It is early morning in the cartoon city. Tall stone buildings dominate the landscape, each one similar or nearly identical to the next. Cabs and buggies swarm through the streets below; they puff out white clouds in their wake, alongside visible words like Honk and Beep that drift upward and evaporate before they reach the skies.

Among the tall buildings stands the "Sure is Cheap Hotel," a decrepit and otherwise unremarkable structure—except that on Floor Thirteen, in Room 696, there currently lurks a little demon known as Bendy.

Of course, asleep under the blanket of his small bed beside the open window, Bendy hardly looks the part of a demon. His head is round and drifts an inch above his body. He has small horns atop his head, and right now a nightcap with a puffball at its tip rests between them. Each snore pushes his blanket down to reveal his striped nightshirt and his white socks, and the puffball on the nightcap gets tugged precariously towards his open mouth. When Bendy inhales, however, they all return to their original positions.

The alarm clock seated on the bedside desk strikes 8:30 a.m. Its little dinger, a tiny mallet, whacks into the gongs place on either side.

Bendy falls out of bed with a visible thud, and rubs his head. Looking around in dazed confusion, the little demon notices the time. He leaps up, finds his still open suitcase on the floor, and dives inside. The suitcase bounces around for several seconds before spitting Bendy back out again, minus his nightshirt and nightcap. Dark shoes tapping out a soft beat over the wooden floorboards, Bendy approaches the mirror on the nearby bureau and uses it to adjust his white bowtie. He grins, and winks at his reflection (which winks back), and drops his pie-cut gaze to the letter propped open against the glass, beside a punched ticket for the Hurry Up Train:

My Darling Bendy—

By the time you read this message, I will have left to pursue a singing opportunity in The Big City, at a show to take place in The Butcher Theater at 9:00 a.m. this Thursday.

Please wish me luck!
Affectionately Yours,
Alice Angel

Bendy's grin widens. He will do better than wish Alice luck. A mental bubble materializes above his head, which shows images of Alice singing on a theater stage, and then getting shocked when a certain little demon shows up to cheer her from the front row. He even imagines Alice stepping off the stage afterwards and giving him a smooch atop his head. Hearts fill and burst his mental bubble, bringing Bendy back to the present. If he stands around too long, after all, he might just miss Alice's performance. So Bendy hurriedly grabs the letter, tucks it into the hammerspace behind his back, and leaves the apartment.

Bendy whistles as he strolls down the sidewalk toward his destination, following a map held in his gloved hands. Life in the surrounding city chugs along, and he smiles and waves to the characters he passes. He does see a variety of them—including old and grisly men who scowl at him, children with lollipops who giggle and wave back, and women in a fur coats who turn up their noses at him. Bendy goes on his carefree way regardless of the reactions he solicits.

When a rickety elderly man comes by walking a St. Bernard, though, Bendy panics and hides behind a mailbox. A bubble appears above his head, playing through memories he has already accumulated of mean canines on the city streets who have growled and barked at him and their huge, sharp teeth. A few even chased him around the city park, shortly after he got off the Hurry Up Train carrying his luggage. So even though the St. Bernard looks friendly enough, the toon gives him a wide berth until the dog and owner are safely out of sight.

Eventually Bendy comes to The Butcher Theater, where a sign out front reads:

Enjoy a Morning of Music
with Dreamy Singers
and
Emerging Talents

There are posters for several performers hanging out front, but it is a huge poster featuring a picture of Alice Angel that draws his attention. Bendy tips an invisible hat to her as he strides past and follows a group of refined-looking city dwellers into the dark open mouth of the theater...

...only to get carried right back out again by a big, round usher with a bristly beard and an eyepatch. A large, more muscular relative of The Butcher Gang, perhaps, who handles Bendy like a dirty towel held at arm's length. Bendy struggles in his hold until the usher drops him onto the curb.

The usher remains silent, because what has just happened is perfectly obvious: Bendy is unwelcome here.

Springing to his feet, and slightly agitated, Bendy pulls out a handful of dollar bills—all the funds he has managed to scrape together for his trip to the city—and waves them in the air, visualizing and pointing to a ticket visible in a mental bubble.

The usher just snorts at the money, and meaningfully slaps a sticker onto the bottom of the poster with a force that makes Bendy jump. It reads:

Sold Out

Bendy frowns at the sticker. In desperation he holds his letter from Alice up to the usher—pointing between it and the poster as if to plead for an exception, while the usher grows more and more red-faced. Surely the fact Bendy knows one of the performers should make a difference.

The usher's hand whips out. He snatches the letter from Bendy, tears it into pieces right in front of the little demon, and lets them fall onto the ground at his feet. Bendy watches the whole scene unfold, in shock that dissolves into tears. He reaches down and tries to gather up the pieces, until a stray breeze blows them away.

In response to Bendy's distress, the usher throws back his head, hugs his broad belly, and laughs.

Clenching his fists, Bendy hops up and down on the sidewalk, steam piping out of his horns. He pounds on the usher's enormous belly without any visible impact. Even so, something in this display of defiance annoys the usher, who grabs Bendy again and this time chucks him into one of the metal garbage cans—with a great clang—across the street before laughing again and going back indoors. The doors slam after him.

Bendy sticks his head out of the garbage cap, wearing a banana peel.

If the usher refuses to let him into the theater, he will miss watching Alice perform. Bendy visualizes Alice performing before an astounded audience that claps wildly, of her winning a trophy and stepping into a limousine, and then getting driven off into the sunset. He will miss getting to see all of it.

Musical notes pop his mental bubble. Bendy looks over to see none other than his pal, Boris the Wolf, dressed as usual in his overalls, playing his clarinet with a rusty fishing bucket on the sidewalk beside him. Bendy grabs a coin out of his hammerspace and flicks it into the bucket with a clink, whereupon Boris finally notices him, plucks him out of the trash, sets him down on the sidewalk, and wipes off the banana peel. He points to his instrument and to Bendy's shoes, clearly hoping to join forces to raise money, but Bendy shakes his head.

Bendy explains the situation to Boris through the presentation of another mental bubble, which Boris watches while munching on a sandwich pulled out of his own hammerspace. He looks calm even as the little demon grows more irritated at watching it all play out again.

Boris shrugs his shoulders in resignation, showing Bendy a similar letter Alice had also sent to him asking for his best wishes. It seems he had the same idea as Bendy to surprise Alice by coming to watch her form. However, displayed in his own mental bubble, Boris relates that he has received much the same treatment earlier the same morning at the hands of the usher—although the reason for his rejection had been due to having no money at all in his pockets. The wolf pats Bendy on the head and goes back to tooting forlornly on his clarinet.

However, Bendy refuses to give up so easily. He paces back and forth, hands behind his back, every now and then glancing over at the theater, and back at Boris and his clarinet.

The exclamation mark representing a sudden idea appears over Bendy's head. He grabs the punctuation before it can disappear, stretches it out, and shoves it into the bucket. Boris looks confused as Bendy takes him off to one side, where he can explain what he has planned in a much smaller mental bubble not immediately visible to anyone else on the street.

Meanwhile, backstage at The Butcher Theater, Alice Angel peers out from behind the edge of a curtain at the sizable turnout. Her expression suggests she is far from confident in impressing the fancily-dressed audience crowding the auditorium. They wear wealth like a second skin. One man with several chins and dressed in a tuxedo much too tight for him sneezes out an $100 bill.

Alice gazes down at her simple black dress, taps the tip of one plain high-heeled shoe, and sighs. About the only parts of her toon self that probably draw some awe are her horns and the golden halo that hovers above her head.

Otherwise she seems out of place among the other lady performers set to step onto the stage this morning, all of whom wear regal gowns that sparkle and jeweled earrings. They chat in their own small groups, although on occasion she catches them looking at her with glances that range from curious to disdainful.

She tries to avoid their eyes, and despite everything finds herself scanning the crowds for two familiar and dear figures.

But no, the tickets for a performance in this theater would probably be too expensive for Bendy, and Alice knows Boris rarely has much left over each month given the amount of food he typically consumes. She would have felt terrible in putting them through such trouble on her account, which was why Alice had come to the city on her own.

Matters only get worse when Alice spots a certain tuxedoed gentleman with a top hat and monocle who sits down in the front row, wearing a stern expression.

Clarence Walford, a well-known patron of performers.

If Alice can impress him, he might just ensure her future success on the stage. Her face and halo brighten, yet they dim again as Alice gazes at all the other singers who will also perform in front of him. For a moment Alice visualizes slipping quietly out of the theater before disaster can strike, until she shakes away the image and determination flares in her expression.

There is no way Alice will give up this chance!

A woman dressed in a pearl necklace and silver tresses shoves her way past Alice onto the stage, Clarence Walford stares at the singer in rapt expectation, and Alice whispers a quiet prayer for a miracle.

Boris and Bendy knock on the door of the theater. The usher comes out looking gruffer than ever. He subjects the wolf and little demon before him to such an evil eye that his very pupil turns into a skull and crossbones symbol, undermined by the apparent indifference of his intended target. Boris just holds up his clarinet and his bucket while Bendy taps out a few steps, demonstrating by way of a shared mental bubble that they hope to audition for a spot on the stage.

It is obvious the usher is less than impressed. Still, he simply snorts and watches as Boris sets the bucket down on the sidewalk and starts to play his clarinet. Bendy begins to tap dance, skipping expertly about. Immediately a dark squiggly line starts to rise from the bucket, swaying side to side like a snake as if to follow the movements of the two toons. The usher appears to suspect that it may in fact be a snake, and worry crosses his hardened features. He shudders as the line continues to swish upwards, until finally the line strikes, wrapping around the usher starting at his feet all the way to his shoulders. Catching him off-guard in this way, it is then easy for Boris and Bendy to tackle the usher over onto his side, and to send him rolling off down the street, with the usher shouting curses all the while that only materialize as jumbled up symbols.

Bendy and Boris shake hands as they enter the theater.

The performances are already in full swing as Bendy and Boris creep into the dark auditorium. Onstage, they can see a robust woman doing a kind of opera tune that she belts out in a foreign language neither one of them can understand. Question marks appear above their heads.

They also take in the rows of plush chairs, all occupied by the fancy theatergoers. Thankfully none of them notice the two intruders; they are too engrossed in the singing.

The robust performer finishes her song, and bows.

As the audience members clap, Bendy notes that on either side of the room are aisles running beside the seats and along the walls, leading directly to steps toward the backstage area. He grins and starts sneaking along the aisle on the left-hand side. He is halfway down when he abruptly realizes Boris is no longer behind him. He looks around, scratching his head, and then hops in alarm.

Boris has stopped beside one of the rows, where a short, pudgy boy with rosy cheeks and curly hair is holding a full bag of popcorn. While his mother and father have their attention on the stage, the boy is engaging in his own private entertainment. He throws kernels at Boris, and chortles as the wolf snaps up each one and licks his lips gratefully. If Boris had his tail out in plain sight, he would probably be wagging it right now.

Bendy hurries back and tugs on Boris's arm, to remind him of their reason for being here in the first place. Unfortunately, the boy sees Bendy trying to pull away his new friend and starts to sniff. Tears well in his eyes, and it is clear he is ready to cry out.

Sensing a tragedy in the making, Bendy picks up a few popcorn kernels off the floor and juggles them. Bendy tosses each juggled piece of popcorn right into Boris's mouth and strikes a pose as if to say, "Ta-dah!" By this point the child has calmed down. He smiles and waves goodbye as Bendy and Boris press onwards.

The audience quiets down as the next singer appears.

It's Alice Angel.

Bendy and Boris watch her step carefully out to centerstage, hands clasped together as if in prayer. She gazes out at the audience for a long moment, swallows, and seems momentarily distracted by some loud coughing in the front row.

Without thinking, Bendy whistles some notes amid the silence, low and gentle, and Boris blows a soft toot on his clarinet.

Alice looks up, clearly having recognized the sounds. A surprised smile tweaks her lips, and she relaxes. Bendy cannot tell if she knows they are present, since she has not looked their way. But he can tell the encouragement has at least reached her, because then she begins to sing without a trace of fear:

"I'm the cutest little angel

sent from above

And I know just how to sing.

I got a bright little halo

and I'm filled with love . . .

I'm Alice Angel!"

Her voice washes across the auditorium like a silk river. Everyone in the audience sighs in contentment, as anyone does, Bendy knows, lucky enough to hear Alice sing in person. He continues to lead Boris toward the steps, with the intention of greeting her afterwards. However, a far more unpleasant character is waiting for them at the top of the stairs—the scruffier and scarlet-faced usher. Bendy and Boris duck as he makes a swipe at them, growls, and proceeds to chase them along the aisle toward the back.

The usher closes the distance much too quickly, and is about to grab the toons, when he gets a bag of popcorn tossed in his face courtesy of the pudgy boy. Bendy salutes the child as they run past. In his fury the usher whirls on the boy, who makes a show of pulling on his mother's arm, pointing at the usher, and whimpering. His mother stands up and smacks the usher hard on the head with her purse.

Bendy and Boris have gotten as far as the aisle on the other side of room before the usher manages to break away from the mother and continue his pursuit, as Alice continues to sing all the while in the background. They make it up the steps and slip behind the curtain backstage, where the other performers turn in astonishment at the sight of a little demon and wolf running for their lives. And they panic and scatter when the usher charges through the area, smashing through boxes and other props. Steam shoots from his nostrils like a rampaging bull.

Reaching the opposite wall, Bendy and Boris find a line ropes tied around wooden pegs. Bendy nods to Boris, and they each grab as many ropes as they can and tug them free.

Sandbags rain down on the usher from above. They crush him to the floor under their weight, and as Bendy and Boris make their escape, the curtains open to reveal them before the entire audience, who gasp at the scene.

Alice turns around, and her whole face lights up. She gestures for her friends to come over and continues to sing. Boris pulls out his clarinet to follow along, Bendy tap-dances, while between them Alice goes through her song again to the final lines:

"This gal can grant your every wish . . .

I'm Alice Angel!"

The audience members give the performance a standing ovation. Flowers come flying onto the stage at their feet, and petals rain through the air. Alice turns to give Boris a peck on the cheek, which turns his snout red in happiness, and reaches down to kiss Bendy on the top of his head, which causes the little demon to twirl about with hearts flying off his head. The trio take each other by the hand, and bow.

Everything seems to have come to a peaceful conclusion. Bendy even notices an important-looking man in a top hat and monocle stroking his beard and nodding at them thoughtfully.

Then the usher comes up behind Bendy, Boris, and Alice, his bulk heaving and steaming like a boiler about to explode. The curtains close in front of them, shielding the audience from the rest of what happens, which is that the usher grabs Bendy and Boris—and Alice when she complains—and tosses them from the theater.

As the trio reach their feet, Alice turns to gaze back at the front entrance.

Bendy droops. Alice had been doing so well, and the audience had loved her. Then he had caused trouble, as usual, and gotten her thrown out. Even his horns droop.

Alice lays a hand on his head, and Bendy looks up to find her smiling at him. She lays a hand on Boris's shoulder as well. She winks at them. It is clear that she is grateful they came.

The trio have gone about two blocks when a limousine pulls up alongside them. One of the side doors open, and the important-looking man in the monocle steps out—Clarence Walford, who bows to Alice and holds out a contract. He has enjoyed watching her perform so much that he wants to sponsor her for all matter of shows and events.

Alice steps toward the open door, then glances at Bendy and Boris standing beside her. She turns to Clarence Walford and says quite frankly that they all must stay together—where Alice goes from now on, so will her friends.

Clarence Walford studies Alice, Bendy, and Boris. There is a pleased twinkle in his eye as he nods and gestures for the three of them to enter the limousine, which they do with great pleasure.

And the limousine drives off, headed for a new future.