Escape From Tickle Tower

25

Zac was the first to see the staircase. He immediately yelled to the others, calling them to the front of the ship. "We're almost there!" He said excitedly.

"Means we can move on to the next floor soon." Alice said as she quickly ran back to steer the ship.

"And that means one step closer to freedom." Rachel mumbled to herself with an excited smile.

"Seems we can relax since it's just ahead." Perrine said as she began to walk back.

"Not exactly. I doubt there wouldn't be a guardian guarding the staircase. They started appearing from the fifth floor onwards." Zac mentioned as he stared ahead.

"Then we'll be ready." Rachel said while taking out her daggers. The other two nodded as they watched the staircase.

The closer they got, the more their hearts pounced. They watched the water around the staircase, looking for any signs of a laughler living there. As they approached the staircase, Rachel was the first one to approach. "I don't see any laughlers around. Do you?" She asked.

"Not at all." Zac responded, with Perrine nodding in response.

As if on cue, the ship began to suddenly shake. Alice quickly ran up to the four of them, taking her place as the lead. The four of them got out their weapons as they watched tentacles rise up from out of the water. They all watched as a giant merman rose up to the side of the boat. His white eyes looked down at the group. His yellow coral crown shone as he raised his arms up. Suddenly, a water wall appeared around them, trapping them with the laughler. The bright blue tentacles began to creep onto the ship, inching closer to them.

"Is that the guardian you were talking about?" Perrine asked as she took out her wand.

"Must be." Alice said as the four of them watched the tentacles rise above them. The four of them dashed out of the way of the oncoming strike before noticing that the boat under them was beginning to sink. "We're gonna be dragged under!"

"Tentacles! Now!" Rachel ordered. The other three nodded as they took their weapons. Rachel, Zac, and Alice all slashed away at a few of the tentacles that were holding the boat. Their attacks cut the tips of the tentacles, causing the boat to float back up slightly. Meanwhile, Perrine waved her wand at a few lone tentacles, causing them to be blasted back.

What they didn't realize was that the tentacles that were slashed began to quickly regain their tentacles. Alice quickly ran to the side of the boat, looking at the tentacled monster blocking their path. When she did, she noticed a few red markings on the tentacles. She quickly turned back, noticing that the tentacles were almost back to normal. "I got an idea. I'll handle the tentacles! Handle the main body!" Alice yelled before jumping onto a tentacle.

Before Rachel had a change to process what Alice was going to do, her attention quickly diverted to Perrine. The brown haired magician was quickly pushing herself with her wand. She was moving away from each tentacle that was after her. She kept pushing herself using her magic until she landed into the slimy grasp of a tentacle. Suddenly, it wrapped itself around her as more slipped off her flats. Before she could do anything with her wand, more came and began to spread her body out into an X position. "Perrine!" Rachel yelled.

Zac turned to her when she heard the yell. After a moment, he turned his attention to where Perrine was being taken off too. Suddenly, he saw the tips of the tentacles wiggling against her. They aimed for her bare feet, pits, stomach, sides, and inner thighs. The tips of the tentacles wiggled and tickled away at the sensitive spots, forcing frantic laughter from the brown haired woman. "NAHAHAHAHA! PLEHEHEHAHAHASE! DOHOHOHON'T TIHIHIHICKLE MEHEHEHEE!" She pleaded while pulling on her arms and legs.