Bendy struggled within Boris' arms, but no matter how Bendy twisted, the toon wolf refused to let go of him. Bendy stilled for a moment, before he wriggled around until he could wrap his arms around the back of Boris' neck. This let Bendy look back the way they had come from.
Boris moved one gloved hand to pat Bendy's back beneath the backpack reassuringly.
The soothing touch was little comfort.
Bendy was simply too worried.
And why wouldn't he be?
Bendy could just barely see the way Henry fended off those scary versions of the Butcher Gang.
Then, Henry was gone, out of sight, as Boris went further down a hall with twists and turns.
Bendy couldn't help but continue to squirm, even the toon knew that it was no use to go back and try to help. Bendy didn't want to fight, even if the toon had pulled the small axe off of the paper that Henry had drawn on. What use was a weapon, if Bendy couldn't bring himself to use it?
Boris seemed to sense the other toon's distress, and let out a low growl of concern. That broke the silence the toon wolf normally kept, and effectively startled Bendy.
The little devil had never heard Boris make a peep, ever!
Of course, this wasn't Bendy's Boris. This Boris was different, somehow, but Bendy had yet to figure out why. It was something that had been troubling Bendy, when he wasn't distracted by the studio or Henry.
Boris patted Bendy on the back again, issuing out another sound, this one a whine of concern.
Bendy finally gave up attempting to get away from this version of his friend. Boris was only trying to help by keeping him out of danger, and listening to Henry to go on ahead. Bendy sagged against Boris, pressing his face against a furry shoulder, unable to help but tear up.
Bendy felt miserable, which was not in character for him. But something...something was wrong. For only a few moments, it felt like he was being torn apart inside, even though Bendy knew that he was perfectly fine.
It was the studio and its occupants, wasn't it?This place, while interesting, was much too dangerous.
Bendy let out a little sob and clung to Boris tightly, sending the toon wolf to run more quickly.
Henry was going to get hurt again, wasn't he?
A flash of intense pain suddenly worked its way through Bendy, and the little devil let out a gasp.
What.
What was that?
Why did he hurt like that, all of a sudden?
Bendy sniffed and lifted his head, uncertain why an ache had settled into him, until it was gone. When Boris slowed to a halt, Bendy raised his head a little more. Bendy's grip around Boris' neck tightened, fear leaping through the smaller toon.
The two of them were in a larger room now, with two floors. Below, there was a safe box, like the one that Bendy and Henry had hidden in before. There was nothing to their left, and to their right, were two doors with symbols on them, and then some stairs.
That was all well and good, but...
The Ink Demon was blocking the way down.
That was frightening.
Did it see them?
Bendy shook as Boris held him firmly, the toon wolf looking around hastily, presumably of where to go.
The Ink Demon's screeching rang out.
It had seen them.
Bendy held on for dear life as Boris took a leap of faith and went over the railing to avoid the Ink Demon's limping charge. The disgruntled snarl made Bendy flinch as he and Boris ended up on the lower floor. The little devil didn't even realize that he had rolled out of Boris' hold until he realized that he was on the floor and Boris had let out a low whimper of pain nearby.
The Ink Demon leaned over the railing, its head cocked to the side, as if someone going over the railing to the lower floor was a novel idea.
Bendy scrambled up and over to where Boris was curled up on the ground, clutching one of his legs. Bendy attempted to get the toon wolf up, but stopped when movement made Boris flinch and whine. Bendy saw that the safe box was close, but the scary version of himself had just hoisted itself over the railing, and landed on the lower floor on all fours, teeth bared.
Boris seemed to have recovered somewhat and painfully began to inch his way toward the safe box, the toon wolf's ears flat against his head.
Bendy took out the small axe from his backpack and shakily held it up in the Ink Demon's general direction.
The Ink Demon's teeth chattered together as it rose to its feet. It seemed almost...amused?
Bendy couldn't stop his body from quivering but he was determined to make sure that Boris had a chance to get to safety. Bendy was fairly certain that he could avoid the scary version of himself, since he was quicker than it.
The Ink Demon stepped forward with a low growl, before it slowly reached out with its left hand.
Bendy let out a strangled cry as he was lifted into the air via the axe that the Ink Demon had just grabbed with its gloved hand. Bendy held the axe tightly, even when he should have just let go and made a run for it.
The Ink Demon's right hand reached out and one clawed, inky forefinger tapped Bendy in his belly in a weirdly gentle way.
Bendy was horrified that he let out a little giggle.
That had tickled.
The Ink Demon froze, before it did the motion again, this time tapping several times in a row.
Bendy was unable to prevent all the laughs from escaping him this time.
The Ink Demon appeared to be baffled.
Bendy regained his breath and reconsidered letting go of the axe.
The Ink Demon's right hand drew away and reached up to its own face to slide the ink out of its vision.
Bendy froze in place as those creepy eyes assessed him in eerie silence. Bendy slowly let go of the axe and dropped to the floor, flinching as the Ink Demon broke the small axe, even though its eyes never left the toon's.
Even odder, there was no violence in the Ink Demon's eyes, a stark contrast to the breaking of the axe. There was only curiosity, and what appeared to be something like irritation. It was as if the Ink Demon was not quite certain what to make of a toon Bendy.
The silent staring contest was broken when a rough yell came from above.
"Get away from him, you inky asshole!"
Bendy jumped backward in surprise as Henry came out of nowhere to land on the Ink Demon.
Henry seized the skeletal creature's horns and tugged backward.
Bendy clapped his gloved hands over his mouth as he backed away, letting out a tiny scream as Boris scooped him up from behind and brought him into the safe box.
The door remained open, presumably for Henry.
Bendy twisted within Boris' arms to watch, even as it sunk in that Henry was okay.
Henry was here, and he was all right!
Well...Henry seemed to be okay, even if he was covered in a little more ink. It was hard to tell, but Henry seemed to be just a little...different, than before, even though it was a barely noticeable change.
Bendy's smile turned to a frown as he watched Henry continue to hang onto the Ink Demon's horns, kicking it in the side when Henry was able to.
The Ink Demon thrashed around, snarling at the unexpected attack.
Bendy looked away. It was scary to watch Henry fight, even if he wasn't exactly hurting the scary version of the toon.
The Ink Demon let out a furious shriek, and there was the sound of something breaking, accompanied by a groan of pain.
Henry had been thrown off of the creature.
Boris let go of Bendy and reached out to frantically drag a half conscious Henry into the safe box.
Bendy saw the approaching Ink Demon and hastily closed the door. It was a tight fit, but they would be safe, just like before. Bendy pressed close to both Henry and Boris as the Ink Demon crashed into the front of the safe box. A chill ran through Bendy as he happened to look up.
The Ink Demon peered through the slot in the box, its eyes still uncovered.
Bendy held his friends tightly as the other him spoke in a harsh, grating tone.
B̶̧̩̺͙͖̭̳͚̘͚̥̻̤̩͎͛̌́́̆̚e̴̞̻̯̤̿̇̊̿̌̓͒͒̓̊̄͊̆͠a̷̢̗̦̩̩͓̠̥͍̖̝͉͗͘͜.̴̪͇͙̮̼̹͕̻́̒̒̾̐̽̈̓̔̎́̀̚͜͜ͅ.̸̼͉́́̈́̏̏̇̕.̷̛͈̻̎͑͌̽͐͛c̸̰̙̣̘̭̪̗̿͒̀͆̍̓͂̀̓̍̕͝o̶̧̡̳̺͇̦̪͖͑̐̄̊͊ń̸͙͖̜̳͇̜̹͖͜.̷̨̛̣̦̱͇͂͌͑́͛͘͜͝
Bendy squeezed his pie cut eyes shut, struggling to block out the jagged feeling the Ink Demon's words brought him, even as the inky skeletal creature continued to speak.
The Ink Demon raked the claws of its right hand against the wood, making its words come out sinister yet also light and playful at the same time. It was jarring.
Č̸̨̛̲̙̰̹̹̦̺̞̼̈́̈͂͒̃̆͊͒̒̈͑̕̕̚͠O̷̢̤͕͎͇͙͕͖̠͑̊̏M̶̡̧̨̲͇̣͙̯̟͚̤͓͉̺̰̗͖̪̤̹̻̙̦͔̗̥͐̑̐̄̔͌̐̒̔͜͜͜͜Ȩ̶̤͎̬̰͚̫͚̘̯͙͚͕̘̦̱̪̭͊́͌́̕̚͠ͅ ̵̡̣̯̭̲͕̥̮̝̮͔͍͎̱̣͕̻̼̙̺̦̩̤̱̤̮͔͊̍́͆̈́̈͒͌̿͊̂̍͑̈́̃̕͜͜͝͠ͅŎ̸̢̮̲̣͎̻̳̤̩͈̙̘̻̭͔͎̗̭̻̙̱͐͂̂̀͊̆̽̀̉̊̎̑̿̓̏̎̀̆̽̄̀̋͑̄͘͘͜͜͜͝ͅŲ̶̧̧̢̼̙̝͚̘̹̠͚͓̤̠̖̲̳̦̩͉̙̰̱̺̦̜̎̍͛͌ͅT̴̛͓̼̝̠͚̮͆̊͛͂̓̀̏̿̈́̂̈́͜͝ ̵̨͖͔͇͙͙̔̈́̊̈͊̎͋̊̊̍̾̈́̓͘Á̴̢̨̯̮̺̩̰̳̮͖͊̽̓͐̄͗̄̅͒̆̔̉͌̀͆͒̓̐̃̚̚͘͘͜͝ͅÑ̶̛͕̤̤͕͈̟̺̠̳͔̠̖̦̥̲́̈́̇́̏̾̌̒͂̎̒̅̉̚͘͘Ḑ̸̟̯͈͓́̈́͘͘ ̴̢̡̮͈͍̟͒̎͌̀̋̈́͗͊̐͂̈́̓̊̾͌̒̾́̕̚͘̚͜P̷̧̛̼̻̥̗̬̞̟̥̥̜͕͔̬͈̝̊̂̏̇̒̀̉͂̀̐̏͜͝L̶̢̖̬̥̘̖̼̭̠͎̠̦̦̫̫̝̞͎̩̘̫̈́͂̿̄̊̏̀̎̕͝ͅA̷͎̲͉̗̯̝̪̲̾͂̋͛͘͝Ý̶̦̣̺̹̞͓̩̮̜̰̼̫̜̠̙̈́̿͆͐͊̇̽͂̈́.̷̧̛̼͕̪͒͛̽̿̑̈́̽̐͂̃͂̃͘͠.̴̨̢̹̞̳̝̟̱̹̫̠̣̱̥̰̱̲̻̃̉̉̌̊̉̑̀̒̂̓́̀.̸͕̺̦̩͎͕͚̪̫̯̺̭͑́̋̈́̒̔̂̓̋̈́̅͑̽̉̂̂̅̒̈́̊̚͝ͅͅ
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A/N: Yeah, Henry, come out and play with the distorted inky creature. I'm sure it will be fine :)
I can read through the distorted stuff, but I am not sure if I need to tone it down? Also, I find it funny that despite the changes that are taking place as I write this story out further along, the summary is still accurate. Henry just happens to have more friends in the studio than he realizes, and therefore won't be violent to them (maybe a little at first, until Bendy convinces him otherwise-but not the crazy Alice).