Awakening dazed and confused once more, a young Dream Traveler was awakening in a new world, after leaving his previous surroundings behind. Having been destined to travel between worlds for the sake of saving endangered dreams, Klonoa had become accustomed to regularly experiencing new environments and dangers, and it had become a source of some excitement for him. However, what was awaiting him in this world was slightly more antagonistic than he had seen recently. In previous worlds, Klonoa was lucky enough to be greeted upon arrival by friendly individuals who have bonded with and helped him in his adventures. Unfortunately for him, this was not the case here. The person who came across the unconscious hero this time was part of an organisation that had no interest in assisting unfamiliar creatures, and before the cabbit could even wake up, he was taken away and held in a cell, for purposes of interrogation on his presence.
The first thing he noticed upon waking was that he was unable to move certain parts of his body. Sat in a wooden chair, he tugged his arms and legs but there seemed to be tight thick rope securing his wrists to the back of the chair, as well as more rope wrapped around his ankles keeping his feet together. That rope was hanging from the ceiling, suspending his legs up in front of him. Aside from moving his head around and wiggling his fingers and toes, no amount of struggling allowed Klonoa to move his body freely. Looking around at his surroundings, the room he was in had bright white bare walls, but he could not see anything else, not even any kind of door or entrance. He had retained his usual clothing – blue shirt and shorts with his big red shoes still on – so he was at least happy that he wasn't too vulnerable, however he was anxious and wanted to escape.
“Hey!!”, he shouted out, “Is anyone there? I don't mean any harm, you can trust me!”
He was met with silence, leading him to shout a few more times and squirm more, but at least five minutes went by without any response. Just as he gave up squirming and began to wait hopefully, a deep, loud voice suddenly spoke to him.
“Do not panic, we simply want to communicate.”
Klonoa looked around but could see no figure whatsoever around him.
“O-of course! I'll explain whatever you want to know! But where are you?”
“We are watching you, but it is our procedure to carry out interrogations from a safe room. Now, please explain to us where you have come from, young boy.”
Klonoa was slightly perturbed by the word 'interrogation', especially when given in such an authoritative, threatening tone as the voice of whoever was speaking to him had. However, he was happy at the question as he was fully confident he could gain the trust of the mysterious figure.
“Certainly! I come from the wind village, Breezegale, in the land of Phantomile. But I've been travelling across different worlds helping whoever needs me! I'm not sure exactly what takes me to these places...but, well...I guess there is someone here who needs my help. So I know you may be wary of me but I can do anything you want to earn your trust!”
“Interesting...” The disembodied voice hesitated for a minute or so before continuing, “Very elaborate story, however given that we are currently on high alert for enemy spies, we will need to question you further. We find it hard to believe that you aren't aware of how you got here, and we have never heard of this 'Phantomile'...”
“I...er...” Klonoa stuttered anxiously. If he didn't know anything about how he was travelling between worlds, how will he explain himself? “Like I said, I don't know myself...but I have helped people in every land I've been to, I'm certainly not a spy! You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, just please let me go and let me help you!”
“Insufficient answer. Until you tell us exactly who you answer to, I'm afraid we will have to begin phase 2 of the interrogation...”
Before Klonoa could even respond, he felt some strange movement at his feet. A glowing aura had appeared around his shoes, and was tugging on them, forcing the big red footwear off him. His eyes opened wide as he tried to maintain his grip on his shoes, but it did not take long for them to be pulled off revealing his pure white socks. The shoes fell loudly to the floor and echoed, as Klonoa shouted in anxiety. “Wait! What have you taken my shoes for!? I'm not working for anyone, I swear!”
“This is a very serious trespassing incident, and we will be unable to free you until you have admitted to your crime against us...” The voice spoke, determined that poor Klonoa was a spy working for their enemy, “Our methods of interrogation require you to be barefooted.” Another aura then appeared around Klonoa's socks, and slowly pulled them off. He tried desperately to curl his toes around the fabric to keep them on, but the magic was too powerful and smoothly slid the socks off his feet until they were completely bare.
He could feel a slight breeze play across his soles, and the barefoot Klonoa became far more anxious, the loss of the protection of his shoes and socks making him feel far more vulnerable.
“I'm telling you I am here alone! I don't even know what this place is, please listen to me!!”
“We are beginning phase 2 of the interrogation, you have 20 seconds to give us a true confession...”
“Confession to what?” Klonoa struggled and squirmed, the rope rubbing against his ankles as he attempted vainly to escape for the next 20 seconds, “And what are you going to do with my feet?”
“Your time is over. Now you will find out why we need access to your feet...”
Klonoa still could not see anything around him, until he spotted another glowing aura just in front of him. He had to squint to see what it was doing, but he could eventually make it out – the aura was surrounding what looked like a dark red feather that floated and began to move itself towards his left foot. Before he could even try and flinch away, he felt the firm feather touch against the heel of his foot and begin floating upwards across his bare sole. He blushed slightly and gritted his teeth as he felt the first tickle, which wasn't quite enough to make him laugh but still sent discomfort through his helpless foot.
“Confess immediately, boy...remember you are restrained and barefoot at our mercy.”
“I—don’t know anything!” Klonoa stuttered as he tried to hold in reactions, but he knew that one feather was not going to be the only thing at his feet soon. “Pleaaaase stop!!”
His pleading fell on deaf ears, as he expected, as he saw another feather of the same colour and size appear in front of his other foot. He closed his eyes as it approached his foot and soon felt the devious stroke of it upon his right sole.
The ropes keeping him nice and tight in the chair, Klonoa began to giggle lightly as he now felt gentle tingling surge all the way up both of his soft white soles. With his toes starting to wiggle, writhe and curl against the feel of the tickling, Klonoa was at his most anxious and vulnerable yet, closing his eyes to avoid the humiliating sight of his own bare feet in helpless torment.
“I-heheh-promise ihihihih don't know anythingahahahahah!!”
The voice did not respond to Klonoa, simply allowing the feathers to work over his soles for a few more minutes. Without any warning, the poor traveller was soon attacked with one more feather, which focused on the toes of his left foot, floating across and between them as they wiggled in their ticklish agony. Before he could plead again through his laughter, the toes on his right foot met the same fate.
Klonoa had never been subjected to foot tickling before, so the teasing of the four feathers was something he was not prepared for. Feeling the evil sensations of the fibres stroking his white soles and plump toes, his giggling grew to full-on laughter, and he knew he was in some big trouble.
“You have been made aware of how to stop the torture...”
“BUT IHIHIHIHM INNOCENT! AHAHAHAHAHAH I PROMIHIHHIHHIISE!! I DONT KNOW ANYTHIHIHIHIHIHIHING!!!”
“Then your feet shall continue to suffer...”
The tingling sensations brought on by the ruthless feathers was now beginning to surge all the way through his feet and up his legs. Overtaken by uncontrollable laughter and unbearable sensations, his toes splayed widely and curled tightly in succession, but nothing seemed to stop those red feathers from taunting the spaces between them. The other two never ceased stroking his delicate, defenceless furry soles.
“Confess or the tickling will not stop. We can continue the magic of the feathers for as long as we have to, and your bare feet will become more sensitive for the entire duration.”
He knew that there was no way out for himself. The occupants of this world were far more ruthless than those he had met previously, and he could indeed feel his own feet becoming more tender. Since he very rarely removed his footwear, his soles were at their softest and most protected...until now. Now that the tenderness of his feet was being exploited, he was willing to do anything to make them show mercy to his poor soles and toes. As the feathers felt as if they were speeding up – the ones sliding between his toes becoming particularly ruthless in their torture of him, he went against his better judgement and felt as if he had to lie.
“AHAHAHAHAHAHA-I'LL-AHAHAHA-CONFESS!!! IIIHIHIHIHI AM A SPYAHAHAHAHAH!!”
That seemed to work, as the feathers soon dropped to the ground and his feet were left alone. They still tingled for a little while, but he was so grateful for the sensation of nothing sliding against his foot.
“Well done, young one. We thought it would take longer. Now we may begin your punishment...”
“Th-thank you...w—WHAT!?” Klonoa, who was still heavily panting, had not quite thought through his method of escape. Being driven mad by foot tickle torture had led him to believe that the temporary break of a confession was a good move – but he was about to seriously regret such a decision.
“Our society has a strict tradition of punishment – like all other enemies you will be suffering further torture on your feet. This time, however, we cannot guarantee any mercy...”
The rope around his ankles loosened and fell to the ground, and the rope on his arms loosened, but only just enough to allow him to stand off the chair before the magic tightened them again. A door opened in front of him, which he had not even noticed beforehand.
“Please proceed through the corridor to the punishment cell. Any wrong movement will be noted and punished. And do NOT attempt to retrieve your shoes or your socks.”
Klonoa did as he was told, reluctantly, and walked forward. The feeling of the cool ground gave his bare feet some sense of relief, but when he reached the corridor, he realised that coolness was also going to be a torment for him. The corridor was less of a path and more of a shallow pool, which appeared to be filled with ice. This led to a very dingy looking dark room which he couldn’t make out very well.
“Er, excuse me? What is the ice for?” Klonoa asked the voice, although he knew deep down what it was for.
“To further tenderise your feet.” The voice responded, “It will be freezing, and will make your feet as sensitive as they can be for your punishment.”
Klonoa was now feeling completely hopeless. That told him for sure that more tickling was going to come for him, and he realised as soon as he took the first step into the ankle-deep icy corridor that his feet were ridiculously delicate. He winced and groaned as he walked through the path, feeling freezing ice crunch underfoot and hearing the slosh of the water around his ankles. He could almost feel the ice making his nerves more vulnerable. Every time he lifted each foot from the ice, he held it in the air and wiggled his toes around, to attempt to warm them up as much as he could. Once he had reached the end of the torturous footpath, he could see the 'punishment cell' a lot more clearly – and he felt even more helpless.
A set of stocks in the middle accompanied a huge tool rack at the side, featuring a variety of feathers, brushes, forks, rakes, pinwheels, and everything else that could be used to ticklishly torment him. He even saw some more painful-looking tools, but he did not see any of it for long, as he felt his head suddenly being grabbed and a sheet of cloth being wrapped around it quickly. He was too shocked to even fight back as the makeshift blindfold was tied around his head, before he heard an all-too-familiar voice, now directly behind him.
“Welcome to the punishment room. I hope your feet are feeling ticklish...”
