#lee!toad

Mario was walking through the Mushroom Kingdom, just taking in the world around him. The different sizes of the mushrooms somewhat overwhelmed his vision at points. The mushrooms were almost like the trees in Brooklyn. Most of the urban trees were smaller, mere sprouts. But the large mushrooms were like the huge trees in Prospect Park. It was super pretty, but it was also a little hard to comprehend at first. 

He walked past some little shrubs and bushes, noticing the large cliff sides on his left. The cliff sides looked primarily rocky, with a large amount of overgrown grassy tops of their own. Even the cliff sides were circular and rounded like mushrooms. He had never seen anything like this before. This made any sort of nature back home look all crusty. Or, as the people outside of Brooklyn would say, sketchy or dirty. 

Seeing a hill up ahead, Mario took a running start from several feet away. He started to sprint up the hill, knowing full well that he might run out of air by the end of the hill. He knew this well…and yet, he still felt confident that he could make it. Mario got halfway up the hill, and switched his running to a faster type of climbing. He made his way up the hill, determined to make it up despite the beginning of burning in his lungs. 

Finally, Mario reached the top of the hill and stood at the top, breathing heavily as he took in the view. He doubled over and leaned against his knees to help him take in breath faster and more effectively. When he felt recuperated enough, he straightened his back and looked at the beautiful view of the mushroom kingdom from up there. Turning himself around, he took in the 360-degree view of the kingdom. 

No words could describe just how awestruck he felt seeing this place. He lives here…He actually lives here…He lives in a beautiful place that most would be envious of. It still blew his mind. 

Taking in a big breath, Mario let out a long sigh with a small smile and started to walk himself down the hill. He had only gone 5 steps down when he heard something jump out of the bushes. 

“BOO!” 

“AAAH-” Mario lost his balance, yelling out an “OH MERDA-!” before flopping onto the ground. Naturally, gravity began to take over as he felt himself rolling down the steep hill. It seemed like the being that scared him, was sprinting after Mario as he rolled down the hill. Mario could feel himself getting dizzy and slightly motion sick. Finally, after what felt like 20 minutes, Mario’s body slowed to a stop at the bottom of the hill. Mario was laying on his stomach, groaning in pain. 

“Mario! Mario, are you okay?” The person asked. 

Mario slowly pulled himself up with a grunt, and got onto his feet. Adjusting his hat, Mario looked at who the culprit was: It was Toad…the same Toad that had come with them on the adventure to save Luigi and the Mushroom Kingdom. 

“Ow…Hi Toad…” Mario muttered. 

“Are you okay?” Toad asked, checking his hands and knees. 

Mario huffed slightly and dusted off his hands and face. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine.” 

“Okay, good…” Toad looked up at Mario with his beady little eyes. “Cause THAT WAS THE FUNNIEST FALL I’D EVER SEEN! HAHAHAHA!” Toad threw his head back with a fit of cackles, falling onto his butt in the process. 

Mario rolled his eyes and fixed his overall strap. “Har-dee-har-har…Very funny Toad…” Mario mumbled. 

“Are you kidding?! That wasn’t just funny, IT WAS HILARIOUS!” Toad bursted out in even more laughter. 

Mario scoffed. “Sooo hilarious…” He muttered. “Hold on, I need to laugh.” Mario held up his index finger and waited for something to come. But after a few seconds of nothing, Mario sighed. “Sorry, I can’t. I can’t laugh.” 

Toad’s laughter calmed down slightly. “What? You didn’t find it funny?” He asked. 

Mario sighed and smirked slightly. 

“Ooooh, so you DID find it funny! You just wanted to hide your laughter!” Toad argued as well. 

Mario placed his hands on his hips, eager to make him pay for the surprise attack. “Think you’re so smart, huh?” Mario asked as he started to walk up to Toad. 

Toad was still giggling, not yet fully comprehending the evil look on Mario’s face. This remained the same till about 20 seconds later, when Mario’s shadow covered up Toad’s. “HAHAhahaha! Hahaha- haha- Uhhh...” Toad widened his eyes and stared at Mario’s evil little look. “M…Mario?” 

It was only about 3 seconds later that a scream filled the mushroom-filled field. Surprisingly, the screams quickly fell into a fit of laughter, shocking anyone that may have been hanging out right around that area. The laughter overtook the place, filling the field with endless noise as a giggly toad could soon be seen wiggling around in Mario’s arms. 

“WAHAHAIT! MAHAHARIOHOHOHO STAHAHAHAP!” Toad screeched and laughed. 

“Stop? Stop what?” Mario asked him in a familiar, playful response. 

“YOHOHOHOU’RE TIHIHICKLIHING MEHEHEHEHEEEE!” Toad shrieked and laughed. 

Mario’s smirk only widened. “Tickling you?! Now why on earth would I be doing that?!” He asked, poking in his underarms. 

Toad squealed and clamped his arms shut. “eeEEEHEHEHEE!” He squeezed his eyes shut as his laughter grew more high-pitched and squeaky. 

“For a brave toad, you’re a lot more ticklish than I was expecting.” Mario told him. 

“SHUHUHUT UHUHUHUP!” Toad wiggled his feet and covered his eyes almost helplessly. 

“Poor Toady…” Mario stopped tickling him momentarily and walked around him. “I wonder what the Super Mario Brother shall do next…” He walked around his head, shading his head with his shadow. “What to do, what to do…” 

Toad squeaked and wiggled his feet slightly. Though it was hard to see Toad’s face from this angle, Mario could immediately tell the little guy was nervous. 

“Where to tickle…where to tickle…” Mario kept whispering somewhat loudly. “Hmmm…” He poked Toad’s mushroom top, earning him a jump in the process. “Nah.” Mario muttered. He walked to the right side, and brought his fingers closer. “How about…” When Toad whimpered a little bit, Mario brought his fingers away again. “Nah, that’s too easy.” Mario said. 

The plumber’s goal was to scare him a little bit before wrecking him. If he could keep up the anticipation long enough, the reward just might be worth it. 

Mario made his way around his lower right side. “Oh? What’s this?” Mario asked. Seeing an open opportunity, Mario lowered his fingers towards it…only to move away really quickly. “Naaah, not yet.” 

Toad let out an annoyed whimper. “Mahahario, come oooon!” He whined. 

Mario smirked. “What do you mean?!” He reacted. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you really wanna be tickled that badly?” Mario asked. 

Toad squealed and rolled onto his stomach. “Nohohohohooo!” Toad whined. 

“But you seem so desperate!” Mario argued mischievously. “I might as well tickle you.” Mario knelt down beside him. “I mean, what else is there to do, right?”  “WAHAIT MARIO!” Toad pleaded, trying to push Mario away.

“Whaaaat?” Mario pulled Toad closer and wiggled his fingers at him. “What’s the matter, Toady?” Mario asked, moving his fingers ever so slightly closer. “Is someone scaaaaaared?” He teased. 

“Cohohohome ohohon, Mahario! Thihis is sohoho- EEEHEEEHEHEEK!” Toad threw his head back and cackled as his belly and ribs were fluttered and squeezed. Despite being smaller, Mario’s fingers were much more broad and muscular. Though this usually helped him when plumbing and climbing, this also immensely helped with tickling people. The amount of times he’s tickled his brother like this was astronomical. It could be in the triple digits by now! Let’s just say that being the older brother, Mario’s naturally amazing at tickling people. So tickling Toad? Just as easy as breathing. 

“Uh oh! Did I scare you again?” He poked his lowest rib. “My bad~” He teased, clearly not feeling bad. 

“LIHIHIHIARRR!” Toad shouted at him. . 

“Liar?!” Mario gasped, pausing his attack for only a second or two. “...Okay, well…maybe I am.” He admitted before going right back to tickling him. 

Toad squealed and rolled onto his belly to try and hide his ribs. And though this did provide him some relief, it didn’t save him forever. Mario’s fingers were just wormy enough to wiggle themselves past his arms and against his ribs all over again. Toad knew Mario was strong, but this was getting a little ridiculous. How strong can a short man be?! 

“Plehehehease stahahahap! Mahahario plehehehease!” Toad pleaded. 

Mario widened his eyes in slight fear and quickly stopped his fingers. Uh oh… “Are you okay?” Mario asked. Did he go too far? Are Mario’s fingers hurting him instead of tickling him? 

Toad took a few moments to breathe and dust himself off. His blue vest was covered in grass stains from all the wiggling he’d been doing. “Ihi’m…” Toad sighed. “I’m okay.” He replied.

“You sure?” Mario offered his hand. “I didn’t kill you, did I?” He asked. 

“No…No, you didn’t kill me.” Toad took his hand and used it to get up onto his little feet. “Besides…I deserved at least some of that.” He told him. 

Mario smiled awkwardly. “Mmm…Maybe a little…” Mario chuckled. “You did kinda scare me right as I was gonna run down the hill.” Mario reminded him. 

“Oho yeah! Hahaha!” Toad reacted. “How’s your head?” He asked with a giggle. “Still screwed on, I-” Mario paused his words when he noticed something missing from his head. “Huh?” Mario looked around. “Uh oh…” He looked further down the grass, confused. “Where is it?” 

“Looking for this?” Toad asked him, holding the bright red thing in his hand in front of him. 

Mario looked over to Toad and let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness…” He took the hat from Toad and put it onto his head. “Can never go anywhere without this thing.” He admitted. 

“Really?” He reacted. “Cause last I checked, it took a little bit for you to realize it was gone.” Toad added, poking his arm. 

“Hey!” Mario gently slapped his hand away. “That’s cause I was distracted.” Mario mentioned. 

“I could tell…” Toad reacted. 

“What can I say? You’re pretty fun to tickle.” Mario told him. 

Toad bursted out laughing. “Whahat?! Well, you’re pretty fun to steal from.” Toad told him, holding a bright red hat in his hand once again. Mario widened his eyes and felt his head. “What?” Mario groaned as he felt his brown hair. Sure enough, the hat was already missing from his head. “Stop that!” Mario took the hat back with a grunt and plopped it onto his head. 

“Nah, it’s too fun!”  Toad told him, jumping up past him. 

“WAH-” Mario felt his head tip forward. “What- HEY!” Mario held his head, before growling and taking off running again. “STOP TAKING MY HAT!” Mario shouted after him. 

“COME AND GET IT!” Toad yelled back.