Inky Depths Below

A Bendy and the Ink Machine Fan Fiction

Chapter 1: Angelic Reunion

The cartoon angel hummed to herself as Boris and Henry rounded the corner. Henry knew he should've been at least slightly more surprised, but considering the past hour and a half, this was was the most normal thing he had seen all day. Boris entered the room first and knocked on the door jam, grabbing the attention of the angel.

"O-Oh! Boris! You surprised me." She said sweetly. "W-What do you need?" The cartoon wolf opened his mouth before closing it, frowning for a few seconds before holding up his fingers. The angel frowned and cocked her head in confusion as even Henry looked at the wolf briefly before looking back at the hallway, making sure they weren't being followed. "Um...ok, one word?" The wolf nodded before mimicking writing something. "Writing? No, um drawing?" The wolf excitedly nodded before doing a slowed down dance. The angel blinked silently for a few seconds before sighing. "Just get to the point Boris," The wolf made an overdramatic sigh before grabbing Henry's arm and dragging the older animator into the room. "A guest? Well, we haven't had a guest in a-" She started to say before Boris spun Henry around to look directly at the angel, whose eyes widened in shock. "H-Henry?" Henry noticed that the slightly higher pitched voice seemed to crack as the angel tried to fight back tears. "Oh gods it's really you…" She rubbed her eyes before looking around panickingly. "What are you doing here?! If any of the members, or if Sammy or Joey-"

"I got an letter from Joey," Henry said. "And Sammy's...busy." He mumbled, feeling a chill as he remembered the former music director's screams of terror as the demonic mockery of Bendy killed him. The angel frowned momentarily before sighing sadly.

"You shouldn't be here...Joey's lost it…it's not safe here…."

"I noticed." The angel looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. "It's been a weird day."

"Yeah...but at least on the positive side, I get to see you again. It has been a few years since you worked here…" She chuckled as Henry and Boris's faces fell as they stole looks at each other, earning the angel's confusion. "What's wrong boys?"

"It's been 30 years since I left the animation business…" The angel blinked slowly as that set in. She stepped back and leaned on a chair.

"3-30 years…" Henry nodded somberly. "I-I-It's been 30 years…" She rubbed her eyes with her free hand. "W-We've been stuck down here….30 years…." Henry quickly got to her eye level as the angel started to hiccup and tear up.

"Alice…" He stopped and sighed. "Susie…" The angel looked up at him, her face stained with inky tears. "Susie, I don't know what the hell Joey did or is doing, but I'm going to at least try and fix it...and get everybody out…"

"R-Really?" Henry nodded as he pulled out his handkerchief and handed it to her.

"Promise." She smiled weakly before she blew her nose, a car honk loudly blaring as Henry sighed at the inky mess that remained on his handkerchief as the angel sheepishly looked at him. "Keep it Susie…"

"Thanks Henry…" She wiped her face before chuckling absently. "I haven't heard someone say my name in a long time…" She sighed. "Just off the tapes...Joey doesn't like that I'm not fully Alice Angel, you know how she was written and stuff, but I'm not fully how I was as Susie…" She looked at her white gloved hand. "At least I'm not a puddle…" She stopped as they heard footsteps. She gasped and quickly took Henry's hands, dragging to him to a spare room. "Here! Hide in here!" Before he could ask why, he was shoved in and the door slammed behind him. Susie coughed a few times before chuckling. "Oh Mr. Drew, what brings you to see little ol' me?"

"I heard you singing and talking." The familiar gruff of his old boss sent both chills and an annoyed feeling through Henry. "And I wanted to see who was here with you."

"O-Oh...well...Boris here showed up...and you know, it's a little boring sitting and doing nothing all day…" Henry heard Joey chuckle before hearing a bemused chuckle; probably the boss inspecting Boris.

"He appears to be stable…." Henry stifled a chuckle as Boris made a confused yip and Joey sighing; Joey was always a habit of thinking people could read what he was thinking at the moment.

"Please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means…" Henry felt a chill as he heard Joey chuckle darkly.

"You know how well Sammy was as a music director. Seemed only fitting." There was dead silence before Henry heard Joey turn. "I have some business to attend to, unfortunately. Good to see that you are still doing well, Alice. Keep an eye on Boris for me, will you?" Joey left the room and after a few minutes, Henry carefully opened the door and saw Boris trembling, staring intensely at the floor. Susie looked at Henry, panic obvious in her eyes before she frowned and her cheeks puffed up.

"DAMNIT JOEY!" Was Henry's best guess at what Susie yelled, as her curse was replaced with a bike horn. She stomped her foot and cursed, the sound effects replacing the offensive words. Henry did his best to stifle his laughter, as Boris even looked up, a smile creeping on his face as he watched the old man try not to laugh and offend the cartoon angel, but failing miserably. Finally a few seconds later, Henry lost the battle and started laughing uncontrollably, stumbling to his rear, surprising the two toons. The two looked at each other before they started to chuckle as well; it wasn't everyday you saw a 60+ year old man on the floor laughing. After a few minutes, Henry managed to catch his breath.

"I-I'm sorry…" Henry managed out. "I s-shouldn't have laughed…" Susie rolled her eyes.

"Oh poo, it was kinda funny admittedly…" She said. "And at least I still know the words…" She sighed and smiled softly at Henry. "And I'm glad that at least you've still got your sense of humor." Henry felt a bit of his cheeks go warm as he smiled sheepishly as Boris rolled his eyes, as if to say 'In case you two forgot, Drew just dropped a massive bombshell about me and we still need to get out of this rotting piece of junk. Susie looked up at him and pouted. "Can you speak at all? I know for a fact that you had a voice actor." Susie tapped her chin, her foot tapping along in time. "Oh what was his name? It wasn't Sammy…." Henry paled as an old memory trickled back to the surface.

"No…" Henry said softly before he shot up and bolted from the room. "I got to find Wally!"

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1924

"Ok, Drew," The gruff Brooklyn accented man grunted as he, Henry, Sammy, and the newest hire, a woman by the name of Susie Campbell, were in one of the recording rooms, with their boss, Joey Drew, holding pieces of script. "Why in the Hell do you need all of us?"

"With the new advancements," Joey said, a stickler for mild dramatics. "I believe that Bendy and Boris need voices in conjunction with our new leading lady." Susie covered her mouth, stifling an embarrassed giggle as Wally looked unimpressed.

"So you couldn't be bothered to hire two mooks?" Joey glared at the man before Henry stepped in between the two.

"Think of it as adding more to your skills." Henry said, hoping to avoid another confrontation. "If Bendy cartoons get popular-"

"Which they will." Henry ignored his boss's statement.

"You'll be know as "the voice" as Bendy or Boris…" Henry finished as Wally gave him a 'seriously' look, which Henry mouthed 'Work with me Wally'. The man sighed in annoyance.

"Fine, fine, whatever." Wally said, before turning his attention to Joey. "And Wet Blanket is here because…?"

"I'm the music director, Franks. It's my job to make you sound good, as challenging as it will be." The sandy blond grunted, adjusting his glasses and Henry bit back a sigh; he honestly felt more like a babysitter than an animator. He looked at Susie, who was admittedly caught off guard by the bickering from the janitor and music director and offered her a sympathetic smile.

"Enough." Joey's stern and direct tone got everyone's attention. "I'd rather not keep anyone longer than needed, so let's get started. Wally, I would like you to read Boris's parts. Henry, you take Bendy's voice, and Ms. Campbell, you know what to do."

"Yes sir!"

"Whatever, Drew."

"Alright Joey."

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An idea for a BATIM AU, but will likely be changing as we get new information on the game.

Please leave a CONSTRUCTIVE/HELPFUL Review and Enjoy!