Chapter 21:

Henry, Ladybug, and Adrian left the ink and corpse-filled room and went down a metallic hallway. They turned the corner to see Alice with a toon, who shared a resemblance to Charley from the Butcher gang, strapped to a table. From the sparks flying and Charley's cry of pain, it appeared that Alice was electrocuting it. The three winced in fear and sympathy for the poor toon, but they tried their best to hide their feelings as the approached the glass wall.

"Hmm. Now we come to the question…" Alice stated, momentarily stopping her work to address her three visitors though her primary focus was on Henry. "Do I kill you? …Do I tear you apart to my heart's delight? The choices of the beautiful are unbearable. How's a girl to choose? Take this little freak for instance!"

Alice jabbed a finger in Charley's direction. The three looked briefly over at the trapped toon, having a pretty good idea of the gruesome fate that awaited it, before focusing once more on Alice.

"He crawled in here…" Alice continued in anger, glaring at the malformed toon in disgust. "trailing his tainted ink to my door! It could have touched me! It could have pulled me back! Do you know what it's like? Living in the dark puddles?"

As Alice said that, her eyes locked with Adrian's and there was the tiniest hint of a smirk. She knew! Adrian realized with horror, resisting the urge to cover his shoulder. She somehow knew that he had been infected with the ink and she was taking pleasure in the fact that he was going to become an ink creature like her. The silent exchange only lasted a few seconds, so neither Ladybug or Henry noticed as Alice focused back on Henry.

"It's a buzzing, screaming well of voices! Bits of your mind, swimming… like… like fish in a bowl!" Alice continued as Adrain had to repress a shudder at what she was describing. "The first time I was born from its' inky womb, I was a wiggling, pussing, shapeless slug. The second time… well… It made me an angel! I will not let the demon touch me again. I'm so close now. So… almost perfect."

Ladybug and Henry exchanged confused glances at Alice's strange behavior. It was almost like she was just rambling and had forgotten they were there. Adrian meanwhile, couldn't help but put his hand on his injured shoulder, wondering if this was the fate that awaited him. If he was going to lose himself to the madness of the ink.

"Yes, I will spare you," Alice concluded, focusing once again on the three standing before her. "For now. Better yet… I'll even let you ascend and lave this place. If you will do a few eensey weensey little favors for me first. Return to the lift my little errand boy and take your sidekicks with you. We have work to do!"

Alice pressed a button on her control panel, causing a metal covering to drop over the glass wall. The three winced again as they once more heard the toon's cries of pain and Henry quickly herded to two teens out of there. Henry was glad that the twisted Alice seemed more focused on him than the teens with him. It meant he had a better chance of getting them out safely, even if he might not make it.

The three went through the corpse room as quick as they dared, wanting to put as much distance as they could between them and the twisted angel as they could. They had just exited the large metal doors, which then closed behind them at the same time a gate lowered across the bridge, blocking their path.

"My machines are hungry." Alice's voice came over the speakers. "Gather me some spare parts. You'll find the gears I need on level K and here's a little something to help you."

A panel flipped around near them, revealing a wrench. Henry passed his pipe to Adrian and took the wrench for himself. The panel flipped back around and the gate in front of the bridge rose, allowing them to leave. The three quickly went across the bridge and joined up with the others in front of the elevator. Nino still looked a little pale but was otherwise alright.

"So what's that all about?" Alya asked, referring to the demand she just heard and gesturing to the wrench in Henry's hand.

"Alice wants us to do some "favors" for her," Henry explained, a hint of mistrust in his voice. "If we do them, she says she'll let us use the elevator to get out of here."

"You don't believe her do you?" Alya asked in disbelief.

"No," Henry, Ladybug, and Adrain all said in unison.

"She was such a cliché villain, monologue, and everything," Adrian said, attempting to use humor to mask his real worries. "She might as well have just said "I am going to betray you" and be done with it."

"True, but she still might be our best bet of getting out of here," Henry reluctantly admitted.

"We can always try and find another way out ourselves," Ladybug suggested, thinking over their options. "We've managed to get by pretty well on our own. And with mine and Adrian's powers, we should be able to get out of here one way or another."

"But who knows what else is wandering around here that might even be more dangerous," Henry reasoned. "And we can't guarantee we'll find another exit before someone else gets hurt and more seriously than Adrian was. No, we have to do what Alice wants and take that risk."

"Alright," Ladybug finally gave in, the others reluctantly agreeing as well. They didn't trust Alice, but she really was their best option right now to get out.

"Should we still be taking the elevator though?" Nino asked, glancing over at it where Boris was waiting patiently for them. "I mean it does seem dangers like that one guy said in the recording. Maybe we should stick to the stairs?"

"Normally, I'd say yes, but I don't think we can," Henry replied after thinking it over. "We're too large of a group and if Bendy or one of those other ink creatures caught us on the stairs, we might not be able to properly get away in time."

Finding truth in Henry's logic, the group followed Boris onto the elevator.

AN: There's a reason why Alice is so focused on Henry and ignoring the others, at least for now.