The first phase of the journey took them down the inky river into the sewers. Fortunately, there were several barges resting by the pier, and the group was able to squeeze themselves onto four of them.
Which was how Chat Noir found himself on a boat with Joey, Henry, and Bendy. The imp had declared that he still didn't trust Joey, and was determined to keep an eye on him.
The group rode in silence, until Henry finally spoke up.
"You lied back there, Joey."
Bendy looked down from his seat on top of the boat, glaring. "He did what?"
Joey looked uneasy. "Henry," he began. "I-"
"Back there in the boat house," Henry continued. "You said that you don't remember what happened when you got to the studio in the real world. But you know something, don't you?" He looked at his old friend in the eyes. "What didn't you tell us?"
Joey was about to say something, when a shout from the lead boat called for them to stop.
"Why did we stop?" Henry asked. "We should keep going, so the thing in the river doesn't get us."
"Looks like there's an empty boat blocking the way," Bendy answered, using his seat to his advantage.
"What thing in the river?" Joey asked.
Before Henry could answer, a giant hand thrust out of the ink, grabbing onto the empty boat and pulling it under the ink.
"That thing," Henry answered.
"I never made anything like that," Joey said, flabbergasted. "What is that even supposed to be?"
"I thought you made everything in this place," Bendy said. "Shouldn't you know what's going on?"
"The only one I made was Allison Angel," Joey answered. "And even then, she didn't have the memories of Allison Conner." He put a hand to his chin and started stroking it. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that someone was making their own changes."
With the empty boat removed, the procession continued on into a darkened tunnel, lit only by the light Norman couldn't help but emit. Aside from an incident where Chat had to hit the giant hand with his baton, the trip passed in silence.
"Are going to get to an exit, soon?" Chat asked as they went around a bend.
"Not long now," Henry answered. "And, we're here."
The procession of boats exited the tunnel, coming out into a large cave with a bit of shoreline. There was a makeshift pier set up, so the group hesitantly docked the boats there, and disembarked, Joey replacing the head of his mascot costume.
"Where are we?" Ladybug asked.
"This is the Lost Harbor," Allison answered. "The largest habitation of Lost Ones in the studio."
"What are Lost Ones?" she asked.
"We are!" Heidi said, pulling Porter and Jack close. "Although me and Porter were created like this, and the others talk about being something else."
"Be on your guard," Henry cautioned, holding his ax at ready. "We're going to have trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" Chat asked.
"Trouble that goes by the name of Sammy Law-"
"You!"
-MToLaCNBatIM-
Henry turned towards the shout. A strange figure was walking towards them, looking like a man made of ink, but filled out in shades of red instead of black. He was missing his mask, but he recognized the figure because of so many times he had been held in front it.
The figure of Sammy Lawrence approached the group. He didn't have his ax, but Henry still tightened his grip on his.
The mad prophet stopped in front of Ladybug. He seemingly stared into her face, silent.
He finally spoke. "It is you," he said. "The one from the Sound Department."
"Uh... yes?" Ladybug said hesitantly.
"The one who showed me the truth!" Sammy proclaimed. "The one who gave me back what I lost!"
"Wha?"
"Here me, my flock!" Sammy cried, raising his hands. "Our savior has graced us with her presence! The one who will set us free is here!"
Doors opened in the surrounding huts, and and faces poked out. The doors opened up wider, and the Lost Ones ambled out.
They were different than the ones he was familiar with, each of them having a splotch of red somewhere on them. And all of them were murmuring.
"They're in color..."
"It's her! The one who healed the angel..."
"She's the one who drove out Wilson..."
"I heard she brought a Boris back to his senses..."
"There's that cat that saved me from the Butcher Gang!"
"She gave me back my daughter..."
"She will set us free..."
"Don't you know? The Ink Demon fears the cat..."
"She's the one who caused Lord Amok to be toppled from his throne..."
"Dude, Lord Amok changes on an hourly basis, she probably didn't cause that."
"She will set us free..."
"She will set us free..."
"Set us free..."
"Set us free..."
"Set us free..."
"Quiet!" Ladybug cried, causing the crowd to fall silent. She jumped on top of a barrel, so that she could be seen by the entire crowd. "I didn't come here to save you," she said. "Because I never heard of your predicament. But now that I know of it, it is my duty as a hero to free you! I will set you free!"
The crowd burst out into excited cheers.
"Our assistance is yours, my Lady," Sammy said, stepping forward. "Just tell us how we can help you, and we will do so."
Henry looked over at Chat, who was looking a bit perturbed at Sammy using his nickname. "Don't worry, kid," he said. "She's in love with you."
"How can you tell?" Chat asked.
Henry sighed, thinking back to simpler times. "Because you remind me of me and Linda when we just started dating," he said. "And if you're anything like us, you two will go to the end of the line."
-MToLaCNBatIM-
A plan had been made, and Sammy and the Lost Ones had dispersed to the far ends of the studio, in order to find anyone else who would want to join the fight against the Ink Demon.
"Alright, so what's next?" Chat asked, looking at the group.
"The next thing to do is to get down to Father's offices," Audrey said. "We're still a little ways away, so we should start moving."
"Well, let's get going," Allison said, slashing at a closed gate with her sword, breaking the chain and causing it to open.
"I swear, I'm forgetting something," Henry said, scratching the back of his head. Although he was still shooting glances every so often at Joey.
"If you forgot it, it probably wasn't important," Chat said.
"Heh, that's pretty solid advice," Buddy said. "Where did you hear it?"
"It's just a meme," Chat replied.
"What's a meme?"
"Woah!" someone at the front said.
Chat looked forward. In the hallway ahead, the floor had rotted away, leaving only a couple of planks for crossing.
"Looks like we'll have to take this one at a time," Ladybug said. "Who wants to go first?"
"I will," Henry said. However, once he got on the second board, it broke in half and he fell away into the darkness.
"HENRY!"
-MToLaCNBatIM-
Henry picked himself out of the ink. "That's what I forgot. Why do I always forget about that plank?" he asked himself.
"Henry! Are you okay?" Chat Noir called down.
"I'm fine!" he called back up. "I landed in a puddle of ink!"
"Right!" Ladybug called. "Guess we're splitting up again. We'll decide who's going where and join back with you!"
"Got it!" Henry called back. He then turned around and saw a familiar sketch on the wall. "I don't need to look at it," he said to himself. "I already know where it is."
After a moment, he pulled out the Seeing Tool. "Got nothing better to do," he said to himself and raised it to eye level.
And he nearly dropped it into the ink. The message had been changed, a single word having been added to it.
IT'S IN
THE VAULT
END . . . . . . .