"Hey, kid! Wake up!"

Chat opened his eyes, blinking in confusion. He was sitting in a metal hallway with no memory of how he had gotten there. Bendy was right beside him, shaking Ladybug awake.

"Where are we?" Chat asked. "Last thing I remember was being swallowed by the Machine."

"Well, in that case, your memory is correct!" Bendy said, grinning. "We're inside the Ink Machine!"

"We're inside?" Ladybug asked. "Why are we not crushed? And why did it eat us?"

"You know, maybe this is a good thing," Chat Noir said. "We might be able to break something in here that destroys this thing from the inside. Like that LEGO game from a couple years ago, the one with the Tri."

Ladybug calmed down. "You've got a point," she said.

"And once again, I am lacking context," Bendy said flatly.

-MToLaCNBatIM-

Ladybug, Chat, and Bendy entered into a large room. It was large and vaguely circular, with screens showing cartoons dotting the walls. A large cushioned chair sat in the middle of the room upon a pile of semi-solid ink. Three gears were used as makeshift steps, and a couple of projectors were poking out of the ink. A film reel was placed in the chair and a tape recorder was at the foot of it.

Bendy bounded and hit play on the device, and Joey's voice came out of it.

"It's simply awe-inspiring what one can accomplish with their own hands.

"A lump of clay can turn to meaning… if you strangle it with enough enthusiasm. Look what we built. We created life itself, Henry! Not just on the silver screen, but in the hearts of those we entertained with our fancy moving pictures. But… when the tickets stopped selling… when the next big thing came along… only the monsters remained… shadows of the past. But you can save them, Henry! You can peel it all away! You see, there is one thing Bendy has never know. He was there for his beginning… but he's never seen…"

"STTOOOPPPP!"

The trio turned around to see an out-of-breath Henry Stein. The old animator caught his breath as Audrey came around the corner and joined him.

"The focus," Henry panted. "The End reel is the focus. It's what seals us in the Cycle."

"Oh, you meddling animator. You just had to figure it out."

Everyone turned to see the Ink Machine avatar standing behind the chair.

"Although you are half-correct," it continued. "The End reel begins the Cycle anew, but Bendy must first see it."

"Really?" Bendy asked. "Well, I just remembered, I have a thing going on that's not he-ACCKKK!"

A tendril of ink shot out, grabbing the cartoon and absorbing him. Ink flowed up, covering the avatar, before flying away with a powerful burst.

"BENDY!" Audrey cried.

Standing there was a new form. This one had large six bat-like wings, with pronounced horns. It was now wearing a tailcoat, with multicolored eyes on the inside of his coat. An orb of chromatic ink floated in-between its horns.

"I wouldn't worry about Bendy," the Machine Demon said as its left arm formed into a projector, as it reached for The End. "It will all be over so-HEY!"

Chat drew his baton back, trying to get The End to his hand, but the reel flew off and went flying into the corridors "Oh, no you don't!" he cried.

The Machine Demon growled. "I guess we're following the script then!" it said, unleashing a wave of ink that sent the four flying through the walls.

-MToLaCNBatIM-

Allison gritted her teeth as the Bendy robot wrapped bandages around what was left of her leg.

Things had turned for the worst.

The Machine Beast had started unleashing waves of power that had disrupted the ink bodies of his army. The bad news was that it also disrupted the bodies of all ink creatures. This didn't effect the metal body of Bertrum, but the way the beast was pounding on him, it was only a matter of time before his makeshift body was destroyed.

Everyone else had gathered underneath a shield of light that Norman was projecting. It was doing a decent job of keeping the energy out, but it would be only a matter of time before the projector-headed man collapsed.

The Bendy robot finished wrapping and straightened up. "That's stopped the bleeding," she said. "But there's no way ya going ta be walkin' anytime soon."

Allison looked down. What was once her left leg was a thin piece of flesh that held her foot to her knee. "Thanks, Lacie," she said.

Lacie Benton gave a thumbs up. "No problem," she said before going to tend to the other wounded.

Tom put his hand on Allison's shoulder. "We've got to get you out of here," he said. "It's not safe for you to be here, anymore."

"And where in the studio is safe?" Allison shot back. "How much are you willing to gamble that I'm not going to finish dissolving if I leave the shield?"

Tom opened his mouth, then closed it again. "I hate it that you're right," he muttered.

"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad," a nearby Lost One said, sitting in the fetal position. "We're all going to die. We're going to die in agonizing pain."

"No we aren't," Allison said suddenly. "Tom, help me up."

The wolf obliged, and she faced the crowd. "Is this what you do to our saviors?" she asked. "Lose faith in them at the first sign of trouble? Is your trust that weak?"

"They have faced worse." Everyone turned to Buddy who was standing up. "They have faced gods, witches, and natural disasters. They have looked nightmares in the face without fear. Do you think this Machine can stop them? I say nay!"

"We must trust our heroes," Sammy said. "They fought for us. We can't give up on them now!"

"And we can help them."

Everyone turned to Porter, who was holding out his hands. "With what little power we have or are reduced to, saving the game seems impossible. But if we combine our power, we can save something or someone else! Everyone, join hands! It's time to believe!"

Allison grasped Tom's metal hand and the hand of the Carley who was floating next to her. Everyone in the shield joined hands as one, and Porter put his hand on Norman's back.

And she felt it.

A song, a song that started faint, that slowly grew in volume. A song that sang in what passed for her bones. It was a song of all their pleas, all their prayers, every unspoken wish everyone in the studio had. All their hopes, and all their dreams.

To be set free.

And out of the shield, a small mote of light floated out. It was so small and faint that Allison almost missed it. It floated through the air and into the Machine Beast.

"It's up to them now," Porter said. "All we can do is believe."

-MToLaCNBatIM-

Grumbling, Ladybug picked herself off the floor. She looked up just in time to see the Machine Demon run by in pursuit of Audrey who was carrying the End.

"Probably as good of a time as any," she said. "LUCKY CHARM!"

Light shone and a pen dropped into her hand.

"What am I supposed to do.. with..."

And then she started remembering...

"I guess we're following the script then!"

"Just a little bit of the script stuck in your brain."

"We're looking for a particular film reel. The only way I can beat the Ink Demon is to play... it..."

"Yeah, what a coincidence that people leave tapes lying around where they would be useful."

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

"Just a pencil and a dream?" Joey asked. "No, that's never enough. To create true magic, you must also have... heart."

"That's it!" Ladybug cried.

Looking around, she saw Henry gingerly picking himself off the floor. She pulled the sketchbook out of her yo-yo and went over to him. "We need a new ending," she said, shoving the items at him.

"Wha?" Henry asked.

"The Machine is pushing us towards the bad ending," she said quickly. "This world is made by your drawings, what you put your heart into. You should be able to change the world. You need to make us the good ending."

Henry stared before adopting a look of determination. "I'll need time," he said.

"We'll buy you as much as we can," Ladybug said before running off to find the others.

Henry sat back down, opened the sketchbook to a blank page, and began to draw.

He didn't notice a mote of light that entered the sketchbook.