(2) Ink-surrection (BATIM/EPICMICKEY/CUPHEAD)

4- Conspiracy Theorist

Doctor P. Sherman, former dentist of 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney, sat in the dark confines of his messy house. A man, who was once crisp with class, was hunched over, studying with bloodshot eyes the months-old notice of termination from W.J. Westchester Hospital.

His encounter with Bendy was brief, but that encounter had solidified Doctor Sherman's future for the worst.

The door opened, fast enough to make Bendy flinch. It was Macie, accompanied by Doctor Sherman. He was a sturdy man, with well kept hair, and stubble on his chin.  And even though he seemed a little bewildered, and stress formed bags under his eyes, he was still attractive.

"Bendy... Right?" Dr. Sherman waited for Bendy to nod in confirmation, before continuing on, pulling up a chair. "Great, uh- My name is Dr. Philip Sherman. I'm an ER doctor here at W.J. Westchester Hospital."

Dr. Sherman waited for some sort of reaction, but Bendy gave him a blank, confused stare.

"We would like to ask you a few questions." Dr. Sherman intertwined his fingers, leaning forward menacingly...

...Dr. Sherman stared intently at Bendy, furrowing his brows in thought.

"Bendy, what-" The Doctor scoffed at himself, as if bracing himself for whatever answer he was expecting, "-What, are you?"

"What do you mean?" Bendy was left dumbstruck by the question...

"You see, when we ran a few tests, we found-" Dr. Sherman jumped out of his seat when the door swung open.

"Philip, sir I'm sorry! I tried to tell them not to-"

"BENDY, OH MY DISNEY, YOU'RE OKAY!" Oswald hooped across the room, and hugged the Lil' Devil Darlin' before he could comprehend what was happening.

The nurse, Macie, stood at the doorway, squawking on, excuse after excuse.

Soon, a whole crowd of familiar faces flooded the room with words of relief. Dr. Sherman straightened up, flattening his doctors coat with a sharp tug.

"I'll be back later, Mr. Bendy." Dr. Sherman's tone wasn't pleasant, and Bendy didn't want to imagine the conversation to follow.

Bendy wasn't around when Dr. Sherman came back, though. He had escaped, with the help of the Disney brothers, and what escaped too was the anomaly Dr. Sherman would become obsessed with.

What the Doctor had found, what he shared with the two nurses that day, was ignored. Even worse, the monster he feared Bendy to be was being protected by none other than the great Mickey Mouse. The nurses promptly moved on after Bendy and the Wastelanders escaped, in an effort to avoid any involvement in a conspiracy.

Dr. Sherman could not move on, however. Not with what he had found. That...Bendy. A toon who fell out of the sky--and won the favors of the heads of the animation empire, was a monster. A monster of murder and torture and whatever other horrors the doctor could dream up; it had to be true, for what else could explain a creature made of such a...grotesque...form. And the rabbit and mouse were in on it.

They knew--they had to--and when they learned of the Doctor's discovery they sent their pawn of a detective to put an end to it.

Yes, they sent Head Detective Dale to W.J. Westchester Hospital, and accused him of violating patient privacy--and when the Doctor frantically told the medical board what he had discovered, they called him insane--firing him from his place of work.

However, Dr. P. Sherman was never one to just give up; So the doctor locked all his doors and windows and spent the next few months combing through every piece of information on Bendy and the Disney Brothers as possible. As the clock ticked paranoia began growing on his skin like a scratchy coat, and he began making mindless accusations of mailmen and shopkeepers of being spies for the dreaded Mickey Mouse and his goons.

Soon everytoon began to steer clear of the Doctor and his house, but it wasn't enough. Dr. Sherman knew they were listening through the walls, watching through cracks in the ceiling, and recording his every thought.

Something had to be done. The Doctor had to prove them all wrong. The Doctor was right, he knew he was. He just didn't know what to do.

'They've bugged my mind so I can't think,' Dr. Sherman thought, and felt around his scalp for any sign of a metal chip.

'They've bugged me.' Sherman repeated, over and over again in his mind until it became a sort of soothing white noise.

"I've figured it out. You've bugged me." He declared proudly to the walls--that were leaning in to listen.

"I've figured it out! You can't hide it! I know! I know the truth!"

The Doctor laughed in a crazed satisfaction, studying the shadows of toons he knew were poised behind corners and counters. He continued his confrontation with a smile, for he had it all figured out. He knew they were there, but he already knew, and this made the Doctor delighted.

He chuckled darkly--a sound that was hoarse and breathy.

"Bendy. Bendy, Bendy, Bendy, Bendy." He chirped with the same hoarse voice.

"Bendy, Bendy, Bendy," Sherman stopped to laugh--rather maniacally--as he repeated the name for the walls.

"Oh--ohoho! I know all about Bendy! Bendy Bendy Bendy!"

The Doctor danced around his dark living room, announcing Bendy's name for all to hear. Sherman said it in all kinds of ways; soft, loud, silly, and serious. He stressed each syllable of Bendy's name, his mouth making unnatural shapes as he did it.

Then he tripped, over the coffee table, and into the wall. The wall shook, and down fell a mirror as good as invisible in P. Sherman's house. The sound of shattering glass halted the Doctor's celebration. On his knees, the Doctor crawled to the broken mirror that faced towards the ceiling, as if it were purposely facing away from him. He peered into it from on top, and saw something that didn't quite look like himself. It didn't look like anything--well, not anything natural.

What he saw was supposed to be a toon, but he was too human to fit in naturally with the others. In the very human eyes of this unrecognizable person, the Doctor saw himself. It wasn't the color, or the shape that was familiar, but the fire of ambition and determination.

The Doctor was never one to give up, and he didn't plan to. Whatever it took, he would see the collapse of the reign of the traitorous Disney brothers and their demon, Bendy.