"Just how big is this place?" Chat Noir asked as they got off the elevator. "I swear this place doesn't follow the laws of physics."
"Chat, I swing around on a yo-yo string and create objects out of thin air, while your staff can extend probably infinitely plus you can destroy anything you touch," Ladybug answered. "I think that we make physics go cry in a corner whenever on a daily basis."
"This twisted world of ours is oh so different from the outside world," 'Alice' said, stepping down the stairs. "So many different rules. So little truths. But down here, there is one rule we all know and respect down here.
"Beware the Ink Demon."
A shudder seemed to go through the studio, causing a shiver to go through the two humans. 'Alice,' on the other hand, seemed to be not as effected by it and walked towards a set of opened doors set below a giant head of Alice Angel. "I'm going to need gears first," she said. "Three of them. You can find them in boxes on Level K." With that, she entered her sanctuary which closed behind her.
Chat sighed and turned to Ladybug. "I guess we're doing fetch quests again," he said.
-MToLaCNBatIM-
A while later, they had found two of the gears. The third gear was proving harder to get.
"Ladybug, he's going your way!" Chat cried as his leap took him past a monkey-like thing 'Alice' had called a Piper. The twisted cartoon ran as fast as it could with a plunger replacing on of its leg, the last gear replacing its missing hand.
Ladybug tried lassoing it, but it slipped out of the string and ran up the stairs. She then tried to run after it, but the pain in her ankle chose that moment ot flare up, sending her to the ground. Chat Noir ran past her on all fours, focusing on the overgrown monkey. When she finally got to her feet, she heard a large crash sounding from another room.
Ladybug entered the main area to find Chat in the middle of a bunch of destroyed cutouts. "Are you okay?" she asked.
He held up the missing gear. "Got it!"
"You did," Ladybug replied, pulling him to his feet. "You destroyed a bunch of these cutouts, though."
"Oh..." 'Alice' said over the intercom. "He hates it when that happens. I'd run if I were you."
Dark inky trails appeared on walls suddenly. Just as quickly, Ladybug and Chat Noir turned to face the Ink Demon.
'Bendy' looked different from the last time they had seen him. His left arm was still missing leaving him with only the right one. His mouth full of broken teeth was hanging open loosely, as if he didn't have a jawbone. And he was even more skeletal, pale yellow bones barely visible underneath the ink.
He was also frozen still, his half-uncovered eye staring at the two.
Or, to be more precise, Chat Noir.
Chat noticed this. Smirking he thrust his hand forward and cried, "CATA-"
'Bendy' ran away.
After a bit of silence, 'Alice' finally spoke. "Well, I didn't expect that."
-MToLaCNBatIM-
"Drat!" 'Alice' said after they had dropped the gears into a box beside the door. "I miscounted my spare parts, and we need to hurry. I am going to need one of you to gather valve cores from Level P."
Ladybug nodded and said something while Chat looked at her. If her leg was troubling her, she wasn't showing it.
"I'm going to also need some ink," 'Alice' added. "The thick gooey kind. It can be used to shape all sorts of things. You'll need to harvest it off of searchers. The bloated ones." A canister beside the door turned around to reveal a syringe. "This should help. Bring me six of them."
Ladybug gingerly looked at the syringe. "Guess we're splitting up again," she said. "You want to get the ink?"
"Works for me," Chat replied, grabbing the syringe. "I'll catch you later!"
He bounded away as Ladybug muffled a groan, mimicked by the angel if the sound over the loudspeaker was any indication.
-MToLaCNBatIM-
After about fifteen minutes of searching, Chat was getting pretty frustrated. He hadn't found a bloated searcher yet. A bunch of regular ones, yes, but no fat ones.
Well, at least only one of them was having troubles, he had noticed. He had passed Ladybug messing with panels a couple of times, so at least something was getting done.
Still, where were the bloated-wait a minute...
"I'm pretty sure that door wasn't opened," Chat said, suddenly spotting a new entrance.
Behind the door wasn't much. Just an ink-splattered cutout and some kind of inactive fountain.
"Now just what were you?" Chat asked, examining the cutout.
A childish giggle interrupted his thoughts. "You found me! You found me!" a female voice cried out behind him.