In a small room, a large machine sat, clunking loudly. Ink splattered onto the ground from a large funnel attached to the front of it. Next to the machine, a man stood, watching the end of the funnel. The machine trembled, the drops of ink turning into a stream. The man's eyes fixated hungrily on the funnel; any moment now, and his dreams would come true. The gears on the Ink Machine's side screeched, and the machine gave a huge lurch…

Bendy blinked, reaching to rub something from his eyes. Light shone from somewhere near him; a bulb hanging from the ceiling of an old wooden room. Bendy stretched his arms, flexing his gloved fingers experimentally. He felt like he'd just woken up from a long sleep; he felt groggy and tired. Bendy straightened up and looked down at his shoes, which sat in a large puddle of ink. He noticed that his gloves were also smeared with patches of the dark liquid. Where'd all this ink come from? he wondered, slowly getting to his feet. As he stood, his head banged into something cool and hard.

"Ouch," Bendy muttered angrily, rubbing his horns and whirling around. A huge tube, dripping dark liquid on to the floor, stood behind him. Somewhere in the room, someone chuckled. Bendy jumped and turned to see a man watching him from the corner of the room. As soon as Bendy met his gaze, the man's eyes darkened and a smile spread on to his face. There was something about him that made Bendy slightly nervous.

"Heads up, Bendy," the man said. Bendy frowned at the man.

"How do you know my name?" he asked suspiciously. The man's smile widened.

"I created you," he replied, excitement creeping in to his voice. He took slow and deliberate steps towards Bendy and stood completely still, drinking in the sight of him. "This is incredible," the man whispered, "Truly incredible."

"I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" Bendy asked. He put his hands on his hips. "And what do you mean, you created me?"

"I'm Joey, head of Joey Drew Studios. You're a character I created from the cartoons my company works on," the man, Joey, introduced, leaning casually against the machine. Bendy nodded, glancing around the room. A poster hanging on the yellowing wooden wall caught his eye, and he turned back to Joey.

"What about Boris?" he asked, "And Alice?" Joey nodded.

"They're two of our most popular characters," he said. He grinned at Bendy. "You're the real star of the show, though." Bendy puffed out his chest a little. Suddenly, a glint of light on metal caught his eye, and he turned to see the large machine.

"What's this machine for?" Bendy asked. He bent down to peer up the pipe. It was dark and wet; ink still dripped from it. "That's an awful lot of ink."

"This is the Ink Machine," Joey said proudly, flicking a speck of dust off its surface. "It's how I brought you in to the real world." Bendy noticed a massive container on the back of the machine; the word 'INK' was written on a label attached to the Ink Machine. The ink must be what was powering it; he looked again at the dripping pipe, and the growing puddle of ink underneath it.

"Am I – am I made of ink?" Bendy gasped. Joey's smile faded to a grimace.

"That's a kink I need to work out," he replied bitterly. The little devil looked down at his gloves, glistening with ink.

"I think it's kind of cool," he said, grinning. Joey made a small sigh of relief.

"Hang on," Bendy said thoughtfully. He looked back at the poster that he'd seen before. The face of a cartoon wolf gazed back. One hand waved cheerfully, the other clutched a shiny black clarinet. "You brought me to life, right?"

"Yeah?" Joey said slowly. He glanced to where Bendy was looking, and a look of realization and excitement crossed on to his face.

"Would it be possible to bring my friends to life, too?"

Joey grinned. "Of course," he said. He took his arm off the Ink Machine, walking around it to the container of ink. He stood there for a moment, staring into the ink, then glanced over his shoulder. "You wouldn't mind waiting outside, would you?" he asked quietly, "I need to do this…privately."

"No, of course not," Bendy replied, confused. He walked over to the door, resting his hand on the knob. He was just about to leave the room, when a soft murmur behind him made him stop.

"You and I are going to have fun tonight, Boris."

Bendy whirled around. Joey had ripped the poster of Boris off of the wall and was staring at it with a glint in his eye. His eyes narrowed, and a small smile crossed his face. "Sadly, your dear friend Bendy won't be joining us," he whispered.

"Uh…" Bendy said, staring uncomfortably at him. Joey jumped and turned around, his cheeks flushing red.

"Thought you had left," he mumbled, turning away quickly. Bendy watched him for a moment, then shrugged and walked out of the room.

"Close the door, please," Joey called after him. Bendy obeyed, and sat down on the floor outside, waiting. The glint in his creator's eyes had unsettled him; there was something about Joey that made him nervous. Soon, the clunking of the Ink Machine started up, shaking the door. A particularly loud thunk made him wince, and after a while, Joey opened the door. He was grinning from ear to ear. Bendy, sprang to his feet, looking up hopefully.

"Well?" he asked, "Did everything go well?"

"It was a success," Joey crowed, opening the door wider. Bendy peered past him. Standing in the room, overalls stained slightly with ink, was Boris, standing patiently in the middle of the room. With a cry of delight, Bendy rushed past Joey and wrapped his arms around Boris's waist in a hug. Boris jumped in surprise, then upon seeing who it was, grinned toothily.

"Hey, Bendy!" he cried, hugging back, "You doing good?"

"Sure am," Bendy replied. He stepped back, looking up at Boris. "Wow, it feels like ages since I saw you last!" he said. Boris nodded in agreement.

"You certainly haven't grown much, though," he added jokingly. Bendy glared at him.

"That's not funny, Boris, and you know it," he said indignantly. Boris laughed, and Bendy couldn't help but join in. Joey walked over to them and lay a hand on their shoulders.

"We all happy?" he asked, looking from one face to another.

"Uh, yeah," Bendy said, looking over at him. Again, he saw the glint in Joey's eyes, which brightened as he turned his gaze to Boris. He remembered Joey's earlier statement. You and I are going to have fun tonight, Boris. Bendy shook his head, trying to get the thought out of his head.

"Great," Joey said, a small smile appearing, "I need to show you guys something." He walked over to the door and stopped, looking over his shoulder at the cartoon duo.

"Come on," he said, beckoning. Bendy walked after him, Boris close behind.

Joey led them into a hall with the same old wooden walls. Bendy noticed that there were no windows; the only light came from a couple of lightbulbs, casting a yellowish light around the place. Joey stopped at a door and clutched the handle.

"Right in here," he said, swinging it open. Bendy walked inside, looking around. There was a desk against the wall and a few pipes along the wall that shaking slightly as a current of ink flowed through them. Joey opened the door wider as Boris walked in, then waited in the doorway.

"What did you want to show us?" Bendy asked.

"Just wait in here," Joey replied. He began to walk out of the room, then turned back around. "Just stay right here, okay?" His eyes flicked to Boris, and back to Bendy. The door began to close behind him, but just before it did, Joey's eyes darkened, and a slightly twisted smile curved his lips. Bendy watched the door shut, eyes narrowing.

"What's up with Joey?" Boris asked as soon as the door shut.

"I don't know," Bendy said, thinking. "Wonder what he wants to show us?"

"He strikes me as a little bit of a weirdo," Boris mused, folding his arms and leaning against the wall. Bendy laughed, shaking his head.

"Hey, he made us," he said defensively, "We wouldn't be here if it weren't for him." And that Ink Machine, he added silently.

Boris nodded and took his weight off the wall. He opened his mouth to reply, then stopped, jaw going slack. His eyes widened, seeing something – or someone – behind Bendy.

"What?" Bendy asked. He started to turn around, but then there was a loud thunk. Dull pain blossomed in the side of his head, and he fell to the ground with a soft thump. Boris cried out, but was cut short as another thunk rang in the room. Bendy's eyes blurred, shadows creeping at the edges of his vision. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black figure lying motionless on the ground. Bendy blinked slowly.

"Boris?" he whispered. But then he saw another figure; tall, clutching a wrench in its hand and standing over the unmoving wolf. The figure slowly turned its head in Bendy's direction. And then, the world went dark, and Bendy drifted into unconsciousness.

But not before he caught the soft glint in the figure's eyes.