#switch!dk

Mario and Donkey Kong were walking around the Mushroom kingdom, just chilling out and smashing whatever bricks they found and using whatever power ups they could come across. Though they weren’t really best buds quite yet, they were still getting to know each other a lot better now. Though, that didn’t mean they didn’t taunt each other now and again…

Mario had pulled himself up onto a group of floating bricks and sprinted across them. 

“Move it, shorty.” Donkey Kong jumped up and hit the brick right below Mario’s feet, making Mario fall through the hole. Mario yelped as he felt his stomach ascend into his chest as he fell to the ground.

Though Donkey Kong was a funnyman, he wasn’t a jerk who was gonna let Mario fall on his face. So he caught Mario with his hand as he ran. 

But Mario clearly didn’t approve of such heroism. “I’m not a baby.” Mario muttered. 

“Prove it, then!” Donkey Kong declared as he gave him a good throw into the air to reach the next platform. 

Mario soared through the air and landed on his feet onto the platform before taking off running again. Mario sprinted up the stairs and headed to the elevator. He went up the elevator before heading to the two walls. Now, Mario had done his fair share of wall-jumps. So this part was gonna be easy for him. Mario jumped up once towards the left wall. When he landed, he jumped off the left wall to get to the right wall. When he got to the right wall, he jumped off it to get to the left wall again. Repeat this a few times, and you successfully wall-jump a wall. 

When Mario reached the top of the wall, Donkey Kong ran by him. “Not bad, Red.” Donkey Kong reacted. 

“Thanks.” Mario replied. 

“For an amateur, anyway.” Donkey Kong added with a laugh. 

Mario rolled his eyes and followed him. “Did you really need to add that last part?” Mario asked. 

“Well I didn’t want you thinking I’m complimenting you or something.” Donkey Kong replied. 

“You worried about being seen as a softy?” Mario asked. 

“No. Are you?” Donkey Kong asked. 

“Sometimes.” Mario admitted. 

Donkey Kong chuckled and hopped down the platform onto the ground below. “Maybe it’s because you are.” Donkey Kong joked. 

Mario hopped down next. “And you’re not, I’m guessing?” Mario asked. 

“Me?! No way!” Donkey Kong replied. 

“Uh huh…” Mario hummed, not believing him. “I’ve seen the way you act around Diddy Kong.” Mario added. 

Donkey Kong raised an eyebrow at him before smirking and leaning on Mario’s head. “Oh yeah? And I’ve seen the way you act around Luigi.” Donkey Kong added. 

Mario frowned and crossed his arms when he felt the gorilla’s arm on his head. “...Dude.” Mario said. 

“Mhm?” He replied, casually looking at his nails. 

“Get off me.” Mario ordered. 

“Whaddaya mean?” He asked with a smirk. “I’m not even touching you.” He added. 

“Get off!” Mario yelled.

Donkey Kong’s smirk grew into a toothy smile as he poked Mario’s cheek playfully. “Or what? You’ll beat me up?” He teased. 

Mario growled and poked Donkey’s ribs and armpit. “GET OFF ME!” Mario yelled. 

Donkey Kong wheezed and instinctively pulled his arm back against his side. “WoHO- HEhey!” Donkey Kong laughed. “Wohow! I feel bad for your bro.” Donkey Kong reacted. 

Mario narrowed his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?!” Mario asked. 

“You can’t even take a joke!” Donkey Kong told him. 

Mario glared at him. “There’s a difference between joking around, and being a pain in the neck.” Mario let him know as he poked his side. 

Donkey Kong yelped and curled away from the touch for a moment. “Q-Quit that!” He reacted. 

Mario’s frown softened when he saw Donkey Kong’s reaction. He looked at the area he had poked, before looking up at Donkey Kong. “Wait…” Mario attempted to poke his side again, but yelped as his hand was slapped away by Donkey Kong’s larger hand. “Ow!” Mario reacted. 

“Don’t touch me!” Donkey Kong yelled. 

“Why?” Mario asked, smirking slightly. “Ticklish?” He asked. 

Donkey Kong blinked, and looked down to the side slightly. “I-” He muttered. 

Mario’s facial expression only grew when he heard Donkey Kong stutter. “...Wait, seriously?!” Mario asked, not fully believing it at first.

“Shut up.” Donkey Kong ordered. 

“I will, but…” Mario looked at him. “I’m surprised.” He admitted, pointing to him. 

“Don’t. Try it.” Donkey Kong ordered. 

Mario looked at Donkey Kong…then at his stomach…Mario reached his finger out and started to bring it closer to his belly. “Juuuust-” Mario widened his eyes the moment his hand was grabbed by a fluffy, large, brown hand. Mario yelped and screeched as he was lifted up off the ground by his wrist. “WaitwaiT- AAH!” Mario shouted. 

“You think you can tickle me and get away with it?!” He asked before poking Mario’s side, earning him a surprisingly high-pitched squeak. “Just try me. I DARE you.” He added with a smirk as he skittered three of his fingers on Mario’s side. 

Mario widened his eyes and covered his mouth, refusing to let Donkey Kong hear his laugh. Though Mario really liked his own laugh, he knew that if he let it out…then Donkey Kong was gonna keep tickling him just to tease him about it! And why in the world would Mario give him that satisfaction?! 

Mario shot him the best glare he could considering the circumstances. But it didn’t look threatening like he wanted…because Donkey Kong only laughed at him. “Was that supposed to scare me?!” Donkey Kong asked. 

Mario soon removed his hand from his face, showing off his wobbly smile in the process, so he could cover up his side as best he could with one hand. “Yohoucan’tbreakme.” Mario spat through his pent-up laughter. 

“Oh I’m not trying to break you.” Donkey Kong told him. “I’m just trying to tickle you. Make you laugh.” He told him. “And you’re holding out on me!” He added, moving his finger up to his armpit. “And I don’t like it.” Donkey Kong added, poking his armpit with an evil, toothy smirk. 

Mario screeched and looked visibly scared as he tried to wave his hand away from his armpit. “NO! Not there! Anywhere but there!” Mario begged. 

He removed his finger and wiggled it. “Ohooo! Does that mean it’s…” His finger touched down right in the dip of his armpit. “Ticklish?” He teased in the most evil voice he could muster. 

Mario gripped Donkey Kong’s finger as best he could, and attempted to remove it. “NOo, no it’s not.” Mario shot back. 

Donkey Kong flexed his finger, making it wiggle and tickle his armpit one single time. Just this alone, made Mario titter and squeeze his eyes shut. “If your armpit isn’t sensitive…” He flexed his finger again to tickle Mario just once more. “Then why are you smiling so much?” Donkey Kong asked with fake curiosity, referring to the wobbly smile on Mario’s face that had just grown to show off his teeth. 

“DonkeyKongIswearto-” Mario gasped as he felt Donkey Kong’s finger wiggle again…only for it to wiggle continuously in his armpit. “GohohoHOHOHOD!” Mario finished his threat before throwing his head back as he felt the dam break right open. 

Donkey Kong’s face brightened as he heard the man break open with laughter. “Wow! There you go!” He reacted. “Took you long enough.” He added with a chuckle. 

Mario immediately let go of Donkey Kong’s finger and flapped his free arm around as he laughed full-force this time. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahaha!” Mario laughed, pulling his arm in and keeping it tense against his side. 

“Not gonna lie, you’ve got a pretty good laugh. I can see why the princess likes you.” Donkey Kong told him. 

Mario could feel a slight blush showing up on his face from that compliment alone. “SHUHUHUT UHUHUP!” Mario yelled at him. 

“Nah. I rather like teasing you, Red.” Donkey Kong admitted. “Maybe if I tease you enough, your cheeks will match your shirt.” He added. 

Mario lowered his head down and held his stomach as he kept laughing. By this point, Mario had given up trying to stop Donkey Kong from tickling him. Mario couldn’t do any damage to Donkey Kong without a power up, thanks to how big and strong Donkey Kong was. So the man had to just take it. 

And right as Mario was starting to get used to the tickles, Donkey Kong started dragging his finger down to the ribs. “Coochy coochy coo~” He teased evilly. 

Mario’s laughter seemed to stay about the same, only this time, his feet started kicking a bit more wildly. “YOHOHOHOU’RE SOHOHOHO MEHEHEHEAN!” Mario complained. 

“Says the one who continuously heeded my warning and tried to tickle me anyway, despite me saying ‘Don’t try it’ at least once.” Donkey Kong added. 

“STOHOP STOPSTOP LEHET MEHEHE TAHAHALK!” Mario begged. “PLEHEHEHEASE!” 

Donkey Kong shrugged his shoulders and stopped tickling his ribs. “Okay.” He replied. 

Mario’s laughter lessened super quickly. The man breathed in gulps of air and let out long breaths of relief. “Gohohosh…” Mario muttered. 

“What did you wanna say?” Donkey Kong asked. 

Mario looked up at Donkey Kong, and let out another breath. “You…technically didn’t say ‘Don’t try it’.” Mario told him. 

Donkey Kong narrowed his eyes. “Oh really?” He leaned in. “Then what did I say?” He asked. 

“You actually said ‘Don’t’ with a pause…and then ‘try it’.” Mario replied with a growing little innocent smile. 

Donkey Kong looked at him with the most unamused face he could possibly show him. 

This look made Mario burst out laughing despite still clearly being overpowered. “Yohohou look so done with me.” Mario added, giggling into his own hand. 

Donkey Kong rolled his eyes and let go of Mario, making him drop to the ground. When Mario sat himself up, Donkey Kong pushed Mario down onto his back and held the man’s wrists by the sleeves just above his chest. “You done talking yet?” He asked with a smirk before moving his fingers towards Mario’s belly. “If not, then you might as well laugh instead.” Donkey Kong concluded, skittering his fingers on his little, jean-covered belly. 

Mario’s laughter seemed to erupt from his lips almost right away this time, surprising them both. “aaAAHAhahahahaha! Ohohohokahahay! Ihihi’m dohone tahahalkihing, I promihihihise!” Mario replied. 

“Well that’s a relief.” He teased. “But laughing doesn’t really count as talking, does it?” He asked, wiggling his fingers near his vulnerable sides. 

Mario’s body language, as well as his laughter, noticeably doubled when his right side was merely stroked by the gorilla’s fingers. “Ihihihi dohohoHOHON’T KNOHOHOhohohow!” Mario admitted, his voice moving up and down in volume. 

Donkey Kong’s smirk widened the moment his laughter got stronger. He quickly looked up at Mario’s face. “Ticklish sides?” He asked before poking his right side a bit harder this time. 

“HeheHEHAHAHA- NoHO!” Mario attempted to turn himself onto his right to cover up his ticklish side. “N-No, no way. They’re not. Honest.” Mario argued, pulling on his sleeves rough enough to try and get out, but gentle enough as to not rip his sleeves. 

Donkey Kong chuckled and shook his head. “You are the worst liar I have ever met.” Donkey Kong admitted with a laugh before giving Mario’s sides a few squeezes. “Like, a toddler would be able to lie better than you!” Donkey Kong teased. Mario threw his head back and let out a long, strong cackle. “SOHOHOHO WHAHAT?!” Mario yelled back. 

Mario’s laughter only continued in long bouts when Donkey Kong squeezed his side a bit faster. “Wow! I’m glad you found that as funny as I did!” Donkey Kong reacted. 

Mario shook his head as he kicked his feet somewhat wildly. “NOHOHOT FUNNYHEEHEEHEE!” Mario shouted at him. 

“Another lie! You seriously think lying about my humor is going to work when you’re clearly laughing?!” Donkey Kong joked. 

“BUHUHUT IHI’M NOHOHOT! IHIHI SWEHEHEAR!” Mario yelled at him. 

“Ohoho, you’d better not be swearing that you’re not laughing…because that would be yet ANOTHER lie!” Donkey Kong reacted. “Speaking of which: why are you laughing so much, Jumpman?” Donkey Kong asked. 

“WHYHY DOHO YOU THIHIHIHIHINK?!” Mario spat back. 

Donkey Kong shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I can’t read your mind, Mario.” Donkey Kong teased. “You’re the only one who can tell me why you’re laughing.” 

Mario whined through his laughter. “BEHEHECAUSE YOHOU’RE TIHIHICKLIHIHING MEHEHEHEHE!” Mario yelled back. 

“What?!” Donkey Kong stopped his fingers and let go of Mario’s sleeves before moving them up into arrest position. “No I’m not!” Donkey Kong reacted. “Look! My hands are free!” He insisted.

Mario held his stomach as he curled up into a ball, giggling and laughing from the leftover phantom tickles. Even though Donkey Kong was obviously not tickling him, Mario was still laughing almost as hard as he was when DK’s hand was squeezing his unbelievably ticklish side. 

“See? I’m not even touching you, and you’re laughing yourself absolutely bananas! What is so funny?!” Donkey Kong reacted, acting all innocent. 

Mario’s laughter slowly began to die down. Keyword: slowly. Though they were less than before, Mario’s cackles were still strong enough to keep Mario’s face a little bit red. Normally a person would start snorting by now. But here’s the thing: Mario is not a snorter. 

But don’t let this discourage you…because there’s something else I need to tell you:

Mario may not snort…but he most certainly hiccups when he laughs for too long. 

And that’s exactly what Mario started to do. Mario had only let out one single hiccup, which made Mario impulsively cover up his mouth with his palm. But even with his mouth covered, you could still hear the recurring hiccups through his hand. “Hahahaha- *hic* -Hehehe *hic* Hehe sohohorry- *hic* Hehehehe-” Mario muttered. 

Donkey Kong widened his eyes and stared at Mario. “Are you…hiccuping?!” Donkey Kong asked. 

Mario’s blush only seemed to deepen when Donkey Kong simply mentioned his hiccups. He sat himself up and tried to calm himself down. “Ihihihi *hic* Hihihihi- *hic* Hihihehehehe- *hic* Yeheheah…” Mario muttered. 

Donkey Kong chuckled. “Does anyone else know about your hiccup laughs?” Donkey Kong asked. 

Mario groaned and covered his face, clearly embarrassed. “Shhhhutup.” Mario muttered. 

Donkey Kong laughed and offered him a hand. “Want help up, overalls?” 

Mario bit his lip and uncovered his face. “S-Sure.” Mario muttered. When he felt ready, Mario took his hand (or rather, his index finger) and got up onto his feet. “Now…please don’t tell anyone.” Mario told him. “I don’t want rumors to spread about this.” Mario admitted. 

Donkey Kong nodded. “Wouldn’t want such adorable information to get into the wrong hands.” Donkey Kong added. 

“Yeah, pretty-” Mario froze. “Wha- HEY!” Mario punched Donkey Kong’s arm, earning him a laugh from Donkey Kong. “I’m not adorable.” Mario warned. 

“I’d beg to differ…Have you seen yourself in the catsuit?” Donkey Kong teased, wiggling his fingers like a cat paw. 

Mario rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Sh-shut up.” Mario muttered. 

This made Donkey Kong laugh even more. “Fine, fine.” He said. “But in return…you can’t tell people I’m ticklish either.” Donkey Kong ordered. “That stays zipped up in your head. Got it?” Donkey Kong ordered. 

Mario nodded. “Fair enough. I can do that. Truce?” Mario asked, offering his hand. 

“Truce.” Donkey Kong replied, shaking his hand with his finger while his other hand moved behind his back.  

Mario nodded his head before letting go of Donkey Kong’s finger and looking over at the obstacle course. “So…..” Mario looked over to the main toad village. “You…you wanna visit the toad shops?” Mario asked, pointing to the town.  

Donkey Kong narrowed his eyes. “Shops?” He asked. “I could not think of a more boring activity.” Donkey Kong teased. 

“I dunno…I heard they have some interesting antiques over there…” Mario mentioned. “Haven’t been able to check them out myself though…” He admitted. 

“Hm…” He looked at the town. “Do you think there’s anything I haven’t seen before?” Donkey Kong asked. 

Mario chuckled. “Only one way to find out…” Mario mentioned. 

Donkey Kong chuckled and poked his side. “Fine.” He replied before taking off running. “Race ya!” 

Mario yelped and jumped back, before taking off after him. “WAIT! YOU CHEATER!” Mario shouted. 

“JUST CATCH UP, SLOW POKE!” Donkey Kong shouted back. 

“WATCH ME, SMASH MONKEY!” Mario shouted back as he sprinted after him. 

It didn't take long for the boys to make it to the village. And to Donkey Kong’s surprise, there were actually lots of antique items that he had never seen before. And Mario ended up purchasing a couple new power ups that he hadn’t tried before. Despite the one-sided tickle fight that had just transpired, the boys seemed to keep things civil between each other. Later on, Mario would end up getting tickled all over again. Why? Because Donkey Kong may or may not have been crossing his fingers when he shook Mario’s hand earlier…Go figure…

Ever since finding out about Donkey Kong’s little secret, Mario had been trying to keep his hands to himself. As much as he wanted to get revenge and try it out, he wasn’t sure he wanted to be tickled to hiccups again like the last time. Besides, tickling wasn’t the only way to tease a person. There are always other ways to get the gorilla back. 

Donkey Kong on the other hand…would not keep his monkey claws off him. At first, Mario assumed it was because he was handsy like a typical gorilla. So at first, he tolerated it because it was simple things like slaps on the back and pokes on his side. But when it started including picking him up without asking and patting his head just to belittle him…that was when it began to get on his last nerve. 

But nothing could prepare Mario for the humiliation-turned-triumph that would take place a couple days later.

Mario was fighting against Donkey Kong in the arena at DK island. There was a large crowd of creatures sitting in the audience. Included in this audience was Cranky Kong in his rightful seat, Princess Peach beside him, and Luigi in a seat beside her. The audience was currently cheering as Mario fought DK using a power-up.Though the use of the power-up gave Donkey Kong more of a challenge, it still didn’t phase him much. 

Mario shot several fireballs at Donkey Kong, following him around the arena to get a better shot. “You're afraid, Banana man?” Mario teased. 

Donkey Kong was running around, avoiding the fireballs as best he could. “So what if I am? Can you blame me?! I’m covered in fur!” Donkey Kong reacted. “If you land a fireball on me, I might burst into flames!” Donkey Kong told him. “But if you don’t attack me, I won’t ever lose the power-up.” Mario reminded him, stopping in place as he made another ball of fire with a smirk.

Donkey Kong turned around and soon took the chance to attack. He ran up and tried to punch him or smash him with his fists. But Mario kept dodging and jumping up onto his hands every time. Donkey widened his eyes and kept repeatedly trying to punch him, only for Mario to jump up and land on his hand. After a couple more go’s, he growled and just slapped him from the side. Mario yelped in pain and landed on another floating floor bar, having lost his power-up. “Ow…” He got up onto his feet and dusted himself off. “Okay-” He looked up at the bars above him, and gasped with horror. “OhNONONO-!” Mario sprinted backwards as he saw Donkey Kong falling to his bar. When Donkey Kong landed, it caused the bar to vibrate and knock Mario onto his stomach. 

Peach gasped and covered her mouth, terrified for the man. 

“Well…He’s gonna die.” Cranky Kong said before opening a banana. 

“Oh no…” Luigi mumbled, covering his mouth with his fists. 

“Come on, Mario…” Peach muttered, looking determined. 

Mario sighed and readied himself. 

Donkey Kong threw several punches, while Mario dodged as best he could. He crouched down to save his head, before pushing the other fist away from him. When he threw another punch, Mario dodged it, grabbed his thumb and held onto it as Donkey Kong pulled his hand back again. With Mario holding onto DK’s thumb as the gorilla moved his hand back, Mario flew towards him in full force and landed a good kick into his jaw. 

The whole audience cooed in shock as Donkey Kong yelped in surprise. Everyone was surprised Mario had managed to land such a good hit without a power-up. Not even a mushroom! 

Cranky smiled a bit. “Alright, I’ll give him that point.” He said. 

Peach cringed at the idea of being kicked in the jaw…before lighting up with excitement. “Not bad, Mario! Not bad at all!” Peach reacted. 

Meanwhile, Luigi was cheering. “WOO! GET ‘EM, MARIO!” Luigi yelled, surprisingly getting into it. 

Mario landed on the ground, and ran to the closest power-up box he could find. But as he ran to the box, Donkey Kong had stomped his feet, knocking Mario onto his feet due to the vibrations again. Mario tried to get himself back up, but he couldn’t get his right foot forward in time! Donkey Kong had grabbed Mario’s foot and lifted him up for the audience to see him upside down. “Aaaaw, is the shorty upside down?” Donkey Kong teased. 

Mario widened his eyes before frowning at him. “Don’t test me.” Mario warned. 

“Test you? Why would I test you, when the audience could test you?” Donkey Kong asked with a smirk. Mario shot him a death glare, but softened it when Donkey turned the man to face the front. “Hey guys! What do you say we make a mess of this man?” Donkey Kong asked before poking his belly playfully. 

The audience cheered and clapped, excited to see Donkey Kong getting his revenge against the little red man. 

Mario jumped and pushed his fingers away. “Donkey Kong, I swear to god!” Mario warned. Donkey Kong’s smirk widened as he poked his armpit, making Mario jump again. “NO. I will destroy you.” Mario warned. “Or I’ll die trying.”  

Donkey Kong rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah. Keep digging yourself that grave.” he said, still poking him. Mario tried to block his fingers, but struggled. It was 3 fingers against 2 arms, and it was already a losing fight. 

Peach was looking at Cranky Kong, confused. 

Eventually though…one of his fingers poked him in the armpit just the right way, it made him screech. And this wasn’t a normal little, typical shout…It was more like a girly scream. So not only was it loud for anyone to hear, it was utterly embarrassing! He had covered his mouth with both his hands, and failed to hide the bright red blush that filled his face. 

The entire crowd went silent. 

Donkey Kong widened his eyes and stared at Mario with pure shock on his face. Cranky was more confused than anything, and Peach quickly became worried that Donkey Kong had critically injured him. Cause why else would he scream like that?! 

But Luigi’s shocked face slowly grew into a smile. “Oooohoho no…” He muttered, covering his mouth. 

Peach looked at Luigi. “Is he hurt?” Peach asked. 

“Nnnope. But I know that sound way too well.” Luigi admitted. 

Peach tilted her head. “What…does it mean?” She asked. 

Luigi looked to Peach and Cranky, who were looking back at him with confusion. He sighed. “Mario has this thing where if you poke his armpits enough times…he’ll squeal like a little girl.” Luigi admitted. “Done it for years…and the sound is forever imprinted in my brain.” He admitted. 

Peach still didn’t get it. “So…Donkey Kong is…” 

Peach widened her eyes and paused her words, looking over at Donkey Kong the moment the gorilla started giggling like an evil villain. “Is someone a little ticklish?” Donkey Kong asked, before playfully tickling his upper ribs. 

Mario let out a more muffled scream, before letting go of his mouth and hugging his ribs to protect them. “NO! DONKEYKONGNO!” Mario yelled. 

“That’s gotta be cheating…” Luigi reacted. 

Peach looked at Luigi, before looking at Cranky. “Is it?” She asked. 

“Nope. Tickling counts.” He replied. 

“Well in that case…” Luigi paused his words right as Mario’s laughter began to fill the arena. “Heeee’s screwed.” Luigi mumbled. 

Donkey Kong was now holding the man upright by the arms, tickling Mario’s armpits almost mercilessly. “A coochy coochy coo! A coochy coochy cooooo!” He teased evilly. 

“WAHAHAHAHA- IHIHI’M GOHOHONNA KIHIHIHIHILL YOHOHOU!” Mario yelled at him. 

Donkey Kong laughed. “Wow! Was that threat supposed to scare me?!” He asked, before throwing Mario into the air and catching him by the ankle. “Cause newsflash: It didn’t.” He took off Mario’s shoe and dropped it onto a lower arena floor. “Now what about these feet?” He asked, looking at the sock on his foot. 

Luigi winced slightly with a nervous smile. “Oh, that’s not good.” He muttered. 

“NO! DON’T YOU DARE! I’M WARNING YOU!” Mario shouted at him. 

“Or what? You’ll laugh at me?” He teased. Mario shot him a death glare…though unfortunately, it didn’t phase DK in the slightest. The gorilla only laughed at him. “Face it, Mario…You can’t do anything to stop me.” He told him. “All you can do…is laugh.” He brought his fingers closer and closer to his foot. 

“NO!” Mario yelled, his face growing more desperate. He tried to kick his foot out of Donkey Kong’s grip, but he just wasn’t strong enough to stop him. Seeing the fingers getting closer and closer to his foot, Mario knew there wasn’t anything else he could do. So, he gave up the fight and just tensed up in anticipation for the tickling of a lifetime. 

He waited for the fingers to finally touch down…to finally skitter all over his socked foot…to drive him batty with laughter from just a couple scratches. 

He knew it was coming. It had to be coming. He could sense it coming super, super soon…

He tried to stay tense…but the anticipation was killing him. What in the world was he doing?! 

Mario soon opened his eyes, and looked up at his opponent. Donkey Kong…was just staring at him with a confused look on his face. But quickly, his confusion turned to confidence. “Alright, I think we know who the winner is.” He gently threw Mario up so he would land onto his back on the ground. As the whole arena started cheering, Donkey Kong waved his hands around to further rev up the crowd, and started doing his signature ‘dancing pecs’ move. 

Luigi sighed in defeat, thinking his brother lost. But Peach elbowed him and pointed to the arena. Luigi looked down at the arena, and widened his eyes in surprise. Mario had noticed a power-up block on the other side of the bar, and was sneaking his way over to it. When he made it to the block, Mario hit it and took the power-up. Mario’s curiosity quickly turned to disappointment the moment he saw what it was…

A regular mushroom. 

Mario was about to throw it away, but happened to look up at Donkey Kong mid-throw. He paused his throw and brought his hands down the moment he had an epiphany…He knew exactly what he could use this mushroom for! 

He ate the power-up to make himself bigger, and ran up to Donkey Kong. “So you wanna play games, huh?” Mario asked with a smirk as he noticed Donkey Kong turning around and seeing him coming. Donkey Kong growled right away and tried to smash him to the ground. But Mario dodged his hands and snuck up to his side, sneaking in as many tickles as he could in that second. 

Donkey Kong gasped and yelped as a big smile grew on his face. “WaaaAAHAHAhaha!” He shoved his arm into his side as he fell over. Realizing the sound he had let out, Donkey Kong quickly covered his mouth in horror. Oh no…Mario just showed everyone in the arena that he was ticklish…

Cranky Kong chuckled to himself with a proud smile. He looked over at Peach, who was covering her own mouth with her hands, just trying not to laugh. “And that, my friends, is why tickling counts.” He told Peach. 

Luigi ran to the watch fence, to watch the commotion go down. “Come on, Mario!” Luigi yelled. 

Mario had rolled up his sleeves and cracked his knuckles. “Now let’s see what tickle spots lie on the Kong prince himself.” Mario declared, skittering his fingers on Donkey Kong’s ribs and sides. 

Donkey Kong covered his mouth as soon as possible as he attempted to knock Mario off with his other free hand. But Mario would keep poking in new spots every time DK tried to knock him off. This would surprise Donkey Kong and pause his attack. “Get off me, you stuhuhupihihid- HahahahaHAHAHAHA!” Donkey Kong laughed, pulling his hand back down to the ground. 

“What’s so funny, smash monkey?” Mario asked. “Somethin’ tickling your funny bone?” He asked. 

“SHUHUHUT UHUHUP, REHEHEHED!” He shouted back. 

“Nah. This is too fun.” Mario admitted. Though Mario was tempted to try out his armpits, he quickly decided against it when he began to imagine the idea of having his hands crushed in his underarms. 

But technically…If he grabbed Donkey Kong’s arm and held it up, he could tickle his upper ribs that way…So, Mario gave it a try. When Donkey Kong attempted to slap him with his big right hand, Mario caught his wrist with his left arm, held it out and tickled his upper ribs with his right hand. 

“Oooh, good spot.” Cranky Kong said with a smile. 

Donkey Kong threw his head back with a wheeze and started laughing and kicking his left foot like a puppy. “OHOHO NOHOHOHO! HAHAHAHAHA- STAHAHAHAP!” He shouted. 

“Do you give up?” Mario asked. 

“NEHEHEVEHEHERRR!” Donkey Kong yelled back. Peach was giggling into her hand. “Never knew he was this ticklish.” She admitted. 

The auditorium was still filled with laughter and cheers, despite the lack of typical fighting going on. Diddy Kong was clapping his hands and hopping around in his seat, loving the fact that tiny Mario was beating his Uncle using such a childish strategy. It was hilarious to him! And he almost wanted to help Mario out! But, he decided to leave him be…he seemed to already know where his tickle spots are. 

Mario put his fingers into an L shape, and started making strange noises. 

Peach tilted her head, confused. “What’s he doing now?” She asked. 

Luigi widened his eyes and chuckled nervously. “Ohooo no…Not the drill…” Luigi mumbled with embarrassment. Peach looked at Luigi, even more confused. “What’s a drill?” She asked. 

Luigi looked at Peach. “It’s a hand-held device we use to put holes and nails into wood. Mario used to pretend his hands and pointing finger was a drill, and…added noises to make it more amusing…” Luigi admitted, visibly sheepish from the memories alone. 

Peach’s attention turned to Donkey Kong, who was now cackling, yet still. It looked like Donkey Kong had given up struggling in his arms due to the tickles, and had gone completely limp. 

“ZZZZZ! ZZZZ- Oh! You giving up yet?” Mario asked. 

Donkey Kong was breathless in his words. He looked absolutely exhausted. “F…Fine. Yeah…you…youwin…you win.” Donkey Kong replied. 

Mario smiled brightly and threw his arms in the air as the entire arena cheered. Mario had won! He actually won! Mario jumped up and threw his arms everywhere, proud of himself for winning. 

“Donkey Kong’s one weakness…exploited by Mario.” Cranky Kong said with a smirk. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him get tickled like that.” He admitted. 

Luigi was jumping around, cheering loudly. “WOOO! YES! WOO HOO!” Luigi yelled. 

“Boop!” 

Luigi jumped and held his side, before looking at Peach, and growing an evil smirk. “Ooohohoho. Big mistake, Princess~” Luigi warned. 

Peach smirked. “Oh please…what are you gonna do? Call Mario over?” Peach teased. 

Luigi smirked and wiggled his fingers. “Fun little fact: Mario uses the drill strategy often…” Luigi brought himself closer and closer to Peach. “But don’t think for a second that he was the one who came up with the drill tickles.” Luigi warned. 

Peach gasped as she felt her back hit a wall. “Uh oh…” Peach muttered. 

Cranky Kong chuckled. “Hey Mario!” Cranky Kong yelled to him. 

Mario turned to Cranky Kong. “Yeah?” He responded. 

“You’ve inspired tickle fights from up here, as well.” He told him. 

Mario laughed a bit and looked down at Donkey Kong. “You alright?” He asked. 

Donkey Kong grumbled with his eyes slightly open. “I hate you…” He mumbled. 

Mario laughed a bit and poked his side. “Hate you too, smash monkey.” he replied. 

Donkey Kong grunted from the poke, and hid his face in the bar. He didn’t want to face Mario, or the audience. He couldn’t use anything as an excuse as to why he lost…not this time. 

Mario looked up and couldn’t help the giggles that left his mouth when he heard Luigi’s squeaky laughter from down in the arena. Looks like Peach was tickling him right now. “HEY PEACH!” Mario yelled. 

Peach paused her hands. “YEAH?” She responded. 

“GO FOR HIS BELLY BUTTON!” Mario yelled at her. 

“MARIO!” Luigi shouted at Mario in protest. 

“THANKS!” Peach yelled down to Mario, giving him a thumbs up before disappearing into the upper balcony. It didn’t take much time at all, for Luigi’s strong cackles to fill the upper balcony.