Chapter 49:
It didn't take the group long to gather everything they needed before they headed out. Unfortunately, there were a limited amount of weapons and without any thick ink, Angelbug was unable to create more. Allison and Tom had their own weapons to use and there was only a spare pipe for the others. Noir was fine being weaponless, as his claws and powers were more than enough. Angelbug insisted that Henry be the one with a weapon, as she had plenty of experience fighting hand to hand, plus she should be able to make more weapons once they find the right kind of ink. With that decided, the group headed out.
They passed through the dark cave-like tunnels. Allison and Tom easily dispatched of the few searchers that popped up and they soon led the group to an inky river with a makeshift dock and two small barges on it. Henry had the urge to look for messages from Alice and Boris, so he pulled out his seeing tool. Looking around, he saw written on the floor "There's something in the river."
"We'll have to split up as we wouldn't fit in one barge, " Allison said as she pulled a lever to release the first barge into the water. "How do you want to go about it?"
"Alice and Boris are warning us that there's something dangerous in the river," Henry informed, putting his tool away. "So we should make sure we should have fighters on both boats. Alya, Nino, you go with Allison and Tom in one barge while the rest of us go in the other."
"Sounds reasonable," Allison agreed, releasing the other barge into the water. "Let's get going."
Allison and her group piled into the left barge while Henry and the others into the one on the right. Once both engines were running, Allison steered her barge forward to lead the way through the tunnel. The barges were agonizingly slow and it did little to ease the tension Henry and the others were feeling, but they passed through the tunnel with no incidents. Allison started steering her barge over to the right, where Henry and the others could see a small platform and a door. Henry started to follow when the engine sputtered and came to a stop.
"Sounds like something's stuck in the paddlewheel," Henry said, looking towards the back of the barge. Noir and Angelbug went to inspect it, finding several blobs of ink. Noir began destroying them with his claws while Angelbug pried one out for herself, planning to use it to make a weapon. Just as they finished clearing out the ink, a large splash drew their attention. A giant Bendy hand rose out of the ink and towered over them, cutting them off from Allison and the others.
"Head down the other tunnel!" Allison shouted instructions while Tom ushered Alya and Nino through the door. "We'll meet you up ahead! Go!"
Allison jumped off the barge and ran through the door just as the hand came down and pulled the barge down into the ink. Henry wasted no time starting up his barge again and heading down the left tunnel. They made it down about half way down the tunnel when their paddlewheel got clogged again, followed by the hand rising behind them. Noir quickly got to work slashing the ink globs while Angelbug molded her glob into a spear. The hand began to descend just as Henry was able to start up the barge again. Angelbug threw her spear at the hand, causing the hand to jerk to the side and barely miss their barge.
Angelbug and Noir kept a close eye for the hand as it disappeared into the ink. As Henry steered the barge through a turn when the ink clogged the paddlewheel again. Noir and Angelbug were able to quickly clear it, giving Angelbug another glob to work with, and getting the barge moving just before the hand rose. The hand splashed in the ink behind them, making a large splash that rocked the barge. They made their through a few more twists and the hand once more rose to attack them. Angelbug threw another spear, managing to pierce its palm. It thrashed and the barge was able to get out of range before it came down. They managed to exit the tunnels without running into the hand again after that.
They came into a large cavern with a lot of makeshift shelters built inside. The passed one such shelter which had a Lost One sitting on it fishing. They could feel the Lost One's eyes on them as they sailed past. They came to a dock and they all got off. They managed to make it through to solid ground, though a board did break behind them. Henry and the others looked around in sadness, especially when they say the messages "Not Monsters" and "What Am I?" written around. Henry pulled out the seeing tool, finding the glowing messages "Careful, there is danger here" and "Once people, now fallen into despair."
"So many people hurt…" Henry sighed, putting the tool away. "And for so long…"
"We'll fix this," Angelbug assured, putting a hand on Henry's shoulder. "Just like you promised."
"I hope so," Henry said, glancing at a "He will set us free." written nearby. He had a good idea that those messages were actually about him. He just hoped he could live up to people's expectations. Not really sure where to go, the group approached the building with the "Not Monsters" sign over it. As they got to it, something began smashing through, startling the group and making them all step back and take a defensive stance.
"BETRAYED! ABANDONED!" an angry and distorted voice said. A figure stepped out of the shadows of the doorway, revealing themselves to be Sammy Lawrence and it was obvious he was even crazier than the last time they had met him. And this time, he was furious and out for blood.