Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Welcome to the next chapter of "Drowned in Ink!" I got this done this morning and wanted to get it up, so here it is! This chapter has a lot more flashbacks and dialogue, so sorry if it's not super interesting.

Enjoy!

Henry's expression turned to shock as the door slammed behind him and he put his hands against the door. He didn't know what had just happened, but he had a feeling he was in for some big trouble. However, that thought changed when he looked in front of him and noticed a young woman standing in front of him. She had short reddish-blondish hair, deep brown eyes and dark skin. She wore a pale purple shirt, gold bracelets, a blue skirt, a gray belt with a gold buckle, and black heels. A look of disbelief and anger was written on her features. She glared at Henry with those dark eyes and finally spoke to him.

"What on Earth are you doing out there?!" she yelled. It was obvious from her thick brows being furrowed that she couldn't believe someone was out there, out there! Where the ink monster could get them! "Don't you know there's a monster out there?!" The woman pointed a finger with a painted nail at him. "If you're not careful, you're gonna get killed!"

Henry had listened to every word this woman had said, but he couldn't help but think that her voice as appearance were vaguely familiar. Hadn't he met this woman somewhere? Then it hit him: an old friend who was like a niece to him. He just had to make sure.

The older man squinted a bit "...Betty," he questioned. "Betty Landons, is that you?"

The woman lightened her glare and looked up at the man, blinking at the question. This man knew her name? Wait, that face, those bright blue eyes… only one man she had ever known had eyes like that. She didn't know for sure, but she had to check. "...Henry? 'Uncle' Henry?"

Henry put a hand to his chest and nodded. "Yeah, it's me." So it was Betty! Betty had been the daughter of the financial manager, Grant Cohen, and he had watched over her when she was little. He and his best friend always said she was like a niece to them, so she started calling him and Joey her uncles.

Betty's expression changed to one of joy and held her arms out to her sides. "Oh my goodness! Henry!" she exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in years! What are you doing all the way back here in the old workshop?"

The former animator shook his head. God, if only this woman knew of the hell and back he had just been in. Sighing softly, he spoke. "Joey sent me a letter inviting me here. He said he wanted to show me something, so I came back here and turned on the Ink Machine." He put a hand to his forehead. "I'm guessing that was a mistake on my part, because… that thing popped out and came after me."

Betty shuddered for a second. She knew exactly what "thing" he was talking about. That monster had been chasing her around for some time, and she had barely managed to escape his grasp. She slightly curled up in fear. "Oh, you mean… Bendy?"

If music had been going on a record player, it would have scratched to a halt as Henry heard that name. "Bendy." The name of the beloved cartoon character who had given Joey and Henry their start in the animation industry. He was a tiny cartoon devil with a bow tie and shiny black shoes, and his signature grin was recognized the world over. But did Betty really just tell the man that… that thing… was Bendy?! Henry replied, "Wait… Bendy?!" with shock evident in his tone.

Betty solemnly nodded. "Yep. That thing is Bendy."

Henry held up a hand and closed his eyes, furrowing his brows. "Wait a minute…" He reopened his eyes and pointed to the door behind him. "Are you telling me that… that thing…" He then put his hand up and moved them so there was a small space between them. "Is the cute, tiny cartoon devil I used to draw all the time?"

Betty sighed and looked to the side. She should have known Henry didn't know what had happened to Bendy. Then again, Bendy had only come to life after his leaving the studio. "Unfortunately, yes…" She returned her gaze to her figurative uncle. "Walk with me, Henry. I need to explain what Joey did.

As Henry walked beside Betty down the long hallway, she held up a hand and began to explain what had happened while Henry had left the studio.

"See, after you left, Joey said he had an idea. He wanted to test a new machine he had built. We didn't know what it did. Only that, according to Joey, it would, 'prove his theory right.' So he turned it on, flipped some switches, and Joey pulled off all the excess ink to reveal… Bendy." She made some small gestures as she talked, motioning turning on the machine, wiping away ink, and revealing something.

"At first, despite that he knew all of us, he was so shy. However, Joey slowly helped him come out of his shell. He was a constant happy presence around the workshop. He would sit at everyone's desks. He'd bring people their drinks. He's even dance for us. Everything was perfect for years." Betty's expression fell as she continued her walk down memory lane. "The, one day, Joey had another idea. He wanted to give Bendy a friend, so he made… Boris.

"Bendy and Boris already knew each other, so they were happy to be reunited. And Boris was a joy to have around. Everything was perfect again. Then, about ten years ago, Joey… changed. He became very aggressive and almost delusional. He would mumble to himself, stuff about, 'appeasing the gods.' He became verbally abusive towards Boris. And when Bendy asked why, all Joey would tell him was, 'It's okay, Bendy. Daddy will make everything better.'

"Then, one day, I was minding my own business… when I thought I heard Boris, and he sounded scared. So I went to go see what was happening..."

Betty's steps were quiet as she made her way down the hall to a nearby room. She had heard strange noises and what sounded like shouting. Curiosity drew her towards the noises and she couldn't help herself. She had to see what was going on.

The advisor's daughter stopped at the entrance to a small room. She didn't go past the wooden frame for fear of being found out, but she did listen to the snarls and words of anger that came from inside. With her mind gnawing at her to see what was wrong, she put a hand on the frame and peeked inside.

The room was crowded with several shelves and a couple of chairs, some candles lit upon two wooden posts. An operating table was standing in the middle of the room and in front of it stood Boris. He had his teeth bared in a vicious manner and his fists were clenched. Joey stood in front of the cartoon wolf, and Betty noticed that ink dripped onto the floor from the corners of his mouth. Raising a hand, Joey glared and Boris and entreated, "Now, Boris, be a dear and get on the operating table."

Another deep growl resonated from Boris' throat. "No!" he shouted. "Up until this point, you've treated me like $ *% and I won't stand for it!" A cartoon-like laugh came from his mouth where there should have been a swear. Betty managed to keep herself from laughing at it and watched intently.

Joey clasped his hand together in front of his chest and sighed, brows still furrowed in what looked like anger. "Boris, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

The wolf simply kept his eyes locked with Joey's green ones, fists balled up and teeth bared.

The leader of the studio narrowed his eyes. "Fine, I guess we're doing this the hard way." He cracked his knuckles, before walking up to the cartoon and grabbing his wrists with a tight grip.

Betty watched from her hidden position as Joey struggled to move the wolf's arms. Her mouth was slightly agape as she leaned a little close to the entrance.

Boris fought against the grip of his creator as hard as he could. "Hey, hey, what are you doing," he questioned. Joey didn't answer and he just push his wrists harder. Boris did his best to keep his hands from hitting the cold metal. Unfortunately, Joey was stronger than he thought and slammed his wrists into the metal. He quickly locked the cuffs around Boris' arms and stepped back, admiring his work.

The cartoon shook and tried to break his way out but the cuffs were too strong and he stayed in his place. "Joey, let me go!" he yelled. When that didn't elicit a response, he barked furiously.

Joey took a small scalpel from his pockets and spun it in one hand, before holding it and setting the tip on one of the fingers of his other hand. "Oh, Boris," came his voice with fake sincerity. "You're making this awfully difficult." He deep frown turned into a devilish grin. "But don't worry. It'll all be over soon."

That was when Betty walked away. She couldn't stand seeing her friend strapped down like that, and she didn't want to stay to see what Joey was going to do.

Betty spoke again as the memory washed over her like water. "I didn't stay to see what Joey did. But I saw… the aftermath." Both Henry and Betty shook as they remembered the sight of Boris' corpse with his ribcage torn open and his organs gone, his eyes shaped into cartoon X's. The advisor's daughter found her voice and continued her walk down memory lane. "What Joey was sick and I couldn't believe it. I confronted Joey about it, told him he was crazy. I should have kept my mouth shut, because he threatened to fire me if I said anything to anyone else. This was the only job I could afford, so I kept my mouth shut. I shouldn't have.

"When Bendy found out, he was devastated. He got so angry at Joey, so angry. He screamed and cried."

Bendy stood in front of the leader of the studio, his tail sticking straight out and fists clenched. His sharpened canines showed as he began to yell at Joey. "YOU LIAR!" He screamed in disbelief and anger. The dancing demon accusingly pointed a finger at the man. "You said you were gonna do something nice for him! AND NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID!"

Joey looked at the small creature with slightly knitted brows and a small frown. At first, his face read indifference, before it turned to sincerity. He sighed and looked away. "You're right, Bendy. What I did was wrong. I'm so sorry." He then reached his arms out to the demon. "How about we go talk about this in my office?"

At first, Bendy could only stand there and sniffle. He didn't want to trust Joey after he had just murdered his best friend, but then again, this was his creator, his father. He wiped away some of the inky tears that ran down his face. "...Okay, Joey."

The leader of the studio carefully scooped the cartoon into his arms, before turning on his heels and heading towards his office.

"So Joey took Bendy with him," Betty explained. "And we didn't see him for weeks. It was about three weeks before we saw Bendy again. Turns out, he had hidden himself away from us after Boris' death. He became very lonely, longing for another like himself. So, Sammy, who worshipped Bendy, noticed this and decided to use the Machine."

Bendy sighed for the upteenth time as he turned in the drawer he used as a place to sleep. He let his head fall back onto the pillow. He didn't think he was ever going to leave this drawer. Honestly, he didn't want to. Footsteps came from down the hall, but the devil darling didn't bother to see who it was. However, he became a little more alert once a voice spoke to him.

"Bendy, my lord, I have come with an offering."

Sammy. Sammy Lawrence. The music department director. From what Bendy had seen, this man thought of him like some kind of deity and worshipped him. He would often make new music and give it to the demon as an, "offering." It was more than a little weird to Bendy and he often wondered if Sammy had lost it somehow. Sighing again and sitting up, he turned to face the human. "Sammy-"

Bendy stopped short and his eyes widened. Next to Sammy stood a cartoon was was slightly taller than the demon. She wore black heels, a black dress with detached sleeves, garter belts, white gloves and a little bow tie. She had long wavy hair. Two horns and a halo topped her head while her lips were lined with dark lipstick.

Sammy bowed his head and spoke in a respectful tone. "May I present… Alice Angel."

Bendy stood from his drawer and held up a hand. Did Sammy really… "Alice?"

She gave a soft smile, before waving and replying with, "Hiya, Bendy. Long time no see."

Betty held up a hand as she looked up at Henry. "So Bendy and Alice bonded and Bendy was happy." Her tone shifted as she remembered what happened next. "Then... five years ago, came that fateful day."

Henry had listened to every word with the most intent, imagining everything in his head as Betty described it. He had shuddered at the thought of his best friend actually using that… machine to make their cartoons real. How on Earth did he even do that? What kind of black magic had Joey been using to do this? Is that what the pentagram was for? Did he sell his soul to the devil or something?

At the mention that something happened five years ago, those thoughts were filed away in the back of his mind. Stopping and turning all the way to face Betty, he gulped and nervously asked, "What… happened?"

"Well-"

WHACK!

Betty was cut short when out of nowhere, a board of wood flew into her face, the larger side smacking her in the side of the head.

Henry gasped and took a shocked step back. "BETTY!"

Betty stumbled for only a moment, holding her head with her hand. Her arm fell to her side a second later, and down she went, slamming into the floor with her arms out.

The former animator watched in horror, then his expression turned into anger. He turned his head to face where the board had come from. "HEY!"

WHACK!

Stars danced in his eyes and a throbbing pain emanated from his cranium after another wooden board was slammed into the side of his head. Henry stumbled backwards and tried to keep his balance. His head pounded and his vision was blurring in and out. Henry took deep breaths to try and alleviate the agony in his skull but he felt like he had just had his brain knocked around in his head. Opening his blue eyes, Henry managed to make ot the blurry form of… a black figure with a Bendy mask and overalls?

"Rest your head, it's time for bed," came a cryptic voice.

The man recognized that voice. He couldn't get the words out of his throat with his aching head. Tears were now forming in his eyes and he squeezed them shut. God, his head felt like it was going to explode. He choked a bit, before opening his eyes halfway and finally managing to stutter out, "S...Sammy?" And after that was said, he passed out, his body falling limp to the wooden floor.

Author's Note: So, we've gotten some explanation from Betty. What happened five years ago? And what's going to happen to Betty and Henry? Find out soon!

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