They caught a taxi towards the central part of YouTube. A large tower sprouted out from the center like a spike in a spinning top. There was a huge sphere-like structure at the top of the tower where flashing rays of light of all colors shot out of the many windows. At the bottom of the tower, a reddish glare spilled out from the glass double doors. With Freddy at the lead, they entered the building. Film and Game characters were walking about, taking no notice of the horror trio. They went up to the receptionist who was Isabelle from Animal Crossing. She looked up and smiled warmly.
"Is there something I can help you with today?" she asked with her adorable puppy dog eyes.
"You know why we are here," said Freddy as he glanced at the elevator door with a sign saying "RESTRICTED".
Isabelle sighed as if the request saddened her.
"The club is a bit more crowded than usual," said Isabelle in an apologetic tone as she protruded a card from her desk, "More people have been coming to the club since those nasty disappearances."
Freddy took the card, swiped it against the sensor, and led Bendy and the Neighbor inside the elevator. When they entered, he pressed the highest button. As the sliding doors closed with a satisfying click, the elevator shot up. Bendy could see through the windows the city below, pinpoints of light shining like glowing eyes in an abyss. The elevator slowed to a stop as the door opened. Bendy's non-existent ears were blasted with cheering and music as he stumbled backward. The Neighbor shielded his eyes from the flashing lights. Freddy didn't seem to be disturbed at all, his glassy eyes scanned the room but his face looked somewhat resigned and was stained with a scowl.
The room was a circular dome with a triangular stage in the middle. There were tables and chairs placed around the stage. Couches and comfy seats were placed outside the ring of rectangular tables. The stage had a drowning red glow emitting from below the glass surface. Three metal poles stuck out from the corners were strippers and prostitutes danced hypnotically around. Freddy stepped through the threshold, his mechanical parts doing no justice to hide his presence with the Neighbor and Bendy following. They navigated through the clusters of people throwing money of all currencies at the pole dancers. The Neighbor's eyes lit up as he found who they were looking for. He sat lazily on a sofa, holding a wine cup filled with ketchup and his feet propped up on the table. His eyes found the trio and gave a smile that looked somewhat like a grimace. The skeleton stood up and shook Freddy's hand.
"No whoopee-cushion-on-the-hand trick today my friend," said Freddy with mock disappointment as he and the others sat down on the chairs surrounding the table.
"no..." sighed sans, "some days, you're just tired of doing the same thing again and again so you try to spice things up."
He didn't acknowledge Bendy and yawned.
"We just wanted to talk about Pewdiepie," said the Neighbor as he shielded his eyes from the red glare from the show stage.
The skeleton's face fell (if it could) as if the subject yielded undesirable discussion.
"there's something wrong with the man," sans said slowly, choosing his words carefully. Freddy and the Neighbor looked at each other confusedly.
"Everything is wrong with Pewdiepie," said Freddy with uncertainty. The Neighbor gave him a sharp look.
"Freddy, just because someone destroys memes doesn't mean they're a bad person."
Freddy scoffed and was about to retort but sans interjected.
"no..." he began, "he seems to be in some sort of shock-like state. he stays in his bunker, lying down and shivering feverishly."
Freddy raised his eyebrows and stayed silent.
"he seems to have lost the will to live but he seems to be healthy after not eating or drinking for a week."
"What!?" exclaimed the Neighbor as he gripped the table, "A week?! Why haven't you told us about this."
The skeleton contemplated his answer for a painfully long time.
"i would have told you if it weren't for those disappearances. didn't want to draw you off you're investigation."
"If you didn't, the boss would fire us," said the Neighbor sternly, "Pewdiepie is very serious business in the YouTube sector. If anything happens to him, it reflects a lot about the state of the internet."
"i know, i know..." said sans dismissively, "Last time I checked on him, he looked like he had schizophrenia. He was muttering to himself, something about Reddit being poisoned."
Freddy's irises shrunk considerably. He glanced around to see if anyone was listening. A teenage girl in a skimpy school uniform just strolled past with a chalice of wine.
"You should've told us earlier..." hissed Freddy, "If something is wrong with Reddit, the entire state of the Internet could be turned on its head. It must have something to do with those disappearances."
sans made a pained smile then suddenly stood up.
"it has been a lovely conversation!" he said with eerie cheerfulness, "but I think we should drop the subject. if you've got no business here, i'm afraid you're interrupting my entertainment."
Freddy looked shocked, as if he never heard sans being this rude. The Neighbor cocked his head as if to contemplate what he just heard. Bendy decided to say something.
"I mean no disrespect here, sans," said Bendy with his voice oozing with politeness, "But you certainly don't want to talk about this situation. Is there a reason? You could tell us if you want to."
sans turned to Bendy with an ugly look on his face.
"don't play devil's advocate here Bendo. i certainly didn't ask for your input."
Bendy stood still for a moment then erupted in anger. Ink ran down his face as his body grew taller. He reached over the table and grabbed sans by the scruff of his jacket and lifted him up to Bendy's snarling face.
"WHAT THE F*CK DID YOU JUST CALL ME!" he shrieked, causing the whole strip club to go silent. sans looked at Bendy's now nonexistent eyes and grinned insanely.
"well someone certainly is in a bad mood. guess that calls for my leave."
All hell broke loose. Gaster Blasters materialized around the room and opened fire on Bendy. He thrust the skeleton on the sofa and dove for the floor. Everyone ran and screamed, rushing for the elevator. Freddy threw his top hat like a frizz bee which smashed through one of the skulls. The Neighbor propped up a rectangular table on its side and hid behind it as bones shot out of the walls towards him like arrows. sans stood in the middle of the panic, relishing in the chaos. Some of the guests took to the emergency stairs. Bendy sunk into an ink puddle and appeared behind sans and swung his fists at the skeleton. He dodged and held out his hand, his eyes concentrated on Bendy. Nothing happened. Bendy grinned.
"huh..." said sans as he looked at his hands, "normally you'd be thrown about but it doesn't seem you are affected. oh well..."
Bendy brought down his fists on sans' head with a deafening crack. sans teleported a few meters away and felt a crack on his skull which leaked red liquid. Freddy saw what had happened and looked petrified. He pointed a shaky finger at sans.
"You definitely should've died to that!" growled Freddy as his eyes glowed brightly, "You're not sans."
The bleeding skeleton let out a mirthless laugh. His left eye flared a corrupted and diseased look of purple.
"wrong you stale piece of junk!" he hollered, "i am more sans than I've ever been for a while! i am more determined than i could've ever have been!"
He looked at Freddy then the Neighbor then to Bendy.
"only if you knew what she will do to the internet..." he sneered, "a truly noble cause from my point of view."
A voice cleared its throat at the door. Bendy turned. The same teenager who'd passed them before was standing at the doorway. She was dressed in a Japanese school uniform with black stockings. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail. She had a kitchen knife in her hand and a bag of clothes in the other.
"Honestly Dusty," she muttered in a dull voice, "I was gone for a few minutes and you're slugging it out with the boys."
sans looked visibly afraid at the arrival of this newcomer. He bowed his head at the girl.
"i apologize, m'lady," he said, "i didn't have a choice."
The girl regarded the trio blandly.
"So the authorities decided to take this seriously," she said smoothly.
"Ayano Aishi..." said the Neighbor shortly, "I should have known that you would have the nerve to orchestrate this madness..."
"It's nice to see you Mr Peterson," said Ayano with a wide smile, "Freddy Fazbear, looking snazzy as usual. And Bendy... If I were you, I'd step away or you'll get a nasty surprise later."
Bendy saw through her smile. She was a black slate, emotionless, there was no light in her eyes. Bendy knew that there was no conscious pulling her back, nothing to stop her from doing what she wanted.
"I'd love to stick around but Dusty and I have business elsewhere..." said Ayano and she pointed her knife at sans.
Freddy stomped in between her and sans.
"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE AYANO!" he yelled, "You're are under arrest for orchestration of kidnapping, disturbing the peace, and non-consensual torture!"
Ayano looked dully at Freddy and charged at the bear. Before Bendy or the Neighbor could react, she shoved Freddy aside without difficulty. She placed her hand on sans' shoulder and they vanished. Bendy turned towards where Freddy was and gasped.
A full-length window was shattered with a Freddy-shaped hole.