It had dissolved into a a sort of Void. Ink walked in the darkness, unafraid.
No, he felt a twinge of fear. But more than anything, he was confident.
And angry.
Furious.
Ticked off by a lot of things, mostly himself. Almost entirely himself. But Sinead said it was unhealthy to direct that at him, so he was channeling it towards his old friend.
Yes, Ink felt guilty about that. Though once he would have never felt guilt.
Yes, he knew ending his former friend wouldn't solve the problem. Sinead didn't need to tell him that. He needed to release pent up energy.
He needed to fight.
He needed to protect.
He needed to SAVE.
But he needed to kill.
Mercy. It is Mercy to Fight X-Gaster.
To end his reign and suffering.
Ink drove him to this.
He had played with the darker half of the scientist.
He had manipulated him into his greed.
Driven so far over the edge..
Ink blinked hard. Now is not the time to cry.
Now is the time to redeem himself.
By ending a life.
..
With a little help.
Bendy, Herobrine and dragons, Kevin and Kenneth were behind him on the left. Dream, Blue, Error, Blixer, Cross, and XChara on the right.
Somewhere in this empty Void like space was X-Gaster. Ink could feel it. Getting closer. Even after all this time.. only a few months, really, Ink could sense his colors.
He didn't feel any desire to have them back, other than the fact that they belonged to him. It was.. slightly strange to not long for them.
He forced his eyelights to go dark, as he couldn't figure out how to make them emotionless. He knew X-Gaster wouldn't fall for it, but it might just buy them time to learn more about his current state before fighting.
Everyone behind him was invisible due to some of Herobrine's Magic, their auras concealed by Dream. Ink would appear alone. He felt alone.
But he never was alone. Sinead was a part of him, always there, kind to him, even when he thought he didn't deserve it. For she was the same way.
Something was in front of him.
Tall. Dark.
He saw his old vials, and was caught in memories.
Including the most recent and slightly painful ones.
The new vials he has obtained. Or...
Had.
The flame voices had urged him to drink them, saying it was time.
They weren't exactly people, only parts.
They felt like friends.
But the insistence and his already suppressed desire were too much.
They had known that they were greater than the other scattered pieces, for they had formed conciousness.
It hurt when he felt their minds fade inside him. It really did, even if they were happy, it hurt. He had actually cried, Sinead soothing him best she could.
But he took solace in the fact that they weren't all gone. Sinead had immediately acted a bit off, a bit more like them than before.
They were parts of her.
And it was almost like the flame voices were still there. Lily giggling at the idea of testing what Ink could now do. Alyss tiredly wondering when they'll get started, telling Ink it was gonna be fine. Ember encouraging Ink to strike hard and fast, while grumpily complaining about things.
Speaker whispering a random riddle that held a kind meaning somewhere in there.
Ink snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a snap.
His old sash glowed brighter, illuminating a broken figure that stood tall despite it's deformities. A disfigured eternally smiling face that held cold, deadly eyelights.
The glow faded, leaving only those pindots in the blackness.
But there was something more. Ink tilted his skull to each side, hearing the faintest of shuffles. Sensing twisted versions of his creations, no, X-Gaster's creations. More powerful. And generally more of them.
Ink blinked away his fear, keeping his sockets dark. X-Gaster may have predicted an ambush. He wasn't revealing himself. He had minions all around in the lightless place.
Ink pretended not to care. Because he isn't supposed to. He stared as blankly as he could at that evil gaze.
"After nearly a year of absence."
A gargling, wretched voice echoed like death around the Void.
"Why do you come back?"
Ink then pulled a hand out from behind, counting on Bendy to have a convincing illusion in place.
He did. A perfect image of a red Frisk Soul and a Monster Soul floated in his boney palm.
A pause. A faint.. choking sound.
"Ink. Dear.. friend. Things have.. happened. In your absence."
Now a faint light appeared, revealing a decievingly broken skeleton. He was barely there in appearance, but Ink knew full well that X-Gaster valued his power more than his looks. He would cling to his magic instead of his body. He could be deadly.
Nevertheless, he regarded him coldly.
Keeping his voice empty, Ink asked.
"What happened."
A pause.
"I was attacked."
Ink couldn't press further without arousing suspicion. So he stood there.
He had to stall while one group surrounded them, and another got ready to deal with the minions.
X-Gaster glanced at the belt that did not belong on him.
"I can return your colors, Ink. But I need you to do one more thing for me."
Since he had nothing better to do, Ink asked. "What do you need."
"Where are the others?"
Ink, without skipping a beat, blinked and turned his skull the other way.
"What others."
He knew X-Gaster would suspect him to bring Dream and Blue. They would insist if they found him emotionless.
"Your friends."
"Somewhere. Most likely searching for me."
Now he realized it felt wrong to lie.
Not that his act faltered. From his days of having to act more emotional than he really was, Ink was a good liar. Not that X-Gaster knew of that. They knew each other well, but Ink still had some secrets from him.
X-Gaster leaned back thoughtfully. Perfect timing, really.
<They're in position.>
...
Tell them to hold on.
She knew where he was going. Especially when Ink burst into a knowing grin.
Sure, he had pushed X-Gaster, but the scientist had let him. He had given in to his own greed and desire. He had become evil willingly. So even though he was getting killed out of Mercy, he still deserved punishment.
And so Ink decided to Judge him.
He allowed his eyelights to return, and a smile on his face. He lifted his arms in a mocking gesture. The fake Souls vanished, as if they never were.
"X!" He called out, colored flame reflecting off the gloves he now wore, the gift from Shell.
"I can't believe you fell for that!" He spoke confidently. The other immediately tensed, weapons out, spike hands at the ready as well as a threatening glow in his own hands.
"What is this?"
Ink held his arms out dramatically, tattoos glowing fiercely as the fire roots came alive.
"Well, it's obviously a trick. And I mean, you betrayed me. You think I'm really so stupid? I know what you were planning. You should know better than to mess with the Creator."
X-Gaster gave no reaction other than an irritated glare.
"You should be emotionless without your rainbow. And you said you are incapable of fire Magic. I assume that you lied?"
"No, actually!" Ink responded with sadistic glee. "I just met a dying Soul with fire Magic! Hmm, she said you'd even met before! She warned you against your current path, yada, yada, yada, and you treated her like a joke!"
He grinned maliciously at the tall monster. "I'm not Soulless anymore."
X-Gaster's eyesockets narrowed. "How?"
Ink shrugged. "Because she can do that."
He paused, thinking.
"You know, X? Now that I'm actually a person, looking back.." Ink felt a vile emotion rising up from the depths of the Fire Soul. His Soul.
"You would always treat me off. Small, kinda annoying things that were attempts to set me off I can only guess. You manipulated me, too. It got so bad, you convinced me to go emotionless. Then you took advantage of that to be not just make me your unaware servant, but your utter
s l a v e."
He glared at X-Gaster.
"Now that I can actually feel? I realize that I absolutely hate you."
Ink held his gaze, full of murderous intentions. His fire roots spread out around him, floating like sea grass in still water. Acting as feelers.
"I think it's time you found out what it's like to have us as your enemy."
He and Sinead spoke as one, red-purple flames billowing from their maw.
They summoned Broomie and Ashfall, twirling the weapons in their hands as the ropes rose to attack, allies revealing themselves.
The fight was on.
(Cliffhanger motherfuckers.)