Authoress' note: I updated late at night after already taking my sleep medicine, so I forgot to add an authoress' note! My bad!
The exams are really getting to me...
Anywho, we got some reviews here! (I know some people reviewed in the previous update, but we're only focusing on chapter 3's today)
Kitsuneotakugirl91: Bendy's been spending waaay too much time with Joey.
MeliLouiseNorth:Grace is fun to write. I can't wait to get to her personality once the stress of Henry's disappearance is out of the way.
gemstarz22: No problem! I had a bit of free time in the last update, unlike now...
4evaGumballFan345: Why thank you!
SLS: Fun fact, he's actually a WWI veteran.
LiterarySerenity : I have a lot in store (rubs hands together and grinning) and someone get Henry a trenchcoat and pipe! He's a detective now!
LordMaRiFrizi: Yikes... that's rough. It's a little safer where I live, as long as you don't snoop where you shouldn't. Glad you guys never saw them again.
Also, why does everyone assume Mickey and Alice are a thing? Eh, I'll never understand ships...
Anywho, on to the mystery! I own nothing (Walt please don't haunt me)
Henry was pretty quiet for the rest of the evening. He had this look on his face, as if he was disconnected from the current moment. Linda knew that look quite well, but she thought best not to say anything. After a pleasant evening of everyone getting to know each other, the Stein family took a bus over to Linda's father's home. Linda's father, Mr. Ross, was a tall, big, senile old man, often rambling about how he could tell the forecast using his left foot and how aliens stole his dog 20 years ago. His eyes were not very good, so when the Stein family arrived Mr. Ross kept asking Henry how he taught his black and white cat how to stand upright.
"He's not a cat, he's a cartoon." Henry struggled to explain.
"He's a carton, son?"
"Car-toon."
"What's a cat-toon?"
Mr. Ross' hearing wasn't very good either.
After the kids were tucked in, Henry told the others the big news.
"You're working for a Vault Disk Key?" Mr. Ross croaked.
"A-A... It's only temporary, dad..."
"Walt Disney?!" Bendy screeched.
"Yeesh! Get that cat under control, Henry!" Mr. Ross covered his ears and he curled away from the toon.
"I knew it! I knew it!" Bendy began jumping cartoonishly fast. "I knew that mouse-trainer would do this! Joey always said not to trust him! You can't do this Henry! You're a traitor, you're a (squeak) traitor!"
"Bendy!" Linda scolded.
"You animate me, me, not some stupid rat! You can't do this to me, Henry!" Bendy hyperventilated like a spoiled child.
"Ohh... my poor ears..." Mr. Ross whined.
"Bendy..." Henry gripped Bendys arms, slowing him down, "This is just to sniff out the culprit. I'm going in as a secret agent, not an employer. Who knows, maybe I can learn some secrets the place has and use them for our studio. I can be Joey's double agent!"
Bendy seemed to calm down at that statement. "A double agent?"
"Yeah, and we'll be finding Alice and Boris while we're at it."
"Y-Ya sure?" Bendy stuttered.
Henry nodded, gently rubbing the toon's curved head. "It's our best chance. Maybe we'll even find the butcher gang!"
Bendy sniffed and rubbed his non-existent nose. "Neva thought I'd miss those geezers."
Henry pulled his toon into a tight hug. "Me too, Bendy, me too..."
OOO
The first day on any job can be a bit overwhelming, and Walt Disney Studios was no exception.
Henry took the bus to "work," armed with nothing but a briefcase containing pens, spare paper, a book, and his lunch. As he sat on the bus, he clutched his case like his life depended on it, Bendy's words echoing in his mind. It wasn't working for Disney that bothered him, heck he saw it as half-baked revenge against Joey. What worried him was what Bendy might do. The toon was very loyal to his studio, what chances are there that Bendy will rat to Joey about this? No, surely he wouldn't do that, Henry is like a father to him. And besides, if Bendy did spill the beans Henry was sure he could sort out the misunderstanding.
Right?
Yeah, Right.
If Joey finds out, I'm screwed.
When Henry arrived at the studio, he was surprised by the familiarity. Besides the new faces and Mickey posters, it didn't feel much different than home. People were bustling about, co-workers greeting one another, girls gossiping, music playing off radios. It was certainly much more crowded than home.
Not to mention it lacked the leaky ink pipes. Pleasant surprise there.
"Uh, excuse me ma'am." Henry stopped one girl. "Do you know where I can find Mr. Dis- uh... Walt?"
The girl thought for a moment. "He's usually in his office this early in the morning, but he's probably busy."
"Oh," Henry adjusted his grip on his case. Strange, it felt heavier than usual. "I-I have an appointment with him. Do you think you can show me..."
The girl nodded. The two of them trekked down the busy hallways. Henry took in everything, from the smell of ink to the faint whiffs of music to the arguing of storyboard artists. Eventually they made it to a door labeled "Walt Disney."
The girl said a quick "have a good day," before resuming back to her business. Once Henry was alone the hallway seemed much longer than before. The animator took a shaky breath.
Everything's fine, everything's fine, Joey's thousands of miles away. This is going to be fine.
Henry knocked on the door.
And of course, it was Walt who answered it.
"Henry! Glad your here, a little early, don't you think?" Walt steered Henry into his office.
"It's not 9:30?" Henry asked.
Walt checked his watch. "9:15. Well, nothing wrong with being ahead, right?"
"So how exactly is this going to work?" Henry asked as the two of them took their seats.
"Well, you'll mostly be in the animator department, but you'll be frolicking around other areas of my studio, so that we can cover all our bases. If anyone asks, say that your a man of many talents and I'm just deciding where to put you."
"And how long will this take? I can only keep Mr. Drew in the dark for so long." Henry said.
"Depends on how well you do your job."
Henry frowned. "Right... Speaking of that, since I'm... well... 'working' here..."
Walt chuckled. "Of course you're going to be paid."
OOO
Lunch break could not have come soon enough.
Truth be told, lunch was always his favorite part of the day. It was a time for him to dig into a turkey sandwich while reading a good book. A time when he could perhaps escape into the hiking trails of his town for a quick run.
While the nearest woods was miles away, the studio did have a decent break room. It was a cozy little area with small games and even a coffee maker. Soft swing playing off a record player mixed with the faint chatter. Henry spotted a lone table and made himself comfortable.
Placing his briefcase on his desk, he snapped the thing open when-
"Hiya Henr-omph!"
Henry clamped the case shut and looked around wide-eyed. Several of the workers had stopped what they were doing and gave him perplexed looks. Henry struggled to keep a strait face as he smelled the tension.
"I-uh... recorder went off." Henry stammered.
"In... your briefcase?" One nearby man asked.
"It's my hammerspace."
The man's eyebrows raised. "You have a hammerspace?"
"Henry ya banged me on the horns!" Bendy muffled.
"Y-Yeah, got a lot of voice recordings in here."
"Henry! I'm suffocating in here!"
"I'm guessing you work in the sound department?" The man sat down at Henry's table, causing Henry to mentally groan.
"Well... I'm kinda hopping around right now, Walt's trying to figure out where to put me."
"It's only temporary, though!" Bendy snapped.
"Probably... should put those records away before they continue to disturb the peace." The man chuckled.
Henry nodded quickly and ran off without another word.
"We're we goin', Henry?" Bendy called. "You're banging around too much, slow down!"
"Quiet, you little punk, last thing we need is to get caught."
"What? It's illegal for me ta be here?"
"No, it's just..." Henry spun around a corner and nearly collided into Ub. The two men gave surprised looks while Henry struggled to keep the case shut.
"Uh, hey Henry. What're you doing?"
"I... uh..."
"Henry! Ya squeezing me!" Bendy shouted. Ub's eyes went cartoonishly wide as he looked at the briefcase, then at Henry.
"I'm so sorry." Henry wispier/shouted. "He snuck in here with me."
Ub nodded in understanding. "Follow me."
The two men trekked down the hallway, avoiding eye contact with passbyers while Bendy continued to yell. Eventually they made it to Ubs office. As soon as Ub locked the door Henry dumped the toon on top of the desk.
"What are you doing here?!" Henry snapped.
"What'd it look like, old man?" Bendy snarked as he fixed his tie and brushed his shoulders. "I'm here to keep an I on ya!"
"I thought I made it perfectly clear that you were to stay at home with the girls."
"C'mon, Henry! Ain't ya glad to see a familiar face?"
Henry's scowl answered that question.
Bendy's face fell. "Okaaaay... clearly not."
"What am I gonna do?! If people see you with me they'll figure out where I'm from! I'll get chased out of here with Mickey Mouse cutouts!"
"I can go ink demon and get rid of them for ya." Bedy sneered.
"Ink demon...?" Ub queried.
"Nothing." Henry said quickly, "Listen Bendy, I can't leave work right now, so you're going to have to stay outta sight, you hear?"
Bendy rolled his eyes. "Fiiiiine... Just don't put me back in ya briefcase. It smells like old ham sandwiches."
"Do you know where I can hide him?" Henry asked Ub.
Ub ran his fingers through his messy hair. "Um... Mickey had some old hammerspaces... I don't remember where they are, though."
"Don't worry 'bout that, pal!" Bendy waved him off. "Toons are attracted to hammerspaces like roaches to a light."
"Roaches scatter when they see a light." Henry corrected.
Bendy scratched his horns, his face scrunched in confusion. "Oh... well, ya get my point."
Sure enough, Bendy managed to find a hammer space behind a desk in the animation department. He was given a book to read (A Snow Whire picture book, much to Bendy's dismay) and was given strict orders not to leave until Henry got him.
For a while, Bendy spent his time slowly shredding the book, often mismatching the heads and bodies of the characters. At one point he put his hand on the ground beside him, only to feel something very cold and wet. Bendy slowly looked down. It was difficult to see in the dim light, but it was unmistakable.
Ink.
Lots and lots of ink.
Authoress' note: That's enough for now. Exams are just around the corner for me, so I'll be MIA for a few weeks. But fear not! I'll be back on my feet in no time! In the meantime, remember to work hard, have fun and beware the ink demon!