(1) Ink Distortion (BATIM/EPICMICKEY)

4- Out Of Character

"Wasteland City Hospital!" Oswald yelled, hopping through the glowing projector screen. Gus followed suit, along with a special guest, who had just arrived minutes prior.

The Lucky Rabbit wasted no time getting into the hospital, where a doctor patiently waited for the three anxious toons.

"'Bout time you showed up, Mr. Rabbit. I was afraid you might've gotten hurt on the way." The doctor said in a smooth voice, chuckling at them.

"Is he awake?!" Oswald's ears perked up, like they did the last 100 times he's showed up at any sign of the demon stirring.

The rabbit bit his lip in anticipation, and the Doctor—whom purposely hesitated in replying—nodded. Oswald, without waiting for any instruction, bolted down the long, cold hallway, shouting apologies at any disturbance he was causing.

Gus and the guest started their walk down to Bendy's hospital room, not nearly as excited as the King of Wasteland was.

The doctor stopped on his way out of the hospital lobby, to greet Oswald's brother.

"Oh—And welcome back to Wasteland, Mickey Mouse."

• • •

Oswald ran head-first into the nurse, who'd just exited Bendy's hospital room, and both toons fell backwards.

"O-Oh my." The nurse rubbed the back of her head, where she hit it against the door behind her.

"Disney, I'm so sorry." Oswald scrambled to help the nurse up, only to realize the hand he was reaching for was occupied, with a white ink-stained rag.

"Why is there Ink on it?"

"Huh? Oh, Bendy's been, 'inking' lately."

"Inking?" Oswald heaved the nurse up, once she extended her gloved hand.

"Yeah-" She fiddled with the towel in her grip as she explained, "-his body seems to melt, during periods of accelerated heart rate. We... don't know why. His vitals are perfectly fine, and he's in nearly pristine physical shape. We just don't know."

"There has to be something on his records, maybe-"

"There are no records, Mr. Rabbit."

Of course. After Bendy disappeared, there was no trace of him anywhere, but still, Oswald's heart dropped.

"How do you know him, anyway?" The Nurse asked.

"He... he was an old friend. Bendy doesn't ring a bell?" Oswald felt foolish, as many toons made him feel when he still lived in disbelief over the vanishing of his best friend's existence.

"No, I'm sorry..." The nurse shook her head.

Just before Oswald was going to add something else, a voice interrupted him.

"Ozzie! I'm surprised you're not in there already?" Mickey, accompanied by Gus, finally caught up to the Rabbit.

"About that, may we..?" Oswald began.

"Of course, but be careful with startling him. He seems... anxious, to say the least."

Oswald only nodded in response, and he gently pushed the heavy door with a 'click'.

"Bendy..?" Oswald peeked his head around the large slab of wood that served as the only barrier between Oswald, and the toon who lived in Oswald's past.

Bendy was sitting upright in the hospital bed, and his sour face turned bright at the sight of his old friend.

"Well... would ya look at that..." Bendy stared in disbelief. "Long time, no see, pal."

Oswald engulfed Bendy in a hug the demon was not expecting, but gladly accepted.

"Oh, jeez, Rabbit, where ya been all my life!" Bendy exclaimed.

"I can't believe it! You're here!" Oswald hugged Bendy tighter.

"Woah, there pal, you're gonna choke me!" Oswald let go, and stood back.

"I was beginning to think you didn't exist!"

"What are you talkin' about, buddy-?" Bendy's response came to a halt, as he spotted Gus and Mickey in the doorway.

"Mouse." Bendy spat out.

"Golly, you're definitely not what I expected," Mickey jabbered, "-Not that I expected anything bad, you're not bad, it's just, well Ozzie's been talkin' about you for what seems like centuries, and we all thought you were some imaginary friend, and..." The Mouse rambled, and began sweating bullets, trying to disregard Bendy's glare.

The room fell into tense silence.

"So... Bendy, I presume you know who Mickey is-"Oswald tried to lighten up the mood, which had taken a sour turn.

"Yeah, I know who the rat is." Bendy jeered.

Oswald was taken aback by the sudden retort, and nervously glanced at Mickey, whose ears were pressed against his head.

"Bendy, what the hell was that?!" Oswald nearly yelled at him.

"What do ya mean, 'what the hell was that?' That stupid mouse replaced ya!"

"He didn't replace me! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Yeah, he did! After...And after that, I came back lookin' for ya, and you were nowhere to be seen!"

"How do you think I felt when you disappeared?!"

The argument began heating up.

"When I disappeared? You disappeared! And-" Bendy jabbed his finger accusingly towards Mickey, "-And that blasted mouse took your place!"

Mickey, even against his nature, didn't interfere. It was so out of character for Oswald to raise his voice—especially after his marriage with dear Ortensia—and Mickey found the argument, though a little disheartening, entertaining.

"You were off the grid for 30 years! Everybody thought I was insane! I thought I was insane!"

"Yeah? 30 years an' I'd been left in that damn abandoned studio, waitin' for you to come and show up!"

"Why did I have to be the one to show up?"

"Because you were the only one I had left! I was countin' on ya!"

"Oh bull-shit Bendy! You had plenty of time to come over here and prove your existence, and prove me sane!"

"Actually, I didn't, fluff-butt! Did I mention I was stuck in that abandoned studio! Stop worryin' about that stupid reputation you were all about! Glad to see you haven't changed, asshole."

Before Oswald could fuel the argument further, Gus decided to take a stand.

"Shut up!"

Both of the fuming toons turned to the gremlin.

"Oh my Disney, Oswald, he just woke up and now you're causing problems?!"

Oswald felt betrayed that his most trusted advisor was seemingly siding with Bendy. The demon smirked at this.

"And Bendy," all attention shifted from the rabbit, to the lil' devil darlin', "-You just woke up, and now you're causing problems?!"

The tension simmered down, and all four of the toons wondered in silence about their next course of action.

"..."

Silence ensued, the toons daring each other to make the first noise.

"..."

"Hey, Bends... it's nice to see you again." Oswald decided to speak first.

Bendy couldn't bring himself to glare back at him, so instead, he gave Oswald a lopsided smile, and softly said:

"Nice to see ya too, Rabbit."