift it up though, Queenie sat right on top of the cover.

“All of you Fighting Fronds need to GET OUT OF THE WAY!” La Barriga shouted, fed up with their constant interference as she charged towards Queenie. Seeing this, Queenie lifted her legs up, then kicked at the barrier with all her might using both feet.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GYAA-AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!” Naturally, slamming her most sensitive spot against a barrier that tickled and repelled anyone that came into contact with it wasn’t the brightest idea. But though her large feet and stout toes wriggled like crazy, she’d managed to keep a firm grip on the control panel and avoid being blown away. And because the barrier had been so greatly reduced, Queenie’s kick caused La Barriga lose her balance and start falling.

“Still, you’d probably recover fast from that. So….Electric Shock!” Machine shouted, firing a burst of energy against the barrier. The impact caused the already tumbling La Barriga to fly further, landing on the floor face first. Judging by her groans of pain, it would be a while before she got back up. Machina gazed over at Queenie, who was red-faced and still sitting on the glass cover, her head thrown back as she panted like a dog.

“Queenie? Are you okay?” Machina asked. She received an answer in the form of a shaky thumbs-up, the strong Frond still panting and gazing upwards.

“I know you enjoyed that to some degree, but try not to do that again alright? If that barrier tickles you so badly it somehow renders your feet non-ticklish, I’d be very sad,” Machina said. She still didn’t look in the robot girl’s direction, but those playful words made a smile appear on her face, and she flexed and scrunched her feet teasingly. Machina’s external hard drive hadn’t heated up at all while she was tickling her sisters; for obvious reasons. But that gesture got it to heat up almost instantly.

“Even when you’re tired, you still can’t help teasing us can you?” Machina said with a small smirk. Then she checked how Tia was faring.

The Tribal had finally succeeded in wrapping rope around Raquel’s arms, pulling them back and forcing the bazooka out of her grasp as she plopped the other end of the rope into one of the wads of goo. This forced Raquel’s back to bend at an awkward angle, and since the rope was stuck in the goo she couldn’t get away. She had also wrapped her bandanna around Raquel’s eyes, meaning she had no idea when or where the Tribal would strike next. The Tribal had climbed on Raquel’s back and opened up her uniform, then leapt off and removed her moccasins before climbing back on. With the two feathers that had been under her bandanna held between the big toe and neighboring toe of each foot, she twirled them against Raquel’s belly after pushing her shirt up a bit with her toes while using her fingers to alternate between her left and right armpits.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GET OFF MEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! HAHAHAHAHAHA STAAAAAP!” Raquel screamed, her body squirming what little it could in this position.

“Hehehe. Bad soldier later said mean things about Tia and Tribals. So Tia will have fun with tickles!” Tia snickered, clinging to Raquel’s back like a little gremlin. Her toes continued to skillfully sweep the feathers against Raquel’s tummy, and her fingers kept spidering against her pits. But what really drove the captain insane was the goo that had slipped down her boots, the same goo that kept her from fleeing from Tia’s attack. By now the goo had enveloped her feet completely. It didn’t matter that they were still in socks: in fact, being in socks and firmly trapped in boots only meant that they could barely move at all. Which meant she couldn’t move away from the ticklish vibrations that were coursing all over her feet and toes.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAP! PLEASE STAHAHAHAHAHYAAAAAA!” Raquel screamed loudly, her face already a striking red as tears matted the headband and rolled down her cheeks.

Machina grinned happily at that sight, but her grin faded as she turned to La Barriga, heading over with wobbling steps.

I’m at my limit, Machina thought, going over to the last of her sisters. Though it was difficult to tell since this sister wasn’t upright and was instead pressed against the barrier and stuck in a sideways position due to La Barriga having fallen over, Machina felt like this sister was at least a head taller than her. She had long purple hair parted down the middle that went down to her back, and a purple bikini. She gazed at Machina with purple eyes that were half-open.

She looks kind of mature. And she’s taller than me. …..For some reason, I feel as if my position as big sister is being threatened.

Putting that thought aside with a frown, Machina approached her sister. She no longer had enough power left to go for another Electric Shock. Her hair, which had once crackled strikingly from the energy core’s power, now only gave off a few faint sparks. And her electro-ticklers sputtered with the remnants of the energy they had drained. Still, Machina was going to give it everything she’d got, like she had for her other sisters.

“Hey there sis. Want to give me some laughs?” Machina asked emotionlessly, beginning to playfully prod at her sister’s tummy.

“Mmmph…..hrrrmph,” the purple haired sister pursed her lips, only letting out slight groaning sounds.

“Seems like you’re barely reacting to this. Which means I need to aim a little lower,” Machina said, giving a few brief, playful jolts to her sister’s legs on the way down. The yelps and squeals she’d gotten out of this made Machina smile, and she set her sight on her sister’s long feet and long toes.

“My, what nice, big feet you have. The better to tickle,” Machina smirked, gently prodding those soles with her electro-ticklers.

“EEEK! Hrrrmphehehehe!” the purple-haired sister burst into a fit of giggles, her feet wiggling from side to side as her toes fanned out.

“Still not laughing all that much, huh? Guess I better get serious and aim for these lovely toes~” Machina smirked, picking up the pace while still being playful with this as she pressed the electro-ticklers between those long toes.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU HEEHEEHEEHEE ARE REHEEHEEHEEALLY SOMETHIHIHIHIHING!” the purple-haired sister screamed, curling her toes over the electro-ticklers.

“So are you. I mean curling your toes and pressing my electro-ticklers even deeper? You’re really asking for it~” Machina smirked, feeling her eyelids begin to flutter.

“PUSHIHIHIHIHING YOURSELF TO SAVE AHAHAHAHAHALL OF US WHIHIHIHIHILE IGNORING YOUR OWN STAHAHAHAHATE! FOR THE BIG SIHIHIHIHIHISTER, YOU SURE AHAHAHAHAHARE RECKLESS!” the purple-haired sister smiled. There was an unmistakable light in her once vacant eyes, and she spoke with an air of maturity.

“Humph. You may act more like how an older sister should, but I’m your big sister,” Machina frowned, continuing to press the electro-ticklers between her sister’s toes without making things too intense, her eyelids fluttering more and more as she felt her consciousness start swimming. “Now be a good little sister and get out of that barrier.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU’RE BAHAHAHAHARELY TRYIHIHIHIHING! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE YOU MUST BE VERY SLEEHEEHEEHEEPY RIHIHIHIHIHIGHT~?” the purple-haired sister teased with a cool, playful, and mature air. Her attitude and smugness bothered Machina to no end.

“Could you please get out from La Barriga’s barrier?” Machina frowned. Even though she was frustrated, she didn’t tickle any more aggressively, gazing intently at her sister while awaiting her response.

“HEHEHEHEHEHE! WELL AHAHAHAHALRIGHT~!” the purple-haired sister smiled, making Machina click her tongue in annoyance. The sister rolled away from the barrier, losing consciousness shortly after. La Barriga, who had just begun to push her body up from the floor, saw her barrier crumble apart.

“NO!” she shouted. She prepared to square off against Machina, then noticed that the robot was oddly tired. Picking up her sister with her brows twitching and her consciousness slipping more and more, Machina brought her over to the wall her other siblings were resting against. The moment she did and turned around to confront La Barriga, she lost consciousness. This resulted in her falling against that very same wall, her back slamming against it with enough force that all of her siblings fell on top of her, creating a rather wholesome scene of robot siblings snoozing together. The Fronds all smiled happily at that, while La Barriga scowled and picked up her rocket launcher, aiming at the goo pile Raquel’s legs were trapped in and firing.

“Woah!” Tia stopped her tickles and clung tightly to Raquel’s back. When the missile hit the goo pile, it caused the goo to fly in all directions, with some of it landing on Tia’s back and legs…..as well as her thighs.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOT AHAHAHAHAGAIN!” It didn’t tickle as horribly as when her body had been near completely immersed in the stuff, but it still threw her off her game for a while. That missile had done nothing for the goo still in Raquel’s boots, but her feet were now freed, and the other end of the rope Tia had tied around her wrists was no longer submerged in goo. Taking this chance, Raquel bent down towards the key. Seeing this, La Barriga fired the first of her last three tickle missiles at Queenie, then the other two at Yomiko while advancing towards the right side of the control panel.

“EYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” The force of the tickle missile caused Queenie to slam against the wall behind her, then fall off the control panel and onto the floor, clutching her sides and kicking her feet. Meanwhile Yomiko, who had succeeded in knocking out Chen, tossed her at oncoming tickle missiles and then crouched down low when her unconscious body soared overhead. Once La Barriga reached the control panel, she turned that key at the same time that Raquel turned the key on the other side of the panel with her teeth.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHAHAHAHAHAT?!” Tia stared in shock. The fact that Raquel was able to pull that off while blindfolded and at the same time as La Barriga, was nothing short of impressive. But it was the worst possible thing for the Fronds since it meant La Barriga had another shot at launching the tickle nukes. Queenie was still reeling from the tickle missile, and the others were too far away to reach her.

“Are you sure you wish to launch the tickle nukes? If so, press….”

La Barriga ignored the repeating message and rushed over to button, lifting up the glass cover. As she was about to slam her fist down on it though, she was suddenly blown back by an impact that hit the left side of her stomach.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA?!” La Barriga screamed and tumbled a good distance. Yomiko had taken aim and fired with Chen’s blaster, which was still tied to the arms of her unconscious foe. She stared in surprise as La Barriga slowly got up from that attack, still snickering from the lingering sensations as she glared at Yomiko.

“Ten….Nine….”

But she tempered her rage and rushed back towards the control panel, knowing Yomiko would have to reload that blaster anyways.

“Eight….Seven….”

She brought her fist down on the button once again, only this time she was stopped by Queenie. The large Frond gripped both of the warlord’s arms as tightly as she could given her tired state.

“Six…..Five…..”

“How do you still have energy to spare? Let go of me!” La Barriga shouted, successfully freeing one of her arms and trying to hit the button again. Queenie planted her foot into La Barriga’s stomach to force her back. La Barriga seemed unusually winded from that, rubbing her stomach in pain. Yomiko pondered that along with her reaction to the burst of ticklish energy from that blaster, and then it hit her as Queenie lifted up La Barriga by her shoulders.

“Four…..Three….”

“Queenie, I just remembered! La Barriga means-”

“Two…..”

“The belly~”

“One…..”

For a brief moment, Queenie gave a feral smirk at La Barriga upon hearing those words, while La Barriga’s eyes widened slightly with worry. The next moment, Queenie began blowing the best raspberries her tired lungs could manage onto that big belly.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WAHAHAHAHAHA STOP THAHAHAHAHAT!” La Barriga growled, struggling fiercely in Queenie’s grasp. The fact that she couldn’t free herself from the large Frond as easily as she had earlier proved Yomiko’s suspicions: this warlord had a seriously sensitive tummy. Even so, Queenie’s grasp wasn’t all that firm due to her fatigue, and La Barriga would likely be able to escape. Seeing this, Tia doubled her efforts on Raquel, tickling her armpits and using her toes to sweep those feathers against her tummy once more. While she was doing this, Yomiko dropped Chen and ran over, steering clear of the wads of goo as she got behind La Barriga. Then she began delivering ticklish squeezes to specific spots on her large tummy.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA KNOCK THAT OHOHOHOHOFF!” La Barriga shouted, throwing her head back as her cheeks grew red. After performing the Ten Ticklish Strikes and making the warlord’s tummy more sensitive, each of those raspberries was more striking, and her struggling grew weaker as a result. Even so, she continued to fight fiercely, swinging her legs and kicking Queenie’s shins a few times. Considering that this caused Queenie to groan in pain and her grip to loosen a bit, this was clearly an effective means of escape. Or it would’ve been, if Tia hadn’t tickled Raquel unconscious and joined the fray, yoinking off La Barriga’s boots and socks.

“DON’T-GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” La Barriga let out a shrill scream, tears welling up in her eyes as her feet wriggled and curled like crazy. Queenie took this chance to adjust her grip so that the warlord couldn’t escape.

“HEEHEEHEEHEE! These SOHOHOHOFT bare feetsies WOHOHOHON’T hurt Queenie!” Tia teased while still laughing from the vibrating goo on her body, holding one feather in each hand and sweeping them across La Barriga’s trembling feet, moving them in figure eights and crazy zigzags.

“Thanks for the save Tia. Then again I saved you earlier, so I guess we’re even,” Queenie said while smiling at her. “Now then, how about I reward you for those kicks by making things worse for you?” Queenie smirked deviously at La Barriga, having recovered enough to plant rapid fire raspberries all over the writhing warlord’s tummy and belly button.

“You should’ve known better than to send all those tapes gloating about how you’d captured my friends. It only made me want to tickle you even more~” Yomiko smirked, having moved on to using the Ten Ticklish Strikes on La Barriga’s armpits. Once they were properly sensitized, she targeted them with swift, precise squeezes.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OHOHOHAHAHAHAHA JUST STOHOHOHOHOHOP!” La Barriga screamed, tears streaming down her burning cheeks. The three Fronds teamed up on the villainess, making the most of the opportunity Machina had provided them with. Queenie kept raspberrying, Yomiko kept squeezing, and Tia kept feathering. And La Barriga howled with laughter that resounded through the room, her once vigorous struggles becoming pitiful as their combined tickle attack sapped her energy. After several minutes of this team tickle attack, La Barriga finally lost consciousness.

“Phew….we did it,” Yomiko said while panting.

“YEAHAHAHAHAHAHA…..” Tia nodded while panting.

“Whew….I got my feet tickled so brutally I can barely stand, but you two look like you’re gonna check out first,” Queenie smiled, panting less than her two friends but still clearly drained. “You two should take a rest. I’ll take care of things.”

“I…..yeah, that’s a good idea,” Yomiko nodded. Still laughing from the vibrating goo, Tia handed Queenie all the rope she’d need to restrain La Barriga and her generals. Then she and Yomiko groggily walked over to the wall where Machina and her sisters were resting and sat down a short distance away from them, soon closing their eyes and falling asleep. Smiling at that, Queenie hogtied La Barriga, Chen, and Raquel, then went out into the hallway to hogtie Catalina. When she came back into the room, her steps were sluggish, and her eyelids fluttered a lot. She turned around, then crashed down between Yomiko and Tia with her back to the wall, wrapping her arms around their shoulders before falling asleep with a smile.

When Queenie woke up some time later, she saw that there were many unfamiliar faces in the room, all of them in uniforms.

“Ghk?!” Queenie stiffened at that, about to stand up.

“Woah woah, chill there! We’re not working with La Barriga,” a girl with soft features said, resting her hands on Queenie’s shoulders and easing her back down. Queenie noticed that she was wearing a white uniform, and then realized that all of the unfamiliar faces in this room were wearing similar uniforms. Then she relaxed.

“Right…..you’re one of the Area 51 girls,” Queenie sighed with relief.

“Yup! I’m Rebecca!” she smiled, stepping away from Queenie. Another woman with three stars on the shoulder pads of her uniform stepped forward.

“I’m General Winters. For helping save us from La Barriga’s attack and from the disgrace of this base being completely subdued by her surprise attack, I offer my thanks,” the woman said, bowing in gratitude.

“Oh…..um, you’re welcome. Though you should probably wait till Yomiko and Tia wake up so you can thank them too,” Queenie said, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly while feeling like a celebrity. Then she paused and stared at feet.

“Before I blacked out my feet were feeling kinda sore. But now they feel….oddly relaxed. Did you massage them while I was unconscious?” Queenie asked Rebecca.

“I couldn’t help it. Your feet are so big and pretty! And I figured you could use it for all your hard work,” Rebecca smiled.

“Wow uhh….thank you! You’re not the first person to compliment my feet,” Queenie grinned while blushing as she wiggled her feet a bit.

“Though the general over here was a little jealous~” Rebecca said with a playful smirk.

“Rebecca…..” General Winters frowned.

“Don’t try to deny it, Maya. I know you wanted my hands to work their magic, and it’s obvious you were upset that I was tending to someone else instead of you~” Rebecca snickered.

“Rebecca, you’re supposed to keep that private!” General Winters—no, Maya—scowled. She was well aware of the stares the rest of her troops were giving her and was not pleased.

“Whoopsies~!” Rebecca grinned while playfully sticking out her tongue. Queenie chuckled at their banter, then grinned.

“You know…..I wouldn’t mind helping you get rid of all that tension in your feet,” Queenie offered. This got Maya, Rebecca, and all the troops in the room to stare in surprise.

“You would do that for someone you just met?” Maya asked incredulously.

“Rebecca gave my feet the care they needed while I was dozing off. I’m just returning the favor. And I don’t mean to boast, but I’ve got very firm hands~” Queenie said, interlocking her fingers and stretching her arms out with a slight crack to emphasize her point. Maya’s mouth gasped slightly at that as she pondered Queenie’s offer, then smiled.

“Very well. I’ll take you up on that,” she nodded.

“Great!” Queenie grinned, then thought of something else. “I only had enough time to tie up La Barriga and her top generals. So what about-”

“Don’t worry. The backup I requested before falling unconscious arrived, and they restrained all of the soldiers you and friends took care of. Speaking of friends….” Maya trailed off, gazing at Machina and the four robots that were on top of her.

“Is that robot a friend of yours? She looks similar to those four, who attacked me and my forces,” Maya scowled. At those words, Queenie was about to speak up.

“Ma-”

“Machina’s innocent!”

However, her words were cut off by Yomiko, who had woken up on Queenie’s right side and was glaring at Maya.

“Machina saved sisters too! They were brainwashed, not evil! Not working for evil villain any more!” Tia chimed in from Queenie’s left side, also glaring at Maya.

“The reason I didn’t make a move on them is out of gratitude for saving us-” Maya explained.

“And because they look so cute like that!” Rebecca grinned.

“….But if they try anything, we’ll subdue them. And you try to stop us from doing so, we’ll restrain you too,” Maya warned. The three Fronds frowned at that, then heard the sound of Machina and her sisters waking up to their right. Maya stiffened at that as her troops drew their modified electro-tickler weapons. Rebecca gazed expectantly at Machina and her sisters without drawing her weapon…..though her hand was still resting on it.

“Mmm…..” Machina’s eyelids slowly opened, and she looked up at her sisters who were now gazing down at her.

“….I know you all love your big sis, but this is ridiculous,” Machina muttered in her usual emotionless tone.

“Y-You got the wrong idea! I mean we do love you but….” the orange-haired sister said, growing flustered.

“Hey hey, you might feel that mushy crap, but I don’t! Weren’t you the one that dragged us on top of you instead?!” the aqua blue-haired sister said.

“You don’t have to be cool and nonchalant all the time sis. And….since she saved us all, I don’t really mind being in this position,” the red-haired sister smiled.

“Indeed, I quite like this position. I think she looks even cuter from this angle,” the purple-haired sister said.

“Mmmph. You’re still treating me like a little sister….” Machina said with a slight pout.

Incidentally, the position they had wound up in was one with the aqua blue-haired and purple-haired sisters resting on Machina’s left and right arms respectively, the orange-haired sister on her stomach, and the red-haired sister on her legs.

“Oh that’s right. I forgot to ask your names. I’m big sis Machina,” Machina puffed her chest proudly while declaring that in an emotionless tone.

“You really like wearing that title proudly huh? The name’s Devisa. That’s device with an ‘a’ at the end,” the aqua-blue haired sister smirked.

“…..Damn that’s a cool name,” Machina frowned, prompting Devisa to grin smugly.

“My name’s Softwaza. The first ‘a’ sounds the same as in ‘software’,” the red-haired sister smiled. Machina nodded at that, then looked over at the purple-haired sister.

“Systema. That’s my name,” she smiled coyly.

“You have to be kidding me. That’s the name of a martial arts style!” Machina shouted.

“Well, it’s also my name. Nice and mature sounding compared to your more childish name, don’t you think?” Systema grinned teasingly.

“Mrrr. No matter what you say, I’m still the older one. So you better treat me with respect,” Machina frowned up at her. Then she turned her gaze to the orange-haired sister, who stared in surprise and stuttered.

“M-My name is Gadget! I-I don’t have an ‘a’ at the end like the rest of you but-!”

“It’s a cute name. Perfect for an adorable little sister,” Machina smiled at her. At those words Gadget’s blush grew brighter, and she looked downwards to hide her eyes while giggling happily from those words. After that bit of silly banter, Machina cast a sidelong glance at her friends to confirm that they were all awake, noting the presence of the Area 51 troops. Then she turned her attention back to her sisters, who seemed a little more anxious now that they’d sensed the tension in the air. Machina knew of a way to fix that…..though she’d definitely hate it.

“Still, to think a few playful tickles was enough to get you to break away from that barrier…..I guess you’re all weak when it comes to tickling,” Machina taunted in a deadpan tone.

“Hey what the heck are you talking about?! You were laughing like a moron when that tickle missile hit you!” Devisa scowled.

“Comparing your reactions to my playful touches to my reactions to a tickle missile, which is way more powerful? That’s way uncool little sis~” Machina said with a small smirk.

“W-Why you!” Devisa grumbled.

“Your tickles didn’t make me break away at all though. You had to convince me to join you,” Systema pointed out with a teasing grin.

“Hm, sounds like you’re just trying to save face. Then again, a little sister covering for her slip-up is to be expected,” Machina shrugged nonchalantly, feeling delighted when she saw the normally playful Systema give a slight frown from those words.

“B-Before I lost consciousness, you said I would’ve gotten you!” Softwaza frowned.

“About that….sorry, I was just being nice. You wouldn’t stand a chance,” Machina scoffed.

“Wha…..” Softwaza looked as if she’d suffered a huge shock from those words. Suppressing the urge to snicker at that, Machina turned her attention to her last sister, whose eyes widened as she poked her index fingers together, anxiously awaiting what Machina would say.

“….Say. Does my adorable little sister want to have fun with her big sis?” Machina asked in a low tone of voice that only Gadget could hear.

“W-What?” Gadget’s eyes grew even wider from those words.

“If so, that would make you a cute, but veeeery naughty little sis~” Machina teased softly, whispering those words in Gadget’s ear. Her other sisters didn’t try to listen in since they were still fuming from Machina’s earlier taunts. Which meant Gadget was the only person who understood the true intent behind all those taunting words.

“Oh no, I meant every word I said,” Machina shook her head, causing Gadget to blink in surprise as the fury of the other three reached its peak.

“Did you forget that you’re still pinned down?!” Devisa scowled.

“You made a big mistake~” Systema smirked slyly.

“Now we’re gonna get you real good!” Softwaza frowned. To Machina’s surprise, the three of them all summoned tickle implements, with Softwaza retracting her right wrist for a red feathery pinwheel, Devisa retracting her left wrist for a weird looking aqua blue hand with eight spindly digits, and Systema retracting her right wrist for two makeup brushes with purple bristles that were attached to a metal pedestal.

“What? You all have tickle tools of your own?” Machina asked in surprise.

“Of course we do!” Devisa frowned.

“Rocio locked us out of them, probably because she feared us turning those weapons against her or La Barriga,” Softwaza shrugged.

“But thanks to you, we’ve regained access to them. Which means we can use them to give you your just desserts big sis~” Systema smirked. Despite feeling nervous by this sudden reveal, she couldn’t help smiling at the fact that Systema had finally addressed her as big sis. But Systema saw this as a mocking gesture, and soon the three of them attacked, with Devisa and Systema getting her pits while Softwaza went for her feet.

“HeeheeheeHEEHEE! HAHAHAHAHAHA WAHAHAHAHAHAIT!” Machina shrieked.

“What was that about me being unable to get you? I’m getting all over these feet right now aren’t I?” Softwaza smirked. From the sensations coursing through her feet, Machina recognized that this was no mere feathery pinwheel. It was a feathery pinwheel with two outer rings moving moderately in different directions and two inner rings moving rapidly in different directions.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Because of these contrasting speeds and directions, it was impossible for the robot girl to get used to this. Her gray feet reeled back from these sensations, wriggling and bumping against each other.

“Who’s uncool now? Cause I think it’s you big sis~” Devisa smirked.

“So soft….so sensitive~” Systema chuckled slyly. Devisa’s weird spindly hand was doing a spidery dance over Machina’s right armpit, while Systema’s two makeup brushes were swishing slowly along the top and bottom of her left armpit, occasionally teasing the center with more rapid sweeping.

“NEEHEEHEHEEHEE SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOOHOOHOOHOO!” Machina shouted, frowning at the two of them. Though that frown was soon painted over by a silly smile and wonderful laughter as she squirmed from side to side, her trapped arms trembling. With tears starting to well up in her eyes, the somewhat red-faced robot girl turned to face Gadget, who had yet to strike and was blushing while staring at her big sister’s smooth, lean tummy.

“W-Well I can’t retract my wrist like the rest of you. I can only do this with my left finger,” Gadget with a bashful smile, the tip of her index finger opening up to reveal four very small, fuzzy, spinning cylindrical devices.

…..A-Are those drill brushes? Micro-drill brushes? A look of panic grew on her face as she squirmed more anxiously

“I don’t think these’ll tickle you all that much big sis, but I’ll use them on your belly button,” Gadget smiled, her blush brightening a little as she moved her finger towards Machina’s belly button.

“NYEEHEEHEEHEEK! W-Wait little sihihiHIHIS! Use your fihIHIHINGERS, your FIHIHIHAHAHAHAHA! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” To the surprise of all of her sisters, Machina exploded with laughter when those four micro-drill brushes invaded her belly button, her back arching off the floor as she nearly tossed the four of them off of her.

“Woah there!” Devisa gasped, gripping Machina’s right arm more tightly.

“You’ve got a very tender tummy don’t you?” Systema chuckled, snugly wrapping her arm around Machina’s left arm.

“Down sis, down!” Softwaza chuckled, talking to Machina as if she was a wild dog. Grinning cheekily, she put her full weight on Machina’s ankles to keep her struggling legs and squirmy feet from moving around as much. And Gadget stared with wide, sparkling eyes at her sister’s wildly laughing form and the fact that her micro-drill brushes had brought this about.

“Sis is laughing hysterically…..big sis, who saved me and loves me so much, is laughing hysterically…..hehe~” Gadget giggled, dipping the micro-drill brushes in deeper. Because of their small size, they could swirl round and round in that delicate belly button with ease, brushing every last inch as they teased their walls and center.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE GET THOSE DRIHIHIHIHIHILLS OHOHOHOHOHOUT! HAHAHAHAHAHA PLEEHEEHEEHEEASE!” Machina screamed, waterfalls of tears pouring down her burning cheeks as she thrashed around underneath her four sisters in wide-eyed hysteria.

“Keep it up! She’s totally losing it!” Devisa smirked. Fueled by those encouraging words and how much fun she was already having with this, Gadget continued to move her micro-drill brushes round and round that delicate belly button as Machina’s wild screams rose in volume.

“LIHIHIHIHIHITTLE SIHIHIHIHIHIS! HAHAHAHAHAHA PLEEHEEHEEASE! NYEEHEEHEEHEE GADGET YOU BETTER STOHOHOHOHOP THAT RIGHT NYAHAHAHAOW!”

That was the first time Machina had addressed her by name, and that demanding, angry tone caused Gadget to freeze up in surprise, removing her drill brushes from Machina’s belly button. That was all Machina needed to spring into action.

“EHEHEHEHEHE! ELEHEHEHECTRIC SHOHOHOHOHOCK!” Machina shouted, shooting out a burst of ticklish energy towards Devisa and Systema, who were still holding down her arms.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Devisa shrieked.

“HEEHEEHEEHEE OH GOHOHOHOHOSH!” Systema yelped. The impact of the attack forced them off of Machina’s arms. Given that her feet were still being messed with by Softwaza, she shook her legs and body with all her might, throwing her cheeky red-haired sister off of her legs.

“Ah…..”

This action had also thrown off Gadget, causing her to gasp in surprise and brace herself for the mild pain her landing would cause. But Machina quickly retracted her electro-ticklers and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Gadget, then gently leaning back down. The end result was that Gadget was resting on Machina’s chest with Machina’s arms wrapped around her.

“Y-You’re still mad at me, aren’t you?” Gadget asked fearfully.

“I’m not mad at you. Just grumpy that your tool had to be drill brushes of all things,” Machina said, using her left hand to affectionately rub Gadget’s head.

“Next time, just use your fingers. Also….could you put that thing away? It’s making me uneasy,” Machina frowned, narrowing her eyes at those micro-drill brushes. Gadget’s eyes widened a bit, but she shook her head.

“I can’t promise to only use my fingers next time. And these drill brushes really scare you that much? Hehe, I’m learning all kinds of things about my big sis~” Gadget giggled.

“Little sis…..” Machina warned.

“I’ll only use it on your belly button for five minutes next time, promise! And it’ll only be me tickling you!” Gadget grinned, gazing expectantly at Machina with sparkling eyes. Machina narrowed her eyes a bit more at that, then sighed.

“….There’s no winning against you is there? You’re lucky you’re so adorable,” Machina pouted, ruffling Gadget’s hair some more.

“Hehehe~” Gadget giggled happily, snuggling closer to Machina while taking care not to move the drill brushes any closer…..or any further away. This of course made Machina uneasy, and prompted her to rub Gadget’s hair more to keep her happy.

“The hell’s with this favoritism?!” Devisa scowled.

“Rather than favoritism, it’s more like her most ticklish spot is being held at gunpoint,” Softwaza commented.

“I was a little miffed that my fun had been spoiled, but this makes it worth it~” Systema chuckled, causing Machina to grumble and blush with embarrassment. Giggling at that, the Fronds looked back at the Area 51 troops.

“Well? Still think Machina and her sisters can’t be trusted?” Queenie asked while smirking.

“No. She’s proven they can be trusted,” Maya shook her head with a smile.

“They’re like one adorable, happy family of robots! Which is kinda strange, but also kinda funny!” Rebecca giggled. The Area 51 troops, as well as Maya and Rebecca, had all relaxed their guard after seeing Machina’s sisters playfully tickle her. As things began to wind down, two more Area 51 troops entered the room.

“General Winters!” one of the troops said, the two of them saluting her. “We have two people here who claim to be friends with one of the people who defeated La Barriga but….” Hearing those words and seeing who was standing behind the two troops, Yomiko gasped.

“Leona! Rally!” Yomiko grinned, hopping to her feet and running up to the two of them, ignoring the surprise of Maya, Rebecca, and the Area 51 troops as she squeezed past them and hugged Leona and Rally.

“Hey there Yomiko,” Leona smiled brightly.

“Couldn’t help but notice that you’re barefoot. You taking a page out of Leona’s book or something?” Rally teased slyly.

“Hehe, nono! It’s…..well it’s kind of a long story,” Yomiko said, rubbing the back of her head while smiling.

“I’ll say….you brought down La Barriga,” Leona said, staring in surprise at the unconscious warlord.

“Must’ve been one hell of a fight,” Rally grinned.

“But what about you two? Weren’t you still taking on miners?” Yomiko asked.

“Our job was made a little easier by some rebel groups arriving, led by some other group that claimed to have been sent by Carol. They helped clean up the remaining miners and told us to go on ahead. So we did…..after I had some fun with Leona~” Rally smirked.

“You said you weren’t gonna tell her that!” Leona pouted at Rally, who looked up at her with an impish grin.

“Tell me what?” Yomiko grinned.

“Leona got spooked out when I did this,” Rally said, getting down on the floor and wiggling her fingers and toes with a menacing smirk, then quickly standing back up. “So I couldn’t resist tying her back on the gurney and letting my speedy fingers get everywhere tummy while my toes took could care of those big feet. I gotta say, my first time tickling someone like that sure was an interesting experience. And Leona was the perfect person to test it out on,” Rally snickered. Leona frowned at that, then looked at the grinning Yomiko.

“I-I didn’t get spooked out by that, I swear!” Leona insisted, trying to defend her honor while waving her hands anxiously.

“Leona, you clenched your fists and curled your toes when Rally showed me just now,” Yomiko smirked playfully.

“I….that’s not…..” Leona stammered, her cheeks reddening.

“Excuse me! Um, Rally was it?” Rebecca said.

“Yup, that’s me. The speedy cannonball of tickle destruction. Something on your mind?” Rally asked with a smile.

“Um…..could you do that thing again? The thing where you were on the floor?” Rebecca asked. Maya, the other Area 51 troops, Machina and her sisters, Yomiko, Queenie, Tia, Leona, and Rally all stared at her, causing Rebecca to blush bashfully while fidgeting. Rally tilted her head, then got back down on the floor and repeated the gesture before standing back up.

“Perfect…..” Rebecca murmured.

“Huh?”

“Ah, it’s nothing! It’s just…..well I’m not usually a fan of chubby soles, but you’ve got the cutest teddy bear paws around!” Rebecca giggled.

“Teddy bear paws? That’s…..a new one,” Rally said slowly, feeling her cheeks heat up.

“Hehe! Rally doesn’t get embarrassed easily!” Leona chuckled.

“But when she does, she tends to slow down instead of making her usual quips,” Yomiko grinned.

“I-I’m not embarrassed! Just…..surprised is all,” Rally pouted, her blush growing brighter. Instead of her usual quick-witted banter, she was talking at a more normal pace. Yomiko and Leona chuckled at that, then heard the sounds of four people groaning. It was La Barriga and her generals, about to wake up.

“I want four troops escorting each of her generals. Take them to a separate room and tickle them until they fully regret infiltrating this base. Even if they beg for mercy, don’t stop,” Maya said sternly.

“Yes General Winters!” the troops nodded, saluting and taking La Barriga’s three hogtied generals out of the room. That just left La Barriga.

“Uggh….hrrrrmph!” La Barriga strained against the ropes that had bound her ankles and arms, and when she saw that she couldn’t get free, she scowled at the Fronds. “Release me right now! My forces-”

“Are finished, thanks to us and the group Carol sent,” Yomiko informed the warlord. “If there’s still any Laughing Lovelies out there, they’ve devolved to petty gang squabbles. They won’t come for you. It’s over.”

“Nothing is over. I rose to power once, and I can do it again,” La Barriga scowled.

“Well then I guess we just have to give you a ticklish defeat so crushing you’ll never rise up ever again,” Queenie smirked. La Barriga narrowed her eyes at those words, glaring defiantly at Queenie despite her position.

“….Say sisters, wouldn’t you love to get payback?” Machina asked. Her sisters exchanged glances with each other, then looked back at Machina.

“Oh absolutely~” Devisa smirked.

“She could use it for all she put us through,” Systema chuckled, gazing slyly at the bound warlord.

“This is going to be fun~” Softwaza grinned deviously.

“Well….I’m feeling pretty eager to tickle someone who deserves it~” Gadget smiled.

“Perfect. Since her tummy’s so big I think you’ll have plenty of room to work with. All of you should use your fingers except for Gadget, who should focus on that belly button,” Machina said in her usual tone. Naturally, La Barriga wasn’t thrilled about this at all.

“Hey hey, what the hell gives you the right to partition my belly up like-”

“Though Yomiko, you should definitely use your Ten Ticklish Strikes on her belly before my sisters attack. Actually, you should use it on all of the tickle spots we’ll be focusing on,” Machina said to Yomiko.

“Ten Ticklish Strikes?” Rebecca tilted her head.

“It’s my special technique. I just squeeze the right pressure points in a certain order, and then that area becomes even more ticklish,” Yomiko explained with a smile.

“Oooh, nifty!” Rebecca grinned.

“I don’t want you using that crap on me again! Stay back!” La Barriga shouted, a hint of fear entering her voice when Yomiko approached her. Ignoring her angry shouts, Yomiko lifted her shirt and used the Ten Ticklish Strikes on La Barriga’s exposed and plump tummy, squeezing that tattoo on her belly and several other spots. Then she proceeded to use it on her armpits, sides, and thighs. As she used the technique on La Barriga’s feet, she took in their shape and size. They were wide and pudgy size 9s, with smooth, curvy arches and plump balls and heels. Her toes were short, but all sported large, round, and squishy pads. Finishing up on La Barriga’s feet, Yomiko stepped back.

“Alright. Machina’s sisters get first dibs, so-woah!” Yomiko stared in surprise as Machina’s sisters all ran past her towards La Barriga’s tummy. Everyone but Gadget retracted their tickle tools as they went on the attack, rolling La Barriga on her side to give them easier access to that large and round belly.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WAHAHAHAHAHA GET AWAHAHAHAHAAAAAY!” La Barriga shrieked, trying to sound imposing and failing thanks to all the cute laughter pouring out from her lips.

“Um….okay. Well, I guess we’ll take care of the other spots now,” Yomiko shrugged with a smile. She and Leona went for La Barriga’s armpits, Tia and Machina went for her thighs, and Queenie, Rebecca, Rally, and Maya went for her feet.

“OHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHA! GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!”

Ordinarily, it would’ve taken three whole minutes for La Barriga to explode from this team attack. But with her whole body now sensitized, she caved within seconds.

“This brings back memories doesn’t it? The three of us ganging up on a baddie who deserves to get tickled silly~” Leona snickered.

“It feels like it’s been forever since then. But it looks like your skills haven’t dulled too much,” Yomiko grinned at Leona. Leona firmly dug into La Barriga’s left armpit, slowly dragging her fingers up and down it. Meanwhile Yomiko went for swifter scratches and squeezes on her right armpit, striking at softer spots that were slightly above and below the center of her armpit.

“After all the tickles Tia got on thighs, it feels good dishing it out!” Tia grinned.

“True. Though for me, this feels good because she deserves it after what she had that damn roach do to my sisters. Give me a laugh you weak, ticklish warlord~” Machina smirked deviously. Tia scribbled her fingers rapidly all over La Barriga’s right thigh, and this was perfectly matched by Machina rapidly prodding her left thigh with her electro-ticklers.

“You liking this La Barriga? Cause I am loving it for all the trouble you caused. Admittedly I had more of a score to settle with Big Barbara than you but…..nah. It’s because of you that the Laughing Lovelies were able to come into power and able to mess with Tia and the Tribals. So you deserve all of this,” Queenie smirked.

“Hehe, your toes are nowhere near as cute as Rally’s! Still fun to mess with though~” Rebecca giggled.

“I heard that. You’re not wrong though,” Rally giggled. “First Madame Solle, now a warlord whose name literally means ‘the belly’. It’s you two are asking to get tickled silly. Which is fine by me, since breaking a ticklish baddie is the best thing ever~” Rally snickered.

“For humiliating my troops, and for having such oddly appealing tickle targets, I’ll make you suffer,” Maya smirked. She had La Barriga’s heels in a vice grip as she grazed her fingers against them, her nails tracing along their edges and digging into their centers. Queenie was digging firmly into La Barriga’s arches, combing the pale and creamy flesh with her strong fingers and making it take on a pinkish hue. Rally’s fingers scrambled eagerly over the balls, tops, and even the sides of La Barriga’s feet, which all proved quite receptive thanks to Yomiko’s Ten Ticklish Strikes. And Rebecca was scribbling her fingers against each of toes, giggling at how those plump digits clamped down tightly since their plumpness prevented them from hiding.

And as for her large, smooth tummy…..well she had thirty fingers crawling all over it, squeezing, scratching, and scribbling away. Squeezing the spot where her tattoo was got loud snorts and cackles out of her. But worst of all were those four micro-drill brushes spinning round and round in her belly button, their fuzzy filaments tickling every inch of her now horribly sensitized button.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAHAP! HAHAHAHAHAHA PLEEHEEHEEHEEASE!” La Barriga screamed, thrashing around like a fish out of water. Or a warlord caught in a frying pan of ticklish sensations.

“Not a chance!” Devisa smirked.

“Forcing us to be a barrier and even letting those miners tickle us, to say nothing of what Rocio did. You deserve all of this and more,” Systema smiled slyly.

“So you better get nice and comfy,” Softwaza said deviously.

“Cause you’re not going anywheeere~” Gadget said, her normally sweet voice taking on a more ominous vibe as she flashed a sly grin at La Barriga.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH NOHOHOHOHOHO!” La Barriga screamed, her struggles growing weaker until she was as helpless as a kitten. This was the sort of ticklish defeat she’d never live down, one that would be talked about for years to come.

“You rushed in blindly, didn’t bother soundly defeating thug you came across, and nearly got captured and tickled forever by a scientist. Clearly you’ve learned nothing from Hope City. Once a Fighting Frond, always a Fighting Frond it looks like,” Carol frowned.

“Wow. Didn’t think you’d ever throw compliments my way Carol,” Yomiko chuckled.

“That wasn’t a compliment,” Carol scowled.

“I see. Somehow I’m not surprised that you’re still an annoying, stuck-up jerk who can’t congratulate me for a job well done because you’re too busy sticking your nose in the Council’s book of rules and regulations every day before coming in,” Yomiko taunted with a smirk.

“Wha….well I never!” Carol said, staring in shocked indignation at those words.

“Heh. The adventure you went on to save us definitely made you feistier,” Leona smirked.

“I dig it. It’s much better than being all polite like how you used to be in these boring meetings. Though I guess that was before you tickled Carol silly and ran after us,” Rally snickered.

“You told them about that?” Carol shot Yomiko a withering glare.

“Of course I did. They’re my friends. Telling them all about tickle wrecking a stick in the mud comes naturally,” Yomiko shrugged with a smug smirk, prompting Carol to scowl deeply.

Currently, Yomiko was in the Hope City Council meeting room, sitting down at a rectangular table with the other council members in attendance, including the ever obnoxious Carol. And she wasn’t alone. Leona, Rally, Machina, Tia, Queenie, and even Machina’s sisters were all in attendance, standing behind Yomiko and creating atmosphere of a delinquent bringing her whole gang with her into the room. Especially given Yomiko’s brazen attitude towards Carol.

“Do you really need me to remind you that the Council’s rules specifically mentions that shoes must be worn at all times?” Carol asked, scowling at Leona as well as Machina and her sisters given that they were all barefoot.

“Carol…..” Julie.

“Personally, I think being in those cramped shoes all the time is why you’re so grumpy. And I can definitely fix that~” Yomiko smirked.

“Are you threatening me? I’ll have you know if you tickle me like before you’ll be kicked off the Counc-ah?! Hey what do you think you’re doing?” Carol scowled as Machina’s sisters went behind her, with Devisa putting her hands on her shoulders.

“You weren’t kidding about how annoying she is,” Devisa said to Yomiko.

“I think a trip with the four of us will change that though~!” Softwaza grinned, peering over Carol’s right shoulder.

“You’ll get to laugh your cares away,” Systema said, gazing down coyly at Carol.

“It’ll be my first time tickling someone who’s not my big sis or a baddie….or well, my first time while not being brainwashed anyways. So um…..I-I’m really looking forward to it!” Gadget said, beaming brightly at Carol while peering over her left shoulder.

“No way am I traveling with you robots, reformed or not! I won’t stand for this!” Carol frowned, trying to get out of her seat but unable to get out of Devisa’s grip. The other people on the Council stared at this sudden development, and then Julie spoke up.

“All in favor of Carol getting a two weeks vacation for all her hard work in dealing with La Barriga both before and after Yomiko ventured into her territory, raise your hand,” Julie said.

“What?!” Carol shouted in disbelief as every Council member other than her raised their hands, including Yomiko.

“And all who oppose?” Julie asked with a smirk. Carol’s hand shot up, but was immediately forced down by Softwaza.

“Well, it looks like the decision is unanimous. I recommend getting an apartment near a beach and going sightseeing during those two weeks,” Julie smiled.

“You can’t just….gah! Hey let go of me!” Carol shouted as she was hoisted up out of her seat and carried off with Devisa holding her shoulders, Systema holding her legs, and Gadget and Softwaza in front of and behind her as they headed off. The scene reminded Leona and Rally of how they’d carried off Yomiko the day they’d been captured, causing the three of them to chuckle.

“You don’t want to go with them Machina?” Yomiko asked her robot friend.

“No. It’s a shame, but there comes a time when you have to leave the nest,” Machina deadpanned, looking at her sisters leaving the room with an emotionless gaze.

“You haven’t spent much time at all with them. Other than the few days it took us to get back to Hope City that is,” Yomiko frowned.

“Yes well…..I developed a stronger sense of self from traveling with you. So I hope that by traveling together, they’ll also mature,” Machina said, looking back at Yomiko. Those were her heartfelt, genuine feelings but….

“Mature?” Yomiko raised an eyebrow.

“You’re the least mature person in our group,” Queenie smirked.

“Machina is super silly!” Tia chimed in.

“W-What….” Machina’s eyes widened in shock as she turned to Leona and Rally for support.

“Well, I haven’t known you very long but….” Leona rubbed the back of her head.

“‘Mature’ is the last thing that comes to mind when I think of you. You’re more like….a sassy goofball? A boneheaded snark machine? Someone who thinks she’s way cooler than she really is?” Rally mused, firing off insults one after another.

“That does it!” Machina shouted, bringing out her electro-ticklers.

“Calm down Machina! I’m sure she didn’t mean that. Though she’s kinda right any-woah?!” The moment Yomiko said those words, Machina leapt towards them. The other Council members stared in shock and wonder as robot retaliated against the other Fronds for their remarks in the most wonderfully ticklish way imaginable.

“Welcome back Queenie,” San Fran smiled, pulling her into a warm embrace. “Have somewhere to be?”

“….Nah. This time I’m here for you,” Queenie grinned while blushing. San Fran’s expression softened at that.

“Good,” San Fran smiled.

On the way to Hope City, they had taken a detour at the Wastelands so that Tia could pay a visit to her aunt and the tribe. While there, Queenie told San Fran that she’d be heading to Hope City and presenting herself before the Council as one of the heroes who’d helped bring down La Barriga. San Fran had wished Queenie good luck, and Queenie had promised to return. Once the meeting had ended, Queenie said her goodbyes, then set off for the Wastelands in style. Which, for Queenie, meant riding a flashy motorcycle like how she had during her time leading the Renegades.

Well, the Renegades are disbanded now, Queenie thought with a somewhat nostalgic smile. Queenie told any members of her old crew that she encountered on the way to and from Hope City that the Renegades were disbanded. They’d rallied together to oppose La Barriga, and now that the warlord had been defeated and would be laughing it up in a cell for the rest of her life, there was no need for them to continue their usual activities.

“You can keep on riding with your buddies, exploring new places and trying new things. But whether you go off in groups or alone, ride free. La Barriga and her band of jerks robbed that freedom for long enough after all. As for me-”

“We already know what you’re gonna be doing Queenie.”

“You’re gonna settle down with that Tribal lady right?”

“W-What?!”

“Hehe, you’re all red!”

“The two of you would make a cute couple~”

Queenie thought back to one of the conversations she’d had with a group of former Renegades with flushed cheeks. That day, she spent time hanging out with San Fran and the other Tribals, eating the various fruits they’d foraged, and bathing in the lake. By nightfall, she’d changed into a Tribal outfit that San Fran had prepared for her that consisted of a purple ancestral bra, beige pants with a purple and pink triangle pattern near the top, and large mocassins. The ancestral bra and pants hugged her chest and rump a little too snugly, but curiously, the moccasins were a perfect fit.

When did she find the time to measure my feet?, Queenie thought with surprise.

Upon entering the hut, the first thing that caught her attention was the smell of incense coming from a small jar with three thin, red sticks in it at one corner of the hut. The second was the small fire burning on a small pile of sticks near the center of the hut, allowing Queenie to see San Fran. And the third was the way San Fran’s expression lit up with barely concealed desire from the outfit Queenie was wearing, causing the large girl’s cheeks to heat up. It dawned on her that this snugly fitted outfit may have been intentional. Especially considering the boots were more properly sized.

“Queenie looks beautiful,” San Fran smiled.

“Uh….t-thank you,” Queenie muttered, her blush growing a little brighter.

“San Fran will wash and dry Queenie’s clothes tomorrow but…..San Fran likes that outfit better~” San Fran grinned slyly.

“I figured as much…..” Queenie smiled at San Fran, resting her right hand on her hip. San Fran grabbed Queenie’s hands gently and pulled her further inside the hut.

“Is Queenie prepared? For Queenie to be San Fran’s….and San Fran to be Queenie’s?” San Fran asked, looking up at the former Renegade with a mix of hope and worry. Seeing that vulnerable expression, Queenie couldn’t help bursting into laughter.

“Hahahaha! Snrkehehehe!”

“Ah! It’s not funny Queenie!” San Fran scowled, giving Queenie’s sides some ticklish pinches. But even with those pinches, Queenie’s laughter mostly came from San Fran’s earlier expression.

“Heeheehee! I’m not laughing at thahahahat!” Queenie grinned, stopping San Fran’s hands and gazing down at her. “Here I was thinking I was the only one driving off into unfamiliar territory. But you’re nervous too, aren’t you?” San Fran’s eyes widened at those words, and she looked away with an embarrassed blush.

“Yeah, I’m ready. I want you, San Fran.”

“Ah….”

“As for what comes after tonight….well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Queenie grinned, winking at San Fran. San Fran stared up at Queenie, then chuckled.

“Queenie is more like Tribal than San Fran thought,” San Fran smiled.

“Yeah? Well you’re more like a Renegade than I thought. Don’t think I didn’t notice that wild smile earlier!” Queenie smirked playfully, letting go of San Fran’s hands and giving her sides a few ticklish squeezes as a way of returning the favor.

“Eheeheehee! San Fran does nohohohot know what Queeheeheenie means!” San Fran lied, slipping away from Queenie’s tickles with an impish smile.

“Uh-huh. Suuuure you don’t~” Queenie smirked. San Fran chuckled, then took Queenie’s hand and led her over to a bed of leaves that were packed together by vines. Then she took two vines lying in one part of the hut and bound Queenie’s arms and ankles with it, and slowly removed those moccasins. When she saw the sheer size and shape of Queenie’s feet, her eyes widened and sparkled.

“Hehe. San Fran is glad she didn’t spy on you in lake. Getting to see Queenie’s feet for first time is quite special~” San Fran smiled. She opened up a small jar and began rubbing some natural oils into Queenie’s feet, grinning at how the big girl squirmed and snickered from this, her feet wiggling about.

“Nice and soft. Very lovely too. San Fran will have fun with them and every inch of Queenie before courtship ritual is over~” San Fran chuckled, glancing coyly at the blushing redhead.

“Is that right? Well then, feel free to help yourself~” Queenie smirked, flexing and curling her toes in an alluring way.

“Oh San Fran will~” San Fran smiled, her cheeks heating up a little more from that teasing gesture. Afterwards, an unforgettable night of laughter and passion commenced.

Machina’s sisters had sent photos of a beach buried Carol before and after tickle wrecking her, along with a couple other photos. They were having lots of fun with her, with Softwaza even styling up her hair and getting her a cute summer outfit. Carol looked defiant in some of the earlier photos, but meek in the more recent ones, like a rabbit caught between four tickle-hungry wolves. Yomiko had no doubt that her attitude would be much improved when she returned to the Council.

Tia had decided to explore the world with her group of Tribal friends, the same friends who had helped her bring down the trucks used by the Laughing Lovelies. She occasionally sent postcards to Queenie, San Fran, and Yomiko of her journeys, like how she’d met former members of the Renegades, or how two former adversaries of the Fighting Fronds that Yomiko had told her about, Wave and Gina, had mellowed out and become a couple.

General Winters and Rebecca had gone on vacation to an island resort that included spa services. One where Rebecca indulged in those services as the perfect way to tickle tease and mess with her superior officer.

Giada had managed to slip away before rebel groups could find and capture her. Changing her hairstyle and singeing her brows, she kept her head down and stayed out of sight. Eventually, she learned of Spectra’s failure and how Carmen and her bandits were tickling her silly every day in a prison. By fabricating a story about how she’d lost a government job, she was able to become one of the guards working there and tickle bully Spectra as part of ‘rehabilitating’ her, with and without those dusty, rainbow colored socks her former partner had been allowed to keep.

Gigglez, Jugglez, Seesaw, Brawna, and many other members of Gigglez’s Circus had been captured by rebel groups led by Carol’s special task force, who had entered the tent to the shocking sight of Gigglez and her top performers being tickled by drones. They’d all been transferred to a prison where they’d star in a new act, the Cackling Clowns. And boy did those clowns cackle, especially at the business end of a feather.

Not all of them got captured though. Some of them were running odd jobs, and a trio of clowns had become a group of traveling performers. The large clown that had been once been guarding the entrance of Gigglez’s tent was now a barmaid. Much like before, she still had a habit of dozing off and kicking her feet up on tables or barrels, and her loud chortles when drunk customers got frisky with her kept the bar lively.

Working together, the rebel groups, Tribals, and townsfolk were able to subdue nearly all of the Laughing Lovelies, but not Big Barbara. Rumor had it that she was being kept in the basement in some shack a few towns over, still being tickled on her humongous feet by Harley and the other bikers who had managed to retreat.

The rebel groups led by Carol’s special task force had subdued the members of the Crushers that were still around and helped get the poor victims from Rocio’s two facilities the therapy and relocation they needed after their harrowing experience. They couldn’t find any trace of Rocio or Basher though, nor could they find the key card that would let them head down to the basement. And so those two would remain under that facility, laughing away their sanity for the rest of their lives.

The Merciless Miners had been subdued thanks to the combined efforts of Leona, Rally, and the rebels. They and La Barriga’s Elite Guard had been dispersed to different prisons. But Marisol and La Barriga had both been sent to the same prison, where they shared a solitary confinement cell. Said cell involved them both blindfolded, bound in black straight jackets, and strapped to tables, their feet jutting out of a wall and vulnerable to the never ending assembly line of tickle tools those guards would use on them for twelve hours each day.

“And Machina decided to stay here at my place because of her external hard drive or something,” Yomiko chuckled while rolling her eyes.

“That’s not it at all…..” Machina pouted.

“Aww I know you care about me. I just wanted to tease you a little~” Yomiko smirked, ruffling her hair.

“That’s great and all, but why are we like this?” Leona asked.

“Yeah you got some serious explaining to do Yomiko! Are you becoming a villain or something?!” Rally frowned. The two of them had been coiled up in blankets and rope on the couch in an upright position, their bare feet resting on the table in front of them.

“Remember how you two tickled me before you left to spy on La Barriga? This is me returning the favor,” Yomiko smirked.

“Ah I see, that makes perfect sense…..no it doesn’t! We did that to cheer you up after a hard day dealing with Carol’s bossiness!” Rally frowned, kicking her feet fiercely as she tried to break out of her blanket wrap. Even wrapped up, her feet shook about wildly, which of course brought a smile to Yomiko’s face as she thought fondly of the past.

“Besides, we didn’t even tickle you that badly!” Leona gulped, scrunching her feet nervously.

“I know. And it’s only been a few weeks since I saved you from getting passed around from one crazy tickler to the next. Which is why I’ll go easy on you two today and only tickle for half an hour,” Yomiko smirked.

“That’s still too extreme!” Rally complained with a pout.

“How do we know you won’t take things too far?” Leona frowned skeptically.

“Because I’ll be gentle, right Machina?” Yomiko smiled at her robot friend, who nodded.

“Yup. We’ll tickle you…..with love,” Machina said emotionlessly.

“That’s not reassuring at all!” Leona protested.

“Yeah, we both know exactly the kinda gremlin Machina is! No way does she have good intentions behind that emotionless gaze!” Rally shouted, giving the robot girl an accusatory glare.

“This time she does but…..well I guess you won’t believe me until you see it for yourself,” Yomiko chuckled. “Machina?”

“Hm?”

“I’ll follow your lead,” Yomiko smiled.

“….Yup,” Machina nodded with a small grin. With that, Leona and Rally’s close friend and the robot girl who had been at the side of said friend this entire journey began their playful bit of tickle torture, closing this chapter of their lives with warmth, joy, and plenty of ticklish squealing.