The Old Gang

The Butcher gang members were very aware that out of the victims of the studio, they could be considered some of the luckier ones. They had barely been sentient during their time in the studio, meaning that they didn't really remember what happened to them. Mostly they would get general flashes of emotions or events, but nothing clear or concrete. Still… that didn't mean that their transition to the outside world was smooth.

Not only had their minds been in the worst shape in the studio, but their bodies were a mess as well. The Creator, Henry, had to spend a lot of time repairing their forms and even then they still bore a lot of scars. And while they didn't remember exactly what happened in the studio, they still had instinctually reactions to some of the others. The strongest being fear for Alice, Norman, and Bendy. Norman was the hardest to get be around and even though they had improved a lot over the weeks, they still couldn't stand being alone in the same room with him. Alice got a little easier once she became more toon-like, though they had the tendency to panic if they ever heard her singing.

Now they had a weird reaction to Bendy. At first, they feared him, because everyone knew to fear the Ink Demon. But once he gained his toon form, the Butcher Gang started getting the urge to prank and pull tricks on him. But their attempts at pranks usually ended in disaster as they often caused more damage than they meant to and, rather than being scared by them, Bendy hissed, growled, and one time even chased them in full on Ink Demon mode. It only got worse when Bendy go his cat as she furiously scratched them when they tried to prank Bendy again and continued to his threateningly at them whenever they got too close to her and Bendy.

The bottom line was, the Butcher Gang really had no idea what they were supposed to do. They didn't within with the more human-like ink creatures. The other toons were still learning to act like toons most of the time, so the Butcher Gang, already more ready to act like toons, didn't really fit in with them either. It just felt like they wandered around making a mess and getting in everyone's way. And it seemed like today was no different as the bumped into Linda as she was heading to the backyard.

"Sorry guys I didn't see you there," Linda said as she smiled at the three toons. "Any fun plans for today?"

They all made some vague gestures and whistles as they really didn't know what they were going to do.

"Well if you don't have any plans, why don't you come to help me with the garden?" Linda suggested. "I can always use more pairs of hands."

The Butcher Gang looked at each other and shrugged before turning to Linda and giving her hesitant nods. They followed her out into the sunshine and to the shed. Linda carefully pulled out tools for all of them and lead them to her garden. She showed them what the weeds looked like and set them to work. As they worked, Linda explained the various plants and what they were used for. The Butcher Gang paid close attention, absorbing her words and enjoying spending time in the sun. After they finished weeding for the day, Linda rewarded them with cookies and ice cream.

After that, they started spending most of their time with Linda and helping her around the house. She continued to teach them about the outside world and just accepted them for who they were. She started doing more with them than just doing chores, such as reading to them and helping them try out various hobbies. She even tried to teach them to speak like Henry was teaching Bendy, though Charley was the only one making any real progress.

One day, after they finished Linda with another day of weeding, Bendy came by the kitchen were the Butcher Gang were relaxing. He was grabbing snacks for himself, Alice, Boris, and the neighborhood kids they were playing within the living room. When Bendy spotted the Butcher Gang, he gave them a small smile and invited them to join their games. The Butcher Gang were unsure and looked to Linda for guidance.

"Go on," Linda encouraged. "You've helped me a lot today already. Go have fun, I'm sure the kids would love to meet you."

The Butcher Gang were still hesitant, by fallowed after Bendy with Linda's persuasion. The kids were happy to meet them and easily welcomed into their game. The Butcher Gang slowly relaxed as they played and even started to joke around with the kids. For the first time since they got out, the Butcher Gang started to feel like they truly belonged.