Authoress' note: So Bendy and I talked about doing a Thanksgiving special, and a few days later I get a letter in the mail...
Dear Joanie,
Seem's like forever since we've written about cartoons together, hasn't it? Well, it is for me at least, toons have no patience. Anyway, if you're not working on other stories or cramming in classes, come by to the BATIM fandom, there's something I got to show you.
Your pal.
Bendy
Hmm... Seems legit.
I own nothing.
Henry Stein never understood elementary plays. They were always so... bad? Boring? The children had no talent in acting or singing. They never read memorized their lines, instead reading their scripts while on the stage. To Henry, this was something to avoid like the plague.
But of course, Linda thought otherwise.
So there he was, sitting in a middle row surrounded by bored parents and older siblings of the actors. Many of the teenagers were glued to their phones, while the adults chattered away about nonsense.
Henry wasn't much of a talker, so he slouched in his seat, arm's crossed. His blue eyes glued on the small, cheep stage with the worn red curtain. Linda was talking with another mom, leaving Henry alone. The old man didn't care, he just wanted to get this stupid play over with.
"Henry?"
Henry looked over his shoulder. In the walkway about three seats away was a young woman wearing a navy trenchcoat and black pants. Tucked under her left arm was a small sketchbook.
I should have brought one.
Henry smiled and waved her over. She mumbled "'Cuse me" to the other guests as she took the seat next to Henry.
"Hey old man, what's new?" She asked as she straightened out her coat.
"Chapter 5?" Henry joked. Ah Henry, always breaking the fourth wall. He was a fandom character, after all.
"Har Har."
"What're doing here, Joanie?"
Joan sighed and slumped in her seat. "My brother's in the play." She mumbled. "He's a pilgrim... I think. Plus I was invited by Bendy."
Henry nodded, "My nephew Jimmy's in the play, and the toons are in it too."
Joan snorted. "Yeah, I saw that in the brochure. What's Bendy gonna do? Run around with a Tommy gun and shoot all the Turkeys?"
"Be more entertaining than watching the same play over and over again. I know Thanksgiving is a tradition, but when you're heard the story a million times it-"
"Get's old?" Joan finished.
Henry mumbled in agreement.
"Maybe this time Bendy can shoot all the turkeys, and then roast them with the flames of hell!" Joan teased. "That'll be a trip!"
"Uh... don't think the school will approve of that..." Henry chuckled. "Anyway, how's your work coming along?"
Joan shoved her sketchbook in Henry's face and smiled. "See for yourself!"
Henry opened the book to see various sketched of herself, her friends, FCs, OCs, even a few of him.
"Am I getting better?!" Joan whisper/shouted.
Henry smiled, "I'm certainly seeing an improvement. With this sketch right here..." Henry pointed out one of a battle pose, "The legs could be a little longer, unless you're going for a cartoonish look."
Joan nodded. "I always have trouble with that, but at least I can draw them now, huh? By the way, we're you're daughters?"
"Charity and Grace? Charity's out on a date and Grace is sick."
"Again? Gees, that girl's got problems."
"Don't we know." Henry commented, "Personally, I think she's faking it tonight. Wish I'd thought of that."
"Yeah, I should've done that too. Get some sketching in, ya know? Acyually..." Joan looked at her hand. In the dim light, he noticed a thick bandage on one of her fingers. "I think I should take a break from drawing for a week or so."
"What happened?"
"Accidentally scrapped off a chunk off my finger, don't ask for details."
Henry nodded slowly before changing the subject."You know Joanie... the studio could use a few artists... we're setting up an art program pretty soon to help new animators, would you like it if I-"
"Really!" Joan cheered, startling a few guests, "You mean it?!"
"I'll have to talk to Joey first, but maybe-"
"Henry, it's about to start!" Linda shushed. Seeing Joan, she gave a quick wave just as the lights were dimming. A spotlight shown on the center of the stage as everyone in the crowd hushed. The curtains were pushed aside by a pair of hands, revealing-
"Bendy?" Henry, Linda, and Joan said in union.
Joan whipped out her wand and turned it into a writing pen.
"What're you doing?" Henry asked.
"Taking notes."
Bendy was in his normal attire of bowtie and boots, Henry thought he was going to be an Native American.
What's going on?
"Howdy-do, fellas! Bendy here, but ya already knew that. Hi Henry!" Bendy waved to the crowd. The spotlight swung to Henry, who was slowly lowering his body in embarrassment. It didn't help that Joan started waving.
The spotlight returned to Bendy. "Anyways, tomorrow we celebrate this thing called Thanksgiving. People say it's a time to be thankful and all that jazz, but we all know the real reason we waste our time with this holiday, and that's to murder turkeys and get fat! Now I'm new to this whole holiday junk, but that don't mean I can regurgitate the backstory to all ya'll. So my friends and I are gonna dive ya'll to the magical world of 17th century America."
Linda facepalmed. "What's he going to do...?" She muttered.
"Now I'm gonna need some help with that, since my ink magic only works at the Studio. Anyone here use magic?!"
Mumbles ran through the crowd as people looked left and right. Eventually Henry looked at Joan. Joan looked at him.
"What?" She asked.
"Go up there."
"Me?!"
"Yeah, you wanted to make the story interesting, right?"
"Well..."
"It'll be fun!"
Joan sighed nervously as she raised her hand.
"Hey there, fella! Come on up!" Bendy waved her forward. Joan sheepishly stepped onto the stage.
"Oh, it's you Joanie! How're doing tonight?"
"We're the other cast members?" Joan asked.
Bendy chuckled nervously as he glanced to the sides. "They... they gonna meet us there."
"What did you do?"
Bendy held up his hands in defense. "They're fine, promise. Boris just needs to find the key to the costume closet. Anyways, do ya got your wand?"
"When do I not?" Joan retorted.
"Great, now hold it out."
Linda leaned towards Henry, "What's he gonna do?"
Henry smiled and shrugged.
"Stop him!" Linda hissed.
"This is getting interesting!"
"He's a demon, Henry! We don't know what he's going to do!"
"Linda, he's a kids cartoon character, what's the worst he can-"
"To infinity and Beyond!" Bendy chanted as he aimed the wand at the crowd. Linda barely had enough time to scream, "Bendy no!" Before the whole crowd vanished.
Authoress' note: That whole "I-chopped-a-bit-of-my-finger-off-thing," that's... that's not a lie.
Broken glass is dangerous, kids!
But fear not! I'll live!
Probably...
Maybe...
...
I'm just gonna go start the next chapter now...
