Attraction Storage, the next room read. Falcon and Twilight walked over to the now open door. "So what do you think's here?" Falcon asked.
"I'm not sure..." They entered a large open room with what appeared to be a ride that would be seen at an amusement park. It had four mechanical arms with four seats in each.
'Dammit Joey' Falcon thought, 'You always did love rides that spun.' In front of the ride was another recorder.
"Henry... do you smell that?" Twilight asked.
"What?"
"It's rotting flesh..." Twilight said gulping in fear.
"There are probably more dead people in the floor above or beneath us... if there are other floors." He clicked play on the machine, but oddly, the voice resonated from the entire room.
The biggest park ever built, a centerfold of attractions. Each one, more grand than the one before it.
It makes my eyes come to tears at the thought.
But then... oh Mister Drew.
For all your talk of dreams, you are the true architect behind so many nightmares.
I built this park.
It was to be a masterpiece! My masterpiece! And now you think you can just throw me out?
Trample me to the dust and forget me?
The room began to shake and the doors shut closed behind them. "H-Henry?"
"Stay close Twi!"
No!
This is my park!
My glory!
You may think I've gone... But I'm still heeeeere!
The plates on the sides of the ride opened up, revealing a very large, misshapen head.
Falcon turned and saw Twilight frozen in fear, staring up at the horrifying beast. "TWILIGHT MOVE!"
He tackled her to the side, just as one of the robotic arms came crashing down.
"BERTRUM STOP! I'M NOT JOEY!" Falcon yelled but Bertrum didn't speak. He kept swinging and spinning.
"Henry it's no use! That's not Bertrum anymore!" Falcon scanned the room, looking for anything useful. His eyes landed on an axe and a wrench laying where the table used to be.
"He can't reach far!" Falcon yelled, "Scale the walls of the room and grab the axe or wrench!" Twilight nodded as they went to the wall and walked alongside it, avoiding the spinning arms of doom. A roar was heard and Bertrum banged the arms, causing the ride to stop.
'He does that periodically, that could be an opening for us!' Twilight thought. They finally made it back to the wrench and axe. Falcon picked up the axe in a hoof, and Twilight the wrench in hers. "We need to wait until he bangs the arms again!" She told Falcon, "He stops moving afterwards!" Falcon nodded and they split up avoiding the arms at all costs. Bertrum banged them again and the ride hissed to a stop. "NOW!" Twilight yelled as Falcon ran up to the ride. "What do we do?!"
"I thought you knew!" Falcon yelled. Just then, Bertrum looked down at Falcon, eyes bulging. The ride started up again. "CRAP!" Falcon did the only thing he could think of and ran, but got hit and picked up by one of the arms. Improvising, he climbed into the seat, going for a ride. 'Great... now what...' He wondered. The room flashed and time slowed down. Everything turned orange and wind blew, shaking everything. 'Another vision?' He looked at the arms and saw three cylinders glowing yellow. 'Of course!' Everything resumed and he was spinning in the ride again. He hopped out and grabbed the arm, crawling on all hooves to the cylinders. He gripped the axe and swung at each bolt, making each come loose and fall off. After six swings, Bertrum stopped. Falcon gave a sigh of relief, until he saw the arm coming out of the ride's socket. "Uh oh..." was all he said as the arm came loose and crumpled to the ground.
A deafening roar cut through the storage area and Bertrum sped up the arms. Remembering he had wings, Falcon flew above the ride, spotting Twilight still by the wall. "Twilight!" He yelled, "The bolts! Hit the bolts on the arms!" She looked at the arms as Bertrum banged them and stopped himself. She gave a look of realization and nodded, running at an arm. Six bangs were heard and another arm came off, along with another roar. Twilight flew up to him.
"I get one you get the other?" She asked. Falcon smirked and nodded. Bertrum banged the arms even harder which allowed Twilight and him to give the final blows. Twelve blows were given and then, with a screech, the ride malfunctioned, spinning and stopping at random moments. The two alicorns landed looking as the architect stared at them in anger and frustration. Then, to their suprise:
"STOP! STOP! STOOOP!" Bertrum yelled. "My gorgeous creation! This took me ten years to build! How could you Drew?!"
"I'M NOT JOEY DREW!" Falcon yelled.
"W- Then who the hell are you?!"
"Henry. Henry Stein." Bertrum's eyes widened and he gasped.
"You're... oh my..." The ride began to close, "WAIT! I need to tell you to forget about going deeper. I know that's what you're doing if you're here."
"Why?" Twilight asked.
"Because of-" But he was cut off as the ride shut, the soundproof hatches drowning out his voice.
"Why is it that whenever someone can tell us something important, they always get killed or cut off?" They noticed that a door had opened. They walked into it and pulled the next lever. Beside it was a very inky tape recorder.
"Mr Drew said that Bendyland is being canceled.
You should have seen Betrum's face...
It looked like he was told his mother died.
Its sad... all because the mascot costumes needed to be "more realistic".
Look, if I want realistic I'd go outside and see my wife and kids! I swear to god this place is going to hell.
Sammy hasn't slept in days, cartoons ain't being done on time, and we are running low on money
since the Alice angel doll's aren't selling.
I don't know why... I like Alice... kids these days."
"Huh... I don't remember that guy..."
"Really?"
"Yeah... but then again I barely met any of the people on the tapes..." They heard a small chuckle from behind them. They turned and saw nothing.
"I hope we're not starting to go crazy down here."
"I wouldn't be surprised if we already were... c'mon, let's get outta here."
The two alicorns exited the attraction storage and pulled the next lever. The grinding of gears sounded and the next room opened. It read "Maintenance" above it. As they were about to enter, Falcon stopped Twilight. "Maybe sit this one out?" He asked.
"Oh... okay..." She bowed her head and looked a bit sad.
"Oh no! You did amazing back there in the maintenance room! I just feel that maybe I should do this one alone. I just have a bad feeling..."
"Well... stay safe."
"I'll try, Twi." He winked and walked into the room. The entrance was almost like the vault door which let them into the archives. As he walked in he entered a small corridor which let out into a room with a few weeds and a Miracle Station. He turned and walked down a flight of stairs into a room covered in ink. Inside were two large trains, each with a smiley face on their fronts. There were a few crates as well and upstairs was a balcony where other things were held. Falcon walked past the trains across the ink to the end of the room where he found the stairwell blocked off by crates. 'It's never easy is it?' he thought to himself.
Falcon looked around and found a lever on the wall far away. He walked over and pulled it, making the crates rise and disappear into the upper floor. He found another tape lying on a crate and decided to listen to it. There is usually some important information on them.
I believe there's something special in all of us.
With true inner strength, you can conquer even the biggest challenges.
You just have to believe in yourself and remain honest, motivated, and above all, who you really are.
Ok, let's stop it right there.
I can only do so many takes of this trash a day.
And tell the guys in writing I want more use of the word dreaming in every message.
Keep railing on that, get it?
Dreaming! Dreaming! Dreaming!
People just eat up that kind of slop.
Hmm What?
It's still on?
Well, turn it off, damn it!
'Yup... that's the Joey I knew...' He thought to himself, remembering every time his old friend had no facade on. Shaking of the bad feeling, he walked upstairs and found the lever. With a pull, the lights shut off. "Crap!" He yelled. He tried to pull it back up but to no avail. Then with a flicker they came back on. He heard a familiar whimpering coming from down below. He walked over to the balcony and saw none other than Fluttershy in a ball, weeping for help. "Fluttershy! I'm coming!"
He ran downstairs and held his friend. He nearly started crying until he heard strange noises coming from her. He looked at her and revealed her face. In it's place was Bendy's eyes and smile. Falcon yelled and tried to get away from the beast that appeared as his friend, but the grip was too much. The mouth began to open, the seemingly flat teeth, now revealed to be sharp as knives. He lifted a hoof and struck the beast's face. It stumbled and then he crushed it with his hooves. As the beast dissolved into ink, only a recorder remained. He sat in the ink and listened to the conversation.
"What do you mean you quit? You're the best storyboardist I can afford!"
"Cost cost cost. Thats all you care about now Joey!
Do you see any happy faces around here?! No!
You know what I see Joey?
A crooked empire!
One that has shattered dreams and broken people.
Susie's missing and Sammy's gone crazy!"
"Look look look. Now I understand we've had a few business issues..."
"Nonononononono you cannot blame this on business issues Joey!
This is serious!"
"Rodger c'mon please you need to listen to me! I'm not trying to do anything bad here! Please stay!"
"Sorry Joey but I've made up my mind."
"Wait! Would you like to see susie again?"
"Well... yeah but ...Joey... Joey what are you doing... JOEY!!"
Falcon covered his ears as the noise rang through the entire room. The audio was completely messed up which was probably from how much ink had gotten into the speakers. "It hurt your ears huh?" Falcon turned and saw a creature rise from the ink. It looked like the ink demon but his head was larger and he looked a bit cuter. Or at least he would've if it weren't for the gaping mouth full of sharp teeth splitting it's face down the middle.
Falcon tried to back up but was held in place by the ink. "Imagine how much it hurt me... going through the transformation, my face being torn in half!" The odd Bendy yelled.
"Y-you're..."
"The Beta! The very first design you ever drew of Bendy!" It came in flashes but he saw it. The cute creature with no mouth, the bow tie and gloves, and the ovalish head. It was when he first brought the idea of Bendy to Joey. It was rejected of course, but after a few changes, he agreed to start animating him. "So you're Henry eh? We've never met... You can call me Rodger..."
"You're Rodger Wright?"
"Yep! The opposite of Joey Drew! I was honest, kind, able to care for others... until he took everything from me! My life, my body, my love! All down the Ink Machine! But now that I've found my angel, everything will be okay! I can give her your color! And of course that pretty alicorn's outside!"
"If you lay any of your inky hands on her-"
"Oh you don't have to worry about that! One bite and you'll be finished! Just relax and let me do my work!" He chuckled maniacally and opened his gaping mouth. But before Falcon could slide down the gullet, he came up with an idea. If he was part cartoon... then hopefully cartoon logic would apply to him...
"Oh come on! You think Alice would ever love you?" He stopped and was brought back out of the mouth.
"What did you say?"
"C'mon man! She's way out of you're league! And you want to be with her?! She may seem pretty but if you look at the other side of her face... yeesh!" Suddenly he was dropped and Rodger got into a fighting stance.
"That's it! C'mon! You and me! Right here right now! I'll hit ya right in the kisser!" Then he stopped. "What the hell was that?" He put a hand to his forehead and turned, seeing Falcon running back up the stairs. He hissed and ran after him.
"I can't believe that-" He ran face first into the vault door.
"Henry!" Twilight yelled from the other side.
"Twilight, open the door!" He yelled back.
"I can't it's stuck!"
"Heeeeeeeeeenryyyyyyyyy" A voice sang. Thinking fast, he dived into the Miracle Station and remained as quiet as he could. "Aw c'mon! Is that the best you can do?! Seriously! I saw you dive in there, how stupid can ya-" The room flashed yellow and orange. "N-NO! STAY BACK! GET AWAY FROM ME!" The true ink demon had come into view and bashed the beta across the face. "NO! I STILL NEED TO PLEASE MY ANG- GRK!!!" Bendy grabbed the beta with both arms and strangled him. He stopped moving and the wind died down and the room returned to normal. There was a tearing of flesh and the head was torn off of Rodger which was thrown aside. The ink demon turned to leave until he looked straight at Falcon and said:
"I hope you realize that this was a one time gig, Henry... When we meet again, I won't be as merciful..." With that, he picked up the corpse and walked away. The taint on the walls disappeared and Falcon got out, the door now open and the demon nowhere to be seen. All that remained was a stream of ink, leading into a wall.
Falcon and Twilight pulled the last lever, opening the haunted house. Inside was a roller coaster of sorts. They hopped into a cart and it started instantly. The intercom crackled to life and the Angel's voice came through.
"And now, the ride truly begins, you two. Come in, and pretend it's all just a bad dream."
"It's a funny thing. How so much can fall apart so fast. We never really had control at the studio. Either you in someone's pocket, or you were putting someone else into yours. I just wanted what was promised to me. I just wanted to be beautiful! Surely you can understand that. Henry... Why are you here? We're all dying to find out. Do you just enjoy the terror of the drop into hell? Because if that's the case... Hang on tight. I've got a surprise..."
As they rode through, they were scared by wooden cutouts of ghosts and skeletons. They finally reached an open room that finished up the whole haunted house scene. There were paintings with eyes meant to follow the passenger and the middle was filled with boxes and furniture. As they were about to exit again, two large hands grabbed the front of their cart. And coming out of the darkness was:
"BORIS!" They both yelled. His ribcage was wide open and he was a lot more muscular. His eyes were also taken out and he was covered in scars.
"What did she do to you?!" Falcon yelled in anger. Then Boris adjusted his grip on the ride and picked them both up. "Boris?" He drew back his arms and threw the cart, smashing it at the end of the hallway. The Angel laughed maniacally.
"Ha ha ha! Meet the new and improved Boris! I took what I wanted, and in return, I gave him so much more! And this time, there's no Ink Demon, no escape. Boris, tear him apart! Leave nothing!"
Boris roared and charged at the two. "Twilight!" Falcon grabbed her hoof and pulled her away. They flew up into the air but Boris leapt at their height and tried to knock them both down. At that point, all of the furniture was gone, along with the crates. Falcon searched for anything, and saw thick ink on the ground. "C'mon!" He yelled and swooped down to grab some of the ink. He spotted a dispenser not to far from where they were and created a pipe. "It's better than nothing!" They both created one for themselves and charged at Boris. Falcon managed a blow on his ribcage and was sent tumbling back. Only for Twilight to fly in front and hit it again. He roared in agony and broke the door they came in from.
More carts started coming in. Boris picked up a cart and chucked it at them. Falcon created one more pipe while dodging the cart. He picked it up and turned around only to see a cart flying toward him. He tried to block it with his hooves and he shut his eyes. He opened and the cart was broken with Twilight nowhere to be seen. Another cart was thrown and he flew into the air to dodge and look for Twilight. He found her next to a wall, blood puddling underneath her. "N-no..." He muttered. Boris turned towards him and leapt into the air, about to smash his head in, until Falcon turned and shoved the pipe into Boris's chest. He fell backward and disappeared in a splash.
"NO! NO NO NO! WHY CAN'T YOU EVER JUST DIE?!"
Falcon flew over to Twilight who's eyes remained shut, not opening and she wasn't breathing. He checked for a pulse only for nothing to be there. He started crying as he saw the blood turn into ink and she started to fade away into a puddle. "P-please don't go..." he muttered. He heard a slam and a scream. He turned around to see Alice running at him like a madwoman. He covered his head with his hooves and heard a slicing sound. It wasn't her nails clawing at his flesh, but a sword protruded from her stomach. She groaned and fell over. Falcon just stared at who was behind her. It was the other elements, but also another Boris and Alice. Both of which looked like perfect, human copies.
"Falcon!" They all yelled. But the Alice and Boris just stared. Then Falcon blacked out...