~ Friday, October 25th – Los Angeles

Cobra Kai stars Xolo Maridueña and Jacob Bertrand prepared to start their podcast. Both of them were waiting on their guest to arrive for the recording, leaving the young actors to scroll on their phones simultaneously only feet from each other in their makeshift studio. Random giggles from funny TikToks or excited outbursts over cool Instagram posts filled the mostly silent room until Xolo saw something that he couldn’t help but share with his co-host.

“Dude! Check this out” Xolo announced as he leaned forward in his chair and held his phone out for Jacob to watch, waiting on his reaction to the TikTok that’d gotten him so riled up. “Holy shit, man…three cars in one night? How are they even doing that?” Bertrand questioned. “Nobody knows, dude. They’re calling them the LA Jackers. This is like the 8th video I’ve seen like this; this is just the most recent thing to happen” Xolo explained. “When was that?” “Yesterday I think” “Damn. The police aren’t saying anything?” Jacob pressed, now just as invested as his friend.

“I was reading an article on it yesterday and they can’t seem to catch them. They’re like, professionals or something” the intrigued 23 year old answered, surprising Jacob. “Good thing I don’t drive a super nice car” Bertrand halfway laughed. “Right? It’s crazy though. I mean, how has nobody stopped these guys?” “I guess the cops just aren’t as quick or whatever as they are. This is the kind of thing the Fast and Furious movies would be about now” Jacob laughed. “Dude! You’re so right! Dominic Toretto would be on their asses” Xolo agreed. “Or like Batman…Batman would handle it” “Oh, for sure…unless The Joker was out doing some shit, ya know?” “Yeah…gotta prioritize I guess” Jacob laughingly answered.

“I mean, if the police can’t get them, maybe somebody else could…” Xolo suggested. “Like, a citizens arrest or something?” “Not exactly…I was thinking more like somebody who could fight and not handle it like the cops, two somebodies…” Xolo continued with a skewed eyebrow toward Jacob until the 24 year old put the pieces together and sat up on the futon. “Us?! You want us to catch the LA Jackers?? Dude!” “I think we could do it. We know how to handle ourselves and I mean, we don’t have guns but we wouldn’t need them. We could catch them and then call the police or whatever” “Like Batman does?” “Yeah, sure” “Shit…this is a crazy idea, man. We’d be like vigilantes” Jacob realized as he grew more excited about the wild idea.

“What if we get recognized or something?” Bertrand questioned. “I mean, we could always wear a ski mask or something” “Dude!” “What?” “It’s almost Halloween! We could just wear costumes” Jacob realized. “That’s right! That’d be fucking great. We could wear the ones we’re gonna wear to the party next week” “That’d be sick! We are so getting those guys!” Jacob concluded with total confidence in his and Xolo’s martial arts skills, both of them buzzing with excitement about potentially being real life heroes.

The following night Xolo and Jacob were driving around the streets of Los Angeles on the lookout for any sign of the LA Jackers, both of them in their Halloween costumes. Jacob sported a very impressive ‘The Deep’ costume from The Boys while Xolo went as ‘Ash’ from Pokémon, looks they’d been very excited to show off at their friend’s party but just as confident in now. “Dude, I just realized something” Jacob announced from the driver’s seat. “What?” “We’re not wearing masks or anything. What if the Jackers recognize us?” “Shit, you’re right. This is why I wanted to do the ski masks” Xolo reminded. “I mean, I guess we should be fine. What are the chances a group of car thieves are big Cobra Kai or Blue Beetle fans?” Jacob suggested like he was having to convince himself. “Yeah, I guess…even if they do know who we are, when we catch them, getting credit for stopping a gang of car thieves wouldn’t be terrible” Xolo added. “Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world” Bertrand agreed as they rounded the corner of a nice neighborhood with their lights off and immediately noticed a few men messing with a Rolls-Royce parked on the street.

“Shit, dude it’s them!” Jacob announced. “Are we sure?” “Unless the owner has people in black clothes detail his car at night” “Right. Yeah, it’s totally them. You wanna both go at them at the same time?” Xolo questioned as adrenaline began to rise in the car. “Yeah, we can leave the car here and just sneak up on them” “Gotcha” “Let’s do it” Jacob agreed as they quietly parked the car and snuck down the street between the other cars until they could hear the men opening the door of the luxury car. Despite the combat training they’d had so much of, Jacob and Xolo were still nervous, knowing they were stepping into new territory that could be pretty dangerous. But with a silent signal to each other, they sprang out and prepared to take on the criminals.

Kicks and strategic punches surprised the LA Jackers but the mysterious car thieves were more capable than the karate kids expected, resulting in their plan to end the crime spree backfiring horribly. By 11 p.m., Xolo and Jacob were no longer in the affluent neighborhood, instead in a different part of L.A., tied to identical wooden chairs next to each other in a warehouse like something right out of a movie. “Ugh! This is bullshit!” Jacob exclaimed with frustrated breathing after failing to loosen the utility rope keeping his hands tied down at the sides of the chair. “These guys are better than I thought they’d be” Xolo added as he looked around the warehouse again, finding the same couple guys guarding the entrance watching them.

“We have to get out of here. Who knows what these assholes are gonna do” Jacob pointed out. “Yeah, no shit, dude but we’re pretty stuck right now. I’m trying to think of a plan” Xolo answered, trying to mask his anxiety just before a new voice joined them. “A plan? It seems like you fellas already had one and we see how that went” a man no older than 50 interjected as he walked closer to the wannabe vigilantes. “Let us outta this shit, man!” Xolo barked with a tough exterior and jerk at the chair. “Come on, tough guy, let’s see what you’ve got” Jacob tacked on with a similar bite, humoring the older man.

“Shouldn’t you two be in a dorm room somewhere flirting with girls or boys or whoever? Or trick or treating maybe judging by the outfits?” “My fist will be flirting with your face pretty soon” Bertrand added. “Mouthy and stupid. What a combination” “Just undo this shit!” Xolo demanded, his gaze sharp under the brim of the red and white Ash Ketchum hat. “Maybe you hit your heads when you were getting your asses handed to you earlier but I’m calling the shots here, not you! Now, tell me who you’re working for!” the man shouted with the first real show of dominance, enough to rattle the pair of actors a bit. They exchanged a look of understanding after the outburst; the LA Jackers didn’t know who they were, instead assuming they were a part of some other operation. “We’re not working for anyone, dick head!” Jacob answered. “Don’t give me that! You’re probably wearing a wire or something right now” the man accused as he reached out to feel around Jacob’s sides and stomach, inadvertently making the bound blonde giggle in his chair before Jacob quickly made himself stop.

But the reaction, however unintentional, seemed to make a lightbulb go off for the head of the LA Jackers. His stoic face became a smug grin and he took a step back from the would-be heroes. “Mike and Rocky, come over here” the man instructed and the men that’d been guarding the warehouse entrance walked over to join them, unsettling the costumed duo even though they tried their best to took unphased. “I don’t know who you boys are working for or what your game is but you’re not leaving here until you tell us” “We don’t know anything! We told you!” Xolo fired back. “You’ll feel like talking sooner or later, don’t worry. Mike and Rocky are gonna tickle you until you do” the leader concluded with a calm certainty, cluing the boys in on what his new plan was and unnerving their confidence as the henchmen prepared to make good on their orders.

“What??” was all Jacob could say with wide-eyed disbelief. “No way! Fuck that! Come on!” Xolo argued and immediately began fighting his confinement again but neither of them could avoid the ordered tickling. “AaGGHNO!” Xolo burst with uncontrollable laughter right out the gate as Rocky’s strong fingers plunged into his stomach and lower sides, his hands big enough to cover an impressive amount of surface area. “Fuck oOoAoAFFAOHAoHA! SShHIIT!” Jacob fell apart just the same moments later after a few seconds of trying to tough it out, only to succumb to the pair of hands now chomping across his knees and thighs.

The man in charge watched in silence from an upper level of the warehouse to keep an eye on things as the men that’d threatened to interrupt his car theft operation suffered the consequence of sticking their noses in places where they didn’t belong. “GGEEhehETToOOoFFmMMEE!!” Xolo protested the best he could but the fingers never left his tight belly, instead suddenly sinking in deeper to wiggle along his abs and crank Xolo’s boyishly charming laughter a couple notches higher. Jacob bucked in the chair next to him and tried to shake the hands squeezing into his legs but Mike couldn’t be escaped, especially when a specific spot halfway up Jacob’s legs got a wilder reaction from him, one that made his cheeks blush with embarrassment. “Fuck!” Bertrand let out after the surprising shriek of laughter but Mike just doubled down on his finding, locking his grip around both skinny legs in the The Deep suit and going to town with newfound focus.

“AAGGHAOHAOHAOHANNoOAOOAOHA!!!” Jacob’s animated laughter spiraled higher as his head bobbed around and his smile stretched wider, wrecked by the concentrated tickling dominating his helpless legs. With their ankles and legs tied to the chairs, Xolo and Jacob could barely even try and move them around, leaving Bertrand’s sensitive thighs and knees sitting ducks for Mike’s mighty hands. “Who are you working for?” Rocky asked as his hands stopped suddenly, giving Xolo a moment to relax. “Nobody! We fucking told you!” Maridueña answered as he caught his breath but his perceived lie cut his relief short with 10 fingers now invading his armpits. “NO! NOOAOAOhAOHFFUUuCCkKOOOOFF!!” Xolo had no choice but to give into the fresh attack as his eyes flashed with realized dread and he tried to tighten his arms to his body but he was too late; Rocky was already in both armpits digging around like he was looking for worms in dirt. Xolo’s reaction ballooned to pouring howls of full-body laughter, obviously too ridiculously ticklish to even try and white-knuckle his way through anything Rocky was gonna throw at him. His fingerless gloves were fists of ticklish rage and his handsome face became exaggerated expressions out of his control, all of him so easily manipulated by a little tickling.

“You gonna be smarter than your friend and tell us what we want to know?” Mike soon questioned as he finally abandoned Jacob’s legs, leaving them tingling from such overstimulation. “Fuck me…why does that tickle so bad?” Jacob questioned. “Answer me!” “We’re not working for anyone…we’re not fucking spies, dude! Come on! This is crazy!” Bertrand answered with another jerk in the chair but Mike wasn’t convinced, motivating him to set his sights on his next target as he reached out and unzipped Jacob’s costume some more, revealing most of his chest. “What are you doing?? Fuck off, man!” Bertran argued with angsty attitude before Mike sank his fingers in right where his chest met his pits. “AAGhGGHHFFuUUCCkKYYoOuUDDUUUDDE!! AohAOhAAAGGEETToOhOoFFF!!” Jacob roared with another forced smile as he bucked in the chair and regretted the costume choice that’d now left him more exposed than normal.

Mike’s hands were large enough to go after his ribs at the same time as well, spreading his meaty fingers to drill into the sides of his flat chest and wiggle into his ribs as casually as he would scratch his dog’s belly. Jacob’s sass was contrasted by his cartoonish laughter, bubbling to outrageous heights and sharp shrieks that told the whole room how much it all tickled, both Mike and Rocky’s efforts reducing the pair of impressive fighters to bumbling giggle boxes in their Halloween costumes.

“SSTTOHOHOPP!! FFuUuCCkKIInNnGgAOHAOHSSTTOHoHPP!!” Xolo raged with Rocky now at his ribs, kneading between them through the t-shirt like he was trying to see how loud a new toy could get, careless of Xolo’s limits as he writhed in the chair and bent to the will of his own severe ticklishness. Without warning, Mike snuck into Jacob’s armpits, igniting a new fire in the older of the two actors as the ruthless fingers easily conquered his naked pits, another spot left open by the costume. “NOOAohAOHAOAHAFFFUUucCkKKEERR!! AOhAOhAohAFFuUuCCkKKYYOOOUUAohAOHA!!!” Jacob shook in the chair with explosive laughter, his disbelief almost audible in his electric reaction. It was obvious neither of them knew how to handle such prolonged, focused tickling and to be fair, who would? Anytime any of them ever tickled each other it was brief and playful, not anywhere as intense as this. The surprise tainting their laughter every so often seemed to be because they didn’t know tickling could be this way, this bad. A common weakness they might tease each other with on set or while hanging out was suddenly weaponized into an interrogation tactic. They’d never dreamed that kind of thing actually happened anywhere but in cartoons or sitcoms.

“Ok, boys” came down from the upper level and Rocky and Mike backed off, leaving Xolo and Jacob to enjoy the luxury of not laughing their asses off. “Holy shit…” Xolo exhaled as he came down from the insanity and Jacob mirrored his tired frustration. “You two ready to talk or keep being tough guys? I’ll go ahead and tell you, you’re doing a shit job at that” the man in charge of the LA Jackers questioned. “Listen, man…we’re not spies or cops or whatever. We’re actors…we just wanted to bust you guys” Xolo admitted, earning a concerned look from his buddy. “Do you actually think I’d believe that? What kind of actors would try to stop a car thief ring?” the older man laughed, surprising Jacob and Xolo.

“He’s not lying! We’ve had fight training – lots of it. We were gonna take you down” Jacob doubled down, this time making Rocky and Mike laugh a little too. The very thing they didn’t want out there was their last resort to convince the Jackers that they weren’t a real threat and now it wasn’t even believed. The look on both their faces was that of two guys without anymore cards to play, lost for what to do to get themselves out of the situation they’d thought themselves too badass to ever get into.

“I know bullshit when I smell it. You boys aren’t as clever as you think you are” the main man added with a cocky assuredness. “Get your nose fucking checked then, asshole!” Xolo lashed. “Go ahead, fellas. Tip ‘em over” the man instructed and Rocky and Mike did just that, using their booted feet to lift below the chairs and tip their troublemakers over so they were on their backs with their legs in the air. “Ugh! Shit” both boys hit the ground with a thud, instantly pissing them off even more. “You guys are so screwed when we get out of this!” Jacob warned with a disgruntled grin like the Jackers didn’t know who they were dealing with. “You guys didn’t seem so tough before” Mike reminded, a point neither Cobra Kai star wanted to admit.

Before either of them could assess if their ropes were any more escapable in this position, an unmistakable feeling of their shoes being pulled off commanded their attention. Xolo’s retro Nike sneakers came off with a quick tug while Jacob’s boots put up more of a fight, “Fuck off! Don’t take my shoes, man!” Jacob argued but couldn’t stop the inevitable, looking up in time to see Mike cover his face with the left boot for a big sniff. “Dude!” Bertrand let out in disgust but Mike took his time enjoying the smelly boot before putting it down and returning to the socked feet.

“Get away from my fucking feet, man!” Xolo shouted as his size 10s wiggled in the air but Rocky just grabbed one and held it by the ankle before letting his other hand go to work. “AooaHoAHOAOhFFUUuHUCCKKAOHAOHA!! NNooAOhAOHA!!” Xolo erupted with a brand of laughter not yet heard in the warehouse that evening; it’d gotten close but never quite as entertainingly unhinged as the reaction five deliberate fingers running across Xolo’s sock foot got. “Damn. Even through the socks, huh?” Mike laughed at Xolo’s reaction before turning his attention back to Jacob who was currently trying to break his way from the chair. But Mike wasn’t as restrained as Rocky, ruining Bertrand’s feisty efforts by ripping both crew socks clean off and earning a look of acute dread with the realization of his bare feet being exposed.

“Shit! You’re so fucking dead, dude! So fucking dead” Jacob argued with put-on toughness before Mike had his way with the inviting feet wiggling themselves to nowhere. “Ahah! FUCK! AhOAHnOO! NOOOAOHA! MMooOTTHhERRFFUUUCCkKEErRRsSAOAOHAOHAAHOASSSHHIIIT!!” game gushing out of Jacob with a similar power to Xolo’s laughter, one that undermined his attitude and false arrogance. Bertrand’s head flew around and he jerked around in the chair like some Halloween decoration, telling every member of the LA Jackers in earshot how ridiculously ticklish his feet were, another thing he and Xolo had in common. One thing they didn’t have in common however, was comfort in showing their feet. Jacob going barefoot during their podcast and not being shy of flexing them and wiggling his toes in front of the camera contrasted Xolo’s choice to always wear at least socks but now, neither of them had a choice and their equally delicious feet were the full focus of uninterrupted tickle torture.

“CCOOMMEEoOhOONN!!” Xolo tried to argue with a break in his laughter, a higher-pitched squeak that only added humiliation to his frustration. “Tell us who you’re working for” Rocky pressed as he bombarded the ankle-socked feet with relentless scribbles. “NnOOobBoOoDDYyAHAHAHAA! OOoOkKK!??! JJUuuSSTSSTTOhOHHOPP!” “Keep going” the man in charge instructed after hearing Xolo’s response, earning a look of ‘are you fucking serious?’ from the Blue Beetle Star. “Yes, sir” was all Rocky said as he stopped tickling long enough to grab the elastic edges of both socks, putting Xolo on red alert. “NO! Not the socks! Bro, come on!! We’re not lying!!” Xolo tried the best he could to convince them of the truth but the cotton protection quickly slipped off his feet to expose the tan tops and peachy, brown sugar soles. “Shit” was all Xolo could say as he began squirming harder in the chair, itching to free himself and pull his now bare feet away but Rocky didn’t let either happen.  

“AAAAAHAhAOHAOAHOAHAOAHOHFFUUCCK!” shot out of Xolo with even harder laughter than before, somehow charmingly crazed as it flew out of him at Rocky’s control. The rough, relentless fingers scribbled and scratched all across the silky soft feet with no regard for how nice they were, only concerned with tickling the handsome pair as much as he could and he was more than succeeding judging by Xolo losing his shit in front of him. Jacob’s laughter, however outrageously giggly and loud, was overshadowed by Xolo’s new intensity. But, it wasn’t long before Mike unintentionally cranked Jacob’s reaction to a similar frenzy. Mike grabbed Jacob’s left toes to pry and them proceeded to claw down his taut pink sole with nails that were in need of a good trim, getting a wide-eyed shriek of a laugh from Bertrand as his whole body cringed and his face told exactly how horrifically it tickled. But the first drag quickly became a second and a third until Jacob was howling and squealing into the air without a moment of peace, totally wrecked by the nails raking down his smooth sole over and over.

But as Xolo as Ash Ketchum and Jacob as The Deep laughed and shrieked and shouted and threatened and bucked around, the tickle interrogation still proved unfruitful. The man in charge of the LA Jackers who’d been watching from the side lines grew impatient by the 40 minute mark, prompting him to walk back down to the ground floor and join his hired hands. “This has gone on for too long. You two are clearly more stubborn than I imagined. I’m going to have to show you how I made the most ruthless gang leader in Los Angeles surrender his territory to me back in 99” the man explained without Rocky or Mike ever giving Xolo or Jacob a break, allowing the famous pair to only hear bits and pieces of the announcement before the man in charge joined the party.

He took hold of Jacob’s right bare foot and like a vampire, wrapped his mouth around the arch before devouring the savory sole. “AAAAAGGAHAOAHOAH!! WWHHAATTThHEEEEFFAHAHAFFUuUuCCCKK!?!!” Jacob nearly screamed with disbelief all over his baby-face as the older man nibbled and slurped and sucked up and down the side of his helpless foot like he’d been holding back some ravenous side to him with a serious appetite for ticklish feet. While Bertrand went to pieces beside him, Xolo looked on in horror as the almost silver fox tickled Jacob in a way he’d never seen. The fingers dominating his own feet were bad enough but it wasn’t long at all before the man left Jacob and grabbed Xolo’s left foot, the one next to Jacob’s right, and repeated the same uninhibited tickle feasting.

“AAGGAHAHAHANNoOOOOWWAAAYYY! OHAOHAOhAOhAADDUuUDDEEEAOHAOHA!!! NNOOAOhAOHAAPPPLLLEEAASSEEE!!!” Xolo begged with the same delirious laughter Jacob had let out, a laugh Xolo had never produced in his life, a laugh only brought about by the new breed of tickling that feet like his and Jacob’s couldn’t stand. The controlled yet animalistic mouth tickling quickly had Xolo laughing with tears and his laughter soaring to the rafters of the warehouse with ticklish desperation before suddenly the man jumped back to Jacob to share the insufferable snacking once again. “AAoAHAOHAOHAONNOOO!! AOhAOAHAmMMMEERRCCCYY!! AOhAOhAHOAUUUunNNCCLLLEE!! aOhAOhAHOAPLLLLLEEAASSEESSSTTOHOHOPP!!” Jacob breathlessly begged through the giant forced smile like he’d been fighting not to say the word ‘please’ but neither Mike nor his boss gave into the surrender. Despite Jacob and Xolo’s admissions of defeat and the insane laughter from both boys, the LA Jackers didn’t care. They wanted answers and it didn’t look like they’d stop tickling them until their interrogation paid off.

And that’s exactly what the Jackers would’ve likely done if only moments later, the LAPD hadn’t raided the warehouse. Cops poured in like ants on a hill to find Xolo and Jacob on their backs, still tied to the chairs, the police presence the first thing to earn them any relief in nearly 20 minutes. Once untied and with their shoes and socks back on, the TV stars were questioned about what’d happened that night and embarrassingly had to admit to failing to stop the thieves and even more embarrassingly had to admit to being tickled senseless by them.

The cops agreed to keep their names out of the story so nobody would know they were involved but when it started coming out about exactly how the LA Jackers were finally caught, the sound of the craziest laughter a dog walker had ever heard had been what’d gotten him to call the police after hearing it from the warehouse that night. Thankfully, the part about two guys dressed up as Ash from Pokémon and The Deep from The Boys being tickle interrogated didn’t make the rounds. Jacob and Xolo were just happy it was never revealed that they’d been the ones ticklish enough to be laughing that hard that night, even if it meant never getting credit for helping take down the LA Jackers after all.