A Few Weeks Ago...

One of Bendall's favorite things about story time was when his father would transform into all kinds of animals and things for visual aids.

Like tonight, while The Devil was telling Bendall a story about the legendary kraken, the big devil roared and transformed into a giant octopus creature in the prince's room. The Devil then used his tentacles to pull Bendall out of his bed and tickle him.

Bendall laughed. "Stop it... Ha ha!"

The Devil did, and Bendall tried to catch his breath. The Devil placed Bendall back on his bed, transformed back into his usual form, and tucked his son under the covers before he sat on a chair he had conjured.

"The creature sunk all the boats, leaving no survivors save for one man who, after telling his rescuers what had happened, was declared a mad man, and lived the rest of his life in doubt and mockery," The Devil concluded. "The end,"

Bendall chuckled, "You tell the best stories, Daddy," he said.

"Thank you, son," The Devil said. "They are pretty good, aren't they?"

"And I like that transform stuff. I want to transform too!"

"I know you do, and you will. Be patient and when you're older you can do it too,"

"Pfft. Patience takes too long. I wanna transform now!" Bendall threw off the covers, jumped out of his bed, and landed on his feet on the floor.

"You should be sleeping son," The Devil said.

"C'mon Daddy, just let me try it real quick," Bendall pleaded.

The big devil smiled. "Alright, give it a shot,"

Bendall took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

The Devil put his fingers into his ears. He was curious to see what would happen.

"Concentrate," The Devil said. "Picture your goal,"

Bendall thought about the octopus, he clenched his fists and roared. He screamed so loudly it shook the Underworld.

The Devil could see his son's body slowly growing... but then in a blink, Bendall snapped back into his normal size and fell on his backside, gasping for air. The Devil took the fingers out of his ears and stepped closer to check on his son. A little winded but he'll be okay.

The door flew open, and Henchman flew into the room, his wings flapping frantically.

"What happened?" Henchman asked after he landed.

"Everything's fine, Henchman," The Devil said. "Bendall was just testing his powers. Go fetch him something warm to drink,"

"Uh, okay Boss," Henchman said before he flew away.

"I think you were onto something there," The Devil said as he patted Bendall's shoulder. "I think you actually grew a few inches,"

Bendall coughed. "It's still no good," he said with a pout. "I can't do it,"

"Son, it's not an easy skill to master. Once you're a little stronger, you'll be transforming into all kinds of monsters."

"Can't you just make me stronger now? You know, with your pitchfork?"

"Oh no! I won't be doing that," The Devil said firmly.

"Why not?" Bendall asked pleadingly.

"Because my pitchfork's magic isn't always predictable. If I were to zap you, it'll mutate you into only hell knows what and I will not do that to my own son. Period."

Bendall huffed and crossed his arms.

"Oh come on, no pouting," The Devil chided and pinched the little devil's cheek affectionately.

Bendall pulled away from his father and sighed.

Henchman came back and handed the little devil a glass of warm milk.

"Duh, here you go little boss," Henchman said.

"Thank you, Henchman," Bendall said before he drank it all with a few gulps. He then handed the glass back to the purple demon before he was ushered into his bed and The Devil tucked him in.

Henchman patted the covers. "Good night, Little Boss," he said.

"Good night," Bendall said.

The Devil leaned in and kissed his son's forehead. "Sleep tight son," he whispered.

Bendall's eyes fluttered with tiredness. "Good night, Dad," he muttered before he turned over and faced away from the demon adults.

The Devil and Henchman walked out of the room and closed the door.

"What was he trying to do?" Henchman asked.

"He was trying to transform," The Devil said.

"Uh, do you think he can?"

"I'm sure he could Henchman, he's just... still young or maybe..." The Devil said before he sighed exhaustedly. "I'm actually not sure. It's hard to tell,"

"He'll do it, Boss,"

"He can move through darkness with ease, and he can even take a mortal's soul but he's still struggling with transformation. As a devil, it should come easily to him. It's my most natural talent... well, that and dancing, of course."

"And you're a good teacher. He'll get there."

"Thank you, Henchman,"

They walked away from the door, little realizing that Bendall had slipped by the door and heard most of the conversation. Was he letting his dad down by not being able to transform? The little devil went back to bed and pondered this until he fell asleep.

Present...

Joey went to Henry's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Henry said.

Joey walked in. "Hey there, have you seen Bendy today?" he asked. "We need him for another episode animation,"

"No not today," Henry answered. "Maybe you should check Audrey's room?"

"Why would he be in Audrey's room?"

"She wanted to talk to him, and I think he wanted to surprise her. You know how he is,"

Joey nodded. "Thanks," he said before he left.

The other animators made their way to the stage room while Joey went to Audrey's room.

"Audrey," Joey said as he knocked on her door.

"Come in," came Audrey's voice.

Joey walked in and saw his daughter with her sketchbook and the little devil standing next to her.

"Thank goodness you're here," Joey said as he looked at Bendall. "Does this mean you two are getting along now?"

"We're working towards that," Audrey said.

"Good. You got what you need?"

"Yes, come on," Audrey said to Bendall.

They were on their way out, but Joey stopped them.

"Not so fast, Bendy needs to put on his disguise first." The man said. "Come on,"

"I got most of it on already," Bendall said.

"Yeah, but you got to have your nose painted on and hide that tail," Joey said before he knelt and helped the little devil with his nose drawing. "Now where's your belt?" he asked.

Bendall pulled out the belt from his pocket. "Um, Joey, can I maybe not do the belt this time?" he asked.

"What? Why?" Joey asked.

"I don't like how it feels, it pinches," Bendall said.

"I get it little guy, but you need to wear it."

Audrey spoke up. "Dad, if he doesn't like it-"

"It's a demon tail, Audrey," Joey interjected. "No one else here can know what he is, you know that," he took the belt and strapped it around Bendall, hiding his tail. "It's just for an hour or so, can't you muscle through it for the show?" he asked the little devil with a smile.

"Okay, Joey," Bendall said.

"You're the best, my boy," Joey said. "Now let's go you two," He gestured to Audrey and Bendall to move along.

After the acting session, Audrey wanted to take Bendall back to her office, but Joey practically dragged the little kitten away before the young woman could reach him.

"Um, where are we going?" Bendall asked as Joey took him.

"My office, where else?" Joey answered.

As they neared the manager's office, Miss Rodriguez tried to speak to Joey.

"Not now, Miss Rodriguez," the man said sternly before going into the office with Bendall.

"Let me go!" Bendall shouted as he tried to pull his hand away.

"What's the magic word?" Joey asked.

"Now!"

"Wrong answer. Try again,"

Bendall grunted. "Please," he said.

Joey did and Bendall fell back.

The man sat down on his chair. "You can take the belt off now," he said.

Bendall did. He threw down the belt, then crossed his arms, and pouted.

"Oh, you mad at me now?" Joey asked.

"I don't like being pulled away like that!" Bendall said before turning his back on Joey.

"I'm sorry, little guy, I got carried away," Joey said. "I'm sorry,"

Bendall glanced back at Joey suspiciously.

"I understand you don't like the belt, but you know why we do it," Joey said. "If there were any other way to hide the tail, I'm sure we'd do it."

Bendall turned around to face Joey.

"Which brings me to a question I've been meaning to ask you," Joey said. "I've read somewhere that "Mr. Scratch" has the power to transform. I was wondering if, as his son, you had that power too?"

"Oh, um," Bendall said.

"Because if you did, we wouldn't need the belt at all,"

"Hmm, I'm not sure I should be telling you about that stuff,"

"You mean you still don't trust me after all this time?" Joey asked. "Bendall, your father has given me plenty of reasons not to hurt you,"

Bendall's eyes shifted for a second before he took a deep breath. "I can't do it," he said.

"Can't do what?" Joey asked.

"I can't transform like my dad. I've tried but my body isn't strong enough... I can't grow or even shrink down. All I can do is sharpen my claws but it's not the same. I'm only in my 60's so I'm not as experienced as most of the demons."

"You're in your 60's?" Joey asked, astonished. "You're... older than me?"

Bendall nodded. "63. Anyway, Dad said it could take decades for me to get transformation,"

"Decades? That won't do. Well, maybe we could... no forget it, it's a stupid idea."

"What? What is it?" Bendall asked curiously.

"No, no, it's kinda risky,"

Bendall jumped on Joey's desk and confronted him. "Tell me anyway," he said.

Joey grabbed his journal and leaned back.

"Well, lately, I've been doing a little research on demonology. And while I was going through some books, I came across a few spells and rituals that could... grant demonic powers,"

"You mean like it'll give me transformation powers?" Bendall asked.

Joey turned his chair around so Bendall couldn't see his sneaky smile.

"Well it could make you stronger and maybe it'll help you with that too, but there is one thing we'd need for the ritual," Joey said.

"What's that?" Bendall asked.

"Demon blood," Joey answered.

Bendall grew quiet, backed away, and hopped off the desk.

Joey dropped the smile before he turned around.

"You see if we had demon blood, we could at least test it," Joey said.

"You mean... my blood," Bendall asked.

"We'd only need a drop or two, but I would never make you do something like give me your blood," Joey said. "Why are we even talking about this? Can we please forget it,"

"Okay," Bendy said.

KNOCK KNOCK

Startled, Bendall ran away into the closet.

"Who is it?" Joey asked.

"It's Thomas Conner, Mr. Drew," came the dog man's voice.

Bendall crawled up the wall, opened the air vent, went down the air ducts, and then curled up in one corner.

'A ritual that'll give me more demon powers?' Bendall thought. 'If it works and I get stronger, Dad will be so happy and maybe he'll let me go out on my own into the world. Not just the studio,'

Bendall giggled.

Not far from where Bendall was hiding, Wally Frank was wiping a window in one of the offices when he heard the echoing of the child's giggle over his head. The man shuddered, packed his supplies, and walked out of the room.

"I swear if this studio really is haunted then I'm outta here," Wally said.

Audrey was in her office and was worried about Bendall. She was ready to march to her Dad's office... until she heard crawling in the ducts above her followed by a loud grunt. The young woman saw the air vent flip open.

"There you are," Audrey said as she walked to the vent.

Bendall was about to jump.

"Wait," Audrey said as she held up her hands. The little devil hesitated. "What is it?" she asked.

"Are you sure you wanna do that?" Bendall asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now come on,"

Bendall jumped down and Audrey caught him. Then she placed him down.

"Are you okay?" Audrey said. "My dad wasn't rough with you, was he?"

"Rough? With me?" Bendall asked before he turned his head and blew a raspberry. "He wouldn't dare,"

"What a minute," Audrey said before she bent her knees and lowered herself down. "Say 'ahh',"

"Ahh..." Bendall said.

Audrey observed the little devil's tongue. "It's forked." She said.

Bendall closed his mouth.

"How have I never noticed that before?" Audrey wondered.

"I don't know, you tell me," Bendall said. "You're the artist while I am the face of the show," he smiled smugly.

Audrey chuckled.

"This is how I smell stuff," Bendall said before he flickered his tongue. "You smell nice, like flowers and honey,"

"Thank you, Bendy,"

"It's-... you're welcome,"

Audrey reached out and gave Bendall's chin a scratch. The little devil began to purr. The young woman paused.

"You can purr?" Audrey asked.

"Only for those I like," Bendall said before he stepped closer, wrapped his arms around Audrey's left arm, and purred.

The young woman flinched and froze but the purring soon put her at ease.

"That's nice. Thanks but I really need to get to work." Audrey said as she stood up and slipped out of Bendall's grip. "We got another deadline coming up,"

"Okay," Bendall said. "You mind if I play here?"

"Go ahead, but don't try to distract me,"

"I'll try, but I make no promises. Only deals,"

"I'll keep that in mind,"

The young woman went to her animation desk while the little devil pulled out his Bendy demon doll and his small racecar and started playing with them.

That night, Bendall was lying in his bed while Henchman read him a story. The little devil learned long ago that the purple demon's stories were not like The Devil's stories at all. While The Devil told him stories of tragedy, devastation, and monsters, Henchman told him fairytales with happy endings. They confused yet intrigued him at the same time.

"The prince leaned forward and kissed the sleeping princess. Rose's eyes fluttered open, and she smiled at Ethan. The two went downstairs and greeted everyone who had just woken up from the spell as well. The sleeping beauty and her prince were soon married, and they lived happily ever after. The end,"

Henchman closed the book and wiped away a tear.

"That's it?" Bendall asked.

"Uh, that's the story Little Boss," Henchman said. He got up from the chair and patted the little devil.

"Henchman...?"

"Yes, Bendall,"

"You've seen Dad use spells and rituals, right?"

"Sure have,"

"Have you ever seen my dad use his blood for that stuff?"

"Uh, the boss doesn't really do that. He mostly uses his pitchfork. But sometimes witches, warlocks, or wizards would sell their souls for even a drop of his blood just to make potions or cast curses."

"Does it work?"

"I don't know. I never tried it. Why do you ask?"

"No reason, just wondering," Bendall said before he yawned. "Good night, Henchman,"

"Good night, little boss," Henchman said before he turned off the light and walked out the door.

That night, Bendall had a vivid dream of transforming into a giant, terrifying monster. He had large sharp teeth, huge muscles, and sharp claws. In this beast form, he would scare away Cinderella's mean stepfamily and Mr. Wilson. When he woke up the next morning, Bendall actually believed his dream was real and tried to transform... but nothing happened, and he realized why. He made a decision then and there.

Joey was in the middle of writing when his closet door burst open thanks to Bendall's foot. The little devil marched over and sat in the chair across from the desk.

"I want to try the spell thing you mentioned yesterday," Bendall said.

After getting over the shock, Joey put down his pen. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, you just need a drop of my blood, right? Well, I know how to get it," Bendall said as he pulled out a pin needle from his pocket.

"Are you sure your dad won't get mad if you get hurt?" Joey asked.

"C'mon Joey, it'll just be a drop or two. My dad won't even notice,"

Bendall took off his glove from his left hand and positioned the pin needle over his fingertip.

Joey pulled out a clean little bottle, barely bigger than his thumb, from his desk drawer. "As long as this is your decision," he said.

"It is," Bendall said.

Joey grabbed the pin and held it over Bendall's finger. "Okay, try to hold still," he said.

The little devil nodded.

Joey poked Bendall's finger with the pin.

Bendall hissed but didn't stop Joey from collecting the droplets into the mini bottle.

"Good job, Bendy," Joey said.

When the bottle was nearly full, Joey grabbed a napkin, pressed it on Bendall's finger, and corked the bottle closed. The man smirked as he looked at the liquid.

"That wasn't so bad," Bendall said. "Is it enough?"

Joey dropped the smirk and smiled encouragingly at the little devil.

"It's enough for us to test the spells on something first," Joey said.

"What? But I thought we were going to use it on me to make me stronger?"

"And we will, but first, we'll test it on a few guinea pigs and then we'll try it on you. Sound good?"

Bendall groaned. "Fine..." he said with a pout.

"Oh chin up, you'll get your chance. Come on, let's see that smile."

Bendall lips twitched for a second before he smiled widely.

"That's it. There's that big smile I like to see."

Days went by and Joey Drew stayed in the studio a few extra hours than everyone else and began experimenting on the little devil's blood and the incantations he had written in his journal. He made ritualist circles on the wooden floor of the basements with ink and worked on spells late into the night.

Meanwhile, Bendall spent most of his days in the studio with Henry or Audrey.

One day, Joey called on Bendall to come to his office.

"Come on in, I got something special to show you," Joey said as he pulled out a chair.

Bendall sat on the chair. "What is it?" He asked.

"You'll see," Joey said before he pulled out a new bendy demon cardboard cutout from the closet and an axe. "Watch this." Suddenly, the man started to cut and tear up the cutout into pieces.

"Uh... Joey?" Bendall asked.

"I know but check this out," Joey said.

The man pulled out an inkwell and dropped some of the ink on the pieces of cardboard. Suddenly, the pieces shook before the whole thing reassembled itself back together. Soon the bendy cut-out looked as good as new.

Bendall's eyes lit up. "It worked?" He asked with a smile.

"So far yes. And that was just from one drop. Are you ready to get stronger?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Bendall said eagerly.

"Good, but first, I'll need you to pull another one of your pranks."

An Hour later...

In the basement of the studio was the maintenance office that Wilson used to have alone but now he had to share his space with two other people.

RING

Wally picked up the phone, "Maintenance office, Wally speaking," he said.

"Hello Wally, this is Mr. Drew, I got a report on another graffiti in the men's room on the third floor. I'll need all of you up here pronto. And I mean everyone, got it?"

"Yes, sir,"

"Good now move out," Joey said before he ended the call.

Wally hung up the phone, "That was the boss, we need to clean the men's room on the third floor. It's graffiti,"

Wilson groaned. "Let's go," he said.

The three men left for the elevator with cleaning supplies.

Not long after that, Joey and Bendall snuck into the basement.

"Why did you send them away?" Bendall asked.

"Because we don't want anyone disrupting the ritual," Joey said. The man opened the broom closet and pulled out the back of it, revealing a secret passageway. "Come on," he said.

The two went inside and Bendall was amazed to find them in a secret room. There was a table next to a chair and ink bottles, papers, books, candles, and a couch.

Joey lit a match and lit some candles.

"What is this place?" Bendall asked.

"This is supposed to be a panic room I had made for me in case of an emergency. But I've been using it to help with the magic." Joey explained. "Let's get started."

After setting everything up, Joey had Bendall stand in the center of a drawn circle on the ground. The man lit some candles around the circle and pulled out a pin.

"Now take off your glove and hold out your hand," Joey said.

Bendall did what he was asked and then held his breath.

Joey lightly stabbed the tip of the finger and droplets of blood fell.

"Now don't move," Joey said.

Joey pulled out an ink well and his journal. He started to chant in a language the little devil didn't recognize and poured ink onto the circle. The ink pooled into a puddle.

After a few chants, the magic began.

The ritual circle started to glow orange, the flames from the candle burned brighter, and the puddle of ink turned into smoke that soon engulfed Bendall.

Joey had to cover his mouth so he wouldn't breathe it in.

Soon though the smoke vanished, the glow faded, and Bendall coughed. He looked at his finger and the stab wound was gone.

"Did it work?" Bendall asked.

"Well, let's see, try something," Joey said.

"Okay,"

Bendall closed his eyes and tried to transform. He felt his body tingling. "I think I can feel something," he said.

Before Joey's eyes, the little devil's body melted into a puddle. His heart dropped and panic rose inside of him.

"Oh my god, I melted him!" Joey exclaimed.

Suddenly, Bendall's body reformed back to normal. "Whoa, that felt neat. Did I transform?" he asked.

Joey let out a breath. "You melted into a puddle. Does that count?" he asked.

"I think so," Bendall said. He looked at his hand and scrunched up his face. His devil hand suddenly turned into a crab claw, then a lizard's foot, then a tentacle. "Wooo!" he exclaimed. He put his glove back on, smiled at Joey before he jumped on him, and hugged him tight. "Thank you so much, Joey, you're the best!" he said before he started purring.

Joey soon hugged Bendall back. "Anything to help my little devil," he said with a smirk.

Later That Day...

The Devil and Henchman were in the throne room when they heard a subtle hissing echoing.

"What's that?" Henchman asked.

The Devil looked around and spotted something thin and black slithering on the rug heading towards them. The big devil used his pitchfork to pick up the snake with levitation and brought it closer to them. It was a black rat snake... wearing a bowtie.

Henchman flinched when he saw the snake, but The Devil wasn't worried.

"And how did you get in here little one?" The Devil said.

"Hi, Daddy. Hi, Henchman," The snake said in a very familiar voice.

"Huh?" the demons said.

Suddenly, the little snake grew and transformed into Bendall Devil, who giggled at their shocked faces. "Surprise," he said.

"Y- You... You can transform?" The Devil asked.

"Uh huh," Bendall said. "Watch this," The little devil's body melted into a black ball of ink.

The Devil was so stunned he lost his focus, the levitation spell stopped working and the ball splatted on the floor. The Devil and Henchman exclaimed but then Bendall quickly turned back to normal and smiled up at them. The big devil started to tear up, scooped up his son, and hugged him tight.

"Oh son, this is wonderful!" The Devil exclaimed happily. "How did you manage to do it?"

Bendall thought about it for a moment. Joey and he agreed to keep the ritual a secret. The little devil nuzzled into his father's chest.

"I've been practicing a lot lately and then I just found a way to do it and it works," Bendall said.

"And it doesn't hurt when you transform?"

"Nope... at least when I do the small stuff. I don't think I can do big things yet,"

"That's okay. This is still progress. I'm so proud of you,"

"Thank you, Daddy,"

Bendall was pleased and couldn't wait to see what else he could turn into.