It was around midnight when Bendy was fast asleep in his bed. Sadly, it was not a peaceful one. He started tossing and turning, sweat forming on his forehead, and he gasped for air.
In his nightmare, Bendy was trapped in a glass jar with the lid sealed tight. There's a blindingly bright light over his head, and then a ghost from his past comes into view.
An old man named Wilson Arch. Expect he's a giant and smiles down wickedly at the trapped devil. Just as he's about to grab the jar, Bendy wakes up.
After realizing it was only a nightmare, the little devil curls up under the covers, grabs his pillow, and screams frustratingly into it.
Bendy throws the covers off and starts pacing on the floor.
"Why is that old fart haunting my dreams?!" Bendy wondered frustratingly. "Why?"
He then walks over to his drawing desk. It was like the kind they use at animation studios, and he had one made for... nostalgic reasons.
He looked at the letter from Henry he had left there and his drawings. They were of people he knew in pie-cut eye cartoon styles. There were ones of his father, Henchman, some demons, and even some inkwell civilians.
"If I can't sleep then I'll find something else to do tonight," Bendy said. "Now what are my options?" He flips through some of his drawings until he spots one he made of the Butcher Gang.
"Hmmm," he hummed while scratching his chin. "What did happen to you bums?"
Bendy snuck out of his room and went to one of his father's magic mirrors. He taps on the glass.
"Okay magic mirror, show me the Butcher Gang now," Bendy ordered in a whisper.
The glass in the mirror begins to ripple like water before showing Bendy what he had asked for. In the mirror, Bendy saw the gang members but the way they looked was unexpected.
Charley, Barely, and Edgar were tied up, unconscious, and held in what looked like a dinky basement.
"Whoa," Bendy muttered. "They're held captive." he snickered. "Who's got them captive?"
The glass rippled again this time showing Carly Slicer.
"Oooh her again," Bendy said with a devious smile. "Where are they?" he asked before tapping the glass again.
The mirror image rippled before showing a small shack on the outskirts of town.
Then Bendy got an idea. A way to cope with his restlessness.
"I'm going butcher hunting," Bendy said.
An hour later...
Bendy was on the outskirts, near the forest, making his way to Carly's place.
It looked like a simple wooden shack, but the windows and front door were boarded up, there were a bunch of signs that said 'No trespassers', the wooden fence reached 15 feet from the house, and the ground around was oddly lumpy in random places.
"I guess she doesn't entertain much," Bendy said while leaning on the fence.
Bendy walks around the fence and finds an old, convertible pickup truck. All that was in the trunk was some tools and a car jack.
He hops over the fence while keeping an eye on the shack. He jumps off and lands on one of the lumps of dirt-
BOOM
Bendy ends up flying into the air and crashes into a tree. He lands on his stomach against a branch.
"Of course. No yard is complete without landmines." Bendy groaned.
A few seconds later, a familiar ghost woman phases through one of the boarded windows and roars with a scary expression on her face.
"WHOSE THERE!?" Carley roared.
Hearing the voice, Bendy scrambles.
The ghost woman looked left and right. She flies over to where the mine exploded. She spots a rustling in a tree, flies towards it, and looks around trying to find her victim. But she didn't see anyone. She spots a hole in the tree, and peaks inside but it's pitch-black inside.
Carley shrugged before flying back to the shack.
Bendy's eyes pop out of the hole in the tree before he slips out and transforms back into his little devil form. He bit his lip for a second before an idea hit him. He transforms into a snake, slithers down the tree, and moves towards the shack. The snake slipped through the fence, moved easily around the lumps of dirt, and didn't stop until he reached the shack.
He found a mouse hole, slithered in, and soon made it inside. The shack lacked furniture save for a table, a stove, and a wooden coffin lying flat on the floor. There were slash marks on the walls as if an animal with large claws had scratched it. But there were also knives stuck to the walls as well.
Bendy stayed in the mouse hole when he spotted the ghost woman.
Carley transformed into her living self, stretched out her arms, and yawned. She slipped into the coffin, closed the lid, and, before long, a snoring sound emitted from the coffin.
Bendy changed back into his devil self and tiptoed across the floor.
CREAK
The little devil freezes after the board creaks under his foot and he notices the snoring stopped. It's quiet for a second before the snoring starts up again.
Bendy resumed his sneaking until he found the basement door under the table. He opens it and goes down the steps. He finds the butcher gang members tied up and unconscious. Bendy prowls closer to Charley. That's when he noticed a black kiss mark on the man's cheek.
Bendy looks at the others but they don't have kiss marks. This could only mean one thing.
"Carley likes Charley...?" Benday whispered before he gagged. He shook his head. "Charley?" He pulls on the man's ear. "Charley, can you hear me?"
Charley's face hits the floor when Bendy lets go of his ear. Bendy pries the man's left eye open and sees the pupil snoring. He checks Barley and Edgar's eyes and it's the same with them.
"Out like a light," Bendy whispered. Then he noticed a blue liquid coming from the corner of the spider's mouth. He wipes it up and smells it with his tongue. He suppresses a cough. "That's gotta be what's keeping them asleep.
He rests his elbow against Edgar's stomach and scratches his chin.
'There's got to be a way to get them out of here without waking the ghost upstairs.' Bendy thought. 'I just need to be subtle.'
Bendy shoves the car jack under the house from the front yard and turns on the handle. The shack slowly lifts on one side and the little devil doesn't stop until the building is at a 40-degree angle.
After locking the jack in place, Bendy jumps into the basement, grabs Edgar, and throws him in the yard. The other two piled on top of the spider. Bendy climbs out, picks up the gang, and carries them across the yard before throwing them over the fence. One by one, the men land in the trunk. Bendy heads to the front seat and looks for the keys.
As he searches for the keys, a bird holding an acorn flies overhead. A stiff wind hits the bird making him drop his acorn and it falls right into Charley's mouth. The man coughs before spitting the nut out.
Charley's eyes flutter open and he groans.
"Please no more porridge..." the man muttered.
"Aha! Here's the key!" Bendy said.
Charley's eyes widen. "That voice..." he said. He tries to move his arms but finds them tied to his sides. He groans before rolling over, slowly sits up, and sees none other than Bendy fiddling with a car key before starting the engine.
Despite his dizziness, Charley's eyes fill with rage.
"You!" Charley shouted softly.
The little devil flinched before turning his head and saw an angry Charley looking down at him.
Bendy shushed him.
"Don't you tell me to shush, you little hell rat!" Charley yelled.
Bendy kept trying to shush him.
"You tell me what the hell is going on!" Charley yelled.
"Be quiet or you'll wake up your girlfriend," Bendy seethed.
"What girlfriend?" Charley asked.
At that moment, a knife flew in from behind and hit the truck. Bendy and Charley turn their heads and see Carley.
"Her!" Bendy shouted.
Carley growled.
"Hit the gas!" Charley yelled.
Bendy stomps down on the gas pedal and the truck sped off.
Charley and his friends were pulled back in the trunk.
"Hey boys!" Charley shouted. "Wake up!" He kicks Barley and Edgar. They don't wake up. "C'mon, wake up!"
Suddenly a roar cuts through the air. Bendy and Charley turn their heads and see ghost Carley flying toward them with glowing red eyes and knives in her hands. The little devil and man scream.
Bendy hits a bump on the dirt road and the truck lands back with a thud so hard it wakes Barley and Edgar.
"What's going on?" Edgar asked with a gasp.
Carley roared.
Barley and Edgar screamed.
Carley throws a knife, and it nearly hits Barley. The butcher pirate pulls the knife with his teeth, drops the handle end into his hand, and uses it to cut the rope. Then he cuts out the others.
Bendy makes a sharp turn.
"Arg, who be driving the truck?" Barley asked.
"Hi-de-ho, fellas!" Bendy said looking back at the men.
"Eyes on the road!" Charley yelled.
"Alright yeesh," Bendy said rolling his eyes.
"What's he doing here?" Edgar asked.
"I don't know!" Charley said.
Carley disappeared before reappearing on the hood of the truck.
Bendy hits the break.
The ghost woman spots Bendy and gasps. She points a knife at him.
"You again!" Carley yelled.
Bendy gives a nervous smile. "Hi'ya toots," he said.
"First I'll gut ya, skin ya, and then burn the rest of ya!" Carley shouted.
"Now just a minute!" Charley shouted at Carley. He grabs Bendy's arm and holds it firmly. "Who the hell do you think you are!? If anyone's gonna gut this kid, it's gonna be me!"
"I'm Carley Slicer, professional thief," she changes into her living form. "And that kid stopped me from stealing the queen bee's honey!"
"And...?" Charley asked.
"And... tried to take my new gang from me!"
"Your gang?" Edgar asked.
"Yeah! I'm gonna be a member of the Butcher Gang,"
The men looked at each other for a second before laughing. Bendy pinched his brow and shook his head.
"You? In the Butcher Gang?" Charley asked mockingly. "You tied us up!"
"You poisoned us!" Edgar shouted.
"And ye kept us locked up in a basement!" Barley shouted.
"I was just... letting you rest a bit," Carley said. "You were caught in an explosion."
"A bit?" Bendy asked. "They've been missing for more than a week,"
"WHAT!?" the men exclaimed.
"It was a big explosion!" Carley argued.
"Listen up, Toots!" Charley said with a snarl. "The only way you're gonna be in my gang is over my dead body."
Carley sighed. "Fine," she said. She throws a knife towards Charley's chest... But Bendy's ink demon hand catches it.
Bendy throws the knife back and it cuts through Carley's hat.
"Oh, so close!" Bendy said with a chuckle. His ink demon hand slips out of Charley's grasp before it solidifies back to normal.
"What the hell? What are you?" Carley asked.
"He's a demon... we think," Charley answered.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Bendy said.
"I would," Carley said. Then she smiled. "And I know how to find out." She changed into her ghost shape and phased into Bendy's body.
Bendy sat there, frozen, his eyes glowing blue. Then his eyes shifted to reddish-orange, and Carley phased out of him.
"Holy spit!" Carley exclaimed.
Bendy's head liquefies before splitting in half, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth and a long tongue.
"Your soul will be mine!"
The men backed away as best they could as the mouth starts sucking up air. Carley was being pulled in. The ghost tried to fight it, but the force was too strong. Then she pulls out a knife and lets it fly to Bendy. The knife slices through the tongue and the mouth screams before stopping the suction.
Carley takes the chance to fly away. "I'll get you back someday, demon! And I will be in the Butcher Gang!" she shouted before disappearing.
Bendy's head melts down before solidifying back into its normal shape. The little devil shakes his head, jumps out of the truck, and starts walking away.
"Wait!" Charley shouted.
Bendy stops and looks back.
"I don't get it," Charley said. "Why did you get us out of there? Why help us?"
"I'd tell ya, but I prefer to keep people guessing," Bendy said. "Anyway, stay out of my way, away from my friends, or... I'LL EAT YOUR SOULS!" his voice echoed and made the ground shake. "Any more questions?"
The men shook their heads, still shaking with fear.
"Good, see ya bums never," Bendy said before disappearing into the shadows of the forest.
After a few seconds, the men sighed.
"I can't believe he helped us," Edgar said.
"Even after everything we've done to 'em," Barley said.
"It doesn't make any sense," Charley said. "That little creep is up to something, I can feel it,"
"Boss," Barley said. "Let it go."
"But he-"
"Eh eh. Let it go," Barley said. "Let's just go find us a new hide out before that banshee comes back and finds us some grub,"
"C'mon Charley, I'm starving!" Edgar complained.
"Fine. Fine!" Charley exclaimed. He takes the driver's seat, turns the key, and starts driving. 'But I won't stop till I snuff out that little creep. With or without you guys.' He thought.
The men drive to the city just as the sun rises.
Later That Morning...
Bendy made his way to the Kettle Cottage and decided to climb up the side to the Cuphead and Mugman's bedroom window. He opens it a slips inside.
"Hi'ya fellas," Bendy said. "You won't believe the night I had, it was a real...-"
Bendy couldn't finish his sentence when he noticed how messy the room looked. It looked like it had been ransacked and the beds were messed up too. He looks around until he spots a rolled-up paper on the floor with a knife jammed into it. He picks it up, reads it, and his eyes go wide with disbelief.
"Holly spit," he muttered.
'Dear Little Devil, I have your friends...'
To be continued...