AN: This does take place after New Day New Challenges and while that series is still in progress, all the important plot stories have already been posted.

It was a quiet peaceful night, with a new moon allowing all the stars nearby to glitter brighter. But within the Stein household. Henry tossed and turned in his bed. Sweat beaded his forehead as memories and visions of the horrors he faced in the Studio plagued his mind. He eventually awoke with a gasp, though he kept his eyes firmly close fearing he'd see the sketched walls of his old workshop turned prison. Taking deep breaths, Henry used his other senses to ground himself to the world around him, the soft sheets and bed bean the his finger, the comforting and warm weight of Linda bedside him, the smell of flowers from the garden outside with only the barest hint of ink that comes from having a house full of toons. Calming down, Henry became aware of the sound of soft footsteps coming towards his side of the bed.

"Bendy?" Henry whispered, wondering if the little Ink Demon had seen his negative emotions and had come to see what was wrong. Opening his eyes, Henry did not see the little toon, but a much taller figure, one wearing a disturbingly familiar Bendy mask.

"Sammy?" Henry asked in concern and slightly worrying, sitting up slightly and preparing himself in the likely event Sammy was suffering a relapse. Sammy looked strange. The ink stains on his skin seemed to have grown and were glistening as if they were made of fresh ink while there seemed to be a sight glow from behind Sammy's mask.

"Sheep…Sheep…Sheep… It's time for sleep," Sammy said as the "Prophet", his voice distorted. Sammy raised his arms and Henry could see the slight gleam of an ax in his hands. Henry reacted instantly and rolled to the other side of the bed, barely avoiding the ax cutting into the mattress where he had been and starling Linda awake.

"Henry? What's going-" Linda wasn't able to finish her question as Henry jumped to his feet and pulled her with him.

"Sammy's suffering a relapse," Henry explained as he grabbed one of the axes he had hidden in his room (a habit he was now grateful he hadn't been able to kick) and turned to face Sammy, standing protectively in front of Linda.

"I'm going to wipe that smile right off of your face," Sammy growled as he charged at Henry, holding his ax high before bringing it down towards Henry's head. Henry blocked Sammy's ax with his own and kicked the ink man, sending Sammy stumbling back.

"Come on," Henry said, using this chance to lead Linda out of the room. "Hopefully Boris can…"

"Well if it isn't my little errand boy…" a sickeningly sweet voice said, making Henry's blood run cold. Henry and Linda looked to the side to see Alice and Boris standing not far down the hall from them. Alice's right eye was glowing brightly, while the left one had lost the familiar yellow dot and was dripping ink. The scar on her cheek seemed to have expanded while a new one had appeared across her throat, both dripping ink. Her halo, which normally glowed and floated slightly above her head, was dull and sunk in slightly into her hair on one side.

But even more disturbing than Alice was Boris. One eye was glowing brightly while the other was 'X'ed out and dripping ink. His hands were far larger than normal and there seemed to be ink dripping from an unseen wound on his chest, bits of white that could only be bone poking out through his fur. Henry couldn't help but be filled with fear and concern at seeing his toons in this twisted state. Relapses could sometimes cause slight alterations to the toon suffering from it, but never to this horrifying extent. Added to the fact that they rarely had several people from relapses at the same time, Henry knew that there was something very very wrong…

Unfortunately, Henry didn't have time to figure what was going on as Alice gave him a malicious smile and said, "Meet the new and improved Boris! Boris, tear him apart! Leave nothing!"

Boris let out a roar which seemed to shake the house and charged forward with thundering footsteps. Henry pulled Linda to the side and Boris went barreling past them, crashing into Sammy and causing them both to fall farther into Henry and Linda's room. Henry grabbed the surprised Alice and threw her into the room as well, slamming the door behind her. Henry could hear Alice screeching in anger and Sammy shouting, but Henry paid it no mind. He took Linda by the hand and hurried away from the three currently very dangerous ink creatures.

"What's going on?" Linda asked in worry, staying close to Henry as they went. "I've never seen them like that, even when they've relapsed."

"This is not a normal relapse," Henry replied, leading them downstairs as quickly as they could. "I don't know what's going on, but we have to get out of here. We're only going to be killed if we stay with so many…"

A loud screech cut Henry off and the couple was blinded as a bright light shown upon them. Relying on pure instinct, Henry pulled Linda to the side, feeling a breeze as they escaped the Projectionist's grasp. Henry's heart skipped a beat as he realized he and Linda were now trapped in the living room with nowhere to escape. He pushed Linda behind him, both backing up against the far wall as the light of the Projectionist came through the doorway.

The Projectionist let out another screech and started to charge again when the room suddenly got a lot darker. inky shadows spread across every surface as a giant black portal began to appear on the wall, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Henry felt his heart begin to race as he watched the portal grow to full size.

The Ink Demon had arrived…