Ups and Downs

by Blackmoondragon1415

'Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes, how do you measure, measure a year' A what-if plot based around the Henry and the Ink Machine AU on Tumblr by thelostmoongazer.

8. Ch7: The Hanging Tree

A/N: And here it is, where things start flying off the rails entirely into No Man's Land because my brain will fill in story and character blanks faster than you can say 'fixation'. As usual, Bendy and the Ink Machine is owned by themeatly and Mike Mood, and the HATIM AU was made by thelostmoongazer on Tumblr.

Thanks so much for coming back, and if you notice any spelling, grammatical errors, or if you just want to gush about stuff, feel free to leave a review. Trust me, I read all of them. Hope you all enjoy!

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The Hanging Tree:

The pair were rendered completely speechless, shocked by the implication of what they'd just heard. 'Alice', the psychopathic warped angel who had tried to smear Bendy all over the walls, who had cut Boris open multiple times, at best only knew where Henry was. At worst, she had the animator and was now dangling the possibility of his life being in danger in front of them like…well, like bait.

It could be a lie, Bendy found himself desperately wanting to believe that the insane angel was lying, but…if she really had Henry there, with her, could he afford that? Could he, in good conscience, walk away knowing that he'd be condemning the animator to a horrific, gruesome death via whatever the angel could think up?

…No. No, he couldn't. But Boris, and Buddy…they didn't need to go chasing danger with him. 'Alice' had already made it clear that she cared not a whit for either of them, the toon wolf especially, and Buddy probably wouldn't be granted any favors due to how much he looked like Bendy. The little devil wouldn't have anyone else getting hurt, not for him.

The smaller toon was already trying to draft up a plan in his mind as he headed for the stairs, when a sudden, rushed exclamation of his name from behind reminded him of who else was present.

"Bendy, wait! Where are you goin'?"

"I-I'm gonna, if she's got Henry then I'm gonna go try t'get him away from her, but you an' Buddy should find some place to bunk down while I'm doin' that, I'll find you, just go-."

"Ben, no, I'm not hidin' anywhere while you're runnin' off-!"

"Pal, you're not hidin', we're gonna meet up later once I-!"

"You're not gonna just go an' find her, Bendy, I'm not gonna let you get hurt, an' if you go, I'm goin' with you!" Boris hollered, voice echoing up the shaft, though Bendy didn't think of the noise, instead focusing on shouting down the taller toon's points with his own.

"Somebody's gotta stay an' look after Buddy, pal! An' I'm not draggin' you with me t'go find somebody that wants you dead!"

"She dropped the elevator with you in it too, Ben! It doesn't matter who she wants de-gone, she'll, she'll do it, an' if you go, she'll kill you, Bendy, y'-y'don't remember, when she was talkin' b'fore she, she said that she was gonna take you apart, jus' like th' rest of 'em!" Boris's voice had started to break about midway through his speech, the wolf's words crackling and warbling as his arms tightened around his frame, and Buddy, in an effort at a hug. The tiny toon, who had been balling up at the shouting, uncurled slightly, just enough to try patting at Boris's arms and front in an effort to calm the wolf down. Bendy, for his part, felt blindsided by the rant. He certainly didn't remember 'Alice' saying that she wanted to take him apart specifically, but in retrospect he could see it happening.

Either way, the fact that Boris was visibly crumpling, taller frame shaking as his ears folded and his tail pressed close to his legs, sapped a lot of the fight out of Bendy. Granted, this didn't endear the little devil to the idea of the wolf and the tiny toon following him after 'Alice'…

Sensing the hesitation, Boris moved in with a new tactic, voice still unsteady but the meaning behind it firm.

"Also, you're not leavin' me somewhere while you go off, I've chased you all 'round this studio b'fore, Bendy. I'll do it again if'n y'make me."

…Yeah, if anything, Bendy had to concede that the wolf could definitely make good on that claim. What with having at least three feet on the devil and all that.

Even though he felt like the idea was a huge mistake, Bendy gave a weak, if slightly rueful little chuckle, trying to flash the wolf a somewhat conciliatory smile.

"Okay, pal. 'm not-we'll figure out how t'deal with it when we get there, alright?" Even though Bendy was more or less trying to take the strain out of the conversation, despite the multiple terrible scenarios firing in his brain, Boris seemed to pick up on the devil's fragile mood. Padding up the stairs until he was level with Bendy, the wolf hesitated briefly before holding out a hand in a sort of peace offering. Though he hardly delayed in taking it, Bendy's overall thoughts and mood were rapidly plummeting into something as dark and encompassing as the shaft below them.

The shaft that Boris had just noticed and was starting to scrutinize closer now that the still winding chains were sliding past the trio as they climbed the stairs. Catching sight of the wolf peering at the space above as well as below, Bendy opted to go with the thought he'd had before 'Alice' had interrupted.

"It's the shaft for the ink machine, th' same one we saw upstairs, 'member?"

"How'd-?"

"I saw it go down." Bendy replied shortly, his eyes reaffixing themselves on the steps in front of him and missing the worried look that the wolf flashed his way at the dull, emotionless tone to the devil's voice. Buddy too picked up on the dour inflection, leaning a little in Boris's arms to 'peer' in Bendy's general direction. It was a tension that the smaller toon picked up on even through his mental and emotional exhaustion, glancing up at the two and trying to flash a smile.

"Well, look at it this way, worse comes t'worst, we can climb back up th' chains 'r somethin'. After we go get Henry." Go get him. It sounded so much nicer than saying 'rescued'. Like this was thirty years ago, and the animator was just wrapped up in his work. Still, if Bendy wanted to actually make sure that he stood a chance of getting Henry back, he'd have to think of things as they were, not as he'd rather they be.

As they kept ascending the stairs, Bendy tried to think on what he could do that might help his chances. His interactions with 'Alice' told him that she was emotionally unstable, and could be goaded, but if she was just going to use that, that thing where she moved things without touching them then he really didn't stand too much of a chance there unless he was able to…

…To distract her. Like when the monochrome ink monster had headbutted the warped angel in the face and smeared its ink over her eyes. It had, in retrospect, probably been on purpose. The monster did seem smart enough to plan from what Bendy had seen. And it did give him an idea, or at least an edge he could work with. 'Alice' needed her eyes to work her magic, so covering them seemed like the safest and best option for evening the playing field. Not to mention there was a surfeit of ink around that he could use. Granted, if that was what he'd be relying on Bendy figured that he might want to start grabbing handfuls now. 'Alice' likely would choose a cleaner spot to meet in.

Well, once they did find her. She hadn't exactly given them very many hints as to how this was going to work. For the moment, all the trio could do was follow the winding stairs and platforms as they looped up through the shaft, eventually rising to a level where the steps stopped. The only means to continue was a small entryway to a room, furnished with couches and candles. Bendy had just noticed a record player on one of the couches, playing some sort of quiet music, when a flicker of motion drew his eyes up to what looked like some sort of deck on the far side of the room. On which stood a lanky, inky-black figure that was stumbling to the center. Immediately the trio ducked behind the shelter of the other couch so as not to be seen by something that could have been hostile, though from the way their luck had been lately Bendy wasn't sure if they had been fast enough to avoid being spotted.

However, all thoughts of this were blanked from his mind when his ears caught the sounds of someone talking, someone that couldn't have been Boris as while the voice was masculine, it was too high-pitched. Buddy was out too, as the voice wasn't coming from their hiding space, instead it was coming from the deck.

"H-He's going to find me! He always finds me! Oh no!"

Despite himself Bendy peered over the couch, just to be sure of the conclusion his mind had already reached. And he had been right. The speech was coming from the figure standing on the deck, the thin frame twisting to look this way and that, as though it were afraid of the eponymous 'he' popping up even while it was speaking.

"I just want to go home! When do we go home? When do we go home?!" The figure cried, the last question seemingly hollered to the heavens as it turned and continued to hobble down the deck, disappearing from sight moments later.

It took a good long minute before any of the trio felt safe enough to make a sound, though Bendy was the one to speak first.

"…y-you guys heard that too, right? It wasn't just me?"

"No, I heard it too." Boris whispered back, Buddy nodding in response from the wolf's arms. Though he'd definitely gotten the answer he wanted Bendy refrained from continuing to talk, not wanting to give voice to the next question rattling about his brain. Had that been a person? Not some mere monster or shadow of someone who might've been, but a real, thinking person?

Well, he already had proof of that, in the form of Sammy and 'Alice'. Norman and the other inky creatures didn't quite seem to count due to their lack of outward intelligence beyond the concept of 'chase'. But Sammy and 'Alice' were both pretty far off their rockers, either because of the ink or how long they'd been down here. That-figure? Being? -had sounded not only self-aware, but cognizant of their situation to a worrying degree. Its words were almost sane compared to everything else that Bendy had heard, barring the mention of 'he' though the little devil had some thoughts as to what that entailed.

Still, despite the fact that his own emotions resonated with the inky figure's words, Bendy wasn't sure he wanted it to find them. If anything, he could reason that while not everything attacked on sight the argument could be made that it hadn't actually seen them and there could be a whole different side to this.

"Alright, c'mon, let's keep moving…" The little devil murmured, peering up at the deck to see if anything else was coming before rushing as quietly as possible across the room, where he could see a door nestled at the end of a tiny hallway. Boris too scrambled to his feet, Buddy clutching at the taller toon's arms as they ventured forward as one.

Upon throwing open the door the trio were greeted with the sight of a large room, possibly either a previous store room or an office. It was not unoccupied, filled with dozens upon dozens of tall, thin figures made of ink, a few of the dripping, bulbous heads turning to look in the direction of the toons standing frozen on the doorstep. Immediately, they could be placed as the same figures from the archives, though unlike the ones that had been on the stage, these clearly had no issue with moving.

Though the standoff had been in practice from the get-go, nobody made a move to either withdraw or advance. The toons knew that there was nowhere else they could go, but neither did the inky figures try to come close despite their interest.

Well, not quite. Once the sight had registered, a lone figure started to amble its way forward, head tilted downwards as it's glowing eyes locked onto the little devil at the head of the toons' procession. In a panic, Bendy's voice crackled to life, a hand thrown up in a gesture at defense.

"STOP!"

And it did. The figure's approach came to a hurried halt, frame juddering dangerously back and forth as it complied with the singular word. Though while it had dealt with the immediate danger, Bendy felt as though ice had settled in his stomach, his hand shaking as he lowered it back to his side. Pulling away from Boris, the devil took a sliding step forward, his eyes roving over the small crowd of dark, skeletal figures gathered in the room. The wolf opened his mouth to call out to Bendy, maybe get him to wait, before his eyes locked onto a familiar-looking cage hanging from the ceiling, a pair of glowing eyes peering down from within. The sight was mimicked in other little pockets around the room, Boris looking from nook to nook to see the barred in spots, with a glimmering set of eyes glancing out from nearly all of them. As the taller toon cast about, he caught sight of a clear stretch of wall at the far side of the room, upon which were written more of the messages that had been scrawled all over the studio.

The words on the back wall were by far the largest, written nearly four feet tall.

NO ANGELS!

And there, written under that and on the right-hand wall in the same scribbled-ink manner that had been throughout the studio were the fateful words.

HE WILL SET US FREE

Boris quietly mouthed the message to himself as he read, wrapping his arms securely around Buddy in lieu of being able to do something more. A sudden flicker of movement drew him to Bendy quietly dropping to his knees, eyes wide and staring at the words with nothing but incomprehensible shock on his face.

"Bendy?" The wolf asked, voice crackling between a desire to get the devil's attention and to not break the silence of the room. However, he could have shouted for all Bendy heard. The realization of the writing being here, on this wall, in this room, and what it could mean blotted everything else from the little devil's senses.

These creatures, these people, had been writing the messages on the walls. They had been waiting for him for thirty long years, for him to come back and save them somehow. Because it was the only option, with Joey having done whatever he'd done to turn the studio into a literal hell. Joey, who had slapped his face onto everything, called him back here to make him into probably something like the 'walking ink', or the monochrome ink monster, something that would do what they had been doing but to everything and everyone else. Like the 'he' that…

The devil's train of thought derailed, only to continue on again with a screaming vengeance. Joey had set all this off with Bendy himself as the face of it. They were like this because of him. Thirty years of seeming torture, of being hunted, because of him, because he was made and maybe this is what Joey had meant by making him all along, it was all his fault.

Hard to breathe-They're staring at him, he's supposed to set them free, but he can't he doesn't know how-everything's spinning, I can't breathe, I can't I can't- Was one of these Henry, Wally? Someone he had known? Did he have any right to think of how he would be affected when others suffered, lost themselves, for him? Did they even remember who they were-shaking, everything's shaking, can't stand up, can't run- They had been around the statue too, worshiping the idol of him, lamenting things that had happened in his name, were HIS FAULT-.

There was a strange buzzing in the devil's ears, Bendy only just realizing that the weird noise was covering up the dull, indistinct sound of someone, of Boris, speaking. Though the smaller toon's frame was curled up, palms pressing into the sides of his head, the wolf had still drawn up Bendy to sit on his lap. Boris was nearly curled around the devil's much smaller frame, though there was just enough space for Buddy to stand in front of the pair, the tiny toon clearly upset. Bendy distantly watched as Buddy felt about, mitten hands trembling faintly as they patted hesitantly at Bendy's head.

The distraction made some of the haze clear, Bendy now finally able to hear precisely what Boris was whispering. Despite the fact that the wolf's voice was a warbling mess, tears clear in both the tone and the fact that there were faint drops of wetness dripping onto Bendy's horns, the words were clear as day.

"Ben, Bendy, it's okay, it's alright, I'm here, it's, it's-you're okay, I gotcha Bendy, I gotcha…"

The little devil gave a wordless murmur, one of his hands loosening from its tensed clenching and snaking out to rest atop Buddy's as his other tried to wrap around Boris in a looser, shakier version of a return hug. At the acknowledgment Buddy pressed close to the pair, Boris helping as he reached out and eased the tiny toon to sit with Bendy on his lap. Wrung out from the emotional fit, the little devil simply lay in the wolf's hold, grasping onto an overall strap with a hand that felt painfully weak. Even though they were far from alone, Bendy found himself starting to slump with exhaustion as his eyes fluttered.

Though he knew that with as tired as he was feeling it would probably be good to at least grab a few minutes of rest, the little devil fought sleep's pull, jerking himself awake in Boris's arms. Noticing the smaller toon's conflict, Boris shifted his grip to rest a hand on Bendy's head, fingers shakily kneading at the behorned scalp.

"'salright Ben, 'm here, I gotcha…"

But I can't be the one draggin' us down. Bendy wanted to say, though somehow he couldn't force the words past his lips. Instead, he took slower and slower blinks, huddling close to the relative security and safety that Boris and Buddy's combined presence brought. Even as his own mind whispered about how he didn't deserve it, that he would bring pain to his only, remaining friends in this nightmare if he did stay with them. The idolatry in the studio seemed proof enough of the feeling.

It was his last, coherent thought before Bendy's eyes slid closed, his brain sputtering fitfully between anguish and guilt before succumbing to exhausted slumber. Meanwhile, Boris's attention kept revolving between the prone devil, the wakeful one, and the crowd that was still present in the room. In an effort to at least mitigate the last element, the wolf scooted back until he was tucked away in the safety of some boxes.

Just as he settled into the sort-of sanctuary, Boris felt a heat start to climb from the center of his chest to his head, making the room waver slightly around him. The foggy dizziness swept upon the tall toon with a vengeance, his eyes going grey at the edges. A faint pat at mid-chest drew Boris's attention down to the still-awake Buddy sitting in his arms, the tiny toon's bandaged head turned up to 'look' at the wolf's. It took Boris a groggy moment of staring to puzzle out the worried expression on the minute devil's face, though when he did the wolf hastened to ease it.

"'sokay Bud." The fuzziness had dulled his tongue along with his thoughts, Boris only able to manage a partially lopsided smile and somewhat earnest tone. "'ll be okay, jus' tired, I jus' need…some…"

The wolf wasn't able to keep his eyes open, falling unconscious before he could even reach his last word. Brows furrowing under the makeshift bandage, Buddy pressed a hand to as close to the taller toon's face as he could reach, which was only to about his neck. Even still, it was enough to feel the fever roiling under the black fur, Boris's eyes fluttering under their lids as his body suffered through the miasma. Unable to do much, and not willing to try venturing away, Buddy simply hunkered down and did his best to wrap what he could of Boris's frame in a hug, passing worried 'glances' at both the wolf and the still dismal-looking Bendy.

Boris had reclined partially against the wall, frame slumped despite his still-firm hug around both devils. While none of the inky figures approached, a few were still staring at the almost bittersweet sight of the battered trio huddled together. The scene was almost picturesque despite the exhaustion, though the first signs of the calm flickering started small. Even in rest, Boris's face had started to scrunch, the wolf's shoulders tensing as something unseen gripped his frame. Though he kept his arms resolutely wrapped around the pair, Boris began to twitch about, shoulders and feet jerking as he tried to work out the uncomfortable sensation without waking up completely. Buddy, catching onto the change, stared up at Boris before his eyeline dropped to the center of the taller toon's chest. The tiny toon's expression morphed into a frantic grimace as he suddenly lunged to sit up, mitten gloves flailing at the air in front of Boris as though trying to clear a cloud of flies.

Something had to give, and eventually it did. A faint pop sounded, the wolf finally managing to relax back into proper slumber as his frame untensed, settling more contentedly against the dusty tile floor with a quiet cough. The noise and movement had gotten the attention of one of the dark figures, though after giving the scene a good long stare, it opted instead to move away. Watching its retreat, Buddy gave the sight an uneasy look before huddling closer to Boris, shakily burrowing into the wolf's fur as a hand snaked out to grasp one of Bendy's.

---

A little while later, Bendy's face started to twitch, the smaller toon blinking before his head tilted to the side and caught sight of the still-present, slightly wavering figures of the ink figures standing about the room. Starting almost upright, the little devil jostled Boris to wakefulness and ripped his hand from Buddy's, waking the tiny toon up as well in one fell swoop.

"Bendy?" Boris grunted out, a garbled squeak from Buddy echoing the wolf's question and immediately drawing Bendy's attention to the chain reaction that he'd accidentally set off.

"Pal, s-sorry, think we need t'get outta here-." Rushed from Bendy's mouth before he really had a chance to process what he was saying, his gaze flip-flopping from the crowd to the still-groggy wolf and minute devil.

"Wh-oh." The realization caught up to Boris in short order, though the taller toon was a mite bit slower to react than Bendy. "I-I don't think they're gonna hurt us, Ben. They left us alone b'fore."

"Yeah, but I don' wanna stick around in case that changes, besides, one'a 'em did try t'come up t'us."

The wolf didn't have an answer for that, and pushed himself to his feet with Buddy still in his arms. However, as he did, a sound started to filter into Boris's hearing. Like someone was crying, who was crying?

Boris was about to ask Bendy if he'd heard the noise too, but when the wolf looked down at the little devil he found Bendy staring up at him with an almost confused air.

"Whassamatter, Ben?" The question did snap the little devil out of his brief stupefaction, though he hardly had an explanation for it. He just…had the odd feeling that he was craning his neck back further than he ought to be.

"I, it's nothin' pal, don't worry, let's just get goin'." Managing to seize one of the wolf's hands, Bendy hastened to lead Boris around the boxes, though to get out they had to transverse the crowd filling the room. However, the wolf seemed to have one thing right; not a one of the ink figures moved towards the toons as they tried to pass through. A few turned their heads to look at them, though that could easily be written off as more an interest in the new faces if nothing else. Still, it felt like being a cat in a kennel of dogs, Bendy only relaxing once they'd gotten to the other end of the room.

But his hopes at finding a door were somewhat dashed by the fact that there quite simply wasn't one. There was a vent, the covering pulled off and a flashlight sitting at the ready just inside, but the cramped, dark space beyond felt more like an ominous warning rather than a hopeful promise.

The sound of crying finally caught Bendy's ears, the devil's head turning to the left to see what looked like an inky head bobbing in and out of sight from behind a box off to the side. A flicker out of the corner of his eye heralded Boris taking a step in that direction, the wolf's ears lowered and face quivering with empathy at the despairing noise. Bendy didn't remove his hand from Boris's, letting the taller toon lead him a few feet forward, to the point where they could see the source. One of the inky figures, this one looking shorter and smaller than the rest, was huddled in the sheltered corner, shoulders shaking and head bobbing as pure misery rattled through with one sob after another. Though the most Bendy had to go on was the sound of the crying, he could say that at least it didn't sound like anyone he'd known, not that the thought made him feel much better.

He wouldn't have wished this on anyone…

When Boris tried to take another step towards the figure, the more paranoid part of Bendy's brain kicked in, stating that this could be some sort of trick, that they were still in a room filled with these things that they weren't even sure were friendly, and that they weren't even sure how to go about helping the distressed figure. Or if it would be safe to interact with them at all. The wolf halted at the sudden resistance in the devil, upset gaze meeting the equally upset but resigned look the smaller toon gave. Buddy's head was still turned in the direction of the crying sounds, though the shift in atmosphere caused the tiny toon to look about, flipping between Bendy and Boris for a moment before huddling closer to the wolf. Glancing down at the movement, Boris finally gave up the ghost and let Bendy steer him and Buddy back to the vent opening.

"Y-, Y'think I should go first?"

"No, pal, I'll go. Somethin' happens, I can move around a lil' easier."

"…What 'bout Buddy?"

The question caused Bendy's planning to stall, the little devil's head flipping back and forth between the attentive if not confused demeanor Buddy was projecting and the yawning darkness of the vent. He did have an idea but given that the tiny toon couldn't exactly see he wasn't sure how well it could be pulled off.

"…He can go right after me, an' then you follow behind him. Just, hold on." The last heralded Bendy actually getting into the vent, taking a look at the flashlight before turning it on and checking what he could of the way ahead. Looked clear enough…

Scooting in a little more, Bendy motioned for Boris to come closer, the wolf figuring out what the smaller toon was trying to do and kneeling in front of the vent to more carefully ease Buddy in.

"'salright, Bud, I'll be right behind you. Just hold on t'Bendy, okay?"

"I gotcha, kid." Bendy added, reaching out to the tiny toon as Buddy shakily felt around in the metal confines of the vent. The minute devil was already scooting in his direction, though Bendy helped things along by steering one of the mitten gloves to clasp onto the back of his jacket, carefully leading Buddy forward so that Boris could join them. It pushed them further into the dark, Bendy both trying to beam the weak light forward and keep an eye on Buddy. Already his nerves were starting to act up, not helped by the scene they'd just left behind. Having to watch Boris's back in this place was bad enough but having a relatively defenseless person to look after made him feel even more tense, not to mention that there was a part of the little devil's mind that felt it was almost certainly futile. Nothing and no one seemed primed to survive in this place…

The somewhat tense atmosphere was broken up by a CLUNK and a hiss of pain, Bendy and Buddy looking behind them to see Boris hunching down, half in the vent and clutching his head.

"Pal, you okay?" Bendy asked, preparing himself to turn around even though it would likely be more than a little uncomfortable in the confined space.

"Yeah…yeah, fine…" The wolf groaned out, shaking off the last of the sting as he climbed fully in. "'S smaller than I thought…"

Maybe the ones upstairs were bigger. Though as Boris crawled in, Bendy could just glimpse two sets of glowing eyes peering into the vent after them. Not taking his eyes off the spot, he tried to keep a calm tone as he asked the wolf another question.

"Y'think you'll be alright?"

"Yeah, just wasn' expectin' that." Boris replied, before he seemed to notice that the little devil's attention was not fully on him. The moment Bendy noticed the wolf's head starting to turn to look behind him, the smaller toon quickly snapped to attention.

"Don-Don't look back, pal, just keep followin' me, alright?" It hurt to say, as a part of Bendy couldn't help but cringe with the thought of what he might be inviting by openly telling the pair that he was in charge of where they were going. Images of the vent collapsing only for them to fall into a black void played through his mind's eye, his attempts to shoo them away only replacing them with the vision of something reaching through a seam or vent opening and trying to drag one of them away, perhaps pontificating the little devil's (BURDEN/MONSTER) name as they did-.

Shaking himself with a grimace twisting his face, Bendy tried to crawl further into the vent with Buddy at his side, Boris clumping along behind. In front of them lay a room blocked by a vent covering, the smaller toon entertaining the idea of trying to remove it as they drew closer.

The thought was dashed when the meager light pouring in was blocked by a dark, dripping figure suddenly appearing in front of the vent. With a gasp, Bendy tried to scramble back, Buddy giving a staticky squeak as he was crashed into. Boris was already reaching forward in the cramped space, grabbing at the tiny toon and Bendy even as it became clear to the wolf that backing up would be a lot harder than moving forward.

And, as though the situation were not bad enough, the noise immediately yanked the monster's attention to the vent shaft, and the overlarge, inky hands began to scrabble at the covering with the obvious intention of pulling it off. Gurgling, frustrated noises joined the squishing splats, the cacophony blending with the racket of the toons. It completely broke down what self-control Bendy still had, the little devil's clenched jaw rattling its way loose as an idea exploded into his mind.

"STOP! Stop right now an' go AWAY, 'r so help me-!" The devil's shout immediately made the noise cease, the monster stilling in its efforts to get the vent cover off as Boris finally wiggled forward enough to try to shield Buddy. Even still, Bendy's mind ran with the thoughts racing through his mind, the words tumbling out as though his brain and mouth were on autopilot.

"I'll make sure nobody in this nuthouse can use me, for anythin'! I know you can understand me, so listen up! Go away, 'r I'm runnin' back an' chucking myself down inta th' shaft!"

The monster recoiled at the first implication of what Bendy was threatening, before coming back to approach the covering again. The noises emanating from the inky frame almost sounded desperate, though for the life of him Bendy couldn't bring himself to care or be even the least bit curious. All that really mattered right now was that this thing had been chasing him practically all over the studio, far more persistently than nearly anything else here, and by this point the devil was completely sick and tired of being a god-awful burden on his companions because of it. If he wasn't here, they'd be better off, everyone would have been better off.

"No, no, I don't care what you want, I don't care if y'think I'm supposta 'save' you all 'r somethin' 'cause I can't! I can't save anybody, I can't help anybody, an' I'm not anybody's lord! I'm just, me! An' that's not what anybody wants!" Bendy's breathing was ragged, frayed temper only growing more incensed at the fact that the monochrome ink monster was not. Going. AWAY!

Flipping himself around, the devil managed to deliver a kick to the vent covering, hollering words that felt like bubbling lava rushing up his throat.

"Go, AWAY! Don't you get it?! I'd rather off myself than be a monster, I'd rather be dead than be anythin' like YOU! LEAVE US ALONE ALREADY!"

The final shout was punctuated with another kick, the clang almost covering the sound of another cry, like rushing water mixed with the faintest suggestion of a distorted voice. By the time Bendy pulled his foot back, the monochrome ink monster was nowhere in sight. Even still, he drew away from the vent, glancing back at Boris and Buddy. Though the tiny toon's face was hard to read in the low light, Bendy could pick out the wide eyes and frozen, glassy stare Boris was beaming his way.

It suddenly dawned on the smaller toon exactly what he'd said, his expression falling from a tense frown as his stomach dropped. Casting about for some way to repair the shattered moment, and finding none, the devil turned to the vent which continued off to their left. Mumbling something about moving on, Bendy started to crawl in that direction, pausing only to be sure that Boris and Buddy were following him. However, with a few feet forward came a fork, Bendy glancing between both ways before glancing back to Boris.

"Wait here." The devil whispered, before crawling as quick as he could to the right. Shining the light around the corner revealed that the vent covering was closed, forcing Bendy to turn around. By the time he managed it, the beam of his flashlight caught Boris peering around the corner, the wolf's eyes still owlishly wide in the light and the expression on the canid face just shy of completely wrecked.

"'salright, pal, I'm here." Bendy whispered, the wolf relaxing a modicum at the reassurance. Albeit, as the little devil scooted by to head to the right he could feel a hand attempting to brush against his coat, far too small to be Boris. Turning his head, Bendy just managed to catch Buddy's outline leaning in his direction, away from the shelter of Boris's hold. The wolf's face was pointed down to look at the tiny toon, and though the flashlight's direction meant that Bendy couldn't see Boris's expression he could tell from the lowered ears that it wasn't exactly positive.

You did that, you stupid little burden, Joey's lil' monster…

Swallowing heavily and feeling a dribble or two of ink make its way down his face, Bendy crawled on. The trio followed the vent down at least two more turns before he came to a stretch with what looked like two paths, one closer and one further away, both leading to the right.

CRACK

Jumping at the noise, Bendy registered an answering thump from Boris as the wolf's jolt made his head connect with the ceiling. Before he could even regather his wits, the same noise rung out again, coming from the passage further away. Gesturing for Boris to stay back, Bendy carefully edged forward. Awkwardly shifting the flashlight, the little devil did his best to peer around the corner while hiding the light so as not to draw attention to himself. At first, he had no idea what it was he was looking at, beyond an open vent cover at the end of the little tunnel. However, at the next inky-black blur of movement and solid CRACK against the wall, Bendy felt the pieces click with a sickening shudder. Trying to crawl back as quietly as possible, Bendy couldn't help but entertain the thought that the ink-coated figure wouldn't move from what it was doing even if he'd shouted.

"Bendy?" Boris whispered, just in time for another CRACK to echo through the vents. The devil made a fleeting glimpse of eye contact with the wolf, though nerves quickly forced him to head down the other vent. Bendy was glad to hear Boris scramble after him, especially given that if he had to tell the other two toons to come along he wasn't sure his voice would remain steady.

Thankfully, the crashing faded the further they went, though Bendy couldn't help but wonder if that was less because of distance and more because the ink figure doing it had battered itself up too much to continue.

…He tried not to think on that too hard, instead focusing on the open vent sitting just up ahead. The little devil paused for a moment a few feet away, listening though he couldn't hear anything skulking about outside. Climbing carefully out, Bendy looked around at the large room, noticing first the downright enormous statue of himself standing against the back wall, and then the weird little queue in front of closed door, with a plaque next to it reading 'STORAGE 9'. Across the room he could see a flight of stairs heading up…somewhere, though what grabbed Bendy's attention about that was the grimy-looking sign plastered just above that. The lighting was too poor for it to be read at first, though as the devil squinted he found he could puzzle out the words.

'COME UP AND SEE ME'. Well if that wasn't ominously familiar…

The faint clattering of Boris's taller, lanky frame trying to extricate itself from the vent made the smaller toon turn around, edging forward to pull Buddy to the side so the wolf had room. Boris finally managed to shimmy out and make it to the floor, though the taller toon's ears were still downturned, his eyes flicking about like they couldn't decide whether to make eye contact with the little devil. The sight made Bendy equally anxious, as he wasn't sure how to broach the new rift. At least not in a way that ended well. What was he supposed to say?! 'Sorry I threatened to kill myself'?

Just make everything worse why don't you…

Shaking his head in an effort to dispel both the thought and the worsening mood, Bendy opted to go with what he had since he'd gotten trapped in this godforsaken studio. Keep pressing on. With the sign there was a way forward, at least.

"C-C'mon pal." The little devil stammered, reaching out for Boris's hand as he picked up Buddy with his other arm. The tiny toon was thankfully light, wrapping himself around Bendy's upper body like a clingy koala. Figuring that Buddy might've still been a little rattled by what had happened in the vent, Bendy took an extra moment to gently tousle the minute devil's 'hair'. It was only then that he realized it was taking Boris entirely too long to answer.

"…okay…" It was strange how Boris's deeper-toned voice could sound small, though somehow that was the only descriptor that came to mind when Bendy thought on it. It only made him feel worse, and the little devil put his attention and effort into moving towards the stairs to distract himself from the feeling. He completely missed how Boris's head turned to consider the giant monolith of a statue to their right, something in the wolf's face dropping at the sight. Still, the taller toon let himself be led along, even as his shoulders tensed, his stance hunching somewhat as he felt himself prepare for…what? The somewhat hazy memories couldn't tell him anything, but somehow there was the strong sensation that he and the others shouldn't be near these things. It almost reminded him of-.

-the steady creak of a door, though when he looked the door to the office was closed, his efforts to check the closet only drawing his eyes to an odd, dark slab on the outer wall, where there should not have been a door-

Shuddering at the creeping sensation twitching up his spine, the wolf followed Bendy as the little devil pulled him over to the stairs, eyes finally landing on the sign. 'Come up and see me'? But who would've…?

The presence of another sign a little further up made a suspicion grow in Boris's mind as he read the words, a coy 'ALMOST THERE' emblazoned on the grimy wood. 'Alice'. It had to be. But why did she want them to come up here? The most the wolf could make out was a dome-protected room, though the lack of any internal half-there recollections made him wonder if he'd ever made it over here. Granted, they did have to crawl through a vent from a safehouse to do it, so probably not.

The room itself was a sight, the trio halting as they took in the presence of a large table littered with a sort of model set. The walls were ringed with boards on roller wheels, these also tacked with sheet after sheet of what appeared to be drawings. Catching sight of what looked like a diagram of a train, Bendy squinted at letters inked into the side. 'Bendyland'? What the heck was that about?

The little devil was the first to take a step forward, peering at everything from the rushed display to the presence of curtains which acted as the 'door' to the cramped space. With his boldness, Boris followed along, the trio moving to the center of the room.

As he tried to figure out the display on the table, Bendy caught sight of another tape deck sitting out. The little devil threw a glance back in Boris's direction, the wolf engrossed in the papers scattered over one of the boards. Buddy briefly started to squirm, the tiny toon's head sort of turning as though he were taking in the room before huddling into Bendy's coat collar.

"'sokay, Bud, I gotcha." Bendy hummed, adjusting his hold to hopefully help the tiny toon feel more secure and calm. At the low murmur, Boris turned back around, his attention redirecting onto the pair of devil toons.

"What's wrong?" The wolf asked, reaching down to rest a hand on the minute devil's head. Buddy flinched at first before leaning into the contact, though he wouldn't move away from Bendy.

"Dunno, think all this is freakin' him out." It did seem to be the case, though Bendy wasn't sure if it was just the stifling quiet of the workspace, or the residual nerves from what had happened in the vent. Honestly, it could have been both.

In the meantime, Boris's eyes happened to land on the tape deck, the wolf giving it a considering tilt of the head before looking to Bendy. Meeting his eye, the little devil gave the taller toon a nod: Go ahead.

"For forty years, I've built attractions that stagger the imagination! Colossal wonders such as the world has never seen! I have earned my legacy with sweat. But right in front of everyone…high level investors, Wall Street tycoons, the ever-tactless Joey Drew introduces me, the great Bertrum Piedmont, as Bertie! Like I was his child. You may be paying me, Mr. Drew! But you don't own me! I'll build you a park bigger than anything you could ever possibly conceive! But before you go taking any bows, Mr. Drew, know that this grand achievement will belong to me…and to me alone."

At the first crackling syllable, Buddy jolted in Bendy's arms, the tiny toon's bandaged head swiveling about as he tried to huddle closer to the little devil. Which would have been a feat in and of itself, though Bendy wasn't willing to leave Buddy scrambling. Carefully kneading the top of the small head, they were soon joined by Boris, the wolf kneeling and wrapping the both up in a hug as they listened.

What they heard just sent Bendy's mind of on an internal tangent. A theme park? Joey had wanted to build a theme park of them? It made the little model on the table make a lot more sense now that he thought about it; the drawings were probably blueprints and concept art. Bendy remembered seeing Alice's concept sheets, before the angel was created. However, the man, Bertrum Piedmont, certainly sounded like one heck of a character. Not to mention the fact that he apparently clashed with Joey more than once…

But, while that explained the room, it didn't explain what they were supposed to do here. The fact that nothing had happened by the time the tape deck clicked off just left Bendy feeling more confused. Not that he wasn't glad that there wasn't some trap lying in wait, but why would 'Alice' want them to come here if there was nothing important to find?

While there were no immediate answers, Bendy spotted what might be a hint on the wall, tucked next to one of the boards; a switch with a sign above it reading 'STORAGE 9'.

The room that he had seen coming in. That must've been the way to open the door and go to where 'Alice' was waiting. Though as Bendy tried to pull away from the huddle Boris abruptly jerked, yanking the smaller toon back into the hug with an alarmed gasp.

"Boris?!" Bendy yelped as he was crushed against the wolf's chest, Buddy giving a nearly soundless squeak of his own as he was pinned in the middle. The sound of his name seemed to shake Boris from whatever panic that had gripped him, the taller toon forcibly relaxing though he did not let either of the devil toons go.

"S-Sorry, I…I just…sorry…"

Craning his head back, Bendy could see the wolf's downturned ears and wavery, wretched expression trying to masquerade as a smile.

"I…I dunno what came over me…I'm sorry," Boris mumbled, right before Bendy started to squirm, throwing an arm over the taller toon's shoulder in a half-hug without putting Buddy down. The sudden contact made the wolf freeze for a moment before squeezing the pair tightly in return.

"'m sorry, pal," Bendy murmured, half-smothered in the taller toon's shoulder. "I…I thought I was, I just…I didn' mean t'…"

For a moment Boris couldn't even reply, soundlessly nodding against the top of Bendy's head before he fought past the lump in his throat to speak.

"…please don' do that again, Ben, please…" A shuddery breath broke up the wolf's speech, the lanky frame nearly enfolding around the smaller pair, almost as though he could shut out the reality of the situation if he just tried hard enough. "No more talkin' 'bout dyin', an' no dyin' f'r real, okay? Y'said we were gettin' out, w-we can't do that if…"

Bendy nodded against the wolf's shoulder, his hands clutching desperately at what he could of the other toons.

"I know, pal, I know…'m sorry, I, I didn', I thought I was, I didn' wan' t'be gettin' us all in trouble…"

"You're not!" Boris protested, voice ringing loud in the confined space. Everyone jolted at the sound, the wolf immediately whispering his next words. "You're not, Ben, you're not…"

The little devil wasn't completely sure he believed his friend, though he was hardly going to fight Boris on the issue now. It didn't seem like the time nor the place, especially given that the wolf's shoulders occasionally shook, emotional upset rattling the taller toon's nerves. Though Buddy wasn't trembling, the tiny toon's frame felt as tense as a drum, burrowed into the relative safety Bendy and Boris's combined presence brought.

Even if he wasn't sure that he deserved this, Bendy was loath to break up the moment. Still, they had to keep going, to get Henry back.

"Okay, pal, okay. We gotta get goin' though. We gotta go get Henry."

Though Boris definitely agreed, it took him a few minutes to actually let either of the pair go. The wolf's eyes tracked Bendy as he went around the table, the little devil's attention focusing on the switch. Yep, definitely seemed like the switch for the storage room. That or Bendy was about to make a colossal mistake.

The fear briefly stilled the devil's hand, though he quickly realized that there really couldn't be much else that 'Alice' would want them to find up here. There were no other switches, no more signs, nothing indicating what to do or where to go. This had to be what she wanted them to do.

Whether or not it was a good thing was up for debate.

As the switch was pulled, the sound of something clunking echoed out from the other room, Bendy reasoning that that had to be the sound of the door opening. The little devil came back around, grabbing onto Boris's hand as they went back out to the little landing. Albeit, the door to the storage area was tucked in too far behind part of the wall, making it impossible to see from an overhead angle.

Carefully descending the stairs, the trio walked back out into the little foyer, the sight of the open metal door easing into view. However, no matter how much they squinted, even Boris couldn't see through the all-encompassing black filling the room beyond. It got a little better once they'd gotten in front of it, though Bendy couldn't say that the sight of what looked like an enormous sign made him feel any better.

It only got creepier as they went over the threshold, and the lights in the room came on with a shower of sparks. The sign, now lit up, displayed the moniker 'BENDY LAND', the land part scribbled over with the word 'HELL' in blocky scrawl. And there was another statue of the little devil himself to their right, just to make matters worse. Bendy fought with the urge to turn around and walk back out the way he'd come in, the fact that Henry was somewhere in here, with a psychopath 'angel' the only thing keeping him wanting to move forward.

Because it was his fault, if he'd never been made then Henry'd be off making cartoons somewhere else and this wouldn't've happened….

He had to keep going. Boris and Buddy though, they didn't necessarily have to. Not that Bendy dared bring up the idea of the wolf going and hiding away somewhere, given how well that had gone back in the shaft.

"Here, Bud, maybe y'oughta go with Boris ferra bit." Bendy tried, figuring it was better to be safe than sorry. The tiny toon flinched, face crinkling at the sudden offer as his bandaged eyes sightlessly tried to meet Bendy's.

"Bendy?" Boris asked from over the pair's heads.

"It's alright, pal, I just figured it'd be easier if we gotta run 'r somethin'. We don't exactly know what Lil' Miss Gruesome's plannin' in there."

Though Boris still seemed a little hesitant, he had to concede that Bendy had a point. Buddy still took an extra second to give the slightly-taller devil a tight hug, something to which Bendy stiffened a little in surprise at first before accepting.

"'salright, Bud, I'm not goin' anywhere." The reassurance did ease some of the tiny toon's anxiety, though it still took Buddy a moment or two to actually break the hug. Boris gently plucked the minute devil up off the ground, the trio quietly soaking in the brief respite from all the tension and horror. Bendy himself was about to relax, right before he noticed a cage parked right under the theme park sign with a familiar-looking figure of ink sitting atop it.

In a snap decision, Bendy grabbed onto Boris's pant leg, pulling the wolf with him to a flight of stairs leading down to the storeroom proper. As he tried to follow along, the taller toon caught sight of the inky spectator peering at them.

"Sh-Should we…?"

"No, pal, let's, let's just leave 'im alone for now." Bendy mumbled, caught between the slight shame of what he was saying at the twisting anxiety that surfaced when he thought of trying to actively confront one of the figures again. Well, he looked safe where he was, at least, and it hadn't made any noise when they came in so maybe it wanted to stay up there…?

The somewhat weak justification was dropped from the devil's mind as he took in the specifics of the room they'd walked into. While his immediate focus had been the defaced sign, it was far from the only thing packed away in here. The entire place was a mess of shelves, boxes, and various bits and pieces for what looked like either rides or just decorations in general. Otherwise, what was one supposed to do with an Alice face that was easily as tall as Bendy himself?

That wasn't the only oddity, but it stood out to the little devil the most given that it was part of a line prominently hung up on one of the shelves. He caught sight of what looked like another time punch clock on the wall next to the stairs, right near another metal door that was shut tight. Immediately in front of the trio was a collection of what seemed to be game booths, Bendy remembered seeing something like them the few times he'd snuck into fairs. Only thing was, these were shut up tight too.

Albeit, there was one ray of hope in the presence of a tape deck balanced between two of the stalls. Boris had caught sight of it as well, the wolf falling into step with Bendy as they approached and started the recording. Immediately, the familiar tones of Wally Franks filled the yawning room.

"These guys down in the warehouse get to play games all day while I'm stuck cleanin' up after 'em. They kept locking themselves out of their own back room. So I says, look guys, I says, you're smart, right? Here's an idea! Why not rig these games up to knock open the door if you win? It'll be fun for you guys, and it saves me the trip down here every day. They went for it like a dog to pot roast. I tell you! If these guys don't start realizing who the real genius is, I'm outta here."

"…These're the games we're supposed t'play?" Boris asked once the recording had finished, Bendy's own thoughts mirroring the wolf's confusion. Partly just to see if he could, the little devil reached up and tried to move the boards closing the stalls off. Granted, his arm strength wasn't much to write home about; they barely twitched. Boris gave it a shot too, though couldn't get much purchase either. Seemingly to help out, Buddy reached out from his huddle in Boris's arm to push, the skinny arms trembling with the effort. Not that it wasn't appreciated, the other two members of their trio chuckling a little, Boris even ruffling the tiny toon's 'hair'.

"Good try, Bud." Bendy quipped, Buddy's head turning between both the wolf and the devil with an earnest if unsure smile on his face. However, while the antics were funny, it left them back at square one with the stalls.

"Maybe there's a button 'r somethin' t'get 'em open…" Bendy thought aloud, moving away from the games to consider the rest of their surroundings. There was a little space running in between one of the towering shelves and what looked like a pile of sandbags, Bendy tugging on Boris's arm to get his attention.

"C'mon, let's see what's over here."

"Sure, Ben. 'm right behind you." The taller toon murmured back, the pair stepping carefully through the space and into a sort of aisle running through the center of the room. It was by far the biggest, most central path of the room, with smaller aisles leading off to the two corners of that side of the room, as well as another door set in between. Still, these looked shut tight too, so Bendy didn't look too closely at any of it just yet. The aisle was far more of a feast for the eyes anyway, with what looked like a small smattering of cartoony carousel horses against one of the shelves. To their right was a collection of what were probably garbage cans, except the top was Bendy's head with a gaping 'mouth' for trash.

It was something that Boris passed a quizzical stare to, while Bendy just felt an exasperated frown coming on. Surely there could have been a design that didn't make it look like he was eating garbage…

Completely confused by the quiet, Buddy fidgeted in Boris's arms, the tiny toon's bandaged eyes sightlessly 'peering' around before settling on something against the back wall. Almost as though the thing had a miasma unto itself, Buddy shuddered, huddling back into the secure safety Boris offered.

"Bud? What's wrong?" The wolf asked, picking up on the sudden fear emanating from the smallest of the trio. Following where Buddy's head was pointed, the taller toon couldn't help a ripple of anxiety at the sight of a what looked like an actual building in the back of the storeroom. Bendy too caught onto the change in mood, the little devil squinting at the house-like structure at first before certain features started to become more and more clear, hinting at the true nature of the apparent attraction.

Adding to the dingy, unkept look was a plank or two hanging from the lip of the porch roof, almost set up to look like teeth. The position of the shuttered windows on either side resembled eyes, a piece in the middle looking like a nose. The sharpened edges to the aforementioned planks gave the appearance of a sharp toothed smile, the makeshift maw's creepiness only dulled by the fact that the big bay doors leading to the inside were closed.

With nowhere else to really go, the trio edged towards the haunted house, Bendy realizing with an internal shiver that two bits of wood placed on either side of the little step leading up were actually supposed to be gravestones. Of course, the one that Joey finished in its entirety was the haunted house, they just couldn't have something nice, like a carousel, the horses were even here…

Granted, Bendy reasoned as he stopped his thoughts cold, with everything that this place had somehow managed to completely ruin he wasn't sure he'd trust it with a carousel. He wouldn't even trust a tea-cup ride if it was inside the studio….

"What're the odds that we havta go there?" Bendy whispered, frowning as he turned his attention from the unwelcoming, spooky design of the attraction to the other two toons. At the very idea that this would be where they'd have to go, Boris flinched, the fur around the wolf's head, shoulders, and tail fluffing out for a moment before he managed to curb it.

"Y'think so?"

"Has t'be. It's too big, too obvious." Bendy reasoned, though as he spoke he caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, the little devil was surprised to see the stalls opening, the lights inside coming on like an unspoken invitation. Tapping Boris on the shoulder, Bendy pointed in the direction of the newly up-and-running games, the wolf's face miring with suspicion and confusion as he took in the strangely opportune shift in their fortunes. Glancing between each other, both couldn't help but come to the same conclusion; this was definitely a little too opportune.

Was 'Alice' listening in? Able to see them in some way? The thought made Bendy back away from the imposing image of the haunted house, eyes flicking around as he tried to spot some sign of…something. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he should be looking for cameras, they weren't exactly around back when the studio was running, but then again, neither were tape decks.

Granted, from what Bendy remembered cameras had blinking lights and shiny bits, and he wasn't seeing either of those anywhere around the room…

It left them in an obvious position, one that Bendy wasn't sure he wanted to be in as it felt like they were being herded. To what, he didn't know, and wasn't certain he wanted to find out either.

But it was the only way forward, the only way so far to Henry.

Boris too seemed to be considering their options, the wolf's expression contorting with the same off-put confusion as he considered the now-open and lit up stalls. As Bendy came around to stand in front, the taller toon's gaze flicked down to him.

"How d'ya think…?"

"Dunno, might be her, might not be." The devil answered back, quietly studying what he could of the games. The first thing in front of them was one of those ones with the hammer and bell, a test-your-strength type thing. "Maybe y'oughta do that one, pal."

"Huh?" Boris asked at first, somewhat thrown off by the change in topic before he realized what Bendy was talking about. "Oh! Oh, okay, sure."

It was only when they actually made it over to the game that Boris remembered a very important obstacle, namely the tiny toon still held in his arms.

"It's okay, pal, I'll take 'im." Bendy cut in, noticing the dilemma. Gratefully, the wolf turned to the little devil, though not without first letting the sightless Buddy know what was about to happen.

"'s alright, Bud. I'll be right back, okay? Just stay with Bendy."

Peering up at the Boris's face, Buddy gave an obedient nod to the instructions, letting the taller toon plop him down on the floor and shuffle his way to Bendy's waiting arms. For the moment, the little devil let Buddy simply nestle himself into his coat, though when the tiny toon's face briefly rubbed into the rougher material Bendy was a little worried to see Buddy's bandage start to slip.

"Ah, kid, hold on a second…" The little devil started, belatedly figuring he should probably explain when the feeling of fingers touching the upper part of his face caused Buddy to flinch. "Sorry, Bud, 'm just gonna fix your bandage, it got a lil' messed up…"

Noticing that Boris had stopped what he was doing, the oversized hammer in hand as he worriedly turned back, Bendy quickly gestured over Buddy's head that he had it handled. When Buddy, either wondering where the other hand had gone or somehow picking up on the quiet, started to turn in Boris's direction Bendy hurriedly turned his attention back to the minute devil.

"Bud, no, don't move, okay? It's gotta be over your eyes. Just hold still ferra minute…" The slight admonishment provoked a shudder from the tiny toon, but Buddy ultimately did as he was told. Bendy was able to get the wrapping back on in just a second, deciding to throw the skittish devil a bone. He wasn't entirely sure he liked the idea of someone being that nervous around him…

"All done. See, easy stuff, right?"

The tiny toon's shy smile and thumbs-up was definitely more than a little relieving, though the moment was immediately shattered when Boris brought the hammer down on the button. The little metal piece flew up into the bell, the ding ringing through the storeroom and echoing off the walls. The sound made Buddy nearly leap into the air, Bendy jolting as he pulled the tiny toon into a protective hug. Boris was equally startled by the noise, the wolf outright dropping the enormous hammer with an equally loud crash.

The trio were stiff as boards as the shock of the moment registered and processed, Bendy managing to snap out of it first as he gave a shaky laugh.

"Wow, pal, didn' know y'had it in you."

Boris was about to respond when a voice filtered down from somewhere in the room, the horribly familiar tones making all three toons jump and press together.

"Tell me, are you boys having fun? Not to worry, I'm sure the reunion can wait."

"I'm sorry, apparently we can't get anywhere without playin' th' stupid games, 'cause you wanted us t'come in here, you-." Bendy hissed out, voice growing more incensed as he went on. As the little devil's voice melted into an angry grumble, Buddy shakily burrowed himself into the relative safety of Bendy's worn coat, tucking himself under one of the flaps of cloth. Though he did pass a somewhat surprised look at the tiny toon, Bendy still wrapped an arm around Buddy's shoulders. As the three looked about they quickly came to the realization that they'd need to go through all the stalls to move forward.

The next one didn't have anything worth much consideration, only a cutout, a barrel, and a box, though the one after that had what Bendy recognized as a throwing game. Three stacks of bottles were set up on three stands, with three balls resting on the shelf in front. If the little devil was remembering right they probably had to knock them all down to win.

"Here, I'll get this one," the smaller toon murmured, nudging Buddy over to Boris so that he could play. Grabbing one of the balls, Bendy shuffled for a second before pitching it at the stack furthest to the left. The ball crashed through the center of the little pyramid, the bottles flipping into the air and one even clattering into the stack next to it. That partly came down too, the top and left-hand bottles crashing to the floor. But the right one still stood, and Bendy narrowed his eyes as he considered the new situation. He had two more bottles, two more tries.

Well, at least there was less to knock down…

Though his next pitch narrowly missed the singular bottle, Bendy managed to get lucky in that the ball rebounded off the back wall and slammed into his target. Sharing a glance with Boris, the little devil flashed a hopefully-more-confident-than-it-felt grin and was met with an equally shaky smile. Moving onto the next stack, Bendy's throw only took out the top bottle. Though before anyone could take the time to panic or think about what to do, a little chime sounded from somewhere in the stall.

"Was, did we do that?" Boris asked, Bendy peering about before just deciding to not look a gift horse in the mouth.

"I dunno. We'll do th' next one an' if the doors don't open, we'll come back."

The next one turned out to be a target-shooting game with a sepia-toned BB gun. The instant Bendy picked the gun up, music started to play from somewhere in the stall. A moment later the targets all lowered from their ready positions, only for a few to rise back upright. The sight quickly keyed the devil into what he had to do.

His first shot definitely missed, the fact that the targets rapidly lowered for different ones to rise only made the smaller toon jumpier. He did manage to hit two, though one, with an 'X' scrawled over it, made a harsh buzz instead of a cheery ding. A tiny bit of motion at the top of the game drew Bendy's attention to a sort of gauge horizontal to the game, with a miniature, running version of himself moving forward with the clean target, and back with the crossed out one.

Alright, well, at least he had the rules down now. Not that it helped him in time, as even with Bendy's best efforts he was only able to get three more before a louder version of the harsh buzzer sounded. The miniature version of him moved back to the start, and the targets all raised again into the ready position. For a long moment the devil stood there, both not quite sure what had happened and wondering if he had blown his chance. But, that couldn't have been right, because Wally said that the workers rigged the games, and it wouldn't make sense for it to just lock up after one try.

The thought was only confirmed as, about five seconds later, the music started up again and the targets collectively lowered. This time Bendy was ready, the little devil raising the BB gun as he carefully watched the stall. When they came up, his hands were marginally steadier as he tried for the unmarked targets. This time, he certainly managed to get a lot more, though Bendy was cringing in preparation for the buzzer when he noticed that the little gauge was only about half full.

Meaning he was completely stunned when, instead of the sharp reprimand, he instead got a cheery bell chiming from somewhere in the stall.

"Huh?"

"D'ya do it?" Boris asked, the wolf peering about at the game as though it might spray confetti with a sign popping out declaring a more definitive victory. However, while it did neither of those things, the sight of a door on the left sliding open was enough of a confirmation for Bendy. Carefully putting the BB gun down, the devil zipped over to the doorway, eager to get things moving.

Bendy's head of steam abruptly reversed itself into Boris's legs when he caught sight of something tucked away in the corner wearing an ominous caricature of his own face. Boris's grunt at the impact choked off into a yelp, the wolf grabbing the devil while trying to not drop Buddy. The trio ended up in a sort of haphazard huddle, Bendy half in Boris's arms while having at least a foot on the ground. Boris himself was nearly bent over trying to hold onto both Bendy and Buddy, the latter curled up in a ball as he awaited some snarling oncoming horde.

Except, there was nothing. No sounds, hardly even any sign of anything living about to break forth and chase after the trio. Instead, it was almost eerily quiet.

Peering through the door, Bendy and Boris were able to get a better look at the creepy figures and realized that they were costumes. Costumes of the lil' devil himself, who definitely wasn't too sure about the likeness.

"Why would you look at that and think it was okay? Why would you think that kids would wanna see that?!" Bendy rambled to himself, fingers clenching at the metal doorframe as he peered at the creepy masks. Boris, while keeping a hand on Bendy's shoulder, tried to peer around for the reason that the room was important, apart from storage.

"I-I dunno." The wolf offered, his eyes quickly lighting on a switch next to the costume rack. "Ben, y'think that's what we gotta get in here?"

"Wh-oh." Bendy hummed, immediately catching onto what the taller toon was driving at. "I think so. Let's just hurry up an' get it so we can get outta here."

Though as the devil skittered across the room to actually flip the switch, he noticed that there was nothing in the room that it was linked to. There weren't any lights, there weren't any other doors, and unless there was some trap hidden away somewhere, it seemed like the lever was just there to be there.

Not to mention that it being flipped changed absolutely nothing, despite Bendy cringing at the anticipation of something going wrong, of all hell breaking loose. Instead, the room remained spookily quiet, Boris staring across the room at the devil with owlishly wide eyes as he too waited for something to happen. Clutched to the wolf's chest, Buddy was tense as a compressed spring, head pointed in Bendy's direction as the tiny toon's tail flicked nervously about.

But still, nothing changed, not even a click of some mechanism releasing as Bendy made his way across the room and stepped over the threshold back into Storage 9. But, probably because he was definitely more than a little antsy thanks to that experience, Bendy did notice a cable running out from a spot next to the door. Immediately, he thought of the switch, figuring that whatever they must've turned on had to be at the end of it.

"Boris," Bendy whispered, continuing once he had the wolf's attention. "I got an idea. Let's see where this goes to."

Though the wolf nodded and followed after the little devil easily enough, he couldn't help but pass one look back to the creepy costume rack, noticing how one of the frozen, wire-stretched smiles had a splotch of ink running down from its forehead.

The cable led them to the right-hand side of the haunted house, and a switchboard with four levers lined up on it. Above the one labeled simply '1' was a blinking light, inviting the trio to pull it.

"Oh, I get it."

"What?" Boris whispered, completely thrown off by Bendy's musing. Snapping out of his thoughts, the little devil hastened to explain.

"There's four rooms we opened up with th' games, each one's gotta switch. We pull all four of the switches, an' we can get in." The smaller toon finished, pointing at the haunted house they were standing next to in emphasis. Still, comprehension of the apparent plan didn't ease his nerves any. It still felt like this was building into something horrible.

Albeit, his gesture did draw Bendy's eye to another door, this one next to the hammer game they'd played earlier. Maybe that would be where they'd have to go next…?

Well, the smaller toon reasoned as he reached for the lit-up switch, only one way to find out.

Once the lever was pulled, the blinking light immediately flicked off, Bendy and Boris's heads turning at a flicker of motion off to their left. Turned out, the little devil had been entirely correct, the metal door was creakily easing itself open.

The space beyond was dark, though Bendy could make out a light source flickering from somewhere inside. But as his and Boris's feet crossed the threshold, the door slammed shut behind them, trapping them in.

With a gasp, Bendy whirled around and tried to push, bracing his whole weight against the door. Even Boris's attempt didn't do anything, the wolf setting Buddy down as he shoved at the metal slab.

"It's stuck…!" Boris groaned, though he still pressed his back to the door and tried to force it to rise.

"Okay, okay, don't panic, maybe there's another door somewhere, or a switch or-!"

"Buddy!" The taller toon suddenly yelped, leaping away from the door to dart forward.

"Buddy! Wait, what about-?" Bendy's question choked itself off as he turned to see Boris sweep the tiny toon away from a railing, where Buddy had been leaning precariously through the wooden supports.

"Buddy!" The pair hissed as one, though both had entirely different thoughts on where to go next after that.

"-don't do that, you'll fall-!"

"-are you alright?"

"-at were you doin', don't wander off-!"

It really only struck the pair, first and foremost, that the frenetic voices probably weren't helping Buddy given how the tiny toon was curled up into a shivering little ball, and secondly, they weren't alone in the room. The railing that Buddy had been near was overlooking a lower part to the room, where there was a trash can sitting in between a doorway and a hall leading to somewhere under the catwalk. The contents of the trash can were on fire, and gathered around it were…

The faint garbling of noise drifting up from the huddled trio of figures snapped Bendy out of his daze, the little devil drawing back into the shadows of the catwalk. Though, for the moment, it did not seem as though they were in danger of being found out. The Butcher Gang seemed entirely engrossed in the fire, huddling around the burning trash can like a strange sort of horror-filled western parody.

"'sokay, Bud. Deep breaths, alright?" Boris was murmuring to Buddy, gently cajoling the tiny toon into a calmer state of mind. The wolf's eyes glanced up at the flicker of motion Bendy made as he looked back, reading into the troubled frown playing across the little devil's pale face.

Bendy shifted as Boris gestured for him to come over, his hand knocking over an empty soup can that was set on the railing. The clatter it made as it hit somewhere down below caused the Butcher Gang toons to leap to life, hobbling away from the fire.

Though they only went to the source of the noise before turning and heading back to the flickering flames. The sight, though fleeting, was giving Bendy an idea, but he wanted to be sure of something. Signaling for Boris to be quiet, he hurried along the catwalk, pausing briefly at a set of stairs leading down to the lower floor. Taking note, the little devil kept going, around the loop and past what looked like a major ink leak to the other side of the room. All along the railing were more empty soup cans scattered here and there, the catwalk ending with a Bendy statue nearly opposite the door. Still, none of it helped him get it open again…

Though, Bendy could say he had an idea of what he was supposed to do, not that he'd enjoy it much. There were still those two areas downstairs to explore, after all.

Only issue was, he'd have to get past the Butcher Gang to do it. He wasn't too worried, as the last few minutes had provided him with something he could use, but Bendy could still say that it wasn't a plan he was looking forward to. There were hardly any backups if he screwed it up, that was for sure.

The real issue was…

"Boris, I know how we're gonna get outta here."

"Y'do?" The wolf whispered back, Bendy catching sight of the taller toon shifting about out of the corner of his eye. Still, he couldn't help but want to bite his tongue at the thought of where this conversation would go next.

"Yeah, but I think it'd be easier if you an' Buddy wait up here."

"Ben, no, different idea-."

"Don't have one. This is th' best we got."

"I'm not lettin' y'go off on your own!" Boris nearly shouted, shrinking once the volume of his cry registered and made both devil toons cringe with Bendy hurriedly gesturing for him to keep it down.

"Look, just listen, okay? I gotta go down there, but if I just try t'walk in, they're gonna hear me. That's what th' cans 'r for, t'make noise an' draw them away so I can slip by. It'll work, but it'll be hard with more than one guy. Besides, y'know I can sneak around pretty great, y'don' gotta worry about me, pal."

Bendy felt like he had a point, but for all his good arguments and generally confident façade, Boris still looked dishearteningly unconvinced. Alright, well, there was one other side to this that probably needed to be brought up…

"An' Boris, somebody needs t'stay up here with Buddy. 'm not bringin' him down there with that mess, an' if anyone can keep 'im outta trouble…" Though the somewhat knowing smile and open-armed gesture indicating the wolf did tease a small, reciprocating grin from Boris, the taller toon was still hesitant to let Bendy go.

"Pal, it's gonna be fine. I'll be there an' right back, you'll barely even know I was gone. An' you can keep watch from up here, no problem."

Boris still hardly looked ready for what Bendy was suggesting, the wolf's downturned ears and wide eyes flicking between the devil and the little gathering near the fire. But Bendy, for his part, had already made up his mind. And the longer they hung about, the more likely the situation could easily take a change for the worst.

"It'll be fine, pal." The little devil whispered, heading back around Boris to where he'd seen the stairs. On the way, his smaller, gloved hands snaked out to grab the occasional empty can perched on the railing. Eventually he stood at the top of the steps, peering down at the trio gathered 'round the trash fire. Well, at the very least Bendy could say he had an idea of how to proceed, he just wasn't sure where he wanted to proceed to.

From the top of the stairs, the little devil could see that there were two nooks on the far side of the room, one through a doorway on the left and the other at the end of a small corridor on the right. Peering around didn't reveal any sign of a switch down the hall, maybe there'd be something through the doorway that he could use…

For a moment, Bendy took aim from the top landing before he took stock and realized that he should probably get a little closer. Edging carefully down the steps, Bendy paused on the last and carefully considered what he wanted to do. Winding up, he pitched a can which sailed across the room, landing just inside the threshold of the hallway on the right. As it clanged against the floor, the three zombie toons leapt into action and hobbled off in the direction of the noise. Just refraining from using any toonspeed, Bendy darted across the room and around some sort of pump machine, only just hearing the sounds of the mismatched toons' garbling coming back as he crossed the threshold.

Hurrying down the little corridor, the little devil's steps slowed as he came upon a grated-in room just off the main hall. Inside was another one of the inky figures, with despairing sobs rattling loose from the hunched, dripping frame. Even though there was a part of Bendy that whispered to not get too close, a part of him still felt sympathy for its misery. Though as the devil edged closer to the grate the sobs hitched, tapering off slightly as the figure began to pull out of its huddle. Once Bendy realized that the head was turning in his direction he was off like a shot, dashing around a corner and pressing himself to the wall as he listened for any sign of pursuit.

But, there was none. The sobs simply started up again in earnest. Biting down on a wave of recriminating guilt, Bendy feebly reasoned that he didn't know what its intentions might have been, or whether or not he could have actually done anything that wouldn't have endangered himself.

You don't exactly have the best track record of helping…

Shoving the thought away, Bendy took stock of the space he'd ended up in, finding that it was a workroom with tables and shelves. Odds and ends were scattered about, though what got Bendy's interest was the switch on the far side and a tape-deck sitting on the edge of the table nearest to him.

Without really thinking on it, and with curiosity overriding his caution, the little devil reached out and pressed the play button, only realizing his mistake as the sound of the recording rang out in the small room. At first, Bendy tried to smother the speaker of the tape-deck with his sleeve, worrying that the sound would bring the Butcher Gang.

But, when a moment or two went by with no noise from the main room, he opted to just let it play.

"The only thing that works around here is my ulcer. Half these people don't know a wrench from a dang steamroller. Buncha morons is what they are. Spend their day in the warehouse arguing over who's supposed to be doin' what or playin' them silly games. Still, I'm not complainin'. I get most of my time to myself. Suits me just fine. Only thing that bothers me is that mechanical demon in the corner. Bertrum's been working on it for a month now. Says it will walk someday and maybe dance. All it does now is give me the creeps. I swear, when my back's turned, that thing's movin'."

The devil was content to just listen, though the mention of a 'mechanical demon' drew his eyes to the hulking, torn-up shape on a work bench in the corner. Though the animatronic was in heavy disrepair, a lot of the shell which would have the more trademark monochrome torn away, the metallic grin was easy enough to pick out. The sight was not quite like the frozen, empty-eyed smile of the cutouts, but it made Bendy feel plenty off-put just the same.

There was also the fact that there was a vice attached to the same table, and the animatronics' left arm was compressed and severed just above the wrist. Looking around the room as he pulled the switch told Bendy that the missing piece was nowhere to be found, ringing more than a little odd though there were several things here that were doing the same.

For starters, he didn't recognize the voice, but the lady in question sounded relatively sane. Maybe it was just the overall creepy look to the thing that had made her feel like it was moving? Bendy could see that, it definitely had that kind of feeling to it.

Well, maybe it might've also been the partially painted duck head sitting back on the worktable. That coupled with the robot grinning at you probably would give anyone the creeps. Though, given everything that was wrong in here, a living animatronic probably wouldn't have been too out of place.

That thought was what made Bendy back out of the room, keeping a careful eye on what he could see of the hulking metallic frame, as though it might make some precursory twitch. Reversing into the hall, the little devil's attention was sharply divided between both his inert lookalike and the crying inky figure still behind the grate. Moving a little faster, Bendy nearly made it to the end of the hallway before he remembered what was out in the big room. Darting to stand against the inner wall, the little devil felt his heart pounding in his ears as he tried to listen, to hear whether or not he was a hairsbreadth away from being found out.

Not that merely listening told him too much, though if he were to be exceptionally paranoid, he would say that one of the sources of the trademark garbling did sound too close for comfort.

At least, until something metallic clattered to the floor on the far side of the room, the Butcher Gang hobbling away from the trash can to investigate. Bendy turned and was almost about to make a break for the stairs when he realized with a cold snap that he couldn't. The shuffling, mismatched trio had hobbled nearly to the foot of the steps, a quick glance upward telling Bendy that Boris had realized his mistake as a look of panic had etched itself onto the wolf's face.

Not that Bendy had long to decide what to do with the Butcher Gang threatening to come back. The smaller toon made a precarious dash alongside the trash can, feeling the heat briefly lick at his legs before he all but threw himself down the hallway. Pressing his back to the wall, Bendy slid further and further away from the mouth of the corridor, not stopping until he was in a small nook tucked in under the catwalk above.

And, in the nook, lit with the flickering bulb of an emergency light, was another switch stuck right next to a shelf with a few empty cans.

For a moment, all Bendy could do was stare. Two switches? Where the heck did this one connect to? He'd gotten the one for the door to this room, right?

Hadn't he?

Well, on the off-chance this was connected to something he, Boris, and Buddy would need, Bendy decided to take the leap of faith and flip it. For a brief instant, the little devil thought he could feel something vibrating in the wall, or perhaps the floor, that died down just as quickly as it started. Freezing in place, he listened to see if he had either gotten the attention of the Butcher Gang, or something else that might be wandering around. But, in the sort-of lull, all he heard was,

"Bendy? Bendy!"

The strangled whisper that was teetering on the edge of quiet was immediately familiar, Bendy quickly skirting back out to see Boris leaning over the railing above with Buddy 'peering' through alongside. Relief flooded the wolf's face at the sight of the smaller toon, briefly tapering down as Bendy gestured for silence. Though Boris did nod, his next act of kneeling down and easing an arm to reach for him was another one that Bendy had to strike down, mostly on the grounds that unless the little devil had something to stand on he wasn't going to be able to reach. Demonstrating that with an upraised arm and a dry stare, Bendy let some of his frustration fall when Boris drew back, looking crestfallen.

Putting on some more of that can-do bravado, Bendy pointed to himself and back out to the big room, in the direction of the staircase. Flashing the wolf and minute devil a thumbs up, the smaller toon briefly ducked back into the nook to grab a couple cans.

Coming back to the big room with a somewhat calmer state of mind also let Bendy notice that there were more nooks under the catwalk, occupied by…what were those, Alice Angel heads?

Well, two out of three, one seemed to be missing. Not that there was much he could do about that, Bendy shoving aside the observation as he geared up to throw. The can sailed across the room, clattering to the floor somewhere between the machine and the doorway. Definitely not perfect, but Bendy was more than ready to run for his life by this point. His path across made something of a spinning twirl as he let fly with the final can, only realizing where it had landed when he heard a sizzling crash. Thankfully though the Butcher Gang's first recourse was to start snarling and move to protect their fire; they hadn't enough wits about them to realize where the projectile had come from.

Not that Bendy realized immediately off, the devil briefly freezing on the stairs as he tried to figure out whether or not he was about to be chased down.

When it didn't seem like any pursuit was incoming, Bendy let out a steadying breath, his eyes drifting until he spotted something about the empty nook nestled in between the pair of Alice Angel heads. Blinking a bit to be sure of what he was seeing, the little devil gave the entire scene a nonplussed stare before deciding to drop it and heading up the stairs.

Scrawled on the back wall of the storage nook were the letters I, O, and U, the entire thing giving Bendy the mental image of 'Alice' writing that after making off with the apparently missing Alice Angel prop. He wasn't sure if that was funny or just plain odd.

Not that the little devil really had time to think it over, given that a completely relieved Boris and reassured Buddy greeted him once he'd gotten back up to the catwalk. Accepting the hug the wolf offered on the grounds that it would calm them all down some, Bendy easily fell into step next to Boris as they headed back to the door.

Which thankfully was open now. Though as Bendy walked through he passed a glance back and noticed something about the room that made him briefly stop and stare, just to be sure that he was in fact seeing what he was seeing. Noticing that the smaller toon had halted, Boris turned back too, Buddy's expression falling worriedly at the pause.

"Bendy?" The quiet apprehension in the wolf's voice quickly got the little devil's attention, which made him figure that perhaps he ought to explain.

"I just realized there's a giant arm on th' ceilin'."

"…Y'didn't see that?"

"No." Bendy huffed, turning back to Boris with his hands on his hips in a mock-affronted manner. "We can't all have awesome eyes that let us see in th' dark, pal."

"Naw, guess we can't." The wolf drawled, easily reading the more playful jab in the little devil's voice. In the taller toon's arms, Buddy briefly considered his own limb, somehow radiating a sense of disbelief at the idea that any one part of a body could be 'giant'. Noticing the shifting, Boris quietly ruffled the tiny toon's 'hair', easily doing the same to Bendy once he came within reach. Though Bendy waved the wolf's hand away, he couldn't help the smile that flitted over his face at the familiar gesture.

Flipping the next switch next to the haunted house, the trio was temporarily stymied as there were no other obvious doors for them to go to. There was one in between the shelves on the opposite end of the room, but that remained shut tight.

It was only when they traveled all the way down, to the opposite side of the entryway to Storage 9, that they found where they were supposed to go next. Tucked away in the corner was a door with a sign above it reading ATTRACTION STORAGE, wide open in invitation. Glancing between Boris and the entryway, Bendy started to inch closer to peer inside, maybe get some hint of what was coming.

But, for all his attempts, his view was blocked by the hallway curving up ahead, all he could see being a small corner with an emergency light. Still, he was loath to cross the threshold, just in case the door decided to close again.

Though with nowhere else to go, and no other options, Bendy hardly had much of a choice. As Boris noticed that the little devil was inching through the doorway, the wolf gave a choked yelp and hurried after.

Bendy whirled around, about to gesture for Boris to go back before he noticed that the door had remained open. And, with no clanking or rumbling from any of the mechanisms, it looked like it was going to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

A little more emboldened, the trio continued on. Though as they turned the corner, their progress was immediately halted by the presence of a Butcher Gang toon lying against the wall across the room. It was the one with the spring-arm, and as they edged closer it became clear that the mismatched creature was not about to spring to life. In fact, as Bendy got a better look at it, he thought that its neck had been broken judging from the sharp angle it was hanging at. Next to it was another emergency light, the flickering electricity illuminating a poster on the wall above. It depicted a sort of picture of the little devil himself, though he was holding a placard in front of his face reading WORK HARD WORK HAPPY, practically signed by the trademark leering grin at the bottom.

What could have done that? Or more rather, who? Immediately 'Sammy' came to mind, but he didn't seem to need to touch something in order to hurt it. The only two that Bendy could think of were the monochrome ink monster, and 'Alice', though neither seemed to fit. The lack of loose ink anywhere, especially on the body, hinted that the ink monster hadn't been down this way, and 'Alice' probably would have been able to do a lot more than simply break the Butcher Gang toon's neck.

Not to mention, Bendy realized as he let his eyes wander away, the door had likely been closed before. Meaning this had to be sitting here for a good while.

He'd just caught sight of some cutouts lined up on the wall behind him when his eyes landed on a shape to his right, sitting out in what looked like a larger room. Though there was a good-sized smokescreen billowing up, and the space wasn't well-lit, Bendy could make out what looked like a metallic bar of some kind. Maybe a weird pump machine or something…?

Boris could probably see better, the thought of the wolf drawing Bendy's eyes back to his pal. The taller toon had just noticed the same thing the little devil had, though as his feet started to slide forward to get a closer look his attention was diverted by the fact that Buddy had jumped and was trying to burrow his face into the wolf's front.

"Bud, wassamatter?" Boris murmured, doing his best to comfort the tiny toon while not letting on too much about how the feeling of physical contact against his scar was making him wince. Bendy however didn't have blindness as a barrier, and noticed straight away.

"Kiddo, it's okay. We just gotta find a lever an' we'll be gone." Bendy didn't want to say something like 'quick an' easy', on account of the fact that this place seemed hellbent on proving that notion wrong and he hardly wanted to jinx their apparent luck. Still, while the words did seem to ease Buddy from his earlier fright, the minute devil still pressed himself into the wolf's front, almost as though he were trying to hide.

Maybe it was just nerves. At this point, Bendy could hardly say he blamed Buddy for that; this was almost too quiet, and there were no levers in sight. But, there was still the whole big room to examine, so with only the faintest of hesitation, the pair went through the small entryway out into the space proper.

The first thing that Bendy realized was that he was looking at a completely intact theme park ride. He knew he'd seen something like it before, but never got to go on it. Granted, if there was going to be anything in a room labeled 'ATTRACTION STORAGE', it might as well be a ride.

There was a large piece in the middle, with arms propped on the floor all about. Though in retrospect, they hadn't stored this thing too carefully, given how a few of the arms were lying on their side, the carts simply pressed slanting into the floor. Bendy might not have been an expert, but surely that couldn't be good for them over long periods of time…

Looking around revealed that the room had more than just the ride, the walls littered with boxes stacked at most two high, an occasional shelf set in with what looked like duck heads here and there. Letting his gaze travel higher, Bendy was just able to see posters hanging on the upper part of the walls, the print and pictures big enough that he could make out what was on them in the semi-darkness.

They were ride names. Or had to be, judging from the pictures. MAD HOUSE. WHIPPER-WILL-O. DARL'N DUCK BOATS. DEVIL'S CAROUSEL. BUDDY BORIS RAILWAY. ANGRY ANCHOR'S BATTLESHIP EXTRAVAGANZA. Wow, really going all out on that last one, though Buddy and Boris might have gotten a kick out of the railway ride. Though before Bendy could think to point it out, he noticed that the wolf was reaching for a tape deck perched on a work table in front of them.

"Hold on, pal, let's look around first." Bendy murmured, the gentle whisper drawing Boris's hand away.

"Okay. D'ya see the lever anywhere?"

"No, not yet." The little devil replied, starting to head along the side of the room and giving a Bendy statue tucked into the wall a wide berth. Though his feet took him to stand in front of a completely unsettling bench that looked like the upper head of a cartoon clown with its open mouth being the seat. Given that there was an emergency light turned on it, Bendy could see this thing in its full, discomforting glory. As could Boris, who halted next to the little devil a moment later. Buddy, who could see nothing, frowned and blindly tried to peer in the direction of the wolf's face and about where Bendy was standing as he tried to understand what was happening.

"…Why." The quiet murmur ripped Boris's eyes away from the bench, the taller toon trying to get a look at Bendy's face to see what he was talking about.

"Huh?"

"In a theme park, with kids, families 'n such, why on earth would'a want somethin' that looks like half a nightmare and half a freak show reject?"

At the word 'reject', Buddy gave a small flinch, face crumpling into a frown. Neither Bendy or Boris saw, both more or less engrossed in the topic of the bench and the apparent suitability for a children's theme park.

"Dunno. Maybe it'd look better, once it was cleaned up."

"Would you sit on that? Even if it was cleaned up?"

"Maybe…"

"No, no y'wouldn't, pal. Don' lie, you'd have t'be pretty worn out t'consider it. Besides," Bendy whispered, shielding the thought behind a gloved hand. ", it's down here in this nuthouse, I ain't takin' a chance on it."

"Y'think it'll come t'life?" Boris half-yelped, only just managing to keep his voice at a low church murmur as his eyes blew wide. Bendy hadn't initially been considering the idea, but now that the wolf had voiced it the little devil couldn't help a suspiciously wary frown as he considered the bench in a new light.

"I don't…know…?"

The lilting question of a tone did not inspire confidence in either toon, the pair keeping their eyes on the creepy bench as they tried to keep up with their trek around the room.

As they tried to go up along the wall, their path was blocked by one of the arms of the ride lying completely flat with the carts pressed awkwardly into the ground. Thankfully, it didn't completely meet with the wall, and they were able to skirt by as they went on. Once they were through Bendy immediately noticed the presence of a metallic doorway across from them. Waving to get Boris's attention, the little devil pointed to his discovery, the pair hurrying over as quick as they could.

Initially Bendy's thought had been that this was where the lever had to be, or maybe it was an opening to some other way through if he were feeling especially optimistic. But, it wouldn't move, no matter how much they tried to push, pound, or subvert the barrier by finding a button or switch somewhere. Though a part of Bendy couldn't help but think that this was all the more of an indication that there was something inside that would help them, he couldn't help the brief thought that perhaps he'd been wrong. Maybe this was a closet, or something that had just never been finished.

Besides, they still had the whole other half of the room to look at. Maybe they'd find a switch, the lever, or another door if they just hunted around a little bit more. They certainly wouldn't get anywhere just plugging at an immobile piece of metal.

They passed another horse prop for the carousel ride as they went on, and an overturned cart a few feet later. The next corner brought a desk with some boxes piled in around it, and a duck head placed on top, about as ordinarily as any bit of décor. Or perhaps it was the placing of somebody that ran out of space in all of the nooks on the wall in front of them. Bendy was willing to bet that that was the case. Though he managed to pick out a few empty spaces as they walked by, so maybe it was just laziness. He'd hardly judge if somebody was rushing so they could get out of here…

Though their loop now bought them back to the corner of the room with the entryway, and the desk with the tape deck. And, with nothing else indicating where to go, Bendy pressed the play button.

"The biggest park ever built, a centerfold of attractions. Each one, more grand than the one before it. It makes my eyes come to tears at the thought." As Bendy listened, he couldn't help but realized that the crackling, recorded voice sounded strange. Maybe it was just the acoustics of the room, but he felt like it was echoing from all around them. It was something that Boris seemed to take note of too, given how the wolf's head swiveled to consider the whole space as he pressed closer, Buddy huddling close at the shifting. But, after the slight pause, Bertrum continued, a new, venomous tone taking over his speech.

"But then…oh Mr. Drew. For all your talk of dreams, you are the true architect behind so many nightmares." Well, the devil had to concede that the man wasn't wrong, though instead of stopping, the recording powered on.

"I built this park. It was to be a masterpiece! My masterpiece!" So, Joey'd fired him, same as Susie? The thought had barely entered Bendy's mind when he felt a vibration run through the floor, a rumbling starting to reverberate in the cavernous room. The little devil stumbled back, Boris's hand clenched tightly over his shoulder.

"And now you think you can just throw me out? Trample me to the dust and forget about me? No! This is my park! My glory! You may think I've gone…but I'm still here!" As the speech went on, the lights started to crackle to life around the room and on the ride in front of them, the robotic arms trembling from disuse as they shook off years' worth of dust. Rising from the floor, the mechanisms creaked and groaned as they settled into their positions. And, with the last declaration, the oval-shaped panel on the centerpiece sprung open, Bendy's eyes widening along with Boris's at the sight of an overlarge human head peering unblinkingly at them from the depths of the machine.

It's him. The realization came as the arms of the ride began to spin, one slamming into the table that the tape deck had been on and shattering it to splinters. The impact shook the trio from their daze, Boris outright grabbing Bendy and hauling him back to the safety of the entryway. However, while the arms definitely couldn't reach them, the safety was limited in that the way back out had been blocked with a line of heavy metal doors.

In a panic Bendy tried to open them, even going so far as the bang on everything from the doorframes to the doors themselves. Surely there'd be some sort of button somewhere, right?!

Boris tried to help, reaching for the spots that Bendy couldn't. The sound of the ride slamming down another arm made them both leap out of their skin, Bendy turning back to make sure it hadn't somehow gotten closer as he tried to think. The last room had had doors that closed too, they just needed to find-.

A lever. Or a switch. If this was anything like that last room there had to be one somewhere in here…

And he saw it, or at least something that came tantalizingly close. The metal doorway across the room, just visible behind the whirling arms of the ride. But, in order to get to it, they had to get past Bertrum himself, who didn't look like he was about ready to stop.

Boris, who had turned around when he noticed that Bendy wasn't with him, caught sight of the same thing the little devil did. Making eye contact with each other, the idea wordlessly zipped between the pair. The wolf quietly turned to set Buddy down, both toons trying to reassure the minute devil.

"Buddy, just stay here, okay?"

"It's gonna be alright, Bud, we'll be back inna minute."

Though no one was sure that they really believed the idea of this turning out 'alright', Buddy still gave a quiet, lip-quivering little nod, the mitten-encased hands holding tight for a moment before letting go. And with that, the pair turned back to the whirling, hulking theme park ride, trying to figure out how best to get around. This was just in time for Bertrum to bring one of the arms down on the pulverized desk. The impact sent wood flying, Bendy bringing up a coat-shrouded arm to shield his eyes from debris as he and Boris edged away.

As the metal arm drew back, the little devil caught sight of a familiar shape among the wreck. And, while he wasn't exactly sure what an axe could do against a crazed theme park ride, it was something. Darting forward, Bendy snatched up the wooden handle of the axe, hurrying back with it held in his hands. Boris's expression was petrified, turning into something sharply disapproving as Bendy came back with his prize. To make his case, the devil held up the axe with a look that screamed 'well, would you have left it there?!'.

The moment was thoroughly shattered when Berturm's arms came down again. Bendy leapt a foot into the air in his fright, spinning around to see the carts kick up clouds of dust as they slammed into the floor. Looking back at Boris, the pair jointly came to a decision before running along the side of the room, following the same path they'd taken just a few minutes ago. But, as they passed the bench the arms started to raise up again, the toons now facing the more daunting prospect of trying to stay out of Bertrum's reach. The whirling arms spun overhead, Boris automatically shrinking down in some preemptive effort to avoid a hit. Bendy's eyes kept flicking up and down as he tried to map his way around the occasional box or bit of theme park paraphernalia. While the pair were able to make it across, they were thoroughly halted by the fact that the metal door had not moved.

"It's, it's not-!" Boris stammered as he tried to push, the sudden thunder of one of the arms crashing to the floor behind them causing the wolf to cower with a yelp. Reaching up, Bendy grabbed onto the back of the wolf's overalls, doing his best to pull him into the relative safety of the doorway.

"WE'RE NOT JOEY, DARNIT! STOP TRYIN' T'KILL US!" Bendy hollered as he and Boris tried to press themselves as far into the makeshift shelter as they possibly could. But, even if the equal parts petrified and frustrated yells made it to whatever was left of Bertrum's ears, the once-man-turned machine took no heed, the arms raising into the air again as the cycle restarted. Watching the display, Bendy frantically tried to reason; they'd already seen him do this before, so logically he would probably do the same thing again. Didn't most theme park rides run on a pattern?

It did seem to be holding true for Bertrum, as while the toons carefully edged out of the doorway and along the right-hand wall the arm came down again right in front of them. This time Bendy caught sight of a faint spurt of something black coming from a part jammed against the floor, a section held together by a small beige bolt. Acting partly on instinct, and perhaps in some desire to make Bertrum a little warier about swinging that close, Bendy darted out, around the carts and slammed the axe into where the bolt met the metal for the arm.

The little devil was not expecting the piece to outright fly off, almost crashing into his leg with ink squirting in its wake like blood. Though, he was somewhat glad, as now he knew how to hit back at the seemingly monumental foe. Even as he could hear the rumbles of the arms starting to lift back up, Bendy took another swing at the other bolt on the arm, just managing to land a hit. Though the arm itself did not break, it was making a lot of groaning that told Bendy he was on the right track.

Albeit, in his zeal, the little devil had forgotten about how fast Bertrum could move those arms at a moment's notice.

Bendy was darting back to the safety of the outer ring where Boris was when a flash of instinct made him look to his right just in time to see an arm hurtling at him. Though he was small enough that the worst of the blow soared overhead when he ducked, he wasn't quite fast enough to avoid getting swiped along his back, the slipstream outright flipping him over and causing him to tumble end over end. Completely disorientated, Bendy froze, not sure which direction was safe and nearly petrified because he knew that he could not stay still for long.

Caught between the impulse to move and the terror keeping him immobile, the little devil flopped about on the ground as his breathing stuttered in his lungs. But, under the sounds of the ride whirling and clanking overhead, there was the sound of running coming the devil's way. To Bendy it seemed like Boris only just appeared above him before he was yanked up off the floor and into the wolf's arms. Not that he felt too upset by that, the devil's limbs jerkily wrapping themselves around the taller toon's frame as Boris hurtled back to safety.

"Bendy, are you okay?!" The wolf hollered over the sounds of the ride, trying to pull back to look the devil in the eye. Though some of the wind had been able to filter back into the little devil's lungs, he was still dazed enough that the most he could offer was a croaky 'yeah' along with a nod.

The pair were rattled again by the arms slamming down, one nary a few feet away. The sight of the arm, particularly the bolts that were holding them together, reminded Bendy of exactly why he'd nearly gotten swatted in the first place. Only able to point for a moment, the little devil only became more frustrated when Boris wasn't picking up on his meaning.

"Bendy, I see th' arm, we're fine, i-it can't-!"

"BORIS, TH' BOLTS-!" Bendy finally had enough air in his lungs to yell, just as the arm started to rise again. The chance missed, the smaller toon let out an aggravated hiss of air.

"W-What about-?!" The wolf was asking, the question causing the frustration to break forth from the little devil in a holler.

"Th' bolts're holdin' th' arm t'gether! If we hit 'em, they'll break, an' if they break, he can't hit us anymore!" Immediately the wolf's ears lowered in both a reaction at the rising noise, and recrimination at missing Bendy's plan. Though Boris quickly had a chance to redeem himself, as an arm dropped to the floor nary a few feet to the right of them. Putting the still-somewhat nerveless devil down, the wolf grabbed the axe and ran.

It wasn't hard to see the aforementioned bolts, especially when they were spurting with sizeable dribbles of ink. And, as Boris slammed the axe into the first, he was quickly rewarded by the sound of the arm giving a low, telltale groan.

Luckily for the wolf, it was also the arm that Bendy had already taken off the conjoining bolts for. Unluckily, when all the bolts were removed the arm all but exploded away from Bertrum, showering the area in a cascade of machine parts. Pulling an arm away from where he'd brought it up to shield his face, Bendy's heart dropped when he realized that he couldn't see the wolf anywhere.

"BORIS!"

An odd flicker of black close to the centerpiece yanked Bendy's eyes to the spot, just in time to see Boris uncover his own eyes, and for Bertrum to get right back to spinning. The wolf was forced to plaster himself to the floor, nearly curling up with terror. He was thankfully right in the ring where it wasn't possible for him to be hit, though Bendy hardly wanted to force the possessed ride to test that.

"BORIS!" Bendy yelled again, waving his arms as he tried to get the wolf's attention. Somehow, even over the racket, the taller toon heard him, his eyes managing to meet Bendy's as the arms whirled dangerously close to his head. At the same time, Bertrum's movement started to slow, the arms creaking before slamming down and hiding the wolf from sight again. Immediately, Bendy skittered to the side, just in time to see Boris come scrambling out, only just taking the time to swing at the arm with a frantic wildness in his eyes.

Just as the taller toon broke the bolts, the arms jerked back off the floor with a speed that surprised both Bendy and Boris, the wolf only just able to get to the edge of the room before a cluster of carts swiped behind him. The strike came so close that for a moment Bendy thought Boris had actually been hit, though when the tall frame scrambled away from the whirling tornado of a theme park ride and all but collapsed onto the little devil, he was relieved when a hand brushing along the wolf's back came up clean.

No loose ink, no bruises. Boris was, physically at least, fine. Judging by the way the poor wolf toon was trembling like a leaf in a windstorm, whether or not he was mentally alright was another matter.

"Pal, it's alright, I'm here-." Bendy started, before Bertrum's arms slammed down again and made both the devil and the wolf jump out of their skins. However, the smaller toon recovered first, enough that he was able to shrug out of Boris's hold, grab the axe, and run to the side of the arm to hack at the bolts. He might not be able to fix any damage Bertrum wrought, but Bendy sure as heck was going to do his damnedest to stop the monster from continuing to terrify anyone.

The bolts were broken just as Boris got enough air in his lungs to yell the little devil's name, already starting forward though Bendy was running for the edge like someone had lit his tail on fire. The smaller toon flung himself to the floor, his body only left in an untidy sprawl for a moment before he could feel Boris picking him up. The wolf's hands still trembled, but the motion of carrying the little devil clutched close to his front was an automatic gesture that Boris could have easily done in his sleep.

Though any faint comfort the hug brought was only dispelled when Bertrum's arms came down again, crashing loud against the floor and causing both toons to nearly jump out of their skins. Albeit, this time Bendy was ready. Shrugging his way out of Boris's arms, the little devil leapt to his feet, holding the axe in one hand while grabbing at one of Boris's hands. The wolf practically threw himself upright, jogging after the devil as Bendy ran for the nearest arm. Letting go of the taller toon's hand, Bendy raised the axe and brought it down on the bolts.

It had been the one that they'd gotten beforehand, the arm shattering apart in a spray of parts and metal. Reeling back, the pair dashed for the edge of the room, nearer to the entryway. Quickly, Bendy took stock; they'd gotten several sets of bolts, two of the arms were gone, that left probably a few more sets they had to hit. Easy. They could do it.

A familiar yelp and a thud made Bendy's head snap to look back, the little devil's eyes widening at the sight of Boris having dropped to the floor. What was worse was that the wolf was fumbling about, almost as though he couldn't quite get his feet back under him. Without even thinking Bendy turned, beelining for the fallen toon as the axe fell from his hands.

"Boris, c'mon, pal, MOVE!" The little devil hollered, pushing Boris's shoulder just as the groans of machinery overhead turned into a more decisive rumble. Boris managed a glance up, grabbing Bendy as he rolled over and shakily to his feet, just in time for Bertrum to bring one of the carts down where they'd just been. Stumbling about, Boris managed to dive into the safety of the entryway, crashing to the floor on his side with Bendy clutched to his chest.

Scrambling out of the wolf's hold, the little devil managed to pull away from the taller toon only to see what he'd feared. Boris's face was flushed grey, the taller toon's breath coming in exhausted pants. For a moment, the wolf was staring at nothing, before he finally glanced up to look Bendy in the eye.

"P-Pal," The devil stammered, floundering before a plan started to stutter to life in his mind. "Did he hit you? Y'need t'get up. Here, c'mere…"

It took a second of pulling but eventually Bendy was able to get Boris propped up against the wall, the wolf taking in heaving gulps of air as though he'd just run a marathon. Testing the taller toon's temperature, Bendy felt his frantic worry grow as he registered the heat practically boiling the wolf under his fur.

"Pal, why didn'tcha tell me you weren't feelin' alrigh'?!"

"I…I wasn' 'till a momen' ago, was fine…" Boris wheezed, his attention drawn by the tiny figure of Buddy stumbling over to them, mitten hands feeling out the way along the wall. Bendy quickly reached out to the minute devil, pulling Buddy to sit next to Boris once he came within arm's reach.

Peering out, Bendy flinched at the sight of Bertrum's head, the unblinking eyes fixated on the devil toon. Pulling back into the safety of the alcove, the smaller toon quickly went over the options. The lever had to be behind that gate across the room, though it and the doors likely wouldn't open until Bertrum was stopped. Because that was the point, it was all one big trap.

A trap for Joey, technically, but seeing as he wasn't here, and old Bertie had apparently lost his marbles…

Bendy caught sight of the axe lying on the floor, just in the range of the swinging arms. Maybe when Bertrum bought them down again he'd be able to grab it…

"Boris, stay here."

"Wh- Bendy, wh-what're you-?" The wolf started to choke through a wet cough, but before he could even finish his question Bendy had darted back out into the fray. As Boris tried to pull himself closer to the doorway, his chest spasmed in a few more ragged, heavy coughs. Even still he tried to keep Bendy in sight as a greyish film clouded his eyes. Next to him, Buddy's expression pulled in a grimace caught between worry and pure, unadulterated terror.

Hugging the wall, Bendy tried to both keep his eye on where the axe was while watching the whirling pattern of Bertrum's arms overhead, picking out the exact moment when he'd bring them down. Grabbing the axe might be a little tricky, but it was all he had to strike back with. He had to do this just right…

Just as the arm was about to come down, Bendy realized that it was going to drop right between him and the axe. Reacting on pure impulse, the little devil threw himself under the arm just before it slammed against the floor.

"B-Ben-," Boris choked through a watery cough, pulling himself up using the doorframe. "BENDY!"

Despite Buddy clutching at the wolf's pant leg, Boris would not deviate from the objective burning through his mind as sure as the fever which wracked him. Get to Bendy. His pal was in trouble, he couldn't lose him too-!

"BENDY!" Boris hollered, throat feeling like it was bubbling as he threw himself into a run that grew more and more steady as he dashed to the wreckage scattered about the floor, grabbing a metal bar and running for the downed arm. With the fervor of a toon possessed the wolf swung at the exposed bolts, the strike to the first knocking it loose and cracking the bar, the second hit outright shattering it and sending the bolt flying.

But, instead of just destabilizing it, the crack of the metal bar breaking precluded the arm itself blowing into bits. Though with the barrier gone Boris caught sight of Bendy, axe in hand, the devil stumbling a little as he tried to shield himself from the flying debris.

The instant Boris spotted the smaller toon, his hand snapped out and latched onto what he could of the ragged coat and scarf. Bendy's squeak of a yelp was lost in the roar of noise Bertrum made as the ride snapped back into a wild spin. Before the last arm could even reach them Boris had already moved, throwing himself and Bendy to the edge of the room.

But, now that three out of the four arms were gone, Bertrum had lost a lot of his power. It was something that the transfigured man seemed to realize, as while the arm swiped in front of the pair it didn't crash down again. Instead, it dropped on the opposite side, away from the two toons.

Boris snapped his eyes away from the sight, blinking away what felt like a watery film as his eyes turned to Bendy. Or more namely, the axe still in the little devil's hands.

Only passively taking note of the equal parts shocked and quietly perturbed stare Bendy was beaming at him, Boris grabbed the axe and nearly turned to the man-turned-machine before he felt something latch onto his pant leg. The single-mindedness that had gripped the wolf's thoughts drew back a little as his eyes met Bendy's. Studying the canine face, the smaller toon's own features grew confused as he couldn't find what he was looking for. He could have sworn, especially when Boris had grabbed the axe, that there had been a flicker of red in the wolf's monochrome eyes.

They were almost normal now, barring a slight greyish cast, but the manner in which Boris was blinking like he'd just been woken up from a deep sleep still put Bendy ill at ease. What had just happened?

Not that either really had time to process as Bertrum's arm swung round again, swiping dangerously close and sending them both stumbling back.

But it was not enough, Bendy realized. Bertrum had to bring his arm down for them to do any damage, and if he either wasn't going to do that then they'd be at this long enough for him to get lucky and squash one of them. They needed this wrapped up quick, but how…

Then an idea occurred, Bendy fighting down a brief flicker of unease as he took a deep breath and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"'EY, BERTIE! WE'RE OVER HERE, CAN'TCHA EVEN HIT US YA OVERGROWN TINKER TOY?!"

"Bendy-!" Boris yelped, though the fainter noise was overrun by the sound of Bertrum's arm swinging around wildly before smashing into the floor directly in front of them. Thankfully, the wolf hardly needed any prodding to dart in and out, the axe taking off two of the bolts before Bertrum pulled away. Though the once-man's temper had hardly cooled, the arm rocketing around and sending ink in a wide arc before skidding on the floor, coming to a stop just a few feet away from the pair. This time, Boris hesitated before charging forward, Bendy easily able to see why; the arm was almost too far away.

Running after the wolf, Bendy saw Boris raise the axe and chop into one of the bolts, the metal flying off as the taller toon hurried to the last piece holding the arm together. But Bertrum's arm was already starting to raise, the little devil realizing with a sharp snap that Boris would be directly in its path when it swung.

"BORIS-!" But, just as he was about to shout a warning, the axe came down and shattered the final bolt.

The arm practically exploded in a hail of metal, Boris scrambling back to avoid being struck. Though the taller toon's legs were rubbery from adrenaline and fright, he still dashed to the edge of the room with Bendy at his side.

Bertrum's internals gave a heavy groan, the floor underneath the toons' feet shaking. Looking up at the centerpiece, both Bendy and Boris could see how Bertrum's face twitched as the whole thing spun like a top. The spectacle lasted for only a moment, as the whirling of the ride groaned to a halt with Bertrum's mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish. Then the head tilted forward, pressing itself into the frame of the little window. The shutters closed, taking the sight from the pair's view.

And it was quiet again. Almost like the entire sordid ordeal had not happened if it weren't for the fact that there were still machine parts strewn everywhere.

Though now that Bendy happened to look at them, particularly the bits of an arm nary a few feet away, he noticed that it almost looked like the metallic surface was dripping. Like bits of it were liquefying off. It only started to click when the little devil noticed the darkening stain underneath, and he remembered the manufacturing machine that he'd seen back in the cave.

He'd been able to make a radio and a gear with the ink, there was nothing saying that Bertrum couldn't have made machine parts for his rides out of them. And, because of…something, the weirdness of the ink…

Feeling faintly nauseous as he thought about what such a process would entail, Bendy gave a shudder before looking back up to Boris. The wolf looked good as new mostly, sans mussed fur and a completely shell-shocked expression on his face. Sensing the little devil's gaze, the taller toon turned to Bendy, immediately getting caught up in the smaller toon's welfare.

"A-Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, 'm fine." Distantly, Bendy realized that if he were hearing this conversation from two other people he would have been entirely of the mind that they were lying. Neither toon's voice was completely steady, both winded and quietly horrified. Though, the little devil had to concede, that could have ended much worse than it did…silver linings, at least…

As the little devil found himself lost in his own musings, Boris's eyes happened to pick out an odd flicker of black that was clambering their way, stumbling over stray machine parts as he went.

"Buddy-!" The wolf called, the name causing Bendy to start and the tiny toon to scramble to them with a little more purpose. Shakily, Boris pushed himself up, ambling on unsteady legs to close the gap between himself and the minute devil. Bendy also got to his feet, only a few steps behind as the wolf and Buddy met.

The tiny frame clutched at the safety Boris offered and reached out blindly towards the empty air at the taller toon's right. The reason only became clear when Bendy, confused by the gesture, walked into reach. Buddy's mitten hand closed over the little devil's coat, yanking him into the huddle. For a moment, Bendy completely froze, both a little surprised by the tiny toon's deceptively strong grip and the sheer one-eighty from what had been happening nary a minute ago.

The dull shock didn't last long for either toon when they realized that Buddy's tiny body was being wracked with quiet but heaving sobs. It only then struck the pair how terrifying the whole experience would have been if you could only hear what was happening.

"'salright, Bud, we're okay…" Boris murmured, gently rubbing the top of the tiny toon's head. Bendy too tried to offer comfort, gently rubbing the top of the mitten glove with his thumb.

"Yeah, ol' Bertie wasn't gonna get us, kiddo, we're too-."

Boris, didn't interrupt exactly, but at the insulting nickname the taller toon froze and warily looked to the decimated ride, clearly expecting another nasty surprise.

"Pal, I don't think he's comin' back after that." The little devil whispered, though he did have to concede on the grounds that he definitely wanted out of this room as quickly as possible. But, as Bendy scanned the broken theme park ride, his eyes lit on the door that he and Boris had tried to get into.

Except this time, it was open. Bendy edged forward a few steps just to be sure he was seeing correctly, drawing Boris's attention.

"Ben?"

"The door, look."

The wolf followed the little devil's eyes, noticing the change and following along as Bendy carefully crossed the room over bits of machinery.

Lo and behold, the small closet of a room was indeed where the switch was located. Unable to fight a relieved grin at the sight, Bendy darted across the room to pull it and moved just as quickly to leave. Boris was right on the little devil's heels as they cut across the room, into the now-open entryway and through the hall back out into Storage 9. Going back to the switchboard, the wolf flipped the third switch, easily meeting the grin Bendy had with one of his own.

"One more." The smaller toon whispered, cementing the idea that they were one step closer to getting Henry. Just one more room and then they'd be there.

And this time, the room wasn't tucked away in some corner. It was the one that they had passed on the way to Bertrum's room labeled MAINTENANCE, the trio's enthusiasm dampening down slightly at the words painted on the wall across.

CHOO CHOO CHOO CHOO

Did this have to do with that train ride? Bendy couldn't help but entertain the thought as they inched over the threshold. It seemed likely, though the image of a deformed, toony train chasing them was making the little devil wish for something less…borderline insane.

However, despite the writing, there was nothing that indicated the bizarre image was going to be a reality. The entryway corridor led into a small workroom, off which was another hall. Next to the doorway was another cluster of writing, reading CHOO CHOO this time.

Fighting down an uneasy grimace, the trio continued, heading through a vault-looking type door that closed once they were all over the threshold. Immediately Bendy and Boris looked back, Buddy jolting at the sound and pressing into the wolf's front. Despite the fact that his heart was starting to pound a violent tattoo against his ribcage, Bendy tried to rationalize their newfound situation.

"W-We prob'ly gotta get the lever b'fore it'll open again."

"…Alright." Boris whispered back, the wolf's attention shifting to the room in front of them. There was another corridor to the left, directly across from a Lil' Miracle Station and a machine that Boris couldn't identify. Looked like a pump of some kind, but he wasn't sure. A faint flicker of movement drew the wolf's eyes down to the partially earthen floor, with a plant gently swaying to some breeze off in the corner.

Bendy's eyes swept over the scene too, the sight of the plant making the smaller toon's face twist uncomfortably as he remembered the last time he'd seen such a thing. Instead, he turned his attention to the corridor, edging forward enough to peer around the corner and see what looked like a staircase.

The little devil was quickly joined by Boris, the wolf following as Bendy inched closer with the intent of seeing where the steps led. As they descended the stairs, Bendy had to suppress a groan at the sight of the ink-flooded room. Boris barely had time to notice before Buddy suddenly balled up in the wolf's arms, the tiny toon vibrating like jello in an earthquake.

"Bud, what's-?"

"Boris." Bendy suddenly hissed, the little devil having caught sight of a familiar, yellowy light reflecting off the ink, growing larger as the source came closer. The connection flared to life in both Boris and Bendy's minds, the wolf seizing the little devil by the back of his coat and pulling him up the stairs. It was just in time for the lanky, bobbing form of the Projectionist to trudge past the doorway.

"How?!" Bendy found himself hissing after the monster had walked out of sight, only distantly registering Boris's hand loosening on the back of his coat as a rattled, questioning noise sounded from over his head. The sound turned into a yelp as the devil pulled away, hurrying as quietly as he could down the stairs to peer at the Projectionist's retreating back.

It also drew Bendy's attention to the fact that the room was a lot more open than Level 14. Gone were the close confines of the maze. Now the monster was roaming a large room with two trains on either side being the only shelter for anyone trying to sneak around. Meaning they'd either have to hide using the trains or stay so close behind that the Projectionist had no chance of seeing them.

Unless of course he turned around…

Quietly groaning, Bendy hurried back up the stairs as the bobbing light appeared at the far side of the room, back up to Boris and Buddy. However, no one was particularly enthusiastic for what would come next.

"I didn't see th' lever, but it's gotta be somewhere down there."

With the Projectionist. The very thought of which made Boris's fur stand on end, his arms tightening around Buddy and causing the tiny toon to give a staticky squeak at the sudden pressure before mitten gloves reached up to pat at Boris's arms and chest. The wolf did loosen up, kneading over the minute devil's head in return but he still could not relax, not with the thing that had tried to strangle him being just a staircase away.

Not to mention…everything else associated with the poor man the Projectionist had once been was still floating around Boris's mind. And, while they hadn't necessarily been able to do much by way of damage the last time, he couldn't help but feel like they wouldn't be so lucky to avoid it this time around. Even with the possibility of a maiming on the horizon, Boris still wasn't sure that he could hurt Norman…not after everything.

Well, there was the booth up here. If the worst happened, they could run back and hope that Norman wouldn't get wise. It was a thought that seemed to occur to Bendy too, though when the little devil turned to look up at the wolf with a somewhat hesitant, familiar expression, Boris quickly reached over and took the smaller toon's hand.

Bendy would definitely not be doing this on his own, thank you very much.

Almost in answer to that, Buddy clung to Boris like a barnacle. The trio edged their way down the stairs before the light reappeared on the surface of the ink, bobbing just as it had before. In a snap decision, Bendy hurtled to the right, pressing himself and Boris to the wall just as the Projectionist came into view. The monster's legs plodded through the syrupy ink, the noise not quite enough to cover the sound of the projector running as though its life depended on it. After Norman had gone past, Bendy waited until he had turned to go alongside the train before daring to step out. Boris carefully followed behind, almost holding his breath as his eyes trained themselves on the Projectionist's retreating back. As they followed along a few steps behind, Bendy tried to keep watch on the feral powerhouse in front of them and pick out some sign of the lever that they would need in order to get out.

At first it seemed like the room itself was trying to stymie the devil's efforts, his eyes casting over everything from the train to a staircase on the left, blocked by what looked like a pile of sandbags.

There was also a pile of boxes in the corner, on which Bendy spotted a tape deck, but he just as quickly decided that now wasn't the time to listen to it. Boris for his part didn't notice, too focused on practically boring a hole into the Projectionist's back.

It was only when they rounded the corner and started heading along the back of the room that Bendy spotted something promising. On the far wall behind the other train was a large switch. As they came closer, trailing a few yards behind the still-plodding Projectionist, Bendy noticed that there was label above it reading LIFT CONTROL. The observation of which made the little devil's stomach sink; was that the wrong switch?

Though as they started to follow the Projectionist down alongside the other train, Bendy found that if there was a different lever somewhere it wasn't out where they could get at it. The control switch was the only one there was. They'd have to just try it and hope for the best. Tapping Boris, Bendy gestured to the switch and mimed pulling it, his own way of warning the wolf of what he was about to do. Maybe afterwards they'd follow the Projectionist back to the entryway, see if the door had opened up again…

That plan only held up for point-two seconds after Bendy had yanked the switch, as immediately after it clicked the Projectionist whirled with an ear-splitting screech and thundered towards the trio.

Somewhere in the span of moments, Bendy had an instant to feel everything in his insides freeze, paralyzing fear and blame swarm him all at once with a howl of WHAT HAVE YOU DONE screaming through his mind to complement the Projectionist's roar. The sight of the advancing monster was whisked away as Boris reached down, grabbed Bendy, and bolted across the room as fast as the wolf's feet could take him through the ink.

Catching sight of the sandbags lifting away from in front of the stairs, the taller toon abandoned the idea of running to the Lil' Miracle Station and instead flung himself up the steps. Though as he left the thick, cloying ink behind, so too did the Projectionist. Bendy, who had ended up pressed to the wolf's front with a horribly-trembling Buddy, had a good view of the creature as it accelerated up the staircase right on Boris's heels. Air rushing in breathless gasps, the wolf kept up his wild dash, heading onto a catwalk which ran around the top part of the room. Even though the experience in Level 14 had made it clear that the once-man would not be swayed by anything, Boris still found himself shrieking back to the Projectionist.

"NORMAN, NORMAN STOP, PLEASE! STOP!"

"BORIS!" Bendy hollered, the taller toon following the little devil's pointing finger to a rapidly-approaching doorway. It was only when they were a few inches away that the trio came to a horrible realization that their apparent escape was a dead-end nook. But, it had the switch that they had been looking for, lit up in the contained little space.

Boris practically threw the three of them in, Bendy just managing to get his arm free to reach up and pull the switch out of pure desperation.

The room was plunged into darkness, the screeching of the Projectionist cutting off as well. For a few, tense seconds, the trio huddled in the shoddy safety of the nook, waiting for something to appear and try to grab them.

But, when nothing happened, the air only filled with the sound of machines humming and grinding away, they all began to tremblingly ease themselves out of the nook into the semi-darkness.

"Wh-Where'd he…?" Bendy found himself asking through a dry mouth and a shaky tongue, though no one had to ask for him to complete the thought. They were all thinking the same thing.

"I don', I don' know. I can't hear, d'ya see his light? Anywhere?" Boris murmured, his grip on Bendy loosening though he still didn't quite move to set the little devil down. However, as they stood there the lights steadily began to wink back on, and they were greeted by nothing but an empty catwalk in all directions. The Projectionist had…vanished?

No, no he couldn't have, Bendy thought as he struggled to find some explanation that made sense for why they'd been left alone. They'd seen the Projectionist walking around, heard him too. He wasn't some elaborate hallucination; he'd definitely been in the room.

But when they'd pulled the switch, there hadn't been anything apart from the noise cutting, not even the sound of the monster maybe walking back to the steps after giving up the chase.

"Boris," The little devil murmured, pointing to the railing a few feet away, overlooking the ink-flooded part of the room. "Check down there, he could'a…"

Though Bendy hadn't completed his thought, Boris hardly needed to be told twice. Carefully the wolf stepped up, peering over the railing to see if he could pick out some hint of the Projectionist having gone back to the lower level. As he did Bendy looked around at everything from the nook they'd left behind to the catwalk at large. There were a few piles of boxes and barrels here and there, even a table and chair, but it wasn't like Norman's new look gave him much of an edge when it came to hiding. Not to mention he hardly showed much inclination to before…

"I don't see him here either, Bendy. I think…" Boris halted for a moment, almost hesitating to finish as though he might accidentally jinx their good fortune. Even still, the thought was easy enough to complete, as Bendy was having it too. Buddy still was curled up into a tight little ball against Boris, though the tiny toon was peering in the direction of both their voices as he tried to follow along with what was happening.

Finally assured that the Projectionist was in fact gone Boris set Bendy back down on his feet, the trio heading back around the catwalk to the stairs. As they did the wolf slowed down, attention caught by something in a small room built into the wall.

"What's this?" Boris asked, Bendy turning to see the taller toon examining the space. Now that the little devil got a good look, he recognized what he'd initially thought was a poster for what it actually was; one of those joke booths where you could take your picture with your head as part of some caricature. He'd seen a few of them, but due to his less-than photogenic appearance Bendy had ultimately never tried one.

"It's a joke thing, t'take pictures. Y'put your head up there, an' somebody takes your picture. Y'can keep 'em, I think. They're s'pposed t'be funny, I guess."

"Y'just do this?" Boris asked, walking carefully to the back of the board and putting his head through the hole. Just as Bendy was about to answer, a loud click from across the knoll snapped everyone's attention to a dusty camera sitting right across from the poster. As the pair stared, the realization of what had just happened hit home with a small square of white popping out from the front of the camera. With a smile starting to blossom on his face, Bendy plucked the developing picture to hold up to the by now heavily-blushing wolf hurriedly extricating himself.

"Really let yourself go, huh, pal?" The cheeky grin and quip were met with a thoroughly unamused frown and flat stare, even as Boris's eyes flicked to the unflattering caricature of a rotund character holding a trident. Some kind of sea-type villain or side character that Bendy couldn't remember. Maybe it was from something after he'd left. Either way the idea of it with Boris's unsuspecting face attached was a pretty funny thought, enough for Bendy to slip the still developing picture into his pocket for safekeeping.

"Not funny, Ben."

"I dunno, I think it's pretty funny."

"Maybe we oughta get a picture'a you in there next." The wolf 'suggested' as he advanced on the little devil, an arm outstretched to grab Bendy and make good on his word. Smile taking a more strained edge, the smaller toon leaned away as he tried to backpedal.

"Ah, no pal, don't think we need to. B-Besides, I wouldn' be able t'reach!"

"I can help you with that, Ben. After all, what're pals for?" Boris asked, a rare mischievous smile playing across canid features as he shuffled Buddy in his arms, leaning forward. The smaller toon quickly danced out of the wolf's reach, running to the stairs before he abruptly remembered that they were not in the best place for this sort of thing.

Turning back, the already sheepish smile became a touch strained as Bendy noticed that Boris had realized the same thing too, the taller toon's face frozen in a look of pure anxiety before he met the little devil's eyes and visibly calmed down.

Still Boris hardly wasted any time closing the gap between them, Buddy reaching out from his huddle against the wolf for Bendy's hand. Reaching up and giving the small mitten glove a reassuring squeeze, the little devil did his best to give the taller toon an equally comforting and slightly sheepish grin.

"…Sorry about that, pal. I…Yeah, that was dumb. Sorry."

"'sokay." Boris whispered, though he still rested a hand on the smaller toon's shoulder. The trio headed down the stairs, Bendy quickly sweeping a look about just in case the Projectionist was about. The room was still silent, not a hint of a bouncing projector light anywhere, the little devil quietly dismissing his wariness as they reached the bottom of the steps.

"Hey, Ben?"

"Yeah, Boris?" The smaller toon replied, head turning to look at where the wolf's eyes were fixed and seeing the tape deck that he'd noticed earlier. Well, seeing as they seemed pretty alone in here…

"Saw it b'fore, didn't exactly want t'point it out. Y'can play it, pal, might as well hear what it says." Bendy's words were nearing flippant, the little devil more content to watch their backs as Boris reached out and pressed the play button.

"I believe there's something special in all of us." The first sentence made Bendy whip back around, the little devil's eyes widening as he recognized the voice. Joey Drew, their creator.

"With inner strength, you can conquer even your biggest challenges. You just have to believe in yourself and remain honest, motivated, and above all, who you really are." His voice had the same sort of inflection as the last tape deck, though apart from that Bendy's attention was more on Boris. The wolf had taken a halting, shuffling step back, ears dropping to press almost against his head. Bendy almost wasn't sure that the taller toon was even breathing, the thought causing him to hurry around to be more in front of Boris. But before he could say anything, Joey's voice came back on, the tone of the recording changing like night and day.

"Okay, let's stop it right there. I can only do so many takes of this trash a day. And tell the guys in writing I want more use of the word dreaming in every message. Keep railing on that, get it? Dreaming! Dreaming! Dreaming! People just eat up that kind of slop. Hmm, what? It's still on? Well, turn it off, damn it!"

It was such a drastic shift that Bendy froze entirely, the shout at the end causing a faint, residual wince to flash over the little devil's face, a faint sloshing of ink coming from next to him as Boris jumped. Albeit, he quickly shook off the stupor with the memory of the wolf still standing next to him, still as a statue. Boris's face was nearly blank, if not for the owlishly wide eyes and faint grimace twisting the canid features as he hugged Buddy's frame close to his front, shoulders hunching and making him look smaller.

Though now that Bendy was paying attention, he noticed that Boris was hardly the only one affected by the recording. Buddy may not have been as still as the wolf, though the tiny toon was hardly looking much better. The minute devil's frame was practically vibrating, expression pulled in a heavy, almost painful looking display of clenched teeth and panic. However, what both Boris and Buddy had in common though neither seemed to realize it, was their efforts to hide from the recording, or perhaps the memory of the person on the recording. Where Boris folded in on himself, hiding his scar from open reach, Buddy curled up as though to ward off a physical blow, mitten hands pressed to his head.

The sight snapped Bendy entirely from whatever emotions he might've had about hearing his creator's voice again, his hands hesitating for just a moment before wrapping around Boris's arm. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best thing to do given how the wolf jolted, but it at the very least snapped Boris out of the shock he'd been stuck in.

"Sorry, pal, sorry, it's, it's just me. L-Look we should prob'ly get outta here-." The little devil stammered, wishing that he could force some assuredness into his voice. Right now, he felt too rattled to fake it, which probably helped in forcing Boris to turn away from the tape deck and follow him back along the decrypt train. As they reached the front, the wolf's eyes turned to something on their left and he gave a quiet, repulsed shudder, Bendy following the taller toon's gaze until his eyes landed on a stack of ink hearts perched atop a box.

How the heck did I miss that?! The thought came with a disgusted squirming all its own, though Bendy instead threw his energy into hurrying past. The door was just a few, tantalizing feet away.

Once the trio crossed the threshold they had a moment's warning in a light suddenly powering on behind them, right before a familiar screech rang out and terrified them all out of their wits. Not even bothering to look back or question the Projectionist's sudden reappearance they bolted for the stairs, Boris picking up Bendy as they went. Though the wolf beelined towards the Lil' Miracle Station, Bendy was able to catch sight of the door they'd come through, still very shut and probably very much locked.

It was all for nothing, the thought turning something inside the little devil cold. He hadn't seen any other levers, and with the Projectionist in here it was probably all so they'd have that much more of a harder time when it came to surviving.

The train of thought was derailed when Boris nearly crashed into the bench after throwing open the door, the wolf somehow managing to get them all situated so that the booth could be closed.

Bendy's shock ebbed as he tried to keep planning. He couldn't say for certain whether or not the door was locked, they'd have to check that. But they could only check once the Projectionist was gone. Hopefully now that they were out of sight he would leave, the thought solidifying itself in Bendy's mind as he stared at the slat in the booth door where the light was beaming through.

But, unfortunately for the trio, the light didn't turn away or continue on. Instead, it continued to beam through the slat in the booth door, the whirring sounds of a projector working overtime growing steadily louder. Standing on the bench, Bendy could see the Projectionist leaning in, head tilting as it seemed to consider the Lil' Miracle Station.

The little devil's breath caught in his throat as he saw the monster reach out to the door, the trios' grip on each other growing dangerously tight as they awaited the creak that would herald their sanctuary falling apart.

While the creak didn't come, the loud crash that echoed through the room definitely was more than enough to make everyone jump. Though Bendy's jolt was marred by a hissing groan as it felt like his brain was set alight inside his skull. Boris, despite the faint, coughing spasms that were starting to reverberate through his chest, grabbed both devils as he tried to peer through the slat in the door.

Bendy heard the Projectionist screech once more, though this time it sounded as though the noise was being directed away from the Lil' Miracle Station. Albeit, it wasn't as like he couldn't guess why, the strong, aching pulsations doing more than enough to hint that 'Sammy' had joined the stand-off.

Though it didn't seem like there would be any camaraderie between the two monsters. Underneath the screeches of the Projectionist Bendy could hear splatters, ink impacting with ink as they fought with each other, though with his head pounding like it had throbbing spiked ball tucked in his skull, he couldn't put anything visual to the noise.

Then, just as the screeching was starting to reach a crescendo, it cut off with a sickening squelch, the sound of something impacting with the front of the Miracle Station loud in the abrupt quiet. Bendy's head still pounded, and Boris's chest vibrated with the effort of keeping the coughs in his throat, but the oppressive, smothering feeling was already ebbing in slow stages, before vanishing entirely. The pain waning, Bendy started to slump against the side of the booth before he was abruptly pulled into a huddle with Buddy on Boris's lap. It only sank in an instant later that the wolf was shaking, gasping sobs mixing with the barely-held coughs and turning Boris's breathing into a mess.

"Pal, 'salright, we're here, we're okay, 's gone…" Bendy murmured, the wear from before causing his voice to slur. Even still, Boris hardly seemed pacified, instead shaking his head and trying to speak with his discombobulated air supply.

"S-S-ammy, he, he-."

Perhaps he should have tried to calm the wolf down, but for the moment all Bendy's brain could offer was a confused and weak 'what?' in response. And, with the prompting, more tumbled from Boris's mouth like water.

"S-Saw S-a-ammy, he an' N-Norman were fightin', an' Sa-ammy, he…he…"

At that point Boris was crying too hard to continue, though he did make a motion like he was pulling something apart, the meaning causing something in Bendy to ache. Though he'd hardly gotten his energy back the little devil still shuffled about, wrapping his arms around what he could of the wolf's shaking frame.

"'sokay, pal, I gotcha, I'm here…" Bendy whispered, feeling like a broken, useless record though he was soon joined by Buddy, the tiny toon doing his best to mimic the other devil despite not being able to offer any verbal comfort. Though, even with the hug pressing in from both sides, Boris's breathing still dipped in and out of the frantic gasping that Bendy'd been growing sadly used to hearing.

Even still, he kept up as much as he could despite his windedness, soft reassurances and general white noise quietly echoing inside the Lil' Miracle Station like a forlorn prayer, a bare wish for calm that might not come but damned if Bendy wasn't going to try.

Though, just as it seemed like Boris might be approaching some semblance of calm, the wolf's breathing abruptly caught, and a couple of phlegmy-sounding coughs rattled the taller toon's shaking form. The odd break caused Bendy to pull back, doing his best to study Boris's face in the low light beaming in before he gave up and tried the more direct route of pressing a hand to the wolf's forehead. The heat that he felt was not quite as powerful as before, but the fact that it was there at all was no less worrying. Especially seeing as this was starting to become a pattern…

Though, Bendy remembered as he patted at his jacket pockets, they still had their inkwells. Hopefully he hadn't cracked one of them with all the running around and the almost getting killed but you never know. With the way ink was splashing everywhere it was hard to tell.

"Pal, y're runnin' a fever ag'in." Bendy murmured, the wolf jolting a little at the declaration.

"I am?"

"Not so bad this time. Just a lil'one, but we should prob'ly give you some ink anyway, just in case it does get worse." Bendy's reply was partly said into his scarf, as he quickly busied himself with trying to fish out an inkwell. He wasn't sure if the faint slipperiness he was feeling was ink from a broken bottle or just what was smeared over his hands, but when the wrapped glass came out with only a small amount of loose, wet ink Bendy conceded that it was more likely the latter than the former.

"But, Bendy," Boris started, even as the wolf shakily took the inkwell from the little devil. "Wh-what about Henry?"

What about Henry? The thought nearly made Bendy stall for a moment, before he let out a deep sigh.

"Gotta take care'a this first, pal. Don't want you gettin' worse."

Boris looked about ready to protest, before something caught in his throat and had him coughing again. Bendy winced in both sympathy and the wet sound to the spasms, gesturing for the wolf to drink whatever was in the inkwell. In a bid to stop the fit Boris quickly gulped down the ink, slumping against the back of the booth as his lungs calmed. Still, Bendy didn't need perfect lighting to see the quiet look of regret flashing over the wolf's features.

"…Sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault, pal." Bendy replied, though the fact that he couldn't force much more than a quiet firmness to his tone probably wasn't bolstering the wolf's morale any. Buddy's head flipped between them, the tiny toon clambering into Boris's lap as the taller toon started to drift off. Though one of the wolf's long arms automatically came up to steady the minute devil, his other hand started to fumblingly reach over to Bendy, almost too hesitantly to be seen.

Feeling a small part of himself flicker, the little devil barely wasted any time reaching over to clasp at the long fingers, even as a part of him was torn between wanting to just keep pushing forward and holding back for the sake of his friend. Still, he didn't want the wolf thinking this was his fault. It wasn't. It was just…bad luck.

No, probably something a little more…not good. It seemed far too coincidental that this was all happening after Boris had been…

…Maybe something about him coming back hadn't gone right? The thought made Bendy's insides give a belated squirm as he considered, though when the image of Boris simply collapsing, or even melting away played across the backs of his eyelids the little devil forced himself to shove the thoughts away. It couldn't be what was happening. It just couldn't…he couldn't take getting Boris back just to watch him die again…

A sudden snore made Bendy jolt, his eyes snapping to see Boris slumped against the wall of the Lil' Miracle Station. On his lap, Buddy partially curled with his face partially buried in the wolf's fur, the tiny toon definitely asleep as Bendy leaned in to take a closer look.

Well, at least someone ought to be resting. The little devil certainly didn't feel like doing so. He felt torn between two extremes, of charging in to get Henry and deal with 'Alice', and of keeping the wolf and other devil toon safe. Neither were in any condition to go into the haunted house and take on the warped angel, never mind 'Sammy' if he were to show up again. The upset tension caused Bendy to fidget on the seat, his brain revolving between the two trains of thought with a faintly panicky air.

But, what if they didn't go? What if he just went, by himself?

The thought hit like lightning, Bendy freezing for an instant as he considered. He could go, right now. They'd gotten the lever, he knew exactly what came next. Get the switch, the last switch. Then go into the haunted house, deal with 'Alice', and rescue Henry. It seemed simple planning it out like that, though Bendy knew it was likely going to be anything but.

Looking to Boris and taking in the worn, tear-streaked canid face, the little devil felt his insides twist, his frame briefly curling up as he pressed his face into his knees in a way to dispel the horrid feeling building up inside him.

It almost felt like drowning; he was afraid and anxious all at once for himself and for the other two toons, though, if he didn't go…

Looking back up to Boris and Buddy, Bendy took in the quiet, huddled pair, gently reaching out to rest his hand on the wolf's head. It seemed like whatever flare-up of fever he'd gotten before was going away, either because the ink was actually doing something or perhaps it was easing on its own. As Bendy's thumb gently rubbed the taller toon's brow, Boris's face scrunched before a small cough rattled the lanky frame. At the first sign of a disturbance the little devil withdrew, though when the wolf did not wake up he couldn't help feeling a mix of relieved and wanting.

Still, if Boris was going to be fine, and Buddy was going to stay with him…

Carefully, Bendy got up off the bench, gently easing himself out of the Lil' Miracle Station and closing the door behind him. Listening for a moment just in case, the smaller toon took the brief pause to glance around, immediately noticing the faintly gushing projector lying on its side to the right of the booth. Swallowing, Bendy's eyes traveled from that to the still-wet puddle of ink next to it, the whole side leading into a trail that went down the hall to the door.

A door that, he realized, looked as though it had been kicked down. The thought of which briefly shook something loose from the quiet blanket of shock that had overtaken Bendy's thoughts as he considered the scene and what Boris had told him (-his pal saw, he saw all of this happen, he saw Sammy rip off Norman's-). From what he remembered 'Sammy' hardly seemed to be in any state to go kicking down metal doors, never mind ones that, as far as the little devil knew, weren't exactly easy to break.

Fighting down a faint shudder and the urge to run back to safety, Bendy pushed himself on. Though, as he got to the decimated door, he saw that the ink trail lead right into the wall next to it, rather than continuing on through. Abruptly, the little devil thought back to when 'Sammy' had just appeared after he and Boris had broken the cutouts, though the fact that the apparent trail, probably from the rest of Norman, made him uneasy. If the Projectionist had not melted away, what use could 'Sammy' have for his…body?

Grimacing, Bendy hurried on, traversing the small corridor beyond and heading out into Storage 9 almost too quickly. Even as he found himself up at the switchboard, with the last lever lit up, it seemed to take him far too long to actually pull it.

When a moment went by with nothing happening, Bendy looked to the side and noticed one big switch a little bit to the right. Unable to stop a faint, exasperated frown from turning his face, his hand shot up to grab it, fingers almost nervelessly wrapping around and pushing it into the 'on' position.

The rumble of the haunted house's front door opening told him he'd accomplished what he'd wanted. Robotically, Bendy moved to stand at the front stoop of the haunted house, flinching as a deep, creepy laugh emanated from inside the ride.

Just go in.

But he wouldn't, couldn't move, the memory of being SLAMMED into hard surface after hard surface mixing with the recollection of Boris and how if you hadn't left him behind then feeding into what are you doing what the hell are you doing you idiot what are they gonna think when they wake up and find you gone, but he wasn't trying to be a liar, he wasn't, he was trying to protect them, nobody else needed to get hurt here, Boris hardly needed to suffer any more than he already had…

Before Bendy realized it, he was withdrawing, folding in on himself with his hands clenched in the fabric of his jacket. This, this was wrong, but he wasn't sure he wanted to do this the right way. The right way would endanger Boris, who was already worrying Bendy with those weird fever spurts. It would also endanger Buddy, who wouldn't be able to see, who was in the same position as Boris in that he had also been hurt in this mess, hurt in his name-.

You could just go in and deal with it yourself. No need to involve anyone else, no need for anyone to get hurt. You've been doing things alone for thirty years, why change now?

And get beaten to a pulp, as the warped 'angel' threw him around like it was nothing, like he was nothing, like he could just die, and she wouldn't feel a thing. But better you than Boris, right, better you than Buddy, who've had to deal with this for thirty years because you ran like a coward, maybe you should die down here after all, JOEY'S LIL' MONSTER-.

But, even with those thoughts whirling through his brain, Bendy couldn't make himself move forward. The internal reminder that Henry was in there, somewhere, only caused him to freeze more because what if he was too late, what if she had torn Henry open and he'd be dead like Boris had been but with red blood everywhere instead of black ink, and it would be HIS FAULT-!

Lost as he was in his thoughts, Bendy hardly heard the sounds of someone running from the Maintenance room until they were mere inches behind him, the little devil hardly having the time to react before a much-larger hand seized the back of his jacket. With a watery yelp Bendy slipped his arms through the sleeves, stumbling forward a half-step before he crashed to the floor. Still, he tried to scramble away from his mysterious assailant, spinning around as his back met the front step of the haunted house.

But the only ones there were Boris and Buddy, the wolf having the smaller toon's jacket in one hand and the minute devil tucked in his other arm. Boris's face was mired with quiet shock and panicky tears, the sight making the tension in Bendy snap with a wet gasp as the little devil's frame crumpled.

Mind racing, his arms folded protectively around himself as his head tumbled end over end with thoughts of he's gonna hate me, liar, burden, I'd hate me, stupid, Joey's monster, please I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't want to hurt you, my fault, it's all my fault…

But Boris wasn't yelling. The wolf hardly made a sound as he edged forward, putting Bendy's coat in his teeth as he reached out with his now free hand. The little devil didn't fight, even scrambling up to throw his arms around the taller toon's neck as he struggled for air. Casting around, Boris eventually opted to set down on the opposite side of the far shelf, past a Lil' Miracle Station booth. Spitting out Bendy's jacket, the wolf quickly turned his attention to the little devil himself, who was still clinging tightly and sounding like he was in the midst of a meltdown. Before Boris could even speak, Bendy was trying to force words past a lump in his throat.

"I-'m s-s-sorry, 'm s-so sorry, pal, I didn', I didn' want, I d-didn' mean t'…"

"Ben, it's…" Not okay. Waking up in the booth and not knowing where Bendy was had been terrifying, but for the moment Boris kept down the part of him that wanted to ask the devil what on earth he'd meant. Bendy sounded plenty sorry, and worried anger aside Boris hardly wanted to turn this into an argument. "…y'need t'breathe, Ben, take deep breaths…"

Taking in a deep lungful of air, the wolf gently eased Bendy into following along. Like Henry and Sammy had taught him, in and out, in and out. Buddy even got into the act, giving loud, exaggerated breaths of his own that made Bendy give a watery snort at the comically serious look on the tiny toon's face.

But, humor aside, it was working. Apart from the occasional hiccup Bendy sounded much better, the little devil only trembling slightly as his eyes drifted somewhere between closed and half-lidded. However, before he could actually come close to falling asleep Bendy jolted, forcing himself awake. Internally Boris felt a quiet, sad sigh come on, figuring that if he wanted to ask about what had just happened, he'd probably be better off doing it now.

"Bendy, why were you out here?" An easy enough question to start with, though judging from the now-open door of the haunted house, Boris felt he could guess. Still, best to hear it from the little devil's own mouth.

Though at the question Bendy's calm started to fragment, the wolf just able to catch how the smaller toon's eyes zipped up to meet his before just as quickly looking away.

"Ben-?" Boris asked again, only for the devil to suddenly speak up.

"I didn' want you t'get hurt."

Alright, well, if the wolf had any doubts on his earlier guess, that all but outright confirmed he was right. Feeling a groan that was equal parts frustrated and worried rumble up his throat, the taller toon let his head clunk against the shelf behind him. The admittedly quiet show of aggravation was more than enough to rattle Bendy completely out of his earlier calm spell, the little devil's body starting to shake again as words tumbled from his mouth.

"I-I didn', I knew y'wouldn' like it, 'm sorry, I-I couldn' even do it, pal, I couldn', jus'…jus' pathetic, H-Henry could be dead right now an' I jus'…"

"You're not-." Boris had started, right before the part about Henry possibly being dead registered and the wolf felt something quietly break as he took in both the words and the wild-eyed, near-frantic expression twisting Bendy's face, a few dribbles of ink staining the off-color white. Ordinarily, it would have been pale as milk, but with all of the scares, not to mention the sheer amount of ink around, it was a dusky, dim grey.

If Boris were going to be any kind of poetic about it, he could say that it was almost like the experience was draining something out of the little devil. Everything from Bendy's mind to his physical appearance becoming marked by something that could not be outright seen, only read in the aftereffects. The thought made something sink in the wolf's chest, Boris carefully tucking Bendy's head under his snout as he tried to find something to say.

"…We don't know that, Ben. Henry could still be in there somewhere. He could be waitin' for us t'come. An'," The taller toon murmured with a finger poking the center of the little devil's face ", you're not goin' in alone. 'r I'll chase you through there too. Said it b'fore an' I mean it now. Please, just, let me help you."

"But, Boris, what about th'…those weird spells you're gettin'? If'n you get sick, in there, I-I can't-." Bendy started, the wolf quickly cutting him off.

"Then we gotta do it fast. I just had one, so we've got some time."

"But what if it's somethin' really bad, an'-."

"Bendy-?"

"Wh-What if you're, I dunno, fallin' apart 'r somethin', an', an' she makes it worse 'r I can't do anythin'…"

"I don't think 'm fallin' apart, Ben." Boris replied, though a part of him knew that it was more out of a desire to remove the worry that he was saying so, not any real assuredness of what was actually happening. "An', it wasn't too long this time, right? Maybe they're goin' away."

It couldn't have been. Otherwise Bendy might've been further along than the outside of the haunted house. Thankfully, Boris found that the point was winning the little devil over somewhat, enough that Bendy was easing down from his earlier hysteria. Sensing the give, Boris kept pushing.

"We're gonna handle this t'gether, like we said we would. Y-You're not gettin' rid'a me that easy, Bendy." The wolf's words were somewhat wavery, tainted by the thought of he nearly did, he nearly ran right into her hands and you would've been none the wiser you COWARD, if you weren't a complete wreck he might not have thought to go that far. Despite the fact that Boris tried to stow those thoughts as quickly as possible, his voice still shook enough that Bendy probably noticed, given how the little devil's arms briefly tightened over the wolf's lanky frame. Sensing the shift, Buddy also latched onto both toons, mitten hands doing their very best to give the pair a comforting hug. Boris rounded off the embrace by wrapping his much longer arms around both devils, pressing in with a warm, gentle hug. Within the safety of fur and ink, Bendy finally gave a deep sigh, letting some of the tension flow out of his frame before he spoke.

"…Okay, 'm…'m sorry pal, I won', won't do that again…" The words were still a little quavering, the smaller toon even realizing himself as he took a moment to collect his composure. Boris hardly let the silence sit, instead opting to fill in where Bendy couldn't.

"Y'better not. Pretty sure this's just proven I can still catch you if'n I need to, Ben." The quip was punctuated with a playful poke at the little devil's face, Bendy going cross-eyed for a moment before giving a weak shadow of a laugh. Though, it did seem like the conversation was winding up, so Bendy did try to extricate himself from the huddle, Boris standing up along with him.

"Yeah, y'definitely did, pal. But, Buddy-." Before Bendy could even finish talking, the tiny toon stiffened and grabbed onto Boris's arm, clearly unwilling to be moved.

"Bud, no, we're not takin' you inta ground zero of this mess, y'can't even see if'n somethin' tries t'get you. How d'ya expect t'stay safe?" The little devil's exhaustion was banished for the moment as he tried to make his point clear to Buddy. Though he wasn't about to offer any verbal rebuttal, Buddy quaveringly shook his head and tightened his grip on the wolf. Boris did look like the argument Bendy gave was winning him over, but the taller toon was completely unsure of how to approach the prospect of making the minute devil let go.

Albeit, while Boris might've been unsure, Bendy had no compunctions about taking a more direct approach, the little devil marching forward and doing his best to pull Buddy off the wolf's arm. When a few tugs didn't do much, Bendy gave a mischievous smirk before trying a different tact and tickling around the tiny toon's nonexistent neck.

Buddy outright jolted, a shrill staticky yelp whistling through the minute devil's clenched teeth as his grip on Boris slipped. Spotting victory, Bendy easily swooped in and grabbed the tiny frame, cradling Buddy to his front as he carried his helplessly giggling cargo to the nearby Lil' Miracle Station.

Though when Bendy levied Buddy into the booth, the little devil had barely turned around when he spotted a familiar tiny toon partially huddling behind Boris's legs.

"Buddy…"

Following Bendy's eyes, the wolf jolted at the sight of the minute devil right behind him. Though Bendy's emotions were running in an entirely different direction. Storming over, the smaller toon grumbled as much to himself as he was to Buddy.

"Y'CANNOT play that trick on me, Bud, I MADE that trick…!" The snarling made the tiny toon jump, freezing in place behind Boris just long enough for Bendy to get close.

Though Buddy remained limp enough to be grabbed, even hanging in Bendy's arms like a plucked-up cat, the little devil was only so surprised when he turned around following a second attempt and this time saw the tiny toon silently scrambling his way to the haunted house.

"Oh, no y'don't, lil' mister, you get back here-!" Bendy's holler caused Buddy's escape attempt to be pushed into overdrive, the minute devil's hands patting at the steps as he tried to hurry along. Still, it wasn't fast enough to outmaneuver Bendy, who quickly overtook and swept up the tiny toon.

And unfortunately for Buddy, his weakened stamina could only pull off such a trick for so many times. Eventually, he was too worn out to do more than flop against Bendy as the little devil hauled him to the confines of the Lil' Miracle Station.

"Bud, this is for your own good…!" Bendy ground out, pinning the tiny toon between his coat front and a pair of crossed arms.

"Buddy, it's okay, we'll come back for you!" Boris jumped in, noticing a shift in the comedic mood that had gripped the scene. Buddy's body language had changed from passively determined to desperately frantic. Something about it pricked at the wolf's compassion, though he still knew that Bendy had a very good point. Buddy couldn't fight back if something happened in there and they were separated, staying out and hidden was the safest option for the tiny toon right now.

But, even with the sound reasoning, it was hard to go through with it when Buddy looked like they were walking him off a plank into shark-infested waters. Breath hissing through clenched teeth, the tension wound in the tiny frame despite Buddy's exhaustion. It made something twist in Bendy's chest, the little devil's at first fury-roughened motions growing more gentle as he nudged his way into the Lil' Miracle Station and set Buddy down on the bench.

"Bud, just stay here, alright? We'll be back b'fore you know it." Bendy murmured, gently rubbing the top of the tiny toon's head. The touch did seem to calm Buddy down some, though the brief lull was entirely undone when Bendy had to let go, gently letting the door close as Buddy's expression went from tense to near-frantic. The little devil's eyes met Boris's, both torn between the desire to keep the fragile toon out of harm's way and the uncomfortable feeling Buddy's behavior was provoking.

However, as the pair turned to go into the haunted house, a faint noise coming from behind made them both stop and turn back to the booth. It almost seemed like a quiet, little-.

THUNK

Both Bendy and Boris jolted at the sudden sound, loud even with a faint, creepy laugh drifting out of the haunted house. Immediately the pair headed back to the Lil' Miracle Station, Bendy in the lead with thoughts whirling through his head about what could have happened, did he not put Buddy on the bench as safely as he thought he did, did the tiny toon pass out from overexertion, had he opened up his wounds-?!

As Bendy flung open the door, he was immediately greeted with Buddy's huddled form partly tumbling out, the tiny toon having pressed himself against the wood. As he sprawled on the floor, Buddy's hands fumblingly reached out, the minute frame shaking like a leaf as he tried to grab at Bendy and Boris. It wasn't until the bandaged face turned up to 'look' at them that the pair realized that Buddy was crying.

Not merely a few stray tears, either, the tiny toon was completely inconsolable, gasping, hysterical sobs rattling Buddy and jolting Bendy and Boris to action.

"Bud, Buddy, it's okay, we're here-!" The wolf tried to soothe as he picked the tiny toon up off the floor, carefully hugging Buddy to his front as a long-fingered hand rubbed at the top of the minute devil's head.

"Bud, w-we were comin' back, didn'tcha hear-?" Bendy started, only to be completely surprised when Buddy suddenly started to shake his head in response.

"No? No, we're not-?" The assertion seemed so strange, Bendy completely halting for a moment as he tried to process. Buddy was upset, because they weren't coming back? Or he thought they weren't coming back?

But, why would he think that?

Though, even as Bendy had the question in mind, he found that he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. Taking a closer look at Buddy's face as the tiny toon twitched and cried, the little devil read soundless pleas tumbling from Buddy's lips, puzzling out the word 'no' and 'don' leave, don' leave' being said over and over.

Something about the sordid scene stirred a flicker in Bendy's memory, the little devil's head nearly turning back to look at the Lil' Miracle Station as he suddenly, vividly recalled being shut in complete darkness, voice cracking and tumbling end over end as he pressed himself to an unyielding door, pleading for Joey to let me out, let me out please, Joey, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't do it again, I won't, I won't, please, I'll be good, please don't leave me in here-!

The similarity crumbled the last bit of resolve that Bendy had, the little devil quietly sighing and fighting down a sinking feeling that he was going to regret this decision.

"'salright, Bud, we're not leavin' you."

"W-We're not?" Boris asked, the wolf's expression crinkling in confusion at the sudden backpedal. Despite the fact that he could feel his stomach twisting, Bendy tried to sound at least somewhat in control as he replied.

"No, we're not. We'll, we'll just havt'a be careful is all. An' Bud," The tiny toon didn't quite stop crying, but the small head shakily turned towards Bendy in a sign that he was listening. ", y'stay near me or Boris. No runnin' off, no goin' anywhere without one'a us, okay?"

With a quivery little nod, Bendy figured that that was the best he was going to get. Taking a deep breath, the smaller toon tried to mask his unease by ruffling the tiny toon's matted 'hair', forcing a smile he definitely didn't feel. Bendy was pretty sure the façade fell apart the instant he looked to Boris, the wolf's expression pinching at whatever he saw in the little devil's face. Though the deep-running worry sank under a similar veneer of fragile optimism, Boris proffered a hand to Bendy, the smaller toon easily reaching out though the grip was a somewhat desperate one.

It did, however, give them both the courage to head to the haunted house, despite another rumble of spooky laughter crackling from the aged ride. As they approached, Bendy tried not to look at the writing of 'TURN BACK' on the far wall with too much trepidation.

Getting into the cart was a challenge, given that Boris's legs had a hard time fitting under the bar. It eventually ended up with the wolf nearly smashed into one side to give enough room to Bendy and Buddy, the latter sitting on the former's lap as they attempted to pile in. Eventually, it seemed as though the mechanisms themselves grew tired of waiting, the bar creakily lowering down and causing Boris to squirm as he tried to find a comfortable spot. Bendy, for his part, kept one arm wrapped around Buddy with another hand clenched on the bar and tried not to let on as to how terrified the entire situation was making him feel. He probably wasn't as successful as he would have liked, given that Boris quickly wrapped an arm around the devil's shoulders.

The car under them gave a jerk, starting to move forward on the rail. All three toons stiffened as they started to roll, a voice crackling into audibility over their heads.

"And now, the ride truly begins, boys. Come in, and pretend it's all just a bad dream." 'Alice' purred, the doorway sliding out of sight as the trio continued on into the depths of the decrypt haunted house. As they rode through a pair of doors and into a claustrophobic hallway dotted with what Bendy hoped were just fake glowing eyes peering out at them, 'Alice' kept speaking.

"It's a funny thing. How so much can fall apart so fast." The words echoed in the tunnel, Bendy jolting as their path in between a pair of 'gravestones' made a mechanical ghost pop up from behind one. Quickly realizing that it was a part of the ride, the little devil couldn't help but feel like an idiot. Even still 'Alice' continued with her soliloquy.

"We never really had control at the studio. Either you were in someone's pocket, or you were putting someone else into yours."

Bendy half-listened, keeping an eye on their surroundings as he took note of Buddy still pressed to his front under an arm, the tiny toon's frame faintly trembling as his head peered blindly about. Boris edged in closer as well, the wolf partially hunching over the railing in a bid to stay low. Though, it wasn't like Bendy had never realized how things at the studio tended to work. Especially looking back on it over thirty years. 'Alice' was hardly telling him anything he didn't know, so why bring it up?

"I just wanted what was promised to me. I just wanted to be beautiful! Surely you can understand that."

Well, no, as he'd been more preoccupied with food and shelter. Maybe a fixation with looks on the grounds of blending in, but nothing really involving this level of fatal attraction to appearance. Still, he was starting to get it. She was trying to make herself out to be the victim here, something that rankled at Bendy's conscience. Near as he could tell, 'Alice' did the things she did because she wanted to. Boris suffered under her heel because that was what she wanted, wrapped up in a thin cloak of necessity.

"Bendy…" 'Alice' hummed, her tone playful. ", why are you here?"

The mention of the little devil's name had Boris's hold on Bendy growing tighter, almost as though the devil might be simply yanked from the cart at any moment. Granted, given that 'Alice' probably had enough forewarning to hide where she would see them before they saw her, Bendy thought that the wolf's efforts were probably a good idea.

Well, might be. 'Alice' didn't seem like she'd let a little thing like group cohesion stop her.

"We're all dying to find out."

Who's we? Bendy wanted to ask, though he stayed quiet. It felt like the warped angel was leading up to something, something that she knew none of them would likely enjoy. Still, her words were making him wonder, was 'Alice' alone wherever she was, apart from presumably Henry? She didn't seem like the kind of psycho to team up with anyone, really.

"Do you boys just enjoy the terror of the drop into hell? Because if that's the case…" 'Alice' hissed, Bendy's stomach tensing into knots as he remembered the last time the warped angel had 'dropped' them. It was a sentiment that was shared by Boris, the wolf going from tensely holding onto Bendy to nearly squeezing the little devil against him. Despite the fact that the taller toon's grip was coming dangerously close to cutting off his air, Bendy didn't tell Boris to stop. His own hands were clenched painfully over both the wolf's arm and around Buddy's shoulders, the tiny toon's mitten hands grasping at the worn coat as he trembled. Still, the cart rattled on towards another large door, decorated with an ominous skull.

"Hang on tight. I've got a surprise."

She's going to drop us. The ride's broken or it's meant to be a coaster and she's gonna use it to kill us. The thought made Bendy peer about at the cart, trying to find some way to release the locking mechanism and let them out. But there was nothing they could mess with or break, and the door ahead was rapidly swinging open.

However, much to Bendy's surprise, the only thing beyond that was a short stretch of track, a sort of chandelier hanging in the room beyond another similarly adorned door. Peering at what he could of the track ahead, it didn't look like there was a drop. What was 'Alice' playing at?

As the cart rolled forward the next door creaked open, revealing a much larger room. The track still ran around what looked like the edge, the middle occupied by a raised bit covered in various things, from barrels, sand bags, even a couch tucked in on one side. Looking around, Bendy took in the high ceilings, boarded up windows, and towering walls, picking out portraits hanging up with eerily glowing eyes. The little devil hoped that that was just a special effect of some sort, though with the way things had been going lately he figured that it was best to assume the worst possibility until proven otherwise. Still, the trio's cart rode around the dais unmolested, passing the various crates, barrels, sandbags, spare carts, even an organ tucked in the wall on the far side of the room. Perhaps there was the faintest hint of tinny, creepy haunted house music playing over some speakers, but apart from that, the place was almost…calm.

Though that calm felt about as placid as a deep, perhaps monster-infested lake, so Bendy was hardly about to relax. Especially when heading past the organ brought them level with another grinning Bendy statue, sitting there as though it belonged in the creepy space.

Strangely enough, the little devil wasn't the only one off-put by the monolith, as Boris shied away from it too, leaning into the cart. Buddy still clung to Bendy, so the smaller toon had no way of telling if the anxiety was being affected by the statue or not. Granted, it wasn't like Buddy could see it…

As they rounded the corner, Bendy immediately caught sight of another be-skulled door right in their path, the space beyond too dark to see. When they drew closer, the wooden paneling soundlessly opened, the tension only climbing in the trio as they saw nothing but black in the oncoming tunnel.

But once they rolled past the doorway, the 'nothing' abruptly sprouted a pair of battered, inky arms, the hands of which landed heavily on the front of the cart and caused it to stop. The air rushed from Bendy's lungs in a wheezing gasp as the rest of the creature leaned into view.

It looked like Boris, though only if the artist in question only had the barest idea of what the wolf looked like, and might've had some aspirations to be a horror designer; the other's body was more a shifting, patchwork, hulking mass of ink than it was actual fur, flesh, and bone. The creature also had three heads, the one in the middle looking the most intact while the two on either side resembled melting wax dolls, the ink running in rivets down the battered, off-white faces. All three had crossed out eyes, though the runnier heads had black leaking from them like tears. But, if this was here, and 'Alice' was alone, did that mean…?

"…Henry?" Bendy gasped, not sure if he wanted to believe the conclusions his mind was drawing, though if Sammy, Norman, and Susie had been transfigured in such a way, then this really could be...

"H-Henry?" Boris asked, the wolf's voice riddled with shock, fright, and no small amount of panic. It didn't take Bendy long to figure out why; the wolf's monstrous doppelganger was missing more or less the entire front of its chest cavity, the ink-stained, gleaming ribs there for all to see. The little devil could also spot the faint pulsations of the organs inside, though he quickly looked away to see if he could try to reach the animator, if he was still in there. The middle head of the piecemeal creature jerked, a rattling cough splattering ink on the off-white metal in-between them.

"Henry, it's me, it's Be-!" The smaller toon's words cut with a yelp as the chimera shifted its grip on the cart, pulling it up off the track. The trio were rattled about as the cart was swung to the side, before the creature outright flung it so hard that it crashed into the Bendy statue across the room, shattering it and breaking the metal frame of the cart to pieces.

As the toons tried to both recover from their brief period of being airborne and escape the twisted wreck of the cart, the sounds of 'Alice's voice filled the room, reverberating in time with the Boris-monster's heavy steps over the threshold.

"Ha ha ha! Meet the new and improved Boris! Amazing what can be done with things you find lying around, right, boys? And this time, there's no Ink, no escape."

How did she know what had stopped Norman? The thought flared briefly in Bendy's mind before 'Alice's next words sounded, driving the inky chimera forward.

"Boris, tear them apart! Leave nothing!"

"That's not me…" Boris dazedly whimpered, even as his limbs shakily tried to extricate themselves from the ruined cart. The other two devils were a little quicker in getting out, Buddy's hands trembling as they blindly grasped at Bendy's coat. The little devil reached out with one hand to shove at the metal, the other going to grab ahold of the tiny toon.

"Boris, she's nuts, 'member? C'mon we gotta move-." Bendy rushed out, tongue feeling disengaged from the dull shock permeating his brain. It was not enough that he didn't jolt at the sound of the Boris-monster giving a gravely, gurgle of a roar before surging forward, straight for the trio. Feeling a gasp whistle through clenched teeth, Bendy gave one last desperate pull, Boris managing to get untangled, grab the two devils, and spring clear before the chimera crashed into the remains of the cart.

The trio flung themselves into the collection of odds and ends on the dais, darting around the pile of sandbags to try to get some distance from the hulking monstrosity. As he darted around barrels and clambered over rope and wood, Bendy's mind raced with what was that, what is that, where did it come from, was that Henry, had it been Henry, oh god what did she do, WHAT DID SHE DO TO HIM-?!

The frantic train of thought was shattered when something large crashed into the center of the dais from above, the impact splintering a few barrels and crates. Bendy had skidded to a halt, recognizing the new shape in front of him with a squeeze of fear.

Did it just jump from the track?! The thought made Bendy feel horribly cold as he figured that yes, that had to be the case given that there was no trail of destruction heading in, just a blast radius spanning outward.

The monster hardly gave the trio a moment to breathe, Bendy nearly throwing himself back into Boris's legs as the creature swung with an overlarge fist. The wolf grabbed both devils, tucking each under an arm as he scrambled around a barrel to get back out to the more open track. This time the monster took the more direct route of smashing through the things in his way, the barrel quickly shattered into splinters with one punch. All three heads were fixated in the trio's direction, a low, gurgling growl emanating from the towering creature as it fought to reach them.

And they had nothing to fight it with. Not to mention, in a space like this, there was only so far they could run. Event still, with the idea of Henry-(this could be him, I'm sorry, Henry I'm so sorry)-flitting about his mind, Bendy also felt the trembling and tension roiling through Boris and Buddy next to them, and put them first.

Scrambling his way out of Boris's stranglehold, the little devil's eyes immediately lit on the decimated cart sitting a few feet away. Though the thing was in pieces, it certainly had more than enough potential to still be useful.

"BORIS, THIS WAY!" The little devil hollered, dashing to the cart just as the monster crashed through the last of the things blocking its path. With the chimera incoming, it didn't take much for Boris to rush after, the impact of the chimera nearly buffeting the wolf ahead by a foot. It wasn't hard to see what Bendy was after, the little devil pawing through the wreckage of the cart for something he could use as a weapon. He was able to come up with a bar about the length of his arm though as he turned back to Boris Bendy immediately noticed one problem; the trembling Buddy still sat in Boris's arms.

Looking back to the monster trying to smash its way through the pile of sandbags, the little devil grabbed a smaller shard of metal from the wreckage and darted away from the wolf and tiny toon.

"HEY, UGLY, OVER HERE!" Bendy hollered, throwing the puny piece of metal which cracked against the head on the far right. The impact definitely got the chimera's attention, though it had the added effect of causing the monster to give an angry roar and crash the rest of the way through the sandbags, barreling straight towards the little devil. Despite the fear rattling his insides, Bendy quickly bolted, finding himself unable to run for the other door given that it had slid shut behind the monster. But there was an out, through the stuff on the platform.

As Bendy squeezed in between a couch and a metallic contraption, he quickly realized that they had another asset to use; another one of the small ink converters that he'd seen earlier in the mine shaft. Though Bendy only had a moment to absorb that before the problem he'd been initially occupied by came hurtling back to the forefront, in the form of the monster trying to clamber up onto the dais. Before it could, the hulking creature accidentally jammed its exposed wound against the top of the couch, causing it to stall as it tried to cover the area while coughing up a round of ink.

From the other side of the ink converter, Bendy caught sight of one of the hacking coughs bringing up a bit of black that looked familiarly globbish, the sight sparking a plan in the smaller toon's mind. Darting forward, Bendy rammed the bar into the exposed chest cavity while grabbing the ink blob, the strike sending the monster reeling back to the track. Hands shaking, the little devil quickly levied the ink into the slot on the converter, briefly fumbling over the dial before pulling the lever.

"BENDY!" The sudden shout to his right made the little devil jump, his head spinning to point in Boris's direction as the wolf came up on his left side. The moment of distraction was all that was needed for the converter to suddenly decide that it was done and spit out a GENT pipe that impacted with Bendy's stomach hard enough to briefly knock the wind out of him. Still, the little devil tried to keep ahold of his new weapon and stumble in Boris's direction to complete his escape.

Well, a temporary one at least, as he could hear the chimera make another attempt at crashing through the barricade of the couch and converter to get to them. Running further down the track, the trio managed to make it to the organ, at which Bendy had an idea about how to even things up.

"Boris!" The wolf looked up at the call, quickly catching the meaning of the devil gesturing between Buddy and the organ. Gently levying the tiny toon in his arms, Boris carefully set Buddy down, Bendy hurriedly moving to explain.

"Bud, hide back there an' don't come out 'till it's quiet." Despite the hesitation and fear racking the tiny frame Buddy did as he was told, tucking himself into the shoddy safety of the nook between the organ and the wall. It wasn't much, but it definitely made Bendy feel a lot better now that the minute devil wasn't out in the open.

And now that he and Boris had their hands free…

Pressing the GENT pipe into Boris's hands, Bendy's eyes scanned the cleared area, easily catching sight of the Boris-chimera just on the cusp of crashing through to where they had just come from. Taking a few steps away from Buddy's hiding place, Bendy skirted to the broken pieces of the cart and barrels, eyes seeking out a part of the ring binding the planks of the barrel together. Grabbing the curved metal the smaller toon braced himself for the task of getting the monster's attention, though as he noticed Boris come up on his left a flicker of motion near the chimera drew his eye.

At first, the shape didn't make much sense, until the monster grabbed the object and flung it across the room at them. Bendy had just enough time to process the sight of the cart hurtling at his and Boris's heads before he threw himself to the side, just managing to hear Boris hit the floor next to him over the sound of the cart shattering as it impacted with the wall.

Throwing a glance back at the shattered remains, Bendy couldn't help the brief, opportunistic thought that well, at the very least they had more ammunition.

Though now that they were down, the chimera sought to head up the assault with something a little more close range. Stomping onto the dais, the monster only gave the pair a moment of preparation before it raced forward like a charging bull. They were forced to separate, Boris throwing himself to one side while Bendy went to the other.

Immediately realizing the situation, the little devil felt something freeze in his chest as the worst scenario occurred; the chimera turning in Boris's direction, taking out the wolf entirely, and heading on to where Buddy was hiding. As he skirted to stand on the dais a plan started to form in Bendy's mind, a dangerous plan, but at the very least it was something to work with. And it would keep Boris and Buddy safe for a little while longer.

Trying not to show too much of the fear he was feeling, Bendy chucked the piece of metal at the chimera, the ring piece smacking into the left-hand head and causing a spray of ink from its mouth. With a growling, gurgling roar, the heads turned to the little devil, right before a faint sound of something rolling along the track registered. Boris barely avoided being hit with a cart as it hurtled along, the chimera easily grabbing and lifting it from the track.

Hitting the floor, Bendy both heard and felt the cart whistle over his body, the sound of it crashing into the wall behind him registering just a moment later along with the somewhat nerveless thought that he was in fact still alive. This still left him with an angry Boris-monster that was thundering its way to his still-lying-on-the-floor body, perfectly capable of stomping him into a fine powder. Though he already started to roll to stand up at the first sign of trouble, the little devil felt his heart drop at how close this was going to be, would he even be able to avoid the chimera's feet at all?!

Forgotten on the sidelines Boris watched the spectacle unfold, fear seizing the taller toon at the sight of the predicament Bendy was in.

Feeling a familiar heat rising in his chest, the wolf charged at the monster as his heartbeat thundered in his ears. Smashing the GENT pipe into the chimera's side, Boris could hear the metal ringing off the exposed ribs. The blow caused the creature to stumble as it revolved back to face the wolf head on. Before Boris could react, the chimera's hand seized him round the waist, one of his arms pinned in the vice-like grip. In an instant he was flung to the side, his back crashing heavily into the wall. For a brief moment of consciousness as he fell to the ground, the wolf could faintly hear Bendy shout his name.

But when the taller toon opened his eyes, the enormous room was gone. Instead the world around him had become a black void, with nothing in either direction. He couldn't see, and it terrified him. Drawing in on himself, Boris whimpered as he tried to remember how he'd ended up here, and where Bendy and Buddy were.

This, this couldn't be right, he'd been in the haunted house, they'd been in the haunted house. They'd been trying to find Henry, but instead they'd found…

…A monster, one wearing his face and likeness, no less.

The memory of which made Boris's efforts to search go from merely anxious to frantic, as he knew that the creature had not been defeated, and if Bendy and Buddy were with it then he could only imagine disaster and he wasn't going to let that happen, not now, not ever.

As the wolf padded his way through the darkness, his path suddenly took him right into a large, oval mirror that…almost appeared in his way. Stepping back while holding his nose, Boris took in the sheer scope of the thing. He could probably reach around and touch both sides of the mirror, though it towered a good foot or so over his head. The glass itself was also a little odd, the wolf unable to see his reflection though the shimmering surface swam with odd, flickering colors.

As Boris watched, they became more and more clear, to the point where the taller toon found he could recognize the image depicted; the big room in the haunted house.

"Boris!" Running into view was Bendy, the devil's path to the mirror at first making Boris reach out to the glass. Though, the words died on his tongue as Bendy knelt next to the mirror, next to what seemed like the wolf toon's own prone form.

"Boris, pal, wake up!" The little devil hollered, voice cracking with desperation. The sound itself made something fire in the wolf's brain, forcing him to speech.

"Ben, Bendy, I'm right here-!"

But, the copy, the him on the other side of the mirror, was sitting up, just as the chimera started to charge towards them. The wolf just barely made out Bendy catching sight of something in the copy's face, expression twisting in a mix of worry and confusion, before he was grabbed and held against the other wolf's chest as he lashed out, grabbing a piece of metal and jamming it directly into the chimera's open ribcage. Though the creature fell back, the other Boris kept ahold of his makeshift weapon, letting the monster slide off onto the floor.

"Boris…?" Bendy murmured, the little devil's quiet shock echoing the wolf's own. "P-Pal, what's, why're your eyes-?"

But whatever the smaller toon was going to ask was cut off by a piercing, angry scream, Boris jolting at the shrill sound as he caught sight of something dark hurtling over from the other side of the room. Immediately, he could place the shape from the behorned, partially haloed head.

'Alice'. Though while the noise had caused Bendy to start, the other Boris didn't react any more than turning his head in the warped angel's direction, tracking her approach. Once she came within a few feet, the copy moved almost too quickly for Boris to see, ramming the metal up and into her chest.

It was so sudden, the shift from screeching to complete silence that for a moment all Boris could do was stare. Bendy too was shocked, the devil flipping his head around to peer at the scene as 'Alice' fell to the floor. The wolf could just barely see the smaller toon's eyes turn to look his copy in the face, expression now more than a little wary and horrified.

"Boris…?" The tone made the wolf's stomach twist, his mind burning with a terror that emanated from the scene in the mirror. He couldn't tell for sure if this was real, if he was actually seeing what was happening, but with everything else in this place, he had no reason to assume otherwise. The taller toon's fear only grew as the other Boris's grip shifted, now looking more like he was pinning Bendy to him than merely holding the smaller toon.

And a new sound was starting to make itself apparent. A bubbling, gurgling sound. Straining on his tip-toes to see, Boris could just make out the Bendy statue across the room, which was reforming up into its proper shape and starting to turn black. Despite distance, he could make out how ink was spurting and fountaining from the etched lines in the wooden frame, enough to create a veritable pool.

BRING HIM TO ME, BORIS. The words somehow managed to boom without sound, the wolf covering his ears from the sheer 'volume' of the call. Warped though it was, he could recognize the voice, his heart dropping as insight came like a bolt from the blue; Joey. He was hearing Joey's voice. His copy's own ears perked up at the command, taking a step towards the statue.

"Boris, pal, wait, what're you doin'?!" Bendy yelled, trying to thrash himself free in earnest as the wolf's doppelganger drew closer and closer to the by-now completely black Bendy monolith. As the copy powered on, Boris could faintly hear the other's lungs giving a few, wet coughs, the sounds going in time with an uncomfortable tugging and bubbling in the wolf's own chest. The spasms caused Boris to double over, fingers still scrabbling at the glass of the mirror as he focused on the image of this copy, of himself, hauling Bendy off to the ink.

Though the friction of his fingers against the sheer surface was making an odd noise, a slight screeching noise, the out-of-place sound drawing Boris's eyes down to his hands.

His now claw-tipped hands, the sight of which caused the wolf's eyes to widen. The instant he saw the change, his frame seized, cough after rattling, wet cough shaking him to his bones. Through squinted eyes, Boris could see his copy undergoing a similar change, having fallen to his knees as his body grew, the tall proportions pulling to unnaturally long lengths.

Boris could feel it himself as his arms and legs shifted, bones cracking as his spine stretched and his feet extended out of his shoes. His teeth felt sharper, his fur slick with ink that seeped from under his skin. His eyes, ears, nose, and mouth got the worst of it, the acrid taste and smell oversaturating his senses, making him nearly want to vomit. And no matter how much he coughed, no matter the strength of the spasm that reverberated up from his lungs, it was not enough to dispel the flood. More kept coming, gushing up from somewhere inside him as his heartbeat pounded frantically in his ears.

But after a moment, the overpowering parts of the change ebbed, enough that Boris could hear Bendy frantically calling his name.

"'m, 'm 'ere…" The words came mixed with ink as his throat bubbled, the wolf completely forgetting what was happening for a moment as he sought to respond. "Ben, 'm-."

"Bori-IS!" The shriek immediately made the wolf toon start, his frame jolting up to look as his copy sprang up from the floor to seize the little devil with an elongated, clawed hand. The monstrous doppelganger held Bendy over the side of the dais, over the ink which bubbled and foamed underneath the smaller toon's dangling form.

"Boris, please, don't…!"

"S-Stop…!"

Both pleaded, Boris's words fighting through his ink-logged lungs. Pulling himself up with the mirror, the wolf's eyes were caught by something small and dark moving around by the copy's feet. His eyes widened as he recognized the tiny shape, the copy's head flipping down to look as it grabbed onto his leg. Boris's gaze caught a glimmer of red in his doppelganger's eyes before the other wolf quickly ripped Buddy away from his leg, both Boris and Bendy cluing in to what was about to happen as the copy wound up.

"BORIS-!"

"NO, STOP…!"

But their cries went unheeded, and the tiny toon was flung with all the care of a baseball to the far side of the room where the converter sat.

Boris felt his heart stop at the sound of Buddy smacking into the floor, a faint, garbled cry the only noise before a yawning, deadly quiet. Despite his best efforts the wolf could not see where the minute devil fell, or if he was alright, though the implication alone was enough to make tears spring to his eyes as his lungs seized in ink-choked sobs.

"…no, no, I di-hidn'…"

"Boris…" Bendy whimpered, the wolf's attention drawn back to the little devil still dangling in his copy's grip. Though, as he did, the scene in the mirror shifted, so that now he was looking through his doppelganger's eyes at Bendy's ink-stained, terrified, teary face, the arm holding the smaller toon up matching with the wolf's own hand pressed to the glass.

"B-Boris, please…"

"Ben, I-I'm sor-ry..." He sobbed, clawed fingers scrabbling at the glass despite the knowledge that it wasn't going to move, that he couldn't do anything to help his friend.

And, with the view angling downward, Boris could see the ink's frothing growing to unnaturally strong levels, almost as though it were trying to climb higher to the devil held above it.

Then the copy's hand loosened, enough that Bendy's eyes blew wide with a choked yelp. Boris gasped too, throwing himself at the mirror again, he couldn't lose Bendy too, he had to save him, he had to save his pal…!

But the glass held, and the doppelganger's hand let go entirely. Bendy dropped down into the ink, Boris giving a frantic, wordless scream as he tried to break through. The little devil was completely silent, eyes wide with disbelieving shock and fright as he plunged down into the bubbling darkness.

As Bendy landed in the ink, the bubbling of the dark liquid brought what would only have been up to the little devil's shins to about his waist. Though the longer he stood in it, the higher it rose. To Boris's horrified eyes, it looked like tendrils were rising from the ink, pulling Bendy under the surface. Even still, the devil frantically tried to escape, terrified eyes beseeching the wolf as his hands reached up to the taller toon.

"B-Bor's-!" But no matter how much he tried, Boris could not break through, could not make his copy move, could only watch as the ink took Bendy under, the frothing dying down once it had claimed the devil.

"BENDY!" The scream caused ink to bubble sickeningly in his throat, but Boris hardly cared. Instead he pressed himself to the glass, eyes darting around as he tried to see what had become of the little devil. The only thing he could see with any accuracy was the shadow of his own reflection, the lanky, too-tall frame almost peering up at him from the ink through a pair of red, pinprick pupils.

The sight of two horns rising up from the dark floods would have made Boris cry with relief, if it wasn't for the realization that they were spaced too far apart. That was soon joined by a too-large head, the face etched with a leering, wide smile and eyes that were too big and too dark, the pie-cut pupils that were supposed to be there entirely lost in the swirling, white-dappled black.

As the changed devil rose up to his full, now-towering height, the wolf felt his breathing come in a wheeze, his eyes wide as his heart stammered in his chest.

Now both transfigured, the two toons turned to the side of the room where Buddy had been flung. Boris's ears could just register the sounds of faint, raspy breathing, of Buddy still clinging to life despite the rough throw. But whatever relief the thought brought was quickly dashed as both he and Bendy turned, advancing on the spot where the tiny toon lay.

"NO!" The wolf cried, his stretched-out, warped frame slamming into the mirror as he tried to break through, to do something, anything. "STOP! STOP PLEASE! I DON'T WANT THIS, YOU HAVTA STOP, BENDY! PLEASE!"

But, for all of his pleas, the mirror remained unyielding, though the scene started to freeze as though a pause button had been hit. Even still, Boris pressed himself to the glass, almost as though he could force himself through sheer willpower alone. Though as his eyes screwed shut with the effort, the scene kept replaying itself on the backs of his eyelids. His frame, shifting and changing, becoming more monstrous, Bendy's terrified face as the wolf threw him into the ink, Buddy being launched across the room…

MONSTER. WOLF. MONSTER. The words beat a violent tattoo into the wolf's mind, even as he feebly attempted to escape them.

"Th-that's not me…" Boris sobbed, desperate even as he looked down, could see the clawed feet and hands, the unnatural length and drippy-ness to his arms. No, no, no it couldn't be true, it couldn't, he would never-!

But, he wouldn't have a choice, would he?

Stumbling back from the mirror, Boris fought between the unnatural length of his limbs, and the panic that laced through his warped frame. But the further away he drew, the more the wolf noticed that his ragged, hyperventilated breathing was being echoed by…something bigger, something that echoed throughout this odd space.

It did not occur to the toon to stop though. At least, not until a shape seemed to simply appear in front of him.

It was big, bigger than the mountain that Boris had occasionally glimpsed through the windows on the studio's upper floors, and moving. Stumbling back, and subsequently falling on his rear, the wolf craned his neck, fighting down a burbling cough as he tried to see as much of this thing as he could. Even still, it felt like there were parts that were sliding in and out of his vision, in and out of his very memory, though the dark, black as ink frame stuck in his mind, the solid color swirling with white lights that dotted the surface.

But this wasn't the thing that terrified him most. That was the fact that despite the size of the body, Boris could clearly make out that it had at the very least a head, which was turned in his direction. The lights dotting what seemed like the front part of the head all blinked, arranging themselves in a formation of three pairs going vertically down, and a lone one sitting right at the center of where the forehead would be. As they blinked open, Boris noticed with a sharp snap that the lights now resembled eyes.

Not even eyes as the wolf normally knew them, or even the pie-cut eyes that the toons all had. Instead, these were reverse colored, darkened whites and pale pupils staring down at Boris, taking him in.

Whimpering, and now completely overwhelmed, the wolf curled up as best he could, shivering in fright as he waited for this thing to do something, whether it be to grab him or simply crush him to an inky paste. The ground shook under him, the giant frame moving and causing Boris to give a watery cry of terror as he braced for the end.

Except, after a moment, a sound began to drift into the wolf's ears. It was faint, a sort of tinkling, melodic rhythm that felt like something he'd heard. Somewhere before, some other place, some other time…

The strange, oddly familiar happening lured Boris out of his huddle, his head craning back again to try to make eye contact with the towering figure.

However, as his eyes found the odd reverse-colored orbs, the wolf found himself caught with another surprise.

Though the liquid dripping resembled ink more than water, the slight crinkling at the edges of the eyes betrayed the emotion behind the reaction. This strange figure was crying, staring down at him like a mourning friend.

The sound of rumbling off to his right caught Boris's attention, his head snapping to the side just in time to see an enormous hand gently sliding around to rest in between them. But, before it could come within more than a few feet of the transformed wolf toon, it came to a sudden halt with a loud clank. The noise seemed completely out of the blue and confused Boris at first, until he caught sight of the glowing, red chain wrapped around the limb and leaving it just shy of where it had been trying to get to.

Even still, the figure tried to reach out to the wolf, if not physically then through the earlier-heard song.

And this time, as the tinkling, soft melody rang out again, something juddered itself to life in Boris's mind, of lying on something soft, his mind muddled, thoughts disconnected, but there was always, always someone there, with lights and soft song…

Blinking hard, the wolf tried to clear the strange reverie that gripped his mind, even as the realization dawned that this…person, didn't want to hurt him. In a strange way, it reminded him of the nightmare he'd had while on Level 14, of Bendy being captured and turned into…

…A monster, but one that had tried to comfort the wolf rather than simply terrify him, the exact words flowing back into Boris's memory as he recalled more and more.

You need to hurry, you don't have much time.

It had been a warning, just like the vision in the mirror had been, telling him of what was to come. Even though this...person was chained up, probably in some amount of pain, their thought had been for the two toons, and the wolf specifically.

Boris wasn't sure whether to be confused or merely shocked, though the emotion still made him want to do…something, anything. Taking a halting, unsure step forward, the wolf reached out to the towering figure, swallowing as his hand drew closer and closer to the dark shape. But before his fingers could even touch, the 'ground' underneath suddenly fell away, Boris dropping in time with what felt like his stomach as he plunged down, down…

…And jerked awake on the floor with a gasp, nearly juddering himself out of the grip Bendy had on his shoulders. Slightly dizzy and unnerved, the wolf fought to reorient himself as he heard the little devil speaking.

"-pal, it's alright, it's me, but y'need t'get up, please!"

Despite the panic in his friend's tone, the wolf couldn't help but tearily stare at the smaller toon, sitting up almost quicker than he could process what he was doing and pulling Bendy into a desperate hug. The gesture was so sudden that the little devil was shocked into silence, drawn slowly back into reality by the fact that the wolf toon's arms were shaking around him.

"Boris…it's, it's alright, I'm here…"

That sentence honestly made the wolf want to cry harder, though he kept both his sobs and the knowledge that Bendy shouldn't be near him in check. If the little devil knew, if he had any idea of what was to happen to the wolf…

He'll find out though, soon enough.

Swallowing down a lump in his throat as tears threatened to spill over, Boris's eyes were drawn to the movement of his chimeric lookalike stumbling forward, a bubbling roar fountaining from the three heads. Catching sight of the bar lying on the floor within reach, the wolf took in a breath before he gave in to the boiling heat rising from his center, a dark film covering his vision.

As the noise of the monster coming registered Bendy started to squirm, but Boris was already in motion. Grabbing the bar, the taller toon hefted the little devil as he dashed forward and slammed the metal into the writhing mess of guts. The blow caused the monster to falter, ink spurting from its open ribcage and mouths as it stumbled back and took the bar from Boris's nerveless hands.

"No! No! No! No!" 'Alice' screamed over the intercoms, the Boris chimera finally falling onto the dais with a crash. "Why can't you ever just die?!"

As Bendy and the wolf himself watched, the hulking, twisted form started to bubble, turning entirely black before melting away into the floor. The very sight made Boris shudder, a sick feeling twisting his stomach as Bendy looked up at him.

"Don't worry, pal, it's-." The little devil paused, Boris briefly ripping his eyes away from the new, dark stain on the floor-(was it just a trick of the light or could he see faces swimming around?)-to look at the quietly stunned Bendy.

"Boris, your eyes-!" The remark confused the wolf at first, though blinking his still filmed-over vision was enough of a hint. He did not, however, have an answer. At least, not one that didn't give himself away, or occurred to him before an angry scream sounded from the other side of the room. With a flash of premonition, Boris looked up just in time to see 'Alice' come hurtling into the room, charging directly at him and Bendy.

The sight caused a brief conflict to fire in the wolf's brain, warring between the now palpable impulse to strike back and to not because this was Susie, had been Susie, he couldn't, he didn't want to give in completely…

Just before the warped angel reached them, Boris turned himself away, shielding the little devil still in his arms as his mind calmed.

If I'm going, then it'll be as me.

The thought gave him a strange peace, even as Bendy started to thrash against Boris.

But the attack both expected did not come. Instead, what they heard was the wet sound of something sharp sliding into an inky body. Looking back, the pair had a split-second view of 'Alice' standing there, a faint gasp on her lips as she stared at the blade which had rammed through her chest from behind.

The sight lasted only a moment, the warped angel falling sideways and landing on the floor with a soft thud. As the pair's eyes traveled back up, they saw their rescuer. Or, for that matter, rescuers.

The first, and it seemed the one who had stabbed 'Alice', was another human-turned-toon that resembled the angel. Though this one looked infinitely more balanced, with a whole, non-melted face and a more patchwork set of clothes, probably scavenged from the wrecked studio. Behind her stood, Bendy blinking at the sight as it registered, another…Boris?

It looked like Boris, that was for sure, but it wasn't. At least not quite. Namely the main difference was the fact that this Boris was sporting a familiar-looking prosthetic in the place of his left arm, which held a GENT pipe. Immediately the little devil's mind flashed back to the room with the recording from the lady-mechanic, the one where she'd been talking about the Bendy animatronic. Well, guess that solved the mystery as to where the arm went…

Another difference was that unlike the longer, more rounded features of the wolf that Bendy knew, this toon was, boxier? More solidly built, perhaps would be the better way of describing it, the other's shoulders definitely seemed wider apart, more muscular than the leaner, lankier frame that Boris had. While the other's face had been etched with a determined frown, the expression started to melt away at the sight of the other two toons, something like quiet shock drifting over the canid features instead. At least, it seemed like shock, primarily, there were a few emotions there for Bendy to read into, intertwined to the point where they were hard to pick apart. He could definitely see recognition, though that would hardly be surprising considering.

"…Bendy?" The angel asked, eyes wary but still considering as she peered from devil to wolf. "Boris?"

"…Yeah?" Bendy breathed, wondering if this rescue was about to turn into a run for their lives. Still, despite looking more than ready to fight, neither of them were moving.

That is until a clattering rang out from near the organ, causing everyone to jolt and spin around to face the aged instrument. However, Bendy quickly recognized the tiny, monochrome toon stumbling out onto the tracks, shuffling carefully over to the group.

"Wait, wait, don't!" He called, hurrying down to help the minute devil. Quickly picking Buddy up, Bendy hurried back to be with Boris on top of the dais, easing the tiny toon up first before climbing up himself.

At first, Bendy was a little amazed that Boris hadn't tried to run to Buddy first, though when he glanced over at the taller toon and noticed the closed posture and almost fearful, wretched expression on the canid face the little devil couldn't help but feel like there was something wrong. Not to mention that the wolf's eyes were still clouded over, so much so that it was almost hard to see his pupils.

Maybe Boris just didn't see Buddy, actually. That would explain it.

The little devil's attention was drawn away from the conundrum by Buddy's head turning in the direction of their mysterious rescuers, the tiny toon waiting an instant before taking a few shuffling steps in the direction of the pair.

"Bud, wait…!" Bendy hissed, though as it turned out he hardly needed to worry. Some of the angel's wariness eased at the sight of the miniature, sightless toon, to the point where she even crouched down, meeting the reaching mitten-gloves with her own hands.

"Hello." The word was a quiet, almost warm sound, to the point where Bendy might've wondered if the angel knew Buddy. But, somehow, that didn't seem to be the case. At the very least, there didn't seem to be any sign of clear-cut recognition. It just seemed like the natural thing when confronted with something small and helpless-looking.

And Buddy didn't seem to know her either, the tiny toon's face tilting in what seemed like confusion before he reached up towards her. Perhaps he was just trying to figure out what she looked like.

The other wolf toon didn't seem to really know Buddy either, though he was peering down at the minute devil with a sort of careful curiosity. As the angel moved to pick Buddy up, the motion was careful and almost practiced, reminding Bendy of how mothers handled their younger kids. Maybe…whoever this was, she'd been a mom?

The thought was somewhat chased from his mind as the closer proximity allowed the other wolf toon to reach towards Buddy's face, at the bandage which was still wrapped around his head. Fearing for the tiny toon's wounds, Bendy hastened to call out.

"Wait, don't touch that!"

The pair started, the faint tenderness and curiosity vanishing from the scene as their attention snapped from Buddy to Bendy, the smaller toon frozen as he reached out to them. It suddenly occurred to the little devil that these were the only armed people in the room, the thought of which caused his words to stammeringly leave his throat.

"Y-You can't take that off, his eyes, they're, they're hurt…"

A faint, comprehending 'oh' from the angel, and the other wolf's hand slowly withdrew. Albeit now that the moment was gone, the pair's attention refocused on Boris and Bendy. Though, as Bendy watched, he noticed the angel's eyes narrow as she looked at Boris, causing the taller toon to fidget uncomfortably. What was that about?

"…We should go. It's not safe here."

Well, not exactly unsound advice, and Bendy was more than ready to leave. Reaching out to Boris, the little devil felt a few, strained seconds pass before the wolf's hand loosely grabbed onto his.

The haunted house suddenly gave an ominous rumble, the Alice-lookalike jerking her head up to peer at something on the ceiling. Though Bendy tried to look, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, at least not before the 'angel' turned to call back.

"We need to go, now!" The urgency in her voice threw the other wolf toon into action, a metallic arm quickly gesturing for Bendy and Boris to follow.

As they all started to move as one to the door, the rumbling grew louder and louder, Bendy throwing his body into a pell-mell sprint as he felt dust start to rain down on his horns. Just as the rag-tag group threw themselves into the dark hallway, a hail of debris came down from the ceiling, Bendy turning away and throwing his arms up to protect his face. As he lowered them, the little devil looked at what he had thought was Boris's hand on his shoulder and was completely surprised to see that the other wolf toon was the one touching him instead. The newcomer was standing partially in between him and the now-collapsed entryway, covering his face with his prosthetic arm as the dust settled.

But, with that observation in Bendy's mind, and the light beaming in through a hole towards the top of the pile in front of the door, the little devil realized with a start that Boris was not with them. The shadowy space was instead occupied by the Alice-lookalike (who was still holding onto Buddy), the other wolf toon, and himself.

A faint, watery coughing on the other side just confirmed Bendy's thoughts, the smaller toon feeling something clench as he raced back to the doorway.

"Boris! Boris are you okay?!"

A faint pause, the coughs dying down to nothing with a second or two of silence before the wolf actually answered him, voice winded and faint.

"…Yeah, yeah 'm fine."

"Alright, good, that's good…" Bendy murmured, more to himself than anything as he tried to think of a way to solve this, while his mind both puzzled over the coughing and sudden weakness in Boris's voice. Was he getting sick again? If so, then why was he saying he was fine?

Maybe he didn't realize it, like before? Still, while the questions were all well and good, it wasn't helping with this problem. Peering around, Bendy's tense expression melted a little as he realized that this was a ride, with the track designed to go all the way around.

"A-Alright, maybe we can meet up, just go back out the way we came in and we'll meet you there-!"

But the other wolf toon was tapping him on the shoulder, shaking his head. At Bendy's uncomprehending stare, the angel hastened to explain.

"I think she blocked it. You have to go through the control room to get out of here, and it doesn't connect with the rest of the ride."

Meaning it wouldn't connect with Storage 9, probably. Why did everything have to be complicated?! Groaning, Bendy fought the urge to thunk his head into old, splintery wooden planks in front of him before his eyes found the hole that he'd noticed a moment ago. Well, it wasn't the best, but…

"Boris, maybe you can climb through, up there, y'see th' hole?"

Another long pause, before…

"…Yeah, I see-." The wolf's words choked off in another round of coughing, the gurgling, wet nature to the noise driving Bendy to try climbing the boards on his side. The idea of the wolf sitting on the other side growing sickly and feverish was certainly motivating, but for the life of him Bendy couldn't get more than a foot up the ramshackle incline. The boards just weren't arranged in a way that worked well for climbing.

"Pal, I can't get t'you, you havta come t'me! Just try t'climb up t'that hole up there, y-you can move some of th' planks an' slide through, you'll fit, it'll work-!"

"Ben…" The wolf coughed out, sounding like there was something in his throat before he managed to clear it and spoke again, a low growl of a rasp in his voice. "I don' think…I can't go with you."

"What?" Bendy had to have misheard, right? Fighting back the feeling of something twisting horribly in his guts, he tried to keep speaking. "B-Boris, c'mon, don' joke, you c'n just move those-!"

He was too short to reach the planks in question, but he knew the taller toon could easily. And then Boris could climb over to his side and they could hurry up and get out of here and Bendy could pretend that everything, particularly the last few minutes, was all a horrible, horrible nightmare…

But nothing shifted, and Boris stayed on the other side. Bendy could hear the wolf give another round of gurgling coughs, the sounds tapering off after a few moments. Swallowing, he reached to a little gap in the boards, his arm fitting up to the elbow as he tried to touch some part of Boris as though to pull him through the barrier.

Though the hand that met his was different than Bendy remembered, tipped with claws that poked through the long-fingered gloves. The pieces were starting to click in the devil's mind, but a thick blanket of shock blocked anything from getting through beyond a very distant, dim realization.

"Pal…" Bendy whined, feeling ink start to run down his face. "Boris, please…"

For a brief instant, the wolf's hand squeezed his, growing painfully tight before ripping itself away with a gasp which turned into another row of gurgling coughs.

"Boris?! Boris, talk t'me, what's happening? Y'alright?"

"We should go." The angel whispered from somewhere behind him, the bare suggestion of leaving immediately sending Bendy's burgeoning panic into overdrive.

"N-No! No, I'm not leavin' him! Boris, just climb over!"

"Bendy…" The soft voice went again, heavy with an emotion that at this point Bendy did not want to hear, did not want to address. Because then he would be…accepting this, and he didn't need to just accept it, he needed for his pal to listen and just climb over the damn boards instead of acting like…!

"NO!" The devil barked over his shoulder, whirling back to the barricade just in time to notice the coughs growing fainter, almost as though Boris was moving away. "Boris?! Boris, don't-just come here, pal, please! Please!"

"Sorry, Ben…" Boris groaned, the words stunning the smaller toon into silence just long enough for Boris to holler to their would-be rescuers. "Sir, ma'am? C-C'n y'take care'a them, please?"

"Boris, stop talkin' like that, stop-!" Bendy's frantic, angry yell was cut off when the other wolf toon finally reached down and scooped him up, pinning him and dragging him away from the barricade, from Boris. "L-Lemme go-put me DOWN, y'palooka! BORIS!"

The desperate holler seemed to tease something from the wolf on the other side of the barricade, a faint sob in Boris's next words.

"'m sorry, Ben, I c-can't, I don't wanna h-hurt y-!" The speech cut off with more coughing, Boris's lungs sounding like they were water-logged. But, under the panic, Bendy floundered. The words made no sense, why would Boris be afraid of hurting him?

Though you could probably guess, couldn't you?

"BORIS, COME BACK!" Bendy screamed, throwing rationality entirely to the wind in the face of pure, rabid adrenaline as he tried everything from kicking out to biting whatever exposed skin was available. But no matter what he tried, the other wolf toon kept a firm hold, even twisting him sideways and pinning him so tightly that he had a harder time moving. Still, Bendy tried, with everything he had.

"BORIS!" Ink and tears were cascading down his face, mixing into a sticky, liquid mess. But still, the other wolf toon took one step back, and another, echoing the growing distance between the barrier and the source of those horrible, gurgling coughs Boris was still making.

"BORIS, PLEASE!"

"'m…s-sorry, Ben…" The faint wheeze sounded so weak, almost as though it were some herald, a last gasp of the wolf toon that Bendy knew. And, seemingly to finalize the whole horrid thing, the sounds of the taller toon hurrying away reached his ears, letting him know that it was over. That Boris was gone.

"BOR-Bori-i-is…" The first syllable had come out as a scream, like the rest, but hysterical tears had changed the rest to a reedy, wailing sob. But there was no returning sound, not even a cough from the other side of the barricade. And, with nothing left to keep them there, the angel quietly gestured to the other wolf, indicating that they should start moving. Though Bendy did try to struggle, it was more token at this point, the comprehension rising in the little devil like a cold flood.

It only clinched itself in the headache he felt blooming in his head nary a moment later, strong at first but steadily moving away. Though the pain robbed Bendy of the ability to articulate, he did try to force his way out, to make a last-ditch effort to save his pal from the thing he knew was here, knew was close. But the other wolf's arms would not let go, and their path came close enough that Bendy was able to let himself surrender to the pressure building behind his eyes.

Boris was gone. The studio had claimed him, probably for good this time.

And it was all his fault…

---

...Whelp, now I can commiserate about this, and state again with complete seriousness that if I could reach into the story, I would happily break my hands on Joey's face.