Bendy and co. bios are located on my DeviantArt.
Henry had watched the whole debacle of Flareup's death and he got chills as he remembered when Bendy tore off the Projectionist's camera head after he fled from the latter antagonist. It was, of course, a lot less bloody because ink stains replaced blood, but it was nevertheless scary.
Why was Bendy the most violent of the toons? Alice…Susie…was originally but now Bendy had surpassed her carnage rate by miles. That was a disturbing factor even he couldn't get over.
He stared up at the diagnostics report for the new communications platform he was hired to design. It was said to be able to block Bendy from contacting Bee as well as hacking into any other communications network around the base. Until it was completed though, Bee would have to deal with Bendy if he called.
Since it was common knowledge to the toons that Henry resided on base, the government ordered and paid for him to stay in rental homes while switching to different locations every two weeks. It was kind of tiresome not having a place of his own anymore but he did enjoy the new views he was getting. Last week he was living in San Diego, California and ground bridging back to Detroit every few days to work. This week he was moved to Austin, Texas and he was one of the whitest people there but he didn't mind as the locals found him a good neighbor so far. As long as Bendy couldn't track him this way, they would continue to do this until the ink demon was destroyed.
Personally, he knew it would only delay the inevitable, especially after that chaos. If he were to give himself up, he could perhaps save people from death and the curse itself. Bumblebee had lost too much because of him. It was only fair now.
He shook his head at the dwindling options. "There's no way to survive this."
"Only if you believe so," a voice spoke.
Henry oddly glanced to his side to acknowledge the presence but his eyes never truly left the screen. He frowned, "Either I'm going to be imprisoned forever in an endless cycle or he's going to kill everyone who tries to help me. It's a lose-lose scenario."
William Lennox stopped by his side with a smirk. "When I was held hostage by Megatron, I talked to him. I managed to get him to see keeping me as a prisoner was pointless because Optimus' brigade was ordered to kill me to get to Megatron. He didn't believe me but as the Autobots stormed closer, he panicked and let me reunite with my soldiers and Ironhide."
"Optimus allowed you to be sacrificed?" Henry questioned in a horrified tone.
Lennox giggled, "No! I just told Megatron that to worry him. I lied that the 'rules have changed.'"
The former cartoonist frowned, "Bendy isn't like Megatron, Will. If I lie to him, then he'll be out for blood."
"Then don't. Tell him the truth. Tell him you don't want to be cooped up under his protection. It will only make you clinically depressed and/or insane. If Bendy loves you, he'll respect that."
Henry sighed, "Bendy wants this curse to be over just as much as the rest of my coworkers do. He won't just give up on a revenge he's had since 1932. It's been too long he's been alive. Everyone at the studio is tired of it."
Lennox shrugged, "Like I said if he loves you, he'll deal with the curse because he wants you to be with him on your own accord. If you break the curse, you might just continue aging off where you stopped while Bendy becomes no more. He then won't have you and therefore his revenge would become moot. Like you said, it's a lose-lose scenario. Bendy will either have to endure the curse to be with you or risk losing you forever when he does break it. He won't win in the end. You're the only factor that determines what will happen."
The Colonel walked away with his arms behind his back as he left Henry to think. The greyish black haired man breathed solemnly as he processed the information.
Bumblebee gloomily sat on his berth, his optics dim with the protoform lid under it feeling saggy. He hadn't had a good night's recharge in what seemed like forever. He just peered down in his empty lap with his servos hanging off his knees lifelessly. He was bored, tired, unhealthy, and just plain sad. He didn't know what to do.
Flareup was his motivation to try for the position of Autobot Leader and he apparently was looked at as Optimus' successor with pretty high regards but now…there wasn't much to support his decision. He kind of wanted to just give it up to Arcee who was the second choice and probably would be a better leader anyway.
Without Flareup, life just felt dull. She kept it interesting when there was nothing to do and since the war was long over, she kept him on his pedes just in case. Some bots told him that eventually he would have to move on as her loss was no different than the many other Autobots who passed under Megatron's reign, but he just didn't know if he could. She was a big part of his life and now she was gone like a piece of him died as well.
His comm. link suddenly buzzed and he hesitated to answer but he found it rude not to. With a sigh, he mumbled, "Hello?"
"Bumblebee, I'm sorry. I didn't think about what I was doing and I-"
"Go apologize to someone who cares and get the hell off my frequency."
Bendy groaned, "I want to make it up to you. I want to keep this friendship we have because you're the only friend on the outside I have. I didn't know what I had until I realized I had lost it. I'm not asking you to forgive me because I know you can't and I can't forgive myself either, but I don't want to lose you as well. I've made terrible mistakes and I'm sure everyone has too including your father figure but has that ever stopped you from loving him?"
Bee snarled, "Don't bring Optimus into this! He made mistakes but at least none of them involved tearing a fellow Autobot I cared deeply for into pieces. At that point it's not even a mistake, that's an absolute-"
"-crime?"
The Autobot thought he heard the swooshing of ink forming behind him and the voice all but confirmed his theory. He let his digits slide off his audial array and slowly turned to face the ink monster, keeping seated with a dark expression. The ink demon walked forward, a neutral frown upon his white face.
"I had thought as the good guy of my franchise I couldn't commit crimes. I thought that no matter what I did, I was always justified. In the cartoon world, what you do isn't always what it seems and there are little to no boundaries on what you can do. Only the censors allow certain things to be cut from film because they don't wish to show it but doesn't mean the deeds we do, the things we say just stop existing. What if behind the curtain, Mickey Mouse abused Pluto? Would the audience know? No, because all they see are a high tuned mouse and his trained pet."
Bumblebee looked to the side, "This is reality, Bendy, it's time you started acting like it was. You can't murder people when you please, you can't play deadly jokes and expected them to get back up after the blow, and you can't believe you are the center of the spotlight anymore. You're not the star."
Something in Bendy growled at that last sentence. "Now hang on, at the studio-"
"Don't you get it!?" The mech jumped up and yelled, "You aren't doing these things because of revenge for your torment anymore, you doing them to be the center of attention! You lost your chance to be a star so you're trying to win it back by doing things people will remember and doing things that you think you are immune to the consequences of! You and everyone else who heard the stories of the studio through Henry believed Alice was the stage hog but in reality, it's you! You want to be on top again but you can't handle the obstacles you didn't have to deal with before! Here, I'm the protagonist of the Autobot base, of this adventure! You are only a cameo!"
Bendy's expression grew incredibly dark but then shifted suddenly to a calm, saddened demeanor.
Bee shook his head, "The problem with you truly is you think everyone is the villain and you're the hero. You think that everyone loves you when in fact everyone hates you for the scrap you pull. Henry doesn't want anything to do with you. Why? Because you've chased him away and now has to live with the terror of how you turn everyone he's ever known into monsters. I wanted to be your friend, I really did but I guess you certainly didn't."
"Bumblebee, I-"
"Forget it! I wish I had never met you! I wish Henry never drew you and I wish you never existed! Maybe then, everyone would be happy around here again!"
Immediate disbelief and grief flare across Bendy's face, his pie-cut eyes gaining more slants than normal to portray his utter sorrow. "I…don't want…to be the villain anymore."
Bee scowled, "Then you have a lot to prove, don't you? If you were ever my friend, you would leave and never bother me again. I don't want you in my life as the monster you've become, assuming you ever were anything else."
That was all it took for Bendy to turn away hurt and creep into the wall as Bumblebee kept his back facing the demon. He vanished and the yellow mech only slightly turned his attention to where he once stood.
"I hope you know I still somehow care for you, even after all you've done," the Autobot whispered to himself.
"Bumblebee, do you copy?" Arcee's voice suddenly rang up, scaring him.
He immediately answered his comm. link, "Yeah?"
"There are ink creatures everywhere downtown and they are all swarming Henry!"
"I'll…I'll be over as soon as I can!"
Arcee abruptly hesitated, "From what the reports are saying, I think…"
Bee frowned, "What's wrong?"
"I think Henry was the one who called them here."
Henry Stein was not a typical man as everyone could agree but being surrounded by monsters was intimidatingly odd.
The older human stared death in the face, and he wasn't joking. Casey coiled profusely with a growl as other animals jumped and pranced around Henry. Sammy and the Projectionist stood by with no weapons drawn but still on edge, waiting patiently for Henry to do something. Even Baron Bacon had arrived among the other ink monsters which surprised Henry as he never expected that character to make a comeback having only appeared three cartoon segments before being dropped from the main role as kids didn't like him. Now there was an entirely new reason why and it had to do with the new design the toon had that would scare anybody.
Several Autobots and humans gathered from a distance to see the toons restlessly moving around Henry. Bumblebee and Optimus quickly united with Arcee who was assessing the situation with her weapon drawn. They both looked at each other when they spotted Henry holding something.
"Is that one of the new communication cellular prototypes we were going to format for the human soldiers to prevent hacks?" Arcee questioned.
Bumblebee nodded, "Henry was the lead man on it. Guess he decided to use it ahead of schedule but on the wrong crowd."
The two-wheeler muttered, "Well technically, he called them over. What for, I don't know."
The Camaro glanced downward in thought until a brief thought hit his processor and his optics widened. "Henry didn't call them to say hello. He called them because he's giving himself up! Henry!"
The human jolted his attention towards the mech and smiled half-heartedly. He then turned back to Casey who bared his teeth at his creator. He knew he wasn't going to live much longer possibly so there was only one thing he could do. He would stand up to the cartoon characters that have plagued him since the 60's.
"Is this any way to treat your Creator, Cee-Cee?"
The pet name threw the train off slightly before he chomped his jaws together angrily, diving towards Henry and stopping only two feet from the human. He tauntingly snapped his jaws three times right next to the small face as if to scare the poor guy.
Henry lifted his hand and gently placed it under Casey's headlight nose. "Casey, baby boy. Oh, now...you know I never really abandoned you, right? Even when I left around the Great Depression, I drew you and Bendy and the others almost daily in any spare time I had. Did you know that? I never could get over my choice but I had to…I…I had to go home. I couldn't stay forever at the studio but that never meant I didn't stay with you in my heart, in my memories. We do have some good and some bad but I never forgot you, never really tried to."
Casey's bared black teeth were slowly covered by his lips as his eyes grew from antagonistic to heavily remorseful. He felt the human pet his surface with obvious care and he began to purr at the touch he starved. With various grunts of and growls of concern and comfort, his eyes softened as Henry gave a considerate grin.
"We had a lot of adventures in the story room, didn't we sweetie? I couldn't give you all of them but I tried, didn't I?"
The snake-like toon let out a snort of approval, steam hissing from his chimney stack. Everyone else watched in horror and concern as Henry continued touching and calming the beast of an ink creature. The other animal toons bowed their heads slightly, some approaching him with curiosity and rejuvenated affection.
He then looked towards Sammy, the music director who stood so firm. "Remember when I introduced you and Susie to a concept of Alice Angel and we all stood in the orchestra hall designing that little gimmick of Alice's? Susie was an intern originally for a music opportunity and I helped design the character to fit more with her once I introduced Alice to Joey and presented the recorded tune with her voice."
Sammy began to smirk as human-sized Alice walked up and grasped his inky hand with her gloved one, Susie holding her own flustered smile. He laughed, "It was like hearing an angel for the first time. One of the most revolutionary characters added to the Bendy franchise and it was undeniably beautiful."
Susie nuzzled her forehead against his neck as she spoke, "It was like a dream come true and had it not been for Alice Angel…me…Sammy and I would've never connected the way we did in that room."
The musician then held a neutral grimace. "Weren't you still married to that asshole, Bartleby or whatever?"
"We were never married. He left me as soon as I found out I was pregnant. I was contacting him to try and be a part of my baby's life. He never took it."
"Ah," Sammy huffed in slight relief.
The former cartoonist peered around at the many faces of the toons, monsters, and others who glanced back with similar kindness. "I have all done you wrong. I should have stopped Joey; I should have made things right. I was scared, a coward but now I see what I should do to make everything better at least as best I can."
"You are coming home?" Bendy said out of the blue, frightening almost everyone in his sudden appearance.
Henry nodded reluctantly, "It's time we put things to rest. It's time to leave these people alone and go back to where we belong."
Casey grew instantly defensive, his roof spikes rising as his dangerous expression returned at the notion. The other toon animals were taken aback by the reason of him surrendering. Bendy also became alarmed, snarling at the audacity that Henry was theoretically giving himself up just to save humans and Autobots. Everyone else had mixed reactions as well with some rearing back while others like the Sheep roared at him, their weapons ready for action.
"Casey!" The human barked, "I've always done what's best for you, haven't I? If this is why it is best, is that a bad call on my part? Is it, sweetheart?"
Bumblebee breathed erratically as he observed Casey mellow though still a bit ticked as Henry rubbed his nose again. Optimus didn't dare move either. Something abnormal caught his optic and that was the one called Baron Bacon who didn't really appear angry for the same reason as Casey. There was something off about that toon, he could feel it but he didn't address this as he knew Henry's safety was more important.
"I realized my mistake and now I'm offering to fix it, not just because I have to but because I am thinking of you, all of you! It's not just about saving these people's lives but also saving yours. We're all going to die eventually; we have to go eventually so don't you think ninety years has been long enough not just on citizen lives but on us? Do you not wish to go home?"
Bendy and the others dropped their wary behavior and listened to him. Several purrs and animalistic hums played through the inky crowd as they pondered his words. Boris made some canine-like whimpers, sniffing the air and panting towards Henry. Casey did a few confirming growls toned more like a raptor, pressing against Henry's hand.
"Come on guys, let's go home."
The Searchers present crawled around Henry almost like a hive circles its queen as the various toon animals followed him. He began walking towards a pentagram that emerged from the nearest building's side and rippled in anticipation as he drew closer. He could hear the whispers he remembered he used to endure in his nightmares where he would spawn from an ink tunnel into where his last nightmare left off. At that point, he knew they weren't nightmares but memories.
"Henry?" Bee called out, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
The human began to laugh, "Every second of my life has been leading up to this moment, Bumblebee. I don't think fate had anything else planned for me. You managed to see what it was like in the beginning but now you finally will know how it ends. This is goodbye, Bee. We will not see you again."
Arcee placed a servo on Bee's arm in comfort as Henry gave him one last smile before walking into the pentagram which rumbled and quivered before settling. The other toons began jumping inside, one after the other. Sammy and Susie walked idly in each other's embrace through while behind them Allison and Tom did the same. The Sheep bounced happily in and the Projectionist followed, limping a little.
The last one to go through was Bendy and he sadly peered back at Bumblebee who didn't meet his eyes. He grew disheartened and simply murmured, "Goodbye."
Bumblebee didn't even watch the pentagram vanish, holding his arms across his torso and closing his optics.
When Henry materialized from a wall into the main area of the new studio, he gasped at how spacious it was. Unlike his old stomping ground of a studio, this one had details from every section he recalled visiting on his journey. He actually smiled brightly for once at the still ink-tainted version of his home. There were some areas that were under construction because of the attack on Optimus' orders but they had rebuilt rather fast.
He suddenly felt a slap on his back in a gesture of affection by Norman as he walked past, giving Henry a thumbs up and slinking towards a bench where a little girl that looked like a doll greeted him. It then clicked in his head who it was.
"Alexandra?"
The doll froze before a gleeful squeal erupted from his vocals. "Mr. Henry! It's really you!"
He let the girl run into his arms and swung her around before she hugged him. He cackled, "Ally, I haven't seen you since you were four. You've grown. How's your daddy?"
Ally's face drooped and Henry immediately regretted that when he had a good idea of the answer. "I lost Daddy after Mr. Drew made me go to sleep."
Kneeling, he wiped away an ink tear. "I'm sorry. Your daddy was one of the bravest men I knew and I think he knows you are brave too having gone through what you have. He's really proud of you."
"Really?"
He nodded and held her close as Sammy approached. When Ally noticed him, she switched from Henry to the director and hugged his leg instead. The masked man then said, "It's a long story."
Alice was once again Transformer-sized and she stood with Bendy who was a lot more downtrodden then the human was used to seeing. He had to admit, Bendy not happy but also not angry made him feel even more unpredictable like he could snap at any given point. Not wanting to press his luck by questioning it, he ignored the demon's unusual behavior.
"Henry?" Susie abruptly asked.
All eyes were on her as she glanced down at him. "Tomorrow, we will commence with the ritual and you will set us free as well as yourself. The Ink Machine will say when it is time. You can roam anywhere you wish to, visit us where we lie but please don't leave the premises."
Henry gave his acknowledgement and watched the various toons and creature settle into their natural habitats. The Sheep played with their guns as Beau was suddenly blew across the room by a rocket, the Searchers roamed the area while occasionally interacting with Butcher Gang members as well as the animals, and a now human-sized Boris began a wrestling match with Tom who made a cut throat gesture with his metal arm before both went at each other. The girls, Susie, Allison, and Ally, just shook their heads at the sight.
So tomorrow was his final day…perhaps, theirs definitely. A part of him kind of hoped they would stay, not to cause mass murder or anything like that but just because he figured their arrival to reality happened for a reason. He may have not enjoyed much of his immortal life stressed about how the Machine could bring such terrors to life but now that he knew what he was dealing with, it actually wasn't that bad. Bendy still needed a bit of work on his ideals but he had his interesting moments. Henry believed for once Bendy had an actual personality and made the whole experience real, disturbingly real but real. It was unique.
He set off to explore the new studio, approaching the Bendy head over the central door at the back of the area. Oh, this was going to be fun.
Unknowing to most, Baron Bacon snarled. He stared at Henry with utter hatred and stormed off.
AN: After one week of lost Internet because of the electrical storm and the snow storm on top of that, I finally have the chance to post this. So, this is the end. This is how Henry dies...no not really. I would never do that to you guys. By the last sentence, Baron Bacon is going to have a much more prominent role than intended and I have another surprise awaiting too.