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Chapter Text

Sans cursed, scrambling to get to his feet and ignoring, for now, how the ink had soaked into his hoodie. It'd already been ruined by the creature behind him to start with, and he didn't have time to worry about the well-loved thing at that moment, anyway.

He ran, darting down the hall and whipping around corners. His soul was beating a frantic, terrified staccato against his ribs as he practically flew down the hall.

Sans slowed as he neared the exit, looking over his shoulder anxiously, though Bendy wasn't behind him for some reason. Confused, the skeleton drew to a stop, peering back the way he came as he panted. "what the..."

"Tha demon was prob'ly distracted by Henry..." a small, almost childish voice replied, making Sans jump and spin to face the direction the voice came from, though he saw nothing but a plush toy sitting in a shallow drawer.

" who's there?" the skeleton hissed, looking around.

"I, um... Me," the plushy waved a small, gloved hand nervously. Sans stared at the little thing a moment before sighing and pinching the top of his nasal ridge.

"...you've seen stranger things, sans. no need to get worked up about this..." he muttered to himself before looking back at the little plush. The living toy looked even more nervous somehow, cringing back a little as Sans looked at him. "so, who are you?" Sans asked after taking a deep breath in effort to settle himself.

"B-Bendy. Tha real one," the plushy said with a minor stutter. It somehow reminded Sans of Alphys, something that put him a little more at ease. The little thing was awfully timid. "I hid in this toy ta hide from tha Demon. He hunts me..." Bendy looked down, little hands twisting together anxiously.

Sans frowned, reaching out to scoop up the toy. "well, bendy. i'm sans and i think we should probably find a place to hide while i wait for whatever that demon did to me to wear off. after, we can get out of here," Sans said, forcing a smile.

"...a place ta hide?" Bendy asked softly, and then he seemed to perk up. "There's these things called 'Little Miracle Stations' down in some'a tha lower levels! I was following Henry around fer a while and tha demon can't seem ta sense when someone is hiding in 'em!" he chirped excitedly. "If we can get ta tha stairs and down 'em safely, we should be okay!"

"good thinkin', little buddy. you'll have to direct me, though," Sans replied, putting Bendy on his shoulder.

"...we'll have ta go back toward tha ink machine..." Bendy started, clearly uneasy at the prospect. "There's a door a little before it. It leads down ta tha stairs... though, it's not gonna be easy ta get through... tha stairwell we need is a real mess. Only other way down is through tha floor by tha exit, though..."

"sooo... somehow squeeze through some narrow gaps or probably dust myself jumping down a dark hole. good options," Sans muttered in a somewhat sarcastic tone. "welp, narrow gaps it is. i don't fancy dying here," he said with a chuckle then headed back, moving carefully towards the needed door.

Upon finding it, Sans jiggled the handle, making a face when he discovered it to be locked. "well, now what? normally i could bust it down easily enough, but... i'm kinda handicapped here..."

"...I can squeeze under tha door and see if I can unlock it. Advantages'a hiding out in a plush toy," Bendy said with a small huff of a laugh. He then promptly jumped off Sans' shoulder, landing on the floor with an oddly adorable squeak sound. Another one was heard as Bendy crawled under the door, his plush body being squeezed nearly flat to fit. There was another sound like ink splashing on the ground before the doorknob jiggled. An annoyed huff was barely audible, and then Sans heard a click and the knob turned.

"Got it!" Bendy's voice sounded pleased and Sans pushed open the door to see a larger version of the plush, standing at about three feet tall, though he didn't get a chance to really examine the little creature as he dissolved into a puddle of ink that soaked back into the plushy. Sans watched as the toy shook itself, Bendy clearly settling back in.

"...was that your real body there?" Sans asked. The plush looked uncomfortable, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, but... tha Demon can find me easier if I'm outta my plush. It nearly caught me before I found I could hide like this. It wants my ink... I think Alice does too, though she hates me for some reason, so it's no surprise..." Bendy sighed sadly. "I wish I knew what happened ta her. We used ta be friends." Bendy paused, then sighed. "Though it's also possible that... she's not tha real Alice... jus' like tha Demon isn't really me..." he added, sounding some combination of hopeful and upset.

"uh," Sans started, shifting. He didn't really want to get involved, but this sounded like a situation where he might need to. With how miserable the little guy sounded, he couldn't just let this sit. "well... not much we can do about this now, but once we are somewhere a little safer, maybe tell me more about this? for now... i think we need to go." Sans picked up Bendy before heading down the stairs into a minorly flooded room that looked like it might have once been a lounge of some sort.

Bendy pointed to the other side of the room where the ink seemed to be draining off into a mess of busted up planks and beams which Sans eyed with apprehension. "looks like i have some digging to do... hey, buddy? you think you can get in there and find the safest way to move things?"

"Oh! Yes, I can do that!" Bendy replied, beaming. Sans smiled back, happy that he'd given Bendy something to distract him. He understood the need to find distraction from darker thoughts, after all. Bendy hopped out of Sans' hands and onto a plank sticking out of the mess with a soft hum.

It surprisingly didn't take long to sort through the mess and the pair were shortly heading down a set of stairs that lead to a closed door. That door was thankfully open, leading into another hall and more stairs leading down. One flight lead into four total before they were entering a little workroom.

Bendy cringed at the words written on the wall before sighing. "...tha's not true... tha Creator wasn't here. Only tha Liar was..." he muttered, so quiet that Sans wasn't sure he was even meant to have heard the little guy's words. Still, he found himself curious about this 'Creator' and 'Liar' business, and like it or not, Sans was stuck until his magic started working right again, and thus was involved.

Sans turned to the door leading out, not questioning Bendy. That could come later, when they were at least somewhat safe. He opened the door and stopped, jaw dropping. If the mess upstairs had been bad, this was a nightmare. The hall was caved in, ink spurting from punctured tubes and pipes. "...any ideas, little bud?" Sans asked, sounding a little dismayed at the sight of the disaster ahead.

Bendy huffed, hopping off Sans' shoulder and onto a piece of broken pipe. "Only thing fer it is ta dig through. Same as last time, right? I'll squeeze in and find tha best and safest way ta move things!" Bendy chirped, determination in his voice. Sans laughed incredulously, but soon, the two of them were hard at work, breaking through the mess.

Chapter Text

By the time they made it through the rubble, Sans was panting and sweating heavily, some of the sweat that dripped off his skull tinged black from the ink that had splattered on his face before. He lifted a final plank to shield himself and Bendy from the deluge of ink on the other side, then tossed it with a relieved sigh once they were clear. "welp, that went well. good job, bendy," Sans murmured, patting the plush on the head.

"Same ta ya, Sans! I wish I could'a helped more with moving things, though. But it should be mostly smooth sailing from here," Bendy replied, his smile stretching a little wider.

Sans snorted. "man, don't jinx us, kiddo," he replied, poking the plush in the belly, making Bendy giggle.

"Right. Knock on wood," Bendy said after taking a moment to calm himself. "Anyway, there's only one way ta go from here," he added, tone turning solemn. Sans nodded, looking to the open door that led on.

The music department was pretty much the very picture of an overly obsessive personality... and that they seemed obsessive over Bendy's image was pretty creepy. "This was Sammy's doing... he worships tha Demon, though he doesn't know that only tha Creator can really help him..." Bendy whispered, sighing. "Maybe... if I can use what little'a tha Creator's power I have, we can get him on our side," he mused.

"uh... not sure i want a guy like this hanging around..." Sans replied slowly.

"He's not that bad. I mean... Sammy was kinda cranky before an' now he's got a few screws loose, but... listen, Sans, he protected me fer ages. Sure, he didn't know he was doing that, but... I can't leave him like he is right now. Tha Demon really hurt him," Bendy murmured, face turned down as they walked.

"okay, okay... we can lend the guy a hand," Sans replied with a soft, disbelieving laugh. The little guy had a big heart, quite clearly.

Bendy let out a happy little sound as they rounded the corner only for Sans to pause. "uh... how'd you get by this?" he asked, eying the flooded hall.

"Makeshift boat," Bendy replied with a soft laugh, pointing down at a little piece of wood and what looked like a stick abandoned at the edge.

Sans blinked at it, then grinned and chuckled. "you're pretty clever, huh?" he asked.

Bendy practically beamed with pride for a moment before turning serious again. "I don't think there's a plank big enough fer ya, though..."

"yeah. nothing for it. my legs are probably already pretty hopelessly stained, anyway. i just hope this stuff doesn't have the same properties as the demon's ink," Sans replied, then unceremoniously stepped into the ink. It was unfortunate, but there really was no other way, what with his magic out of commission for the foreseeable future.

He moved as quietly as he could through the ink, but it still sloshed thickly around him with every step, making his nerves prickle with a jittering feeling. Reaching the other side was a relief, though he couldn't help but stop to scowl at his soggy shoes and pant legs before stepping into the music department proper.

Blobs of ink bubbled ominously on the floor, though Bendy motioned over to a doorway practically right next to them and Sans happily left the burbling blobs behind as he headed down the stairs.

The door at the end led out to a hall and another stairwell that took them down further, letting them out into a large room. A door to the side had an off-coloured puddle of ink seeping out from under it that reminded Sans strangely of the way blood pooled and spread from a human body.

"There's Sammy," Bendy whispered in a shaking voice, hopping down from Sans' shoulder. "I need to leave my plushy... could you keep watch for the Demon's wall shadows, Sans?" he asked. Sans nodded silently, then watched as the plush went limp and a pool of ink seeped out of it. The ink floated up from the floor, taking the form of a three-foot-tall rubber-hose body. The ink that formed the gloves, bowtie and face swirled with white for a moment before the black filtered away from the areas and a perfectly on-model Bendy blinked up at Sans.

Sans shot the little toon a reassuring grin. "go on, kiddo. do what you need to. i've got your back," Sans said softly. Bendy offered a shaky grin in return before turning and marching over to the door of the little room Sammy was in. The ink that had spread under the door retreated at Bendy's approach, disappearing back into the room as the little toon threw it open.

Inside was a mangled, ink-black body, laying in a ruined heap. Sans couldn't help but be sickened at the sight, even if the gore wasn't exactly realistic-looking. That was still a person in there...

He leaned against a wall that gave him the best vantage point of the entire space, keeping watch as promised while Bendy worked. Sammy's body slowly came back together until he was laying, whole and unmarked in the floor, Bendy standing over him and panting heavily from the effort of using power that clearly wasn't actually his.

Bendy stared down at Sammy, trying to get his breathing back under control as he waited, hoping he'd succeeded. If Sammy didn't wake, they'd have to get Henry to fix him properly... but at least he wasn't mangled anymore...

Even as he was thinking this, Sammy groaned softly, fingers twitching weakly and Bendy straightened with a pleased grin. He'd done it! "...my lord...?" Sammy croaked and Bendy's smile softened.

"Please, Sammy... just call me Bendy," he told the former human. He knew he needed to play his cards right to keep Sammy on their side. "I really am sad ta see ya were taken in so badly by tha Liar, but everything will be alright now, Prophet," he whispered, kneeling with a gentle smile and placing his hand on Sammy's shoulder.

"M-my lord...? Bendy?" Sammy asked, voice trembling. "B-but..." he paused, taking a deep breath. "Will you... save me?"

Bendy sighed softly. "I would love ta, Sammy, but I can't. Not yet. I need tha Creator and tha Ink Machine. Tha Liar is keeping both from me. But I promise, Sammy, as soon as I can, I'll help ya. After all, how could I refuse ya when ya spent so long protecting me from tha Liar?"

If Sammy had eyes, they would have widened comically at Bendy's words. "I... protected you, my Lord?" he asked, shock colouring his tone.

Bendy laughed, standing and offering a hand to help Sammy up. Sammy took it reverently, seemingly in awe that he got to touch the Ink Demon, the real one, without being smited as the False Demon had done. "Of course, Sammy. I wouldn't've trusted anyone but my prophet ta guard me at my weakest," he told the man, feeling really bad for spewing so much bullshit, even as he led Sammy into the main room where Sans was standing guard. Sammy bristled upon seeing Sans, but Bendy shushed him, stepping over to his plush before sinking back into it.

Sammy gasped in shock as the plush stood and winked at him. "Tha Liar wants ta destroy me and take my ink, Sammy. This is tha easiest way ta get around."

"Of course, my Lord. I shall protect you as I did before, then. You and your companion," Sammy swore.

"welp, i guess our party is up to three now. i'm sans. nice to meet you, sammy," Sans said, holding out an ink-stained hand to shake. Sammy seemed reluctant for a moment, glancing at Bendy, who nodded before Sammy held out his own hand and shook Sans'. "now that introductions are done, we should get going before the demon finds us. bendy took long enough putting you to rights to make me nervous."

"Sans is correct. Tha Creator, Henry can only keep tha Demon occupied for so long... he'll be here soon..." Bendy murmured before ducking into Sans' hood for cover. "Sammy, we need ta head down ta Level K. Will ya lead tha way? And keep an eye out fer tha Liar's wall shadows," Bendy requested.

"Of course, my Lord," Sammy replied, bowing before turning to look at the raised shutter on the other side of the room. "It is this way. Come," he said, then started walking. "We must be prepared to run at any moment. The false lord travels through the ink, and there are two large pools," he warned. Sans made a sound of acknowledgement as he followed close on Sammy's heels.

The trio fell silent as they walked, Sans pausing when he noticed a broken axe laying on the floor. Sammy noticed the pause and followed Sans' line of sight, humming thoughtfully. "I do believe that was my little sheep's..."

"Henry, Sammy. That was Henry, tha Creator..." Bendy said softly.

"...Henry? I... I know that name..." Sammy whispered, holding a hand to his head.

"hey, think about it later," Sans ordered, stooping to pick up the axe. It wasn't all that great of a weapon, what with most of the handle missing, but it was certainly better than nothing.

"I... yes, of course, you are right. This is not the time," Sammy uttered, shaking his head before moving on. A little further ahead was a flooded, sunken room. None of them got any closer than needed, turning the corner as fast as they could before breaking into a light run as they noticed writhing, inky shadows starting to form on the walls.

At the pace they were going, it didn't take long to reach the end of the corridor maze, though they encountered another issue soon enough. The door wouldn't budge. "shit... think you can do your trick again, buddy? i don't think any of us fancy getting caught," Sans hissed. Bendy didn't reply, simply jumping from Sans' shoulder once again, squeaking as he landed on the floor and again as he squeezed under the door. Sans turned to eye the approaching wall shadows with growing fear, holding his makeshift weapon in front of his chest.

"Sans." Sammy's voice snapped Sans out of his fear, looking up at the former musician. "If my Lord does not get the door open in time, I want you to promise to keep him safe. My Lord will save me again if need be, but I suspect that he would be unable to do the same for you," he whispered, sounding strained. He was scared, that much was for certain.

"i'll do what i can, sammy, but I can't promise. that creature did something to me on the main floor and i don't know how long it'll take to wear off," Sans replied, patting the inky man on the arm.

Sammy sighed. "I suppose that is all I can ask, then. If need be, I will act as a shield for my Lord." At that moment, two things happened. The door clicked open behind them and the Demon rounded the corner.

"Hurry!" Bendy yelped, his voice raised to be heard over the Demon's screech. Sans and Sammy both turned and darted into the room, slamming the door shut behind them and putting the wooden block back into place. The Demon screeched angrily, banging on the door hard enough that it rattled under the force. He gave up astonishingly easy, though, and soon enough, they heard footsteps limping away.

"...that was way too close..." Sans breathed with a tiny, near-hysterical laugh.

"Indeed. Thank you for saving us, my Lord," Sammy said, turning and bowing to Bendy who was trembling somewhat.

"Heh... what're friends far, Sammy. And please, stop with tha' 'lord' stuff. I'd rather not be worshipped. I like having fans... but y'know what I like more, Sammy?" Sammy shook his head, making a confused sound. "Friends. Friends and family are tha most important things. Yer a friend. Sans is a friend. Henry, though... Henry's family. So're Alice an' Boris."

"...I almost did something horrible, didn't I...? Why did you help me, m-... Bendy? After I offered up your family to the false lord?" Sammy asked softly, his words strangled like he was about to start crying.

"Because tha Liar fooled ya. He tricked ya an' he hurt ya. In my opinion, karma's already punished ya enough," Bendy replied with a soft, sad laugh. "Henry's a good guy. I'm positive he's already forgiven ya an' wants ta help as much as I do." Bendy paused, shifting nervously as he glanced around the small room. "Now, we should move on. I'm sure this room is safe, but we shouldn't hang around one place too long. We need ta find tha Creator."

"yeah, let's go. you can apologize once we find henry," Sans tacked on, reaching up to pat Sammy on the shoulder as Bendy returned once again to his plush body.

Once Bendy was ready to go and tucked back in Sans' hood, they exited the small room, finding themselves in a slightly bigger room. Sammy led the way across to another door that led to a tiny lift that the pair of them barely fit into. There were only two buttons, one labelled 'Up', the other 'Down'. Sammy pressed the second and the lift ground to life.

"why in the world is there only a lift? seems like a safety hazard to me," Sans muttered, though he only got shrugs from Sammy and Bendy. Neither of them really knew.

"As far as I remember, this is the only lift that lacks a staircase counterpart," Sammy said, shaking his head.

"good to know," Sans replied just as the elevator stopped with a soft ding. They fell back into walking in silence as they traversed halls until they finally came out in a huge room. A giant sign hanging above read 'Heavenly Toys' and Bendy cheered softly.

"We made it! Look behind us. There's a Little Miracle Station that we can make use of if we need ta," he said, clearly grinning just by his tone.

"perfect. let's hope we don't need to, huh?" Sans asked, gripping his broken axe a little tighter. He'd really prefer to never have to use it, but he got the feeling that there might not be a choice in the matter. "okay. first thing, i think we need to find henry," the skeleton mused, looking around.

"Yes, that does sound like a good plan, though I am rather unsure he shall want to see me..." Sammy near whispered.

Sans shrugged slightly. "whether he does or not at this point is rather irrelevant. we can't do anything but move on." Sammy nodded slowly, sighing but fell into step next to Sans as he started walking.

It was as they were walking through the toy workshop that they ran into another person. Quite literally in Sammy's case, as the person darted through the door and barreled straight into Sammy, knocking both of them off their feet and into a messy sprawl on the floor.

The human, who could only be Henry, gasped, scrambling up only to freeze upon seeing Sammy. It didn't last long, though, the man casting a glance behind him before hissing, "Run!" at them. Sans reached out to haul Sammy to his feet, though the inky man shook his head.

"There will be little room for you and the Creator in that box. Go. I shall keep whatever comes busy," Sammy said, the words surprisingly soft. Sans paused but then nodded, even as Bendy made a soft distressed sound in his hood.

"stay safe, sammy. we'll find you later," Sans promised, then took off after Henry.

Chapter Text

Henry didn't appear to be in the room when Sans rounded the pillar to run down the stairs, but the skeleton was quick to guess he'd hidden in the Little Miracle Station and headed right for it. Henry had no chance to even try to hold it shut as Sans whipped open the door and squeezed his way inside before closing the door behind him. "hi. sans the skeleton," he greeted. "you must be henry."

"Uh. Yeah, Henry Ross," the old animator replied, staring down at the monster pressed against his side. Of course, the monsters that had emerged from Mt. Ebbot were nothing new to him, but this was actually the first time he'd met one in real life... well, provided this was one of the friendly former denizens of the mountain and not a warped creation of the studio... "You, uh... you are one of the mountain monsters, right?" he asked, a little nervous.

"yup, that i am. i promise, the only ink on me is the stuff that demon dripped on me and the junk i've been stuck wading through," Sans replied with a soft chuckle, though it cut off as he heard something that sounded like a scream. Bendy flinched in his hood, a shaky little sound escaping him that sounded suspiciously like crying.

"ah, man... don't cry little guy. sammy'll be just fine. ya put him to rights once already, you can do it again," Sans murmured, reaching up to pluck the trembling plush from his hood, though he was quick to fall silent as a screech echoed through the room. Sans and Henry both turned their gazes to the little window to see the Demon dragging a limp body down the stairs by the wrist. Sans held Bendy against his shoulder, keeping him from seeing, though he suspected the little guy knew anyway. It was hard to mistake the sound of dragging, after all.

When the Demon was finally gone, Henry turned to look at Sans and the little plush, Sans and Bendy turning their attention to him at the same time. "So... care to explain?" Henry asked, sounding inexplicably calm. Too calm, actually. Sans raised a browridge but decided not to say anything about it.

"which part?" Sans asked, a forced grin turning up his teeth.

"Why are you here? And..." He motioned to the plushy cuddled in Sans' arms.

"well, as for me... i heard some strange rumours about this place and decided to check it out. thought maybe some monsters who had escaped being imprisoned under the mountain may have been hiding out here. couldn't have been more wrong, though," he said with a slightly bitter laugh. "and now i'm stuck here until whatever that creep did to me wears off."

"Okay... and you?" Henry asked, sounding sympathetic to Sans' plight, at least, even as he looked to Bendy.

The plush averted his gaze for a moment, taking a deep breath that made the squeaker inside his plush body go off before looking back at his creator. "Hello, Henry... I'm Bendy. Tha real one, not that Liar," Bendy nervously said.

Henry was silent for a moment before slowly reaching out for the plush. He took Bendy with gentle hands, awe obvious on his face. "Bendy? It's really you?" he asked gently. When Bendy nodded, Henry let out a joyful little laugh, hugging Bendy. "God, meeting you here has made this all worth it," he whispered. Bendy laughed as well, hugging back with his tiny arms.

"I wish I didn't have ta hide in this plush. I'd be giving ya a real hug if I could," Bendy whispered as Sans looked away to give them a moment of privacy.

"That's okay. That can come later, kiddo," Henry said, letting Bendy go. "I know where Boris is, but... what about Alice? Is that Alice really her? Or is it the same situation as the other Bendy?"

"I don't think she's really Alice... Sometimes I wish she was because that means Joey didn't hurt Susie or Allison, but..." Bendy sagged with a quiet, distressed sound.

"...oh god... I thought she looked familiar..." Henry hissed.

"uh... mind explaining?" Sans asked and Bendy flinched before taking a deep breath and started talking, telling Henry and Sans everything he knew as well as things he suspected. By the time he was done, Henry and Sans both had grim looks on their faces, though Henry was gently rubbing between Bendy's horns in a soothing manner.

"If I wasn't sure he'd kill me before I could, I'd punch that smug asshole right in the kisser," Henry swore, then sighed. "Well, the only thing to be done is keep moving. Do what we can for the people in the studio and then get the heck out of dodge."

Sans nodded then turned to look out the door. "you've got more experience down here. think it's safe to go?" he asked, browridge furrowed.

"...no. We've been holed up here talking for too long. I'm surprised that asshole hasn't shown up yet," Henry replied, looking a lot less chill than he had when they first met. In fact, it looked like the thought of the fake Bendy made Henry downright furious, though he took a deep breath, visibly calming himself.

"so, we wait 'til he shows up and leaves, then move on?" Sans asked. Henry nodded, eyes locked on the little window, even as he rubbed Bendy's head. "When we go, you should keep Bendy hidden in your hood like before. I think it would be a bad idea for 'Alice' to know that Bendy's around," Henry said with a sigh, even as Bendy snuggled more into his hold. Henry could understand that. Now that he knew the real Bendy was alive and here, all he wanted to do was keep hold of his creation.

"okay," Sans replied, opening his mouth to say more, but at that moment, their hiding spot darkened with the Liar's inky web. From behind them came the sound of limping footsteps and loud, rasping breaths. Sans' soul beat quickened in his chest, sweat breaking out on his skull as he remembered the Demon leaning over him, dripping on his skull and hoodie. In response to his fear, his still mostly blocked magic reacted. A single bone construct materialized in front of the box and shot at the Demon before Sans could even think to stop it. Luckily, the projectile missed, shooting straight passed the Demon to clatter against the stairs across the room before disappearing. The fake Bendy leaned towards it and screeched before running towards the sound.

Sans and Henry turned wide-eyed to look at each other after the Demon appeared to lose interest, going back to a slow limp as he dragged himself up the stairs and into a wall. "...well, that was a thing. is he blind?" Sans asked, gently taking Bendy and tucking him into his hood, even as said toon whined in protest.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's like a bat in the dark. Uses sound to track. I think that screech might be some form of echolocation," Henry said, pushing the door of the LMS open. "You, uh... might wanna stay put. I'm still doing some work for little miss bossy, and the Demon's probably gonna come charging out as soon as I'm done," he warned, hefting his axe back up into his hands. "After I'm done with her errands, though, she might let us use the lift to get out of here."

"...right." Sans nodded, though he was somewhat skeptical. Henry didn't seem to much believe what he was saying, either, but Sans chose not to point that out, just tucking his way further back into the LMS to wait. Henry, despite looking like an older man, shot Sans a confident grin and closed the door.

Sans watched as Henry went around the room, chopping at Bendy cutouts, leaving them as nothing more than wooden fragments on the floor. Moments after Henry finished, a loudspeaker crackled to life and Sans heard the creature that called herself Alice Angel speak for the first time, advising Henry to hide because the Demon hates it when she does that.

Henry silently dove for the LMS, yanking open the door and squeezing inside with Sans. Together, the pair watched as inky shadows appeared and spread, leading the way for the fake Bendy. The creature limped his way down the stairs this time, pausing to 'look' at the broken cutouts before becoming aggressive. He screeched angrily, horns actually twitching as he turned his head back and forth as if he were looking around. He didn't appear to find anything, though, as he straightened back into a passive posture before limping off.

Only when the inky webs had faded and Sans' soul had stopped trying to beat its way out of his ribcage did the pair breath relieved sighs. "okay, so that was fun. that was 'alice angel'?" Sans questioned, gingerly pushing at the door of the LMS.

"Yeah. She's, uh... certainly quite a gal," Henry replied with an irritated laugh. "Gotta admit, it's nice to see a friendly face around here. Well, aside from Boris, but he's the self-appointed lift guard, so..." Henry trailed off, shrugging as Sans chuckled.

"don't worry, i get ya," the skeleton replied, pulling a scarf from his things and winding it around his lower face. "also feel like letting her see that i'm not human may be a bad idea... so hopefully this'll do as a disguise," he added, chuckling as he pulled his hood up. Bendy gave an indignant squeak at having his hiding spot moved, but adjusted himself to nestle into Sans' scarf, up against his cervical vertebrae, making Sans huff out a laugh as the motion tickled a little.

"Well, that's provided she hasn't seen you already," Henry replied with a shrug. "But it's probably a good idea, anyway." Sans nodded, reaching into the mass of fabric to adjust Bendy before stepping away from the LMS, signalling that he was ready to go.

Together, Sans and Henry crossed the room and headed deeper into the level. They encountered a few ink blob monsters that Henry referred to as Searchers, as well as a creature that Henry told Sans was named Edgar in a sad tone after dispatching it.

Finally, though, they reached a room that Sans suspected was the end of the floor. The final room was a balcony halfway wrapped around a much lower space. The balcony had an LMS tucked into the corner, and Sans could see in the lower area was another LMS, an artist's desk, a lift, and a single door that looked like it lead into a stairwell.

"Come on. Gotta go give the axe back to 'Alice' and find out what she wants me to do next," Henry said, sighing as he hefted said axe a little, already looking like he was dreading having to give it up. Sans nodded and followed Henry down to the lift.

Chapter Text

The lift itself looked old and rickety, and Sans wasn't even sure it was completely safe, but he still followed Henry inside when the bars rolled back. Tucked in the far corner was a very cartoony-looking wolf monster that Sans did a double take at, realizing after a moment of looking that the wolf wasn't a monster but an actual toon. Boris the Wolf from those old posters.

"heh... y'know, the 'toons could pretty easily pass for a family of shape-shifting monsters. i've seen shapeshifters in stranger forms than cartoon characters, after all," Sans whispered quietly, chuckling. Henry and Boris both shot surprised looks at Sans before Henry laughed softly, pushing the button labelled '9' on the lift's panel.

"I'm surprised I didn't think of that myself. Guess I'm just not as imaginative as I was when I worked here," the human said, amusement in his tone.

Bendy whined from Sans' hood, tugging at his scarf. "Don't say that, Henry... yer tha Creator..." he whispered in dismay. "Ya can't 've lost any'a that or things'll never be okay..."

Both Henry and Sans blinked, Henry's surprised gaze flicking to where Bendy was hidden. He had no idea what Bendy was going on about but felt the need to reassure the little guy anyway. "I was just joking around, buddy. I honestly hadn't been thinking about what to do after getting out of here," he gently said. Bendy let out a tiny, relieved sound that was drowned out by the sound of the lift's gates sliding open.

"Stay here with Boris for now, please," Henry requested. Sans nodded, closing the gates after Henry exited.

'Alice's voice soon echoed around the giant room that was level 9, sounding angry and perhaps a bit panicked. "Those disgusting wretches have wandered my halls unchecked for too long! They're trying to drag me back to the darkness! Don't let them take your angel! Purge them one by one! Smash them into puddles! Kill them!" she shouted.

Sans pulled at his magic nervously when inky... creatures started flooding the room, though none of them seemed to be able to get in the elevator when they tried. The only problem was, they kept trying. None of them made any sort of move to head on towards Henry, who'd been waiting by 'Alice's door.

Henry shouted, trying to get the attention of the Butcher Gang trio that were harassing Sans and Boris, but it didn't work. 'Alice' laughing darkly at their predicament just made the animator groan in frustration, even as Sans began harassing the Butcher Gang back, throwing small, faintly glowing projectiles at them.

It took a bit, seeing as Searchers decided to pop up to block Henry's path, but he made it to the lift and began hitting the deformed toons with his pipe, taking them out one at a time while Sans kept the rest busy. When the fight was done, Henry slumped against the gate tiredly. "I am way too old for this," Henry muttered as 'Alice' began speaking.

"So quiet. Like a welcoming grave. I like the silence, don't you?" Her voice was oddly soft, almost reverent. When she spoke again, it was with the lower, harder voice that she'd been using before. "I hate leaving work unfinished! Fortunately, I have you to pick up the pieces, my little errand boy. But you and your new friend will have to go even deeper. Down, down, down into the abyss. Take the lift down. Say hello to an old friend," she practically purred.

Henry straightened with a sigh, reaching for the lift button, but before he could push it, 'Alice' continued speaking. "Sending you a little present. A little... firepower. Take good care of it. It belonged to someone very special," she said. Henry and Sans shared a glance before Henry returned to 'Alice's door. Sitting in the delivery pod was, of all things, a tommy gun. Henry stared at it a moment in disbelief before reaching out to take it with slightly trembling hands.

He lifted it off the hooks and hefted its weight experimentally before fixing his expression into one of determination and turning to head back to the lift. "Looks like she gave us something useful. Hold up a minute, though. Need to grab something before we move on," the animator said, handing the gun off to Boris before stepping out of the elevator and heading down the upper-level hall.

Henry quickly returned with an axe in hand that he handed over to Sans. "Here. I'm thinking another employee might have been carrying this around at some point, and it's way better than that broken one you've got now."

"heh, yeah. thanks, henry," Sans replied, tossing aside the mostly broken axe and taking the new one gratefully. Once Sans had a good grip on it, Henry hit the level 14 button, then retrieved the gun from Boris.

Chapter Text

All of them were silent for a short time before Henry sighed, raking a hand through his hair in a rather exasperated manner. "So, whatever's down here is probably pretty dangerous, considering 'Alice's little gift here," he said, hefting the gun a little, even as his eyes locked on the walls as they descended.

"oh, probably. i'll help you with whatever she wants you to get down here," Sans replied, patting Henry on the arm.

"Thanks. The faster this is done, the better," Henry uttered with a soft, tired laugh. Sans cast a worried glance at the human but didn't have a chance to say anything before the lift reached the right floor and the gates opened. Henry stepped out of the lift, instantly spotting the mangled corpse of a Butcher Gang member with an ink heart resting in its hand. "...I think that's what we're after," Henry muttered with a faintly disturbed look on his face. Sans felt his non-existent stomach twist as Henry picked it up with a quiet squelch sound. As he tucked it into the bag 'Alice' had provided, a loud screech echoed from somewhere down below.

The human and monster shared a look before heading down the stairs to get a look at what had made that sound. "Shhhh, there he is. The Projectionist, skulking around in the darkness," 'Alice's voice announced. Sans and Henry watched as a light moved closer to the main room through a doorway, bobbing along as if someone were carrying it. What came through the doorway was an ink-black humanoid figure with a projector for a head. Henry instantly looked sad, seeing him.

"what's wrong?" Sans asked, speaking up to be heard over 'Alice's continued talking.

"Ah, nothing really. Just surprised to see him. The Projectionist was a one-off character I came up with for one of my co-workers. Didn't think he would be here... I just really hope that doesn't mean what I think it does..." Henry replied, speaking softly. They watched as the Projectionist sloshed his way through another doorway, then turned and headed for the stairs down.

"ugh, more ink..." Sans muttered, even as he followed Henry in. Henry laughed in understanding.

"Yeah, I'm still not used to this and I've been down here for about a week now," the animator said, shaking his head. Sans turned wide sockets to Henry, surprise colouring his features. Henry chuckled, patting the shorter monster on the shoulder. "Between falling through the floor and getting smacked on the head by Sammy, I got pretty beat up. Boris made a pretty good nurse, though. Wouldn't let me leave his safe house until he was sure I was in much better condition."

"Boris is a good boy," Bendy commented from the depths of Sans' hood.

"The best," Henry cheerfully agreed, laughing softly again as Sans chuckled and Bendy let out a small, but happier-sounding giggle.

With the three of them in better spirits, Henry and Sans trudged down and into the ink, both of them grimacing as the thick liquid came up over their knees. "heh, the perils of being short..." Sans muttered, his tone surprisingly light. Henry chuckled with amusement, sloshing forward.

"We should probably split up. I've got the gun, so I'll follow the Projectionist and look for hearts in there. Could you check out here?" Henry asked as the pair sloshed closer to the center of the room.

"yeah, i can do that. tibia honest, i wasn't really looking forward to going in there," Sans replied with a chuckle.

Henry stopped, staring at Sans for a moment. "...was that a bone pun?" he asked incredulously. Sans waggled his browridge in an over-exaggerated way for a moment until Henry snorted and broke into helpless laughter. "Oh my god... a skeleton making bone puns," he managed to choke out before breaking again.

Sans grinned proudly at having managed to make Henry laugh, chuckling himself as he heard Bendy stifling giggles next to his non-existent ear. Still, they needed to move on, and soon, if they wanted to get out of here in one piece.

While Henry was still struggling to get his laughter under control, Sans stepped over to a couple crates that were half floating in the ink. The first had a pair of big, bulky headphones resting on top, though they were really busted up. The other crate had what looked to be an old-fashioned tape recorder sitting on it. Sans had seen a fair number of them floating around, though he'd ignored them up until now. However, it would give him something to do until Henry had settled down.

And so, he pushed play.

'Now I'm not looking for trouble. It's just the nature of us projectionists to seek out the dark places.

You see, I've learned the ins and outs of this here studio. I know how to avoid being bothered by the likes of this... company.

That projectionist, they always say, creeping around, he's just lookin' for trouble. Well, trouble or not, I sees everything. They don't even know when I'm watchin'.

Even when I'm right behind 'em.'

The man's voice had a distinct accent that Sans couldn't place. Henry, however, had gone eerily silent the moment he'd heard the first few words on the tape. Worriedly, Sans glanced over, doing a double take at the look of horror, sadness, and utter pain on the human's face. "Oh god... Norman..." Henry whispered.

"norman? who's that?" Sans asked, stepping closer. Henry motioned for Sans to follow him back to the stairs instead of explaining, but Sans didn't argue. Something had his new friend absolutely shaken, and it couldn't be good. Henry led Sans up the first flight of stairs and over to the balcony that over-looked the main room before leaning against the railing, eyes closed. Sans leaned next to him, waiting. It was rather like Frisk. Henry would talk when he was ready, and not before. The skeleton just got that feeling.

Henry was silent for a little bit, watching the space between the two entryways that had to lead into a loop, judging by how the Projectionist eventually shambled his way through the one on the left, making his way back into the one on the right like he had the first time they'd seen him.

"Thirty-six years ago, the man that had been my best friend and I started an animation studio. Joey Drew was the bold, charismatic type and came from money. I, on the other hand, was kinda awkward, a little introverted and poor. Ma and Pa were farmers, so I was always pretty scruffy. Honestly, I never did understand why Joey liked me so much. Maybe I brought some excitement to his life that he'd never have otherwise had." Henry paused, chuckling.

"When I was a kid, I had a dream. I wanted to be a character designer and an animator for some big animation studio. Joey made that dream a reality. He was a man of big ideas and bigger dreams. Mine was the first one he ever made come true. He even let me handle all the character design and a lot of episode scripting. For four years, I was living a dream. Joey Drew Studios got out there. Sure, we were still small, but we had a following. People loved Bendy, Boris, the Butcher Gang, and they probably would have loved Alice Angel, too, though I never... got to find out..." Henry trailed off for a moment, sounding pained, his eyes locked on the Projectionist's approaching light, but distant, as if he wasn't really seeing it. He then shook his head, sighing.

"That doesn't matter now. I made a lot of friends at the studio. People who Joey knew that had jumped on board to help out before they even knew if they'd even be paid for their work and people hired on after the surprisingly huge success of the first Bendy short. One of those people was Norman Polk. He was a quiet man, even more introverted than I was. He was hired on as the first, and thus senior member of a small team of projectionists and somehow, we bonded. Norman was a big man and towered over me, but it never felt like he was looming to me. Oh, he made some folks feel like that... the interns tended to be afraid of him. Big, strong black guy that could lug one of the bigger projectors around on his own without much effort that was also able to sneak up on anyone without alerting them to the fact that he was there?" Henry chuckled, an amused grin lighting up his face, though the expression soon faded.

"Yeah, he scared people. Especially those who tended to a more racist outlook. Our studio had a high tolerance policy and you could be fired for racist commentary, but we couldn't stop it all. Norman took it all in stride, though. Eventually, I got tired of it on his behalf and created a one-off character for the cartoon that was based on Norman. The character's name was actually Norman, but he was only called "The Projectionist" in the cartoon. He was, well..." Henry motioned down to the shambling toon that had just once again circled into view. "A less scary, cartoony version of him. The height is accurate, though. Norman and the Projectionist shared that way too tall aspect."

Sans watched as Henry's eyes followed the Projectionist, the man once again silent until the monster had vanished from sight. "I think that the Projectionist is Norman Polk," he finally said, quiet and mournful. "This is my fault. Norman wouldn't...."

"no, henry. whatever happened here, it's not your fault. the little guy told us what he knew and not one little bit of it read as your fault. it was that drew guy, not you," Sans said firmly, hand on Henry's arm.

"...but if I'd never left, this wouldn't have happened. If I'd just found some way to stay..." Henry whispered.

"Why did ya leave?" Bendy asked quietly, barely heard from inside Sans' hood. Henry sighed, raking a hand through his greying hair.

"I was drafted. I wasn't the only one, but most of the other men in the studio that were drafted were.... as much as I hate to say it, most of them were easily replaced. A few band members, two other animators, some of Norman's crew and a handful of interns. Me, though... I wasn't just the head animator and sole character designer... I was pretty much Joey Drew's impulse control. I was always the one to stop him from going through with crazy, big projects. Mr. Cohen looked like he wanted to kiss me half the time." Henry chuckled, but it sounded hollow.

"Joey basically ordered me to dodge the draft. If I had, I would have had to go into hiding or wind up in prison for five years and have to pay a $10,000 fine. Sure, by that point, I might have been able to pull that kinda money together, and Joey might have even offered to pay part of it, but I knew I'd likely be gone for less time if I obeyed the law. Joey, though... he didn't like that. He told me that if I walked out the door, I wouldn't be welcome back," Henry explained, once again sounding pained.

"I was gone two years. I fought, got hurt, was honourably discharged and came home. Spent another six months in rehab while trying to get my life back in order. After that, I tried to come back to the studio, but... Joey took one look at me and absolutely exploded. I'd thought he'd be so happy to see me again that he'd welcome me back with open arms. But no. He actually hit me with his cane hard enough to give me a concussion and told me that if he ever saw me on studio grounds again, he'd have me arrested for trespassing." Henry said, looking away.

"That... hurt. And then I found out that he'd taken credit for everything and had been doing it all along. All my work... everything that had originally had my name on it had been altered to be credited to Joey. It was like I'd never worked here at all. I wound up having to return to ma and pa's farm, working for my brothers because it wasn't like I could go work at some other studio. It'd have felt like a betrayal to everything I'd worked to create." Henry sighed again, shifting his grip on the tommy gun. He looked tired, like somehow, the conversation had aged him.

"I think I know when yer talkin' about..." Bendy whispered, shivering. "I remember hearin' Joey yellin' real loud one day, though who he was yellin' at, none of us could figure out. He was real mad tha rest'a tha day..." The imp trailed off and Sans wondered if there was more to what Bendy was saying, but it didn't feel like the right time to ask. Henry had deflated a bit, clearly suspecting something, but he didn't ask, either.

After a few minutes, Henry straightened, stepping away from the railing. "Well, we should get going. Wouldn't want to make 'Alice' wait too long after all," he said, rolling his eyes.

Sans snorted, moving to follow Henry while Bendy made a disgruntled noise. "I like my Alice better..." Bendy muttered.

"heh... yeah, i'd bet," Sans whispered back as they made their way back down to the flooded lower level. "hey, henry... normally I'm not one to volunteer to wander into the lion's den, but, uh... you sure you don't want me to go in there instead?" he asked.

"I'm sure. I wouldn't want you to be hurt, helping me with my tasks," Henry replied, smiling and shaking his head as he headed after the Projectionist.

San's watched him disappear around the corner, then sighed, turning to explore the rest of the floor. There didn't appear to be anything in the big open space, but there were some boarded off areas that had Sans curious.

First, he tried tugging at the boards, but they were nailed in place far too well for his slight weight to even begin to make them budge. He then tried prying at the nails with the blade of his axe, but that didn't work either. Frowning now, he glanced from the axe to the boards before looking for the weakest-looking point on the lowest board. If he could just get that one down, he could duck under the others and get through.

"Sans? What're ya doin'?" Bendy asked, peeking out past Sans' scarf.

"looking for a way through here... there's gotta be a weak point on one of these boards somewhere..." he replied, humming. Finally, he stepped back a bit and then swung the axe as hard as he could into the board. There was a sickening crack and Sans flinched as the impact jarred his arms, but the axe went right through, breaking the board clean in half. "welp, that was fun," Sans muttered, taking one hand off the axe and shaking it out, even as he ducked under the other boards and headed through. The path led to another boarded off area and Sans scowled, glaring at the boards.

"more boards? lovely..." he muttered, once again examining the lowest one for a weak point, then smashing the axe into it as hard as he could. Again, the axe broke clean through and Sans was left to duck under the remaining boards while shaking out his arms, first one, then the other.

The area behind the elevator platform was mostly empty, containing only pipes and a single valve. "...i wonder if that valve will drain the ink down here," Sans mused, moving over to it. The valve squeaked loudly when Sans turned it before getting stuck after only a few turns. Nothing appeared to happen though and Sans frowned. "well, that was disappointing. there's nothing else back here, either," he muttered, turning back.

"Maybe it had an effect somewhere else? We should-" Bendy started, only to be cut off by a horrific screech from somewhere else on the floor. Sans' eyelights darted to the side where Bendy was hidden, then wordlessly hurried back.

Sans cringed at the loud sloshing of the ink around his legs as he rushed as fast as he could through the thick liquid. This felt like he was just asking for the demon to show up. Still, he had a terrible feeling about that screech. It had sounded... triumphant.

It didn't take long for Sans to make it around to the front of the main chamber, but it still felt too long. "henry!" he shouted, hoping to get the human's attention. There was no answer. Frowning, Sans made his way over to the area Henry had headed into, only to spot a flash of... something, over by the smaller Bendy statue. The monster narrowed his sockets, turning his attention to the thing floating in the ink. That hadn't been there before...

Frowning deeper, he cautiously got closer, trying to figure out what it was. It wasn't until a single bubble floated to the surface and popped that Sans realized what he was looking at. His sockets widened in a way that would have been comical in any other situation as he gasped, "henry!" and rushed over. As quickly as he could, he rushed over and tugged the man up and out of the ink as best he could, using as much blue magic as he could muster up to help drag Henry up.

"henry, com'on, man.... you can't be dead. hey," Sans hissed, shaking him. However, Henry was as limp as a rag doll in Sans' arms, and when Sans felt for his pulse, there was nothing. "...no way..."

"....Henry..." Bendy whimpered, hiding his face against Sans' neck. A moment later, Sans gasped, startled as Henry's body suddenly melted into the ink.

"what the hell?!"

"...that's what happens to people who die here. They go to the Ink. Henry's... lost now..." Bendy whispered mournfully. "There's nothing we can do for him... you'll have to finish collecting those hearts and take them to that fake Alice instead..."

"shit... that's just... not fair. he was supposed to be the one leading the way outta this hell-hole..." Sans whispered back, staring at the spot where Henry had once been. He wasn't expecting the statue's eyes to suddenly glow before, with a nearly violent splash of ink, Henry emerged from the Ink. He stood there for only a second before collapsing face first back into the liquid. Sans let out a startled curse before hauling Henry's body up once again.

This time, though, Henry coughed, expelling the small amount of the black liquid he'd breathed in. "...what the hell, henry?" he questioned, propping Henry up against the statue before Checking him.

Henry Ross
LV 1
HP 60
ATK 60
DEF 60
*Is determined to get his toons and friends out.

"...determined, huh?" Sans muttered. "just figures i'd run into another human who can cheat death in weird ways," he added with a relieved chuckle. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed Henry was a Red Soul before, but it made sense, honestly. Those types tended to power through the worse bullshit and make it out the other side in one piece. Sighing, Sans rocked back on his heels and straightened from where he'd been hovering over the human while reaching to pat Bendy through his hood. "you okay, kiddo? henry gave us quite the scare, huh?" he asked softly.

"He's really... he's really alive? He's not trapped in the ink?" Bendy responded in a wavering voice.

"seems so. he's just sleeping, bud. dying is probably tiring business," Sans replied with a chuckle. Doubly so when one died twice in a row in quick succession, as Sans suspected happened to Henry. Once to the Projectionist and once to drowning in the ink. "we'll just wait here and guard him while he recovers."

"Okay," Bendy said, voice a little stronger, a smile audible in his tone.

As said, Sans moved to lean against the statue next to Henry, staring out over the room, tracking time by the Projectionist's path. He only had to wait for three passes before Henry groaned softly, clearly starting to wake. Bendy's first reaction was to try and squirm his way out of Sans' scarf and hood, but Sans rolled his head to the side, pinning him. "she's probably still watching, kiddo. i know you wanna go to him, but you'll need to stay put until we are in a safe place, okay?"

"...okay..." Bendy replied though San could tell he was sulking now as Sans lifted his skull again and turned to Henry.

Henry's eyes were still closed, but his breathing was no longer slow and deep as in sleep. "henry. come on, bud, it's time to get up. you gave us quite the scare," Sans said with a weak chuckle. Henry jerked, green eyes flicking open and up to Sans.

He was quiet for a moment, then grunted as he struggled to stand up. Sans offered him a hand, which he accepted with a quick 'thanks'. Once he was on his feet again, he leaned against the statue base, glancing up at it. "So. What happened?" he asked.

"you died. went to the ink, according to our little buddy here," Sans replied, frowning. "and then you... i guess the appropriate word is 'respawned'... well, you respawned here," he tacked on.

"Huh... didn't know I could do that. Good to know, I supposed." Henry raked a hand through his hair, painting the greying strands black with ink. "Though I don't think I want to do it again. My mouth tastes like ink," he muttered, making a face.

"yeah, well, you collapsed face down into the ink. it was a good thing i was here, otherwise, you would have drowned again," Sans replied, shaking his head. He ignored his companion's mouthed 'again?' as he turned to track the Projectionist's light. "so, what are you going to do? you had the gun, but you couldn't bring yourself to shoot the guy before, right?" he asked.

Henry sighed again in response, stepping up beside Sans to watch. "I couldn't. I wound up tossing the gun when trying to make it to an LMS... but... that's not Norman. He may have been used to create the Projectionist, but... He's not in there. I tried to get through to him and all he did was... well... He wouldn't want to be left like that, and I'm not sure there's anything I can do to help him other than... put him out of his misery..." Henry whispered, sounding like it pained him to even be thinking about it, let alone saying it out loud or going through with it.

"i could do it for you," Sans replied, eying Henry worriedly.

The former animator shook his head, smiling weakly. "Thank you for offering, but... it has to be me. Norman was one of my closest friends. Thinking back on it, I probably would have considered him more my best friend than Joey ever had been. I can't leave him like that," he replied, then trudged off. Sans watched him go with a frown but didn't argue. He could, in a way, understand. There were people he would do the same for if it came down to it, after all.

Chapter Text

Henry glanced back at Sans, noting how his browridges were furrowed in clear worry. He hated worrying people, but he needed to do this. Thus, he turned away and sloshed after Norman. He'd already determined that the Projectionist hunted by sight and a weird sense of the location of the Ink Hearts. He'd trailed the former human around, locating all four hearts before back tracking to start grabbing them, only for Norman to turn up moments after he'd grabbed one. Henry had foolishly tossed his gun aside and made a break for it, but he hadn't been fast enough to escape. Norman had grabbed him and...

Well, he couldn't actually remember what had happened then, which he was absurdly grateful for. He didn't think dying would have been all too pleasant a memory, no matter how the Projectionist had killed him.

Carefully, Henry made his way through the maze of corridors until he'd located the tommy gun and the bag containing two Ink Hearts, carelessly tossed aside in his desperation to get away. He sighed, picking both items up, then settled in to wait. There was enough room between him and the next corner that, even if Norman charged him, he'd have enough time to take his old friend out.

It felt like forever, but finally, the Projectionist rounded the corner. Henry squinted into his light as the Projectionist screeched angrily and began charging him. Henry, in turn, lifted his gun and opened fire.

Inky bullets slammed into Norman's chest, causing him to freeze and let out a pained, confused screech. Henry did his best to tune it out, and when the gun finally seemed to run out of bullets, the Projectionist let out a whine and collapsed into the ink, his light gone out. When he didn't melt, Henry cautiously crept forward and nudged him with the barrel of his gun. "...Norman?" he asked quietly, though nothing happened. He didn't seem to be dead, but he certainly wasn't waking up, either.

Henry nodded to himself, straightening and hurrying passed the unconscious toon, viciously glad that he probably hadn't killed his friend, despite what he'd said about putting Norman out of his misery before. "Okay, Henry, just finish collecting the hearts for 'Alice', and then we can get out of here," he muttered to himself, back-tracking along his path to do just that.

Once he had them all, 'Alice' made it very clear as her voice suddenly came in loudly through the hidden speakers. "Tell me. Were they still writhing in your hands?" she asked, the question making Henry shiver. "Bring them to me now! I don't like to wait," she then ordered and Henry found himself glaring at the wall in front of him.

"Ugh... bossy little brat," he grumbled, making his way out of the maze. Sans was there to meet him at the exit into the main room, eye sockets crinkled up in amusement.

"sooooo.... what say we make her wait. i turned a valve back there and it had to have done something, for all that it didn't drain the ink down here. we could always explore a bit and see what it did," the Skeleton suggested, making Henry snort in exhausted amusement.

"Sure, why not?" he replied. Sans snickered, turning to lead the way up to the lift. Once inside the car, Henry and Sans shared an amused look and Henry hit the button for level K as Boris shot them a look of confusion. "We're gonna make the angel wait a while for her hearts, bud. Sans and I are gonna take the stairs down, so once we get out, just take the lift back to level 9 and keep the door closed, okay?" Henry explained. Boris smiled around his bone and nodded.

When the lift bell rang and the doors slid open, Sans offered Boris a cheerful little salute before he and Henry got off. Boris laughed silently, closing the doors behind them and hitting the button for level 9, then waved as the lift started down. Henry and Sans waved back, then turned to start exploring.

Level K was no different, nor was Level 11 when they explored that, but when they headed down to Level P, Henry stopped in the stairwell in surprise. "Huh... seems that valve actually did do something," the old animator murmured, staring down another flight of stairs.

Sans blinked. "was this flooded before?" he asked. Henry nodded, starting down the stairs with careful steps, each foot placed gingerly to make certain he didn't slip or have a board break under his weight. Sans followed behind, being just as careful as Henry as they made their way into the room at the bottom.

Oddly enough, despite the ink all over the floor and walls, the room didn't even seem like it had been flooded previously. On a small, round table in the middle of the room was a book and a tape recorder that looked completely untouched by the ink. "...did someone put these here?" Henry eyed them confusedly. There was no way they could have been there when the room was flooded... right?

"dunno. i would guess so. can't think of any way they could have avoided being destroyed by the ink other wise..." Sans replied, stepping closer. "ya gonna listen to the tape, or just stare at it?" he then asked, chuckling as Henry snorted and reached out to hit the play button on the unlabeled recorder, only to be surprised by the voice that rang out into the room from the little device.

"Only two weeks into this company and already it's gotten interesting. Joey's 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, someone 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."

Henry closed his eyes as he listened to his own voice from over 30 years in the past, a small smile playing at his lips, even as the recorder clicked off. "I remember recording that. The character I was talking about at that point was Boris. A friendly little wolf character to play off Bendy's timidness and bring out his more playful nature," he said with a chuckle. "Joey made me redesign Boris multiple times before he was happy, though," he added, shaking his head as he turned to look at Sans, who looked like he was probably grinning behind his scarf.

"Well, at any rate, we should probably get going back to 'Alice'. We seem to have found what we were looking for, anyway," he said and Sans nodded.

"yeah. she seems like a person who gets annoyed with waiting," the skeleton replied, rolling his eyelights as Bendy let out a quiet, irritated huffing sound, expressing his own displeasure at having to listen to the fake Alice. Henry snorted, stepping past Sans to lead the way out of the sunken room, though he certainly sympathized.

Henry led the way down the last flight of stairs to Level 9 with a sigh, pausing by the lift. "Sans, you should wait in the lift with Boris. I don't know what's gonna happen when I hand this stuff over," he muttered, turning to look at the steel doors across the room.

"yeah, okay," Sans agreed, though he sounded worried. Henry shot the slightly shorter monster a reassuring grin, though Sans looked skeptical, hands tightening around the axe. "hurry, though, yeah?" he asked as Boris opened the door for him.

"Of course," Henry replied with a soft laugh, then turned and headed for 'Alice's door. Once there, he dumped the gun and bag of hearts into the drop box and retrieved his pipe, hefting the hunk of metal with a sigh.

The moment the flap finished swinging, the loudspeakers crackled to life once again, 'Alice's voice echoing through the room. "It seems we've reached the end of my todo list, my little errand boy. I hope you enjoyed our time together. I'll always treasure it," she practically purred. "Return to the lift. It's time to go home."

Henry eyed the door for a moment before turning to head back to the lift as ordered, though he couldn't help but think that things couldn't be that easy. There was no way she was just going to let them go, was she? He hoped she would, but he was reluctant to believe it, even as he stepped inside, the gates sliding shut on their own after him.

When the lift actually started going up, Henry was quite surprised. Sans sagging in relief next to him caused Henry to chuckle, wrapping a friendly arm around his slightly smaller companion's shoulder. Before he could say anything to Sans or Boris, however, the lift's speaker turned on.

"Have you ever wondered what Heaven is like?" 'Alice's voice was softer, sounding more like Suzie Campbell than the Alice Angel Henry had become used to interacting with. "I like to dream that it's quite beautiful. A soft valley of green grass, blanketed by a warm sun..." she said, a soft, yearning tone to her voice. "I don't think I'll ever get to see it. Are you ready to ascend, my little errand boy? The heavens are waiting," she added, sounding sad now. Henry felt bad for her, honestly.

Though that sentiment didn't last long. There were a few moments of silence from her before she let out a few choked sounds that almost sounded like crying before she broke out into maniacal laughter. Barely thinking about it at all, Henry pulled Sans in closer to him with one arm, the other reaching out to pull Boris close, just as the lift started to drop fast.

"Did you really think I'd let you steal from me?! Did you really think I'd just let him go?!" 'Alice' demanded, fury in her once again harsh voice. "No, Henry! I know who you are! And I know why you're here!" she snapped, Henry pulling the toon and monster as close to himself as possible, doing his best to shield the pair from danger. "You will not stop what needs to be done! Now come down and bring me back my Boris!! It's the most perfect Boris I've ever seen and I want it! I need it! I need it's insides so I can be beautiful again! Don't you understand? Don't you get it?! Give him to me!!"

Henry glared up at the speakers, one of his hands tucking Boris' head against his shoulder as 'Alice' yelled. He wanted to yell back at her, quite honestly. He had no idea what she was going on about. He'd only come to the studio because of Joey's letter, as far as he knew. "Or better yet, I'll take him!" 'Alice continued, "Once... you're... dead!!!" she screamed.

The sound of screeching metal soon overpowered all sound, and Henry did his best to wrap himself protectively around both Sans and Boris, desperate to protect them. It was likely that the crash was going to kill them, but the least he could do was try and make sure his companions survived by shielding them with his body. Sans and Bendy were both yelling, but Henry, unable to make out what they were saying over the sounds the lift was making in its quick descent, just closed his eyes, tucking Sans' head closer to his chest as the breaks screamed and a deep blue light hazed his vision.

The next thing Henry knew, he was laying in a heap outside the ruined elevator. There was the sound of dragging and a dazed voice that sounded like Sans. Good, he was alive. His vision faded out again.

Hazy awareness once again returned to the feel of someone shaking him. His eyes slit open to see Boris, but when he tried to say the wolf's name, nothing escaped him except a small groan.

Humming. There was humming and it sounded familiar. A tune from the show? The one Sammy wrote for Alice's first solo cartoon, Siren Serenade. It was such a pretty tune, though the pitch was all wrong. It wasn't in Alice's sweet soprano. He could barely focus on it, though, as his head swam. Boris shaking him wasn't helping. His head lolled enough that he could see someone approaching from behind Boris. Was the humming coming from that person?

Why wasn't Boris reacting to the humming? Was Henry hearing things? Was he seeing something that wasn't there? He tried to call Boris' attention to the humming figure, but once again, his body, nor his voice, were responding. His vision went black again only to return as the shaking stopped. Boris' terrified face as he was being dragged away was the last thing Henry saw as he once again lost consciousness.

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Bendy frantically squirmed free of Sans' hoodie and scarf, struggling in his rush to help Boris. He had to stop that witch from taking his buddy, no matter what.

However, by the time he'd wormed free of the mass of fabric, 'Alice' and Boris were already gone. Sans was passed out and didn't seem like he'd be waking any time soon, and Henry, when the little devil scrambled over to him, was pale with blood dripping down his face. Henry was hurt and probably wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon either.

That meant the only one that could save Boris now was him... and there was no way he'd be able to do it hiding in a plush toy. Gulping, Bendy glanced between his protectors one last time, then abandoned his hiding place and ran after Alice.

The only problem was, he didn't know where she'd gone. There was a T-crossing at the end of the hall. One side led to what appeared to be a closed metal door, the other leading to a corner that he wouldn't be able to see beyond unless he went down there. The little imp waffled for a moment before making his choice and turning right. He needed to see what was down there...

Around the corner were two more doors. The left one was locked and Bendy frowned at it, hoping it wasn't important. The door on the right, however, opened when Bendy twisted the knob. He grinned over his success for all of a moment before taking in the room on the other side. It was an office of some sort, and it looked like a madman had been through. A hideous jumble of words and numbers were scrawled in ink on the walls, leaving the little toon to stare in horror.

"...what is all this?" he quietly questioned, stepping in further to examine the mess on the walls.

In his focus, he didn't notice the fake Bendy's wall shadows spreading along the walls until it was too late. The door slammed and Bendy whipped around, wide eyes locking on the eight-foot-tall Demon. He didn't even have time to yell before the Demon's massive, gloved hand was wrapped around him and he was being dragged into a wall portal.

Chapter Text

The first thing Sans was aware of above his soul-deep exhaustion was that he was laying on something hard. The second thing was that the air was filled with the acrid scent of smoke, underlaid with the coppery scent of fresh blood. Barely even aware, his mind overlaid an image of a ruined Judgement Hall and an injured human, clutching weakly at a wound that would likely prove fatal if not treated. He let himself drift back off.

When he awoke next, he was significantly less tired, thought the scents of smoke and blood remained. He knew this couldn't be the end result of a bad run, even if he was still too tired to open his sockets. The floor under him was not ruined tiles. It felt more like metal under his bones. He wanted to push himself to investigate, but...

The third time he awoke, the skeleton monster groaned and opened his sockets, though he didn't really feel ready to move. Not until he spotted Henry, at least.

The former animator was slumped limply against the call consol of the ruined lift, blood slowly pooling around him from an unseen injury. Sans struggled up, reaching for Henry, but it was too late. His body tipped and fell over, quickly disappearing in a splash of ink. Sans cursed, staring helplessly at where Henry had previously been leaning. There was no Bendy statue in the area that he could see, so would the man respawn at all? If he did, where would he appear?

It wasn't like Sans could even go looking. He was still too tired from his stunt in the lift. What had he been thinking, trying to teleport them all to safety? The heavy use of blue magic had already been enough to drain him severely. It was absolutely vexing to know he was basically useless.

However, all he could do at the moment was sit and rest. Thankfully, the pool of blood had vanished along with Henry's body, leaving Sans to be able to slump over right where he was, praying to the stars as he fell asleep that the Demon wouldn't show up while he was sleeping. He'd go look for Henry as soon as he was able.

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Henry Ross was a simple man with simple needs. Ever since he'd returned from the war and had been unable to return to his dream job, he'd become such. He'd forced himself to fit into that role, a box too small for him, which he made himself fit into without complaint. He loved his family, after all, and thus, he spent his days with his brother in the fields of his family farm, his evenings with his brother and sister-in-law, and his nights alone in the little farm-hand cabin.

It worked well enough for him, but ever did he dream of the studio, of Bendy the Dancing Demon, Boris the Wolf, and Alice Angel, the last of which he never got to finish animating. Even though Joey Drew Studios and Silly Vision had ages ago closed their doors for good, even though Joey Drew had utterly betrayed him and took not only his life-long dreams but his characters away from him, he still, in his heart, wished to return to that life.

So when his sister-in-law handed him a letter with familiar handwriting on the envelope one evening at dinner, he was shocked and delighted. The contents, a letter from his former best friend, inviting him back to the old studio sent both alarm bells and sheer happiness through his mind and heart. He knew it was a terrible idea, but... He would go. He would talk with Joey Drew... and maybe punch the man straight in the kisser if Drew didn't apologize profusely.

He informed his brother of his plans to visit an old friend, though he neglected to say who. The elder Ross had always hated Drew and wouldn't let him go if he knew who that letter had been from. His family sent him off with a smile.

Henry arrived at the old studio, a dark feeling filling his chest at the dilapidated look of the building. It looked like no one had been inside for ages. All the windows were boarded up, and when he approached, he discovered the front door ajar, the handle broken. Gingerly, he pushed it open further, illuminating the old lobby and receptionist desk that graced the room. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust that looked completely undisturbed. If Drew was actually here, he'd likely not come through the front doors. Either way, Henry continued on, leaving footprints in the dust as he crossed the lobby and through the door that led into the entrance hall.

This section was lit surprisingly well by emergency lighting and lacked any dust, something that put Henry immediately on edge. Still, he forced himself to remain calm, simply narrowing his eyes as he took in the sight ahead. "Alright, Joey, I'm here. Let's see if we can find what you wanted me to see," he murmured, taking his first step proper into the old animation studio.

...and jerked into wakefulness as he stumbled and fell over, crashing into the hard metal floor with a groan. "Ow. What in the..." he grumbled, rolling over onto his back. The ceiling was partly obscured by smoke and he took a moment to orientate himself, trying to remember what happened beyond the hazy dream he'd just woken from.

Firstly, 'Alice' betrayed them and dropped the elevator. Henry honestly wasn't surprised by that. He'd done his best to shield Boris, Sans, and Bendy from the crash... had he succeeded?! As quickly as he could, Henry sat up, looking around. Sans was laying nearby, a faint, whistling snore escaping him on every exhale and presumably, Bendy was still tucked away in his hood. However, Boris was nowhere to be seen. He faintly recalled... humming? A figure walking up behind Boris.... and then... Boris' terrified face as he was bodily dragged away, the figure clearly presuming Henry and Sans to be dead and leaving them for such.

Aside from his dream, he couldn't remember anything at all after that, though. Sighing, he did a quick, but thorough self-examination and found himself to be completely unharmed against all odds, then stood up. With Boris having been kidnapped, he couldn't afford to wait. 'Alice' had probably taken him, and who knew what he was going through as a result. He just hoped they weren't already too late...

"Sans. Come on, you need to get up," Henry gently said, kneeling next to Sans and shaking him carefully, only to blink in surprise as he noted that the formerly pure white of the monster's bones were now a greyish-yellow and chalky-looking. Making a small 'tsk' sound, Henry reached to pick Sans up, only to pause as he noticed a Bendy plush laying not far from where Sans was curled up. "...Bendy?" he questioned, reaching over Sans and to the lifeless plush.

With a small, pained sound, Henry scooped the plush up and held it close to his chest for a moment before frowning. If 'Alice' had gotten Bendy, too, there really was no time to waste. He pocketed the plush, then picked Sans up. They had to go, and now.

Chapter Text

He was moving without moving, the comfortable feeling of resting against a strong back while he slept and Sans the Skeleton didn't really want to wake up. Whoever was carrying him would keep him safe, he felt that deep in his soul. Still, that feeling was acompanied by a deep sense of foreboding. Something was wrong, but he couldn't remember what it was in his sleep-hazed and still tired state.

"Sans?" the person carrying him questioned. Sans let out an unintelligable grumble, prompting the person to laugh weakly. "Yeah, I get that, honestly. I'm tired too," they said, "but I need to put you down, bud. I need my hands free."

Sans grumbled, curling his phalanges into the person's shirt, but when they carefully released first one leg, then the other, he let himself drop to his feet, only holding onto the person's shirt for balance as he got his bearings before finally cracking open his sockets and letting his eyelights ignite.

...right, the studio. The lift crash and Henry had been dead again. But he was fine now, with no sign of blood or injury when Sans looked him over. "you're okay," Sans murmured, voice rough with sleep.

"Yeah. I'm assuming based on my lack of injuries that I probably died again?" Henry asked, to which Sans nodded slowly. "Great. I'm really glad I can't remember that," he muttered, shaking his head. "Just knowing it happened is bad enough."

"...yeah." Sans sighed, looking around. The air was still hazed with smoke, but it was thinner here. That wasn't really what caught Sans' eyelights, though. "holy shit, it looks like someone had a mental breakdown in here," he commented, sockets wide as he took in the messy, scrawling writing on the walls.

Henry nodded. "Grant Cohen. He was our accountant. Don't, uh... don't press play on the recorder. You don't want to hear it." When Sans looked at him in askance, Henry shuddered. "I think he was going to record a log... but instead, the recorder probably... caught his last moments alive," he whispered, expression carefully blank, even though he couldn't keep the tremble from his voice. He then straightened and squared his shoulders. "That's not important right now, though. 'Alice' kidnapped Boris, and probably Bendy, too."

"what?!" Sans barked, suddenly completely awake. He twisted his head, feeling for the tell-tale softness of Bendy's plush body, but all he felt was his scarf. The absence was explained as Henry pulled the lifeless plush from his pocket.

"Found this near where you were passed out," he explained, pocketing the plush again with a sigh before bending over and picking something up. The something turned out to be a valve handle, which Sans cocked a browridge at. Henry snorted, shaking his head. "You'll see. Come on. We have a wolf and a devil to rescue."

"yeah, that we do," Sans muttered, tone dark. The moment his magic was back reliably, that 'Alice' was getting a blaster to the face for what she did. No doubt she had quite the number of sins crawling down her back for him to judge her for.

Henry didn't comment, even though he must have heard Sans. He simply motioned for the skeleton to follow, leading the way out of the room. Sans followed without another word, soon finding himself staring at what looked like some sort of vault door that was missing its handle. The handle which Henry was holding, most likely. As he thought, Henry lined it up, pushed it into place, then twisted the valve. The door opened with a creak that had Sans feeling vaguely uneasy.

The darkness beyond didn't help, either. Cautiously, first Henry, then Sans stepped over the raised bottom lip of the oval doorway, only to jerk back in surprise as spotlights started flicking themselves on with a soft musicbox tune starting to play at the same time. The spotlights were all focused on the contents of a raised platform that held a Bendy statue and six inky figures standing or kneeling in front of it in what looked like pleading poses.

Begging to be saved.

Above them all was a banner reading, 'HE WILL SET US FREE', which Sans couldn't help shivering at. The display was beyond creepy in his opinion. Henry, however, had no reaction beyond his initial startled jerk. He stared at the display for only a moment before obviously deciding there was no threat there and walking around it. Sans wasn't so keen on taking his eyelights off the showing and skirted around with his sockets locked on the inky figures.

Despite his unease, however, they didn't move and he eventually had to turn his attention to the next room, which Henry had already vanished into. With one last intense stare that just dared them to move, Sans finally turned his focus to the next room. The entire area appeared to be an archive of sorts, many books lining both outer and inner shelves in the next section. Sans found Henry staring puzzled at a closed door. "henry?"

"It's sealed. There's probably some sort of mechanism to unlock it," Henry replied. "Let's look around. Keep an eye out for anything that looks suspiscious or out of place," he added, turning to look at Sans, who nodded and began to look around. It only took a moment for him to spot a book baring Bendy's face that was sticking out of the shelf a bit. Wordlessly, he pushed it in. There was a click and a light ignited in the corner of his vision.

"welp," Sans uttered with a chuckle as Henry commented, "So that's how it works."

"keep an eye out for Bendy books that're poking out of the shelves, then. seems to be the key here," Sans said and Henry nodded.

"Yeah. I'll look at the inner shelves, you get the ones out here?" the human asked.

"sure," Sans replied, then turned his attention to the shelves. He'd just found and shoved in another book when he heard Henry make a humming sound before there was the familiar click of a tape recorder's play button being pressed. A voice that was both familiar and not soon filled the silence of the room.

"They told me I was perfect for the role. Absolutely perfect. Now Joey's going around, saying things behind closed doors.

I can always tell.

Now he wants to meet again tomorrow, says he has an "opportunity" for me.

I'll hear him out... but if that smooth-talker thinks he can double cross an angel and get away with it... heh, well-"

Sans paused by the entrance to the center area with a frown as he heard the woman in the recording give a tiny, breathy giggle.

"oh, he's got another thing coming. Alice, ooh she doesn't like liars." The tape clicked off at that point and Sans looked to Henry just as Henry looked at him, both of them shivering in a way that had nothing to do with being cold and everything to do with the way that woman, who Sans could only guess was Susie Campbell, had been speaking.

"I didn't know Susie that well... but I don't recall her ever being like... that... what did Joey do to her?" Henry breathed, shaking his head.

"what was she like, back before ya had to leave?" Sans asked, just as quiet.

"Sweet. She was sweet and bubbly. Perfect for the role of Alice. It was me who suggested for her to voice Alice. Now I'm fairly certain that was a terrible idea," Henry murmured, leaning against the table. "There was another recording from her, back in the music department. Susie had been talking about how she felt the role of Alice just... clicked with her. I thought it was great that she'd been so happy about it, back when I heard it... but now I realize that Joey must have used that against her," he sighed, closing his eyes.

"it's not your fault, henry. how were you to know that drew was gonna pull shit like this?" Sans asked, patting Henry on the shoulder. "we can worry about how to deal with her later, though. for now, we need to focus on getting to boris and bendy, right?" the skeleton asked and Henry let out a forced-sounding chuckle.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," the animator replied, looking around for any books sticking out.