Badrang the Tyrant was highly skilled when it came to punishment. He had suffered enough insubordination from various lackeys to have perfected his preferences for torture and discipline, and had gotten quite enthusiastic about the fun of sadism. But now he was faced with his most promising captive yet - the little mouse slave Martin who had not only rebelled against him, but assaulted him days prior. His capture came with an extra, however - a female by the name of Rose who Badrang had not previously encountered, but who Martin seemed to be quite affectionate towards.

Badrang could have easily just had them executed to be rid of them quickly, or passed them over to the archers to be used as target practice. But he knew that this situation was quite a special one, and called for a torture that would be just as psychological as it was physical. It wasn't common for his captives to be lovebirds, after all. Tickle torture is something the tyrant had begun enjoying, at first to punish minor offences. He had figured out over the years how much the tough, resilient ones can be broken by such a pathetic form of abuse. The element of embarrassment, shame and humiliation that tickling can incite was more devious than any of the more gory tortures. If the punishment lasts long enough, a cocky rebel or traitor can return to work as a husk of what they once were, conditioned into obedience by fearing the ticklish sensation.

One look at Martin's scrawny fur made it clear that he'd be a fun one to tickle, even if it took a while to wear his willpower down. However, as the mice were shackled down to the torture table by his henchmen, Badrang couldn't help but notice Martin's insistence on trying to calm and comfort his female friend, who seemed to be rather scared and trembling at the thought of what would be done to her. It looked like Martin couldn't care less about his own predicament, he just wanted to do anything he could to help Rose, even changing his tone from defiant to deferent as he pleaded for her to be released.

‘I'm the mouse you've got a problem with, not Rose! You can hurt me in whatever way you please but you mustn’t touch her!’

Even the evil weasel had doubts about torturing Rose - she was captured as an accomplice and it would be inappropriate to punish her in the same manner as a rebel slave. But the torture of Rose wasn't going to be a means of breaking her - it was going to be the affliction that destroys Martin. Even if his body was not so weak to the feathers, he had clearly shown that his real weakness lay in the protective nature of his love. So Badrang did allow one henchman to pull open Martin's shirt and begin teasing his bare, light-furred tummy with a feather - it'd be silly not to with him bound so cutely - but his main instruction was very clear. Tickle the girl. Tickle her vulnerable feet, that had tread onto the tyrant's grounds, and do not stop. Most importantly… make sure Martin keeps his eyes on her.

As Rose was a passionate singer, her voice provided some of the most wonderful laughter that any of the villains had ever heard. Loud yet soft cackles - with just the right amount of distressed whining mixed in - echoed around the dungeon as the poor girl felt the feather plumes torment her soft bare soles, so used to feeling the soothing soil of Noonvale. She was immediately ashamed of her weakness, unable to stop struggling and wiggling her helpless toes, no matter how much Martin tried to assure her that it would be okay.

A smile cracked across Martin's face as he felt a plume stroke up and down his exposed torso, fluttering over his tummy and making it twitch. He could hold in his laughter, but it made it much more difficult to offer helpful words to Rose when he was having to bite his lip to avoid embarrassing himself. Small stuttery chuckles accompanied angry growls as he made futile attempts to intimidate the torturers. The worst part of it was that he couldn't deny Rose had such a beautiful laugh, and he found his gaze constantly going down to look at her daintily writhing, ticklish little feet. If he found himself enjoying the torture of his soulmate, he would never forgive himself.

One of the henchmen enquired as to how long Badrang wanted their punishment to last. The stoat hadn't planned that far ahead. He certainly didn't want such a wondrous display of tickle torture to end anytime soon.

‘Just keep punishing them. I'll decide to end it when the time is right… or when their pathetic little bodies and minds give up on them.’

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This picture was done for me by Komori: artistree.io/komori
The colouring was done by myself.

The world of Redwall is crying out for more torture content. Not only is there very frequent imagery of chains and whips but there is also the classic scene from the cartoon adaptation of Skalrag being tickle tortured to his death. Here we see what would happen if our brave mice Martin and Rose found themselves held captive in the same tickle dungeon that the traitorous fox had been punished in.

It is quite amusing that in sharing this across discord, the most common reaction I got was immense disappointment that Martin's feet were not being played with. They will be thoroughly abused at some point of course, most likely after he has witnessed Rose be tickled to exhaustion. I wanted this pic to represent a scenario I adore - tickling as mental torture, forcing someone to witness an innocent loved one suffer due to their actions. Martin and Rose are both beautiful and perfect for it <3

Poor little mice… their love can only endure so much…