AN: For those that haven't realized, I'm purposely changing some of the Chapter 5 audio logs to fit the plot of my story.
Chapter 52:
The three made their way quietly through the halls, opening all the doors they could on to see if they could find anything useful. When they heard a member of the Butcher Gang, they quickly hid in one of the offices until they would pass. In one of the offices, the found a tape recorder. After making sure there were no Butcher Gang nearby, they played it.
"A small memo to all administration offices!" came Joey's voice. "Rumors have begun to fly that we simply can't tolerate any longer. The idea that the company is in some form of financial difficulty is untrue and a slanderous lie against us. It's also been known to me that some backroom incompetents are not trusting in my leadership. As a leader, I'm always steering the boat, guiding our destiny. Looking at the big picture. No need for you people to worry about such complicated things. Just do whatever it is you do and trust your leader… which is me."
"It sounds like people started catching on to Joey's lies," Angelbug observed as the tape recorder clicked off.
"Though not soon enough," Henry sighed, turning away. "Come on, let's keep going."
They continued going from office to office, hiding whenever necessary. They soon came across another recorder.
"Listen, Tommy, I know you boys over at Gent are doing your best," came Joey's voice once again. "But I'm paying for more than just living cartoons now. I'm making something that will change the world for the better. Whatever we made before isn't enough so you might as well stop bringing it up! I don't care how long it takes! My work will not stop until we can get this right! I don't care how many souls we have to go through! After all, I own thousands of 'em!"
The trio just stared in horror as the recording clicked off. They had known for a long time now that the ink creatures were people, but to hear Joey so casually talk about sacrificing them…
"Let's go…" Henry said in a soft voice, unable to bear finding more proof of the monster his former friend had become. They kept going through the twisting hallways and soon came to the front of Joey's office. It was very obvious as there was a giant sign with his name over the door. To the left of Joey's office was a fountain that had the ink they needed. They each grabbed a gob of ink, as they needed to make three pipe.
"Should we go in?" Noir asked, looking at Joey's office. He had to force himself not to growl at it.
"We probably should," Henry said reluctantly, going to the door. "There might be something important…"
The three went inside, though there seemed to be very little actually inside the office. They did find another tape recorder, which they grudgingly turned on.
"I know how much this part means to you Susie," Joey said in a falsely sweet voice, immediately putting them on edge. "Alice means a lot to me too. All my characters do! That's why I attempted to bring them to life! But more than that, they're apart of us and we're apart of them. I want to make sure they are around forever to keep bringing joy to everyone! And I want to make sure that we're all there to see the greatness we've created. Susie, I'll be straight with you. I'm putting together a small project… a little ceremony… If it works, a lot of dreams will come true. And I want you to be a part of it. I want you to bring Alice to life once again. What do you say?"
"I guess that's how Susie became that corrupted Alice," Henry said dully. He should be angry still, but he was just tired… weighed down by all the terrible things Joey had done. He had to fix this… "Let's go drain that ink…"
The three were able to get back to the main foyer with little problems, though they did have a close call with a Butcher Gang member. They started to turn the ink into pipes, but as soon as the first pipe was created Bendy's shadows appeared. They looked around for him, ready to run to the miracle station, but they never saw him and soon enough his shadows disappeared as well.
"Did you sense anything from him?" Henry asked Noir.
"Not really…" Noir said, closing his eyes briefly as he concentrated on his link. "Ever since the last time, it's been harder for me to read the link. There's something blocking it…"
"Must be whatever Joey's using to control him…" Angelbug replied thoughtfully. "You did mention that he had been punished when he couldn't find Henry… he might have reinforced his control…"
"We'll find a way to save Bendy and everyone else," Henry said firmly. "But first, we need to get to Joey."
The others nodded in determination, making the last of the pipes they needed. Having all the pipes, they were able to repair the system and drain the ink blocking the way to the film vault. They walked through the now clear hallway and into the vault. Henry pulled out his tool to see what Boris and Alice wanted them to do now. On the wall in the back of the vault, he found the message "The Liar is through there… Please be careful Creator… He is waiting…" and underneath the message was an arrow pointing to a metal door to the side.
"He's through there…" Henry said, pointing to the door. "Down that way is where Joey is waiting… It's probably going to be dangerous, but I know I can't stop you from coming with me."
"Got that right Uncle Henry. It's time to end this…" Noir said with a grin, punching his hand into his palm. "No more running around…"
"It's time to put a stop to all this," Angelbug agreed. "We'll find the source of the magic… We'll finally be able to save everyone..."