Retreat
The Ink Devil came out of his portal into a small ally way between houses a couple of buildings away from his home. As soon as they were safely through, the Ink Devil set the couple down and backed away from them until his back hit the opposite wall. His arms were wrapped around himself while his wings twitched, seeming to be stuck between wanting to wrap the Ink Devil in a protective cocoon and flying away. His tail lashed around behind him while his eye pulsed, dimming and glowing brightly randomly.
"Bendy?" Henry asked carefully, taking only a small step forward. Henry had seen Bendy take this exact same pose before during the last loop in the studio. Right after Henry had destroyed all the cutouts, Bendy had been trying to hold himself back from attacking Henry. Bendy had failed to initially stop himself then and Henry really hoped the Ink Devil wouldn't fail now as he was so much stronger than in the studio and Linda was now a very easy target.
"…Stay…stay back…" Bendy said, flinching away from Henry and wrapping his wings around himself.
"Bendy…" Henry said calmly, taking another step closer to Bendy while Linda watched the two anxiously. "I know you're fighting against whatever is affecting you and the others and I know you won't hurt me. Please, Bendy… tell me what's going on."
"…Control…" Bend eventually forced out, staying still as Henry continued to approach. "…The Liar… is taking control… "
"Joey… I should have known…" Henry scowled, though he made sure to keep the anger out of his voice. The last thing Bendy needed in his currently fragile state was to think Henry was mad at him. Henry was angry at Joey for doing this to his family, but a part of him was angry at himself.
When they first left Joey's apartment, there had been a part of Henry that had wondered if he was doing the right thing by just leaving Joey alone. But he had been more focused on getting home to Linda and getting everyone else away from Joey. Then with having to help everyone recover and move on, Henry had completely put Joey from his mind. And any time he did think about his former friend, he always assumed that he lost everything and would be forced to give up any mad schemes he could have left. But Henry should have known better. Joey had held a grudge against Henry for 30 years just because Henry rather have a family then chase after an impossible dream. What was one little year compared to that, especially when this time Henry had completely humiliated Joey by destroying his whole little ink world?
"Do you know how Joey is taking control?" Henry asked, gently placing his hand between Bendy's horns. Henry was surprised to feel wet ink beneath his hand. As he took a closer look at Bendy, he realized his Ink Devil form was a lot less solid looking and seemed to be dripping a lot of ink. He looked like a mix between his Ink Devil form and the original Ink Demon form, showing just how much Bendy was fighting to stay in control.
"… Magic… ink… circles… amplifying… spell…" Bendy tried to explain, though Henry had very little idea what the demon was talking about. "All around… forcing us back… back to how we acted…orders… orders to capture… capture you and return… return to the Liar…"
"Do you think you'll be able to stay in control?" Henry asked, cradling Bendy's head in his hands and gently stroking the dripping ink away from his face. Henry hated asking this question, but he had to know. If Bendy couldn't fight of Joey's influence, Henry would be forced to leave Bendy so he could stop Joey.
"…I… I think so…" Bendy finally said, unfurling his wings and collapsing against Henry. Henry held the Ink Devil close as he sobbed. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry...my fault… I saw shadows… warnings…Things weren't quite right… I should have known… should have realized… should have prevented… my fault… should have done something…"
Bendy felt terrible for what was going on. Ever since he discovered his powers to see souls, he would occasionally see shadows on the souls of his friends and family. He had thought they were strange but had assumed they were just representations of the trauma and flashbacks that were brought to the surface during those times it appeared. He should have realized something more was going on. Should have realized that his instincts going wild whenever he came into contact with a soul covered in shadow was the same as to what happened to him in the Studio. If he had just looked a little closer, maybe he could have stopped this from happening.
"Ssshhh…Bendy…Ssshhh…" Henry whispered, rubbing Bendy's back as he assured the demon. "This wasn't your fault. This is Joey's fault. It's always been Joey's fault. His greed and selfishness are driving him to hurt us, but we can stop him. We've done it before and we can do it again. The others might be suffering under Joey's control right now, but we are still family. We are still in this together."
Bendy's sobs died down under Henry's comforting words and even gave Henry a small smile. Linda smiled at the touching scene and took a step forward when a sudden noise startled them. A small familiar black creature came rushing in the ally and jumped the Ink Devil, scrambling up until she rested between Bendy's horns.
"Ink Blot?" Bendy said in surprise, reaching up and taking the cat off his head. "What are you…"
Bendy cut off when they spotted a familiar beam of light approaching the side of the alleyway. Bendy gave Ink Blot to Henry, grabbing both him and Linda. With a flap of his wings, the Ink Devil launched them into the air. The Ink Devil landed them on the roof just as the Projectionist turned and started walking down the alleyway, searching for them.
"You weren't kidding about orders to capture me," Henry grimaced as they watched the Projectionist walk by below them. "What about everyone else in town? Are they in danger?"
"No," Bendy replied, with a slight shake of his head, his gaze never leaving the potential threat below them. "The orders to capture you are their driving purpose right now. If it wasn't for that, the others might have turned on each other."
"What are we going to do?" Linda whispered in worry, holding on tightly to Henry.
"We need to stop Joey," Henry replied. "But we're going to need help if Joey has all the others under control. We should see if Allison and Tom can help. Even if they are acting as they did in the Studio, they should still be allies."
"But won't they have the same orders to capture you?" Linda asked, holding close to Henry as if she was worried he'd be snatched from her.
"We won't know until we get there," Henry said. "We'll just have to be cautious. Please take us to them, Bendy."
With a nod, Bendy held Henry and Linda close, flying off into the night.
