Epilogue
3 Years Later
"Today marks the three year anniversary of the tragic earthquake that overtook Joey Drew Studios and claimed the lives of thirty-two people, including the resident Joey Drew Studios chairman and founder, Joey Drew himself," a radio announcer said. "As we look back on those claimed during the horrible event, we look back also with fond memories to the park that we all held so dear. Over the years, many individuals have come forward, asking if the park could ever rebuild, wondering if we'll ever get to relieve those wonderful childhood memories of Bendy, Boris, and Alice. But as per what was publicly announced in the reading of Joey Drew's will, the park, in the event of his death, was to be shut down permanently, with all savings and stock evenly distributed among the workers there. Respecting his wishes, many have since-"
Allison flicked the radio off. "Ugh. Even now the public can't stop kissing Joey's a-"
"Allison," Tom said, cutting her off with a grin.
She sighed and leaned back in her beach chair, the thick plastic strips stretching and pulling against her skin. "I know."
"We didn't move clear across the county to keep remembering what happened," Tom said. He reached over and took her hand, smiling. "Relax. We're at the beach for crying out loud."
"Tom, we come to the beach every weekend. It's in our backyard," she said, raising an eyebrow.
"And not a day goes by that I don't enjoy it," he said, kicking his feet up and pulling a hat over his eyes to block out the sun.
Allison chuckled, leaning back again herself and letting the sun's warmth wash over her. The rhythmic sound of the waves was calming. Seagulls called out overhead, eagerly looking for scraps of food, though they'd have better luck the further they went into town and the more tourists they found. Allison and Tom had moved to the coast nearly two years ago, right after Allison recovered and they received the money Joey had left them.
Allison didn't want to spend a damn dime of that man's money, the money that had caused people, including herself and Tom, to die and suffer, but Tom insisted that they could use it to get a fresh start. So. They bought a house on the coast, as far away from Joey Drew Studios as they possibly could, and let Allison's acting career pay for the rest. Archgate Films, astonishingly, was still willing to hire her after the whole fiasco.
Henry helped pull a few strings on that one. At least, that was her theory anyway. It hadn't taken Henry long at all to find another job, though he'd refused to be a cartoonist again. Instead, he coached budding apprentices to the craft, inspiring others to pursue their own dreams. He always reminded them the cost that such dreams could bring though. She appreciated that. There was nothing wrong with chasing after what you wanted, even Allison had done that. But actions had consequences that couldn't be turned away from.
Most of the other workers from the studio had taken their money and left, going to far off places, hoping for fresh starts, or to just build a foundation for themselves, live off that money for as long as they could. That's what Wally had done. He'd finally taken his own advice and gotten out of town. Last Allison had heard, he'd opened up his own janitorial cleaning company up in some big city, overseeing a hundred other men who all cleaned the offices and houses of the rich and wealthy. It wouldn't be long until Wally was one of them himself at this rate.
Whatever money of Joey's was leftover for Allison and Tom, after they bought the house, they donated to the loved ones of those who had died.
Sammy's brother. Susie's parents. Norman hadn't had much family. So Allison had taken a portion and created a filmography scholarship under his name for the local college. Specifically for the students interested in designing cameras, film, and film technology. It didn't feel like enough. But it felt like a start.
The guilt was something she hadn't been expecting. At least, not this strongly. It followed her everyday, like a shadow or a dog nipping at her heels. So many had died. People who had been far less involved than her had died.
Tom reached over again, pulling her from her thoughts, and touched her belly.
Geez, it had gotten quite big by now. She'd struggle to see her toes soon enough.
"Oh, oh! Felt a kick!" Tom said excitedly, and nearly fell out of his chair as he leaned over to get another feel. His happy grin was like an eager child, and Allison felt her heart soar a little at his genuine expression.
Allison laughed. "He's always kicking."
"He's a fighter," Tom said, and smiled up at her. "Musta got that from you."
Allison felt her guilt, her worries, drift away looking into her husband's eyes. It was always like that. For the both of them. There were bad days and good ones. There were things that would send each of them into a downward spiral. A sound, or a phrase. They'd both agreed to never buy a TV, even on the chance that they'd stumble upon a Bendy cartoon rerun. But no matter what, they had each other. The feeling of each other in their arms, brushing up against each other in the kitchen, sitting next to each other in the living room, or lying next to each other in bed. Every waking moment they had that wasn't at work, they could spend together. She'd been a little afraid that once life returned to normal, that maybe Tom and her wouldn't have worked. That maybe now that the chaos and uncertainty of life had slowed down, or even the guilt or memories associated with one another, would mar their relationship.
On the contrary, they had become each other's rock. Each other's escape.
And therapy, a LOT of therapy, had helped too.
She let Joey Drew pay for that.
Allison reached out and touched Tom's cheek. He still had some stubble, a bit of five o'clock shadow he hadn't shaved yet. That was fine with her. She kissed him, tasting a little bit of seawater and sun on his lips, basking in the warmth of the sunlight, and the sound of her own heartbeat. Sometimes it still didn't feel real. They were both scarred. A little broken. Pieces missing here and there. But the feel of his hand in hers was enough.
It had always been enough.
"Audrey," Henry said, knocking gently on the outside of her door. "Hey, dinner's gonna be ready soon, can I come in?"
"Sure dad," Audrey said, and Henry opened the door. Audrey turned to smile at him from her desk, a few stacks of homework piled up in the corner. Henry's heart swelled a little bit when he looked at her. It still didn't feel real how big she was. Already in second grade! It was such a strange thought.
"Working hard?" he asked. "You can always let me or your mother know if you need help with anything."
Audrey giggled. "Thanks dad, but I've got it covered. This stuff is easy! ...okay, math is a little hard, but I'm doing better every day! My teacher said I show 'much improvement!'"
Henry smiled and walked over to her. "You're a hard worker Audrey, but don't work yourself too hard. Why don't we take a trip next weekend? We can go to the movies if you'd like, after your ballet practice."
"Really?!" she asked, leaping up from her desk. "And you're coming to ballet too, right dad?"
"Have I missed one yet?" he asked, looking a little worried.
"No," she giggled. "I just like to know you'll always be there."
Henry wrapped his arms around Audrey in a hug. "I'm not going anywhere sweetheart."
After a few moments, Audrey pulled back. She looked up at Henry, and her smile wavered. "Hey...dad? The radio host said that today was the three year anniversary of...of what happened."
Henry tensed.
"...I know I was little. But...I don't want to forget. Okay?" she said. "It's important that I remember the bad stuff, and the good stuff too."
Henry sat down on her bed. It creaked a little under his weight, but was sturdy. He looked around her room. There were still a few Bendy posters in the corners. Faded, perhaps, but she'd insisted on keeping them up. He knew, tucked away in her closet, was a record player with old Bendy songs, and that if he turned on the TV in the living room, it would already be set to the channel that played reruns of the cartoons. Henry had tried to bury the memories of those days as far away from him as he could. Audrey had run toward them with open arms and enthusiasm. Even as she got older, and he told her more and more of what had really happened behind the scenes, she always wanted to know the full story. She always wanted to know more of the truth.
There were some things he still couldn't tell her. Not yet.
Hell, he still felt like there were things he was trying to figure out himself. Things he still couldn't make sense of, years later.
But the nightmares that tore him awake in the middle of the night had lessoned. His smile had slowly started to come back.
"I know you don't want to forget it all either," Audrey said. "Or we woulda moved like Aunt Allison and Uncle Tom."
"It's still hard, Audrey," Henry said. "There's a lot of my life that...wasn't great while I was there. There's a lot I'm still trying to heal from."
"Heal like Aunt Allison had to?" Audrey asked.
"No, not...not quite like that," Henry said. "There was good to that park. I won't deny that. There was good, and there was something that was worth fighting for. I...understand why Joey thought that he was in the right. But there was so much wrong too. Our dreams can't come at that expense. Chasing your dreams, making them come to life, those are all great things that everybody should strive for. But there is a cost that shouldn't be paid, a line that shouldn't be crossed. Joey did all of those things. What makes it hard, is that...well, I shared the same dream Joey had. I was his partner. His friend. I just didn't cross the line."
Audrey listened to her father. She'd heard parts of this speech before. But she still listened.
Henry stood back up and ruffled her hair. "Let's...not talk about anymore of that right now. Alright? Dinner's almost ready, so hurry down as soon as you can. We're having cheeseburgers!"
"Hey, dad?" Audrey said. Henry stopped in the doorway, glancing over his shoulder at her.
"Yes sweetheart?"
"I love you," she said.
Henry smiled. There it was. That light in his eyes that sometimes went away when he talked about the park. It could come back just as quickly with a few simple words. "Love you too." Henry left, and closed the door behind him.
Audrey sighed and flopped back down in her desk chair. She leaned her head on her hand, thinking over everything he had said, knowing the events of those years ago were still fresh in her mind, but someday, they might not be. She was getting older. Bigger. Learning new things. She didn't want to forget what happened at the park, even if some of the things were really, really scary. She still didn't want to forget. She had to keep remembering, to keep the good parts alive.
A pencil on her desk moved, rolling and falling to the floor.
She grinned and turned to look at her desk. "You can come out now. He's gone."
A small little blob shifted behind the stack of papers. Two horns. Pie-cut eyes. Gloves. And a wide smile. A tiny little Bendy, no bigger than two inches, walked out from behind the papers and hugged onto Audrey's hand. The little Bendy looked up at her hopefully.
"Sorry. I still don't think he's ready to know yet," she said. "And I don't want him to hurt you."
Bendy pouted, crossing his arms and turning his smile into a frown.
Audrey laughed. "Come on, you know I'd get in trouble too if he knew I snuck ink out that day! He even burned our CLOTHES from that day just in case there was any leftover ink on them! Come on, I'll draw something new up for you if you stop pouting! How about...an adventure in the jungle?!"
Bendy perked up immediately and started nodding his head up and down. Audrey giggled and grabbed an ink pen from her desk and a blank sheet of paper. She sketched out trees, jungle vines, exotic flowers and birds, a whole scenery. "Alright, hop in!"
Bendy wiggled, and then jumped onto the paper. He stuck to it instantly, morphing into a 2D form right before her eyes. She drew him a little safari hat. He grabbed it and put it on with a grin and a dance.
"Let's see what adventures we can have before dinner!" she said happily.
She'd tell her dad. Eventually...
But not yet.
And now, we've finally reached the end.
Honestly, thank you all for making it this far. I'm so glad you all had as much fun as I did with this story, and hopefully it helped fill the void a little bit until we get Bendy and the Dark Revival. This story was an absolute joy to write, and I loved developing all of the characters and situations.
That being said, I know it wasn't a perfect story. I've given a lot of thought into the parts of the story that I liked, and didn't like as much. The biggest one is Sigmund. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have included Sigmund in the story. Originally, I wanted to include him to give Joey a bit more redemption, sort of like, someone else was pulling the strings, Joey was just as much of a victim, yada yada yada. I wanted to have a bit more creative freedom with my ideas, and a villain that I could do whatever I wanted with. But as I continued to develop the story, Sigmund kind of just fell through. Instead of working in a new villain, I really spent the time developing Joey, working with his motives, his dreams, and making him what he was meant to be in the original Bendy and the Ink Machine game: a villain. If I go back and make some edits on this story eventually, (which I probably will) I'll remove him and add in more Joey content.
Other than that, I'm pretty satisfied with how the story ended up going. I'm happy with my ending, and I've had it all planned for quite some time. I hope you're all satisfied as well!
If there were any other notes about the story now that it's done, things you liked, things you thought didn't flow well, things you didn't like at all, missing plot points or plot holes, please don't hesitate to reach out and talk to me about them, either through a review or a private message. I won't take offense, I genuinely want to know ways that I can improve and grow. That's what FanFiction is, and always will be to me. It's a great way to test my writing, share what I can do, and get direct feedback. You all might not know it, but sometimes, your reviews actually GAVE me new ideas, helped me figure out the missing pieces. There would be times where I was trying to brainstorm plot points, get and read a review from one of you, and then go "AHA! That's it!"
So in closing, you all helped write this story too. I hope you look at it, maybe even reread it someday, and know that you were a part of the process. Even if you didn't leave a review, the fact that you clicked that link to read my story kept me going, and kept pushing me to improve, to get better and better.
Honestly. Thank you all so, so much.
I probably won't write any more fanfictions for a while. Feel free to follow me just in case, but I'm going to dedicate the rest of my time to finishing my novel and getting it published not on FanFiction, but in the big, scary, real world. If/when that happens and it gets published, I hope you'll support me then too.
Thanks everyone, for reading Welcome to Bendyland, and Return to Bendyland. Thanks for being there, for sharing your excitement, your worries, your tears, your laughter, all of it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
