Hi! Main pronouns are They/Them, though they're not the only ones I use, I'm a genderfluid bisexual, and in so many fandoms at this point I can't list them all. Currently trying to improve my art skills, but still a writer at heart.
Happy 4/14 my fellow Bendy enjoyers! I can safely report that no, I have not died, and I have a 4/14 gift for you all!!
A sneak peek for the next chapter of Breaking the Cycle!! I hope you enjoy :))
(Audrey's point of view)
Audrey felt her chest rising and falling with each breath she took. She was looking around, but at the same time, she felt her eyes were closed. Was she having another dream where an entity was trying to communicate with her? She had enough for those lately. She just had a family discussion and she was glad she did, but she still felt emotionally drained and wanted to see her friends. There was so much she wanted to tell them.
"Are you sure you want to tell them, Audrey?"
Before, hearing that voice filled her with inspiration. After she came to the studio, she was surprised to hear his voice and wasn't quite sure how to feel. Now, she just felt exhausted. Exhausted and full of rage.
"Of course. Of course you only show up now. What do you want." She asked flatly, turning to the specter of Joey Drew. He blinked, clearly not expecting Audrey's attitude. "I wanted to talk to you about your decision to tell the others about yourâŠsecrets." "YOUR secrets, Mister Drew. They're not going to be my secrets." Audrey retorted. "I thought I said you could call me Joey. And I'm not Mister Drew, I'm just the memory."
"Yeah, real convenient. You know about all the horrible things he did yet you can't be held responsible for them. And calling you Joey implies we're friends, Mister Drew. I want nothing to do with you, or the man you claim to be the memory of." Audrey spat at him.
"Audrey, I can't imagine the things you've been forced to bear witness to here, but think this through. Your friends are angry and blame your father for their pain. They're known for being aggressive. Aren't you the least bit worried about what might happen to you as a result?"
"I have faith in them. They care about me and I trust that they won't hurt me."
"And what about Henry and Alice? How do you think they're going to handle knowing they were made for mere roles in a script? That the family Henry's fighting to go back to isn't his?" Joey questioned.
"They have a right to know the truth. I'm not lying for you, Mister Drew." "I'm not asking you to lie, I'm asking you to think of your safety." "You want to talk about my safety? They've done more to protect me than you have. Where were you when I was captured by the Keepers? Or when I was being tortured? Or when my legs were cut off?"
"Audrey, I-" "What? You can only show up when your secrets are threatened but not when I'm in danger? When any of your kids are in danger?" Audrey snarled. "Audrey, I'm not the man who put them there." "And yet, you're here. You could have looked for them, you could have protected them. But no, you couldn't help any of the kids that were trapped there."
"Audrey, please, I couldn't go to them, I wasn't here yet." Joey pleaded. "Did you try to find them once you were here?" Audrey simply questioned. Joey didn't say anything, only looking to the side, not meeting her eyes. That was all the answer she needed.
"I'm done with you, Mister Drew. I'd like to wake up now."
It was time for her to give answers.
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Thank you to Owlface612, TheArchivedReader, @preciouslittletoonette, Menace_the_Tinkaton, and VintageMonkee for your lovely comments, @gabrielli-191181 for beta reading, and to all of my lovely readers for your patience.
So. This is kind of an odd update. Originally this was going to be the opening for Scene 8, but it got really long and I didn't want to just cut it so. Consider this a chapter 15.5
Thank you to my beta reader @gabrielli-191181 !
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
hello tadc fandom this is my campaign for kinger to win the tadc awards. Is this a questionable use of my time? Probably. Will that stop me? No
Reasons why Kinger should win
1. He has big beautiful eyes
Look at those orbs. Normally blue eyes are terrifying but his eyes are incredibly charming.
2. He looks good in purple
Now you could argue this also applies to Jax, but I disagree. Jax's skin is purple. He doesn't get a choice. Kinger, however, looks very dashing in a royal purple robe. And royal purple is my favorite color, so I think he gets bonus points.
3. He's Tumblr Sexyman-adjacent
While Kinger doesn't have traditional Sexyman traits like questionable morality and a suit, he is a nicely dressed (see reason two) twink with a lack of human traits, as seen in the picture below
And for those who find these types attractive but want to be treated right, the lighter morality is a bonus!
4. He's a silly old man but has a tragic/mysterious backstory
It's been half a year since episode three came out, so we all know about Kinger's abstracted wife. This gave his interest in bugs a sad depth, as he got it from his wife. It also gave a reason for his pillow fortress, as it was the last place he spoke to his wife. It reveals that the darkness allows him to regain sanity, which explains why he gave good advice to Ragatha in episode two with a bucket on his head.
And there's still some mystery to his backstory! How did he end up in the circus? What did he mean by "four years of programming school?" On top of that, he's mysterious in universe, as no one except Pomni knows about his wife.
And while he isn't a senior, he is the oldest in the cast and has been in the circus the longest of our current cast. The silly yet sad old man is a trope known to ensnare people.
5. He's dad/grandpa core
Going off from the previous point of Kinger being the oldest, he has been shown to take on a fatherly role with Pomni being a focus in episode three, but also giving fatherly advice to Ragatha near the end of episode 2
6. He's a wife guy.
When Kinger comforts Pomni, he reminiscences and gushes about his wife. We love our wifeguys here, and not to reference reason four again, but...
7. He has a very lovely sounding voice.
His voice is very soothing.
And not to mention his voice actor is an amazing singer while singing in character as Kinger!
TLDR; i like kinger :]. and he deserves a nice trophy
Bendy tries to fulfill Mrs. Campbell's favor but ends up having to face something far worse. Boris receives the worst news of his life.
(Bendyâs point of view)
It was eight at night by the time Bendy made it to Mrs. Campbellâs home. She could have offered to pick him up, considering he repaired her husbandâs car that exact day, but no, he thought bitterly. He had to walk there late at night when there was something dangerous on the loose. He knocked on the door, and Mrs. Campbell came. He explained that he didnât plan on coming in, but he was going to hide out in the backyard, so the thing didnât see him coming. He only knocked to let her know heâd be there. She didnât have any objections, only asking him not to make too much noise.
Bendy walked to the backyard. It was abysmal, to say the least. There were marks in the ground, digging into the dirt. There was a little playground for her kids, but it was turned over. The carefully taken care of grass had seen better days, strands pulled up and hunks of dirt exposed. Thankfully, the rose bushes were left alone. Those bushes were Mrs. Campbellâs pride and joy; sheâd throw a hissy fit if they were torn up. It probably avoided them because of the thorns. Bendy stationed himself behind a corner of the house to wait for the thing to show up.
âŠ
Heâd been waiting for two hours. Bendy started to wonder if this thing knew he was there when he heard a branch break. He turned his head to see what made the noise and felt a shiver go down his spine. It wasnât a person or an animal. It was as huge as the playground, and it was entirely black. It had claws and was on all fours. And its eyes⊠It had no pupils, and they were white. It walked up to Mrs. Campbellâs sliding door and started scratching and bumping its head on the glass.Â
Bendy used its preoccupation with the door to sneak up behind the creature, brought out his lead pipe, and hit it over the head. However, instead of knocking the thing out, the thingâs head melted around where the pipe was, and its eyesâŠdear god its eyes moved from its face to the back of its head to face Bendy. Bendy gulped as the thing roared at him and started swinging. Bendy tried to take the pipe with him, but the pipe was stuck in its head. Unfortunately, Bendy got swung right off and flung right into Mrs. Campbellâs fence.
âThis is not the reason I thought Iâd need an extra lead pipe.â Bendy mumbled to himself, pulling out said pipe. âHey ugly! This is private property! So, either fuck off and donât come back, or Iâll knock your ass out and throw it in the ocean!â Bendy barked. The creature didnât respond, only parking its claws into the ground.Â
The creature launched itself at Bendy, using its momentum. Bendy raised his pipe to try and block the thingâs attack. Unfortunately, the creature managed to use the pipe as a stepping stool to get on top of Bendy.Â
Bendy felt the creatureâs horrible teeth sink into his skin. He didnât even realize the thing had teeth until he felt it bite into his shoulder. He felt something horrible and gooey leak out from the creatureâs teeth into the bite. He felt the creature rip off the flesh from his shoulder and heard the thing swallow his skin. It felt like he was a pumpkin, and someone was carving his flesh in a bastardized attempt to make a jack oâ lantern.
Bendy couldnât stop the scream leaking from his throat. He didnât even know he could scream that loud. Immediately he saw a dozen lights turn on in his peripheral vision. He couldnât even pay attention to them; he had to focus on pushing the creature off. Then he grabbed the pipe and went in for another swing.Â
Unfortunately, it seemed like it had caught on to his attacks and dodged. Bendyâs attempt at an attack seemed to enrage it, and it swiped at him with its claws. Thankfully, Bendy dove before it could puncture his skin.
The creature was smarter than it seemed though, it grabbed Bendy when he dove and threw him at the fence. Bendy heard something crack and it became hard to breathe. He used the fence to help him stand up. He took his pipe and tried to swing at it, but it merely swerved. Bendy heard the sliding door open and Mrs. Campbell shrieked. âBendy! What on Earth-â âMrsâŠCampbellâŠgetâŠhelp.â Bendy tried his damndest to tell her, but words seemed difficult at the moment. Thankfully it wasnât that hard to determine what Bendy wanted in that situation, and she ran inside.Â
The creature tried to go towards the sliding door, seeming to remember its original goal, but Bendy grabbed at its goopy leg. That just made it mad, and some sort of tail protruded from its skin, wrapped itself around Bendy, and slammed him into the ground. It then used its claws to pin him to the ground and take a bite out of Bendyâs side.
If he thought the shoulder bite was bad, then this was agony. He felt the full force of the creatureâs teeth into his torso. As the damn thing rose, it tore out a chunk of his skin, and he heard the disgusting sound of it swallowing a part of his body. Once again, he felt something viscous leak from the creatureâs teeth and enter his open wound. It felt like someone was pouring something acidic directly into his bloodstream. Once again, a shriek let itself out of his mouth, his throat still aching from the last scream.
*CRACK!*
It sounded like thunder. For a moment, Bendy thought that something up in the heavens heard his screams and took pity and smote the creature. For once the creature shrieked, and it was a horrible sound that made Bendyâs ears ache. It was the sweetest sound Bendy had heard tonight. The creature released Bendy and ran into the woods. Bendy heard the sound of footsteps approaching him.
âShit, what the hell was that- Stay with us son!â Bendy heard someone tell him. Now that the creature was gone, whatever energy he had to cling and try to fight the creature was dissipating, and he was drifting. He vaguely thought the person sounded like Mr. Cohen. He thought he saw another figure in his field of vision.
âItâsâŠawayâŠCampbellâŠnotâŠsafe.â He mumbled, trying to warn them not to let the creature get away, that it was Mrs. Campbell it was after. He couldnât tell if he was understood, but he saw one of them point to the other, and the other figure left. He hoped they had it covered. He wanted to try and get back up to help, but he was in too much pain. The last thing he heard was someone yelling his name.
âBENDY! BENDY! BENDY!â
âŠ
(Borisâs point of view)
âBendyâŠâ
Boris was starting to worry. He understood that this wasnât a usual job, but Bendy promised heâd be home before eleven.
It was one in the morning now.
Boris started to pace back and forth. He was supposed to be in bed by ten, but he didnât want to go to sleep without knowing Bendy was home. Something felt off. He didnât know how, but Boris knew deep down in his gut that something was wrong.
*BAM! BAM! BAM!*
Boris shook. The sound was coming from the front door.
Heâs trying to break the door down. He knows Iâm in here, he knows what I did, has he gotten to Mama-
He wrapped his arms around himself. âStop it. Thatâs over.â But that didnât change the fact that someone was at the front door. Bendy told him he wasnât supposed to open the front door when he was home alone, and the pounding made him want to stay far away from the door. But the words that came from the door gave him pause.
âOpen up! Police!â
Oh god. They knew what he did. They knew what Bendy did. They were going to separate them, they were going to get rid of him like they got rid of-
Boris took a deep breath. Spiraling into the past wasnât going to solve the current problem of the cops trying to bust down the door. If he went over peacefully and acted like nothing happened, maybe they could fix this without losing anything.
So, with the slowness of someone trying to keep calm yet the speed that the urgency of the situation called for, he walked over to the door and opened it. Two police officers were at the door. âSweet Jesus, this kidâs tall.â One of them blurted out, noticeably shorter than Boris. The other police officer, noticeably older than the short one, elbowed him in the gut. âOOMPH- The hell was that for?!â The short officer groaned. âJesus Jim! Have some decorum!â The older officer scolded.
âUm, good evening, sirs. Or good morning? Can I help you two?â Boris asked, trying his best to keep his voice polite and steady. âRight. Boris Lewek? We have someâŠunfortunate news. Itâs about your brother.â The shorter officer said, his voice laced withâŠpity? âEarlier tonight, your brother was in an accident, and Iâm afraid heâs in the hospital.â Boris stopped hearing anything after that. He could feel his heart shaking in his chest.
Everything seemed to blur after that. He remembered running as fast as he could. He couldnât think of anything else besides Bendy. He heard the officers shouting after him.
He hadnât prayed since Bendy took him in. But at that moment, he was begging anyone that would listen to let his brother be ok.
âŠ
(Bendyâs point of view)Â
The sounds of beeping were what brought him back from the depths. It was a slow rising from unconsciousness, waking up. He felt dull and slow, yet he kept waking up regardless. He slowly opened his eyes, and he saw a man in a doctorâs coat looking over a clipboard. He looked distressed, although when he noticed Bendy was staring at him, he put on a smile that didnât reach his eyes.
âHey! Thereâs the little man.â Bendy grimaced. He hated being called âlittle man.â âWhereâŠam I?â Bendy asked. âYouâre in the hospital, Mr. Stein. Mrs. Campbell and Mr. Cohen both called 911 and alerted us to your immediate need for medical attention.â The memory of what happened flowed back to his head. His hand went to his neck where that creature had bitten him. Then he realized what was more important.Â
âGood sir! There was an unknown creature harassing Mrs. Campbell!â Bendy told the doctor. âOh! You donât have to worry about that. Thanks to your efforts, the police were able to cage the creature.â The doctor soothed him. Bendy let out a sigh of relief. âGood sir, can you please tell me what on Earth that creature was?â The doctor looked uneasy at that question. âAbout that. Young man, I have some unfortunate news.â The doctor was about to tell the news, but the two of them heard a large amount of approaching footsteps.
The door was abruptly slammed open. In the doorway was none other than his little brother, looking tired and sweaty. âBenâŠBendy.â He looked terrified. Bendy didnât know what to say but simply held out his arms. His brother collapsed into them and started sniffling. âTheyâŠthey said you were in an accident⊠I was afraid you were deadâŠâ Bendy rubbed circles on his back. Then, two police officers came barging in, looking even more tired and sweaty than Boris.
âJesus Christ kidâŠwe woulda given you a rideâŠâ An older officer panted. âHow does a kid run that damn fastâŠoh my god my lungs⊠I havenât run that hard since the academy.â The shorter officer groaned. âWait. If you were gonna give him a ride, why didnât you take the car?â Bendy asked. Apparently that possibility didnât occur to them, and they moaned in agony as they realized they were idiots. And the groaning only increased when Boris pointed out they were going to have to go back to get their car.
âOfficers! I believe I told you that you couldnât come in this room!â A young nurse came storming in. âOh, is that all you did, Janet? Lightly scolded them? You have one job.â The doctor deadpanned. âMy job is to assist the patients, Doctor.â The nurse (Janet, apparently).
âAnd keeping non-family members from barging in is part of assisting them, Janet. Youâre incapable of just doing your unsaid responsibility, I always have to spell everything out for you!â The doctor snapped.
âThis is why we canât work together, in this hospital or out of it! You are incapable of communicating with me properly!â Janet snapped back. âYou want to get into this right now?! Do you have any idea what I have to tell this young man and his little brother?! Do you JANET?!â He screeched.
The room went silent at that. Boris clung to Bendy tighter. The doctor pinched the bridge of his nose. âEveryone who isn't family of my patient, get out.â The doctor declared. The officers, looking incredibly uncomfortable, walked out slowly, accompanied by Nurse Janet, who was glaring at the doctor, and shut the door behind them. Bendy asked clearly, yet with fear, what was wrong with him.
The doctor looked like he would have preferred to take what he knew to the grave, but he knew his duty as a doctor. So, with sympathy in his voice, he told Bendy and Boris something that would define the next years of their lives.
âBendy Stein, I am so sorry to tell you this, but Iâm afraid you have the Ink Illness.â
For a moment, there was nothing but silence in the room. The fear that breaking it would make the doctorâs statement true. But Bendy could keep his mouth shut. âWhat?â He whimpered, like he was a little kid. âThat creature that bit you, it was an ink monster. Itâs a mutation that can occur during stage five of the Ink Illness. At that point, the infected personâs leaked ink can infect someone if it enters their body. And when that creature bit youâŠâ he trailed off, the unsaid obvious.
âS-so, youâre saying that my brother is gonna become some sort of monster?!â Boris yelped, horrified. âOh, dear, of course not! Well, maybeâŠthat mutation is incredibly rare, so itâs not impossible but incredibly rare. Itâs more likely your brother will die normally.â The doctor said in a voice that would have been comforting if not for the content.
Then the doctorâs eyes widened. âI realize that isnât much better, huh.â âDoc, this thing entered my blood. Is there really nothing you could do to get it out?â Bendy offered, but his hope was dwindling. âIâm so sorry, son, but countless other medical professionals have tried to do what youâre suggesting. Attempting to remove the ink has resulted in people nearly dying from the loss of blood, and even then, once the ink is in your system, it simply regenerates itself.â The doctor explained.
âThere has to be something you can do to help my brother!â Boris begged. The doctor looked so saddened. âIâm sorry boys, but smarter and more skilled practitioners than me have been trying to find a cure for the Inkness for thirteen years. The closest we have come up with is a medicine that will dull the pain the illness brings. I can prescribe it to you and release you to live what time you have left, but I must advise you to prepare your will and testament. Iâm so sorry.â The doctor told them solemnly.
Bendy was feeling a nightmare mixture of emotions. He was going to die. He was going to die slowly and leave Boris on his own in this world. Because of Bendyâs own stupidity, Boris was going to be left on his own. Bendy grasped Borisâs hand to try and comfort him. He looked up but to his surprise, he didnât see sorrow, fear, or even anger in his little brotherâs eyes.
I'm not counting announcement chapters, which will be taken down once the next chapter is posted. Yes folks, we are back! This chapter is gonna be a long one, so buckle up!
(Audrey's point of view)
Audrey slowly felt her eyes open. What happened? The last thing she remembered wasâŠ
Her eyes widened. She looked down, and to her horror, she was missing both of her legs.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" She screamed in horror.
(Five minutes later)
"OkâŠok. That's enough screaming, time to get your bearings, Audrey." She told herself. Half because she had to get a grip, half because her throat stung. She had to figure out where she was. She looked around. She was surrounded by shelves and shelves of books. Ok, so she was in a library of some sorts. How did she get here?
The last thing she recalled was that she was bleeding out on the floor in Bendy's arms.
Bendy!
Thatâs right, Alice and Audrey had gone on a supply run by themselves. Audrey had her power and Alice had gone on hundreds of supply runs and come back fine. They thought they would be fine. But they were very wrong. They had gotten captured by a group of cannibalistic Lost Ones, their leader having chopped off Audreyâs legs to serve as lunch.
Bendy, Tom, and Norman came to save her and Alice. Bendy had destroyed the building they were being kept prisoner in to get to her. But she was losing a lot of ink and must have gone unconscious. Did the others bring her here?
That didn't seem likely, considering the fact that she was alone. Audrey didn't think that the others would just leave her on the floor of a library. And why would they bring her here instead of back to the safehouse. Had she been captured? That made more sense than the others bringing her here, but it didn't make sense beyond that. Why would someone capture her but not put her in a cage or tie her up? Why leave her on the floor?
And if she had been captured, then where were the others? She was with Tom, Alice, Bendy, and Norman, so where were they? This didn't make sense. Well, she wasn't going to find her answers just sitting here. She had to move. Audrey was about to stand up when she remembered that she didn't have legs anymore. So, she had to settle for crawling.
As she was crawling on the floor, she got a chance to feel the floor beneath her. But that wasnât entirely accurate. She felt the floor, but it didnât feel like anything. Normally in a library, the floor would be some sort of carpeted material, and even if this wasnât a normal library, the floor would at least feel like something. Either marble or hardwood or something that the floor was made of.
But the floor didnât feel like anything. If it wasnât for the fact that she was on it, she wouldnât have known there was a floor in the first place. By all laws, this should have been impossible. And yet, here she was.
Out of curiosity, she crawled up to one of the libraryâs shelves and felt it. She was expecting a texture of some kind, metal or wood, but she felt nothing. The shelves didnât have any sign of age or care, they simply didnât have any feeling, despite the fact she was rubbing her hand on it. Again, this should not have been happening. Something about this library felt fundamentally wrong.
Is thisâŠeven a real library? Am I still in the studio? Audrey wondered to herself. Things in the studio felt off, but they still felt like something. She felt the floors every time her feet touched them (something she wouldnât be doing anymore, she supposed) and she felt the walls, wooden or flakey wallpapered. She couldnât be in the real world either. If this didnât make sense for the studio, it absolutely made no sense for reality.
Then, Audrey remembered something from a long while ago. When her siblings had first made contact with her, she was in a whirlwind of locations, from a memory to a fake ocean made out of ink. The last thing she remembered was falling unconscious. It was entirely possible she was dreaming, and someone had pulled her into a dream location.
She let out a sigh of relief. That seemed the most likely. And if that was the case, then she wasnât actually here. Her friends didnât leave her here, they were most likely still with her body. Then another realization occurred to her; her friends were still out in the open. Even if she knew her body wasnât really in this library, she didnât know if it and her friends were safe.
She could save her relief when she knew she was safe. And if this was a dream world like before, then one of her siblings must have brought her here. She just had to find them, figure out what they wanted, and find a way to wake up.
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Thank you to @preciouslittletoonette, TKNuniversium, molten_diamonds, TheArchivedReader, MORE MORE (Guest), Problem_robot, and Useless_Anonymous (Guest) for your lovely comments, thank you to @gabrielli-191181 for beta reading, thank you to all of my lovely readers for your patience and liking, reading, and supporting the fic. and I hope you have a nice whatever time it is in your timezones!
hey everyone! I have edited chapter 11 to introduce a plot beat that will be relevant in chapter 16, so please re-read the flashback section with Sammy and the scenes after!
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