Chapter VIII

October 28th, 2018 - 3:31 PM

"You were behind this mess?" Michael snapped, his eyes alight with fury. Even his usually controlled tone was wavering as he stared at the malformed angel. "You were the one that trapped us and started this sick game?"

Susie turned her attention only slightly towards Michael, a disapproving frown on her features. "That's no way to speak to an Angel. But yes. It was simple really. You'd be surprised what control over the Ink can do, child."

"Why?" Mai growled, her own voice laced with anger. "Why trap us here? What do you honestly have to gain from trapping a group of young adult?!"

Mai's anger only grew as Susie actually laughed. "What is an Angel to do for entertainment? It's been amusing fun, watching you rats scurrying about these halls, hiding from the Demon. It can get so dull within the depths of the Studios, having to content yourself with pitting those wretched Butchers against one another. I simply wanted some new sport, so I watched as you scouted this place out. The moment you all passed through that door, you were caught in my end.

"But, I digress. As amusing as this has been, I tire of the sport." Susie made a brushing motion with her hand, as if pushing dust away. "An Angel is not without mercy however. Collect more Inky Hearts for me, and I may consider letting you free."

Before anyone could respond, Susie turned as to Mai. Slowly, she started to walk forward, stopping only when Alice stepped between the two, her sword drawn as if waiting for Susie to strike; but the insane doppelganger only laughed. "If you complete my tasks, perhaps even your friends held below may join you in your quest for freedom, hm…?"

"You-!" Mai broke off almost as quickly as she started to speak. A loud banging sound erupted throughout the chamber, causing even Susie to start in surprise. It sounded as if all the fury in the world as slamming itself against the locked metal doorway, over and over again. Despite her growing unease, Mai couldn't help but smirk slightly as Susie hissed in frustration to the interruption.

At once, the door gave away as it actually flew off of its hinges and over the balcony, landing on some debris below. Turning her attention towards whatever had made its way through, Mai was shocked to see it was not the Ink Demon, rather two figures.

One Mai nearly mistook for the Demon, as he was a Bendy. But unlike the Demon, she could easily see Bendy's entire face. Unlike the cartoons however, Bendy's face looked more than a bit weary - tired lines etched into his features. Like Alice, a rope was draped across his chest like a bandolier - holding an axe in place, strapped to his back. In his hand was a large metal pipe. What was most curious however was his name tag. It read "Henry S."

The other figure caught Mai nearly as off-guard. Not out of fear, but a bit of relief, given the state she last saw him in. Tom stood beside Henry, his mechanical fist clenched and slightly dented from the force of an impact. An axe was held in his other hand - Tom's features furious.

"You?!" Susie screamed, a fury that even out shined her anger at seeing Alice earlier etched across her malformed features. "Why can't you just DIE?!" In an instant, she sprinted to Henry, her hand twisting as it became something akin to claws.

Tom intercepted Susie, bringing his axe down as he forced her to jump back in retreat. As Alice moved to join Tom in the battle, she nodded once to Henry before glancing to Mai and Michael. "Go with Henry, we'll keep Susie busy. Free your friends - now!"

"What about you two?" Mai asked, torn. She couldn't leave her friends, but Alice had become one of those friends. She would have been claimed by the Ink numerous times if not for Alice - she couldn't just abandon her to his maniac, could she?

Alice gave a sad smile as she looked at Mai for a moment before shaking her head. "We'll meet again. Win or lose, we will make our way to our haven after this fight. For now, focus on freeing your friends. Go!"

With that, Alice sprinted off to join Tom as Henry rushed over to the two young adults. "This way." Henry's voice was quiet, as if spoken behind clenched teeth. "She keeps her toys back here."

Michael looked like he was still in shock over the entire thing, but quickly shook it off as Mai pulled him along as she followed the benevolent Bendy. He led them towards the doors that Susie was originally starting towards, back when they found her dragging the Butcher Gang member across the bridge in the centre of the chamber.

As they got close enough, Henry slammed the pipe into a small panel to the left of the doorway - causing it to slowly slide open with a sickening grind of metal on metal. If the sound was not bad enough, the sight on the other end of the door nearly made Mai recoil with disgust. Susie was a monster.

Mai watched in horror as she saw not one corpse, but dozens - Butcher Gang members and various 'Boris Clones' alike. Each corpse had its chest torn open where she assumed the heart must have been. Each corpse was, furthermore, on display - sitting on small tilted up operation tables sitting in the middle of a small lake of ink. With a sick realisation, Mai suddenly understood exactly what Susie meant when she spoke of Inky Hearts just before Henry and Tom arrived.

Noticing Mai's hesitation, Henry sighed. "I had the same reaction when I first saw this room. But now's not the time for hesitation. I don't know how long I have, and we have to get your friends." Putting a single gloved hand on each of their shoulders in reassurance, Henry turned towards a small bridge of planks crossing the lake of ink.

Although hesitant, both Mai and Michael followed. The planks didn't look too sturdy, but surprisingly they offered no trouble for Henry to cross. Nodding once to one another, Mai and Michael quickly moved to follow him across.

In a few moment's time, they made it - a single door opening into a small chamber. Within, Mai noticed the room was divided by a glass pane. On their end were only crates and barrels. On the other end sat another operation table and a separate doorway. In one swift motion from the pipe however, Henry shattered their obstacle before hurrying through.

Whilst waiting for Mai and Michael to follow, Henry quickly tied the pipe to his waist; moments after unsheathing the axe. "I've never been this far before, so be careful. I don't know what we'll find on the other side - all I know is this is where she keeps her toys."

Mai nodded slightly, tensing as Henry reached for the doorknob with his empty hand. As the door slid open, a mixture of relief and fear washed over her. Inside was a large chamber - four pillars forming an internal 'square' in the middle of the chamber. In the centre of the room was an operation table - this time layed flat. But between the pillars and the walls were dozens of metal cages.

Each cage looked barely big enough to hold a single person, let alone comfortably. She saw beings ranging from Boris Clones to Butcher Gang members - some still living, but others mere remains. In cages of their own, she saw the faces of Jack, Sara, and Kyra - their expressions set not in fear anymore, but a hopeless depression.

Jack and Sara didn't even bother to look up as the door slid across the wooden floor, but Kyra did. At first, a glint of fury was evident in her eyes. She may have given up hope, but Mai assumed she wasn't going to make things easy for Susie either. Swiftly, that anger changed to relief and joy.

"Jack, Sara!" Kyra called to them. "It's them!" The other two glanced up - their reactions confused at first, but swiftly following suit with Kyra's own reaction. In an instant however, that joy dissipated in an instant, replaced with an overwhelming fear.

Mai didn't even need to hear Kyra yell in fear to know what was happening. For a split second, a deafening silence filled the room, being broken by a single sound as ink began to ooze from all the small cracks in the walls. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Mai's heart pounded as the roar of the Ink Demon filled the air behind Michael, herself, and Henry. They were trapped.