Sounds of water dripping echoed throughout the area, waking Sonic up in the process. He found himself on his back again as he stared at the ceiling. The hole where he and Porter fell was now covered up by metal steel, keeping them from going back from where they came.
Just then, a small creature walked on Sonic's face. His eyes crossed to see a large, four legged, black creature with huge, sketched, human-like teeth for a face. It made its tiny roar at Sonic, who screamed and swatted it away before raising his upper body up to see if there were more.
The chamber was circular, surrounded by brick walls with the only way out blocked thanks to the Gent lock. Eight pillars each held a chain to covers of flat lights that hung above him, shining brightly. But what really got Sonic's attention was the numerous tar covered eggs that covered the area, each varying in different sizes. Due to their small jiggling, it was clear that they were ready to hatch at any moment.
Seeing Porter nearby, still unconscious, the Mobian toon crawled over and tried to wake him up.
"Porter! Porter, get up!"
The Lost One groaned as he felt himself being pulled up by his companion. "Where are we?"
"We are literally standing in a spider's nest-OW!"
Sonic looked down to see one biting his leg with several more heading their way. He kicked it away and helped Porter up to his feet, who recognized the creatures as widows.
"Widows?" Sonic yelled. "What the hell are widows?!"
"You're looking at them!" Porter replied as he grabbed his tar-like flesh and made himself a pipe as a weapon.
Seeing a pile full of ink close by, Sonic grabbed a handful and made himself a baseball bat. It wasn't long before he started sending the spider-like monstrosities flying through the air.
No matter how many widows they killed, more and more kept spawning. After a three second glance at one of the larger eggs, Sonic saw that it opened up like a mouth and a widow popped out to join its family as the egg closed itself.
"Porter!" he called, causing the ink humanoid's head to turn. "The eggs! We gotta destroy the eggs!"
He nodded as he got to work on the eggs closest to him while Sonic did the same. The widows tried their best to defend the eggs while attacking the intruders but they proved no match to their sharp reflexes and strong weapons. After several hits depending on the size, the eggs would come crashing down with their jaws hanging open.
Just when the boys killed half of the eggs, the manhole cover that stood in the center of the area moved. Then the lid slightly opened where three, large, skeletal legs emerged. It wasn't long until the creature crawled out of the manhole, revealing itself to be a much bigger version of the widows.
"Oh, great, mommy's home!" Sonic exclaimed with annoyance.
"Actually, that's King Widow," Porter said. "The Queen's much bigger."
When Sonic gave him a sharp glare, Porter added, "At least, that's what the rumors say."
The king let out a high-pitched scream before charging toward the boys, who were able to move out of the way in time.
"Porter, you finish destroying the eggs!" Sonic ordered as he got to his feet. "I'll keep spider daddy busy!"
"Got it!" Porter replied as he began to whack the nearest egg with his pipe until it fell with its mouth open.
Sonic used his homing attacks along with some hits to his bats to at least knock out King Widow, but the creature proved that he wasn't going to be taken down so easily. He got up on his hind legs and used the front legs to jab the hedgehog with his sharp talons. Sonic was able to dodge the attacks while performing his spin dashes. There were a few times that the monster tried to grab Sonic but he was either too fast or allowed his bat to speak his mind.
With his new speed ability, Porter was able to kill every egg in the chamber. As for the remaining widows, who did their best to avenge them and defend the remaining eggs. Like their fallen comrades, however, they proved useless against Porter's fast reflexes.
Sonic started to notice that the massive spider was getting tired due to how he dragged his feet and started to hover from left to right. Taking his chance, he got down to his hands and got ready for his strike dash. His legs became an instant blur while forming a figure eight. Before he could make his move, King Widow spat in his face where his kin blinded him from his target.
"Aah!" Sonic yelled as he dropped his bat, fell to the ground, and tried to free his face from the widow. "Get off me, you four-legged face-eater!"
While Sonic squirmed on the floor, King Widow started to sneak up on him and raised his front leg, ready to stab the Mobian through the chest. Porter, who just finished the last widow, saw what the creature was doing and used his new power to kick him away from Sonic. The king screamed as he was tossed into a pillar, making a mess with his inky blood.
It was then that Sonic finally grabbed the widow and smashed it to the ground, with its remains splattered on the Mobian's hands. He wiped them as he got to his feet, picked up his bat and thanked Porter for the save.
"You're welcome," Porter cheerfully replied.
King Widow rose to his feet angrily and made another sharp shrill before rising to its hind feet. Seeing what he was doing, Sonic told Porter to get ready to charge at the giant spider on the count of three.
"One… two… three!"
At full speed, the boys ran toward King Widow and they both struck him with their weapons, causing a small boom in the chamber. The huge spider-like monster let out a painful roar before collapsing on the floor, his mouth hanging open. The guys, who were panting with their adrenaline slowly draining, stared at the widow as if they expected him to make a surprise attack.
But the king didn't move, not even when Sonic walked over and poked at him. That proved that the King of the widows is dead.
Sonic asked Porter if he was okay. "Oh, I'm fine," panted Porter. He took note of the hole which they fell in was blocked.
"Yeah, I know," Sonic mumbled. "Let's like we're gonna have to find another way to the upper levels."
Sonic asked Porter if he had any idea where they are. "Looks like the sewers, which means we're basically at the lowest section of the studio."
Sonic let out a groan. "Talk about falling to a dead end."
"I'm sure we can find something if we just keep moving forward," suggests Porter, sounding optimistic.
The hedgehog shrugged. "Well, that's better than no plan at all."
They both walked toward the Gent locked door where Porter pulled out the card key from his invisible pocket and slid it in.
Once the door was unlocked, it revealed a hallway with a giant, slow moving fan at the very end. On the left side of the wall was another message that read, Fear Shows Us Our True Nature.
"Got a funny way of showing it," grumbled Sonic.
Once the guys made it to the end of the hall, on their right was a garage door with no access key or switch to open it. On their left was another gate that was locked with a chain. After taking it out thanks to Sonic's kick, they continued their way until they took a right at another garage door that opened once they were within close proximity.
However, they saw a figure walking away at the end of the mechanical hall. They didn't see much except that it was a male human wearing dress pants of some sort along with black dress shoes.
The man seemed to be laughing to himself which caused Sonic to stop dead in his tracks. He heard that laugh before! True, it was slightly younger but it was still the same.
"No," Sonic muttered, realizing who the man was. "It can't be."
Porter turned and asked what was wrong. But he only got more confused when Sonic suddenly sprinted after the man, leaving him alone.
Sonic paid no attention to where he was going as he was lost in the thought of the man. After using his spin dash to break down another gate, he came to a halt when he saw a hole that led to a lower level of the factory. Looking up at a sign, it read, Gent Emergency Shaft R. Glaring back down at the manhole, Sonic merely jumped in and landed on his feet with no sweat thanks to the strength of his legs.
He seemed to be in a small, tight, passage but thanks to his small size, Sonic was able to walk through with no problem. Just when he was close enough to the entry to a new area, he heard the man speak.
"Not much has changed since the last time you were here, huh, Sonic?"
The Mobian toon eyes grew wide once he set foot in the Gent shaft and saw the man up on a higher platform. Even though the shaft was dark, Sonic could see who the man was.
"JOEY!?"
A lantern was lit near the man, where lifted it up to his face, revealing that it was indeed, Joey Drew.
"In the flesh!" declared the studio's founder. "Well, so to speak."
Sonic had only seen pictures of Joey in his younger years, with his black hair combed back, his business attire, and always had a smile on his face. Unlike the pictures, though, Joey wasn't black and white but was more like the colors surrounding him, such as black, dark sepia and tan. But other than that, Joey was the same as he was all those years ago back in the glory days of Bendy.
Sonic was at a loss for words. Questions began to fill his mind of how Joey Drew is alive. "What… what are… how…"
Joey raised his hand. "It's all right, Sonic. I'm sure you have a lot of questions. Come on up! Let's take a little walk. I'll explain everything."
Sonic crouched down and leapt onto the platform, where Joey stood waiting with a warm smile. That was when Sonic finally was able to speak.
"How is this possible? You're supposed to be dead!"
Joey chuckled. "That I am. Despite that I look and sound like Joey Drew, I'm not him."
Now that caught Sonic off guard. Suspicious, he asked who the man really was.
"I'm the memory of the man who created this world."
"Memory?" Sonic repeated, seeming more confused than ever.
The man nodded. "To be honest, I didn't think you could hear me, let alone see me. But I guess your newfound ink powers have grown since you arrived."
"But all I can do is banish people back to the puddles and mold blobs of ink into whatever I want, and share them with others" Sonic told him. "I still have my speed, though. It's a little different than before but it's still the same."
Joey merely shrugged. "It appears that you're gaining more abilities without even realizing it."
"But that doesn't make any sense," Sonic muttered. "I usually can…" He stopped when he recalled hearing the voices of Allison and Audrey. Could it be that he heard them through the memories of the ink?
He told Joey, who gave him a proud smile. "Sounds like you've been underestimating yourself, Sonic."
He turned and walked down a path that led to a small corridor not too far from where he and Sonic stood. "Follow me! But mind your step. This old place is full of surprises."
The cartoon hedgehog ran after him until he got close behind his back. Aside from the inky waterfall and dark substance flowing down below, they walked in awkward silence. When Joey led Sonic to a small corridor where a door at the end had a sign that read, There is Always Hope, Sonic broke the silence.
"Say, Joey, you said you're the ink's memory of the real Joey Drew, right?"
After he nodded, Sonic asked, "You wouldn't happen to know about Wilson and what he's doing with the ink machine, do you?"
"I'm afraid not," Joey replied sadly. "I can, however, tell you that whatever Wilson's planning, he's taken advantage of the ink's own evolution, twisting it to his will."
"If that's the case, why did he make the lower levels of the Gent factory an exact replica of your studio?"
A grin grew on Mr. Drew's face when the Black Blur asked him that. "Because you and I know very well that the ink has a mind of its own." Sonic couldn't help but shrug in agreement to that statement.
Turning to the door, he opened it and walked in with Sonic right behind him. The area they entered was a small bedroom combined with a mini kitchen. The place was surprisingly clean aside from the stack of pencils on the bed and a couple cups and a small stack of books scattered on the counter.
Joey set down the lantern on the kitchen top to turn it off as he continued. "But it doesn't get any better now that he has the Keepers roaming around the studio, trying to bring what they call order to this world. Dangerous, deadly folk, they are. I suggest you keep an eye out for them."
He made his way toward the door at the end of the small safehouse and said, "They have taken over the Gent workshop just beyond the sewers. If you're looking for the way out, you'll find it there."
"And I'll bet that's where they're keeping the ink machine, too!" Sonic added excitedly, happy at the fact that the device is closer than he originally thought. "Porter's gonna flip when he hears this!"
Sonic felt his blood run cold when he realized he left Porter alone. "Oh shit! Porter!"
Just when he was about to turn around and run, Joey stopped him. "It's all right, Sonic, he's fine. He's on his way here as we speak."
"And how do you know this?"
A distant voice was heard calling Sonic's name, despite him being in a secured safehouse. Sonic could tell it was Porter when the voice slowly grew louder.
"He has really grown fond of you, Sonic," Joey admitted with a small laugh.
"Well, yeah," Sonic said. "I'm like literally his one and only friend."
Joey then got down to one knee as he turned Sonic around to face him and put his hands on each shoulder. "You'll look after him, won't you? He'll be the Keepers' diamond in the rough if they found out about him."
Sonic queried. "Why? Is it because he's the only Lost One who has powers?"
"That's one of the reasons," Joey replied. "You'll find out the second reason later. That is if you don't let the Keepers catch you."
"Oh, don't worry. We're not planning to have a dinner party with them anytime soon."
The man smiled as he said, "Then I wish you both all the luck in the world."
He closed his eyes, crossed his arms and was suddenly turned to black dust that vanished into thin air. Sonic found himself thrown back in shock to see Joey evaporate before his eyes.
"What the…? Joey!?"
The door before him opened by itself to reveal a small tombstone with the studio's founder name engraved on it along with his years of living. A few candles lit up the small room with a Bendy plush alongside them but not too close to get burned. Next to the tombstone had one of Joey's famous lines, Just a Pencil and a Dream written on the wall.
Sonic found himself staring at the tombstone while pondering on what just happened. At first, he thought he touched Joey with his glowing hand but he realized he neither used or raised his hand to begin with.
Is this how memories return to the ink? Sonic thought while finding the idea kind of disturbing.
He suddenly heard the entry door to the safehouse open. He turned to only find Porter, who was both happy and relieved to see his friend all right.
"Yeah, sorry for running off like that," Sonic apologized. "I thought I saw someone."
"And did you find him?" Porter asked as he made his way inside the safehouse to Sonic.
The Mobian toon pointed at Joey's tomb as he said, "You could say something like that."
Porter glared at the tombstone with confusion as he wondered how Sonic was able to see someone who died.
"Let's just say the ink has its ways of 'echoing the past,'" Sonic said, recalling what Joey explained to him. "However, I do have some good news."
Sonic told Porter what Joey told him about the Gent workshop with the huge possibility of finding the ink machine inside, making it the perfect place to hide the device.
"The only downside is that the place is crawling with Keepers," Sonic added. "But we should be okay just as long as we don't draw any attention to ourselves."
"Sounds good to me," agreed Porter. "Now do we go this way?"
Sonic turned to where Porter was pointing, which was a door with no knob. He shrugged and said, "I guess so."
Due to it having no knob, the boys were able to get through with ease. Beyond a small, tight hallway, there was a desk filled with various tools ledged against the wall with another door not too far, this one having a knob. That doorway led to a hallway not much different from the one the boys came through before. Once they got out, however, they found themselves in a whole new place.
It was a huge open area with ink dripping from the ceiling. There was some ink in the corners that slowly drained down like sludge. The walls were covered with either pipes or other kinds of machinery. There was a control panel of some kind near the guys which they guessed had access to the large door within an empty natatorium. Sonic saw a tapestry of a human skull with four spider legs, two on each side with a strange message at the bottom.
"Lord Amok Rules?" Sonic read aloud.
"Oh, I heard of these guys!" exclaimed Porter. "They're a group of odd looking Lost Ones with Amok as their leader. As to who Amok is, I have no idea."
"So basically, it's a cult where some kind of spider skull is the center of their religion?"
Thinking about it, Porter said, "Well, when you put it like that, yes."
"Great," grumbled Sonic as flashbacks of Sammy Lawerence and his crazed obsession of worshiping Bendy appeared in his mind. "Although I have to find it weird that they chose the sewers as their turf."
Shrugging, Porter guessed that the stench rids them of their sins, causing the hedgehog to laugh.
"However," Porter added. "I haven't been here in a long time so finding the switches might be difficult."
Glaring at him with wide eyes, Sonic asked, "What are you talking about? We got a switch right here." He even pulled it down which caused the garage door below to open.
"That's one of the switches," Porter said. "There are far more inside the trench. As to how many, I don't remember. But I do remember that one of them opens the door to either Amok's lair or our destination. We just have to throw down all the switches to find the right one."
"You're kidding, right?" Sonic asked.
Porter confirmed with a downcast nod. "I'm sorry, Sonic. My memory isn't what it used to be."
"Nah, it's fine, Port," Sonic replied. "Just as long as we get to the Gent workshop, we're good. Besides, now that you can run as fast as me, we might be able to find the right switch in under five minutes and no one will notice we were here."
Looking down at his feet and back at Sonic, Porter asked with his mouthless grin growing by the second, "Shall we begin?"
"Hell, yeah!" Sonic cried as he jumped over the rails, landed on the ink covered ground and ran for the new open area with Porter not far behind, giggling as he went.
…
Leaning against the balcony rails of Tails' lab, Knuckles stared at the blue sky, watching the fluffy clouds move while forming different shapes. He inhaled slowly, with the smell of grass filling his nose and exhaled smoothly. The echidna felt the wind blow through his dreadlock spines and the sun warming his skin. He could stay out here all day if it weren't for the dire matter at hand.
Tails was hard at work trying to bypass the security cameras. According to the fox, Gent used massive coding and firewalls to prevent anyone from hacking in. Getting past them was no problem; however, there were so many firewalls, each having their unique ways to prevent Tails from getting in. It was pretty clear that it was going to take longer than he thought. But Knuckles assured him to do what he can and to take it nice and slow.
Archie, on the other hand, occupied himself with the Tornado, giving it some minor upgrades and fixes that it needed. Once he was done, he went around Tails' home in hopes of finding a leaking pipe or loose fuse. When he couldn't find anything, he started cleaning up the place, such as dusting, sweeping, etc.
"I actually don't mind cleaning," Archie explained to Knuckles when he found the guy scrubbing the kitchen counter. "It takes my mind off of things. Besides, I'm kind of a neat freak, anyway." That got Knuckles to shrug and leave him to his cleaning.
Until Tails bypassed the firewalls, the guardian of the Master Emerald went outside on the balcony, alone with his thoughts. While he was concerned for his best friend, Knuckles couldn't but wonder why Gent would risk rebuilding the ink machine and bring back the ink monsters from Joey's studio. Or they intend to create their own ink creatures? If that's the case, what for? What kind of plan involves the device that creates monsteraties made of tar? Even if they plan to resurrect familiar faces, imagine their delight when they find Sonic.
He heard the slide door open, which turned out to be Archie. "Tails is in the system."
"All right!" Knuckles cried as he followed Archie downstairs to where Tails was with his computer.
Once everyone was gathered around the two-tailed fox, Tails said, "Okay, the good news is that I was able to gain entry on all the cameras on the night Archie saw an ink monster as well as the night Sonic went into the factory. The bad news is that Gent wiped it clean to the point I couldn't find any way to bring them back."
"So we're at a dead end?"
Tails shook his head in response to red Mobian. "Curiosity got the best of me and I was able to access the security cameras in the lower levels of the factory. Hopefully we can find Sonic and the evidence we need to prove that Gent's rebuilt the ink machine and created more ink monsters."
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Knuckles asked, excitement filling his voice. "Let's get started!"
The heads of Knuckles and Archie came close to Tails' once he got to work on bringing up the footage of the cameras recording now. The monitor could only fit six footages but Tails assured his friends that he still has access to the other cameras if they need to switch to the next one. After a minute of static, the cameras came through clean, each having a label of the chamber they're in. But it was the areas that got the boys attention.
"You guys see this too, right?" Knuckles asked, making sure he wasn't going crazy.
"Everything looks exactly like it was back at the studio," Tails added, confirming that he can see it as well. "From the sketchy objects, the sepia and black colors, it even has a cartoon feel to it."
"Was it always this dark?" asked Archie, noticing that almost all the areas were almost pitch black.
"In some areas," replied Knuckles. "But what is Gent trying to do? Rebuild Joey Drew Studio from the inside of their own factory?"
"Why would they do that?" wondered Tails. "Is that their way of testing out the powers of the ink?"
"Hey, look!" cried Archie, pointing at the footage on the lower left of the screen. "There's the ink monster I saw the other night!"
Tails enlarged the footage and saw it lurking around the Animation Department entrance. And it wasn't alone.
"Looks like you saw a Lost One, Archie," Tails told the handyman.
"Is that what you call those things?"
Tails nodded as Knuckles took notice that one of them had long hair. "Did Gent find a way to designate male Lost Ones from females?"
After taking a closer look, Tails shrugged with a surprised look. "Looks like they did."
They continued to look through every camera only to find the Lost Ones just walking around, muttering to themselves. Aside from that, nothing really happened aside from some Lost Ones arguing amongst themselves and the Butcher gang going about their business in their unknown chatter.
"I actually thought there was going to be more screams and, well, horrifying imaginary," admitted Archie.
"It's too quiet for my liking," agreed Knuckles. "Tails, is that all the cameras we went through?"
"There's still the workshop," Tails reported. "Just give me a minute…"
After typing his keyboard, the footage of the workshop appeared with some people dressed in white encapsulated suits only the lower half was covered with black, probably from the ink. All except one.
He was an old man who had patches of ink placed on random areas on his clothes, even covering half his face. His golden eye glowed whenever he turned his face to the camera like that of a dog's eyes. Aside from his eyes and his dark sepia skin, he seemed normal.
Archie immediately recognized him. "Hey, that's Wilson Arche!"
"You know him?" Tails asked.
Archie nodded. "I mean, I haven't actually met him but I saw a picture of him, except he didn't have a glowing eye."
"He wouldn't happen to be related to Nathan Arch of Archgate Films, would he?" quired Knuckles.
Archie shook his head and explained that Wilson's last name had an 'e' at the end while Nathan's last name doesn't, despite sounding the same. "Trust me, I asked that same question."
He included that Wilson had retired a year ago due to his declining health and eventually died.
"He seems perfectly healthy to me," muttered Knuckles.
"He must've used the ink to keep him from aging," Tails guessed. "But that can't be his end game, can it? Using the ink to become immortal?"
"Everyone trapped in the old studio was immortal," Knuckles said. "I don't see why gramps wouldn't take advantage of that. But I do agree that he's got something else planned."
Just when one of the guys in the suits walked to where Wilson stood, the screen suddenly became static. Even the sounds from the footage began to buzz.
"What the…?" Tails muttered as he pushed the buttons on his keyboard in hopes of clearing the footage. All Knuckles and Archie could do was watch with confused glances.
Suddenly, the monitor began to glitch uncontrollably with the static growing worse. Before Tails could do anything, an unearthly scream was heard, forcing the boys to cover their ears while their eyes winced in pain. Then everything grew silent as everyone opened their eyes to find a black screen on Tails' laptop along with a string of smoke emerging from the motor.
"My laptop!" Tails yelled as he turned the laptop upside down, grabbed a small rag and began to air it out.
"What the hell happened!?" Knuckles exclaimed, looking just as shocked and confused as everyone else in the room. "Was that a computer virus!?"
"None that I'm aware of," replied Tails as he continued to air out the laptop's motor. By the time it stopped smoking, the fox quickly tore apart the bottom of the device to find the processor burnt to a crisp.
"Looks like the memory core is fried as well," Archie reported as his eyes gazed around the hardware. "There's no way to recover anything we got from Gent."
"Not necessarily, boys."
All heads turned to find Shadow and Rouge at the door, making their way to them.
"What are you guys doing here?" Tails asked.
"The same thing what you're doing," Shadow replied. "Gathering evidence to take down Gent and their new ink machine."
…
"Found the last button, Sonic!" Porter cried as he raced across the hallway to the open area where the Mobain Toon waited.
"Ugh, finally," cheered Sonic, seeing the door sink to the floor. "With all these switches and buttons, I can see why you forgot all this."
"I know," Porter said as he followed Sonic down the pit to the open door. "Plus, there are different alternatives to get where you need to go."
"Unlucky for us," Sonic muttered since this was the quickest way to get to the Gent Workshop. At least, according to Joey.
After going through the small tunnel, they came across a door similar to the one they opened with the label Exit hanging above it. Before they could do anything, a woman's scream echoed throughout the sewers.
"What in the world?" cried Porter, glancing around the chamber.
Seeing a ladder on their right, Sonic climbed up to find an open door with the Amok sign painted above it. Thinking that could be the lair of the Amoks as well as where the screaming woman was, Sonic went inside with Porter, who had just joined him and uttered, "So much for going unnoticed."
The room looked like a throne room due to the chair that stood in the center of the room near a wall where two large film reels were spinning. A painted sign that read, Amok hung above the throne with two tapestries on each side, one was the same as the first tapestry Sonic saw when entering the sewers and the other having a large print of the skull spider with only half its face off. Aside from that, it was just another chamber full of pipes and machinery on the walls and floor.
Hearing the cry of the woman again, Sonic turned his head to see two Lost Ones, both of them having the same mohawk hair, were trying to hold down a female Lost One, who did her best to get away with no success. There was another Lost One who Sonic guessed was Lord Amok due to the odd-looking crown he wore on his head, who was lying right on top of her. Sonic didn't even need to think twice about what Amok was doing.
"HEY! GET OFF HER!"
Just when Lord Amok and his mohawk guards were about to turn their heads, Sonic spin dashed them off the lady who curled into a ball against the nearest wall, shaking with fear. They flew across the room and each made a hard landing. Lord Amok looked pissed until he saw Sonic as he, along with Porter, walked toward the fearful woman.
He got down to one knee and asked, "Are you okay?"
The trembling Lost One brushed away her long, silky hair so she could see. She glanced over at Porter, who simply waved while forming his mouthless grin. Despite his attempt to be friendly, Sonic assured her that Porter won't hurt her. Seeing the truth in his eyes, she nodded, confirming that she was okay.
"Well, well," spoke Lord Amok in his thick Greek-Cypriot accent. "The Mobian is upon us."
After motioning Porter to stay with the girl, Sonic got up to his feet, turned around and replied, "And I take it you're Lord Amok?"
"There is a price on your head," Amok added as he, too, stood up and walked towards his throne. His punk guards got up as well and followed their leader where one stood on Amok's left and the other on his right.
"Really?" asked Sonic, sounding surprised. "I knew I was a wanted hedgehog but I didn't think there was a reward!"
"Yes," the crowned Lost One said. "As to what the reward is, no one knows. But I have a few ideas."
"It could be our ticket outta here, my Lord!" exclaimed one of the guards, sounding as if he just smoked a joint. "Imagine what that could look like for the cult!"
"My reign to fly like the wind from land to land," Amok said in a daze, as if he was picturing the whole thing in his head. "Not to mention to be free of this wretched place!"
"Well," Sonic began, knowing full well what he was going to say was going to get a bad reaction. "I hate to be a buzzkill on that plan of yours, but do you really think Wilson will let you out of here once he has me? Chances are that he'll just leave you guys empty-handed."
"Then we'll make him pay for what he has done to us!" yelled the second punk guard, his voice sounding more deep than the first one. "He keeps promising us peace only for his Keepers to hunt us down like rats for who knows why! And let's not forget his lie about killing the Ink Demon!"
"Settle down, Bonefire," Amok cooled, raising his hand to calm his guard down. Turning back to Sonic, he said, "The point is, we're not looking to negotiate with Wilson now that we have his prize. He will give us what we want. I can be quite persuasive."
"So can I," Sonic declared, getting to his battle position. Porter did the same thing only to protect the woman, who had started to come out of her cowering shell and stare at the cartoon hedgehog, her dark golden, dirty bow tie revealed in plain sight.
"I got no quarrel with you, Amok," Sonic said. "Just let us go and we'll be on our way."
The proud Lost One laughed. "Wilson wasn't clear whether he wanted you alive or dead. I guess we'll just have to make the most of it with your head." Turning to his guards, he ordered, "Kill him. Kill him now!"
"With pleasure!" Snarled Bonefire while the first one giggled like a madman.
They both pulled out their small swords from their sides and charged at the Mobian toon. Sonic couldn't help but smirk as he leapt into the air and took them out with his banishing power. Suddenly, a knife flew past his cheek and hit the wall. He glanced over to see that it was Amok who threw the dagger with another one in hand as he charged at Sonic. Pulling the one out of the wall, Sonic and Lord Amok began their knife duel.
Despite his training with Caliburn, Amok proved to be a good swordsman. Every time Sonic attempted to strike, the crowned Lost One blocked it with ease. And the same can be said for Sonic's defenses against Amok's own attacks. Porter and the woman, now standing on her knees, were left with nothing to do but watch and wait for the victor.
After a couple minutes of dodging and swinging, Sonic was finally able to knock out Amok's dagger from his hand. As it flew across the room, Amok staggered after it before Sonic blasted him to the wall with his spin dash. He fell face down to the floor with thick ink emerging from his skull. It was clear that Amok was no more.
Breathing heavily, the Black Blur turned to Porter and the woman and asked them if they were okay. Before any of them could answer, a door near Amok's throne swung open with two more of Amok's guards running out. They stopped when they saw their lord's dead body on the ground, his head still oozing out ink. They glared over to Sonic, who still had his knife from the wall while being the closest to their fallen leader. The punk guards then lowered their weapons, put their left hand to their chest and declared, "Hail the new Amok!"
Sonic was taken aback at this; usually when he defeated a leader, their followers would march in like a swarm of bees, ready to avenge their fallen ruler. And he definitely wasn't used to people bowing down to him.
"I'm sorry, what?"
One of the guards raised his head and responded, "You have defeated Lord Amok. Now that he's dead, you're the new Amok."
Sonic turned his gaze over to Porter, who looked just as surprised as he was at this. All he could do was shrug as his way of encouragement, which left Sonic feeling a little more awkward than before.
"Okay," Sonic muttered. "Well, uh, thanks for the info. So, uh, me and my friends are gonna go now."
"Go?" asked the second one, sounding more brittle than his companion. "But you have won your crown! Don't you wish to celebrate your victory?"
"Well, I'd love to," Sonic said, trying his best not to be rude. "But I actually got somewhere to be and I don't want to be late."
The guards were kind enough to offer their services to protect Sonic but he gently turned down the offer.
"Then we shall spread word of your victory to our fellow brothers!" cried the first guard, pride filling his voice.
"Great idea!" agreed Sonic. Getting an idea, he added, "While you guys are at it, can you add that Porter, that guy right there," he pointed to the confused Lost One as he continued, "He'll be my, uh, first officer! So in case something happens to me, you'll report to him. Is that against the Amok rules you guys have?"
The guards stared at each other, shrugged with the second one saying, "None that we're aware of."
"Sweet!" Sonic cried. "We're gonna go now but if I need anything, I'll call you. But again, if anything happens to me, you'll report to my man, Porter. All right, you guys have a good one!"
The mohawk guards saluted as they ran back to where they came. By the time they were gone, Sonic picked up the lady in bridal style and ran for the chamber where they heard her scream with Porter right behind him.
It was seconds once they returned to the empty trench. Sonic set the woman down, who was recovering from Sonic's whiplash.
"Ooo, that was fun!" she cried happily. "But, oh, am I dizzy!"
"Yeah, sorry about that," Sonic said as he did his best to keep her from falling. "You all right?"
"Oh, I'm quite fine, thank you!" the lady replied, the spinning in her head coming to an end. "I'm just glad I'm not with those mean men anymore!"
Turning to Sonic, she showed her appreciation of him saving her by picking him up and hugging him tight.
"It's the… least… I can… do," choked Sonic while he debated who's the hugs the hardest; Amy or this lady. Porter, meanwhile, can't help but giggle at the sight. But that soon ended when the woman gave him a tight embrace of his own.
"And thank you for protecting me! I never had anyone protecting me before!"
Either Porter was lost for words or the lady was squeezing him so hard that he wasn't able to speak. Sonic took the opportunity to free his crushed lungs.
After releasing Porter, she exclaimed, "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Heidi! Who are you two?"
After taking a moment to breathe, Sonic answered, "I'm Sonic. And that's Porter."
The woman suddenly made a small, joyful squeal. "Oh, how exciting! It makes me so happy to make new friends!"
"Yeah, we noticed," Sonic mumbled as he and Porter continued to expand their bronchi.
"I want to repay you two for what you did for me! But I don't have anything to give you."
"Well," Sonic pondered. "We're on our way to the Gent Workshop. You don't happen to know where it is, do you?"
Heidi's eyes grew in bewilderment as she asked, "You're not talking about the Pit, are you?"
Porter stopped coughing and turned his gaze to Sonic, who shared the same baffled expression. They recalled Wilson mentioning the Pit back where they found the elevators. Porter thought it was an empty threat but now? Wilson might be telling the truth for once.
When Sonic asked what the Pit was, Heidi replied, "It's the Keeper's prison. After they find people who cause trouble, that's where they take them. Some say that's where the ghosts live because nobody ever comes back out. I was actually trying to find it before those bullies found me."
"Why were you trying to find it?" questioned Porter.
"Because they took Big Steve!" she exclaimed, almost on the verge of tears. "And he didn't do anything wrong! He's not like the other lurkers! Just because he's big and strong doesn't mean they have to lock him away like an animal!"
Confused, Sonic asked what a lurker was, not recalling running into any kind of creature with a name like that back at the original studio.
"They're basically large, obese ink monsters who have a habit of eating literally anything," explained Porter. "But I never heard of a lurker that's friendly."
"That's what makes him special," Heidi said. She then dropped her head, letting her silky black hair cover her face. "I hope Big Steve's okay. I cannot imagine what the Keepers are doing to him."
Turning to Sonic, Porter asked, "You don't suppose the Pit could be that secret room where the ink machine is, do you?"
Sonic shrugged. "It's a 50- 50 chance. Wouldn't hurt to look."
Heidi suddenly lifted up her head and asked, "Oh, can I come, too? I could help you find your ink machine and you could help me find Big Steve!"
"I don't know, Heidi," Porter said. "It could be dangerous for you."
"Oh, don't worry about me," Heidi assured him. "I'm a good hider! I can also fast travel!"
"Fast travel?"
The boys stared at her with confused looks. She seemed to have expected this so she was more than willing to show them. Seeing a puddle of ink dripping near the door where the boys came in, she walked over, giggling softly.
"Watch this!" She extended her hand and reached for it. To both Sonic and Porter's surprise, her hand went all the way in as if there was a hole underneath the layer of ink. Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic saw Heidi's hand waving back where the inch-filled pool of ink was located.
"Whoa!"
That caused Porter to turn and have the same shocked reaction like Sonic. Heidi couldn't help but chuckle as he pulled back her hand, all in one piece.
"Amazing, isn't it?"
"Totally!" cried the impressed hedgehog. "So you just stick your hand in a puddle of ink and it goes to a whole new place?"
"I have to think of the place first," Heidi explained. "If I ever want to go anywhere, I hop into a giant puddle or a pool and it takes me where I want to go. As you can see, you don't have to go all the way in case you want to grab something."
"How neat!" exclaimed Porter. "That could be useful once we get to the Gent Workshop."
"Yeah," agreed Sonic. Getting an idea, Sonic asked Heidi if she would be willing to share her powers with them.
"I don't know if I can," Heidi admitted. "But if I could, I definitely would, especially for my new friends!"
"All right then!"
Extending his hand with the golden spiral, he told his friends to place their hands on top of his. Porter did as he was told since he knew what Sonic was going to do. Heidi seemed confused at first but reached out her hand anyway, curious on what was about to happen. Just like before, his hand began to glow as did his eyes, matching that of the two Lost Ones. They felt their own power being drained while new powers filled them up. Once the light died down, everyone took heavy breaths as if they all went out on a long run.
"What just happened?" gasped Heidi.
"We now each have a share of our powers," Sonic explained with heavy breaths. "Porter and I did it by accident and now he has my speed and I have his ink molding. And now you have our powers and us yours."
Heidi's eyes went huge like that of an anime character as she stared at his hands. She then ran to the very end of the empty pool with her ink trails fading behind her.
"WOW!" she yelled, her voice echoing in the chamber. She then ran back to the boys with her mouthless grin growing by the second. "This is amazing! What else can I do?"
Porter showed her his ink molding by taking a piece of his inky flesh and creating a dark golden flower. Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at Porter's attempt to impress Heidi. Taking the small flower, she put it in her hair which Porter commented that she looked pretty.
"Hee, hee! Thank you!" Heidi, laughing like a little girl. "So I just take a blob of ink and turn it into whatever I want?"
"Basically," Sonic said. "Wanna give it a go?"
Taking another ink glob from Porter, Heidi made a giant heart, which sent Sonic and Porter in a state of wonder as they expected something more child friendly.
"It's for Big Steve," Heidi explained when she saw the confused expressions on the boys. "It's one of his favorite snacks. I just thought I would make one in case he's hungry."
"That's a good idea," Sonic agreed. "If this guy is as huge as you say he is."
Once she put the large organ in her invisible pocket, Heidi asked if there was anything else she can do.
The boys confirmed that she has all their powers along with them having hers. Sonic did add his banishing power but it would seem that Porter somehow wasn't able to banish anyone since they last exchanged their powers. "Then again, I wasn't able to banish anyone until much later. The same might happen to you guys."
To this everyone agreed as they all knew that the ink can be unpredictable when it comes to its children. With that, Sonic suggests that they get moving before the worst comes.
"But let me know if any of you feel strange and off, even if it's nothing," Sonic told them which they nodded in agreement. He was sure that Heidi would get along fine with their new powers just as Porter had. After all, he himself seemed to be doing fine which led him to think that his newfound ink powers weren't going to corrupt him. Still, he had to keep his guard up in case something happens, especially for the sake of his friends.
Turning around, Sonic pulled down the lever to the garage door, which like the ones before, slid down to the floor. However, the entrance to the new hallway was door-shaped as if there was an original door before the garage one was installed. Pushing the matter aside, the trio went in.
Aside from the barrel, the circular hall was empty. At the very end was another door-shaped entry to a ladder with a sign next to it that read, Surface Hatch.
Just as the gang made their way, Sonic suddenly felt an aching pain in his head. That could only mean one thing.
"I can see what you are doing, Sonic," spoke the Ink Demon. "But it doesn't matter. You will accept your fate in the end, along with your… friends."
Sonic noticed how Bendy not only paused before mentioning Porter and Heidi, but the tone of disgust in his voice when he actually did mention them. At first, it made sense for him to hate Porter since he was the one who stabbed him in the back with his spear back on the restricted floor. But what did he have against Heidi?
Hearing his friends call him from the top of the ladder, Sonic pushed the questions aside for later as he jumped up to where his friends waited.
"Oh, you can make super jumps, too?" exclaimed Heidi.
"Yeah," replied Sonic with a grin so his friends won't see his facade of worry. "It's pretty cool, right?"
"It's just brilliant!"
"Guys," Porter said, who was a little further ahead than they were. He pointed at a sign that read, Street Exit with an arrow pointing to the right of the path. "I think we might be getting close."
At that, everyone ran down the corridor with excitement as the silhouette of the fan above them spun in a calm manner. Then they all came to a sudden halt when they came across a gate. Not because of the lock on the gate but because of what they saw beyond it.
"What the..?" Sonic muttered as he kicked down the gate for a better view.
They appear to be in a waiting room with a huge window overlooking a city, shining radiantly with its lights. On the center of the window were the words, A City Built on Broken Dreams written in ink.
"Wow," marveled Heidi as she bounced on the couches close to the window to see more.
"Well," Porter muttered. "I have traveled to many areas but haven't seen anything like this."
Sonic joined Heidi due to this small stature for a better look. "Just how big is this place?"
He accidentally kicked the Bendy plushie over the edge of the couch, causing it to fall to the ground. He turned to see where it fell only to see the cartoon character himself peeking out of a corner of a hall not too far from where the trio came in, staring at the Mobian toon with his black, pie-cut eyes.
To be continued…