Mika and Bendy watched as (Y/n) rounded the corner, disappearing deeper into the studio. They tried calling her name, trying to stop her, but the young woman was too pained to care. She was blinded with the truth. And Mika knew that. She knew this would happen right from the beginning. A child should never be separated from their mother. Mika tried telling Susie this, attempting to adopt (Y/n) before she was even born, but her sister is foolish and is an asshole.
It's too dangerous, Susie said, Joey could find out, Susie said.
Joey could fuck off for all Mika cares. Nothing would've ever harmed (Y/n) if Susie had just listened and let her sister help. Mika would've taken good care of her niece, more than what Henry and Linda could. (Y/n) would've been sure she was loved, and not stripped from all happiness.
But that scared selfish, bratty Susie didn't listen!!
Suddenly Mika was snapped out of her thoughts, as Bendy shoved her out of the way, "(Y/n)!!!"
He was about to chase her, but Mika's voice stopped him, "Bendy, wait."
He skidded to a stop, glaring at Mika.
"She's gone.."
That made him break down. The inky devil collapsed onto the floor, letting out a sorrowful cry, tears streaming down his face. Mika immediately went over to comfort him. She kneeled down at his side, nuzzling his arm until he wrapped his arms around her and cried onto her shoulder, "Why...Why is this happening to me.? I-I'm happy for a short while, and then it just leaves!" Bendy sobbed out, digging his claws into Mika's back. The cartoon cat winced, but let him take his anger out. Part of her wished she could do that. Part of her wished she could fucking kill her piece of shit sister.
"Everyone always leaves me!!" His claws dug deeper into her back, to which made her yelp in pain. He flinched, looking at her guiltily, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" He hugged her even tighter, sobbing uncontrollably, "I'm sorry!!!!!"
"Bendy it's fine! Just stop squishing me!" Mika squeaked out, trying to get out of the demon's grasp. He let go, sniffing, "Sorry.." He murmured.
"It's fine." She repeated, brushing herself off and getting up. She offered a hand to Bendy, to which he took gratefully.
Kipper slowly limped to the doorframe, their eyes gleaming with concern, "What happened?"
"(Y/n) ran off..." Mika murmured, walking beside Bendy back into the safehouse. Kipper perked up, "(Y/n) was here?!"
Mika only nodded, glancing at Bendy, who was looking behind them to where (Y/n) ran off to, still sniffing softly. She turned back to the lost one, her gaze glimmering sorrowfully, "I'll tell you what exactly happened later. For now, we need a plan."
Bendy seemed to snap out of his thoughts when she said that. The two hurried inside, heading over to sit at the small dusty table. Kipper joined them at the table, sitting between the two.
"We need a plan, and we need one now. From the looks of it all, it seems like Alice is winning, and that's not good," Mika murmured under her breath, explaining their situation.
"Any ideas?"
Bendy turned his gaze to Kipper, to which the lost one shook their head. His expression contorted into one of deep thought, before he sighed softly, "We still need to rest up.."
He then stood up, "I'll keep watch, you two sleep."
Mika stood up as well, "What about you?"
"I can't sleep." Was all he muttered.
"Well then what? we still need to make an official plan, before we can't at all."
Bendy sighed, beginning to grow irritated, "Fine. Once you two rest up, go back to town and gather up a patrol of lost ones, then head to the angel's territory and get back Inkus. Once you've got Inkus, meet me in the music department."
Mika tilted her head in confusion, "What about you?" She asked.
"Won't you come with?" Kipper added.
Bendy went silent for a moment. He turned towards the door, "No." He murmured.
Suddenly the dots connected in Mika's head, but before she could say something, Bendy added,
"I'm going after (Y/n)."
"You can't!" Mika protested, her eyes wide and her fur fluffed up.
"And why not?" Bendy turned to her, a scowl on his face.
"She needs time alone!!" Bendy growled at her when she said this, "Look, she believes her life is a lie. And quite frankly, I don't blame her. Susie made sure that her daughter will have the most miserable life ever, even if she didn't mean to."
"What about your little prophecy?! Don't you want it to come true?"
Mika went silent at that. She looked down at the floor, "I don't know if it will come true anyway."
Awkward silence.
"I know she may need time alone, and if she asks, I'll give her that. I just... I need her." He sighed softly when Mika remained silent, "You can disapprove of this all you want, but you and I both know that it isn't going to stop me."
Mika smiled gently, "I know," That's why she became friends with the ink demon in the first place. He never gave up on things he cared about, no matter the cost, "Just.. be careful, Bends. I don't want to see you get hurt."
Bendy looked into her eyes, "I won't get hurt, I promise." He then lifted one of his claw-like hands and gave Mika's head a pat, to which she automatically gave him a soft purr.
A slight smile formed on his face; a true, genuine smile for the first time since (Y/n)'s disappearance. They remained like that for a moment, before Bendy brought his hand back to his side, and walked out of the safehouse.
A frown formed on Mika's face, suddenly becoming sorrowful and empty. She knew chasing after (Y/n) was not going to end well, but she also knew Bendy was too stubborn and full of rage to listen to what she had to say. Sighing with defeat, she laid down in the small cot on the other side of the room, where Kipper had already gone into the other cot as soon as resting was brought up. She laid in the makeshift bed for a long time, although she couldn't sleep. Too much was going on in her head to even shut her eyes.
She let her thoughts wrap her mind around in a thick heavy blanket-like fog, staring up the safehouse's dusty ceiling.
After an hour of restlessly laying there, Mika's eyelids grew heavy then closed slowly.
She didn't know how long she had slept, but she knew it must've been a long time when Kipper had to shake her awake, "Mika, Mika. Get up, please." They ushered.
Mika let out a sleepy groan in response, "Five more minutes..."
Kipper sounded as if they were about to burst with anxiety, "We no have five minutes! We have to find Inkus!!"
Suddenly, Mika was wide-awake. The weight of the previous events came crashing down on her abruptly, as she got up on her feet groggy with sleep but very alert. There was a smell of bacon soup that filled the safehouse, making Mika realize how hungry she was. Neither Bendy, Kipper, and Mika had eaten much since Inkus got kidnapped, which would now be at least two days now. Two days without at least one meal running through her veins is a little much for Mika, even if she's now a mutated cartoon cat.
Kipper grabbed one of the bowls of freshly made bacon soup off of the table, handing one to Mika, "Eat, then we'll head back to town."
Mika only nodded, taking the bowl and slurping down the soup hungrily within seconds. Once she was done eating, she turned to Kipper, her gaze gleaming, "Did Bendy already leave?"
Kipper nodded softly, their gaze darkening, "what happened with (Y/n)? You said you tell me."
Mika looked down at her bowl, "Alice.. she- she told (Y/n) the truth about her family, and now (Y/n)'s going crazy." She looked back up at Kipper, "That's all I can say.."
Kipper had a look of understanding, taking the other bowl of soup and slurping it down like Mika did. They collected the bowls once they were done eating, putting it in the ink-stained, dirty, rusty sink; then turned their gaze over to the corrupted toon cat, "Ready?"
"I'm ready."
***
As the lost one town came into sight, the boat made loud screeching sounds, threatening to break down right then and there. Mika sat at the edge of the boat, looking into the ink river, mind wrapped within her thoughts; while Kipper drove the old, rusted boat. She couldn't help but feel worried. For Bendy and (Y/n), for Inkus, and for her and Kipper. She tried to distract her mind, reaching to give the cold ink a soft touch, but the worry only burned stronger in her mind, making her sigh softly. It was going to be one of those days. Where memories deep within her mind comes to the surface, giving her a mental slap on the face. It was only just a matter of time until it snaps in her head.
She sighed once again, staring off into the distance, letting her thoughts darken with worry.
"Mika, are okay?" Kipper's voice broke her out of her anxiety-filled thoughts.
"Huh-? O-oh, yeah yeah, I'm alright. I'm just.. worried about Bendy."
"Wanna talk about it?" Kipper tilted their head. Mika only gave a shrug in response.
Kipper's gaze gave a glint of understanding, then turned back to up ahead toward the lost one town.
Suddenly, their boat hissed out a screech as it stopped at the docks. Kipper stepped out of the boat, then stretched their hand over to Mika, offering to help her up. She took their hand gratefully, sitting up beside them. They began walking into town, which was deserted. Not a single soul was out of their homes today.
And soon, they'll find out why.
Mika gazed around, her worried thoughts seeming to come to life in front of her. The fact that no one was out and about in the town made Mika uneasy, and it didn't help when they approached a pile of corpses.
Kipper let out a sequel of horror, rushing over to the bodies. Their eyes immediately welled up with tears, "Oh no.. no, no.." They murmured under their breath, the tears falling from their eyes as they crouched down toward the corpses, "Who did this?"
Mika's gaze darkened as she came up beside the poor lost ones. She could see the corpse's lifeless eyes clouded with a white fog, and blood trickling from their mouths, flies buzzing around them. They've been dead for days. Probably since they've all been gone.
Who did this? The question repeated in Mika's head. One name came in mind. And one name only,
"Alice.." She scowled out, letting out a huff, "She knew we were going to go after Inkus."
Kipper let out a soft distressed cry, bringing their knees to their chest. They buried their face in their knees, their shoulders bouncing as they let out silent sobs.
Empathy filled up inside of Mika. She knelt down beside Kipper, putting an arm around them. They must've known most of these dead lost ones, because soon their silent sobs turned into mournful wails, "It's not fair!!" They cried out.
Mika tried to comfort them with a soft, gentle voice, "I know, none of this is.." She murmured, wrapping her other arms around them. They only collapsed into her arms, sobbing and burying their face in her chest fluff.
Mika shifted uncomfortably but let the lost one cry in her chest. They needed to let their sorrow out. Otherwise, it will spill out somewhere else. And no one can afford that.
Mika's ears perked up at the gentle sound of someone's footsteps. A sudden feeling of dread filled her, and she knew exactly why, "Kipper."
Kipper was still sobbing. Their body shook as they gave sad little wails of grief.
"Kipper!" Mika said more sternly, catching the attention of the lost one. Kipper looked up at Mika, sniffing as a couple of tears streamed down their face, "Wh-what.."
"We have to go."
Kipper looked confused, "What? Why?"
"They're here."
The footsteps became more audible as it came closer and closer to the pair. Kipper froze, their eyes wide. They turned to where the footsteps were coming from, and instantly covered their mouth. More tears came to their eyes, falling down onto the ink-stained ground rapidly.
Mika, on the other hand, refused to look at whatever was coming towards them, and attempted to pick up Kipper, but a voice stopped her,
"Well, well, well, look what we have here," The voice was deep and dark, similar to Bendy's, but Mika knew it wasn't the Ink demon. It was someone else.
"A little cat who has fallen into my trap." The creature gave a dark chuckle.
Mika drew Kipper close to her, wrapping her tail around them protectively as she finally looked up at the creature.
A lanky demon stood in front of them, about 7ft tall. Their whole body was covered in ink, making all their features black and dark gray. Their body seemed to be pointy, like a bird, and attached to his back were two ragged wings, folded gently behind them.
One red eye glinted down at them, gleaming down with hatred, especially towards Mika.
Mika glared at them with an equally burning rage, "Hello, Bayak."
The creature let out a demonic growl in response, blood-stained claws unsheathing, which made Kipper whimper in fear, "There's no place like home..." They murmured, over and over again, beginning to rock back and forth.
Bayak let out a cackle, hearing the lost one's fear in their voice, "Oh you poor little lost one," They knelt down to be eye-level with Kipper, "You are home."
Kipper only looked up at them, eyes wide with fear. Their body shook in Mika's hands.
"Awh, don't worry, not everyone's dead- yet. They just evacuated the town." Bayak chuckled once again, "They think running from their problems is going to help, but little do they know the angel has eyes everywhere."
"You're a monster!!!" Kipper snapped, their eye twitching in anger. Bayak flinched at that, "I-I'm a monster.?" They echoed, eye widened with shock. Then they bursted into laughter as if they had been told a funny joke, "Oh no, no. That's not the case. The ink demon's the monster in this story.." They we're about to go on, but they were cut off by Mika pouncing onto them with claws unsheathed.
Bayak let out a demonic screech of pain as she clawed their face. With all his strength, they threw Mika off, making her fly across the room and into a wall with a hard thud.
Mika let out a cough of blood, trying to get up off the floor, but Bayak put their foot onto her back, making sure she can't get away.
They leaned down closer to Mika, chuckling darkly, "Do you remember the good ol' times, Mika?"
They forced her to shake her head,
"Really, you don't? You don't remember your younger brother and older sister?"
Once again, they forced her to shake her head,
"Will and Susie? Don't their names ring a bell?"
Silence.
"Answer." The force of their foot on Mika's back became stronger, and she let out a yelp of pain, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
Bayak chuckled demonically, "What about Daniel? Does that name ring a bell?"
Daniel.
That name does indeed ring a bell. Wedding bells.
A blurry face came into Mika's mind- a resurfacing memory. She shook her head violently, "Get out of my head!!!" She hissed, digging her claws into the floorboards.
Bayak only chuckled demonically once more, "Awh, sweetheart, don't fight it. The past is inevitable."
Mika hissed at them, going rampant, trying to get out of their grip. They knelt down in response, grabbing her neck with their claws, and lifting her up to face them. Their red eye gleamed in amusement, seeing the fear within her gaze, "Now, here's the question. Should I kill you myself? Or trigger enough memories so you go and do the job for me?"
Mika face turned slightly blue, as she fought for oxygen. She tried clawing at Bayak, but her arms were too weak and feeble.
Bayak tsked, "Decisions, decisions.." They turned to Kipper, who was curled up in a ball, watching the scene unfold, frozen with fear. They smiled insanely, "What do you think?"
"Let her go."
Bayak let out a cackle, "Let her go?!? Oh, you're a funny little lost one."
Kipper only looked at them with shock and confusion. Realization stabbed them hard, just like the blade that went through their chest.
They immediately collapsed onto floor in response, the grip around Mika's neck loosening to the point where she could get out of it. She fell onto the floor like Bayak, trembling too much to even attempt to get up. Her mind was filled with scattered thoughts, memories of her past trying to fill her head. She tried fighting it all back, but it only made it worse, to which she began to hyperventilate, clawing at her arms.
The world around her seemed to fade, as she was thrown into the darkness of her mind. Panicked tears filled her eyes, as she hyperventilated even more.
Just as things were about to snap inside of her, it all went away at the touch of a hand.
Mika looked up, only to be face-to-face with the person who saved them from Bayak.
They were a lost one, although not like any lost ones Mika has ever seen. Half of their face was untouched by the ink, and their black hair was in an ink-stained beanie. Their eyes gleamed a pale yellow, full of a warm feeling Mika couldn't understand.
Then she remembered his smile, and it was as if the world around didn't matter. She felt as if she was finally free from all her suffering, for he was alive and he was with her at last.
Tears fell from her eyes as she stroked his cheek, "Danny?"
"Hey, Mimi."