Chat turned around. Crouching behind him was what appeared to be a person made out of ink. It's body was a bit thin, almost capable of being described as gaunt. It had folds going down from it's head in imitation of hair, and a bow below its head. It stared at him with glowing green eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked, remember the last ink person he and Ladybug had encountered. "And what are you?"

"I'm Heidi! And I'm a friend!" the ink person replied with another giggle before gasping and pointing at Chat. "I know who you are! You're one of the people causing Uncle headaches!"

"Uh... sorry?" Chat apologized lamely.

Heidi gurgled in what might have been laughter. "Don't be! Uncle finds it hilarious!"

"Okay... so why are you here?"

"To pass on a message! Cousin says that when you and your friends get down to Storage 9, go to the haunted house! That's where we'll meet you!"

"Uh, thanks, but we plan on getting out of here."

"People always say that. The Cycle doesn't let souls go that easy. Oh, right!" Heidi skipped over to the pipe and reached her arm down into it before pulling out a thick blob of ink. She repeated this five more times until there was six of them resting in a bag. "Here you go!" she chirped, handing the bag over to Chat. "Susie will be expecting these! I'll see you in the ballroom!" With that, she somehow slithered into the pipe and out of sight.

As soon as she was out of sight, his baton beeped. He pulled it out and opened it. "What's up, LB?"

"Get over here, Chat!" Ladybug cried. "We've got a bit of a situation here!"

-MToLaCNBatIM-

When Chat got back to Level P, he found Ladybug under attack by a group of creatures, the Piper and three others. He made his entrance by landing on and squishing some kind of demented spider. "What's the deal with these guys?" he asked, sidestepping something with large claws charging at him.

"No clue!" Ladybug said, trying to fight with her yo-yo string tangled in fishing line. "They started attacking out of the blue!"

"They're after me!" 'Alice' cried through the intercom. "Trying to drag me back to the ink! Stop them! Smash them! Don't let them take your angel!"

The following battle was... laughably easy. It quickly became apparent that the only reason the group had been pressing Ladybug was that they were fighting four on one. Once Chat had jumped in, they were defeated in literal seconds. As the last of the bodies dissolved, the two superheroes dropped off the items they had been tasked to bring.

"I have all the pieces I need for now," 'Alice' said after a bit. "It is going to take some time to put them all together. Why don't you two take a walk around the studio? I'll call you back when it's time."

Ladybug looked over to Chat. "Is she trying to set us up?" she asked.

"Yeah, even if we didn't agree to hold off on dating until we got back to Paris, this is the least romantic setting I could think of."

"Yeah, I agree with you."

"Still... it's not like we got anything else to do."

"Yeah, we can use this chance to give the kwamis a break."

"You got something in mind?"

"I know just the place."

-MToLaCNBatIM-

"I found this room while you were searching for that ink," Ladybug said, leading Chat down a ink-stained staircase. "It just seemed to pop out."

The room wasn't much. It just contained a table upon which rested a book and a tape recorder. But somehow it conveyed a sense of peace which had been lacking in the entire studio.

"Are we sure we're safe here?"

"I'm pretty sure. Spots off."

"Claws in."

Twin flashes of light later, and Adrien was moving to catch Marinette before she fell down because of her ankle.

"Oh, you found the counterpoint!" Tikki said flitting around.

"The what?" Adrien asked, helping Marinette sit down.

"The counterpoint is something you find in twisted spaces such as these," Plagg said, floating around. "A balance of sorts. The creator of the realms can control everything and see anywhere in the realms... all except in this room. The wolf's pad was also a counterpoint. An expanded space this size will have several counterpoints."

"What's so special about this one?" Marinette asked.

"Maybe this will have some answers," Adrien said, picking up the tape recorder and turning it on.

"Only two weeks into this company and already it's gotten interesting. Joey is a man of ideas... and only ideas.

"When I agreed to start this whole thing with him, I thought there would be a little more give and take. Instead I give, and he takes. I haven't seen Linda for days now.

"Still, somebody has to make this happen. When in doubt, just keep drawing, Henry.

"On the plus side, I've got a new character I think people are going to love."

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other. "Okay that cleared up nothing at all," Adrien finally said.

"Maybe the book has something?" With that, Marinette took the book from Adrien and opened it.

It was a sketchbook filled with drawings of Bendy, Boris, and Alice. The designs were simpler than those on the posters, as if they were a first draft.

The thing that stuck out was Bendy's mouth. Instead of a large toothy grin, it was a small mouth, turned up in a smile. Marinette pulled out the picture she had picked up on the top floor and compared it the images in the book.

It was nearly an exact match.

Marinette and Adrien exchanged another glance. "So whoever worked that desk also used this room," Adrien said.

"Maybe this was his sanctuary?" Marinette offered. "Like Joey and Sammy had one?"

"Whoever he was, he must have put a lot of himself into this area," Plagg said from where he was floating.

"Is there a name?" Adrien asked.

Marinette flipped the pages in the sketchbook back to the beginning. There, on the back of the inside cover, was the name 'Henry Stein.'

That was when 'Alice' called them back. The pair transformed. Before they headed out, Ladybug hesitated, looking at the book in her hands.

"We might need this," she said before stuffing it into her yo-yo. She then moved to catch up with Chat.

-MToLaCNBatIM-

Meanwhile on another level, a pool of ink lay forgotten. As such, no one was there to see someone approach it.

A pair of ink-splattered boots stopped at the edge of the puddle of ink and bile. "Yes," and oily voice breathed. "Yes, this shall do nicely."

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a stoppered vial. Pulling out the cork, he poured the glowing mixture into the puddled. "Do not be afraid, my child," he said as the mixture began to bubble. "For I know your purpose. Follow me, and I will give you your truth."

As if in response, a halo popped out of the ink, glowing with all the colors of the rainbow.