Chapter thirty-eight: The only reel

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"Don't move..." Cheyenne whispered into Dylan's ear, like he could anyway, he was frozen in fear at the sight of the Demon only two steps away from him, the only thing stopping him from tearing him apart was the glass splitting the corridor.

Through their terror, and how slow the Demon walked, they observed Bendy's features carefully as he limped by, he was covered in pitch black ink, his smile so crooked and evil looking, it seemed as if he didn't need eyes to pierce into their souls, his heavy breaths, which were growls seemed to have grown more vicious then the last time they had heard it, and his limp seemed even worse than it once was. A few seconds more and the Demon was gone, a black portal had opened up in front of him and he had disappeared through it, the two of them would of liked to say he was gone, but they knew that was not true.

"We need to go" Cheyenne said once Bendy was out of sight, "He knows" she warned as she gripped Dylan's arm and began to drag him down the corridor,

"Hey! I can walk by myself you know!" Dylan said, trying to untangle himself from Cheyenne's grip.

"Sorry" she said, "But were racing for people's lives right now, it's a big responsibility" she said, "Also I just really wanted something to hold on to" she admitted.

"Understandable but no need to break my arm and you could of just asked me!" Dylan said, rubbing the skin where Cheyenne had held it so tight.

Cheyenne let go of her friend's arm as they turned the last corner, revealing a dark sight. As their eyes slowly adjusted they saw none other than the Ink Machine, both of them, it was, as Joey would call it, awe inspiring, it was huge, and old, very old, Cheyenne guessed that it was older than the amount of times Henry had restarted the loop. It poured out the same thick, black ink that was found everywhere in the studio, and after it had been disposed of, it was kept in the giant river of ink that surround the building.
Their next obstacle.

"How are we going to get past this?" Dylan asked, "I know you can but I'll drown" he said,

"I know, I'm trying to figure out a way" she said, then she remembered the boss fight with Sammy and the projectionist. She remembered how the ink had split apart when she had touched it, making room for the Ink Demon to pass through, she wondered if she could do that now.

"I think I found a way" she said,

"Really? How?" Dylan asked, as Cheyenne got into the river,

"I'll show you now" she said, placing both of her hands into the ink. She closed her eyes and reimagined what the ink had done in the boss fight, the way it had split in two, revealing the floor underneath, she knew it had worked when she heard an impressed, "Woah" from Dylan,

"Go" she said, "I don't know how long I can hold it" she said and heard footsteps pass her when she had finished talking, followed by Dylan shout a few seconds later,

"I'm on the other side!"

She released the ink and removed her hands from the clingy substance, there was no need to  wipe her hands as they were already ink. She stared to haul herself across the river, remembering what Alison would of said if she had survived;

"Don't stay in the ink for too long as it can claim you"

She continued moving until the platform was just in reach and Dylan pulled ashore.

"Thanks" she said, getting to her feet.

"Don't worry about it" Dylan replied and turned towards the Demonic building.
They were afraid, both of them. They had never expected to make it this far, yet alone be here in the first place.

"Now what?" Dylan asked, already knowing the answer,

"Now, we go pay Bendy a little visit" Cheyenne said and marched inside, her eyes glowing yellow as she stepped through the giant doorway, her friend, her ally, by her side, following her every move.

They were ready to end this, once and for all.
They needed to end this, for everyone's freedom.
He should of ended this, to be known as a hero within this cartoon world.
He should of ended it.

As he was The End.

They continued to March down the hallway, passing incubators filled with inky versions of their friends and enemies.
This is where everyone goes when they die in this world, the dark puddles call for them when they pass away, like a buzzing, screaming well of voices. Then they are reborn as a wiggling, pussing, shapeless slug, you are just thoughts, then, this place, you are reborn as your chosen character in this dimension and have to do anything to survive.
Anything.

Another step took them closer so the place they needed to go, the place they do to go to survive, another step that echoed through the quite halls of the Ink Machine, still getting ever closer. They took the final step and were greeted with a closed door, to the side, another and the last lever. Dylan went over to it, placing his hand on the switch and pulled, the doors moved, revealing a room covered in TV screens, all playing Bendy cartoons, some were familiar while some were not, but that wasn't what they were here for, in the centre of the room on top of a staircase of gears was Joey's chair from his office, in it were two things, The sacrifice, he stared at them in shock, his body unable to move, everyone wanted to know what he looked like, but, to Cheyenne, it was like staring in a mirror. The same glowing yellow eyes, the same ink covered body and the same enthusiasm that Cheyenne had carried throughout this whole journey, she looked at his hands, the only reel chained to them, to stop him from ending this. Besides it, the head of the projectionist and an audio recording that Cheyenne knew all too well.

"Play it" Cheyenne heard him say, "Play it and end this"

Cheyenne walked up to the throne, she held no weapon, no way to protect herself from what was going to happen, but she didn't need that, she was her own weapon. She leaned over the recording, her finger inches away from the 'play' button, with a deep breath, she hit it and was met with a familiar voice:

"It's simply awe inspiring what one can accomplish with their own two hands. A lump of clay can become meaning...if you strangle it with enough enthusiasm. Look what we've built. We've created life itself Henry! Of course with a little help from our company and friends. But now it's not just in the silver screen, but in the hearts of those we entertained with our fancy moving pictures.
But...when the tickets stopped selling...When the next big thing came along...Only the monsters remained...Shadows of the past. But you can save them Henry! You can peel it all away! You see, there's only one thing Bendy has never known. He was there in the beginning...but what he has never seen is:

"The End" Cheyenne finished. She turned to Henry, still chained to the chair,
"Please" she begged him, "Make it all go away"

With the best of his ability, he held out his hand towards the girl, Cheyenne knew what she needed to do and outstretched it, taking it into her own, there was a low grumbling noise that followed and slowly, Herny's chains begins to fade away,

"The illusion of living" Cheyenne said, "It's all just an illusion. We can make it go away" she said, there another low grumble beneath them, Cheyenne's eyes widened in fear,

"He's coming" Dylan said, pulling out the Looking Eye. A few more seconds passed and Henry's hands and arms were free from the chair,

"Do it" he said to Cheyenne in her head, "Make it stop"

She took the reel from him and was just about to put it into the projector but she stopped, hearing a low growl behind her followed by muffled screams.

She turned slowly to see Beast Bendy before her, his toothy grin greeting her followed by his claw snatching away her friend and the reel, breaking it in two.

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