After tickling the shit out of each other back to back, Chris Hilbert and JD Maberry had come to the conclusion that their real focus should be on Coach Hecker. Afterall, he was the one who’d subjected each of four seniors to their own tickle torture sessions and inspired Chris’ tickle attack on JD the night before. It was only right that he get a taste of his own medicine and that the seniors were the ones to give him the karma he so very much deserved. Within a few hours of JD’s revenge on Chris, Eric and Joe had been invited over to the Maberry residence to bring them in on the plan to get back at their new football coach. 

“What? You really think we can do that?” Eric Orlowksi questioned, always the most realistic and reasonable of the gang. “I mean he did play football, baseball, and wrestled when he was our age; he’s probably pretty strong” Eric added. “Us four together can take him for sure, especially if we’ve got a tank like Marquez” Chris pointed out with a nod toward Joe’s massive arms on display in his short sleeve shirt. “Shit, I say we do it. He’s been tickling more and more of the guys to get them in line so if we can shut it down, we’ll be doing a favor for the whole team, not just us” Joe pointed out. 

“Good point” JD added. “So we know Hecker stays late after practice to watch film and take notes on what to work on for the next game and we were thinking that would be the best time to do it. He won’t see it coming” Chris explained with a sense of strategy and forethought none of them were used to seeing from him. “Yeah you’re right; he’s usually in his office for at least an hour or so once everyone leaves” Eric seconded. “Shit, I’m impressed. How did you guys come up with this idea?” Joe asked. “Let’s just say our captain and his feet are good for some ticklish inspiration” JD answered with a sly smirk, getting him a playful shove from Chris. 

“Whatever, so we were thinking one day this week would be good to go after Hecker” Chris quickly changed the subject to get the attention off him and his extreme weakness. “Yeah that should be good” Joe agreed. “I still don’t get what made him think tickling off all things was a good way to punish us? Most coaches just make players run laps or do push-ups” Eric pointed out. “Yeah I got to wondering the same thing and I was looking in one of my encyclopedias before you guys got here; turns out tickle torture is a real thing people used to do” JD explained. “What the fuck haha, for real?” Joe asked. “Yeah, for like petty theft or public drunkenness way back in the day. They even used brushes and stuff like that on people’s feet; apparently that tickled a lot” “Damn, Maberry, I didn’t know you were such a history nerd” Chris teased. “Yeah, research is usually my thing” Eric added, a bit happy to know he wasn’t the only one with an affinity for books in the group. 

“Well Hecker can’t be much tougher than any of us. I lasted a good while in the stocks but who knows? Maybe he’s even more ticklish than us” JD suggested. “I don’t know, man…you’re pretty damn ticklish” Chris teased. “LIke you’re not? Your feet are ridiculous” JD pointed out. “Yeah but they can’t be worse than Joe’s” Chris added, not willing to accept the label of ‘most ticklish feet’. “How about I just stomp you with them? Maybe that’ll tickle too” Joe threatened, getting a laugh from the others. “It’s kind of more about will power and endurance I think” Eric chimed in. “Then you must not have a whole lot from what you told us…Hecker got you to stop giving us answers didn’t he?” Chris challenged. 

 “I’m the toughest motherfucker on the team and he still got me to stop throwing parties so I call bullshit on that theory” Chris contradicted. “Yeah right haha” Joe laughed. “What?” Chris questioned. “You’re not the toughest, not a chance, dude” Joe undermined. “Obviously you’re both not as tough as you think if Hecker got to both of you” JD spoke up with a smirk, now comfortable enough in the group to challenge his fellow seniors. “Why don’t you go read another book, new guy” Joe teased with a poke into JD’s side, making him jerk off the side of the bed. “Don’t start something you can’t finish” JD warned. “I think Hilbert’s been rubbing off on you, man” Joe pointed out as JD got to his feet and lunged toward Joe but the lineman jumped up to avoid it. 

 JD landed on his stomach on the bed and Joe took the chance to grab his wrists and pin them over the side of the bed. “Get him!” Joe announced and Chris and Eric jumped at the opportunity to have some fun with their new quarterback. “No! nOAOhAOhAOhAOHA!!” JD immediately became a bumbling mess as he thrashed around on the guest bed with Chris’ hands chomping into his sides and Eric poking along his ribs on the other side. “AhoHAaOhGGEETtooOoFF!!” JD shouted after only a few minutes and managed to slip loose of the hold. Joe quickly grabbed Chris and slung him to the bed and dove into his stomach with both hands before the mouthy captain could fight him off. 

“AhoAohAFFuUcuCkKkOOoFFF!!” Chris laughed with a big smile while trying to block Joe but the strongest of the group suddenly seized up and his hands retracted when Eric sank into his upper sides in a sneak attack. “AHAohANnOOahohA!! WWHhAATThheEHhhEELL?!” Joe tried to figure out and get away from him but Eric kept digging in until Joe finally got loose and prepared to turn the tables on him. Eric backed up to avoid Joe’s revenge but JD popped up from behind him with a quick full-nelson hold, “Here ya go” “Maberry?! What the hell, man??” “JD with the assist! I love it” Joe smiled before plunging into Eric’s fully exposed pits. “SSHHiIITTAhAOhAohAohANNoNOAhAOHA!!” Eric kicked around and tried to pull his arms down but JD held him tight and kept him nice and helpless for Joe to torture a bit. 

 Chris rolled across the bed and went straight for Joe’s knees, wiggling his fingers across the back of them to make the macho man crumble. ‘AhoOaohWWoohA WWhAATTARREe yYooUuDDOoIInNG??!” Joe asked as his fingers slowed down and he tried moving out of reach but Chris didn’t stop. “Just helping my boy Eric out” Chris answered with another, more devious smile as he teased just below Joe’s shorts until Marquez backed off Eric and JD let him go, figuring the target was about to switch again. Like clockwork, they all turned their attention to Chris who was still knelt down on the floor, unaware he was being eyed by the trio until it was almost too late. “No way! You’re not ganging up on me!” Chris laughingly refused and ran across the bed before skirting out into the hall. 

“If you guys want a war, I’ll give it to you. Just don’t go crying home like a pussy when you lose” Chris offered like he was more than willing to tickle each of his friends into submission. “I’m not losing to anybody and I definitely ain’t no pussy” Joe assured. “Good luck winning in my house” JD taunted, knowing he had home field advantage. “Knowing your environment doesn’t mean you have strategy; I wouldn’t get too cocky” Eric teased as each of them realized they were on their own teams now and it was every man for himself. JD did have an advantage by it being his house; he knew where everything was and the layout but Eric was resourceful, brilliant when it came to figuring things out and excelling when he put his mind to something. Then again there was Joe who could physically overpower any of them and was damn tough for 18 but Chris was the alpha and his will to win was virtually unmatched. The real question they wondered as they sized each other up was which Lion would come out on top?

 Joe charged after Chris and the confident captain darted out of sight before Joe could get out the doorway, leaving him with no visible target once he was in the hall. “Where the hell did he go?” Joe asked as he walked along the carpeted floor. “You really gonna hide like a little bitch, Hilbert?” Joe taunted, knowing challenging Chris’ manhood was a good way to rile him up but just as the hulking senior poked his head into the bathroom, a small empty trash can was shoved over his head. “What the fuck?!” “Gotcha!” Chris announced after a successful plan and took the opportunity while Joe was disoriented to take him down.

Chris wrapped himself around Joe’s legs and Joe quickly lost his footing until he fell over, unable to walk thanks to the tight hold. “This is some Home Alone shit” Joe added after finally removing the trash can but Chris already had his leg in a figure-four lock and was prying off his size 13 sneaker. “Gotta be quicker than that, Marquez” Chris taunted as he exposed the ripe socked foot and went to work wrecking his teammate. “HoAHAohFFuUUCCk AOhAOHAGGETtoOOOFF!! IIMmGGoNnNAkKIIIcCCKKyYoOUuRRAASSS!!” Joe threatened while putting up a hell of a fight, thrashing and jerking against Chris on the floor of the hallway but Chris was the only one of them who actually could go toe to toe with him and have a chance at holding his own so getting away wasn’t that easy. “See, told you your feet were ticklish!” Chris rubbed in while scribbling all over the massive foot.

“FFuuCCkKYYooOuUuUU!!” was all Joe could fire back with as he fought to free his foot but Chris soon ripped the sock off to really make him sweat. “Dude! Leave my fucking sock on! You got a thing for feet now or somethIAAhAOhOAhOAohoOaAOhaOhA!” “What was that? You really wanna talk shit right now?” Chris challenged, fully riding the power trip of his upper hand while his nails ran along the smooth, meaty foot locked in his hold. Joe pounded into the floor and tried to reach up and get ahold of Chris but couldn’t stop him as Chris laughed at how much he was hating getting tickled. Joe was like a bull raging in the hallway with thunderous laughter that showed how wildly ticklish he really was despite how much it contradicted his hard, jock image and Chris’s fingers refused to let him forget it as they dominated his tan foot.

“AhoHAAGGEetTThHEEfFuUuCCkKOooOFFFmMMEE!!” Joe let out with a surge of energy as he flipped the hold around and landed Chris on his stomach. “Oh shit!” Chris realized he was in trouble and tried running away but Joe moved fast enough to stop him, grabbing his wrists and forcing him onto his back so he could straddle the team leader. “Not so tough now, huh?” Joe teased with a taste for revenge, even making Chris slap himself with his own hand a couple times to prove how much control he had over him now. “Get off me, Shrek!” “Make me” Joe challenged before shoving Chris arms by his sides and securing them with his own legs, leaving him virtually defenseless under him. “Ugh! This is bullshit!” Chris argued but Joe shut him up by drilling into his armpits, wiggling into the closed off spaces with his strong hands and letting him have it.

“NNoOOAohAOHA!! AOhAOHAAohAOhACCOOOmMeEEEoOONN!! iIMmSSoOoRRRYY!!” “Yeah right” Joe dismissed, knowing it was just a ploy to get him to stop but mercy wasn’t really on the table. With just a few fingers on each side Joe had Chris howling like a maniac on the floor, his dark hair flying around and his legs kicking about behind him like he really couldn’t stand it but Joe loved it. They may have been good friends and teammates but he knew Chris thought he was hot shit and to be fair, everyone treated him as such but Joe got a serious kick out of taking the piss out of him in moments like this. Making him lose his cool and freak out with tickling of all things really put a smile on Joe’s face in the most satisfying, sadistic way and he was prepared to keep it up as long as it took for Chris to admit defeat.

 “AahoAHAOHAGGEETThHEEFFuUucCkKOOoFFF!!” “Man, you can’t do anything can you…” Joe taunted with a flick of his nose and a few fingers fluttering along his neck, prompting Chris to even try and bite him. “Haha alright, we can play that” Joe added before leaving one hand to dig into his armpit and holding his head down with the either before leaning down to use his stubbled chin on Chris’ neck. “AAAAAHAOHWWAhAATTTHHEEFFUuUCCKK!?!” Chris’ laughter shot up a few octaves with a surprised tone as Joe ran his chin up and down his neck and continued working into his tender armpit without missing a beat. Chris’ sneakered feet slammed into the carpet even harder and his sculpted arms raged against Joe’s legs the best they could as Joe relished in torturing him.

But after only a few more minutes Chris’ head got loose and knocked into Joe’s chin, convincing him to back off for a second and this gave the captain the chance to yank his arms free while he was distracted. Joe didn’t have time to regain control before Chris reached up and delivered a severe titty twister through Joe’s t-shirt, “AhH FUCK!” Joe let out in pain as his legs reflexively loosened up enough to let Chris force his way out and hurry down the stairs before he could get tickled again.

Just after Joe went after Chris, JD had tackled Eric onto the guest bed and they rolled off onto the floor. “You’re asking for it, Maberry” Eric warned as they wrestled around a bit, both of them fairly matched in strength but Eric had a real taste for tickling now after his time with Chris and soon had Eric on his stomach with his arm behind his back. “Your sides ticklish?” JD teased before starting up Eric’s open side with quick daggers. “aohAoaoHohAOhSShIITttohAOhAohAnNooNnO!” Eric’s bubbly laugh spilled out as he tried to squirm away but JD kept weight on him to prevent that. “If you tap out now I’ll say that you put up a real fight and made me work for it” JD offered, to spare Eric the embarrassment of submitting to him. “AyYEAahhRRiIGGhhTT!” Eric refused and floundered under his new teammate while the stiff fingers tasered up and down his side with devious enthusiasm.

“Alright then, I’ll just have to take it up a notch” JD warned as he yanked up Eric’s t-shirt enough that a few inches of his side was showing and latched around his waist to start squeezing in just above his shorts. “AAOhANNoOoOO!! AohaohAAYyYoOuuUAASSShHoOOllLLEE!!” Eric laughed harder and kicked the floor with frustration but JD meant business, eager to prove he wasn’t the most ticklish or weakest Lion. His grip was impressive and his knack for kneading into Eric kept him a total wreck, even forcing out girly squeals every so often that made Eric’s face even redder with embarrassment but this wasn’t his first time scrapping with other guys and knew there was almost always a way out.

 With JD still very much focused on tickling his waist, Eric used his other hand to reach up and grab one of the pillows that’d fallen off the bed and flung it up just right to nail JD in the face. “What the hell was that??” JD asked as if that was breaking some set of unspoken rules and Eric promptly bucked him off. JD landed on his stomach and Eric sat on his back to face his legs, immediately warning the quarterback of another foot attack but instead felt two hands latch around the back of his thighs and start chomping away. “AAAhOAhAOhAAooAhoHAA NNoONNO!! TTThhAATSsSSfFuuUUCCkKeEdDUUpPP!!” JD tried to object, knowing his thighs to be almost exclusively his dad’s favorite target but of course Eric didn’t know that and really didn’t care as long as it worked.

“Thanks for wearing such short shorts!” Eric taunted while squeezing into the thighs as ruthlessly as he could. “AAoAohAFFuUuCCkKOoOFFmMmAAAANN!!” “Tap out then” Eric answered just before noticing that the way JD had landed left his lower legs mostly under the bed and the wizkid realized he had a whole other spot to exploit sitting right in front of him. “What about some knee action?” Eric proposed as one hand left the thighs to start fluttering along the back of both knees and JD tried to kick back but the bed got in the way. “AAohAOhAhoAohAAATTHhAATtT FFEEELlLSSooWWEEiIRRDDAhAHA!!” JD admitted as the light, maddening sensations worked with the intense thigh attack to push him closer to a submission.

Eric had always been a good multitasker, known for being able to study for a few tests at a time and acing them all so this was a piece of cake. “Give up yet, new guy?” “AAohAOhANnOOoWWWaaAYY!” JD refused and Eric was happy to keep tickling him, unaware that the idea of giving up or quitting was basically a sin in the Maberry house hold. Eric started squeezing in harder and wiggling faster along the back of his knees and JD’s laughter skyrocketed just as planned but the brain of the team had failed to protect himself from a counter attack, leaving him totally caught off guard when the hood of his hoodie was suddenly pulled back to pry him off JD. “UhGhh COoOoomEOOhhnN!” Eric argued with the hoodie against his throat until he was forced to let go of his advantage and go head to head with JD again.

They rolled around and tried to overpower each other for a few minutes until Eric stopped long enough to suggest an alternative, “Why don’t we just work together and go after Joe or Chris? We could take one of them out if we’re not alone” “A team up...alright, deal” JD agreed and stopped fighting him so they could get to their feet and head out the guest room to find one of the others. They could hear somebody moving around downstairs but ran into Chris sneaking out of another room in front of them, “Go!” JD announced and he and Eric went after Chris, running him into the office.

“You guys a package deal now or something?” Chris teased while trying to avoid them until making eye contact with JD from across the room and realizing the game at play. JD wrapped up Eric in a bear hug and forced him into the office chair, “What the hell, man?!” “That’s why JD’s my boy!” Chris gloated as his relationship with JD became an advantage and he grabbed Eric’s arms to pin them over the back of the chair. “No!! Come on! Fuck you guys!” Eric protested and tried kicking around until JD plunged into his ribs with both hands.

 “AoAOHAOhAOhFFfUUuCCkkYyoOuUUGGUuyyYYSSShahA!!” barreled out of the disgruntled senior like he couldn’t believe he’d been double-crossed, unaware until now just how tight Chris and JD had become. JD widened his fingers to run along both sides of his ribs like he was playing an instrument while Chris made sure he didn’t go anywhere, “Just submit and we’ll let you go” Chris encouraged. “AhoAhoANnNoaohoAoh!!” “He must want some more then” JD proposed as his raking switched to a more direct kneading between a few ribs on each side with his knuckles, instantly driving Eric even wilder in the chair. “AAhoAOhAohAAAOOhoHmMMyyGGOoODDaohoAHA GGEETTooOoFFMMMEE!!” Eric roared while pulling on his arms to protect himself but Chris was far too strong to let that happen.

 “Hey, there should be some tape in that bottom drawer we could use” JD offered. “WWHAHaAT?! aohAOHAAAANNoOoWWAayY!!” Eric tried to argue but Chris smiled at the idea and used one hand to keep a lock on Eric’s wrists as he grabbed the tape from the desk. “Help me out and get his arm” Chris instructed and JD followed suit, holding one arm at a time in place while Chris layered some duct tape around the arms of the chair until Eric was stuck there. “This is crazy! Let me go!!” Eric demanded while fighting the tape. “You’re gonna have to submit first” Chris reminded as he and JD each grabbed a leg.

 “Fuck you guys! Let me outta this shit!!” “Nope” was all Chris said back as they made quick work of his footwear and started going to town on Eric’s lush size 10s. “AAOhAOHANNOONNOO!! AOhAOhAOhAohAAOhAAohAAAAOHFFUUuCCkKIInNNGGsSTTHOOohPP!!” Eric raged and thrashed around in the chair but the tape held him captive like a charm and his teammates had no intention of letting up until he surrendered to them. Chris went after the balls with harsh scratches while Eric clawed up and down the length of the left foot, both techniques quickly getting to Eric. “Joe must’ve found a sandwich or something haha. So I guess he's not gonna be around to help you out” Chris pointed out to reassure Eric how little options he had. “AAhoAOhAACccoOOmMmeeEEEoOoOONNN!!” Eric bucked and jerked around with increasingly desperate laughter as he began to fear that this time there actually wasn’t a way out, other than swallowing his pride.

 He certainly didn’t want to give in, especially not to the gang up tickling but when Chris started working on his toes it helped make up his mind within a few seconds. “AHOAhAoOKOOK!! AOhAHAOAYYOOoUUUWWWIIiNN!!” Eric announced through his heavy laughter and JD and Chris stopped tickling his cotton candy pink soles. “Ok, now let me out, come on!” Eric demanded as he caught his breath but Chris and JD exchanged a look like they had another idea. “We’ll let you go…but after we get Joe; we don’t want you helping him gang up on one of us” Chris explained. “What?? You can’t be serious…” “Sorry, bro!” JD added before leaving with Chris and hearing Eric hurl insults and threats from the office as they made their way down the stairs. “Hey, I’ve gotta pee. I’ll catch up with you; just be careful because I don’t know where Marquez is” Chris explained. “Alright, I’ll keep an eye out” JD answered and they went their sperate ways, Chris heading to the nearest bathroom and JD stopping by the attached garage.

JD did think it was weird that they hadn’t seen Joe in a while and kept on his toes as he walked around the first floor, failing to see Joe hiding behind a wall until he felt something grab his legs. “Shit! NoO!” JD exclaimed as he fell to the ground and Joe made his move. “There’s a lot of good hiding spots in this house” Joe enlightened as he fought to grab JD’s wrists. “Yeah, I know – it’s my house” JD reminded before surprising Joe and slipping into his armpits from below. “AAHoOooHhHFFUuCKkAoha” Joe’s strength wilted a bit and he focused on protecting himself from the attack but quickly wrangled JD’s hands and forced them over his head before pinning them to the floor with one hand.

“No! Ugh, God this sucks!” JD admitted while facing how outmatched he was but he failed to realize just how much trouble he was in. “Hold up, man, did you bring some toys? I could use these” Joe realized after seeing the pair of metal costume handcuffs and car washing brush he’d grabbed from the garage. “Fuck me…” was all JD could say as his plan backfired on him. “Yeah, these’ll work great” Joe decided before forcing JD onto his stomach and cuffing his hands behind him, preventing any chance of a retaliation as he sat across his but and grabbed his right ankle. “NO! Joe, come on!!” JD tried to deter as his sock came off and Joe started scrubbing his fresh foot with the countless bristles. “AAHoHAOhAOHAOHAOAHSSTThohOPPP!! AAOhAOhANNoONAOhAOhAA!!” JD freaked as the long, wiry bristles bent and brushed in every direction across his incredibly sensitive sole while Joe kept a firm grip on his ankle and his knee on the other leg to prevent any kicking.

 “I like this thing! Thanks for grabbing it for me” Joe taunted as his cocky side came out after realizing it was only a matter of time before JD tapped. The newest Lion deeply regretted grabbing the handcuffs meant for his Halloween costume coming up and ever laying eyes on the brush, horrified at how well it worked on him and how seriously screwed he was now. “Ready to submit?” “AhoAohAaohAaNnNOOoO!” JD refused even though he very much wanted to, hardly able to stand the brush dominating his bare foot. “I mean, I’m not stopping till you do so we can keep going as long as you want” Joe assured and JD knew he wasn’t bluffing as the brush started making circles on his soft sole. 

Joe soon started scrubbing faster and started showing his toes some attention too, lighting JD up with a wave of unruly sensations he wasn’t expecting. “AAAHAOhAOOOohHHFFUuUCCkkAohAOHAAOHA!!” JD’s upper body nearly flew off the floor with sudden tidal wave and his laughter spiraled into a humiliating high pitch. “Sounds like you wanna give up” Joe pointed out without slowing down even a little. “AaohAOhAAAALlLRRiIIGGhHTT!! JJuUussSTTTOOoPP!!” JD submitted after realizing how brutal Joe could really be and how firm of an advantage he had over him; he hated to surrender to Joe but there was no escape and he knew at least he wasn’t the first one out. “Hell yeah! I heard you guys get Orlowski earlier so I guess that means it’s just me and Chris left” Joe added as he stood up. “Shit, I guess you’re right. Could you at least undo the cuffs? There’s supposed to be a latch on there” “I think you’re good right there for now” “Dammit!” JD answered while trying to reach the notch on the cuffs that unlocked them but Joe left him there to figure it out for himself as he went on the hunt for Chris, ready to tickle him until he had no choice but to admit he wasn’t the top Lion. 

Joe made his way down to the den after not coming across Chris anywhere else and looked around but still didn’t see him. “Where the hell is he then?” Joe asked himself as he started back up the stairs but as his foot landed on the bottom step, someone reached out and yanked down his gym shorts. “What the fuck!?” Joe tried to make sense of and went to pull his shorts up but Chris pushed him over onto the stairs and launched into his stomach on full blast. “AOhAOhaWWhheEERREDDDiIIDDD yYOOuUEEVvEEenNCCoOmMEEFFRRooOOMM!?!” “I saw you waiting to get JD and let you have him so I could get you once you were tired out” Chris explained, revealing that he’d avoided helping his new best friend when Joe struck.

“AhAohAaohAFFuUCCKkyOoOuUMmAAnN GGEETTToOoFFMMEE!!” Joe shouted through his booming laughter but Chris could see victory was in sight, knowing if he could just keep Joe on the fence and tickle him silly that’d it all be over soon enough. “Go ahead and tap out; we both know you’re too ticklish to take it” Chris taunted before suddenly shooting into Joe’s armpits before he could block him, instantly shooting Joe’s laughter up another notch. “NNoOOO! AOhAOhAOhAohoAhoAAASShHIIiTTAohA” The mighty lineman roared on the stairs as he struggled to fight off the scheming captain.

Chris wiggled deep into the pits the very best he could to force his teammate to submit, watching the intensity of the tickling get the better of him the longer it went on. Joe floundered under him and tried losing the hands hell bent on driving him over the edge but the only thing he hated more than getting tickled was losing, motivating him to focus up and hurl Chris off him as he got a second wind. “Jesus…easy on the roids, man” Chris teased as he tried to regain his footing but Joe barely gave him a chance before tackling him over the couch and landing on top of him.

Joe yanked off both of Chris’ shoes and socks while sitting on him and held both ankles in a firm lock before unleashing on the ridiculously ticklish feet with his absolute worst. “AAAHAhAHANnO!! AohAoaHAOAHFFFUUCCKK!! AOhAOhAohaoHAAAOAHAAFFuUuCCKKiinnGGSSTTHOHoOpPP!!” exploded out of Chris with a panic in his voice as he fought to get out from under the muscle man. “You wouldn’t sound like a little bitch right now if you weren’t the most ticklish senior on the team. Come on, let me hear you say it!” Joe pressed while ravaging the upturned soles with aggressive scribbles all over both 13s. “AhAOhAOhaASSuUCCkKMMyYyDDiIiICCKK!!” Chris rejected, knowing his reputation among the team and his ego would never recover if he admitted that. “I’m not stopping until you admit you’re the most ticklish” Joe assured like he had no problem tickling Chris as long as it took. 

“AhoAHAFFuUUCCCkKyYYOoUoUUAhAHA!!” Chris yelled just before another wave of Joe’s wrath made him really lose it. Joe had pulled his legs up and wrapped them around Chris’ to keep his feet in place and divided his attack, leaving one hand to scratch along both arches and using his other to dig into Chris’ side. “AAAAhAOhAOAHAOHNNoONnAOoAHoAHAA DDUuUDDEESSTTHoHhOOPPP!!” Chris struggled to think of a way out as the two-prong attack gave him a taste of real ticklish desperation, never having been subjected to such direct tickling at two different spots until now.

Joe wondered just how long he’d have to keep at it to wear Chris down enough to surrender but in another twist, JD and Eric came down the stairs about 10 minutes after Joe tackled Chris over the couch. “Look who got out” Joe greeted, confusing Chris until he heard the familiar voices. “How about a hand?” JD asked, holding up some more rope from his dad’s cowboy days. “Sure” Joe answered and they joined in to help beat Chris. “HoAHANNOoO!! GGUUYYSYSShHELLPPMmeEOOuUUT!!” “I wouldn’t do it, Maberry…he said he let me ambush you earlier and didn’t help you after he saw me get you” Joe informed. “Oh yeah?” “HAohAohAAHHHEESslLLyYyIIInNNGGG!!” “I don’t know…it does sound like a Chris thing to do” Eric added and the three of them worked together to wrangle the king of Richland High until he was hogtied on the floor like JD had been the night before.

“This is bullshit! You can’t fucking gang up on me!!” Chris argued while straining against the rope as hard as his muscles could push. “It’s not like there are any rules” Eric pointed out with a laugh like he was mocking Chris. “Oh you guys are in for it when I get out, you just wait” Chris threatened just before his frustrated fury was undercut by JD landing on his now helpless feet with a harsh raking all the way down to his toes. “AAAHAFFUUUCK!” shot out of Chris like he’d been hit by lightning but Eric joined in by digging into the base of his pits/upper sides. “HAhoAANnooOO!! AOhOAhAASShIIITTAOhAOHAA!!” Joe smiled at the wild reaction and wrapped both hands around Chris’ solid thighs to start squeezing with a monster grip that even legs as strong as his couldn’t handle.

“AAAAAHAOAHAOHaOAOHAA!! AOhAOhaoAFFuUuCCkKIinnNGGAHOAHsSSTTHoHOPP!!” Chris lost it with a genuine urgency on his handsome face, taken back by how unbearable the combo attack was but his buddies all had a real appetite by now for torturing their beloved captain. “Say you’re the most ticklish Lion and we’ll stop” Joe explained after a few minutes of the frantic laughter. “AhoHAohAohAAHAAhNNNOOO!!” Chris forced out like he had to convince himself to not give in. “Alright, boys, let’s see if we can get him to cry” Joe suggested and cued his teammates to amp up their efforts. Chris’ panic intensified at the instruction and JD started scribbling along the alpha feet as mean as he could, Eric’s fingers started wiggling in deeper, and Joe switched to Chris’ lower sides/hips to squeeze him like a stubborn tube of toothpaste.

 Chris laughter became unhinged and his whole body shook in place like he would implode, totally overwhelmed by the group tickling and floored beyond belief by the unending wave of sensations refusing to let him rest or think straight for even a second; all he could focus on was how ticklish he was and how much he wanted it to stop. The question was, was his ego worth the price of his sanity? “Say you’re the most ticklish Lion! Just admit it!” Joe insisted after another few minutes and Chris finally folded, “AHOAHOOKoOKAOhAOAOHA IIMMmTThHEEmMOoOSSTT TTTIIiICCKKLlLiiSSshhLLLIIIOOONN!!” Chris almost screamed through the insane laughter. “Hell yeah! I’m officially the top Lion!” Joe announced after securing his victory while backing off from Chris and Eric and JD did the same.

 For the first time since joining the team, JD saw Chris speechless. He could see the unfamiliar look of defeat on his face and watched Chris catch his breath at the loss, facing the fact that he had turned out to be just too damn ticklish to earn the title of top Lion. JD untied the rope around his ankles and wrists and Chris at up against the couch with a look of mild anger, angry at himself for giving up and pissed at his friends for actually tickling him into submission.

“Come on, don’t be a sore loser, man…it’s not like I get a trophy or something” Joe added. “Just don’t tell anybody about what happened, alright? Or I really will kick your asses” “Yeah I guess we can keep it between us” Eric answered like as great as it was to wreck Chris, he knew it was all just stupid fun anyway. “You can’t pout forever; we’re gonna need you if we’re gonna get Hecker” Joe pointed out. “I wouldn’t miss it” Chris answered with a fresh smirk, fully prepared to take down Coach Hecker with the rest of the seniors and make him regret ever putting any of them in his stocks.