Blood and Ink

Chapter 24

Joey wasn't intimidated by Kate's anger. Even with Aiden and Lukas angrily glaring at him to, he still wasn't intimidated. Instead, he kept a calm, collected smile as he showed his face.

"Hello everyone," he said.

"What do you want with us, Joey? Why did you bring us here?" Lukas angrily asked him.

Joey only chuckled, as if their anger was a joke. He approached them slowly, not caring that Aiden and Lukas were armed with a crowbar and a pipe.

"Really, I only needed Mrs. Staples here. But with you two, Aiden and Lukas, the more the merrier," said Joey.

"What do you need with me then?" Kate sneered at him.

"I know what you can do. I've heard about what you are capable of doing with this power of yours. Turning dreams into a reality. And I'm sure you know very well that I believe that dreams come true," said Joey.

"You say that, but everything in this studio isn't a dream, Joey! Everything that you created here is nothing but nightmares!" shouted Aiden.

"You hurt so many people! You hurt Bendy and his friends!" said Lukas.

"You aren't wrong about that. The Ink Machine was my last chance to save the studio. I wanted to create living beings of my cartoon characters, and after so much trial and error, I finally created them. All it took was some specific rituals, the machine, and the perfect images of the three of them. Had to take the finalized sketches of the characters from the original creator, which was the final puzzle piece," said Joey.

"So why did you lure me here when you already got what you wanted?!" said Kate.

"I didn't get what I hoped to achieve. I wanted to save my company, but I didn't achieve that with just simply creating Bendy and the others. As some of my employees began to leave, since they knew that the place was going bankrupt, I had to make sure they couldn't leave," said Joey.

"You turned them into the ink monsters we've seen! Norman, Sammy, Susie, all of them! They're all gone because of you!" said Aiden.

"We've had to fight them off to survive through this hell that you've created!" shouted Lukas.

"I couldn't let them leave. I had to do what was right," said Joey calmly.

'He's lost his mind if he thinks that it was right to corrupt people with this evil ink!' thought Kate.

"But despite that, my studio still got shut down. I was forced to leave, but not before I told Bendy, Boris, and Alice that if they wanted to leave with me, they had to help me in my new plans to make a comeback. And when they refused, I made sure that they would stay right here in the studio. That way, when the timing's right, I can come back for them," said Joey.

He pointed at Kate and said, "And you, Dreamer of Peace, are the right timing. I need your help."

"Why on earth would I ever help you?! You're a liar! You hurt so many people through your plans with the Ink Machine! The only real monster in this studio is you!" Kate shouted. She hugged Bendy as she shouted, making the little devil stir a bit more.

"That's where Aiden and Lukas were originally going to come in. I have read some of your written works, yes indeed. I've heard about how you worked with them. Seeing as you all are good friends, I figured I could have them come along, serve as a bargaining chip in case things didn't go as planned. But as you were all working to get out of my studio, I saw that there was a better bargaining chip, not just for you Mrs. Staples, but for both of you gentlemen to," said Joey.