The trio of horrors went to the nearest bus stop to go uptown. The upper part of town was much cleaner and safer than where Bendy lived. The Neighbor and Freddy didn't say a word to Bendy until they got on a bus that was heading for the capital city. The Gaming continent of the Internet was a large place where popular games lived in the capital and less popular live in rural areas. Bendy had never been in the capital. He had heard of many games that live over there such as Undertale, Super Mario and etc. Bendy couldn't believe the game went viral. Bendy was just thinking about whether he should move house when Freddy took a glass tube from his chest cavity and looked at the rainbow liquid in disgust. Bendy nervously looked at Freddy to see whether he was trying to solve why the Sesame Street cast was doing this.
"Can you figure anything out about this thing?" asked Freddy in his robotic and monotonous voice with a hint of sarcasm, "This is clearly in your expertise."
"I can see some traces of ink in the solution," said Bendy as he peered into the glass tube, "There's quite a bit of magic inside it. There's also a dash of human body parts in there."
"So we can confirm that someone has been dabbling with magic or occult and that ink is involved with the manufacturing process," mused Freddy as he swirled the disgusting mixture, "That's all?"
"Also one thing to add," piped Bendy, "It seems that the color of ink that is used is everything other than black."
"Why would that be," muttered the Neighbor.
"Black is often associated with evil, dirty or darkness," said Bendy in a matter of factly tone, "The color of the ink is all on the electromagnetic spectrum. The colors combine into white which is often associated with pure and clean."
"Hmmm. So where do we go from here?" asked Freddy as he put away the test tube, "We've already got many of our best detectives on the case, take Pikachu for example. I guess our best option is for you to lead the way. But..." Freddy paused, "I fear that throwing you into this case might make the culprit accelerate their operations to achieve their goal."
"To just voice, my opinion," piped up the Neighbor, "I don't think the culprit's motivation is clearly black and white. This person clearly has hired characters from the Film Continent as we saw tonight. I don't this whole operation was just to make video games child-friendly. There is something even worse coming."
"Now, now, Mr Peterson," muttered Freddy, "We need a systematic approach to this problem. I reckon we need to ensure that these incidents can no longer continue."
"I have an idea where we can start," said Bendy, "We need to go to Splatfest."
"What?" blurted Mr Peterson and Freddy, "This is no time for watching kids participate in brutal war games!"
"No, no, no!" muttered Bendy disappointingly, "Don't you see? Inklings? Ink? It's obvious that they are involved!"
"They're just kids," pointed out Freddy as he adjusted his bowtie, "Also, sucking away an Inkling's ink results in a catastrophic... mess... Unless..."
"What?"
"There have been several missing Inkling cases over the past week. I've assumed that it's just Rule 34 being up to no good. But soon after, games started disappearing. They must be related."
"Then, we have somewhere to start!" said Bendy, "Let's watch kids splat each other with their own life force."
...
They got off the bus at Splat Harbor, the section of the city where marine-related games lived. The main street was filled with small stalls selling marine junk such as fishing rods, jet skis, and even small submarines. It was busy but the atmosphere was tense. As if the whole harbor was holding its breath. Stall owners looked suspiciously at the newcomers then whispered to each other. Bendy saw fliers for the Splatfest tournament, sailing courses, and Subnatica fliers as he walked past the stalls. Bendy noticed several missing posters of many Inklings added in the mix of colorful paper. Bendy heard about Splat Harbor being a bustling section of the city. This isn't what he was expecting. An hour passed and they had nothing. They had to find someone, otherwise, they'd be going nowhere.
"This is pointless," blurted Mr Peterson as he kicked away a patch of seaweed, "We'll never get anywhere if we keep on going like this."
"Our time will be better spent if..." Freddy stopped because he spotted two inklings spying on them. He turned on them and let his eyes flare bright red. The two squids squealed and hurried off.
"Inklings," spat Freddy as his eyes returned to their blank and glassy stare, "No wonder Rule 34 goes into a catnip frenzy whenever it sees them. They can barely contain themselves."
"Hey Freddy," said Mr Peterson, "There are no exceptions when it comes to profanity you know that."
"When will Rule 34 go after me?" asked Bendy in a nervous manner, "My game has no female characters. Not yet..."
"There are no exceptions Bendy," said Mr Peterson solemnly he placed his gloved hand on Bendy's shoulder, "Gay sex or the gender swap, Rule 34 always finds a way to twist your game into the most unimaginable of things."
They continued on. Discussing Internet issues then a loudspeaker blared across the harbor.
"THE 2017 SPLATFEST IS STARTING IN ONE HOUR! ALL AUDIENCES PLEASE TAKE THEIR SEATS!"
"We don't have time for this," muttered Freddy but he was cut short by the massive tidal wave of fans running to the stadium. Bendy, being small in size, was overwhelmed.
"BENDY!" Mr Peterson called as he was pushed back., "WHERE'S THAT GOD DAMN DEMON!"
Bendy tried to speak but was found unable, being squished among so many people. Everything was a blur but he then saw the two inklings that Freddy scared off. They were right beside him. Both with excited smiles on their faces. Bendy was about to say something but someone knocked him on the back of the head and the world went dark.
...
When Bendy woke up, he was tied to the ceiling by his feet. He was inside a changing room with lockers lining the walls. The only source of light was a single lamp that illuminated the room. He looked around and noticed he was surrounded by four inklings. All of them were orange. Two boy inklings were on either side of Bendy, armed with Heavy Splating Remixes. In front of the doorway was a spinning chair which a girl inkling with her hair covering her left eye lounged taking in the scene. Beside her was another girl inkling who had a ponytail and had a stern expression.
"What the f*ck do want!?" Bendy yelled as he tried to summon a massive wave of black ink but was somehow unable to, "You took away my powers. YOU MOTHERF*CKING BASTARDS!"
"Now, now Bendy," drawled the inkling on the chair, "This may not be the best first impression, but I assure you we'll get to know each other... personally."
The word personally made Bendy shudder. He didn't want to think of the ships that would unfold after this incident. He had to get out. The inkling beside the chair cleared her throat.
"Salti, I think our... guest would like to have some context on why he is here," she said flatly.
"Of course Splatasia," said Salti silkily, "I want you to be a substitute for my team while one of my boys guard our base."
"Why me?" scowled Bendy.
"It's none of your business." snapped Salti but then Splatasia leaned over and whispered something into her ear. Salti then looked disapprovingly at Splatasia but her stern look made her give up.
"Splatasia tells me that you and two other detectives are investigating the case of several missing inklings. The reason why we need a substitute is that someone has been raiding Splatasia's weapon lab. One of my boys here also spotted Rule 34 conversing with a mysterious figure in a back alley while he was taking out the trash. Would this information be of any use to your investigation?"
"Yes actually," muttered Bendy who sounded rather relieved, "So I guess I have to repay you by complying with your game of war."
"Exactly!" said Salti as she clapped her hand together in approval, "Your powers over ink is an inkling's wet dream! We need you as a substitute for one game so we can work out who is trying to raid Splatasia's lab. Then you're free to go back to your case!"
"Then it's a deal!" agreed Bendy reluctantly as he stuck out his hand and shook Salti's hand, "Please put me down now."
"Not yet little devil darling," cooed Salti as she got up from her chair, "We must go through several procedures to ensure you're officially on our team."
Then Bendy realized why Salti took away his powers.
"Wait! NO! DON'T YOU DARE!" shrieked Bendy as he shook violently.
"Sorry darling," smiled Salti as she and Splatasia left the room, "James, Kogu, recolor the devil."
Bendy shrieked and fought against his bonds but nothing could stop what was about to happen next as the inklings opened fire.