Finally! Updated! Enjoy.

The guys set sail with the captain at the wheel of his young vessel, while they were looking out for their destination on deck.

"So, what's in this Bland Forest anyway?" Tommy asked, finding the name to be very peculiar.

"Artifacts, my friend. Although the name is misleading, there are actually a lot of rare and awesome things over there. We, of course, are looking for six particular items that we should be able to find in the forest itself, but one I think is in a volcano," Vito replied.

"And, how are we going inside a volcano?" Tommy asked, skeptical.

"Oh, there's no lava. It's dormant. But we should hurry though. Not sure if it'll just be like, 'dormant got nothing on me,'" Vito said, with a shrug.

"Then we should hurry before it puts on a thug hat," Charlie said, and the guys chuckled at the meme joke.

When they arrived on the pier, the captain of the boat said that he will return the next morning so the guys have to be careful. They agreed to be cautious, and then the captain set sail back to the town port. There was a bright beach that led to a forest of large, intimidating trees with wild vines, and jungle shrubs and bushes scattered around the ground level.

"Okay, this looks cool. Where's our first destination?" Charlie asked, and Paul opened a map that Vito gave him.

"Let's see... we need to head straight first, and then turn right and keep going until we find the first item on a Strange tree," Paul said, reading the label of a tree that was circled in red.

"Strange tree. Let's go for it!" Vito said, pumping a fist into the air.

They began their itinerary quest into the forest, failing to notice the artificial eyes that were watching them from the shadows.

At the house:

"Hey peoples. I just got a text from Vito. They just arrived at the... Bland Forest... what?" Violet said looking at her phone in confusion.

"Bland Forest? Is it boring?" Lester asked.

"I never heard of Bland Forest before," Rex said, while petting Misty to comfort her since Vito left.

"Bland Forest..." Ani said in a low voice, while reminiscing about a time when she was in a forest as an agent.

Defer heard Ani repeat the name, since he sat next to her on the sofa, and asked, "Are you familiar with the name, Ani?"

"It does sound familiar, but I'm not sure," Ani replied.

"Eh, I'm sure they'll be alright. Charlie just sent me a selfie," Kelly said, as she held up her phone.

Charlie's head was poking into the left side of the screen, as the other guys were standing next to a strange-looking tree a few yards away.

"Well, they look fine," Lester said.

"Aw, I wish I was there with them. It looks like they're having fun," Rex said, noticing that all the guys looked happy.

"Then next time we should all go on vacation. That way, we're all enjoying ourselves together," Violet said.

"That would be nice. Taking a week off from work and stuff. I'm down with that," Kelly said, as she stretched and relaxed with her hands behind her head on the sofa.

"We'll have to find a week that everyone can take off first," Ani said.

'Hopefully, I'll have the courage before then to ask her... no, we're still friends. It might be odd if I ask her to marry-' Defer's thoughts were cut off when he felt a chill up his spine that made his shoulders shake.

"What's the matter, Defer?" Rex asked, as everyone turned towards him.

"Nothing. I just feel a little cold is all," Defer said.

"Oh, let me get you a blanket," Ani said, as she quickly stood up.

"No, it's okay, Ani. I'll be fine," Defer said, hiding his uneasiness.

"No, Defer. I shall not leave you cold. I know you're more warm-blooded than the rest of us. I will get you a blanket," Ani said with a smile, as she walked out of the room.

"Aww, how cute," Kelly said, when she noticed a light blush on Defer's cheeks.

"What's cute?" Defer asked, looking towards her with narrowed eyes that said, 'Don't say a word if you know.'

"Nothing," Kelly said, a small smile still on her face as she looked away from him.

Defer looked away from her when he noticed that Violet was looking at him.

Her eyes widened at first when she realized what Kelly meant, and then they narrowed as she slowly approached Defer with a hidden smirk. Defer became increasingly nervous as Violet sat next to him where her mother was.

"So, how's life been treating you, Defer?" Violet asked, her expression unchanged.

"Oh, well, fine. Just fine," Defer said, trying to hide his nervousness with a smile.

"I see... Well, I'm glad you're doing well, buddy," Violet said, as she patted his shoulder.

However, her pats became harder as her smile slightly widened, while Defer looked at her more nervously. Rex and Lester felt a little uncomfortable since they weren't sure if Violet was suddenly going to toss Defer out the window or not, although Kelly was amused by this.

Violet leaned a little closer to Defer after clenching his shoulder with her hand and whispered,

"You better respect and love my mother for the rest of your life if you want to be with her, or you'll have to answer to me, and you already know how terrifying I can be."

Defer nodded, knowing fully-well that the reason why he helped her in the first place was because she could have easily led him to his destruction, yet she spared him.

"I would never hurt your mother. Whether you threatened me or not. My love for her is unending for eternity," Defer whispered, and Violet nodded in approval as she released her hand from his shoulder and relaxed on the sofa.

Ani returned with a blanket, as she laid it out over Defer.

"There you go, dear. I hope you feel more comfortable," Ani said with a sweet smile.

Defer blushed a little more when he heard Ani call him 'dear,' and he replied,

"T-Thank you Ani."

Violet stood up from the couch to let her mother sit down, as she returned to looking out the window.

Bland Forest:

"Stand still guys. I can reach it," Vito said, while the guys were standing on each others' shoulders to let Vito reach something hanging from a barbed tree.

It was a golden fruit that had a tomato-leaf top and a squash-like shape of the fruit.

"Got it!" Vito said, as he grabbed the fruit that was half the size of his head.

He pulled the fruit separate from the tree branch, and the guys had to quickly balance themselves before they fell.

"Okay... how do we get down?" Tommy asked, as the guys looked at one another, waiting for one of them to speak out an idea.

However, a rumbling was heard that shook the ground a bit and made the guys fall down on each other.
"What was that?" Charlie asked, as he stood up from the pile.

"I don't know, but it sounds huge and mobile," Tommy said, standing up and dusting himself off.

"Should we ignore it or keep moving?" Paul asked, standing up.

"Let's keep moving. We still have four more items to gather," Vito said, standing while placing the fruit in his bag, and a more serious expression appeared on his face as he recognized the sound.

"Well, alright. But it's pretty suspicious for something to be all the way out here in this forest huh?" Charlie questioned as the guys continued their course.

"Yeah, but maybe it's best to avoid whatever it is. It might not be friendly," Tommy said.

"Probably," Paul said, noticing that Vito's expression was much more serious than usual.

"Well, we're close to the next piece. Let's get on moving guys! We got the Golden Fruiticus, and next is the Sacred Vine!" Vito said, his natural cheeriness returning, and the guys continued their journey.

Two items found, four more left, but will finding them be so easy?

So my BATIM(Bendy and the Ink Machine) story is now up. It's called Batim: The Ink Kingdom.

Check it out if you guys want to.

See ya soon. :)