Bendy and co. bios are located on my DeviantArt.
He would have never guessed deciding something would be so hard. He sniffed, swiping a clawed finger against the point that made up his nose and letting a tear fall in a black streak down his cheek before also wiping at that. To say he was depressed was kind of an understatement now. He felt incomplete.
Leaving Bumblebee to hate him and him to fail to understand his flaws as a dark character was a rather stupid move. He could say he was drawn evil but reality wouldn't accept that now, would it? He wanted to make things right. He had to.
"Don't tell me you've actually developed feelings for that Autobot."
His sad demeanor turned angry as he his head faced the side for him to partially see Baron Bacon in all his fat bastard-ness. Correction, an oddly ripped fat royal bastard highness. The gruff voice of the warthog was not a pleasant sound as well.
"Get the hell away from me, pork chop," he fumed.
He heard the pig emit a baritone chuckle, "After all these years and you still think I'm the bad guy? Have you looked in a mirror lately?"
Bendy growled, "Your point?"
"Now that you have Henry, what do you plan on doing exactly?"
"Simple," the demon scoffed. "This afternoon, the Machine will bind Henry completely to it which will bind him to me and the curse will be complete. What happens afterwards is we probably die and the Machine as well as the souls bound to it are freed. No more reality bullshit."
"Don't you think staying in this world is more beneficial? We can take whatever we want and rule the world with everyone knowing our names just as we wanted. And Henry could be by our side, watching us turn this place into our personal toon town. Doesn't that sound grand?"
There was an edge in the swine's voice he didn't like but he couldn't argue about staying. He actually did wish to stay deep down. Despite the restrictions, the world was fun to be in and new and exciting. The Autobots were something, especially Bumblebee and there was a lot to do. It was almost thrilling being in the same dimensional plane as Henry who was a great guy. The cartoon world may have no rules but the real world had the Creator, the inspiration that kept him going.
If Henry was put in the ritual, everyone would die and they would be nothing but ghosts. If Henry lived, they could be almost as free as possible. The Searchers despite being former employees have dealt with their pain and have adapted nicely. They don't complain about not being human anymore. They just want to do something more than sitting around the studio. Susie and Sammy are content as long as they have each other. The Projectionist loved scenery and adores the real world's phenomenal views. The list was endless. So what was truly bad about being alive? They were all immortal…together, including Henry. And Bumblebee was a Cybertronian and Cybertronians lived for millions of years!
A wide smile grew on Bendy's face. "You're right, this world is more beneficial. But I don't want the world."
"Yes, see and…!" The Baron froze before his expression turned dull, "What do you mean?"
"I couldn't give two shits about the world! I don't need them to be happy; I only need Henry and Bumblebee! I might be the most terrible friend Bee ever had but I am the best enemy he's ever dealt with, the one he respected and liked! I am a bad person deep down but that doesn't make me a bad guy overall and Bumblebee knew this! I learned from my mistakes and I know not to make them again but that doesn't mean I have to change who I am entirely in this universe because Bumblebee cares about me…no matter what I've done. Deep down, I am not a hero. I am Bendy, the agent of chaos, and I am loved by the people that matter. Fuck the world, I don't need their approval and I don't need to be a star," Bendy happily remarked.
Baron Bacon stared at him awkwardly before shaking his head, "Wha-I think you lost your point somewhere in that speech. You're just giving up on everything you were made to believe? You are a cartoon character; you are supposed to be spectated by all and appreciated. You are meant to be worshipped by all ages. You are a god in this universe as are the rest of us!"
The ink demon peered back with his signature smile, "No, I'm not. I'm just a character with a role. My role is to be a friend, to be a companion, and to be a leader. Nothing more. It's time I started acting like it. I thought I was before but I let my greed and pride get in the way thinking I knew what was best. I may be built with the seven sins integrated into my mind but that doesn't mean I can't do more than what I was created with."
He ran past the Baron who angrily shouted his name and into the main room, sliding down the railing of the large stairs as he converted to a human size. Searchers and toons alike were heavily confused including Henry who wore a suit akin to what he appeared in when he visited the studio sixty years ago. Bendy didn't stop until he ran smack into his Creator with a bear hug. This almost knocked Henry down as the man gave out a yelp from the force but slowly returned it in confusion.
The ink demon then clasped his shoulders and looked straight into his eyes with a very unnatural sincere smile. "If you don't want to leave this world, I'm not going to force you to die for us. In fact, if you want to leave this studio and make a new career as an artist with another company or go back to being a manager, do it! I'm not going to hold you back anymore."
Henry frowned for a second, "What do you mean?'
"You're free. The exit is just up that mine shaft or up through the sky lights, either one. I'm not going to stop you this time."
Alice and Sammy glanced oddly at each other before Sammy intervened, "My lord?"
The others gathered around Bendy as he laughed, "Who needs death? Who needs sadness? We may have not had a happy beginning ninety years ago and I know many of us don't belong here but…I've kind of grown to like this world and I've noticed you all have too. A lot of you were once human and now you are anything but however, you have made the best of this situation to where you've no longer cared what people thought, what Henry thought. You made your own world here.
"I realized the only reason it has been miserable here is because of me. I've held you back all these years until the only thing that mattered was breaking the curse. But what would happen if we do break it? Henry won't be with us because in death, I'm kind of doubtful people reunite the same way we assume. And the rest of us? We're cartoon characters; nothing exists outside of a reel and we won't be sentient anymore. Then there's the 'what we are missing' portion of us leaving. Sure, our beginning was terrible but now we've been given another chance and I'm not going to hold you back from seeing the world, going places you've never gone before. I can't revive lost family members but I can offer you a new family.
"We are a family with important roles, each and every one of us. We are all immortal so we'll all be together, grow wiser together, and live together. The rules of reality might not be fun but we can remedy that with the new experiences we make, if we are willing to make them. I've only seen the downside of living but never the upside until now and I want to live, explore, become a part of this world. Don't you?"
The crew talked amongst one another in utter chaos debating whether it was worth the cost. Bendy felt his heart sink a little when Casey and a few others scowled at the idea.
"You know," Allison began, "I always wanted to visit Paris and go hiking across amazing geographical locations. I had planned to use the money I earned from my small role as Alice to help fund my adventures but I never got the chance."
Everyone grew silent as they looked at her before some peered downward in thought. Then the Sheep started to sound off. All of them except Henry understood them, which made the cartoonist glance back and forth from them awkwardly.
Bendy translated, "Bellwether said she wants to own a gun shop in New York to help fund the gangs and mafia which I guess is technically a community service? Beau said she was hoping to be a librarian and or a valued researcher for a high end organization so she can spend her time among her favorite hobby. And Bernard has always wanted to direct his own movie as well as go around the world documenting various animals, maybe even discovering new ones."
Casey muttered animalistic noises with occasional grunts and Bendy gave a blinking misunderstanding of a look.
Henry pointed ever so slightly and asked, "What did she say?"
"She…uh…she wants to eat one vehicle from every country and wants to use every known train track so she can 'fast travel'…which I don't think she knows what that means as she's explaining this to me. Um…pretty much her ambitions are to tour the world and eat things from every country," Bendy huffed.
Several Searchers roared and gurgled, some apparently wishing to visit locations like the beach while others wanted to ride roller coasters, play soccer, and so on. Bendy glanced around in awe as more of them shouted their desires, realizing they all had something they wanted to live to see and to do.
"I want to be a cosmetics dresser, maybe even go back to acting again!"
"I would love to write music again and collaborate with maybe Hans Zimmer one day."
"I want to get legally married to my Allison!"
"I want to own the world's largest doll shop!"
Henry found a smile grow on his features before he turned to Bendy. He calmly spoke, "And I want to go back designing worlds, characters, and backgrounds. I want to be a cartoonist again. If not that, then maybe a painter or a sculptor or…"
"…A writer? A graphics artist? A concept artist?" Bendy laughed. "You could do all of them because I know you can and now you have a lifetime to explore what you wish to do at the pace you like and if it gets boring, you can change your field. And I'll be here supporting you. And if you fall into hard times, you always have a place to stay here."
The ink demon placed his gloved hand beneath Henry's chin in a comforting manner, looking fondly at his Creator. He coughed, "Although, I'm probably going to be stealing you back after a while. Just a heads up."
The human groaned, "Really? I'm going to be out there making a living finally and you plan on disrupting that?"
"Hey, I was created bad, what can I say? Just think of it more like…a game. If I win, you get to spend your imposed vacation here. If you win, you can go on your merry way and enjoy the outside world for whatever reason, but I'll come back to get you after about a week or two."
"Thanks," the man said flatly. "What happened to being no longer greedy?"
Bendy shrugged, "I'm a cartoon, and the sins can't exactly be thrown out the door in my case. It's a day to day mood set."
"Asshole," Henry shook his head with a sneer.
"You love me for it."
Baron Bacon had watched the toons and ink creatures celebrate their newfound motives to live and it disgusted him. He didn't want to live just so he could be among flesh and bone dumbasses who somehow managed to dominate the world they didn't deserve. He wanted to be worshipped as a toon should for their god-like abilities. Who needs to live in harmony when he could be on top with everyone at his hooves?
He stomped into the Ink Machine's chamber, ignoring the animals that now roamed about. They didn't really acknowledge his lumbering presence as he bowed in front of who he considered his real Creator. To hell with Henry who was nothing but a glorified fraud.
"It seems Bendy has decided to retract from the ritual. He apparently thinks he has more to live for as does Henry Stein and the others. I guess that means you won't be free as planned."
Do not patronize us! We find Bendy's change of heart upsetting but we cannot enforce the ritual of none of them are willing to do it. As much as we wish to leave, our needs do not exceed the masses'.
The Baron side smirked, "What if I could change their minds, motivate them that Earth isn't fun at all?"
How could you possibly do that? They know the planet has many challenges, many locations and activities. With the Transformers, they have more than just Earth they can rely upon for a journey or two.
"Fair enough but I live to serve you. If you wish to be free, sometimes the masses need to be reminded who has the power here. Of course, I would need a bit of extra help to make this happen…if you are willing to create a few more toons. I assure you, I will have them take back the enthusiasm of the others in no time and you'll be free at last," he hissed, entwining his pig-clawed hands behind his back casually.
The Machine hummed in thought. We suppose we could let you make an effort at persuasion, but do not tempt battles you cannot win. It will be your downfall if you try.
The screens to his left lit up and files of the list of characters were opened. Scrolling through them, the icons barely had time to render completely before they were shoved away until the picture of a cartoon train was selected. Baron Bacon's smile grew as the Machine turned its creative capabilities on. The ink began to pump into its rendering chamber and it gave a hoarse groan.
And Baron, do not use our gifts to you in vain. Above all, Henry must not suffer through this ordeal.
When the file of the train downloaded, the inking process began. Pistons thundered as they worked over time to produce the soon-to-be large toon and the pentagram grew bright with absolute power.
Baron Bacon only nodded. "I promise, everything will go according to plan and Henry will not suffer…one…bit."
His smile only grew as a shadow began to dwarf him. An angry roar darker than Casey's rumbled throughout the room as the creature formed its engine face and started to work on stabilizing its next car. As it was being created, the screen nominated a couple more toons and worked on downloading the specs alongside its translation process.
Bendy activated the ground bridge after punching in the coordinates and noted the swirling colors before bringing his attention to his human.
Henry scoffed, "So I guess this is goodbye for the time being."
He clasped his hands together nervously. "I didn't think I would ever be thrilled to do anything like pursuing art ever again…being stuck in a never ending life of nightmares associated with it in the past. But you are right. There's so much more to do and a part of me actually feels relieved that I got to know you and understand what you are based off of compared to me. They say every creation has a piece of its creator in some way and the reason I wasn't faring well with your existence is probably because I didn't accept where you came from. You are a part of me and I'm a part of you. I see that now."
The ink demon clicked his tongue, "If I recall, there's also a saying 'you are your own worst enemy' and I guess in our situation, it's pretty much true."
"You're going to be okay with letting me go, right?"
"I'll…I'll manage," Bendy frowned. "This is one hell of a blow to my ego, I'll tell you that. Like, my confidence level plummeted a bit but nothing I can't fix."
The human narrowed his eyes, "No killing people. That's not good mentally."
"Spoilsport."
Henry smiled and entered the vortex, leaving Bendy to contemplate what to do next. It was an odd change of heart for him but it felt pretty good to do something right for once. He chuckled lightly to himself and whipped out his mallet, twirling it skillfully on his fingertips and began to hum Alice's lullaby from Siren Serenade.
He was a demon of many things but he kept his promises in the end.
Bumblebee peered over a few data pads before logging their contents into the system. He tried to focus only on them but in the back of his mind, a dark edge lingered. He wasn't too pleased about his job currently since he felt he had more important things to do. But Flareup used to be the archivist and data clerk so until she was replaced formally, there wasn't much he could say. It hurt that he was assigned her job, a cruel reminder that she was gone but Optimus was the only other archivist on site and he was busy sorting out affairs. Bumblebee had been trained by him, under the radar originally but he knew what to do.
He heard the doors open to his left but he didn't take his optics off the data for one moment, trying to log in as much as he could in a short time so he didn't have to spend all night doing it.
Knockout frowned at seeing the Autobot struggling to take on Flareup's shift. "You know, I have some experience with archives. I could take over for you so you don't have to go through this."
"Thanks Knockout but I was specifically assigned to this job because I know enough to get past the difficult parts faster. It doesn't matter whether this was Flareup's shift. It needs to be done," Bumblebee scowled, slamming his fist down.
"How are you…coping?"
He shook his head lightly, "I'm stable enough to do my work but this assignment is just jarring too many memories. I feel like I'm about to crack and no one except Optimus will care."
The Aston Martin suddenly snarled, "You know that's not true! Arcee cares, Bulkhead cares, and I…care."
His voice died at that last part as he placed a hand over his chest cavity before removing it to gently grasp Bumblebee's shoulder. "You think you're alone but there are many that are here for you. Hey, do you know what I did when Breakdown died?"
Bee used a sorrowful brow and slowly peered at the red mech. "What?"
"When he passed, I was devastated. I had no idea what to do or who I could look up to at that point. For weeks, everything felt terrible. But after the fourth week, I realized that Breakdown wouldn't want me to stay miserable because he wasn't there. He wouldn't want me to live the rest of my Primus knows how long lifespan mourning his corpse. It hurt when he was mentioned but over time, it became clear there was still more to do. Life wasn't just about us, it was about living. I may not have had my partner but I had a life regardless. So I started doing what I thought would make me happy, not us but me and I found that it did help bring back my confidence, my will to move on. Don't get me wrong, everyone once in a while I think of him but I learned to repress him enough so he doesn't consume me until I offline. I may find another partner and they probably won't create the same harmony as what we had together but at least, I'll have someone new and new adventures with that someone."
The yellow Camaro's wings rose up a bit, "So you're saying that I can't be happy as long as I stay in the shadow of the past?"
Knockout made a so-so gesture, "I-It's more you should remember her but honor her by doing what you think she would want. What do you think she would want for you right now?"
"To move on. She always used to tell me anger never got anything done. It prolonged happiness and life was about happiness. I've grown mad at Bendy but now it's doing nothing but hurting me. The casualties of war happen and there's nothing we can do about it. We just have to endure and keep moving forward. You're right. I won't forget her but she's gone and there's nothing I can do about it. Bendy only did what he felt was right and no doubt regrets as he told me a few days ago. How long can I really stay mad at him? We've all made mistakes that ended horribly and I remember mine was my brother, Wasp. He hated me for the longest time because of his mutation body shift into an Insecticon but now, he loves me because we settled what we did wrong and admitted our faults that led to his curse."
The former-Decepticon had a sparkle in his red optics, "But with Bendy…?"
Bee smiled, "Both of us were wrong too. I also contributed in some way. My anger was misplaced because I myself was too arrogant to see what led to Flareup's death. I thought Bendy would hurt Henry and I wasn't soaking in the truth that he really didn't want to. I shouldn't have snapped at him. We are friends. I just didn't see it because of the rage I felt. It's becoming clear now. My life is a mess but it's mine and Flareup knew as well as I that Bendy would be a part of it as soon as we found him. She would want me to live it as is, not stay mad because of a mistake. I still have a lot of crazy adventures to go on…and I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Knockout smirked, "Welcome back, Bumblebee."
It had been an hour since he released Henry and Bendy had never felt better. It was an abnormal kindness that would take a lot of getting used to but it actually soothed him being nice. There were still quirks of mischief and maliciousness in his core but if he could find a way to channel it elsewhere, who knew what he could do. He wasn't bad, just drawn that way. Smiling, he entered the main area with utmost confidence until he heard a muffled cry and he froze.
Alice and the girls were entrapped in the coils of an octopus he recognized as Octo-Perry, a background sea monster that lurked on the Butcher Gang introductory special. He was supposed to be a one-off character for dramatizing the Butcher Gang's ship entrance but here he was. Beside him, the Sheep were cornered by large anthropomorphic ragged wolves from Sheep Songs, also background characters meant to demonize wolves with the exception of Boris who only wanted to play his clarinet.
Casey was struggling to keep Caesar from winning their supposed wrestling match. Both trains wrapped heavily around each other in a death grip. Caesar cackled dangerously as she pushed her younger brother to the floor, pinning the roaring snake-like creature happily and using her colossal body to keep him stuck. Her ugly, ridged face smirked with crooked sharp teeth as she narrowed her eyes. Tom, Sammy, Joey, and the Projectionist were restrained by piglets, Baron Bacon's henchmen while Boris was pinned by the large ham himself. And in the warthog's greasy hand, Henry groaned and rustled in an attempt to break free from his grip.
"Ah, Bendy, so glad you could join us," the Baron purred.
Bendy's face twisted in anguish, "Let them go!"
The pig snorted, "I'm afraid we can't do that. You see, you and your friends have been in control far too long and look what you've accomplished. Nothing! It's time for someone stronger to take control and I'm nominating myself. And don't worry, dear Henry will be given a front row seat to the show as I take this world and turn it into the Toon Town we deserve to rule. Of course, there won't be any humans allowed so once the credits role, Henry will be killed humanly and quickly just for you."
"No! This isn't right! Earth isn't ours to take; it's ours to call home among humans, among Henry! He's your Creator! You can't kill him!"
Baron Bacon waved a finger, "He's part of the problem, what makes you WEAK! HE'S MADE US ALL WEAK AND NOW, I'M GOING TO SET US FREE ONCE AND FOR ALL AND FINISH WHAT YOU COULDN'T!"
The ink demon's face began to melt as he angrily shouted, "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL-"
Henry gave a hoarse cry as he felt Baron's clawed fingers began to squeeze as the warthog laughed, "Ah, ah, ah! We wouldn't want an accident to happen so early now, would we?"
His face reformed as he expressed horror. Bendy slowly but surely lowered his stance and bowed his head in defeat.
"Good demon. We have a lot of work to do. And if you disobey me, I'll crush Henry and every other little pest on this planet, including your Autobot's pet boy! Bumblebee will die too! I'll see to it his corpse hangs on my wall as my personal souvenir!"
The only thing Bendy could do was peer up afraid for his family, for Henry, and now for Bumblebee. He had lost.
AN: Yes, Baron Bacon's the bad guy in this story. I had to give it to him because he was an evil bitch in development so I figured I would keep that personality just for the hell of it. Who's the real monster now? Also I made Bendy's realization as cheesy as possible because I'm pretty sure it would sound just like that. Have you ever heard a cartoon character have an epiphany? It always sounds fake or loses its point midway. It's hilarious!