I'm baaaaaaaaack!

It's the weekend of my first week of high school. Honestly, I'm really excited! XD

Unfortunately, with school starting up again for me, this also means there will be less frequent updates for the story as the school year progresses. However, like I said, I will do everything in my power to update as much as possible! I would like to thank all of you for the lovely reviews, support and constructive criticism! They really help keep this story going!

So without further adieu, I bring you chapter three...


(Expositional Story Time cont.)

Bendy hit the grass face first with a faint thud. He quickly got up to observe his surroundings. He wasn't in the animation studio anymore, and his friends were no where to be seen in the vast grassy landscape before him.

Still, he had a pretty good idea where they were and how he got here.

"Boris! Alice! You-... nggh... WHY!?" Bendy shouted into the air with frustration. He wasn't entirely sure why he did it, though. He knew nobody could hear him, even with the pentagram hovering in the sky that connected his world with Joey's. He observed it for a few seconds before his face became more visible as the ink that started covering it now began to drip away. His signature grin spread across his face along and a mischievous twinkle in his eye lit up his expression.

Bendy didn't sense angelic magic leaking through from the other side of the portal, which meant he wasn't sealed in. Using one of his many cartoon-like abilities, he outstretched both of his arms and elongated his body until he could almost touch the black star. Mere moments before he touched it, another figure fell through and landed in his grasp. She was limp and almost completely still, but her body was warm and her chest rose and fell steadily with each breath. The feminine figure didn't stir at the abrupt stop to her fall. Bendy could only conclude she was unconscious.

Alice? Bendy thought. But... how did she-... oh no.

He immediately shrank back down to his original size. He couldn't just leave her in the middle of the meadow, and instead he took her to one of his many secret hiding places littered throughout the animated world. With no effort, Bendy summoned a mass of ink out of thin air and had it create a hollow sphere surrounding himself and the sleeping angel in his arms. In mere moments, they teleported to a hidden cave, or rather a place within a network of caves. He gently laid Alice down on the ground and conjured a camp fire to illuminate the almost pitch black area. Amazingly, the caves had no stalagmites or stalactites, and the rock floor was very flat, but not smooth. He observed Alice as she continued to breathe steadily on her side. He didn't know how she came to be like this, but he could only assume the worst. He didn't know, or rather couldn't know how long she was up there.

Time for the toons and the animators differ and vary heavily. For the time frame of every episode of the classic Bendy Tales cartoons was the equivalent of how long it took to animate in the real world. If it took one week to animate the afternoon-long duration of 'Sheep Songs', one week for the animators would be one afternoon for Bendy and Boris. If it took one month to animate the entire three-day-long duration of 'Sent From Above', one month for the animators would be three days for the toons.

At least Alice would be safe in here for now. Bendy teleported himself back to the meadow and looked up at the pentagram in the air again. The Ink Machine stood behind him. Bendy briefly tampered with it, but it wouldn't turn on, much like how the one in the animation studio. Since Boris possessed no magical abilities whatsoever, traveling via pentagram by himself without the assistance of demonic or angelic magic wasn't an option. Bendy had to go rescue him.

"Just hang in there, buddy, I'll get'cha," he mumbled to himself.


Bendy slowly crawled into the studio. It was very dark, but not pitch black. He felt the cool metal of the machine next to his cheek. He couldn't hear anything at all. Everything was dead silent. He wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

The only source of light in the building were small lightbulbs emanating a dim yellow aura and some scattered candles in a few of the rooms. Bendy tip-toed his way out of the Ink Machine room and into the corridor. He tensed up at the slightest sounds his footsteps made against the wooden floor. He didn't dare call out Boris's name at any volume. He didn't want to risk that lunatic finding him.

He came to a place where the corridor intersected with another. He briefly glanced to his right, bracing himself for the presence of his creator, but he instead saw something much, much worse.

His oldest friend. Tied down and lifeless. Two small, cartoon-like X's in the place of his eyes.

No...

Bendy immediately forgot about not making noise. He ran to Boris' body, black liquid began forming in his eyes and ran down his cheeks but in the form of tears. He observed Boris to try to figure out what happened to him. Boris' head rested on his left shoulder, ears still perked up as they always were. There were three straps that held him down, one over his neck, one across his abdomen, and one across his knees. His chest was cut open down the center of his torso, and his rib cage seemed to be the only thing holding the flesh apart. Bendy didn't want to look at the gaping cavity but he couldn't pry his eyes away from it, he was afraid of what he would see. Instead he was more afraid of what he didn't see. He didn't see anything. Boris was empty. He really was dead.

Bendy collapsed to his knees and cradled his head in his hands. His tears began flowing at a quicker rate and his breathing was shaky as he cried, mourning the death of his friend. He stayed there for a couple of minutes, although it felt like an eternity for him.

Boris... what happened?... Why would he do this?

The toons had known Joey for nearly thirty years. They were brought to life shortly after the show as cancelled. Bendy could remember his exact words:


"Why wasn't the show finished?" Bendy remembered saying. "Why did it get cancelled?"

"It takes a lot of man-power to make a cartoon. With so many workers gone, it became too much work for those who stayed."

"That's too bad. I really liked Susie." Alice chimed in, a hint of sorrow in her voice. "I'm gonna miss her."

"Yes, she took quite a liking to you, Alice. I'm sure she misses you, too."

"I think I'm gonna miss Henry the most," Boris said. "Why did he have to leave again?"

"He got hurt real bad, remember? He lost some of his memory when the ink pipe hit his head. He remembers a lot from his younger years, but not a whole lot from the workshop." Joey said, sadness creeping into his voice as well. "I'm gonna miss him too, Boris."

"B-But he couldn't have lost all of his memory from working here. Doesn't he remember us?" Boris asked.

"I really don't know, but if I'm speaking truthfully..." Joey observed the three toons in front of him. They looked at him like they were little kids begging for answers, their expressions full of innocence and hope. Joey hesitated with his answer but figured the toons were going to find out sooner or later, anyways. "Probably not."

Their gazes met the floor. That wasn't the answer they wanted to hear. "But you helped draw us, right Joey? You can finish the show! You can give us a happy ending!" Bendy chirped. Boris and Alice's expressions lit up once more. Joey couldn't say no to them, but deep down, he knew he had to.

Joey sighed. "Yes, Bendy, I will give all of you a happy ending," he promised them.

Boris' tail wagged with joy. Alice just about squealed with excitement, and Bendy was jumping up and down and clapping his hands. Their creator promised them the one thing they all wanted, the one thing that seemed so far right now. Happiness.


As the years passed, Joey visited them less and less frequently. He kept telling them that he would send all of them back home through the Ink Machine when he was finished, but he never seemed to make progress. Now they all knew why he wasn't making any. He never even started in the first place. He lied to them.

Sadness quickly brewed into anger and ink began dripping down Bendy's face and body. He could feel his body growing in size, too. This was new to him. He had minor changes happen to him when he was angered or frustrated, the dripping ink and his voice dropping several octaves happened before in the past, but never had it come this far. He could feel this newer, angrier version of him taking over his mind. He began craving something he had never wanted before in his life. Flesh.

Bendy could sense Joey's presence nearing him. He followed it and quickly grabbed Joey and threw him to the ground when he was within his line of sight. His physical strength had grown as well.

"Joey!" Bendy bared his sharpened teeth in an devilish and toothy grin. "You'll regret everything you did to me, Boris and Alice. I will make you pay for breaking your promise!" He expected Joey to be scared by him, but instead of screaming coming from the man's mouth, it was psychotic laughter. Bendy's expression turned to one of confusion.

"Since the beginning of time..." Joey was struggling to speak under Bendy's strong grip on his neck. "D-Demons were always destined to be evil."

This struck Bendy deeply. He quickly reverted back to his original form and teleported to the pentagram and jumped into it. In seconds, he was at Alice's side in the caves. Bendy sat down and hugged his knees and began crying again, processing everything he just saw and felt. Boris, his transformation, his thirst for blood and Joey's words. Was he really meant to be evil all along and just didn't know it? The thought alone terrified him. He didn't want to be evil. He never liked inflicting pain on anyone, whether they be a friend or a foe, but watching Joey struggle made him feel... satisfied. As if he was receiving some sick and twisted form of justice. However, he only saw a sliver of what he was capable of in that other form of himself.


Bendy continued crying silently. When Alice finally woke up, she didn't even realize Bendy was behind her. She grunted as she sat up, still feeling fatigued from over using her magic back in the studio. She observed the rocky environment around her and was shocked to see Bendy crying, which was something nobody ever saw. Ever.

"Bendy?! Oh my Heavens, what's wrong?" Bendy looked at her, sadness still overtaking his face. When she realized that Boris wasn't with them, she could only imagine what happened. "Are you OK? What do you think Boris-"

"He's dead, Alice! I saw him myself, he's gone!" he blurted. "He was strapped down to some kind of table and his chest was open and..." Bendy gulped, "empty."

Alice gasped at this and covered her mouth with her hands, tears beginning to form in her eyes as well. She could've only imagined the trauma that Bendy must have endured when he saw his best friend with no internal organs.

"I began thinking about Joey's promise from all those years ago, and it made me angry," Bendy admitted. "I began to... change, but it went further than just ink in my face and my voice dropping. I was bigger in size. I was stronger, and..." Bendy paused, not wanting to continue but already far too aware that he was in too deep to turn back on the explanation now.

"And what?" Alice asked gently, trying to console her friend.

"I wanted... blood," he told her, more tears falling down his face. "I could sense Joey in the next room and I attacked him, but before I could do anything, he said to me that all demons are meant to evil. They have been since the beginning of time." Both sat in silence for a painfully quiet minute before Alice finally broke it.

"Did you hurt him?" she asked cautiously.

Bendy's gaze fell to the floor. "No. I turned back into myself and came back here," he lied.

Alice reached over and gave the demon a much needed embrace. "It's going to be alright, Bendy," she assured.

"No, it's not Alice!" Bendy exclaimed, his shouts echoing throughout the caves. "You weren't there! I turned into something that was out for blood! I wanted to hurt him the same way he hurt me! I know that thing I turned into is inside of me, I know it is!" Bendy panted for air. He shouted all of that without taking a breath. "Sooner or later, I won't be able to keep it in, and then who know's what'll happen!" Bendy paused to let another tear escape. "Alice, what if Joey's right? What if I am meant to be evil?"

Alice stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. She knew her friend was desperate, and she wanted to help him.

"Bendy?"

"Hmm?" he replied.

"I might know how to help you get rid of this 'thing' you're talking about. It's risky, but-"

"I don't care what the risks are."

"Okay, but are you really sure abou-"

"Yes! Alice, what's worse? Possibly saving a lot of people at the cost of one or saving one person at the cost of many?"

Alice pondered this for a minute, but she ultimately knew he was right. "Alright Bendy, follow me."


A.N. This chapter ended at an earlier point than I had hoped, but I'm still pretty happy with it. The back story is still going to be continued in the next chapter, but I promise it's almost done will be completed in the chapter four! From there, we'll go back to Alice, Boris and Henry in the meadow again and continue the story.

I know I've already said this, but I'm going to say it again. THANK YOU EVERYONE for reading, following, favoriting and especially reviewing my story! As I said before in the last chapter, I have the plot figured out, but I am still open to any and all ideas and contributions. Constructive criticism is also HIGHLY appreciated!

Bendy will return...

See you in the next chapter...