Surprise, It's Anxiety

“Jack, pick a card.” Jack could only roll his eyes as Steve brandished a handful of cards at him, all splayed out ready for him to make his choice.

“Steve you can’t still be on about that magic nonsense can you? Aren’t you a bit old for that?” The mouse just brushed him off as he jostled cards, eagerly awaiting his comrades' choice.

“No way, people of all ages love magic Jack! I bet if I got good enough at it I could make a real killing as a magician on the vaudeville scene. And then you’d have to come see me and eat your words as I am showered with praise and women.” Grumbling Jack picked a card out at random, making sure Steve couldn’t see it. Said mouse could only grin as he realised Jack had finally given in.

“Okay so memorise it and then put it back into the deck, doesn’t matter where. Just don’t let me see it okay, ruin the magic if I do.” Jack glanced at the card, scowling to himself as he saw the ace of hearts, typical. 

“All memorised, The Great Bandel, now go, wow me.” 

Jack slipped the card back into the deck as Steve set about shuffling them once more. Cornelius by this point had noticed the little trick and came over to join them, that soft, dopey smile of his somehow still plastered on his face as if they weren’t sitting in a trench.

“You finally c-convince him to h-humour you again Steve? And t-there’s me thinking y-you’d sworn off m-magic after Steve managed to con you out of y-your last sweet bun last w-week, Sport.”

“Don’t remind me, if he pulls a stunt like that again I’m leaving him to do inventory by himself. See how he likes having to count every bullet for 5 hours straight.” 

“Come on, you knew the risks and I didn’t cheat before you say. It was just some slight of hand is all, can’t be mad at me for that can you Jack.” The look Jack gave him said it all as Steve just whined and pouted, Cornelius could only snort as he watched the younger soldiers fight amongst themselves. Oh the youth of today.

Finally satisfied that he’d shuffled the deck enough that Jack wouldn’t complain it was stacked, Steve proudly flipped a card to the top of the deck, ready for the big reveal.

“Now are you ready to be amazed by the greatest magician to be, Jack?”

“I’m ready to get this over with…” Ignoring him Steve flipped the card over with a flourish, smirking to himself as he awaited the anticipated praise.

“And is this your card!” 

“...Nope, that’s not it.” Jack couldn’t help chuckling as Steve frantically looked at the card, a seven of clubs and definitely not the ace of hearts that had been picked. 

“Better luck next time, Great Bandel. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to practise while we wait for this strike to be over with.” Cornelius meanwhile just sighed, giving Steve a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as the mouse flicked through his deck trying to find the right card.

“Don’t g-give up, Sport. I’m sure y-you’ll be able to get it next time.” That’s when a devious glint appeared in the mouse’s eyes as he gave Jack a smirk.

“You’re right Jack, this really isn’t your card. I must have misplaced it, Corny could you check your pocket please.” Now that caught both mice’s attention as the rat did as he was told, patting his pockets, which of course there were a lot of, until he reached his right breast pocket and felt something. Reaching inside his eyes went wide as he pulled out a playing card that obviously hadn’t been there before.

“H-how on earth…?”

“Now would you show the card to the audience, sir.” Steve was laying it on thick with the showmanship now as the rat did as he was told, flipping the card around revealing the ace of hearts.

“W-what?! How did you-what did you-?!” Jack could only snatch the card out of Cornelius' hand as he stared over it, flipping it over in his hands as he inspected it. This was his card alright. How the hell had Steve done that?!

Steve meanwhile was just smugly grinning to himself at both rodents’ flabbergasted expressions.

“And ta-dah! I told you I’d been practising~ You still think magic is just for little kids now Jack?” Well Jack certainly couldn’t explain this trick as just a slight of hand, so how the hell had Steve managed that? Is this what he did when he locked himself away at night while the others were either cleaning their weapons or writing letters. Jack really had no explanation for it, but Cornelius seemed to be thoroughly entertained as he began to applaud the mouse.

“B-Bravo Steve! That certainly was a p-performace, Sport. You must t-tell us how you did that.” Steve just wagged a finger, very entertained by now.

“Alas a magician never reveals their tricks, Corny. That’s rule number one!” The rat went to press until the radio suddenly sprung into life drawing Steve’s attention as he quickly answered, slipping back into his training.

“Yes? Yes, that’s right Sir. Yes, I’ll let them know and we’ll move out when you give the signal.” Seemed their brief rest bite if that’s what you could call it was over. 

“T-time to move out I suppose?”

“Yeah, higher ups said they’re going to lay down counterfire soon to give us a chance to move and try to clear out the artillery ourselves. Another suicide mission but eh I was getting bored anyway.” The mouse just shrugged nonchalantly as if they weren’t throwing themselves into the lion’s den again. At least Steve was right, they wouldn’t be bored any more. Sighing, Jack went to hand the card back but Steve just pushed it back, a sly smile on his lips.

“Keep it. Might act like a good luck charm and if not at least it’ll make you think of me when you look at it, Jackie.” The use of that name immediately made Jack’s face flush, the exact reaction the wannabe magician wanted as he chuckled softly, flashing the mouse a cheeky wink. He really shouldn’t be using that out here where someone could damn well hear! Thankfully Cornelius was there to wrangle the mouse in as Steve was unceremoniously dragged away by his collar, letting Jack to compose himself. 

“Don’t t-tease, Steve. Now come on, I-I need you two to h-help me set up the c-charges. You can play l-later if the operation g-goes smoothly.”

But as if on cue the silence of the night was cut short as a shot rang out. The noise startled the woman, her ears perking up at the sound as she felt her heart catch in her throat. Bendy had also heard the sound and on instinct he bolted over to her side, cowering as he buried himself against her pant leg. 

“Shh it’s alright, Bendy. Just stay close to me okay.” The little demon nodded as Audrey got to her feet creeping forward as the sound of fighting began to draw louder. Another shot rang out as a mouse suddenly tumbled through a door to their side, spilling out into the street barely a foot in front of them. Audrey couldn’t help the yelp that escaped her, as the mouse shook his head trying to collect himself before his eyes locked onto her. 

“Bendy, run!” She barely had a chance to utter the words before the mouse was on her, grabbing her by the hair as he dragged her into a choke hold, holding the gun against her temple as he rounded back onto the door he’d just fallen out of. 

“Take one more step gumshoe and I’ll put a bullet through the lady’s head!” 

“Let go of me!”

“Quiet toots!” 

Audrey continued to struggle against her attacker, struggling to break free. What type of cartoon were they trying to make when they made this one?! It was way too violent, saying that Bendy hadn’t originally been either so maybe it was a case of that or maybe it was made for a more mature audience. Frantically she looked around trying to locate Bendy, thankfully the mouse hadn’t noticed him as he hid behind a barrel trembling. Suddenly there was a sound from the doorway as out of the dark another mouse strolled. This one seemed to dress like a detective straight out of a noir comic, his hat sat low on his head, casting his eyes in shadow as he aimed his gun at the perp who had her, calm and collected as if this was nothing new to him.

“I knew something smelled rotten here and it wasn’t all that blue cheese you got back there. Drop the gun and lady and I’ll go easy on you.” 

“Like hell I’m dropping the only bargaining chip I’ve got Pepper! Drop the fun or she gets it!” To emphasize his point, Audrey felt the barrel of the gun shoved against her temple making her wince in pain. The other mouse seemed to go quiet before tutting, slipping his gun back into his coat as he raised his hands.

“Fine, you piece of rotten cheddar. Now let her go and I’ll let you turn tail and run.” 

“As if I’m going to let you get out of this one Pepper! I know you’ll just come back after me the first chance you get! I ain’t letting you or her leave here alive, I don’t need any witnesses after all.” That made Audrey freeze up, the mouse called Pepper scowled, staring down the mouse before something caught his attention.

“What on earth-”

Suddenly there was a blur of movement from off to the side as suddenly Bendy launched himself, latching onto the crook's face as he began to try and scratch at him. The little ink demon was angry now that the mouse had dared to threaten Audrey and without thinking twice had thrown himself at him. It was all the distraction Audrey needed as she yanked the gun away from her head, delivering a swift elbow to her attacker's gut, finally giving her a chance to bolt. Stumbling away Audrey just managed to turn back around, watching as the mouse threw Bendy away from him, the little ink demon landing in a heap on the floor, stunned.

“Bendy!” The mouse raised the gun at the cartoon, a look of confusion plastered on his features as he regarded them.

“What the hell are yo-!” He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as a swift punch was delivered directly to his snout laying him out in one hit. Crumpling to the ground the mouse lay there, little stars drifting around his head as the detective mouse stood over him, rubbing his fist.

“That’ll teach you to pick on a lady you sorry sack of curd.” Audrey could only sigh, finally letting out the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. Making her way back over she scooped Bendy off the ground as he just looked up at her, a worried look on his face.

“I’m fine, Bendy, all thanks to you. You were really brave there but don’t put yourself at risk, okay?” The little ink demon just nodded before happily bouncing on his feet knowing she was okay.

“Apologies about that miss. That mouse was a lot slipperier than I thought so he got the drop on me before I could cuff him. You’re not hurt are you and your little… friend?” The mouse had his head cocked slightly as he seemed to be studying Bendy, a similarly confused expression on his face as he regarded them.

“Yes, I’m fine, thank you. Just a little shaken is all but thanks to Bendy I think I would have been in a lot more trouble.”

“Well that was very brave of you kiddo.” Reaching down he ruffled the ink demon’s head. Normally Bendy seemed a lot more nervous around new people, let alone someone who’d they just met during a shoot out but maybe it was the cool aura the detective gave off but the ink demon seemed to be in awe as he happily grinned and accepted the attention.

“Now you two should get home quickly, this isn’t exactly the best neighbourhood to find yourself in after dark.” Easier said than done Audrey thought as she grimaced. They’d been trying to get out for the last few hours but neither of them had had any luck locating the projector out of here, and with them not knowing the layout of this show let alone the rules it was running by they were rather screwed it seemed.

“Yeah, easier said than done. We’re… rather lost I guess you could say. We were tyring to find something we’d… lost and have had no luck as of yet. It seemed we got ourselves quite turned around during our search.” That seemed to catch the mouse’s attention as his ears perked up finally pulling himself free from Bendy who continued to tug on the detective’s coat, wanting more attention and to play. He went silent for a moment, thinking about something before he pulled what seemed to be a pack of cigarettes from his pocket only for Audrey to realise they were actually made of cheese as he slipped one into his mouth. Huh, running with the cheese thing a bit far with this cartoon weren’t they?

“Well if you’re in need of any help I’d be happy to offer my services. Jack Pepper, P.I for hire, and considering you little friend here helped me catch a no good blue cheese peddler I’d be happy to offer my services pro bono.” Bendy beamed up at them both as Jack flashed him a small smile, the little ink demon puffing his chest up in pride. Typically Audrey wouldn’t want to get the characters of the show involved in anything that could lead to them finding out their existence was just a cartoon, ink on paper brought alive by an ink machine of all things. Putting that type of stress on them would be sure to affect the world and do irreversible damage. But at this stage what choice did she or Bendy have. Besides the mouse had already seen Bendy and given how both mice had reacted to him it seemed something like the little ink demon was very out of the ordinary in this world. Plus he seemed to really like the detective given how Bendy was now desperately trying to get Jack’s attention, making grabby hands as he urged him to pick him up. Audrey couldn’t help the little giggle that slipped out as it seemed that the toughed gumshoe had a soft spot for kids as after a moment or trying to resist he just relented, scooping Bendy up into his arms as the ink demon immediately went for his hat slipping it onto his own head.

“I have no idea what you are kiddo but you are even more demanding than Tammy was when she was your age. At least you’re not as talkative as she was. You got a name, little guy?” The ink demon just glanced over at Audrey who just resigned herself. They were going to need help and who better to ask than a P.I.

“Bendy, his name is Bendy. My name’s Audrey, and if you’d be able to help us I’d really appreciate it Jack.” The mouse just nodded as he fished his hat back from Bendy before placing him down.