Sonic: Adventure in the INK hell

by Persone I

One day, Sonic received a rather unusual letter, and even from an unknown addressee. A letter from a certain Joey Drew, who invited a certain Henry to an old studio in which they made cartoons for 30 years. Friends decide to go there and find out why they were sent these letters. But a small excursion turns into a real disaster. In the center of which was the studio mascot - Bendy.

3. Chapter 1 'Moving pictures' Completed

Chapter 1: Moving Pictures

Our crew entered the studio through the door. It was dark enough in the hallway. The only thing that gave light, besides the sun, was a certain buzzing device in the back of the hall. Cobwebs hung in all corners, and a thick layer of dust had settled on the walls for a long time, obviously not the first time. The dust was even flying in the air. And something was dripping and flowing from the ceiling through the boards. Something black and cold fell to the floor in a big black blob. With such a nasty and loud sound.

It was very stuffy and too quiet. Apart from an unknown device in the back of the hall, there was no sound of conversation, footsteps, or anything else. Everything indicated that this place was also empty. And that could only mean one thing.

- In my opinion, this place has been abandoned for a long time - Tails running his finger along the wall, depending on how much dust had accumulated on the boards - it doesn't look like anyone is still working here.

- It's creepy here... - Cream said fearfully, looking around the hallway, a slight creaking could be heard from the walls, a feeling of alienation slowly began to approach and envelop.

But in addition to the settled dust, bright posters were also clearly visible on both walls. More precisely, they are not quite "bright" anymore. Time-worn, faded, slightly worn posters. Despite their shabby appearance, they attracted Sonic and Amy with their illustrations.

- Guys look, there are posters on a walls - Sonic drew their attention, pointing at the posters with his hand.

One of the posters, the one closest to the friends on the left wall, depicted a black creature in a tutu. It was wearing black shoes, and it's four-fingered hands are wearing white gloves with two buttons on both. It stood in a frozen pose on the stage, arms at its sides. He or She didn't have a head, or rather it was covered with a large inscription: "Dancing Demon." This whole composition was called "Bendy in the Dancing Demon". Bendy's name was written in the left corner, written in hand, like with fountain pen. When "Dancing Demon", was written with printed letters, was almost in the center in big circle. Above the body of cartoon creature.

The signature "Presented in Sillyvision" was visible in the lower right corner. And in the upper right corner is the price for an entrance ticket to the cartoon – Five cents per person.

Everyone gathered in front of the poster to get a better look at it. It was obvious that it had been hanging for a very long time, ink had faded slightly, in some places there were noticeable scuffs, the edges were completely dented, and in some places they were torn.

- Hmm...''Bendy in The Dancing Demon'' - Sonic read the title of the poster thoughtfully, rubbing his chin with his finger.

- "Bendy"? - Amy asked, tilting her head at the name - Who is ''Bendy''?

- I wish I knew - Sonic replied, scratching his head.

Out of interest, Tails fished out a pocket laptop computer from the bag he had grabbed before leaving. The one he often took with him. Pointing it at the poster, he tapped a few buttons. The computer's antenna made a mechanical creak and stared at the poster. The device let out a long beep, and a minute later an image of the very creature from the poster appeared on the screen, but this time with its head.

The round head was topped with two sharply angled curved ears...or were it horns? In general, the head looked like a circle, from which a smaller circle was cut off from the edge. Which made it look a bit like a crescent moon. There was a wide smile on his white circular face, almost all over his face, under black eyes with white corners. It felt like his mouth was going to split at the seams, was so wide that smile. Under the head, on the neck, if the connection of the head with the body could be called ''a neck'', there was a large bow tie.

- Bendy is a cartoon character - Tails began to read the description - known by such nicknames as "Dancing Demon" and "Little devil darling", created by Joey Drew Studio somewhere in 1928.

- A ''demon''? - Cream asked, looking at the image of toon character – I can't tell it by looking at him…In my opinion, he looks…more like a cat…but without whiskers.

Amy noticed that next to this poster, there was another poster, but it showed Bendy's hand, and it was decorated with the inscription: Bendy in "Dear little Devil."

- Bendy in ''Little Devil Darling"… - Amy read the second poster.

- It looks like he was popular in those years - Sonic said, looking at the poster.

- Oh, if only you known how popular he was - Tails said, looking at the monitor – The kids loved this little prankster very much. According to this information, during its entire existence, Joey Drew Studio has created up to 50 cartoons featuring Bendy and his friends.

- Who is friends with Bendy? - Cream asked him - And who are they?"

Tails examined the walls, and noticed a poster that was strikingly different from the others. It depicted a wolf with suspenders on his shoulders. He also had a smile on his face, but not as wide as Bendy's, and not as toothy. His cheeks were decorated with black blush. He also had a clarinet in his hand. The caption on the poster read: Bendy in "Sheep Songs with Boris the Wolf."

- Here's the answer - Tails went up to the poster, pointed the computer at it, and a full-length wolf appeared on the screen – Boris the wolf, was created a month after Bendy, at the same time he began to appear with him in new episodes. He and Bendy are best friends…Sort of.

- Well don't know...''Wolf and the Demon''… - - Sonic said, looking at the poster - such a weird duo, if you ask me.

- Said the one who is friends with the Two tailed Fox and the Echidna - Tails grinned in response, looking at Sonic with the appropriate look.

- Well, that's much better - Sonic replied with a smile, keeping his hands on his hips.

- Ah! Ugh, what is this thing!? - Amy suddenly screamed.

Everyone immediately paid attention to her. She suddenly jerked away from the black liquid dripping onto the floor. She started to rub her sleeve with her glove, but the stain only soaked deeper into the fabric. Crew noticed a dripping black thing.

- What is that thing? - Sonic asked, looking at the big drops falling into the blob.

Tails pointed his computer at the muck. The device beeped, and Tails was so amazed by the result that he stared at the screen almost without breathing.

- Ugh…guys? This…this is ink! - he said.

- What do you mean '' that's ink?" - Sonic was no less surprised – you mean ink that use to write?!

- Yeah - Tails replied - you know are others kinds of ink?

- Do they keep ink barrels in the attic?! - Amy wailed, vainly wiping the stain on her sleeve as if she wasn't herself.

— I don't know… but I don't like this place anymore - Sonic said, looking around the main hall - suggest to explore this place. And look for this Joey Drew.

- I'M COMING WITH YOU! - Upon hearing this, Amy immediately forgot about the stain on her sleeve and raised her hand up and abruptly hugged Sonic.

- Oh no, you don't! - Sonic replied, pulling Amy away from him at arm's length.

- Aww ple-e-e-ease… - She began to plead, crossing her arms in a lock, her eyes immediately filled with tears.

- Eh...okay then… - Sonic took pity, rolling his eyes - Just don't…

But before he could finish speaking

- HOORAY! - Amy screamed, throwing her arms around his neck again and wrapping him in an even tighter hug.

- Mhf bother me…! - Sonic finished with difficulty, because Amy squeezed him so tightly that he couldn't even breathe - Ghh that's enough! - He nervously took her hands off his neck - Tails, you're going with Cream - he ordered.

- Whatever you say - Tails replied, looking at the bunny - I don't mind.

- Okay, Mr. Sonic - Cream said, looking back at Tails.

Crew finally left the hallway and entered the hall, where they went, starting to examine it meticulously.
This spacious room was notable, perhaps, only because of the huge sign with the inscription: "Joey Drew Studio." It looked like three reels of film connected by a large board with the name of the studio, which were also spinning. And for some reason, this sign was surrounded by a small wooden fence. It seems like it's owner didn't want anyone to get too close and didn't touch her at all.

- In my opinion, Joey Drew has some kind of complexes - Amy noticed looking at the sign - such a big sign, and even fenced. It's strange that they didn't put it behind the glass.

In the center was a table that was fixed between two columns that supported the ceiling. There were a couple of chests of drawers against the wall, and an art table in the corner, which still had a backlit screen. It turned out that the buzzing device that gave off the light was a projector. It was standing on a small bedside table, projecting white light onto the wall. Unknown how long It been standing here. Surprisingly, that it still works.

- Strange… - Sonic remarked, approaching the bedside table - there are no people around, but the projector is still working. Has it been standing here for thirty years or more?

- Who knows… - Tails shrugged, walking over to the drawing table – perhaps…

The table, as mentioned earlier, continued to work in the same way as the projector. Cream approached Tails and began to look at the table curiously.

- Is this how cartoons used to be done back then? - Cream asked him, looking at the table from behind Tails.

- Yeah - Tails replied, nodding his head at her - these tables were used for sketches.

He lifted the framed Plexiglas, under which was a round window in which something was glowing, probably a lamp.

- They put a drawing on the lamp - he began to tell - on top on the glass a blank sheet. And they redrawn it, but changing the drawing to make a smooth movement. To make one move, you had to take more than 10 frames.

- Wow…. - Cream put her finger to her mouth in surprise - what a laborious job.

- And then these drawings were turned into frames, then into film clip, and inserted into this thing - Sonic continued, putting his hand on the projector. All he designed was a square beam of light on the wall. There was clearly no film in it.

Sonic looked away from the wall, and his gaze met with a round white smiling face. He almost jumped in surprise.

- What's this! Bendy!? -

Everyone turned at Sonic's shout. But it wasn't Bendy. That is, Bendy, but not alive. Sonic walked up to this something and knocked on it with his fist. It turned out to be a simple full-length cardboard cutout of the cartoon character. What for? And for what purpose? It's not clear.

- Ugh, it's just cardboard - he said, exhaling and wiping his forehead - but damn, what a creepy face he has.

- Who came up with the idea to put a cardboard character? Amy asked curiously, looking at the neckline of the demon.

- Maybe to attract the attention of visitors - Tails suggested - or to scare the staff.

- Okay, there's nothing interesting here - Sonic said, glancing around the room once more.

He pointed to the doorway. Following him, the friends met a drawing table standing alone in the corner, but not the same as in the hall. It was not equipped with a lamp, and resembled an ordinary wooden table. Apparently, this table was here even earlier, even before the studio allowed itself innovative tables at that time.

- This table is strikingly different from those - Tails said, approaching him - There's even something on it."

Two pieces of paper were attached to the table top. On one, the proportions and a sample of different poses for the cartoon character were displayed. And on the other was a picture of Bendy's head. Except that instead of a huge toothy smile, he had a black mouth open in a not very wide smile. Without a hint of teeth. There was a big "NO" next to him.

- Hmm...- Tails took a piece of paper with Bendy's head off the table - apparently someone used to work at this table developing the character design. And apparently this is the original concept of Bendy's face.

- I bet someone spent a lot of time in that chair - Sonic said with a grin - especially in "his" company.

Sonic pointed to the Bendy cutout that stood in the corner, right next to this table.

- Maybe - Tails replied, handing the paper back.

Immediately, he noticed something scratched on the table top. A certain word that seemed to have been brought out with something sharp, and apparently intentionally. It was the word "Henry."

- Henry? - Tails read aloud, running his fingers over the carved inscription - it looks like this table belonged to Henry.

- "Henry?" - Sonic wondered – is it that Henry to whom the letter was addressed?

- It seems like it - Tails replied without a shadow of doubt - most likely he once worked here.

- Tails, can you try to search the database and look for this "Henry"? - Sonic asked him.

Tails scratched his head and took the computer out of his bag again, he started poking at the screen, the computer started beeping.

- That's all I could find... - He began hesitantly - It's just that...that his full name is "Henry Stein". Former Joey Drew studio employee...He was the one who invented Bendy...That's all. The rest of the information is missing, as if he didn't exist at all.

- I'm getting less and less comfortable with this place - Sonic remarked.

Amy still doesn't leave her sleeve alone - I really hope it gets off.

After admiring Henry's lonely desk, they turned to the only doorway that was opposite him. The opening led to another hall, but smaller than the first one. My friends, also wanting to see and find out what was there, went inside. There were a lot of tables here. Literally the whole wall was filled with them. And they worked too.

- Apparently this is a drawing room, or something like that - Tails said, looking around the room.

- It's strange - Sonic looked into the doorway from behind - then why is that old table there, and there are new tables here. It was like Henry was working there alone.

- Maybe this room was built later to afford more artists? - Amy suggested.

- Do you think Henry was working here alone? - Sonic turned to that one.

- Well…there's no other way to explain that table apart from these - she replied.

Our crew went down the steps and went their separate ways again. Although there was nowhere much to go. The room was several times smaller than the hall. And there wasn't much room because of the tables.

- Oh man… - Sonic replied, looking at the boarded-up door - who needed privacy so much?

Everyone paid attention to him, and then to the door. There was a toilet in the room behind the boarded-up boards. Was it really a toilet?

- Is this a bathroom? - Amy asked aloud - is there only one for the entire floor?"

- Whoever designed this building clearly didn't think about convenience - Tails approached the boarded-up passage.

In addition to the toilet, there was another Cardboard Bendy in the room.

- Why is it there? - Tails asked aloud in open surprise, pointing at the cardboard demon.

- Apparently, in order not to stay too long - Sonic said, twisting his eyebrows – I wouldn't stay for long either if I had something like this next to me.

Deciding that it was enough to inspect this "bathroom", they looked at the tables a little more.

- Did they all work right next to each other? - Tails noted, noticing how close the tables and chairs were.

No one answered. Of course, because no one knew for sure. Suddenly, something howled. Everyone was alarmed and looked around.

- Who's that!? – Cream screamed, turning blue with fear.

The howl was muffled and abrupt. It was like he was walking straight out of the walls. The friends looked around once more, and Tails noticed huge bulging pipes in the walls.

- It's probably from the pipes - Tails said, pointing to one of them.

- Why are these pipes here? - Sonic asked, pointing to a cluster of pipes in the wall - what they decided to spend here. Water?

- It doesn't look like it - Tails replied, putting his finger to his chin - The water pipes are usually IN the wall, not ON the wall.

Something howled again. The friends turned their gaze back to the pipes. They began to creak softly. There was a soft "drip-drip". It immediately became uncomfortable.

- Let's go - Amy suggested - I don't like being here.

No one argued. They left the room and headed down the right aisle this time. The first thing that caught my eye was the sign on the poster. There was only one arrow leading to the left, and it said the Drawing Department.

- So we were in the drawing department - Tails remarked after reading the words on the arrow.

- The Department? Was that little room with tables a "department"? - Sonic spread his hands – oh man…

There were a lot more arrows to the right, three to be exact. "Theater", "Ink Machine" and "breakroom". And of course, the second arrow caught both the gaze and the curiosity of friends.

- "The ink Machine?" - Sonic read the second arrow in surprise - what kind of machine is this?

- I wish I knew - Tails replied, scratching his head - maybe it makes ink...or gives it away. I don't know.

- Then let's go and take a look? - Amy suggested, waving her hand into the hallway.

Looking up from the pointer, they immediately came across a crooked inscription written in ink on the wall: "Dreams come true." Next to it, ink was also flowing through the ceiling boards, dripping as if from a half-closed faucet.

- "Dreams come true" ...? - read Sonic - really original. Who needed to raise morale so much that they wrote it on the wall?

Tails went over to the inscription, ran his finger along one of the letters, and after looking closely, he said - The ink is dry. So this inscription was left here a long time ago.

After that, Tails looked into the hallway, and saw a small sign under the ceiling with the inscription "Ink machine".

- Guys, I think the machine is down the hall - Tails pointed down the hall.

However, there was nowhere else to go. It was the only passage. All the other doors along the way, including the iron gates, did not open. Although there was one door with a bright light coming from under it.

Sonic came to this door. Suddenly, light, soft music was heard from there.

- Can you guys hear that? - he drew their attention to the fact that there was a light under the door, and music was coming from there - Hey? Is anyone there?

He knocked on the door. No one answered. He tried the handle, but the door wouldn't open.

- Hey! - He knocked harder. But there was no response.

- I don't think there's anyone there… - Tails spread his hands.

- But the lights are on! - Sonic remarked again.

Tails just shrugged his shoulders. The big question is whether there is someone inside or not. There seems to be light and music, but no one answers, and the door is locked. Surely the light and the fact that it plays music could also work without interruption for thirty years? But there was no time to speculate on this topic. Group decided to leave the door and just head down the hallway in search of this unknown "ink machine."

Guys went to the turn, and on the wall at the end of the corridor, next to the turn, they were greeted by an ink distribution schedule. Judging by it, the machine was indeed giving out ink. Or something like that.

- Guys, just look at this! - Tails looked at the graph and pointed to the column with the letters SAT - were giving out so much ink on Saturday...as much as 423 gallons!

- Wow! Some kind of ''ink Saturday'' - Sonic grinned - I wouldn't be surprised if they were covered in ink at the end of the day.

- Why do they need ink at all? - Amy asked, looking at the graph - and in that amount?

- If they were drawing with ink - Tails replied - they obviously needed large supplies, because cartoons were drawn almost every day.

- But did they really need SO much ink that they built a whole machine!? - Amy asked again.

- First, need to see this machine to understand - Tails replied.

- Guys, let's go into the room - Sonic suggested, went further into the corridor and suddenly tripped and fell to the floor.

- Sonic, are you okay? - Amy jumped up to him.

- Yeah...- Sonic carefully got to his feet, rubbing his knees - but what did I stumble over?

Everyone looked at the floor and saw a pipe with a sign saying "watch your step." And so big that only a blind person could not see it.

- Watch your step, guys - Tails said, and stepped over the pipe.

Amy and Cream followed the guys over the pipe. As a group, they reached an opening that led to another room. Into a large room that seemed to be under the very roof of the studio. The ceiling matched the shape of the roof, and the sun was shining brightly from several cracks.

There were various gears and electronics around the edges of this room. There was no floor, there was only a large shaft going down into which chains descended from the ceiling. There was a large door in the wall opposite the entrance, and it was as big as a hangar. Except the car itself wasn't inside.

- And where's the machine? - Amy asked, spreading her arms – there is nothing in here!

- I don't think so… - Tails said, looking at the ceiling from where the chains came - these chains are clearly holding something... - he went to the fence and looked down into the shaft - I'll bet my own tail that they're holding the machine. So it can be raised somehow.

- And how to raise it? - Sonic asked him - not with our bare hands, right?

Tails noticed a rack with a lever that was built into the fence. Which means the circuits are probably connected to some kind of motor.

- I think this is an elevator, and the lever will lift the machine - with this thought, Tails went to the lever and put his hand on it and lowered it.

But nothing happened. The chains dangled and continued to dangle. More than one device in the room did not work. The lowered lever rose back by itself.

- Nothing happened - Amy said.

- Why is nothing happening? - Cream asked.

- Most likely because there is no energy... - Tails replied, looking at a certain mechanism with two large depressions, apparently for batteries - there should be batteries or accumulators in these depressions - he looked around - they should be here somewhere...Cream, help me.

Tails and Cream moved away from the lever and began to search for batteries. Just to the left of the entrance, there was a chest and a shelving unit in the corner. It's very likely that the much-needed batteries are out there somewhere.

- I wonder… - Amy said thoughtfully - why do they need this machine anyway? Do you think it really gives out ink?

- Only if they didn't want to spend money on ink tanks - Tails reasoned - otherwise I can't explain why they need it. A barrel of ink would be enough, though.

- Well, apparently they didn't have enough - Sonic replied, continuing to stare into the dark shaft - or they were afraid that they wouldn't have enough.

- Cream and I found the batteries, guys - Tails said, and he and Cream each held one large battery in their hands. Completely different from the standard ones, not only in size, but also in appearance.

- So what are you waiting for!? - Sonic exclaimed impatiently - put them in there quickly!

Tails and Cream immediately went to the installation and inserted the batteries into the connectors. The installation trembled, and a light bulb lit up above the lever, indicating that everything was ready to work and could be started.

Tails pulled the lever again, and immediately the roar of engines, loud grinding and clanking of old chains could be heard all over the room. They began to move upward, pulling out what was hidden in the depths of the mine.

A minute later, a huge structure rose from the dark shaft, which is a device similar to an iron box, with a pipe in front, large and small gears on the sides, hoses that were connected to the bottom, and an incredibly large barrel or tank with a large, worn sticker with the inscription "Ink".

After stopping, the elevator emitted steam, and the Ink Machine appeared in front of the team.

When they saw it, they all said in one voice out of indescribable surprise - Wow!

- it's huge! - Sonic said, spreading his arms out to show size of the machine.

Thick black liquid began to drip and drip from the pipe in front with an unpleasant squelch, which fell into the grate located under it.

- And...what are we going to do with it? - Amy asked after a minute, looking at the mechanism.

- Maybe turn it on…? - Sonic suggested.

- For what? - Tails asked him - we don't know exactly what it's doing.

- That's why we should turn it on - Amy said.

- But we came to find out why Joey Drew sent us these letters - Tails took out an envelope with a letter - just for that, not to include, God knows, what.

- But Tails, as a mechanic, aren't you interested in what this thing does? - Amy asked him.

- It might be interesting - he replied - but we don't know what will happen if we launch it!

- I'm actually…also wondering what this machine doing… - Cream interjected - Let's try turn it on, take a look, turn it off and leave...

- Yeah, let's take a look, and leave, since there's no one else here - Amy picked up.

Tails looked around at everyone and stopped at Sonic.

- Sonic, tell them that better not to turn on this thing - fox cub addressed the hedgehog with sparks of hope in his eyes - what if it's dangerous?

Sonic put his finger to his mouth. He didn't understand why, but he was driven by a strange desire, not just curiosity, but something else, to see what this machine was doing.

- Tails, I'm honestly interested too - he replied - and besides, as Amy said, aren't you curious about what it's doing?

Tails realized that he would not receive support for his point of view. His friends want to see this machine in action too much. He cast a look of despair at his friends, and took a deep breath and agreed.

- *Sigh*…Okay, let's try - he nodded his head.

- But how turn it on? - Amy asked - I don't see any switch around here.

- I wish this HUGE machine - Sonic said, putting his hands on his hips and glancing at the machine - had the same HUGE instruction.

- It clearly has to be somewhere - Tails said, thinking - let's walk around the floor again and look for some clues.

Everyone nodded in agreement, turned to the doorway, and left the room, heading down the hall to look for some kind of clue ''how to turn on the machine''. Just around the corner, at the entrance to the room with machine, the open doors caught eye of friends. The gate on the right side of the corridor was fully opened, and the door on left was ajar.

- Guys, those doors...weren't they closed before it? - Sonic remarked.

- They were… - Tails said confidently - all those doors were closed and locked.

- Do you think... someone came? - Amy lowered her voice.

- You think? HELLO?! - Sonic shouted, putting his hand to his mouth - Is anyone here!?

But in response, there was the same tense silence, with the slight hum of the projector in the hall.

It seems that they were alone and remained alone. And if there was someone with them on the floor, he would have answered for sure. But the doors, despite the fact that there was no one around, were open.

- Guys...do you feel it too...that there's something wrong? - Amy asked, snuggling up to Sonic.

- I felt it back in the hall - Sonic replied softly - but we don't have time to stand and crumple. Let's look for clues. And I suggest we see what's in there.

He pointed at the open gate. The light from the spotlight on the ceiling fell on him, as if indicating that they need to enter it. They walked a little nervously into the new corridor.

It was a little darker and more uncomfortable than other part of floor. Moreover, the sounds of grinding and some kind of rustling became louder. Corridors branched off from the gate in different directions, to the right, there was another table with a chair in the passage, Bendy's cardboard cutout in the corner, in the semi-darkness his face was no longer so happy and giving joy, rather it became more frightening and creepy.

On the left side, around the corner, there was another corner of the other walls, the passage went even further, by the way, there were even more pipes in the walls.

- That's it...Where should we go? - Cream asked, looking around the area.

- Let's turn left - Amy immediately called out, snuggling up to Sonic, squinting at the cardboard with trembling eyes.

They turned left. Around the corner, they were greeted by a small table with an old a tape recorder on it. There was a wooden chair next to this table, and there were two doors in the wall where they stood. But they weren't interesting right now. Of course, the tape recorder turned out to be more interesting.

- Hey, guys - Tails said to his friends - there's a tape recorder here.

The recorder looked shabby, it didn't stand out in any other way against the background of all the old things that friends had already seen. Yes, even from that projector.

- What's it for? - Amy asked, looking at the find.

- Most likely, there should be some information here - Tails suggested, scratching his head.

He reached out and pressed the "play" button, the recorder turned on, and a man's voice came out of it, the voice of a disgruntled man. A grumbling, slightly raspy high-pitched voice.

''At this point, I don't get what Joey's plan is for this company.''

- It's a voice recording - Tails said softly.

''The animations sure aren't being finished on time anymore. And certainly don't see
why we need this… machine. It's noisy, it's messy. And who needs that much ink anyway?''

- The same question… - Sonic said softly under his breath.

''Also, get this, Joey had each one of us donate something from our work station. We put them on these little pedestals in the break room. To help appease the gods, Joey says. Keep things going.''

- The gods? - Amy whispered.

''I think he's lost his mind, but, hey, he writes the checks. But I tell you what, if one more of these pipes burst, I'm out of here.''

With that exclamation, the recording stopped. The angry words of this man reverberated through the corridors, breaking the standing silence. Everyone exchanged glances.

- I didn't fully understand what all this was about - Sonic said - especially this part about ''appeasing the gods". But I think it's worth finding this break room.

- I'd like to know where it is... - Tails replied - but apparently they won't tell us. Okay, let's go find this room.

Our crew first decided to check what's at the end of the corridor they're in now. Maybe the break room is just in that direction. They continued down the hallway. But when they reached the end, they saw a small room with chairs in two rows, and a projector on a small stand next to it. Well, and the canvas on the wall on which the film should be projected.

- It's probably a theater - Tails said.

- ''Theater''! - Amy snorted – nothing more than just a word. No upholstered chairs, no balconies, no floodlights. Not a scene.

- Amy is a theater inside the studio. For series previews, or maybe for conferences - Tails replied.

- But the facilities should be there anyway - Amy insisted.

Tails rolled his eyes, he waved his hand, wishing not to continue this conversation.

Turning around, they returned to the gate on foot, and now headed down the right-hand corridor, where the cardboard bendy was standing.

Suddenly, as soon as they reached another fork, a heavy board fell from the ceiling to the floor, right in front of the heroes with a deafening crash. There was a loud BANG that hit me right in the ears because of the utter silence. Cream squealed from the suddenness and loud noise and clung to Tails, wrapping his body in her arms.

- Hush, Cream, hush - He soothed her, running his palm lightly over her head – I guess it falls because it…- As he spoke, he glanced down the aisle to the left and saw a room with a wolf tied to a table in it –o-o-old….

He finished with difficulty. He stopped stroking Cream's head, staring at the motionless figure of the wolf. Sonic noticed Tails' strange behavior and approached his friend.

- What's the matter, Tails? - he asked him - What is it?

Tails did not answer, Sonic curled his eyebrows and shifted his gaze to where Tails was looking and saw it...He literally forgot how to speak at once. My breath caught in my throat. He took a sharp breath and croaked softly as he exhaled.

- Crush me, moto-bug...that's what? -

Amy and Cream also noticed something that caught the guys' eyes. And it was unpleasant and scary to see. They entered the room slowly, a little apprehensively.

The wolf that was tied to the table turned out to be familiar in appearance to friends. Two long bent ears on his head, a blush in the form of black cheeks, and pants with suspenders. It turned out to be Boris. But he wasn't alive. On his face, instead of open cartoon eyes, there were two large crosses. The word is embroidered with threads. He was lying like a corpse on the table, his arms and legs tied by his neck. His chest was roughly opened, and human-like ribs protruded from a huge torn hole. And inside...something was visible...it looks like the remains of organs. And some kind of ooze was leaking out of the wound, trickling down his pants.

Next to this table, which stood under some kind of incomprehensible contraption resembling some kind of iron canopy, there were two boards on which there was a burning candle. And they were still long and hadn't even melted at the wick. Only the ones at the very bottom were slightly melted.

Coming closer and examining the corpse, as well as realizing who was in front of them, the emotions of the friends spilled out no worse than lava from an erupting volcano.

- Oh my God... - Sonic wheezed, starting to feverishly wipe the sweat from his forehead, - It must be Boris...?

- Did someone really…kill a cartoon wolf...? - said Tails again, barely moving his tongue, unable to look away.

- But...Where did Boris come from...? - Sonic asked - trying to somehow reduce the degree of excitement – he is a…cartoon. And toon can't be actually murdered.

"Then who do you think it is?" Tails said nervously, throwing out his hand with his index finger towards the corpse, his eyes trembled, he breathed jerkily, and sweat trickled down his muzzle in heavy drops.

His cheeks even turned purple from the oncoming vomiting.

- I don't know and I don't want to know! - Sonic replied, waving his hand in front of his face. His face turned green from what he saw. He tried to force his gaze away from the corpse, and immediately he came across an inscription crookedly plastered on the wall, reading "Who's laughing now?"

- "Who's laughing now?" - he read the inscription and began to look from the corpse to the inscription and back to the inscription - Well, not us, that's for sure - he swallowed hard, because a lump formed in his throat – let's get out of here, there's nothing more interesting here!

He immediately turned around and walked out of the room, closing his eyes.

- Sonic, wait! - Amy wheezed, pressing her hand to her mouth, she also began to feel sick from what she saw.

Cream early tears covered her eyes with her hands and hurried after the hedgehogs out of the room, trying not to think about what a wild and brutal sight she saw.

Tails, contrary to Sonic's words, did not move, he just rooted to the ground, and could not take his eyes off the corpse. His heart continued to pound clearly almost at his throat, sweat flowed continuously, and vomiting was coming to his mouth more and more. He clutched his mouth and leaned on a nearby chair, breathing vigorously.

- Tails, let's go! - Sonic called from their corridor, realizing that his friend did not follow them - There is nothing more to stare at this...on...on Boris!

- Mgh...give me a sec - Tails replied through fits - I need to...come to my senses...

Catching his breath, Tails abruptly turned to the doorway and followed his friends, trying to completely put this horror out of his head.

Another doorway, which was next to the "torture room", led to a large spacious room. The entire space in it was filled with 6 small metal pedestals. There was a lamp above each of them. On the walls, opposite each of them, hung a painting illustrating the objects. But of course, immediately from the threshold, a large lever on the wall caught my eye, which consisted of some kind of electronics, presses, valves and other parts.

- It looks like this is the break room - Sonic said, looking around the room - It's just like the guy on the recording said. Here are the pedestals.

- And then… - Amy said, putting a little pressure on the pedestal, which sank a little under her hands - the workers were putting those objects from their workplaces to appease some gods.

- I don't like all this, - Tails thought, looking at the pedestals – ''Appease the gods"? "Sacrifice"? Hope we will not summon the devil...

He went to a lever on the wall, above it was a large sign with a zipper and the inscription "Generator". And on the panel that hung next to it, the inscription glowed: "Low energy level."

- So, I think I understood what those words about objects and pedestals were about - Tails looked at the paintings - We need six objects. They should be put down...and press the lever. So we need to find them. Sonic, you and Amy are looking for a gear, a wrench, and a book. Cream and I will be looking for a…I guess a plush toy, a record, and an inkwell.

- Me with Amy, NO WAY! - Sonic crossed his arms over his chest in displeasure.

- You have to - Tails said dryly – there is kind no other variations.

Sonic looked at Tails, then at Amy, who had her arms folded again, and her eyes filled with tears. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and replied - …Okay.

Having agreed, the friends turned to the exit, they were ready to go to look for objects, but suddenly there was a cardboard cutout of Bendy behind the exit from the room. Everyone suddenly screamed. Cream saw the cardboard and hid behind Amy's back.

- Who put this here?! Tails asked, puzzled, carefully approaching the clipping.

- I'm less and less sure that we're alone here - Amy said softly, more to herself than to the others.

- Come on guys, it's just a cardboard - Sonic came up and pushed the tenderloin with his finger.

BANG! It fell to the floor with a crash, raising a cloud of dust.

- But it was here somehow... - Tails thought - okay, it doesn't matter.

He turned to his friends

- Sonic, Amy, I saw a gear in the room with the car, and a wrench in... in... - he swallowed - in the room with Boris.

- Got it - Sonic replied.

Sonic and Amy, accompanied by Tails and Cream, headed for the exit to the main part of the studio. There they split up, one duo into a room with a machine in search for gear, the other one in search for vinyl record.

Sonic and Amy found themselves in the room with the machine and immediately saw the gear. A large gear lying in a chest in which Tails and Cream had previously found one of the batteries.

- Tails was right, there's a gear in the box - Sonic said, and walked over and picked up the gear - Ughhh...It's heavy.

The gear was really very heavy. Of course, it's incomparable to a small gear, just some kind of huge wheel with teeth the size of a tire.

- Okay, now go to the room with Boris - he ordered, and gripping the gear tighter, he and Amy headed back to the door to the second part of the studio.

With a quick step, albeit with a gear, they came to the room with the corpse and immediately saw where the wrench was. And he was in a prominent and unpleasant place. Terribly unpleasant and disgusting...Right in Boris's open chest. The friends shivered.

"Well, Amy...Pull it - he told her - my hands are already full.

- Sonic...I'm not sure - Amy looked fearfully at the corpse.

- Amy, just come over and pull the wrench out... - Sonic stammered - ...out...out of it. And quickly.

- I don't know, Sonic, what if he's - Amy trembled - him...Will it come alive!?

Sonic rolled his eyes in displeasure, shook his head, and replied slightly irritably.

- Amy, if you're so afraid, then fine - I'll do it myself.

Before Amy could object, Sonic set the gear on the floor, stomped over to the corpse, grabbed the wrench with both hands, and without ceremony began to pull. Amy squeezed her eyes shut in fear. He pulled once, pulled twice, and... on the third, there was a dull, nasty "CRUNCH!" a new portion of stagnant sludge immediately flowed out of the corpse. Amy opened her eyes. Sonic looked at the wrench as if it was holding someone's insides. One of his eyes twitched.

- Oh… - said Sonic, holding a wrench in his hands - …I shouldn't have looked...

The key began dripping with the same viscous liquid as from the corpse. The hedgehogs hoped it was just ink...not blood. Sonic shook his head hard so as not to focus on what had happened.

"Amy, here," he handed her a wrench.

- Sonic! - she screamed, holding out her hands - it was stuck in his chest! It's even dripping with something!

- ...Maybe you want to drag a heavy gear? - He gave her a stern look.

Amy squinted at the gear by the wall, then at the wrench, and without thinking, she bit her lip and reached for the wrench. Sonic was about to hand it to her when she suddenly jerked her hands away again, squealing

- Wait a minute!

Sonic froze in disbelief. She rummaged in her pockets and took out a white handkerchief.

- I don't want to touch it… -

Sonic rolled his eyes again and shrugged, putting the wrench on the handkerchief in Amy's hands. The black liquid soaked into the handkerchief with an unpleasant smack, began to flow off it and drip onto the floor.

Amy was trembling, and she clenched her teeth and stared at the wrench as if she wasn't herself. Closing her eyes, she wrapped a handkerchief around him and exhaled.

- That's disgusting...

Amy shook her head properly, and took her hand with the key away from herself. It seemed to her that he smelled like it. They were ready to leave the room, but Sonic's attention was drawn to the door in this room. I wonder where it leads. Maybe there's another room behind it?

Sonic went to the door and pulled the handle. Beyond the opening was a room with still-standing drawing tables and chairs next to them. A desk was attached between two shelves, several wooden drawers, and a wooden column supporting the ceiling. And what confused me more was the pipe. The pipe that ran from the floor to the ceiling.

- Another pipe? - Sonic approached the find.

There was nothing to be heard in it except a dull grinding and dripping of stagnant liquid.

- Why do they need so many pipes here? - Amy asked, coming up to him.

- I wish I knew - Sonic replied.

Suddenly, there was a loud BANG, and Sonic's eyes narrowed sharply. He recoiled from the pipe, looking at his chest. It was smeared with black goo.

- Hey! What, MORE ink?! -

Amy looked at Sonic in fright, she wanted to take out a handkerchief, but immediately remembered that she had taken a wrench with it. Sonic had to use his glove to remove this blot. And the ink didn't want to go away right away. They soaked into the glove, but they didn't leave the wool. Sonic rubbed his chest even harder with his glove. The blot just got smeared.

- Get out! - he muttered under his breath, starting to rub his chest with another clean glove.

At the cost of both gloves, he somehow wiped off the stain. But now he had one glove with a black blot, and the other had gray ink marks.

- I was curious to my own detriment - he muttered.

- Sonic, I'm sorry - Amy said in frustration - ...I had only one handkerchief.

- Forget it - he replied, rubbing his chest once more, picked up the gear and continued his way around the room.

In the corner near the bookshelf, they came across another ink stain on the way. And between the ceiling and the wall... which is very strange, ink was also flowing.

- More ink? - Sonic was indignant - didn't they clean up at all!?

- They should clean up - Amy noticed - it's already dusty and dirty, and if you take into account the ink almost everywhere, it doesn't look like they had a cleaner at all.

They turned into the left side of the room, and it immediately ended in a door.

- They paint in this room…as well? - Amy looked around the room once more.

- Looks like, ''there wasn't not enough space, but need a lot of workers'' - Sonic said in response – so they just put them anywhere, as long as there were tables and chairs to work.

Deciding not to linger, they went to the door, Sonic pushed it open, and they successfully found themselves right in front of the door to exit this part of the studio.

- Well, at least two doors, and one right in front of the gate, - remarked Sonic, - you don't have to go far.

And since the door that was originally closed was opposite this gate, they went to it in order to find out what was in this room. And the room met them first of all with a staircase. That it led down, but not deep. In this other old room, there were two very ordinary round tables this time, with several chairs around it.

One of them was covered with a pile of books, and two reels of film were stuck between them.

- And what's we have here…? - Amy asked.

- Perhaps its a "new Break room" - suggested Sonic - if the old room was rebuilt as a "generator room", and the employees needed to rest somewhere, they built a new room here.

- Well in my opinion, this " Break room" is kinda lame - Amy snorted - at least they could put a sofa here.

As soon as friends came down the stairs to the room, Sonic's stomach rumbled loudly and clearly.

- I'm hungry - he put his hand on his stomach - I wonder if there's food here."

Sonic set the gear on the floor, wiped his forehead with sweat, and began to inspect the room for any food. And since there was nothing edible on one table except books, and the second was empty at all, he went to the door that was in this room and opened it to find a closet behind it, into which he immediately disappeared.

Amy, hoping to find the book they needed to turn on the machine, went to the table with a stack of books. None of these books were any different. All in the same yellowish binding. But one of them stood out very much. It wasn't in the stack, but next to it. It was bound in black, with a large title "The Illusion of Living" with two horns on each side of it. At the bottom of the cover, "By Joey Drew" was written in elegant handwriting.

- Most likely, it's the book that we need… - thought Amy, taking the book in her free hand - Sonic, I think I think, I found the right book!

- As for me, it seems like I found food! Sonic replied, emerging from the closet.

In his hand, the hedgehog had a can with the inscription: "Brand-Briard Bacon soup." In addition to the main inscription, Bendy himself was emblazoned on it. Several other brands, and the slogan "What the little devil loves".

- ''Bacon soup''? - Amy was surprised - did they make food under their own brand?

- Maybe Bendy was really popular back then, if they even shoved his face on cans - Sonic said sarcastically, tearing the lid off the can.

Amy didn't have time to warn him about the expiration date of this soup, as Sonic immediately pressed his lips to the edge of the jar and started it. In half a minute, he drained the can, licked his lips, and patted his stomach.

- Mmm…Not bad. Not a hot chili dog, of course. But nothing either - he threw the can to the side, reached out, and taking the gear in his hands nodded to Amy in the direction of the door - let's go to the generator.

They were already on the stairs, Sonic started to climb, and Amy lingered. She looked at a small hallway with an opening that they hadn't examined.

- Amy? - the hedgehog turned to her.

She didn't answer and got back on the floor and walked towards the hallway. Sonic put his hand to his forehead and began to howl to himself. He had forgotten how curious and, most importantly, relentless Amy was. And if she gets the idea to go where she doesn't need to go, she'll skip there without thinking about the consequences.

All he had to do was follow her so she wouldn't get into trouble. But there was nothing to see in that corridor. The passage was blocked and boarded up. Yes, and hung with cobwebs. Behind it, there was only a small room with a staircase, but nothing more.

Realizing this, they returned to the stairs, quickly climbed up and went towards the recreation room.

Tails and Cream went to the theater themselves while Sonic and Amy were in the room with Boris and the room with the drawing tables. And there they were trying to find one of the three items.

In addition to the chairs and the projector, there was a strange valve in the wall around the corner with other mechanisms on which it was written "ink pressure pressure".

- "Ink pressure?" - Tails thought, looking at the valve - don't tell me you guys are actually running ink through the pipes here? And why do you need SO many of them?

Deciding to return to the search, he turned to Cream.

- Cream, do you see any of the items we need? - Tails began to look around the theater.

- I found it! - Cream immediately said loudly and joyfully. And there was a loud *SQUEAK* all over the theater.

Tails then turned to the rabbit from a loud, sharp sound. In her hands, Cream had a small teddy Bendy. It was almost like a cartoon, except that his eyes were kind of askew.

- Woagh! - Tails sighed - it was loud. Where it was?

- It was sitting right on the chair - rabbit replied with a smile.

- How did I miss it... - Tails scratched his head in dismay.

- He's so cute - Cream added, hugging the plushie to herself.

- Sorry, Cream, we can't keep it for ourselves - Tails spread his hands - it needs it for the machine...somehow…

- Okay - Cream looked at the plushie, a little upset.

- Let's go - suggested Tails, approaching the exit - we need to look further.

Ours, the fox cub and the rabbit, left the second part of the studio and headed down the corridor to the exit. Suddenly, behind the very door that Sonic was trying to open, as soon as they approached it, the light abruptly went out. My friends were alarmed. The lights just went out for no reason.

"There."...Is there really someone? Krim glanced nervously at the door.

"Let's check it out," Tails replied softly, starting to creep towards the door.

He went to the doorway and hid. It was quiet inside. He put his finger to his mouth and hissed. Krim nodded her head and moved a little further away. Tails held his breath, grabbed the handle, and abruptly turned it, throwing the door wide open.

But there was no one behind her.

"Empty?" Tails was surprised - but the lights went out!

"Maybe."..did something just turn off on its own? - Krim suggested, approaching the fox cub - maybe the light bulb burned out?

Tails looked uncertainly at Cream, he would be happy to just accept this version and forget it. But there are some paranormal phenomena going on in this studio. The light, the open wolf, and the devices have been working for the devil knows how many years!

More and more, this studio seems abnormal and unnatural.

He tried to regain his breathing and heartbeat.

After that, they went into a room that was most likely a small office. With a desk and a wardrobe, there was a painting of a note on the wall, just like the painting in the hall with the generator. But besides the painting, there was a shelf of candles on the wall. With candles burning, and they looked like they were just lit, but they hadn't really melted yet.

"It doesn't matter why the lights went out," Tails said, looking at the painting on the wall. Maybe...The record

Tails looked around the room. Krim also looked at the shelves of the closet and the table. But there was no record in either place.

Tails, in turn, decided to look under the table. And then he screamed-there she is, Cream!

Cream looked at Tails. He came out under the table holding a record with the label "Bendy" in his hand. Perhaps it has one of the written melodies for some cartoon.

- We have already found two of the three items. There's only one left. I wonder how our hedgehog team is," Tails said with a grin, "have they found all the items?"

"Maybe," Krim replied, "let's hurry up, we still need to find the inkwell."

Tails nodded in- An inkwell with a brush is needed to draw. So you need to go to the "drawing department".

After leaving the office, they hurried to the exit, and immediately went to the drawing department.

There they separated again and began to inspect the tables, hoping to find an inkwell.

But to their chagrin, four tables turned out to be empty.

- Nothing, maybe I was mistaken...? - Tails scratched his head, continuing to look around the room.

Suddenly, Cream's attention was drawn to the table on which lay an old drawing with Bendy. He was in a pose as if he wanted to grab something. Maybe it's a hint? She went over, looked at the stand and saw the inkwell they needed with a brush in it. By the way, it depicted a skull with bones. And it was very strange. Why draw a skull on an inkwell with ink? Unless it's a can of poison... but then again, who would need poison in this studio!?

Cream, though uncertainly, took the inkwell in her hand. There was a black liquid splashing in it.

- Hey, Tails! I found the inkwell! - she called out to him.

Tails turned to her - Oh! Good job Cream.

- Wait a minute... - she turned to him again.

Tails turned back to the rabbit. She looked very worried.

- On the inkwell...well... here - she pointed to the side with the skull.

Tails looked confused, staring at the picture. This place is getting more and more scared.

- Don't give it any importance, Cream - Tails replied, taking the inkwell from her hand - Let's just go to the generator.

Cream nodded her head, still uncertainly squinting at the jar with the brush. Having calmed down, they left the department and walked towards the lever room. Sonic and Amy joined them, holding their items in their hands. When they reached the break room, they met, made sure that all the things were with them, and going inside, they began to put each item in its place, on separate pedestals: gear to gear, inkwell to inkwell, book to book, and so on. We haven't laid everything out yet. All the pedestals under the objects lowered slightly, there was a click, and the lamps lit up above them. As if showing their importance.

- So we've collected everything - Sonic looked at all the pedestals - are we ready to turn it on?

Tails looked back at the panel by the lever, and now the "Low pressure" light was on.

- Not yet. Now we need to increase the pressure - Tails scratched his head.

- Pressure? - Amy asked - but what exatly? And most importantly, where?

- There was a valve in the theater - Tails said uncertainly.

- Well, let's go, then - Sonic replied.

The guys left the recreation room and went down the same corridor to the theater.

So they walked past a table with a voice tape, walked around the corner, and suddenly, from around the corner, to meet our crew, another cardboard cutout of Bendy popped out of the entrance to the theater, with a loud violin squeak.

TINK!*

Everyone screamed and stopped before reaching the entrance, and the cardboard cutout immediately disappeared around the corner, leaving the friends perplexed.

- Okay, this is not funny anymore! - Sonic clenched his fists and clenched his teeth - What "in the name of chaos emeralds" or who is moving these damn cardboard cutouts?! Who's there!?

But all he got in response was the dead silence of the old studio and the creaking of the wooden walls.

- Maybe this place…is haunted? - Amy suggested, looking around apprehensively – and there are ghosts in here?

Cream also began to look around fearfully, clinging to Tails.

"Ghosts?" What kind of ghosts?! - thoughts raced feverishly in Tails' head - no, there can't be ghosts here. I do not know what is going on here, but there are no ghosts and there cannot be!

- From a scientific point of view... - trying to control himself, Tails said slowly, - there are no ghosts.

- Then what do you think moves them? Amy asked, still nervous.

- I do not know! "I don't know, and I don't want to know," the redhead replied with displeasure, barely able to contain himself.

- Calm down, - Sonic told them, - let's just increase this pressure and that's it.

As the friends stood on the threshold of the theater, the projector on the stand suddenly turned on. Everyone was startled by the sharp sound. The projector buzzed, the demon Bendy appeared on the canvas, he danced a strange dance, resembling a shrug, accompanied by a loud whistle.

"It's creepy," Sonic replied, looking at the painting of the dancing demon.

- What the hell is going on here!? - Tails thought again - this is not normal! Everything here is not normal!

But without saying a word, he walked around the corner, went to the panel, grabbed the valve that was in the center and turned it. There was a sharp loud clang of a stagnant valve, followed by the sound of rapidly flowing liquid in the pipes. But the pipe under the ceiling at the entrance itself was so old and unreliable that, unable to withstand the pressure, it leaked. It didn't burst abruptly, and a plentiful stream of ink rapidly poured out of the hole onto the floor, quickly filling the room.

- Let's leave and quick! - Amy screamed, starting to back up the stairs - I don't want to ruin my best dress!

Sonic and Cream wasted no time following her. Tails jumped away from the vent at the last moment onto the dry floor. Unfortunately, the sole of his shoe is slightly stained with ink. A black sticky slime began to drip off his shoes onto the floor.

- Ughhhhhh... - he looked at the stained shoes with disgust - my shoes are screwed…

And the ink continued to flow from the pipe, almost flooding the entire floor. Within a minute, the room had turned into a nasty pool full of black, cold liquid. The friends took one last look at the theater and hurried as far away from the source of the ink bath as possible. Preferably in a room with a generator. After a couple of minutes of walking, they got there. On the panel next to the big switch, a small screen, the inscription was already shining brightly: "Ready."

- Well, everything is ready, it only remains to turn it on - Sonic cracked his fingers and went to the switch and put his hand on it.

He was about to lower it when Tails abruptly stopped him, shouting - STOP!

Sonic, startled, turned to his friend. The little fox was all blue with fear, he was trembling, he didn't look like himself.

- Guys...Guys, come on...Let's just get out of here! - He blurted out - there's no one here. The place is abandoned, and we have done god knows what. I think the smartest thing we can do not - is leave.

- But we wanted to see what the machine can do - Cream reminded to him.

- To hell with this machine! - Tails continued – you didn't get enough of gutted wolf and the ink in the theater?! Let's just leave everything like this, and leave this place already!

- Oh, Tails, don't be such a coward - Amy said, looking at Tails with a contemptuous look – the pipe burst, so what? What could possibly happen?

- And if we are flooded at all?! If they've been running ink through the pipes here - he persisted - What if they burst all at once, and we just will die here!

Sonic looked down at the floor uncertainly. The words spoken by Tails made him doubt his chosen decision. What if the ink really starts pouring out and they drown in it? Everything here looks old and unreliable. There is a risk that it could all explode.

- Come on Sonic! Don't waist our time - Amy immediately yelled, staring at him with big eyes - Let's see what it doing, and then we will get out. Plea-a-a-a-ase.

Sonic turned his gaze to Tails, who was almost yelling "Don't turn it on!" And Amy, on the other hand, was begging him to turn her on.

- Tails...let's at least try - he replied and lowered the lever down.

Tails, startled, jerked his hand in the direction of Sonic, there was a loud rumble, a rumble, a gurgling of flowing liquid, and immediately the light in the room instantly disappeared. Cream panicked.

- Where did the light go!? - Out of fear, she accidentally knocked Tails off his feet by falling on top of him.

- Hush, Cream, calm down, everything is fine, we're here - he got up from the floor and put the terrified rabbit on her feet - It looks like all the electricity that is here is directed at the machine.

A single spotlight near the ceiling directed a beam of light at the released lever. It was as if he had some kind of mystical, supernatural significance.

- Well, see Tails? - Amy turned to him, putting her hands on her hips - nothing terrible happened.

Tails looked at the hedgehog with displeasure. He wanted to yell back at her for her frivolity and irresponsibility. What if something had happened?

- Okay, enough of just standing here and talking - Sonic said, noticing that Tails was blushing with anger as he looked at Amy - let's see what we were doing all this for.

Our crew left the break room and headed for the machine. Suddenly, the corridor took on a very sinister appearance. It became dark, all the pipes were noisy, and something in the walls also began to creak and crack. It was as if evil creatures of darkness lurked in the walls. They scratched on the boards with their claws, looking at the passing anthropomorphic animals. They roared like trumpets, wanting to break free and attack.

At the exit from the corridor, right in the direction of the ink machine, Sonic's attention was suddenly drawn to the floor, on which there were distinct black human footprints. They walked from the machine room to the closed door. It was as if someone had run out of it.

- Footprints? - Sonic took a closer look at them - There were no footprints here before. They lead to the ink machine.

Others also looked at the footprints. And they noticed that they were entering the door, on the threshold of which there was a large ink stain. If they were alone before, they're definitely not alone now. Crew exchanged glances, stepped over the pipe again, reached the entrance to the room with the car, to their surprise, the entrance was boarded up with large boards. And so carefully, as if whoever did it wanted to prevent them from entering again. Or... by not letting someone out? At the same time, the floor at the entrance was also covered with ink.

- That's strange... - Tails looked at the boarded-up passage - there were no boards...

- Where did they come from? - Amy was surprised - we were alone here...right?

- I've already stopped believing that we're alone here - Sonic looked behind him into the hallway.

They came a little closer. It was clear through the boards that the car was fully operational. It was clearly shaking, rumbling, and the gears were turning on it. Ink was pouring out of her big pipe in front.

- Does the machine really make ink?! - Amy whispered.

She jerked forward to take a closer look. And then, to the horror of each of their friends, a large head poked out from behind the boards, crowned with two large curved horns, with a face half filled with ink, and on the face itself was a mouth full of teeth stretched wide in a creepy smile. It stretched out a skinny black hand with claws, trying to grab Amy, but she pulled back in time. The creature growled hollowly, starting to tear out, scratching the boards with its claws. As if they wanted to escape or reach out to their friends.

- WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!? - Tails blurted out.

- WHOEVER HE IS, HE'S NOT HAPPY TO SEE US - Sonic shouted back.

The corridor began to wobble. The creature rested his hand on the door frame, looking at the animals. His smile trembled violently, and black smoke rose from his body. Then it let go of the boards and disappeared behind them.

- RUN! - Sonic tugged on Amy's arm and dragged her away.

Tails also grabbed Cream's hand and ran after the duo. The studio quickly and rapidly turned into a high-risk area. It was a hundred times scarier than any scary "haunted house." The gate began to close abruptly, which was immediately hit by ink, starting to bend them outward. They hit so hard that pieces flew out of the cracks between the door and the frame.

Fountains of cold ink sprayed from all the cracks, black viscous streams poured from the ceiling, pipes whistled, starting to emit steam. The ceiling began to crack, and then completely collapsed.

Barrels, planks, and other old junk covered in cold black sludge fell through huge holes. The floor was instantly flooded with a cold black substance, whose level began to rise rapidly. And the mud began to squelch disgustingly under the feet of the heroes, who were rushing headlong to the exit.

Friends ran out of the hallway and turned left, where the door should have been outside. And luckily for them, they were right in front of her. The ceiling in the main hall also cracked with a loud bang, and ink poured out of it, which now prevented the heroes from running anywhere else except through the door.

The falling ink seemed to drive the friends away from the God-forsaken studio. And they were ready and only too happy to leave her without further ado, rushing to the door that was still open, and from which a bright warm ray of sunlight was still beating.

But they had to get a little closer to it, when suddenly, halfway along the way, the floor under the travelers' feet cracked at once, shattering into planks. Friends, along with boards, splinters and ink, flew down into the abyss. Fast-moving walls flashed by.

Wanting to somehow prevent himself from falling, Tails grabbed Sonic by the arm and twisted his tails as hard as he could. Sonic grabbed Amy's arm, and Cream grabbed Amy's leg at the last moment. Our little fox was trying to get his friends out of this mess, trying to get them up again. Or at least a little higher. But in vain.

The weight was too much for him. He began to quickly run out of steam. His face was flushed and covered with sweat. And the ink dripping from above got into his eyes and into mouth. The fox cub began to puff with difficulty twirling his tails, the bitter taste of ink immediately became in mouth, he start to coughing, it became difficult to breathe.

- Twist harder, Tails! - Sonic shouted at his friend.

- *Cough* I can't! Do it! Anymore! - Tails croaked back through gritted teeth.

Unable to withstand the weight, Tails' tails went limp and hurt, he stopped twisting them, and immediately the whole team rushed down into the darkness of the abyss again. A moment later, they fell into a small utility room on a pile of ink-smeared boards. Not only did they bruise their sides, they also got dirty.

- No-o-gh-gh…my dress - Amy said through a whimper, rising off the floor - ...It's ruined...

- Aah-uuhu… - moaned Sonic, sitting up, rubbing his bruised side - What was that?! What kind of monster was that!?

- I…do not know...*cough* - Tails answered after catching his breath, spitting and removing the ink from his face - ...He looked like Bendy... only very scary.

- And that what you call a ''Little devil darling''? - Amy replied with displeasure, getting to her feet.

- "Little''!? He's not little, and darling at all! - Cream responded, almost screeching, clenching her fists - he's scary!

- I told you... - again, with increasing anger, Tails looked at Amy, finally removing the black liquid - i said, "don't turn on that thing''. And what did you do!? You didn't listen!

- How were we supposed to know what would happen? - Amy protested, glaring at Tails.

- I warned you! I told that there was no one in the studio, and it was worth just leaving! - Tails came up to Amy, glaring at her and pointing his finger in her direction - and now we're here! On who knows how deep right now! And all your fault Amy!

- MY Fault!? - Amy was indignant, her eyes bulging - You also wanted to see that this machine can do! You're no less to blame!

- Please calm down - Cream cut in between them, - let's just admit we're all to blame. Even me.

Amy and Tails turned their still furious gazes on the baby. Both of them had their hair on end and their eyes narrowed into dots. Looking at each other again, they were horrified by the faces they were looking at.

- Yes, we are all worthy of each other... - Sonic added from himself - I myself felt that something was wrong, but I didn't say it. Therefore...we are all to blame for this to some extent.

Amy and Tails steadied their breathing, then guiltily lowered their eyes to each other.

- I'm sorry, Amy… - Tails said, combing his disheveled bangs - I should have done something, but just talking…

- And I'm sorry, Tails - she tidied up her disheveled hair - I let curiosity get the better of me without thinking about the consequences.

- We're friends – Cream said, smiling, taking them both by the hand.

Tails and Amy smiled at the baby, and then at each other.

- Well, since we've all measured ourselves and come to our senses, the most important thing now is to find a way out of this place - Sonic said decisively.

They nodded back. Suddenly, the room began to shake. Ink gushed out of the hole through which they had fallen into the utility room, beginning to fill the room. Within a second, our team was waist deep in ink. They kept flowing and flowing. It's not even an hour, friends, just drown in ink!

- Guys, we need to drain the ink! - Amy screamed, starting to lift up her skirt so that it wouldn't get dirty any more - otherwise we'd drown in them!

- There is a pipe with a valve by the wall! - Tails pointed at him - most likely he will drain them!

He ran to the pipe as soon as possible, and grabbed the valve and tried to turn it. But he didn't move. The valve was so tight and rusty that it literally dried up and didn't move.

- Uh-uh-eh! Too tight! Sonic, help me!

Sonic quickly approached his friend as far as the ink allowed him, and grabbing the valve with him, pulled it. The valve turned with a loud, nasty clang, and they began to scroll it until the ink began to drain. A few more turns, and the valve stalled, they managed to pump out the ink flood. The ink that had been pouring from the ceiling had now stopped flowing so much, but it still continued to drip actively. The friends looked down at their feet. Their shoes were covered in black mud and stains. They all shook their feet in disgust.

- Mghhh...Great - Amy muttered - and now my boots are also ruined….

Tails shook his head hard, trying to forget the bitter taste. A shiver ran through his skin, it felt like he had managed to swallow some ink anyway, no matter how much he spat. Sonic looked around the back room, there were only dressers lying in the corner, a pile of garbage, boards and a sagging shelf against the wall.

- Guys, look, there's another recording! He pointed to the bookcase.

There was another old Voice tape on one of the shelves. Tails walked over to the shelf, reached for the recorder, and pressed the button. The voice tape buzzed, and a man's rough, deep-throated and slightly growling voice came out of it, unlike the first one, he was even more unhappy. He was so angry that it was impossible to say. He was almost growling like an animal with indignation.

''It's dark and it's cold and it's stuck in behind every single wall now.
In some places, I swear this god forsaken ink is clear up to my knees!''

''Who ever thought that these crummy pipes could hold up under this kind of strain either knows something about pressure don't, or he's some kind of idiot. But the real worst part about all this… are the noises the system makes. Like a dying dog on it's last legs.''

''Make no mistake, this place… this… machine… heck, this whole darn thing… it just isn't natural.''

''You can bet, I won't be doing any more repair jobs for Mister Joey Drew.''

The recording stopped.

- We need to get out of here and quickly - Sonic resolutely clenched his fists - Tails! - he turned to his friend for intelligent thoughts.

- No matter how strong my tails are and Cream's ears are - Tails began to explain his thoughts - we still won't be able to get you up. We fell on a damn high-rise. And because of this dripping ink, it will be a torment to get up. And even if they could, what's next? This creepy creature wanted to catch us, and if we showed up there, it would pounce on us almost immediately.

- Well, maybe you have a weapon with you? - the hedgehog was curious - you took the bag.

- I took a bag, but I didn't take any weapons - Tails replied, "just some basic necessities, and tools, and those that fit in the bag.

- Okay, then the second option - Sonic looked through the only doorway from the room - is to go through the entire studio and find the back door.

The friends went to the passage from the room, behind it there was a staircase that led down, even deeper than this floor. There were signs all over the place on every wall that read "dangerous, do not enter." What could possibly be down there that they were warned in advance that it was dangerous? It is not known.

Going down, they came to an opening that turned out to be flooded with ink. Fortunately for the heroes, there was a pipe with a valve right by the stairs. Tails and Sonic took hold of the valve, turned it, and the ink went down. The boys continued down the stairs. Going down another flight, the friends saw that the stairs and the entire floor were flooded with ink. And unfortunately, there was no pipe with a valve nearby.

- I don't see the valve... - Tails said, peering into the gloom – that means...ugh, I'll have to go down into ink…

Tails sighed and went down the stairs and stepped into the ink. He immediately shuddered. They turned out to be very cold, and my body immediately began to itch. And they were so thick that it was hard to move.

- Ugh! It's not ink, it's some kind of tar," he said, moving forward with all his might.

Moving away from the stairs, he noticed a pipe right at the end of the room, in the corner. He groaned in exhaustion, still kicking his legs with all his might.

Finally, Tails managed to reach the pipe by grabbing the valve and turning it.

The ink bubbled, hummed in the pipes, and a minute later descended. Tails was waist deep in ink. He began to shake them off somehow, trying not to get his gloves dirty.

The boys followed him down the stairs. In addition to the pipe, there was also a door. And behind it is a small room with a workbench, two barrels next to the entrance and a bunch of boxes. The exit from this room was boarded up.

But of course, a huge ink inscription immediately caught my eye, which simply screamed with its appearance "The Creator lied to us."

- "The Creator lied to us," Sonic read aloud, noticing this inscription.

"This creator," Amy said, approaching Sonic, "isn't it about Joey?"

- Considering that he is the director of the studio...- Sonic thought, it's very possible. Unless, of course, he's not responsible for that horror.

Everyone looked at the boarded-up passage. It is not known why it was so carefully packed with boards. But you definitely can't do without a tool here.

- We need to clear the way somehow, - said Sonic, looking at the boarded-up exit, - we need a tool.

Looking around the room, Tails noticed that there was a fire axe with a black handle on the table.

"And I just found it," Tails replied, walking over to the table and picking up an axe.

The axe was quite large, and it was not convenient to wield it with one hand. So Tails took the hilt in both hands and headed for the boarded-up passage to clear it.

Tails swung his axe sharply at the board. There was a crack and a crash of an old tree. The board immediately fell apart in two. He continued to chop the boards diligently with an axe. One swing was enough to cut them down. A minute later, the doorway was clear.

- We can go ahead -

Without lingering in the room, the guys hurried out of the back room and continued on their way. Tails was walking in front with an axe, chopping through the boards along the way. Because they didn't just block the passage from the beginning. The hallway was just littered with them. I had to go and chop at the same time. Although it was done at once, so they passed quickly. Already around the corner, they were greeted by another boarded-up door.

"Another boarded-up door," Sonic remarked with displeasure, "why did they need to board up everything?"

- Maybe so that this thing doesn't get in here? - Tails suggested - although maybe IT came from here on the contrary...then most likely IT was locked up here.

- But what could possibly be there? - Cream asked.

- Now we'll find out what they hid behind it - Tails went to the door, cut through the boards with three sharp blows of an axe, and pushed the door open.

Suddenly, the entire corridor began to shake. the passage through which our heroes passed was filled up with barrels, planks, and even part of the collapsed stream. And the ink started flowing on the floor again. The friends were walled up. Now, if anything happens, they won't even be able to return to the hole.

- There's no turning back - Amy said, looking back at the avalanche.

- Ugh great...it looks like it's just going forward now - added Sonic.

Tails tore his gaze away from the avalanche and looked into the room that had opened. And what he saw there made him go cold.

- Huhhh guys?...Look… - Tails said, slightly agitated.

- What else is there?! - Sonic asked in a casual, slightly annoyed voice, simultaneously turning to the door - Another corpse of some cartoon, or another monster!?

Sonic looked into the room and saw what Tails was looking at. It wasn't a corpse or a monster. And a huge pentagram drawn in ink on the floor, surrounded by five burning candles. There were also two large closed coffins against the wall directly behind her. Upon seeing this, Sonic gaped.

Amy and Cream didn't keep their friends waiting long. They also looked into the room, and saw a pictograph from behind them. She made them nervous, too. They fearfully entered the room, trying not to step on the pentagram or even touch it once again.

- It looks like some kind of satanic rituals were performed here… - Sonic said softly and tensely.

- Did they really summon a demon here? - Amy excitedly said, pressing her hands to her mouth - what did they want with that!?

- Well, obviously not blessings – Sonic replied.

- Now it's clear for sure that this place is cursed - Tails replied, clutching an axe in his hands - I'm not surprised if that monster in the form of Bendy appeared because of black magic.

- Do you think they summoned that scarecrow? - Sonic turned to him.

- Maybe they did, or maybe a demon possessed him... - Tails suggested - but whatever it is, we need to get out of here before some other ghoul attacks us.

After finishing their conversations, they headed for the only door out of the room. But before they could really get close to it, pain hit them sharply in the head. A sharp, intense, unbearable, hellish pain. They clutched their heads almost simultaneously, their temples were pounding. It feels like their heads is going to explode from the pain. Blurry, barely noticeable images suddenly flashed before their eyes.

Illustrating the "Ink Machine", a kind of "Wheelchair" on the background of a wall of planks and the Silhouette of the very monster similar to Bendy, standing in a lighted passage.

All the friends howled. Then everything went blurry in eyes, legs went limp, screams rang out in head, unable to fight the pain, and to keep eyes open, crew fell to the floor exhausted, unconscious.

The end of chapter 1

To be continued.