((AN: Finally another chapter to this! :3 Once again I was caught up in other things, but this story's always in the back of my mind...especially as I'm quite close to finishing it, and all the characters are still fun to write. x3 Still have to hash out the details of the last part of the story; more than likely there'll only be one more chapter. I hope everyone's been enjoying this so far, and I'm happy with all of the kind comments I've gotten so far, thank you! ^.^))

Chapter 10

The group was frozen in shock at the creature before them; the very building that they'd come to infiltrate now had them trapped in its grasp. For Bendy, it was a very literal grasp, as more cables lifted the chair slightly from its place on the floor, disturbing the broken projectors and reels at its feet, and keeping the little Demon all the more incapacitated and tightly bound. The pie-cut eyes on the screens narrowed.

"It is quite nice to finally have company…" the thing seethed in its mechanical speech, emotionless...it was hard to know whether it was really happy to see everyone there before it, or if it was being sarcastic. Then, it cut once again to Joey Drew's voice, and made a short speech which switched between the two. "Especially since the FIRST time I called everyone up here, to see this MARVELOUS new machine! Bendy was always such a good little devil, coming to the aid of his Creator. Oh, but what a MESS he made when he got to the other side...and yet he made the PERFECT conduit for my takeover. His eternal ink flowing through the walls...his essence made into my guard dog...of course these other two intervened and were put in their places."

"It wasn't Joey Drew at all who called us," Alice gasped, her hands covering her mouth as she traded glances with Boris. "It was...it was the Machine all along, using his voice to lure us in. Joey never really spoke to us!"

"That lyin' son of a…" Boris snarled, and was cut off as the Machine continued.

"Really, I'd LOVE to say that I'm happy to have so many guests, after so long of being buried down here, just happily fulfilling my Creator's duty...But I know what you're here to do, and I think it's time you all left."

"Joey ain't the Creator of this world!" Betty loudly argued, pointing a finger upward in its faceless visage. "You're trespassin', mister, and you ain't got no right ta be hurtin' so many people! Let Bendy go!"

"Sorry little lady, I can't do that," the Machine cheerfully intoned, lifting the chair away with the little toon in tow. "I was put here for a solid reason: to keep this world in check, and have it do whatever the Creator wanted, to make it come to life in his own. You don't think Joey couldn't influence this place? Hah. Ask Henry here. He's the one who LET him."

"I-I wouldn't have done any such thing if I knew it'd lead to this!" the man shouted back. "This is the world I made, the characters I made, and he has no right to use them like this, especially as he has!"

"He...Joey may not have created the world in the first place, but…" Allison's face suddenly fell as she realized something. "But he was still your partner. You made it together. That's...that's how he could have probably been able to put a version of the Ink Machine here."

"Oh dear, it's true…" Betty whimpered. "Just like my world wasn't all Uncle Max's doin' either. It was him and Uncle Dave. This part a' th' Toon World knows you as th' real Creator, Henry, but somehow Mister Drew could still stick his thumb in, b'cause he owned the studio."

Boris, having heard about enough of all of this, gripped his ax tightly, his teeth bared in a terrifying angry grimace. "Yeah, well, wherever he's got 'is thumb, I'm 'bout ta cut it off!" then, with a roar, he jumped up and swung the ink-sharpened blade...slicing two of the cords away from Bendy's chair.

The Machine gave a loud, piercing screech as the writhing appendage fell. "You will PAY FOR THAT!"

"CHARGE!" The group screamed in unison as, indeed, they were determined now to just do anything they could to free the little demon, open the door, shut down the Machine, anything to end the lies and the hurt. It became chaos, a maelstrom of flying weapons (as Henry quickly used his own inkwell to sharpen the edges of any ax or put an extra shine of blunt force onto any pipe given to him), all slicing and sinking into the machinery surrounding them.

At one point, the Butcher Gang was back into the fray, leading a horde of Searchers that had popped up outside and were now after everyone else.

"Guys! Use this, keep those things out!" Henry shouted as he threw his net ball over to the Toons. Edgar promptly caught it with his web-rope, and they immediately tossed it into the hallway, letting it fly open and creating a barrier in the process, the edges sticking to the walls. The ink monsters, for once, were stuck behind it, and it was just the Machine against the heroes taking the fight to its bowels.

"Now that's more like it!" Charley grinned as he raised his own pipe weapon and waved it in the air. "Now let's tear this place apart, boys!"

And tear it apart they did. In the midst of the Machine's flailing and screeching as it tried to speak above the shouting, all anger and no fear, everyone was mostly hacking at whatever they could reach, making rips and tears in the thick metal walls. Tom, as usual, was more methodical; he was using the chaos and the distractions to take a wrench and pull apart the walls bolt by bolt, until he could open a door further into the innards and reach the controls. Sammy was helping him, pointing out gaps where he thought a hall would be hidden. Boris and Betty were concentrating on slicing the cords attached to Bendy's body and trying to grab a hold of it respectively, while Henry kept pausing to happily add more of a kick to everyone's weapons via his ink.

Alice took the more passive role in the fight, staying by the Ink Demon's side as he still seemed to be dealing with his own headaches, despite the maelstrom going on around him. He was still on his knees and holding his head, breathing harshly, but no longer crying. "Oh, Bendy, sugar, please pull through...you can do it," she kept soothing, running a hand gently over his back. "I know you can. I know you're in there now...and we need you. We can't let this big bully win, can we? We need our lil' devil darlin'…"

Despite her efforts, it seemed like the Demon could barely hear her. There was no response from him other than the occasional quake through his body. And still she kept trying...until suddenly she felt herself lifted off the ground, a broken cord wrapping around her body like a snake, pulling her away from him.

The toon angel screeched in shock, looking around frantically for the others...who were all in the same state, captured by the Machine's loose coils and struggling with all of their might.

"Aw gee whiz, now look what you've done…" the Machine tutted in Joey's voice, "Really, I thought we could discuss this in a civil manner, but I guess you'll have to be contained." Its cold, synthetic voice rang through the room as it gripped all of its aggressors, toon and human alike, its eyes glowering on the screens. "It will take me ages to contain everyone who escaped, but I WILL contain them, and every single one of you will be driven into the Void...I will NOT be taken apart. The Creator WILL have this world!"

"No he won't!" Betty shouted as she fought against her constraints, "Joey Drew has no power in the Toon World, and he has no power over these characters, not anymore! Even if ya do manage ta silence us all, there'll be more comin' ta silence you!"

"Then I'll just have to keep sending them all into the Ink, won't I? The Ink is eternal, I am eternal, I control this world now, and I have the Ink Demon...I will have ALL of it!"

And then, suddenly...the walls went black.

Familiar shadows shifted across every inch of the room, and acrid ink started to rain down in droves, even sending the Searchers on the other side of the net into hiding once more. The ink still pulsing in the Machine's veins now pulsed to the beat of an echoing, slow, angry heart, as its bearer finally rose back to its feet.

Everyone's eyes turned to the Ink Demon, and his painted grin quivered, and everyone could feel the emotion emanating from him. Pure anger...but it wasn't malicious anger. It no longer had the air of senseless, empty violence surrounding it. Its eyeless head focused up onto the Machine.

"Wait...what's goin' on?" the Machine wondered aloud.

The Demon answered by raising his gloved hand and slowly clenching his fingers. In response, half of the cords holding the others slackened, letting them loose to drop to the floor with various grunts. He did the same with his inky hand, and the same thing happened with the rest. The cords waved about, quivering, but it seemed that he now had command of them.

"Wh...w...wait a minute…!"

Then, he brought his hands together, fingers curled into fists, and the cords bunched up in response, like a tangled ball of yarn, limp and useless.

"Hey, what gives? Demon, you're under MY command, stop this instant…!"

It was Allison who figured it out, laughing triumphantly. "Hah! Seems you forgot something, big guy. It's Bendy's ink you've been using...the Demon can control it…"

"An' he's on our side now!" Boris finished, laughing along.

"Hot diggity, way ta go, Bendy!" Betty cheered as she swung her fists around. "Make 'im shut up!"

"Now this, I've been waiting to see," Sammy almost giddily chuckled.

The others stood back and watched then as the Demon raised a hand, commanding the cords holding his old body to the chair. Slowly, as it returned to the ground and the Machine's complaints faded into the background, he went through all the memories that returned. They were now sorted into their proper places, old and new. He finally knew who he was, and what he needed to do…

And this time, he knew he had friends...and they would no longer end up suffering.

They should'n't've been here in th' first place...none of us…

"...Well...I sure ain't givin' the little guy a hard time anymore," Charley couldn't help but mutter, with his cohorts nodding in agreement, their eyes still stuck on the creature.

He finally had his old body at eye level...holding onto the chair with the strength of one hand, the other reached up and pressed a finger into the little devil's chest, where his heart would be.

The heartbeat sound slowed...and then sped up. The shadows shifted faster as the Demon started to melt, his ink encompassing the body in the chair...his entire form was coalescing back into an amorphous black mess...it seemed like the body of Bendy was absorbing the Demon...essentially placing his soul back where it belonged.

"No...no! This can't be! You are under MY control! You are going against the wishes of the Creator!"

The Demon only hissed back loudly, defiantly, as his deformed body finally disappeared into the mass of ink over his real toon vessel. Through the mound of black, they could see Bendy's gloved hands...and the fingers began to move, slowly.

"Guys, now's our chance!" Tom suddenly exclaimed. "Those of you with axes, cut 'im down from the rest of the cords! There's a hallway through the other side of that wall, I'm about ready to break into it and get at the controls!"

"Good idea," Henry growled. "Let's take down this Ink Machine, once and for all!"

Then, just as Tom managed to finally get a wall open and rush inside, the others helped to anchor the chair to the ground. Mindful not to jostle Bendy as he continued to transition, Henry held a clamp onto the rest of the cords. "Boris, now!"

And the wolf, no longer feeling any fear for where he was, took a hold of his righteous fury and used it to swing the ax through the cords that were feeding on Bendy's ink.

SHLICK!

The chair shook as it settled back on the floor. Just like that, the Machine no longer had its source of power...the little demon was free.

"Youuuuoooouuuuuu!"The Machine screeched, its eye-screens flickering on and off as its cords were left flailing and writhing, helpless and what looked like in utter pain. "What hhhhaave you ddoooooone…?! I will BURY YOU ALLLLLL…!"

This went on for another moment more...and then, they heard a far-off echoing thunk, followed by what sounded like a large amount of electricity powering down. The screens shut off, the Machine's eyes forever darkened.

...Silence, as the toons, the ink creatures, and Henry stood in the central room of the chamber, looking around, listening, making sure that they could hear nothing.

Nothing but dripping ink. But no flowing, no pumping, no gears turning.

"...It's...it's over," Henry murmured, dropping to his hands and knees on the ground. "It's finally over."

"Yes, but we aren't out of the woods yet," Sammy reminded everyone, placing his inky hands on the walls. "I can sense a lot of flowing. All of the overloaded pipes have started to burst upstairs. Pretty soon this place will be flooded again."

As if the building itself heard him (and in the Toon World, it probably did), they heard a series of explosions from far above them, echoing even through the rock of the cave.

"Oh dear, oh me oh my," Betty shook her head fearfully, "We havta get a move-on, right back to th' shanty town, and quick!"

"But...but what about Bendy?" Alice asked, hovering around the chair and avoiding the urge to touch him, "He's not through reforming, I don't think."

"Yeah, we can't leave 'im…" Boris whimpered.

"I think he'll be fine, guys," Henry reassured, placing a hand on both of their shoulders. "He's a toon…from what you guys have taught me, he can withstand much more than a flood of ink...and he has, by the look of it."

"It's true alright," Betty confirmed with a nod and patted both Alice and Boris's hands. "We did what we came ta do, now he has ta remember that he can do it too."

"If the rest of us can retain our powers after healing our minds, so will he," Sammy urgently agreed and cracked his knuckles, then knelt and placed his hands on the floor. "Now c'mon, I have just enough in me for one more portal leading back…"

Then, as if on cue, they heard more explosions up above them...and they were enough now to cause their surroundings to shake, as if they'd triggered a massive earthquake. They heard debris, rocks and pieces of wood, starting to fall atop the structure.

"Aright, everyone haul yer asses out!" Tom came out shouting. "The Machine's off, but the studio's blowin' up and will take us down with it!"

"I don't know if we'll be able to make it, chief!" Sammy grunted. "I'm trying to make the portal into the Void, but it's like molasses right now!"

"Oh, we're doomed, we're gonna be buried alive!" Boris cried, holding his head with his knees shaking. Alice held his shoulders, and Henry came to hold them both in his arms like a parent would frightened children, getting ready to brace for the fallout.

"Allison," Tom quickly turned her to face him, "If Sammy gets the portal goin' before this happens, you gotta go first…"

"Tom, I told you, I'm not leaving you…"

"Oh, let's just get back to th' tunnel to th' Vault, quick!" Charley ordered. He and the other Butchers rushed to the door...only to see across the growing ink lake that the Vaults had already collapsed.

"...Well, that be a right kick in th'…"

"Barley, careful whatcha say," Edgar waved one of his arms.

"What, I was gonna say 'belly'."

"Jeepers...we can't catcha break anyhow, can we?" Charley just weakly observed as the rumbling grew louder.

It seemed like there was nothing that anyone could do...Henry was entertaining the thought of drawing a giant black hole, but who knew where it would end up...and the explosions were louder now, the rush of ink now cascading into the Machine's chamber like a waterfall, surely the weight of it would soon collapse the structure…

Then, suddenly, he was there among them again...the Ink Demon in his fully monstrous transformed state, his massive clawed hands on either side of the beginnings of the portal that Sammy had made. With a hiss and a growl, the portal grew larger, and above them, the ink cascade seemed to subside, to everyone's disbelief...if only for a moment.

The Demon then seemed to pointedly look at Sammy. The old music director gasped. A very tiny part of his old corrupted self now suddenly felt like it was being acknowledged by the volatile creature that it looked up to for so long with lingering false hope...and now it really was going to be their savior. What he didn't get from the look in words, he could very well feel.

He paused for a moment, then addressed the others. "Everyone! Bendy's using his power to keep the portal open and the ink from collapsing this place. We have to move, now, it won't hold for very long!"

"Don't hafta tell us twice, Mister Lawrence," Charley said, grabbing the other two Butchers and pulling them along as they all were the first to leap into the darkness of the Void.

"Betty, c'mon, you're next!" Henry called, also pulling his toons along. "Guys, go on, hurry!"

"Nuh-uh, yer first, Henry, yer ink can help ya in there if somethin' goes wrong," Boris argued. "We're right behind ya, don't worry."

After Betty and Henry, it was Allison and Tom, the latter making sure the former wouldn't argue against making sure he had her back through the journey for once. They were hesitant about stepping through the Ink Demon's portal...but one look at him, and they knew that he was no longer the monster that they had before feared. In that body somewhere was Bendy himself, and this was going to be his way of making up for everything. Sammy gave him a glance before following his former coworkers.

Last of all were Boris and Alice. The wolf started to step inside, but hesitated when he saw the angel lingering behind, reaching for the monster.

"Bendy...you'll be okay, right? You know where to find us? I still don't wanna leave you here..."

The massive creature lifted his head to regard her, and nodded once. He even seemed to give her a little grin with his dagger-filled maw, as he let her place her gloved hand on one massive finger. Inside his mind, he wanted to say so much to her...to both of them really...but another quake through the earth jerked them all back to reality, and he quickly ushered the two of them inside with a shove of his hand.

Bendy could feel the life forces of the others inside the Void...it was shaky, but he had enough power through the Ink to make sure they all made it to the other side, while all around him the building was collapsing, and black liquid was raining down, flooding the cavern again to kingdom come.

The Butcher Gang...Betty Boop...Henry, Sammy, Allison, Tom...Boris, Alice...they all made it, just as the chamber exploded inward.

Thank th' stars…

He closed the portal. And he let it rain.

Back in the shanty town, there was a good amount of panic as the Lost Ones felt the rumbling suddenly through the earth, and heard the explosions up on the surface. The ones that liked to wander around on Level P were suddenly rushing down, on gondolas or rope lifts, yelling that the studio above was exploding and that it was time to head to safety.

They quickly ushered anyone who was lingering on the other side of the projector back into the Toon World, and Camilla and Morty watched not long after as the screen flickered and died, leaving naught but the painted door on the wall of the shack.

"...Looks like they did it," Morty observed, still in shock. "Turned off the Machine."

"Yeah...but I hope they survived those explosions…" Camilla worriedly sighed as they left the shack and stood with the others who were watching the ceiling. They could still hear the last remnants of the overworked pipes finally giving in to the pressure.

As they did, they wondered aloud among themselves: what did the toons and Henry do, exactly? Did they know this would happen? Where are they now? Is this the Demon's doing? Would he be destroyed along with the Machine? So many questions passed around, but none who knew the answer. They would either have to wait for a sign from the others...or go up there themselves when all was settled.

I'll find them if it comes down to it, Camilla thought. We can't sit idle anymore.

Then, suddenly, on one of the walls next to the shack, there materialized a familiar black portal.

Most of the other Lost Ones scattered, thinking it could be the Ink Demon having found them on this side. Only Camilla stayed behind (Morty dashed back into the shed and was watching from the door), thinking that instead it might be Sammy...and hopefully, the others as well.

Her thoughts were confirmed when, all at once, each of the known toons of the studio (and Betty Boop) collapsed through the opening, exhausted and out of breath...as if they'd been running, and rather frantically at that. Following them was Henry, who was still standing, but barely holding himself up. Both Allison and the angel she voiced took an arm and helped him to sit against the wall as the other employees-turned-ink monsters practically flopped out.

The final one to make it out was Sammy Lawrence, who was in fact helping to hold the Demon's portal open with all the strength he had left.

He mentally counted everyone there in front of him once he stepped onto solid ground, then let the portal close with a loud groan...and promptly collapsed, his powers finally spent...probably never to return again, with the slowing state of the ink void as the Machine's influence waned.

Once everyone caught their breath, it was Tom who shook his head and snorted, reaching down to grab Sammy by the hand. "Geez, Lawrence, didn't you ever work out or anything? You're lookin' like an inky ragdoll."

"I, uh," the old music director wheezed, swallowed for a moment (or appeared to) and spoke again as he let himself be helped to a sitting position. "I kinda let that go not long after the Ink Machine was installed. My old smoking habit didn't help, I don't think."

"Yeah, they found out that stuff's actually bad fer ya," Betty giggled. "Least now ya don't need it."

"We'll see how long that lasts," the ink-man snorted. "Thanks, for the leg-up, Connor."

"...Yeah. Sure thing."

"Lookit that, the boys are finally getting along," Allison smirked, making the toonettes giggle.

Camilla couldn't help but laugh along as she made herself known and helped with getting everyone back on their feet. "You guys really are something. I can't believe you managed to do it! And geez...the Butcher Gang joined you? We've got a toon army, here!"

"B'lieve me, toots, we were kinda coerced," Charley managed to huff out, with the other two only able to tiredly agree. "So...youse guys, you're th' Lost Ones? I heard aboutcha. Tough break, bein' turned ta ink and all."

"Oh, real classy, Charley…" Betty rolled her eyes.

"Relax, it's fine," the Lost One chuckled. "We've all been...kinda getting used to it now. I'm Camilla. And my friend Morty's over there somewhere…"

"Morty?" Boris suddenly leaped to his feet as the toons gasped. "He's alive?"

"Uhm, yeah," the ink-man in question waved as he came out of hiding. "I'm just as surprised as you guys. Just came through the river on the real-studio side a while ago...thank goodness."

"Oh, it's wonderful to see you made it back, Morty!" Alice exclaimed, looking him over. "We're so sorry we couldn't have…"

"Hey, he got there first, so...don't worry about it," he laughed. "I'm just really happy to see your plan worked! Mister Henry Stein, nice to meet you, finally…! Uhm, I guess we have you to thank for finally turning off the Machine?"

He managed a small smile as he replied with a long sigh. "Well, I was...very good backup at the very least. To tell the truth...we had some help."

The toons deflated a little, with Boris's ears even drooping down. "We foun' Bendy in th' Machine, as we hoped ta...but he was…" he sniffed. "He…"

"It's…a very long story," Henry concluded, patting the wolf comfortingly on the back. "But in short? The Ink Demon was the one who helped us out of there."

There was a long bit of silence. "...You're pulling my leg," Camilla bluntly said, breaking it.

"Nope," Allison shook her head.

"Completely true," Tom confirmed.

"Scout's honor," Sammy added.

"Well then…uh…" Morty traded a very wide-eyed glance with Camilla, "Looks like we've got some stories to tell…"

Somewhere high above, there came another echoing BOOM.

"...While we wait for that to subside," his friend finished. "How the heck did shutting off the Machine cause the entire studio to explode?"

"Don't worry, Miss Jones, we'll explain everything," Henry hummed, giving his toons a smile as they each took a hand to help him up. "Let's...probably find somewhere comfortable to gather up."

"Good idea...an' I'll see if I got some more sammiches fer everyone…" Betty smiled brightly as she started rummaging in her bag.

"I'll help heat up some soup," Boris volunteered.

"Y'know, hearing all that, makes me actually miss feeling hungry?" Morty whispered as an aside to Camilla as they all started to file out.

"You and me both."

However, as everyone stepped out into the open, they could still hear dull explosions from above. The booming noises weren't as forceful this time around, but they noticed that the inky waterfalls that fed the lake, nearly encircling the shanty town, were pouring faster than usual.

"...I hope this place doesn't flood too," Allison pointed out with a bit of concern. "That's a helluva lot of ink we just displaced."

"I could probably draw a black hole out...but I'm not sure where it would go," Henry hummed as he scratched at his messy hair.

"Comin' from a toon's perspic...perspir...uh, point a' view," said Boris as he wandered around picking up any cans of soup he found, "It'd be worth a shot."

Alice, barely paying attention to any conversations, could only keep looking up at the ceiling, her gloved hands clasped as if in prayer. "Oh, please let our poor Bendy come out of this...somehow…"

Betty patted her shoulder as she walked around, passing sandwiches out to those who could eat; this time, it was peanut butter and jam. "I keep tellin' ya ta stop worryin', hon...he'll be fine...I think."

And so, it was a solemn and quiet picnic that took place in the center of the town, around the small Bendy statue on the recovered benches, while the Lost Ones were starting to go about their business. As sandwiches and soup were passed around, in an uneasy atmosphere that seemed like it was trying to be cozy, everyone could only listen for the occasional noise from high above, in a studio that was now almost certainly destroyed. Some of them wondered if the noise was now being caused by a raging Ink Demon, one who finally found his right mind. Alice wouldn't have put it past an angry Bendy to plan revenge against someone who'd wronged him...though it disturbed her that she couldn't put violence past him anymore.

"...So, lemme get this straight," said Morty as he eventually came back from doing a head count in the village, looking around at everyone. "You said that the Ink Demon helped you out...and that you found Bendy? They weren't one and the same?"

"...Somewhat," Henry decided to answer with a loud, disturbed sigh. "Bendy's body was powering the Machine itself. His soul...was carried with the Ink Demon; his memories were returned by the Toon World, same as all of you. I think...I think he took back his body, but last we saw, he was in his monstrous form."

"He could still be finishing the job on the Studio, then," Camilla mused as another loud CRASH echoed from above; sounding less like an explosion and more like a struggling, demolishing force. "Kinda glad to hear he's back on our side."

"So'm I," Boris sighed. "He's our lil' devil friend. He wouldn't hurt us none anymore."

"One hopes," Sammy hummed through a recovering breath. "I can imagine he's been traumatized the worst of us all. Who knows what he's like now."

The group continued to eat, listening for any more noise and finding the explosions now dulled, few and far between, only wondering and hoping. The only ones not sticking close to the others were the members of the Butcher Gang, who were more interested in exploring their new surroundings (though they would glance up and around every now and again with surprisingly concerned grimaces).

Betty Boop was one of the most worried of all...for all the progress they all made, for all the hope she carried along to save these toons from their prison in the Land of the Defunct...Bendy was the final goal, and for a while she was worried that her promise to save them all would be for nothing.

After another few moments of listening and waiting in silence, with naught but the ink waterfall's thundering around the shanty town, the toonette turned to the others. "You guys think we should go lookin' fer him now…?"

Suddenly, just as she finished her sentence, the entirety of the chamber was doused in black shadow, as cloudy tendrils of familiar inky clouds painted the walls. This time the sound of a heartbeat echoed strong and loud through the cavern, faster and more full of life, like the steady throng of a victorious drum.

Still easily frightened by this sight, most of the Lost Ones rushed back to their buildings and other various hiding places...only Camilla stayed behind with the others as they all stood up in defensive positions; Boris and Alice were holding onto each other, and Betty was hunched with her hands clasped over her mouth to drown her own whimpers of hope.

After the spectacle they've all seen...who would emerge? The Demon or Bendy?

From the ink river, with a seething growl that seemed more tired than angry, a hulking, dripping figure emerged. At first it was like a blob of ink...but as it moved into land, slowly, the form became the familiar bestial form of the Demon.

It raised its head like it was a part of the burdensome weight that it was dragging, and seemed to regard the group in front of it for just a moment...the combined looks in their eyes of hope and fear.

The heartbeat noise slowed...and stopped...as did the crawling shadows. The giant figure melted again in that spot, taking only a few steps more, onto a small, solid hill up from the dock. A mass of ink flowed downward back into the shore like a grapefruit being squeezed of everything inside…

And what was left was something small...smaller even than the Ink Demon's lanky body. Well and truly, on his hands and knees and breathing hard, was little Bendy.

Once the extra ink was sloughed off of himself, the toon imp stood up, still wheezing, and pointed upward with one gloved hand and two pie-cut eyes that couldn't seem to focus, his legs a little wobbly.

"An'…an' STAY out!" he growled upward in a more high-pitched voice. And then, he promptly fell onto the ground again with a groan, face-down.

For about half a second, everyone stood in shock, unable to think.

"Bendy!" Alice then screamed, breaking free of the crowd to be the first to rush up to the little creature, followed quickly by Boris and Henry...the others started forward as well, but stayed back upon Allison's command to give him some air for a moment.

The toon angel fell to her knees beside him and carefully picked him up, turning him over so that she held him like a child in her arms. "Oh, Bendy, sugar, speak to me…" she whimpered, large tears dripping from her eyes and down onto him as she patted his cheek, to no avail.

"C'mon buddy, wake up, it's us…" Boris also whimpered, kneeling beside Alice with a hand on her shoulder. Henry knelt down as well, but couldn't quite find the words to say to wake him up, or comfort him. He was still processing that the monster that had been after him all over the place in the real world Studio was now himself again, right here with the other toons…his first creation.

Still hiccupping with tiny sobs, Alice held him closer for a solemn moment, fearing that he wouldn't wake up again. That is, until she felt a gloved hand patting her cheek. She looked up with a gasp to see him weakly smiling in that toothy way.

"H-hey, dollface...wh-what's wit' th' frown, huh?" he stammered.

Boris gasped loudly as well, jumping up and pumping his fists in the air. "Hot dang, he's alive!"

Alice wiped her tears off with her free hand as she held Bendy's head up with the other, trying to look admonishing and only looking relieved. "You silly imp, you scared me half to death! Is...is it really you?"

He barely managed a short, breathy chuckle. "'Course it's me...wh-who were ya expectin'...Mistah Cab Calloway? H-heh…ooh…" his hand returned to his head.

The angel simply shook her head, managing a smile. "No...I wasn't expecting anyone but you all along. And I was right."

Boris fell back down on the ground next to his friends. "Bendy, I'm so plum happy t' see ya again! We missed ya somethin' terrible, m' so sorry we didn't...I…" he suddenly started tearing up himself, his voice wavering into a whimper. "'M just so sorry, Bendy…"

"B-Boris...please, don'tcha...don'tcha start cryin' on me too, ya big...palooka...uuugh…" the devil groaned. "M'...M' sorry guys, I got...I still gotta splittin' headache…" he mimed an exaggerated crack down his temples. "So...talk later, 'k? M'...jus' gonna nap fer...a minute...jus'…don' worry, I'll..." and he closed his eyes again, going limp in Alice's arms.

"Oh…" Alice sniffed and shook her head. "If I didn't know what he'd gone through, I'd think that this was all an act to get me to hold him longer...but now I don't wanna let him go."

"I think I know th' feelin'…" Boris sniffed as well, lightly grabbing her arms and helping her up. "At least we got 'im back, finally. Now we gotta find a place t' rest 'im."

"Let me carry him, Alice," Henry offered. "I'll make sure he's safe. Now that he's back...I owe him that much." The angel nodded and hesitantly let the human gather the little devil in his arms.

Camilla, who'd been watching the whole spectacle with a welling heart, broke the silence with a soft sigh. "C'mon, you guys...we can gather up at my place. I have another cot I can drag out to put him on, and I'll ask Morty for one of his blankets."

As the other human-turned-ink creatures stood nearby, watching Henry interact with his toons again and with relieved smiles painting their faces, Sammy could only let out a soft, thoughtful hum.

"Well...the Ink Machine's off, we're all safe, Bendy's back...and we're trapped here underground in the Toon World. What next?"

"How 'bout we figure that out in a bit, Lawrence," Tom gruffed as he started to follow the others. "I need me a break."

"And a stiff drink, if there's anything around here that doesn't have ink in it," Allison added.

Betty giggled. "Already lookin' in my bag, honey."