It was another sunny morning outside Joey Drew Studios. Birds sang in glorious harmony, clouds bulged flamboyantly in the vast sky, and soft winds graciously made their way throughout downtown. Days like these were the ones Allison always looked forward to. Whether it be from reading a book, having a picnic, or even dancing to her favorite tunes, she sadly knew that these things weren't possible today.
For once she set foot inside the studio, the idea of a cheerful wonderland was quickly stripped away to now become the harsh reality everyone dejected. The "cancer" in this seemingly happy metropolis, and she, along with other helpless employees, struggling to keep its positive ethics alive.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Joey Drew Studios.
Allison was somewhat tired of the negative atmosphere people continued bringing to work. If her co-workers weren't already in the corners gossiping, or complaining how miserable they were from being overworked, they'd undoubtedly be talking foul about Thomas since he was responsible for the ink machine.
And if they weren't already talking bull, they definitely defied the man she loved as a "dimwit" if they didn't already. And since such negativity had already been lingering inside these walls since day one, Allison's kind soul was constantly threatened by the corruption lingering in the void; Waiting to burrow into her innocence, and claim her as another victim.
But despite the hardships, and the immoralities that came with it, Allison knew refused to surrender.
As her heels clicked towards Thomas's office, a soft smile formed over her lips when she saw his silhouette walk past the door window. Her heart fluttered at the thought of reuniting with the man she loved. The utmost devotion they have for each other was a bond they'll forever have if they continued to have faith.
And faith was all she and Tom would ever need.
Thomas was filing away some inconvenient paperwork, but upon the knock at his door, he was caught off-guard when he discovered it was Allison. Bendy had been staring at Thomas with silent rage before being interrupted by the woman's intrusion.
"Thomas, can I come in?" Allison asked.
"You know you shouldn't be here." Thomas insisted as he rose from his chair. Bendy's head slowly followed and watched as they shared a quick embrace. Of course, Bendy didn't understand the point of contact, but he continued to keep his focus locked on Thomas anyways.
"I know," Allison stated as they parted before she reached for his hand. "But things haven't been getting any better, and I just can't stand not being able to see you."
Thomas sighed before using his other hand to caress her cheek. "I understand, but you know I'm only doing this for your own good."
Allison turned her head to quickly glance at the Ink Demon, but she immediately looked away as that increased her fear. Her moment alone with Tom, and these negative feelings were arising again. It was the only chance she had to see Thomas, so she was not going to let these dark thoughts take advantage of her! Not anymore!
"I don't care of what's around me," she confessed. Her innocent eyes then gazed up into Thomas's blunt ones, "I care of what's in front of me."
Thomas knew he couldn't argue any further. She made her claim, so there's no need to go against it. And hell, she was right. With the overload of paperwork and maintenance check-ups, add countless amounts of Joey's demands into the pot, and you mix it all up and get no positive results. Plus, it's against policy to be in a relationship with another employee, but that didn't stop them. Joey was lost in his own world and oblivious to any of the lives around him.
"And I feel the same." Thomas responded with a soft smile. Allison felt her heart flutter. Oh, how much she adored that smile on such a misunderstood man!
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Bendy watched as Thomas and Allison returned to embrace one another, but this time, he tilted his head upon the strong sensation he felt brewing between them. It intrigued the monster. He could feel their heartbeats soften, in contrast to how they usually reacted when he was around, and it made Bendy wish to understand why this wasn't a feeling ever expressed towards him. He hated fear! It was inevitable, and it made him angry! Why didn't anybody feel this way about him too?!
Bendy angrily gripped the bars of his cage, boiling and growling with anger. Thomas and Allison immediately jerked their heads towards him, and their hearts began pounding with that fear Bendy despised.
No, no! Why did they feel this way?! He wanted to experience that feeling too! What more must he do to get that if he wasn't given the chance?!
All they saw was a monster!
Bendy began to heave at the two humans standing before him. If these beings saw him as a monster, then he sure as hell will give them a monster!
The room quickly shifted to darkness, and that's when the couple began to see Bendy's hands beginning to change shape. He was getting bigger. This immediately scared Thomas because whatever this "thing" was doing, it was trying to shapeshift into a massive beast.
"T-Tom!" Allison shouted with fear.
Thomas knew that the demon's anger had gotten to him. Whatever Bendy was mad about, it must've had something to do with him and Allison. As the creature slowly continued to undergo its unusual transformation, Thomas quickly glanced at his desk. He knew there was only one way to keep the creature stable.
Running to reach for the bottom drawer, Allison watched in shock as Thomas pulled out a small device and immediately ran towards Bendy, pointing the item straight at him. "Tom! What are you doing?!"
Thomas had to ignore her as he immediately switched on the device and electrocuted Bendy. Allison gasped and cupped her hands over her mouth to watch the man commit such cruelty. Bendy roared in agony, having just transformed close enough to reveal the gaping jaws of the beast he was yet to become, and tried his best to withstand the torment. However, he had no choice but to succumb.
Thomas watched uneasily and pulled back as the Ink Demon let out a distressed groan and began returning back to normal. The creature slowly rested itself down in its cage, slowly moaning after the immense pain, and trembled. Once the distressing murmurs subsided, Thomas tried to maintain his composure about the unexpected outcome that just occurred.
Turning his head back to Allison, the Gent worker saw that she had remained where she was, staring at him with absolute shock.
"I-Is he dead?" she asked.
"No," Thomas replied, tossing the taser along to the side before he made his way back to her. "Just under control."
"I-Isn't that torture?"
Thomas knew in his mind that it indeed was morally wrong to treat Bendy in such a manner, but considering the aggressive behavior he suddenly displayed after Allison came, he now thought otherwise.
"No." He lied.
The door to the office suddenly burst open, and a very outraged Joey Drew, along with curious employees, stood in the doorway.
"Connor! Miss Pendle! What in the flipp'n hotcakes is going on here!?"
Just as Allison was about to explain, afraid of getting herself and Thomas in trouble, she was quickly interrupted by the Gent worker taking a few steps towards Joey.
"The monster tried to break free and attack Miss Pendle. I made sure that wasn't going to happen."
Joey's eyes briefly glanced at the Ink Demon softly trembling in the cage. As much as he wanted to question why Allison and Thomas were alone to begin with, he couldn't help but take immediate interest in Thomas's declaration.
"Wow Connor," he scoffed amusingly, "Didn't think you had it in ya. But hey, looks like you finally got that damn thing under control! About time!"
The employees behind Drew then followed their boss's lead and clapped for Thomas. However, Allison was not clapping with them. Instead, she couldn't help but gaze down at the distraught ink demon despairing in its cage, feeling sorry for the creature.
The clapping quickly ceased as soon as Joey began to return back to his importunate habits. "Now get rid of 'em! I can't stand staring at it! Disgusting! Lock it up! Get it out of my sight! Kill it for all I care! I want it gone!"
Thomas nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
Joey simply gave a thumbs up before leaving, shouting at his workers. As the crowd erupted back into chaos, both Tom and Allison were left alone once again. Thomas then sighed under his breath as he stared down towards the floor, avoiding eye contact with his lover.
"I…guess I'll leave you to your work then?" Allison asked.
"If you don't mind."
Allison sighed distraughtly before taking one final look at the ink creature now unconscious inside its cage.. Either it was actually unconscious, or that's its way of sleeping. In the end, it doesn't matter, so Allison knows she best leave before she has nightmares again.
Before the actress left the room, she stopped in the middle of the doorway and took one final look at the man she loved. When she left, Thomas felt uneasy since it was back to just him and Bendy, alone together once again.
Groaning irritably, Thomas threw a hand to his face and tried to stretch his frown. Back to the same ol', same ol'. Now he had to delay all his hard work just to figure out what to do with Bendy. Having been kicked out of Drew's office, and now his, Thomas had no idea what to do next. The damn thing couldn't die because he lacked a soul, but he could be contained.
Just "where" was now the problem.
Walking over to his desk, the gruff man placed his hands on top, throwing his head down with a defeated sigh. He felt guilty for what he'd done, but he had no choice! Bendy was getting out of control, and now that he's able to see what it's capable of, Thomas knew that the studio had to invest in someplace bigger.
But the problem wasn't about Bendy...or Drew...or money...or even time.
It was the fact that Allison had seen him do his worst.
And for her to see him commit such a heinous crime...was just too much to bear.
Instead of robbers that cornered women in an alley, Thomas knew that these scenarios were more common than the one reality seemed to have set for him. For instead...he had to protect the woman he loved from a monster that was here because of him.
If anyone were to blame, it'd be himself. Listening to Joey was the worst mistake anybody could make in these walls...and he as a fool…obeyed him.
Frowning, the man bit his lip and sighed once more before angrily slamming his hands on his desk; The force was sufficiently strong enough to send both papers and utensils falling.
And with that, Thomas had to return back to reality to begin another unfortunate day of hard, unrelenting labor.
Seeing the place he called home in the distance, Tom happily strolled towards the building to reunite with his son. He'd been gone longer than expected, considering he traveled and risked himself to try and make-up for the incident that happened when Henry was here. Once he walked through that door, the wolf knew that Ben would undoubtedly be waiting to give him a giant hug.
Poppa, what took you so long! I was waiting for you!
Hey, thought 'cha gonna play with me?
Ah, it's okay, you know I can't stay mad at you! You're my dad! And I'm always gonna love ya!
I love you!
Tom felt his heart soften upon the immense love he commonly received. From the curious toddler, to the charismatic young boy Ben is today, the wolf knew that no matter what, he's lucky to have a child's love. After all, since the Ink Demon was never going to be part of Ben's life, Tom had nothing to worry about.
So when he finally opened the door, he was caught off-guard to what was now happening inside his home.
Tom froze when he saw that wretched Ink Demon standing before Ben's door, having nearly clawed the entire object down from its hinges. His back was to Tom, and he just continued to stand where he was, growling softly.
Tom was too tense to move. This was completely unexpected. The Ink Demon had discovered his location somehow and would attack the minute he noticed him. And the fact Tom had left Ben alone instantly made him panic. Where was his son?!
From the looks of it, Bendy didn't know any better than Tom did. If he knew where the child was, the Ink Demon wouldn't be here, so it became apparent that the boy must've ran to safety elsewhere. But since it was Tom's job to protect the boy, he had immense guilt for leaving Ben.
But where could he have gone?
Tom now glared at the Ink Demon, and because he trespassed here, Tom desperately wished he could use this axe to kill him. If the wolf ever knew that Bendy had laid a finger– no – even BREATHED on Ben, he was going to pay for it!
He took the person he loved once, and he wasn't going to get the chance again.
Tom knew that he had to leave and immediately pursue after Ben, but as soon as he took a step back, one of the floorboards creaked underneath him, making him instantly freeze in alarm.
Crap.
Bendy jerked around and discovered Tom behind him. Oh, how pleased the Ink Demon was for being face-to-face with this "Boris" again! He'd taken everything from him! And he was going to make sure he wouldn't get the chance again!
Ben belonged to him, and only him! Once he killed Tom, just like Allison, will he finally be able to fix things and have the boy to himself!
Bendy immediately began chasing Tom, but the wolf didn't wait for a motive, and had already been running. Tom could hear the creature growling behind him, but the wolf didn't look back as he needed to find the closest station to hide in. Turning corners and jumping over platforms, Tom began to worry because it seems Bendy really had it out for him. He was using lots of teleportation tricks to not lose track and quickly keep up.
Picking up a ball that had been present as Tom ran past, the wolf decided to anger Bendy by striking the demon to hopefully slow him down. The monster didn't flinch and dodged the attack.
Tom finally found a miracle station, and just as he was about to reach it, he couldn't help but look back to mock Bendy. When he no longer saw the creature behind him, he turned back towards the station and was stunned to see Bendy emerge from the wall before him. The wolf had only a second to react and was quick to dodge and slip past Bendy, successfully seeking refuge inside the station.
Bendy may be clever in his own ways, but Tom will always be one step ahead.
Knowing there was nothing else he could do, Bendy had no choice but to leave. Grinning, the monster stood there for a good two minutes, motionlessly staring at Tom, before turning back towards the wall to leave. Finally! Tom thought he'd never leave!
Cautiously scanning his surroundings, Tom quietly removed himself from the station and began his quest for Ben.
Ben's eyes were stained with ink tears as he struggled walking, keeping one hand over his chest and holding onto his beating heart in the other. Surprised that he was alive, there was no doubt in his mind that he indeed was like the Ink Demon. Now everything made sense: Why he was living under a storage roof for thirteen years, why he wasn't able to use any of his abilities, and why he wasn't able to go outside.
But why would Tom not tell him this?
Ben didn't know how to react to this unfortunate realization. He was terrified of the Ink Demon, and by cutting his heart out, he was able to end their connection. Once he removed the organ from his body, the young boy felt a sense of relief. It was almost like he had been free from a cage. Bendy had also tried to seek him again by looking through his eyes, but the boy was quick to ensure that didn't happen.
And that meant Bendy was back to square one.
Ben knew he had to keep his heart somewhere safe. He needed to go to his private sanctuary, but due to the lack of strength, he found it difficult. Groaning, the young boy tried to stay conscious as he let his hand guide him along the walls, but everything was just too hazy for him to handle.
Confused, fatigued, and hungry, Ben couldn't help but collapse to the wooden floor.
He groaned uncomfortably as he stared at the ceiling, unable to stay awake any longer.
He also failed to see two figures that had caught sight of him in the distance...
The baby they heard that night was real!
The prophecy is coming!