Chapter 2 - Evil Eyes on the Prize
Author's note: Hello, readers! Sorry about the long wait, since I am currently job hunting, as well as making several minor (and major) edits to the original story I wrote as a kid. Without further ado, it's response time!
Avimo, this will be FAR from a oneshot. There are expected to be about 11 or 12 chapters in total. As for Willy Wonka's Factory of Horrors, I do have plans for the next several chapters, but I am busy with real-life events, and this story will be my main project until it's finished, which shouldn't take long at all since it's already been written a long time ago.
Guest # 1, that was precisely the idea! I wanted my readers, regardless of gender, to feel as if they were in the story, or imagining it from another person's POV. Thanks for asking! Also, I'm glad you enjoyed the Stinky Fart World! I remember laughing so hard at this part when I was a kid writing it for the first time. XD
Guest # 2, I didn't mean to omit the review section. It has been added to this chapter, and I will keep responding to reviews like usual in the coming chapters. Now, on with the story!
The next hallway I had entered was nearly pitch black, and I stood still for a few moments to catch my breath and let my eyes adjust so that I could see slightly better in the darkness. I held out my arms sideways, grazing the walls with my fingertips to keep me on course. The hallway turned to the right ever so slightly, and as I continued on, my left hand touched a spike on the wall, and it was quite hot!
"YEOW!" I cried, instantly retracting my hand from the hot iron spike, and I rubbed the spot where I got burnt. I squinted to try seeing it more clearly. It didn't look too bad, just a warm red spot on my hand, but man, it hurt for a sec!
Suddenly, a red laser beam began to scan my entire body. I looked ahead, and the beam was being projected from a floating sphere that resembled an eyeball.
"Welcome to the Evil Eye World of Doom!" the mechanical eye spoke in a robotic voice. "Your identity has been verified. Please continue onward."
I looked at it with a nervous expression, and hesitantly continued to walk. I turned a corner to the right, only to encounter another floating eyeball!
"Let us take you...to our master," the eyeball spoke. "Keep walking, and we'll help you along the way." I glanced back at it over my shoulder as I moved further down the corridor.
"We're the security system for the rest of this labyrinth," a third eye spoke. "The path is linear from now on."
It wasn't long before I encountered a fourth eyeball.
"Remember how you kept going back to the start after each area?" this eyeball asked. I nodded. "Well, there's no more diversions or anything. You're still collecting keys, but each one will unlock the next area in a more direct fashion. Please continue towards the teleporter up ahead. Our master would be pleased to meet you."
"O-o-kay, thanks," I stammered.
"Not a problem," the eyeball replied with the same robotic voice as the others. I opened a door that led into a large room with a glowing spot on the floor. Directly above it was a tractor beam that projected a green light onto the floor, like those on alien spaceships.
"Okay, you've got this," I said to myself as I stepped into the tractor beam's rays. Yet again, the world started to spin around, and I landed on a soft mat a split-second later. Just as I began to stand up, a laser beam knocked me off my feet. This one came from a floating eyeball that was larger than the others.
"Little child," the eyeball spoke, "Just what brings you here, to my lair?"
I timidly replied, "Y-your guards pointed me in your direction..."
"So that I could finish you off, right?" the giant eyeball interrupted. "I am the Evil Eye, the eye that oversees everything that occurs in this maze. In other words, the head, the master, of the security system. The All-Seeing Eye, but without any connections to the Illuminati."
"Illuminati?" I blurted. "Never heard of them."
"Doesn't matter," the Evil Eye muttered. "All that's important is that I am the nucleus of the security system, and that you are an intruder."
"But the eyeballs before you had verified my identity," I calmly replied, trying to look innocent and happy. "They said they'd help me along the way."
The Evil Eye sighed, and a key shimmered into existence in front of me. "Very well, child, you may pass. Take this key. I'll make sure that you won't make it out of this maze alive. I've summoned Gt. Eyeball, and he will appear in a chamber much further in. He WILL try to kill you, and my job won't be done until he does so. Go now or I'll blast you again with my laser beam!"
"Thank you, Evil Eye!" I grinned, and I took the key in my hand.
"This is the Fire Key," the same voice as before announced. "The door has been unlocked."
"Well...here goes nothing," I muttered as I marched towards the door, not looking back. I opened it, and I was hit with a blast of very hot air upon entering the next room, called The World of Fire.
Once I crossed the threshold, I looked around, and all I could see were flames. The walls were on fire, the ceiling was on fire, and even most of the floor was on fire! I saw the next key floating at the opposite end of the room, but somehow I would have to cross this inferno first. I noticed that there was something resembling a pathway on the ground, which was really just a minute gap in the flames. I took a breath and bolted forward, and even as my clothes caught fire I still continued to run as fast as possible. I finally made it out to the other side, where I stopped, dropped, and rolled to put out the flames. There was a flask containing a small amount of pink liquid, and upon drinking it, all the burns began to quickly heal, all the pain was gone, and my clothes were even repaired! Much to my relief, the key was within arm's reach, and I grabbed it.
"This is the Butt Key. The door has been unlocked."
I hastily ran forward and opened the next door, never feeling as eager to leave a hot room as I was now.
I sighed with relief since the air in this new area was much cooler, at least compared to The World of Fire. But it wasn't long before I noticed that the air reeked with anal gases...again.
"Welcome to Buttland," a little boy's voice spoke before laughing. "No ifs, ands, and ESPECIALLY no buts about it!"
I turned a corner and found myself in a room with brass statues of butts, and they were all mooning at me! They farted every few seconds, and I had to plug my nose due to the stench. I uneasily walked across and approached a hallway, but the entrance to it was blocked by the Butt Barrier, where a pair of buttocks stood guard. The butt farted, but this one also produced a cloud of brown gases. Holding my nose, I ducked under the butt and navigated a 180-degree turn to the left to enter the next room, and then I saw it.
A gigantic butt was sitting on a nearby toilet, farting and pooping. Even as I made my way towards the door at the far end of the room, the butt just sat there and kept on pooping, and the sound of splashing toilet water was heard at very specific intervals, same with the butt's farting and moaning. Perhaps it's a poop factory, and the poop goes to another room in this maze? I dunno. Wherever it goes, I'll be fine as long as I'm not in the same room. According to a plaque above the toilet, it was called The Evil Butt, but what's so evil about a butt just pooping on the toilet? Maybe in addition to being a poop factory, it could have been thinking of a plan to start a boss fight if I stayed in there any longer.
I opened the door at the other end and silently closed it behind me, and the next key was floating in midair.
"This is the Kelp Key," a voice said as I took the key with my fingers. "The door has been unlocked."
From sharks and skunks to buttocks and eyeballs, and now seaweed? This is one heck of a maze! I thought.
As soon as I entered the next area, I noticed how damp it was, and that the floor, walls, and ceiling were all covered in wet, slimy green seaweed. A small bonfire was positioned in the middle of the area, and a small wooden sign read, "Welcome to the Kelp Caves!"
"This is just getting weirder and weirder," I mumbled as I walked onward. The path began to twist and turn, sloping downwards all the while. In fact, the slope was also gradually getting steeper, and eventually I stumbled over my own feet and landed on my butt as the path transitioned into a slide. Faster and faster I went, and eventually I was launched out the end of the slide, landing on my butt inside a large cavern. Again, the floor, walls, and ceiling were all covered with kelp.
Suddenly, a wet, sloshing sound was heard as a curtain of kelp was pushed aside, and a huge green monster that appeared to be part-hydra, part-crab scuttled sideways towards me. It had five eye stalks (the one in the middle was slightly taller than the others), a creepy humanlike smile, and two menacing pincers at the end of its arms were clicking rapidly.
"I'm the Guardian of the Kelp Caves!" the monster hissed like a snake. "Good luck getting past me." Immediately, the monster shot out one of its pincers, but I backed away in the nick of time. It tried to get me with the other pincer, but again I was able to dodge it. The monster then emitted laser beams from its leftmost and rightmost eyes, while slowly revolving in a circle.
"Lasers are fun and good for you," I taunted as I hopped over the beams like hurdles. Once the monster's backside was facing me, I gave it a swift kick in the back, and it roared in pain before turning back towards me.
For the next round, the Guardian summoned vine-like strands of kelp from the room's walls, and the long, slimy seaweed plants nabbed me in a split-second. Adrenaline coursed through my veins and I was somehow able to wriggle free from their grasp. Again, the monster emitted a barrage of laser beams, but I jumped over them all. More vines tried to lash out at me, but I quickly ran towards the monster and gave it a karate kick. The monster roared in pain, lashing out at me with its flailing pincers, but a few seconds later, it began to wibble and wobble before falling onto its back, dead.
"Whew, what a battle!" I sighed, wiping my brow. Suddenly, an obvious thought came to my mind and I hollered, "IS THIS MAZE ALMOST OVER?!" There was no response. I was certain that despite all I've been through so far, this was just the beginning of what was to come.
Author's note: Sorry I took longer with this chapter than I expected. I had already written the entire story when I was a kid, but I am cleaning up any errors that I have made, as well as fleshing out most of the boss battles since they literally consisted of only two sentences at the time. In addition, I'm also job hunting so that takes a lot of time and energy. This story will be my main priority until it's completed, and then I will resume work on my other stories. Stay tuned for the next chapter! :)