Strange Ones: Volume 3

A Familiar Face For Two

With his red eyes wide, Bendy slowly turned his head around to see who was standing behind him. He flinched once his eyes were looking at a teenage girl with snow-white hair in a braid dressed in a red skirted top with black jeans and boots. Her eyelids were coated with red eye shadow and around her two ring fingers were black rings. Her black, knee-high boots were fixed with silver buckles. Bendy was speechless, and he sensed a suspicious aura within the girl's soul.

"Uh," Bendy said, tugging at the collar of his shirt. "Hello."

"Hello." The girl spoke, making him realize that she was the source of the voice.

"How long were you standing there?" He grinned nervously.

"I couldn't help but listen to that wonderful singing of yours. It brought me to infatuation and I wanted to hear more of it."

"You...liked my singing?"

"Definitely."

Bendy let out a nervous chuckle. This girl is starting to freak me out, I swear! He thought. "I usually don't get complimented for my voice by someone. In fact, you're the first one."

"Am I?" The girl raised an eyebrow and got a nod from him. With her grin growing wider, she placed a hand on his cheek and said. "Looks like you have made yourself a new friend."

"I...did?"

The girl nodded and said, "So, what's your name, darling?"

Bendy flinched. He, in his entire existence, was never given a nickname. He was usually the one giving away nicknames, but he was never given one in return. Not even a single girl called him "darling", so she was the first to do so. Bendy couldn't tell if that girl was really interested in him or is only playing with his emotions just for fun.

"M-M-My name?" Bendy stuttered.

The girl nodded before she slowly leaned into him, her face almost touching his own.

"Uh..."

Suddenly, a loud gasp was heard nearby. Bendy and the girl turned their heads to find Weiss standing two feet away. Beside her was Lloyd and Pinkie. Weiss and Lloyd had wide eyes on their faces while Pinkie just had a surprised look on her face. The trio of friends began to approach the two and the eyes of the demon-like teen began to widen again.

"Guys!" Bendy hollered. "It's not what it looks like, I swear!"

Once the trio got closer, in perfect unison, Weiss and Lloyd looked at the girl and said, "Harumi?!"

The girl known as Harumi jumped away from Bendy, who was already dumbfounded. He then looked at Pinkie, who was giving him a confused shrug.

"And what are you doing here?" Weiss gave her a glare and crossed her arms.

"I should be saying that to you." Harumi said, giving her a stoic look before looking at Lloyd and Pinkie. "Looks like you brought along an old friend and a new one. How's it going, sweetie?"

"I'm not your sweetie!" Lloyd yelled.

"You were my sweetie. And what happened next?" She put on a smirk. "Did you decide to move on with my rival?"

Both Lloyd and Weiss flinched, their faces already turning pink with embarrassment. Meanwhile, Bendy and Pinkie's confusion began to grow even more. They just watched as the three just spoke to each other.

"We are not a thing!" Weiss shouted and the cheers of the cafe died down.

Noticing this, the snow-haired Mimic turned her head at everyone who in the cafe. They were all looking at her, some with raised eyebrows while others with wide eyes on their faces. This made Weiss silent as well, but she made a gesture at them, telling them that everything was okay. They all got the message and got back to what they were doing before. She placed a hand on her face and walked out of the cafe while her head shook back and forth. Lloyd, Bendy and Pinkie watched her go off. But then, they turned back to Harumi, who was examining her nails.

"And just what are you doing here?" Lloyd demanded to know.

"I'm just here with my mentor." Harumi answered. "He...decided that we will both take a day off on my training by going to the Strange Games."

Bendy cringed, feeling even more suspicious with her presence.

"You should be going now." Lloyd put a stoic look on his face.

"If you insist." The girl huffed and began to walk away. "Don't forget, Lloyd Garmadon. I'll be around."

Lloyd's right hand turned into a fist when Harumi gave him a wink. The trio kept looking at her until she was out of the cafe. After she was gone, the energy Elemental let out a sigh and sat on a nearby chair next to Bendy. Pinkie sat down as well, and both she and the short Monster had a lot of questions to ask.

"Uh," Bendy clicked his tongue. "You know her?"

"She was my ex-girlfriend before Alex and the other humans showed up on our island a while back." Lloyd placed his head on the table. "She is also's Weiss' rival for some odd reason."

"Weiss has a rival and she didn't tell us?" Pinkie's blue eyes widen.

"She doesn't like to talk about it unless if she's around me." He looked up at the others. "We've known her ever since I was fifteen."

Bendy looked at the table with a blank expression on his face. It didn't take long for either Lloyd or Pinkie to notice his current look.

"Are you okay, Bendy?" The blond Elemental raised an eyebrow.

"Dude," The short teen looked at Lloyd. "Your ex-girlfriend was flirting with me."

"You didn't tell me you had an ex-girlfriend." Pinkie gave him a glare.

"What was I supposed to do? Take it for granted or something? Heck no!" Lloyd sighed. "What matters now is that I don't need her."

The pink-haired Rogue smirked. "I bet you have Weiss now."

"Dude," He looked at her. "Stop that."

Suddenly, Pinkie let out a loud laugh that made her put an arm over her stomach and fall out of her chair. As she laughed, both boys looked at each other, each one with raised eyebrows on their faces. Bendy and Lloyd didn't know what else to say about Pinkie's response.

~~~~~

At the Delta Base, Alphys was walking down the hallway until she stopped at the Secret Room. She was currently tasked to check on Chara's health to make sure that her soul was intact. From the moment she grabbed the doorknob, she slowly twisted it until the door swung open. The lizard carefully walked in to find a preteen girl dressed in a blue gown lying down on a hospital bed. After she closed the door behind her, she hesitantly approached her and once she reached her bed, she turned to a monitor that showed an image of her heart-shaped soul. Alphys sighed in relief once she heard the monitor beeping repeatedly.

"Good." She nodded and began to write down the patient's status on a piece of paper on a clipboard.

When she was finished, she began to walk up to the door. But before she could reach it, she heard a tired moan behind her. Alphys turned her head around to find Chara's body. The lizard went to approach her again before she noticed the girl's right arm move and her eyes opening slowly. All she could do was let out a loud gasp of surprise. She had to report this to Asgore right away!