Okay, so that is my fanfic for my AU - Formalink (as lazy as it is). Hope you’ll enjoy it. The chapters will not be very long and there are going to be some illustrations.
CHAPTER 1
Audrey woke up in a strange, dark place. Her head was spinning from the smell of ink coming from everywhere. She got out of the prison-like bed and, without even thinking, headed for the door. Only there she needed to go. The door was all rusted and dirty and very heavy, but that didn't matter to Audrey. All that mattered now was finding out where she was. And who is she? Audrey suddenly stopped just by the door. Tears ran down her ink-stained cheeks. She didn't remember anything. Nothing at all. "Come on, Audrey, pull yourself together," the girl encouraged herself, " Don't get upset, everything will soon fall into place," she took a deep breath and exhaled heavily, "everything will be fine". She left the room and found herself in a long corridor filled with different sounds. Something was making a noise, leaking through the pipes that hung from the ceiling and went down under the floor. Somewhere, someone was whispering in an unfamiliar language, calling. At one point Audrey thought someone was screaming. 'It's all so strange', she thought. She walked down by the corridor in search of someone in this strange place, who could help her, but she couldn't find even a single soul, although she heard voices from every corner. It seemed like they were coming from the walls, surrounding her.
Suddenly, goosebumps crawled over her skin. There were black shadows on the walls, blending with the ink, and heavy footsteps were heard just around the corner. It was clear that this someone was going exactly where the girl was. Audrey panicked and ran into the first room she found and immediately closed the door behind her, clinging to it, standing, waiting for something. Someone, or something, she wasn't sure, passed close by, growling, deep and angry. It stopped just outside the door where Audrey stood. She held her breath as if she were sure the creature could hear everything around him. Perhaps that helped, and a second later, the creature moved away from the door and continued on its way. The footsteps faded.
She was finally able to look around. The room itself was quite small. Against the wall opposite stood a single Desk, with a large number of torn papers and a single drawing on top of them. All walls were in ink and only somewhere was a visible wooden wall. The ink no longer surprised Audrey. Nothing in the world seemed to surprise her. She walked over to the table and picked up the drawing to examine it more closely. For some reason, it interested her the most. On a paper was a sketch with a small, roundish, demon in white gloves, with a bow and an even frightening and very wide smile, which did not stop the demon from looking friendly and harmless. The caption of the drawing said that is was Bendy, the dancing demon. 'Wow', Audrey thought, 'who knew demons could be cute'. She turned the paper, looking for the author's name or another sketch, but suddenly came across a letter. Audrey began to read it. It said:
'I don't know why I'm writing this. Maybe I've become so pessimistic that I'm starting to leave a trail just so someone can find it and help or just know what happened to this godforsaken Studio. It all started with an order from Joey Drew. He wanted to relive almost the mascot of the Studio - Bendy. And it wasn't supposed to be animatronics or anything, you wouldn't believe it, but it also was an idea that Mr. Drew just refused to accept. He wanted Bendy to be a living thing. Under 'living', he meant breathable and able to think independently. The people from GENT came with an "Ink Machine" made from Joey's blueprints. This machine was capable of creating creatures. Fucking magic. A fucking mystery. But it worked. And "Bendy" was created. A humanoid demon made of ink. And I don't mean he was the height of an average human, no, not only that, but he looked like a human and not at all like a chubby toon.'
Then the handwriting suddenly became almost illegible as if the author were in a hurry:
'Fuck, someone's coming, I can't continue this letter right now. Damn. Well, I'll write a continuation of this letter, but somewhere else. -S.L.'
Audrey didn't know how to react. She was scared for her life, but at the same time she wanted to know the continuation of the story, find out everything that happened in this place. And she would do anything for it. Well, almost anything - she wouldn't give her life. But she could fight someone. She put the letter in her pocket and left the room. There was no one around and it was much quieter, which was unusual. She continued on her way, quietly and cautiously. After a while, she came to a high-ceilinged passageway. A little farther on was the entrance to a barred elevator. She didn't know where it'd take her, but it was worth a try. Audrey went to the elevator. To the left from it was a stairway. It was cold. Like a draft. For some reason, it frightened her and she quickly pushed the bars and entered the elevator. She had a choice where she could go, but the floors were strangely numbered - in letters. It wasn't at all clear to someone new here. Like Audrey, for example. So she hit one of the letters at random and the elevator went down. Before the floor was completely hidden from her sight, the walls were again covered with what looked like shadows, and out of the darkness came an inhuman creature. It was very thin - its skeleton was visible through something black, like skin. The head had wide horns and the face was hidden behind the ink, that merged down from it. Only his terrible, wide smile was visible. He reminded Audrey of a dancing demon. Or what came of trying to revive him.
Loops
The room that Audrey and Sammy entered to catch up with the rest of the group was huge. There were papers everywhere, bits of wood, and barrels full of ink or water. It was very bright, unlike other parts of the Studio. There was a wide table in the middle, littered with more garbage, including cans of bacon soup. Audrey and Sammy joined the others. They gathered around the table and waited for someone. Wally and Tom greeted them both. Allison gave them a disappointed, rough look. At the head of the table stood a broad-shouldered man in a thick jacket. His hair was grey, and his face was covered with untidy stubble. His eyes were brown, but they looked almost yellow in the light. "It must be Henry," Audrey thought, and so it turned out. The man greeted the newcomers and introduced himself to Audrey. The first thing he asked was about her appearance.
"I thought you could answer that question. To me, she looks like a half-Lost One. Can ink affect her like this?", Sammy asked. He was still concerned about this issue.
Audrey was standing at his side, and she could see half of his face under the mask. His face was as inky as his body. He had hair, but it didn't look real at all, like it was plastic. And also in ink. His eyes were Golden. And infinitely sad.
"You may be right, Sammy. "
The man examined the girl. He knew exactly who was standing in front of him, but he didn't know if she remembered him. He would have been incredibly pleased.
"Do you remember anything? Before you got... here." Audrey shook her head. Henry exhaled. "All right... We’ll talk about it later. Are you here for something else?" Allison nodded and nudged Audrey.
"Give him your letters."
"What?! I'm not going to do this!", she protested. "Since when did I obey you?"
She didn't want to let some strange woman control her just because no one else does. That is, just like that. Sammy pulled Allison away from Audrey.
"What's gotten into you? What are this letters?"
The girl recoiled from him.
"Your letters, as far as I know."
The man looked at her in disbelief. Audrey trusted Sammy, so she gave the letters to him. The woman tried to snatch them away, but the man took them faster. He quickly read what was written on the first letter.
"I don't remember writing this... Did you find anything else?" The girl nodded.
"Right before you found me. There was a dictaphone in that room with recording of your voice. You told me that you taught Bendy to talk. With certain Susie."
Everyone stared at them both. Especially Henry. He never found notes from other workers. Maybe he just hadn't been where Audrey was, or maybe he wasn't looking as closely.
"If these notes and letters are still here, then they were made after the Studio turned into a living nightmare. Isn't it?", Tom turned to Henry. The man nodded at him.
"Records are made by those who want to remember something after a "Loop" happens. The Loop is a repetition of the same event. Records are made in order to remember everything that happened before, in the last loop, so as not to forget everything. That's why I remember everything. Records remain regardless of whether you started over or not. Everything that was there before the Studio flooded was gone. All that you see now, appeared only after. These recordings were about something that was before the Studio. This is not entirely possible."
Audrey looked back at Sammy. He understood as much as Audrey did. Nothing at all.
"It could be someone trying to confuse us."
Allison hissed. Tom pulled her back, trying to calm her down, which didn't work very well.
"No, of course, Sammy could have left it, but then only in the first loop."
"It doesn't make any sense. Why make entries only in the first loop, and then do nothing?", Wally asked.
No one understood anything anymore. Sammy personally wanted to get away from here. There had never been so much attention around him, and he didn't really want to change that. If he changes the subject, everyone will immediately understand why. Allison would put more pressure on him and Audrey, and Henry would continue to discuss this. He just hoped that soon they would understand the reason and everything would be better.
Wally, Tom, Henry and Allison continued to talk about records and Audrey, while she and Sammy sat on one of the barrels.
"Who the hell is that Susie?", the girl finally broke the silence.
"As If I still knew", the man exhaled and removed the mask, twisted it and began to examine it. He didn't like to show his face, but the others don't look, and Audrey seems to be the only one who can understand everyone. "I have already found such audio, from my narrative. I thought someone was making fun of me. You see, the dictaphone was lying where it wasn't last night. Just appeared out of nowhere", Sammy looked at the girl.
His eyes glowed white instead of gold. Maybe it's the lighting again.
"What was there?" , The man turned away again.
"Get ready to hear everything. I listened to it so often to see what it might mean, that I learned what it said."
He took a deep breath and began to speak:
"Joey wants to kill Bendy. But, of course, there is no reason", the man thought a little, remembering what happened next. "He didn't bother anyone. Never. I asked Bendy. Of course, to do this, he had to talk to me through ink. He said Joey didn't like what happened. He wants to replace Bendy, create a perfect one."
Sammy paused, as if suddenly realizing something.
"Bendy says he can't do it. But... what the hell happened next... hm... Here. Joey can do anything"
The man put the mask back on and started talking under his breath, as if the next words were something bad.
"I'll try to convince him. I think I can do it, " Sammy breathed. For some reason, his voice was shaking. Perhaps from fear, or perhaps from something else... "We're after all supposed to be... close... right?... "
He stopped and turned away. Audrey didn't know what was wrong. It seems to be something on a personal level.
"And then someone knocked on the door. There was a fight, or something similar. A strange voice was asking where Susie had gone."
"The one you taught Bendy to talk to!"
Sammy nodded.
"It said that Joey Drew told some employee to pick her up. On that note, both I and the other person left. After a while, the tape stopped recording on itself."
Audrey leaned against the wall. Is someone trying to remind Sammy of his past? This was the first thought that had occurred to her, even from the moment he had noted that the recording had appeared out of nowhere.
"What do you think happened to Bendy? In audio and letters, he is described as good, but here..."
"The thing that goes around the Studio and terrorizes everyone it touches is definitely not the Bandy that was mentioned there, Yes." The man got up and stood in front of the girl. "This audio said that Drew wanted to replace him. Maybe the Ink Demon is an attempt to replace the Benevolent Bendy?"
Audrey giggled at Sammy's name for the Demon. Benevolent. Good name.
"Sounds logical"
Wally was standing behind him. He smiled.
"How long have you been standing here, puppy?", the man turned to him. Wally rolled his eyes.
"I just came up, I just heard about your theories and that's it. As it is, I wanted to say that we are already leaving." The guy turned to Audrey. "And Henry wanted to talk to you." The girl nodded.
"And where are we going? Back to a safe place?", Sammy asked. The boy shook his head.
"Search For Alice."
The man looked at him questioningly, waiting for an explanation.
"She left before we got here. Probably looking for Joey Drew again. She must be returned."
"Is Joey Drew alive?" Both Wally and Sammy shrugged.
"That's why she's looking for him. To find out", Wally answered.
"And if he's alive, kill him", Sammy continued.
How friendly they all are in this place. The girl sighed, resigned to precode her new friends. It is not clear where they’ll search for Alice, but there are a lot of people in here, so they can be divided if that.
While everyone was already on their way to find Alice, Audrey still needed to talk to the leader. Henry was waiting for her at the same table. He was recording something, but when the girl came closer, he stopped recording and smiled at her.
"You must be confused, right?" The girl nodded, smiling back at him. "You still haven't told me your name."
"Oh, shit, I'm sorry." The man laughed. "My name is Audrey", she said.
Henry suddenly seemed to wake up.
"Audrey?" The girl nodded. "That's it, huh?... That's my daughter's name", he mentioned.
It was obvious from his face that he missed her incredibly. It's probably awful to realise that your daughter is out there, alone, without a father. And he can't even get out of here. Wally mentioned something like that. The Studio, or the ink itself, seems to tighten, lure. This is crazy. Perhaps just some sort of excuses. Although, they probably would not have created excuses not to leave this place. No one would want to stay here for more than a couple of hours. Especially considering the Ink Demon.
"You probably also want to know why you look like this?" The girl nodded. "Well, my theory is this. When you were in the first loop, you got caught in the ink and it started working, turning you into a Lost One." He saw the question on her face. "The Lost Ones are the employees of the Studio, which had not turned into a toon. They're covered in ink and they have Golden eyes, just like you."
"And Sammy." The man nodded.
"But after the first loop, you remembered what ink can do. Maybe not in general, but subconsciously, but this is already great, and the ink stopped spreading after, because there wasn’t enough to cover you whole after the first Loop" Henry smiled again.
Audrey smiled back at him. Something about the man's smile was warming.
He straightened up and put his hands on his hips as he looked at Audrey.
"Any other questions? I don't really know what else to talk about with you. I just wanted to explain the situation about your appearance to you a little bit." He let out a chuckle.
The girl shook her head.
"Then I suggest you catch up with the others. They must be far away by now, and Alice must not be left alone. You never know what she might do."
Audrey left the room and looked around the hallways. She didn't know where to go first. The girl clutched the part of the pipe that Henry had given her when she left. At least she had something to throw in the face of the Ink Demon before running away from him. She let out a breath and walked forward. She was again accompanied by whispers, joined by soft singing. She couldn't quite make out the words of the song, but it was about sadness and loneliness. She wondered how long all these people had been here. It feels like time has stopped within the walls of the Studio. Everyone lives for today, not knowing if they will live to see tomorrow, but still fighting. But against whom? Against Joey Drew or the Ink Demon? Or both of them? Or against... Benevolent Demon? Why would anyone want to go against him? He seems to be one of the good characters in this story. She didn't know what anyone wanted to achieve here. Personally, she wanted to know more.
The girl looked into various rooms and offices, not so much in search of Alice as in search of new letters and audio recordings. The singing got louder and louder and she could finally hear what the song was about. The singing came from the farthest room in the corridor. Audrey was afraid to go there, but still succumbed to the temptation of curiosity and went at the call of singing. The voice was deep and masculine. It echoed against the walls, making it even louder. Audrey went to the room where the singing was coming from. She tried her best not to signal her presence, so as not to accidentally startle the singer, but the floor in the Studio wanted the opposite. There was a too-loud creaking sound under her feet, and the singing stopped. Audrey cursed the wooden floor in her head.
"Who's there?"
She held her breath, as if that would help. Nothing followed the question, as well as the singing. Even the whispers faded away. Audrey didn't know what to do, and she didn't dare leave. Suddenly, the door began to open slowly. There was nothing to be seen beyond it - complete darkness and even the light in the corridors could not illuminate it.
Curiosity killed the cat.
Audrey entered the room slowly and carefully, holding the piece of pipe in front of her, just in case. As soon as she crossed the threshold, the door slammed behind her and she found herself in pitch darkness, but it didn't last long. The darkness, which turned out to be something resembling ink, spread out across the room, soaking into the cracks in the walls and opening up a view of the walls themselves and what was in the room. The floor was covered with drawings. Flowers, sun, different clouds, mountains. The drawings were similar to children's, but they made a good landscape. In the middle of it all, a small umbrella was drawn, outlined in white chalk, as if this drawing should be quite neutral. Audrey moved closer, examining each drawing as if it meant something.
"Who are you?", someone asked her.
She looked around in fright, wondering how she could have missed someone here. But there really wasn't a soul around.
"My name is Audrey... I'm kind of new here.. ", the girl replied, trying not to sound scared. She could hear her heart pounding.
"Audrey, you say... I really don't know you. Which is strange. I know every damn soul in this place", the voice continued to converse with her, still not revealing who it was.
The girl again looked around in an attempt to find at least some hint of the person with whom she was talking, but not finding anyone, continued the conversation.
"Who are you? And where are you? ", she asked. There was a chuckle in response.
"You don't know me and you don't need to know me. I'm happy to meet you, but I think you need to move on, " he replied. This answer did not satisfy Audrey.
"I'm afraid I won't leave until you answer me"
The voice was silent. Something began to creak behind her. She turned around. The door opened slowly. The hint is understood, but not accepted. The girl turned back, ignoring the stranger's suggestion. The silence continued. The stranger didn't want to show himself, and Audrey didn't want to wait or leave.
"Well... I see you've already joined Sammy's company. Just as stubborn as him."
This was not what she had expected to hear. Anything but a comparison with Sammy.
"You know, I haven't seen him in a long time... I know that he constantly meets the Ink Demon and fights with it, but he forgets to visit me..."
Has he decided to vent right now? Audrey couldn't find a connection between this stranger and the Demon. He went on, getting quieter and quieter, as if he were ashamed, talking about how everyone had abandoned him and forgotten, and all he was doing from now on was guarding something. He hasn't spoken to anyone for so long that he's slowly starting to become mute again.
Again?
"You still haven't said who you are", Audrey reminded him.
The stranger paused in his monologue. Something began to creak again, as if someone was shifting from one foot to the other, hesitating before answering. There was a loud exhalation. The stranger muttered something under his breath, but still answered:
"I don't have a specific name. Everyone addresses me differently "
A black figure began to appear from the wall. The first thing that appeared was a head with two sharp horns that dripped ink.
"Some call me a nonentity, not worthy to exist here, interfering with their plans," he laughed to himself.
The next thing the girl saw was a torso with a white bow on the collarbone.
"Others say I'm a Defender, a Guardian."
Then two hands reached out to Audrey. One with a white glove, and the other with long claws. The girl started to walk away slowly, trying not to scream.
"First I had to be Bendy."
Before her now stood the Ink Demon. But its shape was more human. He was just a thin man, tall, and with horns. The ink dripped over his eyes and only his mouth was visible. No ink dripped from other parts of the body. It's like he just has very black skin, just like Lost Ones.
"Sammy and Susie called me Benny", he smiled sadly, "From the word Benevolent."
[MASTERPOST WITH ALL CHAPTERS]
