Disclaimer: And... now it all goes to hell. This was definitely an interesting chapter to write, given we get some new material never seen in the Bendy story.

GoldGuardian2418: It is, isn't it? Adding Dot-no one saw coming. I wanted to include some of the book for a while, and here we go. As for Kate-not Katie, by the way. That's just Nicky's childhood name for her-you'll just have to wait and see.

Briar 4: Oh, I've seen those. It's cool to see how much the design's changed from the first game. This story will definitely end before BATDR comes out, but I'd like to do something with that material. Nicky and Mugman have their ghosts, but between the trio, Cuphead's worse. He's terrified that something will happen to him, Mugman, or Nicky. She might get hurt, or that the human won't ever come back to the Isles. And then Dice is worried something will happen to Nicky, for obvious reasons. Kate is even worse. She's flat-out traumatized, not admitting it to herself until it's too late. The box thing will be answered in this chapter. It's not anything huge, but it does tie back into the Calix Animi. As for Dot, I take it you haven't read the Dreams Come to Life back? She's one of the main characters. Another studio worker.

I don't own Bendy or Cuphead.

"Speaking"

Thinking

"Reading and 'Inky's' speech"

The New York Botanical Garden. I had visited it twice in the past. Once when my dad took me on a trip to the city, the other was when Kate and I were still on good terms with each other. It was... things were simpler back then. A lot nicer, I thought, climbing out of the car. Flashes of smiling faces, accompanied by giggling children swept through my mind, and I gave a small shake of my head to dismiss them.

I had to be back in my classes by tomorrow. Time should be fine for that. However, it was my parents that had me the most concerned. Henry passed along my number as well as Kate's to a stranger. Stranger to me. Apparently not to him. Did this mean this Dot woman was a former worker for Drew? She had to be. Possibly one of the few that got out, given what those tapes seem to suggest. Focus, Nick. Snapping out of my daze long enough to hand the woman behind the counter several bills, I mumbled a quick "keep the change" before continuing onward. Forgot how expensive this place is.

Uncle Henry... Kate was a lot like him. True, she was a lot louder than him, but they both had a habit of getting into messes. Could be a family thing. I'm guilty of that too. He must've had a hunch one of us would go back to the studio. I could... see why it being me would be more likely. Why on earth she would go back was beyond reason.

But knowing him, he must've had a hunch that I would go there. Mom or dad must've told them that I up and went. Pieced it together from there. I took in a deep breath, sighing as the scent of flowers met me. It was such a pleasant change. No ink, no death. I was surrounded by life now. In a world of color. Though, I clearly looked out of place. I wasn't drenched in it, but there were spots of ink on my clothes and skin. Droplets that even with my best attempt, still found a way to get on me.

"Well, well... I was hoping I would see you. You look a lot like Henry." A tap on my shoulder, and I spun around to meet the voice. She was short, an inch or so smaller than me. Her wavy blonde hair was speckled in grey streaks, and she peered at me through black cat-eye glasses. A knowing smile crossed her face, and the woman held her hand out. "Dorothy Jones."

"Nicole Iwerks. But let's stick with Dot and Nicky. I don't do full names." Look like Henry, huh? Mom and him were pretty similar in appearances, which was why when we were younger, Katie and I were mistaken for siblings quite a bit. She and Henry had their parents' brown eyes, but they got grandma's black hair. Grandpa had very dark brown kept in a buzz cut that slowly thinned and vanished over the years.

"Neither do I. I think we'll get along swell." She motioned with a wave of her hand, and off we went through the sea of flowers and plants. Her dark blue skirt swished at her ankles, and by habit, Dot adjusted the brown cardigan around her, covering a white button-up. "Where were you when I called you?"

"Take a guess," I shrugged. "You probably have the right idea."

Dot sighed. "I was hoping I was wrong." She sat down on a stone bench, looking up at me. "Won't you?" I sat down. It was odd, how quickly we dove into the conversation. But I was in a rush, and it was clear that Dot wanted to speak her mind. Tell her story to someone who would listen. "I was there, in the beginning. Henry had already left the studio, and things started to go downhill shortly before Buddy joined."

"Buddy?" I heard it. The name held longing, and pain. A victim. "... were you two close?"

"I would like to think we were good friends," Dot said with a bittersweet smile. "He managed to get me out of there, but Buddy... h-he..." I placed a hand on her arm, giving a small squeeze. She never finished her words, only giving a small sniff before reaching up to dab at her eyes. "S-sorry, it's... even after thirty years, it's still there."

"Joey did a lot of bad things." She nodded. "... my cousin was an unknowing victim."

She turned to me, my words capturing her attention. "She's still-?"

"Human... I think." Was she? Her mind's not all there, and that ink always on her hands... "i-it doesn't matter. What happened after you got out? Didn't you tell the others what was going on?"

"No one listened," she grumbled. "You would think that the studio being run in the 1980's, women would've been more appreciative. Joey... sexist pig. He only wanted female workers outside of the voice department to make himself look good. It was as though his mind was trapped in the era his cartoons were based in."

"So you just distanced yourself," I said, trying to put together the vague past she was laying out before me. "And any contact you had with people just kept getting smaller and smaller."

"Until it was only myself, Henry... and I believe Wally." She gave a small laugh, one that wasn't so sad. "He always did say he'd get out of there."

A silence crept around us. I listened, to the water running through a stream around the plants, and the excited laughter of children near their parents as they walked through the flowers. "... I was a writing intern. Buddy's counterpart, since he worked with the animators," Dot said eventually. "I think he and Henry would have gotten along quite well."

And now... we come down to the real truth of the matter. "Dot... why did you call me?"

"I had to know..." her fingers curled around her skirt, bunching it up under her knuckles. "A few weeks ago, Joey had somehow tracked me down. He knew I wasn't coming back, no matter what he said... but then he told me things. How his attempt to send Henry to fix his mistakes-he blamed the man for this, saying it was both their faults-ended with his daughter going instead. So he went to the studio to see for himself."

"He went back," I mumbled, half paying attention to her words, and half trying to picture Kate going through what I thought was her time inside. How long though? Days. It had to have been more than a week she was trapped inside. If she fell down that hole I saw at the start, and I was right in her being at the very bottom floor, then she had made a ton of progress by herself. It took a long time to climb down, but that was a straight route and with a few drops. Any other way would be taking you through a maze. This all overlapped with my time in Inkwell.

"And he found something quite unusual when he got there. A Boris with a mechanical arm, an Alice Angel with a machete, an ink drenched woman with horns, and a perfect Bendy... one that didn't try to kill-" wait. Wait!

"Wait-h-hold up!" I held up a hand, shaking it frantically as her words sank into my brain. "You said horns. You're-you are talking about another Alice, right?"

"No one... told you?" Told me, she... Kate had horns. Ink hands, trauma, jumpy-oh god. That was it. The final nail in the coffin. She really wasn't human. Kate-she... she was an ink creature. She was put through the machine. B-but how? Why!? Who did that to her!? "Nicky?" My cousin's part demonic toon.

I swatted at her hand as it reached for my shoulder, finally looking at her with an expression of confused terror. "My family knew about this and never told me?" That was why everything was kept it a secret. That was why at the start of my call attempts, I could never reach her. Kate, she... she died. The childish, cartoon-loving girl I had grown up with died. And I-I never knew.

... hmm? I reached up and rested my fingers on my cheek, and felt damp skin. Tears. I was... I was really that upset over this, wasn't I? Of course you are, Nick. You got your trust broken. Again. ".. Dot, I... I think I need to go." I stood up, brushing a strand of hair out of my paling face. "Right now."

"Of course." The middle-aged woman nodded, her face grim. "I saw myself what the ink could do to a person, Nicky. If you didn't notice anything, then either she is excellent at hiding it, or the ink hasn't taken hold of her mind." Her eyes closed, and Dot shook her head. Bad memories. Even if it had been years, decades, she was haunted by stuff that Kate similarly experienced. "Sammy tried to kill us, after ingesting the ink. Thought that monster was his savior... I doubt he ever got out."

I gave my own slow nod, letting her final words settle in, before taking my leave towards the gardens' exit. Mind. Ink corrupted the physical and mental state. This explains so much. Where her friends came from-or at least Allison and Tom-those tapes I found, Kate's appearance... those fingernails were claws, weren't they? Her eyes... I pulled my key out, hitting the button as the vehicle came into view. ... she wore those glasses for a reason. Her eyes, and the eyes of those skeletal beings, they had to match. They had to. Why else would she choose to have them tinted?

I didn't bother sitting in the front. I was out of the time. I had to leave for the Isles now. Climbing into the back, away from prying eyes, I slid my bag off my back and began to shuffle through when I paused. Right... this. I took the toon package out from the packed contents and rested it on my lap. My urgency was there, right at the surface, but... my cursed curiosity was pulling me from it. What exactly did you give me, Dice? Protection, he had said. I was certainly on edge in the studio, but not once had I given thought to opening it. "What do you think, Jack?" The excitable chirps from my pocket were more than enough to say 'yes, have a look.' Giving a quick and nervous laugh, I undid the purple tie and let it fall beside me. The paper was unfolded, and a simple white box met me. "Okay then... what do we have here?" I grabbed the sides and lifted the lid off, peering around it to see the contents. "... hmm?" This... isn't what I was expecting.

Protection. I thought it would've been more cards, an actual weapon-a potion, perhaps. This wasn't any of those. It was a headband. A thick one, with black plastic on the inside, and wrapped in a burgundy cloth that matched my dress. If that was it, I would've thought Dice just gave me additional armor. I knew toon clothing was tougher to damage than clothing from the real world. It was a simple accessory to what I already had.

The small white and burgundy bendy straw at the right side of the headband, rising up and twisting to resemble a heart said otherwise.

Tracing a finger along the plastic, it didn't take a genius to know this was the same type of straw Cuphead and Mugman had. Where did Dice get this? Did he make it? I frowned, and brought the headband up to my curls, securing it in place. It was comfortable, incredibly so. It didn't pinch the sides of my head at all. I'll check in a mirror later. Not in the vehicle, no. I didn't want people to possibly spot me wearing this. "Alright, Jack. We gotta go." Find Kate, and confront her-gently. I had to do it gently.

I brought Inkwell's book out, flipping through the pages with one hand and closing the bag shut with the other. I better be careful explaining to her what I know. Who knows how her state could've changed since I last... saw..."what the...?"

"Come to the casino, Nicky. I'm afraid something's happened.

Elder Kettle."

The storage room was a place, I had come to learn, that not many toons went to. Besides the occasional fetching of clothing for special events, or new materials for the casino floor, it was empty. Quiet, safe, and alone.

...

As alone as... one could get. It was... really cold. Even with me being right above the depths of Hell, I was freezing. Really, Inky. Just go away, please. It's all in my my head. Wish the... ink was. It was everywhere now. That one night-it... it was there. Everywhere I was-dripping. Staining the floor with each step. I knew Dice knew. Why else would he have gone out in search of me so early in the morning? To be honest, it... I wouldn't have put it past Cole to have told him to keep an eye on me. Even with that distance, she still tries to keep an eye on me. It's... bittersweet. Sweet how she still cared, even a little, and bitter that she chose to do this without telling me. That there was still this wall there.

I hated the wall.

...?

And oh man, did I hate this. Being awake was a blessing. I knew I wasn't trapped in a machine, and wasn't being choked by ink. I was free from that terror. Yet my mind was still focused on other things. Whether or not I was human, if I was a toon. The whispers and screams, and my behavior overall. "... am I a monster, Inky?" My grip around my folded legs tightened, bundling myself further into a ball. Hope. Savior. Was anything of that true? I got only three people out. I didn't help anyone else. Allison and Tom still died, and were still toons. I got myself killed and became... this! What did stopping the Ink Demon accomplish, really?

Everyone's turned into toons or monsters. Lost to the ink machine. What 'saving' was there? Cold... very cold. The ink clung to me, snaking around my arms, hugging me close and further trapping myself in my position. So many are people still trapped, and... Boris.

...

Warmth. Where was it? How did I find it last time, in the void? Hope... savior... Inky's right. They're right. Lies. Lies lies lies lies. Over and over and over. I'm not anyone's hope. I didn't rescue them. Darkness always around me-close. Too close. Too close!

A ding like a bulb, and my eyes widened behind the tinted glass as a sea of black fell like a curtain over my face. "I'm the demon now", and the light of the world died out in a burst of sparks.

"Boss, really. Something is goin' on with that gal-"

"Don't tell me stuff I already know, Dice." His hands tightened in fists, and his footfalls were more loud, echoing against the empty hall. You'd always know if he was angry or not, dependin' on how loud his walking was. "No dame acts like that without good reason. And it's clear that she wasn't aware of her actions."

It's been two weeks though. I didn't bother sayin' it aloud. The boss didn't need to be any more wound up. It was small at first, the changes, but even with his limited appearances on the floor even he noticed her cousin's declining attitude. How she tended to hug herself around people, constantly looking around like she was being watched. An abnormally low appetite-low... when was the last time I saw her eat anything?

And then... there was the ink. Droplets at first, that I would find on the casino floor. It took a while until I realized it all came back to two people. That floating-headed imp, and her. The question was: why? How come she was dripping ink? Boss, what're you hidin' from me this time? "Don't be sighing, Dice." Shoulders stiffened at the attention, and a glimpse of yellow met me as he slightly turned his head. "Why are you so hung up over her anyway?"

"Doll wanted me to keep an eye on her. Is that a crime?" She put a lot of faith in me, to keep her safe. Something that I knew she didn't bother goin' to the boys with... heh. Nice, that was. Havin' her trust me enough to ask that. She hadn't fully forgiven me, but that wall she'd built was slowly coming down again. "Any word on those friends of hers?"

"That strange demon is somewhere out of sight. The others are out working." Devil growled, and finally turned his head enough to face me. Fangs were curled in an annoyed snarl, and his hands were clenched in fists. "She didn't bother showin' her face at all today."

"Don't be blamin' yourself, boss. Pretty sure whatever's haunting her is out of our hands." The Painted Spoon. She was... really not herself when I found her. Lost in her mind, and stained in black. The same black that was all over the floor wherever she moved. "But if I may be blunt and speak my mind-"

"When don't you do that?"

"-whatever is going on with Miss Bowens might be far outside of your control." He growled at my words, and I waited for his head to turn around before rolling my eyes. "... she ain't human, boss. Far from whatever Nicky currently is with our ink flowing through her veins."

"Corrupted, I'd call it. I know black magic, Dice, and that girl and those toons are covered in it. But her and Bendy even more so." I shrugged, not entirely dismissive, but more focused on locating said woman. She should be around here somewhere-"Dice."

"Hmm?" A hand reached back to wrap around my wrist, and I was pulled ahead to stand alongside him. Oh... ink. It wasn't just droplets either. It was a tiny river, running down the hall, and where it was the strongest was a door at the end of the hall. One I had gone to quite often for the elder woman. "The storage room."

"Yep." We ran, throwing the previous calm walk aside, and not botherin' to consider any attention we might've attracted. Skidding to a stop in front of the door, the boss' grey hand wrapped around the handle and ripped it open, nearly taking it off the hinges.

Dark. The storage room was dark. Even with the light of the hallway creeping in, it was swallowed up. That wasn't what concerned me. What did, was where the trails of ink flowed from. Slivering across the floor, leading to a huddled object sitting just a few feet from us in the center of the mess. It's coming from it. The ink dripped from th-oh no. "... Kate?"

The bundle stiffened, and slowly, lifted its head up to stare at us. Bright, glowing orange eyes stared back, masked by threads of dripping ink that fell like webs over her sockets. "... get the brothers."

Had I not been right next to him, I might've missed the harsh whisper. "Boss?" Movement around the face, and her mouth opened wide. Was it her mouth? She was covered in so much ink, I wasn't quite sure where the liquid stopped and she began. A flash, and with a startled cry I was shoved backwards into the bright hallway. A trident brimming with magic was held defensively, and Devil stood between me and the young woman. Low growling filled the air, and it took not even a second to realize that it was not coming from the ruler of Inkwell Hell. "Dev-!"

"AAAHHHHH!"

There were slow chapters, and I tried my best to help build up to this moment. I... don't think I did the greatest job. I could've had done more to stretch this out, but I kept considering the time between the real and cartoon world, and tried to match that. Which resulted in this mess of a chapter and the last two. The Inkwell bits in this chapter overlapped with what was going on with Nicky, so in our next chapter, everyone's on the same page again.

At the same time, I was really excited to finally bring in someone from the Bendy book. I knew I wanted to add Dot for a long time. And if anyone is wondering, I kept 'Inky's' speech hidden because it really emphasizes that it is all in Kate's head. No one else can hear him other than her. But at the end there... leave that up to you, to debate on who was speaking? Kate, or Inky, or both.

Until next time!

Angel