The Angel's Gift

The Gathering

It took some patience and listening around, but Henry was finally able to find Alice. She was hiding in one of the rooms beneath her 'She's Quite a Gal' hideout. It wasn't that easy, but he was able to come down with Norman's help. Meanwhile, Norman and the Butcher Gang were trying to find Bendy. They had to make the demented ones chase after them back to where Angel and Sammy were preparing the ritual so they could change them back.

Henry took a deep breath as his hand grasped on the doorknob. He prayed under his breath for this to be successful. Clutching the pipe he had with him, he entered the room.

It was dark and musty. Ink poured down on the floor that made his wonder why would Alice do it here? She said she hated any ink tainted. It was hard to see even. He spotted a few silhouettes of objects here and there, but kept a close eye out for any that would seem like a wolf or a woman.

"How predictable"

He flinched before a spotlight came on. He turned to see Alice, still fully demented and grinning widely at him.

"Alice, where's Boris?" he demanded. The safety of the wolf was what worried him right now.

"Oh the poor dear, he was so generous, so much more different than all the other Borises. He's been doing fine, isn't that right, dearie?"

A low growl was heard before Henry saw what became of the wolf. His eyes were in the symbolic X-marking as black ink dripped down from his mouth. His chest area had been opening up, revealing his insides past his ribs and that he lacked his heart. He had something that seemed to set him aside from all the other clones: A white, glowing hallo wrapped around his neck.

Henry resisted the urge to puke as the now-zombiefied Boris stumbled on all fours over to Alice. She then bent down to eye level to pet him as he let out what sounded like a puppy's coo. She then turned back to the human with them.

"He was such a good boy to me, giving his insides so I could be beautiful again. It didn't go so well, though. Yet I felt he deserved a reward, and since he used to belong to the Ink Demon, so I promoted him. He's now my very own personal Acolyte, aren't you, Boris?"

He muttered what sounded like a yes, though it was hard to be heard from the ink of his mouth.

Henry couldn't take it. It was so...sordid. The one being down here in this madhouse that still sane when he first encountered him was now as crazy as they were. Not only that, but he was now the pet and slave of an insane angel.

"Alice, Boris, listen to me. This doesn't have to be this way anymore"

"Well, now that you've seen that your only friend is lost, why continue to think you can still help us?" Alice cackled. "Gee, I wonder why"

"...traitor..." the wolf choked out.

The angel smiled down at her new Acolyte. "Took the words out of my mouth, pet. See, Henry, you left us all here to his whims and our own machines. You should just give up. Our means of escape is now gone as well. There's no hope. No way out. I've tried. We all have. But, then again, who's out there for us?"

Henry gathered his courage. "What about Susie?"

The angel flinched at the name. "I don't know what you're talking about"

"Susie Campbelle never forgot about you, Alice. She always said, even in her recordings, that she always felt you were connected to each other. And even when she was fired, she always thought about you. She may have a new life, but always told me how much she missed you"

The angel seemed like she was in shock as Boris looked over to her with concern. "If she did care, then why didn't she come back?"

"She didn't want to see Joey, and she said she had a bad feeling. But even when I told her I was going, she told me that if I get the chance, I should tell her angel she said hi"

Alice was at a loss for words. She didn't expect it. The day Susie left was one of the saddest days of her life. And with Allison, it just wasn't the same anymore. It even became visible in the cartoons as she seemed to have lost her happy-cheery self. Then came that day. She was hiding in one of the Toy Rooms, looking for the others when that monster form of Bendy came in and...he...

She let out a shriek of pain and anger before lunging at Henry. He was able to get out of the way just in time as she grumbled. Boris then growled in anger as he ran to her side. Henry then had no choice: he made a run for it. Sure enough, they were right behind him.

He then felt someone trying to call him through the walkie-talkie he was given. He picked it up. "Not a good time! Malice Angel and Big Bad Wolf are right on my tail!"

From the other line, Norman was running away from an angry Bendy as the Butcher Gang yelled at him to run faster as they all clambered on him. "Perfect Timing! You were right! The Ink Demon doesn't like his cutouts being destroyed!"

"I'LL SHOW YOU PERFECT!" Alice yelled as she tried to claw at Henry and Boris tried to pounce on him. They both missed.

Both men finally met up in one of the corridors. Though their pursuers didn't like to bump into each other, they were so driven by blind rage they forgot all else except for those they wanted to kill. Finally, they managed to corner them in one single room. It was dark, with very little light in it.

"Henry! Norman! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" they both called, giggling in between.

Yet, they all found they were unable to move when their legs suddenly refused to cooperate. They tried to move, but couldn't. The worst part was they were in different areas. Suddenly, the lights turned back on, and they all found they were each standing in a pentagram.

"Henry, what did you do?!" Alice yelled.

The only answer she got was seeing all of them right infront. Norman and Henry were both panting and trying to catch their breaths and the Butcher Gang tried to calm them down. Sammy just gave them some bottled water he found while a bat hovered around a small girl as she mixed something up.

"Okay, now everyone else, get into positions" Henry spoke as he caught his breath.

Everyone then nodded and followed. The mutilated members of the Butcher Gang all went into a separate pentagram each, along with Sammy. Henry then nodded as Angel walked up to Alice, startling the disfigured Toon as she stared at a familiar face.

"Susie?"

Angel giggled. "I get that a lot, Mom says I look too much like her"

Alice then registered the words.

"It'll be okay, Alice" the little girl assured her as she took out a small knife and made a small cut on her hand before letting some of the blood flow down into the pentagram beside a drawing of her old self. "We're getting you out of here, all of you"

She then walked up to Boris, who seemed to have nearly the same expression if he didn't have the dead eyes.

"Don't worry, Boris. We'll get you fixed in a bit. Just hold on" For him, she took out a gent pipe and set it beside his drawing.

Finally, she got to Bendy. The Ink Demon was glaring, but at the same time, felt alarmed.

"And Bendy, just hold on. You won't have to suffer anymore. You'll finally be freed from this place"

She set a drawing of his old self and a photograph. It was the studio's group photo, with all the staff in it. They were all smiling, all so happy. She then walked back to Henry, who had already placed the objects for the others.

For Sammy, it was his old photograph and CD of his music. To Piper, his drawing and his bowtie. A drawing and spool of his web was put infront of Fisher. Finally, an eyepatch accompanied a drawing for Striker.

Now, they were ready.