9 Chapter 9: Into The Machine

Robin slid down the black chain and landed with a wet thud on what seemed to be a large box with a large, nose-like tube protruding from it. It looked similar to the box that Mikey had shown her on the map all that time ago. Far below the box was a massive structure surrounded in a pool of ink. The rest of the small party soon caught up with her.

"So this is the Demon's hideout?" Jake asked as he too looked at the structure below. "It looks like some kind of...machine."

"I've heard of this thing from some other Lost Ones at the Inkwell," Army said. "They called this the Ink Machine. And I don't blame this thing for being called that. Who would need this much ink, anyway?"

"Joey probably would," Allie said with a small shiver.

"How are we gonna get inside? The entrance is probably near the surface of that lake," Robin said. "Do you have anything in that backpack that might help?"

But Jake was already looking through the pack, and eventually brought out a length of coiled rope. "This'll do," he said, and bent over the side of the smaller machine to tie one end to the tube, then pulled on it to make sure that it was secure, and threw the rest down to the lake.

"I'll go down first," Allie said, "in case the Demon is at the entrance waiting. If he is, I'll shoot him, though I doubt it'll do much. If he isn't, I'll tug on the rope to let you know."

"Sounds good," Robin said.

"Be careful, Allie," Jake said, "please."

Allie smiled, and to Jake's surprise, gave him a small peck on the cheek before descending. It wasn't long before she was out of sight. After almost two silent minutes that felt like two silent hours, the rope suddenly jerked downward. It was safe, for now.

"Oh, my," Allie gasped as she and the party walked down the huge, gold-tinted and ink-stained corridor of the Ink Machine. On its walls were several small cells, closed off with glass. Some were empty, and some contained miserable-looking Lost Ones and Searchers, but none of them held Mikey.

Suddenly, a loud shattering noise interrupted the silence. Allie, Robin, and Jake turned to see that Army had punched and broken the glass on one of the cells, out of which ink was now pouring out.

"Army, what are you doing?" Allie whispered urgently. "The Ink Demon hears everything, remember? The fellas at the Inkwell also said that."

"Well, I can't just leave them here to suffer like I did, can I?" Army asked, punching another glass cell. "Might as well save these guys while saving Mikey again, right?"

The others looked at each other, silently agreed, and proceeded to smash the glass of every cell they saw, setting the Demon's prisoners free. Robin and Jake urgently told each and every one to head to the village on the other side of the lake, giving them specific instructions on how to get there (having memorized that route from Mikey's map somehow). When everyone was gone, the party headed to a huge door at the end of the corridor.

"If Mikey wasn't in any of those cells," Robin said, "them the Demon's probably keeping him in there."

"What does this thing do?" Army asked more to himself than anyone else, and pulled a lever on the right of the door. With the ear-piercing noise of metal rubbing against metal, the door (which was revealed to be two doors) slid open to reveal a huge room with an inky, horned throne in its center. The party entered, weapons at the ready.

"Are these the animations you mentioned earlier, Allie?" Army asked, looking up at the screens suspended above them.

"Yeah, they are," Allie replied, and sighed. "I must've wasted so much time at that desk."

Robin froze, and shushed everyone else. "Do you guys hear that?"

Coming from somewhere behind the throne, Robin heard a faint but terrifyingly familiar voice, struggling to call out for help.

"Mikey's this way," she said. "Come on!" She then slid as fast as she could, with the others close behind, around the throne and down the enormous hallway that led to Mikey's prison. She listened for his voice again, heard that it was behind a door, and opened it hurriedly.

In the room was the extraction device that the Demon had started up who knows how long ago. And inside the device, smaller than he originally was and holding the map-thermos tightly, was Mikey.

"...no," Robin said, sliding up to the glass chamber of the device, eyes wide. "No, no, no, Mikey!"

Jake, Allie, and Army entered the room. Jake and Allie immediately went up to the glass as well, while Army turned to the pulled lever, and pushed it upwards, stopping the device from taking away any more of Mikey's being.

Mikey opened his eyes. "Ro...Robin..." he said weakly, and closed them again.

"Jake, get him out of there!" Robin said in a panicked tone, but Jake was already opening the chamber and reaching inside. As he lifted Mikey up in his arms and knelt down next to Robin, his heart almost broke when he saw how light and small the Searcher, who had been one of his few friends at the village, had become.

"Mikey," Robin begged, "Mikey, wake up! We're here! Please, wake up!"

But Mikey's eyes remained closed, and he didn't even seem to be breathing.

Allie covered her mouth as tears streamed down her face. "No..."

Army was silent again. With a shriek of rage, he turned and punched the wall, leaving a huge dent in the metal. "YOU SOULLESS LITTLE FREAK!" He shrieked to nothing. "I SHOULD'VE TOLD HENRY TO DESTROY YOU WHEN HE STILL HAD THE CHANCE!" He then collapsed onto the ground, oily tears once again leaking out of his eyes.

Everything was silent for a minute that felt like an eternity. Suddenly, the speakers that the party hadn't noticed until now started up, and a demonic cackle filled the room.

"Well, well, well," the Demon's voice said rather proudly, "if it isn't the merry little band who thought they could run from me. I'm surprised that you managed to survive what I threw at you. Surprised, but not impressed."

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MIKEY, YOU SICK HELLSPAWN!?" Army shouted angrily.

"Well, my oblivious victim, I WAS going to make him into an adorable little pet for myself, then take away his little map, but now that you're here, it seems as though I might have to add killing you all to the to-do list."

Ink started to pour out of the speakers as the Demon continued to speak.

"Do you really think you can escape this studio? That you can escape me? No, I'm afraid this little horror show will never end. Not for you, not for ANYBODY."

The ink poured onto the floor, collected itself until it was a rather large puddle, and began to take shape. Not into the Demon who imprisoned Mikey, but into something far more monstrous.

Jake quickly got to his feet, careful not to drop Mikey. "We have to go," he said, "now. The smaller Ink Machine might be the way to go."

The party then hurriedly left the room, but when they were nearing the throne room, a large, muscular and inky arm shot out of the extraction room's doorway and slammed into the wall opposite of it. The party turned, and saw an inky horned beast emerge from the room, emitting a noise that sounded like a cross between a growl and a laugh.

"Give...him...BAAAAAAAAAACK!" The Demon shrieked as he swiftly ran towards the party. Allie immediately began shooting at the oncoming monstrosity, but the beads of light did nothing to hurt him or slow him down.

"RUN!" She yelled, and the party booked it around the throne and back down the hall towards the entrance, with the Demon in hot pursuit. When they reached the entrance, Army, Allie, and Robin quickly climbed up the rope, while Jake quickly but gently placed Mikey into his pack before climbing up as well.

Halfway up the rope, an ear-piercing noise rose up below. Jake looked down to see the Demon digging his claws into the metal of the Machine, climbing up towards them.

"You fools!" The Demon shouted. "You can never escape! Never! There is no stopping my madness! There's no stopping the Creator's madness! Now, get back here, AND GIVE ME BACK MY SEARCHER!!!" With his huge arm, the Demon started to reach for Jake's pack.

Suddenly, Army fell down past Jake, and landed on top of the Demon's huge inky face. With his single arm, he reared back and punched the Demon as hard as he could, causing the beast to waver a bit, and growl. The Demon snapped his jaws in an attempt to catch Army with his teeth, but the animatronic held onto one of the Demon's horns, and continued to punch his head. More angry than ever, the Demon shook his head around, trying to shake Army off while still reaching for Jake's pack. He started to waver even more, and Jake saw his chance.

"Army! When I say jump, get back onto the rope!" He shouted while reaching back into the pack and around Mikey's body for something to throw at the Demon. He pulled out a rod with a strange, dark blade at the top of it. He raised it above his head, and swung it downward, piercing the hand that kept the Demon on the wall.

The Demon shrieked in pain, and began to fall backwards. "ARMY, JUMP!" Jake yelled, and the animatronic kicked off of the Demon's head, grabbed the rope with his one hand and wrapped his legs around it. With a roar, the Demon fell off of his perch on the wall, and into the inky lake below, with Jake and Army watching.

The two quickly climbed up the rope and back onto the smaller Ink Machine, where Allie and Robin were waiting for them. As soon as they were on top of the Machine, Allie shot the rope and watched it fall into the ink as well.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Allie asked.

"W-where's Mikey?" Robin asked.

"Don't worry, Robin," Jake said, taking Mikey out of his pack and gently laying him down. "He's okay. I hope."

"We did it," Army said breathlessly, "we beat the Ink Demon. Kind of."

"Army...that was amazing," Jake said.

"What was?"

"What do you mean, 'what was'? You fought the Demon! Again!"

"Well, he was about to take Mikey again! What else was I supposed to do? I couldn't let him die like I did!"

Suddenly, with a shake that almost made the party lose their balance, the Ink Machine began to rise through the square opening above. Soon, the bigger Machine, the Demon, and everything else below were completely out of sight.

Jake and Allie smiled at Army. "He won't," Allie said. "He'll wake up soon enough. I know he will."

Several minutes had passed, and Mikey, who still had the map-thermos clutched tightly in his hands, still didn't wake up.

Robin held him in her arms, tears running down her cheeks. "Mikey," she said as the others watched her, "I know you probably can't hear me, but...please wake up. The Demon's gone. It's just us. Please. Don't go."

Mikey's remained still. Robin gave out a shaky sigh, and put her head closer to his.

"Mikey, I'm still here. I'll always be here. Please show me that you're still here, too."

Nothing.

"I...I love you."

Silently, Robin gently pressed her nonexistent lips against Mikey's. Army still watched, then closed his eyes and bowed his head. Allie tearfully hugged Jake, who did the same back. As far as they were convinced, Mikey was gone.

Army opened his eyes again, and looked at Mikey. And froze. He tapped Jake on the shoulder, who looked up and did the same to Allie, eyes wide. Across from them, Robin still had her lips on Mikey's. But, slowly, Mikey began to grow bigger, and Robin smaller.

"W-what's happening?" Allie whispered.

"She's...she's giving him some of her ink," Army whispered back. "At least I think that's what's happening. I'm not really sure."

"...yeah," Jake whispered, smiling, "that's exactly what's happening."

Soon, Mikey was back to his original size, and Robin was only slightly smaller than usual. She took her lips off of his, and waited.

Mikey opened his eyes slowly, and blinked, unsure of where he was. "...ugh, what...what happened? Where are we? And why do you guys look like somebody died?"

Robin shrieked with joy, and embraced the confused Mikey tightly, the others immediately joining in. Mikey was silent for a while, and then gasped, remembering what had happened before he passed out.

"Wait! You guys! You're alive!" He said as his friends sat back. "I thought you guys were dead! The Demon said that he killed you!"

"WE thought he had killed YOU!" Jake said. "Man, were we worried! But Robin gave you some of her ink to save you."

Mikey looked up at Robin. "You did?"

Robin nodded, smiling in relief. Mikey smiled back, and pulled her into another kiss. Jake and Allie looked at each other, and did the same.

"Welp! Guess this rust-bucket's staying single!" Army said proudly.

"Yoo-hoo!" A voice behind Army called out. He turned to see the Alice Angel toy waving at him from a ledge far away.

"I AIN'T FALLIN' FOR THAT AGAIN, YOU HEATHEN!" He shouted as the Machine rose higher and higher, towards a small patch of light above that was as silent as silent could get.