Chapter 17:
"Let's see what's out there," Henry commented as he leads the way out the safehouse with Boris and Ladybug right beside him. "Don't wander off, there are still all sorts of monsters out here and we don't want anyone caught alone."
The teens nodded in agreement and the group began walking down the hallway, keeping a careful eye on any ink puddle they passed. They rounded a corner, seeing the doorway in front of them was pitch black.
"Looks really dark up ahead," Henry commented, eyeing the doorway with suspicion. "Let's find some light."
The group looked around and Nino found a large flashlight which he passed onto Henry. Alya and Nino took out their phones, using their lights as well. They began walking through the darkened hallway, sticking close together and making sure nothing snuck up in them. While they were walking, Henry noticed how frightened Boris was.
"Don't be scared, Boris," Henry comforted, patting Boris' shoulder. "I'll keep the light near you so you don't get lost."
Boris gave Henry a nervous smile and nodded. Satisfied, Henry continued walking through the hallway with the others following close behind. They passed by all sorts of machinery and empty shelves before a noise in the ceiling made everyone pause.
"Did you hear that?" Henry said, moving the light around attempting to find the source. The teens nodded while Boris just looked around nervously. "Yeah. Me neither."
No one laughed at Henry's attempt at a joke, though they appreciated the effort. They continued on before coming to a door that was jammed shut. Ladybug tried to pry it open without any success.
"Another dead end," Henry sighed in frustration, looking around for any other options. "I don't see any other way through. Do you guys have any other ideas?"
"I could always use my lucky charm for something useful," Ladybug said, readying her yo-yo. "It'll make my time run out sooner, but we need to keep moving."
"We'll only do that if we have to," Henry said, putting his hand over the yo-yo. "But we should save your special powers until we really need it. Do you have any ideas, Boris? You've been here a lot longer than us."
Boris nodded and took the flashlight, crawling into a nearby vent. After waiting a few moments, the door opened with a groan.
"Should we wait for Boris to come back?" Ladybug asked, looking at the vent.
"I think he wanted us to go on ahead," Henry replied with confidence. He couldn't really explain it, but Henry just knew what Boris wanted. Maybe it was because he originally created Boris, but Henry had the feeling it was something else. "I know he'll be able to meet up with us and we shouldn't stay here any longer. Let's move on."
The teens glanced at then vent but reluctantly moved on, trusting Henry's understanding of Boris as well as the wolf himself. Walking down another hallway, the group came into a large room. In the center was a giant waterfall with the sign saying "Heavenly Toys" over it. Scattered around the room were a couple of couches, giant plushies and lots of Bendy cutouts.
"Wow," Henry said in awe, mouth gaping as he looked around. "I don't remember any of this."
"How were they able to fit all this underground?" Nino wondered out loud. "You think there would be all sorts of structural problems having something like this down here."
"Really?" Alya said, looking at Nino in disbelief and amusement. "We've been chased by ink monsters and met a living cartoon and you're worried about the architecture."
"I guess you've got a point," Nino agreed with a slight laugh. "Why should anything make sense here."
The group all snickered as they walked past the waterfall and up the stairs behind it. They came into what appeared to be the toy factory. They could see the door they needed to go through to proceed, but unfortunately, it was behind several shelves.
"Why is there always something blocking the door?" Henry sighed, looking at the shelves blocking their way. "Gotta be a way through."
The group looked around the room, finally getting the toy machine running after taking out the toys jamming the gears. They were able to move the racks so they could get to the door as well as the workbench beside it. Alya was curious by an ink blob in the shape of a Bendy doll and poked it out of curiosity, causing it to change shape.
"Guys, check this out," Alya smiled in surprise and went to poke it again, but Ladybug stopped her.
"Alya, you need to be more careful," Ladybug reminded her. "The ink is full of corrupted magic and we shouldn't be messing with it."
"Right, sorry," Alya apologized, stepping back and getting a nod of satisfaction from Ladybug. Seeing another recorder on the workbench, the group gathered around it to listen to what it might say.
"I don't be seein' what the big deal is," Shawn Flynn's accented voice filled the air. "So what if I went and painted some of those Bendy dolls with a crooked smile? That's no reason for Mr. Drew to be flyin' off the handle at me. And if he really wants to be helpful, he could be tellin' me what I'm to be doin' with this warehouse I got full of that angel whatchamacallit. Not a scrap of that mess be a-sellin'! Probably have to melt it all down to be rid of it all."
"Joey was always a perfectionist," Henry mumbled as the recorder clicked off. "And he would never admit if he was the one making a mistake… Doesn't matter now… We need to keep going."
The group went through the door into a room full of Alice Angel memorabilia. Cautiously, they walked farther into the room, studying all stuff displayed around them. They didn't get to look around for very long before the majority of the lights clicked off. The group was instantly on alert, gathering closer together to make sure they didn't lose anyone in the darkness. All the tv monitors around them flicked to life, displaying Alice Angel's face as her theme song began to fill the room.
"I'm the cutest little angel, sent from above…"
AN: For HeliX Sol and anyone else that's wondering, I'm not including most of the easter eggs and secrets because it wouldn't really fit into the story. As the player, you usually have to go out of the way to unlock them and it wouldn't make sense for Henry and the others to come across them in normal circumstances. So unless it's something that I think is really important to the story or its something that they could come across easily, I'll most likely be leaving it out so I can focus on moving the plot along.