Alright, here we go, into the first of the three part finale. Not gonna hold y'all up, just want to say to please leave me feedback if you can, as I love hearing from you all! If you want a more ready back-and-forth type thing you can drop me a line on my Tumblr, the username being nemo-draco. There's a link on my author page! I may take a day or two to respond given that I'm on a forty hour work week, but I'll try my best to reply!
Hope everything's going well for everyone, and, well, been a long seventy two hours, hasn't it?
Some Things Man Was Not Meant to Know:
As Bendy came to, he became aware of a few things. For starters, his head felt like it had just been trapped in a vice, his pulse grating against the insides of his skull. He was also being held up with an arm wrapped around his middle, his arms dangling along with his tail, head, and legs.
Whoever was carrying him was moving, the weird, kind of loping motion making the little devil's body sway awkwardly. As he grew more and more aware, Bendy also noticed a cold draft permeating the air, coming from somewhere ahead. Trying his best to open his eyes without giving away that he was awake, the little devil peered around and immediately felt his insides freeze. For one thing, he was being carried quite a ways off the ground. He could catch a glimpse or two of what was carrying him, something very big and covered in a mix of black fur and loose ink that was seeping into his already-stained coat.
And either there was quite an echo or there were other people walking close by, nearly in time with the footsteps of the creature carrying him. Bendy heard nothing else, and didn't dare try moving to get a more complete look.
But he remembered the last few minutes before he'd fallen unconscious, enough to feel fear and despair curdle anew as the realization settled in.
He'd been caught. They'd all been caught. 'Sammy'd found them.
Despite his resolution to stay quiet and not draw attention, Bendy couldn't help a light sob, his small frame tensing in his jacket as the emotions grew too much to contain. He was so afraid, so afraid and sorry and everyone, Henry, Tom, Buddy both little and big, Allison, Dot, Boris, Alice, they were all gone thanks to him.
Everyone was gone. And now he was next.
The dismal spiraling was briefly interrupted when, upon feeling the shifting of the little devil under their arm, the small toon's captor decided to cut off any possible avenue of escape and stopped just long enough to lift Bendy to clutch against their chest. The suddenness of which made Bendy's eyes snap open, and gave him a very good view of who was holding him.
Boris, the wolf's warped, ink-dripping face staring blankly ahead as they continued down the hall.
Things didn't feel totally there again. Bendy's arms were pretty much pinned, but he still was able to revolve his head on his neckless body, turning to look the sight fully on. Boris's eyes looked down at the movement, but apart from that the wolf was unresponsive, shuffling forward like a zombie. But, as they passed another emergency light, the little devil couldn't help but notice that the ink dripping from around Boris's eyes almost looked like tears.
Before he could really process what he was doing, Bendy found himself leaning carefully into the warped wolf's shoulder, tucking his head right into that familiar spot. Perhaps if he were paying attention he would have felt a faint shudder run through the slicked fur against his temple, but he found it very hard to focus all of a sudden. He wouldn't have said the state was dreamlike, but there was definitely a part of him that wasn't convinced that he was actually present. It felt like he was a passenger in his own body, staring out his own eyes as he was marched towards the end. Where this would all stop.
Bendy couldn't help but study the walls as they slid by, noticing how familiar they looked along with the posters plastered to them. If he didn't know any better, he would have sworn that they had gone back up to the animation floor. It nearly provoked a flickering of curiosity, before a new noise echoed off the walls. A sort of burbling groan that was coming from off to the small toon's left.
Despite some shadowy conclusions as to who or what was making the noise, the sound was quickly cut off with a louder, staticky screech and a wet thud. Even though a part of him wanted to see the source, Bendy had the distinct impression it'd probably be better in the long run if he remained ignorant. Besides, what fresh new horror this was might be under the impression that the little devil was still asleep, and he'd like to keep it that way.
Just a little bit of peace, at least for a few more minutes.
But time hurtled forward as it always did, the little devil's fragile calm torn away as a deeper chill started to seep through the air and turned his breath into a mist. Despite the ink-saturated fur not being much warmer Bendy still huddled into the shelter Boris provided, even as a flicker of wary caution turned his behorned head forward.
For a brief instant there was a flash of something that went by so quickly Bendy couldn't have said if he'd been seeing things or just had imagined it. All he'd been able to pick out was an expanse of black, going on seemingly forever, a momentary feeling of humming pressure against his head…
But then it was gone, and the little devil found that they were approaching an archway fashioned out of earth and metal, strongly contrasting with the normal hallway before it. Though if Bendy were perturbed by that, then what lay beyond was more than enough to freeze him in his ink-sodden coat.
The space beyond was enormous, rivalling the Heavenly Toys entryway in size. No, Bendy thought, it had to be bigger. The spot where the hallway led to was earthen sans some spots on the sides dark with cloying ink, an outcropping that sat on the edge of a much larger cavern.
But the most eye-grabbing part was the thing sitting in the seeming center of this cavern. It almost looked like a cross between a building and the Ink Machine, a large nozzle on the front seeping black onto the ground below. The ground which Bendy was just now noticing looked a lot darker than the brownish earth of the outcropping, hinting that this leakage had been going on for a while.
As he and Boris entered the room, parts of the monolithic Machine started to glimmer, faintly reminding Bendy of the few times he'd glimpsed cities and towns from afar. Though these were not the peaceful, soft lights of homes. There was an air of foreboding to these, not helped by the fact that they were making patterns that he was pretty sure were similar to the spellcircles. And the monolith was covered in them.
Bendy had enough time to catch sight of a flicker of movement at the top of the monument, just in time to see the Ink Machine he'd turned on dropping from an opening in the ceiling, before Boris started to shuffle to the right. The sounds of more shifting alerted the little devil to the other members of the little procession, the first coming through more than enough to chill the ink in Bendy's veins. It almost reminded him of Norman, given that there were mechanical bits jammed into the ink it was made of, though instead of a projector the creature's face looked like some sort of speaker, with a few different microphones stuck in places like it's shoulders and the back of its head. Its movements were a little ungainly, until Bendy realized that the reason the creature was lopsided was because it was dragging something.
Dragging a body, to be precise. A familiar, ink-covered body with a white spot on its chest that gave a watery groan as it was yanked across the floor by the leg. The speaker creature moved to the side, making way for a horribly familiar figure, pinning a struggling, prosthetic-wearing wolf in an arm. Tom snapped and thrashed, though a squeeze from Norman's now headless body cut the wolf's air off with a soundless gasp. As Norman moved, Bendy saw that in the projectionist's other arm was Lil'Buddy, the tiny devil hanging limply over the limb holding him up.
While Tom let out a strained hiss, Norman dragged both him and Buddy to the left, allowing for another member of this little procession.
The next creature was pretty much par for the apparent course, though Bendy couldn't say he recognized the non-ink parts sticking out of the black covering it. There was what appeared to be a typewriter on its back, though the realization was chased away by the sight of Allison walking solemnly in front, head raising up to see the monolith in the center of the cavern. Bendy was close enough that he could see her eyes widen, expression dropping in pure shock and surprise as she took it in. Tom trying to shift around caught the angel's attention, her head snapping to him and though Bendy couldn't see her expression he could tell something about it from the flicker of desperation that went through Tom's features, before Norman gave the wolf another squeeze that made him still again.
And then her eyes turned to the right, seeing the little devil himself and Bendy was damned if he didn't want to fold right then and there and apologize until his throat was hoarse. In her eyes he saw fear, horror, pain…all of it because of him.
Because of what spawned under his name. His fault.
But before Bendy could sink too far into his emotional mire and spiral into the storm, real, physical pain poked at his brain and his stilted breathing cut off into a strained hiss.
Through squinted eyes he could see familiar dark trails emerging from the entryway, the shadows drawn tightly around 'Sammy's figure as he staggered into the cavern and dragged two familiar shapes along behind. It didn't take long for Bendy to pick out a familiar, ragged dress adorning one.
Both Blue-Eyes Buddy and Dot were completely limp, 'Sammy' more or less pulling the pair to the space left by the new monster as it moved both itself and Allison next to Bendy and Boris. Dropping them, the shadowy ink creature continued on towards the outcropping, the effect of its presence lessening in waves the further and further it got.
But something else was happening, the sounds of bubbling and frothing immediately jolting to life both Bendy's attention and his fear. The noise had to be coming from the ink around the monolith.
Bendy could see the manner in which the thick black rose and fell, almost like ocean waves, gathering power as it swept out from somewhere near the monolith.
Though, instead of building like an ocean wave, the ink began to fountain as it hit the outcropping, rising into a blobbish shape that swept forward. Within moments 'Sammy' was gone, leaving Bendy blinking as the pain the once-musician had brought ceased.
The only reminder of the fact that 'Sammy' had even been there to begin with was the faint squeeze from Boris's arm, Bendy nearly glancing up at the wolf's face before something else started to happen. Namely a grinding noise that made the little devil's teeth rattle, his head looking in the direction of where the sounds were reverberating the strongest. He could only see the left side of the room, but the small, somewhat far-off glimpse was more than enough for him to see the rock wall shifting, almost bubbling as something forced its way in.
It came in a strange mix of fast and slow, the rock dripping black as the shape emerged fully into the cavern. For an instant, Bendy had a hard time telling if the slurry was from the stone, or from what was coming. He recognized the nozzle first, though the somewhat cracked, rusted look harkened back to something that felt like ages ago. The room right before he and Boris had found little Buddy.
He couldn't be sure, not this far away, but somehow Bendy had the feeling that he was looking at the very same Machine. The one that had been tucked away in a storeroom, leaking ink everywhere, that he'd later told Tom about. Except now there was a faint, whitish glow coming from its seams, pulsating in time with the churn of the ink inside.
The reciprocating rumble on the other side of the cavern made the little devil's head turn, his eyes just able to spot the edge of another nozzle poking out from behind the rock wall bordering the right-hand side of the outcropping. It was smaller, and definitely less complicated, but the dripping black oozing from the also shimmering nozzle was similar enough that Bendy could feel confident calling this yet another Ink Machine. But, three?!
Another faint flash of memory came, of the door Bendy had been confronted with when trying to escape the music department. The one he'd broken with the axe, the one that had ink flowing out from under it. He'd never outright seen what had been beyond, but he'd had the thought that, with the noise and the presence of ink, it had been an Ink Machine sitting back there.
But, even if he'd just been proven right, it still didn't explain what in the heck was happening, or why the walls just, deformed, to let the Machines through.
Not that Bendy got very long to think on that, given that the ink in the pit was moving again. Gathering like it had when it swept 'Sammy' away, the black swelled into a rising mass that surpassed the lip of their little outcropping. The mass itself appeared to take on its own shape, the top rounding off almost like a head as it rose up to nearly the ceiling of the little cavern. Forming almost in a mirror image to Bendy's horns were two points atop the ink, the movement crowned as the mass formed a set of arms, which rested on the lip of the outcropping as the shape leaned in over the group. Though, instead of the ends becoming hands, they became a collection of prehensile tendrils of ink, twitching like worms as they settled on the lip of the rock.
And, as though the moment couldn't get any more horrifyingly surreal, a humming buzz started to come from the inky shape, heralding words, an actual voice, that projected out from the monster covered in ink and recording equipment and echoed off the walls.
But if that weren't strange enough, what the voice actually said was more than enough to both confuse and terrify Bendy all over again.
"It seems like our little game is over, Henry. Looks like I won."
Immediately Bendy's eyes zipped to Henry, the animator groggily moving as his name was spoken aloud. Though it didn't take long for something about the situation to ring dangerous to even Henry's limited senses, the man's movements going from uncoordinated to floundering as he tried to rise, only to have the recording ink monster press a foot to his back.
"Don't bother getting up." The voice continued from the monster's speakers, and though the distortion was still present, Bendy was able to recognize who was speaking, Joey Drew. "We both knew this was going to happen. Just stay there and this will all be over before you know it."
"While this was rather pointless, can't say it didn't come with its own rewards. Just look what we've stirred up here." The words were punctuated by the dark mass starting to shift, tendrils snaking out to the small group. Though Bendy immediately grew tense, he found himself watching as they went past him, and to Tom instead. The headless Projectionist easily relinquished his catch, the wolf taken off guard as he was carried off his feet and to the back of the room. Tom slammed into a very familiar looking slab against the wall, the ink working as a ready set of restraints. Feeling his breath stall at the sight Bendy went stock still, unable to look away, but if this was going to go the way he thought it would then he so very much did not want to watch.
But as the ink secured its hold, the worst it did was pull Tom's head from side to side, tugging on the wolf's eyes and at his mouth like someone sizing up a new item in their collection.
"Now this," Joey's distorted voice hummed, ", is interesting. I had been keeping a close enough eye that it would be extremely difficult to just make a new toon, but using a discarded Boris clone. Ingenious."
Tom tried to give one last bit of a struggle, his metallic arm thrashing enough that it broke free from the inky tendrils. But as he swung, the ink caught it again, pinning it next to Tom's head on the slab. A brief tsking came through the monster's speakers as Joey's voice chimed in again.
"And off-model, though I guess that would be your usual touch. No such thing as a perfect copy…" The last was said almost whimsically, like the man was remembering something only mildly important, though a faint creak from Tom's arm betrayed some deeper feeling. Still, with no change in tone, Joey continued to talk. "No matter, we can work with this. He's similar enough. And who knows, we might need two…guard dogs, once everything's settled."
And, just to confirm the notion now settling horribly in Bendy's mind about what would happen to Tom…
"He will require some, disassembly, unfortunately, but we all must make sacrifices of course."
The words caused a ripple to go through the non-monsterfied members of the group, Henry beginning to fight again against the foot pinning him down. Bendy could even feel Boris's arm tense around him, the little devil chancing a glance at the wolf's face and seeing that his head had been turned to look in Tom's direction. There was a flicker of a blink, the ink from Boris's eyes running with more viscosity, though his features were eerily blank.
But out of everyone, Allison's reaction was one that both immediately drew Bendy's eye and made him want to look away. The angel's expression had morphed into one of quiet panic, and though she did look at the struggling Tom, her head immediately turned to the inky mass.
"Joey, please, he hasn't done anything, just let him go-"
"You're not in much shape to make demands, MISS PENDLE." The voice through the speakers boomed, the drone of buzzing under the already hard tones making Bendy's fur stand on end, teeth nearly grinding as he braced himself through the waves of noise. It seemed to go on for a lot longer than the actual words did, the little devil trembling as they finally wound down. Glancing around told him that the others were similarly affected, Allison down on her knees as she clutched her head, Henry's hands squeezing at the earthen floor, Tom's ears pinned down as he pressed himself back into the slab. Lil'Buddy was stirring in Norman's arms, mitten gloves shakily reaching for his head, Blue-Eyes Buddy and Dot coming to on the floor as the spindlier ink creature reached for the blindfolded woman, pulling her into a protective hug.
A faint shudder went through Boris's arms, Bendy looking back just in time for a small gout of ink to gush from the wolf's jaws, the eyes slipping in their blankness to something openly terrified, pained, and so very Boris that it was all Bendy could do to keep himself from just bursting out with the wolf's name. But, just as quickly as it came on, the awareness was smothered by that crushing blankness, Boris falling back into the role of mindless muscle.
"Besides…" Joey's voice continued, as though he hadn't just debilitated everyone else in the room by talking. "…the only reason I have not simply taken you back is because you did what I asked. I have allowed you your life, and you repay me by keeping someone else's secrets. Not only that, you have clearly decided which side you wanted to take in this little…conflict of interest."
There was an instant where the words were allowed to sink in, Allison's shoulders hunched as she hugged herself, looking very small as she tried to withstand the brunt of Joey's anger. A flicker of motion alerted Bendy to Henry trying to move, an overlarge, inky hand slapping against the floor going ignored as Joey spoke again.
"I will deal with you in just a moment, Miss Pendle. Right now, I have something a little more pressing to take care of."
There was a brief silence, right before…
"Now, Bendy."
The very mention of his name caused something to freeze in the little devil's gut, his lungs briefly stuttering for air as the surface of the inky mass began to shift. Another, thicker tendril dropped off, extending its way across the floor to come closer and closer to Bendy, the small toon pushing himself back into Boris's arms as cold fear twisted his insides.
But, as it came just within a stone's throw, the end rippled, something pushing its way to be above the surface. For a moment, Bendy didn't recognize the thing the tendril was holding, until it inched just a bit closer and he could place it, Sammy's mask. The one of the little devil's smiling face.
It hung in the air just over his head, almost as though it were peering down at him. The tendril itself shifted back and forth, before a new rumble of speech echoed out from the monster's speakers.
"Ah, it has been a while, hasn't it, Bendy?"
Bendy, for his part, couldn't get out more than the first syllable of Joey's name, the sound coming out as a croaky, breathless whisper. But the man, if he was even still a man under all that ink, seemed to take it as proper conversation given that he wasted not a moment to continue talking.
"About thirty years, if I'm not mistaken. You've been quite industrious in your little…frivolity. Took a good while just to track you down." There was a faint uptick in the humming as this bit went on, the little devil finding himself cringing away from the mask. It wasn't as though he really knew what the sound meant, and honestly, it could mean anything, but somehow he was getting a very distinct impression that reminded him of closets, corners, and scathing lectures about proper behavior. And right now, in this context, the prospect of Joey's temper was terrifying.
"I suppose you saw plenty of the outside world while you were…away. Must've been quite an experience for you, wasn't it, Bendy? I know how…curious you can be. But, now, it's time to stop playing, and get down to business. I even have some familiar friends here to greet you."
The last remark made Bendy peer warily up at the mask, wondering what fresh hell he was about to encounter. Was, was Joey talking about Henry? Boris?
"Now, now, don't tell me you don't recognize the old crew. Sammy unfortunately had to step out, but everyone else is still very much here. Henry you've met already, Boris…" At the latter name, the wolf gave a soft shudder, Bendy glancing back enough to see the dripping face start to run with more ink. "Norman I think you're aware of. Didn't plan on Susie getting ahold of him, but we can make him, better. Just like Wally here."
There was a slight slithering as tendrils snaked out from the mass, indicating the monster from which the talking was emanating from.
"W-Wally?" That couldn't be him. Not Wally, not the janitor that had told him jokes, danced with him when work permitted, that couldn't be Wally…
"Yes, Wally." Joey's voice came from the speakers, talking in that familiar sort of tone when he was having to repeat something and getting annoyed about it. Though for the moment Bendy couldn't feel anything more than a numb shock.
There was a shifting in the ink off to the left side of their little outcropping, something moving about underneath the surface. As Bendy turned to look, something else was pushed to the top, a small, pale something…
"As for Alice...well, I could see you missing her, I did make sure she was tucked away safely. Though she has been quite a big help, keeping an eye on things around the studio."
Bendy could just barely see the angel, her face and maybe the faintest suggestion of her slight figure being all that the inky cocoon revealed. Her mouth was parted slightly, her eyes closed and her face streaked with ink enough that the white was stained a dark gray. It was hard to tell if she was even alive, the very thought making the little devil's heart thud painfully against his rib cage. Though he knew it would be pointless, he couldn't help the slight struggles he made to get loose from Boris, the wolf's arm only tightening at the movement. From around where Alice was stuck in the ink, something bubbled, shapes arising from the dark murk. It was a moment before Bendy realized what they were, the ink falling away enough that he could really see them, Bendy cutouts.
Bendy cutouts that, as they became exposed and open to the air, began to run ink from their eyes. Immediately the little devil was reminded of the mural he'd seen in the safehouse, and now he understood. The person was saying that Alice had become submerged, but the cutouts, the cutouts were how she could still-
Bendy froze, feeling the bottom drop out of his stomach at the notions his brain was reaching. The angel could see through the cutouts, or somehow sense things through them. That was how she'd been 'helping' Joey 'keep an eye on things' around the studio. When Bendy'd been chopping up the cutouts, he'd been destroying her eyes. Had, had he been hurting her when he'd destroyed them, back when 'Alice' had told him to do it?
And you listened.
The little devil was startled out of his thoughts when the mask-wearing tendril suddenly was uncomfortably close to his head, sending him back into Boris's arms with a gasp partially smothered by his own hands. He didn't even remember bringing them up to cover his mouth, but with that so close he sure as heck wasn't going to lower them now.
And it was coming just too close, leaning right into his space. Boris's frame behind him was unyielding, giving Bendy nowhere to escape to. But just as he could feel his heartbeat roaring in his ears, a faint rumble of a chuckle came from the monster's speakers.
"Oh, Bendy, no need to be so worried. In fact, I think you might like what I have in store for you." Oh, he didn't like that. He really didn't like that. But he didn't dare speak up, Joey powering on. "Can't imagine things have improved much outside, have they? Still going with the occasional war, still a lot of senseless death, folks leaving much too soon…you're hardly looking like you've got much pep left in your step, Bendy."
Even though he was terrified out of his mind, there was a part of Bendy's mind that had to concede that Joey's words weren't…wrong, exactly. Despite still being stiff with fright the little devil felt some things be teased from the depths of his memory where he'd stuffed them…
-Henry's voice heavy as he replied, "no, Bendy. Louie's, Louie's not coming back."-
-"Puttin' in my two week's notice, kid. I'm sorry."-
-"I can't take this anymore..."-
-"Sammy had t'go away for a while…h-he wouldn' say why, but…Bendy, d'ya know what's a, a funeral?" Boris asked, the suddenness of the word taking Bendy off-guard.-
-the car rolled away, a small, sorry pile of bone and fur lying motionless in the street-
-"…hemorrhaging animators, Joey, we can't go on like this." Henry tried, though he still sounded defeated-
-"Kid, wait, no, don't go in there…you don't need to see this."-
-his thoughts spinning wild, no, no that couldn't be true, she wasn't gone, she'd been alive just last night-
"But…what if we could change that, Bendy? If we could have our own little place, where everyone's happy? Where you wouldn't have to run anymore, you could be happy, safe, everything you ever wanted. And I could give that to you. Practically right now if you'd like."
…It was what Bendy wanted, to some degree, but, really? Safe, after all of this, everything he'd experienced, hell everything around him right now?! But, even with the strong emotions making his heartbeat roar in his ears, the little devil didn't dare voice them aloud, and instead sat frozen with his hands clamped over his mouth. The brief freeze was broken as a burbling, sharp bite of a noise was cut off with a watery yelp, Henry having had his apparent protestations cut off by a foot pressing down on his ribs. The little devil's head jerked to look, before yanking itself back as the reality of his own situation reasserted himself, that he needed to look to his own well-being first especially right now. But the damage, it seemed, was already done.
The mask was drawing away, Joey's voice underlaid with a snap of strong humming as it came through over the speakers.
"But of course, I'm hardly without reason. I'll give you some time to think. Don't take too long though, my offer will only be good for so long."
"Don't. Don't give him an answer. Don't give him anything, he can't do anything if you don't-" Blue-Eyes Buddy's murmur was cut off as the same, head splitting hum echoed throughout the cavern. But, unlike before, there was purpose and focus to this one, the pressure not quite as strong for Bendy, or Boris it seemed, but for Blue-Eyes Buddy and Dot…
It seemed to take all of a second. One moment Buddy had stopped talking, curling over Dot as the humming reached a higher pitch, and then they were both gone, disappeared into a puddle of ink that pulled itself back to the larger mass.
"Hmm, a little too much. But no matter. He's still here, and when I remake him, he'll be free of all those pesky problems." Joey's voice hummed, almost detached from the horror of the moment. Like two people hadn't just been reduced to a puddle right before their very eyes.
Bendy had almost forgotten that there were other people in the room, until a clanking made him flip around in Boris's arms to see that Tom had started to thrash anew. The wolf's ears were pinned back, his face screwed up in a mix of anger and desperation as he tried to get loose.
Immediately the humming picked up again, an image flashing in Bendy's mind of Tom melting like Blue-Eyes Buddy and Dot had, just falling apart into a puddle right there on the slab-
"Joey! Joey, don't! Stop, please, he hasn't done anything!" Allison's voice cried out, the little devil's eyes snapping to her. The angel's eyes were wide, fixed to the ink mass with wild fear. But, while the humming droned down to more manageable levels, the faint, almost condescending laugh coming through the speakers did not bring hope to Bendy that this would turn out okay.
"Oh, Miss Pendle, I hardly plan to do anything too permanent, or waste such…inventive methods. But I suggest you say your goodbyes now, as we'll probably ought to have more of a blank slate." And, to punctuate just what he meant by that, a tendril of ink rose just above Tom's head, the sharp point levying at just about the wolf's eye level.
The words and their intention could be seen in their impact, Allison's frame trembling as the full meaning behind them landed with the force of a punch to the gut. The angel looked like she was just a hair away from being physically ill, though as she turned to Tom, the look softened into something worn and sad. The monster who had escorted her in started to step away, leaving the way clear for Allison to come closer.
The wolf's struggles had died down once the humming fell away, his eyes turning to the angel as she came near. Making eye contact brought down some of the brasher toon's walls, Tom's mute stare turning worried and afraid as his eyes found hers. Even though Allison did try to give something of a reflexive smile, it wavered at the edges with tears, the angel forcing it into a dull mask as she reached the table itself. Her hand quietly carded the fur sticking up near Tom's right ear, the wolf leaning into the touch with a soundless tremble in his throat. Allison froze, before leaning in and wrapping as much of Tom's upper body into a hug as she could. The contact made Tom freeze entirely before leaning in, even as his mind spun itself in circles trying to find a way out.
But, as Allison's hands shifted, it became clear that she had something in mind. Tom had a moment of warning before he felt something cut into the tendril binding his mechanical arm, the resistance falling away. He snapped the point of ink over his head and rushed to yank at the other tendrils, Allison going to work on the two binding his legs, and within moments he was free.
"THAT WAS A POOR DECISION, MISS PENDLE." Joey's voice boomed, the pair rushed by the typewriter monster and forced back. But the doorway into the room was being swallowed up by the walls, becoming indistinguishable from the rest of the cavern. Even with that the pair struck back, Tom landing a solid hit to the typewriter monster's midsection that took it off guard enough that Allison managed to slam her weapon, a piece of sharpened metal, into its head. A faint, death-knell gurgle burbled forth as it choked on its own ink, stumbling before falling and juddering apart into a puddle, only to be joined by about ten more just like it.
Up from the dark mires came plenty of familiar creatures, the half-formed monsters breaking through quicker than their spindlier counterparts. Boris moved around the back of the crowd to stand on the other side, Wally slamming Henry's head into the ground and dragging him to sit against the wall only a stone's throw away. As Norman came to join them as well, Buddy curled up over his arm. The speakers on Wally crackled again, Joey's voice speaking with a much quieter tone as the tendril with Sammy's mask drifted in overhead.
"Not to worry, I'd hardly let this get in the way of our little discussion. Besides, this won't take long."
The odds were definitely not in the pair's favor, but they were trying their damnedest to fight, Tom sweeping what he could with his metallic arm as he and Allison tried to stay away from the grabbing hands of the half-formed monsters. The few skeletal ones that had come up wavered at the edges, more blocking them in then fighting them directly.
But even as they ducked, dodged, and evaded, the confusion had drawn attention away from the inky tendrils, the broken and cut ends repairing as they twitched and wiggled, at first spasmodically but then with more purpose.
Seeing the flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye Allison reacted first, shoving Tom to the ground as the thing smashed through a half-formed monster to get to the middle of the fray.
Tom hit the ground, senses stumbling as they tried to make sense of what had happened. As he tried to turn himself over there was a noise, a wet, sliding sound that was very familiar to Tom, as he'd heard plenty of things make it once they'd been impaled with Allison's sword.
Except, this time, it wasn't Allison's sword, it was a honed tendril of ink.
And it wasn't just some random monster that had been impaled, but the angel herself.
She was still facing the wolf, not sparing a moment of attention to the thing that had just cut her life short. Instead, Allison kept her eyes on Tom's face, a hand shakily reaching up to card through the tufts of fur sticking up on the side of his head. He could just make out her mouth moving, her lips becoming stained with ink as she tried to say something. What it was, he wasn't sure, the wolf only able to make out what looked like 'it's' before Allison's face went slack, her eyes closing as she fell forward into him. Automatically Tom reached out, catching and trying to hold her even as he could feel something wet oozing into his fur. She was still, so still, he couldn't even feel her breathing, she wasn't breathing-
And then the cooling weight of the angel was gone, hurtling through the air and crashing into the ink pool surrounding the monolith. Tom's hands hung in the air, his eyes watching the spot where Allison fell with shock deadening everything sans the heartbeat thundering in his ears. But not totally, because Joey's 'voice' hummed again and though the wolf couldn't make out the words the observation was like the trigger to an avalanche, his thoughts tumbling end over end, screaming that he KILLED HER HE KILLED HER HE KILLED HER-
Though his screams were soundless, Tom still felt his jaws part in a silent howl, felt himself run towards the pulsating mass of ink, with the thought roaring in his head about how he didn't care if it killed him, he'd rip that thing, he'd rip apart Joey Drew himself, with his bare hands if he had to.
But before he could even get within reaching distance, the few skeletal ink monsters and finally even Wally leapt onto him, pressing the wolf into the floor. Still he tried to keep moving, even to the point of clawing at the ground as he threw all his energy into gaining just one more inch of distance, just a little closer and he'd kill Joey for killing her…
Then the humming was back, knocking the struggling down to nothing as Tom tried to protect his sensitive ears. But rising above was Joey's voice, more thrumming force of nature now than man.
"I think we might need to get to that disassembly. Right now. And I know just the way to break in a STUBBORN DOG."
The familiar, maddening voice booming from over his head made the wolf snarl, but before he could do anything he was yanked to his feet. Just in time to see both the multiple ink puddles forming around him, about twenty in total, and at the far back, nearest to the inky mass, lines of ink were being inscribed onto the ground. The circular shape was more than recognizable, a spellcircle.
Barely an instant after the design was completed, the markings started to glow a bloody red, ink pulling to the center and juddering as it rushed to form a shape. The sight was replicated on both sides, new circles forming and beginning to glow as they too gathered ink. But, out of the three of them, the first one started to form an actual figure before the rest did. Something kind of long, rectangular, and boxy, the shape juddering as it congealed with ink dripping every which way, colors swimming here and there to the point where it looked like whatever was forming was actively falling apart even as it was coming to be.
A light forced its way from the inky mass behind these circles, a softly glowing thing that hovered just above the tumultuous shape before it was unceremoniously dropped into it, pulsating as it was absorbed.
And, with a gurgling roar that half-resembled a scream, the taxi toon sprang to life. Bendy let out a gasp as Boris's arms tightened around him, though when the little devil actually glanced up at his face the wolf's features were impassively serene.
Well, it was a far cry from the taxi, who blindly charged forward with such speed that Tom was barely able to get out of the way.
To make matters worse, similar scenes were playing out on the latter two circles, a pair of lights descending into the new but equally unstable shapes. It didn't take long before more screaming erupted, the shapes springing forth and into the fray with a wildness that made them seem all the more fragile, given their half-melting state.
But they were no less dangerous, one being a sort of cylinder with a mouthful of sharp teeth and some sort of dripping circle-thing crowning the top, the other looking like it was partially an octopus or a squid…and some sort of box?
As the trio floundered, Tom was forced to hurriedly duck and dodge to avoid being struck even by accident, while a flickering on nearly the opposite side of the room caught Bendy's attention. His eyes picked out another spellcircle that had just formed, and was starting to glow.
This last one though…while Bendy was hardly an expert, even he could tell that something was different about the last inky spellcircle. For starters, the markings were sliding into a pure, soft white, a sharp contrast from their earlier red, and were a lot more complex, the designs so intricate that he couldn't pick them all out from where he stood.
And it hardly mattered, as ink gathered in the center like iron filaments to a magnet. But the glob did not simply spring up into another half-melting shape. Instead it seemed to take its time, the forming body pretty big from Bendy's perspective but by far more solid and balanced. Already he could see limbs forming, arms and legs emerging as though from clay, the hands turning white as gloves came through the black. There were other details simply coming to be, like white and black spats forming on the new toon's feet, but for the moment Bendy's focus was more riveted to the where the head looked to be, watching as the somewhat oddly-proportioned body became more and more defined. He could now pick out the shape, the half-hourglass inkwell figure, the top crowned with a ring that sprouted a somewhat delicate-looking white feather.
The final touch was a white, arrow shape that swirled into being on the toon's chest, almost as though an invisible hand were painting it onto the surface. Unlike the previous three, this toon's body looked perfectly stable, simply laying in the center of the still-glowing circle as though it were sleeping. From the inky mass came another light, this one lowering carefully into the waiting form.
A faint rumble rippled through the cavern, the sound echoed by another hum from the monster's speakers, as everything and everyone seemed to stop and notice what Bendy had seen. Even the melting toons appeared to realize that something was happening, as the prone inkwell toon was partially lifted off the ground to meet the light. As it was absorbed, the inkwell took in a first, momentous breath of air, lungs audibly filling as the new toon's body lowered back to the ground. At first, it almost looked like nothing had happened, before the inkwell's foot twitched, fingers moving slightly against the earthen floor. The entirely dark features made it a bit difficult, but from where Bendy was being held, he could see what looked like a furrowing of the inkwell's face as the head slipped to rest on its side.
And, as the little devil watched, the new toon's eyes blinked groggily open, peering around before fixating on him. Bendy felt no fear of this one, as unlike the pained, wild expressions of its brethren, the inkwell toon's eyes were merely curious, if not confused.
"Look at that", Joey's voice rumbled, the vocal inflections practically humming with the earlier, painful throbbing. Bendy's body tensed as he huddled in on himself, eyes closing as he clutched at his head. "Chester, Canoodle, Gaskette. If you wish to know who has stolen from you, the culprit is right there."
The three melting toons absorbed the news in silence, before the tentacled one gave a gurgling roar and rushed the still-prone inkwell, a long, whip-like limb lashing out and grabbing at the new toon's arm. A startled cry ripped itself from the inkwell's throat, turning into whimpering as he was put face to face with the irate sea monster.
Tears started to pour down the dark face as the melting creature opened its not-inconsiderable mouth to deliver an ink-spewing roar, splatters of black and white hitting the inkwell's shivering frame as it dangled in the air. The other two toons, the cylinder and the car, were hardly idle, both choosing right this moment to get involved by snatching at the inkwell. The whimpering turned into louder, more open crying as the strung-up toon flopped around in an effort to get away.
"GIVE…BACK!" The tentacled toon howled, voice rough and phlegmy as he continued to shake the poor inkwell around by the arm, the abused toon giving a terrified wail. The gravely command was echoed by the other two toons, the pair giving their own howls of anger and frustration as the cylinder tried to grab at the inkwell.
A blur of motion caught Bendy's eye, his gaze zipping to Tom as the wolf charged in and slammed his metal fist into the sea monster's side. Ordinarily, the little devil was sure that that wouldn't have done much against a toon of that size, but given that it's…skin, rippled like water, the apparent shock setting off a scream and another spewing of monochrome ink, he figured that the usual rules didn't quite apply here.
Tom was able to jump out of the way of the taxi zipping around, though the wolf was blindsided by the cylinder managing to hook a finger into the cable running from his prosthetic arm and connecting to somewhere on his shoulder. The force pulled Tom sideways, causing him to topple to the ground. Between the cacophony raging around the inkwell, and the fact that the taxi toon was still rolling here and there, it was a little hard to make out specifics, but Bendy could tell that something was wrong. Tom wasn't quite getting back to his feet, his flesh and ink arm holding his metallic one.
But as Tom tried to stumble away from more blows the cylinder went for the inkwell, yanking him out of the winding tentacle easily given that its owner was still distracted. Though with the feeling of his prize slipping away, this didn't last long. Immediately the tentacle lashed around the inkwell, pulling him away from the cylinder as the sea monster toon gave an angry roar that was echoed as fighting broke out in earnest.
Before Bendy could really think about what he was doing, he'd taken in a breath of air, only to have his mouth be covered by one of Boris's oversized hands, the wolf's fur hot and slicked with slime against his face.
"Just a moment, Bendy. A lesson needs to be learned here." Joey's voice hummed, the little devil feeling his insides freeze at the notion that the once studio-head was just going to let this chaos continue.
And it was chaos. While Tom was preoccupied with not getting hit by either the taxi or the sea monster's other tentacles, the inkwell was being shaken and thrown around. The pair were practically screaming at each other but somehow it wasn't enough to drown out the inkwell's terrified sobbing as he was yanked, squeezed, and when he grew too loud to ignore, screamed at.
But Bendy couldn't do anything, he could only watch and hear as the inkwell toon was tossed and shaken around between the pair, before one of them flung him off to the side and there was an awful crunch of breaking glass.
There was a silence that carried for a few moments, before a wailing started that made Bendy want to be ill, the melting trio stilling enough that the little devil could finally see what had become of the inkwell. It almost looked like the new toon was standing upright, until Bendy caught sight of a new addition poking through the inkwell's right side.
It looked like a piece of metal sticking out of the wall, like something Bendy'd seen in the occasional rundown building that had started to fall apart here and there. It was probably a small mercy that the inkwell couldn't quite bend enough to see the injury, just the sight of the ink covering his hand was enough to make the panic escalate.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the three melting toons were moving in again, the sight of which made the inkwell start to wail through clenched teeth as his eyes closed, whole body shivering from what at this point could have been a good mix of pain and fear.
It was at this point that another sound joined the cacophony, a low, familiar roar that had Bendy peering in the direction of the open cavern, namely at the various breeds of Ink Machine scattered around. The nearest one was faintly trembling in place, the echoing rattling making the little devil wonder if the other two were doing the same. What the heck was happening? A bad bit of ink? Mechanical failure?
But, strangely enough, from the monster's, Wally's speakers came a faint rumble of answering noise, the hum briefly building in power before falling as Joey's voice reverberated into the cavern. Unlike the more sonorous tones from before, this was more of an undertone sort of rumble, the way you would hear someone when they were talking near a microphone but not directly into it.
"Alright, if you say so…"
The roaring of the Ink Machines started to die down, Bendy all the more confused now because that…had almost sounded like a conversation. Or at least part of one. What was going on? Who was Joey talking to?
Not that the studio head himself was going to answer, given the faint murmuring that echoed out from the speakers.
"But on my terms, old friend."
And, in the earlier, louder tone,
"Chester, Canoodle, Gaskette, STOP."
The trio halted straightaway, looking with confused stupor to the source of the humming voice, though judging from the faint, gurgling growl coming from the sea monster it might not be so easy to persuade them to back off entirely. But, sweet as molasses, Joey's voice spoke up again.
"You have done very well. I will make sure you three will be helped. But, first, destroy the wolf buzzing around. He would stop you from being healed. Why don't you stop him first?"
Tom, meanwhile, had been getting to his feet, peering warily in the direction of the trio even before Joey made his little proclamation. Once the meaning sunk in Tom's eyes widened, the wolf trying to get a head start on the inevitable chase.
But, as though the universe mocked his efforts, the first one to notice the wolf was the faster taxi, the toon car giving a gravely howl as its headlight eyes beamed pure fury in Tom's direction. The wolf barely had time to dash out of the way as he was nearly struck, though more trouble came in the form of the two other melting toons being clued into where he was as well. As his eyes roved over the scene, Bendy couldn't help but notice that the metal and stone where the inkwell toon had been stuck was suddenly empty, his mind briefly jumping to the notion that the poor guy had melted away, before he noticed a familiar shape being pulled to the far side of the room. There was a glob of ink covering the side of the inkwell's body that had been hurt, the other toon's face turned to the side as his eyes roved before locking blearily with Bendy's.
The pained, terrified gaze was pleading with the little devil, practically begging for him to do something, but Boris's hand was still pressed to his face. Bendy was only able to watch as the inkwell's gaze was yanked to another tendril appearing above him, the end ballooning out into a shape that almost resembled a head. Whatever was happening could not be heard over the racket of the melting toons trying to get Tom, but Bendy couldn't help but notice that the inkwell's eyes had started to run anew, head turning in a futile effort to get away.
It was then that another rumbling went through the room, yanking Bendy's sight from the sordid scene to look around at the brawl between Tom and the melting toons. Though the wolf's prosthetic arm was definitely having some problems, he was able to avoid them. But as the ground around the confrontation began to bubble, the wolf was becoming increasingly boxed in.
And, to make matters worse, the frothing, pooling ink was spewing forth not just a small group of inky creatures this time, but whole crowds that were choking out the extra space in the room. Because Boris was so tall Bendy could still see over their heads, though he wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not.
Just to put the crown on the moment, Joey's voice reverberated out of the speakers with a sonorous rumble meant to be heard by everyone in the room, from toon to forming ink monster.
"The wolf is keeping you from your Lord! If you wish to receive his blessing, DESTROY THE THIEF THAT STANDS IN YOUR WAY."
The news was absorbed in a sort of distant silence at first, before angry murmuring started to mix in as the melting trio began to wind back up into their frenzy. Tom's ears lowered as he quickly read the anger in the room, and that it was all being directed at him. Though Bendy's initial thought would have been to try to deny the notions Boris's hand was still covering his mouth, and Tom had no voice with which to speak.
Not that the once-people were inclined to listen to reason anymore. As Tom was forced into the wall of black bodies surrounding him and the three melting toons he was beset upon by them too, the wolf stumbling turning into a flail as dark hands grabbed at his shoulders and head. He was able to pull away, but Bendy was sure that he'd at least lost a few handfuls of fur, and at the worst gotten scratched up and bruised. Tom didn't even have a moment to really breathe before he was nearly run down by the taxi, both of the other monsters storming in after.
The edges now no longer a safe place, Tom was more hard-pressed to stay out of the way of the trio, though inevitably something went wrong.
It started with the taxi managing to clip the wolf, his prosthetic arm giving a ringing crack as Tom was sent reeling. Bendy couldn't tell if the damage went beyond the metal arm, but from the way Tom was trying to stumble back to his feet he must've gotten pretty banged up. But that hit slowed him down enough that the other two melting toons were able to rush in, the cylinder-guy striking Tom hard with an oversized hand, snapping his head to the side. One of the sea monster's tentacles rushed in after, slamming into Tom's side and knocking him a good few feet.
This time, Tom wasn't rising so quickly, the wolf audibly coughing and spitting up a mouthful of ink, his face puffing in a bruise as he both tried to regain his bearings and protect his now injured side. Even over the gurgling growls of the melting trio, and the angry shouts and grumbling of the crowd, Bendy could hear Tom fighting to breathe.
He wasn't going to get up. He'd fallen far enough away from the crowd that they weren't going to get him but the trio definitely could. Tom was going to die, he was going to die because of him, it'd be his fault-
And suddenly, at a hum from Wally's speakers, Norman's body abruptly jerked, levying the tiny frame of Buddy before pitching the minute devil just inside the ring of inky bodies surrounding the fray.
If Bendy hadn't been fighting before, he'd definitely started right when he saw that. Despite the fact that the slime coating Boris's hand kept his mouth tightly closed, screams fought to get out of his vocal chords as he both tried to escape and see where Buddy had been thrown. The problem with that was that the little devil was looking for a tiny black dot in a sea of rippling black slime.
But, just as he was starting to become completely sure that Buddy had been either torn apart or drowned in the ink, he saw a small flicker of motion appear near the struggling Tom. At the same time, the taxi was gearing up for another pass at the downed wolf, Bendy trying his best to flail out of Boris's grip the closer and closer the toon car hurtled towards the pair.
Though something happened that Bendy wasn't expecting. It started with a shriek of choked noise, almost like someone was messing with a radio and had it on some weird channel while they played with the volume. The noise caught the attention of the taxi, the toon car screeching to a halt as it's dripping headlights fixed on the tiny devil tucked in next to Tom. As Boris's arms tightened on him, pressing Bendy's head back into the wolf's chest, the little devil could make out a look that nearly passed for confusion on the taxi's face.
"There is a pretender in our midst, everyone." Joey's voice practically hissed over the speakers. "A pretender to the true lord. And what should be done with pretenders?"
"KILL THEM!" Someone's voice rang out. Bendy didn't recognize them but it hardly mattered, the sentiment was being taken up by all of the half-formed ink monsters and the spindly cultists, Buddy's head frantically spinning as he heard each shout. As the noise and hollering reached a fever-pitch, the three melting toons got wrapped up in it as well, gurgling growls building into incensed roars. Though the trio weren't immediately charging down the prone Tom and helpless Buddy, more getting worked up by the racket, Bendy could easily see the pair accidentally getting squashed in the frenzy.
A flicker of motion alerted the little devil to the fact that Henry had abruptly moved, the animator shoving Wally's frame off balance enough for him to break free. Immediately he hurried into the throng of ink, Bendy's heart stuttering at the thought of someone else he cared about in danger. There was a brief spot of hope, Henry able to make his way through to the inner ring, but given that the man still couldn't see he was vulnerable to the three toons still stomping around and kicking up an angry racket. Luckily the animator was able to narrowly dodge one of the tentacles, avoid the cylinder, and stumble his way within a mere few feet of Tom and Buddy.
The taxi rolling just a little too close provoked another terrified squeal of static, Henry immediately reaching out and grabbing onto the pair. Tom limply hung over the animator's ink-covered shoulder, Buddy clung to Henry's arm as he straightened up. The man only got a second to orientate himself before the taxi let out an angry cry, engine roaring as it charged the small group.
Though Henry was able to throw himself to the side, it was clear that this was not a situation he'd be able to handle for long. Especially when one of the sea monster's tentacles slammed into the ground not five feet away and nearly knocked the animator off his feet.
Henry was going to die, Bendy's mind fitfully sputtered as his emotions began to spiral, body thrashing with reckless abandon against Boris's iron grip. Henry was going to die, and Buddy was going to die, and Tom was going to die, just like Allison, just like Blue-Eyes Buddy and Dot and Norman and Sammy and Wally and it was HIS FAULT-!
Suddenly, the little devil's head was forcibly steered around to point at the floor, giving him a perfect view of black lettering that was tracing itself out on the earthen ground, just where it would be easily seen.
IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, THEN WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING?
He could. He could absolutely stop this. Right now. The thought was punctuated by Boris's hand moving away from his mouth, enough that the little devil could finally, finally interject.
"NO, NO, STOP!" Bendy found himself screaming, before he took a deep breath and cried out the words he knew would doom him. "JOEY, STOP! I'LL TALK T'YOU, JUST MAKE IT STOP! DON'T HURT 'EM!"
The noise in the room briefly rose and fell in a collective hum, the melting trio sent reeling to the sides of the ring and into more of the tendrils of ink. Though there were some initial cries and angry howls as they were lifted off the ground, the trio grew unnervingly silent before their forms dissolved into slurry that went back into the larger mass still sitting at the edge of the pit. A faint groan came from the Machines, though it wasn't enough to drown out a gravely cry from the inkwell as the tendrils came too close.
"…Please, Joey." Bendy's voice continued to plead even while croakily worn. It felt like it was coming from somewhere far away, not from the little devil himself. "Please, don't hurt anyone anymore. I'm, I'm ready t'talk."
"Very well." Joey's reply, smooth as silk, came from Wally's speakers, the monster getting back to his feet as Bendy was set down on his. A gurgling cry came from the center of the room, still ringed by inky creatures and cultists. But now, a new mood had fallen over the crowd, a sort of excited murmuring that Bendy could just barely pick up pieces from. Not that he was sure he wanted to hear much, given the faint words he was picking up on mostly consisted of 'it's him' and 'he's come at last'.
And, given that they were right on the outskirts of this little ring of crazy people, it wasn't long before at least one of them happened to hone in on the sounds of the little devil's voice. One of the spindlier, glimmering-eyed ink creatures hobbled around, saw Bendy, and immediately fell prostrate in front of the small toon.
"My lord-!"
The sound caught the attention of others, Bendy flinching back as more spindly figures turned and saw the little devil. Cries of 'lord' and 'it is him, he's really come back' rang out, echoing off the stone walls as Bendy felt his heart start to stammer. It was just him and all of them, it was too much, they were too many-
A low hum from the mass broke up the excited humming, the voices cutting off with yelps and cries alike as their sources wobbled horribly like barely contained gelatin.
"Please…" Joey's voice hummed, ", the lord needs some preparation first, before he can save you. He will attend to you shortly."
"Wait!" Bendy forced out, his voice ringing far louder than he'd initially meant for it to. Swallowing down his fear, the little devil went on. "If you want me, you gotta leave everyone else alone. No hurtin' 'em, n-no killin', just let 'em go. Set 'em free, or you don't get me at all."
There was a rather tense pause after that, Bendy feeling a quiver rattling his spine as he looked from the inky figures, which were backing away in seeming readiness for this 'preparation' and the dark mass itself at the lip of the pit. Given that the thing was made of ink, it was a little hard to get a read on that either, and Wally's speakers were giving off a quiet hum as Joey appeared to digest the terms. As the crowd cleared away, the little devil was able to see where Henry was standing, the animator still carrying Tom over his shoulder and the tiny shape of Buddy tucked in an arm. The constant noise of movement from the crowd was making Henry look every which way, either expecting an attack or just wanting to stay on his guard. Though the fact that the ink around his shoulders was bubbling and rising off in a familiar way made Bendy wonder if he'd made Henry mad.
Granted, it was better than seeing the animator dead. Bendy's life wasn't worth this kind of torture. Hopefully he wouldn't blame himself too much. Maybe they'd all just…forget him. Learn to move on without. That seemed to be the better way to handle this than fighting.
He just wasn't worth it…
"…Alright, Bendy, if that's what you want. And, just in a show of good faith, I'll let you have one of your little demands right now." Joey's voice came with a crackle, the sound of which made Bendy jump until he registered what was being said. What did Joey mean by that?
His answer came when Henry started to make a choking noise, the man's frame stumbling to his knees. Tom and Buddy were both dropped to the ground, revealing the out of control bubbling that had overtaken the animator's ink. Henry's overlarge hands scrabbled at his chest, the coughing and choking growing worse in tandem with the bubbling turning to frothing, before the ink started to splatter onto the ground in front of him. It looked like Henry was choking on the ink that, up until now, he'd been able to live through with no problem.
"H-HENRY!" Bendy cried, though before he could get more than a few feet, the ink that was splattering off the animator seemed to come alive as it moved across the floor and to the inky mass. The more the ink was pulled away, the weaker the animator became, going from kneeling to practically folded over on his hands and knees as more and more black left his frame, the gurgling coughs becoming lifeless wheezes. As the last of the gloopy mush left Henry, the animator lost the fight against gravity, body dropping to the ground with a too-soft thud. Bendy's feet still moved, still carried him to Henry's side, but the more he saw the more he was unsure of how to help.
Henry looked, to put it bluntly, awful. His hair was dark and matted to his skull, his body still wearing a collared shirt and slacks that would not have been out of place during the forties, if they weren't horribly stretched and partially stained with ink. What little of Henry's frame Bendy could see was littered with black scars, so horribly wasted that Bendy was sure that breathing in the animator's general direction would cause him to fall entirely apart.
He couldn't even see if the man was actually breathing, Bendy feeling his breath stutter in his lungs as the realization took hold. Breathy gasps turned into heaving sobs as his hands clutched at the sides of his head, the little devil's body swaying before simply dropping to his knees.
HE KILLED HENRY HE KILLED HIM KILLED HIM MONSTER MONSTER THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT
A faint humming overhead caught the little devil's attention, his gaze snapping to the tendril tipped with Sammy's mask as it stared down at the sordid scene. Though Bendy knew begging would do no good, wouldn't change the mess he'd made, he still felt his jaw disengage, words flooding out with the same viscosity as the tears and ink that were dripping down his face.
"Th-This wasn't what I wanted, Joey! I didn't say you-I didn't want Henry t'-!"
"Perhaps you should have been more careful about what you asked for. I can't help it if you don't take into account what being 'set free' entails." Though, as Bendy's only answer was a sobbing mess, the once-studio head seemed to take some pity on the distraught devil. "Besides, he's far from dead. See for yourself if you don't believe me."
Though the thought of Henry being alive didn't completely stop the tears, it did force Bendy to move, pulling himself by his hands the few feet that stood in between him and the animator's prone form. He almost didn't want to touch the man, the air of fragility still very much clinging to every part of Henry's prone frame, but even with an initial bit of hesitation Bendy's trembling hands carefully turned the animator over, hope urging him to press the side of his head to Henry's chest. The feeling of the leathered fabric nearly made Bendy want to pull back, but he still listened, he had to know for sure…
Thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump
A new sob rattled the little devil, relief warring with despair as he sagged against the animator. His pulse was soft, but there, Henry was there, he was alive…
But Bendy could feel the man's breastbone, his ribs, with no difficulty, and though life had not left him the animator still had the air of someone that might simply stop existing if someone sneezed in their direction.
All your fault…
For a moment, Bendy could only curl up on Henry's chest, feeling very small.
A faint shifting to the side drew the little devil's attention to Buddy as the tiny toon shakily crawled to Henry's side, tucking himself into the animator as he trembled with powerful sobs. Before he could think about it, Bendy found himself raising an arm to reach out, though when the sounds of him shifting around made the tiny toon jump, he thought better of it and lowered his hand.
You've done enough…
As Bendy's gaze trailed to the space just beyond Henry's prone body, he saw a familiar pile of inky fur and ragged overalls that immediately stoked some of the earlier urgency in his mind.
Tom didn't move as Bendy did his best to carefully stumble his way to kneel next to him, the little devil hesitating at actually touching the wolf. He could remember the way Tom had been beaten, and nearly dismembered, torn into by violent cultists that had been out for the wolf's ink.
Because of you, his mind hissed, Bendy barely able to smother a whimper as he shamefacedly hung his head, finding his inner thoughts quietly admitting, if only to himself, that he had no rebuttal. Even as his shoulders began to shake, ink dripping once again down the sides of his face, the little devil's hands gently reached out to the wolf's head, a thumb carefully wiping at a dribbling of ink that had gotten very close to Tom's eye. Though the wolf gave a wince at the touch, along with a soft, soundless breath that could have been a groan if he were capable, he didn't wake up. Bendy slowly let his hand fall back to his side as he mentally went back to that moment, seeing Allison run through, thrown into the ink…
Tom, I'm so sorry… He couldn't help thinking. If he'd never come back, if he'd never been made at all…
Then Allison would be okay, and Sammy, and Wally, and Henry, and Boris, Buddy, Tom, Alice, everyone would be okay. Without him, everyone…
Blinking through tears, Bendy found his vision clearing on the sight of Tom's prone form. Even though there were clear differences, when a cloudy film passed over his eyes, the wolf's features blended in somewhere between reality and memory. It made him think of…
…Boris…
With the similarity in mind, Bendy couldn't help glancing back to Boris, the wolf having not moved from where he'd been made to stand against the wall, next to the headless Projectionist and the tape-deck monster that had once been Wally. The wolf was still standing upright, red eyes blank and dull, though from where he was sitting Bendy could just see the new tracks of ink making their way down the sides of the canid features.
A hum echoed through the cavern, Bendy straightening as ice laced his insides, his mind racing with what now what now what now-!
But the only thing that happened was Joey's voice coming from Wally's speakers again, just as calm and agreeable as he always was when he got his way.
"Don't look so sour, Bendy. I'll even throw in a bonus."
There was another hum through the speakers, and suddenly Boris's frame gave a jerk, falling to the ground as he coughed out a few small globs of ink. Immediately Bendy's heart leapt in his nonexistent throat, the image of Boris with his ribcage pried open, crossed out eyes, melting away into nothing, played itself out in his mind's eye. But, thankfully, the wolf didn't die, didn't dissolve. His head just jerked up to look at Bendy, eyes wide, wild, afraid, but…Boris…
It was as though Boris could hear the little devil's thoughts, his own, dripping face crumpling into tears. Though it didn't seem like he had full control over his limbs, the warped wolf still tried to stumble to his feet, whimpers escaping as he took two trembling steps towards where Bendy was kneeling.
Boris wasn't able to get far before the headless Projectionist leapt onto him, the wolf letting out a pained cry as he was slammed into the ground. Wally's body joined the effort, a few tendrils lashing themselves over Boris's warped body. As Wally's foot pressed down on Boris's head, Joey continued to talk through the speakers.
"I'll let you say your goodbyes. And you can take off that coat and scarf, you won't be needing them."
This was it. Bendy had a sudden vision of a hangman's noose dangling over his head, but strangely his limbs felt, numb, rather than full of electrified tension. He'd be saving them. That's what he wanted in the end.
If there was one good thing that could come out of his life, it was that. He'd be happy if they were all fine.
The scarf came off easily, the ink stains on it having long dried into the fabric. Bendy tossed it aside, feeling his shoulders sag with a sigh as the slight weight was removed.
He hesitated at removing the coat the most, before trying his best to get it over with by shucking it off all at once. The material made a faint thudding noise as it hit the ground, Bendy standing in the wake of it with a faint shivering overtaking his body. Calm or not, it was still fairly chilly in here.
A faint, gurgling whimper from behind drew Bendy's attention to where Boris was, the wolf's transformed frame still partially pinned though he could easily see the little devil. It sort of struck Bendy in that moment that he must really look like a fright.
Folding his arms around his small form, it really only dawning on him just then how boney it felt under his gloved fingers, Bendy tried to avoid shivering too much as he looked up, the sounds of gurgling crying finally registering in his ears.
It was Boris. Boris was crying.
"Pal," Bendy found himself whimpering, his voice having barely any sound behind it. Instead, a few more tears slipped down the little devil's face, his emotions flooding him as he both wanted to apologize, and yet couldn't make more than a few aborted attempts before breaking off entirely. He didn't fall to his knees, at least not yet, but Bendy's frame sagged under the weight of everything that had happened, and everything that was sure to come.
An answering whimper jerked the little devil's eyeline back up, the warped wolf having disentangled one of his arms and brought it forward to reach out to Bendy. With the weight of the Projectionist and Wally on his back, Boris couldn't do more than flop around, his tears and movements growing more desperate as he met with failure.
"Boris…"
More whimpering, the wolf's expression twisting with despair as he still tried to drag himself closer, to get to Bendy.
"Boris, its…" Not okay. It wouldn't be alright. But somehow words came to Bendy's mouth anyway. "Thank you, pal."
The relatively frank, sudden gratitude stopped Boris's tears cold, the warped wolf's eyes beaming incomprehension mixed with misery as he looked into Bendy's face.
"Thanks, for everythin'. Y-You've been a great pal, alright? I, I shoulda stayed, shoulda protected you more, 'm, 'm sorry-!" The words briefly choked in the little devil's voice, Bendy's frame shaking as he huddled in on himself, trying to ride out the storm. But, he did his best to force it aside, to swallow it down and look back up at Boris.
See his friend for the last time.
Even though the resemblance to the Boris he knew was warped, estranged from the image in his head, Bendy still felt a small, warm smile take hold as he looked into the wolf's eyes, seeing past the corruption to the toon behind it.
"Pal, I-"
Boris's eyes widened, looking at something down by the little devil's feet, the wolf giving a gurgling cry before Bendy felt like something had punched him in the diaphragm. Something pressing against his back kept him from folding, though for the moment the little devil just tried to get his air back and figure out what had happened.
A sharp, sudden pain registered, spreading out from his sternum. For an instant Bendy was struck dumb, trying to figure out what had happened and why he was suddenly hurting.
Glancing down, the little devil saw that one of the tendrils had moved, coming around and rammed into the middle of his chest. He could feel a sharp point poking under the skin, ink trickling down from the spot as the tendril both kept him on his feet and started to wrap him up like a particularly careful snake.
Joey must've thought that Bendy had been taking too long.
Either way, the first impulse in the smaller toon's mind was to give Boris an apologetic, faint smile, breathing out a nearly silent 'sorry pal' before he was yanked off his feet and into the black mass, the impact making everything wink away into a black nothing.