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Chapter Text

It was just another normal day in the Mushroom Kingdom. Soon, away from Toad Town, our two plumber twin brothers were having a calm and normal morning as usual. The older brother Mario was having breakfast while his younger brother Luigi was washing and arranging the dishes after he and Mario had eaten.

For minutes, silence settled the place, until they heard the voice of a Toad outside, announcing the arrival of letters. Having finished with the dishes, Luigi ended up having to go out and check the mail, as Mario had just started reading a newspaper.

As soon as he returned with a pile of letters, he began to check them one by one, until one of them caught their eye. - "Hey, Mario. Looks like we got an invitation, here." - Luigi declared, catching Mario's attention. - "Really? Is it Princess Peach's or something?" - he asked, closing the paper instantly.

Reading the back of the envelope, Luigi saw that instead of Princess Peach's name, as usual, there was another name they'd never heard of before.

"No, it's from this Joey Drew Studios. I've never even heard of this place, what about you?" - he asked, confused. - "Nah, never heard. But anyway, let's see what is written here." - Mario declared, getting up and holding the letter, along with Luigi, and they both started to read the letter.

Dear Henry.
It seems like a lifetime since we worked on cartoons together.
30 years really slips away, doesn't it.
If you're back in town, come visit the old workshop.
There's something I need to show you.
Your best pal, Joey Drew

When they finished reading the letter, they both looked at each other, confused. - "Hey, the letter was addressed to us, but it doesn't say our names. And I don't know any Henry around here." - Mario declared, surprised and confused.

"Well, then, was it sent here by mistake? And what do we do, then? Do we re-address it to the post office or just throw it away?" - asked Luigi, as he started to put the letter back in the envelope. Out of nowhere, Mario gave a slight exaltation and exclaimed. - "I had an idea, as we have nothing to do today, we can visit this studio!.What do you think, Luigi?"

Frightened and confused, the younger brother began to scream. - "What?! Go to that studio?! But M-Mario, that letter wasn't addressed to us! And we don't even know where it is! And besides, what if Bowser attacks the kingdom and tries to kidnap the princess while we're gone!?! What will become of the Mushroom Kingdom?!" - to calm him down, Mario put his hand on Luigi's shoulder as he declared.

"No need to worry, Luigi. It's not the month that Bowser comes to attack the kingdom, for almost four weeks, not to mention that we took him down last week. And besides, we can search the address of this studio, on this device here."

After a quick check on his cell phone, the older brother gave a satisfied sigh when he found the address and location. - "Well, well. It's a few kilometers away. If we go on horseback, we'll get there very fast."

"But we don't have any horses here, Mario!! And how are we going to get there?!" - Luigi exasperated in disbelief. - "Oh, it was just an expression, Luigi. I meant to walk, of course. But if we cut the path in one of these pipes, we'll get there. Sorry if I deceived you."

With that, Mario took the letter from Luigi's hand and started putting it in his pocket. Then he pulled his brother by the arm, leading them out of the house. - "Very well, animation studio, here we go!" - he exclaimed, in an excited tone.

"Wait, if I'm going with you and we're going to stay out, let me prepare at least a few things!" - Luigi declared, running into the house.

"Come on, Luigi! We're just going to visit an animation studio, we're not going to summer camp. We don't need anything." - Mario complained, until he saw his little brother coming back with the Poltergust 3000 on his back, and closing the door with the key and putting something under the door. Then Luigi walked over and stood beside him, while Mario looked at him in disbelief.

"What the hell were you doing in there? Why bring this with you?! We're not going to a haunted place! And what did you put on the door?" - he asked, while looking at a sign hanging on the door, written 'We went to a haunted studio, we'll be back soon, Mario Brothers'.

Mario crossed his arms and looked coldly at Luigi, who simply gave a nervous smile and explained. - "It's just in case someone comes looking for us, and knows that no one is home. Also, I decided to bring the Poltergust 3000 with me, in case there are ghosts or something in this studio."

"Despite your exaggeration, I even understand. So, are you ready?" - "Actually, not much. But let's go, before I regret it." - despite that, the older brother practically just shrugged and both started to follow in a closer pipe, leaving the Mushroom Kingdom, towards an old animation studio.

What could happen? Find out in the next chapter.

Chapter Text

After hours of walking (as the tube only took them halfway) the Mario Brothers finally arrived at the studio. When they looked, they saw that the place, in addition to being empty, seemed abandoned. An assured silence passed through the place, sending shivers through the younger brother's body. - "That's it. I'm leaving this hideous place!" - as soon as Luigi put his hand under the knob, he felt something that made his spine shiver and he leaned under the door, trying in vain to open it. - "Aaaahhh, I can't believe it!! The door handle is broken!!! We're stuck in this place, Mario!!!! How are we going to get out of here?!?!?"

Trying to cool the tension, Mario tried to calm his brother down. - "Calm down, Luigi. Let's find a way out of here. Or else, this guy Henry or some other instructor can come here and open the door for us. Until then, how about we explore the studio, and see if we can find something that this Joey guy wanted to show us?" - "Are you crazy, Mario?! This place is not suitable for excursions, because no one in their right mind would come to an empty and abandoned place like this! And the worst, what if we get stuck here, without water or food?! Or even worse, a monster or a ghost might emerge from the depths and try to get us!!!"

"Hey Luigi. Don't panic. I don't think there are any ghosts or monsters here. By the way, like you said yourself, this place is empty and abandoned. It's not even in a condition to have those ghosts here. So don't panic and let's explore this place soon, while the others don't come. You know how crowded a place like this gets, when there are excursions, right?" - with that said, Mario moved on. Not wanting to be alone, Luigi ran after him, scared.

They both walked down the hallway, which was surrounded by posters of a character named Bendy, with one showing another canine character named Boris the Wolf. Both stopped in the central room of the studio, everything almost empty and dimly lit, only by a projector pointed at the wall. As he got close, Mario inspected the projector, and muttered. - "Why leave something like that on when it's not revealing anything?!" - as soon as he pressed the projector, turning it off, everything went dark. Luigi instinctively screamed in panic, but calmed down soon, and activated a flashlight. Mario noticed this, and asked. - "Since when, did you bring this thing during the trip?"

"Hunf, did you think only Poltergust would keep me calm? I really don't want to take any chances!" - declared the green plumber, before pointing to the projector. - "And turn that thing on again! I don't want to turn around and see a giant monster behind me!" - "Oh, alright. Alright! You're such a big kid." - Mario mocked briefly, reactivating the projector. With that, Luigi sighed, and slipped the flashlight back into his pocket. Then the red plumber looked around, and pointed. - "Maybe we should explore the studio, and try to find out what Joey wanted so much to show. Come on, Luigi."

Then the two headed towards the left aisle, and spotted a small table with a possible rejected drawing of Bendy. Then, they entered the other room next door, showing several other similar tables, with some other drawings of the character. - "Wow, I never thought this place could have gotten so big, Luigi. What do you think?" - Mario asked, while looking at one of Bendy's sketches, which seemed to change position just by turning around. - "I think, and I wonder if the employees who worked here had some privacy in the bathroom?" - Luigi pointed, pointing to a bathroom door blocked with some wooden blocks. Inside it was one of Bendy's other cutouts, propped up under the wall.

"Oh, I get your context. I wonder the same. Well anyway, let's just keep exploring the place bro." - With that, the two left the room, returning to the central room of the studio. As they looked ahead of them, they spotted another hallway. As they crossed, both saw a large writing on the walls next door, which said 'DREAMS CAN COME TRUE', leaving them confused and tense. The two brothers could not fail to see some kind of paint leak, coming from the ceiling, through the corridors. Then they continued along the corridor, seeing about four doors and a passage, both closed. When they stopped, they both saw a table that read 'INK OUTPUT SCHEDULE', signed by an employee named T.C of Gent Off or something like that. - "Another possible employee of this place, Luigi?" - the red plumber asked, followed by a shrug and a murmur from the green one, who simply went the other way.

Barely paying attention, Luigi tripped over something, and fell flat on his face to the ground. - "Wow, hey, Luigi? Is everything okay?" - Mario asked, surprised, approaching his fallen brother. The green plumber looked at what had tripped him, and discovered a thick black pipe under the floor. Comically, there was a note under it that read 'WATCH YOUR STEP', much to Luigi's frustration. After getting up, he and Mario entered a large dock of sorts, ignoring a sign on the wall that read 'DANGER: KEEP OUT'.

"Wow, it's too big. But what is there to see here?" - the red plumber questioned, as he and Luigi glimpsed from the balcony, a large shaft with a huge well, lit with light from several cracks outside, which contained several chains coming out of it. - "Look, it looks like this lift could use a few dry cells." - suggested the last, pointing to them. Looking to the right, they both saw a sort of machine, which contained a lifting lever, a wastebasket, a barrel and a plug box with two slots for the battery. Mario came close, and took a look. - "Hmm... looks like we need to activate this thing. But it looks like it needs two batteries..." - "Like, these two here, bro?" - the green plumber called from behind, holding two batteries.

"Where did you get that?" - Mario asked, surprised. - "Well, they were right there, behind us. One was on the shelf and the other was inside the chest." - when he saw it, he saw that on the left side of the entrance, there was a Bendy cutout, a shelf and a chest. - "Well, in a way, I think this will do." - with that, one stayed with each one and placed under the two slits. - "Great, now, just pull that lever. Okay, Joey, let's see what you're hiding down there." - as soon as Mario pulled the lever down, a noise came from under the place. As they looked at the shaft, they both saw what made their jaws drop; the huge ink machine, being slowly lifted from the well, through the chains.

After the machine was installed, the two brothers looked at each other, until the younger one asked. - "So... what do we do now?" - "Hmm... we've already lifted the machine. Now, I think we just need to activate it. So, let's explore the studio, and look for some other lever that activates this beauty." - with that deduction, they both started to leave the balcony, going back inside. Then they crossed into the passage and one of the doors opened. - "Look, which one should we enter first, Mario?" - Luigi asked, in an almost shaky voice. The red plumber looked both ways, and pointed to the passage. With that, the two continued along the passage.

Inside, there were two hallways, and they both headed towards the right hallway. As they walked, a board broke from the ceiling and fell from the floor, causing a loud crash. Taken by surprise, the Mario brothers jumped back, with the younger one flinching behind the older one, startled. After sighing, the two continued forward, and turned left, entering another room.

Looking around, the two saw six pedestals (three on each side, left and right): on the left, three pedestals required this order - Bendy doll, a disk and a bottle of ink; on the right, three pedestals required the following order - a book, a wrench and a gear. The pedestals were connected to pipes and located on high ground. At the end between the two tubes was a switch, with a sign above it called 'INK MACHINE'.

"Alright Mario, how do we make this work?" - Luigi asked, scratching his head in confusion. - "Well, it says it activates the ink machine, but it has low pressure. We should look for something that can increase it and activate the machine." - with that, the two began to leave the room. To the unhappiness of the green plumber, who had been the first to leave, he came across another cutout of Bendy, only facing the entrance, propped up under the board that had come off the ceiling. He recoiled back, startled. Mario found that strange, until he looked at the source of his brother's fright. - "Who put this here?!" - he asked, in a calm but surprised tone. - "I have no idea! And I'm angry with those who know! But I'm for myself, that this thing moved up to here!"

"Oh, Luigi! It doesn't have to be exaggerated either, does it? Obviously someone came here and put this clipping here, to scare us." - the red plumber deduced, trying to calm his brother down. - "Anyway, it wasn't funny! Are you listening?! Whoever is playing this bad joke with us, know that it wasn't funny!" - as soon as he finished yelling into the air, Luigi saw that his brother had gone to the other corridor in front of them, and he ran right behind. - "Mama Mia.! Joey, what were you doing?" - the green plumber had heard his brother mutter in shock. As he stopped next to Mario, he saw something in front of him that made him sick; a dissected corpse of Boris the Wolf, strapped to a raised table. - "Agh, what a horror!! What did they do with this poor guy?! What if the next ones are us, Mario?!?" - he whimpered, hugging his brother's arm as he consoled him. - "Shhh, it's going to be okay, Weegie. We just need to be together."

As they looked around, they saw another writing on the wall, saying 'WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?'. - "For... for sure, it's not that guy there." - not wanting to look at the corpse in front of them anymore, the two brothers headed towards the door that was on Boris's right side. They crossed a room with several other pieces of furniture, until they went and opened the other door at the end of the room. When they realized, both had returned to the entrance of the passage. Without further ado, they headed down the left aisle. There was a small hallway with two doors. In the middle of them was a table, with an audio record. - "Hmm, maybe we can get something if we hear that?" - as soon as the record was activated, an audio was heard, saying the following;

"At this point, I don't get what Joey's plan is for this company. The animations sure aren't being finished on time anymore. And I certainly don't see why we need this... machine. It's noisy, it's messy. And who needs that much ink anyway?

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

I think he's lost his mind, but, hey, he writes the checks.

But I tell you what, if one more of these pipes burst, I'm outta here."

"Now I got it; we have to collect these items, and put them under those pedestals." - deduced Mario, before being grabbed by the shoulders by a desperate Luigi, and being shaken back and forth. - "Are you crazy, Mario?! Didn't you hear what this guy said on the record?! If we do that, we'll upset the local forces, and call a terrible monster to eat our souls, or something like that!!!" - to calm him down, the red plumber untangled the green one's arms from him, and suggested a plan. - "Relax Luigi. It's gonna be okay. And as we heard on the record, Joey went crazy or something, nothing more than that. Let's do this; you look here, and I look elsewhere. And then we'll go back to the break room together, okay?"

"But... but Mario,... what if some ghost or something appears, and...?" - "If anything happens, just call, and I'll come running. It's just the two of us here, so it'll be easy for us to hear each other up close or far away. Then, combined?" - having no choice, Luigi nodded slightly. He didn't want to get away from his brother, mainly because whenever they went to abandoned mansions, Mario always ended up getting kidnapped by King Boo. Now, they were in an abandoned 20's/30's animation studio. God knows what could be in that place. - "Excellent. We'll meet in the break room. Anything, shout and I'll come help you." - with that, Mario withdrew and returned to the hallway that led to the entrance to the passage.

Finding himself alone, Luigi sighed and started to open one of the doors. The first one had nothing but cans of Bacon Soup and a rolling pin. Like that, he headed for the last one. But when he opened it, he saw another Bendy cutout under the door. After recovering from the scare, he decided to go to the hallway behind him. Seeing that it was almost dark, he picked up the flashlight again, along with his Poltergust 3000, which he had brought with him. He opened the two hallway doors one by one, and only the last one was open. Inside, there were a bunch of projectors and rollers under the shelves. With that, he just shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the theater room, which looked like a mini cinema.

Meanwhile, Mario returned to the entrance to the passage, looking around. As he passed one of the locked doors, he heard a sort of popping sound. Upon opening the room, he saw that the light radiating from below had gone out. Then he opened the door and realized that it was a small office. The room consists of a desk with a music radio, a chair, a music note picture, and a Sheep Songs poster by Boris. There are two cans of Bacon Soup located on the shelf to the right. There was also a music radio on the table, which caught her eye. He pressed one of the buttons on the radio and started playing an instrumental, abbreviated version of "Bendy and the Ink Machine Song".

After a few seconds, he moved on and entered a room that faced the passage he and Luigi had entered, and he slowly descended the stairs, finding himself inside a large dining hall. - "Hm, maybe this was where the employees stayed for a good lunch during their break. Ugh, focus, Mario! Don't let yourself think about food and lose focus on the goal!" - he muttered to himself, and with that, he sighed and started to explore the place, at the same time he started thinking about eating something, after activating the machine.

A while later...

One by one, the Mario Brothers collected the items needed to increase the machine's pressure. In the end, both met again in front of the break room, with the items under their arms. The younger brother looked around, and felt that something wasn't right, but decided to ignore it. It couldn't be anything else. On each side, Mario placed three of the items on the three pedestals, while Luigi did the same on the other side. After placing all the objects on their respective pedestals, the light-bulbs lit up under them. - "OK! That is all! Now, we just need to get the ink flowing somehow. There must be a switch around here somewhere. Then we can turn on the main power!" - deduced the red plumber, while still pointing to the lever. For a moment, Luigi thought for a while, until something clicked in his mind.

"I remembered! In the theater room, where I went, there is a valve that must restore the pressure of the machine, so that we can activate it." - "Ooh, very well thought out, Luigi. Show me the way!" - with that, the two started heading towards the theater, with Luigi leading the way this time. As soon as they were passing through the hall, a Bendy cutout jumped near the entrance to the theater, causing Luigi to scream and jump backwards, and land sitting on the floor. Before Mario could see it, the Bendy cutout was gone. - "What now, Luigi? There's nothing here!" - asked Mario, getting a little frustrated with his brother's panic attacks.

The green plumber pointed forward while stuttering and shaking. - "I saw... I saw... I saw that cardboard cutout moving again." - confused, the older brother decided to have a look, and approached the room. - "Don't overdo it, Luigi. Obviously someone posted that cutout here while we were in the break room. Now, come here and show me that valve, come on." - he demanded, starting to get almost irritated. Reluctantly, Luigi got up and walked to the entrance of the room. As soon as the two entered the room, the projector automatically turned on, catching them by surprise. A large screen located in that room started playing a small looping Bendy animation, dancing along with Bendy's whistle.

"Wow, this song is so cute. So where is this valve, Luigi?" - asked Mario, trying not to look startled. Luigi pointed towards the direction, and walked towards the valve. Once he had his hands on, he lay still for a few seconds, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. In the end, the green plumber reluctantly began turning the valve, allowing ink to flow through the pipes, causing the pipe to burst and flood the theater room with ink. - "Eh, they should visualize the pipes in this place. Anyway, Luigi, let's go back to the break room and activate the lever, and turn on that ink machine." - with that, the two brothers started to go back to said machine to pull the lever that said 'READY'. Mario and Luigi looked at each other and nodded and placed their hands under the lever. In the end, the two pulled it down, while the monitor read 'RUNNING'.

Once the machine's pressure was activated, Mario sighed and addressed his brother. - "Oki-Dokie, Luigi! Let's go back and see what that machine can do." - with that, the two returned all the way to the ink machine loading dock. But as soon as they got close to the entrance, they both noticed something strange. - "Hey, who could have locked that?" - "Ah, I knew it! We are not alone! There are monsters and ghosts here! I can feel that! I was right!" - then the plumber green again raised his Poltergust 3000, pointing to an opening between the boards as he approached slowly and hesitantly. - "Luigi, there's no need to panic. And like I said before, there are no ghosts or monsters in this place..." - before Mario finished, a twisted and deformed ink monster known as Ink Bendy suddenly appeared, attacking them. Mario managed to dodge in time, but Luigi was knocked to the ground. Before both of them could process everything, the Ink Bendy was gone.

Out of nowhere, the entire studio started to shake as ink leaked out, starting to flood the place. Quickly, the two brothers began to run away, down the hall, as they felt the passage door slam shut, spraying ink under them. The ceiling leak exploded, causing ink to explode beneath them. As soon as they returned to the central room of the studio, they both ran towards the door through which they entered, where it was written 'EXIT'. As they ran toward the door, they both had a strange feeling that something wasn't quite right.

"Eh, I don't know about you Mario, but I have to ask you; in those moments when the law of gravity cannot be defied, why do I feel like it is in moments like this?" - Luigi asked, as he and Mario continued running. Both looked at each other, and seconds later, their gazes were directed to the ground below them. Much to the chagrin of the two brothers, the ground beneath them was missing. The two had only three seconds to stop running in the air, look at each other and fall screaming towards a huge pool of ink in the basement of the studio.

After submerging, both gasped for air, and the younger brother started screaming. - "Did you see that, Mario?! I warned you we'd unleash a monster! And a demonic monster!! And now, we're trapped in this ink-smeared place full of ghosts and that dancing demon and whatever else!!! And now, we'll never make it out of here!!! We are dead, totally dead!!! Ahhh, Mama!!" - Luigi yelled, waving his arms and crying. This time, instead of getting irritated, Mario gave a low sigh and lowered his head, feeling a little guilty. - "That's right Luigi. You were right. There was a monster in this place, and if I had known, I wouldn't have thought to activate that machine. But anyway, staying here and crying won't solve anything. We have to find a way out of here, and fast."

"But... but how?! We're about 2 meters and two or three floors from this place, how are we going to get back home?" - the green plumber asked, as he wiped his face. Mario started to think for a bit and looked around the room, until he found another audio recording on a shelf. He began swimming in ink, and activated the register;

"It's dark and it's cold and it's stuck in behind every single wall now. In some places, I swear this godforsaken ink is clear up to my knees! Who ever thought that these crummy pipes could hold up under this kind of strain either knows something about pressure I don't, or he's some kind of idiot.

But the real worst part about all this... are them noises the system makes. Like a dying dog on its last legs. Make no mistake, this place... this... machine... heck, this whole darn thing... it just isn't natural.

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

With that, both looked at each other, while Luigi spoke about the comment that Mario had given, when they were in the theater room. - "They really should repair the pipes, but even this Thomas Connor guy can't stand those pipes. I'm starting to like and identify with this guy. He thinks exactly like me, this Joey Drew guy has issues. If we worked for him, I'd give this guy a good punch!"

"Ah, come on, Luigi. And if it's like up there, down here it must be the other way around. Look for a valve so we can drain all that ink." - with that, the red plumber looked to the sides, until he spotted a pipe valve, and immediately swam towards it. After turning it, the ink that surrounded the room began to go down, until it disappeared, leaving only a few puddles under the floor. - "Okay, now we can open that door, and get out of here. Let's-a go, Luigi!" - with that, the Mario Brothers opened the door and started down the stairs. However, halfway through, they both saw that there were two more areas flooded with ink, which would have to be drained with another two pipe valves. - "Whew, I just hope that was the last one, Mario." - sighed Luigi, after turning the third and final pipe valve.

In the end, both spotted another door, and without thinking twice, entered it. - "Hm, I think we should be in the basement of the studio. There's almost nothing here." - pointed out Mario, before hearing a comment from his younger brother. - "M-Mario, look what they wrote on that wall." - when he looked, he saw that it was written 'THE CREATOR LIED TO US'. - "And how are we going to get out of here?! The other door is blocked by those boards." - upon hearing this, Mario once again looked around until he found something behind. - "This will definitely come in handy." - he declared, picking up and lifting an axe from under the workbench. - "Back off, Luigi. I'll open this passage for us to pass." - "Okay, just... just be careful, okay?" - stammered the green plumber as he stepped back to allow his older brother to cut through some wooden planks that were blocking the path to another room.

Once the wooden planks were broken, the two brothers entered this room, filled with candles and a few other wooden planks around. Ahead of them was another door, with three wooden planks blocking it. - "Alas, how many more doors do we have to go through, eh, Mario?" - Luigi asked, getting almost tired. - "Ugh, I don't know either, bro. But anyway, let's just keep going."

With that, Mario once again raised the axe and broke three more boards blocking the door and then he opened the door and they both found a kind of ritual room. The two were confused and tense by what they saw. The room contained a ritual symbol drawn on the floor in ink surrounded by five candles. There were also three coffins; two leaning against the wall and the other on the floor. There were also three chairs; one on the left and two on the right. There was a shelf located on the left side of the room. A poster 'The Dancing Demon' was printed on the wall, and above it, on the right side, there was also a pipe.

"My goodness! I think I now know where that deformed cartoon dancing demon could have come from!" - the youngest brother stammered, frightened. Mario, without hesitation, put one foot into the room, and turned to his brother. - "Hey Luigi! Come soon. We have to look for a way out, remember?" - however, Luigi flinched and backed away, refusing to enter the ritual room. In order to show that there was nothing dangerous, the red plumber walked under the room, until he touched his foot under the ritual symbol on the floor, without realizing it. - "See, Luigi, there's nothing much here. It's totally sa..."

Before Mario could complete the line, all of a sudden, he got a shocked look on his face, as his body jerked and he fell to the ground with a groan, the axe falling to the side. - "Mario!!!" - the green plumber was scared of what happened to his brother and putting his fear aside, he rushed to his aid. He knelt down next to Mario, placed his Poltergust 3000 with the flashlight on the ground, and began to lightly shake him. - "M-Mario, wake up! Please!" - out of nowhere, he also got a shocked look on his face, and put his hands on his head, while grunting and feeling an unknown tremor after standing over the ritual symbol for long enough. Out of the blue, just like his brother Mario, Luigi also began having rapid flashbacks to the ink machine, a wheelchair, and Ink Bendy, before fainting next to his brother.

Chapter Text

After some time, Mario started to open his eyes, along with a grunt. - "Ugh, my head! What happened?" - he muttered, as he regained consciousness. As soon as his vision returned, he looked around, and saw that he was still in the ritual room. Looking to the side, he saw his younger brother, Luigi, still unconscious. Then, lightly, Mario started to try to wake him up, shaking his right shoulder. - "Hey, Luigi. Wake up." - with a grunt, the green plumber turned his head to the side, muttering in his sleep. - "Ah, just five more minutes, Mama." - once again, the red plumber shook him, this time, waking him up. - "Luigi, wake up!"

"Ahh, what happened?! What happened?! Where are we?!" - he questioned, scared, looking around. - "We are still in this strange room. Come on, we have to look for a way out of this place, and quickly." - as soon as he collected and put his hat back, and stood up, Mario helped his little brother to get up from the ground. Then the green plumber picked up his hat and put his Poltergust 3000 back on its back, and the two looked around. Upon seeing the same axe leaning against one of the coffins, the red plumber picked it up, and went to the door on the left side of the room and broke the wood that blocked it, and then they both went through it. As they descended the stairs, a wooden planks fell under them just as they reached the floor below.

"Wow, looks like this place is falling apart, huh?" - Mario muttered, followed by a comment from Luigi. - "Well, it's no wonder this studio is abandoned and falling apart, bro." - then, the two found themselves in front of Utility Shaft 9 entrance. In front of them, there was a quote 'HE WILL SET US FREE' writing on the wall, next to a Bendy cutout, cans of bacon soup, candles, and a banjo. - "Mama Mia. How did this place get so big?" - the red plumber questioned to himself, as they entered the place. Both explored the room, until the green plumber spotted an audio log. Quickly, he activated it, and he and Mario heard the following;

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. For 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?

As soon as the audio log ended, Sammy's voice echoed through the room. - "I said, can I get an amen?" - feeling tense, Luigi looked back, and muttered. - "M-Mario? Did you hear that?" - "Heard what, Luigi?" - Mario questioned, looking where his little brother was looking. - "Eh, nothing. So, let's go down this hall, and see what's at the end?" - with that, the two walked forward and spotted a Bendy cutout with a ritual symbol behind and beside the cutout in the dark hallway. With that, they walked further, until they came to another hallway flooded with more ink. Having no choice, the two followed where they could barely walk and passed it.

As the red plumber tried to force his feet out of the ink, the green plumber eventually saw a person walking by, carrying a Bendy cardboard cutout. - "Mario, look! There's someone in this place." - upon hearing the chant, Mario nodded and ran towards the door, with difficulty. - "Hey, wait a minute! Hey!!" - as soon as he and Luigi reached the door to ask for help, to the latter's strangeness, the person disappeared, leaving the cardboard behind. - "Huh? Where the hell did he go? " - he asked, before being greeted by a skeptical look from his older brother.

"Come on, Luigi? There's no one here! Whatever you saw, it must have been just an illusion or something. Well, since we're here, let's look for a way to proceed." - with that, Mario looked around, until he went to the right corner of the room, and found a closed gate. Upon understanding the mechanics, he declared. - "Hm... we need to get power to this gate somehow. Should be a couple switches nearby, so maybe we can open it." - "Okay then." - with that, the Mario Brothers started exploring, to find 3 switches around the place.

The first switch is next to the "Train Trouble" poster, the second is to the right of the second pentagram, and the last one is hidden behind several cans of bacon soup on the shelf. When they looked closely, the two realized that those cans were located in the left corner of the room, at the base of a destroyed shelf next to the cardboard Bendy. - "Hmm... I wonder what taste do they have? Are they any good?" - Mario questioned, as he took and opened one of the bacon soup cans, and then took a sip. - "Ugh, Mario! You don't even know if this thing is expired or not." - declared Luigi, a little disgusted.

After finishing, Mario wiped his mouth with the back of his hands, and exclaimed. - "It's a little dry, but the taste is even good at a certain point. You can satisfy your hunger with this. You should try one too, Luigi. Since you must have been a few hours since we ate at home." - he picked up one of the cans and offered it to his brother, who hesitated for a brief moment. But once his stomach rumbled, he didn't have much of a choice. Slowly, he opened the can of bacon soup and took a sip, with a grimace. Despite the taste described by Mario, it actually seemed to satisfy his stomach.

"Okey, I can live with that. But when we get back home, I'll cook pasta for us, for dinner." - Luigi declared, throwing the can to the side. - "Okay, but how about having some more? Should last a few hours, until we get home, how about that?" - declared the red plumber, offering two more cans of bacon soup. Looking around, the green plumber sighed and picked up one of the cans. - "Okay, just one more won't hurt, will it?"

Three minutes later...

Several cans of bacon soup were strewn across the floor near the shelf. Meanwhile, the Mario Brothers were already facing the gate. After the oldest hit the lever next to him to activate it, the gate began to open. As soon as they entered, Mario started to break the wood with the axe, which blocked the entrance, and as soon as they entered, they both saw that they were in the Music Department. - "Oh my. It's too dark in here!." - he pointed, while Luigi collected his flashlight and illuminated the place. As he pointed to the Music Department logo with musical notes and discs (although one of the discs was missing) he spotted another audio log. Then, the green plumber walked and once more, pressed and listened;

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 needed. More distractions.
These stupid cartoon songs don't write themselves, you know.

"Jeez, even this guy Sammy Lawrence had a troubled relationship with Joey." - Mario declared, in a serious tone. - "That's right, but on the other hand, we already seem to have some clue. Who knows, we might find a way out here. But first, let's turn on the lights in this place. This lantern won't last for long." - with that, Luigi spotted a door, and they headed towards it. When them looked, they both saw that it led to a flooded staircase, where there was a door written 'EXIT' above. - "Ah, great! There's an exit in this place. But it looks like this staircase is flooded. If we're going to find a way out of here, we need to find a way to drain it. But how?"

Mario looked to the side, and saw a 'POWER' switch attached to the wall, and started to turn it. To their surprise, power returned to the Music Department room. Relieved, the green plumber turned off the flashlight. With that, the two returned to the department and were able to take a better look at the place. The room also consists of two radios from above, a Bendy cutout from the right side, and Sammy Lawrence's first audio log, which they just heard. On the right side was a small room containing a "Sent from Above" poster of a female character named Alice Angel, a garbage can, and a board.

As soon as they took another step, a large puddle of ink fell to the floor. Confused, the two brothers just shrugged and approached, until an Ink Searcher appeared, and began to crawl towards them. - "Aaahh, what is this thing, Mario?!?" - "I have no idea, Luigi! But stay behind me, okay?" - with that, the red plumber stepped forward, and swung his ax at the Searcher. But to his shock, more Searchers appeared and surrounded them, advancing towards the Mario Brothers. Then, the two looked at each other and nodded before smiling and positioning themselves with their respective weapons, to face the Searchers.

Minutes later...

After defeating the Searchers, the Mario Brothers were sighing heavily. - "Mama Mia, these monsters were tough! Where did they come from?" - Mario questioned, while Luigi also commented, while he removed all the ink from his Poltergust. - "That's right, and what are these creatures made of, huh? Not even Poltergust 3000 could take care of all of them. I wonder if they're really ghosts or not." - out of nowhere, they heard the sound of a gate opening, along with an ancient melody. As they looked to the right side of the room, they both saw an open gate. Next to the wall, there was a lighted panel written 'RECORDING'. Entering through this gate, they both arrived at a corridor that led to Sammy's Office, whose entrance was also being flooded by an ink leak, with a locked cabinet on the right side of the room. Inside was a switch that said 'PUMP CONTROL' and a table to the right of the room.

"Oh great. How are we going to get past all this ink blocking the door?!" - the green plumber questioned, while the red one looked into the room under the window and commented. - "Well, there's the pump switch, right, but that's one hell of a leak blocking the door. If we can stop the ink from running, maybe we can get in." - "Yeah, but how?" - with that, the two Mario Brothers looked around, until they found another audio log on a shelf in front of the office. As soon as Mario pressed the audio, he and Luigi heard the following;

So I go to get my dust pan 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 something.

All I can think of is that they must have fallen into one of the garbage cans as I was making my rounds last week.

I just hope nobody tells Sammy. Because if he finds out I lost my keys again, I'm outta here.

"Ah, I think I understand. We have to look for those keys, and try to open that door." - with that conclusion, the red plumber started walking down the hall with the green plumber, rummaging from bin to bin throughout the department. After finding Wally Franks' lost keys, the Mario Brothers headed to the closet that was next to the office. Inside the cupboard, there are some cans of Bacon Soup and an audio log recorded by Sammy. Quickly, Luigi pressed the record, and he and Mario heard the following;

Every artistic person needs a sanctuary. Joey Drew has his and I have mine. To enter, you need only know my favorite song:

[Randomized audio]

Sing my song and my sanctuary will open to you.

Upon completion of recording, both looked at each other and nodded to each other. They walked down the hall until they entered a recording studio. Inside, them saw that it had multiple chairs, a screen, microphones hanging from the roof, a recording booth, a recording booth, a banjo, drums, bass, violin and piano downstairs and a projection booth, a projector and a tape recorded by Norman Polk upstairs. - "Mama Mia, this place is huge! I imagine that this was where the songs for the animations were made for each episode made." - declared the green plumber, admiring the place. Then, the two started playing each type of instrument, according to the order of the record, but nothing happened. - "I know there's something we need to do here. I feel like we're missing something...."

After a few seconds, a glimpse appeared in the red plumber's mind. - "Oh yeah... hey, I have an idea! I'll take a look upstairs, and you stick around, okay?" - with that, shock and fear returned to fill the younger brother's face. - "What?!? But, but Mario!!?? What if those monsters show up and attack me?! Or you?!" - to calm him down, Mario held his little brother's shoulders. - "Don't worry. I'll come as fast as I can to help you. It's to give us more time to solve this puzzle and go back home, understood?" - With this explanation from his brother, Luigi became a little calmer and nodded before concluding. - "Okay Mario. But just be very careful, okay? We still don't know what might be out there, and if there are more of those ink creatures or something." - after nodding and smiling confidently, the plumber released him and left the room.

While Mario crossed the Music Department and managed to reach the top floor, Luigi began to explore the place a little more, and decided to listen to an audio log recorded by Susie Campbell. He propped himself up on his legs while playing the audio;

It may only be my second month working for Joey Drew, but I can already tell I'm going to love it here!

People really seem to enjoy my Alice Angel voice. Sammy says she may be as popular as Bendy some day.

These past few weeks I have voiced everything from talking chairs to dancing chickens. But this is the first character I have really felt a connection with. Like she's apart of me.

Alice and I, we are going places.

While his brother listened to the audio from downstairs, Mario reached the projection booth, and got a good look at the small place. There was a projector pointing onto the balcony where it overlooked the recording studio below. Then he also repaired a audio log on a table and when he pressed the play button, he heard the audio of Norman Polk, which gave them the following great tip;

Every day the same strange thing happens, I'll be up here in my booth, the band will be swinging, and suddenly Sammy Lawrence just comes marching 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 chasing behind.

Few seconds later, the projector turns off. But Sammy, oh no, he doesn't come out for a long time. This man is weird. Crazy weird!

I got half a mind to talk to Mr. Drew about all this, I really do. But then again, I have to admit. Mr. Drew's got his own peculiarities.

With that, he walked to the edge of the porch, stood beside the projector and called out for his brother. - "Hey, Luigi! I just heard a tip that could be very interesting!" - immediately, Luigi got up from his previous position and looked up, towards where his older brother was. - "I'm listening, Mario!" - "According to a record I heard here, it says that every day, while the band was recording songs, Sammy would turn everything off and tell everyone to wait outside! Then he would turn on the projector and run downstairs to play some instruments! After a long time, he told everyone to get back to their activities! I think if we repeat the same thing, we can open this Sammy's 'Sanctuary' and get out of here! Do you still remember the recording combination?"

Despite not understanding where his brother was going with this, the green plumber just nodded in response. - "Great! Here's what we'll do, I'll activate the projector here and you'll play the following instruments on that tape, got it?" - after another nod, Mario shouted one last time. - "Great! But when I activate the projector, you'll have to run very fast and touch them, before they turn off! So, run!" - with that, Luigi nodded and began to remove the Poltergust 3000 from his back, to free up weight and allow him to run faster to play the instruments. As soon as his brother activated the projector, he ran and played the instruments five at a time, just in time for the projector to shut down. With that, the green plumber looked around, with a confused expression and headed towards the red plumber.

"Hey, was something supposed to happen or something, bro?" - out of nowhere, another tense noise of an opening gate was heard, and both realized that the gate of Sammy's sanctuary was opened. - "Yeah, it worked! Wait a minute, Luigi! I'm on my way there!" - with that, Mario started down the stairs and headed towards the recording studio. As soon as he entered, he spotted Luigi putting his Poltergust 3000 back on his back. Together, the two brothers began to enter Sammy Lawrence's sanctuary.

They both passed through a long hallway with shelves on either side of the hallway. On the left side of the sanctuary, there were three violins, all in the same position. On the right side of the shrine were wooden planks and a single banjo. There were also some black tubes. At the end of the hall was a room with a drawing table, a toilet, a valve, a pentagram and a sign that said 'FLOW'. There was also a message written above the toilet, saying 'SING A HAPPY SONG, WHISTLE A MERRY TUNE. WAIT FOR HIS ARRIVAL, HE'S COMING VERY SOON'. - "One down." - as soon as Mario turned the valve, he and Luigi began to leave the hall and head to the infirmary. Out of nowhere, a Bendy cutout appeared from nowhere under the shrine's entrance, causing the younger Brother Mario to leap backwards once more, and ending up landing on top of the older one.

"Oh, Luigi! What happened this time? ... " - the red plumber grunted, while his brother got up from him and recovered from the fright. - "Sorry, Mario. It was that paper Bendy from before. He appeared out of nowhere, and..." - before the green plumber could finish, the red one gave him a short lecture. - "For the third time, Luigi! There's nobody but us in this place! There's no way those cardboard cutouts are going to be walking back and forth by themselves! And there's no way they could be these monsters, because clearly they would leave ink marks all over the place! So, for the last time, stop this schism of living clippings, because I can't take it anymore!!!!" - after blowing everything up, Mario started panting a little and sighed, before speaking more calmly.

"Sorry. I think I'm starting to go crazy in this place. Honestly, I'm starting to lose hope of whether or not we're going to make it out of here alive." - with that, Luigi smiled briefly, before getting up and extending his hand to Mario and helping him up. - "Okay, I understand. I'm also starting to go crazy over this place. I could also freak out at any time, just like that. But if we make it together, maybe we can get out of here and go back home." - with that, they both smiled at each other and started to leave the sanctuary.

As soon as they entered the recording studio, both were surprised by a horde of Searchers, which began to advance towards them. And once again, the Mario Brothers positioned themselves and attacked the Searchers, just as before. Meanwhile, a mysterious masked person silently watched them from the balcony. Once they'd beaten them all, Mario and Luigi sighed heavily as they shook hands. As they started to leave the studio, the youngest brother had enough time to look up and spot the masked person, still standing under the porch. He felt a little tense, but he decided to ignore it and followed after his older brother.

The Mario Brothers started to walk all over the Music Department, after noticing that the ink in the exit had not been drained. With that, they started looking for a second valve. In the end, both ended up finding an infirmary, which was blocked by ink before. Both started to go down the stairs, being surprised by a Searcher, but quickly, Mario hit him with the axe, defeating him. Inside the infirmary, the floor of the room was covered with multiple paint splatters. There was a bed located to the left, with a Bendy cutout next to it. On the wall was a paper with letters on it, presumably to test the eyes. There was a pipe located above the bed. On the wall was a switch used to access the Boiler Room. Next to the bed was a wardrobe.

As soon as they walked further and reached the pipe to turn the valve, they both realized that something was wrong. - "Oh, no, there's no valve. Where did it go?" - the red plumber questioned, shocked and confused, followed by a comment from the green one. - "I have no idea either, Mario. But maybe this lever here can help us." - as soon as Luigi pulled down the 'Utility Access station' lever, a passage opened up behind them. As they turned, they both started down the stairs and through the flooded sewers. - "Ugh, but what is that smell?!" - "Wow, it looks like ink, but with bleach and slime. It seems that they also have problems with sewer leaks in this place." - "Yes, we can even be plumbers, but that is beyond our limit. We've never seen anything like it." - both complained, barely breathing.

They wandered through the ink coming out of an open pipe and found Jack Fain behind two planks, which was holding the valve. As soon as the two approached him, he dove back into the ink, disappearing. - "Mama Mia! Was that thing holding our valve, Luigi?"

"Maybe, but how are we going to get that way? It's blocked by wood." - asked Luigi, before remembering that his brother had the axe in his hands. As soon as Mario destroyed them with the axe, he and Luigi began to walk under the ink of the long tunnel flooded with ink, with writings like 'THE SHEEP WILL COME TO SLAUGHTER' and 'DOWN HERE WE'RE ALL SINNERS', with several gaps in the walls that it contained objects, such as Jack Fain's audio log. Both took a quick break to listen to that audio, so they could understand a little more about that situation;

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 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 my nose closed.

With that, they both just shrugged and continued with the chase. In the end, the two plumber brothers entered a room where Jack Swollen was there, a small elevator with a box and two cylindrical machines with levers attached to them, which raised and lowered, and with the writing 'SING WITH ME' on the wall. Annoyed, Mario started running after Jack, only for Jack to keep running and dodging whenever the red plumber advanced towards him. Luigi just stood there, watching the ridiculous, cartoony chase. However, that served so that he could observe and create a scheme to recover the valve. - "Hey, Mario! That's enough! I have an idea." - he exclaimed, grabbing his brother's shoulder, stopping him. Then he pulled him close, and whispered something, which made Mario stare and nod.

Jack Fain was standing motionless, before having to dive back into the ink, when the red plumber came at him again. Meanwhile, Luigi pushed the "up" lever on the left machine, which raised the elevator, so Mario jumped again towards Jack Fain, until he appeared below the elevator. Then the green plumber nodded to the red one, who pushed the lever "down" on the right machine, dropping the elevator on top of Jack Fain, killing him. In the end, Mario picked up the valve that had fallen out of Jack's hands and started back to the infirmary, while his younger brother walked over to where Jack Fain was crushed, and declared. - "Sorry, but we had to do this. Nice hat though." - after gesturing with his thumb and smiling sadly, he turned around and walked back towards the infirmary, where his older brother had headed.

After placing and activating the second valve, Mario and Luigi began to climb the stairs, return to Sammy's office and open the door, which was blocked with ink and a leak of ink coming from a pipe. This time, the younger twin chose to stay in the department, to save time walking around and letting his brother know if the ink had drained or not. He even kept the axe, in case some Searcher came out of nowhere and attacked him, as the Poltergust wouldn't take care of them alone. With that, the oldest decided to activate the last lever for both of them to get out of there. Then, after opening the office door, Mario started activating the pump control. But before he went, he took a quick look at a table and decided to check it out. On the table, there was a radio, which could be activated. He played the song "Build our Machine" while looking at the paperwork next to the radio.

Meanwhile, Luigi was at the Music Department, still waiting for his brother. Out of nowhere, he heard a draining sound, and as he went to the door that led out, he grinned and started yelling. - "Mario! Looks like the ink has drained! We can finally go away! Mario?" - upon noticing that Mario was taking longer than usual, he decided to go after him. But before he managed to get inside, unexpectedly, he felt a strong blow behind his head and he fell to the ground. The last thing he saw before everything went black was the same masked person as before, holding a dustpan in his left hand, whispering to him. - "Rest your head. It's time for bed."

In the end, Mario realized that time had passed, while listening to the song on the radio. Remembering Luigi, he started towards the door, before hearing a dull thud, as if something had fallen to the floor. Worried, he opened the door and started running towards the Music Department, where his brother was obviously staying. But when he got there, he didn't find any Luigi around. The only things there were a dustpan, the Poltergust 3000 and the green hat with the letter L, both lying on the floor. Mario began to despair. Luigi would never go anywhere without his favorite hat. Sure enough, something happened there while he was in the office. Feeling terrible that he left his brother alone to drift away from any monster that might be there, he started to collect the hat and the Poltergust 3000, and started looking for his brother, and hopefully, find the captor and make him pay for that.

After a few minutes, Luigi started to open his eyes, his vision blurry. It only took a second to realize that he was tied to a wooden beam. He focused on the masked person, who was speaking in front of him. - "There we go now, nice and tight. We wouldn't want our sheep roaming away now, would we? No, we wouldn't." - upon seeing his tone of voice and the way he spoke, the green plumber realized that that masked person was none other than Sammy Lawrence, the director of the Music Department. - "I must admit I am honored you came all the way down here to visit me. It almost makes what I'm about to do seem cruel. But the believers must honor their savior. I must have him notice me." - as Sammy talked and moved, Luigi grew more afraid and doubtful. Was that man crazy? Where were they? And Mario was coming to save him? What did the psycho director want with him? The last question was answered with the following statement from Sammy.

"For our lord is calling to us, my little sheep. The time of sacrifice is at hand! And then, I will finally be freed from this... prison. This inky... dark... abyss I call a body." - before he could speak or understand, Sammy silenced him before continuing. - "Shhhhh! Quiet! Listen! I can hear him. Crawling above. Crawling! Let us begin. The ritual must be completed! Soon he will hear me... he will set us free." - with that said, Sammy then left the room, closed the door behind him, and started singing a song about sheep over some speakers. - "Sheep, sheep, sheep, It's time for sleep. Rest your head. It's time for bed. In the morning, you may wake. Or in the morning, you'll be dead."

As Sammy spoke, Luigi began to shake and moan in fear as he thought. - "M-Mario! Help me! Where are you?! P-please, wherever you are, come soon!" - out of nowhere, his thoughts were interrupted, when Sammy started to declare, as a gate in front of him opened, making his panic increase even more. - "Hear me, Bendy! Arise from the darkness! Arise and claim my offering! Free me! I beg you! I summon you, Ink Demon! Show your face and take this tender sheep!" - out of nowhere, a sound of something being invaded in the room was heard, along with Sammy's screams. - "No! My lord! Stay back! I am your prophet! I am your- AAAHHH!!"

After that, Luigi got more desperate and struggled to free himself from the ropes, before Ink Bendy appeared and attacked him too. Out of nowhere, he heard footsteps, and realized there was a figure coming towards him from the hall in front of him. The green plumber gave a shrill cry, and closed his eyes, waiting for his certain death. - "Luigi!!!" - hearing that, he opened his eyes, fear being replaced by relief and happiness, as he recognized the figure in front of him. - "M-Mario!!" - the red plumber ran over to him, and began to untie him. After being released, Luigi threw himself on his brother, hugging him, while crying. - "Oh Mario! You don't know what I went through! I thought I would never see you again!" - Mario hugged him back, while calming him down. - "Shhhhh... it's okay now, bro. Now, tell me who kidnapped you, and why! I'll make him pay for it!"

"You don't have to worry about that anymore, Mario. Bendy already got him. So, we better run away from here, before he comes to get us, too!" - declared the green plumber, getting a little scared. The red plumber nodded, before remembering something important. - "Oh, of course. Here's your hat and your Poltergust, bro. I collected them for you." - after his younger brother put his hat on and put the Poltergust 3000 on his back again, they were both about to leave, another group of Searchers appeared and started advancing on them again. - "Mama Mia, why is it that whenever we have to go somewhere, these ink monsters always appear?!" - it was at that moment, that Mario remembered something important. - "Oh, no! I forgot the axe! How are we going to defeat these monsters, or whatever they are!"

Quickly, Luigi caught his attention, as they leaned against the wall. - "I remembered! The director of the Music Department brought it here, it's right there." - seeing the axe leaning against a wooden fence, the red plumber quickly ran and grabbed it. Both he and his brother began fighting the Searchers until there were none left. In the end, the two entered the hall in front of them and Mario started to break the wood boards that blocked the way, with the axe. When breaking the last wood board, the axe ended up breaking, much to his annoyance. - "What the hell! How are we going to get through the ways, now?!" 

"Hey, but you didn't come this way, did you?!" - the green plumber questioned, looking at a room completely flooded with ink, in front of them. - "Yes, but it wasn't flooded with ink. How are we going to get past this place, huh?" - the red plumber fumed, almost annoyed and frustrated. - "Hm... let's try to pass anyway, right? Since it seems to be the only way out here, right?" - with that, the two held hands and began to take a deep breath. As soon as they took the first light step forward, Ink Bendy appeared from the pond in front of them.

Luigi screamed in despair, as he was pulled by Mario to the right path, just in time for him to be grabbed by Ink Bendy, as the way they came from was now blocked by rubble. Both began to follow through the Corridor Maze, keep on running, while continuing to run as fast as possible in a straight passage, with the younger twin looking back sometimes, seeing Ink Bendy running after them, with his hand outstretched to grab them. He and Mario headed right, left, right, left, left, right, and in the end they reached the door at the end of the hall, then dove inside and entered S3 vault.

They both looked back, just in time to see Ink Bendy come towards them. But before he could, the door slammed shut and was blocked by a wooden board, sealing it off. They still heard Ink Bendy knock on the door for a few seconds, before everything went silent, implying that he was gone. After a few brief seconds of vertigo, the Mario Brothers burst out laughing, and hugged each other. - "I can't believe we got away from him! I thought we were going to end up like Sammy Lawrence!" - "Me too, Luigi! Me too."

After they both laughed, the two looked around the small room they were in. The room consisted of three machines attached to the left wall. On the right side, there were some shelves filled with Bendy dolls. There was also a single can of Bacon Soup found on top of a barrel. Behind them was a door. - "Hmm... maybe there's another way out here. Let's go, Luigi!" - declared Mario, as he and Luigi walked through the door and found themselves in another room. It appeared to be a spare storage area whenever the main toy storage area was at full capacity.

"Look, it looks like there's an elevator over there. Maybe it'll lead us to the exit or something." - the red plumber pointed, as he and the green one started heading towards the door with 'ELEVATOR' written on the side. But just as they got a little closer, a can of bacon soup rolled across the floor towards them. With that, the two got into their defensive positions as the older one exclaimed. - "Hello? Someone there? I know you're in here! Come out and show yourself!" - just as he spoke this, footsteps were heard, a figure stepped out of the corner, revealed to be alive. - "B-Boris?!" - Mario asked in surprise, followed by a groan and a dull thud from his side. As he looked to the side, he realized that his younger brother, Luigi, had fainted from shock.

Chapter Text

After opening his eyes, Mario found himself in a room with a poster of Boris beside it. After getting up from an folding bed at the back of the hideout and stretching briefly, he got up and walked out of the room he was sleeping in and started down the hall to the end, turning right into the main room. From the hallway between the doors that led to the bathroom and living room were overalls, pants and boxer shorts hanging on the wall, although they didn't belong to any of the Mario Brothers or Buddy Boris. When he got there, he saw his younger brother, Luigi, talking to Buddy Boris, both sitting next to the table in the kitchen area.

Ever since they first met, the Mario Brothers couldn't believe how Boris was alive, as they found him dissected and dead when they arrived here. Of the two, Luigi was the one who took the longest to get used to and stop being intimidated by an anthropomorphic wolf cartoon character. Unlike Ink Bendy and the other ink creatures they encountered, Boris was very friendly, but mute and shy. And that made him and his brother get along very well and quickly became good friends. It had been a while since they were brought to Boris' Safe House. However, they need to leave and return to the Mushroom Kingdom as soon as possible.

To the left was a makeshift metal door. As he walked to the door, it didn't take Mario long to realize that there was something missing. - "We're not getting out of here that easy. I need to open up the door, but the lever's missing. Boris probably has it." - he whispered to himself, then looked back to where Buddy Boris and Luigi were. Then, he went to the table, and spoke with the Wolf. - "Hey buddy, have you seen that lever around or are you holding it hostage until we make you something to eat?" - out of nowhere, Buddy Boris' stomach rumbled slightly, as if it was the answer. - "I thought so, let's see what we got! Come on, Luigi!" - with that, he dragged his brother along, to help him look for bacon soups to cook for Buddy Boris.

Scattered around the stash were 3 cans of bacon soup; one was in a barrel near a strange design mounted just past the stove, one was on a shelf next to the stove, and one was in the now open chest back in the room where Mario woke up a little while ago. They both picked up each of the three cans and walked over to the stove in the kitchen area. With that, they cooked a bacon soup on the stove, while the red plumber got a bowl of soup and the green one put the soup in it. Then Mario took it and placed it on the table in front of Buddy Boris. - "Here you go!" - he promptly bent down to pick up a toolbox, placing it on the table. Opening it, the older twin saw that it contained the door handle. Now that he had the lever, Mario walked over to the missing door/panel and put the lever in place.

Then he lowered the lever and the door opened. - "Let's see what's out there. Don't wander off!" - he declared after leaving the Safe House. Buddy Boris promptly got up and went to the door as well, to accompany them. Before he could leave, Luigi stopped by the door and exasperated as he remembered something important. - "Wait! I forgot my Poltergust! Mario, do you know where he is?!" - he questioned, desperate. The red plumber thought for a while before snapping his fingers. - "Oh, I remember! It's in the bedroom, inside the chest!" - with that, the green plumber nodded and quickly ran into the room. Almost tripping there, he slowly opened the chest and retrieved his Poltergust and placed it on the ground beside it. As soon as he closed the chest, Luigi noticed a bone next to the chest and in front of the shelves. Once he had the Poltergust 3000 on his back, he grabbed the bone and walked back to where Mario and Buddy Boris were waiting for him.

After coming out of hiding, he, Mario and Buddy Boris started walking down the hall. Halfway through, the green plumber handed the bone to the wolf, who lightly bit the bone. Walking down the hallway to the end and turning right, the three reached a door that led to another hallway. - "Looks like it's really dark up ahead. Let's find some light." - pointed out the red plumber, before directing his gaze to the green one, who collected his flashlight from behind, and squeezed it a few times, only to discover that his flashlight barely worked. Then, he slightly raised his arms, while shaking his head sideways in lamentation. When looking around, Mario found a flashlight, which was on a table to the side. Then he took out the flashlight, which turned on automatically. Then he walked into the darkness, with Luigi and Buddy Boris right behind him. - "Don't be scared, Luigi and Boris. I'll keep the light near you two so you don't get lost."

With that, the three continued walking down the dark hallway, the red plumber leading the way with his flashlight. As they navigated down the hallway, Buddy Boris was puzzled as he and the Mario Brothers heard footsteps from someone running. Luigi cowered behind Mario as he stuttered. - "Did you hear that?" - "Yeah me either." - the older brother replied, while pulling the younger one closer to him by the arm and they continued walking, with the wolf right behind. Finally, reaching the end of the dark hallway, the two brothers and Buddy Boris saw a huge closed door. - "Another dead end. I don't see another way through, you got any ideas Luigi?" - the red plumber asked, followed by a "no" from his brother, as an answer. - "And do you got any ideas, Boris?"

When they both looked to the side, they saw Buddy Boris facing a hole in a vent in the wall. They both stayed by his side and watched the ventilation. Then Mario understood the concept and poked the wolf in the shoulder, getting his attention. - "Here, take! You will need to light the way!" - seeing that he was offering them the flashlight, Buddy Boris took it and he crouched down and then crawled inside to the vent. - "Be very careful, Boris!" - Luigi shouted, in a worried tone. After a few seconds, the vent closed. The two moved away a little, while the youngest trembled and looked around. - "M-Mario, what will happen now, that we are alone?" - "Hmm... I have no idea, Luigi! But let's hope to get out of here, and avoid meeting other ink monsters and that Ink Demon around here!" - concluded the oldest, followed by his brother's nervous nod.

Moments later, the huge door opened, surprising them, and the Mario Brothers walked through it. Upon entering, both were surprised by what they saw. - "Wow... I don't remember any of that!" - it was then that they saw a big sign saying "Heavenly Toys". The Heavenly Toys room was one of the largest out of all the other rooms in the places them had seen. There was a huge sign with ink flowing down from behind it, a large halo on top, and numerous Bendy, Alice, and Boris dolls in this room, varying in size. Two giant model planes hang from the ceiling. Behind the large sign was a large drawing of Bendy. The words "DREAMS COME TRUE", which were seen written on the wall in ink in the basement where they fell, could be seen at the top of the back of the room. Below the words was a gear.

After going up the stairs and through a door, the two entered a room with a Toy Machine. - "Why is there always something blocking the door? Gotta be a way through!" - Mario pointed out, annoyed to see that there was a passage or door blocked by a wall of toys. With that, he went back to the Celestial Toys room to pull a lever, leaving Luigi alone in the room. Out of nowhere, the latter heard a woman humming across the room, and cringed in fear as he looked around. Outside, the red plumber pulled the lever on a mechanism that connected the wires. Then he went back inside, and found his brother cowering, moaning and shivering. - "Hey, Luigi! What's wrong?" - he asked, confused, as he approached. - "M-Mario... I just heard someone humming a song around the place! Something tells me we're not alone here!"

"Ah, come on, Luigi! No need to worry anymore! Sammy was killed by Bendy, remember? There's no way he's here!" - "But it wasn't Sammy Lawrence! The voice seemed to be a woman's!" - "A woman?! Hmm... I don't know, huh? I didn't see any women in this place! Nah, but you know what, let's just fix this machine, and open the way, okay?" - after that, the two headed for two wheels each and started taking out all the toys that prevented the belt wheels from turning. Once the belt wheels were unobstructed and were turning, Mario started to pull the switch that was directly connected to the on/off switch. Upon pulling the switch, he and Luigi saw that the wall of toys changed position. On one of the few times the red plumber pulled, he paused briefly so that he and his brother could listen to an audio log, which was on the shelf table;

I don't be seein' what the big deal is.

So what if I went and painted some of those Bendy dolls with a crooked smile?

That's sure no reason for Mr. Drew to be flyin' off the handle at me. And if he really wants to be so helpful, he could be tellin' me what I'm to be doin' with this warehouse I got full of that angel whatchamacallit. Not a scrap of that mess be a-sellin'!

Probably have to melt it all down to be rid of it all.

As soon as the audio ended, the two looked at each other a little tense, and went back to pull the lever again. After pulling the lever several times, both managed to release the door, and went to it.

As soon as they entered the room, the two had time to catch a glimpse of the place; The room contained several televisions, a camera stand, some wooden crates, and two barrels blocking entry from the chosen paths. Several posters of the cartoons "Sent From Above" and "Siren Serenade" could be seen printed on the walls. There was one windowed booth from each sides - From the left side included the Alice Angel cutout, and the right side contained a shelf filled with Alice's plush toys. From the middle booth, where the entrance to Alice's dressing room was located, there was a rectangular shaped window screen with the top sign reading "SHE'S QUITE A GAL!".

As they walked across the room, out of the blue, the lights went out, and then all the televisions came on, showing Alice on all the screens, followed by a sigh and a giggle, and at the end, a song sung by her.

I'm the cutest little angel, sent from above, and I know just how to swing.
I got a bright little halo, and I'm filled with love...
I'm Alice Angel!

As the music played, the Mario Brothers showed two different reactions: Mario initially showed that he liked the music, but in the second verse, he began to find it very boring; Luigi felt uncomfortable, and at the same time scared, because he felt that something bad would happen at any moment.

I'm the hit of the party, I'm the belle of the ball, I'm the toast of every town.
Just one little dance, and I know you'll fall...
I'm Alice Angel!
I ain't no flapper, I'm a classy dish,
And boy, can this girl sing.

After about 30 seconds, a light turned off, illuminating the door to a dressing room behind a large window in the center stand.

This gal can grant your every wish...

"Mama Mia, Luigi! How many more times is this song going to say this girl's name, huh? It's getting really annoying already!" - Mario muttered, while Luigi answered back. - "I'm not sure, Mario!" - out of nowhere, when they least expected it, a humanoid Alice Angel, Twisted Alice, with half her face deformed, appeared in front of her. to them, shouting:

"I'M ALICE ANGEL!"

Scared, Luigi jumped under Mario, who grabbed him and held him by his arms and both hugged each other, screaming. At that same moment, Alice yell and tapped on the glass, and everything went black as she laugh mischievously. Moments later, her voice was heard in the darkness, sending chills through both of them. - "I see you there. Two new flies in my endless web. Come along now. Let's see if you're worthy to walk with angels." - after that, the lights came on, and silence took over the place.

After opening their eyes, they both could see that the window was broken, but there was no sign of Twisted Alice. And inside that booth, there were cardboard-made pedestals and clouds, and a door printed with a halo-wearing star and Alice's name. After stepping down from his older brother's arms, the younger one sighed and stammered;

"Wh-what was that?! You saw that too, didn't you Mario?! Tell me I wasn't the only one who saw that woman!!!" - quickly, Mario hugged him and started stroking his head, trying to calm him down. - "Shhhh, it's going to be okay, Luigi. No, you weren't the only one who saw her. But don't worry, I won't let her get close to us or do you any harm. So, calm down, that it's gonna be okay." - once he calmed down, they both released themselves from the grip, and started to look around. Alice's cutout and almost all of the plush toys are gone. The two wooden barrels that blocked the other door was moved out of the way, along with the gate completely open. With that, the Mario Brothers went to her and followed a small corridor that led to two choosing paths - the "Demon" path from the left and the "Angel" path from the right.

The two brothers looked at each other at the two paths, and then, they started to take the path on the right. As soon as his younger brother passed, out of nowhere, the door closed in front of him, leaving Mario outside. The red plumber took a step back, completely taken aback, as his brother's voice was heard on the other side.

"Mario?" - after hearing a slamming sound from behind, Luigi turned around and saw the door the path The Angel closed, and not only that, Mario wasn't there. Desperately, he ran to the door and started banging on it, frantically calling for his brother. - "Mario?! Are you there?! What happened?! The gate closed or something?!" - fortunately, he can still hear his voice, making him a little relaxed.

Mario heard his little brother scream and knock on the door, clearly scared and confused. - "Yes, Luigi! I don't know! The door out of nowhere, closed in my face, before I could enter! It seems that some force wants us to go our separate ways or something." - he deduced, still trying to understand, too. - "Oh, Mario... what am I going to do?! What if that sinister woman appears and comes after me, or worse? The Ink Demon comes to get me, too? I'm scared!" - "Shhhh, Luigi, stay calm, okay? It'll be fine! We'll do it like this, you go to the end of the hallway, and wait for me there. In the meantime, I'll take the left path, and I'll meet you there, understood?"

Although, scared at the thought of being alone, the green plumber had no choice but to agree and go along with Mario's plan. - "O-okay. But please, don't let either of them get you, either." - "Leave it to me bro. See you later." - with that, Luigi heard his brother's footsteps moving away, deducing that he had gone through the The Demon's path. He took another deep breath, and turned around.

He glanced around and saw what appeared to be a staff room, as evidenced by the couch and nearby vending machine. The room contained an Alice Angel cutout next to a couch, which on top is an audio log, an Alice Angel doll, and a chopped up can of bacon soup being used as a candle. Luigi walked over to the couch and pressed the audio, hearing it be the voice of Susie Campbell, who said the following;

Everything feels like it's coming apart.

When I walked into the recording booth today, Sammy was there with that... Allison.

Apparently, I didn't get the memo. Alice Angel will now be voiced by Miss Allison Pendle.

A part of me died when he said that.

There's got to be a way to fix this!

After the audio ended, the green plumber had a brief look of sadness and comprehension, understanding that feeling she had, and then him realized that probably that hideous woman who claimed to be Alice Angel, would be Susie Campbell, only deformed. After thinking that through, he explored a little further, and saw that the room itself contained a "TASTY EATS" machine, a television, a dresser, a garbage can, and a coat hanger stand. There was also a Bendy doll and a gear sign. The entire floor had a checkered-tile flooring.

Outside of the room's entrance was two "Sent From Above" posters and the "DREAMS COME TRUE" message written on the other wall. Luigi rolled his eyes, it was the third time he had seen that phrase written on the wall. In the end, he arrived at the door, and after standing outside, the door closed by itself again. Very scary.  He walked down the hall until he turned right and stopped in front of a strange box. Looking closely, he saw that it appeared to be disguised as the Tasty Eats machines seen on The Angel's Path, but it was built in a structure similar to an outhouse. The front wooden door was printed with a halo drawn in ink to signify Alice Angel's own halo. It also had a "Little Miracle Station" sign with another halo above it. Wooden boards and metal plates were bolted to the outer walls.

When he opened it, he also saw that the interior was very empty with a small ledge near the bottom and with a metal plate fitted in the wall. Luigi then proceeded to the next hallway, and seemed a little lost in his thoughts about that box and what it could be used for. Out of nowhere, he felt a tap on his shoulder, making him startle and jump forward, startled.

After going left and standing in front of the door, Mario saw in the floor of the "Demon Path" was flooded with ink. It has ink dripping from the ceiling that resembles pillars. Strangely enough, the projector, the shelf, and one of the chairs were entirely black to match the ink's color. Close to that, there is another chair that has an audio log belonging to Joey Drew. Mario walked to the audio and listened to what he said;

There's nothing wrong with dreaming. Wishing for the impossible is just human nature. That's how I got started. Just a pencil and a dream. We all want everything without even having to lift a finger. They say you just have to believe.

Belief can make you succeed.
Belief can make you rich.
Belief can make you powerful.

Why with enough belief, you can even cheat death itself.

Now that... is a beautiful, and positively silly thought.

After the audio ended, the red plumber just shrugged and turned to leave. Before, he had also seen that there were an animation desk with the Bendy doll and inkwell. Outside of the entrance to this room consists of the coat hanger stand, and the "Little Devil Darlin'" and "The Dancing Demon" posters. In the end, he got to the door, and walked past the director, and turned to the right.

And again, there was no sign of Luigi, and Mario started to get worried. Had his brother been captured again? He didn't know who could be more dangerous; the supposed Alice Angel or Ink Bendy. As he turned into the other hallway, he spotted Luigi, pausing in a small amount of smoke, and walked over to him, touching his shoulder. This made his brother scream and jump, totally caught off guard.

"Hey, calm down. It's just me." - Mario reassured him, seeing him very scared. With that, Luigi took a deep breath, and smiled slightly at his brother, knowing that they were together again. The two looked to the sides, and apparently, everything was fine. And then, they spotted another door, and started down the long corridor. After they arrived, a cutout of Bendy jumped out of nowhere, making the younger twin fall backwards again. Surprisingly, Luigi hadn't heard Mario interrogate what happened or anything like that. Instead, he simply helped him to his feet and dusted off his clothing.

"D-did you see that too, M-Mario?" - he asked, stammering a little. - "Yes, Luigi. I saw it, this time. By the looks of it, these cutouts seem to have a life of their own, don't they?" - the red plumber questioned, leaving his brother a little frustrated. - "But that's what I've been saying all this time!"

"I know, but we don't have much time, let's go!" - with that, they followed to the corner where the clipping appeared, and found a familiar friend. - "Boris! You scared us to death!" - Mario declared, as he and Luigi regrouped with Buddy Boris, happy to see that he was okay. - "Don't suppose you found anything we can protect ourselves with?" - upon asking this, the anthropomorphic wolf handed them a Gent pipe, which he had found lying around. - "This will do." - the red plumber replied, smiling, after picking up the Gent pipe. Now armed, he, his little brother and Buddy Boris opened the door opposite them and walked into the next room, that the floor was nearly covered in ink. Upon looking, they saw that it was a Toy Storage Room, consisting of several shelves containing Bendy, Boris, and Alice Angel dolls, along with train and plane toys, and some Bendy cutouts. After passing through, the three arrived at the power breaker halls, given the power switches in the area.

When stopping in front of a gate, both realized that besides being closed, it seemed to need one more lever to open it. - "Looks like to open this, we're gonna need to throw two levers at once. You get this one. I and Luigi we'll find the other." - with that, the Mario brothers began to explore the place, until they found the corridor that led to a second lever, with a poster of the Butcher Gang, a group of characters from the original Bendy cartoon, in the background. When they got close to the poster, to activate the lever, a Piper broke the poster snarling, scaring the two twin brothers. The two retreated, while Piper fell on her face and quickly got up and went towards them to attack them.

While the two dodged and retreated from their blows, Mario remembered the Gent Pipe, and began to retaliate the blows on Piper, who after several blows, fell limp on the ground and began to deform and become ink until it disappeared. The two sighed as they saw what had just happened before their eyes. When they realized, both were in another hallway, which was to the right of what they were. Near them, there was an audio log on top of one of the chest trunks. Both looked at each other and walked towards the audio log, and listened to the audio;

WALLY:
"Alright let's go over this again.
If the pressure goes over 45, I screw the safety bolt in tighter, right?"

THOMAS:
"No! For the last time, you do that, you'll blow every pipe in this place! If it reaches 45, you unhook the safety switch."

WALLY:
"You sure? You know, this sounds harder then comparing ear wax to bee's wax!"

THOMAS:
"Look, it's not that difficult!
Just keep an eye on the gauge!"

WALLY:
"Look pal, if you think I'm doing my job AND yours, I'm outta here!" 

After that, both looked at each other, with embarrassed looks, and left the hallway. The two went back and operated the lever, at the same time as Buddy Boris. Hearing the door open, the two brothers went to regroup with Buddy Boris at the first switch. The three went into the next room, which contained a statue of Bendy. Continuing on this path, Mario, Luigi and Buddy Boris passed through a hallway, arriving at the Indoor Balcony. The room contained two locked bathroom doors, a Little Miracle Station, and fifteen cutouts of Bendy. There was a staircase leading down to the other room, where the elevator was located.

As soon as they entered the elevator, a voice coming from a speaker, which they identified as Twisted Alice, was heard;

"You're so interesting... so different. I have to say, I'm an instant fan. Looks like you've got a date with an angel! Come to me now. Level Nine. Just follow the screams."

The two brothers looked at each other, while looking uncomfortable with that, as if a bad feeling had blossomed over them. As soon as the elevator stopped and opened, Twisted Alice's voice was heard again. - "Come on, step out of your cage. There's a whole twisted world out here."

After hearing that, Mario, Luigi and Buddy Boris started to get out of the elevator and started walking up and down the stairs, while taking a look around the Inner Chamber they were in. The room itself had an exit to stairs and a boarded-up door. A statue of Bendy was located on the left side next to a large entrance. Underneath the bridge, there was a river of ink. When they arrived at the door entrance, after climbing the stairs, they both saw that there was a large statue of Alice Angel herself, holding a sign that read "SHE'S QUITE A GAL!"

Moments later, the door in front of them opened and suddenly, Buddy Boris rushed forward, catching them by surprise. - "Hey, Boris, wait!" - Luigi shouted, understanding the hand, before he and Mario ran after the wolf. The latter also found himself confused. Why had Boris started acting like that in just a few moments? After passing through the hallway, and reaching Buddy Boris, both saw the terrible scene;

The floor was flooded with ink and consisting of cartoon character corpses. Several dead clones of Boris and Butcher Gang enemies (multiple of Piper corpses strapped to tables, few Fisher corpses hanging from the ceiling, and Striker corpses laying in the giant pool of ink) were scattered throughout the area. A pathway made of wooden boards connected the two sides of the warehouse. There was even an object that looked like Alice Angel, peeking out of the ground. A sort of Flooded Morgue, if you will.

When they looked to the side, they saw Buddy Boris standing in front of a dead clone of himself. The two Mario Brothers were shocked and disgusted by it all. Now, it all made sense. That dissected Boris they found in the studio when they arrived was one of those corpses in front of them. They looked at the pathway made of wooden boards, and began to walk, careful not to fall. As they passed, they both heard Twisted Alice's voice, but sweeter;

"Look around. It took so many of them to make me so beautiful. Anything less than perfect was left behind. I had to do it. She made me." - the two brothers looked at each other, half skeptical about it all. What did she mean by she made me?

Halfway through, they both spotted a corner with a large desk near the front of the maze, where other boards also connected. They decided to go there, to see what would be there. The two found an audio log, and started playing;

Who would have thought?
Me having lunch with Joey Drew! Apparently times are tougher than I thought.
For a moment there, I though I'd be stuck with the check.
But I gotta say, he wasn't at all what I expected.
Quite the charmer.
He even called me Alice.

I liked it

In the end, both returned to the boards pathway and continued until they reached the next room. After entering and passing Alice Angel's cutout, the Mario Brothers noted that the location itself is a large round room. Behind the windows, there was some kind of machinery, a control pad and a table, where a Piper was strapped. Beside that Piper, was Twisted Alice, torturing him.

Both Mario and Luigi could have a better view of that Alice Angel, beyond the face. When she noticed them, Alice immediately stopped torturing Piper, and started addressing the two plumbers in front of her;

"Hm. Now we come to the question... Do I kill you? ...Do I tear you apart to my heart's delight? The choices of the beautiful are unbearable. How's a girl to choose? Take this little freak for instance! He crawled in here... Trailing his tainted ink to my door! It could have touched me! It could have pulled me back!!" - she declared, as the two twin brothers watched her, a little tense, then Alice went back to talking to them, cringing many times, looking scared about something.

"Do you know what it's like? Living in the dark puddles? It's a buzzing, screaming well of voices! Bits of your mind, swimming... like... like fish in a bowl! The first time I was born from its' inky womb, I was a wriggling, pulsing, shapeless slug. The second time... well... It made me an angel! I will not let the demon touch me again. I'm so close now. So... almost perfect." - after Twisted Alice sighed, she addressed the two.

"Yes. I will spare you. For now. Better yet... I'll even let you ascend and leave this place. If you will do a few eensy, weensy little favors for me first. Return to the lift, my little errand boys. We have work to do!"

After concluding her speech, she then lowered the metal door over the window and continued torturing Piper. Mario and Luigi listened to the sounds from the other side, but they could only sigh in lament. As much as that creature had attacked them before, it didn't deserve to go through that. In the end, they both went all the way back to the elevator. As soon as they left, Twisted Alice's voice was heard again. - "My machines are hungry. Gather my some spare parts.".

The two brothers were confused, so they turned around and see a mechanism moving, revealing a pipe wrench. Mario then collected the pipe wrench, while handing his Gent barrel to Luigi. In the end, they both went back to the elevator, where Buddy Boris had returned, and went up to floor K, where they came from in the beginning. Then they heard his voice again;

"There are so few rules to our world now. So little truths. But there is one rule we all know and respect down here. Beware the Ink Demon. Stay out in the open for too long and he will find you. For if you see him, you'd better hide. If you don't, well, I enjoyed our date. Now, let us begin our work."

Once they arrived and the elevator opened, Mario gestured for Luigi to stay in the elevator with Buddy Boris while he went to do the said task. As he climbed the stairs, Twisted Alice's voice came up again. - "Have you met him? The Ink Demon? They say he hears everything. Every creak of the floor. Every rustle of paper. I wouldn't run so fast if I were you, you never know what will draw him in."

As soon as he entered the toy storage room, Mario started looking for any gearboxes, looking for those special gears. In the midst of his search, he came across a Piper, holding one of them, and Seachers, who were submerging out of nowhere. After rummaging around and finding some of them empty, Mario finally found the three special gears.

"Ah, that should be plenty. Return them to me. And try not to die on the way back." - Twisted Alice ordered, after seeing that he had accomplished his task. In the end, the red plumber walked all the way back to the elevator, careful not to draw the Ink Demon's attention.

As they entered and returned to level 9, Twisted Alice started talking again. - "Once upon a time, there was an angel. And she was beautiful. And loved by all. She was perfect. No matter what Joey says." - they both looked at each other, but then shrugged at Alice's comment. As soon as the elevator opened, they both went back to the gate and put the special gears in a kind of dropbox, which was on the right side.

Then Twisted Alice started talking again. - "Have you seen them? The swollen ones! They're just stuffed full of extra-thick ink. It makes me sick! And yet... it's the perfect thing for keeping myself together. If you're gonna catch them, Green's Stache cute, you'll have to learn to move quietly. Come back to my door. I have something that you'll need." - when they heard that, they both realized that she was sending the task to Luigi this time, who gulped.

Luigi then timidly walked over to the weapon giver and collected a ink syringe. After inspecting it closely, he felt he was going to faint from the size. The tool appeared to be based on a romantic-era style syringe he had seen in some books, with a long sharp needle and a large tank. And it was in sepia tones, and had a black needle.

In the end, he composed himself and walked to the elevator, along with Mario. As they rose to level 11, the red plumber looked unhappy at the idea of his little brother doing that risky task. Besides Bendy, there were other ink creatures that could show up and hurt him, or even worse.

As soon as they arrived and the doors opened, Mario put a hand on Luigi's shoulder, as if he wanted to say something. After taking a deep breath, he nodded slightly, with a tense look that said "be careful". The green plumber understood the signal, and waved back in response. In the end, he went out and started looking for the swollen ones while looking around;

The room's structure was slightly similar to a subway station in design. The entrance room contains a statue of Bendy at the left near the elevator. Away from the locked box and the wooden barrel, there is a punch card stand. There is also a door connecting to the stairways. The hall leading to the entrance to the waiting room contains a river of ink and Little Miracle Station next to it. From the hall away from the ink river's start are windows with machinery behind.

When faced with one, Luigi walked slowly towards him, and hit him with the ink syringe. With that, the Swollen Searcher exploded, leaving extra-thick ink on the floor in its place. So, he collected it with the syringe, and continued the search for others. In the midst of his search, another member of the Butcher Gang, Fisher, had appeared in front of him. To avoid being hit, the green plumber used his Poltergust 3000 to hold his head in one of the attacks, and hit him with the syringe.

After taking down Fisher, Luigi collected the thick ink, which that disfigured creature carried with it. So he crossed the river of ink, in search of more thick ink, and came to a Lunch Room 2.

As soon as he came close, he heard a sound of something walking, and when looking at the window of the other room, spotted a tall humanoid creature that was almost completely covered in ink and notably has a projector as a head. Shocked, the green plumber waited for the creature to pass, until he heard anything else in that room. In the end, he opened the door and entered the room, and looked around.

The room has two round tables and three chairs, a Bendy clock on the left wall, several wooden planks scattered all over the room, a door, and a Little Miracle Station in one of the corners. There is a box on one of the walls with a can of bacon soup. After inspecting the entire room, he spotted one of the Swollen Searchers nearby, and began to sneak toward him.

But before he could catch him, Luigi eventually stumbled and falling near the Swollen, who noticed his presence and backed down, disappearing. He grunted in frustration and got up with difficulty due to the weight of his back Poltergust. Then he withdrew from the room looking for that Swollen Searcher. As he left, he spotted an audio log on top of one of the wooden barrels. He walked over to it, and turned on the audio;

I don't get it.

Everyone's walking around here like grandma just died. Nothing but angry faces everywhere.

These people gotta lighten up. I mean hello! You make cartoons! Your job is to make people laugh.

I'm tellin' ya, If these people don't start crackin' a smile every now and then, I'm outta here.

As he returned to the Metro Station, he heard a sound coming from the other side of the wall. So, without thinking twice, the green plumber ran to the door, and entered the stairsways. Mario saw that, and prepared to run after his brother, until he gave up and waiting to see if it would be all right. Your brother knew what he was doing, so it would be all right, as long as he didn't make much noise.

After entering, Luigi saw that that room consisted of the door that led to level 11 on the left. In front of him, there was the swollen who had fled now. But before he could arrive at him, the swollen once again ran away for his frustration. When looking right, the green plumber saw that there were a large amount of instruments and a musical radio, along with the last other sets of stairs behind him.

He walked over to the music radio and called it, with the song "Bendy and the Ink Musical" playing. Out of nowhere, a sound of something emerged came from behind, taking Luigi by surprise. As he turned, he saw that Swollen again. This time, more carefully, he sketched and managed to hit him, collecting the third extra-thick ink. After that, Twisted Alice's voice came up again, scaring him again.

"How sickening! Makes my skin crawl! But the task is done. Bring me back my equipment, please, you green cute." - with that, he quickly ran back to the Metro Station, and returned to the elevator, where Mario was very distressed, until he saw him and sighed with relief. Then he pressed the elevator button, and both returned to floor 9. - "There was a time where people knew my name. "It's Alice Angel!", They'd say. Feels like so long ago. But those days can come back. Dreams come true, Susie. Dreams come true." - Alice spoke on the speaker with them again as they looked at each other again.

After placing the ink syringe in the dropbox, Twisted Alice sent the third task. - "I'll make this simple. Look for valve panels. Turn the little wheels. Then bring me their power cores. Please don't make me regret sparing you and your brother, little errand red boy. I can always change my mind." - as she spoke,  Mario swallowed hard, realizing that Alice was referring to him.

As they looked to the side, they both saw a plunger coming out of the weapon giver. Quickly, the red plumber handed over his Gent pipe to the green, and collected the plunger. He and his brother sigh with the feeling of nostalgia, and returned to the elevator again. As soon as they arrived on Level P, Mario quickly left, and went to his younger brother. - "Hey, Luigi. Stay here again with Boris. If the Ink Demon appears, be quiet."

Mario arrived at the Lobby Workshop, and saw that the entire Major area consisted of a hallway that led to two rooms, the operation room and the small workshop. Outside the rooms, in the main hallway of the floor, there was ink on the wall that said "I DON'T WANT TO WORK HERE ANYMORE" and a handprint. There is the Little Miracle Station located near the elevator.

The short hallway with the inked-written "HE WILL SET US FREE" was between two rooms with viewing windows: On the left, the room included a few desks on the left side, a circular hallway with a poster of "Hell in a Hand Basket", a box and a "Sheep Songs!" poster. A can of Bacon Soup was located on the office desk, while the circular hallway contains several more cans of Bacon Soup. To the right, this room contained a flat table in the center, a few pipes, multiple recording cameras, a table with The Illusion of Living book, and a gear.

From the area where the elevator was located, it consisted of a punched card stand and a statue of Bendy. There were also shelves with a couple of wooden crates and even some cans of Bacon Soup.

While looking for these valves, a Searcher emerged from the ink in surprise, and began to advance towards him. Mario quickly reacted and after a little struggle, he managed to knock him down. After that, he looked back to where the Searcher had surfaced and located one of the valve panels. As he got closer, however, he saw that it was empty, and went back to walking around the workshop.

He crossed the hall, and headed left, where to his surprise, there was another member of the Butcher Gang, Striker, wandering inside. After entering, the red plumber started to be attacked by him. After four hits with the plunger, Mario managed to defeat Striker and collected one of the power cores it carried. He looked at the wall beside the door and saw another empty valve panel, and thought. - "Probably got it from there or something."

While exploring the room, Mario found several Searchers, and had to shoot them down, until he found another valve panel. But before he could get close, the place was suffused with a splotchy patterns of ink splatters, accompanied by heartbeat sounds along with a whisper-like environment. Quickly, he ran to Little Miracle Station and hid, hoping to God that the Ink Demon didn't go after his little brother and that he and Buddy Boris were okay.

Meanwhile, in the elevator, Luigi had his hands over his mouth, shaking with fear, along with Buddy Boris, hoping that Ink Bendy didn't go to them and that his older brother was okay. The instant Bendy appeared, he disappeared, much to the relief of all three.

In the end, Mario came out of hiding and went back to the valve panel. After inspecting, he began turning one of the three small wheels attached to them until they all have the same amount of ink in each of the containers above them, as indicated by three small black circles.

After some time, he finally succeeded and collected the power core with the plunger. With that, he left and started heading into the second room, killing another Searcher on the way. Looking out the window, the red plumber saw Piper's corpse under on the table. But after opening the door and entering, the corpse was gone. He shrugged at that, and headed for the valve panel.

He sometimes stopped and looked back, waiting for a Searcher to appear. When that happened, Mario quickly dodged and hit it, until defeating it. He sighed and went back to turning the valves. Upon completion, he collected the third power core. Then Twisted Alice's voice came up again. - "You're quite the efficient little errand boy, red, aren't you?"

Mario just rolled his eyes, and walked all the way back to the elevator, and sighed in relief to see that his brother and Buddy Boris were okay. As they descended, they heard Twisted Alice declare again. - "Sammy said I had talent, he was always a good liar... Still, he was once a very handsome man." - Mario snarled when he heard Sammy's name mentioned. He still had hatred for this man, for having kidnapped his brother and almost offered him to the Ink Demon as a sacrifice. Even though he was dead, he wanted to have the pleasure of giving him a good spanking.

Once they arrived, they both went to the dropbox, and put the power cores and plunger inside. Luigi handed the Gent pipe to his brother, and both waited for the next task, with Mario getting nervous, as he felt that his little brother was going to do this task.

"You see those grinning demons, green cute? Let's remove them, shall we? I've got just the tool to make this even more enjoyable." - after that, an axe appeared in the weapons giver, and Luigi timidly walked over and picked up the weapon. The red plumber felt he was going to have a heart attack at that moment. Not only would his brother have to do this task, he would be more exposed to the risk of encountering the Ink Demon. Mario hoped he could be wrong with that assumption.

The two brothers returned to the elevator again and went up to the Level K, where they came from. Mario once again put his hands on Luigi's shoulder, but this time, he kept his head down. - "M-Mario? What are you doing? I have to go do this." - the green plumber questioned, trying to free himself from the grip. But his brother refused to release him.

"Mario, if I don't go, Alice will be very angry. And I don't want to get on that woman's bad side. So please let me go!" - he begged, trying to break free. After much insistence, Mario finally gave in and released him, sighing. - "Sorry, bro. It's just that I have a bad feeling. Maybe I should go do this task, and you can stay here safe, with Boris. Is that ok?" - he offered, hoping his brother would agree. But he was surprised by the answer.

"I'm sorry, Mario. But Alice gave this task to me. If we switch, she might get really mad. So, we better do what she says if we want to go home. Do you understand?" - at this, the red plumber became even more tense, but agreed. He didn't want Twisted Alice to rage and hurt your brother for disobeying her. Then, he looked at Luigi, and nodded at him. - "Okay. But for God's sake, be very careful, and don't attract Bendy's attention, okay?"

With that, the green plumber smiled and waved at him in response. He started up the stairs, and destroyed the first Bendy cutout on the way. Mario watched he rise all the way until him disappeared from view. He sighed, still agonized by the premonition that Ink Bendy was going to show up.

Luigi went all the way, finding and destroying the cutouts Bendy he found. He also took down a Piper and some Searchers, who were trying to attack him. But with the axe in hand, it was very easy to defend yourself. At one point, he passed through the Demon Path, which was open, and he wondered how that was possible, if he went through the Angel Path? Well, it didn't matter anyway. After passing through Alice Angel's toy room and the Toy Machine room, he finally reached the Heavenly Toy room, which was full of cutouts Bendy, something he didn't remember seeing when he and Mario arrived here.

After going downstairs, he took a deep breath and started to destroy all the cutouts in the room. As soon as he finished, the green plumber heard Twisted Alice's voice, in a satisfied tone. - "Ah, now that was fun! Oh! But I forgot to mention... " - what she said next left him pale. - "He hates it when I do that. I would hide if I were you, cute little thing." - she laughed after saying that. Before Luigi could process what she said, the room was filled with a splotchy patterns of ink splatters, accompanied by heartbeat sounds along with a whisper-like environment. He recognized it, it was the Ink Demon. He was already there.

As he looked up the stairs, he saw Ink Bendy, standing there, watching him. He glanced at the ink creature and the axe in his hands. Connecting the facts, Luigi quickly hid it behind, and smiled nervously. - "Oh, h-hey, Bendy, buddy? You around here? How you doing? Did you happen to notice the weather today, huh?"

In response, the Ink Demon snarled at him and started running towards him, one of its hands raised. Luigi gave a loud scream, seeing him coming towards him, and instinctively, he started to run from him, too. He tried to unseat him and dribble him, but Ink Bendy was much more agile and faster than he was. And to make matters worse, the green plumber almost stumbled the entire way, despite his effort to run forward and look back at the same time.

Mario heard his brother's screams from afar, and had a leap in his heart at what it could be. As he looked up, he saw Luigi running down the hallway as he looked back. - "Luigi!!!" - the red plumber shouted terrified, when he noticed the presence of the Ink Demon approaching. Buddy Boris quickly closed his eyes upon realizing his presence. But what happened next left Mario even more terrified.

In the middle of the run, Luigi tripped over his feet, and fell all the way down the stairs, until he hit the ground. Upon hitting the ground, Luigi gave a grunt of pain as he tried to get up. But due to the weight of Poltergust 3000 on his body, he couldn't move. And to make matters worse, he was in a lot of pain.

Seeing Ink Bendy approaching, without thinking twice, Mario ran out of the elevator and carried his brother back, with difficulty. As he turned, he saw Bendy coming down the stairs and heading towards them. Thinking fast, he ran to the elevator buttons, and closed it. The Ink Demon snarled at him, while still trying to attack them. The red plumber put an arm in front of his brother in defense as he glared and snarled back at the Demon.

Then he pressed the button for Level 9, and the elevator descended. Surprisingly, Twisted Alice's voice was not heard this time. But Mario didn't care, that woman not only sent his brother on a suicide mission, she also almost left him for dead. When he looked at your brother, your anger dissipated and he started to inspect him. Fortunately, Luigi was not seriously injured, but his left arm appeared to have been dislocated as it was very painful to touch and movement. And not to mention he couldn't seem to stay on his feet for very long.

As soon as they arrived, they both headed towards the gate again, with Mario supporting his brother, who limped as he walked. As soon as he dropped the ax into the dropbox, the next thing they got was not so much a task as an desperate order.

"The disgusting wretches have wandered my halls, have gone unchecked! They're trying to drag me back to the darkness! Don't let them take your angel! Purge them, one by one! Smash them into puddles! Kill them!"

As they turned around, the two brothers realized that the Butcher Gang was heading towards them. Mario wouldn't mind letting them get close to Twisted Alice as he was still pissed about what she had done earlier. But he didn't want to risk the life of his younger brother, who was already quite weak. So he decided to do it for him. Then, he placed his brother near the gate, while he positioned himself on the stairs, preparing to face the deformed trio.

One by one, he hit and knocked them down, with difficulty. When someone passed by him and went towards his brother, Mario would jump on it, and hit it, sending it away. After almost a minute of fighting, he defeated them. The red plumber breathed heavily as he heard that obnoxious voice again. - "So quiet. Like a welcoming grave. I like the silence, don't you?"

Mario just snarled at her in response, and walked towards his brother, who struggled to his feet. - "Hey, hey. Don't try too hard." - he said, holding Luigi, who was grunting with the pain. - "I'm fine, Mario. No need to worry about it. I could have handled them." - Luigi replied, trying to reassure his older brother, smiling slightly. - "No, you wouldn't have, bro."

Both laughed lightly together, until Mario sighed and wondered. - "Ah, Mamma mia. Aren't we done yet?" - as if answering, Twisted Alice spoke again. - "I hate leaving work unfinished! Fortunately, I have you two to pick up the pieces. But you'll have to go even deeper. Down, down, down, into the abyss. Take the lift down. Say hello to an old friend. Sending you a little present. A little firepower. Take good care of it. It belonged to someone very special."

As they looked at the weapon giver, they both saw a Tommy Gun. The red plumber whistled. Something like that would come in handy. But just as he was going to pick it up, the gun dissolved into ink, followed by a snarky comment from Alice. - "Oops. I forgot. It's a little hard to get a hold of. Oh well. Better luck next time." - she laughed at the end, making Mario more nervous.

Having nothing else to do, he again carried his brother all the way to the elevator. In the end, he pressed the last button, and the elevator descended this time. In the end, they both reached level 14. As soon as he left, the red plumber walked to the edge, and looked around. That whole area was flooded with ink. Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned and saw Luigi limping over to a Striker corpse, and he bent down as if to pick something up.

"What is this thing, bro?" - he asked, standing up and holding some kind of heart human, only in ink. But at that instant, a loud roaring sound was heard, catching them by surprise. Both went to the stairs below and observed a tall humanoid creature, almost completely covered in paint and with a projector for a head. Luigi sighed in shock, recognizing that creature.

"Shhh... there he is. The Projectionist. Skulking in the darkness. You be sure to stay out of his light, if you two don't want trouble. Just bring me back the pieces I need."

Seeing that that ink heart must be what she wanted, Mario started trying to push his brother to the elevator, and do this task himself. But Luigi shook him off and put himself in a defiant position. - "Come on, Luigi? You think I'm going to let you go, after what happened earlier? You can barely stand up!" - Mario scolded, still trying to make him go back to the elevator. - "But Mario? This place is too big. How are you going to find one of these, with that thing wandering around?"

"And that's exactly why I'm forbidding you to come down there with me. I don't want to risk you getting hurt even more because of me!" - "Then, why did you bring me here? We could be at home, at this very moment, relaxing, eating spaghetti and going to visit the princess, as usual. But since we are here, I have the right to help us find a way out of here! And you won't stop me from doing something!"

With that, Mario's expression changed from anger to realization. His brother was right. The two of them were only there, because of him. He's the one who decided to leave home and explore something new, and he dragged his brother along. And now, they were in this mess, trapped in a 1930's place full of ink, deformed cartoon creatures and dangerous ink monsters, and trying to find a very unlikely way out with a high chance that they would end up dying there.

"Please let me help you with this task. If we do this together, we'll get through it faster." - Luigi pleaded again, with a begging look that Mario couldn't say no to. In the end, he sighed and relented. - "Ah, it's okay, bro. Let's-a go. But be very careful, okay?" - with that, the two went down the stairs, going straight to the river of ink.

Before entering, they both spotted a broken headset and an audio log near where the Projectionist first appeared. Both followed to that audio on top of one of the wooden crates and turned it on, listening to the next one.

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

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

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

Even when I’m right behind 'em.

With that, they both swallowed hard. Apparently, they had to avoid being caught by the Projectionist at all costs. In the end, both went in different directions, as they believed that this way, they would have more time to collect those ink hearts, and that one would be distracting the Projectionist for the other.

The place was like a labirinth, just in a large ink-flooded. In addition to being completely filled with ink, there were multiples projectors scattered around, all of which play looped clips from the "Tombstone Picnic" cartoon. Multiple numbers of enemy Butcher Gang corpses were also visible in each pool of ink. Multiple posters and Bacon Soup advertisement images can be found printed on walls.

Fortunately, there were three Little Miracle Stations scattered around the maze, so it wouldn't be difficult to hide from the Projectionist if they were spotted.

The two Mario Brothers collected every ink heart they found, while also running away and hiding when caught. After about 2 minutes, both finally managed to collect 5 ink hearts scattered across the abyss. With that, Twisted Alice's voice was heard by them again.

"Tell me, were they still writhing in your hands? Bring them to me now! I don't like to wait." - they both squirmed at her comment about hearts still writhing. Mario swore he saw his brother was going to puke or pass out, as he held three of them. The two went back to the elevator and went back up to level 9.

Once they arrived, they both walked towards the gate. - "Ah, Mario. I'm getting tired of this already! Is Alice still going to send us to do one more task? I can't take it anymore!!" - Luigi complained, in a frustrated tone. - "I don't know, Luigi. But I'm also getting really tired of it. I swear that if that bitch sends us one more task,..."

At the end, they placed the five ink hearts inside the dropbox, and waited for another possible assignment. But, to his surprise, what came next was this. - "It seems like we've reached the end of my todo list, my two little errands boys. I hope you've enjoyed our time together. I'll always treasure it. Return to the lift. It's time to go home."

With that, a smile emerged on their faces as they both hugged each other, relieved that it was all over. With that, both returned to the elevator, with Mario supporting Luigi halfway, even though he insisted that he could still walk alone. The two entered the elevator, which closed and began to rise.

"Have you ever wondered what Heaven is like? I like to dream that it's quite beautiful. A soft valley of green grass, blanketed by a warm sun. I don't think I'll ever get to see it. Are you ready to ascend, my little errand boys? The heavens are waiting." - declared Alice Angel, as the two plumbers rode the elevator with Buddy Boris.

Mario rested his arms behind his head, casually, as he declared. - "Well, anyway, I'm happy that we can finally go home! And you too, aren't you, Boris? So, you're also happy that we're going home, Luigi?" - before Luigi could respond, a strange sigh was heard around them. Then the two brothers tensed up a bit as the woman's giggles began to intensify, almost as if she was going insane. - "Eh, I feel something is wrong, guys!" - the green plumber commented, feeling uncomfortable.

"Why do you think that, bro?" - Mario asked, while still hearing Alice's laughter. Suddenly, the elevator began to fall rapidly. At the same time, they heard her scream. - "Did you really think I'd let you steal from me?! Did you really think I'd just let you go?! No, Mario Brothers! I know who you are! And I know why you're here! And you will not stop what needs to be done! Now come down and bring me back my BORIS!" - upon hearing this, Luigi instantly hugged Boris, who was cowering and shaking with fear, and with his hands under his eyes.

"It's the most perfect Boris I've ever seen, and I want it! I need it. I need its insides so that I can be beautiful again! Don't you understand? Don't you get it?! Give him to me!! Or better yet, I'll take him!" - without thinking, Mario also ran to hug Boris. - "Sshh, it's okay, Boris! We've got your back!" - he whispered, trying to calm the scared wolf, while he and his younger brother hugged him tighter. The last thing they both heard, before everything went dark with a thud, was Alice Angel's menacing scream. - "Once... you're... DEAD!!"

Mario slowly started to open his eyes, only to find Boris coming to his aid. Out of nowhere, he heard a familiar humming. When his vision recovered a little, he saw Alice Angel coming from behind, walking slowly towards Boris. He tried to warn the wolf, but he couldn't get anything out but a snarl. As soon as she got close, everything went dark. Upon opening his eyes once more, he saw Boris being dragged into the darkness, before losing consciousness once more.

Chapter Text

"Calm down, Luigi. Let's find a way out of here. Or else, this guy Henry or some other instructor can come here and open the door for us. Until then, how about we explore the studio, and see if we can find something that this Joey guy wanted to show us?"

After hearing several dissonances from familiar and unfamiliar voices, Mario slowly began to open his eyes, until his vision returned to where he was. The whole place looked like it was an Accounting and Finance division or something. There was a sign that says "LEVEL S" next to the hallway leading out of the room. A wooden crate could be seen in the botton right corner of the sign. Part of the Ink Machine's lifting mechanisms was located at the back of the room, and a "WORK HARD, WORK HAPPY" poster was on the wall. There was also a coffin and a Bacon Soup can. Then he began to remember what had happened. He and his brother were going upstairs. The elevator started to fall. Buddy Boris was helping him. Twisted Alice came up from behind, picked it up and...

After having the realization, the red plumber looked around, with a worried expression. He turned to face the elevator, which was now wrecked and smoking and sparking. Looking at the wreckage, Mario spotted something that made him paranoid with worry. His younger twin brother, Luigi, was lying on the ground unconscious, with only half of his body protruding. He walked over quickly, and started checking on him, relieved to know he was still breathing.

Carefully, Mario began to drag him out, fearing he was injured or had a broken bone. He gave himself a mental spank, for not thinking of having brought some power-up with him, for cases like that. It could have been useful from the moment they fell in the beginning. As soon as he saw that his brother was safe, the red plumber turned him over and began gently shaking him, hoping he would wake up.

After seconds of distress, Mario was relieved when Luigi started coughing and opening his eyes. His eyes moved towards him, and he murmured weakly. - "M-Mario?" - the older brother smiled slightly, seeing that his younger brother was fine. - "Yes, Luigi?"

The green plumber tried to sit up, but he groaned and almost fell back to the ground as he placed his hand on his left shoulder. Mario noticed this, and got worried again. - "Hey, Luigi. Is everything okay? Are you hurt or something?" - he asked, placing his hand on his brother's right shoulder.

"N-no. It's okay, Mario. I'm just a little sore from the fall, that's all." - Luigi tried to reassure his brother, but Mario could see through his expression and tone of voice that his little brother wasn't well. He approached him, and despite his protests, the red plumber tugged at the collar of his shirt, and he had a vision that made him want to faint. There was a huge bruise on the left side of the chest, and it looked like it extended down the forearm and into the left rib area. The thought of that last being broken also made him sick with worry.

Luigi noticed that his brother was shaking, and he placed his hands on his shoulders to calm him down and bring him to himself. - "Mario? Hey, it's okay. I'm fine, you're fine, too. Please calm down." - he murmured, hoping that Mario would relax a little. It didn't help, but it worked enough to get him to look at it. Mario helped him to his feet carefully, while still inspecting him.

"Well, the bad news is that the elevator looks like it's been destroyed. So there's no way we can get out of here." - Luigi commented, smiling despite the pain he felt. He started looking around, as if looking for something or someone. - "Hey, where's Boris? Wasn't he in the elevator with us? Is he okay?"

The red plumber gulped and looked away, as if that was hard to say. - "Well, I... I think the disfigured Alice Angel kidnapped him, Luigi." - he replied, a little nervous. His younger brother was shocked by that news. - "Wh-what?!? Alice got him?! Mama Mia, Mario, we need to save him!"

"I know, but first we have to make sure you're okay first. I'm not going to drag you into this search with you all bruised up." - Mario declared, in a rigid and firm tone. Luigi frowned, not liking it when Mario did that to him, as it made him feel fragile, helpless and like a child who needed constant care and attention.

"Mario, our friend Boris has been kidnapped and that crazy woman could be doing terrible things to him. I know you're worried about me too, but he needs help more than I do right now. After we save him, you can take all the time in the world to take care of me, okay?"

Mario didn't want to agree with what his brother had said about him not being a priority right now, but he was right, Buddy Boris needed their help. So, for the time being, he was going to put that worry aside, or at least try to. He nodded, a serious expression on his face, and they both started down the hall in front of them.

After looking at the sign in front of them, they both headed left and found a locked door, with a valve missing. - "Hum, definitely something is missing here. Let's see if in the other corridor, we can find a valve, Luigi."

The two turned and walked down the hall to the right, which led to Grant Cohen and R&D's office. As soon as they entered, they saw a room full of ink messages drawn on the room's walls that regarding taxes, money, etc. These messages included: "TIME IS MONEY", "WHAT WILL JOEY SAY?", "STOP THE WASTERS!!", "DOESN'T ADD UP", and "SHORT". There had also money calculations: 37.21 + 287, 7C - 17K - 37.16, 27K + 5, and $48128.

In their perspectives, the Mario Brothers felt like a kind of horror movie based on a book of the same genre*, or something close to it. As soon as they entered, Luigi started to feel a little difficult to breathe, but he decided to ignore it. As soon as he stopped and bent over a bit to catch his lost breath, he began to cough heavily. Mario noticed this and turned to help him. But to his complete horror, his brother started coughing up blood along with it. However, the blood that came out was black, which indicated that it could be ink or something similar.

The red plumber didn't want to think about it, and moved his brother close to a table, while he himself went to look for that valve. While his older brother was looking for the valve, Luigi realized that there was an audio log on Grant's desk. As soon as he played, he felt a shiver run through his body, hearing consistent muffled sounds, slight painful wails, and few other noises.

Mario also heard these noises and turned around, fearing that it was his brother or some other ink monster approaching them. Seeing that it was coming from the register on the table, he huffed, and went back with the search. After some time, he finally found the valve stuck in the damaged wall and picked it up.

He gently took his brother by the arm and they both walked back to the locked door. Mario placed the valve and turned it, opening the door. The lights came on and a music box began to play a peaceful tune, showing a room with a statue of Bendy and some Lost Ones gathered around it, standing motionless in dramatic poses all around the statue. Above the said statue, there had a sign with the message "HE WILL SET US FREE". On the ceiling of this room, a giant image resembling Sammy Lawrence's mask could be seen. Mario growled angrily at that last one.

Luigi retreated behind his older twin brother, fearing that those ink monsters would charge at them. But seconds passed, and the Lost Ones didn't move a muscle. With that, they took a deep breath and proceeded through the next circular room. The same one was a library with books shelves and safe vault all around the wall. The middle of the room was surrounded by bookshelves with in the center a table with an audio log in it. There had a chandelier in the ceiling.

Focusing on that table, Mario guided his brother to a chair at that table, and began to explore the circular hallway. The younger twin sighed in frustration, but understood that his older brother didn't want him to push himself too hard. As he leaned against the table, he saw that there was an audio recording of Susie Campbell, in her audio log, presumably being recorded after she had been replaced by Allison Pendle. Without thinking, he played the audio, hearing the following;

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

Now he wants to meet again tomorrow, says he has an "opportunity" for me.
I'll hear him out. But if that smooth talker thinks he can double cross an angel and get away with it, well, oh he's got another thing coming.

Alice, ooh she doesn't like liars.

After listening to this audio, Luigi saw that his brother was still looking for something, and so he asked. - "Is there a problem, bro?" - the red plumber turned around, with a frustrated expression and sighed. - "I don't know, bro. I've looked everywhere, but I can't find a way to open that door."

After leaning on one of the shelves, Mario felt that he had pushed something, and realized that it was a book that was out of place. He didn't consider it until he saw one of the lights above the exit door. - "So that's how it works. That's it, I just push the books back to the shelves, and the exit will open." 

With that, the green plumber stood up, and started heading down the circular hallway. - "Hey, you don't need to move. Let me do it, bro." - Mario tried to make his brother go back to the chair, but Luigi struggled slightly. - "It's okay, Mario. It's not like I need to make a lot of effort. It's just pushing the books on the shelves, right?"

Seeing that his brother was right, Mario nodded, but kept an eye out, in case something happened to his brother. Both pushed the books they found out of place. In the midst of this, a brief disruption of the horror vision in which a scream disturbed his visions, the vault doors and the chandelier seemed to be shaking before returning to his own consciousness. The red plumber swore he heard something fall in the middle of it, and a heaviness rose in his stomach.

He heard his brother cough again, and he ran to him. Luigi seemed to have gotten up off the ground, probably because of the scare. He signaled that everything was fine, but Mario didn't buy it, as he saw that there were black stains on one of his gloves. After pushing the last two books, the exit finally opened, and both were able to pass.

The two twin brothers reached a large cavern, where they found themselves on a rickety platform overlooking a seemingly bottomless pit. Inaccessible platforms could be seen scattered throughout the cavern.

They both went up a short flight of stairs, past ink pipes, and a Bendy cutout lodged in the wall until they reached a mining cable car. As they approached the cable car, they both noticed that a gear was missing. - "We can get across here if we can find a way to fix this." - Mario muttered, looking at the cable car in front of them.

Then Luigi looked to the side, and realized that there was a room that was an extension off the cave. - "Mario, look." - with that, they began to cross through the two short corridors and a large pipe in the center. A can of Bacon Soup could be found here, behind the large pipe.

After looking to the side, both saw a switch and a valve. Upon seeing the switch next to the door, Mario pulled it down and saw the large pipe rising up in front of them. Inside, there was ink moving and bubbling. Then the red plumber went to the valve on the side and turned it. To his and Luigi's surprise, bubbles spread, and moments later, a Swollen Searcher emerged. Alerted, Mario ran towards Luigi to protect him from that thing in case it attacked them.

Seconds passed and the Swollen Seacher didn't attack them. Upon closer inspection, Luigi recognized it. - "Hey, it's a Swollen, Mario. They're harmless. See." - with that, he walked away from his brother, who protested about the thing being "harmless". Mario watched him with nervousness on his face as Luigi approached it.

Taking a good look at the Swollen, the green plumber spotted the same thick ink on its back. He then picked it up, and to his surprise, the Swollen Seacher disappeared into the ink. He backed away a little, but turned to Mario, as if to show that everything was fine. Mario glanced at him and the thick ink on his hand, but nodded.

Both went all the way back to the mining cable car. Thinking about where they could use that thick ink to fix the cable car, they both saw an Ink Maker beside it, which was in front of it. After putting thick ink in the machine, Mario started to study the machine, and after pulling the lever, a mug came out. After understanding how the machine works, the two wondered if they could change to another setting or something like that.

On the side, there were four types of options; mug, gear, music radio and a bone. With that, both went back to the large pipe and repeated the process, until they got more thick ink.

After putting it into the gear setting, Mario pulled the lever again on the Ink Maker, and a gear came out. Impressed with that machine, the red plumber immediately picked it up and headed for the cable car. He put the gear in, pulled the lever and saw movement coming from the cable car on the other side.

As the cable car came slowly, Mario realized that it would take longer than it should. Right behind, he heard his brother tinkering with the Ink Maker, but he didn't care. As it was taking so long, his brother could be distracted as much as he wanted. He heard a music radio playing "Can't be Erased" in the background.

After quite some time, the cable car arrived, and wasting no time, the two Mario Brothers climbed aboard it, and began to crawl slowly through the pit. Anxiety crept up their spines a little as they looked around the cavern. Out of nowhere, the cable car stopped abruptly, to the despair of both. After a few seconds, it returned to continue the course, until they reached the other side.

Once there, the two brothers sighed and leaved the cable car. Upon spotting the door in front of them, they started to walk towards it and proceed to the next area. As they walked down the hall, out of nowhere, another disruption horror vision appeared, in which the walls are covered with inky arms reaching out and strange whispers being heard. Both tried to ignore it, while Mario helped his younger brother when he saw him having another relapse, and coughing a lot.

Halfway through, the vision faded, and the two could be more relaxed. They continued until they reached the end of the hall. When looking at a spiral of stairs, which went upwards, both began to follow to the right and up the stairs.

"I see you there my two little errand boys. Your Angel is always watching." - when they heard that Twisted Alice's voice again, the two brothers got tense with that, and tried to ignore her and continue going up the stairs. Especially Mario, who snarled and gnashed his teeth just thinking about that damned woman. However, she continued. - "What is it that keeps you two going? Is it the thrill of the hunt? The thirst for your freedom? Or perhaps... you're just looking for a little, friendly, wolf.... " 

Both stopped instantly at the mention of Buddy Boris. She laughed when she saw that she was right, and concluded. - "Better hurry, errand boys. Boris is having trouble staying in one piece." - after that, Mario noticed that his brother looked a bit uncomfortable. - "Hey, bro. Is everything okay?" - "I... I don't know, Mario. Something tells me she's toying with us or something" - Luigi replied, in a worried tone.

"Don't be like that, bro. I think that's what she wants to make us feel. Let's not get carried away by the words of that deformed angel, okay?" - with that, the two continued until they reached the top and entered the lounge & hideout.

At first sight, all will appeared normal. There were two sofas around the room, a Little Miracle Station here, despite it had no actual use. There was also a chest with a can of Bacon Soup and a miner's hat. Out of nowhere, a sobbing voice was heard from above, and the brothers spotted a Lost One stumbling onto the balcony, sobbing. - "H-He's going to find me! He always finds me! Oh no! I just want to go home! When do we go home? WHEN DO WE GO HOME?" - he declared, before wandering out of sight and through a door. 

Mario and Luigi look at each other, feeling sorry for that Lost One, but they decide to go into hideout right away. Upon opening the door, they were both greeted by at least twenty five forlorn Lost Ones, who just watched them. Seeing that they weren't moving to attack them, the two brothers sighed and started to walk past them.

As they passed through the ink-covered hideout, they were Lost in cages and huddled together on the floor. On the walls, there were messages such as "HE WILL SET US FREE" and most prominently "NO ANGELS". The twins noticed an open vent and a flashlight. In the corner was a Lost One crying next to a makeshift candle. Determined to move forward, Mario took the flashlight and entered the vent, being followed by his brother Luigi, who looked back one last time before entering as well.

Both continued climbing through the vents, with Mario leading the way. When they reached the end of the first passage, Ink Bendy suddenly appeared through a grate in the wall. Mario backed away, caught off guard as he hadn't expected Bendy to appear before them. He went into defensive mode in case that Demon tried to attack them. Behind him, Luigi began to feel his body getting very weak, to the point where he couldn't move and breathe right.

The Ink Demon watched them briefly, unable to reached the Mario Brothers, but him seemed to be trail his finger on the side of the vent door, gesturing for them to be quiet, before walking away and leaving a trail of ink running down the grate.

Eventually, the two brothers were at a loss to understand that, but they shrugged and continued through the vent. After some time, they finally reached an open opening that dropped him into a new area. Mario was the first out of the vent, and helped Luigi out next. He noticed that his brother looked a little pale, but probably out of the scare they'd received.

As they looked around, the Mario Brothers realized they were in a planning room. They started walking towards a wall, where there was a sign that said "COME UP AND SEE ME", with an arrow beside it, which took them to a stair to the top floor. After climbing the first floor, they spotted another message, saying "ALMOST THERE" painted on another part of the stairs. And in the end, they reached the third floor.

As they looked, them both saw that the entrance in front of them appeared to be the large mouth of a statue, specifically Bendy's. Inside was a table with some sort of map. Opposite the map was an audio log. As they played, the following was heard;

For forty years, I've built attractions that stagger the imagination! Colossal wonders such as the world has never seen! I have earned my legacy with sweat.

But right in front of everyone... high level investors, Wall Street tycoons, the ever-tactless Joey Drew introduces me, the great Bertrum Piedmont, as Bertie! Like I was his child.

You may be paying me, Mister Drew! But you don't own me! I'll build you a park bigger than anything YOU could ever possibly conceive! But before you go taking any bows, Mister Drew, know that this grand achievement will belong to me... and to me alone.

While listening to the audio, the two brothers noticed that there were also many planning boards with plans for the theme park on the walls. Apparently, the park would be called Bendy Land. And when they looked closely at the map, they realized that the map was supposed to represent a replica of the said theme park. Where have they seen this before, huh?

After the end of the audio, they understood that that room served as a workspace to accommodate this Bertrum Piedmont, in order to allow him to design this park. Not to mention his clearly strong dislike for Joey Drew, as well as his legacy. Really, this Joey had a lot of issues with these people, to the point where he was really hated by them.

As they looked to the side, the two spotted a switch next to the table. Quickly, Mario walked over to it and pulled it down. Apparently, nothing happened. As soon as he saw a sign above it that said Storage 9, his little brother remembered that there was a door next to the vent. With that, they descended all the way until they reached the room they arrived in and proceeded to the next area.

As they entered Storage 9, the lights suddenly kick on, catching the brothers by surprise. In front of them was a huge logo that read Bendy Land Hell. They both looked around, noting that the area was a large, spacey warehouse containing lots of shelves, crates, pallets and cement bags. Definitely, all those items were for Bendy's supposed theme park. Why are all those items there, they didn't know. 

Then they went downstairs, and and saw some closed stalls. In one of them, there was another audio log of their well-known Wally Franks, and they began to listen carefully, as it could help them; 

These guys down at the warehouse get to play games all day while I'm stuck cleaning up after 'em!
They kept locking themselves out of their own back room.
So I says to 'em, "look guys", I says, "you're smart, right? Here's an idea!
Why not rig these games up to knock open the door if ya win? It'll be fun for you guys, and it saves me the trip down here every day."

They went for it like a dog to pot roast.
I tell ya! If these guys don't start realizing who the real genius is, I'm outta here!

With that, they realized that they should play some games to be able to release some door. They started walking around the warehouse, looking to explore and look for that door. As they explored, they noticed that in total, there were four doors that gave access to other subsidiaries of the warehouse. Now, how to open them?

When they stopped in front of the entrance to the Haunted House, Luigi flinched and trembled with fear, while Mario spotted a switch box under the face of Alice Angel, next to the Haunted House. There were five switches, with only four of them labeled. There were cords sticking out from underneath the power box that led to four different rooms at different parts of Bendy Land. - "Hm, this haunted house seems like the way to go. But it's going to need some power. Let's-a find out how to activate it, Luigi." - he declared, as he returned to the stalls area.

Before following his brother, Luigi looked once more at the Haunted House. It reminded him of the three times he had to save Mario from haunted mansions, the last one had his other friends involved. He took a brief look at his Poltergust 3000, which looked worn and spattered with ink. The green plumber then sighed and declared, before leaving. - "Hang in there, Boris. We're coming."

As soon as he joined Mario, the green plumber noticed that his brother was playing a "Bottle Wallop!" game. He was very good at playing those games. Seeing that there was another game on the side, "Bull's Eye Bonanza", Luigi also started to play. In the end, the games concluded and a door beside the stalls opened. As soon as they headed for it, Luigi jumped up followed by a short squeal and backed away.

Confused, Mario entered the room, realized that that small room was a kind of costume closet. The small room consisted of a table, a wooden chair, a stool, a shelf, and the gear sign printed on the wall. And then, he saw what scared his brother. There were three shoddily-made Bendy costumes hanging from hooks, with the middle one having the face splattered with ink. He felt sorry for the employees who would wear it, and the children who would come near them. On the floor was a Bendy mask, a glove and two large boots.

Next to Bendy costumes was a power switch, which the red plumber pulled down. - "That's one." - he declared, as he left the room and saw Luigi huddled on the floor, pulling his hat to his face and shivering. Sighing, Mario walked over and started to soothe him. - "Hey bro. It's okay, they were just shoddily-made costumes. They weren't the Ink Demon, although one of the costumes resembled him."

Luigi looked at him, still scared. - "Swear?" - he asked, followed by his older brother's nod. Feeling more reassured, the green plumber sighed and stood up.

With that, they started to make their way to the Haunted House. Alongside the other games, they saw one more game, Strength Tester. Wanting to test their strength, the Mario Brothers headed towards the game. Luigi arrived first and grabbed the hammer. Mario rolled his eyes playfully as he watched his little brother get ready to lift the hammer. But what was supposed to be fun turned into panic when he heard his brother grunt in pain. As he approached, he saw Luigi holding his left arm, while his face contorted. Most likely, he was still sore or even broken. Not wanting his brother to continue suffering, Mario decided to play the game for him, despite his claims that he was fine.

The moment he got it right and rang the bell, that nasty Twisted Alice voice came up once more. - "Tell me, are you having fun? I'm sure Boris doesn't mind waiting for his rescue party." - wanting to ignore her, the two plumbers went towards switch 1 and activated it, opening the second door for Research and Design. As soon as the two entered the room, the door closed behind them.

Seeing that they would probably have to do something to get out, they both headed for the balcony. In addition to being a large room, it also had two other branching rooms. However, in the middle, there was a burning barrel and there was the Butcher Gang, much to the frustration of the two brothers. - "Mama mia... Looks like we've got some company up ahead, Luigi. Without some kind of weapon and your broken Poltergust, we don't stand a chance. There's gotta be a way around them."

While Mario was wandering off, Luigi approached the porch and knocked over one of the empty Bacon Soup cans by accident. With the noise, the Butcher Gang moved away from the barrel and headed towards where the can fell. Upon seeing this, an idea popped into the red plumber's mind. Without warning his brother, he started running up the halls, and after a while he came back, clutching several more empty Bacon Soup cans.

Before the younger twin could ask, the older twin handed him the cans of bacon. - "Listen, I have a plan. I'm going down there, and you throw these cans in the opposite direction I'm going, and then those three will be distracted." - explained Mario, while getting more cans of Bacon soup from a barrel behind them. - "But why would I..." - "Isn't it obvious? You're already badly hurt, and I don't want to risk those three attacking you. So, stay here where you'll be safe, and throw those cans of Bacon Soup, yes?"

Seeing that it wouldn't be possible to discuss that with his brother, Luigi had no choice but to agree. With that, Mario started down the stairs and prepared for when his brother was going to throw one of the cans. As soon as he heard the can being thrown and the Butcher Gang heading towards the noise, Mario ran towards the room on his left.

Passing through a corridor, where there was a Lost One crying, he arrived in a room that had the switch that could be necessary to supply power to the Haunted House. It also had an audio log and an incomplete Bendy animatronic. What was this also reminding him of? Without delay, the red plumber turned the switch and headed towards the audio log of Lacie Benton;

The only thing that works around here is my ulcer. Half these people don't know a wrench from a dang steamroller. Buncha morons is what they are. Spend their day in the warehouse arguin' over who's supposed to be doin' what or playing them silly games. Still, I'm not complainin'. I get most of my time to myself. Suits me just fine. Only thing that bothers me is that mechanical demon in the corner. Bertrum's been working on it for a month now. Says it will walk someday and maybe dance. All it does now is give me the creeps. I swear, when my back's turned, that thing's movin'.

In the end, either that Lacie Benton audio was crazy, drunk, or even true. But who cared? He soon walked all the way back, and stopped when he heard the Butcher Gang again. He moved his hand forward and waved it, signaling his brother to throw another can away. As soon as he heard the can falling away and the three of them walking away, Mario quickly ran into the other room. There was only a barrel, a sign, a few shelves with a can of Bacon Soup, and a power switch. As he pulled it down and walked back, he was startled by the Butcher Gang charging towards him.

He saw Luigi throw another can behind them, but they ignored it. Seeing that he didn't succeed, Mario then jumped above them and ran towards the stairs, while the Butcher Gang followed close behind. As soon as Mario went upstairs, he saw the trio giving up and going back to the burning barrel. After taking a deep breath, he walked towards Luigi, to ask what happened. As he got closer, he saw his brother getting up from the ground, as he passed his hand under his mouth again.

The red plumber quickly ran towards him, worried. - "Luigi, are you okay? What happened?" - Luigi looked at him, and smiled weakly. - "Nothing much, bro. I just got a little nauseous. But I'm fine now. Can we go now?" - looking back, Mario realized that the door, previously closed, was now open. Immediately, they returned to the warehouse, with the red plumber growing more and more concerned about his little brother. He was getting worse and worse as time went on, could it be that he was injured or getting sick?

Luigi noticed that his brother was having a meltdown again, so he spotted something that would get his attention. - "Hey look, one of the switchs is flashing." - that seemed to work for the time being, as he saw Mario running towards switch 2. With that, they started looking for the third door. After a while, they followed the halls, until they reached an Attraction Storage. Apparently, the place was built to store finished rides and attractions for the Bendy Land joint project between Joey Drew and Bertrum Piedmont.

The main area is a large, hollow dome, used for housing fixated rides and attractions. Industrial shelving units line the walls, with several other props and park fixations stored within them. Lying limp and in wait in the middle of the room is a huge octopus ride, although it did not have 8 tentacles, like the real animal.

Opposite, there was an audio recording under a table. Mario approached, and turned it, hearing the following;

"The biggest park ever built, a centerfold of attractions.
Each one, more grand than the one before it.
It makes my eyes come to tears at the thought.
But then... oh Mister Drew.
For all your talk of dreams, you are the true architect behind so many nightmares.

As the dialogue continued, the feeling of discomfort increased.

I built this park. It was to be a masterpiece! My masterpiece!
And now you think you can just throw me out? Trample me to the dust and forget me?

Out of nowhere, the sound of doors closing and an engine starting reached your ears, along with Bertrum Piedmont's menacing voice in the audio.

No! This is my park! My glory!
You may think I've gone...
But I'm still here!"

As the audio log ended, the octopus ride activated and moved. In the middle, there was the decorative fashion of a carousel with a face, shouting, visible in the mid-section of the attraction. The two brothers realized that that face must be Bertrum Piedmont, who had merged with the toy somehow. He started spinning his mechanical arms for a while, until he stopped and moved one of his arms to hit both of them.

Upon realizing this, Mario quickly launched himself at Luigi, pushing him out of the way. The table that had previously been there was destroyed by the impact of one of the arms. And to the red plumber's surprise, there was an axe on the floor among the pieces of wood. Quickly, he ran over and grabbed the axe, with a look of relief on his face.

However, he needed to know how to use the weapon against Bertrum. The moment he watched it, he saw the octopus ride stop, move its arms and two of them fall down. When he saw that there were four bolts on each side of the four arms, an idea came to his mind. Quickly, Mario ran over and hit two of those bolts. After repeating this same process again, one of the arms suddenly came loose.

But to his horror, Bertrum began to become aggressive, risking hitting him or his brother. With that thought, Mario looked around, until he saw Luigi far away, near the closed entrance gates. Sighing in relief, Mario continued with his fight against Bertrum octopus ride.

After repeating this same process about 6 more times on the other three arms, and with a lot of effort, Mario managed to defeat Bertrum. The living toy began to spin rapidly and release sparks and ink as it screamed and smoked. In the end, he saw Bertrum in the center probably dying, as the attraction deactivated.

In the end, the red plumber breathed heavily as he watched his younger brother run towards him. - "Mario, are you okay? You did it!" - Luigi celebrated, while hugging his brother. Mario returned the hug, smiling slightly. Out of nowhere, the sound of doors opening filled the room. Mario followed her, and noticed that there was another switch and activated it.

"Ready. That makes three, one to go." - declared the red plumber, as he and the plumber green walked all the way back to the warehouse. Once they arrived, they headed to switch 3, opening another door. They both sighed, in utter frustration. Just one more, and they could go save Buddy Boris. With that, the two headed to the Maintenance room.

Throughout the corridors, there were the words "CHOO CHOO" written on both walls several times, which left them confused. Next to it, there were posters with the short film "Train Trouble", which they saw in the Music Department, so they understood that it had something to do with trains. As they walked down the next hallway, they both spotted a poster that said "RIDE THE BUDDY BORIS RAILWAY" on the wall. In the same location, there was a Little Miracle Station in front of a passage.

As they followed this passage, they both realized that it was a staircase that led downwards. Before they could get down, the two brothers saw a light approaching, followed by footsteps. Recognizing who it was, the Mario Brothers held their breath as the Projectionist passed by. They didn't have time to question why he was there, and began to carefully descend the stairs.

They both found themselves in a large room flooded with ink, which contained two locomotives and a corpse of a Piper laying in a box holding a tower of Ink Hearts. That last one gave them chills as they remembered collecting that for Twisted Alice. Multiple posters and Bacon Soup advertisements could be found printed on the walls. Certainly, that Maintenance Department was the area where any malfunctioning Bendy Land attractions and/or rides were stored and repaired.

When they realized that there was a lever on the right side, they both headed in that direction, walking under the thick ink. As soon as they pulled it down, the sound attracted the attention of the Projectionist, who screeched and ran towards them. Quickly, the two brothers ran until they reached a staircase, which led upstairs. With the Projectionist following them, Mario looked around until he saw a switch. As soon as he got close and pulled it, there was a blackout, followed by a sharp scream from Luigi.

A few seconds later, the room slowly brightened. Mario saw his younger brother cowering in fear until he calmed down. The two looked around, and there was no sign of the Projectionist, making them sigh and smile at each other. As they walked, they both saw several posters of other short films scattered around, and a small photo booth in the corridor to the left of the switch.

As soon as they got down, they both spotted an audio log under crates, and decided to listen to it;

I believe there's something special in all of us. With true inner strength, you can conquer even your biggest challenges. You just have to believe in yourself and remain honest, motivated, and above all, who you really are.

Ok, let's stop it right there. I can only do so many takes of this trash a day. And tell the guys in writing I want more use of the word dreaming in every message. Keep railing on that, get it? Dreaming! Dreaming! Dreaming! People just eat up that kind of slop. Hmm, what? It's still on? Well, turn it off, damn it!

With this record of Joey, the Mario Brothers were able to conclude that this guy was really a complete idiot, who cheated and deceived people and mistreated his employees. How many people in that studio suffered at the hands of this man? What else was evil did he end up doing to those people? Were those monsters possibly victims of Joey Drew, such as Sammy Lawrence, Susie Campbell, Norman Polk, Bertrum Piedmont, and others? What about Bendy, would he be another victim?

Not having time to think about it too much, Mario and Luigi began to climb the stairs, which would take them back to the warehouse. In the middle of the stairs, they both heard that same screech, followed by a light. When they realized that it was the Projectionist, who had returned somehow, the two started running towards the room. When they saw that the door next door was locked, they both knew that they would have to hide in the Little Miracle Station.

As Mario opened it, Luigi clumsily removed his Poltergust 3000, while grunting in pain from his left arm and throwing it to the side. With that, the two hid inside the Little Miracle Station, squeezing together to have space. Under the small opening, they both saw the Projectionist staring at them briefly, and approaching to open the station, much to the brothers' horror. But before he could, any more disruption horror vision filled the room, and they both saw the Projectionist growling at something. And to their surprise, the one who appeared was Bendy, the Ink Demon, going after the Projectionist.

As he watched the fight, Mario felt his brother go limp beneath him and breathe very hard, making him very desperate inside. After a few exchanges of punches, Ink Bendy grabbed the Projectionist by the neck and lifted him into the air. Instantly, it stopped moving, and at the exact moment the horror vision ended, the two saw that Bendy had ripped off Projectionist's head, and thrown it under the station.

When they both thought it would be the end, the Ink Demon seemed to realize something, and bent down slightly, coming across the two Mario Brothers inside the Little Miracle Station. In response, Mario faced Bendy while tightly hugging Luigi, who was still limp and weak. In the end, Ink Bendy just grabbed and dragged Projectionist's corpse with him down the hall. And in the end, the splotchy patterns of ink splatters disappeared, indicating that the Ink Demon was gone.

Slowly, Mario left the station and when he turned to help his brother, he saw Luigi walking normally again, while picking up and putting back his Poltergust 3000. On the floor, there was still the Projectionist's head, which was still dripping with ink where was the neck. As they turned towards the door, they both realized that it had been knocked down by Ink Bendy, who left a trail of ink up to a wall next to the door. Despite troubled and confused thoughts, the brothers returned to the warehouse and completed their objective.

"That's the last one, let's-a find out what's in that haunted house." - declared Mario, sighing in relief. After pulling the lever next to the 4 switches, he and Luigi heard the Haunted House opening. Despite the green plumber's nervousness, the two held hands and entered. In front of one of the carts, there was a message written "TURN BACK" on the wall. And to make matters worse, an evil laugher played in the background, giving them goosebumps. But despite that, they both slowly got into one of the carts, and prepared themselves for a horror ride. However, the real horror was the voice they heard;

"And now, the ride truly begins, Mario Bros. Come in, and pretend it's all just a bad dream."

During the ride, the monsters and cardboard tombs and wallpaper seemed a lot less scary now, compared to both brothers having to listen to Twisted Alice's voice the entire way.

"It's a funny thing. How so much can fall apart so fast. We never really had control at the studio. Either you in someone's pocket, or you were putting someone else into yours. I just wanted what was promised to me. I just wanted to be beautiful! Surely you can understand that." - clearly, they didn't understand and didn't want to understand what was going on in that woman's head, who was clearly crazy. But what she said next gave them chills. - "Mario... Luigi ... Why are you here? We're all dying to find out. Do you just enjoy the terror of the drop into hell? Because if that's the case... Hang on tight. I've got a surprise..."

Surprise?! What kind of surprise would that be? It certainly wouldn't be good at all, coming from this deformed angel.

After crossing the last gate, the two brothers found themselves in a huge Ballroom, which was merely built as decoration to give the Mad House ride for Bendy Land a proper haunted house atmosphere. The room was circular with a chandelier, eerie paintings, some Bacon Soup, barrels, flashlights, toolboxes and sandbags.

As they looked around, them both noticed a door opening before them, leading to a dark room. Suddenly, the cart the two brothers were in was stopped by two huge hands. He then revealed himself to be the one they had come to save, now already transformed into a hulking creature.

"Boris!!! No, no... What-a has she done to you?!" - both Mario and Luigi were horrified to see Buddy Boris in front of them, now dead and transformed into Brute Boris. The fact that he still had the bone in his mouth, which Luigi had given him when they left the Safe House, hurt the younger twin even more.

Then, Brute Boris grabbed the cart, lifting it with both of them still in it. After leaving the dark room, Brute Boris threw them forward, knocking them down and destroying the cart.

Mario quickly sat up, regaining his senses. However, when he looked at his brother, he saw that Luigi had lost consciousness due to the impact. Heavy footsteps were heard from ahead, and he saw Brute Boris walking towards him, followed by Twisted Alice's laughter. Damn that woman!

"Ha ha ha! Meet the new and improved Boris!" - she declared, as Brute Boris roared and ran towards them. Without thinking twice, Mario grabbed his brother and ran away, just in time for them to be hit. Meanwhile, Alice's voice was still heard.

"I took what I wanted, and in return, I gave him so much more! And this time, there's no Ink Demon, there's no cute and sweet little brother to help you, no escape."

Mario didn't know what to do. They had failed to save Buddy Boris, and now, he had failed to protect his brother Luigi. What could he do, now?

"Boris, tear them apart! Leave nothing!" - after hearing Twisted Alice give this order, anger and despair coursed through the red plumber's mind. How could he face Brute Boris like that? And most importantly, how was he going to protect his younger brother from that situation? As he thought, he dodged Brute Boris's charge attacks, which ran over every object present in the Ballroom.

After running close to one of the doors, Mario noticed an Ink Maker in the middle between the two doors. Seeing that there was a space behind the machine, he then thought he could put Luigi there, and keep him safe. Taking advantage of Brute Boris being briefly still, Mario placed his unconscious brother there, and made sure he was in a comfortable pose for when he woke up. With that, him turned his focus to Brute Boris, who was walking towards him.

Quickly, Mario ran away, keeping his former friend's focus on him. While escaping the charge attacks, the red plumber noticed that when Brute Boris stopped, his torn chest leaked blood-like ink, forcing him to stop fighting and rest for a few seconds. With this, Mario realized that this would make him vulnerable enough to be able to attack him. He had also collected one of the ink blobs, which had fallen from Brute Boris. Remembering when he used the Ink Maker to fix the cable car, Mario ran to the said machine, changing it to the Gent Pipe option.

Upon noticing that Brute Boris was resting again, Mario took the chance and hit him with the Gent Pipe, while jumping back in time to be crushed in response. In the second round, the red plumber was stunned to discover that Brute Boris could also jump high, and punch harder upon landing. And once again, Mario collected another ink blob, picked up another Gent Pipe and hit Brute Boris at the exact moment. And on the third, several carts started to enter the room, without Mario noticing.

Seeing Brute Boris walking in one direction left the red plumber very confused, until he realized that he was carrying a cart coming from the tracks. With difficulty, Mario dodged the three carts that were thrown towards him, while he collected another blob of ink from the ground. When collecting another Gent Pipe, he once again dodged one of the carts that Brute Boris threw at him. After dodging one more, Mario heard the grouge voice of his brother, who had recovered his senses after a while.

"Mario...? What happened? Boris, he's... " - as Luigi stood up and came out from behind the Ink Maker out of nowhere, another cart was thrown near him, taking him completely by surprise. As he looked ahead, he realized that his older brother was fighting Brute Boris.

After Brute Boris launched another cart and stopped to rest, the red plumber saw the opportunity and hit him one last time with the Gent Pipe, thus ending the suffering of the one who had once been their friend. As he drowned in his own blood, Luigi ran and stood next to Mario as they both heard Twisted Alice's angry voice. - "No!!! No! No! No!... Why can't you ever just die?!"

Ignoring Alice's voice, Mario held Luigi's hand, as they both watched Brute Boris wither away and return to the ink. The younger twin struggled not to cry, while the older twin comforted him. - "I'm sorry, bro. It was the only way. At least now, he's not suffering anymore." - Mario murmured, also trying not to cry. However, behind them, Twisted Alice appeared behind them, screeching angrily and running towards them, waving her arms erratically. Upon noticing her, Mario quickly pulled over and hugged Luigi, who was completely scared, while they stared at the deformed angel with hatred and fear on their faces.

But before she could touch them, she stopped after being stabbed in the back by a sword through her chest. Both she and the Mario Brothers found themselves in complete shock at this. Twisted Alice stared at them one last time, before collapsing to the ground, dead. After looking at her, the two directed their gazes towards the person who had saved them.

Before them, there was another Alice Angel, but different and without any deformities on her face, holding a sword. And next to her, there was another Boris, but tougher, with a mechanical arm and holding a Gent Pipe. They both didn't know what to do and how they could feel in front of those two, but the only thing they knew was that they were in serious trouble.