7 Chapter 7: Beware The Ink Demon

Robin shot up like a bullet, wide awake, when she heard a high pitched scream ring out from the hallway. She sat there on the floor for a few seconds, stunned. Then she looked at the spot beside her where Mikey had been.

Where was he now?

She looked towards the opening of the Reel Archive room, and her heart dropped. On the walls was a thin layer of ink, and the merry tune that was heard before the party had left Shawn's lair was ringing out from down the hall. The same place where that now familiar scream had come from.

On the other side of the curtain, Jake and Allie had just begun to wake up to the whistled music. If Army had woken up as well, there was absolutely no sign that he had done so; he still laid on the floor completely motionless.

"W...who's whistling?" Jake joked sleepily. "If whoever's doing that doesn't stop, I'm getting out the tommy gun."

"Maybe it's Robin, or Mikey," Allie said. "Oh, Robin, are you - "

Suddenly, Robin slid across the room and down the hall faster than Jake had ever seen any Searcher go, clutching her axe tightly. Jake immediately knew from the panicked expression on her face that something was wrong.

"Allie, stay here," he said, grabbed his wrench, and ran after Robin.

"Jake, be careful!" Allie called.

Robin nearly collided with a wall as she finally reached the source of the ink and whistles. She looked up, and froze. At the end of the short hall was a mess of metal shelves that had been knocked over. Standing among the shelves was a being who Robin had never seen in person, yet recognized immediately. The Ink Demon. And hanging limply over his shoulder was an unconscious Mikey.

Jake had finally caught up with Robin, and saw the Demon as well.

"MIKEY!" He shrieked, and he and Robin both sped down the hall, weapons at the ready. But the Demon merely smiled, raised his hand, and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the ceiling came crashing down on the Lost One and Searcher. In seconds the duo was buried in a pile of ink and wood.

The Demon seemed to smile wider. "How pleasantly pathetic," he hissed. "These two thought they could save you, little one. I'll bet they even dreamed of it in these brief seconds. But...not all dreams come true."

A large spot of ink had grown on the wall behind the Demon. With one last look at the buried duo, he disappeared through the spot, taking the small Searcher and his map with him.

Robin faded in and out of consciousness as she heard voices and the creak of wood.

"C-come on, Army! Put your back into it!"

"I would try to if I had another arm! And a SPINE! Wait a minute...Allie, they're not dead! They're waking up!"

"Oh, thank goodness! Quickly, help me get them back to the Archives!"

Robin and Jake finally came to as Allie and Army gently placed them onto the floor. They both quickly tried to get up, but every particle of ink in their bodies was writhing in pain.

"Jake, Robin, are you two alright?" Allie asked, her voice brimming with concern. "We heard a crash, and came down the hall, and found you two in a pile of wood, and we thought you were goners!"

"What happened?" Army asked. "Where's Mikey?"

"H...he's gone," Jake said in a pained tone.

"...what?" Allie asked.

"The Ink Demon," Robin said, inky tears welling up in her eyes. "He took him. He took him, and tried to kill us."

Allie covered her mouth in shock. Army, for the first time, sat as still as a statue, fear evident on his face.

"Oh, no," Allie said softly. "Poor Mikey...we need to go after the Demon."

"You read my mind," Jake said. "He most likely took Mikey back to his lair, so that's where we need to go."

"No," Army said fearfully. "We can't. We can't go there."

"What do you mean, we can't?!" Jake asked angrily. "Mikey will die if we don't!"

"We'll die if we do! Look at what the Demon did to you two!"

"But we're both fine! What's wrong with you? Why are you so afraid all of a sudden?"

"Because none of us stand a chance against the Demon!"

"And you know this, how?"

"Because the last time I went to fight the Demon, I DIED, OKAY?!"

Jake went quiet, as did Robin and Allie. Army breathed deeply, oil leaking out of one of his empty eyes. He was shaking, and the other three realized that it was the first time they had ever seen him when he wasn't happy.

"What do you mean...you died?" Jake asked, his anger replaced with concern.

Army took another deep breath before answering. "I was just like you and Allie, Jake. A human. When the Demon took over this place, I hid for as long as I could. Then one day, like an idiot, I decided to go down to his lair and take him down. To put an end to that hell-spawn once and for all. I thought I was prepared, but I wasn't. He easily overpowered me, and slaughtered me where I stood. Soon after, I found this vessel. My soul had nowhere else to go. And I've been trying to hide my pain with my smile ever since."

There was nothing but silence in the room as Army's story settled in. Robin, Jake, and Allie didn't know what to say, but they all felt a huge pang of sympathy for the animatronic.

"...Army...I'm sorry," Robin finally responded. "I had no idea. None of us did. But Mikey is in danger. If we don't do something, he might suffer the same fate as you did."

Army was silent.

"Army, look," Jake said, putting a hand on his metal shoulder, "we know you're scared out of your mind. But you can't always think about your fears, or the dangers ahead. Just think about what you need to do. And we need to help Mikey. And if we fail, then...it won't hurt to at least try."

Army was silent for another minute. He then chuckled. "You sound just like Joey," he said. "That's the one thing he's ever been right about." He took one more breath. "Okay. Let's go help him."

"But where's the Demon's lair?" Allie asked.

"When Mikey first showed me that map, the Demon's lair was really close to the village. That's probably where we need to go."

"It's way too far, Robin; we won't make it in time," Jake pointed out.

"Wait. The pit with the chains...maybe his lair is where it leads down to. We need to go back through Shawn's room to get to it."

"Or we could just go down the one right here?" Army suggested, pulling back a small curtain on a far wall to reveal a large chamber, with the chains now descending into the darkness of the pit.

"Well, that's awfully convenient," Jake said.

"Come on, guys," Allie said, grabbing her tommy gun, "we've got a friend to save."