Fear the Reaper

Bendy's claws dug slightly into the roof as he stood on the rooftop of his home in his new demon form, shifting nervously as he looked at the night sky. He hadn't been on patrol since the whole fiasco with the Liar's return for many reasons. He and his family needed time to process their latest trauma, he needed to adjust to his new form, but the biggest reason that Bendy was terrified was that now that he had eaten a soul, he'd more easily choose to eat another. It was that fear that kept him planted to the roof even though he had come out with ever intention to make sure things in his town remained quiet.

"Come on Bendy," the demon whispered to himself, trying to physic himself up. "You can do this…"

After all, he had promised his dad that he would learn about whatever changes eating a soul had on him and find ways to use them for good. He was never going to learn by hiding in his room in toon form full time, so he had to do this. Before Bendy could convince himself to try again another night, the demon launched himself into the air, seamlessly joining the black night.

Bendy felt his muscles relax as tension bled from his body as he effortlessly flew through the air. Nothing could relax the demon as much as flying did. The feeling of freedom it gave was unmatched by anything else, especially as his whole life in the Studio turned prison was spent trapped underground. It was one of his favorite abilities he's gained and it helped remind him that some good could come out of the powers he had.

More comfortable with what he was doing, Bendy landed on the ledge of the roofs of one of the taller buildings. Easily looking like a gargoyle from how he was perched, Bendy looked around for any corrupted souls that were active tonight. The sound of a woman's scream immediately had Bendy's head snapping in the direction it came from and the confirmation of several souls flaring with ill intent was all Bendy needed to dive down towards the commotion.

It was a woman, surrounded by a group of drunk men, the stench of alcohol so strong that Bendy could smell it long before he landed. Bendy didn't know exactly what the men had planned, but he knew it involved hurting the woman. Bendy let out a chilling hiss as he landed between the woman and men, showing off his many pointed teeth in his larger-than-natural mouth. The men all stumbled to a stop in fear at the sight of the demon in front of them and even the woman nearly fainted despite not being the target of Bendy's displeasure. While one of the men in the group turned and fled, his instincts wisely telling him to get away from the dangerous predator that had just appeared, the rest had so much liquid courage flowing through their veins that they ignored the primal part of them telling them to run.

"Man… those drinks must have been stronger than I thought," one of the men slurred as he looked at the demon before him.

For a moment everything was still. The humans processing the creature that was now in their midst and the demon trying to figure out how he was supposed to deal with a group of corrupted souls rather than just one like he normally did.

One of the men eventually moved first, throwing a sloppy punch at Bendy. Bendy easily caught the punch with one hand and then used the other to grab the man and slam him to the ground. Bendy hissed at him and was about to threaten him when the woman screamed again. Whipping his head toward the woman, Bendy realized that while he had been busy with the one man, the others had made their move toward the woman.

Bendy hissed, and left the man he had pinned, trying to think of a way you take out more people quickly, like a weapon or something.. Bendy felt his ink respond to his thoughts and his gaze was drawn to his hand as something began to form in his hand. First, there was a handle which the demon instinctively grasped. The ink continued to grow and shape until Bendy was holding a large gleaming synth. Bendy couldn't help but take a second to admire it. While Bendy had always had some control over ink, he had only had this kind of skill in toon form until now.

"By the double-barrelled jumping jiminetty!" one of the men swore as he and others realized this new development. "It's the Grim Reaper!"

"Reaper… that certainly seems to fit…" Bendy chuckled, swinging his new scythe casually, getting used to the weight of the weapon. "And I have come for your souls…"

Bendy didn't give them any chance to respond, lunging forward with a swing of his weapon, slicing through three of them at once. But the scythe left no marks on the men's bodies instead separating their souls from their mortal vessels. Their souls floated gently in the air, glowing softly, while the now empty bodies collapsed onto the ground. The woman made a run for it after this, which Bendy figured was probably best, and the remaining men tried to do the same, but another swing of his scythe took care of them.

"Now this will be much easier to handle," Bendy commented as he let his scythe return to ink. Bendy went over to the nearest soul and still breathing body. Bendy scooped up the soul and for a moment, the demon felt the urge to swallow it whole. But Bendy was able to resist the urge and instead returned the soul to its body, making the man gasp as he was forced back into awareness.

"You were about to commit sins great enough to deserve having your soul consumed," Bendy told the terrified man, showing off all his teeth to emphasize his point. "But I'm feeling merciful. So you will go confess your crimes to the proper authorities or I will return to the feast."

The man couldn't even respond, just nodding his head to show he understood. Bendy let the man go who immediately scrambled to his feet and took off into the night. Bendy's repeated the process with the rest of the men and took off into the sky once the last one had run off. With one last scan over everything to make sure there wasn't any other trouble, Bendy began flying home, feeling a lot better after he was able to resist consuming more souls.

He could learn to control his new abilities, his dad was right after all.