#pulled apart

At some point, time was meaningless to him right now, little drops would come into the void. They would fill Bendy with warmth and sense of hope. They would restore little pieces of what had been taken and remind him of things he was forgetting. Though the little drops didn't last, they kept coming and made sure Bendy didn't fade completely.

It took a few drops for Bendy to recognize it as his Creator's doing.

There was another shift sometime later and the void slowly started to fade along with Bendy. Now, most people would consider it a good sign and hope that escape was near, but Bendy knew deep down that wasn't the case. Whatever was draining the void was going to finish Bendy off along with it. Bendy couldn't stop it and he could no longer endure it.

He closed his eyes as he felt the last bits of himself begin to fade away…

Suddenly a stream began to fill the void, bringing Bendy back from the edge. He felt his Creator's love embrace him, refusing to let Bendy slip away without a fight. The stream continued to fill the void, restoring Bendy and pushing against the confines of the prison. Even when the stream was cut off, the golden light remained, swirling and expanding. Just as the liquid gold finished restoring Bendy completely, the void burst and the bonds dissolved.

Bendy was free.

Even when Bendy was freed from the prison deep within his own mind, the little ink demon didn't wake up immediately. Instead, he gradually rose to consciousness as if he had been in a very deep sleep. He slowly blinked his eyes open, his vision blurry as he was still on the edge between waking and sleeping.

"…Henry..?" Bendy mumbled as he became more awake. His memories were still a bit hazy, but he was sure his Creator was near. Bendy pushed himself up into a sitting position, his body a strange mix of sluggish and charged with energy. He placed a hand on his head to help with a sudden dizziness and began looking around. He was on a bed and in a room, he didn't recognize and he could see Sammy's soul just outside the door.

Something about Sammy's soul looked funny, but he didn't have time to think about it as his gaze was drawn to the larger group of souls further back. It seemed to be his whole family and the Liar. The same weird thing that was going on with Sammy's soul was going on with most of the others but the more pressing issue was how close the Liar's soul was to Linda and how terrified both Linda and Henry were.

Memories of the situation came crashing back to Bendy and that combined which what he was seeing, drove him into action. He leaped forward, his body beginning to transform as he crashed the door. Sammy was knocked back and by the time the toon man recovered, Bendy was already rushing towards the group. The Ink Devil in his full glory burst into the room, causing everyone that could to freeze in shock and surprise. Bendy barely registered what was going on in the room, tackling the Liar before he could use the knife in his hand.

The two crashed onto the ritual circle and Bendy used his claws to break the circle lines. The magic that had been building up exploded outward, knocking everyone back and splashing ink over everything in the room. Henry recovered quicker than the dazed toons and hurried towards Linda and dragged her back, untying her as Bendy subdued Joey.

To say Bendy and Joey fought would be a gross exaggeration. While Joey was stubborn and willing to lash out with all he had, he was still a weak old man. Bendy was the strongest creature from the Studio, driven by his love for his family and energized by his Creator's love in return. It only took a moment for the Ink Devil to have Joey completely pinned. Once he had his prey on place, The Ink Devil plunged his had into his the Liar's chest, reaching beyond the physical and immediately latching onto the vile soul within. Bendy started pulling the soul out when his Creator's voice made him pause.

"Bendy! Don't!" Henry said fearfully, looking towards his toon. The other toons were standing around looking confused. Whether the backlash of magic had broken the mind control or they just didn't know what to do without more instructions was unclear, but the point was they didn't seem like they'd be doing anything for a minute. That left Henry plenty of time to deal with what Bendy was doing right now.

"You don't have to devour his soul Bendy," Henry said, focused solely on his creation. "We can find some other way to deal with him."

Truth was, Henry didn't care if Joey's soul was eaten or not. The man had caused far too many deaths and brought to much pain to his family for Henry to feel that kind of mercy towards him. What he really cared about is what eating a soul might do to Bendy. Henry knew the little ink demon had been fighting against that craving this whole time and his little toon had been terrified he'd slip up at some point, especially after what happened with Tom. Henry would not let Bendy become everything he feared, especially not because of someone like Joey.

"I have to," Bendy replied, keeping a firm grip on the Liar's soul. Memories and thoughts flashed before Bendy's eyes of the evil Joey had done. Bendy knew that if they didn't finish off Joey for good, he would just come after their family again. Even with his soul partially removed from his body, the Liar was still thinking of ways he could punish Henry and his family for this defiance. Bendy had to do this, or they would never be safe.

Henry was going to argue but paused as he realized what emotions he was feeling from Bendy. While there was anger aimed a Joey, that wasn't the driving force. Instead, it was a desire to protect his family and the calm acceptance that this needed to be done. This wasn't just a knee jerk reaction made in the midst of a fight for survival, but a purposeful decision. Henry didn't really understand the reasons behind Bendy's choice, but he could choose to trust his little Ink Demon.

Henry gave Bendy a nod to show his support.

The Ink Devil was starring off in a daze as he savored the wonderful sensation of his first soul while Tom and Henry were busy with the others. The moment Joey's soul was taken and his body died, the magic keeping the toon's minds enslaved last the source it was meant to be tied to. Without that anchor, the already damaged spell unraveled completely, leaving behind very confused and slightly panicked toons. Henry tried his best to give a short summary of the situation, but most of the toons were either still too dazed by their recent mind control or freaking out about their altered appearance to really grasp what Henry was saying. The only piece of information that got their attention was the fact that the Liar was dead.

The instant they heard that they looked towards Joey's body and all of them sagged with a sense of relief. Toons started hugging each other in happiness and a few even cheered. Tom and Allison shared a passionate kiss and even Henry had to admit he was glad Joey was gone. Henry never thought he'd be glad to see his once friend dead, even after all he went through in the Studio, but now that he was gone and everything he had just put Henry's family through, Henry couldn't deny the sense of comfort and safety he felt. No longer would Joey's shadow be hanging over them, threatening to take away the happiness they'd built. He would never hurt them again.

Henry and Linda embraced, glad that this most recent nightmare was over and giving Henry a chance to look Linda over. She still had a lot of ink on her, though most of it had dripped off and the rest was starting to dry on her. And it seemed that even though the ritual had been interrupted, Linda hadn't escaped completely unchanged. Her skin was incredibly pale, nearly white, and she moved with just a bit more fluidity than was humanly possible. At certain angles, Henry would see a dull yellow glow coming from her eyes, an effect Henry had seen on his own when he looked in a mirror. She was like him now, mostly human with a touch of ink flowing through them. It was too early to say what the full extent of the transformation was, for both of them really, but they would work it out together.

But that would have to wait for later. Right now, everyone was exhausted from this adventure and they all wanted to get out of here. Henry used Joey's phone to leave an anonymous tip that Joey had passed away and Tom quickly took apart and disabled the Ink Machine. Once that was done, Henry snapped Bendy out of his daze to make a portal home. As they were leaving, Henry made the split-second decision to take the spellbook Joey had been using, determining it was better to keep it himself than risking it falling into the wrong hands.

Once everyone was through the portal, they all piled on and around the couch, unwilling to be alone right now. Once everyone was settled, Henry once again explained what happened in more detail. The toons were dismayed to hear they had once again fallen under the Liar's control and were even happier that they never had to worry about it again. They were also concerned by their altered forms, even Moreno when they realized it didn't seem that stable. Faint scars would reappear and the vanish and joints shift from pure rubber hose to something slightly human. Henry couldn't tell if it was the spell wearing off or a side effect of being splashed with fresh ink from the Ink Machine, letting the toons have some in unconscious control over their appearance. Either way, Henry promised to help them find and keep the form they were most comfortable with.