Chapter Seven

The group was still badly shaken after their endless battle with the Butcher Gang. They were tense, half-certain that any moment more of the demented creatures would emerge from somewhere in the room. Mokuba, despite not wanting at all to admit how disturbed he was, was staying very close to Seto and Marik.

"Hey!" Yugi suddenly exclaimed. "There's another bandanna symbol over here!" He went over to a wooden support beam. "I wonder what Grampa wanted us to see here. . . . If he really planted it, of course. . . ."

"Uh, Yugi? . . ." Tristan looked around worriedly. "Something's coming out that looks a lot like that Bendy character. . . ."

"What?!" Yugi looked around the beam in alarm. Indeed, something resembling the cartoon character was coming out of a poster, just like with the Butcher Gang. But as everyone watched, horrified, it changed shape—growing until it was taller than most of the group, while its expression became downright demonic. It leered at them all with a huge and menacing toothy grin and started to advance.

"Now it looks like the horrible monster that chases you for most of the game!" Yugi cried. "Run and hide! If it catches you, it's Game Over!"

"And just what does Game Over mean here?!" Joey exclaimed as he grabbed Serenity's hand and turned to flee.

"I don't recommend staying to find out!" Yami Bakura growled.

Everyone scattered as the enormous Bendy lumbered in one direction and then another, seeking prey. They each found a hiding place and stayed there, very still, afraid to even breathe for fear that the demon would hear. It roamed about and sometimes went still, searching, listening, looking. . . .

Serenity held a hand over her nose and mouth when it drew too close to where she, Joey, Duke, and David were hiding behind a painted metal partition. It stood practically over them, so near that they could reach out and touch its inky legs. Then it moved on, seeking the next hiding place.

David didn't relax. It could find any of the others; there was no way to relax until the creature had left their area. They all tensely watched and waited until they could no longer see the beast. Then they slowly emerged.

"What if it finds some of the others?!" Serenity worried.

"We'll just to pray it doesn't," Duke growled.

"And try to make sure of it!" Joey cried, running forward to find where it had gone.

"Joey, wait!" Serenity wailed in alarm. She and the others had no choice but to chase after him.

"You can't fight it!" Duke called after him. "It's not like the other ink monsters!"

"Well, it should be," Joey snarled. Still, he ground to a halt and let the others catch up to him.

"What's more, it may not even be able to be defeated the same way as in the game," Duke continued. "The Game Master said things would be different here."

"So how do you defeat it in the game?" David wondered.

"You show it a film reel of a cartoon called The End," Duke said. "It's part of the symbolic ending, so it probably will be changed for our adventure."

"Oh, well, that's just great!" Joey snarled.

"Joey! Guys!"

They looked up with a start as Téa came out, along with Seto and Mokuba and the Ishtars.

"I'm glad all of you are alright," Marik said in relief. "We were all worried."

"Even Seto," Mokuba volunteered. "Of course, he probably won't admit it."

"What about everyone else?" Seto brusquely interrupted.

"We don't know," Duke said, frustrated. He grabbed a piece of hair, twirling it around his finger. "We haven't seen anyone else. And we don't know where that thing's gone."

"How about we focus on the plot of the game?" Seto said. "What comes next?"

"Well, after Boris the Wolf is captured by Alice Angel, the next part of the game is mostly Henry trying to get to him," Duke said. "A lot of it takes place in a warehouse that houses a failed attempt at a Bendy amusement park."

"That sure doesn't sound like a place I'd ever spend my money to visit," Joey grunted.

"Maybe we should find that warehouse, though," Marik said. "The rest of the gang might be going there now, especially if Yugi's with them to tell them about that part of the game."

"No way," Téa frowned. "First they'd come looking for us."

"Unless they couldn't," Marik countered. "Maybe Bendy is driving them towards the warehouse."

"That's really possible," Mokuba worried. "We got separated from them when we were all trying to find places to hide from Bendy."

"Okay," Duke said. "I'll try to lead you to that warehouse."

They started down the hallway with Duke in the lead. Before long they started passing what looked like ink monsters, but instead of attacking, they simply stood there, watching the group walk by.

"Is it just me, or is it creepier when they're not attacking?!" Joey whimpered.

"These are some of the Lost Ones," Duke explained. "The ones who definitely were human once. They just want to be human again; they don't have any desire to hurt the protagonist in the game."

"Let's just hope they feel the same here," Téa moaned.

Indeed, none of the ink creatures made a move to attack. But they continued to stare, whispering low among themselves. Joey finally tore past them, unable to stand it.

"I really can't blame him," David said, although he didn't follow suit in fleeing.

"So how do we get to the warehouse from here?" Seto asked. "It can't be the same building."

"No, but there's a secret passage that connects them underground," Duke said. "That's where we're going now, to the Archive room where the passage is."

Joey looked back and blinked. "That's handy."

The rest of the way to the Archives was quiet, but no one felt like relaxing. After everything that had been happening, it was clear that any peace was only a calm before the storm. The mood brightened considerably, however, when they reached the Archives and found the rest of the group there.

"Yugi! Atem!" Téa exclaimed. "Tristan! Bakura! Everyone else . . . you're all safe!"

"Just barely," Tristan said. "Man, that Bendy thing is demonic! It chased us almost all the way down here. When Yugi realized where we were, he figured we'd better keep going."

"But I was hoping the rest of you guys would catch up," Yugi said. "I planned that we'd just wait here for you, if we could."

"What's the purpose of going to this warehouse place anyway, though?" Crump wondered. "I mean, if we're following the plot of the game, does that mean Alice is gonna torture us by having Gansley come at us and try to fight us?!"

"I don't know," Yugi admitted sorrowfully. "Maybe if Nesbitt can get through to him first, it won't happen."

"Or maybe they'll both be sent against us," Lector feared. "There's no reason why she couldn't try to brainwash Nesbitt too. And just because he thinks he can resist it, maybe he won't be able to."

"That is certainly my feeling as well," Yami Bakura grunted.

"Let's try to have hope, guys," Yugi pleaded. "I know none of us can stand thinking we won't get our friends back." He looked to a shelf of books. "We'd better hurry. Bendy could catch up at any time."

"Do the honors, Yug," Joey said.

Yugi pulled out five volumes of books, one at a time. As he moved the final one, the room began to shake.

"What's happening?!" Téa screamed, grabbing the wall.

"It's normal!" Yugi insisted. "It'll be over in a minute!"

And it was. When everyone recovered their senses enough, they found the passageway standing open.

"All that shaking just to open the wall?" Tristan frowned.

"Let's just go in," Mai said, brushing past him.

Everyone else agreed, and Yugi and Duke led them all into the darkness.

xxxx

Nesbitt was still extremely tense as Gansley led him through the bowels of the studio and into another secret passageway. "What is this place?" he frowned. "And how did you know this was here?"

"Alice imparted some of her knowledge of the layout of the studio when she forced her will upon me," Gansley said matter-of-factly. At the moment, again under Alice's command, he didn't seem to care that he wasn't operating under his own willpower. "As for what it is, it's going to take us to a place where we can collect this thick ink she likes."

"This is just ridiculous," Nesbitt growled. "You'd think so too if you really knew what you were saying."

"Heh," Gansley sneered.

They stepped out at a strange place with a large vat of ink. As they watched, an ink monster was created from the dripping ink, then another. And then to Nesbitt's amazement, everyone else entered the same area from another doorway.

"Gansley!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Nesbitt!" Lector ran out from around Yugi and Duke. "What are you doing here?!"

"We're collecting this thick ink for Alice," Gansley smirked at him.

"Unfortunately, we need that ink to repair a bridge," Atem frowned.

"Well, you're not going to get it," Gansley snapped.

"This doesn't happen in the game!" Duke exclaimed. "But if somebody doesn't get the ink, those things will teleport out and we'll have to find them again!"

"Which we are not going to do." Gansley aimed his syringe at one of them and captured the ink.

Nesbitt did likewise, but suddenly turned and threw the syringe at Lector. "Take it!" he yelled.

Lector needed no prodding. He grabbed it, looking to his friend in equal parts gratitude and worry. "What will you take to Alice?!"

"I'll say you got it away from me," Nesbitt said. "Gansley will back me up."

"Oh, will I?" Gansley turned to face Nesbitt, his eyes flashing. "What if I don't? What if I tell Alice the truth, that you betrayed her and gave the thick ink to our enemies?"

"You're not going to do that," Nesbitt insisted. "You didn't betray me to Alice when you had the perfect chance. You said you had a headache instead."

"Well, maybe this time I don't feel like lying to her." Gansley started to raise his cane to strike Nesbitt down. Horrified, the rest of the Big Five moved to lunge and stop him.

Nesbitt just held his ground. "You're not going to do it."

"For Heaven's sake, Nesbitt, get out of the way!" Lector cried. "You know you weren't able to stop yourself from hurting me while under Yami Marik's control! There's no guarantee Gansley won't hurt you now!"

"There certainly isn't." Gansley swung out with his cane and it connected with Lector's right shoulder. Lector hissed in pain and gripped at the spot, but from his eyes, the fact that Gansley had done it hurt more than the act itself.

Immediately Gansley whirled, again trying to hit Nesbitt. Realizing he had to defend himself, Nesbitt grabbed the other end of the cane. "I'm not going to let you do this," he hissed through clenched teeth.

"Gansley, please stop!" Yugi begged. "You used your cane to try to save me! Don't you remember?! You don't want to use it on your friends!"

"Of course I do!" Gansley shot back. But his hand trembled and he fell back, holding his other hand to his forehead with a grimace.

Nesbitt started to pull the cane away from him, but abruptly stopped when a terrifying hissing noise met his ears. "It's Bendy," he gasped. "He's found us. . . ."

Lector fell back. "Lord help us."

Bendy suddenly leaped out of the darkness, swiping at Crump. Horrified, Crump screamed and stumbled back into the darkness.

"Everyone, run!" Atem yelled. "Bendy can't be fought! We all know this!"

"Try to reach the Ink Maker and create the gear to fix the bridge!" Yugi called to Lector, who still had the syringe. "We'll try to meet you there!"

"Right." Lector fled back the way they had come while Bendy was distractedly chasing some of the others into the darkness. Lector hated to leave them, but he also knew they were trying to give him the opening he needed to fix the bridge. That step had to be accomplished or they couldn't advance into this nightmare and be closer to the end.

He ran up to the Ink Maker and squirted the thick ink inside. The invention was bizarre—something that could turn ink into other substances and various objects. But as far as everything else went, it was the least odd thing about this place. And Lector couldn't deny it was useful.

"So," Alice's voice rumbled from everywhere and nowhere all at once, "you have stolen my ink."

"I'm sorry, but we need it," Lector told her. "Although I'm actually not sorry. Not after what you did to Gansley." He took the newly created gear out of the Ink Maker.

Alice screamed in rage. "I needed that ink!" she shrieked, her voice barely discernable through her madness. "I need it to be perfect!"

"Even if you manage to physically repair your body, you'll never be perfect as long as you manipulate and torment us," Lector shot back.

"And you'll never live to deliver that gear to the bridge!" Alice countered.

Lector stared in horror as more of Alice's mutilated creatures emerged from the shadows. They were all lunging right for him. He swiped at them desperately with his axe, which worked for a while. But when one of them managed to reach out and snap the handle in two with its hands made of giant pliers, all he could do was turn and run towards the bridge.

Of course the creatures chased him. And with their ability to melt into the shadows and leap out again, they managed to surround him before he could make it to the bridge. He kicked one away in desperation, but that wasn't going to work on all of them. There were too many, and these monsters had been modified with various tools for limbs. Every one was a deadly weapon.

Suddenly a cane came out of the shadows, striking one of them away from Lector. "No!"

Lector looked over with a disbelieving start. "Gansley!" he cried. "What are you doing?!"

Gansley hit a second one. "Whatever I can. I said I wouldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you or any of the others because of me. I meant it." His eyes were clear, unlike before. He was free of Alice's control again. For how long, Lector didn't know, but he was grateful for this moment.

The final one knocked the cane from Gansley's hand, sending it spinning across the floor. With its other arm of three drill spikes, it pierced him through the stomach before either he or Lector could do anything. He gasped, his eyes widening in pain as the weapon exited through his back before withdrawing completely, his blood dripping from the metal to the floor.

Lector was frozen, staring, unable to believe what had just happened. But when Gansley crumpled to the floor on his side, he snapped to. "GANSLEY!"

Quickly he grabbed Gansley's cane, swinging it at the creature and splattering it. Then he knelt down, shaking. He knew there was nothing he could do, and yet, he couldn't just do nothing. This was an unbelievable nightmare. He laid a hand on Gansley's shoulder.

Gansley was breathing heavily. The pain was excruciating and he was already starting to fade. He rose as much as he could, turning his head to look toward Lector. "Forgive me," he whispered. "I betrayed you, and now this was the only thing I could do to save you. I've been put out of business for good. Please tell Nesbitt how sorry I am for how I treated him. . . ."

"Of course I will," Lector said shakily. "But he knows better than anyone that you didn't mean it."

"And Crump and Johnson. . . ."

"They know," Lector said. "We all know."

"I . . . don't want to leave you . . . any of you. . . . But clearly I don't have a choice."

Lector couldn't deny that. There was no way anyone could survive an attack as brutal as this.

Gansley sighed, heavily, and coughed on the blood rising in his throat. ". . . You have been a better leader than I have been. . . ."

"No!" Lector cried. "No, that isn't true. You couldn't help what happened. You were trying to protect Yugi when you were taken. Now . . . now you were trying to protect me. . . ." He moved his arm protectively around the front of Gansley's shoulders. "My dear friend . . . my leader. . . ."

Gansley gave one weak smile before his eyes closed and he fell limp.

Lector knelt perfectly still, knowing what had just happened but not wanting to believe it. Then the weight of it crashed down on him and he screamed, lifting Gansley's upper body into his arms and cradling him close as he trembled. There was no breath, no heartbeat. And this time, unlike what had happened in New Orleans, there was no injected drug making Gansley look dead as it had for Lector. The blood going everywhere from the three fatal wounds attested to that. This was real.

Dead. . . . He died for me. He's gone. . . .

"Oh my gosh, what happened?!" Téa shrieked. She ran over with some of the others. "We got away from Bendy, but . . ."

"The mind-control spell's broken," Lector said blankly. "But Gansley's dead." He laid the older man back on the floor, shaking.

"No," Yugi whispered in heartbroken shock.

"No!" Crump screamed. "No, he can't be!"

Horror and outrage filled Bakura's face. "This is unacceptable!" he cried. "It's bad enough to trap us here at all. But to allow this to happen?!"

"You knew that other me was intending on all of us dying, except perhaps you," Yami Bakura countered.

"Yes, but . . ." Bakura stared helplessly at the Big Five. "I thought we could stop it from happening. . . ."

"We should have been able to stop it!" Yugi spat in sudden anger. "I should have been able to stop it. . . ."

Lector passed a hand over his face. "I couldn't do anything. . . ."

Nesbitt ran over, going sheet-white at the scene. "Oh no. . . ." His knees weakened and he dropped to the floor. "I thought Gansley was running with me at first. . . . Then I realized he'd slipped away. . . ."

"He broke through the spell when Alice sent some of her minions to kill me," Lector told him. "He died to save me." He looked to Nesbitt. "He wanted me to be sure to tell you how sorry he was for how he treated you. . . ."

Nesbitt trembled and wouldn't meet his gaze. "He was stronger than I was," he whispered. "He broke through the control. He didn't hurt anyone, like I did. . . ." He clenched both fists.

"Nesbitt. . . ." Lector reached for him, shaking, and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Gansley said hurtful things too. . . . He even started to strike out at us with his cane. . . ."

"But seeing you in real trouble shattered Alice's hold over him," Nesbitt said. "Now he's gone. . . ."

"It all happened so fast," Lector said blankly. "Then it was done and I was just standing there, watching. . . ."

"Gansley . . ." Johnson reached them and fell to his knees as well. "My oldest friend. . . ."

Crump touched Gansley's hand, feeling in vain for life. "He's really left us. . . ."

"He didn't want to," Lector said. "You know he didn't want to."

Johnson's hands shook. "I always thought he'd die peacefully in his sleep. . . . Or maybe cruelly, from a heart attack. . . . But I . . . I never thought it would be anything like this! . . ."

"He was in so much pain," Crump said, "and yet . . . he looks like he was kind of at peace when he . . . left. . . ."

"He knew I forgave him," Lector said quietly. "And I still saw him as our leader. Always. . . ."

Crump gripped Gansley's hand, chilled by the stillness of death while it was yet warm from life being there so shortly ago. "What are we gonna do?" he whispered.

"I don't know," Atem said grimly, "but I'm afraid we're going to have to leave him here, at least for now."

"WHAT?!" Crump yelled in indignation.

"You know we can't easily carry him out of here," Atem explained. "It would take several to do it, and even if we managed it, it would slow us down too much when there are enemies on every side."

Lector shut his eyes tightly. "And Gansley would never want that."

Mokuba's eyes filled with tears. "Lector . . . I'm so sorry. . . ." He came and hugged him.

Lector drew Mokuba close. "If this is a Shadow Game, like he figured, do you suppose there's any chance that he might be restored if we beat it?" It was a slim chance, he knew, and it probably really wasn't true, but he had to cling to something, anything, to try to keep hold of his sanity. He understood so well how everyone had reacted when they had thought he was dead. . . .

"There has to be," Mokuba said. "A death here can't be real. . . ."

"I think it's at least a possibility," Atem said gently. "But even if it isn't, we have to leave. Bendy will be catching up to us at any time."

The Big Four exchanged stricken glances. While they knew Atem was right, it was difficult to think of leaving when there was no guarantee that Gansley could be revived. Nor was there any guarantee that they would be able to come back for his body. This might be the only time they would even have to say Goodbye with his body there. And they couldn't even linger as they would like; Bendy and other enemies were everywhere. They had to leave right away.

"Thank you, for everything you did," Yugi said softly. "You tried to protect me, and that led to this when Alice took you. I'm so sorry. . . ." He turned away in tears. Atem drew him close.

"Goodbye, old friend," Johnson whispered.

"We'll see you again someday," Crump hoped. "But it won't ever be soon enough."

Nesbitt trembled. He didn't want to speak with the others there, but there was no way to have a private moment. "I'm sorry I couldn't really help you," he choked out. "I wanted to so badly. . . . You always helped us. . . ."

"You did help him, Nesbitt," Lector insisted, although he knew Nesbitt wasn't likely to want to talk about it right then.

Indeed, Nesbitt just looked away.

Lector sighed. He would have to talk more to Nesbitt later, although he doubted anything he said would help. He knew that no words were really easing his own grief and pain. How could he possibly hope to soothe Nesbitt's?

He hesitated, then gently laid the cane on the floor and placed Gansley's limp hand on it. "You'll always be our leader," he said quietly.

They stood, heartbroken, and had no choice but to run away with the rest of the group. When ink monsters started to rise up along the path and attack them, Nesbitt grabbed a fallen wooden beam and slammed it into the nearest one, his eyes filled with rage and sorrow.

It was some time after they left when another figure emerged from the shadows, swinging an axe at an ink monster before spotting Gansley's lifeless body. "Oh no," he said to the room. "What happened here?"

He knelt down, checking for signs of life and then taking in the sight of the carefully placed cane. "The others were here. . . . You may have even protected one or more of them, didn't you? I know you protected my grandson earlier." He laid a hand on Gansley's shoulder and got to his feet. "I am sorry you have fallen. But thank you, for all that you did to help us. . . ."

He hurried ahead, following the path the others had taken.