This Inky Hell (A Multipath BatIM Fanfiction) [Completed]

(Sammy's Path) 5 - Lioness's Wrath

"Come on, come on!" Henry swiped the last ink blob from the rutter, quickly pushing the boat forward as the giant menacing hand splooshed behind him, he could see the light at the end of the tunnel, he was almost there. With a final stretch, he was home free, and collapsed onto his behind with a heavy sigh of relief. Tom and Allison had left him behind, the thought stung, though he quickly pushed it away. They had some explaining to do when he found them again. The boat bumped against an old and dishevelled dock, and he quickly made his way out, reluctantly trudging forward. This place looked like a town, lost ones all gathered around the sides of the clearing, reminding him of Natalie. Where was Natalie now? He hoped she was safe somewhere, he never saw her again after Sammy had dragged him off to be sacrificed. Then again, maybe he should have looked for her before continuing on, they might just still be together.

His eyes travelled up to a large sign, the words 'NOT MONSTERS' painted in a thick font with bolded letters. The doorway underneath was boarded up, and a light on the inside shone against the far wall, reminding him of the fate of that poor creature a few days ago. Some of the lost ones whispered amongst each other, all eyes on him as he made his way to the door, peering inside of the darkened room. A startled yelp left his throat as a projector light beamed down on him angrily, an angry and intent screech leaving the creature. The projectionist was back?! An axe cut through the wooden boards like butter, and the very familiar mask of Sammy Lawrence entered his vision, the man growling as he stepped out.

"Betrayed, abandoned!" another creature stepped out from behind him, but it wasn't the projectionist. What... What is that thing?! It had a projector for a head, yes wires too. But the creature itself was smaller in frame, a bit shorter. No speaker was evident, but something else caught his attention, and Sammy didn't wait for his words. "She trusted you, she gave you every chance, but you destroyed it all!" Henry stumbled back, fear and confusion increasing tenfold as he narrowly dodged an axe. Natalie, or... What used to be Natalie, was on him instantly, and he rolled to the side to avoid the bat being brought down on him.

He was outnumbered, and he would need more than a pipe to take them down. He ran to the other side of the clearing, a plan in mind, and Natalie was behind him immediately, her projector head clicking in his ears making it hard to focus. Something snagged the back of his shirt, and a hardy thunk resonated with a sudden pain in his shoulder. She wasn't on his side. He dove forward, and Natalie was sent flying into the river of ink with a heavy splash, her shrieking cut short. Sammy's voice sounded behind him.

"Noo! You fool!" he yelped, scrambling to his feet to avoid another hit. With one down, the fighting was even, and he had a chance. Sammy called after him, speeding up his pace. "Don't you see the damage you've caused?! No more games!" Sammy sounded enraged, and had begun chasing him in circles around the clearing. The lost ones watched on silently, as if waiting for something to happen. Henry, you can't run forever, fight back! He came to a stop at the thought, turning around and bringing his pipe down on Sammy's shoulder. Sammy seemed too enraged to care, only leaving a deep gash in his arm, and making him recoil.

Henry remembered the words Natalie had told him, diplomacy. He heaved gently, sprinting to the side and calling out to Sammy. "Look, we can talk about this!"

"We are beyond words! Now come here and put your face in my axe!" well, he can't say he didn't try and talk. Henry brought the pipe down on Sammy's shoulder again, attempting to get him to let go of his weapon, but Sammy only swung his axe again, and Henry narrowly avoided the blade, running to a different part of the clearing. An inky figure slowly pulled itself out of the river, her light flickering angrily as she sloshed around for her weapon. The other two paid no attention to her, continuing their dance as Sammy kept weaving poetic violence.

"Why won't you just die?! You've done more damage than good!" Henry brought his pipe down on Sammy's head, and his mask went flying, clattering to the ground nearby. "No! Don't look at me, stay away!" Sammy was quick to cover his face, running off to the center of the clearing and staying there. Henry looked around for Natalie, she was nowhere to be seen. Oh God... Did I... Did she drown? He decided now would be a good time to try and talk things out, slowly approaching Sammy as he called out.

"Can we talk now?" he stopped in front of the composer, awaiting a response. Sammy lunged forward, grabbing a hold of henry's neck with a satisfied sigh, squeezing roughly and making him choke.

"You pathetic fool. You're responsible for her pain." her pain. Natalie's pain? How was he responsible? He should have looked for her, he should have... His thoughts returned to the projectionist. She was wielding his head, wearing his head, like a reminder. He thought of the way he shot the projectionist on level 14, it was out of self defense, but the projectionist only attacked him to defend his lair. When the projectionist showed up again during his rescue mission for Boris, he was angry. Rightfully so. Natalie must have saved him, and to lose him again in such a short amount of time...

It really was his fault. Sammy threw him to the ground, bringing him back to reality and continuing his speech. "Well I'm going to make it all better now. By freeing YOUR HEAD RIGHT OFF YOUR SHOULDERS!" this was it. Sammy picked up his axe, and Henry saw Tom in the corner of his vision, slowly creeping up with his own axe. "Sheep sheep sheep, it's time for..." his speech was cut off by the angry screeching of the fallen one, and he noticed Tom struggling with his attacker from behind. Natalie's bat was pressed against his neck, she was choking him. Sammy sent him a final glance, pressing his foot to his stomach to prevent him from fleeing as he watched Natalie and Tom tussle.

"Tom!" it was Allison who called out, making herself known as she ran over to help. It looks like things weren't going their way, because Allison couldn't find an angle to attack at without hurting Tom. Tom was quick to break from her grasp, leaving Natalie outnumbered as she did her best to deflect an axe, while a machete sliced through her arm. Sammy growled half-heartedly, releasing Henry to aid his friend, and leaving Henry to shuffle away and watch the fight. A pipe would be no use in this scenario.

An enraged scree left Natalie, and she was quick to bring her bat over Tom's head, making him stagger back with a muted cry while Sammy kept Allison busy with a swing to the leg, making her grunt as she failed to evade. She reciprocated the damage, bringing her machete down on his shoulder, and earning Natalie's attention, thus giving Tom a chance to slice a clean cut through her arm, and severing one of the wires protruding from her new head. A garbled screech came from her, and she brought a clawed hand down on his face.

They were tearing each other apart, and there was nothing he could do but watch. Allison called out to him, her voice cracking with pain. "Henry! Move forward, we'll meet up wi-nngh!" Sammy took her distraction for granted, leaving a ragged wound clean through her side and making her stumble. He needed to finish this, he couldn't stick around and wait. He scrambled up, making a dash for an open gateway, and leaving the fight behind...

. . . .

Four inky figures lay limp and exhausted, broken and bleeding in the town of the lost ones. Allison's raspy breathing was accompanied by Natalie's ragged and quiet screeching, Sam and Tom had already died, their inky blood creating a pool that stretched to Allison and Natalie. Allison turned her head, panting quietly, and meeting Natalie's light. They stared at each other.

"Hah... Quite the fight... If we weren't... On opposite sides... We'd make some... Pretty badass friends you... And I..."

Hhh...

Henry stood in front of the ink demon's throne, alone. This was it, he had nothing left, and if he died taking the ink demon down, then so be it. He pushed play on the audio log, slowly seating himself in the chair and listening to Joey's explanation for this whole mess. He thought about what would have happened had he just searched for Natalie instead of fleeing like a coward, leaving her to think he'd abandoned her. Surely things would be different?

But he's never seen...

"The end..."

But what if we go back to the start, and try something different?

(Return to chapter one)