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If nothing else, Bendy supposed this might be funny.
Allison actually had found about a dozen Lost Ones. They appeared to be Bendy’s own worshipers, or so he gathered from the fact that several of them were wearing masks made from his cutouts.
Hopefully Tom wouldn’t decide that that made them too biased. It really shouldn’t. The Bendy-worshipers seemed to follow Sammy, so they probably wanted to sacrifice Henry to Bendy.
Bendy had never thought he’d find that idea amusing, but this situation was already far too absurd. There was no way to take anything about this seriously. Besides. He was right here. He could talk. If that failed, he still had claws. Nothing was actually going to happen.
Just. This had to be the most ridiculous way to make sure a jury wasn’t biased in your favor.
Tom still didn’t seem to approve. He was glowering around at everyone. Allison looked exhausted, half-asleep in her chair. Audrey looked as though she wasn’t sure whether to laugh or recommend a good psychiatrist. Only Henry was doing a decent job of pretending it was in any way possible to take this mess seriously.
“Is everyone here?” he asked.
Allison nodded sleepily.
“Great. Let’s begin. We’re here to determine which of us has a better grip on reality, right, Tom?”
Tom nodded begrudgingly.
“All right. You lot-” he pointed at the Lost Ones – “are the jury. You’re impartial parties, so-”
“What?” one of the Lost Ones asked.
“Did you not tell them?” Henry asked Allison.
“Just go along with it,” Bendy said. If there was one thing he didn’t want to do, it was sit around through ages and ages of explanations.
Fortunately, the Lost Ones listened, although they did keep looking around suspiciously, as though they felt certain they were supposed to be killing someone.
It was probably Henry, although Bendy had no intention of helping them reach that conclusion.
“Right,” Henry said, as they returned their attention to him (albeit with a few cautious glances back toward the Ink Demon). “We’re trying to set up something like a trial. Tom’s of the opinion that hundreds of Cycles have driven me insane, and I am now a danger to everyone around me. I think that belief is just how he coped with his role in it all. We’re both alleging insanity, so we’re both unreliable witnesses, and as Tom won’t take Allison, Audrey or Bendy’s word for anything, we’ll need you people to act as a sort of impartial arbiter. I wouldn’t be surprised if half of you are insane, too, but at least you don’t know either of us.”
There was dead silence for a moment. Bendy fought back a swell of laughter. This was ridiculous.
“I used to be a lawyer,” one of the Lost Ones offered.
Aaaaand that was just too much. Bendy collapsed over the table, wheezing with laughter and completely ignoring Audrey and Allison’s glares, not to mention the concern of the Lost Ones.
“All right,” Henry said. “Does that actually matter, to this?”
The lawyer shrugged. “No idea. Are we technically within American jurisdiction?”
“I doubt it. Does anyone have any other questions?”
There was a general murmur of dissent, followed by the lawyer saying, “I don’t think it matters, anyway. My specialty was copyright law.”
Stars. Bendy was going to die laughing.
“That’s interesting,” Henry said. “All right. I didn’t really plan how we were going to proceed, so I suppose now we’ll both try and prove our case somehow.”
“Call witnesses, provide evidence, et cetera,” the lawyer suggested.
Henry nodded. “Tom. Do you have any sort of proof that I’m insane?”
The wolf growled his response.
Henry sighed. “How about you write it down, so we can all tell what you’re saying?”
More growling.
“Does anyone here have any paper on them?”
Bendy did, but he wasn’t going to offer it to Tom. After a moment’s confusion, the lawyer handed Tom a book that looked like it had come from Joey Drew’s study: fat and pretentious.
Tom looked it over and growled.
“Just use the endpapers,” Henry suggested. “They shouldn’t have any words on them.”
Tom flipped open the heavy hardcover far more aggressively than was necessary, nearly tearing the binding in the process. Bendy swore he saw the lawyer-type wince. The wolf threw the pages back and forth for a moment until he found the endpapers, which he ripped out as if they’d personally offended him.
So far as Bendy was concerned, that right there was enough to tell which man was mentally unbalanced.
Henry handed Tom a pen, and the wolf scribbled something down, then held up the page.
His allies are Drew’s daughter and the Ink Demon.
Oh, stars. That wasn’t going to help his case at all. Couldn’t he see the masks those Lost Ones were wearing? Bendy could see how Tom might think he and Audrey were threats (he was, actually, to Tom specifically), but the Lost Ones were never going to agree with him.
Then again, that was the point, right?
Still. Still. What an opening statement. Who was the judge? Surely something like that oughta get Tom laughed out of court.
“Yes,” Henry admitted. “They are. I’ve already told you, Tom, Bendy’s not so different from you. Joey forced him to do horrible things against his will, too, and away from that influence, he’s not the monster you seem to think he is. And as for Audrey… why is being friends with her proof of insanity?”
She’s DREW’S daughter. Don’t you remember what the last Drew was like?
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that megalomania ran in the blood.”
She might not BE her father. But heaven only knows how much she LEARNED from him.
Audrey stiffened beside him. Bendy stiffened too, watching his sister out of the corner of one eye and Tom out of the other, rage building within. He’d already killed her once – and he really had no excuse for it. No one had been controlling him. And Audrey had died because of his actions anyway.
And now he had the gall to slander her as well? Imply that just because she was related to Joey, she was every bit the monster he was?
Once again, Bendy was in no place to express his anger now. But later… oh, yes, later.
He wasn’t going to forget this.
“Have you tried talking to her?” Henry suggested. “That might give you a good idea of what she’s like.”
“She’s wonderful,” Bendy growled. “She’s nothing like her father. You’d never know the two were related if Tom hadn’t just said they were. All she got from him was drawing skills.”
Audrey seemed somewhat reassured. Still tense, but, well, this was no time for a heart-to-heart. Tom looked taken aback - good. Henry looked unsure as to whether he was pleased or annoyed. Made sense. He preferred to be as honest as possible – and that “jury” was definitely biased in Bendy’s favor. Now that they knew what he thought about it, the outcome was already decided.
There is no way you made it through everything you did without cracking.
“Perhaps not,” Henry agreed. “But there are ways to crack aside from violent psychosis, and if I started a few Cycles by screaming at the walls or breaking down crying, I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
Tom was almost out of paper now. Bendy wondered what he’d do when he was done with those last few pages.
If he ever wrote anything else. He sure was taking his time, hesitating before his next sentence.
“Tom,” Henry said softly. “Do you have any more arguments?”
Tom just glowered at the table. Well, that answered that question.
“Are we ready for-” Henry began, then cut himself off when Tom grabbed a page and began scribbling.
The Cycle was brutal. It did a number on me, and I didn’t even go through most of it. How can you expect me to believe that YOU made it through unscathed?
“I didn’t,” Henry explained. “I just didn’t break in the way you think I have.”
Tom didn’t answer.
“I’m not the only one,” Henry continued. “Ask Boris. That poor wolf has been through so much. He’s no danger to anyone. Or you could ask Bendy. It turns out that being made to violate your conscience over and over again doesn’t make you want to do it more.”
I don’t buy that the Ink Demon is innocent.
That was his last sheet of paper. And he’d spent it sealing the doom of his case. How delightful.
“Well, you don’t have to warm up to him immediately. It’s perfectly reasonable to still be afraid of him.”
Tom’s spine snapped straight. He didn’t have any more paper, but Bendy could read his next message in his posture: I’m not afraid of him!
“Don’t worry,” Bendy said. “I don’t want to be friends with you, either.”
After all, Tom had killed his sister. Deliberately.
“I don’t expect this world to be completely calm anytime soon,” Henry continued, now sounding sad. He didn’t seem to be talking to Tom anymore – it was more like he was musing to himself. “Too many feuds were started, too many people broken… the Cycle’s left its mark on us all. And then there was Wilson…”
He trailed off, and silence fell. Tom seemed to get more and more frustrated by the second, but he didn’t say – or write – anything.
Finally, Henry seemed to snap out of his trance and looked up. “All right. Are we ready for a decision?”
Tom slowly turned to give him a glare venomous enough that it probably should have killed. Bendy could remember Joey making that same exact face.
But he didn’t object. He didn’t say yes, but he didn’t say no, either.
Henry turned to face the Lost Ones. “What do you think?”
“Well, sir,” said the lawyer, “I think that that was a very calm, rational conversation, at least on your part. I don’t think it could have happened if you were out of your mind.”
Tom growled something, which Henry interpreted as, “And the others?”
The others responded timidly, but all at once, making them quite loud even as they all tried to speak softly and avoid attention. “We’re with him.” “The Ink Demon…” “We rule in favor of Henry Stein.” “That wolf has anger management issues.” “…tore up an undamaged book, he did!” “…met her before. The Demon’s not wrong.”
“We have decided in favor of Henry Stein,” the lawyer summed up.
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Allison found Tom sulking in a room full of empty shelves.
She wove her way across it to stand beside him. “Do you believe them?”
Tom sighed. Everyone seems to agree.
Allison raised an eyebrow. “Really? You do?” She didn’t believe it. Tom never gave in this easily. He was one of the most stubborn men she’d ever met.
Tom nodded, then shook his head. Yes and no. I’ll grant that Henry isn’t insane. I’ll admit, I may have… difficulty… distinguishing that sort of thing. Comes from living in a place where everyone’s mad.
Allison nodded. Progress.
But I don’t believe anything else they said. I don’t buy that the demon’s innocent. Maybe Joey turned him into a mindless monster for the purposes of the script, but he was around after Wilson came, too. And he wasn’t any better then.
Allison nodded again, although she didn’t agree as strongly this time. She had to admit, it was strange. Bendy had been, if anything, worse when he’d finally turned up in Wilson’s reimagined world.
He’d said there was a reason for that, something to do with Wilson, and Allison was more than willing to hear him out when he was ready to explain what it was, but for now, it wasn’t worth mentioning that to Tom. You didn’t win any sort of war by failing to pick your battles.
And I don’t buy that Drew’s daughter is harmless. How much power did he have over this world? He built the whole place. He created you out of whole cloth. How much of that can she do, too? No matter what she wants, anyone with that much power is dangerous.
And for all we know, she could be just as much a snake as her father was.
It was a more valid worry than Allison had been expecting. He… wasn’t really wrong, at least not about the first part. They’d seen Audrey trying to use the power he was talking about. They’d seen the changes in the Ink Demon. She was, for better or worse, effectively a goddess in this world. And malice wasn’t needed to make that go horribly, horribly wrong.
A few honest mistakes could ruin everything.
It wasn’t in Allison’s nature to worry about that. Audrey meant well, so Allison welcomed the idea that she now controlled this world.
But it was in Tom’s nature to see that good-natured ignorance, given enough power, could still be a threat.
And they were both right.
And I’m sorry, Tom continued.
Allison looked up – she’d been staring at the floor, lost in thought. “What?”
I’m sorry. Henry did get one thing right. I’ve been brushing you off a lot lately. Treating your hopefulness like it meant you had no sense, like you couldn’t be trusted. That was a mistake. I should never have done it.
Allison smiled. “It’s all right. So long as we understand each other now.”
I’m not sure we do. You’re very friendly with those two.
Allison’s smile didn’t slip. “It doesn’t matter if we still disagree. We’re not angry anymore, are we? The fight’s over.”
Yes. I suppose it is.
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
Of course it is.
“Then perhaps we should just be happy about that for now, instead of worrying about all the problems of the world that we can’t control.”
Tom hesitated for a moment, then nodded. In the short term, that sounds like a wonderful idea.
🖤🌪🖤
“We really do need to go, soon,” Audrey said.
Bendy looked up from his drawing – a dragon, this time – and toward Audrey, eyebrows raised in a question. He couldn’t talk anymore; he’d gone back to his smaller, more impish form. At least this particular bit of communication was getting smoother. They had plenty of practice. He asked a lot of questions.
Audrey sighed, looking away. “At the very least, I need to leave. I can’t just disappear.”
Bendy kept up the questioning look, even though he knew exactly what she was getting at, and even though Audrey couldn’t see him.
Audrey sighed. Henry picked up the conversation from there. “Bendy, do you want to go with her, or would you rather stay here with me?”
Bendy looked back down at his drawing and stared at the scales on the back of the dragon’s neck, thinking. He still didn’t know. It wasn’t like he’d used the time since they’d last talked about this to consider his options. He’d tried to avoid thinking about it at all.
They didn’t push him to answer. They just waited, patient.
Bendy felt a tear slide down his cheek, and he looked up at them with a shaky grin. No need to say anything – they understood.
He looked back down again, shaking a little more than he would have liked as he stared into his art again, unable to really see it through all the black fuzz in his vision.
He didn’t want to just leave Audrey after all she’d done for him.
On the other hand, he hadn’t been with Henry for a full forty-eight hours yet.
And it wasn’t like he was really obligated to go either way. He owed both of them so, so much… more than he’d ever be able to repay.
That seemed like the sort of thought that should have brought him despair. But it didn’t. It just made him happy. It was bizarre, but he wasn’t about to complain.
He swiped the back of his hand across his face, wiping away all the tears that had spilled over, then swallowed, closed his eyes, and didn’t really think for a moment.
He just paid close attention to what he was feeling.
Then he stood up and pointed at Henry.
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“This had better be worth my time,” Alice said.
“It will be,” the Lost One said. “I promise.”
Promises. Promises were empty – if life had taught Alice one thing, it was that. It wasn’t good enough for her.
But it was intriguing. It might allow her another shot at capturing Bendy. That alone was enough reason for her to follow and investigate, at least until it proved not to be worth it – in which case, this lone Lost One wasn’t enough to pose a threat to her. And he didn’t have any friends hanging around. She had checked.
She had learned to be careful. Anyplace outside her sanctuary was dangerous for her.
And her sanctuary was a dead place. The script didn’t require toons to go anywhere near her anymore. She couldn’t hunt there.
And so, she had to branch out. Take more risks than she once would have. Such as chasing the promises of this random Lost One who claimed to have once been a Keeper.
In which case he would have useful information for her. The Keepers had had a hand in whatever had happened to Bendy, she knew that much – but she had no details. The transformation the Keepers themselves had gone through, she did not need to learn about. She already knew. She had performed it herself many times.
She nodded sharply, then followed as the small, greasy-voiced Lost One set off into the streets.
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She hadn’t moved. She wasn’t going to leave her shelter until the storm blew over.
It hadn’t started yet. It would soon. She knew. She had lit the fuse.
Even so far from all the others as she was, Lucille Kelsing still heard it when the chaos started.