Zombozo, Thumbskull, and the others herded the mind-controlled crowd into the clown house one by one. Within minutes, the exterior fell silent, an eerie, unnatural quiet that made Asher's skin crawl.
"Let's go. Time to follow them in."
Asher kept his voice low, suppressing the anger bubbling beneath the surface. After confirming there were no hidden ambushes waiting outside, he whispered to Ben.
"Do we really have to go in there?"
Ben's eyes had gone slightly unfocused, his gaze drifting toward the life-sized bust of Zombozo mounted above the entrance. That red nose. Those painted-on eyes with their exaggerated features. Every detail screamed wrong in ways that made Ben's stomach churn.
Asher caught the fear in his cousin's voice immediately. "What's wrong, Ben? What do you think about this clown?"
"I'm not afraid of clowns!"
The denial came out too quickly, too defensively. Ben realized his mistake the instant the words left his mouth.
"I believe you're not afraid of clowns," Asher said carefully, giving his cousin an out. "But we've been standing in that crowd for too long. You probably just need some fresh air, right?"
Ben seized the excuse gratefully. "Yeah. Let me just... catch my breath for a second."
"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."
Ben took several deep breaths, forcing himself to look directly at Zombozo's bust. He kept repeating the same mantra under his breath, "Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. He's just a fat guy with a red nose. Nothing scary about that. He's even got a receding hairline, what's there to be scared of?"
The mental image of Zombozo losing his hair actually helped. Ben felt a small surge of confidence and took his first brave step forward.
He raised his head, meeting the clown's painted gaze head-on, and found that the image no longer paralyzed him with fear.
"I'm ready. Let's do this."
Asher watched his cousin's moment of growth with genuine approval. Without another word, he moved toward the clown house entrance, taking point as they stepped inside.
The interior corridor stretched ahead of them, impossibly long.
Mirrors lined both walls, dozens upon dozens of reflective surfaces creating an endless maze of duplicated images. Everywhere Asher looked, he saw himself and Ben multiplied into infinity.
"There's so many of us!" Ben's voice carried a nervous edge as he stared at the countless reflections surrounding them.
"It's just a simple trick, smoke and mirrors. Nothing to worry about." Asher's tone remained completely rational and unbothered. He walked with the casual ease of someone strolling through his own backyard, completely dismissing the psychological trap designed to disorient visitors.
With such a fearless teammate leading the way, even Ben's courage grew. They navigated through the mirror maze, past several more trick sections designed to confuse and frighten. The corridor seemed endless, darkness and distance stretching ahead no matter how far they walked.
Until,
The floor vanished beneath Asher's feet.
One moment he was walking forward, the next he plummeted into empty air. The clown house had been deliberately kept so dark that he hadn't seen the drop-off ahead!
Thud!
He hit something soft almost immediately, a padded carpet designed to catch falling victims. Asher rolled with the impact and sprang back to his feet, barely winded.
Ben had been following close behind. The instant he saw Asher disappear, he froze at the edge of the drop, afraid to make a sound. It was as if the darkness itself would swallow him whole if he drew attention to his presence.
CLICK!
Overhead lights suddenly blazed to life, flooding the room with harsh illumination and driving back the shadows.
Asher found himself surrounded.
People stood in a circle around him, dozens of them, all wearing identical expressions. Smiles plastered across their faces, but the smiles were empty. Hollow. These people couldn't laugh anymore, as if their very souls had been ripped away.
In the center of the room sat a massive container, easily the size of a car. Glass panels formed its walls, and through the transparent material, Asher could see hundreds of black smiley faces pressed against the interior. They looked like they were trying to escape, struggling to break free from their prison.
"Those are... smiley faces!"
Asher stared at the trapped expressions inside the container, then at the mindless people surrounding him. They all wore the same smile, the same exact smiley face. They'd come to this nightmare of a place and lost their ability to laugh, left standing like empty shells.
"That container is definitely the culprit!" The realization hit Asher like a thunderbolt. He looked up toward where Ben still stood in the corridor above. Keeping his voice as quiet as possible, he called out, "Ben, get down here! Jump onto the carpet, and try to stay quiet!"
"That's easy, as long as I don't have to look at clowns or deal with more darkness."
Ben's courage had returned in full force now. He took several steps back, then launched himself into a running leap. His athletic form carried him clear of the corridor's edge, and he landed directly on the padded carpet with a solid thump.
His physical conditioning wasn't quite at Asher's level, though. The impact left him clutching his ribs and groaning for several long seconds before Asher helped pull him upright.
"You okay?" Asher kept one hand on Ben's shoulder, steadying him.
"I'm fine! Way better than these people and their creepy zombie faces!" Ben gestured at the mind-controlled crowd, trying to play off his discomfort. The bravado only lasted until he noticed the massive container. "What's going on with that thing? There are faces stuck to the glass!"
His eyes went wide as he processed what he was seeing. First Doctor Animo, the mad scientist who belonged in textbooks. Now Zombozo, who apparently qualified as a leading expert in psychological manipulation.
Holy crap, Ben thought. These scientists should definitely be featured in textbooks, their experiments are way more exciting than boring old theories!
Of course, that was just Ben's "clever" observation. The reality was far more sinister.
"Those are laughs," Asher explained grimly. "Human laughter corresponds to emotional expression. That container is somehow trapping people's joy and storing it inside."
His deduction was disturbingly accurate. Asher made his decision immediately. "Ben, we need to destroy that container now."
"Let's do it!"
Ben completely agreed with the plan.
Asher took the lead, Ben following close behind. They moved carefully toward the huge container, trying not to draw attention from the mind-controlled victims. The crowd remained motionless, their empty smiles fixed in place. Step by careful step, the two cousins approached their target.
They'd almost reached the glass walls when,
"I have to say, after capturing joy from so many people, I really didn't expect to miss the two of you!"
A sinister voice echoed from behind the container.
Zombozo stepped out from his hiding place, his pale face ghastly under the yellow lighting. That bloodless complexion, the exaggerated makeup, the malicious grin, he looked like something that had crawled out of a nightmare. "I was originally hiding here thinking I could ambush that Diamondhead brat. But I never expected to catch you two instead!"
"A clown!"
Ben's reaction was instant and visceral. He immediately dropped into a defensive crouch, head down, arms wrapped around his knees. The protective position made him look small and vulnerable.
Asher didn't mock his cousin's fear response. Instead, he stepped directly in front of Ben, creating a human shield between his terrified cousin and the psychotic clown. His expression remained completely calm as he faced Zombozo without a trace of intimidation.
"Boss, I remember that kid."
Thumbskull emerged from behind the container along with Frightwig and Acid Breath. The massive strongman pointed directly at Ben with one of his thumb-like fingers. "That's the brat who wore the armored suit, the one who fought us before you showed up!"
"Oh really?" Zombozo's painted eyebrows rose as he studied Asher with newfound interest. "He's the kid in the armored suit? Then that means Diamondhead must also be some brat in disguise. Could it be... you?"
His tone shifted dangerously, becoming razor-sharp with suspicion. "What kind of tricks are you playing here?!"
"I'd really like to ask you the same question," Asher replied coolly, gesturing toward the massive container. "What's the purpose of that thing? It looks like a piece of junk to me."
Sure enough,
Thumbskull proved exactly as unintelligent as his reputation suggested. His face flushed red with indignation as he grabbed his bald head with both oversized hands. Unable to contain himself, he blurted out the container's exact function.