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queenofcats17 · 5 years

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Okay I had an angsty prompt idea this time! Okay what if Sammy and Wally went back to the Lost One Village with Henry, and Annette managed to find it with Boris (because he’d probably be worried about Henry too and decided he should go with Annette just in case, to keep her safe.) and then since Henry is probably back under the ink’s control he will probably try to attack her, Sammy and Wally try to stop him? I just love the angsty stories! You’re so good at writing them, and the other stories!

Sorry this took so long.

After Bendy left, Boris went to go check on Annette. She was laying in his hammock, curled up in a little ball.

“Annette? You alright?” Boris asked.

“No.”

Boris sighed, sitting down on the cot nearby. Annette didn’t turn toward him, curling in on herself even more.

“I’m sorry.” He said.

“You did the best you could.” Her voice was flat, betraying no emotion. Boris’ ears drooped. He hated it when people were mad at him. It was part of the reason he avoided Joey. Nothing any of the toons did was ever good enough for Joey. Nothing was good enough for him.

“We need to get you out of here,” Boris said. “It’s not safe for you to stay.” Annette didn’t say anything for a moment or two. Then she rolled over to face him. She looked so tired.

“Are you sure there’s no way to help Henry?” She asked quietly. Boris hunched his shoulders, beginning to wring his hands.

“No one’s ever been cured after becoming an ink creature.” He replied. “They can eventually get their minds back, but that takes a lotta time and I don’t think Joey’s gonna let him go now that he’s got him.” Annette had a lot of names she wanted to call Joey, but she was certain Boris wouldn’t be comfortable with most of them. So she bit her lip to stop herself from screaming.

“I hate him.” She said, sitting up. “I hate Joey.” Her hands gripped the fabric of the hammock so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.

“He’s…Not a good person.” Boris nodded. His head was bowed, eyes staring down at his hands. He was rocking back and forth a little, hands fidgeting.

“What did we do wrong?” He whispered, his lip starting to quiver.

“What do you mean?” Immediately, Annette was worried. Boris had been a pillar of support for the entire time she’d been there, but she knew he was battling his own demons. Now, it seemed, his emotions were overflowing.

“We had to have done something wrong.” He started rocking faster, hands going down to tap frantically on his thighs. “We should have been enough. He wanted us to live. He didn’t need to do everything else. What did we do wrong? Why did he do all of this?” Big black inky tears began to run down his cheeks.

“Boris…” Annette slipped out of the hammock to sit down beside him, putting an arm around his shoulder. “You can’t hold yourself responsible for what Joey’s done. You and Bendy are doing the best you can. You’re the only reason I’m still here.”

“I should’ve done more to save Henry!” Boris sobbed. “I could’ve saved him!”

“Don’t say that.” Annette pulled him closer, stroking his fur. “If I’m not allowed to beat myself up about it, neither are you, alright?”

“But-”

“No buts.” She cut him off before he could protest. “We’re both doing the best we can. You’ve kept me safe this long. Give yourself some credit for that.” Boris continued to sniffle, but this seemed to have calmed him a bit.

“Thanks.” He said, smiling slightly. Annette smiled back. She hesitated for a moment. If she wanted…She could ask to see Henry. Boris was in an emotionally vulnerable state. She could take advantage of that. She shook her head quickly. What was she thinking?! What a monstrous thing to do!

“Are you alright?” Boris asked. He looked better now.

“I’m fine.” She forced a smile and nodded. “I just…I know it’s dangerous, but I want to see Henry.” Boris opened his mouth, likely to tell her the perils, but she stopped him. “I know he’ll probably try to infect me. I know he’s not the same anymore. I know he’s basically Joey’s puppet. But…He’s my friend.” She didn’t want to just abandon him. Henry was the kind of person who always pretended he was fine when he wasn’t, who tried to do everything on his own. She didn’t want him to go through this by himself too. Boris whimpered quietly, his ears drooping again.

“I’m sorry.” She squeezed his hand. “I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

“Nah, it’s alright.” Boris tried to reassure her. “Maybe…Maybe you could see him. Just for a little.”

“You really mean it?” Annette perked up.

“I mean, it’d be good to check on him,” Boris said. He was pretty worried about Henry too if he was being honest. And if Annette was going to see Henry, it would be better for Boris to be there with her, to keep her safe.

“Then let’s go!” Annette hopped up, her energy renewed.

“Sure.” Boris got up as well, although he was unable to shake the feeling that this was going to be a mistake.

Sammy, Wally, Bendy, and Henry had returned to the Lost One Village by this point. Wally wanted to say a proper hello to the Lost Ones and Sammy had never actually finished checking on them. Not to mention Bendy wanted to “grace his adoring followers with his presence”.

“You’re not letting this ‘god’ thing go to your head.” Wally snickered. “Nope. Not at all.”

“You’re just jealous,” Bendy said, batting his eyelashes. An impressive feat given he didn’t actually have any eyelashes. Henry made some happy noises and hugged Bendy. As soon as they’d left Sammy’s sanctuary, he’d returned to being nothing more than a Searcher. This, of course, bothered Bendy a lot. But he didn’t want to dwell on that. Henry was still there, wasn’t he? He hadn’t lost him yet.

“Play nice, you two,” Sammy warned them as they exited the ink near the village.

“We are being nice,” Wally said. “You’ve seen me be nasty. That was not nasty.”

“Eh, give ‘im a break.” Bendy waved his hand dismissively. “It’s his job to be a stick in the mud dad.”

“I am not a stick in the mud!” If Sammy could have blushed, he would have been blushing at that moment. Wally and Bendy just laughed, darting ahead of him. Sammy sighed heavily, looking down at Henry.

“Do you see what I have to deal with?”

Henry offered no reply, just smiling up at Sammy dumbly. Sammy felt a tug at his heart. It wasn’t Henry. It may have looked like Henry, but it wasn’t Henry. He turned away, starting towards the village. Suddenly, though, a yell echoed through the cavern. Sammy picked up his pace, running into the central area of the village. There, standing by the dock, were Annette and Boris. A group of Lost Ones had gathered by their homes, all looking nervous. Bendy looked absolutely terrified, and even Wally seemed upset.

“I just want to see him,” Annette said, also clearly upset.

“He might hurt you!” Bendy said. “Bo! You know how dangerous it is! Why did you bring her?!”

“I-I thought it would be safer if I came too,” Boris said, ears flat against his head. “She was so upset. And- And I was worried too.”

“Boris, you gotta get her outta here,” Wally said. “Henry’s gonna be here soon-”

“Just let me see him, please,” Annette begged. That was when Sammy and Henry rounded the corner. For a moment, time seemed to stand still. Annette and Henry locked eyes. Relief washed over Annette at seeing Henry. But Henry didn’t seem happy to see her. Immediately, he changed. His happy-go-lucky demeanor was gone, replaced by the manner of a feral Searcher.

“Henry, no!” Sammy tried to grab him, but Henry darted away before he could be subdued. He was headed straight for Annette, screaming at the top of his lungs. Annette’s eyes widened and she took a step back. Thankfully, Boris got between her and Henry, and Bendy and Wally managed to pin Henry down.

“Go! Leave!” Wally yelled. The Lost Ones quickly jumped into action. starting to usher Boris and Annette away while keeping an eye on Henry. Annette said nothing. She was too stunned to do anything other than make her legs move. Boris put an arm around her, holding her close. It looked like he was going to have some more comforting to do. Guilt was weighing heavily on him. He’d agreed to take Annette to see Henry. He’d allowed her to be put in danger. He was a terrible person.

Meanwhile, Wally and Bendy were still holding Henry down. Henry kept fighting and screaming until Annette was no longer within his sight. Once she was gone, he immediately calmed down. He didn’t struggle any longer, instead turning to look at Bendy and Wally curiously, as if he wondered if they were playing a game. Bendy was on the verge of tears once more. He got off of Henry, hugging his knees and starting to sob. Sammy knelt beside him, enfolding Bendy in a hug.

“It’s alright.” He whispered, patting Bendy’s back.

“No, it’s not!” Bendy wailed, burying his face in Sammy’s chest. Wally got off Henry as well, just staring at the Searcher that had once been Henry. Normally, he’d try to lighten the mood. But he wasn’t feeling all that cheerful at the moment. He just sat there, watching Henry and listening to Bendy cry. Where were they going to go from here?

#bendy and the ink machine #batim saudade au #fanfiction #henry #boris the wolf #annette martineau #bendy the dancing demon #wally franks #sammy lawrence #the lost ones

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dxrksong · 6 years

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A strange Crossover Chapter 1

SURPRISE!!! We have a crossover between my Blinded!Henry AU and @bornoffireandwisdom‘s Saudade AU. today is the intro.

‘Henry’ and Annette get a strange call, Bendy takes control, and Henry freaks out. ENJOY!

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In the depths of silly vision studios, not a sound can be heard, unless you count the ink dripping from ceilings and the occasional groan from a searcher. Then there’s the silence breaking protests that ring through out the halls. A fifty-three year old man, covered in ink with a black substance coming out of his eyes is struggling against a 7 foot tall toon, the toon itself has a backwards leg, ink covering its eyes, and mismatched hands.

“I’m not leaving you bendy!” The elderly man shouted, struggling against the toon.

‘YOU NEED TO GET HEALED HENRY, YOU SAID IT YOURSELF, YOU MIGHT HAVE INK POISONING!’ the toon shouted back, pushing henry towards the exit again.

“Yeah empathis on ‘MIGHT’! We both don’t know if I’ll come back or not!” Henry shouted, not wanting to abandon the toons again. Once was far enough, and he wasn’t willing to do it again.

‘Henry PLEASE!’ Bendy was practically begging now, still trying to edge Henry to the door in a desperate attempt to make him leave so he could get help. 30 years ago, there wasn’t much anyone could do but MAYBE in this new age, there was SOME hope that he could be saved.

“Bendy...” Henry weighed his options. He could leave and get help, but the feeling in his stomach tells him it was a bad idea. Or he could stay and live his last moments with the toons that worried about him so...

no.

if he died on them now, it would be just as worse as abandoning them. At least if he leaves there’s a chance that he’ll come back.. ”ok, fine! But if i don’t come back-”

‘We’ll make sure that we find out what happened to you before we figure out what to do’ Bendy tried to reassure Henry. Only to get a disapproving sigh in return.

“No, I want you to hide as best as you can in the lower levels. Sooner or later people are going to come in, wanting answers that they’ll misunderstand if you or any of the others tell them. They’re not used to toons or living ink. I want you to be careful!” Henry sternly stated, earning a confused whine from Bendy but he agreed nonetheless.

‘Fine! But if you don’t return within three weeks, I’m going to go looking for you!’ Bendy didn’t like Henry staying away for so long, but he had to endure so he could rest.

Henry chuckled and told Bendy it might take longer than that but he’ll do his best to get back as soon as possible. With a satisfied toon behind him Henry reached for the door and turned the knob as soon as he found it.

BUT SOMETHING INTERFERED.

(WHOO SECOND PAGE XD (HINT: IT WAS ME!!! MUAHAHAHAHAA

Meanwhile. Two friends were walking in a park one day, as several cherry blossoms rained in the breeze. It was a beautiful spring day. One of them was a young man with shiny red hair, with unnatural streaks of grey.

The other was a young woman with short, white, blonde hair. They were both laughing together.

“Wait are you serious Henry?!” The girl laughed almost hysterically.

“Yep, I literally tried to steal my brothers birthday cake once. I got in so much trouble!” Annette continued to laugh and giggle the whole time they walked. Henry always seemed to have a funny story to tell.

He was about to tell her another story when he was abruptly cut off. His phone started to vibrate. He quickly answered it, while Annette watched curiously.

“Yep this is Henry.. W-wait what?! Oh okay I'll be right there!” Annette gave him a concerned look, did something happen to one of his family members?

“Okay Annette, I know you still don't believe me about the whole ‘I can't age anymore and I'm around a hundred years old’ thing, but it turns out that the hospital had someone check in.. with my name.”

“Maybe it's just a coincidence? Henry are you saying that you have a doppelgänger? Because if you are.. I don't mean to be a jerk but, I think you’ve gone nuts.”

“I don't know! Maybe I am going crazy! Either way I'm checking this out. With or without you.”

“No, no, no! I’m coming. Though if it really is just a coincidence then get ready to hear me say ‘I told you so!’”

Henry hated it when people said that to him, it was one of his biggest pet peeves. Although he did remember saying that to Joey quite a few times. Henry didn't like it when it was directed at him though.

Soon they made it to the hospital.

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The smell of medical supplies and sick people told Henry that he made it to the hospital. He couldn’t recall how or when but the evidence was there. For instance, he was lying down on some sort of bed with a blanket on top of him. The slight pressure on his head told him that it was bandaged up- or at least was taken care of. He slightly became aware of a nearby beeping sound nearby. ‘A heart pacer?’ He thought to himself. ‘Was I really that bad off?’ He let out a soft sigh as he listened for anyone nearby.. a doctor wasn’t too far away, talking to someone… but who?

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“So I heard that there is someone who checked into this hospital, he happened to have the exact same name as me.. do you know where I can find him?”

“Oh alright young man, what is your name?” Henry felt a bit uncomfortable, being unable to age, He has been afraid of certain people discovering the truth. If the press found out, they’ll either call him insane. Or they’ll never leave him alone!

“U-Um.. my name is Henry W-Williams.” The doctor smiled before saying. “Oh yes there is a man who checked in with that name. Come along now if you’d like to see him.”

Annette was extremely confused.. this had to be some kind of misunderstanding. Besides lots of people in the world have the same name! The chances of people having the same exact name, aren't that slim..

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Footsteps were getting louder. Were they heading towards his room? The bad feeling he felt earlier came back and by golly it was like a mallet had hit him. He wanted to get away but CURSE HIS REFLEXES! He froze instantly on the spot when he heard a supposed doctor say “It’s quite concerning really, there was an impossible amount of ink leaking from his eyes. He was barely breathing when the guy who found him rushed in.”

Oh so that’s what happened, also YEAH THEY’RE DEFINITELY COMING FOR HIS ROOM! If only his reflexes didn’t keep him grounded to his bed he could’ve jumped out the window, or hide, or SOMETHING! ‘This seems vaguely familiar somehow.. Oh yeah this exact thing happened the first time I met Bendy, and Boris.. OH CRAP THE TOONS! How long have I been here?!’ The heart monitors beeping sped up a little as he panicked, trying to figure out how much time he had left. Pretty much alerting the nearby doctor and whoever she was talking to.

He heard the doctor gasp and rush in. he smiled weakly and tried to reassure her.

“N-not to worry! I just panicked a little, I didn’t know how long it had been since I’ve been here.. Heh.. heh.” he heard her sigh in relief and he froze a little when two new voices entered the room.

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Henry Williams and Annette Martineau, were surprised to see another young man lying in front of them. Although the thing that truly surprised the pair of friends, was the fact that this young man had black liquid running out of his bandages. They were wrapped around his head, and covering his eyes. Which is where the ink stains were more evident. his hair on the other side was almost completely coated in it.

It was shocking.. to say the least. Henry felt his blood run cold, as he was hit with a sudden and horrifying realization.

‘That’s from the studio.. isn't it?’ He thought in an instant. None of this was making sense.. two Henry’s, same exact first and last name. Both venturing through an ink infested studio. At least he assumed. No where else should have cursed ink.

If it leaked from the man's eyes and through his bandages, then it definitely had to be tied to black magic.

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He felt bad. He had to leave the toons. And now he doesn’t even know what’s going on anymore as his time is running out. He needed to get back to the studio like he promised, before Bendy sends out an army of searchers after him. He just needed to know.

“Excuse me? Can you tell me how long have I been out?” he asked, suddenly aware of his less scratchy voice ‘What the hell happened while I was passed out? Everything suddenly fells.. Off’ at this point he was concerned and worried that he had gotten experimented on by one of Joey’s or Sammy’s leftover circles again. Just how many did they make?

“Not long” the lady doctor replied. “A day or two at most.” Henry couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief out of his lungs. ‘I still have time then.’

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A week.

It has been an entire week since Henry left. And by golly was Bendy getting more worried by the hour. Everything has had gotten so warped since Henry left. For instance: doppelgangers have been seen throughout the studio, certain hallways have been changed, and worst of all is that they had to split off territory’s in order to avoid the sudden intruders. Everything was just so wrong.

In the other room Alice, Sammy, Boris, and Norman were gathered around in one of the more hidden and impossible to get into safe houses and were completely freaking out as silently as they could, so they wouldn’t get found out by the doppelgangers that were practically outside their door. They had to change their signals to each other to notify who it was from different whistles to sounds common in the studio so that they wouldn’t get spotted as easily.

Bendy let out a whistle, mimicking ink dripping from the ceiling before entering the room. Everyone seemed on edge, especially Norman and Alice, who looked like they could burst into crying or screaming at any moment. Boris sighed and looked up, looking just as defeated as the others.

It hurt Bendy to hear his friends so absolutely done with everything. But not now, they had work to be done. ‘Alright, we knew this would have to happen eventually.’ Bendy started, getting the other’s attention. ‘We’ll have to stand SOME ground between those imposters. So I suggest splitting up to a degree.’ they nodded silently. ‘Sammy I suggest you sneak around within the hollow walls of the music department, since you know the place so well, it’d give an advantage; Boris you stay here, we’ll need a place to hide when we get tired so I want you to stay here for now.’ Boris nodded enthusiastically. ‘Norman, since your floor has been taken over, you can hang with Sammy in the inaccessible and flooded parts of the music department. Alice.’ she lifted her head to look at Bendy. ‘If I can get you to the twin camera room, can you keep an eye on them and alert us if something happens?’

“There’s a twin camera room?” Alice asked, almost eagerly.

Bendy smiled ‘why do you think those stray cameras and speakers are littering the halls?’

Alice squealed in excitement. ‘And I of course will monitor the main floor, we never know when Henry could come right through the front door. And damn it all I wanna make sure I get to him first before those imposters do!’ Bendy clenched his fist, not wanting to lose his creator again. Once was far enough, and he wasn’t willing to do it again. The others agreed.

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Sammy and Norman were the first to leave. They went through an opening in the wall and disappeared into the studio.

Bendy took Alice’s hand and used one of his ink portals to the twin camera room. Alice immediately took her spot in the chair and turned all the camera’s on.

Having everyone in their stations, Bendy lept into a cracked pipe on the wall and headed to the main room to wait for Henry, unknowing a certain wolf, with his ears down, had been listening this whole time.

So that’s the first chapter! i might post chapter 2 soon but we’ll have to wait and see!

#Storyline #Crossover #A Strange Crossover #Chapter 1

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linguistlist-blog · 7 years

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Confs: Le français au Canada hors Québec

Programme: 9:00-9:30: Accueil, ouverture de la journée Arnaud Huftier, Vice-Président délégué à la culture et Frédéric Attal, Directeur du laboratoire Calhiste-EA 4343 9:30-10:30: ''Revisiter les variétés nord-américaines : frontières et réseaux'' France Martineau, Université d'Ottawa 10:30-11:00: Café 11:00-12:00: ''À la rencontre de l'autre francophone en Acadie: entre angoisse et émerveillement'' Annette Boudreau, Université de Moncton 12 http://dlvr.it/PmK1Ct

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bornoffireandwisdom · 5 years

Text

Damage

Annette, Sammy and Wally, take Jack to Sammy’s Sanctuary to keep him from falling ‘asleep’. Henry deals with the painful effects of the acetone and witnesses something terrible after visiting Murray Hill.

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Hey guys! I’m so, so sorry I took so long to finish the Part 5 of my recent Searcher!Henry stories! I’m thinking of giving these stories an actual name to make it easier but I’m still trying to come up with one. I might go with the name “The Corrupted Creator” but I don’t know.. Anyway, I’m so sorry that I took so long!

Also I’m really sorry if this story isn’t good! I made it really long so I might have made a lot of mistakes by accident! It might not make much sense since I had some trouble focusing, and I’m also sorry if the story is too dark! (I highlighted this so it could be easier to see.) Though I promise I will do my best to fix any problems I find in the story later!

If this story is too disturbing or if it upsets anyone I promise I will delete it! I don’t want to bother anyone or make anyone upset, so don’t worry I’ll delete it if it does!

If you guys like the story though, then please re-blog and comment about what you liked or thought was interesting! I really like hearing what you guys have to say about my stories! Once again though I’m sorry if this story isn’t good, I really hope you guys like it despite any problems it may have.

Oh and ScientificJournalist!Murray Hill belongs to circus-craze!

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Sammy and Wally weren’t surprised when Annette had followed after them. Honestly, who wouldn’t be worried after seeing that happen to Jack? She didn’t know much about how things worked down here so it was only natural that she would take such a big risk. Ignoring their warnings.

When the girl entered Sammy’s Sanctuary she had expected to be lectured on being more careful and not doing things that could get her killed or worse. Instead they were too busy focusing on Jack who was sitting inside a toilet for whatever reason.

“Thank goodness.. for a minute there I thought we lost ya Jack.” Wally smiled in relief. Taking Jack into Sammy’s Sanctuary seemed to do the trick. It definitely put him into a more stabilized condition, with him no longer shivering and his glowing eyes looked more in focus.

“N-No.. thank you g-guys. If it weren’t for y-you I could have.. I c-could have..!“ Jack abruptly started to cry, sobbing into his hands. Both Sammy and Wally rushed forward in concern. One rubbing circles into his back for comfort while the other patted his shoulder.

“It’s alright Jack.. I understand. Who knows how many people I could’ve hurt while I was in your state. It wasn’t your fault.” Sammy spoke with soft soothing tones. This was a reality that anyone who had previously or currently was a Searcher had to live with. There was no way of telling if they managed to corrupt people or not, the ink erased any memory of it. Although if it happened while they hadn’t reached the final stage.. it caused an immense amount of grief and guilt for whoever did such an act. For example, Sammy Lawrence.

Wally glanced over at his childhood friend. He could tell that Sammy still wasn’t over what had happened between them, even though Wally told him time and time again that he forgave him. The memory of the attack was still clear in his mind. Joey had been there, with his creepy little smile. Laughing as usual while he forced Sammy to corrupt his best-friend. It wasn’t Sammy’s fault.. it was Joey’s. It will always be Joey’s fault.

“The only one to blame is Joey. He’s the one that made us do that stuff.” The former-janitor said in a serious tone, an uncommon thing to hear due to his positive and optimistic personality. Even Annette, who so far hasn’t said anything, was surprised by his sudden statement.

“We’ve got to think of a way to make Joey pay for everything he’s done to you guys.” Finally joining in the conversation, Annette sat next to the two Lost Ones. She pulled out her iPhone and went into her notes.

“What the heck is that thing?!” Wally looked over at the strange device she was holding, marveling at it. Sammy stared in amazement as well, he was at a loss for words. It was some kind of shiny rectangle-thing.. it lit up his Sanctuary, like magic!

Annette quickly put it away and mentally face-palmed. That was a really dumb move.. she had completely forgotten how long these people had been trapped down here, which was ridiculous since the place was filled with things that dated back to the 1930’s and 1940’s.

“Uh..! Nothing! That was nothing! I-I’ll tell you about it later..” Naturally her two new friends made looks of confusion and suspicion. Though they silently agreed to ask about it another time, shrugging it off.

“Okay.. do any of you know where I can find a pen and some paper? When making plans it’s a good idea to write everyone’s ideas down.” Annette cleverly stated. A moment passed until one of them remembered that there was a large stack of paper on the desk outside of the Sanctuary.

“Oh. There should be a blank stack of paper outside. I used to use it for music sheets when working with Jack. Hold on I’ll go get it.” Sammy got up, waving for the them to stay there while he grabbed it. Jack looked a bit worried as he watched him go, which caused Wally to pat his shoulder reassuringly.

Suddenly there was a loud scream, the sound of something falling over and crashing, and the loud sound of footsteps heading back towards the Sanctuary. Sammy returned with some paper, but no pen. He was breathing heavily like he had just ran a marathon, and his hands were trembling.

“D-Don’t go outside! S-Something’s wrong! Something really wrong has happened.. nobody leave!” The former music-director was almost hyperventilating. He was still holding the piece of paper in his shaking hands as though he forgot he was even holding it.

“Sammy?! What’s going on! What happened are you alright?!” Wally instantly went to help his friend. Taking the paper and putting it on the floor gently, while helping Sammy sit down so he could calm down.

“S-Searchers! They’re everywhere!”

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Henry’s corrupted form lay twitching on the hard wooden floor. Greatly weakened from the repeated splashes of acetone. Barely able to move. All the Searcher was able to do was moan. Inside the puddles where Henry’s soul was trapped, he just pleaded and sobbed into the nothingness that surrounded him. His agonized screams were only heard by the others within the ink. Henry’s mind wiped almost completely blank from the horrible sensation of burning. The pain from the chemical was unbearable.. it was the only thing he knew now. Joey used this torment as an opportunity.

Other Searchers in the area had gone into a panic. It wasn’t hard to tell when one of their own was being tortured with acetone. They were connected, although they didn’t feel the pain physically, mentally they felt the agony that Henry was experiencing. Someone had angered Joey, and that made them all terrified.

Meanwhile the hive-mind itself was getting really tired of the former-animator’s resistance. Greedily stealing the memories of his friends, new and old. Henry had been fighting so hard to reclaim them.. and now they were going to vanish again. The ink snatched the remaining pieces and locked them away somewhere. The final memory that stayed behind was of his creation, Bendy. His son. Though it wasn’t long before the puddles tried to steal it away along with the rest. Henry screamed in the dark waters of the ink. He attempted to grab it back, trying to keep what was dear to him close. The young man couldn’t let Joey take that memory away! He couldn’t! Henry didn’t want to forget about Bendy! Bendy was all he had left now!

With his last bit of strength he grabbed ahold of the memory, strangely materializing in his hand like a photograph. He didn’t have time to question anything, because Henry already began to feel his eyes closing. The young man held onto the memory for dear life, as the hive-mind reclaimed its hold over his mind. Coincidentally the pain started to melt away, Henry let out a bubbling sigh of relief. Even though he wanted desperately to go home (although currently that memory was locked away), he was glad that the blissful sensation the puddles normally had was returning. Finally Henry shut his eyes, holding his last memory close to his chest and went back into his deep slumber.

Above the puddles, Henry’s body went into the process of healing itself. Acetone wasn’t strong enough to remove large quantities of ink due to its supernatural nature. Instead it made an excellent torture device, it made the victim experience a horrible burning sensation. To Searchers and Lost Ones, it felt like acid. The chemical was capable of removing small amounts of the ink that encased (and sometimes completely consumed) their bodies, but it usually reformed after that. Henry had small holes burned into his ink, it exposed some of his skin and clothes before repairing itself. The skin that was visible looked very pale, and he could see small dark veins through the holes in his ink coated arms.

“Oh wonderful.. it looks like we’re making some progress.” A pleased voice came into the dark room that Henry was Lying in. Uselessly lifting his head up, recognizing the voice.

“Are you feeling better, Henry dear? I’m sorry I had to hurt you like that but desperate times call for.. desperate measures.” Joey soundlessly re-entered his office. Henry groaned and obediently tried to greet his old friend. Weakly forcing himself to his feet, and stumbling over to the man. Joey beamed and pulled Henry into a hug, playing with his ink-dripping hair. It was pretty strange.. If Henry were able to think at the moment he would be wondering how Joey was able to pat him on the head, and kiss him on the cheek, yet not a single drop of ink ever got on him. Maybe it was because Joey created this demonic ink virus?

“Now Henry.. I’ve have something to show you. I thought you deserved a treat after all that acetone. How about we visit an old friend.. you probably don’t remember him. Yes, I think you’ve been punished enough for one day.” Gesturing for Henry to follow, Joey left the his office. The Searcher unsteadily following behind. Out of weakness Henry started whimpering, the ink needed a bit more time to replenish itself. Well he could just find a puddle to quickly heal up, but Joey wanted him to follow. Afraid to disobey after being tortured with acetone.

About half an hour later. The pair entered a strange room. Many things looked recently dusted and cleaned. Laboratory equipment lay scattered on a desk, with stacks of paper sitting on a chair next to it. A few shelves lined the walls containing vials of black liquid and other chemicals. There was also a disturbing medical table in the centre of the room. It had straps on the side, most-likely to restrain patients. The Searcher wasn’t sure why, but looking at that cold metal table made him feel more than a little scared. A few cassette tapes also sat on the desk that had lab equipment. It had a name on it that Henry wasn’t able to read. Searchers usually lost that ability upon entering the hive-mind. They only had the mental capacity to understand commands, and followed what the puddles and their instincts told them to do.

A man came into the room from what looked to be some sort of small storage room. Holding a book and a pen. Joey coughed to get the man’s attention, causing him to turn around and freeze.

“M-Mr Drew! I didn’t see you come in. I-Is there something you need?” A timid-looking man in a white lab coat stared at Henry’s old friend. He was young, probably granted the strange eternal youth that the former-animator was given. Oddly enough, he didn’t seem to be corrupted at all. Was this man the only employee left who was still completely alive?

“My dear Henry keeps waking up.. it’s getting very frustrating to have to deal with his screams and crying! I truly can’t understand why he’s so miserable here.” Joey said with an irritated sigh, patting Henry’s lifeless form on the shoulder as he spoke. Henry simply continued to gaze at everything in the room, until he stopped at Murray Hill. Just observing in silence.

The scientist was rather normal in appearance. Eyes bloodshot and tired with shadows underneath (probably from lack of sleep), messy brown hair, and a white lab coat that had splotches of ink in several areas. Other than that he looked fine. Too fine.. That’s when the former-animator looked at him more closely, soon discovering the reason.

This man was Uninfected.

‘Corrupt him.. CORRUPT HIM!’

Henry immediately lunged at the strange man in the lab coat, causing the nervous scientist to scream and try to back away. The Searcher was beyond starving, he had failed to spread the virus multiple times and now someone without the infection was standing right in front of him. There was no where for him to run, soon that horrible painful hunger would be gone. The Searcher would be finally satiated as a reward from the puddles.. and with his soul slumbering deeply within the dark waters of the ink, there was nothing to hold him back. Well, except for Joey.

The Studio’s head, grabbed Henry’s shoulder. Silently commanding him to freeze. Obeying Joey’s command, he proceeded to stand down.. but the feeling of hunger still lingered. His old-friend patted him on the head and smiled at him sweetly. “Now, now, dear Henry. Mr Hill is still valuable.. I need him to help me figure out how to strengthen the ink. You want to stay here forever don’t you..?”

“Y..es..” The hive-mind answered for him, with ink spilling out his mouth as he struggled to form one simple word. Henry’s voice came out all bubbly and slightly distorted. Maybe it was the fact that his lungs and throat were clogged with ink. Or maybe it was because it wasn’t really Henry speaking? The Searcher wasn’t quite sure himself.

Joey glances over at Murray Hill. Who appeared to be cowering in the corner of the room. Breathing heavily out of shock. Clearly not expecting the Searcher to try to infect him. The years of keeping to himself had rendered him more careless. Just because Joey let Murray continue being completely human, doesn’t mean that every single Searcher will remember or even know to avoid him. Especially not Henry, after only seeing the scientist now. The man should’ve expected this and mentally scolded himself for such a foolish mistake.

“T-That’s really not funny Mr Drew.” Murray muttered under his breath. It’s been awhile since he had any close calls.. but they never got any less scary. Just the idea of being trapped in that screaming well of voices terrified the man.

“Don’t be so dramatic Mr Hill. You know I wouldn’t let the ink take you, that is, as long as you keep being useful to me..” Joey’s sweet smile switched to one that wasn’t of false kindness. This one had the look of sadism that Joey was truly like.

“I-I will sir.. I promise.” Murray said not entirely truthfully. The moment he sees a chance to escape and work on figuring out a cure for this monstrosity he’d run. The guilt and shame from all the deaths had been taking its toll.

“Wonderful. Now.. let’s get to business shall we?”

————

“W-What do you mean ‘there’s Searchers everywhere’?!” Annette rose up to take a brief look outside, but an ink-stained hand took her arm and stopped her.

“D-Don’t! Are you trying to get yourself killed? Don’t go out there! I’m not letting another innocent person die!” Sammy suddenly shouted. Both Annette, Wally, and Jack, were visiblely puzzled by this as well as shocked. The former music-director has dark tears running down from his eyes. Voice shaky and distraught.

“I-I already caused Henry’s death.. I can’t watch another person get infected. I just can’t anymore..” The Lost One quickly let go of the girl’s hand and instead drew into himself. Wally hadn’t seen Sammy this upset in a long time. With gentle care he began to pat his friend on the back. Not saying a word. He didn’t know what to say in these kinds of circumstances.

“Why.. why do you keep referring to becoming a Searcher as ‘dying’..? What have you been keeping from me.. I know you two haven’t been telling me everything.” Annette asked grimly. Causing all three ink creature’s hearts to drop.

“Okay you’re right.. we’ve been keeping things from you. B-But we were just trying to help! We weren’t sure how you’d take it if we told you!” Wally finally joined back in on the conversation. He looked over at Sammy, silently asking for him to help with this. Both Lost Ones didn’t know how to explain it. Especially because there were different ways to become infected, and to succumb to the virus.

“I-I died.. f-from drowning..” The hat-wearing Searcher said weakly. Everyone went quiet and looked at Jack Fain. “I-I a-accidentally fell asleep.. at m-my desk, when a p-pipe burst over top of me.. I must’ve d-died in my sleep..” One of the ways to become corrupted is if a person comes into contact with a large amount of ink. However due to the circumstances Jack must have immediately gone from Stage One to Stage Five within minutes.

“E-Everything felt so c-cold.. for so long. I-I couldn’t think.. I c-couldn’t speak. I f-forgot my name, w-who I was.. and h-how I had gotten here. I j-just wandered around e-emotionless for y-years.” The Searcher continued. The girl was silent and her face was reddened, clearly trying not to cry. Listening to the poor man’s story. “C-Can you.. r-really call that l-living?”

Sammy Lawrence didn’t have the guts to say it, but he greatly admired Jack’s courage for being able to talk able such a sensitive topic. Wally looked equally as touched. As for Annette. She didn’t know what to say. She was at a loss for words. Feelings of overwhelming sadness came over her as she thought about the suffering these poor people had gone through.. as well as Henry, who was forced into this mess by an obsessive monster. Why did this have to happen to everyone? No one deserved this kind of torment.

“I know this is hard for you to understand.. honestly we don’t understand it much ourselves. I don’t remember succumbing to my corruption, but I swear I heard the sound of crying..” The former music-director stared at the ground solemnly. The other Lost One frowned, and started rubbing circles into his friend’s back to comfort him.

“Ya see, Annette. We call it ‘dying’ because it’s just similar to that.. back at the village, every now and then some newly-infected would wander down there. Sammy and I always try to help them through it as best as we can, but it always ends the same..” It almost hurt for Wally to talk about this, but the girl needed to know this. “They just stop moving, breathing, and their heart stops beating.. then later they come back as Searchers.” The two friends both looked at each other mournfully.

“It takes so long for us to take back the life that Joey had stolen from us.. Jack is well on his way to breaking free of the puddles. Then he’ll be a Lost One like us, able to have full control over his thoughts and feelings.” Gesturing to the Searcher in the room. A small hopeful smile appeared on Sammy’s face. To which Jack shyly grinned back. He even seemed to be blushing a little, a strange greyish colour, but it was blush nonetheless.

“So.. people need to die in order to completely turn into a Searcher?” Annette whispered. Her sadness and shock quickly switched to anger and hatred. “I’m going to kill Joey if I ever see him..”

“Welcome to the club! Trust me lots of people around here want to get back at the guy too, but ya gotta remember that there isn’t many of us though. Drew’s untouchable. You have no idea how many people have broken into here over the years. Joey’s pretty much got an army.” Wally paused for a moment. Noticing something, and surprised that he hadn’t wondered about this before. “Not trying to pry or anything.. but how did ya get this far without getting infected? Some people couldn’t even last ten minutes without getting corrupted.” As terrible as their situation was, the former-janitor had to admit this place did have a few funny moments.

He’d once seen a particularly stupid man trip over an empty can of bacon soup. The guy was talking into a strange device, similar to the one Annette had shown them earlier. Ranting about the supernatural and ghosts. Naturally the Searchers took advantage of this moment and proceeded to maul him to death. Poor guy was dead within minutes, he didn’t even go through the stages. Instead the man turned into a Searcher about half an hour later. At least the part where the guy tripped was funny, though the rest.. not so much.

“I don’t know how I’ve lasted this long. I guess I’ve just been lucky.. I did have Boris with me for awhile. I hope he’s doing alright..” Boris had been so kind to her. Giving her a place to stay, food, and a bed. Annette hadn’t seen him since she mistakenly followed the Searcher who used to be Henry down to Level Fourteen.

“Boris is gonna be fine Annie. He’s a smart toon. Managed to avoid the ‘angel’ for years!” Once again Wally adressed the girl with a nickname. She wondered if the Lost One gave nicknames to everybody. Other than that, she felt a little better. Giving them a hopeful smile. Boris never ventured too far from his home anyway.

“C-Can.. can you please not bring the ‘angel’ up?” The leader of the Lost Ones quietly mumbled. Avoiding a name that brought back unwanted feelings. Wally naturally detected that he’d made a mistake, and immediately switched to another topic for Sammy’s sake.

“Well anyway Annette. We’ll make sure nothing happens to ya. Just stick with us in the village, it’s pretty much the safest place in the entire studio.” Wally said with a confident grin. Besides the few safe-houses that scattered the studio, the village truly was the most safe. The Lost Ones all helped each other and did their best to make the village a proper place to live. Even the Searchers that were in the process of gaining their identities back tried to help out. Although poorly and crudely.

With a sigh, Sammy took a lot outside and saw that all the Searchers had vanished. Whatever was causing them to be so strangely panicked must have gone away. “It looks like the coast is clear for now.. still not sure what set them off like that, but let’s not head back to the village yet. Just to be safe.”

It seemed that the words from the two Lost Ones had finally gotten through to her. It was too dangerous and risky for her to try and save Henry and the others on her own. It was better to have good people like Sammy and Wally to have her back.

“Okay.. I trust you guys.” Annette said with a soft smile.

————

Henry had been ordered to just sit and watch while Murray worked on.. whatever it was. The Searcher wasn’t sure and neither did he care. Joey had left to check on the rest of the ink-creatures to make sure they weren’t trying to resist his power, he did that every so often. In fact Joey never really stayed in one place too long in general.. if Henry could think, he’d probably guess that it was because his old-friend loved seeing all the destruction he had caused. Or maybe it was because he enjoyed finding things to torment. At the moment the former-animator simply observed the scientist. Running tests on a vial of corrupted ink, and pausing to write notes. Things continued this way until Henry couldn’t handle the boredom anymore.

“H-Hun..gry..” Henry rasped impatiently and began to pull on Murray’s sleeve. It reminded the man of a dog, whining for food. This was going to be a problem.. it wasn’t as if the man could just toss him an uninfected intruder to corrupt. Even if he did, he was done with all the deaths around here. Henry was the final straw, and now that the poor man himself wanted to drag others to the same terrible fate was just too much for Murray Hill to handle. It wasn’t Henry’s fault.. it’s just how Searchers are. He can’t think for himself anymore. The least Murray could do for him was try to prevent anymore corrupting.

Cleverly, the scientist came up with an idea to distract the ink creature. Murray put his tools down and walked into the supply closet. Henry watched curiously, making confused moaning noises. About a minute later the man came back with a can of bacon soup. Handing it to the former-animator. “Here, it won’t help much, but it’ll keep you busy.”

Henry eyed the can suspiciously. Looking it over and trying to read the label. The words were jumbled and blurred.. maybe this had something to do with his Corruption? With a moment of slight hesitation, the Searcher shoved the can into his mouth and swallowed it in one go, leaving Murray stunned. Did he really just witness Henry eat an entire can of bacon soup whole?

Unsatisfied with this choice in food, the Searcher let out another impatient groan. Pulling on Murray’s lab coat again. “Didn’t like it? Sorry Henry.. it’s all I’ve got here.” Looks like the scientist is going to be stuck ‘babysitting’ what was basically an ink zombie for awhile, as it seemed that Joey wasn’t going to be back for quite some time.

Luckily for Murray, Henry, after about a half an hour, eventually grew tired of complaining about being ‘hungry’ and pulled himself to the nearest wall. Entertaining himself with poorly drawn pictures of Bendy. He used his own ink, and simply traced the wall with his dripping fingers. It switched to crude drawings of the Searchers and the Butcher Gang. (or at least that’s what Murray thought. It was pretty hard to tell.)

With Henry preoccupied, Murray decided to get back to work. Writing down the things he obsevered and the way the Searchers behaved. Just making notes about the virus in general. Things got quiet pretty quickly after that. The former-animator seemed very focused with drawing. Murray laughed softly, trying not to disturb Henry. Making him feel slightly better knowing that the Searcher still enjoyed drawing.. it wasn’t uncommon for them to have a few small traits left from their former-lives. At least some part of Henry still remained.

Murray went back to working. Sighing to himself as he picked up his pencil and started writing. No longer focusing on the ink creature in the room. As much as he wanted to avoid running tests on the ink to make it stronger, he was terrified of how Joey would react if he came back to the scientist’s lab and found nothing done. He’d most-likely be killed or corrupted if he did anything to anger the studio’s head. Joey has been more irritable than ever lately.. the man also knew about how his boss had been using acetone to keep Henry in check. Murray Hill shuddered at that thought.. the former-animator must have been in agony. In fact, he swore he saw some holes burned into his ink from the chemical earlier.

What the scientist didn’t expect, was that Henry wasn’t actually that unpleasant to be around. He didn’t do much besides sitting in the corner, gurgling and moaning, or just painting things on the wall with his ink. The Searcher didn’t disrupt Murray’s work, and he didn’t cause trouble. Well.. he did sneak into the closet at one point and ate a few more bacon soup cans, but other than that he mostly kept to himself.

Henry was finding himself sort of at peace here. It was quiet in Murray’s lab. The only noise came from either himself or the man, who was simply jotting down words into his journal. The Searcher even closed his eyes for a moment, taking a small rest. Unfortunately.. several voices started echoing from the puddles. It was an urgent, overwhelming command that Henry could no longer ignore.

‘Someone here..’

Without warning the Searcher’s eyes snapped open. Did he really hear what he thought he heard? A new intruder had entered the studio?

Sudden pain sparked in his head, as well the rest of his weakened body. He needed to ‘eat’ something! Murray was off-limits since Joey still needed him, but finally now might be the chance for the ink-creature to actually infect someone! He wouldn’t be hungry anymore, and probably wouldn’t be for a while. Henry had been starving since he entered the forth stage! Eagerly the Searcher began to stand up on unsteady legs, and practically ran (although poorly) to the door. Murray turned around, hearing the noise.

“H-Henry? Where are you going?!” He shouted but the former-animator had already escaped down the hall. What was Murray going to say to Joey when he comes back and sees that Henry is gone? The scientist wasn’t even sure why Henry left! Joey was definitely not going to be happy about this.

————

Despite Murray’s belief. Joey knew full-well that Henry had left the scientist’s lab. The idea of gaining more power always delighted him, a crazed smile appeared on Joey’s face as he watched through Henry’s eyes. Being able to see what the Searchers were seeing was a very useful power.. although to his disappointment he could only see through either one or a few at a time. It didn’t take much concentration, but a lot of things could cause interference.

Traveling through the ink made it so much faster for the former-animator to reach the entrance to the studio. He pulled himself out of a puddle, once again forcing himself to stand. Henry heard what sounded like two people having a conversation.. he couldn’t understand what they were saying, not that it mattered to the Searcher anyway. Henry had a job to do, and Joey would be pleased with him if he succeeded.

‘Go on. You can do it Henry. Just drown those foolish intruders and send them to the puddles!’ It was difficult for Joey to contain his joy. The more souls that were sent to the ink, the more powerful he became! Having his best-friend help him to gain even more power just made the man ecstatic.

A few screams started to break out close by. Joey’s eyes went wide. It looked like the other Searchers had gotten there first. He had completely forgotten about them in his excitement, angrily he shrieked at them to stop, but by the time Henry entered the room the damage had already been done.

Two figures were lying face-down in a puddle on the floor. It was hard to tell what they looked like since they were nearly drenched in black liquid. Several gashes were visible on their arms along with what could have been bite-marks, that appeared to be bleeding a mix of black and red. Although Joey and Henry could see the ink slowly creeping up into their bloodstream since the veins were turning dark. The other Searchers were still in the room, looking quite pleased with themselves. Convinced that they did a good job with getting ‘rid’ of the intruders seeing as the two humans were now just pitiful corpses. Despite the extreme amount of overkill, it looked like what really killed them was drowning. The Searchers must have either held them under a puddle until they couldn’t breathe anymore, or simply forced them to swallow ink until they choked to death. It wouldn’t be long until they’ll be brought back to life as Searchers just as the others were..

As Henry stared down at the bodies he started to become filled with horror, the young man had been in a deep sleep since being tortured by the acetone. Yet this was enough to bring the former-animator somewhat back to reality. Several memories that had been locked tightly away flooded back. Was this what could have happened if Henry had gotten there first? Was he capable of doing that to an innocent person?! What about Annette? Would she be lying dead on the floor like that too if Boris hadn’t stopped him from trying to corrupt her?!

“K-Killed.. them.. y-you killed.. them!” He rasped in horror and devolved into sobs, Henry was about to let out a terrified scream only for Joey to immediately stop him. Avoiding anything that could set the other ink-creatures off.

‘Now is NOT the time Henry!’ Joey said furiously. Sensing the absolute terror in his best-friend’s heart. This is exactly why the ink needs to be strengthened! Henry would stay under his control, obey every command, no more constant crying and screaming, and best of all no more trying to fight back! Joey could feel the Searcher drawing into himself and starting to wail loudly. Suddenly the studio’s head could no longer see through Henry’s eyes. It seemed that his cries were causing some sort of interference, and Joey found himself once again staring into the hall that exited his office.

“H-Henry?” Joey whispered. There was no answer, but he knew that his old-friend was listening.

In a fit of rage the man slammed his fists onto his desk. Yelling and shrieking. Joey could feel himself getting more powerful as two new souls were forced into the hive-mind, but at what cost? He knew he should be happy with this, but Joey wanted Henry to be the one to catch them! Why should his old-friend care if two people were now dead, it’s not like he knew them?! They were just nameless fools who wandered in! Besides, their souls will be put to good use! It will make Joey even stronger! Didn’t Henry at least care about that?

“Henry.. come back to my office right now. Don’t make me get the acetone again..” Joey Drew said slowly. His voice shaking with fury. The Searcher whimpered. Anything was better than acetone.. but he was just so scared. Henry became more and more awake as he looked at the two unfortunate explorers on the ground. Shuddering at the ink that was now consuming them, and sending chills down his spine. Although that could just be the natural coldness of the ink, already trying to pull him back under its influence. Promising him warmth and rest.. after what Henry had just witnessed, he nearly agreed to the puddle’s promises.

Maybe it really would be better to just fall asleep and forget it all..

Joey took a few moments to compose himself. Henry was ‘awake’ right now, but he seemed to be struggling thanks to the puddles grip on him. Sensing the weariness within his thrall. Joey had to be careful not to risk scaring Henry off.. if he got angry with him, then his best-friend might run off to that strange village of Lost Ones. The place infuriated the man since he couldn’t access it. Henry could still be under his influence there, but the Lost Ones would probably try to stop the former-animator from going back to Joey. This was to be avoided at all costs.

He needed to take advantage of Henry’s vulnerability.

A terrible grin appeared on Joey’s face. A wonderful plan had just popped into his head. He knew exactly how to get Henry to obey. All it took was a few lies. To trick him into a false sense of security.

“Dear Henry.. come back to me. I’m so very sorry for snapping at you..” The voice of cruelty transformed into one of sympathy. The Searcher was weak. All Henry needed was a bit of a ‘push’, then he’ll go back to the way Joey preferred. The former-animator froze, conflicted. A projection of Joey appeared in front of him. Blocking the view of the two dead humans. Sort of like a ghost.. see-through, but not enough to bring Henry’s focus back onto the poor victims behind him. The image of his childhood friend smiled down at him, placing a hand on the Searcher’s shoulder.

“Y-You’re.. not s-sorry..” His words came out slightly slurred. Exhaustion returning to Henry’s mind and body, slowly and unconsciously surrendering to the puddles. Joey was just too strong now.. the figure standing before him may have just been an image, but the overwhelming power emanating from the mere projection of his old-friend was enough to make Henry’s eyes start to flutter. He was so tired.

“Of course I am.. you know how much I love you. Nothing will ever compare to you my dear, sweet Henry..”

“͎̦̳̭̩͓N̫̮̣̺͖͡o͖̤̩̻t̨h̝̰̞̝̻̖i̪͇̪̺̗̟͡n͔͖̯̮͍̩͔g̛̳͈̬.̮̺͍͟”͍

————

Hey guys, I know I already said this a few times, but I’m really sorry if this story isn’t good or if it’s badly written! I promise I’ll try to fix it later if I find any problems!

#BATIM Saudade AU Stories #BATIM Saudade AU #Henry #Joey Drew #Annette Martineau #Sammy Lawrence #Wally Franks #Jack Fain #ScientificJournalist!Murray Hill #Bendy #Boris #Alice Angel #Searchers #The Lost Ones #Bendy and the ink machine

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bornoffireandwisdom · 5 years

Text

A Truly ‘Bright’ Idea

Henry, now completely corrupted by the ink (turned into a Searcher) stays asleep in the puddles, while Joey comes up with a plan to keep one of Henry’s friends from trying to save him.

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Hey guys I’m sorry I haven’t been able to get anything done even though I said I would post more for my AU.. I think I might be falling into some kind of depression. Strangely it’s the worst at night. I can have a good day sometimes but when it comes to nighttime it’s like the whole world has gone dark and blue. I just feel so horrible at everything lately.. (And sorry that wasn’t supposed to be a pun.)

Anyway, I’m glad I could finally get at least one story finished. I’m sorry again for taking so long to post.. I really hope you like this story despite any problems it may have.

And please if you guys like this story, then please re-blog and leave a comment. I always love seeing what you guys enjoyed about my stories. Even if it’s just in the tags, I still love seeing what you guys have to say. I’m sorry if this story is poorly written or stupid though.. I tried my best to make it good. Also I'm sorry if this is too short..

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Death in the studio didn’t feel too bad. The puddles felt warm or a nice soothing cold in contrast to the icy chill that one experienced when waking up. Sure some people spent most of the time screaming and crying for freedom, but when it was quiet the place was actually quite blissful.

The souls inside felt as though they were trapped underwater. Just floating in black liquid, sometimes one person would visit another but not for very long. Too tired and weak from their trance to have real conversations.

Henry preferred to sleep. To just float around in the dark waters of the puddles. It was calming and peaceful to him. Ultimately the ink itself was pleased by this.

‘Keep him asleep. Don’t let him wake up.’ The voice of its creator commanded it, and as the director of the hive-mind it obeyed without question. Keeping the former-animator from waking.

Sometimes Henry would blearily open his eyes, and see nothing but pure darkness or confusing things within the ink. Like the other souls who were trapped but he didn’t think much of it, and other times he’d see what his body was doing on the outside. The ink controlling it like a puppet. Every so often when that happened, Henry would groan and struggle weakly. The ink could sense this and try to lull him back to sleep, but sometimes the young man managed to re-gain control for a little while before the puddles could drag him back in again.

Henry wasn’t sure if he had a body inside the puddles or if it was just his spirit. He could definitely feel his clothes and hair moving gently in the sea of ink he was under. He rubbed his eyes sleepily sometimes, so it seemed like he still had some.. but Henry knew that his real body was somewhere prowling the halls. It was hard to tell what it was up to since he was too tired to open his eyes and see, and even still, that doesn’t mean it’ll make him totally aware of what’s happening.

Soon after what felt like a week or a day. A voice echoed inside the puddles. Recognizing it immediately as Joey’s voice.

‘It’s time to get rid of Tom and Allison. They’ve been causing too much trouble.. find them and bring them to me so they can get the punishment they deserve!’ His anger seeped through the ink, affecting everyone inside. They all obeyed and went to find and capture the troublesome toons.

On the outside Henry felt himself getting up and heading off somewhere. Joining the others in their search for Allison and Tom. Eager to obey his best-friend’s command. Whatever those two did to anger Joey, they would certainly pay for it! He’d catch them and drag them back. Then suddenly Joey Drew’s voice echoed in the ink once again. Stopping the former-animator in his tracks.

‘Except you Henry.. I’d like to see you in my office. NOW.’

The frustration was evident in his voice. Joey was clearly very angry at those toons, and despite Henry not knowing why, he found himself feeling sort of angry at them too. Maybe it was because Joey thought of them as enemies.. yeah. That seemed to make sense.

————

Apparently Joey just wanted to see Henry as a way to deal with his anger. Even with his best-friend being a mindless inky zombie, Joey still looked to him for comfort. He held Henry close as he spoke in gentle tones.

“I hope you understand why I couldn’t send you, dear Henry. Those insufferable fools would have tried to manipulate you.. I can’t let you get taken away again Henry. I love you more than anything in the entire world.”

Henry nodded slowly. Not quite understanding what his old friend was saying since it wasn’t really a command. Although he sort of understood the basics. Joey didn’t want him to go, the toons are bad, Joey loved him, that was pretty much all Henry could grasp at.

“I only hope that those pests will finally be disposed of.. they’ve been around for far too long, and now that you’re here.. they’re even more of a problem.” Joey mumbled to himself while patting Henry on the head.

“It’s pathetic how they tried to steal you away from me! Thinking they could save you, how ridiculous! I could’ve made you kill them.. and yet they still trusted you, dear Henry.” The man laughed to himself as he spoke. Still holding onto Henry who continued to be unresponsive. Aside from a few quiet moans and groans.

It’s true. Henry might have tried to kill them if given the order to. He may not have been completely corrupted at the time, but he was still under Joey’s influence. If he had just one single moment of weakness he could’ve completely snapped.. but he didn’t. Henry stayed strong till the very end. He didn’t want to make the same mistake when he almost hurt Annette.

“Now.. as for your little friends. What do you suppose I do Henry? I may be generous enough to allow the child to leave.. but as for Miss Martineau I think she needs to be dealt with.” A red light gleamed from Joey Drew’s eyes as he smiled a sadistic grin.

Who? Henry didn’t know any ‘Miss Martineau’.. did he? Was she one of the intruders that he and the other Searchers were looking for? It sounded about right.. but why would he be friends with an intruder? Henry was supposed to catch them and corrupt them. Not be friends with them! Joey could see the confused expression on the ink creature’s face. Good. This meant that he didn’t remember. Any sign of recognition might mean that his best-friend was waking up from his control.

Joey pondered a little bit more, before a truly awful idea came to mind. A wide cruel grin appeared on his face. “Henry.. I bet Miss Martineau hasn’t been to Level Fourteen yet. Normally I wouldn’t allow you to go down there, but I’ll make sure several ‘friends’ are with you to ensure your safety..”

Three Searchers appeared in the doorway to Joey Drew’s office. Looking ready to be commanded.

“Grant, Shawn, Lacie. Please make sure Henry doesn’t wake up while he’s down in Level Fourteen. I’d hate to have to punish you all if you fail..” The three who had entered all proceeded to nod, and left as quickly as they had came. Probably to lie in wait for whatever Joey was planning.

Finally he turned towards Henry. Giving him another pat on the head. “Be good. Alright, dear Henry? Now be sure that the girl follows you. If the Projectionist doesn’t finish the job then feel free to corrupt her. Think of it as a reward.. after all. I leave no witnesses.”

Then Joey got up, patted Henry’s head one more time, and then left.

Henry wasn’t sure what kind of ‘important things’ Joey had to be doing right now, but it mattered little. His old friend had given him a command, so he had to follow it. Henry didn’t have a choice. Quickly leaving and looking for the girl, to lead her into a trap.

————

I really hope you guys liked this story. I’m really sorry if you guys didn’t though. I really tried to make it good this time..

#BATIM Saudade AU Stories #BATIM Saudade AU #Henry #Joey Drew #Allison Angel #Tom (Boris)#Annette Martineau #Vincent #Grant Cohen #Shawn Flynn #Lacie Benton #Searchers #The Lost Ones #Bendy and the ink machine

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bornoffireandwisdom · 5 years

Text

Pain and Separation

Henry in Stage 5 of the ink’s corruption (Searcher) goes back to Joey’s office after the failed attempt at ‘dealing’ with the troublesome intruder. Annette gets taken back to the Lost One Village.

—————

Hey guys. Here’s the part three story for the recent ones I wrote. It took me all day to finish it yesterday. I worked very hard on it. I’m sorry if it’s kind of short or badly written.. or just plain stupid in general. I tried my best. I promise if I find any problems with it, I will try my best to fix them later.

If you guys did like this story, then please re-blog and leave a comment! I really want to know what you guys think about this story.

Just to let you guys know, this story is going to be pretty sad. You’re probably going to want to punch Joey in the face a few times. Anyway I really hope you guys like this story, and I’m sorry if it isn’t very good, l’ll try to fix it later if I find any problems.

—————

After visiting Level Fourteen, the four Searchers reported back to Joey’s office. Each of them felt restless and uneasy. They couldn’t do it. They weren’t able to catch that intruder.. the man was going to be furious with them.

“So.. tell me. Is the girl still living?” Joey asked with sinister grin. Upon noticing the unsatisfied expression on all four of the Searchers he scowled.

“Ah. I should have known. Of course you would fail.. I had sincerely hoped that Norman would’ve done the job, but I assume he had failed too?” The Searchers all nodded and jumped when Joey slammed his fist in a nearby wall.

“WORTHLESS! Pathetic, all of you!” The man shouted with pure venom in his voice. Joey paused turning towards Henry and smiled at him sweetly. “Except you Henry dear.. I know you tried your best.”

“As for you three. Get out of my sight..” One by one they fled the office. Disappearing into a puddle and traveling to different Levels. Searchers didn’t experience much in terms of emotion, but they did have some amount of fear. Mostly towards angering their commander, and The Projectionist. Well.. they were afraid of acetone too. Although that wasn’t something that was alive.

Acetone doesn’t kill ink-creatures. Joey made sure the demonic ink could bypass that. However if one comes into contact with such a chemical it causes horrific pain. The head of the studio had been seen pouring it over Searchers that were in the process of becoming Lost-Ones, or if they just disobeyed. Speaking of Acetone, there happened to be a bottle of it on Joey’s desk.

Joey went over to Henry and pulled him into a hug. The Searcher didn’t respond to this. Arms hanging loosely and his head tilted like a rag doll. Joey tapped him on the nose, Henry’s head tilted the other way.

“Oh Henry.. that girl will never love you as much as I do. She’ll grow old and die.. but us? We will live forever. Together for all eternity.” For a moment the man paused. Seeming to think. Then he smiled. Sickeningly sweet. Henry found himself nodding despite something deep down telling him this was wrong, but he ignored it. The former-animator didn’t really have much of a choice..

Back inside the puddles where the rest of his soul remained, Henry felt a bit of discomfort. Despite just floating dreamily in the ink, he could feel something holding him on the outside. It was hard to explain.. but basically most of the time Henry was just asleep and unaware, however he was still loosely connected to his body. If something hurts him on the outside, it will hurt him inside the puddles too.

—————

Annette felt nervous around Sammy. He seemed like a good-person. He did save her after all.. but after Henry told her that the ‘prophet’ had attacked him, she found herself unable to trust him. Sammy seemed to sense this, looking uncomfortable as well. Wringing his hands as they entered the village.

Annette froze when she saw a crowd of Lost Ones standing around something. She felt a little scared since Wally and Sammy were the only Lost Ones she had met so far. As they approached the crowd they heard sounds of laughter.

“So I’m standing there, trying to open the Little Miracle Station, trying to save her and then BOOM! Kicked right in the face! Man, that hurt worse than the time I had a book thrown at me by Sammy when I teased him about Susie!” A familiar voice spoke out to the group. A wave of giggles overtaking the Lost Ones.

Suddenly Sammy up ahead. It looked like they found the former-janitor. Unharmed and telling funny stories to the Lost Ones. “Wally! Thank god you’re okay! I almost thought that you weren’t coming back!” Sammy nearly hugged him, but managed to compose himself. Hugging was more of Wally’s thing.

“Wait.. how did you get out of there so fast? Don’t tell me did something stupid.” Sammy gazed at Wally with a suspicious expression. Every single Lost One knew that traveling through the puddles was dangerous. No one was sure if it would try to pull them back or not, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about my power did ya? Course I didn’t use the puddles. It’s practically on high-alert now that Henry is here!” Wally laughed. Playfully swatting Sammy on the back of his head. Oh right. His power. Sammy almost forgot about it.

When in the Second Stage of the Corruption, there are some unusual side-effects that can happen. Henry’s was fire, as demonstrated when the ‘prophet’ had tried to sacrifice him out of insanity. Sammy himself was able to accidentally freeze things. He was never able to control it.

Wally seemed to be able to phase sometimes. It wasn’t risky like using the puddles.. but it took a lot out of him. Sammy found it strange that Wally was still able to use it. Once he became a Searcher he wasn’t able to use his power anymore.. maybe he just didn’t know how? It was hard enough using it before he succumbed to the corruption.

“I guess it slipped my mind..” Sammy stares at the floor. Knowing that Wally was probably going to tease him about it later.

“Wally you’re alright!” Annette snapped Sammy out of his thoughts as she ran over. She looked happy to see him, but then she looked embarrassed. “Sorry I kicked you earlier. I thought it was one of the Searchers trying to open the door. It was thing I could think of.”

“Aw. Don’t worry about it, Annette. I’m okay! Glad we got ya outta there.” A bright smile appeared on the former-janitor’s face. “Oh right! Now that you’re here, let’s show you around!”

“I guess that would be fine. There isn’t much to see in the village.. but the other Lost One’s are very nice people. I’m sure they’d like to introduce themselves.” Sammy agreed.

“Sure. Sounds like fun.” The girl walked away with the two of them. As they went looking around the village, Wally made jokes. Sammy would sometimes laugh or shush him. Although Annette found Wally to be pretty funny, same with Sammy. The three ended up deciding on seeing Jack Fain first, since he got a little lonely when Sammy wasn’t around.

Annette had to admit. As strange as Sammy and Wally were, she thought they were cool, and fun to be around. The girl hoped that she could help them escape too.

————

An hour passed until Joey finally left his office. Leaving Henry alone. He sighed shakily. Breathing was so hard.. but at least now that his so called ‘best-friend’ was gone he could finally get some air in his ink-covered lungs. Immediately coughing up all the ink that was constricting his airway, and gasped. The whole time Joey was talking, cuddling, and planning with him, Henry had been trying to fight off his control. Luckily in Joey’s glee he hadn’t noticed.

Now that the young man was waking up. The ink turned icy-cold, trying to draw him back into the comfort of the puddles. He was exhausted.. but he had to fight it. Henry wanted to live. Not like this. His head hurt. The ink fighting back for control. Attempting to wipe his mind blank, wanting him to go back to sleep.

“N-No.. d-don’t.. wa..nt..” He rasped and begged. Henry just wanted to go home. With his friends beside him. Why can’t Joey just let him go? He started to cry.. until he heard soft footsteps nearby. It didn’t feel like the overwhelming aura of Joey. He wasn’t sure what it was.

“H-He..lp..” Henry could feel himself sinking back again. Into the blackness of the puddles. Part of him felt relieved. He couldn’t feel sadness or fear if he was asleep. No more pain or cold.. just nothing. But the other part cried out in desperation. Henry wanted his free-will back.

“D-Dad? H-Henry..?” A small timid voice began to call out his name. It was followed by the sound of sniffling, just as Henry started to give in. The man struggled to even look at where the voice was coming from. It felt like he was dying all over again. Succumbing to the virus.

“Henry please..” The voice pleaded again. It sounded a little familiar.. where did he know that voice from? With his last remaining bits of strength he looked up. Seeing the face of the small toon demon in standing over him. It was Bendy, his creation. His son.

“B-Ben..?”

Henry couldn’t believe his eyes. Surely he was hallucinating. Henry hadn’t seen him since he had been fully corrupted into a Searcher. The last moments he remembered was holding Bendy’s hand as he slipped away. His last words were of telling Bendy that he’d never leave him alone again. Then everything went dark.. Henry didn’t feel so cold anymore, but he thought he heard the distant sound of someone crying and screaming as he faded away. Was that Bendy?

“S-So.. s-so..rry..” Henry had to apologize now or he might not get another chance. Bendy needed him.. but instead he was overtaken by the ink. Henry should have tried harder. He abandoned the toon all over again..

“I-I missed you so much!” The toon rushed over and hugged his creator tightly. He had nothing to apologize for. It was Joey’s fault for doing this to him and everyone else. Slowly Henry returned it. Gently patting Bendy’s back. For some reason being hugged by the little demon made him feel somewhat better. Almost like he was more human, and not like the corrupted-being that he currently was.

“Please don’t go away again..” It felt so good to see Bendy. All the toon needed to do was simply walk into a room to make people instantly feel happier. Henry even managed to smile at him a little. Small, and weak.. but it was genuine. A real smile.

What was unknown to them, was that something truly evil had been watching them the whole time. Joey wasn’t sure if Bendy was going behind his back or not. This has confirmed it. Bendy had been trying to wake Henry up. Of course.. he couldn’t be too mad at the toon. Bendy was like a child, and despite Joey’s cruelty he could never hurt a child. Although he didn’t care much for them. Certainly Bendy would have to be punished for this however. Maybe lock him up somewhere and forbid him to see his true creator.. he needed to think about it. Right now he had someone else to worry about.

“Bendy.. What are you doing?” Joey asked in a dangerous voice. Still wearing that unnerving smile. He felt nothing when he saw the terrified look on both of their faces. He felt nothing when Bendy started to cry, only anger.

“J-Joey please don’t be mad! I just wanted to see Henry! I miss him so much.. just please, please don’t be angry..” The little demon tried to plead. That just bothered Joey more, but even with the raging anger inside him he still tried to keep his composure. Better to give Bendy some sort of false hope..

“I’m not mad at you my little devil darling.. of course not.” Taking a small pause to watch Bendy’s expression change from scared to relieved. Then he continued. “I’ll still have to punish you though.. and Henry as well.”

“W-What?!”

“I told you not to wake him up. You disobeyed, it’s only fair. I hope you understand, Bendy. This is for the best..” The head of the studio took advantage of the toon’s shock, and silently called for backup. Shortly after, a few puddles of ink started to ripple.

About seven Searchers appeared, surrounding them, leaving the two with nowhere to run. Although Henry was too weak to escape anyway. Joey laughed harshly. The man didn’t even say a word, and the ink-creatures already subdued them.

“NO JOEY! I need to help Henry! LET GO OF ME!” The toon screamed and started hitting and kicking the Searchers. He couldn’t leave Henry. He needed him!

“Take Bendy back to the Heavenly Toys department. Don’t let him out of your sight.” The other corrupted souls agreed. Dragging a shrieking Bendy out of the office. Henry cried out, and reached out for him.. but they had already disappeared. Tears started running down his face again. Why won’t this just end?

“Don’t cry, dear. I’m not going to hurt our little demon. I’m just giving him a time out..” Joey put his hand on Henry’s shoulder as if to comfort him. Was that really supposed to make Henry feel better? If he really cared about him, then none of this would’ve happened in the first place!

“I’m doing this because I love you, Henry dear. I have to keep you here.. if I don’t, you’ll just leave me again.” Joey pulled Henry into a hug. The former-animator didn’t have the will to push him away. He just kept crying over what had just happened. Joey had broken him, truly broken him. Henry barely even noticed in his anguish, that the other Searchers have gotten closer.

“No one will ever love you as much as I do, Henry.”

Henry said nothing. What even was there to say? His heart was in too much pain. There was no struggle when the Searchers tried to send him back to the puddles. He had given up. The tears kept falling even when he fell back under the corruption’s influence. Although he didn’t remember why.

————

I hope you guys liked this story. I worked very hard on it. Please remember to re-blog or to leave a comment. I always like seeing what you guys have to say about my stories.

#BATIM Saudade AU Stories #BATIM Saudade AU #Henry #Joey Drew #Bendy #Annette Martineau #Sammy Lawrence #Wally Franks #Jack Fain #Grant Cohan #Shawn Flynn #Lacie Benton #Searchers #The Lost Ones #Bendy and the ink machine

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bornoffireandwisdom · 5 years

Text

A Trap Lying in Wait

Annette nearly falls victim to the trap Joey had laid out, but fortunately two Lost Ones show up to help.

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Hey guys! I decided to make a part 2 to the story A Truly ‘Bright Idea for my BATIM Saudade AU. I might even make a third part to this, but I’m not sure yet.

Now I kind of rushed the end a bit. So I’m very sorry if this story is stupid or poorly written. I will try my best to fix any errors I find later.

I really hope that you guys like this story despite any problems that it may have, and if you guys do like this story, then please re-blog and leave a comment! I always like hearing what you guys have to say about what I write.

Once again though, I’m very sorry if this story is stupid or badly written. I tried my best, and I promise I’ll fix any mistakes I find with the story later. I hope you guys enjoy this story.

—————

This plan was going incredibly well so far. Too well.. if Joey had been watching at the time he might’ve been jumping for joy at how well this was going. With just the slightest glimpse at the Searcher who used to be Henry, Annette took off after him. Going deeper and deeper into the depths of the studio until reaching Level Fourteen.

Annette wasn’t sure what to expect from this place. Or why Henry had went down here. As mindless as he seemed, his route had seemed deliberate. Planned.. someone wanted him to go there. She only hoped that she could stop him before he’s made to do something terrible.

“Henry wait!” Annette shouted as she chased after him. He seemed to have disappeared, and right when she was about to sigh in defeat, he reappeared at the bottom of a flooded area past a few large staircases that led to it.

She nearly ran down the stairs to reach her friend when she stopped. Something felt wrong here.. Annette could see Henry at the bottom. It looked like he was waiting for her..

‘Is this some kind of trap?’

Her thoughts were confirmed as she noticed two doorways behind him. Annette guessed that the paths intersected in a way similar to a maze. However the most alarming thing about this was that a light appeared in one of them. Moving and bobbing up and down. Suddenly a terrifying monster with a projector fused to its neck emerged. It had wires connected to its back, a few cut and loose.. dragging them along in the ink, it seemed to have some kind of speaker attached to its chest, and a film reel stuck in its shoulder.

It was the most frightening thing she had ever seen!

So this is why Henry went down here? He still hadn’t moved from his spot at the bottom of the stairs. He tried to lead her down here to get attacked by that.. thing? This monster?!

Annette knew she had to stay calm.. that projector-headed monster didn’t seem to have seen her yet. As long as she stays up here she’d be safe.

Wrong.

Henry had apparently grown tired of waiting and appeared right behind her. She hadn't even noticed he had vanished.

“No.. no! Henry please!” The girl begged her friend to back off, but instead he growled and tried to scratch her. The ink seemed to have changed the end of his fingers to be sharp. Probably to make it easier to infect people. He was relentless in his attacks, but Annette managed to evade them all.

Unfortunately in her attempts to dodge her friend’s attacks she had ended up at the edge of the stairs. Finally deciding that she had no other choice, she quickly ran into the maze, and hoped with all her heart that she wouldn’t run into that strange monster.

—————

Ten minutes had passed since Annette ran into the maze. She found a strange box that she could hide inside, and every so often the terrifying projector-headed monster would shamble past, not noticing her clever hiding spot. There was also the familiar sound of moaning that usually accompanied Searchers. What was she thinking.. of course there’d be more than one. Joey had to have planned this.

“I’m safe.. I’m safe in here for now..” The girl tried to reassure herself. Hopefully Henry was too ‘out-of-it�� to check this box. Along with that strange creature that kept coming around. Whatever it was.. it seemed very violent. There were mangled corpses of Butcher Gang toons scattered around the maze, and all of them had their hearts ripped out.

Meanwhile Henry had quickly lost sight of where Annette had went. He felt frustrated, annoyed. She went into the Projectionist’s maze and just disappeared. He didn’t hear any screams. So she couldn’t have been ripped to shreds by that thing.

There was a sudden pang of discomfort in the Searcher’s barely beating heart. Why did it hurt all of a sudden? Henry put an ink-dripping hand on his chest, specifically where his heart would be. Making noises of frustration. Why wouldn’t it stop?! It wasn’t exactly physical pain.. more like some intense level of emotional pain. There was no explaination for it. That girl wasn’t his friend, she was an intruder! When people venture into the studio they only have one option, to join them in the puddles. Dying wasn’t an option because the ink would claim them anyway! No one is safe from it. No one!

The three other Searchers that were sent to make sure the plan doesn’t go awry rose up out of the ink. Sensing that the ink was having difficulties keeping the former-animator under its control. However as the corrupted-forms of Grant, Shawn, and Lacie approached the former-animator, it had ended. Henry stopped struggling and went back to searching for the girl. The three other ink-creatures proceeded to back off, now that Henry had stopped trying to fight off the ink’s influence. Though they followed closely behind just in case.

Annette thought she could hear the familiar sounds of Henry’s groaning. He seem to do that a lot. Actually all of the Searchers seemed to. She wasn’t sure if Henry was in any pain, but she hoped that he wasn’t.

The sound of ink sloshing around came closer and closer. There was definitely something moving around and it definitely wasn’t the Projector-headed monster. It sounded different, mechanical and staticky. This however didn’t make that noise.

It was so hard to stop herself from panicking. Especially when she heard something scratching at the door. Whatever it was, it wanted to get inside. Annette readied herself. Prepared to give whoever was on the other side a hard kick.

‘Please don’t be Henry, please don’t be Henry..’ The thoughts kept repeating until the door started to open. Immediately she kicked the ink-being in the face, who let out a cry.

“OW! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?!” Apparently it was just Wally. The former-janitor turned Lost One. They had met once before. It was after Henry almost attacked her in the safe-house with Boris.

“W-Wally?!”

“Yep it’s me.. wow that kick really packed a punch, ouch!” He rubbed his cheeks to ease the pain. “I heard from Jack that you were heading down here, so I came to try and rescue you!”

Before Annette could ask how, another figure rose up out of the ink. Looking concerned, he had strangely visible suspenders on. Maybe they were made of some hard-to-stain material? “Wally I came as fast as I could, I heard a scream, what happened?!”

“N-Nothing Sammy.. heh, just a misunderstanding. Annie thought I was someone else.” Wally laughed despite the pain. The girl looked at him apologetically, and didn’t comment on the nickname. “Come on, let’s get her outta here before Norman or the Searchers catch us.”

“Right.. Norman.. yeah let’s go. It’s too dangerous here. We’ll take you to the village. You should be safe there for the time being.” The Lost One that was presumably Sammy Lawrence, had a look of sadness and mourning on his face. Oh right, that was the guy Wally had mentioned before, they were close friends. Annette nearly forgot about the man in all the craziness that had been happening. Ultimately she decided not to pry. Besides she didn’t have much time for questions. During all the confusion, Henry appeared behind the three of them. He lunged, but luckily Wally caught sight of him.

“Look out!” Pushing Annette out of the way as three more ink creature’s appeared, and at the end up the hallway Norman’s light came into view. Wally and Sammy nearly swore. With a single shriek from the Projectionist they all froze in terror.

“Wally! We have to leave now!” Sammy insisted fearfully. There was no time, they had to escape, but his friend stood his ground. Giving him a determined look.

“Go without me! I have an idea!” That was worrying. Wally Franks wasn’t exactly known for having the greatest ideas.. and a bad idea at a time like this could easily get him hurt.

“What?! Wally we can’t just leave you here!” This was insane! Wally would be easily taken down by the four of them! Sure Lost Ones could come back after death like Searchers could, but it was a risky move! What if he devolves back into one of them?! Sammy couldn’t bear the thought of it, especially from all they’d been through together!

“I’ll be fine! I always am! Just get Annette outta here! I’ll keep them busy!” Wally didn’t have time for any arguments. What was left of Norman Polk was already getting ready to charge, and the four Searchers were coming closer.

Sammy hesitated.. but finally he nodded and gave him a sorrowful look. Silently wishing Wally luck as he quickly took Annette by the hand and started dashing to the stairs. For some reason Henry and the others stopped, watching as the Lost One and the girl went inside the elevator. Once it had left, they turned their attention back to the former-janitor.

“So. Just us now huh? What do ya say to just letting me go?” Obviously they didn’t like that idea and angrily growled at him.

“Didn’t think so. Well.. see ya!” The Lost One said before sprinting at top-speed further into the maze, with the not-so-happy ink creatures chasing after him.

—————

Once the only sentient beings had left, only Henry, Grant, Shawn, and Lacie remained. Norman wasn’t included since he was always here and rarely ever left.

The rest of the Searchers has began to wander off. Leaving Henry to stand alone in the darkness.. and finally, he regained a bit of the control he had lost. As he became more aware, his head began to hurt. The ink became colder. Almost ice-cold and he felt completely exhausted.. the puddles were trying to overwhelm him again. To make him sleep again.

“H-Hu..rts..” The former-animator rasped as he clutched his head. Henry shivered in the ink that coated him inside and out. He was so desperate to keep himself from drifting away again, he hardly noticed the inky hand that started gently patting his shoulder.

The Projectionist didn’t see this ink-creature as a threat. Since it was just sitting in the flooded hall. Not doing anything that would make it seem dangerous. The feared monster of Level Fourteen made a confused whirring noise when it approached the Searcher. Some weird feeling about the corruption’s victim felt a little familiar.

That’s when the other Searchers returned. Growling at Henry. They sensed that something was wrong again and it looked like the young man was going to be difficult. Even if Joey hadn’t told them to make sure Henry didn’t ‘wake up’ they still would’ve done it. Searchers didn’t like it when one of their own started fighting back.

Still being connected to the hive-mind, Henry could sense them coming back. He groaned in defeat. He didn’t want to go. He wanted to be human again, to be properly alive, but the puddles just didn’t agree.

“N-No..” Attempting to plead was useless, although it didn’t stop the man from trying. Luckily the Projectionist was still there. Proceeding to shriek at the other ink-creature’s. Who immediately started to scatter. There was only one person in the studio that didn’t fear Norman, and that was Joey.

Contented by the fact it had helped a possible friend, it made excited whirring noises and small shrieks.

Henry who was so close to passing out looked up at what used to be Norman Polk, and gave him a tired smile.

“T-Tha..nks..”

With those words final words, the young man fell back under the ink’s influence and slowly left. Unaware that he had made the terrifying creature feel like it had made a friend.

—————

I really hope you guys liked this story. I tried very hard to make this story good, so I really hope you guys enjoyed it.

Though as I said before, I’m sorry if it wasn’t that good..

#BATIM Saudade AU Stories #BATIM Saudade AU #Henry #Annette Martineau #Wally Franks #Sammy Lawrence #The Projectionist #Grant Cohan #Shawn Flynn #Lacie Benton #Joey Drew #Jack Fain #Searchers #The Lost Ones #Bendy and the ink machine

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bornoffireandwisdom · 5 years

Text

Our Connection

After Joey takes Bendy away from Henry, he becomes determined to find him and goes to the studio’s most-wanted for help, and Annette and the two Lost Ones get scared.

————

Hey guys. I’m so sorry it took me so long to write the part 4 of my recent stories for my BATIM Saudade AU. A lot of stuff had happened.. it’s a long explanation.

Anyway. I really hope that you guys like this story. I worked very hard on it, and it’s kind of long this time. Usually I always accidentally make my stories too short, but I’m glad I managed to make this one longer. I’m sorry if this story isn’t that good though. I tried my best. If I find any errors in terms of grammar or punctuation, I’ll try my best to fix it later. Also I’m sorry if this story is a bit dark at the end.

I really hope you guys enjoy this story, and if you did then please re-blog and tell me what you liked about it! I always like seeing what you guys have to say about my stories. To be honest I’m always really looking forward to that. Anyway. I hope you like this. I’m sorry if it’s not that good. I tried my best.

—————

Henry found himself in the puddles again. Maybe it was better this way. The pain of having Bendy taken away didn’t reach him as much. Part of him was somewhat grateful for the puddle’s ability to erase all the worries and sadness from his mind. Making sure that his memories were just beyond his reach. So there he was.. floating in the darkness of the ink. In a deep slumber to which Joey hoped he would never awaken from.

The young man hadn’t tried to fight back yet either. Something kind of broke inside him when Joey took Bendy away. Maybe it was hope, or just the will to continue on? Henry didn’t know and neither did he care anymore. His old friend had taken away his reason to fight..

Whatever the feeling was.. it wasn’t there anymore. Henry had nothing left. Even the other ink-creature’s could sense this about him. Keeping to themselves instead of trailing after him to make sure he’s still unconscious. They just let him shamble through the halls, undisturbed. With only one purpose in mind he wandered and wandered, checking every room for intruders, or the troublesome toons (Allison and Tom.)

Eventually Henry stopped in one room. Something had caught his eye, which was why he decided to pause his search. A few Bendy posters scattered the walls. Yes, there were many in the studio, but these ones in particular caught his eye. Henry helped make these ones years ago.. he could recognize his design even in his enthralled state. Suddenly everything started to hurt again. Mostly in his heart.

Part of him knew why, but the other didn’t. Henry had a job to do. The puddles tried to steer him back to catching intruders.. but he couldn’t stop staring up at the posters. Looking up at Bendy’s smiling face was torment. Henry wanted him back, but he couldn’t remember why. Tears started to stream down from his glowing eyes.

The Searcher couldn’t understand what was happening. Trying to whip them away, but they continued to flow without stop. “B-Ben..dy..?” Henry muttered, the ink losing its grip long enough for the young man to get out a word. Talking was so hard as an ink-creature. With the puddles clouding his mind all the time.

“W-Where..?” The former-animator had to find the small toon demon, but it caused a giant conflict inside the hive-mind. Henry wanted desperately to find his son, but the ink wanted him to do what the other Searchers were doing. What was the point anyway? It wasn’t like people break into the place everyday.. and the two intruders that were currently in the building were nowhere to be found! However the puddles didn’t care about that.. it was hungry for more souls to join it, and it would keep their victims searching for more until the end of time.

Or at least.. until someone finds a cure for this demonic virus.

Inside the puddles Henry started to scream. It wasn’t for mercy, or for freedom, but anger. With what little strength he had left, Henry went to try and find someone. Who could hopefully help him. He wasn’t going to let Joey take away the one thing he knew he had to remember at all costs. Bendy. His son.

——————

The knocking sounded too slow to be frantic. It wasn’t his fault that the ink made him so tired.. but Henry kept knocking until someone finally opened the door. When it did, the young man collapsed from relief and exhaustion. Lying on the ground, hearing a commotion inside the room he was outside of.

“We can’t let him in, Alli! Henry has no reason to be back here now that he’s a Searcher! Joey had to of sent him as a trap!” A rough sounding voice spoke first. Whoever it belonged to was clearly very cautious and untrustworthy towards the infected. A small flare of anger rose inside of Henry, the hive-mind still trying to influence him.

“Tom, take one look at him! I can tell just by one glance that he’s fighting back for control. Besides, we still have the cell!” A second, softer voice said to the previous one. Their voice was oddly comforting despite the hint of annoyance at the other person speaking.

“ALRIGHT! Fine! But I can’t be responsible for anything he does if he breaks out.”

The shouting stopped. Henry slowly went unconscious as he felt someone help him up, his only visible eye was started to close, which to the toons, it meant that they had one less problem to deal with. Tom felt slightly less tense. When a Searcher has its eyes closed, that meant it was sleeping for real. They don’t do it much, but when they did it could sometimes take days or weeks for them to become active again. Allison theorized that is has something to do with them being not properly alive.. but Tom wasn’t so sure, but they couldn’t think of any other reason for their prolonged sleep.

“Sorry for yelling Alli.. you know how dangerous it is. It was risky enough letting Henry stay here when Bendy found him in the fourth stage. He’s completely corrupted now.. and you have to admit, this is kind of suspicious.” Tom said apologetically as he laid the former-animator on the cot in the make-shift cell. Allison waved him off, most-likely to say that he shouldn’t worry about it.

“It’s alright Tom. I understand.. Henry is a threat, but it would break Bendy’s heart if we just left him out there.” The toon Angel looked down at the man. Even as a Searcher he looked incredibly weak.. in fact, he looked almost like he was dead. Although ink-creatures can’t actually die. Well.. at least Searchers didn’t stay dead for long, both toons didn’t know what would happen if they died. Neither did they want to find out.

Allison and Tom just watched him for awhile. Seeing Henry didn’t just make them feel cautious.. but also sorrow, sympathy, and a sense of mourning. Tom however also felt anger. The poor man didn’t derserve this. No one did. Tom took Allison’s hand and held it, squeezing it reassuringly.

It took almost a whole day for Henry to open his eyes again. At first he sat up, all confused. Then his expression changed to one of absolute devastation, and proceeded to let out a shriek.

Allison and Tom came running upon hearing his cries. Seeing that Henry had physically woken up, but he still didn’t seem completely ‘awake’ when the Searcher saw them standing outside the cell. Especially because he launched himself and started pulling on the wooden beams blocking his path, breathing harshly. Instinctively Tom reached for his axe.

“H-Help..!” Henry rasped. He looked almost feral. “B-Bendy.. g-gone..! D-Don’t.. know.. w-where!” The man started pulling at the beams even harder. The two toons were understandably alarmed, but Allison tried to remain calm. Henry looked at them both with wild glowing eyes, the former-animator had never looked so insane before.. there was no time to waste! He had to get out and find Bendy!

Wait.. Henry didn’t know where Bendy was? Last they heard, the little toon was visiting Sammy and Wally at the Lost One village. Besides Bendy said he was afraid of making Joey angry if he visited his creator. Did he try and see Henry anyway?

Tom and Allison nearly face-palmed upon the realization. Of course the toon went to see Henry! Obviously Bendy had tried to wake Henry up out of his deep trance and got caught. Joey must’ve sent the little demon away as punishment. Henry had to of been awake at the time and saw this happen.. no wonder the Searcher was upset!

“L-Let.. me.. OUT!” The corrupted man begged them from inside the make-shift cell. Still trying escape by banging furiously at the boards. The sooner he got out, the better!

“Sorry kid. It’s too dangerous to let you out of there right now. Just hang tight while we figure something out.” Tom said to the Searcher, who unfortunately only got more upset by this response. Henry let out an inhuman shriek of rage, and started trying to reach through the wooden beams to attack Tom. The toon wolf quickly moved out of the man’s reach. Turning to look at Allison was a look of uncertainty. It looked like the man still had the instincts that came with being fully corrupted. Such as aggression.

“Henry. Calm down, look at me.” The toon angel stepped forward, and the Searcher snapped his gaze onto her. Henry trembled, he just froze. Making no noise or any sign of movement besides the shivering. It was clear that the only reason he wasn’t trying to attack them right now was because the thought of Bendy was keeping him from losing what little control he had.

In fact the puddles still had large hold over Henry. The ink keeping his memories away, the only clear one being of Bendy. He couldn’t remember Allison and Tom much, but something deep down kept telling him that they were to be trusted. They could help him.

“Listen to me Henry.. I know you’re worried about Bendy, and if he really is missing then I promise you we’ll find him.. but you have to stay here for now, okay? Just for a little while.” Allison spoke in a gentle voice. Smiling softly at the corrupted young man. Henry slowly stopped shaking and nodded, although a look of loss and heartbreak was still staring back at her.

“M-my.. s-son..” Henry whimpered, tears started to stream down from his glowing eyes. Taking both toons aback. There was something so haunting about seeing a Searcher cry. They didn’t do it much since they were usually unaware, though their souls inside the puddles were the ones that mostly did the crying.

“We’ll get him back. I promise.” Allison tried to assure him. Slowly reaching into the cell and gently patting him on the shoulder. She didn’t want to provoke him and set the young man off into another rage. Henry just started tearing up even more and began to bawl.

————

“This place is actually really cool! Did you guys really build all this?” Annette asked her two new friends. They had been giving her a tour of the village and she seemed to be enjoying it so far. Wally laughed at her enthusiasm while Sammy blushed.

“Yep! Well, everyone pitched in! Sammy was the one who helped keep things organized, I helped here and there with some of the building. I have a bit of experience with tools, but I wouldn’t say I’m a master with them. Tom and Allison even helped out a bit when they were in the area.” Wally said as they made it back to the centre. A few chairs had been set out to make the place seem a bit more friendly, the village wasn’t a real town.. but the Lost Ones tried their best to make a home out of what they had.

“Who’s Allison and Tom? I don’t think I’ve heard of them yet. Are they Lost Ones too?”

“Nah they’re toons! Tom looks a lot like Boris, but he has a mechanical arm! Allison looks like Alice Angel, except uh.. not insane.” Wally laughed a little nervously at the last part. Sammy flashed him a look of annoyance at his friend’s words. ‘Alice’ wasn’t known for being kind to people, and has caused quite a few problems for the Lost Ones and the Searchers. Though ‘Alice’ wasn’t always ‘Alice.’ Sammy didn’t really enjoy thinking about that kind of past.

“Oh.. okay, good to know.” Annette wasn’t sure what to say after that. It seemed like a lot of people here went insane, and she didn’t know what a crazed ‘angel’ could be capable of.

“Yes I understand it might get a bit confusing.. just know that ‘Alice’ is bad, and ‘Allison’ is good.” Sammy tried to simplify it. The Lost One was about to say more when he saw something heading towards the three of them. It was an easily recognizable figure due to the hat they always wore.

“S-SAMMY!” Jack Fain struggled to sprint. A trail of ink following him close behind, almost making him slip. It was harder for Searchers to do things like running, they could try but it was still difficult. Their forms were harder to keep stable. To make things easier the two Lost Ones ran over to Jack instead.

“Jack are you alright? What’s going on?” The former music-director looked concerned. The shy Searcher looked panicked, even Wally looked a little worried. Jack didn’t normally come running into the place screaming..

“I-It’s J-Joey! H-Henry ran off s-somewhere and now he’s f-furious! I-I don’t know what’s h-happening but he’s g-got all the other S-Searchers looking f-for him!” Suddenly the man began to sway, like he was going to fall over. Instantly the former-janitor and the former music-director, rushed over to hold him steady. Even Annette wanted to help, although that probably wasn’t a good idea.

“I-I.. I think I’m s-starting to fall asleep..” Jack whispered. Both Lost Ones looked horror-striken. This wasn’t fair. He had been well on his way to becoming a Lost One like them, outside of the hive-mind. Outside of Joey’s control. The former-lyricist had been awake for so long! He’s managed to hang on to his free-will for almost three weeks. A few small blackouts happened, but nothing major. Everyone in the process of leaving the puddles experienced some short relapses from time to time, but as long as they continued to fight they could eventually overcome it.

“What? Guys what does he mean by ‘falling asleep’?” Annette asked in all the confusion. However they didn’t hear the girl’s question, too busy trying to make sure Jack wasn’t going to lose consciousness.

“J-Joey.. wants e-everyone out l-looking for H-Henry..” The only Searcher who was currently in the Lost One village started to blink tiredly as the two friends helping him move again. Sammy turned towards Annette. He looked worried and stressed.

“Annette! Wally and I are going to take Jack back to my Sanctuary. He always found it calming so it might help him stay awake. Please stay here while we’re gone, Joey’s probably got the other Searchers prowling the building so just stay here, alright?” Sammy grabbed one of Jack’s arms and put it over his shoulder, Wally did the same with the other arm. Soon they started to exit the area, leaving behind a confused Annette.

‘Joey is sending Searchers to look for Henry? Wait.. does this mean he’s still trying to fight back?’ A spark of hope ignited in her heart. With a determined look, she followed anyway. Annette was going to help these people, and she wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of that.

—————

Meanwhile Henry was struggling to keep his thoughts together back inside the cell. The puddle’s influence trying hard to overwhelm his thoughts. Yes he had gone to the most-wanted toons in the studio.. Joey really wanted them caught and punished, but something told Henry that they could help! He had to trust them, he wasn’t sure why, but he knew he had to!

“H-Help.. Ben..dy..” Henry argued against the hive-mind’s commands.

‘Capture toons. Bring them to Joey.’

“Have.. to help.. B-Bendy..” The Searcher muttered. Trying to shake and pull at the wooden beams that kept him locked up. Ink dripping hands stained the wood. The voices wouldn’t listen to reason, they just kept egging Henry on. Attempting to erase his plan to save Bendy.

‘Corrupt intruders. Send to the puddles.’

Henry could feel himself getting more and more restless. It would help if the ink didn’t make the desire to infect people feel like hunger. Black liquid started leaking from his mouth as he thought about it. He stared at his hands, the ink making his fingertips appear sharpened, good for clawing at those who tried to get away. A useful and painful way to get the virus into their bloodstream.

Why did this have to happen? Why was Joey torturing him like this? Henry shivered and hugged himself, desperate to feel some kind of warmth.. but as always he just felt colder. The young man didn’t want to hurt anyone, he just wanted these bizarre feelings to go away. Whimpering to himself as he tried to focus on anything other than bringing people to the puddles.

“H-Home.. want.. t-to go.. home..” That was what Henry truly wanted. To go home with his friends, and have Bendy and Boris at his side. They could be a family, a real family. It didn’t matter if they weren’t human. Henry loved them.

‘This is home now. Stay with us.’ The voices disagreed. Spots started to appear in the man’s vision, he was absolutely exhausted. The ink tightening its hold on his mind, making his thoughts even more hard to piece together.

Henry started to rock back and forth, keeping himself at least focused on this action, something to keep him grounded until Allison and Tom came back. They’d be back soon right? They didn’t lie and just leave him here in this cell.. right?

‘Liars. Traitors.’

The Searcher covered his ears. They couldn’t be lying. They promised to help him look for his son, they promised to help him find Bendy!

“N-No..” Henry wanted the voices to stop. Angering him with their attempts to steal what little control the man had left. He began to shake with rage. Trying to keep it inside. The man had to control himself before he ends up losing himself again.

‘Destroy them!’

“NO!” The former-animator snapped. He let out an enraged inhuman shriek and started to tear the boards off one by one. Sending them clattering to the floor. Henry wasn’t conscious enough to remember much about Allison and Tom anyway, the ink successfully blocking most of his memories. Although right now Henry didn’t know what to believe.

Just as Henry was about to leave and look for Bendy himself, he was stopped by two figures who came rushing into the room. Apparently hearing the loud noises from nearby.

“H-Henry?” It was the two toons that the hive-mind had just been ordering him to get rid of. Allison looked over at the broken make-shift cell and back over to the Searcher who didn’t look very happy. When he saw that Bendy wasn’t with them he started to growl. Naturally they took a few steps back towards the door that had just came in through. Henry seemed much more hostile than he had been earlier when they last saw him, so they tried to appear as unthreatening as possible to avoid setting the Searcher off.

“Wh..ere’s.. my.. s-son..?” Henry asked with difficulty. It was hard to make out what the corrupted man was saying, but Allison and Tom could tell what he wanted. The former-animator was getting impatient, and downright dangerous. He broke the cell they had made, there was nothing to keep him from attacking them if he loses control again, and currently.. he seemed close to that.

That’s when Allison took off a backpack she had found earlier, placing it in front of the man. Henry hadn’t noticed it in his exhaustion. He peered into the bag and saw a small sleeping Bendy.

“B-Ben..?” The Searcher scooped him up and held him close. The tears started coming back, flowing from his glowing eyes. Henry turned to look at the two people who helped him find his son. A worried expression on his face.

“Bendy’s alright. He’s just tired out.. he was really scared when we found him in the Heavenly Toys department and we had to calm him down. He was really worried about you Henry..”

The tiny demon in his arms had a small smile on his face. Seemingly comforted by his creator. The former-animator smiled a little too, but the tears continued to fall.

“See? Told ya we’d get the kid back.” Tom tried not to smile. Internally glad to see the little demon back with his father. He patted Henry’s shoulder before leaving to grab his toolbox. That cell came in handy and it would be shame to leave it broken.

“T-Tha..nk.. you..!” Henry said. His tears of sorrow had changed into tears of joy. Allison smiles warmly. Something about the man seemed different.. his words were still raspy and garbled from ink, but it was full of emotion. For some reason he just seemed more human to her now.

“We were glad to help. You’re welcome Henry.”

————

Eventually Henry fell back ‘asleep’ again. Though he made sure Bendy was in safe hands before he lost his consciousness to the puddles. Allison and Tom were looking after him. Quickly he returned to Joey’s office.

Joey was sitting at his desk. He was smiling, but there was anger in his eyes. The room started to get darker and inky webs started appearing all over the floor and walls. Henry didn’t react. He wasn’t aware that Joey was angry at him.

“Oh. Good.. you’re back. Perfect. I had just created a stronger way to keep you from your disobedience, dear Henry.” The head of the studio stood up and walked towards his old-friend. The Searcher only looked up at him with an empty expression. Joey knew that Henry was back to his zombie-like state but he still found himself wanting to punish him. Originally he planned to use this.. idea, when Henry tried to resist the puddle’s influence.

Joey patted Henry’s head. Grinning down at him sinisterly. A demonic red began to glow from his eyes. He started to giggle as he gripped what he was hiding in his pocket. Naturally Henry thought nothing of it due to his mindless nature as a Searcher. Then Joey took the object out of his pocket.

“I hope you’ll forgive me for what I’m about to do.”

A strange vial was shown to Henry, and almost immediately he recognized what it was. All Searchers could recognize this horrible chemical. It didn’t matter if a victim of the virus knew what this was or not, it was instinctual. Henry began to panic and flee the office but Joey held him back. Holding his arm so tightly it almost hurt.

“I’m sorry Henry dear.. but y͍̘̫̣̫͜ͅou̵̖̗̘̗̞͈̤ ̢̪͚̳͉̯ͅn͍͞e̜̜̤̟eͅd͚̟͔̻ ͔̞t̛̥̖̬͚̼o̰͕ b̶̟̪e͉̩͖̺̦͘ ̕t̸̰a҉̻̬̤̤̪u͈̺̱g͈̳̺̕h̫̜̳͔̣͟t̕ ͔̪͢a̳͕ ̼le̩̖ś͓̪̭̤s̡͖̺o̸͉͓͙͖̠ņ.̵̰ ̲̣D̟̩̰̤͇͟o̸̦ǹ̠̬͉͖͈’̧̜t͟ ̤͍͎̳̺̖͍w̟͉̲͔͜o̷̖͈r̻r͓̠̥y̬̙̣̼͇̙̳͢.̢̞̹͉̹.̥͕͙̺̹ ̳ţh̠̟̝͙ḛ ̡̝̭p̭͉̭̞ái͙n̷͍̗͓̣̮͕ ̫͙̯̫͙͠ẃ̲͖̫͔̠̳i̶̠̪l̤̱͘l̰͖̖͖̮̖ͅ ̸̫b̢͚̺̻ͅͅe͙͜ ̧̪o̪̤̲͉̟͢v̴e͍̙̹r͚̣͉̳ ̡̜̞ş͙͚͓͕̠o̫̟̝̜͍͡ͅo̯͚̼̞̫̖n̮͚̼̜.”

A horrible laugh started echoing everywhere as Joey raised the vial over Henry’s head, the Searcher increased his struggles to get free yet Joey’s grip on his arm was too strong! He had to get out, he had to run, but the only thing he could do was wordlessly beg his former-friend not to do this.

The vial was filled with acetone.

——————

Once again, I really hope you guys enjoyed this story. If it isn’t good though I’ll try my best to fix any problems I find.

If you liked this story please re-blog and leave a comment. Sorry if I’m being annoying about that though I just really like seeing what you guys think of my stories.

#BATIM Saudade AU Stories #BATIM Saudade AU #Henry #Bendy #Allison Angel #Tom Boris #Annette Martineau #Sammy Lawrence #Wally Franks #Jack Fain #Joey Drew #Searchers #The Lost Ones #Bendy and the ink machine

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bornoffireandwisdom · 5 years

Text

SearcherDad!Henry (Short Saudade AU Story)

Hey guys, I thought up a funny little story about Henry in Stage 5 and Bendy. Basically even though Henry's a Searcher now he's still going to try to be a dad. Lol 😆

------------

Joey Drew rolls into the room to see a completely corrupted Henry, hugging Bendy.

"Henry dear! I see you've found Bendy! That's wonderful, but I've been looking all over for you. Come, let's go back to my office. Say goodbye to our little devil darling, you can see him later."

Bendy glances at Joey before leaning and whispering something to the Searcher. Who then let out a garbled laugh. "Sorry Joey. Henry says he's going to do father-son stuff with me! Right now he's teaching me how to not blink."

Joey sits in absolute confusion as Bendy proceeds to have a 'staring contest' with the Searcher. Henry ultimately wins since he doesn't feel the need to blink anymore. Or do anything other than staring into space in general. Also Searchers can barely think, let alone speak! How did Bendy understand him?

"Well I'm sure you can finish your contest another time my devil darling, but Henry and I have some catching up to do." Joey Drew had been waiting far too long for Henry to finally be his, and he was starting to become impatient.

That's when the most bizarre thing happened. Henry, who was basically an ink-dripping zombie turned around and gave him this look of utter frustration. As if to say: "Can you PLEASE just let me spend time with my toon son!?"

Joey was completely taken aback. "HENRY?! Oh.. I see. You must be waking up aren't you? Don't worry dear. I'll fix you again.. and this time you won't wake up." Though as Joey wheeled over to him, he was suddenly hit with something. Smacking him in the forehead. Ouch!

Apparently Henry had been carrying around a packet of candy, and decided to throw a particularly hard piece at Joey Drew.

"Oh! That looks like fun! Can I try too Henry?" Bendy asked excitedly to his corrupted creator. Who answered with an unintelligible gurgle that probably meant: 'yes!'

With the might of two people throwing candy in someone's face, Joey had no choice but to flee. When he got back to his office he was extremely confused.

"Whatever just happened, I'm going to blame Murray for it!"

------------

After being cured of the Corruption, Henry was eating breakfast at home with his good friend Annette.

"Hmm.. I wonder what happened at the studio. I know we brought Bendy and the toons home, but some parts are a complete blur.."

"Oh.. uh, nothing much really happened there. Yeah." She said before taking a sip from her cup of hot-chocolate. Mmmm yum!

Bendy walks into the room happily reciting the alphabet. "Qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm!"

"Ben, what are you doing?" Henry asked with a laugh despite being confused. Bendy was just too cute.

"It's the alphabet! You taught me it back at the studio! Don't you remember? Oh wait.." Bendy trailed off as he realized that it wasn't really Henry who taught him that. Oh well, just because he was a Searcher doesn't mean he was wrong right?

Henry paused for a minute. "Okay how many times did I get hit in the head back there? Because that is not the alphabet."

Bendy jumped up and down. "You also taught me how to do math! One plus one equals eleven right?" The toon seemed so happy even though he had gotten the math problem completely wrong.

"Seriously Annette what happened back there?! That is not how you do math!" Henry said with a voice of absolute concern. What kind of father teaches their kid all the wrong stuff?!

"Oh, and you showed me how to deal with bullies! All you have to do is throw candy at them and they'll go away!" The toon said innocently, with a bright smile on his face. It was a look that told his creator that he firmly believed his apparent lesson in escaping bullies.

At this point Henry just curled up in a ball on the floor. Yep he'd deal with this later. Maybe Bendy should be home-schooled a bit before doing the real thing. Last thing Henry wanted was to have parents complaining about a toon demon throwing candy in people's faces.

------------

I hope you guys like this story! It was purely made for fun and meant to be silly. Sorry if it's stupid though, but I really hope you guys found it funny despite any problems it may have. Though if it does have any problems I will try my best to fix them later. 😅

#BATIM Saudade AU Stories #BATIM Saudade AU #Henry #Bendy #Joey Drew #Annette Martineau #Searchers #Bendy and the ink machine

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queenofcats17 · 5 years

Note

Hi! I decided to send the prompt in now because the giant butterfly keeps beating me up. Lol. Anyway could you please write a story with Corrupted!Henry and Bendy after they left Allison and Tom’s safe-house? Maybe they take him to the Lost One village and then Bendy goes to see Annette and bring her the bad news? I just love the angsty stuff you write! Sorry if it’s a stupid or confusing idea though, you don’t have to write this if you don’t want to! It’s totally fine. 😅

Feelings will be felt.

Bendy was still rather upset after he and Henry left Allison and Tom’s safehouse. Henry was gone. The Henry he’d known was gone and there was nothing he could do about it. Henry followed behind him, making concerned noises as the little demon tried very hard not to start crying.

“‘M fine.” Bendy tried to force himself to smile when Henry touched his shoulder. Henry’s singular eye narrowed, and before Bendy could properly reply, he’d pulled the little demon into a hug.

“Henry, I’m fine!” Bendy whined, trying to struggle free. It wasn’t Henry. It wasn’t right. This thing was just pretending to be Henry. But Henry only hugged him tighter, rubbing his face against Bendy’s. Bendy stopped struggling, letting Henry nuzzle him. Then he began to cry. He buried his face in Henry’s shoulder and began to sob. Henry patted his back, making comforting noises as his other hand stroked Bendy’s head.

Bendy cried for a long time, taking comfort in Henry’s presence. Henry stayed with him, continuing to comfort the little demon until he felt better. Bendy sniffled a little, pulling away. Maybe he’d been wrong. Maybe Henry was still in there somewhere.

“Hey, you wanna go see Sammy?” He asked, wiping his tears away. “You probably haven’t met his little congregation. I’m sure they’d be happy to meet you.” Plus, he needed to go tell Annette that Henry had succumbed to his corruption. Henry perked up at this, which made Bendy relax. If there was someone he could trust to watch Henry, it would be Sammy.

Together, the two of them headed down to the Lost One’s village. Just as Bendy had hoped, Sammy was there, checking in on his congregation and handing out bacon soup to those who still wanted to eat. Bendy quickened his pace upon seeing Sammy.

“Hey! Sammy!” He waved to the former music director. Sammy turned, smiling softly upon seeing Bendy.

“Hello, my lord.” He said. “What can I do for you?”

“Geez, I told you that you didn’t have to call me that.” Bendy stopped short of him, a grey blush coloring his cheeks.

“I know.” Sammy patted Bendy’s head. “But I find your reaction too adorable to stop.” Bendy pouted comically, which only made Sammy smile wider. The Lost Ones around him all stifled their laughter, a few chiming in that Bendy made it far too easy to tease him.

“You’re all the worst,” Bendy grumbled, folding his arms.

“I’m aware.” Sammy laughed. “Now, is there a reason you came down here to visit me?”

“Oh, um, yeah.” Bendy’s shoulders slumped. “I…” He hung his head and stepped aside so that everyone could see Henry. Henry waved happily, excited to see Sammy again. Sammy’s smile quickly faded.

“Ah. I see.” He nodded solemnly. “His friend…She’s still in the studio, isn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

Sammy sighed, a weary smile appearing on his features. “Do not worry. I will look after him until you return.”

“Thanks, Sammy.” Bendy returned the smile. “I owe you one.”

“Think nothing of it.”

Satisfied that Henry was going to be alright for the moment, Bendy left the village, finding his way to the upper levels where Boris had his safe house. He found the door and did the secret knock that Boris had taught him. There was some shuffling from inside before the door was opened by Boris.

“Ben!” Boris’ face lit up and he pulled the little demon into a hug. “I was so worried! I haven’t seen you in days!”

“I know.” Bendy smiled a little. “Sorry for scaring you, Bo. I was a little…busy.”

“Oh. Right.” Boris put him down. “Henry.”

“Yeah.”

A heavy silence descended upon the two of them.

“I’m guessing he-”

“Yeah. I thought I should come tell Annette. Cause, y’know, she’s his friend.”

“Right.” Boris glanced behind him. “She’s sleeping right now. Today was kind of rough for her.”

“Something happen?” Bendy asked as Boris let him in.

“We went on a food run and she found the organ in the music department,” Boris explained. “She, uh, she didn’t know about Johnny.”

“Oh.”

They sat in silence until Annette came out from the bedroom. They were eating some bacon soup and playing cards. For a moment, hope flickered across Annette’s features upon seeing Bendy. Then it faded when she saw Bendy’s expression.

“Hey.” Bendy tried to force himself to smile.

“No.” Annette backed up, starting to shake her head. “He’s fine. He has to be fine.”

“I’m sorry.”

“He’s fine!” Annette repeated, covering her ears as tears began to well up in her eyes. “He’s fine and he’s going to leave here with me! He has to!”

“I’m sorry,” Bendy repeated. He couldn’t think of anything else to say. He’d been so afraid of actually saying the words. Henry’s not human anymore. But he hadn’t had to say anything. Part of him was relieved he hadn’t had to say it. But most of him felt terrible. Boris got up, walking over to hug Annette. She tried to push him away, screaming and crying. But eventually, like Bendy, she too succumbed to the attempt at comfort. She turned and began crying into Boris’ fur. Bendy just sat there, staring at his lap, until Annette was able to talk once more.

“Where…Where is he now?” She asked, still sniffling a bit.

“He’s in the Lost One village. I asked Sammy to watch him for a little.” Bendy said.

“The…Lost One village?” Annette frowned.

“Oh, right, you probably haven’t been that deep.” Bendy backpedaled a bit. “He’s safe. I left him with Sammy and some of the other sane people.” Annette nodded, her hunched shoulders dropping a bit.

“Well…At least he’s safe.” She conceded.

“He…He might not be human anymore,” Bendy said in an attempt to make the situation better. “But I’m pretty sure he’s still there. He remembered me, he remembered Sammy. I’m pretty sure he’d remember you.” Annette looked at him, a strange look in her eyes.

“Could I…see him?”

“It’s too dangerous.” Boris put a hand on Annette’s shoulder. “He can’t corrupt Bendy or Sammy. Henry might still be in there, but he’s under Joey’s control. If Joey wanted to, he could make Henry infect you.” Annette’s shoulders slumped.

“Right. Of course.” She whispered. She looked so defeated. It broke Bendy’s heart. Without another word, she turned and went back into the bedroom, the door closing behind her.

“Is she gonna be okay?” Bendy asked, looking to Boris.

“Maybe. I don’t know.” Boris sighed heavily. “This place does things to people. She’s gotta get outta here soon or she won’t ever be able to leave.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“We’ll figure this out, Ben. We will.”

“Okay.” Bendy didn’t know if he completely believed Boris, but he wanted to. He wanted to believe that things would be alright. They deserved a happy ending.

#bendy and the ink machine #batim saudade au #fanfiction #bendy the dancing demon #the lost ones #sammy lawrence #boris the wolf #annette martineau #henry

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bornoffireandwisdom · 6 years

Photo

I actually don't know what to call this but hey here's Annette for ya Yay :

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Oh wow this is beautiful!!!! I was feeling kind of stressed a bit and this really cheered me up! I love the colours, they're gorgeous!! I love Annette's expression too she looks so happy, the pose looks great too!! I wish I was better at doing poses. I love it! Thank you so much for drawing this!! 😄😄😄😄❤️❤️

-Submission by rynrumarine! 😄

#BATIM Saudade AU Fanart #BATIM Saudade AU Character Art #BATIM Saudade AU #Annette Martineau #Original Character #Bendy and the ink machine #rynrumarine #submission

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bornoffireandwisdom · 6 years

Text

You Belong to Me

Henry in fourth stage of the Corruption is left alone with Annette. Joey tries to talk to him and ruin stuff.

Hey guys. Here's another Corrupted!Henry story. I'm sorry if it's poorly written, stupid, or too creepy.. I tried very hard to make this story good. I had a lot of trouble focusing while writing this story though because I've been having a hard week.. So once again I'm sorry if this story is terrible.

If you guys like this story than please re-blog it and give me some feedback. It's okay if you don't want to though. I don't want to bother you guys..

Also if this story is too creepy and disturbing then I promise I will delete this. It's okay, I don't want to upset anyone. Anyway I hope you guys do enjoy the story despite the problems. If I find any problems in terms of accidental grammar mistakes or spelling, I promise I will try to fix them.

Boris had left the two friends alone in the safe-house again. Possibly looking for supplies, first-aid kits, or bacon soup. Annette wasn't quite sure. The toon wolf had been leaving a lot more frequently since Henry entered the fourth stage.. she wondered if Boris kept leaving because he didn't want to see his creator in such a bad state.

Henry was trying very hard not to fall asleep. He was so tired that some of the things he said were just mimicking the voices in his head. To be honest, it was really freaking Annette out. Though there wasn't much she could do for him. If letting him talk kept him from sleeping than that's what she'd have to do.

The young man lay in the safe-house's bed with a pained expression. The ink covering the left side of his face dripped onto the bed's covers, staining it. Annette hoped that this bed could warm him up.. he had been shivering for the past thirty-minutes. Not too long ago his one visible eye had turned pale with a slight glow to it. This wasn't good.. Henry is running out of time, and they still have no idea if there's a cure.

"A-Annette I-I'm so hungry.." This was one of the things he would mutter every now and then. The man wasn't thinking clearly, just blurting out the words. Henry knew that this hunger wasn't real. Yet it tormented him to no end. This was only a disgusting mockery of what real hunger was like. Though mockery it was it seemed to be very real. Henry felt as if he had been starving for days. Annette gave him some sandwiches she packed before they entered the studio, but it didn't help him. If anything.. it just made him feel worse.

"Just hold on for a bit.. I'll heat up some bacon soup when Boris comes back okay?"

"N-No! I-It doesn't help.. w-won't work.." Henry coughed hard accidentally causing drops of ink to form on the blanket, Annette handed him a bucket that Boris had found earlier. Proceeding to sit up and lean into it. Using the bucket to rid himself of the cursed black liquid without much of a mess. Annette gently patted his back sympathetically.

"Ugh.. I'm a mess aren't I?" Henry said with a weak smile after whipping his mouth with a cloth.

"It's okay.. I know it's not your fault." The girl continued patting his back soothingly. For a moment Henry started to feel better, just a little.. he wished that things could stay like this. Calm and safe.

"Hey? When we get out of here, I'll buy you as many cupcakes as you want. I promise."

"T-Thanks Annette.."

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Annette went to go look for more blankets to keep Henry warm. Leaving him alone with his thoughts. She didn't want to leave him there by himself.. Considering how badly that had gone the last few time she left him by himself, but someone needed to get him some warmer blankets.

'Finally.. she's gone.' Joey Drew, the man behind this whole nightmare spoke in his mind. His former best-friend.. To think that years ago Henry thought of him as a brother? Now it just seemed ridiculous. Henry didn't want to answer him.

'Why so silent my dear friend? Don't you miss me?'

"P-Please l-leave me alone.." The young man covered his ears, which obviously didn't work. If only he could shut away the voices inside his head..

'Leave you alone? Henry.. you've been gone for so long. Can't you see how much I've missed you..? We're finally going to be together again.. I can't let you go.' Joey's voice sounded sad and hurt. It was horrible. The man was just trying to manipulate him.. but why bother? Henry's already having difficulty resisting Joey's power.

"I-I just want to go home.."

'But Henry.. you're already there.' The voice answered softly and sweetly, it sounded so real.. unthreatening, but it was wrong. This is all wrong.

"N-No.. stop. I d-don't want to stay here! H-Home is w-where a person is loved.. safe, out of harms way. T-This is not a home!" The icy coldness running through Henry's body worsened, it was making it so much more difficult for him to speak without stuttering.

'I'm sorry you feel that way.. but don't worry dear Henry. You'll change your mind soon enough.. after all. You said that a home is a place where you are loved.. what a silly thing to say. You are the only person I have ever loved! that's why I can never let you leave. Now come on.. let's make this place OUR home.' Joey started to lose his comforting tone as he continued. 'But first.. there's something I need to take of. I'm just going to.. speed up the effects a little. Don't worry.. the pain will be over shortly.'

"W-Wait! Joey please don't-!"

No, no! Everything was going black. Henry's vision started swimming and his lungs felt pressured. Coughing and spluttering, drowning. What was this power? What lengths did Joey Drew go through to obtain these demonic abilities?! He couldn't die now, please not now!

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"H-Henry!"

Annette had heard the sounds of a struggle from close by. Successfully finding another blanket when the screams started. Thank goodness she happened to be in the area, otherwise she may not have gotten to her friend in time. Rushing into the room, trying to keep Henry focused so he wouldn't pass out.

His entire body surged with agonizing pain. It was almost blinding, his head felt like it was on fire. His heart felt as though it were being repeatedly stabbed by an invisible knife. What in the world was Joey doing to him?!

'Please.. please! MAKE IT STOP!' He pleaded to his old friend. The one he grew up with, the person he used to trust..

'You know what to do to make this stop. Don't you Henry..?'

Instantly she picked up the bucket and handed it to him. Henry used it, expelling pure ink into the bucket. Joey's sickeningly twisted laugh filled his ears the whole time this was happening. It took almost less than a minute for the metal bucket to become completely full of the vile blackness. God it felt awful.. but at least it could lessen the amount of ink in his lungs for a while. Now he can't infect her as easily either.. good. That was what he was terrified of doing. Annette will be a little safer now, and that thought comforted him.

However when the young man finally gained control over his breathing, tears started to run down his face. Annette threw another blanket over him, next she grabbed a wet cloth and put it on his nearly ink-covered forehead. Henry was burning up, despite feeling so cold..

"It's okay.. you're going to be okay!" Annette tried to reassure him. He was crying so hard. Coughing and whimpering. The young man looked incredibly weak, the skin that hadn't been consumed by the ink yet looked very pale. He looked like he was on Death's doorstep.

The laughing in Henry's ears died away once Joey realized that his attempt at accelerating the infection had failed. His glee turned to anger. Henry could sense that somewhere in the building his former friend was screaming and destroying things in rage.

"I-I c-can't go on like t-this anymore Annette..!" Henry pleaded with her. He just couldn't take it anymore. If she doesn't get away from him soon, he might try to hurt her. The virus-like ink wanted more people to claim, erasing the normal things humans want in life. Replacing it with the desire to feed and infect. He couldn't do that to her..

Everything felt more like a zombie horror-movie by the second.. and that thought angered the corrupted young man.

"J-Joey says.. he won't make t-the pain stop until I.." Henry paused, afraid to continue. He didn't want to scare his friend, but this was very serious and she needed to know how dangerous it was to be around him in this state. Just the thought of it disgusted him. "H-Hurt you.. I-I don't want to end up hurting you!"

"Honestly I don't think you should be so worried about me. The fact that you don't want to.. shows that you can fight this. I know you can do this Henry. Just have faith in yourself.." The girl smiled at him. It was sincere and hopeful. So full of light in this dark place.. Henry had come to adore her smile, though he only thought of her as a close friend. He may appear very young.. but he's a lot older than her, getting into a relationship would just be strange.

"Y-You really think so..?" A weak smile appeared on his face, he was so glad to have met this silly, weird girl. If it weren't for Annette, he'd still be lonely.

"I know so."

The moment was ruined when pressure returned in Henry's throat. His friend handed him the bucket once again, coughing and retching into it. Why did this have to happen at such a nice moment?!

"O-Out of all t-the times, w-why d-did it have to happen n-now?!" Henry struggled to stop himself from continuing. He was just so tired.. "M-Maybe.. you s-should go.."

"H-Hey it's fine! Don't worry about it. Besides it's not that bad, it's just ink. You're aren't grossing me out, I'm just worried about you." This was partially true. Annette was always easily freaked out by stuff like this.. but at this point she'd gotten sort of used to it, and ink didn't look nearly as disgusting as actual vomit. However that didn't make this any less bad, Henry was suffering from this virus and the last thing Annette wanted was to make him feel more ashamed.

"J-Joey h-hates that w-we're friends y-you know? H-He says t-that he's the o-only p-person I n-need.." Henry shivered in the blankets, he was losing focus as Annette spoke to him. Blinking and trying not to black out. He could feel Joey's eyes on them right now.. watching them furiously.

"Well you should tell him to get some personal space because I'm not going to let him turn you into a monster, just so that he can keep you forever like some sort of pet!"

"You hear that Joey?! I won't let you hurt Henry! You possessive freak! I'll stop you, and save everyone! I swear it!" Annette shouted loudly to the whole studio. She wanted her anger to be known, and she would not rest until Joey is stopped.

'Hmm.. is that so?'

'You'll be dead before you even get close to stopping me.. you foolish girl.'

'Henry Williams belongs to me and me alone..'

'Do you hear me Henry? You belong to me.. and I won't let anyone tell you otherwise.'

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I hope you guys liked the story. I'm sorry again if this story was stupid or too creepy.

Like I said before I promise I'll delete this story if you guys don't like it. I don't want to bother anyone, it's okay.

#BATIM Saudade AU Stories #BATIM Saudade AU #Henry #Annette Martineau #Joey Drew #Boris #Searchers #Bendy and the ink machine

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bornoffireandwisdom · 6 years

Text

A Helping Hand

After Annette's escape from Stage-4!Henry's attempt to corrupt her. She makes a new friend. Wally Franks!

Hey guys.. I decided to post this story anyway. I'm really sorry if it's stupid or poorly written or just plain terrible in general.. I really tried my best. If I find any problems I promise I will try to fix them later..

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Guilt seemed to follow wherever Annette went. After Henry had tried to infect her with the corruption, she managed to escape through Boris's help. Once it had been deemed safe enough to return to the safe-house they quickly made it back there. Boris left to look for more cans of bacon soup, but he made sure that Annette was safely inside before he left.

Henry was no where in sight but the marks of the attack from earlier had still lingered. Chairs were knocked over and Boris's banjo had been broken. The floor was stained in ink from where he had fallen, an inky handprint was on the door. Most-likely made when he shambled out of the room. There were even globs of ink on the ground.. which were a result of him trying to infect her. Annette was lucky that Boris had been there to stop him..

Tears welled up in Annette's eyes as she stared at the messy state of this room. Everything that happened seemed so hard to believe.. but there they were. Trapped in a nightmare turned real. Henry had become an inky zombified husk, Vincent had gone missing, and their only hope to escape would be through a cure that probably didn't even exist.

"What am I going to do.." Thinking aloud to herself.

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Wally had managed to get to the safe-house without any trouble. He even saw Boris on the way there, stopping to say hello and chatting for a bit. Boris could recognize the former-janitor pretty well, despite being constantly drenched in ink.

When Wally opened the door to the safe-house he heard crying. The girl who was most-likely one of the friends who entered the studio with Henry. Sobbing with her hands covering her eyes, she heard someone enter the room.

"Boris.. I'm sorry but I need to be alone for awhile.." Annette had automatically assumed the presence was the toon-wolf, when she didn't hear footsteps leaving the room she looked up to see who was there and then gasped in surprise.

Instead of Boris, a young man stood in the doorframe. He could've been Henry's biological age or younger. For all she knew this guy could be fifteen. The teenager was covered in ink like the Searchers and Henry, but he had a look of awareness and clarity. Although had clearly reached the last stage of infection, but seemed oddly different.. the man's eyes glowed orange instead of white, and retained some of his human form like Henry did. He even smiled at her a little, to appear less threatening.

"Hiya! Didn't mean to scare ya! Name's Wally, Wally Franks! What's yours?" The Lost One cheerfully held out a hand for her to shake.

"Uh.. I'm Annette Martineau.. Nice to meet you." The girl shook his hand hesitantly due to the ink. Wally noticed her expression mid-handshake and let go. Laughing a little in embarrassment.

"Sorry about that! I haven't seen someone who's not corrupted for so long, that I forgot that I'm covered in the stuff!" The Lost One stared at the ground awkwardly, as Annette wiped the black liquid off her palms with a cloth.

"It's okay.. but aren't you supposed to be trying to kill me? The only thing in here that hasn't tried to is Boris." Annette eyed the friendly ink-being with caution.

"What? No, no, no! I don't wanna hurt anybody!" It's really just the Searchers, and Butcher Gang ya gotta worry about."

"B-But.. aren't you a Searcher? I mean.. you look kind of like them..!"

"No. I'm one of the Lost Ones.. I guess we kinda are Searchers, but we escaped from Joey and his dang puddles! Sammy's making sure that he doesn't find us." Wally was completely taken aback when he noticed the look on the girl's face. Had she heard that name before? Did she find one of Sammy's tapes?

"W-Wait! That's the guy who attacked Henry! Henry told me that he almost got sacrificed by him! He's as big of a monster as Joey is!"

"N-No he really isn't! Trust me, Sammy's not normally like that! He wasn't himself.. he's always been a bit nuts since everyone got infected, but he's never taken things that far.. Joey must've been manipulating him!" Sammy was the first to break away from the hive-mind. The very first Lost One. Though the effort he took to escape took a large toll on his sanity. It was rather sad.. Sammy wasn't part of the Hive-mind anymore, but he still wanted to please Joey. Believing that Joey could reverse what he had done, if he just did as his boss asked. There were multiple times where Joey Drew had commanded the Searchers to force him back under the ink's control, but Sammy's will couldn't be broken despite his insanity.

"Sammy wouldn't hurt any of ya on purpose.. I should know. We've been really close pals for years. but he usually doesn't like to admit to it." It hurt Wally to talk about this.. when Sammy had become a Searcher the first person he infected was Wally. He knew it hadn't been his fault.. Joey found Wally to be an extreme annoyance and nuisance, he had been there personally when it happened..

"Anyway.. I wanted to talk to ya because I want to help Henry too. Sammy recently came back to our hiding place and he feels really bad for what he did to him.. I guess something sorta snapped him back into reality. You can trust him! We can help! The hiding place isn't too far, it's safe from Joey.. though we do have the occasional Searcher wander in, but we'll make sure they don't hurt ya."

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It took a bit more convincing to finally get Annette to follow Wally. She seemed like a sweet girl but the whole ordeal that has been going on must be making her need to be cautious. Annette thought that Wally seemed nice too, he was a little odd though but that was fine. She could she some outlines of clothes and hair on his dripping form, it looked pretty old-fashioned. Annette swore she could see several ink-coated curls on the top of his head. However they merely looked like bumps due to the ink heavily weighing them down.

Soon they both entered a room with other Lost Ones standing and sitting around. Some were crying and muttering to themselves, while others stared silently at a wall. It was so sad.. Annette wondered how Wally managed to seem positive. Maybe he acted that way in an attempt to cheer up the others?

It wasn't long before a few of them noticed Wally and Annette's presence. In surprise and bewilderment the Lost Ones all rushed towards the girl as though she were some sort of spectacle. Gasping and staring.

"Oh my god.."

"It's been so long..!"

"She's uncorrupted!"

"I thought I'd never see real skin again.."

Wally stood in front of her. Some of the Lost Ones tried to poke at her arms in simple curiosity. They wanted to feel warmth again, the girl was alive.. they weren't. At least not quite. Despite it being very gentle and non-threatening Wally could tell that Annette was getting nervous and uncomfortable.

"Woah! Watch it fellas, I know it's been years since we've seen someone with uncorrupted flesh and blood.. but come on you're scaring her!" Wally shouted to the crowd who then immediately stopped. The Lost Ones proceeded to step back and apologize several times.

"Okay! Now that I have your attention everyone, we need to find Sammy. Have any of you guys seen him?" Wally asked to the group of Lost Ones. Unfortunately they didn't seem to know where he was, evidently by the way they were asking each other if they had seen the 'prophet'.

"Um.. I-I think I saw him heading down to Alice's territory.." A timid voice spoke from behind the crowd. They made room for the unknown speaker which was revealed to be a Searcher. It wore a hat, and its eyes were glowing white instead of orange.

"Nice to see ya awake Jack! Don't go falling asleep on us anytime soon though, you're a swell fella! Thanks for the info by the way, real helpful!" Wally cheerfully replied to the shy Searcher who backed away slightly and covered its face with its hands. Annette wondered if it was blushing underneath all that ink.

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"Alright! I'm gonna go look for Sammy, you stay here where it's safe okay Annie?" The girl was surprised by the random nickname, but she didn't correct him. Instead she was worrying about the conscious Searcher in the room.

"Uh.. are you sure it's safe here?" Annette gestured towards Jack Fain who was sitting with a few Lost Ones in a corner, it looked like they were having a conversation but the Searcher seemed a little nervous and was merely listening to his friends.

Oh Jacky? He's harmless! Wouldn't hurt a fly, trust me! I'm not sure why but he's never tried to infect anybody. Not even Joey knew why.." Wally didn't really like saying the name of his old employer. That man was the reason everyone was suffering, and not only that.. he made Wally's 'death' particularly painful. Because of this he tried his best to shove that terrible memory away to focus on keeping up the morale in the Lost Ones Sanctuary.

"Wally.. did you ever infect anyone? Sorry.. I'm just asking because Henry almost did that to me. I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around all this.." Annette was worried that this question might upset Wally, but she felt like she needed to know.

"I.. can't really tell ya, to be honest. It's hard to tell what we've been doing when we aren't ourselves. All I know is that there was a few times where I could sorta tell what was happening but not quite.. I remember screams, some voices and muttering, and.. the feeling of being trapped underwater. I think there were other people with me but I'm not sure.." The former janitor assumed that was when he was trapped in the puddles, but the memories were too fogged up to tell for sure.

"Then I remember the feeling of being dragged around, I guess that was me trying to move.. Searchers sorta drag themselves to get around to places sometimes. There was also the feeling of being really cold.. and starving, but it wasn't in the normal sense. I don't like thinking about it.." Nothing in that state seemed to make any sense at all. Just thinking about his time as a Searcher made Wally's heart ache.

"Sorry.. I just feel like I need to know what Henry's going through right now. Maybe it could help. I don't want him to feel like he has to suffer this alone.. that's why I asked." Annette gazed at Wally sadly. He didn't blame her for being curious about their situation. The girl was right anyway. Maybe he could get Henry to 'wake up' again?

"Well.. I better get outta here so I can find Sammy, and like I said don't worry about Jack. See ya Annette.." Wally left the room leaving the girl alone with the Lost Ones. He didn't want her to see his pain.

'I knew I shouldn't have asked that question.. that was way too personal. I'm so sorry Wally..' Annette watched him go with a heavy heart.

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Once again I'm sorry if this story was terrible. I tried really hard.. I hope you guys liked this story despite all the problems..

#BATIM Saudade AU Stories #BATIM Saudade AU #Henry #Annette Martineau #Wally Franks #Sammy Lawrence #Jack Fain #Boris #Joey Drew #Vincent #The Lost Ones #Searchers #Bendy and the ink machine

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