Chapter 29: Into The Ink Below
The toons continued to panic from the situation they had been left in; Linda knew they had to act fast as the Ink Demon could appear in any second, and it scared her to think what he would possibly do to the toons or Henry. Noticing Henry walking over to a wooden spoon hanging on the wall, she watched as he pulled down on it and started to hear the sound of turning gears in the wall.
A secret door opened, but it unfortunately only revealed a toilet.
Before Linda could air out her grievances, Henry approached the toilet and removed the cover for its reservoir. He then pulled out a GENT pipe that had been stored inside and went to work in breaking the boards blocking their way out of the cell. The Butcher Gang cheered him on in their strange nonsensical ways, and Boris peeked out between his fingers to see what was going on.
"This way!" Henry called out as he made his way out of the safe house.
Linda approached Boris, taking his hand in her to help him up. 'Charley' and 'Barley' scurried out as fast they could to fetch their tools Tom had taken from them and hobbled after Henry; 'Edgar' stayed behind and grabbed on to Linda's free hand.
"Come on, boys. We have to go." Linda said as she rushed a bit to catch up with Henry and the other two.
There was a loud cracking sound coming from above as the ceiling of the safe house began to cave in from the pressure of the ink. Fortunately, Linda, Boris, and 'Edgar' got out just in time before they could be trapped inside.
Henry had waited for them to catch up before moving on, relieved to see they were all alright.
"That was way too close for comfort." He said, still staring back at the former safe house.
"How did you know of that secret door back there?" Linda asked as she eyed the GENT pipe in his hand.
Henry gave her a smile and began to continue onward.
"During my first time traveling through the studio, I used the looking glass Alice gave me to help me find it. Someone had left messages telling me what I needed to do. Where I needed to look."
Linda thought about the hidden messages she had seen before getting locked up.
"I thought you wrote those messages."
"Some, but not all of them." He replied as he lead the way through the tunnels. "I think Joey might be somewhat responsible, but I don't know for sure. He never tells me anything."
"How can you write the hidden messages?" Linda asked, quite curious as to how it worked. Boris appeared to be quite intrigued as well as he tilted his head.
"I haven't figured it out." Henry answered with a shrug. "I discovered the ability after my first couple of time loops by accident. After that, I started keeping track of how many loops I've been through as well as writing myself some reminders and things to help put me in better spirits."
Linda was hesitant to ask, but she needed to know.
"How many loops have you gone through so far?"
Henry let out a heavy sigh.
"I think I lost count after 414."
Linda could feel her jaw drop slightly.
"Oh my god. How have you managed to stay sane all this time?"
"I think I did lose my sanity a couple times in some loops." Henry replied. "Those were bad times, but I had to press on each time otherwise nothing would get done. Now I'm really tired and sore all over from all the past injuries."
They soon reached the dock. Only one boat was left behind and secured for them to take.
"Go ahead and get in." Henry said as he approached the lever off to the side. "I doubt it's going to take long for the Ink Demon to come looking for us."
Linda carefully made her way to the side of the boat as it was on a slope. She helped the Butcher Gang get in first as they were smaller and couldn't quite get in on their own. Boris got in after them and helped Linda climb in beside him.
"Hang on to something and brace yourselves!" Henry warned before pulling the lever.
The latch holding the boat in place released and sent them down the slope as they did what they were told until they came to a short stop midway.
"One more!" Henry called before pulling the lever again.
The latch released them and they were soon floating on top of the inky river below. Henry made his way down the dock and boarded the boat.
"Is everyone alright?"
"Yes." Linda nodded. "A little shaken, but we're fine."
"It's only going to get worse." Henry replied with a look of dread before looking at Boris, 'Charley' 'Barley', and 'Edgar'. "There's something in the river. I can't exactly remember what, but it's going to try to sink our boat each time our paddle in the back gets clogged with ink clots. It's going to be a stressful ride, but I need everyone to focus on removing the clots so we can get through it quickly."
Boris was nervous but he still gave a salute in response. The Butcher Gang let out a war cry of sorts as they raised their weapons in the air. Henry smiled and then turned his attention to Linda.
"Linda, I want you to take control; I'm going to stay in the back to help. All you have to do is push the button to start the engine, and push the handle forward to move us forward. Do you think you can handle that?"
"Sounds easy enough." Linda replied as she stepped up to the control panel. There was only the button and handle Henry mentioned.
"I thought so." He said. "As soon as we're free of ink clots, continue to move us forwards."
Linda pushed the button and the engine started, making a grinding sound as if it would die on them soon.
She hoped that wouldn't be the case.
Except for the engine, it was a quiet ride as Linda sailed them into the tunnel in front of them, only to stop as they reached an intersection. She looked behind her to see Henry and the others quickly take care of the ink clots, until something large rising from the ink caught the corner of her eye. As she turned to see what it was, Linda watched in horror as a giant gloved hand grabbed on to the boat's twin (figuring it was the one Tom and Alice used to escape) and drag it down into the ink.
Linda pushed the handle forward as they were free of clots to get them moving again and the large hand rose up behind them, nearly missing as it tried to slam down on to them to sink them.
She braced herself as the inky waves rocked there boat a bit and looked back to see Boris and 'Edgar' holding one another while they shook in fear, but they continued to quickly help out whenever the paddle got clogged.
The large gloved hand continued to chase them down the river, nearly missing them each time. However, as they got close to the end, the hand rose up ahead of them instead of behind. Linda stopped the boat before they could sail into it, and the hand slammed down on the controls, tipping the boat forward. Linda lost her balance from the impact and fell into the ink river below them.
"Henry!" Linda called out as she gasped from resurfacing, and coughed out foul tasting ink.
Boris lunged forward and reached out his hand as Henry held on to him to keep him from falling in. 'Charley' grabbed on to Henry, and 'Barley' grabbed on to his leader while 'Edgar' grabbed on to the sailor and on to the beams attached to boat to form a chain.
As Linda reached for Boris' hand, she felt something wrap around the lower section of her body and start to pull her under. She now only had her face above the ink as she gasped for air.
"You have to let me go!" She cried as she tried to keep herself from going under.
"No! Linda, please!" Henry begged as he quickly readjusted his grip on Boris.
Boris frantically shook his head as inky tears came to his pie-cut eyes.
Linda went under for a second before her head resurfaced, more ink getting into her eyes and mouth.
"If you keep fighting it, you will all fall in!" She choked. "Now let go!"
Linda pulled her hand out of Boris' grip, causing the poor toon wolf to fling back into the boat and knock down the others as she fully submerged into the ink.
She could hardly hear Henry calling out for her as she was dragged down to the bottom, reminding her of the first time she fell into the ink.
Linda had the worst of luck in the studio next to Henry, of course.
Her mind started to go foggy before she felt the grip on her release its hold and the ink began to clear up on her face. Linda immediately began to gasp for air and cough out ink from her lungs. Her eyes and throat were burning.
Once she felt the ink had been cleared out of her system, Linda carefully opened her eyes and looked up to see the Ink Demon standing before her.
Had he saved her?
Or was he the one who had pulled her under?
A/N: Woo, another chapter! Poor Boris, why can't Bendy learn to share the Mama?
