Chapter 11:
"I don't understand," Ladybug said in frustration, as still, nothing happened after playing the instruments. "We did everything right, so why didn't it work?"
"We've got to be missing something," Chat Noir suggested, stepping away from the drum. "We should look around some more for another clue."
"Good idea," Ladybug agreed, looking around the piano and spotting another tape recorder. "Maybe this has another clue."
The group gathered around Ladybug as she picked up the tape recorder and pressed play.
"It may only be my second month working for Joey Drew, but I can already tell I'm going to love it here," a female voice filled the air. "People really seem to enjoy me Alice Angel voice. Sammy says she may even e as popular as Bendy some day. These past few weeks I've voiced everything from talking chairs to dancing chickens. But this is the first character I have really felt a connection with. Like she's as a part of me. Alice and I, we are going places."
"Well that was useless," Alya sighed, as the tape finished, crossing her arms with a huff. "We still have no idea what we're supposed to do next."
"Did everyone use recordings as journals back then?" Nino wondered out loud, scratching his head.
"Probably only in animation studios," Henry replied with a light chuckle. "Paper and ink were much too important to waste. I think that was Susie Campbell. She was hired a little while before I had to leave. She was very enthusiastic about her work, though Alice never did take off like we were hoping."
"Interesting, but not helpful," Ladybug concluded putting the tape back. "We should keep looking around."
The group didn't find anything else in the band room so they left to look elsewhere. They didn't dare separate, even though that would make the searching faster. They ended up in the projection booth where Nino found another tape recorder.
"Every day the same strange thing happens. I'll be up here in my booth, the band will be swinging and suddenly Sammy Lawrence just comes marching in and shuts the whole thing down. Tells us all to wait in the hall. Then I hear him. He starts up my projector, and he dashes from the projector booth and down to the recording studio like the little devil himself was chasing behind. A few seconds later, the projector turns off. But Sammy, he doesn't come out for a long time. This man is weird. Crazy weird. I have half the mind to talk to Mr. Drew about all this. But then again, I have to admit, Mr. Drew has his own peculiarities."
"That's Norman, he used to be our projectionist," Henry explained once the tape finished. "He was pretty quiet and kept to himself a lot, but he was very knowledgeable. Seemed to know everything that happened in the Studio. He used to love scaring the new hires but slipping into a room unnoticed until he made a comment."
"At least we know what we need to do now," Ladybug said, putting the tape back where they found it. "We need to have the projector running while we play the instruments."
"This seems overly complicated," Chat commented, scratching his head. "Did he really do this on a regular basis."
"Never question a musical artist," Nino replied with a smirk. "It takes a lot to create something that sounds awesome."
"Let's just do this," Alya cut in, starting up the projector. A Bendy cartoon started playing on the wall and the group began to make their way back to the band room. They had just started heading for the instruments when the projector slicked off.
"That's a really short window," Henry commented, looking up at the projector booth. "We would have to run down to get here in time, but that's too risky. We'll have to separate. I'll go start up the projector why you guys get ready to play the instruments."
"Or I have a better idea," Chat replied, pulling out his baton. He vaulted up into the booth and turned to the others with a grin. "Get ready, I'll start up the projector."
Ladybug rolled her eyes while the others just nodded dumbly. They went to their instruments while Chat turned on the projector once more. The others then played the instruments in their ordered while Chat jumped back down to join them. This time when the last note faded, a door opened up. The group grinned at each other at their success before heading inside. What they found was a fairly empty hallway with a few instruments on the shelves.
"I was expecting a little something more," Alya commented as they entered the hall. "He did call this a sanctuary after all."
"Sammy probably just came here for some peace and quiet," Henry explained while they walked. "Like you heard before, he really hates distractions..."
Henry trailed off as they turned the corner to see another pentagram under a desk. Written on the wall were the words "Sing a happy song, whistle a merry tune, wait for his arrival, he's coming very soon." The group just stared in shock for a moment before Henry came to his senses and turned the valve to the ink flow. Once Henry finished turning the valve, the group turned to leave. They were startled by a cutout briefly appearing from around the corner, but after nothing else happened after a minute, they continued to leave.
"Who is that?" Alya asked once they got to the doorway, pointing at something above them. The others looked up to see what appeared to be an ink-covered man wearing a Bendy mask staring down at them.
"That dude's giving me the creeps," Nino said, shivering slightly.
"Who are you!" Ladybug called, stepping forward. "What do you want?"
The figure didn't answer. But before Ladybug could question him further, more of the half-formed ink monsters appeared all around them. Chat Noir and Ladybug immediately pulled out their weapons and dropped into a defensive stance. Chat immediately destroyed the first one they lunged at them while Ladybug's yo-yo easily took out the one behind it. Chat then lunged forward, managing to take out three in one stroke. One was sneaking up behind him, but Ladybug took it out before it could hurt her partner. As her yo-yo was returning to her hand, another monster former right in front of Ladybug. It lunged at her, but Henry dispatched it with his axe. With the last of the monsters defeated, the group took a moment to catch their breath. When they looked back up at where the figure had been, they discovered he was gone.