Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“It's simply awe-inspiring what one can accomplish with their own hands! A lump of clay can turn to meaning... if you strangle it with enough enthusiasm.”

Henry sighed, setting the tape back down. He knew these words by heart now, could recite them from memory.

“Look what we've built! We created life itself, Henry! Not just on the silver screen, but in the hearts of those we've entertained with our fancy moving pictures!”

‘Did we though?’ Henry thought bitterly, looking around the throne room, at the looping cartoons on the screen. ‘Or did I?’

“But... when the tickets stopped selling, when the next big thing came along, only the monsters remained. Shadows of the past.”

Shadows of their dreams. Henry looked back at the tape.

“But you can save them, Henry! You can peel it all away!”

Sighing, Henry picked up the reel on the throne, the chair that had once been in Joey’s office.

“You see, there's only one thing Bendy has never known: He was there for his beginning, but he's never seen…”

“The End.” Henry said, on cue, then paused, realizing that he had spoken alone. The tape had ended before Joey could finish.

That wasn’t supposed to happen.

A growl brought his attention back to the matter at hand.

The Ink Demon peered over him from behind the throne, it’s twisted grin wide. Henry involuntarily stepped back as the demon began shifting before his very eyes, growing larger, it’s teeth sharpening as it sunk down behind the chair. Then, it climbed over with a snarl, having transformed into a large, fanged beast. It roared at Henry, and the old animator recoiled from it, then braced himself.

The Ink Demon backhanded him through a wall, and the chase was on.

Scrambling to his feet, Henry went on autopilot, running through the maze-like corridors, pulling levers and avoiding the Ink Demon as it tried to run him down. From his experience, getting run over by a giant ink monster wasn’t pleasant. Once all the levers were pulled, Henry made a beeline for the door. He went through the motions of having the Ink Demon shatter the ink filled pipes, causing the room to go dark and the demon to vanish. Henry hurried for the door, clutching the End reel tightly to his chest.

Henry found himself back in the throne room, and he hurried for the reel stand. Just as he went to put the reel in, he stopped.

For once, in the countless loops, Henry hesitated. The artist looked down at the reel, staring at it.

Would this really change anything, or was he dooming himself to another loop?

Every new loop began at the End, when he played the reel, once he left Joey’s apartment, and walked right back into the start. Every time, Joey said the same thing, without fail, and Henry found himself unable to speak until he walked through the door. Henry couldn’t help but feel like something was off about that sequence, that it was just a bridge between the beginning and the end, and interlude of sorts, as short as it may be.

It always felt too cut and dry, too repetitive. Joey never deviated from his script, his speech about the paths the two of them took, and Henry knew for a fact that Joey wasn’t the type for repetition. He liked change and surprises. It’s why he never planned anything.

So why did he insist on this never changing loop, this continuous song and dance that had to be driving both of them up a wall by now?

A snarl behind him made him turn around sharply; the Demon was behind him,baring its fangs. It took a step forward, and Henry took a step back, stumbling over the large gears that made up the steps to the throne. It advanced again, and Henry found himself backed up into the office chair serving as the seat. The Ink Demon reared its arm back, and Henry hurled himself over the edge of the chair, hitting the floor roughly as the demon’s claws tore through its throne. It simply sniffed at the damage, not seeming too concerned, before it turned its attention back on Henry.

Henry shot to his feet as the demon approached him once again, growling. The animator backed up, hitting the wall behind him, hands gripping the End reel.

Now acutely aware that he was still holding it, he looked down at it.

He heard a sniff in front of him and looked up; The Ink Demon had its non-existent eyes on the reel as well.

Then it reached for it.

Henry jerked it away before the demon could grab it, and it snarled, moving to claw at the artist again, and Henry threw himself out of the way, barely managing to stay on his feet. He heard its claws rake across the wall where he had been standing, followed by a roar. It wheeled on him stomping towards him, fangs bared and horns back, but it still seemed focused on the reel.

The Ink Demon wanted the reel. Henry couldn’t discern why, but he knew he couldn’t let it have it.

But he didn’t want to play it either. That would just put him back at the start.

One step forward, 10 steps back.

Henry couldn’t win with the reel, but he knew the Ink Demon could. He had seen the storyboards in Joey’s apartment; If the demon got the reel and destroyed it, it would win. But if Henry played the reel, both of them lost. There was no way around it.

As the demon stomped towards Henry, the artist backed up, circling around the throne. He had to buy himself time to think. But the Ink Demon was getting impatient, and Henry wasn’t coming up with any ideas.

Henry was an artist, sure; He had created Boris, Alice, and Bendy himself. But he couldn’t write the stories. He couldn’t dream up the plots of the cartoons. That had all been…

Joey.

For the first time in his life, Henry found himself asking a question he never imagined he would:

What would Joey do?

Ever impulsive and brash Joey Drew. He never had a plan, but in the spur of the moment, he could darn well make you believe he had one.

And if Joey didn’t want someone to get something, he’d do anything necessary to keep it out of their reach.

Henry tripped backwards, having wandered a bit too close to the throne and caught his leg on one of the gear steps. He hit the ground with a grunt, and he heard the demon make a noise akin to a snicker as it approached, not in a hurry at all. Henry scrambled back, but the demon was advancing fast. So, Henry did the first self-preservating thing that came to mind:

He threw the reel at the demon.

The reel bounced off the demon’s head, right between where its eyes should be, and it shrieked, jerking back and covering its face with one hand. Henry watched the reel skitter away, then scrambled to his feet, running over to it and picking it back up. It’s plastic casing was cracked, the label now hanging on by one piece of tape. Henry stared at the damage for a moment, before a howl behind him made him face the Ink Demon again.

Now or never. He’d pissed off the demon, and now he had no more chances.

Not even looking at the demon, Henry raised the reel above his head. The Ink Demon made an almost alarmed noise, quickly picking up on Henry’s intentions.

Making a sound that almost resembled a ‘NO!’, the Ink Demon rushed at Henry, and in that same moment, the animator threw the reel down with every bit of strength he could muster.

The plastic casing shattered, there was a shriek, and everything went white.

Chapter Text

Henry groaned, eyes tightly closed. His head was killing him.

Had the demon managed to run him over?

Pushing himself into a sitting position, Henry rubbed his head and clenching his jaw as the pain in his brain spiked, then it vanished. Then he opened his eyes, and he felt his heart sink.

He was back.

Back at the beginning.

But… He hadn’t gone through Joey’s apartment. Henry looked around, confused beyond belief. This was the studio. This was where he began the loop, right in front of the entrance. He could see the main lobby of the studio, and the one projector that was on, displaying nothing but a glowing white square.

So why didn’t he go through Joey’s apartment? Why didn’t he have to sit through the long tirade his old friend went on, before walking through the door in his kitchen and into the studio? Shaking his head, Henry stood up, taking the seeing tool off his belt. He scanned around the small hallway of the entrance with it. None of the messages were different. The tally marks, the ‘I’M SORRY BUDDY’ written over the Sheep Songs poster, and the arrows telling him to turn back were all still there, glowing in gold. Henry sighed, putting the seeing tool away, and moving his glasses to rub his eyes.

“Well, back to the old grind…” he said to nobody, putting his glasses back in place and starting forward. He didn’t bother with snooping around. He had done that in countless other loops, and never found anything new.

Except for that odd secret room behind one of the Sheep Songs posters. He still didn’t know what that was about, or who that… person in there was. Henry didn’t bother questioning it. It was probably some little secret left for him to find. Something new.

So, he made his way to the Ink Machine.

As he walked into the room, he felt a shift in the atmosphere. He couldn’t tell what was different, but it put him on edge. Changes that were hardly perceptible yet glaringly obvious never seemed to be a good thing in this god forsaken studio.

Henry leaned over the railing, staring into the dark, cavernous opening he knew held the Ink Machine, the chains that kept it suspended vanishing into the pitch black. Henry was acutely aware of the hidden words beneath his feet, witten on the ground in invisible gold.

‘THERE NEVER WAS A CHOICE’

Henry collected the dry cells needed for the lift, plugged them in, and pulled the lever.

Even if he had seen it a thousand times before, seeing the Ink Machine never ceased to fill him with awe, though, he suspected that was the intended result.

He stared at the machine for a long while. Having learned its intended purpose over the span of the loops, he knew he couldn’t completely blame the machine for all that had happened.

After all, the blame didn’t fall to one singular person, as much as he wished it would. Henry knew there was a lot more than what was on the surface. Anyone else would look at what happened in the studio and pin the blame to Joey without hesitation. But Henry knew that the machine wasn’t all Joey’s doing. Sure, he was the catalyst for its creation, but he didn’t build it. That blame fell to the Gent company repairman Henry kept finding tapes from; Thomas Connor. He could tell Thomas even knew something was up with the machine, with the things it spit out, but he never made any attempts to put a stop to it.

None of this was in perfect black and white. It was more like a muddled blotch of ink that had been smeared around and had water poured on it, causing it to bleed into various shades of grey.

Henry shook his head.

Or maybe, he just wasn’t the type to pin blame on a single person. There were factors one had to take into consideration.

Henry stepped away from the railing,

Then stopped.

He heard something, faintly.

Whistling?

Henry turned towards the door, head tilted. It was the Bendy opening theme. The only time he ever heard it was after that projector in the theater turned on by itself. But it shouldn’t be on yet.

Henry quickly walked out of the Ink Machine room, following the whistling. It led him all the way back to the animation department.

Henry walked past his old desk, brushing his hand over the worn wood as he did. It was pretty much the same as he’d left it. His name was still carved into it near the bottom.

“I wasted so much time in this chair…” He said quietly. Then he turned to walk into the animation department.

At first, he didn’t see the source of the whistling, and was about to call himself crazy and move on. Then he saw a flicker of movement at one of the desks.

He looked over, and felt his jaw involuntarily drop.

Sitting at one of the artist desks was a little demon, its head hunched down and its tail swinging like a metronome to its whistling. It was happily scribbling away, having not seen Henry staring at him in disbelief.

Henry couldn’t believe it. It was an almost perfect Bendy. The Bendy he knew didn’t have a tail, but honestly, Henry couldn’t complain. He’d take anything over the Ink Demon.

Henry took a small step forward to get a closer look, and he heard the old wood creak loudly under his feet. The whistling abruptly stopped, as did Bendy’s pencil. Henry considered trying to quickly back out of the room, but the demon’s head was already up and looking at him, and Henry could see another thing that made him an imperfect copy of the toon. His eyes; they were more realistic, yet still toonish, with orange irises and pie-cut pupils, accompanied by dark rings under them.

The toon and the artist stared at each other for a moment, both of them wide-eyed. Then the toon darted off his seat and into the boarded up restroom nearby.

“Wait!” Henry called out, scurrying after him. The animator frantically peeked through the slats in the boards, trying to see the little demon. He was clearly hiding behind the cutout that was in there, as evident by the tail coming out from behind it.

“I know you’re in there. I can see your tail.”

The tail slunk behind the cutout. Henry sighed, shaking his head, though he couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Listen, I’m not going to hurt you.” Henry said, making his voice as gentle as possible. “My name is Henry. Henry Stein.”

Henry went silent as the small demon peeked out from behind the cutout.

“Henry…Stein?” Bendy said, tilting his head as he stared at the animator. “I… I know that name.”

“I used to work here.” Henry responded. “I-”

The demon was in Henry’s face in an instant, causing him to jolt and back up a bit.

“You created me, right???” Bendy asked excitedly. Henry nodded, and the demon’s grin grew wider. He crawled out of the boards, standing before Henry and looking up at him happily. “I can’t believe it! I get to meet my creator!”

The little demon was bouncing in place, and Henry couldn’t help but smile.

“At least you’re happy to see me.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? You made me! You made all of us!”

“Us?”

“Yeah! Me, Alice, and Boris!”

Henry tilted his head. He was sure Joey had taken credit for the characters.
“How do you know that?”

“Easy! Your desk! The sketches! Oh, and the stuff in Joey’s office!”

Ok, that made sense. His desk did seem to be untouched, at least his old sketches were, and Joey would definitely have any other works of his. But Joey’s office was several floors below them, all the way down in administration. How the little demon made it all the way up to animation was a mystery to Henry. But really, he didn’t care. He was here, and he was new.

This had never happened in the countless loops Henry had been in. The only Bendy he had ever encountered was the Ink Demon, and he definitely wasn’t happy to see Henry. Or anyone for that matter. But now, there was a little three and a half foot tall demon standing before him, as giddy as could be at his arrival. It was… kind of heartwarming.

“Whaddya doing back here though?” Bendy asked as he stopped bouncing, tilting his head. “Didn’t you leave a long time ago?”

Henry sighed, rubbing his neck.

“I was invited back by Joey.” Henry said, letting his arm drop. “And now I’m stuck here.”

“I’m sure we can get you out! You try the door yet?”

Henry couldn’t hold back a snicker.

“Yes. Yes, I have. It’s locked.”

“It can’t be locked, it’s the front door!”

And like that, Bendy was trotting off. Henry actually did a double take before he realized the demon was walking off and followed. It didn’t take but a few quick steps to catch up.

“I’m telling you, Bendy. It’s locked.”

“No way. Who locks the front door to their studio so people can’t get out?”

‘Someone who doesn't want anyone to leave.’ Henry thought, but he didn’t say it out loud.

They got to the door, and Bendy walked over to it while Henry hung back. The demon reached up and twisted the handle, only for it to stop a quarter of the way. He frowned and jiggled the knob a bit, then rattled it insistently. Henry had to cover his mouth so he wouldn’t laugh as the toon turned to him.

“Ok, maybe it is locked.”

Henry snorted.

“No really?” He said through his hand.

“I didn’t think you were serious!”

Henry couldn’t hold back a laugh this time, though it was muffled by his hand.

“Hey! Don’t laugh at me unless I'm actually being funny!”

“I mean, it’s pretty funny to me.”

“Well, it ain’t to me!”

Henry laughed again, moving his hand away from his mouth.

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up, Stein!”

Bendy tried to open the door again, just frustrating himself further while Henry laughed, then he threw his hand up with a huff, turning to the animator again.

“Ok! It’s locked! What do you propose we do now, wise guy???”

Henry let his laughter die down into chuckling, composing himself as the toon demon impatiently tapped his foot, hands on his hips.

“Well,” Henry started once he’d calmed down. “I was going to start up the Ink Machine before I heard you whistling.”

Bendy stopped tapping his foot, giving Henry an incredulous look.

“Start up the Ink Machine? Now why would you wanna do that?” the demon asked, tilting his head. Henry shrugged. Even after all these loops, he didn’t know why he always felt so compelled to turn on the machine even after he had learned what came out of it.

“I just feel like I have to.” Henry admitted.

Bendy looked at him for another moment, then shrugged.

“Eh. Not like I have anything better to do. What needs to be done?”

Henry was a little surprised that Bendy was just ready to help him like that, especially since it came to the Ink Machine. He figured everything in the studio was afraid of it, or at least knew just what came out of it. But the little demon was looking at him expectantly, either oblivious to the horror the machine would unleash, or just ignorant. Henry didn’t know which was worse.

“Well… We have to get the items for the pedestal room-”

“Oh, I know what you’re talking about!” Bendy interrupted. “I’ve been in that room, I know what to get.”

“You know where to find it?” Henry asked. The toon nodded in response. Henry nodded back. “Ok, how about… I get the wrench, the cog and the plushy?”

“Sounds good to me! That leaves the well, the book, and the record, right?” Henry nodded, and the demon’s grin grew wider. “Alright, leave it to me, Henry!”

And with that, the toon scampered off.

The moment he was gone, Henry let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair.

What was he supposed to do about this?

He wasn’t going to lie; He already enjoyed the little demon’s company. He made Henry genuinely laugh for the first time in a long time. But what was he supposed to do with him after they turned the machine on? The Ink Demon would be after Henry then, and he didn’t want to put Bendy in danger.

Henry shook his head. Might as well cross that bridge when they got to it.

And to do that, they needed to turn on the machine.

Henry went to get the wrench first. He always hated seeing the torn open Boris clone on the dissection table. It always made him think of Buddy.

Henry walked up to the poor wolf and pulled the wrench out of its empty chest, giving it a small pat on the snout before walking out of the room. Then he went to the Ink Machine room to get the cog. Simple enough, since it was just sitting in the box he’d found one of the dry cells in. Then he went to get the plush. He walked into the theater and picked up the doll, giving it a small squeeze. It squeaked, and Henry smiled a bit. Then he was on his way.

Items in tow, Henry headed to the pedestal room, finding that Bendy was already in there and had his items placed on their pedestals.

“What took ya so long?” The little demon teased, though he tried to look innocent. Henry just shook his head with a small smile and placed his items in their places.

“Alright, now we just have to fix the pressure.”

“That’s in the theater, right?”

“Yeah, it is.” Henry turned to the little demon. “You really know your way around here, huh?”

“Been here a long time.” Bendy said with a shrug. “You end up learning the place like the back of your hand.”

“Yeah... Guess you would.”

“Yeah…” For a second, Bendy’s mood seemed to sour, before he perked right back up. “Race you there!”

Bendy was off like a shot, and with a surprised “Hey!”, Henry took off after him.

Needless to say, Bendy made it before he did.

“Bendy,” Henry said once he caught up to the demon. “You can’t just run off like that.”

“Eh, I’ll be fine.” The toon said, waving his hand dismissively. “Nothin’ can catch me.”

“Fair enough, given how small you are.”

“Hey now!” Bendy interjected. “I’m not small. ‘Sides, you don’t seem to have much reach in the height department yourself.”

“At least I can reach the top shelf.” Henry said, walking around the demon, and going over to the pressure valve and turning it.

“Now listen- whOA-!” The toon’s snappy comeback was cut off when a nearby ink pipe burst and started flooding the floor. He quickly hopped up on a chair.

“Whoops, forgot it might do that.”

“Sure ya did, Henry.”

Henry chuckled, then picked up the little demon, carrying him safely to dry ground before setting him back down.

“You’re a devious old man, you now that?” Bendy said as the pair headed back towards the pedestal room.

“Says the demon.”

“Hey, I’m a nice demon!”

“Last I checked, you like to pull pranks on anyone you come across.”

“Well, I can’t be nice all the time.”

“You could give it a shot. Then maybe Alice wouldn’t be so mad all the time.”

“Eh she just doesn’t like fun.”

Henry gave a small “mhmm” as they walked back into the pedestal room. The artist went over to the switch, taking a hold of it, then hesitated.

What would happen now?

He had Bendy with him, a nearly perfect one at that. There was no way he’d be able to take him through everything he went through in the loops, right? Especially with the Ink Demon on his trail. Something told Henry that the Ink Demon wouldn’t appreciate the existence of another Bendy, especially one so close to what the Ink Demon was supposed to be.

“Henry?”

Bendy’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked at the toon.

“You ok?” Bendy asked. He looked worried, wringing his hands. “You looked… out of it for a second there.”

Henry stared at him for a moment, then blinked, shaking his head.

“I’m alright. Sorry.”

Bendy looked unconvinced, but he nodded, and he was back to smiling. Henry smiled back, then he turned back to the lever and pulled it.

All the lights dimmed, power being redirected to the Ink Machine, and Henry could hear the ink now churning through the walls. Faintly in the distance, he could hear the machine working. Bendy looked around at their now darkened surroundings, then moved closer to Henry.

“Well this just got creepy.”

“Yeah, a little…” Henry had grown used to the lights dimming, but it never failed to fill him with dread, knowing what came next.

“The Ink Machine should be on now, right?”

“Yeah. We can go look if you want.”

“I mean, it’d be a waste to not see it right?” Bendy said with a shrug. “Come on, let’s go.”

Henry couldn’t help but notice a little hesitance in the demon’s voice, but before he could bring it up, Bendy was already on his way, so Henry just quietly followed.

As they got closer to the Ink Machine room, Henry could see Bendy grow more wary, his tail lashing from side to side nervously.

“Wha-? Why’s it all boarded up???” The little demon said, upon seeing the now haphazardly boarded entrance to the Ink Machine room.

“I don’t know.” Henry said, and he genuinely didn’t. He never knew why the room was blocked off after he turned the machine on. He wasn’t even sure who was boarding it up. Surely not the Ink Demon, right? Though the image of the Demon trying to hastily nail up the wooden planks before Henry arrived did make him crack up on multiple occasions.

Henry moved towards the boards, and Bendy thankfully hung back. Henry knew what was coming, but it still got him every time.

As soon as he was in reach of the boards, the Ink Demon lunged at him through the gap between them in an attempt to grab him, causing him to jolt back and fall to the floor.

“Henry!!!”

In a flash, Bendy was next to him, trying to help him up by pulling on his arm. The Ink Demon stared at them, and Henry found himself frozen for once. It was usually a scare then the Demon would vanish as Henry ran for the exit. It never lingered. But now, it was staring at both Henry and Bendy, its grin twitching as it tilted it’s head.

Then, to Henry’s horror, it began to push on the boards, filling the air with the sound of splintering wood.

Henry was up then, scooping up Bendy with one arm as he started running. He heard the Ink Demon shred the boards behind them with a snarl, followed by the uneven thumping of its disfigured legs as it chased after them. The pipes began bursting around them, and Henry held Bendy closer to him, not wanting the little demon to get drenched. The toon curled up in his hold.

Henry could see the exit up ahead.

Just a little farther. Surely the Ink Demon wouldn’t follow them.

Just a few feet from the door, the ground under Henry cracked and splintered, falling away. Henry dropped into the newly created hole, and Bendy yelped in surprise, latching onto Henry as the pair went into a free fall.

They didn’t fall for long.

Henry’s back hit the ground and he coughed from the sudden impact.

“Henry?!”

Bendy squirmed out of the animator’s arms, standing next to him and leaning over his face. He looked panicked, toonish eyes wide.

“Henry are you ok?!”

Henry groaned, sitting up.

“I’m alright, Bendy.” Henry said, giving the worried demon a small smile. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“We fell through the floor Henry!”

“But we’re alive.”

Henry stood up, feeling his back pop, and he held back a wince. Then he looked down at Bendy, who still had a worried expression on his face.

“Bendy, I’m ok. I promise you.”

“Yeah yeah, I heard you. Doesn’t mean I can’t be worried about you.”

Henry smiled and patted the demon’s head, causing him to pout.

“Don’t be like that.” Henry said, picking up the little demon, who squirmed in protest.

“Nooooooooo! Henryyyyy, put me doooown!”

“Nope. Not until you stop pouting.”

Bendy huffed, still pouting, but he resigned himself to being carried.

Henry continued forward, vaguely remembering that the room should be flooded, but he honestly couldn’t care. It was probably better that it wasn’t flooded. He wasn’t sure how resilient Bendy was to the ink, and he didn’t want to find out the hard way.

Turns out, none of the rooms that were supposed to be flooded were, as though someone ahead of Henry had drained them. Henry silently thanked whoever had.

They came to the little workshop that was a few flights down, the words ‘THE CREATOR LIED TO US’ written on the wall. Henry set Bendy down, and the little demon sighed in relief. The animator then took the seeing tool out of his pocket and held it up in front of him, pointed at the words.

‘I LIED TO THEM’

Henry lowered the tool in surprise, looking at the words without the gold ink scrawled over them. Then he checked the hidden message again. He could have sworn it said ‘Joey lied to us’ the last few times he went through.

“Who lied?”

Henry jolted, having forgotten he had a companion for a moment. He turned to Bendy, who was looking up at him and waiting for an answer.

“I… don’t know.” Henry said.

“Well, what’s that thing?” Bendy asked, pointing at the seeing tool.

Henry looked at the tool, then at Bendy, then back at the tool. Usually, he didn’t have to worry about explaining the tool to anyone, since no one was around to ask. He wasn’t even sure that he should share it with anyone. But he looked back at Bendy, who was still waiting expectantly, then he held out the tool to the demon.

Henry could trust him.

“It’s a seeing tool.” Henry explained as the toon took the tool, looking through it. “There are hidden messages on the walls. That lets me see them.”

“Do you know who’s leaving them?” Bendy asked, looking at the message on the wall.

“No. I don’t even know who made the tool.”

Bendy made a ‘huh’ noise, lowering the tool. Then he held it back out to Henry. He reached for it, then stopped. Then he lowered his hand.

“Know what, why don’t you hold onto it for me?” Henry said, picking up the axe that was on a nearby work table. “Don’t let it get broken.”

Bendy looked at him incredulously, then at the tool.

“Alright, but I make no promises.” the demon said, and Henry smiled.

Henry cleared the boards off the doorway out of the room, and the pair continued forward, Henry hacking up any planks in their path. Bendy followed along behind, looking at the walls and floor with the seeing tool. Up ahead, Henry could see the ritual room, and he faltered for a moment. He really didn’t want Bendy to see him pass out.

As they got closer to the room, Henry could feel the room around them shake, especially as he got closer to the sigil in the middle of the small space. The animator felt a sharp tug on the back of his sweater and he looked over his shoulder. Bendy had his tail loosely wrapped around himself, and he looked extremely uneasy.

“Henry, I don’t think we’re supposed to be in here.”

Henry looked back at the sigil, then at Bendy. He gave the toon a wary smile.

“It’ll be ok.” Henry said, though he wasn’t sure how believable it sounded. He continued forward, but Bendy hung back. The moment Henry stepped foot into the circle, he felt a sharp pain stab him in the head as visions flashed in front of him - a wheelchair, the Ink Machine, the Ink Demon - then he dropped, blacking out.

The last thing he heard was Bendy shouting his name.

Chapter Text

    “Henry??? Henry!!!” 

Henry groaned, rubbing his head.

“Wh… What happened?” Henry asked, sitting up and opening his eyes. Bendy was standing next to him, a mixture of worry and anger on his face.

“What happened??? You passed out, Henry! I told you we shouldn’t be here, but you went and stepped into the creepy circle! Of all the things you should not have done, you did the thing you should not have done! ” Bendy shouted. The little toon soon started going on a full-blown rant, pacing back and forth with exaggerated gestures, and Henry tuned him out, not really in the right headspace to be lectured at the moment, looking around. He had been dragged out of the sigil, and his axe was leaning against one of the two coffins propped up on a wall. Bendy was still holding the seeing tool as he paced back and forth in front of Henry. 

“- and I thought you might’ve died! You just dropped like a rock and laid there! I was so worried about you!” The demon stopped pacing, rant tapering off as he turned to Henry. His angry expression dropped, and instead, he looked scared. “I… I was worried.” Bendy’s tail drooped and the demon looked at the ground. 

Henry reached over and patted the little demon on the head, making him look up.

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like that,” Henry opened his arms, a small smile on his face. “I won’t do it again. I promise.”

Bendy looked at him for a moment, then he wrapped his arms tightly around him. Henry returned the hug, patting the toon’s head again.

“You wanna get going?” Henry asked after a minute, letting go of Bendy. The demon backed up a little, nodding. Henry nodded back, standing up. He wobbled a bit, having to use the wall next to him to support himself, then he went and got his axe.

“Who’s Sammy?”

Henry looked towards Bendy, looking over his shoulder; The demon was looking through the seeing tool at a wall by the door, the words ‘SAY HELLO TO SAMMY’ shining through the glass. 

“You… don’t know who Sammy is?”

“Well,” Bendy lowered the tool. “The name sounds familiar. I just can’t place it.”

There was an edge to Bendy’s voice, but Henry couldn’t figure out what it was. It gave him an odd feeling, but he shoved it aside. Maybe he was just overthinking it.

“Sammy was the old music director,” Henry said. “And an old friend.”

“What happened to him?”

“I’m… not sure.”

Henry had never figured out what happened to Sammy. He didn’t know what caused him to go from the bitter and cynical composer he knew well to the disillusioned prophet who would ultimately attempt to sacrifice him to the Ink Demon. Henry assumed he had died and come back like everyone else had, but Sammy was just so… different from the other ink creatures he’d seen. He wasn’t a toon, but he wasn’t really a Lost One either. Something had to have been different. 

“I guess whoever left this knew him though,” Bendy said.

“I guess so,” Henry said, then hacked the boards off the door leading out of the room.

Bendy looked around the room with the tool again.

“H-Hey, there are names on the coffins!”

Henry looked over at Bendy again; the little toon was looking through the glass at the coffins propped up against the wall. Henry had honestly forgotten about the names. After the first few loops, he’d stopped looking. They never changed. None of the messages did.

Bendy had this look on his face; It was hard to place what it was exactly, but it wasn’t positive. His eyes were a little wide and his brow was scrunched up, and he was frowning. His tail was still, lying on the ground.

“Do you know who... Norman and Grant are…?” The toon asked, quietly.

“I… know who Norman is, but not Grant,” Henry said. He had passing knowledge of Grant Cohen; he knew he was the studio accountant, and that he probably died in a very gruesome manner if the tape in his office was anything to go by. He did, however, know Norman. “Norman was the studio’s projectionist. He was a nice guy, even if some of his jokes were a little… dark.”

“The projectionist, huh…?” Bendy muttered, then he shook his head. “We should probably keep going, right?”

“Bendy… is something wrong?”

Bendy looked over at him with a puzzled look.

“Huh? Whaddya mean? I’m alright. It’s just, uhhh… ” Bendy looked back at the coffins. “These things are kinda filling me with dread.”

“That’s… understandable,” Henry said, opening the door. “Would it make you feel better if we were out of the same room as them?”

“Oh, definitely. One hundred percent.”

Henry smiled a bit, then went through with Bendy right behind him. 

They went down the stairs, a sign above them reading “Utility Shaft 9”, finding themselves in a dim, candlelit room.

“Well, this is cheery,” Bendy muttered, looking around. “Quite the party.” His tail perked up when his eyes landed on a tape recorder on a small outcropping serving as a small desk, and he went over to it, hopping up on the chair beside it and picking up the tape. “Hey, this’s got Sammy’s name on it!”

Henry looked at the tape a bit apprehensively. That tape never failed to make him shudder. But, he didn’t think he could find a reason for Bendy to not play it without explaining the loops, and he was pretty sure they weren’t ready for that talk just yet.

“Well, go ahead and play it.”

Bendy pressed the button, and nothing happened.

“You need to rewind it, bud.”

“Oh.”

Bendy rewound the tape and pressed play again, a calm, silky voice slithering out of it.

“He appears from the shadows to rain his sweet blessings upon me. The figure of ink that shines in the darkness. I see you, my savior. I pray you hear me. Those old songs…  yes, I still sing them. I know you are coming to save me. And I will be swept into your final loving embrace. But, love requires sacrifice. Can I get an amen?”

The tape ended with a click.

Henry waited for the question to be repeated, not from the tape, but from the wall directly behind him. 

But, there was nothing but silence and the distant dripping of ink from the pipes. Finally, Bendy broke the silence.

“Y’know… I feel like something was supposed to happen there,” He said, setting the tape back down.

“Yeah…” Henry rubbed the back of his neck. The silence was somehow worse than Sammy’s voice creeping out of the walls. Bendy held up the seeing tool, looking around. Henry caught a brief glimpse of the word ‘DECEIVED’ above Sammy’s tape.

“So, Sammy here a religious type?” Bendy asked, lowering the seeing tool when nothing caught his eye.

“He wasn’t when I last saw him,” Henry said. “He believed there was a God but he never really cared for worship or prayer.”

“Not what that sounded like to me,” Benry gestured to the tape. “But something tells me he wasn’t talking about God.”

“He wasn’t. He was talking about the Ink Demon.”

“Yeah, gathered as much,” Bendy said, hopping off the chair and trotting back over to Henry. “With the whole ‘figure of ink’ thing.”  He looked up at him. “So, we keep goin’?”

Henry nodded.

“Yeah, we keep going.”

And the pair continued on.

As they passed two more coffins, coffins Henry knew were labeled with the names of Bertrum Piedmont and Lacie Benton, Bendy kept his eyes on the floor, trying to ignore them. It gave Henry an odd feeling. Bendy was so bothered by them, but he himself really… wasn’t. He never thought about it. It never affected him. Henry decided to assume it was because of the loops, that he’d seen them so much he’d just gotten numb.

They stopped in front of a hallway flooded with ink, and Bendy grimaced. 

“Eughh, that doesn’t look good,” he said, looking into the black sludge. “I don’t think I could walk through that.”

“But, I could,” Henry said, then promptly scooped Bendy up, making the little demon yelp, and continued forward, stepping into the ink. He sank in almost up to his knees and had to fight back the urge to cringe. He always hated having to step in the ink; it felt like thick mud more often than it did liquid, and it always felt like it was pulling at his clothes, trying to drag him in. Which it probably was.

He waded his way through, and Bendy held onto his tail so it wouldn’t drag in the ink.

They got about halfway down the hallway, and Henry looked up from the sludge to the doorway up ahead, expecting to see a masked figure carrying a cutout walk past, muttering to himself. But the doorway remained empty. No figure, no voice, nothing.

Now Henry was thoroughly worried.

They made it to the other side, and Henry pulled his legs out of the murky gunk and stepped onto dry land. Bendy hopped out of his arms, glancing around then up at Henry.

“You good there?” Bendy asked, tilting his head. “You look bothered.”

Henry looked down at him, trying to come up with a split-second excuse.

“Yeah, I'm alright. Just the ink in my shoes,” the animator said, giving the demon a small smile. Bendy made a face, sticking his tongue out.

“ Ick, shouldn't have asked.”

Henry chuckled, shifting the axe in his hand slightly. Bendy’s eyes flickered to the Bendy cutout up against the wall. Then he turned to Henry with a grin.

"Hey. Hit that thing with the axe."

Henry looked at Bendy, then at the cutout, knowing full well that the cutout was just going to reassemble itself while their backs were turned. But he shrugged, then smashed the cutout into pieces with a single blow. Bendy cackled.

"Good riddance! I hate those creepy things!"

'You're about to hate them a lot more.' Henry thought. 

"Alright, let's go. That's all I wanted." Bendy said, starting down the hallway. Henry followed for a moment, then looked over his shoulder.

“Oh, would you look at that.”

“Look at wh-” Bendy turned around, then sputtered. The cutout was in one piece, grinning at them. “What the hell?!”

Henry snorted, covering his mouth. Bendy stared at the cutout, then stomped over and knocked it down. 

“Stay down, you creep!” He stomped back over to Henry, grabbing his hand and spinning him so his back was to the cutout, then the little demon looked over his shoulder and threw his hands up in frustration. “Oh, come on!”

Looking over his shoulder as well, Henry could see the cutout standing upright again, still grinning maniacally. Henry started snickering. He couldn’t help but laugh. Bendy went back up to the cutout, picked it up, then tossed it into the ink-filled hallway, dusting his hands off as he watched it sink into the ink.

“Good riddance!” he shouted, then walked back over to Henry.

“Feel better?” Henry asked, still chuckling.

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up, old man!”

“Oh, come on, don’t be like that,” Henry said as he continued forward, Bendy following.

“I’ll be like however I want!” Bendy huffed, crossing his arms.

“Sure thing, bud.”

The pair walked up to a large roll-up garage door with a lever beside it. Bendy looked at the door, then looked at Henry.

“Yeah, I don’t think either of us could lift that.”

“We gotta get power to this gate somehow,” Henry said, looking at the lights by the lever. “Should be a couple switches nearby.” He turned to Bendy. “You wait here. I’ll go find them, and when those three lights turn on, pull the lever.”

Bendy grinned and playfully saluted the old animator.

“You got it, chief!”

Henry gave him a smile, then went to find the switches. The first was behind the bacon soup cans by the cutout, or more accurately, where the cutout had been. Bendy would probably be pleased to know that the cutout hadn’t returned to its original spot. The next was in the hall near the coffins of Bertrum and Lacie, and the last was right next to them. Faintly, he could hear the door rattling open, and he smiled to himself.

Once he made it back to Bendy, the toon was bouncing nervously on his feet next to the now open door.

“Something wrong, Bendy?” Henry asked, and the demon stopped bouncing.

“Yeah, this uh… this place kinda gives me a bad feeling,” Bendy replied, wringing his hands.

Henry looked at the boarded-up door, knowing exactly how Bendy felt, especially since he knew what lied ahead. But he gave Bendy a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry. If anything happens, well,” Henry shifted his axe between his hands. “I have this.”

Bendy looked uncertain for a moment, then he smiled.

“Yeah, you’re right! As long as you don’t throw out a hip swinging that thing,” Bendy chuckled, and Henry shook his head, though he was still smiling. He started hacking away the boards, and slipped through once there was enough room for him, the toon following right behind him.

“Kinda dark in here,” Henry said, looking around.

“Eh, I think my eyes are well adjusted to the dark,” Bendy said, also scanning the room. “But I mean, if your blind old man eyes need light-” Henry nudged the demon with his leg, making him chuckle.

“I’m not that old,” Henry said, walking towards the doorway labeled ‘stairs’. Bendy followed after him.

“Could’a had me fooled.”

Henry shook his head, then looked at the flooded stairs.

“If we wanna get out of here, we’ll have to drain the stairs,” Henry said, going over to the power switch on the wall and pulling it. The lights in the department started clicking on.

“There should be a way to drain it,” Bendy said, tapping his chin. “I’m pretty sure there’s valves everywhere for that reason. Maybe even a switch.”

Henry tried to not give Bendy too surprised of a look. That was exactly what they were after; a pump switch. Bendy looked up at him and shrugged.

“What? I’ve been down here a long time. And while I may be a dimwit in the show, but trust me, I got smarts!”

“Now I wouldn’t say you were a dimwit,” Henry said, “You just never thought before you acted.”

“Proud to say I still don’t! Thinkin’s for boring people!”

“Or people who don’t want to accidentally get hurt.”

“Oh, come on old man, live a little!”

As they stepped out of the stairwell, a large glob of ink dropped from the ceiling, landing with a wet splat in front of the music department sign. Bendy froze in place, grabbing Henry’s arm to make him stop too.

“I really don’t trust that-” he said, and Henry looked down at him, then back at the newly formed puddle.

“Neither do I,” Henry’s grip on his axe tightened. He knew full well what was going to spring out of that puddle. But it was unavoidable. “But we have to keep going.”

“Sure thing. If you walk ahead of me.”

Henry took a deep breath, then started forward, Bendy close behind as he held on to the back of Henry’s sweater.

With a growl, a vaguely humanoid shape sprung from the puddle, causing Henry to jump back, Bendy doing the same with a shout.

“Searchers!” Bendy yelled as more figures sprung from the surrounding puddles. “I told you this place gave me a bad feeling!”

The Searchers started crawling towards the pair, hissing. Bendy yelped as one reached for him, kicking it in the face and scrambling onto Henry’s shoulders, almost knocking the poor animator over.

“Ack- Bendy!”

“Sorry!” 

As another Searcher made a grab at Bendy, his tail lashed out, cracking it across the face. It garbled and fell back, melting into an ink stain on the ground and seeping back into the floorboards. As Henry batted the creatures aside with his axe, he was starting to realize that there were a lot more of them than usual. They had him and Bendy backed against a wall, and Henry was starting to worry they were losing the fight. Yet slowly, but surely, the Searchers began to thin out.

Giving one last knock to the head of a rather resilient Searcher, Henry looked around for the next attacker and found the room empty. After a moment, he lowered his axe.

“Bendy? You ok?”

There was really no reason for him to ask. The weight on his back was an answer all on its own.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good… You?”

“I’m alright, just a bit tired out.”

“Alright… if ya don’t mind, I’m gonna stay up here.”

“Fine by me.”

Not long after he finished that sentence, there was the sound of a wobbly tune starting up. Henry looked around, seeing the various speakers in the department shaking slightly as sound traveled through them. He sighed; at least that hadn’t changed.

“Hey, I know this song,” Bendy said, and Henry looked over his shoulder at him.

“You do?” He asked, and Bendy nodded.

“Yeah, I’ve heard it before! Just uh, can’t really remember where though. But I know I liked it!”

“‘Liked’ as in past tense?”

“Well, I do like it, I mean.”

Henry gave him a small smile.

“It’s called ‘Sammy Jam’ I’m pretty sure.” Henry started forward, skirting around an ink puddle that was still bubbling. “It was one of the first songs Sammy wrote for the show.” 

“And he named it after himself?”

“Well, yes and no. Joey tossed that name out as an idea, and Sammy didn’t want to worry about a name so he just went with it.”

“Speakin’ of Sammy,” Bendy said, then reached over to a tape sitting on a small shelf by the sign. “Found another tape of his. Think it’ll be as creepy as the last?”

Henry shrugged.

“Only one way to figure out.”

Bendy rewound the tape, then pushed play.

“So first, Joey installs this Ink Machine over our heads. Then it begins to leak. Three times last month, we couldn't even get out of our department because the ink had flooded the stairwell. Joey's solution? An ink pump to drain it periodically. Now I have this ugly pump switch right in my office. People in and out all day. Thanks, Joey. Just what I need. More distractions. These stupid cartoon's songs don't write themselves, y’know.”

There was a pause before Bendy spoke up.

“He sounds tired.”

Henry chuckled.

“He was.”

Bendy set the tape back on its shelf.

“At least he wasn’t holding some sermon,” he said. “Think that was before or after that last tape?”

“Oh, before, definitely,” Henry replied, walking up the stairs to the projector booth. “That’s the Sammy I knew. Bitter, sarcastic, and in desperate need of a nap.”

“Maybe several naps. Or just a really long one.”

Once they were up in the booth, Bendy hopped off his shoulders and onto the chair by the desk, looking over the edge of the booth’s window. Henry decided to pick up the tape on the desk instead, rewinding it and playing it, the rough southern accent that came out of it making Bendy look over.

“Every day the same strange thing happens. I'll be up here in my booth, the band will be swingin’ and suddenly Sammy Lawrence just comes marchin’ in and shuts the whole thing down. Tells us all to wait in the hall. Then I hear him. He starts up my projector, and he dashes from the projector booth and down to the recording studio like the little devil himself was chasin’ behind. A few seconds later, the projector turns off. But Sammy, oh no, he don't come out for a long time. This man is weird. Crazy weird. I have half a mind to talk to Mr. Drew about all this. But then again I have to admit that Mr. Drew has his own... peculiarities.”

Bendy tilted his head as Henry set the tape back down.

“Was that Norman?” he asked, and Henry turned to him.

“Yeah, it was.”

“Huh…” Bendy looked back over the edge of the window, down into the recording studio. “Sammy ran from all the way up here down to there? It’d be quicker to just jump.”

Henry snorted, covering his mouth. He hadn’t been expecting that. He then cleared his throat.

“Sammy would have probably broken his legs if he’d tried that. He wasn’t exactly the tallest person around.”

“What, was he shorter than you?”

“Pft, no-”

“Shorter than me, then.”

“No, no,” Henry said with a small laugh. “He was still taller than I am. Five-foot-six maybe.”

“And how tall are you?”

“Around five-four.”

“Pfft, small old man.”

“You’re one to talk,” Henry picked Bendy up, holding him under his arm like a football, and the little toon squirmed around.

“Henrrryyyyy! Stop picking me up!”

Henry pretended to ignore the demon, heading down the stairs of the booth. He then went down the hallway next to the entrance, towards Sammy’s office. Like many times before, the door to the office was blocked by a spray of ink from a busted pipe.

“Ooh, that don’t look good,” Bendy said, going still and dangling in Henry’s hold.

“Well, there’s the pump switch,” Henry gestured through the window of the office where the pump switch was visible on the back wall. “But that’s one hell of a leak blocking the door.”

Bendy gasped dramatically, and Henry looked down at him. The toon had his mouth wide open, his eyes just as wide. Henry raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?”

Bendy pointed at him, grinning.

“You said ‘Hell!’”

“Bendy, oh my god-”

“You said it! You cursed!”

“Bendy, you said it a few minutes ago.”

“Yeah, but I’m a demon! You’re a frail old man!” Bendy taunted, poking Henry in the side, causing him to accidentally drop Bendy on the ground. The toon made a squeak as he hit the hardwood, but he was still grinning.

“Henry cursed! Henry cursed!” he said in a sing-song voice.

“I’m an adult, I can curse if I want to.”

“Really?” Bendy hopped to his feet, getting a mischievous look on his face. “Say that word then.”

“Bendy, I’m not going to say that for no reason.”

“Oh come on!”

“No.”

“Fine then, I’ll say it!”

“Bendy-”

The demon took a deep breath, then let it all out with a shout.

“F@#$!”

There was silence, then Henry burst out laughing.

“Oh my god, you were censored !” He said between wheezes. “How did you even make that sound with your mouth????”

“You gotta be kidding me! That’s not fair!”

Henry had to support himself on a wall from how hard he was laughing, especially after Bendy tried to swear again, resulting in yet another sound effect and making Henry laugh harder. Bendy crossed his arms with a huff. 

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up, old man.”

Henry couldn’t respond with how hard he was laughing.

Bendy rolled his eyes, though he really wasn’t annoyed, then spotted a tape sitting on a shelf by the ink leak. He had to jump to reach it and grab it, but he managed to not fall in the ink and rewound the tape while Henry caught his breath, wiping his eyes as his laughs died down. Then Bendy pressed play.

“So I go to get my dustpan from the hall closet the other day and guess what? I can't find my stupid keys. It's like they disappeared into thin air or somethin’! All I can think of is that they must have fallen in one of the garbage cans as I was makin’ my rounds last week. I just hope nobody tells Sammy. Because if he finds out I lost my keys again, I'm outta here!”

Bendy looked at the tape for a second, then set it on the ground and went over to the closet on the other side of the hall. Testing the handle and finding it locked, he turned to Henry, who had finally calmed down.

“So, how many trash cans are down here?” he asked.

“Uh… quite a few I’m pretty sure.”

“Huh. Guess we better start lookin’ then.” Bendy looked around but found no trash bins in the immediate area. “You wanna split up?”

“If you’re ok with it.” 

“Alright, whoever finds the keys first wins!”

Bendy scampered off before Henry could respond, and the animator sighed.

“He’s going to get us separated one of these days.” the animator muttered to himself, then he began looking for trash bins.

And he was having some pretty rotten luck.

Every can he looked through was empty, save for a few crumpled, decades-old papers here and there. He was starting to think that he’d have to backtrack through the ink hall as he searched the bin in the recording room when he heard jingling above him. Looking up, he saw Bendy peering at him from the window of the projector booth, jangling a key ring.

“I found it! I win!”

Henry smiled a bit, standing up from the crouch he was in.

“Good job. Where were they?”

“Right here in the projector booth!”

Henry tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. They were never in the projector booth. He had completely forgotten that there was even a trash bin up there.

“Look out below!”

“Wh-! Bendy!”

Henry barely managed to catch the toon as he jumped from the projector booth, cackling.

“Don’t do that, Bendy!” Henry chastised the demon, setting him down. “You could have gotten hurt!”

“But I didn’t,” Bendy said with a wide grin. “And I got the keys! Come on, let’s get that closet open!”

The toon bounded off, and Henry followed after him. Upon getting to the closet, Bendy unlocked the door, opened it, stepped inside, then stepped out with a tape.

“Look what I found!” He said as he rewound it. “It’s another Sammy tape. The guy sure has a lot of tapes around, huh?”

“Well, this is his department,” Henry said. Then Bendy pressed play.

“Every artistic person needs a sanctuary. Joey Drew has his and I have mine. To enter you need only know my favorite song-” There was a sharp burst of static from the tape, making both Henry and Bendy wince. “Sing my song and my sanctuary will open to you.” There was more quiet static, then the tape clicked off.

“Well, that was helpful…” Bendy muttered sarcastically, rubbing where his ears would be if he had any. “You hear anything through that static?” Henry shook his head, also rubbing his ears. “Well, this is a problem.”

And it definitely was a problem. Usually, the tape would give him a random succession of instruments, though he wasn’t exactly sure how it changed every loop. Now, the tape sounded like the cassette inside was busted. How that could have happened, Henry had no idea, but it was a problem.

“Do you know Sammy’s favorite song?” Bendy asked, setting the tape next to Wally’s tape. Henry thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“It always changed. The one I remember from before I left is probably out of date.”

“Guess we better start looking for clues, huh?”

“I guess so.” Honestly, that sounded better than trying to find out the instrument combination by chance. The thought of trying every combination of instruments available sounded tiring to Henry, and he wouldn’t be able to think of a reason why they’d need to do that.

“Well, what’s in here?” Bendy said, gesturing to a door that was cracked open. Henry tilted his head in confusion. That door had been closed, last he checked, hadn’t it? But before he could say anything, Bendy pushed the door open completely, trotting through. Henry walked in after him.

It wasn’t a room Henry walked into often because he never really had a reason to. It was just a small L-shaped room with a desk in the back. The door had never been open before though, not until Henry had opened it himself and left it open. It already being ajar put him on edge.

Bendy looked around the room, then trotted over to the desk and began rifling through the drawers. Henry just looked around the room. Nothing had changed about the room; it was the exact same as it had been before.

“Ay, would ya look at that!” Bendy’s excited exclamation made Henry look over. The imp was proudly holding up a tape. Henry walked over, squinting at the slightly smudged name on the tape.

“Wanda… Rent?” Henry read aloud, then tilted his head. “Don’t think I’ve heard of her.” And he hadn’t. Through the countless loops, Henry had never heard that name or seen mention of her. He didn’t even know what position she held. Something in music clearly, but that’s all Henry had to work with at the moment. 

He also felt a bit… off. Was that tape always in that desk? Why hadn’t he thought to look in there before? How many other hidden tapes had he missed?

“Well, let’s see who she is!” Bendy said as he rewound the tape, then pressed play.

“Things’ve been getting pretty hectic around here, and not just in the music department. A lot of us hardly get a respite from the work, but eh, what can youse really do about it? I’m not about to go complaining to Joey and risk putting my foot in my mouth. Still though… Sammy’s been getting real irritable as of late, squawking his head off at the slightest inconvenience. Jack and I thought of a way to fix that though, thank God. We’re gonna head out after work, find him a record of that new song he’s been hooked on lately… eh… ‘Willow Weep for Me’ I think it was? That or we gotta find him somewhere quiet to work, before he blows his top clean off.”

The recorder clicked off. For a moment, Henry had thought it was another tape from Wally despite the name on it, but he quickly made the distinction between a Brooklyn accent and a New Jersey accent. From the sounds of things, Wanda worked pretty close to Sammy, close enough that she felt comfortable getting him a gift with the lyricist, Jack Fain, another close coworker of Sammy’s.

Speaking of which, the tape provided something else they needed; Sammy’s favorite song.

It took the Bendy ages to find a record of ‘Willow Weep for Me’.

Henry, however, had better luck finding an old gramophone than an old vinyl.

Henry waited in the band room for Bendy with the record player in his lap, absentmindedly twisting the crank back and forth. A quick glance around the room didn’t really yield much, though Henry couldn’t help but notice the place seemed a bit more… abandoned.

Yes, the place had never been in good shape in previous loops, but everything seemed a bit more worn down to Henry, like no one had been there in ages, save for the Searchers they had to deal with in the main room. That made Henry feel uneasy, especially with the absence of his usual Sammy sightings.

Just where was the old composer?

“Ha! I found it!”

Bendy’s voice echoing down the hallway snapped him out of his thoughts, making him look up just as the little toon ran in, holding an old dusty vinyl in his gloved hands. Henry smiled.

“Great. Now to see if this actually works.”

Henry took the record from Bendy, setting it on the gramophone and placing the needle carefully on it as the demon took off for the projector booth, the projector turning on soon after. Then he started turning the crank. The tune that came out was relaxing and calm, and Henry could see why Wanda and Jack thought it would help Sammy’s mood. He really hoped it had.

Henry stopped at the sound of the old garage door rattling open as the projector shut off. It still amazed him that Sammy could string all this together, but his old friend was smart enough to figure it out as he went, and he was clever. His only downfall was how bad the smallest inconvenience could set him off.

Henry stood up, setting the gramophone down and watching as Bendy ran back into the room, thankfully choosing not to leap from the projector booth again. The two of them walked into Sammy’s sanctuary.

“Sammy set this up himself?” Bendy asked, plucking the strings of a double bass as he walked past it.

“I guess so,” Henry replied. “Not much of a secret hideout if someone else knows about it.”

When they stepped into the main room, that uneasy feeling in Henry’s chest returned. The small little poem that was usually written on the wall was smudged out and unreadable, and the sanctuary looked just as abandoned as the band room, the cot in the corner looking like no one had slept on it in a while.

“This place has seen better days…” Henry muttered, and bendy nodded.

“Could use a bit of a clean up. Real dusty in here.”

In a moment of comedic timing, Bendy sniffed, then let out the loudest sneeze Henry had ever heard, his head shooting a few feet from his body from the force. When it settled back into place, both he and Henry stared at each other in stunned silence.

“I… wasn’t aware your head could do that,” Henry said, breaking the silence.

“Neither was I.” Bendy responded.

Bendy then shook his head and walked over to the flow valve on the wall, giving it a spin. The pipes in the walls creaked as the ink redirected itself, and Henry could faintly hear it draining out of the infirmary.

“That should do it!” Bendy said proudly, dusting off his hands, turning towards Henry, then stopped when something caught his eye. The demon hopped up onto the cot, causing a small bit of dust to fly up, then lifted the single flat pillow that was on it, revealing a tape.

“Another tape?” Henry walked over, picking it up. There wasn’t a name on it, and it looked a bit older than the other tapes they’d found so far. Henry rewound it, slightly surprised when Sammy's voice came out of it.

“ Everytime I turn around there’s more work to do. Four cartoons almost complete and all of them need a tune by tomorrow… Typical Joey planning. I’m working so much I’m starting to see Bendy in my sleep. That smile …  He’s always watching me. Few more months of this, I wouldn’t be surprised if that grinning demon drove me completely insane. That smile… something’s just wrong with that smile… Can’t put my finger on it….. Shake it off, Sammy. Best get back to your songs. Someone has to keep the little devil happy.”

The tape clicked off, and Henry stared at it. This tape disturbed him somehow, whether it was from the ‘seeing-Bendy-in-my-sleep’ thing or how Sammy flat out predicted his own future at the end, he didn’t know.

Both probably.

Bendy let out a huff, running a hand over his mouth.

“My smile’s not that bad is it?” He said, looking from the tape to Henry, then faltered seeing the look on the artist’s face. “Uh, Henry? You ok?”

Henry turned to the small demon with a ‘hm?’ still looking slightly on edge. Bendy looked at him for a moment, then gingerly took the tape he was still holding, putting it back where it had been and covering it once more.

“We should keep moving, right?” Bendy asked, putting on his biggest smile. Henry didn’t react for a moment, then he gave Bendy a soft yet strained smile in return.

“Yeah, we should.”

“Alright, let’s get a move on then!” Bendy said, hopping off the cot. Then he grabbed Henry’s hand and started dragging him out of the sanctuary. “We got a staircase to drain!”

Henry couldn’t help but smile, though something about being grabbed by the hand and dragged around struck a chord with him. He just couldn’t tell which one.

As Bendy pulled him out of the sanctuary, he faltered, coming to a stop.

“Henry… we got company.”

“I know, I see him.”

Sammy Lawrence had finally made an appearance.

The former composer stared at them silently from the viewing balcony above, standing completely still, not swaying the way Henry usually saw him. Then he tilted his head at the duo, head moving between Henry and Bendy. Then the cultist took a step back, turned on his heel, and walked away.

“Hey, wait-!” Henry shouted, starting forward, then was pulled back by his cartoon companion.

“Look out!”

A pack of Searchers crawled out of the floorboards, hissing and groaning. Henry lifted his axe as Bendy hopped back up to the safety of his shoulders.

“Here we go again,” the two of them muttered.

Thankfully, there weren’t as many ink creatures to take out this time, maybe even less than the previous loops. When Henry took out the last one, he looked back up to the balcony; Sammy hadn’t returned. Henry just sighed.

They had to keep going.

Bendy hopped off his shoulders as he walked out of the band room.

“Who was that guy?” Bendy asked. Henry waited a bit before answering.

“If I had to guess… Sammy.” He didn’t have to guess; he knew, but he couldn’t just tell Bendy that without an explanation. He might be able to chalk it up to how close they had been, but he didn’t want to test it, and he still didn’t want to explain the loops. Crazy things happened in the studio, but reliving the same events over and over? It was insane. “This is his department after all…”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. And the mask he was wearing might be with the whole worship thing.” Bendy frowned. “A bit sad though, seeing him like that.”

“Do you know what he looked like before?” Henry asked, looking down at the demon. Bendy shrugged.

“I don’t think I do. Mind telling me?”

Henry smiled a bit.

“Alright. Sammy was pale, had long blonde hair and blue eyes, and he liked to keep the collars of his shirts up.”

“Was he buff the last time you saw him? Because that guy was.”

Henry snorted, not exactly expecting that, and cleared his throat before responding.

“I, uh, don’t know. I never saw him with his shirt off.”

“Unfortunate.”

“Pfft- what?”

Bendy chose not to respond, hopping down the stairs into the infirmary instead. Henry followed, still incredulous.

He was even more surprised to find that the valve that was usually missing from its place was there, looking like it hadn’t been touched in years.

Bendy went over to it and spun it, dusting his hands off as the pipes burbled, ink redirecting through them.

“That’s that! The door should be ink free now- H- Henry, what’cha doin’?”

Henry pulled the lever by the valve, opening the door to the sewers.

“I just want to see what’s down there,” Henry said. “We’re in no rush right now. The ink pump will still be there.”

“Yeah, but the sewers?”

“Don’t you want to see if anything’s down there?”

Bendy huffed, putting his hands on his hips.

“Hey now, don’t go appealing to my curious nature! That’s not fair!” the toon chided. “And besides, I don’t want to go into the sewers !”

“Stay here then,” Henry said with a shrug, heading for the stairs down.

“Hey wait! You can’t leave me!”

Henry nearly toppled over as Bendy jumped on his back once more, using the wall to regain his balance. Looking over his shoulder and smiling, causing Bendy to huff and look away, Henry continued down the stairs.

It was silent, no groaning from the hat-wearing Searcher Henry usually encountered. Moving forward, Henry broke through the boards blocking the way and kept going, Bendy looking around as they went.

“Kinda empty down here huh?”

“Kind of.”

Bendy hopped off Henry’s back and onto the small outcropping running along the bottom of the wall, serving as a perfect walkway for the little demon.

They came upon a small hole-in-the-wall of a hideout, with one desk, a chair, and a violin. Bendy hopped up on the chair, picking up a tape that was sitting on the desk and rewinding it, pressing the play button.

“I love the quiet, and that's hard to come by these busy times. And yeah, sure, it may stink to high heaven down here, but it's just perfect for an old lyricist like me. Sammy's songs always got some bounce, but, uh, if I didn't get away once in a while, they'd never have any words to go with them. So I'll keep my mind a-singin’ and, uh, my nose closed.”

Bendy set the tape down, making a face.

“Who’d willingly spend their time down here? He’s right, it does stink to high heaven… and low hell for that matter.”

“Well, Wanda said it did get hectic around here. Can’t be easy writing lyrics for a cartoon with a bunch of noise around you.” Henry picked up the violin, plucking a few of the strings. It was horribly out of tune.

A groan made the pair’s heads snap up and Henry set the violin back down.

“What was that?” Bendy asked, eyes wide and darting around.

“Well… only one way to find out,” Henry said, then started continuing down the sewer tunnel. Bendy followed along behind, tail twitching nervously.

They came to the room with the levers and the box, and Henry tried not to shudder. He was really hoping he wouldn’t have to crush the swollen Searcher that was Jack Fain under that box again, especially since he now had a companion with him. Doing that by himself felt bad enough.

Bendy suddenly grabbed his arm and shook it.

“Henry- Henry look!” the toon whisper-shouted, pointing to the side of the box. Leaning to the side a bit, Henry could barely make out an inky blob behind it.

A blob with an old, faded bowler hat.

“Who is that?” Bendy asked, still whispering. Henry just shrugged in response. “He seems friendly…” Bendy continued “I’m gonna go try and talk to him.”

“You sure you want to try that? What if he attacks you?” Henry asked, whispering as well. He didn’t really believe that Jack would attack Bendy, at most he would slip into the ink and flee, but this run had already been so off the walls Henry wasn’t sure he wanted to take any chances. Bendy waved a hand dismissively.

“I’ll be fine. If anything happens I’ll run back over here. Or you can step in.”

And with that, Bendy started quietly making his way towards Jack.

Henry watched from where he was as Bendy crept towards the hat-wearing Searcher, careful to stay close to the wall and out of the ink.

“Hey there,” The toon said calmly once he was about a foot away from Jack. The Searcher made a panicked garble, only glancing at Bendy for a second before he tried to dive into the ink. “Hey hey, wait-! I just wanna talk!”

There was nothing for a second. No movement, no noise, not a thing. Then the ink rippled, and a goopy, hat adorned head poked out. Bendy’s grin somehow got wider, and he stuck his hand out to Jack.

“Hi, I’m Bendy!”

Jack looked at his hand, rising up out of the ink completely, then he took Bendy’s hand, shaking it with a gurgle. Bendy tilted his head.

“Jack? Jack Fain?”

“You can understand him?”

Henry clapped a hand over his mouth, not meaning to have said that out loud. Both Bendy and Jack were looking at him now, Jack seeming to be one wrong move away from booking it.

“Oh- Don’t worry about him, Jack! He’s a friend of mine!” Bendy started walking back towards Henry, motioning for Jack to follow. The swollen Searcher hesitantly trailed behind, and now that he wasn’t hiding behind a box, Henry could see he had something silver in one of his hands. Bendy stopped in front of Henry, gesturing up at him. “This is Henry!”

Henry gave Jack a small wave, and Jack waved back.

This was something Henry never thought would happen. In all the runs he’d been through, all the times he’d tried to change the loops, he never thought he’d get through to Jack Fain. Not like he hadn’t tried; he’d tried multiple times, so many times he’d lost count. He never got the poor lyricist to trust him enough to hand over the valve. And it took Bendy ten seconds to get Jack anywhere near Henry. The cartoon demon was so friendly and charismatic that he got the most skittish of Searchers to trust him.

And Henry couldn’t even say anything, because that’s how he wrote him. Write what you know, everyone told him. 

“What’cha got there?” Bendy asked, pointing at the silver object in Jack’s hand. Jack looked at it for a moment, then he opened a few of his fingers, revealing a pen. Henry tilted his head a bit.

“Where did you get that?” Henry said, mostly to himself, but Jack turned to look at him anyway. Jack tapped his chin for a moment, thinking, then he made a couple of gestures with his hands, interlocking his index fingers together twice.

Sign language. The sign for ‘friend’.

“You got it from a friend?”

Jack nodded in response. Bendy looked around.

“Is your friend here?” the toon asked.

Jack paused, shoulders drooping a bit, and he shook his head ‘no’.

“Oh… well, in the meantime, wanna come with us?” Both Henry and Jack looked at Bendy, surprised. “What? It’s a legitimate offer.”

“I mean… I don’t see why he couldn’t,” Henry said.

But Jack was shaking his head. Bendy made a small whine of disappointment.

“Aw, why not?”

Jack made a few gurgling noises.

“You’re waiting for someone?”

Jack nodded.

“How long have you been waiting for them?”

Jack scratched his head, looking down at the floor, then he looked back up and shrugged.

“A long time huh?” Henry said, and Jack nodded. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us then?” Another nod. Jack seemed resolute in his decision.

“Aw, ok then,” Bendy pouted, then his smile came back and as he stuck his hand out to Jack again. “Welp, it was nice meeting you, Jack!”

Jack garbled and shook Bendy’s hand, and as he did so, Bendy elbowed Henry in the side. Henry guessed he wanted him to shake Jack’s hand too, be friendly, so Henry held out his hand too. Jack shook it, then he backed up and slipped into the ink.

“Too bad he wouldn’t come with us,” Bendy said, putting his hands on his hips. “I liked his company.”

“Yeah, would’ve been nice…” Henry responded, ‘Who is he waiting on? ’ Henry thought.

“Well, maybe we’ll see him again. Come on, let’s go drain the stairs.”

Bendy started back the way they came, back towards the stairs, but Henry hesitated for a moment, looking at the ink where Jack had disappeared. Then he gave a small wave and followed the toon.

The pair walked back into the infirmary, up out of it, and into the hall, making their way towards Sammy’s office. The ink leak had stopped, leaving the door clear. Bendy quickly hurried over, skirting around the ink pool in front of the door, then opened it, going inside. Henry, in much less of a hurry, just walked. Bendy had already pulled the pump switch by the time he walked through the door, and the little demon turned to him, beaming.

“There! The stairs should be all clear now!” he said, and Henry gave him a smile. Bendy then looked around the office. “It looks like someone hasn’t been here in a long time.”

Henry looked around too, noting the visible layer of dust on everything. That feeling of abandonment was still there, hanging over the office like some sort of omen. It made Henry uneasy, like he was forgetting something. He felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down at Bendy.

“You ready to go? It doesn’t look like there’s much in here,” Bendy asked, and Henry nodded.

“Yeah. let’s go.”

That nagging feeling of something forgotten came back, and Henry was starting to worry about it. It was something big. Something important. Something... soon? What was it-?

Henry didn’t have time to ponder it much, since Bendy was grabbing his hand and pulling him along.

“I knew we’d find a way to get you out of here!” Bendy said. “Knew it all along!”

“What about you?” Henry asked before he’d even thought about it.

“What about me?” Bendy asked, looking back at him, a confused look on his face.

“You’re not going to leave with me?” 

Bendy stopped walking, still holding Henry’s hand, and he stopped walking with him.

“I… don’t know if I can, Henry,” the toon said, looking down. “I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever tried so…” he trailed off.

Henry stared at the downtrodden imp for a moment, then a thought struck him, one he hadn’t thought about before.

Was Bendy one of the studio workers?

Henry didn’t know how the thought hadn’t occurred to him before. Almost everyone he’d met in the loops was an ex-employee of some kind, horribly twisted into some kind of ink creature like the Projectionist, or turned into a cartoon character like Alice. Why should Bendy be any different? Why hadn’t Henry considered that before? Was it because he’d spoken like he’d just walked out of the cartoon, knowing who his and his friends’ creator was?

And, if he was someone, who was he?

Henry stared at him for a little longer, then he squeezed his hand gently, making him look up.

“We won’t know until we try,” Henry said. “And if you can’t, we’ll find a way.”

Bendy stared at him for a long time, then he broke into a grin, causing Henry to smile too.

“You’re right! There’s always more than one way!” He started to drag Henry again. “Let’s hurry before the stairwell fills up again somehow!”

Henry followed along, not that he’d have much of a choice anyway, but that nagging feeling came back again. Now, this was just ridiculous. What was he forgetting???

Then the moment they passed through the entrance of the hallway, what felt like a bolt of panic shot down Henry’s spine.

Oh no, how could he forget about—

CLANK!

Henry groaned, wincing at the throbbing in his head.

He’d forgotten about Sammy.

How the hell had he managed that?

Opening his eyes completely, he found that he was in the ritual room, as expected, but there was no Sammy. Henry was getting real tired of his old friend’s disappearing act. A muffled grunt next to him made him look down, and he’ll admit, he almost snorted at the sight.

Bendy was also tied to the wooden post, his tail tied to it in its own coil of ropes and lashing about as the demon squirmed, a gag muffling the frustrated noises he was making. Henry guessed he was too much of a loudmouth for Sammy’s liking.

“You alright, Bendy?” Henry said, and the demon looked up at him, eyes wider than usual. He started making more noises and moved around more, trying to say something. “Hold on, let me get that-” Henry shuffled his arm through the tightly tied ropes, getting his hand just close enough to Bendy, who moved his head towards him to be cooperative, and he hooked his fingers under the cloth, pulling it up. Bendy gasped dramatically, like the gag had been suffocating him, and Henry rolled his eyes, smiling a little.

“Am I alright!?” Bendy shouted, giving Henry a worried look. “What about you!? That guy clubbed you on the head with a dustpan! You dropped like a rock- I thought he killed you!”

“Yeah, today seems to involve me passing out a lot.”

“This isn’t funny, Henry! We’re currently being held hostage by a demon worshipping madman!”

“You are extremely loud and rude, you know that?”

Both Henry and Bendy’s heads snapped towards the now open door on the left side of the room. Sammy was standing there, one hand on the door frame as he stared at them, head tilted to the side slightly.

“You’re one to talk,” said a new voice from inside the room, and Sammy looked over his shoulder to glare at the speaker.

“Shut up, Jacob, no one asked you!”

‘Jacob’ muttered a few mostly sarcastic sorrys and Sammy turned back to his captives.

“Who are you?” Sammy said cautiously, walking out of the room to stand in front of Henry and Bendy. Before Bendy could open his big mouth and possibly say something to set Sammy off, Henry spoke up.

“My name is Henry- Henry Stein,” He said quickly. “You… You know- knew me, Sammy.”

Never in a hundred loops had Henry talked to Sammy; the musician was usually going on with his rant and seemed dead set on sacrificing him to the Ink Demon, so Henry was never really able to cut in… 

Right? Not like he had ever actually tried.

Either way, now was a good time to give it a shot, especially since Sammy seemed less worried about sacrificing him, and more worried about the fact that he was there at all, a strange man with an even stranger companion.

Sammy tilted his head, whatever tension that was in his shoulders letting up slightly.

“Hen...ry?”

Sammy was suddenly in Henry’s face, getting a surprised squawk out of Bendy. The eyes of the Bendy cutout he was wearing seemed to look right through Henry, making him the slightest bit uncomfortable. Sammy was never that aware of personal space to begin with, but just being face to face with that mask was unsettling.

“I…” Sammy started, then trailed off, going quiet for a moment. “You… look familiar.”

Henry gulped, but didn’t look away.

“We were friends, Sammy.”

Sammy took a few, slow steps back, not looking away from Henry, who held his gaze.

“You…. yes, I- I remember… I did know a Henry.” he looked away for a moment, then looked back up. “You left.”

Henry nods.

“I did.”

“But you’re back.”

“I am.”

“Why?”

Henry hesitated, then he answered.

“Joey.”

Sammy flinched at that name, tensing up.

“What about Joey?”

Henry looked over at the door again. There was a Lost One peeking his head out slightly, looking between Sammy and Henry. Sammy sighed, trying to force himself to relax.

“It’s nothing, Jacob. Nothing.”

Henry glanced down at Bendy, who looked back up at him, the look on his face saying he was pretty sure it wasn’t ‘nothing’. Henry internally agreed.

Jacob stuck his head out a little more, pushing back the trilby hat he was wearing.

“If you say so, Sammy. But… can we come out now? They… seem safe enough.”

Sammy looked at Henry and Bendy, then at Jacob, seeming like he was debating something. The mask made it difficult to tell what he was thinking. Then he sighed, waving his hand.

“Fine. The two of you can come out.”

‘Two of you…?’

Henry and Bendy glanced at each other again, both seeming equally confused.

Jacob walked out of the room with a noticeable limp, and looking at his leg, Henry could see what looked like the indents of claw marks running at an angle from his knee to his ankle. He also had slightly stained bandages wrapped around his hands and forearms, and Henry wasn’t sure if it was because his arms were hurt or not.

Then, right behind him, was a familiar living toon.

“Boris?” Bendy said incredulously.

“His name’s Daniel, actually!” Jacob corrected. “We call him Buddy though.”

Buddy gave a small wave, though it seemed like he still didn’t trust Henry and Bendy, which was vastly different from what Henry usually got from him. Then again, during his runs it didn’t seem like Boris remembered if he’d had a human life or not.

Sammy glanced down at Bendy, then back up at Henry.

“Does he have a different name or…?” he asked.

“No… No, I’ve been calling him Bendy this whole time,” Henry responded.

Sammy regarded them for a long time, then gave a vague ‘come here’ gesture to Jacob and Buddy, the three of them getting just out of earshot to whisper amongst themselves, Buddy apparently using sign language with his back mostly to Henry so he couldn’t see what he was saying.

“Ah great, they’re being secretive,” Bendy muttered.

“They don’t completely trust us yet,” Henry said. “I can’t really blame them. It seems like almost everything is out to get you down here.”

“Oh come on, I talk a lot of talk, but I’m not that threatening! I can’t even handle a Searcher on my own!”

“Well… the only other thing that looks like you in this studio is the most dangerous creature here.”

“... Fair point.”

As if on cue, there was a metallic rattling above them, making everyone in the room look up. Sammy cursed under his breath.

“We need to go. Now,” Sammy said, going over to Henry and untying him from the post after tugging at the knot a bit. Jacob did the same with Bendy, who was still looking up at the ceiling.

“Was… was that the Ink Demon?” The toon asked.

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Sammy said. “Chances are he’s after you, and trust me, it won’t be pretty if he catches us.”

“Then let’s hurry up and go!” Jacob said. Both he and Buddy were shaking. “I’ve had enough close calls with him as it is!”

Henry scooped Bendy up, and this time the little demon didn’t protest. He seemed to be just as worried as Jacob and Buddy were. Sammy went over to the garage door at the back of the room, simply lifting it and shoving it open.

“Stop whining! You’re not the only one of us he’s almost-” Sammy trailed off, tensing up at the sound of a heartbeat. Everyone seemed to have frozen. Then, Bendy shakily pointed at the side room door.

“Uh, guys…?”

Inky, wispy shadows were pouring out the door, accompanied by faint whispers and hissing. A large, gloved hand creeped around the corner, gripping the door frame, then the rest of the Ink Demon lurched into view, grin twitching as it stared the group down. There was a beat of silence, two, then the demon let out a terrible hiss.

“ Run !” Sammy yelled, snapping everyone out of their horror-filled shock, and he took off down the hallway, Jacob and Buddy right behind him, Henry in the back, Bendy in his arms. He could hear the Ink Demon’s uneven footsteps stomping along behind them, and he could’ve sworn he felt its hand barely miss his neck as Henry followed Sammy, Jacob, and Buddy down the same twisting halls he usually ran through alone.

The group bolted through a door, Henry dropping Bendy the moment they were through to spin around and slam the door shut, Sammy appearing next to him to drop a wooden barricade in front of it. A loud slam shook the door only moments after, followed by more pounding, then it was quiet, save for the heavy breathing of everyone in the room.

“That… that was too close,” Sammy said, breaking the silence.

“Amen to that,” Jacob wheezed, bracing himself against a wall with one hand on his knee.

“Bendy, you ok?” Henry said, turning to the small toon who was laying face first on the floor, sprawled out. The only response he got was a thumbs up before the demon dropped his arm again.

“At least we’re all in one piece,” Jacob said, helping up Buddy, who had collapsed in a similar manner to Bendy. Henry let out a heavy sigh, slumping forward slightly, then straightening up again, realizing he didn’t feel the seeing tool in his back pocket. He’d given it to Bendy, hadn’t he? But looking over at the toon, he saw him empty handed.

“Bendy,” he said, making the demon look up. “Where’s the seeing tool?” 

Next to him, he heard Sammy mutter “The what?” but didn’t pay him any mind. Bendy stared at him for a moment, like he had no idea what he was talking about, then he let out a small “Oh!” before jumping to his feet.

“Whoops, sorry about that!” Bendy said, reaching behind him and pulling the seeing tool out of absolutely nowhere. “It’s right here!” Everybody stared at him, and he looked around, like he didn’t just pull a solid object from thin air. “What?”

“Bendy,” Henry said slowly. “How did you do that?” Bendy looked at the tool, then at him.

“I dunno. I think I just sorta… absentmindedly put it in some kind of pocket dimension.”

There was more silence, then Sammy spoke up.

“Oh my god, he’s an actual cartoon.”

“I mean,” Henry said, rubbing the back of his neck as Bendy started putting the tool in his apparent hammerspace, taking it out, and putting it back in repeatedly while Jacob and Buddy watched in fascination. “His head did fly off of his body when he sneezed earlier.” Sammy then looked at Henry.

“You’re kidding me, right?” the composer said, incredulously.

“Take a close look at him, Sammy. He quite literally doesn’t have a neck.”

“Alright, alright, fair point. But that’s just… I’ve seen some weird things down here. But him? He’s the weirdest.”

“I agree with you on that.”

When Bendy noticed Henry was still looking at him, he held out the seeing tool.

“Did you, uh, want this back?”

Henry shook his head.

“No, you hang onto it a little while longer. It’s probably safer in your hammerspace than it is in my pocket.”

Bendy grinned at him, then put the tool away.

Jacob looked up from where he was crouched next to Bendy, glowing orange eyes on Sammy.

“So, are we taking them to the safehouse?” he asked. Sammy thought about it for a moment, then shrugged.

“I don’t see why not,” he said. “But we better get going. Last thing we need is the Ink Demon coming back for another go.”

Buddy and Jacob nodded, the Lost One standing up. Sammy gave a small nod to Henry that clearly meant ‘follow me’, and the little group was off.

They made it to the spot where Henry would usually meet up with Boris - or Buddy - and Henry didn’t expect anything to happen. But something jumped up out of an ink puddle without warning, causing everyone to jump back and make various noises of surprise. Sammy seemed to realize what it was before everyone else, judging by the mildly irritated sigh he let out.

“Jack, I’ve told you a thousand times. Stop doing that.”

The Swollen Searcher gave a gurgling chuckle.

“Jack?” Bendy said, peeking out from behind Henry’s legs. Jack waved at him, then waved at Henry. Sammy looked back at Henry.

“You know him?”

“Bendy and I ran into him in the sewers,” Henry said. “We offered him to come with us but he didn’t.”

“Then why are you here?” Bendy asked Jack, and in response, the Searcher pointed at Sammy, gurgling. The musician sighed.

“I know I said I’d visit often. I just… got caught up with some things.” Sammy said, and Bendy gawked at him.

“You’re who he was waiting on???” The toon exclaimed loudly, making Sammy cringe.

“Who else would he wait on?” Jacob asked, sounding genuinely curious. “Not a lot of people know he’s even down there.”

“Either way, he’s here now, and something tells me he’s taking up that offer to tag along.” Sammy said, earning a nod from Jack. “The more the merrier, I suppose.”

Henry looked down at Bendy. The toon was absolutely beaming. And Henry was sure he himself was smiling too.

The trek to the safehouse was silent. Sammy wanted it that way, just in case any chatter covered the approach of the Ink Demon, and Henry understood that completely. Though, the quiet walk did give him a lot of time to think, time he didn’t really have in the ritual room. And he mostly thought about the musician in question. The sudden 180 in his personality was odd to say the least. Not that this run hadn’t been odd so far, but this was completely unexpected. It was like Sammy had simply gone back to his old self, the snappy, irritable man Henry knew.

Henry couldn’t help but wonder,

Had he broken the script?

Not the loops, he was pretty sure the loops were still in place, or maybe he didn’t want to get his hopes up. But the script, the events the loops had followed to a T until now, was obviously very broken. And Henry couldn’t help but think he had done it, and that he could’ve done it long ago.

‘Maybe I should have broken the reel sooner…’

Looking down at Bendy, who was doing an exceptional job at being quiet, he saw the little demon had taken the seeing tool out again and was looking around, not finding much. Bendy looked up at him, then held out the tool. Henry gave him a small smile and took it, looking around. There wasn’t much, save for some floating bits of gold in the air. Henry didn’t know what those were, but he could admit they were kind of pretty. When he was sure there was nothing, he passed the tool back to Bendy, who put it away.

Once they were at the safehouse door, Sammy shoved it open with ease, the sound of ‘Thinking of You Again’ floating through the air.

“After you,” Sammy said, turning to Henry and gesturing for him to walk in. Henry gave him a small smile as he passed.

The hideout actually seemed a bit different. It was more lived in, more of a home than some place to hide from the horrors of the studio, especially with the drawings pinned up on the walls. They were mostly of the cartoon characters, but Henry saw a few of Sammy and Jacob, and he was sure a few of the Borises were meant to be Buddy. Scanning the pages on the walls more closely, Henry saw a few sheets of music pinned up with the drawings, though they all seemed unfinished or rough. There was a banjo propped up by the stove, but it looked like it was actually used this time, rather than just there.

“Home sweet home,” Jacob said, seeming to relax completely. Buddy grinned at him, and judging from the crinkle of Jacob’s eyes, he was smiling too, despite having no mouth to smile with. Glancing at Sammy, just barely from the side, Henry saw him smiling as well, though it was mostly hidden by his mask.

The three of them had clearly been hiding out together for a long time. It made Henry feel… happy? Hopeful? Both? But the fact the fact that the three of them somehow managed to make some kind of a normal life down here made him feel better.

Bendy finally stepped away from Henry, going over to the walls to look at the drawings.

“Who drew these?” the toon asked, and Jacob limped over to look with him.

“Well, I drew these,” The Lost One said, pointing to some well done drawings of the Butcher Gang, then he pointed to some of Alice Angel that looked the slightest bit wobbly. “Buddy drew these.”

“Did Sammy draw any?” Before Jacob could answer Bendy’s question, Sammy scoffed.

“Do I seem like the drawing type?”

Jacob leaned down, whispering not-so-quietly to Bendy.

“He can hardly draw a circle without it wobbling- OUCH!”

The empty can Sammy had thrown bounced off Jacob’s head and rolled away, the Lost One bolting up straight and holding his head. Buddy laughed a laugh that sounded like it was mostly air, Jack was making that gurgling chuckle again, and Henry could see Sammy smirking through the hole in his mask. Bendy was cackling.

“Your aim is still dead on,” Henry said, turning to Sammy. The musician shrugged dismissively.

“Lucky shot,” he said, but Henry didn’t miss the pride in his tone. “But, as much as I would like to mingle, I think you should get some rest.”

Henry gave him a quizzical look.

“I’m… fine?”

“You say that,” Sammy said, crossing his arms and tilting his head. “But your appearance doesn’t match your words.”

“Yeah, no offense, but you look dead on your feet,” Jacob said, and both Buddy and Jack nodded in agreement. Henry then looked to Bendy, who shrugged. 

“I thought you always looked like that.”

“Thanks, Bendy.”

“You’re welcome!”

Henry shook his head, then looked to Sammy again.

“I’m alright, Sammy. I’m not tired.”

At that moment, a yawn slipped out of his mouth, and he immediately covered it. Sammy snorted.

“Yeah. Not tired. Get some sleep, old man.”

“You’re older than me, Sammy.”

“ Go . There’s a room that way.”

Sammy pointed to a door, and Henry knew immediately what room he was talking about. It was the room he always stayed in when he was with Boris. Henry sighed.

“Fine, if it’ll make you stop nagging me.”

“Don’t give me a reason to nag you then,” Sammy picked up a bag hanging on the back of a chair. “I’m going out. You better be asleep when I get back.”

“No promises.”

“I can hit you with the dustpan again.”

“Ok, point taken.”

And with that, Henry did as he was told and went to the back bedroom. It also had drawings on the walls, but not as many. Laying down on the hammock that was in there, Henry sighed. He was tired, but sleep wasn’t going to come easily.

Henry took off his glasses, setting them on a nearby self, then rolled over on his side.

Maybe he’d get more time to think

Chapter Text

The faint sound of a banjo pulled Henry from his sleep.

At first, he didn’t know what it was, then he actually listened and put together that it was a banjo, the only instrument Henry had seen in the safehouse.

‘It’s probably Sammy,’ Henry thought.

He went to sit up, then realized there was a weight on his chest, and looking down, he saw Bendy curled up, fast asleep. His tail swung lazily and his breathing was quiet; he looked peaceful, a stark contrast to how energetic the demon was when awake.

Henry sat up slowly, carefully picking the toon up, moving off the hammock and setting Bendy down in his place. Then he made his way out of the room and back into the main living room/kitchen. He could smell soup cooking already.

Poking his head into the room, he saw Sammy seated at the table, banjo resting comfortably across his legs as he played it. It was a song Henry didn’t recognize, but it was a soft song, something that wouldn’t be for the cartoon. He had his mask off, laying on the table next to him, and Henry was surprised to see an actual face. The only other time he’d seen Sammy without it - when Sammy attacked him in the Lost Harbor - it was just a featureless head, no eyes, nose, or even a mouth. Now, Sammy had glowing gold eyes and gouges in his cheeks that matched in color. Still no nose, but Henry knew it was Sammy’s face, his human face, save for the gouges of course.

“I know you’re there, Henry,” Sammy said, not stopping his playing for a moment. “I know I dropped you with a dustpan, but you don’t have to be skittish around me.”

Henry stepped out and walked over, a small smile on his face. 

“I’m not being skittish,” Henry said. “I just didn’t want to bother you.”

“You should know I’m not against having an audience.”

“Still prideful as ever,” Henry quipped, pulling over a chair and sitting down.

“Well, some part of me had to stay intact down here,” Sammy stopped playing, setting his banjo to the side. “How did you sleep?”

“Alright, I guess,” Henry said with a shrug. “Didn’t have any dreams so there’s not much to talk about.”

“You were never one to go on about dreams if I remember correctly,” Sammy went quiet for a moment, tapping his fingers on the table. “That was always Joey’s shtick.” Henry sighed.

“Yeah, it was. Not like it ever bothered me though. I don’t usually have dreams.”

“Sounds peaceful.”

“Try boring.”

Sammy snickered. Henry looked down at the table, picking at a loose sliver of wood, then he looked back up at Sammy.

“Sammy, can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” Henry asked. Sammy looked at him, then waved his hand for him to continue. “What do you remember? From before?”

Sammy was quiet for a moment, tapping his fingers on the table in a tune Henry didn’t recognize.

“I remember…” he trailed off, going quiet again.

“You don’t have to strain yourself just to answer my question-” Henry said, but Sammy gave a dismissive wave of his hand.

“No, no… I remember things… none of them are pleasant, though. Nothing you’d want to hear.”

“If you’re fine with telling me, I’ll listen, Sammy.”

Sammy was quiet once again, golden eyes staring at his tapping fingers.

“I… I remember snippets, all from different times. A lot of yelling, a buzzing in my ears, a dark room… that one I remember quite clearly,” he paused, one hand going up to his chest. “A stabbing pain in my chest… then nothing. Just the ink after that,” He let his hand drop. “Pretty sure that’s where I finally died.”

Henry grimaced.

“Finally?”

Sammy sighed.

“I don’t know. I feel like I should’ve been dead before then but I just… wasn’t. It’s an odd feeling.”

“Is… Is there anything good you remember? Even the smallest bit?”

Henry could see the concentration on Sammy’s face, his lips a thin line, and his brow knotted together. Then his expression softened dramatically, a small smile making itself known.

“I remember being in love,” He said, an air of happiness to his voice. Henry raised an eyebrow, a small smile creeping its way onto his face.

“In love?”

“Yes, as surprising as that might sound. Of all the things to remember.”

“I dunno, love is a hard thing to forget.”

Sammy’s smile faltered the slightest bit.

“The feeling may be unforgettable, not so much the person I felt it for, unfortunately,” Sammy leaned back in his chair. “Can’t remember his name, much less what he looked like,” his smile came back. “His voice though… that was something I could pick out from the loudest of crowds.”

Henry smiled wider.

“You always were more of a sound-over-looks kind of guy.” Sammy chuckled at that.

“You know me well, even after so long…. Even if I can hardly remember anything of you other than that we were close,” Sammy tilted his head. “Am I right?” Henry nodded.

“You’re right, we were close,” Henry confirmed. “Anything you want me to tell you?”

“Anything you can,” Sammy said. “I just want to remember something.”

Henry looked away from Sammy for a second, thinking, then looked back at him.

“We met at a bar,” He said.

Sammy snorted.

“A bar?”

“Yeah. You were playing a gig there. I thought you played beautifully.”

“Aw, I’m flattered.”

The two of them chuckled. A small gurgle caught their attention, and they both turned their heads to see Jack approaching them.

“Morning, Jack,” Sammy said with a small smile. The Searcher gurgled again, and the two ink creatures slipped into a conversation of their own. Henry sat back and listened, even if he couldn’t understand a word Jack was saying. 

The three of them looked over as Bendy walked in, sleepily rubbing his eyes.

“Geez, everyone’s having a party without me,” the toon said in mock offense. He walked over, hopping onto the table and sitting on the edge, legs swinging and tail flicking.

“Sorry, you just looked peaceful asleep,” Henry said, and Sammy scoffed.

“Peaceful? Please,” Sammy said, earning a genuine offended look from the cartoon demon.

“I can be peaceful!”

“I doubt that wholeheartedly.”

Jack lightly smacked Sammy on the arm, giving him an unamused look. Sammy just shrugged. Henry looked between the two of them, a slightly worried expression on his face. He hoped this bickering wouldn’t become a habit.

The door to the safehouse opened before anyone could say anything else, Jacob and Buddy walking in with bags full of miscellaneous items. Jacob tipped his hat to everyone.

“Glad to see everyone up and at ‘em!” he said, setting his bag inside of a chest by the door, Buddy doing the same and taking off a miner’s helmet he had on. “Only Sammy was up when we left.”

“Henry woke up a few minutes ago,” Sammy said. “You’ve been gone for about an hour.”

“An hour not wasted. Buddy and I grabbed a lot.”

Buddy shut the chest by the door, signing to Sammy, but Henry didn’t get to see what he said since Bendy had scooted closer to him and leaned into his field of vision.

“So, what now?”

Henry stared at him for a moment.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what do we do now? We’re still trying to get you out, right?”

“ Us, Bendy. I’m not leaving you.”

‘And while I’m at it, I have to figure out how to get Sammy and the others out too.’ Henry thought.

Bendy waved his hands dismissively.

“Yeah yeah. Anyway, what’s the plan now?”

“I’m… not sure,” Henry said with a small shrug.

“Oh come on, Henry, you gotta have some kind of plan!”

“Nope, sorry. Drawing a blank here.”

“Henry, this is no time for artist jokes,” Bendy said, pouting.

Henry snorted, surprised Bendy had caught onto that.

“Ok, ok. But really, I have no ideas.”

“Well, we could keep going forward,” Bendy offered. “There’s gotta be a way back up.”

“There’s an elevator.”

Both Henry and Bendy turned to Sammy, who neither of them had realized was listening in on their conversation. Sammy looked between the two of them.

“Did you forget that you have three people who spend most of their time out scavenging in the studio?” the musician said, gesturing to himself, Buddy, and Jacob. “We’d probably be just the tiniest bit helpful.”

Henry smiled a bit.

“Sorry,” he said. “I guess I thought we shouldn’t drag you into this. We’ve had more than a few close calls with the Ink Demon and I wouldn’t want to put any of you in danger.”

Jacob scoffed as he limped over.

“This whole place is danger,” He said. “Helping you isn’t gonna change that.”

“Still…” 

Not that Henry didn’t appreciate their offer to help, but he wasn’t exactly sure what would happen if they came along. Alice had a grudge against Sammy, and they would be walking directly into her lair. She may as well drop the elevator the moment they stepped inside.

“Oh, come on, Henry!” Bendy said, patting his shoulder. “They could be a big help!”

Henry looked past Bendy and eyed the trio, still feeling apprehensive. If there was some way he could keep Buddy in the safe house, he knew he should take it. The last thing he would want is for Jacob and Sammy to see what would happen to him. But… he also knew Sammy. He was stubborn and rarely took ‘no’ for an answer, especially when he gave the rare offer of assistance. 

Henry sighed, and he saw Sammy smile, knowing exactly what that meant.

“Alright, you three can come along.”

By his feet, Jack gave a gurgle, and Bendy grinned.

“You mean, ‘you four’.”

Henry gave the Searcher a small smile.

“Yeah, you four.”

“Probably a good thing we’ve been hoarding supplies, huh?” Jacob said as he started filling a bag up. Henry saw him stick bandages, a notebook and pencil, and several cans of bacon soup into the stitched-together bag. He was sure there was more in there, though. Buddy gave a nod, sticking some items in his own bag. Henry looked to Sammy, who was still sitting in front of him, not having moved from his spot.

“Do you need to grab anything?”

The musician shook his head, gesturing to his mask.

“Besides a spare axe, this is all I need,” he said. Henry looked at the mask for a moment, before looking back up at Sammy.

“Can I ask you something?” Henry asked, and Sammy gave him a slight nod. “Why… why do you wear that?”

Sammy tapped the edge of the cardboard mask in a short waltz before shrugging.

“I’m not sure anymore,” he said, picking it up. “I know why I used to wear it. But now I think I keep it around because it’s… familiar. Something I’ve had since I woke up.”

“It’s comforting,” Henry summed up, and Sammy nodded.

“Yeah, something like that.”

The musician stood up, slipping the mask on as Buddy, donning his helmet once more, walked over and handed him an axe.

“No point in sitting around, I suppose. You ready?”

Henry stood up and Bendy quickly took his now usual place on his shoulders, grinning.

“As we’ll ever be.”

“Alright, off to adventure!” Bendy said with a dramatic arm movement to accompany it. He glanced at Henry, then shrugged. “Or somethin’ like that.” 

“Here here,” Jacob agreed, pulling the lever by the door. The heavy metal door swung open, and the small group filed out one by one, Henry and Bendy bringing up the rear. As Henry got to the door, he paused for a moment, feeling an odd sense of finality. He glanced back at the safehouse, at the pictures on the walls and the homey feeling it had.

“Hey, Bendy, can I see the tool for a second?”

“Yeah, sure!” Bendy quickly pulled the tool out of his hammerspace, putting it in Henry’s hand, and the animator looked back into the safehouse, seeing golden letters scrawled on the floor. Though, they didn’t read “I’M SORRY BUDDY” as they typically did;

‘THE LIGHT OF THEIR DARK SURVIVAL’

Henry tilted his head, then smiled a bit, stepping out the door.