The studio had been empty enough, devoid of life, when Mary had first arrived. Before she freed Bendy from that pipe he was stuck in. When she'd gone in, there was silence, no one but her. So it wasn't like she wasn't used to walking around alone or anything.

But this...this was different. This time, there was the constant rhythmic sound of the Ink Machine producing ink. This time, she wasn't alone because she was the only walking around...she was alone because her friends were gone. This time, there was a monster roaming the studio, who may or may not know she was still inside.

She hoped he didn't. And she definitely hoped he wouldn't find out.

Mary slowly walked down the hallway, careful not to walk too fast or heavy, lest the floorboards creak.

How was she going to do this...? How was she going to...

The Ink Machine.

Mary turned around, looking down the hall, towards the still-boarded room where the machine sat. It was still pumping, she could hear it, it was still feeding Joey...If she turned it off, maybe then-

Oh. But if she turned it off, she still had a problem. Joey wouldn't be fed more ink, but he would still be moving around. She had to find another way.

If Bendy were here...he might know what to do. Mary hugged herself, gripping her wrench tight at the thought of Bendy. He knew this studio, knew it like the back of his hand. If he were here...he could help her. He could figure out a way.

He could-

But Bendy wasn't here anymore, she told herself as she walked back towards the door. Bendy wasn't here anymore, she had to think of another-

Thud.

Mary froze, eyes wide and heart pounding. What...what was that?

One of the doors, further down the hall, was shaking slightly. On the other side, she could hear a strange sound – like a lot of schloop-ing, if oozing had a sound effect. As she stood in the middle of the empty hallway, frozen in horror, she saw ink seeping out from under the door-

Joey.

No, but the weird circle-! She thought desperately.

No. No, the circle had only been on one door – of course there might be other doors leading to this floor, and Joey-

He'd found one. He could come back up here and get her.

"Mary...are you still here?"

Mary glanced around quickly, heart leaping to her throat. Do something, do something, do something-!

Her eyes landed on the hole in front of the exit.

The doorknob slowly turned...

Mary bolted over to the hole, crouching down at the edge. She quickly glanced down to see just how far down it went, just how much distance she could put between them-

-and threw her wrench down.

After a tension-filled second, she heard it clatter, useless to her now, on the floor below.

The doorknob stopped turning.

"Mary!" Joey shouted. A second later, there was a rushing, slippery sound, as the monstrous Joey-Bendy shot away, heading downstairs.

Mary heaved a heavy sigh of relief, shoulders slumping. She'd gotten Joey away. She'd put distance between them. She'd bought herself some time.

…and she'd lost her only weapon.

She had to make this quick.

Knees shaking from the fright of what had just happened, Mary slowly stood up and turned around. Okay, think, think, she had to think of something fast, she had to think...

And a Bendy cut-out greeted her, standing before her eyes as if it had always been there.

Mary clapped her hands over her mouth to keep herself from screaming and blowing her cover. When...when did-!?

….wait...

"You're...you're alive, aren't you?" Mary whispered, slowly lowering her hands.

It said nothing, simply smiling back at her.

Mary gulped audibly, gripping the front of her pinafore to hide the way her hands shook. "You...you were following Bendy and me when we were getting the things. F-For the Ink Machine. And you keep popping up when I'm not looking and..."

Her eyes went wide.

CLANG

...

A wrench was on the floor just outside, at the feet of a cardboard cutout.

"And one of you dropped the wrench for me...and another one pushed me away from the ink wave!"

Something thin, but hard and heavy, smacked into her shoulder. It toppled from above, from one of the narrow gaps between storyboard-wall and ceiling. The momentum from it knocked the child and toon into one of the tiny cubicles, where a desk sat among the flood of papers.

"...are...are you the other workers?" she whispered. "Are you a worker?"

The cut-out said nothing, of course. It didn't even move.

Yet...somehow, Mary felt like those painted-on eyes were looking at her. Really looking. Regarding her.

"...can you help me?" she whispered, feeling her throat grow tighter.

The cut-out moved.

It wobbled forward, ever-so-slightly, towards Mary. It took Mary a few seconds to realize that it wasn't motioning at her, but rather... At the door.

Get out, it was saying.

She shook her head. "I can't..." she whispered. "Please, please, I can't!"

It wobbled again, more forcefully this time. When Mary didn't move, it wobbled even harder, bumping its flat face against her shoulder.

Get out!

"I can't, please!" Mary cried as loud as she dared.

The cut-out stopped moving.

"My friends...m-my friends are all gone and...and I can't leave the machine on. I can't let Mr Joey get away with this!"

It didn't move. It just stared.

Mary swallowed again, blinking back the tears that had sprung to her eyes. "Bendy...Mr Joey ate Bendy...a-and Alice died, and...and Boris is dead too..." She assumed he was, at the least...He hadn't moved from his slab when they turned the Ink Machine on.

That had to have been Joey...

"I can't...I can't let Mr Joey get away with it...H-He killed my friends, I can't...I can't just leave, I have to do something!" she cried.

The cut-out still stared, silent as ever.

Mary sniffled, wiping her eyes on her sleeve before looking into the cut-out's own painted eyes. "Please," she whispered again. "I need your help..."

There was a moment of silence as the cut-out seemed to stare at her.

And then it suddenly...well, it was as if someone had reached out and grabbed it. The cut-out suddenly shot backwards, sliding down the hall without turning once. Staring at her the whole time. It glided back until it reached a corner, paused for just a moment, then turned sharply and shot back around the corner.

"Wait!" Mary whisper-shouted, racing after it with her hand outstretched. "Wait for me!"

She ran as fast as she could, making as little noise as possible, skidding slightly as she slid round the corner. She looked up as she righted herself, seeing the cut-out standing as it waiting for her before it shot back again.

Follow me. Follow me.

"Are you showing me something?!" Mary called out as she ran after it. "Is there someone who can help us? Where are we going?!"

Of course the cut-out said nothing. But it didn't move anymore either.

Mary finally caught up, panting slightly, as the cut-out stood in the doorway to one of the rooms. A room she had gone into when she'd first arrived. The cut-out stared lifelessly at her for a few seconds before sliding off to the side and turning, as if inviting her in.

Mary stared. "This...this is Uncle Henry's room," she whispered. Yes, that was his desk, his chair, this was the room she'd found when she first came in...Why did it lead her down here?

She glanced at the cut-out. It didn't provide any answers. She looked back into the room, gulped, and slowly made her way inside.

It had led her down here...there had to be something of use...but what? Mary glanced around the room, not seeing anything immediately useful. Shelves, bacon soup, paper, old pens, old pencils...The desk and chair...

It was...interesting, she realized. A lot of the room looked like it hadn't been touched.

"Then things started goin' not-so-good. Joey'd come into his office a lot. He'd send me out when that happened, and they'd argue. About what direction the show should take, about introducin' or droppin' a character, about...about money, and productivity... the fights got worse after the Ink Machine started bein' built. Joey got angrier and angrier. Henry got more an' more defensive. One day Joey told Henry he worked for him, and Joey signed the checks, and Joey controlled everything. Henry didn't have any liberties, he said. Henry packed up and quit, that same day."

"The fights..." Mary whispered to herself, eyes slowly widening. "Joey...Joey an' my uncle fought so much, he...he never wanted to come in here again. He was still mad..."

And if he was still mad...if he'd never come into this room again – or at the very least, if he'd never touched Uncle Henry's desk, then maybe-

Mary's fingertips slid around the desk until she found a notch. A drawer. She slowly slid it open, holding her breath...

...and releasing it as a small, giddy laugh when she saw what was inside. "Yes," she whispered. "Oh, thank you, Uncle Henry!" She reached out and carefully began moving the items into her pockets, careful as possible. "And thank you, too, Mr-!" she began, turning around.

But the cut-out was gone.

"...thank you all the same," Mary added with a tiny smile. She grabbed one more thing, shut the drawer, and ran out of the room.

Down the hall.

Not caring if her shoes made the floorboards squeak this time.

It would all be okay.

It would all be okay.

She told herself this as she jogged down to the boarded-up room with the sign INK MACHINE above the door. She told herself this as she stopped in front of the boards, breathing heavily before gulping.

As she paused to look behind her.

And then as she dropped to her hands and knees, crawling through the meager hole in the boards, reaching the monstrous machine.