Chapter Text
Despite how terrible the current cycle was, Henry was relieved that the endless loops were over, at least for the moment. It had been like running on a hamster wheel. No matter how fast he’d run or how hard he’d tried to fight against the flow, he’d never gotten anywhere. He’d always ended up falling into the same patterns, following the same steps. Despite the occasional variation, nothing had ever changed.
Now, though, he could actually get somewhere. The rules had changed. The script was gone. They could actually make some progress.
“You truly think this is better?” The Ink Demon had asked incredulously after Henry had made some passing comment about preferring the current situation. “Running and hiding like rats while that monster hunts us?”
They were in the Little Devil Lounge, with the Ink Demon in his smaller form, sitting on one of the tables while Henry leaned against another.
“I didn’t say that,” Henry replied calmly as he picked up a stale donut from the table. “I said it was different, and that’s good. We can make progress now. We can fight back better than we used to.”
The Ink Demon grumbled a bit, but even he had to concede that it was true. Fighting Wilson was difficult, but it was far easier than fighting back against Joey’s near-godlike power over the script had ever been.
“So.” Henry took a bite of the donut, spilling crumbs down his shirt. “What do we want to do next? Do we want to hit the mansion again? We already have that way in. We could take down a Keeper and try to take it apart.”
Breaking into Wilson’s manor had been quite fun, although the Tesla coils had been a pain in the ass, especially given that it was harder to destroy them when he and the Ink Demon were separated and the Ink Demon was in his small Bendy form.
“Knowing how they work might be useful,” the Ink Demon agreed. “However, what use would that knowledge be without some way to use it?”
“We could use it to figure out how to take them down easier,” Henry said, absentmindedly brushing the crumbs off his shirt. “Maybe some of the machinery could be shorted out.”
“We would need electricity for that,” the Ink Demon pointed out. “We lack a weapon with electricity.”
Henry clicked his tongue in frustration, his brow furrowing as he folded his arms.
“Don’t sulk,” the Ink Demon teased, smile widening.
“I’m not sulking.” Henry rolled his eyes. “I’m thinking.” Because he knew the Ink Demon was right. Most of the time when the two of them were fighting, they just used their combined monstrous form, but Henry did occasionally employ a pipe since his trusty ax had been confiscated.
“Isn’t there a scythe that appears sometimes?” He asked after a minute or two of thought.
“There is,” the Ink Demon said, his own brow furrowing. “However, I have no idea where it might be in this iteration.”
“We could probably get Tom to build something like that for us,” Henry suggested.
The Ink Demon let out a growl, his adorable features briefly distorting. “We are not asking him for help. He is a traitor.”
Henry sighed. “Alright. If you say so.”
He would have liked to make some more allies, but if the Ink Demon wasn’t comfortable with further collaboration, then he wasn’t going to force him. They were a team now.
Suddenly, his attention was drawn away from the current conversation by the feeling of the machine turning on and… something entering the studio. He looked at the Ink Demon, who had stood up on the table, the ink above his eyes beginning to melt.
“Someone’s here,” Henry said, his voice low.
“We must investigate,” the Ink Demon said.
Henry nodded, gathering the Ink Demon up in his arms and letting the smaller creature melt into his own ink before making his way toward where he’d felt the presence.
This loop was shaping up to be an interesting one, that was for certain.