After what seemed to be an eternity, Adrien finally spoke. "What games has Max been playing?"

Marinette makes a strange sound. "Y-yeah, it-it's just part of a game. It's not like it's real or… anything…"

The two of them stood in uneasy silence. "Let's… move onto the next room," Adrien finally said.

They left the room, leaving the dead wolf behind, only to be met with another surprise.

"Where did the cutout go?"

Marinette looked at Adrien. "What cutout?"

Adrien looked at her. Finally, he said, "There was a Bendy cutout right here in the middle of the hallway. I ran into it!"

Her eyes narrowed. "We're not alone," she said ominously. "We got to keep moving," she said. "Hopefully, we won't run into Gamer."

"Why do you think that Max did this?" Adrien asked as they carefully made their way down the hallway.

"What else could it be? Now, keep an eye out for clues."

"Clues?"

"Yeah, clues. Games like this one usually have some kind of clue system to help new players get through it."

"Like a tape player?"

Marinette looked over to where Adrien was pointing. Resting on a table was an old tape player with a tape recorded by one Wally Franks inserted. "Perfect!" she said, picking it up and clicking the play button. "Hopefully this will tell us what to do next."

The tape gave a crackle of static before smoothing out into words. "… get what Joey's plan is for this company. The animations sure aren't being finished on time anymore. And I certainly don't see why we need this machine. It's noisy, it's messy, and who needs that much ink anyway?

"Also, get this, Joey had each one of us donate something from our work station. We put them on these little pedestals in the break room. to help appease the gods, Joey says. Keep things going.

"I think he's lost his mind, but hey, he writes the checks.

"But I tell you what, if one more of these pipes burst, I'm outta here!"

The two teens stared in silence after the tape ended. Finally, Adrien spoke up. "Well, that was… enlightening."

"Yeah," added Marinette. "Objects on pedestals, do you think he was talking about the pictures?"

"Seems like our best bet," Adrien said as he put the tape player down. "So, we're looking for a book, a toy, a gear, a wrench, an inkwell, and a… music note?"

Marinette patted him on the back. "I'm sure it will be clear when we see it, Ki-Adrien!"

Adrien blinked. What? Had Marinette almost called him Kitty?

He turned around to find the young designer facing away from and mumbling very quickly under her breath. "Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh!"

"Mari, are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

And that was when the cutout fell out of the closet and all questions were forgotten.

-MToLaCNBatIM-

Fortunately for Marinette's piece of mind, she didn't make any more slipups as she and Adrien gathered the rest of the items scattered around the building and placing them on the stands. Two switches and another cutout later, both of the Parisian teens could hear ink rumbling through the pipes. However, when they got back to the room the Ink Machine had been in, they ran into another problem.

Boards had been put up over the entrance to the balcony.

"Where did-?"

And then it appeared.

It was Bendy, but not the cute little devil from the posters. He had been stretched out, long and skinny, with human-like ribs jutting out under the inky skin. A long spindly limb reached out from behind the boards, reaching for the two teenagers standing in front of it. It was a sight that would trigger the 'flight' response of anyone who saw it.

Unfortunately for it, this time 'fight' was chosen.

"Spots on!"

"Claws out!"

Twin flashes of light and then 'Bendy' was hit by a black-spotted red covered fist and a black gloved one. The monster staggered backwards and tripped over the rails into the pool coming out of the Ink Machine. That was when the pair noticed their companions change of attire.

"You're Ladybug/Chat Noir?" they asked at the same time.

But before either of them could start freaking out, the 'Bendy' monster roared and came jumping back over the railings.

"We'll talk about this later," Marinette said, Ladybug coming to the fore. "Right now, we have an akuma to take care of."

Adrien blinked, then switched to Chat Noir's signature grin. "Then let's do this quickly, My Lady."

'Bendy' started tearing at the boards across the entrance while the superheroes ran down the corridor. They reached the first room and turned to face where the akuma would come from.

"What's the plan, My Lady?" Chat asked.

"Hit him hard," Ladybug replied.

"Hit him hard," Chat said. "I can do that."

With a roar, the akuma came barreling out of the hallway, mismatched hands reaching for them. Just as quickly, the two heroes jumped to the side, letting 'Bendy' race between them. But instead of hitting the wall, it vanished in a splash of ink.

"What…?" Chat asked before 'Bendy' rushed out of another wall heading toward him. Chat was only saved from getting ran over by a timely yo-yo string.

"Got to keep on your toes, chaton," Ladybug teased. "Don't want to get you ran over."

"Of course," Chat groused. "Because I didn't think that he could just walk through walls!"

"Hmmm," Ladybug hummed, her eyes lighting upon the still running projector. What if… "Chat! Grab that reel!" she cried as she dodged another rush.

A swing of a pole, and the reel was knocked off the machine and into Chat's hand. "Now what, Bugaboo?"

"Stop calling me that!" Ladybug said, scanning the room. "And… now!"

She threw her yo-yo the same time Chat threw the reel, keeping one hand on the film. Miraculously, the two lines crossed and wrapped themselves around 'Bendy,' stopping him in place. "Gotcha!" she cried, pulling her string tight.

"I have to say, My Lady," Chat Noir said, as he started stepping closer to the akuma, keeping the film tight, "I think that this was one of our quickest fights."

"Don't count your chickens yet, Chat. what do you think the object is?"

"I'm thinking that glove looks reel suspicious."

Ladybug paused in her pulling to give Chat a Look. "Really?" she asked. "You went with that? I thought you were going to go with 'a reel catch.'"

"Hey, cut me some slack, I've been distracted by… you know."

"We'll talk about that later, Kitty, do your thing now."

"Doing the thing. CATACLYSM!"

Dark energy erupted from his hand and he slowly extended it towards the oversized glove. But before he could make contact, 'Bendy' vanished into the floor. Caught off guard by the sudden lack of balance, Chat fell down, his hand touching the floor.

Immediately, the floor began rotting, dissolving into splinters and sawdust. The destruction spread fast, much, much faster than the two superheroes had been expecting, destroying the floor and sending them into the dark inky depths below.

-MToLaCNBatIM-

Chat surfaced from the pool of ink he had landed in, spitting a little of it out. "Ladybug!" he called, looking around for her.

To his relief, he saw a soft blue glow as she opened her yo-yo and waved it at him, the light highly visible in the dark. He sloshed his way over to her as she seemed to pick something up and read it. He reached her as she turned on the cassette in her hand.

"It's dark and it's cold, and it's stuck behind every wall now. In some places, I swear this ink is clear up to my knees. Whoever thought that these crummy pipes could hold up under this kind of strain either knows something about pressure that I don't, or he's some kind of idiot."

"Sounds like Wally wasn't the only one who had a problem with Mr. Drew," he said, going over to a valve he saw on a nearby pipe.

Ladybug set the tape back on the shelf as the message played on. "I can't believe the amount of detail put into this game," she groused, wading after him.

The two of them waded through the draining ink in silence, looking for more valves. Suddenly, Chat Noir spoke up. "I'm sorry."

Ladybug looked up at him. "What for?" she asked.

"I'm sorry I kept flirting with you, especially when you asked me to stop."

Ladybug shook her head. "I didn't mind the flirting," she said. "You just need to work on your timing-"

"No, I shouldn't have done it, especially with Luka…"

"Wait, what about Luka?" Ladybug asked, confused.

"Isn't he the boy you are in love with?"

"The boy I was- No! Kitty… the boy I kept rejecting Chat Noir for was Adrien."

Chat blinked. "Wait, we've been in a love square this entire time?"

Ladybug nodded. "Yes. And when we get home, I am going to scream into my pillow until I can process this."

"Sounds fair." His ring beeped. "We better hurry, My Lady. I'm down to three pads."

"Right," Ladybug replied, serious as she turned a third valve. "I think this is the last one."

The ink lowered, disappearing through the floor, revealing a door. Opening it revealed a room with boards covering the exit and an ax on a table.

"Do we even need this?" Ladybug asked, picking up the ax.

Chat looked at the boards and then swung his baton down. The weak boards broke easily when faced with the magic tool. "I don't think so," Chat said, splitting his baton in half and swinging both halves.

Two beeps of furious hacking later, Chat had cleared a path to another room. Opening the door, the two heroes found an ominous room, with two coffins leaning against the wall, and a pentagram on the floor.

"Did someone forget to clean up after Halloween?" Chat asked.

Ladybug quickly looked around the room. "This looks like a good place where we can recharge," she said. "We can then go after the akuma. I have a few ideas on how to restrain it."

"Right," Chat said. "Plagg, claws in."

The suit disappeared, leaving him as Adrien Argeste.

~a switch was pulled, and the gears on the large machine began turning~

And then…

~an empty wheelchair rolled backwards~

"Adrien!"

~the 'Bendy' creature, reaching for his he-

"CATACLYSM!"

Darkness…

…

…

Chapter 1 is completed…

Bendy will return…