GammaTron: ...Why is the studio flooded in ink?! *Rabbid in diving suit hands me a receipt before jumping into the ink and began to swim around in it* ...WHO ORDERED THE INK MACHINE?!
ZER0: *pokes out of an upper floor trapdoor* I just signed, I didn't turn the thing on.
GT: SZ, did you turn on that Ink Machine?
SZ: No. I didn't...wait. Who ordered it?!
Z0: I don't know*shrugs and falls into the pool of ink splashing everyone*
GT: *lowers umbrella* Well...I ain't getting in that stuff. I'll end up as some sorta ink thingy from the game.
Z0: *Pokes out like a hippopotamus* Well...this is a fine mess, since I'm sure I'm too insane to be effected...I'm gonna track everyone down in the building for funsies, bye~ *dives back down*
SZ:...uh...anyways...we don't own anything in this story aside from original stuff...wait..what was that sound..oh god...is Bendy in here?!...GT!
GT: *pulls out a spray gun filled with thinner* I got this.
Z0: *jumps out of the ink and pulls both my co-writers down, only to resurface a second later* Enjoy folks!
Kiriya and Yang rushed down the path that lead back towards the dorms. Both dressed for a night out on the town, having fun...and hitting a lot of people. Today was an especially good day. They made it back only...3 hours after curfew. Kiriya shushed Yang as he spotted Taiga walking the grounds to catch anyone stupid enough to do exactly what they were doing.
"You just had to do an encore fight?" Kiriya mumbled.
"What? Not my fault they touched the hair," Yang huffed.
"I tell you to try a different hairstyle where that happens less...but do you listen...Noooo!" he hissed, "It's always 'that's stupid' and 'shut up, Kiriya', or 'I'll punch your handsome face if you bring this up again'..." he rambled, trying and failing to copy Yang's voice with each quote/impression.
"You made that last one up."
"Tomato tomahto."
"Who the hell says 'tomahto'?"
"I do and so does your uncle since he taught me it."
"Oh did he?"
"Yes he d-"
"You know I can hear you two, right?" Taiga deadpanned, not once turning around to face them.
"...Look! Cardin's peeking on the room across from his!" Kiriya gasped, pointing upward.
"..." Taiga took out his Gashacon Magnum, "3...2…." he began counting.
"Um...Oh, shoot! Someone's in your office and holding up a jar with something blue in it!"
"Blue?!" Taiga panicked as he spun around to look at his office only to see no one in it, "..." '...I just had to order those contagious samples of a cold virus enhanced by Ice Dust to compare it to the Bugster virus strain…'
"I can't believe that worked!" Kiriya hissed as he and Yang ran for the back door, "He's probably gonna kill me tomorrow…"
"Oh massively…" Yang nodded, "...You wonder how the others are doing at the moment?"
"Probably busy studying," Kiriya guessed.
Emu and Ruby sat in the common room of their dorms floor as they watched a horror movie on the TV. Everyone else was there...but about a few minutes in, most had scrambled for cover from the horrors or had straight up passed out. Jaune was face first on the ground, foaming at the mouth from a jump scare by the way.
"He had the gun...but he used it as a bludgeon weapon despite the fact that there was three bullets left!" Ruby growled in annoyance at the misuse of a loaded gun.
"It's almost like a literal wasted Chekhov's Gun," Emu muttered, eating a handful of popcorn.
"Okay, who's bright idea was it to choose this movie?!" Weiss demanded.
"We offered you an out but Blake said it didn't look that bad." Ruby and Emu responded.
"Yes, but I didn't expect it to be GORY!" she argued.
"We gave you an out!" they both countered, "No one to blame but your own pride in your coolness."
"How are you both so good at that!?" Weiss demanded.
"We expected this and practiced." they high-fived.
"...Let's just change to a different movie…" Weiss sighed.
"Why? It…" Ruby and Emu began before a blood curdling scream went off on the screen, making them jump back and hug each other in surprise, "...let's change it."
"Why did it take so long for you two to be effected?" Weiss asked.
"Resident Evil…" both replied.
"I'll just...get rid of this." Blake said, taking the DVD out of the player before tossing it like a shuriken out the window.
"Ah man...now I have to pay to replace that…" Emu muttered.
"MM...well..we could try watching a full playthrough of a game?" Ruby suggested.
"Like what?"
"...Mmm…" Ruby muttered, pulling out her Scroll, "Roulette?"
"Mmmm, no. I'm going for a blind playthrough on that tomorrow," Emu replied.
"FNaF?"
"Too many games and too convoluted a hidden story."
"...Why not this one? Bendy and the Ink Machine?" Weiss asked, "It doesn't seem that bad."
"..."
"..."
"...what?"
"...okay...If that's what you want."
"...it's not that bad..right?"
Kiriya and Yang finally made it inside the dorm. Both were gasping for air as they used the stairs to further evade Taiga. But it was all worth it as they were...halfway...there.
"Why are there so many stairs!?" Yang complained.
"Oh will you just hurry up?!" Kiriya complained, "Yeah, I get it. You're a sprinter, not an endurance runner...cry me a river…"
"Can't you just carry me the rest of the way?"
"What? No, you're...I mean I'm too weak to carry you that far…"
"...Were you about to say that I'm fat?"
"What...no!" he said, "But you are a girl made of a lot of muscle compacted into a small frame…"
"..."
"...I should run now, shouldn't I?"
"..." Yang said nothing as she cracked her knuckles as her eyes turned to red.
"...oh geez!" Kiriya freaked as he ran up the stairs.
"...n..nothing's happening. The ink machine should be on, right?" Weiss asked.
"Wait for it," Emu spoke.
"Wait for 'it'? For wh-" Weiss began before she screamed in surprise, "WHAT THE?! What is that thing?!"
"Shh…" Emu said, "It's not even bad yet."
"Not that...an ink monster just tried to claw at the screen!" Weiss snapped.
"Yeah, that's kinda the point of the game." Emu replied.
"Silly Weiss..." Ruby laughed.
"You're not listening to me!"
"Yeah...must be real annoying…" Emu and Ruby replied.
"You did it again!"
"HIde me!" Kiriya freaked as he ran into the room.
"Yang's weight again?" Ruby deadpanned.
"Uh-huh…" he rapidly nodded in panic.
"Nora! Stuff him in the pantry again!" Ruby ordered.
"On it!" Nora saluted, grabbing Kiriya before rushing off.
"I think we bought him a night," Emu spoke at that.
"That's being generous if we're being honest." Pyrrha added.
"I heard that, Niko-ahh! Not so hard, Nora!...wait no! Not the hammer!"
"Get in there you!"
"Kiriya!" Yang's voice shouted from down the hall, followed by someone screaming in pain for getting in her path, "Next time I punch off your leg, bully boy!"
"...Oh she is livid," Ruby whispered.
"Any ideas to calm her down?" Emu asked.
"Give her what she wants," Ruby explained.
"That being you know who?"
"Eeyup."
"Ruby...Emu..sweet little sister and her friend..." Yang began as she focused her gaze on the two, "Where. Is. Kiriya?"
"He said something involving waffles in hearing range of Nora," Ren casually explained in his normal tone, "They went down the hall last I heard Kiriya's pleas for mercy and cheers that it wasn't you since he believes you can outdo Nora on punishments."
"Nora, hold him down!" Yang shouted running down the hall once more.
"Oh he is good…" everyone in the room complimented Ren.
"Oh please. You've not seen Nora on an exceptionally bad day." Ren countered.
"...I don't wanna know," as the collective response of everyone there upon hearing that.
"Ugh..damn kids…" Taiga muttered as he sat in his office, "One night...Can't there be one night where everything is normal? ...wait...I forgot what school I'm in…"
Taiga stopped as he heard a noise; it sounded like loud banging against the metal air ducts. This place didn't have any rodents...so that was impossible. So...what was it then? Taiga grabbed his gun as he stood up and looked at the vent next to the door to his office. Taiga flinched and froze as he heard what sounded like a person's pain-filled moan come from the vent. He slowly creeped closer towards it as the sounds got worse and worse. As he got to just under the vent, he jumped at the sound of the door opening.
"Hey, Do-AH!" Kiriya cried as bullets flew at him making him run, "Why does everyone want to kill me!?"
"Oh...it was just Kujo…" Taiga sighed as he put a hand to his chest, "I thought I was gonna have a heart attack...ugh...you're not that old yet, Taiga…" he spoke to himself, putting his weapon down. All the while, unaware of an eye watching him from the vent before it slithered off deeper into the skeletal structure of the building.
"...I'm half afraid you have this place stuffed with guns," Kiriya admitted, "Even a syringe gun."
"...That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Taiga deadpanned, "There'd be no way to fit a gun into a syringe."
"Knowing you, you'd find a way," Kiriya countered before yelping when he dodged a gunshot...from Taiga's pen, "..ha! I knew it!"
"That reminds me, why are you out after curfew?" Taiga demanded, making Kiriya freeze, "And there is the matter of Xiao Long as well…"
"She thinks I called her fat," Kiriya explained quickly.
"...Hide in the bed," Taiga replied, knowing full well the punishment a guy would receive from a Huntress for pointing out their weight.
"Wait...just like that?" Kiriya blinked, honestly shocked the so angry Taiga Hanaya, who often shot at him and his friends for sneezing, would help him.
"Have you seen a prideful Huntress come after you with her best? ...Yes, I wouldn't even wish that on my enemies," he admitted, "Well...okay, I've made a situation where such a thing has happened...but I regretted it after."
"You are one dangerous man, aren't you, teach?"
"Just hide before my Pity Well dries up," Taiga pointed.
"Hiding," was all Kiriya said as he dove under the bed.
"I better go find your partner in crime and see if detention will snap her out of her anger," Taiga sighed while walking out, "Last thing I need is that girl filling my office with idiots who got in her way."
"Like Cardin?"
"Oh come on. Like he's stupid enough to mess with…" he stopped mid-sentence, "Ugh…" he groaned, leaving as he closed the door.
"...three...two...one…" Kiriya began before he heard a faint shrill scream, "Ooh...right in the kiwis…I think it's safe to say he went from school bully to school buttmonkey."
"No, you're not doing it right, Weiss…" Ruby spoke as they kept playing.
"I'm trying my best here, Ruby. You.." Weiss began before the screen blackened, "...ugh...darn ink...monsters or whatever you are!"
"Yeah...you gotta be faster than that…"
"I still find it rather rude that they give me a gun and it just dissolves," Weiss huffed.
"Well, that's what happens when you pick the wrong path to go through," Ruby noted.
"Wrong path?!"
"Yeah, all the way in the beginning with the two paths? You picked the wrong one to get to keep the gun," Ruby replied.
"Ugh…!" Weiss groaned, "Curse you, game! Curse you and your multiple paths! Why can't they just be linear?!"
"...Remind me not to let you play a visual novel then," Emu noted, "Like Ace Attorney."
"Ace Attorney….you mean a game that revolves around the legal system?"
"Yes...but very colorful characters abound!" Emu laughed.
"And multiple endings based on if you win the last trial or fail it at different points," Ruby added, "And the fact the puzzles are hard to figure out at times."
"..."
"Seriously, you interrogate a bird in one game and a whale in another," Ruby noted.
"...I think I'll just go back to venting on these ink abominations," Weiss noted as she went back to the game.
"Sure, I'll just find my 3DS with all the games on it," Emu noted as he dug around his backpack.
"How many games can one backpack hold?" Blake argued as he held it upside down and dumped out several cases; she began opening them before finding a case which held several cartridges for said handheld system.
"Wouldn't that be better used to hold all your Gashats?" Ren asked.
"Nah...sides, I leave them on my desk when I don't need 'em." Emu smiled, "But always keep my Driver and Mighty Action X on me at all times."
"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.
"Same," Jaune replied, holding both up to prove it, "Though, I only have my belt and Taddle Quest. Here's hoping we'll get another Level 3 Gashat with the next Bugster."
"...wonder what the next Bugster will be based on?" Ruby couldn't help but ponder.
"Hopefully nothing from this game a-" Weiss began before her eye twitched, "...I am going to kill that so called angel!"
"Well you'll get the hang of it. It is all a matter of tactics and intellect after all." Emu smiled.
"It's not that! It's…"
"...Boris?"
"...mm...why'd he have to be so adorable~?!" Weiss whined.
"Weiss likes dogs...that's cute." Emu laughed goodnaturedly.
"Oh she would love Zwei~" Ruby squealed a bit.
"Zwei?" Blake repeated, a faint unease in her tone that no one really noticed.
"My and Yang's little corgi."
"A corgi...that sounds adorable." Emu muttered, "Why Zwei though?"
"Dad got the idea off his favorite show, they had a corgi named Ein," Ruby smiled.
"Ein and Zwei...One and Two….oh! I get it!" Emu realized, "...That's still adorable."
"Never underestimate the cuteness of a corgi."
"Yeah. Too bad he's at home with dad." Ruby sighed.
"Yeah...bad…" Blake muttered nervously.
"...you okay, Blake?"
"?! Wh..what makes you say that?"
"Well, your eyes are shifting around a bit."
"...just...heard something is all."
"In the middle of the night?"
"I think the game is getting to her as much as Weiss," Jaune replied.
"Oh, you blasted abomination of ink and camera!" Weiss snapped at the screen as if proving Jaune's point.
"The Projectionist?" Ruby guessed.
"Yes! Ugh, and I was almost to one of those blasted stations!" Weiss snapped, "...Okay. Finally got to one and-?! Oh no...don't you dare...don't you D-AHH! BENDY?!"
"This seems to be getting to you, Weiss. Why not take a break and let someone like Emu finish?" Pyrrha offered.
"...You better beat Alice for me," Weiss frowned as she stood up from her seat.
"Can't really promise that. You'll see the reason why at the end of the chapter," Emu replied as he was handed the controller over.
"Yeah! Go get 'em, Emu! Break Alice's legs for Boris!" Nora cheered.
"Alright alright…" Emu sighed deciding to indulge them for the time being.
"Blake, you sure you're okay?" Ruby asked, seeing her still a little on edge, "You act like you hear something about to jump scare us."
"...l-"
"Oi," Taiga spoke as he kicked the door down, holding a sleeping Yang over his shoulder, "Got a hotheaded blonde here...and you kids are still u-" he saw the screen and tensed a bit when he saw a faint glimpse of something on there, "?!"
"Uhm...Professor?" Emu blinked as he turned to face him, his hands still playing without his needing to look at the screen. This caused most of them to awe as his hands seemed to move autonomously.
"It's nothing…" Taiga got out before he tossed Yang at Ruby and Blake, who were unprepared for that, "Just get to bed within the next thirty minutes, or else you'll face a week of no games."
"...even if…"
"Even if they're part of an assignment," he added.
"I can finish before that…" Emu muttered, a depressed look on his face...his hands still moving and keeping the game going.
"How…" Weiss awed, seeing him focus on two things at once as he was.
"I always tended to do this...Mom hated it." Emu laughed, "But somehow I was able to play and do my homework at the same time."
"Emu, how could you do homework if both your hands are busy playing the game?" Jaune asked.
"Like this," Emu put the controller down on his leg and used one hand to control all the buttons while the other grabbed a book and opened it as he began writing in it.
"...that's dist-" Weiss began before seeing the screen, "...is...is that…"
"Yup…That's what she did to him."
"...end her."
"W-"
"END. HER."
"Roger!" Emu saluted before suddenly the power went out, "EH!?" he panicked.
"Oh come on!" Ruby whined.
"...that….I…" Weiss stutered, her eye twitching violently, "All that work...gone…"
"What happened to the power? There's no storm." Ren spoke as they used their scrolls to bring light to the room.
"Maybe something happened to the city power grid?" Jaune offered.
"Impossible. Beacon has its own generators and grid," Pyrrha said, "That means something happened to our own generators."
"Which is also impossible as they are hidden deep below ground where no one but faculty can enter. If someone broke in, then an alarm would have gone off." Emu added.
"...You think professor Hanya already knows?" Ruby asked.
"Why don't you ask him?" Taiga spoke from behind her.
"AH!" most everyone screamed as they jumped and huddled together.
Taiga lit a lighter that illuminated the room with light from its blue flame, "You all got it. The school has its own generator and system, and breaking in is nigh impossible...that is to say unless something can crawl in through the unprotected sections of a building: its internal structure."
"..."
"Before you ask, no. It can't be a Grimm. There's none small enough to sneak into the place undetected." Taiga argued, "At least none that are dangerous right off the bat…" he whispered to himself as he covered his mouth, "I need to find the teachers and figure out what has happened...as a security measure...all rooms are locked. Meaning….only you brats are not locked safely in your dorm rooms."
"Safely!? Why would we be locked in our rooms!?" Jaune panicked.
"Idiot." Taiga responded, "If something is strong enough to break into the inner sections of the school, then its too powerful for ordinary students. To keep them safe in such a situation, all classrooms and bedrooms lock on an automated system for 12 hours. This is to keep them safe and from becoming liabilities should things escalate into combat."
"Hoo boy…" Emu gulped.
"What?" Jaune asked.
"I remember Velvet telling me that Yatsuhashi has small issues with claustrophobia," Emu replied.
"Not small. A moderate claustrophobia," Taiga corrected, "...Which could be triggered if he tried the door to do something late at night for Coco."
"With any luck, most everyone is asleep by now," Emu spoke as he tried to focus himself, "We can worry about such specific problems after we find out what has happened…" he sighed.
"As much as I hate to say it, we can't separate until I find a safe place for you little idiots, so stick with me while I trekk across the locked down school to find the other faculty," Taiga ordered.
"Sure!" Ruby beamed, "So nobody split up! We don't want this to go all horror movie on us!"
"...There are horror movies?" Weiss asked.
"...Oh, you poor secluded dear of a snowflake," Nora noted in a tiny hint of pity.
"Hey!"
"This is not a horror movie," Taiga argued quickly, "Now come on."
"To be safe, everyone stick to your partner," Emu added, "Which...I don't have…"
"I guess our two veteran Kamen Riders can form a pair?" Nora offered.
"It does seem like the best choice. Both of you are experienced." Blake added.
"..." Taiga and Emu looked at each other at that, "Greaaaat…." both of them muttered awkwardly.
"Something tells me that's not a good combination." Jaune muttered.
"What was that?" Taiga asked, snapping attention towards him.
"Nothing!"
Kiriya grumbled randomness as he fell asleep after waiting so long. He rolled around and fell out of the bed. He shot up and looked around as he fumbled to put on his glasses. He did a quick sweep of the room before he sighed, seeing no Yang was here to murder him. He grabbed his jacket and moved to the door to open it...only to stop as his hand reached for the door knob. He froze in place as he felt something just outside the door.
"Not here either…" a distorted voice spoke as footsteps could be heard walking away.
"..." Kiriya said nothing as he gripped the door knob tightly, recognising the voice.
"Where could he be, I wonder…?"
"..." Kiriya backed away slightly as he hid himself, 'My Driver is still upstairs...how am I supposed to even survive a fight with someone without it...wait...there is one option.' he looked at the air vents.
"In here?" the voice asked as Genm opened the door to the infirmary but found it was empty, "Tsk…"
"You know...they make this look so easy in movies in games...but they never point out how hot it gets when the heaters on…" Kiriya complained, wiping sweat from his face as he crawled up the ventilation shaft, "Thankfully these riding gloves keep me from slipping…" he sighed happily. "Let's see…" he mumbled, comparing his mental map of the building's layout and where his room should comparably be compared to where he is now, "Ah had to get room near the top." he grunted climbing.
"Ugh...what happened?" Yang yawned as she began to wake up...to the sight of the others trying to break through the door, "...uh…"
"Oh good. You're awake, hothead." Taiga spoke, lifting her up by the collar of her shirt, "Break down the door or get a month's detention!"
"...move!"
"Huh? Yang wh-"
*BOOM!*
"...I said break it down! Not blast it! Two months!"
"Oh man…" Yang muttered before blinking, "...did the hallway get a new color...and new walls?"
"Oh, don't try to change the su…" Taiga began before looking out to see wooden floors, wooden walls, wooden ceilings, crates, scattered cans of bacon-flavored beans, and ink smeared on the walls, "..."
"Wow. How'd this happen?" Nora pondered as she picked up a can and sniffed it, "..." Nora opened the top and drank it.
"Nora!" Ren barked.
"What? It's delicious!" Nora argued.
"...Who was it again that tempted fate with Bendy and the Ink Machine being the next Bugster?" Emu asked.
"They are my new target dummy..." Taiga muttered, "Also, who and the what machine?" he asked unfamiliar with the game.
"Bendy and the Ink Machine," Weiss repeated, "Horror game."
"...and what exactly is a Bendy?"
"An old timey black and white cartoon character themed after a devil." Emu stated.
"...wh-" Taiga began before Nora showed him the can showing what Emu described, "?!"
"...prof-" Nora began when Taiga shot the can out of her hand, "Ahh!"
"Well that happened..." Jaune muttered.
"Professor...could it be…?" Emu began.
"Not...one...word…" he growled.
"Are you…?" Pyrrha began.
"Don't," Taiga growled, gun in hand and cocked.
"...Afraid of horror stuff?" Ruby blurted as a giant tick mark formed on Taiga's head, he put the gun away before his hand shot out and grabbed Ruby's head lifting her up as her arms and legs flailed in fear, "AH! I take it back! I take it back! Give! I give!"
"You better…" Taiga growled as he put her down, "...Wait. How can a little cartoon devil be in a horror game? That's contradicting!"
"Oh...well that's how he looks on paper...but in terms of reality…" Emu trailed off. Everyone then jumped as they heard footsteps running down a hall, "Ah...well...well kinda like...that." he pointed at the humanoid figure that ran off down one of the halls.
"..." Taiga took a moment to process what he saw with his much more powerful eyes.
"Professor?" Ruby asked waving a hand in front of his face.
"AH!" he screamed, running the opposite direction.
"Ah! Wait up!" Ruby yelped as she ran off via her Sembelence, leaving behind rose petals "No one gets split up or we all die!"
"Dang it...we can't afford to get separated into smaller groups…" Emu sighed, "Ren, Blake, you two are the next fastest...so can you go catch up with them?"
The two nodded as they ran off after the cookie lover and the shooting doctor.
"...Considering it all...Should we go straight to Level 2?" Jaune asked.
"No." Emu spoke, making him pale, "True, the Bugster is clearly fully developed, but the number one rule is never engage stupidly. If you engage, then all the monsters and threats will be activated. You need to observe and test how far you can stealth around. If we transform now...we'll just make the Bugster come right after us. That could be even worse given this game is not a heavily combative one."
"...How would that be worse?" Pyrrha asked.
"Bugsters tend to follow the rules of their games in interesting ways. Most of the bugsters we have met are on some level always combative and confrontational...But we've never dealt with a suspense driven horror game. The point of these games is to feel powerless...meaning the Bugster will manifest this as an ability to avoid damage," Emu explained, "It's only towards the climax where that rule is thrown away and confrontation is possible. Meaning our attacks could potentially be useless and we'd hand ourselves directly to the Bugster."
"So you're saying we need to...PLAY through 'till we get to a point where we can hurt it?" Jaune asked.
"Unless we had a Gashat that could mitigate that," Emu spoke.
"What Gashat could do that?" Jaune asked.
"Girigiri Chanbara," Emu explained, "A sword combat game which relies on reaction speed and prompts. In the game, it doesn't matter what defense your enemy has; if you get the timing right and land your attack, you'll get max damage every time. As it doesn't rely on regular combat, it means all of its attacks will land without problem and deal their maximum amount of damage. However it's one weakness is rather simple."
"What weakness?" Jaune asked.
"Dodge," Emu replied simply.
"Wait, that's it? Come on, anyone can...AH!" Jaune cried as Yang hit him, sending him flying down the hall.
"You didn't dodge~!" Yang smirked as they walked after him.
"Are you alright, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she was the first to him and helped him up.
"Ugh...I really hope my Gashat doesn't make dodging Yang's punches a sidequest," Jaune groaned...before gently knocking on the wooden wall before it fell over, exposing a cutout of a stick figure having a barbeque, "...What the heck is that supposed to be?"
"Oh, nice! Easter egg!" Emu beamed.
"It's almost as if we actually are in the game…" Weiss realized, "Emu, is that possible?"
"Some Bugsters can alter their environment to make it more beneficial to them…" Emu spoke.
"So we...are inside the game!?" Nora gasped.
"It would appear the Bugster has turned the hallways of the school into those of the game...thankfully it hasn't spread to the rooms for now." Emu nodded.
"...so any warnings?"
"...don't let Bendy get you."
"I hope Ruby and the others are okay." Pyrrha spoke as they kept walking.
"Let me out of this nuthouse!" Taiga shouted, kicking at a door.
"Professor!" Ruby shouted as she ran up to him, "Calm down! W..."
"Don't you tell me to calm down, little red riding hood! I am stuck in a literal horror game with a cartoon demon!" Taiga snapped.
"Ah-ha! So you admit!" Ruby declared before Taiga grabbed her head again, "Ah! I give! I give!"
"Ah…" Taiga grunted, letting her fall down, "It's...painful to admit…" he grunted turning away "I've...never been good with anything...conventionally scary."
"Conventionally?" Ruby blinked confused, "You mean the fake stuff? But wait...that doesn't make sense...you're the most intimidating….well most intimidating male teacher. Ms. Goodwitch is way more scary as the most intimidating female teacher." she rambled.
"It's my secret shame...along with the fact I actually lik-...forget you heard that last part." he quickly corrected himself.
"..."
"...wipe that smile of your face...don't...don't you dare think about hugging m-" Taiga began before Ruby glomped him, "...let go."
"Hehe...you like us." Ruby smiled backing away.
"I never said it…" he grumbled.
"But you did...that must mean you accept Emu and Jaune!" she smiled.
"...That's a different concept…" he sighed, "Let's focus on getting out of here...killing the Bugster...and then...getting an exorcist to clean this entire building."
"Can do, professor!" Ruby saluted as she released the hug.
"Will we need a young priest and an old priest?"
"GYAH!" both panicked and spun around, guns aimed at the stoic Ren and Blake.
"Don't shoot," Blake replied simply.
"...Tell anyone and I tell the secrets I've found out from both of you," Taiga simply said.
"...How..." Ren began to ask as Blake flinched.
"Two trays of pancakes and three jars of sap from the Forever Falls for each tray."
"..." 'NORA!' Ren mentally screamed while keeping a stoic expression.
"My Semblance lies in my eyes," Taiga spoke, "I have several forms of vision...no Ms. Rose...no heat vision." he cut her off before she could even talk,
"Aw…" Ruby pouted a little, "That'd be so cool, too…especially if you wore goggles with the lenses tinted with different Dusts for different effects..."
"Sadly, no...I just have telescopic, thermal, and mild X-Ray vision." Taiga shrugged.
"Mild X-ray?" Blake repeated.
"I can see through walls...but not clearly...everything just looks like a blur, but I can at least tell enemy locations," he muttered.
"Right. So where do we go from here?" Ren asked.
"Well...this reminds me of the second chapter," Ruby noted, "So there might be a soundstage with a projector." she looked around, "And be on the lookout for a guy made of ink in overalls and a Bendy mask. That's Sammy and he's insane and wants to knock us out and sacrifice us to Bendy...and likes to talk about sheep way too much."
"Get me out of this madness…." Taiga said simply.
"...Sheep?" Blake repeated.
"...What was in that can you drank earlier anyway?"
"Dunno. Tasted...baconey and beany," Nora shrugged.
"Why are you asking?" Pyrrha pondered.
"Because we're in a place with wooden floors and walls, and is practically dripping ink," Weiss pointed out, wiping a finger on the wall, "And the can happened to be opened...that would mean the contents inside either went bad, or got spoiled by dripping ink."
"Hm?" Nora pondered, mouthful of more bacon-flavored beans from another can.
"...Where's Ren when you need him?" Weiss groaned.
"He bweft with Bwake t-"
"Oh for...swallow!"
"Ren...you must have the strongest will power on earth," Emu complimented, "Either that or you really like her…" he chuckled.
"Achoo!" Ren sneezed suddenly.
"Bwah!" Ruby panicked, "Oh sorry, Ren...you rarely make noise so that spooked me...sorry if that sounded mean…"
'Honestly, this is Blake and Ren's job being ninja, not me…' Kiriya thought as he squeezed through the vents, "Okay...this is the right floor...and our room is due west of the stairs...so…" he grunted as began kicking the vent before jumping out, "I'm here...and...this isn't my room...it's Yang and Ruby's...Ah man!"
Kiriya went to the door and tried to open it before groaning. Locked shut, lockdown must have been in effect. Yes Kiriya knew of that, he wasn't that irresponsible. Well regardless he needed to get to his room. But how...wait Yang often knocked on the wall between their rooms to take them up. Kiriya ran over to a noticeable dent in the drywall which had probably been covered up by layers of paint to keep anyone from noticing. Kiriya grumbled before he walked over and began tossing around random junk from the room, he then pulled out a jar of Weiss's dust. He smirked, tossing it around in his hands before he yanked the top off with his teeth and tossed it at the wall.
"AH!" Taiga panicked as the building shook slightly, in his fear he jumped and landed in Ren's arms...and Ruby jumped into Blake's arms, "Was that Bendy?!"
"No. I think something exploded," Ren answered.
"Nora's fault probably…" Ruby noted.
-linebreak-
"Someone blew something up without me!" Nora whined.
"What could that even be?" Emu pondered.
"Maybe someone panicked with the lockdown and tried to blow their way out?" Pyrrha offered her best guess.
"I guess we need to at least find the Bugster before more people freak out." Emu agreed.
Kiriya coughed as he waved the dust from the explosion away from him, "Alright! That should've done something!" he looked to see a noticeable hole in the wall, sadly not big enough for more then his head, "...Right...building made for students with super-powers…" he looked around, "May need some more Dust then…" a sloppy, wet step of sorts made Kiriya pause, "...That wasn't my foot, was it?" he looked down to see nothing, "...Must be the reason for lockdown…" he moved away from the hole and peeked through it in time to see a humanoid creature made of ink with a crooked permanent smile walk past, "?!"
"Anyone else hear a terrified girl screaming?" Yang asked, "Cause...Jaune is right here…"
"Hey!"
"Did Jaune get scared again?" Ruby asked.
"No no...this voice sounds a few octaves lower than his." Blake corrected.
"Ah…" Kiriya cried his voice gone as he fell to the floor, 'Nightmare Fuel...what happened while I was napping? ...I don't know how but I blame Yang!...and Emu!' he took several moments to settle down, 'Okay...okay...that...that was messed up. That was some Resident Evil sh...that was a Bugster, wasn't it?...I called it. I freaking called it about a Horror Themed Bugster coming to be! But NOOOO! No one ever listens to the handsome smart sidekick guy who totally deserves to be the lead of his own spin off….and just my luck the day I'm all alone too.'
Kiriya say up and walked up to the hole before turning around and smirking at one of the desks in the room. He walked over and grabbed a length of ballistic black ribbon. He stretched it before swinging it and snagged one of Yang's back up Ember Celica, before yanking it into his hand. He smirked as an idea came to his mind.
"Oh, this is gonna work."
Emu lead the others down one of the halls. They had begun mapping their path since they realized this Bugster seemed to have altered the layout via its powers. Some halls closed off and others suddenly led down or up instead, making things confusing. It also seemed to make sudden new rooms within the halls, and likewise many of the items and key mechanics from the game where scattered around.
"...hate this game. I hate this game…" Weiss muttered in annoyance.
"We should be happy we haven't found him yet," Emu spoke calmly as he added a new path to the map.
"Yeah. I mean, we don't have anything to hurt him wi…" Jaune began before he went through a wall like it wasn't there, "What the heck is this?!" he yelped before he fell through it, "There's fake walls in this game that lead to some stick guy doing a barbecue?!"
"If this was the actual game, we could go back and double check for more…" Emu spoke, "But we don't have time, its barely Midnight, at best we have a few hours till some of the early risers wake up to their rooms being locked. We need to find the Bugster and progress to the point we can fight him...and then at the same time find and start up the generators again." he sighed, "It would need two teams...and we can't contact Ruby and the others."
"True..and last I recall, the only 'grunts' of this game were those little ink blob things," Jaune pointed out.
"...uh Jaune? I...think you forgot about the Butcher Gang," Emu sweatdropped.
"...oh…" Jaune pauled before a nearby poster was torn open, revealing a pair of deformed humanoid figure of sorts, along with a deformed spider-like creature, "...oh…"
"Say it and it happens...Dai-Henshin!" he shouted flashing into Ex-Aid as he moved up front and bashed the monsters with his breaker in hammer mode...but to almost no effect, "No good…" he realized as he kept them away from the others, "Back the way we came and take another path!" he ordered, switching to sword mode and slashing it to keep them at a distance.
"Ahh!" Jaune freaked as the group began to run away from the Butcher Gang.
Ex-Aid jumped back as he slotted one of his extra Gashats into his Gashacon Breaker.
=Shakariki Critical Finish!=
Ex-Aid slashed his sword as he sent a giant pink energy tire which struck the monsters with an explosion. They twitched about and regained their composure so to speak only for Ex-Aid and his friends to have already vanished.
"No good...not even a finisher can phase them at this stage…" Ex-Aid sighed, peeking around a corner as the monsters searched for them, "Combat really is pointless at this moment."
"...but wait. Those guys don't appear until chapter 3," Jaune realized, "How are they even here?"
"...oh dear. I don't think we're in chapter 2 guys…" Ex-Aid realized as he cautiously opened a nearby door, revealing a storage house with what looked like different theme park equipment, a sign with the words 'Bendy Land' with the word 'Land' replaced with 'hell' in ink over it, "...We're somewhere between Chapter 4 and 5."
"Yay! Theme park!" Nora beamed, about to rush in before Yang grabbed her, "Hey~!"
"Nora, remember where we are." Pyrrha sighed.
"This...is not my kind of Theme park…" Yang muttered.
"Who would this be the right theme park for!?" Weiss snapped.
"Shh!" Ex-Aid hissed at them, "I'm not about to die 'cause you don't know an indoor voice so again...Shh!"
"..."
"Good…" Ex-Aid nodded as he cautiously looked around, "...Seems we only have one switch to activate...meaning someone must've beat us to the punch."
"...But who exactly?"
"DIE ALREADY!" Snipe snapped, trying to shoot at an ink blob with a projector for a head.
"Professor...it's a horror game…" Ruby muttered, more scared of him then the monster.
"BURN!" he roared, inserting his Gashat into his Gashacon Magnum Rifle mode
=Bang Bang Critical Finish!=
He unleashed a powerful blue beam of energy which seemed to burn through the monster and scorch the hallway in front of them. However, the deafening roar of the monster rang through the hall as it charged at them.
"...Back to the hiding spot!" Snipe quickly ordered as they ran, "Seriously, how do they not see us when we go into the box?!"
"It doesn't make sense to be honest," Blake admitted.
"Ponder later! Hide!" Ruby shouted before they all dove into a large wooden box with a small window to view out of.
"...I hate this…" Snipe muttered, cramped between the girls and Ren before they all tensed, seeing the camera themed monster looking right in, "...no….don't you dare...don't you…!"
Before anything else could be said, the monster turned right...before it was brutally beaten up by Bendy before he tore its projection camera head clean off its inky body.
"?!" the four froze up at the sight. Bendy seemed to give a 'chuckle' when he looked at the four before picking up the headless body and walked off with it.
"...Ms. Rose, Ms. Belladonna, Mr. Ren...what the actual fuck was that?" Snipe whispered, horror in his voice with his visible eye a pure white.
"That...that was Bendy," Ruby answered nervously.
"I see…" Snipe noted, "...Do you think if we offer him Arc, he'll let us live?"
"Professor…"
"I am literally terrified right now! Do not test me!" Snipe hissed, "Or I will offer you to him!"
"Aren't you supposed to protect us!?" Ruby cried.
"Right now...I just want to go to sleep and get yelled at by Glynda for letting this happen. Now come on..there should be one more switch left to open the door..."
"...Oh it must be in the Demon carousel room then…" Ruby realized with a gulp.
"The what room?"
"Why are you guys making me do this?!" Brave LV2 asked, standing before a table..in front of a large carousel with giant metal 'claws' made from seats for the ride.
"Because you have a shield!" Yang replied.
"That, and the boss only activates when you turn the recorder on," Ex-Aid added.
"Oh...sure. Make me the scapegoat," Brave muttered as he pressed play on the recorder.
=The biggest park ever built, a centerfold of attractions. Each one, more grand than the one before it= a voice said form the recorder =...It makes my eyes come to tears at the thought. But then...oh Mister Drew...for all your talk of dreams, you are the true architect behind so many nightmares...I built this park. It was to be a masterpiece! My masterpiece!=
"Wow. This Drew guy must have did a big no-no to have the guy on the line be this mad," Nora noted, "...Did he eat the guy's pancakes or…" she gasped, "...ruin them by putting the butter on after the syrup?"
"...Ugh…" Weiss facepalmed at that.
"Now I'm hungry…" Yang muttered.
=And now you think you can just throw me out?! Trample me to the dust and forget me? No! This is my park! My glory!= the voice continued before the carousel began to move =You may think I have gone…= a compartment then opened up...revealing a large human male's head as the 'arms' and 'claws' began to move =But I'm still here!=
"I know this is important to the plot...but I've played the games already…" Ex-Aid muttered.
"But it's still freaky!" Brave exclaimed...while trying to run from the swinging arms, "Also help~!"
"Block!" Ex-Aid ordered as Brave used his shield to block a swing.
"Whoa…"
"Sword, Ice mode, swing low!" Ex-Aid ordered once more.
"How?! It has no feet!" Brave argued before being knocked aside by one of the arms.
"Just do it!" Ex-Aid barked, "Or Nora will finally get to 'help' in our training sessions!"
"?!" Brave tensed before barely ducking under a swing and jumped aside a slam, a few of the screws in it glowing as it tried to move, "...Weak points!" he realized before managing to strike both, causing the arm to fall off...and making the machine malfunction a bit and start to wildly swing its arms around the small room, "AHH! BAD IDEA! GOOD BUT BAD IDEA!"
"Stay calm and fight!" Ex-Aid ordered, crossing his arms, "If you can't focus in a fight like this, how will you save people when it counts most?! Pyrrha and I have shown you how to swing your sword...now Swing!"
"Wow...teacher Emu is intense…" Yang muttered.
"One of them has to. Pyrrha is too nice when they train." Nora pointed out.
"I beg your pardon?" Pyrrha blinked at that.
"You do tend to...coddle him at times," Weiss pointed out.
"And then me, Weiss, or Kiriya has to put it blunt when you try not to discourage him depending on if we're practicing," Yang added.
"It takes a gentle touch to teach as well as harsh." Ex-Aid replied, "I consider it as training a member for my team before a tournament...And my team never loses." he said with an intense glint to his eyes.
"Speaking of said 'team,' you think Kiriya's okay?" Nora asked.
"Ow...I...am not okay…" Kiriya groaned, smoke wafting off his twitching form as he looked at the hole that had been Team Ruby's door and a pile of molten metal that had been Yang's weapon and Blake's spare ribbon, "But...I'm free…" he groaned, holding up his Gamer Driver and putting it on, "And I'm ready to, hopefully, not be the comedic relief in horror movies who dies horribly…"
=BAKUSOU BIKE!=
"If anything...that's Brave Boy's duty...Hensin." with that he ran through the character select screen as he changed to level 1. He turned a corner before opening his belt, "2nd gear!"
=LEVEL UP!=
Lazer raced down the hall, rushing past any monster in his way as he began taking any and every turn speeding through the halls.
"Just wait guys...I'll catch up in no time…" he huffed, knocking over a monster as he took a sharp turn.
"I...I'm done!" Brave groaned, using his sword to keep from falling over.
"You could have finished five minutes sooner." Ex-Aid spoke, walking up to him as he revealed his health bar screen turned into a stopwatch mode.
"You...you're a slave driver of a team leader…"
"I strive to win." he chuckled, slapping his shoulder.
The head gurgled within the carousel, all of its arms either frozen and broken, or melted and broken. It was about to give one last groan before a bullet shot it, causing it to slump as the opening closed.
"? Who..."
"Fuck no. I'm not dealing with that," the group turned to see Snipe, the barrel of his weapon smoking, "Now you two, switch..now."
"Why is Ruby tied up?"
"She is a sacrifice if we encounter Bendy," Snipe replied.
"WHAT?!" Yang exclaimed.
"She said something he didn't take kindly to on the way here," Ren sighed as he found the switch.
"That and it was just after we found a weird cutout of a stick figure on a beach in a secret room behind a fake wall," Blake added.
"Wait, what? It was having a cook out when I found it," Brave noted.
"...okay. If all the switches are activated, we can leave this hellpark," Snipe stated.
"But..that door leads to the haunted house ride," Ex-Aid pointed out.
"...I-I'm sorry...HAUNTED house ride?!" Snipe exclaimed, "...when this Bugster is done, I want all copies of this game destroyed."
"It's…"
"ALL….COPIES!" Snipe roared.
"...I get the feeling this is something that happens often and why there was a list of horror game titles pinned to your office door," Weiss noted before Snipe tied her up and dropped her beside Ruby.
"Just in case one sacrifice fails to satisfy the demon," Snipe informed.
"WHAT?!"
"Ahh...damn ink...ruining my treads…" Lazer muttered, having switched back to LV1 as he waded through a path of ink, "Damn Meatly for making a game based on ink...damn company made from the success of this letting Kuroto put it out for Genm Corp causing it to be added to the list of Bugsters…damn Brave Boy for eating my pudding cup…" he paused, "Oh no, wait. That was Nora." he continued after a moment, "...Damn him still for not stopping her."
A trio of gurgled roars went off as the Butcher Gang bursted from the ink.
"...and damn you, annoying Butcher Gang!" Lazer snapped, about to attack them before…
"Stop."
"...Ahh skidmarks…" Lazer muttered as the Butcher Gang stopped, partign a bit to let Genm walk through, "As if one black demon was bad enough…"
"Well, well. If it isn't Ex-Aid's bike. How did you get unchained from your parking spot, hm?"
"Let's say I 'blew' the door open," Lazer countered, "So what brings you here, Fake-aid?"
"I'm here to test the new aspect to Bugsters: their own game field," he explained, waving a hand out to everything, "As you can see, Bendy has extended his game field around the school, making it his game."
"Yeah. Real charming, too," Lazer noted, sarcasm heavy in his voice, "Now where are my friends?"
"Friends...heh. You talk as if you actually care about them," Genm chuckled, the Butcher Gang mimicking him...before he smacked all three upside the head, "Shaddup, ya morons."
"Huh...If there wasn't a third one, you'd be the Three Stooges," Lazer noted, "Now where at they?"
"They are progressing to the final confrontation," he explained before he pulled out a black Gashat, "They don't know that Bendy doesn't have this empowering him. It's still in my hands." he said, holding up Girigiri Chanbara, "The key to beating Bendy. Without this, they can't land solid hits to hope to best him."
"They can still show him 'The End,'" Lazer noted before Genm held up a film reel with the title 'THE END' on it, "Oh now that's just cheating…"
"Hey. It would be a shame to end it so soon, so I just...evened the playing field," Genm chuckled, the Butcher Gang mimicking him once more...before he smacked them again, "I said shaddup, ya morons! I'm trying to be intimidating here!"
"You failed that when you lost your cool the last time and told us your name," Lazer deadpanned.
"Well aren't you mister clever." he sighed, "Well what's it gonna be here? I want you to show them your true nature, Kujo Kiriya."
"You mean that I'm an opportunist and a liar."
"Exactly. You look for any moment to sleaze your way in...using people in the process to get what you want," Genm stated with a chuckle, "It's how you got Brave to finally transform, after all."
"I'm not letting you win…" Lazer spoke simply, "You're gonna pay for what you've done. I'll see to it myself that you go down for everyone you've hurt. Even if I'm hated and alone...as long as you lose...then I'm fine with that."
"Tch. Even now you're being stubborn. Alright then. Boys, sic 'em," Genm ordered.
"Crap!" he panicked, running from the Butcher Gang, "I forgot about the goons! ...Wait. If they're anything like the ones from those old timey cartoons..." he quickly looked around before spotting something, "Perfect!"
The Butcher Gang roared as they chased Lazer before making a turn with him...before stopping to see he was holding a large board with a nail in lead Butcher Gang goon screamed, as if it was saying 'look out! He has a board with a nail in it!' before they all fled.
"Oh Luck, you are a lady and I love you…" he sighed happily. He then heard the most horrified scream ever in the distance, "Jaune! Emu! Other male friend! And many girls I'm sure dig me!" he panicked, running towards the noise.
"...Oh that poor fool. He forg-" Genm began before looking at his hand...seeing Girigiri Chanbara was missing, "..wait. How did he…" he slowly glared at the now shivering Butcher Gang, "One of you grabbed it while I wasn't looking...didn't you?" they pointed at one another, "..." he punted the trio into the ink-filled room and watched them scream as they dissolved into it, "Next Bugster that projects their Game Field? I'm going to use the bosses from it as henchmen."
"Ahh!" Ex-Aid and Brave screamed as they were held up by Bendy.
"Emu/Jaune!" the girls gasped.
"S͏̴o͜͡...y҉ou͟ ̧͘͜th͢o̕͞u͢gḩ́͜t̷͘ ͝you ̸͟͡couļd ́͏́wi̶n t̛͝h̸͘ì̧͘ş̡́ ̵̡́g̀͠ame? Th̷̡at̢̛ ́͠͠ý̛͡ou̢ ̵͢c̡̛͏oul̨͡d end ̢͝͡oư̴͞ŕ̨͏ ҉͟lit̢́͡t͘le̷̛͟ ͢͞s̡̛͠h̢ów?"̢̀ Bendy gave a gurgled chuckled as he held up the Two Riders, "̨Ǵ̵̨uess͏̨ ́͏ą̸͘ǵain, s͠weet̶͜͝ń͘͞ę́҉s͜ś͏!-!"
"Guys!" Yang shouted.
"Our...swords just move through him!" Ex-Aid grunted trying to stab at Bendy only for his blade to get stuck in him, "It's no good...we need tools from the game…"
"̶̀Tḩ̷̛e ͘҉In̢͡k͢ ma҉̷çh̵̨̛in̕͟e.͝.̧͢͝.is̶͝ ̡͢͝e̷̶͟ver͠ f͟l̵͜͏ow͡ing…̴̨͢"̢̨ Bendy gurgled as he began to bulk up, spines beginning to grow out of his back, "͘҉W̶͢͠e̸͘ a̡re̵̢͏ ̨alive..."͢͝͞ ink began to cover his face entirely...before it began to open, revealing rows of sharp teeth, "͠W̏ͯ̿ͭ̐͋͒e̮͙̓̂…̼̣̜̭ͪͪͧͥ͝.̼̗͎͉͍̻̼̗̱̊̂̊ͤ̊̐̆ͧ̈.̷̻͚̬̆̋ͪa͓̦̥̙͈͇̩ͥͥͫ̄̐̎͊r͙̞̟̲͔̟̱͖̫̫̍͂̋̊̎ͮ̆̓ͫ̅̿͢͜ͅeͨ͆͛̄̉̅̐͏̵̫͎͕̯͈͙̬͞…̶̧̞͔̟̣̳̟͚̇͑̃́̏͊̐́.̸̨B̿̌̈̔̏̂E̅͒͘҉N̝̦̥͔̈͑͒̚D̮͇̭̣͇̠Yͪ͌ͧͦ!̨ͥ͌͊͗͏͡-̨̝̙͔͉͙̻͔͇͇̜͌̇ͬ̔͊ͤ͒ͥ̐̐ͤͅ!̢̩̻̦͕̮͉͜-̷̡!͍͔̙̯̺̟̹̮̘̗̮̽̐́̐͐ͮ̎̏̑̍̿͘-̺ͮ!͈̣̼̤̯͉̯̦͔͙͍̲͓̤̅̔ͬ̎͒̏͛͋̄ͣ̄́͛ͬ"̩͇̞̖̟͎̹̟͓̦̲̓̾̅̌̆ͣ̓ͣ͒ͧ͒̈ͅ
"AH!" Brave screamed.
"Professor please, wake up!" Ruby shouted, shaking Snipe...who had long since passed out while still in his armor, foam leaking from the bottom of his helmet as his lone eye was completely blank.
"Make it stop…." he grumbled.
"Please it's not cheesy scary anymore! It's actually scary!" Ruby panicked.
"There's no film reel with titled 'The End' anywhere near here," Blake noted, looking around, "Ruby, you're sure it's called 'The End'?"
"Yes! It was supposed to be on the throne!" Ruby shouted.
"Then what happened to it?!" Weiss snapped.
"...Someone must have taken it," Pyrrha whispered in realization.
"Oh come on!" Yang snapped, "What can we do now?!"
"Ask and you shall receive!" Kiriya's voice called out.
"Kiriya!" Yang called out, looking around before Lazer slammed into Bendy's in LV2...ending up halfway stuck in his belly and poking out the other side.
"...No one say 'Get in mah belly,'" Lazer deadpanned. His rear tire began going at full force as he disrupted the ink entrapping him, Bendy groaned in annoyance before Lazer finally freed himself. He came to a stop in front of Yang, "Look, I get you're maybe still upset over the weight joke, but right now we need to save our goobers...wait, why is Snipe passed out...what happened to him?...wait. Is...is he afraid of horror games?"
"..."
"AHAHAHAHAHA! Oh this is amazing! I got…!"
"KIRIYA!" Weiss snapped.
"Why are you tied up?"
"Second sacrifice, but Bendy ignored Ruby to grab them," Ren replied.
"Ahhh…." Lazer tried not to laugh, "AHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed lifting up onto his rear wheel as he spun around, "Oh...oh my god…oh that is amazing…"
"Seriously dude, help!" Ex-Aid and Brave screamed, being repeatedly slammed into the ground by Bendy.
"Oh right! Ruby, you and the others go try and shut the machine off! I'll deal with tall, dark, and inky here!" Lazer stated.
"How?!"
"Yang, I need you to help me level up." he explained as he motioned to his Gashat slot and the new black one stored on it.
"...You got a new one?" Yang blinked.
"I pickpocketed it off Shadow-Aid. Jerk took all the in game items to finish the game," he explained, "I kinda have no hands here and I need to distract him so the belt can load up the data. So...wanna go for a ride?"
"But I don't have an immunity to it like you guys," Yang reminded, "So when I click it, won't I get infected?"
"Yeah, I know that's a possibility…" he sighed, "But right now is the moment where I become useful. So...I'm asking if your willing to gamble with me here."
"...If this results in me becoming a Rider, I am so showing you boys up later," Yang stated as she climbed on.
"With your powers, I'm willing to bet you won't even need it…" he sighed his eyes emoting frustration.
"Alrighty then, let's do this!" Yang declared before holding up the Gashat and clicking it.
=GIRI GIRI CHANBARA!=
"Hm?" Ren looked at the screen that popped up, "Huh...lucky find."
"Oi, Emo Blob! Down here! Ever think of actual color? I mean come on, man. Black and white? How old school hipster can you get?" Lazer taunted, driving around Bendy. He skid around several strikes, "Come on, I know you move only five frames per minute but you can do better than that!"
Bendy roared, dropping the two captive Riders before chasing after the bike, making long strides with his massive arms.
"...Okay...I know that it's terrifying beyond a lot we've seen...but that just reminds me of Mugshot from Sly Cooper," Brave noted.
"Oh my god thank you!" Ex-Aid shouted at that.
"Um...who and what?" Pyrrha and Weiss asked.
"Blasphemy!" Ex-Aid snapped at them.
"I've got the original PS2 games in our room," Brave noted.
"We're strapping them into chairs and having them play them once this is done," Ex-Aid informed.
"Agreed," Brave nodded as the two fist bumped, "...Why not strap to a couch?"
"Because you can slip out of that. I've done it before."
"Oh…"
"What can of worms have we opened?" Weiss muttered.
"I've asked that to myself many times since Jaune and Emu bonded over using video games as training," Pyrrha admitted.
"Coming through!" Yang shouted, running over another ink minion as Bendy chased them, "So how does this work? I mean, do I just close it and put it in? Or when I close it, will you go back to Level 1?"
"Close then Insert fast." he explained, swerving around several monsters, "Then open and with luck...Lazer...Level 3!"
"With luck!?"
"It's not like I've tested the result it'll have...For all I know, I'll turn into an armored lion or tiger or something…"
"...That'd be badass."
"...Huh. You're right it would be badass. ...Let's do it!"
"Come on, armored tiger!" Yang whooped, clicking it again.
=GIRI GIRI CHANBARA!=
Bendy roared as he turned the corner only for a black and gold robotic creature to slam into his face, knocking him into a wall. Yang blinked twice as she looked at the creature and then at the Gashat. It was a black and gold armored little golem robot with long arms ending in giant fists.
"...Phooey. It's not a tiger. It's a demon," Yang noted.
"Just open the belt so we can kill this nightmare fuel on roids," Lazer complained, shaking his head.
"Okay, okay," Yang replied before closing the belt, plugging the Gashat in, and opening it.
=GACCHAN! LEVEL UP! Bakusou Dokusou Gekisou Bousou Bakusou Bike! A Gacha! Giri-Giri-Giri-Giri Chambara!=
With that, the tires ejected as Lazer's body lifted up and forced Yang to slide off and land on her rear. The new support Gamer split apart as its arms folded around into legs, the legs flipped around and aligned as arms, its mask lifted off and floated over the new human-like helmet which extended from Lazer's new torso. It all locked into place as Lazer groaned feeling his new form out, his golden shoes tapping the ground as he raised his armored hand to his neck. A flame patterned Samurai mask covering his helmet, as the torso of the Gamer armor and his tail pipe formed into an armored skirt around his waist.
"...YES! Finally!" Lazer beamed after looking at himself, "Now I won't have to mostly rely on Lv1 to move around and fight!"
"Wow. That's pretty awesome," Yang noted, looking him over, "Got a biker gang demon look to ya now."
"I dig the Samurai look myself," Lazer cheered as a summon circle formed around him and he grabbed an app.
=GASHACON SPARROW!=
In his hands was a unique bow-like weapon. It had a long bladed edge with two 'arrows' made up of pink spike tips and bike handle like extensions. It seemed to be held like a knuckle duster via the secondary handle as both arms of the bow where serrated blades. It was, of course, colored in bright yellow and pink to match Lazer's primary colors.
"Oh...a bow...and…" he tapped the A button as it split into twin scythes, "Oh double sickles, not bad."
"Nice. Now…" Yang began before they heard Bendy roar, "Go kick his ass!"
"Leave it to me. Time for me to do the ass kicking today, ah and no epic club music in the background like last time you got to cut loose." he laughed charging and slashing, each time his blades cut one of the ink monsters…
HIT!
'Hit' would appear above them and they'd be cut through as if solid. Lazer roared, slashing through them without mercy. Lazer roared swinging around and slashing through them before charging swinging and stabbing the blades into two which he lifted up and used like blunt clubs to beat their friends. He spun around and slashed with both blades clearing five of them at once.
"Wow, he's actually damaging them," Yang noted in surprise.
"Girigiri Chanbara is a hit or miss game. Since they don't dodge, my attacks always hit with 100 percent accuracy and power!" he declared, slashing in an arc and clearing out the smaller monsters. "That means no more room for escape." he cheered while hitting the B Button, he began swinging as he left serrated cutting streaks in the air and began hacking at Bendy, making him roar in pain.
"All right! Show him what you can do!" Yang cheered before jumping back from another minion trying to grab her, "Hey! Lay off, ya slimy gunk of ink!" she punted it away from her and into Lazer's cutting path to destroy.
Bendy roared slamming at the ground where Lazer was only for him to jump side to side and avoid each strike. He reconnected his weapon to its bow form as he aimed and fired two energy arrows. Each one embedding itself in the Bugsters semi-solid form...before exploding raining ink all around. Lazer grunted tapping the B button before he aimed and fired. Unleashing more powerful arrows surrounded in rings of energy which tore through Bendy's body.
"Alright, I think we're done with being in this place," Lazer noted separating the Gashacon Sparrow again, "And since I got two Gashats, might as well use 'em!" he did another slash, knocking Bendy away, before pulling out Bakusou Bike and plugged it into his new weapon before plugging Girigiri Chabara into his finisher slot.
=Bakusou Girigiri Critical Finish Strike!=
Lazer grunted as he began swinging his twin scythes sending yellow energy circular saw blades flying at Bendy and tearing through his body. Lazer then crossed his arms as the blades circled around and cut back through Bendy and...crashed right into Lazer making him grunt. Yang blinked as Lazer bega absorbing the energy of his weapon attack into the golden crest on his mask. He then grunted, stomping his foot and the crest unleashed a powerful blast of golden flames which swallowed Bendy up. Bendy screeched as sparks raced off him until he finally collapsed, exploding violently.
=GAME CLEAR!=
The regular flash of data washed over the area replacing it with usual surroundings. Lazer chuckled happily as everything returned to normal leaving him and Yang outside the dorms.
"AH!" Ex-Aid and Brave cried while falling to the ground, "We're okay!"
"Wait a minute…" Ren blinked, looking around, "Isn't this...the locker rooms?"
"You mean we somehow ended up all the way on the other side of campus!?" Ex-Aid shouted.
"I think Professor Hanaya's still out of it," Pyrhha noted, stopping Nora from poking the still-downed Snipe with a stick.
"Ev-evil...cartoon…b-burn...all...animation…" Snipe twitched.
"It's over, sir," Blake noted.
"Did the sacrifices work?"
"No," Blake replied.
"Rats. Still stuck with them."
"Hey!" said 'sacrifices' exclaimed.
"You know what you did…" he grumbled, "Regardless...who saved us...please...tell me it wasn't Arc…"
"...It was Kiriya and Yang."
"...At least it wasn't Arc."
"Aw come on…" Brave muttered.
"You know what you did."
"I didn't do anything!"
"You know...what...you...did." he repeated, aiming his gun at his head.
"Ugh…" Ex-Aid groaned before he began running off.
"Emu?"
"Still need to fix the generator...betting I might have a better shot at it," he replied.
"Oh right...forgot about that," Ruby remembered, "Wait...oh shoot!"
"What?"
"Kiriya has a new Gashat...which means a new form...which means he must have a new weapon and I didn't get to see it in action~!" Ruby whined.
"..." Pyrrha, Blake, and Ren all facepalmed.
"Ruby, I would smack you upside the head for skewed priorities, but I am currently tied up," Weiss deadpanned.
"Oh right...someone should untie her…" Snipe muttered as they looked at him, "What? ...Don't look at me. I need to find Ozpin and the other faculty and talk about how this happened...then do paperwork for why I allowed you brats to follow me around...so thanks a lot."
"You're welcome!" Nora smiled.
"Sarcasm, Nora," Ren stated.
"Well aside from losing the Gashat, this was a success in Bugsters creating their own Game Field," Genm noted.
On the screen, Bowser moved away from the pile of ink that sprayed down from above into a puddle. Fulgore moved to prod the puddle before it popped up into Bendy in his cartoon state.
=Rawr? Rah-rah-rawr?=
=I don't have a tail. That's just fan stuff= Bendy huffed before looking around =Yeesh...This place is more blank than an empty drawing board. Hey! Boss man! Can we get some paint in here or something?= his stomach rumbled =And some bacon and bean soup?=
"I love it!" Parad shouted rushing to the screen, "It's like a dream! Can we keep him?"
=Yeesh. And I thought Alice was a bit clingy dat one time=
=Rawr rawr?=
=Oh nothing big guy. Let's just say it involved those Butcher Gang mooks, a love potion, and an attempt t' stuff me in a hole=
=Rawr…= Bowser nodded.
"Okay..I'm back from a meeting w-" Torchwick began as he walked in, blinking upon seeing Bendy on the screen, "...Um...what is that?"
=Holy smokes! It's Michael Mcdowell! I loves yer woik in a Clockwoik Orange!=
"...I do not know who that is, but I feel...complimented somehow?"
"Oh for the…" Genm sighed before looking at his available Gashat and pulled out one, "Parad, find a game for this one to integrate with."
"Hmm...maybe this one…" Parad muttered as he looked through another screen, showing purple mushroom-like aliens.
=RAWR! Ruh uh! Ruh uh!= Bowser quickly shook his head.
"Wh….on second thought no~~~" Parad quickly closed the window showing the creature upon realizing his mistake.
"...um…" Torchiwck began.
"Think the Grimm, only with enough intelligence to control UFOs, mutation research, and with only destruction of all things pure and good in mind."
"Ah...Next game then?" Torchwick suggested as he looked at the Gashat, "Maybe something complimenting the game like you did with the metal knight in there."
=So cool~! Mcdowell knows ya!= Bendy awed at Fulgore...who merely stood there =...Hey...Hey! Is dere anyone in dere?= he climbed up onto Fulgore's shoulder and tapped on Fulgore's helmet =Hey~! I'm talkin' here!=
=Rawr rawr…=
=Eh? He can't talk? ...What kind of mook forgets t' build a speech pattern in a robot?!=
"It can't be helped...all he thinks about is carnage and destruction," Parad smirked, "Just look at his eyes...you can just see the fire of violence."
=...Yeesh. Duly noted…= Bendy cringed, hopping off Fulgore's shoulder and walked away =...If youse guys are lookin' fer another game ta use...why not dat game staring dat Cuphead guy I've hoid about?=
"Yes….." Parad said as a smile began to grow on his face, "All of the Yes!"
"Just so you know, we're lacking in mooks at the moment," Torchwick noted, "And all the ones we have at the moment? They all heard the latest attempt was a flop and immediately went on out of city jobs to gather stuff for the big operations."
"So you volunteer?" Parad asked.
=No= Graphite informed as he walked up to the screen, showing he was repaired =If you don't mind, I think I have an idea. Some of your mooks reported that a Family Day is approaching that academy, right?=
"Well yeah," Torchwick replied, "Even got a list just yesterday."
=Show me= Graphite ordered as the orange-head held up his scroll =...Heh. I have a plan=
"Ooh...he's inspired...I like when he's inspired," Parad smiled happily, "It's also rather violent...so...if you guys want to hide out with me 'till the smoke clears?" he offered the other Bugsters within the giant computer.
=We's goin' back t' th' place I jest got my butt whooped in, right? Count me in! Changin' it all was good an' all, but dere was some stuff I wanted ta look at...like da goils' changing room~=
=Rrrrr~= Bowser growled excitedly with Bendy.
"Why are they excited for a girl's changing room?" Parad asked.
"It's not my job to teach him that...get the Witch to teach him," Graphite growled as he reformed while rolling his shoulders before reverting to his human form and taking the Bugvisor loaded with the viruses he needed.
"Ugh...I am never going to underestimate spooky stuff…" Nora mumbled as Team JNPR finally got to their room to sleep after the three teams had informed Professor Ozpin of what happened and getting the day off due to them being up the entire night, "Renny...pancakes?"
Ren sighed, producing a pink cooking apron with green trim from thin air, "Of course."
"Even when tired, she's still all for pancakes…" Pyrrha noted.
"Wouldn't be Nora without it," Jaune noted before his scroll buzzed, "...That better not be Ruby wanting to borrow the Gashacon Sword or Crocea Mors again."
"No, it's fair to say...she's occupied." Pyrrha said.
"NOOOO~!" Kiriya cried, holding his Gashacon Sparrow up and out of Ruby's reach as they sped by the open door to Team JNPR's room, "Mine! Mine! I just got it!"
"JUST LET ME TASTE IT!"
"Ruby, what is wrong with you?!"
"Yang, stop playing that chase music and take this seriously!" Weiss snapped as Ruby's teammates and Emu ran after the two.
"This is not relaxing at all!" Emu shouted, "Kiriya, just let her see it!"
"NEVAH! Did you forget when you let her borrow Gashacon Breaker?!"
"...Ruby, get away from the Gashacon Sparrow!"
"To be fair, his turns into double Scythes…" Nora muttered, "And we know how Ruby is about scythes."
"And his doubles as a bow and arrow!" Ruby quickly added, trying to reach for the mentioned weapon, "Come on give it~!"
"NOOOOO~!"
Ren closed the door and locked it, "Let's not get involved."
"Right…" Jaune agreed as he pulled his scroll out, "Huh. A message. Who'd send me a…" he froze.
"Fearless Leader?" Nora asked.
"Jaune? Is...everything okay?" Pyrrha asked as she walked over to him.
"Jaune?" Ren blinked, seeing this, "Are you okay?"
They began waving their hands in front of his face. Nora took this moment to take a permanent marker to said face, while Pyrrha just took his scroll and read what made him freeze up like this.
"...So what's wrong?" Nora asked.
"His family's coming for Family Day next week," Pyrrha replied.
"Yippee?" Nora asked, given what this caused to him.
"...Not...really," Jaune cringed, snapping out of it.
"Come again?" Ren blinked.
Jaune looked at Pyrrha. The red-head gave him a look and motioned to them. He cringed, but nodded and sighed. He turned to look at Nora and Ren, the former bouncing a little as the other just looked at Jaune with his normal expression.
"Can we all agree that since we're a team, we shouldn't keep secrets that might be detrimental to our team?" Jaune asked.
"What did you do?" Ren bluntly asked.
"Is it about your fake transcripts?" Nora innocently asked, causing all three to look at her so fast that a slight crack went off at their neck areas, "...Was I not supposed to be sneaky with Kiriya and look at transcripts during my last detention with Ms. Goodwitch when she left the room because of a third-year's weapon malfunctioning and blowing up a wall?"
"Fake transcripts?" Ren repeated, looking at Jaune.
Jaune got the distinct feeling there'd be no rest for them.
GT: Well...this is bad.
SZ: Indeed…
Z0: Things are getting awkward for our poor Brave Boy.
GT: Yep. So...preview!
Jikai, Ex-Aid Grimm Eclipse!
Emu: Wait...you didn't tell your parents?
Jaune: We were allowed to?
?-?-?: Hey, Juney.
Yang: 'Juney?'
Kiriya: When did the forest get a casino?
Graphite: You want them? Then beat us both, Brave. Any outside interference and...heh.
Jaune: What?!
?-?-? Sorry. House rules, kiddo. But your fellows can enjoy the other festivities.
Game 9: To the beat of the Dice!
Brave: Moving to the Third Quest.
Z0: Yay! Brave focused chapter time!
GT: It'll be good development for him, too.
SZ: Oh yeah.