((AN: And yep, you see right, another new chapter! I guess I was bitten by some kind of inspiration bug, because I just HAD to get closer to the climax of this story. x3 I hope all of you that have started watching this story at the beginning are still here. I appreciate any feedback that you leave me, so don't be shy, let me know if you like how it's been going! ^.^
The ink is drained...the door is opened...an unexpected new ally is gained, and the most emotional truth yet is finally revealed. What will our heroes do when they face an enemy that's bigger than any of them?
Let's just dive into things, shall we? Roll film!))
Chapter 9
The Ink Demon had a simple existence. It knew its purpose, or so it thought.
After it was created, shut away, and then freed again to wreak its vengeful havoc, the Creator gave it the orders that it was seeking, to feel needed. The Creator said to watch the Machine. To destroy anything that tried to get into or out of it. To send it back to the Ink.
And it did so...both in the real world and the world of Toons. For a long time it wandered between both worlds, never really thinking about how the two differed. It was the Creator's Studio. It was the same Machine. Both were its given domain.
The angel and the wolf came...the angel tried to touch one of the ink beings. The Demon came and shut her away, unintentionally creating a foe in the process.
The wolf returned and became a victim of that foe. The Demon could only take his discarded body and return it to the Toon World, up to display as a warning to any more intrusions. No more came for the longest time...enough time for the Toon World's Machine to flood its place of rest. The Demon would still be there, living its simple existence, content. Even if things were suddenly stirred up in the real world by the presence of a new human...it didn't care. The human would become one of the Ink soon enough; though it was clever in its continuous escape, it was never far from the creature's watch.
But then, a new presence from the Toon World came...and so to investigate it, the Demon spent more time on that side.
And the more time it spent, the more its mind seemed to open.
Flashes of laughter and happiness that it seemed to long for. New feelings. New questions. Names that felt familiar, but weren't.
He caught the new presence, and the more she spoke, the more complicated things became. The more he wanted to understand.
Wasn't he born without a soul? Didn't the Creator say that he was imperfect? What was he? Who was he?
But, he still had a job. The Creator said to protect the Machine.
And when he could no longer feel it breathing...he didn't hesitate to go to it. Rain his destruction on anything in his way. Ink beings fled in his wake as he transformed and roared into the cavern, now no longer flooded.
They will go back. Send them back. Send them back.
And yet still...even in the form that his monstrous rage and sorrow gave him...Bendy still wondered why.
"Last stop: giant cave, dripping ink, evil Machine. Everybody out."
This statement was issued by Sammy as he ushered his charges out of his inky portal through the perilous Void; funnily enough not in the cave of the Machine, but right outside the doors of Thomas Connor's office.
Once Henry and the toons were all out, Sammy closed it with a grunt, just about doubling over and holding himself up on bent legs, hands on his knees. He was panting and shaking, very visibly tired of all the traveling he's had to do in the past hours. The ink-man was just about at the limit of his power now.
"Oh, you've done a good job, Sammy," Alice reassured as she placed a hand on his back and patted it. "I hope you'll be able to get enough rest before we have to run back to the shanty town."
"Yeah, we shoulda probably brung somethin' fer 'im ta eat," Boris wondered nervously, his ears droopy as he scratched the back of his neck in a nervous fashion.
"Ahh, it's fine," Sammy said, waving his hand dismissively as he caught his breath. "I can't eat anyway; I just need a minute to sit. Plus, maintaining those things actually takes more out of me when the Demon is also traveling around in the Void...and from the feel of things, he is angry."
"Oh dear, poor Bendy...I can't imagine…" Betty shook her head with a sad sigh. "I really hope we can get through ta him."
"Or even just past him," Henry sighed, gritting his teeth and running his fingers through his hair, which he couldn't keep from noticing how dirty it was. The animator had to admit that he was nervous, knowing that he was getting ready to face the end game of this whole thing. A part of him knew that it wouldn't be as easy as turning off the Machine. That same part even thought that once he did succeed, everything would just start all over again.
Henry tried the door, and remembering that they'd left it open when they ran from a horde of Searchers (the toons remembered as well, and kept their weapons out), easily pushed it ajar and looked around inside. He could still hear some mechanical humming, perhaps a bit louder than he remembered. The Machine itself was still on, he knew, but it was working double-time on whatever redirection that Tom had subjected to it. Looking into the corridor that would house the old film vault, the ink level was significantly lower, but still impossible to traverse.
"Dammit," the man snarled as he turned back to the others gathered in the office, "I'm still not sure we'll be able to get in. Unless all we have to do is open the door and let it spill out."
"I'm not very eager to test that," Alice pointed out, with agreeable nods from the other Toons.
Just then, they heard a loud and echoing SLAM from one of the hallways past the reception area, followed by a familiar masculine grunt, and several things being hit with a THWAP and a SQUELCH.
Following those noises was none other than the toon wolf-man Thomas Connor, with Allison right behind him wielding her blade. They were running from the inside of the offices, with plenty of fresh ink on their respective weapons. "Damn Searchers," he growled once he reached the rest of the group, "They don't bother us at all when we're doing our thing, then they up and multiply like rabbits to keep us from getting here."
"Well, hello again. At least you did your thing, I would hope?" Sammy rasped.
"Damn straight. All the ink pressure's been rerouted to different places. Some rooms are gonna be flooding up fast, but they're rooms we don't need anymore. Now let me in there," he ordered as he put his ax away and pushed past the others to his office, "Need to just tinker with these gauges, then we can get through the vaults."
"Good ta see ya again too, Mister Connor," Betty giggled as she cleared a path for him with the others.
It was Allison who stopped in front of her with an exasperated, but fond, laugh. "Yeah, that's my Tom. He can act like a real class act when he's fixated on something. But, glad to have you back, Betty; I'm happy you're safe. And none the worse for wear."
"Aw, it was nothin'. And Bendy isn't really so bad. Didn't harm a hair on me."
"Yeah, hard t' believe," Boris chuckled when Allison quirked an eyebrow. "But Betty's shown she can do practically anything."
"Oh, tut," Betty giggled. "I'm only helpin' spread th' pep around, dear. It's all up ta him now ta see if he can latch onto it."
"Heaven willing," Alice sighed, clasping her gloved hands as if in a prayer for hope.
Not a second later, with another grunt from the head engineer, the machinery could be heard groaning and squeaking as it adjusted to its new settings. The pressure gauges were steadily rising as the hall beyond the archive door was seen being swiftly drained of its contents. Finally, the floor could be seen again.
"There we go, and the secondary protocol switch…" Tom said with a growl as he pulled the lever and slammed it straight down into place, causing another few pipes in far off places to creak and complain as the ink was redirected. "Alright; now the cave should be just about ready for visitors, if I know my dimensions right. The place won't explode yet, not until I get the Machine to shut off completely, but going back up to most rooms will probably be impossible in about twenty minutes, so I hope nobody left any valuables up there."
"Nothing but my sanity," Henry muttered, which caused the toons to snicker.
"We're gonna corner the market on support groups after this," Sammy muttered as well, standing up and attempting to crack his back. "So how much time do we have left overall, Connor?"
"I'd say I gave you all a little more time than I anticipated, notwithstanding the Searchers' hindrance. Tops, another hour."
Henry took in a deep breath and let it out in a harsh sigh through his nose, keeping his Gent pipe in one hand and the net ball in the other, his expression grim and determined. "Alright...let's do this. You all ready?"
"As I'm ever gonna be," Boris stated, pulling up the lip of his suspenders and gripping his sharpened ax.
Alice nodded, adjusting her halo. "Let's go save our friend. And if we can't find him…" her voice lowered to an angry growl, surprising even coming from her, "We'll destroy this place in his name and the name of all the innocents that Joey Drew took."
"A-men, sister!" Betty swung her fist in the air, also more than ready to face the coming sights.
"Hold it, ya freaks!"
Suddenly, with the sound of a completely new voice, the group of toons and humans all whirled around to the sight of some more faces (new to all but two anyway): none other than the Butcher Gang, having dropped in (from somewhere in the ceiling, it looked) with their respective weapons drawn and ready, Edgar letting go of his web-rope with a quick whiplash sound.
Henry was, once again, gobsmacked at the sight of more honest-to-gosh characters from his animations, alive and walking before him. "You've got to be kidding me...the Butcher Gang's here now too?"
"The real deal, it looks!" Allison blinked, while Sam and Tom exchanged what looked to be annoyed and baffled expressions.
Boris slapped his forehead and dragged it down his face. "You three? I thought we sentcha out!"
"Yeah, didn'tcha find th' exit?" Betty inquired, her hands on her hips and her toe tapping.
"Oh we did, Miss Boop!" Edgar the spider piped up with a large, proud grin. "We got out no problem!"
"Aye, whaddya take us fer, lass, a gaggle a' rubes?" Barley grouched, adjusting his hat and grimacing at her with one eye.
"Yeah, but see," Charley rolled his eyes and leaned one-armed on his pipe weapon, "Once we did, we found out fast that th' Toon World's a bust. We're still in th' Defunct, toots...we ain't got a home ta go back ta. So we decided (against our better judgment, I might add) ta stop flakin' around and be heroes fer once. So we came back ta find yas, and help yas tear down some walls."
"Yeah, and fight some Searchers!" Edgar crowed, twirling his web lasso.
"Aye, and I see ye lubbers have also found ya more help," said Barley, looking the group over before his gaze landed on Alice. He gave a quick mock-elegant bow of the waist. "Welcome back t' the livin', angelface."
"Charmed and delighted, Barley," Alice nodded with a smirk and a curtsy of her own.
Charley hummed and rubbed his chin. "Yeah, this here's a good army we got goin'." He blinked as his pie-cut eyes settled on Henry. "And you…there's somethin' familiar aboutcha, but I can't put my finger on it."
Boris grinned and gestured toward the human with a grand flourish, as if unveiling a marvel. "Guys, I'd like ya to meet th' real Creator, Henry Stein."
"Yeah, hey," Henry said with a lopsided (though slightly giddy) grin and a wave.
The Butchers all dropped their weapons at once in shock, gasping. "No way in heck. The real Creator? The guy behind...everything?" Charley stammered out.
"Not to mention a music director, a voice actress, and an engineer," Sammy said with an amused smirk in his tone, and that only made the three toons gape some more.
"Who by the way will remind everyone that time is running out!" Tom growled. "Let's get a move-on and turn off that Machine!"
"Oh, right, Sorry Mister Connor," Boris nervously chuckled, before turning to the Butchers. "Well, I guess it'll be good ta have a few more toons as backup in case more Searchers pop in. Jus' don't get in our way."
"Eh, same goes ta you, wolf," Charley huffed. "Let's go, fellas, you heard 'im."
And so, with Tom and Allison leading the way and the Butchers trailing behind (with Sammy behind them to watch for any mischief...truth be told, he was more than happy to bring up the rear if it meant he was fully trusted again), and Henry and the Toons in the center, the group opened the doors into the vault...which had become quite a sad mess after such a long time of being drenched in ink.
But, at least, the floor was mostly dry. They walked on, relieved to see that the metal door to the other side of the room was open. As they carefully marched through, all was quiet, save for their footsteps (or for some, squeaky boots), and the occasional quiet mutter or comment. The hall led back into a nondescript office-type corridor, full of more posters advertising old cartoons, some looking almost as new as if they had been put up only a day ago. For what it was leading toward, it felt more like a march to the last rites than a path to Joey's beloved beating heart of the Studio.
"So, you guys," Betty spoke quietly to the Butchers, "How'dja manage ta find us again anyway? We were all over th' place."
"Eh, we're expert detectives, dollface," Charley grinned with a show of his teeth, "We'd have found ya no matter what."
"Well, we also had help from one of those big inky human things that could talk," Edgar admitted, which earned him a little bop on the head. "Ow," the spider exclaimed in a whisper.
"So you found the Lost ones first," Sammy translated. "Hm. I hope they're staying where they're supposed to."
"I think they will," Henry hummed. "Camilla seems like the type to easily keep them calm."
"She was a good egg," Allison sighed. "They all were."
"Hrm, looks like we be in fer a nice yarn," said Barley as he tested the swing of his wrench idly. "Hope ye be tellin' us what we missed after you an' th' lass shooed us out, wolfy."
"I don't think there's much more time fer stories," Betty pointed out as they turned a corner, watched for disturbances, and kept going. "But I can tell ya what's up ahead. We got a way t' turn off th' Machine...and when we do, we gotta run like th' dickens."
"Yeah, s'gonna blow this place t' kingdom come," Boris added with a very wolf-like growl. "An' good riddance."
"Not before we make sure Bendy isn't in there," Alice added, always reminding the others to think of their little friend foremost.
"Ah, so th' runt's here somewhere," Charley hummed. "Makes me wonder though. If ya got th' Creator...why ain't any of this gone already?"
"You know that's not how it works," Alice rolled her eyes. "Just like any of us, a real-worlder has very little influence over the Toon World. Even a Creator. Only if he's behind the desk again."
"And this place was concocted by Joey, not me," Henry frowned. "I can at least quickly draw you guys better weapons."
"Ooh! Can I have a bow, like Robin Hood?" Edgar eagerly piped up, only to get a glare from his two compatriots.
"We're fine, thankya," Charley waived the offer, "It just bugs me, is all. Y'could've at least stayed ta keep Mister Drew from messin' things up."
"Charley, hush!" Alice hissed and gave him a short slap on the back of his head, before turning to Henry with apologetic eyes. "Henry, I'm sure he didn't mean…"
But the Creator stopped in his tracks, the words already having a desired effect. The group stopped as well, wearing different expressions. The former employees knew, or at least guessed, his reason for leaving. But the toons...Boris and Alice were kind and sympathetic, but he saw questions in their eyes even still, and the Butchers were outright accusing. Betty was on Henry's side, but...she too was curious as to what would make a Creator leave.
"Had I known…" Henry began, finding it hard to speak, "Had I known what effect I really had...that you guys could live, at least in a way...maybe...maybe I could have tried to rein Joey in. But in the end, he stayed the boss, and I stayed the overworked patsy whose ideas could never stay my own...until I couldn't take anymore. My wife...oh God, Linda, I miss her so much…"
He raised a palm to his face and tried to keep his tears at bay, and his resolve was helped by feeling Boris and Alice place a hand on each shoulder. The group started walking again as he spoke. "I had a family to think about. I couldn't stay at the rate I had been. But now...now I know that more things are at stake than I could ever see. You guys are like family to me too, if only from in my head to ink on paper. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna let all of this stand."
"That's it honey, don't take no guff, stand an' fight!" Betty smiled, balling her hands into fists. "We're gonna get outta this yet, just you wait."
"Eh, we really don't have to wait," Tom piped up, and he was the one to stop the group again. "We're here."
The hallway's end opened up into a chamber the size of which even rivaled that of where the Lost Ones rebuilt their town. A cavern of dark rock with stains of the ink that once filled its gaps, it had now been drained to reveal not just a Machine, but a building set to house, extract, and retool anything put into it. The ink inside still pulsed like a menacing heartbeat, and there still lay cables at the top of the chamber that reached back up into the Studio itself, which would take the ink producing part with it as necessary. Every single individual who started stepping into that room had a shudder crawl up their spine and seize their bodies. This was the epicenter of that foul feeling, a pit of gathered sadness that even made this part of the Toon World hard to keep hope.
"Oh my stars…" Betty gasped, looking so far up that she almost threatened to fall over backwards, "I ain't never seen anythin' like this in all my days…"
"This is bringin' back some horrible memories…" Boris whimpered. "I dunno if I can keep from runnin' off again…"
"Stay strong, Boris," Alice coaxed, keeping a grip on one of his arms. "Remember, this is for Bendy."
She heard him gulp loudly. "Right...fer Bendy."
Thankfully, the leftover ink on the ground was only present in large puddles like those after rain...the creatures prone to getting hurt from it could easily avoid it, while anyone else could just step through. The group marched on like a silent army, clutching their weapons or just nervously cracking their knuckles, listening for any sign of the Demon...it had to have known by now that they were there, or at least it was actively looking.
The Machine's drawbridge was open, and admitted them inside through a narrow corridor. "There's a series of rooms in this thing," Tom explained quietly, "There's one more set of controls in one room, and I gotta mess with those before finally hitting the off switch. Once I do, I'll yell, and when I yell, we run."
"Just give us a little time to see if we can find Bendy," Alice pleaded.
"Well, even if we can't...he can't die, as a toon," Boris pointed out while constantly looking around in a nervous fashion. "Maybe blowin' it up might free 'im."
"No helping him if he's buried alive in the wake of it," Sammy interjected. "There are limits even to immortality."
"I'll build a bulldozer if I have to," Henry murmured, his eyes kept forward.
But as they walked through the corridor, they couldn't shield their eyes from the sight before them. Embedded in the walls were chambers with glass windows like the viewing ports of a museum gallery, and inside the chambers were little pools of ink. It wasn't hard to imagine what would have been housed inside those chambers...each of them had seen it on the other side. Chambers filled with Lost Ones, or even Boris clones, newly-made victims of the Ink Machine. Boris whimpered at the sight of it, and Alice clung more closely to him.
The room opened up more once they reached the end of the corridor, where they were facing a closed metal door, to be opened with a lever. "The central chamber...this is where we get into the meat of this thing…" Tom sighed, his brow furrowing with decision and his gloved fingers clenching around his ax handle with solemn, deadly determination. He started reaching for the lever. "Let's hurry and…"
ROAAAAAAAAAAR!
It was an unmistakable sound, enough to stop everything and everyone in its tracks, perhaps even time itself. Rage, frustration, injustice, emotions that in the Toon world had a very real and potent effect when it was used, billowed into them like gut punches. The very world shook even when the echoes of the roar died, and also as the beastly form of the Ink Demon slammed into view behind them, walking on his knuckles and hissing through his teeth, focusing on the group through nondescript eyes.
The Butcher gang had all lost their bravado, having dropped their weapons and clung to each other. "It's th' Demon!" Charley managed a stuttering cry as the others dropped into ready poses, weapons drawn.
The Bendy amalgam kept breathing out in low hisses as it approached, eager to start thrashing the intruders that had dared to try destroying its home, to smash them all back into the Void.
"Think there's any reasoning with it now?" Allison whispered through her teeth.
"It comes any closer, I've got the net," Henry murmured back, clutching the sphere in a right hand that was shaking with a combination of weariness and fear. "Tom, get that thing open."
"I've been tryin' since I heard that thing comin'," the former engineer grunted as he tugged his whole weight down on the lever. "It won't budge!"
"Dammit," Sammy cursed, raising his own hands and preparing to summon another ink portal (though he was still feeling the strain of his previous attempts). "Then we'll have to run if it charges...get ready."
The Demon thumped closer, hissing down at its trapped prey. With a growl, it lowered itself and raised one large hand…
"WAIT!"
Then, suddenly, Betty stood in front of everyone, placing herself between the group and the menacing creature, hands raised to both.
And with a little flinch...the creature stopped. It let out a light growl still, but lowered its hand, focusing on Betty.
The Butchers stopped their quivering, and Charley pushed his comrades off him. "Good idea, dollface, let's run 'im through while he's distracted!"
"You'll do no such thing!" Alice ordered, grabbing his wrist. "I think it's working."
"Well, I'll be damned…" Henry blinked, and slightly (only slightly) lowered the net bomb.
Betty, meanwhile, felt her heart racing as she faced the monster in front of her. But when she thought about it...she'd faced things just as scary, if only in appearance. She'd seen the barest glimpse of good in this creature, and she'd drawn it out...she knew that it could be done again, even now.
"Bendy, look, it's me, Betty, remember? Y-yer friend? We're not here ta hurt anythin'! I did what I promised, I brought my friends. Now, you made a promise, too! You won't hurt 'em, will ya?"
And that reminder of a promise made the creature give a little, thoughtful hum of a growl. To the utter and complete shock of the others, it lowered itself further until it curled into a sort of ball...and then, it seemed to melt completely away, its body reverting back to an ink puddle; surely, whenever the Demon changed forms, it had simply borrowed from the puddles in its environment.
It took a minute...and then, rising from that gooey mess, its familiar, lanky form appeared...a little slouched, but very noticeably calmer as it regarded the group before it. Slowly, they too rose out of their defensive stances...apprehensive, but open.
"Ya see?" Betty glanced to the others. "He wants ta talk. Bendy?" She turned back to him. "Go ahead...ask somethin'."
There was a second where they could hear its raspy breaths echoing through the corridor. Then, it raised its right hand to the wall, pointing to show the slowly-forming words.
I
Will listen.
The Creator.
Who is he?
"Well hot dang…" Boris muttered to Alice. "That's a neat trick."
"It's the only way he can communicate, I think...but it shows that he can." The toon angel clasped her hands together. "Oh please be in there somewhere, Bendy…"
Seeing this, the group's eyes turned to Henry. He awkwardly cleared his throat and stood straight, pushing to the front to stand next to Betty. "Ah...I am, I guess. I'm Henry."
The Demon regarded him briefly, and then the words formed again...it seemed he was getting better and faster at that method of communication, for he only needed to twitch his hand, and the words quickly jumped and shifted into new ones.
You…
I have seen you
Before.
"Er...I assume you mean...in the real-world studio."
Why
Were you there?
The question of the century. Henry took a breath, and then shook his head. "I'm...not really sure anymore. I came because Joey invited me back. Wanted me to see what his workshop had turned into...without me, I guess. I don't know what his endgame is...I just wanted to leave. Not to hurt anyone. And now...now I want to help out here. To save the characters I rightfully made, and the people I used to know."
And how
Will you
Do that?
The words seemed to have inflection behind them now as they formed. The way the ink showed on the wall, it was slowly and deliberately. An interrogation.
But, before Henry could answer, it was Tom who piped up. "We're gonna destroy the Machine."
The Demon's head flicked to now inspect the wolf-man with a metal attachments. "You remember, me, Bendy? At least my voice?" he asked, crossing his arms.
He tilted his head, then answered as if slightly surprised.
You are
The Machine's
Worker.
You kept me
Locked away.
Those last words were made roughly, as if in accusation. The Demon let out a hiss to accompany it, and there was a brief moment where shadows danced across the walls.
"Trust me, I didn't want to do that," Tom said, raising his hands in a placating manner. "It was on orders from Joey. He thought you came out wrong, and thought you'd scare people, so...it was the only thing that could be done. Believe me, if you were able to speak like this before, I'd have let you read him the riot act."
Bendy's head tilted again at that, almost comically so. Another pause. The words now formed a little more slowly, showing a morose and...even melancholy demeanor.
What will
Destroying the Machine
Accomplish?
I was
To protect it.
But now
If it was all a
Lie
I am a useless
Monster
As before.
"Oh, no, hon, you ain't no monster!" Betty argued. "You were just made by a fake Creator and made ta suffer, because a' his bad ol' pride wantin' ta do away with what he thought was a failure."
"She's right, ya know," Boris then piped in, to the others' surprise. He stepped up with a short gulp, but he continued. "We're all wantin' th' same thing...ta free ourselves from Joey's influence. Destroyin' th' Machine will do that!"
"And it will free you as well," Alice agreed, stepping up to the forefront next to Betty and Henry. "We know you want to feel a use for your creation...but Joey would only keep you here to make sure he gets his way. With us, you'll be happy...and no longer so lonely. Bendy…" his name was shaky on her lips, "Please help us end this. If you're anything at all like the conniving, sweet little devil I knew...you wouldn't put up with it."
There was a long pause of silence as the Demon stared at Alice, his form slouching again, as if something weighed heavy on him. Inside, he was still awash with doubt...but the tide was ebbing. These creatures, especially the faces of friends...memories that seemed so much his own...and of the true Creator...it made him feel something that Joey Drew never did. It was warm...and it was winning over the sadness. They...yes, even the Butchers...all watched him with hopeful anticipation.
Despite what he'd done to all of them. It was unfathomable...but apparently here, that was commonplace.
Then, he straightened up again...his decision was made.
Fine.
I will allow this.
But know
That I do not
Trust
So readily.
"That goes double for us," Tom pointed out, ever blunt, but he probably figured that what the Demon needed was straightforwardness and honesty. "You've had a habit of destroying everything you came across. The Toon World's probably affecting you like it's done us, and changin' your mind...we know all about it. But just like with him," he jerked a thumb at Sammy, "You gotta earn our trust, too. So let's start by cooperating with each other."
"Aarr…" Barley groaned. "Ya really think we can trust this lubber? 'E's got trouble written all over 'im."
"So do you, Barley of the Butcher Gang," Alice snapped back, her hands on her hips. "We're also trusting you not to run off and leave us to a surprise Searcher attack."
"Oh, now ya cut us to th' quick, angelcakes," Charley feigned shock (or at least it seemed feigned).
"I ain't runnin'," Edgar then declared, bravely puffing out his chest, "It's all of us together now against this thing."
"What he said," Charley said, crossing his arms.
"Alright, alright, we're running out of time," Allison cut in, also facing the Demon. "Let's just see how far this goes. But I will thank you for giving us a chance...Bendy. I think we can try to give you one, too."
All that the Demon did to answer was give a nod, and things were now noticeably less tense, although everyone still kept a wary eye on the creature. Still, in the wake of this agreement, the toons had light smiles of relief on their faces, and the ink-humans were shaking their heads in disbelief.
"Alright then…" Henry sighed, breaking the silence. "So...Bendy, would you happen to know how to open this door?"
The creature gave a short groan before answering.
The door
Will not open.
I have tried
Once the flood
Vanished.
Henry then gave a short smile. "Let me try, then. In this world, it seems that when something doesn't work...you just change inks."
Everyone watched as the human then produced his own inkwell. "Say, Tom, you'd put grease or something on the machinery if it happened to stick, like this lever seems to be doing?"
He nodded. "Bit of grease, yeah. Whatcha thinkin'?"
"We'll see in a minute." Then, he took out a brush, turned, and started to draw on the wall. With the toons grinning ear-to-ear and the others raising their eyebrows curiously, he eventually finished what looked like a little canister of grease. "Looks good...any of the Toons wanna do the honor of plucking this off the wall and handing it to me?"
"Ooh, ooh, me!" Edgar said, eagerly raising two of his spider-arms like a child in class. When Henry nodded, he gleefully hopped over, pulled the drawing straight out into three-dimensional space (making the ink-humans murmur with interest), and proudly handed it to him. "There ya go, Mister Henry! One can a' grease!"
"Heh, thanks kid," the animator couldn't help but smile and pat the spider's head, making him giggle and stick out his tongue in a shy manner.
The Demon, who was a little bit exhausted by using his powers to speak, could only tilt his head in fascination. This human...Henry...he really was a Creator...and maybe...maybe he could give him a purpose, if nothing else, after all was said and done.
"'Ey, not bad," Charley smirked and rubbed his chin. "Maybe I will take ya up on them new weapons. Or a new outfit."
"When we're out of danger, fellas," Henry couldn't help but chuckle. Then, he turned to the door and poured the stuff into the lever. A second passed as he waited until it settled, and then he gripped the handle, gritting his teeth. "Here goes nothing."
For a second, it didn't seem like the lever had any give. But after giving it a good tug, the thing actually came unstuck and came down all the way, accompanied only by a quick metallic screech and a click once it set.
Immediately, the doors shook, and the machinery around it gave more of those metallic groans and clicks and whistles as they worked the heavy threshold open. The group watched on with bated breath...those that had been within the real Machine, they hadn't yet beheld the central room...where in the real world the Demon had his lair.
But now, not even he could expect what he saw next as the doors stopped and admitted them in.
The central chamber, as Joey had envisioned (and as Tom had built) was meant to be a room in which to house any toons built from the Machine, to show them the animations and show them how to act in front of people for the proposed (and ultimately failed) amusement park...for a time, the Ink Demon was placed in there, the only real slightly cheerful memory he had from before. On the other side, this room had projectors showing clips from the cartoon in several areas that he watched, all from a central point in which the creature had a chair that he'd stolen from Joey Drew's office.
Here, though...here, the projectors were showing nothing but blank screens, though they could hear the reels clicking. The room was messy, ink stains splattered the walls like blood...and in the chair, fast bound by straps around his small limbs and with several tendrils of cords sticking from his body...was a very familiar little creature, sitting slumped, unresponsive.
Boris gaped, his ears drooping sadly. "Is...is that…?"
"Oh, oh no, no…" Betty shook her head, holding her hands to her mouth.
"Bendy!" Alice practically screamed once she saw what the others did, and started running towards the chair.
Before she could get far, however, two hands had grabbed her wrists, holding her back: one from Henry, the other from Boris.
"Hold on, Alice!" the wolf begged. "Y'don't know what'll happen if ya get close ta him! You might end up like that too!"
"But...but Boris, look at him! He…" her voice quivered, and her eyes started to tear up as she futilely struggled, "All this time...he's been in the Machine, dead center, hooked up to it! Who knows what it's been doing to him...we have to get him out!"
"And we will, dear, we will," Betty assured her, taking her hand and patting it as she was let go. "But we hafta be smart. Th' Machine's still runnin', and who knows what messin' with Bendy'll do to it...or what it will do to him."
"Betty's right," Henry said, although his usually calm voice seemed to have an edge to it, tinged with sadness and furious determination all in one, "I want to get him out of there more than anything too...but it might not be that simple, considering how he's hooked to it."
Then, the ink-humans filed in, each of them either gaping or gasping softly upon seeing the Dancing Demon in such a state.
"Oh...the poor little guy…" Allison frowned. "What the hell happened…?"
Sammy was rather at a loss for words. Of all the ways he'd imagined meeting Bendy himself, he didn't think it would ever be like that. "Sure as hell wasn't prepared for this…" he murmured.
Tom stepped up in front of everyone, giving the prone devil a soft look of pity...but being his methodical self, his eyes immediately traced the cords back up into the ceiling.
"Looks like the Machine on this side was runnin' on Bendy's own...I guess you Toons have ink for blood…? His essence, whatever, it's been influencing it somehow."
"Could prob'ly snip 'im out, like Betty did with 'er scissors ta free Alice," Boris wondered, trying not to look at his friend.
"Oh, but Boris, I was conscious...he's not…" Alice whimpered. "What if this thing is keeping him alive…?"
"And he ain't 'toon-dead', with X's for eyes. He's just...there," Betty sighed. "Eyes 'r open, but there ain't no light there. Dear oh deary me, I ain't never seen this before."
When the Butchers caught sight of the Bendy in the chair, they were all a mix of uncomfortable, pitying, even a little saddened...but mostly just very uncomfortable. Antagonistic to Bendy as they were before, they would never have seen something like this happen.
It was hard for them to form any kind of words of care and assurance for the others...being who they were, of course. So the only thing they could think to offer was to just get out of their way.
"Eh…" Charley gulped. "Know what, I dunno how much help th' three of us can be in this here sit-chee-ation, so I think we'll guard the door, a'right? Good. C'mon, guys."
"Yeah, we'll watch out there. Good luck," Edgar at least had the thought to say as they left, with only a little concerned grunt from Barley as the parting note.
So, with little mind paid to the Butchers (who really were going to just watch the front door), the last one to see Bendy in his sad and sorry state...was the Ink Demon himself. He had come up slowly, following as the others were more distracted by the sight, discussing things to do, while Tom looked around for the door that led to the rest of the rooms.
Now, as this was the first time that the Demon had seen the inside of his lair on this side of the reels...needless to say he was more than a little shocked, and dismayed. He wondered briefly who he needed to punish for making his room such a mess…
Then he saw the little demon in the chair.
Instantly, the rest of the conversation in the room went into a blur, and he could only hear ringing...much louder than he always heard in the Void...this ringing was incessantly louder by the minute, and soon, it evolved into other kinds of voices. Voices he'd recognized from the cartoons he'd seen...but from the eyes of their principle character.
Memory after memory after memory flowed through his mind, taking the room he was in out of focus and placing him elsewhere. He was back in a world where happiness and laughter prevailed, even after some of the ups and downs that the other characters put him through. He felt that he still enjoyed the company of everyone that he came across. He remembered his own voice, whenever he finally had one.
Until the day that he left his friends...came to the call of a familiar person...and saw a familiar place...the logo of Joey Drew Studios.
And that's when it hit him. These were his memories. His. Bendy's. BOTH.
He saw what happened all over again...things he forgot and wished he could forget.
The Machine caught him as he entered the central room, following that welcoming, ever-so-deceptive voice. He was pulled...tied...jabbed into.
And then all went dark. And when he woke up…
He was the Demon. A blank slate, like a child...staring with utter confusion at the way the ones who created him were treating him. Like the monster that he was not.
Shut away with no one to talk to for so long. Nothing to see but those old cartoons, and nothing to believe but what they had said about him.
Feeling such ANGER when he was freed by complete accident. Tossing the world into chaos, and only then was he acknowledged by Joey Drew. He gave him a purpose...only to keep him out of the way.
The memories all blended together now. His friends had come to save him, and he didn't know. He saw them as the false Creator had told him...intruders. He wrenched them apart and tossed them between worlds. He wandered...he tore and ripped and shredded...he was aimless, continuous destruction, the undisputed ruler of the underground Studio...until he began to feel again.
He knew everything. Everything.
And it hurt. He had never hurt so much before, physically and emotionally. His mind was such a roiling mess, that he hadn't caught when he'd fallen to the ground on his knees, barely catching himself on his good leg, holding his head and shaking violently, knowing what it was like to feel sadness, guilt, frustration, crippling sadness, all at once.
He didn't know what was happening to himself...but the others noticed, once they saw him fall.
"What's happening?!" Sammy exclaimed.
"He fell over!" Boris shouted.
"No...he's transforming again! Something's happened!" Allison growled as she withdrew her sword. "I knew he couldn't be trusted…!"
"No, it can't be, he promised…!"
"Some things can't change with kindness, Betty…!"
"Hang on, I've still got the net..."
"Wait!" Tom (of all people) suddenly jumped in with everyone, catching their attention. "Wait...look at him."
They all looked. What they saw was the Demon doubled over on himself, holding his head...a familiar sight before a transformation, but...no.
The walls weren't pulsing, there was no sickly heartbeat noises in their ears...just the sound of broken breathing and the occasional high-pitched, gurgled whine. He wasn't transforming. He wasn't angry.
He was crying.
"Oh my Lord…" Sammy murmured sadly, breaking the intensity of the silence made by his noises. "He must have seen the other Bendy in the chair. He's...I think he's going through the same thing you and I went through with our memory flood, Tom."
"But...he wouldn't have memories to regain, he didn't even have a…"
Then, it clicked. His metal fist clenched, and he whirled around to punch the wall with a resounding, echoing THUNK! "God dammit, Joey Drew! We all thought the Demon was born without a soul, but…!"
Henry was the one who finished the sentence, slack-jawed. "He was. He had Bendy's soul, all along. But no memories of his past self...so it was as if he were a blank slate. A newborn."
"Until he stayed in th' Toon World," Betty gasped softly. "Oh, the poor dear. He is gettin' healed up."
"But all too fast," Alice grimaced, and then started to come up to him, reaching a hand out. "...Bendy? Bendy, it's me, Alice...it's okay, it'll be okay. Please, just take it easy…"
Boris again gently pulled her back. "Don't touch 'im yet, Alice…"
"Well, I can touch 'im, he needs someone ta show that they care about 'im fer once!" Betty huffed, warily placing her hands on one quivering shoulder. He felt utterly cold. "There there, hon, jus' let it out, we're all here...c'mon, guys, he ain't gonna hurt us, not now."
And so, the other toons did as she did, willingly laying their hands on the Demon as he still gathered himself; Boris's patting his back, Alice's ever so slowly placed over his own. He seemed to stop shaking a little, but he was still hunched, and his breathing raspy and uneven.
"It's okay, buddy," Henry decided to add his own voice rather than his touch, speaking as if he would to a distraught child. "I knew you could break through."
"I'd use the Void to carry him out of here, but it would be advisable to wait until he's done with his episode…" Sammy hummed. "And we don't have much time to do so."
"Yer right…" Tom sighed. "Besides, I know yer still tired yerself, Lawrence. The Toons and Henry can probably keep talkin' to him. I gotta open the doors to the rest of this place somehow…"
But then, everything was interrupted by the sound of static, like a microphone was turning on. And from that static came a new voice.
"Ah-ah-ah...that won't be necessary."
Everyone's heads raised toward the ceiling, looking everywhere for the source of it, and settled on two speakers over on the far wall. All of them were agape, and shaking with either fear or anger. The voice was unmistakable.
"That's Mister Drew!" Boris yelped, covering his head as his knees shook. "His very same voice we done heard b'fore!"
"I'd remember it anywhere," Alice gulped.
As everyone got into defensive crouches, Henry shook his head rapidly. "No, it's impossible! He can't be here, how could he be?"
Allison gritted her teeth. "Well, if you got here, Henry, and he could bring all of us, and still affect this place…we can't put it past him."
Henry growled in frustration and whirled his head back up. "Joey! Where the hell are you?!"
"Ah-ah, sorry, that's a secret!" the static-voice admonished cheerfully. "But, I'm afraid that Henry did have it right the first time. I'm not Joey." Then, there was a sound like that of a radio dial, and then the voice's cadence changed entirely. It seemed to seethe and writhe through the airwaves, punctuated by the static. It didn't even have a specific tone that told of a gender...it was just...mechanical.
"But, he did put me here."
There was a minute of stunned, wide-eyed silence as the group watched two of the screens on the ceiling flicker, until they each showed in a snowy, grainy way, what looked like one black pie-cut eye, both focusing on them.
It was Betty who finally connected the dots. She shook as she spoke. "Oh...oh dear, fellas...I think while goin' through this place, we forgot one very important thing about th' Toon World…"
Alice gasped. "Everything has life in it...the buildings, the trees, the very moon and sun. So, that means…"
"Oh, you have to be kidding," Sammy slapped his forehead.
Tom gripped his ax handle tightly. "We're talkin' to the Machine."
