Eight-year-old Billy Blaze may seem like just an ordinary kid, but when his parents are away and his babysitter is asleep, he dons his brother's football helmet and becomes…
Commander Keen, defender of the universe!
Today's adventure finds Keen on the planet Gnosticus IV, there to retrieve something he had left behind on his last visit. He lands in the Shadowlands and sets off, checking the coordinates on his ComputerWrist to know where he needs to go to fetch his photachyon transceiver after it fell off his ship on takeoff.
(Don't worry, I barely understand it myself. Anyways…)
Keen walks along, making his way along the cleared paths in the forest, until he comes to the shoreline of Three-Tooth Lake. Confused, he checks his scanner again. "There's no way…" he mutters.
But sure enough, his wrist device is telling him to explore the lake – In particular, one island he was hoping to avoid.
"Not the Well of Wishes!"
With a sigh, Keen undresses while grumbling, changing into his wetsuit so he can swim in the lake. Once ready, he steps into the water and makes his way to the well, knowing he'll have to navigate the maze-like underwater cave within. He soon pulls himself onto the shore and trudges to the old stone well – A deceptive entry for one of the most challenging locations he's visited on this planet.
"Well… Here goes."
He climbs into the well and drops into the water, turning his wrist device's spotlight on as he swims downward.
The cool water flows past him as he descends, reminding him of his previous adventures here. But instead of rescuing members of the oracle council so he can save the galaxy, he's stuck looking for his lost transceiver – Mostly so he doesn't have to bother with building another one.
His wetsuit keeps him insulated in the cold, dark depths of the well, and he continues to descend, shining his light at the deep blue walls and cyan floors of the cavern.
A movement catches his eye, and he smiles as he sees a small green fish swimming toward him, soon joined by two more. The harmless schoolfish like to follow around anything that doesn't attack them, and Keen finds it quite adorable, watching them hover near him as he makes his way through the tangle of tunnels beneath the well. It makes the depths of the cavern feel a little less lonely.
After some time, the hero reaches the base of the well, and his attention is caught by a glint of light nearby. Shining his spotlight toward it, he spots his transceiver!
Or rather, what's left of it – The jumbled mess of debris on the ground shows it didn't survive either the impact or the depths of the water.
"Aw, nuts," Keen thinks. His whole trip was for nothing.
With a sigh, he turns to head back to the surface – Only to come face-to-face with another green fish. But unlike the harmless ones following him around, this one is easily four or five times as big as he is, with two giant buck teeth protruding from its upper jaw! Keen freezes at the sight of the dreaded Dopefish.
"Double nuts!"
The boy turns again, making a desperate attempt to swim away, but he misjudges his trajectory and runs into the remains of his transceiver, and the jagged metal hooks onto his rubber wetsuit, slicing it open! Keen watches in horror as the black rubber suit and fins fall from his body and sink to the bottom of the well, leaving him in just a pair of speedos along with his helmet, air tank, and swim mask!
The cold water makes him shiver, but he tries to swim anyway, knowing he needs to get away from the buck-toothed fish rapidly following him! But while this normally wouldn't be an issue, suddenly having no flippers to propel himself becomes a major problem!
He peeks back, horrified as the Dopefish gains on him. "No, no, no!" he thinks, but there's nothing he can do. Keen watches in terror as the fish opens its mouth wide, and a firm suction pulls him right inside the creature's maw!
The eight-year-old lands on the tongue of the creature, nearly as big as he is, and though he tries to scramble for the exit, the Dopefish closes its mouth once again, clearly happy with its catch.
Inexplicably, Keen finds there's air inside the fleshy cavern, and he slips off his swim mask so he can yell. "Let me out of here!"
No response. Not that he was exactly expecting one.
The boy shines his light around. Aside from the white tops of the fish's buck teeth, there's nothing but deep, fleshy red around him. The creature's tongue shifts idly beneath him, tasting his nearly naked form. The ridges of its palate overhead lead down to the stretchy cheeks and back to the softer velum, where he spots a wrinkled opening flexing patiently.
The Dopefish's gullet. Where he will be going if he doesn't think of something, fast.
But he can't think of anything to help himself. He left his neural stunner with his clothes on the shore. And he's nowhere near strong enough to pry the fish's jaws open. All he can do is hope to be let out.
Unfortunately for him, he knows full well that Dopefish don't give up their food easily.
Food… That's all he is. He's not Commander Keen. He's not even Billy Blaze. He's just Dopefish food now.
As if to cement this reality, the tongue begins to lift, sliding the boy toward that gullet. Billy scrabbles at the slick surface, trying to avoid being swallowed, but he can't gain any traction on the slippery muscle as it works him deeper into the mouth.
"No, no! Please! Don't… Don't eat me…! I-I want to go home…"
His pitiful pleading earns him naught but a rumble from deeper inside the fish, and he lets out a whimper as his bare feet squish past the wrinkled gullet and into the snug grip of the creature's esophagus. A moment later, it takes a deep Glllp! and plunges all of Billy inside the muscular tunnel in one swallow!
He squirms, to no effect, as the peristalsis works him deeper into the aquatic being, until he squishes past the esophageal sphincter into a rather roomy stomach. The boy lands with a splash in the thick, translucent fluids within, and he curls up atop the fleshy base of the chamber, shining his light around to find, as he expected, there isn't a way out for him.
"I… I've been eaten…" he mutters softly with a sniffle, affirming it to himself. Already, he feels a tingle spreading through his bare skin, radiating into his body. He tries pushing against the rubbery walls of the stomach, but they merely push him back into place, kneading the digestive fluids over every inch of him.
Billy shudders as the walls contract, squeezing him and working to push him beneath the fluids within the chamber. He realizes he can't feel his toes anymore, and soon, that numbness envelops his feet and climbs up his legs.
He's digesting.
"N-No… Please… Mom… Dad… Someone… Help me…"
His pleas and soft sobs do nothing to dissuade the predatory fish, and before long, his spotlight fizzles and dies, plunging him into utter darkness.
The boy lets out one more whine before slipping beneath the fluids, falling still and softening until he melts completely away as nothing more than fish food.
Outside, the Dopefish pauses before letting out a deep Boouurrp!
Out of its mouth falls a yellow-and-green football helmet, sinking to the bottom of the well.
