Chapters of Book Four

## Warnings and Triggers

* Blood
* Guns
* Graphic Depiction of Violence
* Graphic Depiction of Serious Wounds
* Graphic Depiction of Illness
* Mentions and Discussions of Death
* Depression/Depressive Thoughts
* Attempted Suicide
* Insanity
* Grief
* Domestic Abuse/ Abusive Relationships
* Trauma
* Spiders
* Mentions of Homophobia

## Chapter Summaries

### Chapter 64 - Idols

As the weasel opens fire on the B-Bros the brothers are ushered down the courthouse steps and into a police car by Ringtail and Featherworth. As the car makes its way back to the station Bendy treats a cut on Boris's leg caused by a near-miss with one of the bullets. The brothers then arrive at the police station to pick up the items taken from them during the arrest. While they don't get a warm welcome by the officers there it takes very little threatening on Bendy's part for their items to be retrieved and returned to them. Before the boys can leave however they're informed that detectives want them to wait so they can talk, which the brothers reluctantly do. Ringtail appears half an hour later, informing the boys that Featherworth is in the hospital thanks to the bullet she took and that the weasel disappeared in the chaos but they were able to identify him at least so the police can hunt him down. She then offers to put the B-Bros in witness protection for their safety but the B-Bros refuse, citing the fact that they still need to find the cure for Ink Illness. While Ringtail isn't happy about their decision she does accept it and instead warns them to at least avoid their normal hangouts until nightfall since there is still that gunman on the loose. The brothers agree and then leave the police station to find a place to eat.

As the brothers walk through town, ignoring all the looks and whispers they garner, they realize they are getting low on cash so Boris suggests they buy some groceries instead of eating out somewhere and Bendy agrees. After grabbing their groceries they head to the check-out area where they run into none other than Mickey, Donald, Oswald and Goofy. Mickey immediately rushes up and pulls Boris into a hug, talking about how he had watched their trial on TV. Mickey continues to worry and fuss over Boris, eventually offering to take the B-Bros out for dinner which the two agree to with vastly different levels of enthusiasm. The group then heads to a nearby restaurant that is empty except for a cat at the bar. Upon seeing the cat Ozzy suddenly lunges in and hugs the startled stranger. Mickey is quick to lead his brother away from the cat once he snaps out of it, apologizing as the cat reassures him that it's ok. It's only after this that Bendy gets a good look at the cat and realizes it's actually his idol Felix the Cat. Bendy approaches Felix, trying to play it cool as he strikes up a conversation about Felix's books. When Felix asks him about who Mickey and Ozzy are Bendy's attention is brought back to the two long enough to see Mickey usher Ozzy into a backroom to "rest". Soon after Max Goof, the waiter at the restaurant, arrives with Felix's order. Felix asks where he would be able to find Mickey and Ozzy so Max points him in the direction of the back room. Felix then heads into the backroom, passing Mickey on the way in, to talk to Oswald. Mickey smiles as he hears the two begin to apologize to one another as he goes to grab Ozzy some food.

Bendy is excitedly talking to Boris about getting to meet Felix when suddenly the door to the restaurant is slammed open and a bloodthirsty Cuphead glares at them from the doorway. While Bendy can feel Cuphead's dark emotions through the shadows Boris doesn't have that same warning and shakily asks if Cup's brother is ok. Bendy has just enough time to grab Boris and shove him out of his seat before Cuphead opens fire. Bendy grabs the smashed remains of a table and tosses it at Cuphead, giving the B-Bros the chance to duck around the shooter and escape the restaurant. Cuphead is on their tail in a matter of seconds, however, laughing maniacally and shooting at them with his eyes glowing red. The chase soon ends up as a cat and mouse game of ducking around alleys until the B-Bros find a small alcove to hide from Cuphead in. Cuphead's crazed voice echoes around the alley, first swearing that's he'll kill them no matter what before dipping even further into madness by talking to his brother as if he is there with him as he laughs and sobs in equal measure. When Cup suddenly stops yelling, leaving the sobs and laughter as the only proof that he's still there, Bendy looks over to see Boris looking worried about the Dish. Remembering the times Cup had helped him in the past Bendy curses before telling Boris to stay there while he goes to check on Cuphead. Bendy follows the sound of weeping and is horrified to find Cuphead crying on his knees in an alley, finger gun raised to his head with a bullet lit. Bendy quickly runs up and wrenches Cup's hand away from this head, yelling at the Dish about just what the hell he thinks he's doing. Cuphead begins sobbing into Bendy's shirt about how it's his fault Mugman is dead, even if Bendy tries to reassure him that it was an accident. Bendy pulls the sobbing Dish into a hug and it's not long before Cuphead passes out in his arms. Boris joins Bendy in the alley as the Demon is laying Cuphead gently down on the ground. Bendy says that they need to find somewhere safe and comfortable to leave him before moving on. Boris is against leaving Cup at first but Bendy puts his foot down, pointing out that they already have too much to do and they can't take responsibility for someone as unstable as Cuphead at the moment. The B-Bros end up dropping Cuphead off at the hospital, paying enough to take care of him for a few hours and instructing the nurse not to tell Cup about them when he wakes up. The B-Bros then leave the hospital and Boris asks if they're going back to the restaurant. Boris wants to return to have dinner with his idol but Bendy doesn't trust how nice Mickey has been for no reason. After a small argument and reconciliation Boris points out that they have to go back to the restaurant anyways to grab their bags. Bendy, realizing he has no choice, agrees to go back to the restaurant just to pick up their bags before finding Holly and The Map to get back down to business. With their goal set, the B-Bros start making their way back to the restaurant.

### Chapter 65 - Reunion

The B-Bros arrive back at the restaurant to find everyone still in a panic over Cuphead's attack, although Mickey's worried cries about "My Boris" cause Bendy to instantly decide he doesn't like the mouse. It's only when Mickey turns around that he notices the B-Bros standing in the doorway and runs up to them. Mickey tries to talk with Boris about what happened but Bendy physically knocks the mouse's hand off his younger brother before announcing that they're in a rush and grabbing his bag. Boris grabs his bag as well before they both leave the restaurant after Boris calls out a thank you to Mickey. As they walk to Dr. Oddswell's house Boris asks his brother what was with his attitude towards Mickey back there, which Bendy brushes off. The brothers sneak into the doctor's house and run into Granny in the backyard, who informs them that the Warners and Sasha are also there to see them. As Granny brings the boys into the house she happily tells them how much better things have gotten ever since they proved the existence of Ink Illness at their trial. Eventually Granny shoo's them into the dining room, where the others Granny mentioned before are waiting along with Sasha's sister and Dr. Scratchansniff. Sasha's sister Sally immediately begins happily talking with the brothers, but it's not too long before Dot begins relentlessly flirting with Bendy once more. While she does that Yakko and Wakko also take the chance to thank the readers for all their well wishes. The boys then spend the rest of the night having a happy celebration dinner with everyone there, though Bendy can't quite keep his mind off of the others not present such as Alice, Dr. Oddswell, Red and even Cuphead.

Back at the hospital, Cuphead suddenly wakes up after a nightmare about Mugman. As he realizes he's in a hospital Cuphead notes that he blacked out after the incident with Mugs and tries to remember everything he's done since then. Cup's fuzzy memories reveal his relentless hunt for the B-Bros over the last few days and how he was the one who made the weasel "disappear" although he doesn't actually remember what he did to the guy. Just as he's trying to remember whether or not he killed the B-Bros a nurse breaks him from his thoughts. The bird nurse (Dovil) barely has time to speak before Nurse Fanny is storming into the room, grabbing Cup by his shirt and dragging him out into the hospital. She eventually throws him into a room where at first he's annoyed until he suddenly hears Mugman's voice behind him. While Cuphead is in shock at seeing his presumed dead brother alive Mugs tearfully asks why Cup had just left him alone there. Mugman's feeling of betrayal soon subsides when he sees the state his brother is in and finally Cup's hesitation breaks, causing him to pull his little brother into a happy and tear-filled reunion. After a while of just taking each other in Nurse Dovil returns to give them their checkout forms and their personal effects back. After the Cupbros finish getting dressed Nurse Fanny returns, instructing Cup to take better care of himself and ordering Mugman to take it easy for at least six weeks since he still has lots of wounds and stitches from his accident. After shoving Mugman's prescriptions and at-home care instructions into Cuphead's arms Fanny struts off, leaving Cuphead a flustered mess in her wake.

After teasing Cup a little bit about Nurse Fanny Mugman asks where they're headed now, to which Cup says he was thinking of taking the rest of the day off. Mugs is surprised by this and argues that they should go back to chasing the B-Bros, stating that he's gotten all the rest he needs while being left behind at the hospital. Cup tells him not to joke about that and, after Mugs is flustered by the hug he is subsequently pulled into, wonders when they stopped being affectionate with one another. Cup compromises between his and Mugs plans by grabbing Mugs pain medication and some lavender to help ease his brother's pain before getting back to work. The Cupbros then head to one of the local bars to get some information from Mortimer. Mortimer at first tries to fish for information about where Mugman has been but Cup quickly intimidates him into dropping the subject. After a quick jab about how their reputations are taking a hit after their continued failure with the B-Bros Mortimer asks if they're here for more information on the brothers again. Cup tells them that he's actually there to find out who that weasel that was shooting at the B-Bros was. Mortimer nervously informs them that the weasel is working with the Sykes brothers, which surprises Cup seeing as the Sykes are also debtors who should know to stay out of his way. Cup pays Mortimer for the information and then, after a small debate with Mugs, heads into the bar's basement to contact their Boss. Surprisingly, it's once again King Dice who answers their call. When Cup demands information on what the weasel was doing shooting at their targets Dice starts laughing at the news. After informing the Cupbros about what the Sykes job is King Dice gives the brothers a new mission - Stop the activation of the Ink Machine by any means necessary and grab any Parts they can for the Boss. King Dice then states that he's cashing in his favour with the Cupbros now for a little clean-up job. One of the members of the Sykes gang was trying to make a run for it now that their plans had started unravelling so Dice tells them to "take care of it" if the man shows up at the train station that night. He also informs them that at this rate it was inevitable that the Sykes would fail their mission so they would also attend the meeting to collect the Sykes's contracts when the time came. Cup doesn't want to do any of this clean-up work but he's not in any position to turn Dice down and they both know it. With instructions to inform him on how the clean-up goes Dice disappears, leaving the Cupbros with no choice but to make their way to the train station to begin their bleak list of chores.

### Chapter 66 - Friendly Visits

The day after their celebration dinner finds the B-Bros once again welcoming the Swing sisters into Dr. Oddswell's house as the girls return to continue chatting with the brothers. The group talks more about Sally's life, like how she works at a talent agency in town and decided to stay in Toon Town both to keep an eye on Sasha's ex-husband in prison and their mother. This leads to the group talking more about Sasha's ex-husband (Chad Skirt) and the abuse she suffered while with him, although she continues to assure the others that she's just fine now. As the group is talking a knock on the door suddenly interrupts their discussion. It turns out to be Holly at the door, and she quickly comes in to update them on her progress with the map. While she's searching through her bag a white fluffy rodent-like creature, which she refers to as Snowball, appears out of her bag to sit on her shoulder. Seeing her with the map causes Bendy to question where Alice is, which prompts Holly to reveal that Alice had left the day before the trial. She then gives Bendy the letter Alice left for him which he reads with Boris after introducing Holly to the Swing sisters. Alice's letter tells the boys that she's sorry she had to leave before their trial but she had to deal with an issue involving her former employment, although she promises that she is fine and will return to them soon. While Bendy isn't happy about Alice going back to the Casino, especially after finding out she left her apartment and job to Holly when she left, he has no choice but to trust that she'll come back soon.

With Holly there and everyone all caught up with one another the group's focus turn to the map. Holly goes to add the new runes to the map but when she reaches for it Snowball suddenly knocks her hand away. When questioned about what exactly Snowball is Holly reveals she is a half dandelion half hedgehog creature (Dandehog) she accidentally created during her rune testing. Holly once again reaches for the map but this time when Snowball jumps to intercept her a stray gust of wind pushes the creature into Bendy's face where she ends up taking refuge between his horns after Bendy scolds the animal for continuing to get in the way. With Snowball settled Holly suddenly begins asking Bendy about his shadows, such as how much he uses them. She also begins talking about all the possibilities for how they could be used and ways he could work to have better control over them. Bendy is interested in the prospect of learning to control them better but Boris reminds his brother that Dr. Oddswell said not to use them very much. Holly diffuses the growing argument between the brothers about possible practicing by suggesting that Bendy only practices with his shadows doing small things, although she admits that she's not an expert on Demons so she doesn't know for sure that it'll work out ok. After a bit more discussion about demonology, the Swing sisters announce that they're going to take their leave, saying their goodbye's to the group before heading out. When a remark from Holly suddenly reminds Bendy that she was homeless for a while he berates the girl for actually choosing to be homeless for any amount of time before the three of them get back on track with the map.

Before they add the runes to the map Holly suggests the group heads outside, which the B-Bros hesitantly agree to. Holly lays the map out on a table Granny had brought outside and carefully adds the new runes to the space Bendy indicates. Holly warns them to be prepared when she activates the runes, causing Bendy to nervously ask just how dangerous this actually is. Unfortunately for him, Holly had already activated the new runes and soon electricity was crackling around the yard as she focused on feeding magic into the new magical working. When the magic settles and the brothers get over their surprise at the chaos said magic had caused the boys approach the map to see if the new runes worked. Their both happy to find that it worked perfectly, with updated streets and buildings shown in photorealistic clarity on the map. While the B-Bros are congratulating Holly on a job well down Boris suddenly starts excitedly jumping around as an X appears on the map. With a new piece suddenly revealed to be nearby, the brothers start to get ready to go after it.

### Chapter 67 - A Shot in the Dark

The Cupbros stand at the mostly empty train station, waiting to see if Mayor Medusa actually shows up to try to ditch town. As they wait Mugs thinks about how Cuphead has been acting different ever since they reunited at the hospital, acting more like he had during their younger days instead of the cold demeanour he's gotten used to over the last few years. His thoughts turn from what exactly happened to Cuphead during their separation to his own time stuck at the hospital when he had feared his brother had abandoned him for good. After a twinge of pain from his injures pulls him from his more depressing line of thought Mugs begins to go over the events of their reunions once more. In an effort to distract himself from the idea that his brother thought he was dead Mugs asks Cup a bit about their target. Mugs thinks about how he hates jobs like these where they have to "take care" of someone, debtor or not. After waiting in silence for a little bit longer Mugman finally works up the courage to ask what exactly happened to Cup while they were separated. Cup tells him about the weasel and the courthouse and how he cornered the B-Bros afterwards but just gave up instead of shooting them. Mugs is shocked to hear that his brother, the most determined person he knows, actually gave up. When Mugman pushes for more details Cuphead vaguely explains that he now owes Bendy for reuniting the two of them. Just as Mugs is about to ask if this means Cup will try to find a way to spare the B-Bros Cuphead suddenly spots the mayor and his family over Mugman's shoulder.

The mayor's wife and kid don't seem to know what is happening but the mayor is extremely jumpy. As the Cupbros make their way towards the family the mayor stares at them in horror for a moment before taking off down the street with his briefcase, leaving his confused and now frightened family behind. Surprisingly, instead of immediately taking off after the mayor Cuphead walks up to his wife and child. While the daughter keeps asking what's going on the woman moves to protect her child from the Cupbros, begging them not to hurt her daughter. To the woman's shock Cuphead asks if she has anywhere she can stay for the night, explaining that her husband was involved in some very shady business and that she should take her daughter to someplace with people she can trust not to abandon her. Cup wishes the stammering woman a good night before walking to the train station entrance with his brother and taking off after the mayor. The brothers begin tracking the mayor through the alleyways, catching up with him in a matter of minutes and eventually herding the panicked man into a dead end. With the chase over the brothers casually walk towards their cornered prey, Mugs slightly out of breath due to his injures. Mayor Medusa at first tries to deny running away but when Cuphead calls him out he switches to begging them not to leave his daughter fatherless. Cup points out that Medusa had abandoned them back at the train station and for all he knew his family was already dead, sending the man into a daze of dread as Cup motions for Mugman to stand back as he steps forward to finish the job. Medusa begins trying to bribe the Cupbros, claiming he'll give them anything they want. As he lifts his finger, Cup states that the only thing he wants from the man is for him to stay still.

Back with the B-Bros the two of them are booking a room at a small hotel on the edge of town before they head up into the nearby mountains to find the latest part. As they book the room with the incredibly short cat woman at the counter Bendy feels the need to grab the woman and give her an impassioned speech about how she can still live a great life despite being vertically challenged. Boris finally pulls his brother away from the poor confused cat and they head up to their room. Suddenly, Bendy starts to feel a pain in his chest and with a quick excuse to Boris races out of the hotel and into a nearby alley. Bendy soon collapses into a painful Ink Attack while thinking about how he doesn't want to force his little brother to watch him every time he has an attack. However, when he digs into his bag only to discover he's out of pain pills Bendy can't help but cry out for Boris. Bendy eventually collapses as the pain of the attack overwhelms him, until someone comes up and picks his weak body off of the ground. Through the haze of the receding Ink Attack Bendy opens his eyes to see if it's Boris who has him only to be horrified when he discovers it's Cuphead who has picked him up. Cuphead asks where Boris is which Bendy initially refuses to answer until Cuphead clarifies that he's not looking to kill either of them and just wants to return Bendy to his brother to repay him for helping Cup the day before. Bendy asks if this means that the Cuphead won't come after them anymore but before they can get too deep into that topic they hear Boris crying out for Bendy close to the entrance of the alley. Cuphead carries Bendy to the corner to look around it at Boris and Bendy is frightened to see Boris being held at knifepoint by a mugger. Cuphead lifts a finger gun, bullet lit, and threatens the mugger to leave Boris alone. This gives Boris enough of a distraction to duck around the mugger and run towards Bendy. The mugger tries to lunge for Boris but Mugman stops him, crushing the thug's hand and frightening him off. Bendy jumps into Boris's arms the moment the pup gets close enough and the two happily reunite before Boris notices that it was Cuphead of all people who helped them. Boris's surprise only grows when Mugman cheerily pops up behind his brother, and the pup is just barely able to get out an uncertain thank you to the Cupbros. Cuphead blushes and waves off the thanks, telling Boris to go get Bendy somewhere he can rest while Cuphead ushers Mugman down the alley. As they listen to Mugman's teasing of his brother fade away Boris just shakes his head and tells Bendy that it's about time they got him to bed.

### Chapter 68 - A Tentative Night

Boris carries Bendy back into their hotel, trying to placate the panicking cat receptionist while his mind whirls with questions about the Cupbros. Boris gets Bendy resettled in their room and reassures the cat that Bendy doesn't need a doctor as she continues to panic. The cat tells Boris to take care of his "little brother", which Bendy somehow hears even in his weakened state. As Bendy bolts up, yelling in indignation, Boris bursts into laughter.

Meanwhile, the Cupbros have arrived at their own hotel room and Cuphead finally admits that it did feel kind of nice to help the B-Bros. Mugs hopefully asks if this means they can be friends with the B-Bros but at Cups reminder that they have a job to do Mugs starts to try to brainstorm other ways they can complete their assignment without killing. After answering the door to accept some extra towels from a small cat woman Cuphead tells Mugman he's going out for a smoke. Cuphead then heads out to the balcony, his thoughts turning to the job they just completed and the B-Bros until movement on the neighbouring balcony draws his eye. He turns to look and is shocked to find none other than a surprised Bendy looking back at him. After recovering from the surprise at seeing one another Cuphead teases Bendy about attacking him, almost annoying the Demon back into his room, before calming down enough to give Bendy a genuine thank you for helping him reunite with Mugs. Bendy accepts the thanks before asking Cup to hold off on attacking them until tomorrow morning since it's too late for that kind of thing, which Cup jokingly agrees to. After this Bendy heads back inside his own room once more, leaving Cup alone on the balcony with his thoughts. After some internal debate, Cuphead decides on a plan of action, striding back into his room and announcing to Mugman that they are going to befriend the B-Bros. Mugman is surprised by this sudden 180 of opinion but Cuphead explains that he plans to follow the B-Bros on their quest, use them to find all the parts and then the Cupbros will steal all of the parts from the B-Bros before they can make the Ink Machine. That way the Cupbros complete their job without having to kill the B-Bros. Mugs is upset about the idea of having to befriend the B-Bros just so they can betray them later but Cuphead points out that this is the best option they have that involves no killing. Mugman eventually agrees to befriend Boris while Cuphead states that he'll handle Bendy. As Mugman looks on the bright side of not having to kill the B-Bros Cuphead also suggests that since the Boss seems so weirdly invested in this job maybe it will clear both of their debts when they complete it, the idea of which brings a smile to both of the Cupbros faces.

Elsewhere, Mickey sits on a bed in the dark, surrounded by Ozzy and the bunny kids, sadly admitting that no matter how much he wants to he can't help Boris when they both already have so much in their own lives. Mickey's sadness quickly turns to shock when he actually hears his brother speak, telling Mickey how he's too good for this world. Mickey and the kid's shock quickly turn to excitement as they celebrate Ozzy speaking once again after so long being mute. As the whole group hugs and calms down Ozzy notices that one of his daughters is wearing Felix's hat, which he gave her when Felix was invited to their house earlier. Ozzy smiles and says maybe they'll see Felix again someday, which is met by cheers from his kids. Mickey happily watches the scene, thinking about how this was the best he's seen Ozzy since the loss of Ortensia and hoping that this means there will be brighter days ahead for all of them.

The next morning Boris walks through the hallway of the hotel, thinking about how stupid Bendy is for forgetting to refill his pills before they left. Suddenly, Mugman appears behind him and startles him as the Dish hands him a towel he had dropped. Boris cautiously accepts the towel, reflecting on how Bendy had told him that the Cupbros were next door but now that he was faced with Mugman he had no idea what Mugs was going to do. He certainly isn't expecting it when Mugman suddenly asks if they can be friends. Boris is at first rightfully suspicious and frustrated about the mixed signals Mugs has been giving him, even denying the offer of friendship when Mugs still refuses to answer his questions about why the Cupbros were after them in the first place. But when Mugman begins to tear up Boris's guilt wins out and, against his better judgement, he finally accepts Mug's friendship. After a crushing hug from Mugman Boris asks if this means that the Cupbros won't be coming after them anymore. Mugs responds with an emphatic no, claiming that it's due to Cuphead's gratitude to Bendy and then asking Boris if they could help the B-Bros with their quest as a way of paying them back. After some slight begging Boris gives in and claims he'll ask Bendy but Mugs shouldn't expect too much. Mugman then suggests that Cuphead should talk to Bendy about it but Boris says they're busy with other things at the moment. When Mugman pushes Boris admits that they have to go back into town tomorrow to grab something and won't be back until that night. Mugman then begins begging Boris to allow the Cupbros to come with them and Boris despairingly thinks about how Bendy isn't going to like this one bit.

### Chapter 69 - A Rabbit, a Cat and a Mouse--Oh My!

The next morning at breakfast Oswald amuses himself surprising Donald by actually speaking to him again, although he warns Donald that he's still not up for talking a lot and asks that he skips all the questioning about the sudden change. Donald grumpily accepts this and the two of them start joking as Mickey comes up to join them. The three of them then discuss what they're going to do that day. At the mention of buying some herbs, Donald and Ozzy begin teasing Mickey about his crush on Minnie.

Elsewhere that same morning Felix thinks over the events of the day before when he had ended up being brought back to Ozzy's after their meeting at the restaurant. Once he had arrived at Oswald's house the rabbit's many children had begun giving the two of them an elaborate grooming session. During this grooming, one of the children came up to Felix to show him a picture of their mother, a beautiful female black cat, since he reminds the kids of her. One of the kids informs him that she "went to a better place" but just as the realization of what that means sets in Ozzy suddenly intervenes, glaring at Felix as he takes the picture away. After apologizing for looking at the photo Felix goes to leave, though Ozzy catches him before he leaves to say he's sorry for getting upset and give Felix a muffin. Just before he walks out an already flustered Felix hears some of the kids asking if he's their new mom. Felix's mind is brought back to the present when he drops a notebook on his foot. As he's picking up the notebook one of the papers slides out, a letter from Wilson Wiseton who turns out to have been one of Felix's professors. Felix thinks about the mystery of what happened to Wilson as well as the little he knows about Ink Illness, the Ink Machine and the B-Bros. As Felix becomes more frustrated that there is a mystery in front of him that he just doesn't have all the piece to yet a knock comes from his door. It turns out to be his good friend Sheba, who has come to meet him for breakfast. As the two of them head out they talk about Felix's magic bag and Sheba, noticing something is up, begins pushing him to tell her what's really on his mind. Felix eventually admits to having met a "handsome bunny" and Sheba happily supports his new crush, even as they both commiserate the fact that having a known gay relationship could ruin his career. The two cats then make their way to a diner, eating and catching up with one another, before deciding to go get some errands done together.

Meanwhile, the B-Bros are arguing about accepting the Cupbro's offer as they make their way to Dr. Oddswell's house to get the pain medication refill. Upon arrival at the house, they are greeted by Granny, who happily refills Bendy's pills. Afterwards, they head over to Betty's to talk with Holly. They greet Holly at the store and ask about supplies the B-Bros will need for their upcoming trip to the mountains. While Boris goes to grab the supplies Bendy stays at the front to talk with Holly, thanking her once more for all the help she's given and handing the page from Wilson's journal over so she can try translating it. Holly promises that she'll have it translated by the time the boys come back and Bendy takes the opportunity to pre-emptively ask her out on a date for when they return. While she is surprised by this Holly accepts the offer. The B-Bros then happily buy their supplies and leave the shop.

Ozzy is relaxing with Donald and Mickey when suddenly one of his sons comes running towards him yelling for help as the child flees a cat woman running after him begging for cuddles. Ozzy quickly bundles his child into his arms, angrily asking what the woman wants with his son. Before she can reply Felix's voice comes from around the corner, yelling at the woman (Sheba) to stop because she's scaring the kid. Ozzy greets Felix and his smile flusters Felix so much that the cat promptly blushes and faints into Sheba's arms. Thankfully, Felix regains consciousness quickly. He at first thinks it was a dream but as Ozzy and his kids come to check up on him the cat hastily explains away the fainting by claiming he had a fever. Sheba leans over to confirm with Felix that this is the handsome bunny he was talking about as Ozzy pretends not to hear them. Sheba then steps away from Felix to begin flirting with Mickey, who becomes embarrassed and tries to make excuses to leave as Ozzy barely suppresses his laughter at the scene.

### Chapter 70 - Picture: The Ladies

Drawings of some of the female characters in the story drawn by Tap (Alice, Sasha, Ringtail, Featherworth, Holly and Lady Facilier)

### Chapter 71 - Pictures: The Gentleman

Drawings of some of the male characters in the story drawn by Tap (Bendy, Boris, Cuphead, Mugman, Wilson, Dr.Oddswell, Red and Fairfax)

### Chapter 72 - Pictures: Fan Art and Tap Stuff

A small collection of art created for the story at the point of publication, drawn by Tap and artist Twinfeather.

### Chapter 73 - Mixed Feels

Picking up where Chapter 69 left off Felix sits with the circus group and Sheba, mooning over Ozzy and even accidentally blurting out his thoughts to the rabbit when Ozzy goes to apologize about how he treated him before. Sheba and Felix decide to leave after having lunch with the Circus crew, although there is a slight incident where Felix calling Oswald "Ozzy" seems to send him into a panic before the rabbit swiftly pulls himself back. Felix then says his goodbye's to the children and Ozzy mentions how much he appreciates it that Felix is so nice to his kids. Following that comment, Felix blushes so badly that Ozzy once again worries he has a fever before the cat is finally able to make his escape.

Felix quickly catches up with Sheba and she teases him as they walk to her bookstore. Once they get to her bookstore Sheba immediately becomes the victim of a prank by Felix's nephews Inky and Winky. After saying hello to the two kittens, and a brief panic when Sheba accidentally reveals Felix's crush on Ozzy to the boys, the two children take off to create more mischief. Sheba and Felix then finally enter the store, Sheba continuing to rant to Felix about how it's stupid that other people's opinions should dictate his potential relationship with Ozzy. Felix points out that, with everything he's discovered lately, he can't afford to lose any of his support. The two then briefly talk about Wilson's case before they settle down and begin working together in the shop. As he works Felix's thoughts continue to swirl around Ozzy and Ink Illness. Felix asks Sheba if she thinks he acts weird around Ozzy and Sheba replies that he acts the same as anyone with a crush would. She then digs out a poster of a younger Mickey and Oswald that she had stored away. Felix marvel's at how much happier and carefree Ozzy looks in the poster and wonders if there's any way the rabbit could ever return to that state. He also has the dawning realization that he has no clue how he's going to hide this gigantic crush from others.

### Chapter 74 - A Dark Night

After an annoying day of errands and strangers bugging them, Bendy decides he has had enough and heads out to have fun for the evening, leaving Boris behind at the hotel. Though the memories of all the various irritating experiences from that day continue to get on his nerves Bendy eventually relaxes a bit as he arrives at a nightclub. After ordering a drink Bendy looks around the club and is surprised when he recognizes Dovil and Fanny in one of the booths. Bendy walks over to begin flirting with the two, though he's disappointed to hear that Dovil is waiting on her date to show up thus meaning that he has no chance with her. Bendy does sit down with the women but is annoyed when they also start talking about his trial and Ink Illness. His annoyance increases when Fanny mentions having a husband and he realizes he has no chance with either woman. After chatting some more with the two nurses Bendy leaves them to their night and returns to the bar to grab another drink. As he drinks Bendy's thoughts begin to spiral into depression as he thinks about how he'd never be able to get a girl and even if he did he has so much going on right now that he wouldn't be able to be a good boyfriend to her. His thoughts take the turn from depressing into nihilistic as he admits to himself that with his illness seemingly worsening he didn't even know if he would live until the end of the week. Bendy orders another drink.

Meanwhile, Fanny isn't having a great night either. Apparently, when Dovil asked her to come out for the night she had misheard Dovil telling her that her boyfriend Puphead was coming and instead thought the bird had invited Cuphead out for the night. Now instead of spending a night messing with Cuphead like she wanted to she was stuck watching Dovil and Puphead's sickly sweet flirting with one another. Eventually, the three of them leave Puphead insists that he and Dovil walk her home. They arrive at her house and Fanny says goodnight to her friend, thinking about how she hopes it works out between Dovil and Puphead even if she hates watching their flirting. Once she's in the door her husband, a large wolf named Brute, begins complaining to her about how he had to make his own dinner while she was out with her friend. Fanny tries to placate him, pointing out that she had made dinner and he just had to heat it up. The attempts of placation fail as Brute roughly grabs her ear and yanks her up off the floor, demanding she serves him dinner immediately and not sass him. Fanny tearfully agrees to his demands and the wolf throws her back to the floor, causing her to hit her head on the coffee table on the way down. Brute scoffs and says she'll walk it off since she's a nurse before walking away. Once he's gone Fanny pulls herself off the floor and goes to the bathroom to bandage her wounds. As she realizes that makeup won't be enough to cover the marks around her eye the next day she reminds herself that even with these constant "little fights" she shouldn't complain since at least she had a man with a decent job. She had known going into it that their marriage wasn't about love, after all the last time she tried following her heart it got broken. As far as Fanny is concerned all men were the same, they only knew how to hurt people.

At the hotel, Boris is sitting in the room watching TV when Bendy drunkenly slams back into the room. Bendy plops down on the bed next to Boris and explains that since he always gets sad when looking for a date but he's happy when he's with Boris that Boris should just be "his girl". Boris, used to this happening, agrees with Bendy's plan. Bendy then admits he's aware that he's drunk before collapsing back onto the bed. Boris remembers all the other times similar conversations had occurred. He also thinks about how he used to worry when this happened since he wanted his brother to be happy but after all the craziness lately it was nice to have some normalcy again. Bendy breaks through these thoughts by declaring he'll just date himself instead. When he asks if that's gay and Boris answers that he's not sure Bendy cheers at his newfound gayness. Boris just laughs at his brother's antics.

### Chapter 75 - To Become a Quester!

As Boris blurrily exits the B-Bros hotel room he is quickly pulled into a hug by Mugman. Cuphead is right behind his brother and while Boris is initially terrified to see the older Dish it quickly turns to shock as Cuphead cheerfully wishes him a good morning. Before Boris can recover from the emotional whiplash Cup is waving him and Mugs off to go buy supplies while Cup goes to talk to Bendy. It's only as Boris is already being dragged down the hallway by Mugman that Cup's words actually register.

In the B-Bros room, Bendy is getting ready for the day while dealing with a hangover from all the drinking the night before. Suddenly Cuphead appears behind him, acting overly nice and friendly until Bendy makes it clear that despite the Cupbros offer he still doesn't trust him. The niceness drops and Cuphead goes to leave but Bendy, sick of all the mixed messages from the Cupbros, sits Cup down on the bed so they can talk things out. Cup begins pleading with Bendy to understand the situation he and mugs are in, even beginning to cry when the subject of Mugman getting shot is brought up. This sends Bendy into somewhat of a panic as he awkwardly tries to comfort Cup. His efforts manage to get a laugh from Cup and after the tears stop Cup invites him out to breakfast. When Bendy tries to stutter out that he and Boris already have plans Cuphead informs him that Mugs already took Boris to the market before instructing Bendy to be ready in fifteen minutes and sweeping out of the room. With a huff, Bendy returns to getting ready to head out.

Bendy soon finds himself sitting across from Cuphead at a nice café as the two of them continue their conversation from the hotel room. Cup argues that the B-Bros need him and Mugs on the quest since he can't keep relying on dumb luck to save them. Bendy goes to refute this before reflection on the last couple of months reminds him that Cuphead is right but Bendy still isn't sure about trusting the Cupbros. Before he can make a decision the waitress comes back with their breakfast and makes the mistake of treating Bendy like a child. Cuphead is quick to correct her mix-up, laying the praise for Bendy on thick as he does so. This leads to some banter between the two older brothers after the waitress leaves which helps endear Bendy to Cuphead enough to at least promise to talk over the Cupbros offer with Boris. Cuphead is thrilled at the perceived acceptance of their offer, leaving Bendy to just hope that he won't regret the choice later.

Meanwhile, Boris is picking up some fruit from the market as Mugman goofs off behind him. After putting a piece of fruit into his bag Boris goes to walk to the next stall when a high-pitched scream has him whipping back around to find an angry Mugman holding a shrieking mouse-child up by the back of his shirt. Boris rushes over only for Mugman to pick the fruit from the kid's hand and toss it to Boris, who recognizes it as the fruit he just put in his bag. Quickly realizing the kid pickpocketed him Boris is suddenly reminded of all the times he and Bendy had needed to steal food to survive. Sympathetic to the poor kid, Boris pushes the piece of fruit back into the child's hand as Mugman sets the kid back onto the ground. After recovering from his surprise the kid hesitantly leaves with the fruit. Happy with their good deed the two young brothers continue down the street until Boris recognizes the two women in front of them as Nurse Fanny and Dovil. Mugman quickly hides behind Boris until the nurses are outside of sight, explaining that he doesn't want to be seen walking around by Fanny since she'll probably yell at him about his health. This leads to Mugs telling Boris stories of his time in the hospital all the way back to the hotel where the two meet up with their respective older brothers. The Cupbros take all of the supplies up to their room with the promise to meet up later, leaving the B-Bros alone to talk about the Cupbros offer. After a quick discussion, they decide to take the Cupbros up on their offer to join the quest. Bendy then heads to check out a nearby bookstore while Boris goes to buy some fruit to make up for the one he gave away earlier.

Bendy walks into the bookshop and is greeted by Sheba as he heads over to look at the Felix the Cat books, only to be shocked when the cat himself walks out of the back of the shop. Felix recognizes Bendy from their brief meeting at the restaurant and greets Bendy. Bendy awkwardly returns the greeting before asking Sheba if she has the latest Felix the Cat book, slightly embarrassed at doing so in front of the author. As Sheba heads to the back to grab Bendy's book she informs Felix he has something on his face, causing him to lift the hem of his shirt to wipe at it and reveal the jagged scars on his torso that Bendy recognizes as the injury he obtained during the events of one of his past books. The two happily talk about the encounter that led to the injury before Felix returns to working around the store. Boris enters and, upon seeing Felix, immediately begins teasing his brother about his enthusiasm for the author. After he is finished teasing his brother Boris informs Bendy that the map has changed somewhat and the two look to see that the X on the map has now become a Cog of some kind. As the brothers talk about the best route to reach the part they are suddenly interrupted by Felix, who excitedly begins asking the brothers if this is the map used to find the Ink Machine pieces that he had heard about. The B-Bros are surprised that Felix knows about the machine and Felix reveals that he found a secret message at a nearby casino, which he then decoded only to discover it contained information about the existence of the Ink Machine. Felix then offers to join the B-Bros quest. Bendy instantly tries to accept but Boris pulls him to the side to ask if that's really such a good idea. Bendy reassures Boris and points out the fact that the famous adventurer Felix the Cat is certainly a more trustworthy travelling companion than the Cupbros who they were also letting come along. Ignoring the rest of Boris's protests Bendy accepts Felix's offer and the cat happily sets off into the back of the shop to grab his things. Just as Felix returns ready to go the Cupbros walk in and they are introduced to Felix. While Mugs seemingly has no problem with the cat joining Cuphead isn't thrilled about the development. Regardless, Bendy declares it's time for the group to head out.

Felix looks over his new travelling companions as Boris explains who the Cupbros are to him. As the others head into the hotel rooms to grab the supplies Boris pulls Felix aside to explain that Bendy has Ink Illness so they may occasionally have to stop due to his Ink Attacks. Felix can't help but think about how sad it is that someone as young as Bendy is in such a dire situation. With the knowledge that this quest may take years and not all the victims, including Bendy, would be able to survive long enough to see its completion Felix prepares to begin his latest adventure.

### Chapter 76 - Quest Begin!

As the group hikes towards their goal Cuphead thinks about how much the new addition of Felix to the group annoys him and how worried he is about Mugs getting too close to the group when they were ultimately planning to betray them. As Felix begins handing out snacks to the group Bendy asks if they can take a break, clearly, so he can deal with an Ink Attack, and quickly disappears behind a boulder with Boris when Felix agrees to stop. This leaves the Cupbros alone with Felix, who asks them if he can see a demonstration of their finger guns. Originally Mugs pushes for Cup to do the demonstration but when he goes to shoot the memories of accidentally shooting Mugman prevent him from actually firing the bullet. He brushes off his reluctance to shoot by claiming Mugman needs to work on his but still can't bring himself to watch as Mugs shoots a nearby tree in the demonstration. Cup half-heartedly joins in Felix's excited praise of Mugman's shot and continues to tell himself that they're both fine.

Meanwhile, Bendy barely manages to stumble behind the boulder before he collapses due to the Ink Attack. Boris takes care of Bendy as he screams his way through the attack and he mentally yells that he can't die and leave Boris all alone. As the attack subsides Boris begins to wipe the ink off of Bendy as Bendy begins to think about who's going to lead the quest if he dies. Bendy tries to get Boris to promise him that he'll keep looking for the Ink Machine parts even if Bendy dies but Boris refuses to think about the possibility of Bendy dying at all. The argument between them ends when Boris begins crying and Bendy can't help but pull his younger brother into a hug. Once they're both feeling a bit better Bendy begins redressing so they can return to the group when suddenly Felix comes behind the boulder to check on them. Boris tells Bendy that he already told Felix about Bendy having Ink Illness and Bendy is embarrassed by this until Felix assures him that it's nothing to be ashamed of. With that settled Felix ushers a now significantly happier Bendy to go finish getting dressed. When Bendy stumbles a bit after hefting his bag back up due to lingering light-headedness Felix suggests resting for a little bit longer. When Bendy brushes off this offer Felix then asks if Boris could carry him instead, an idea which Bendy instantly hates. Felix then insists that he carry Bendy on his back since he doesn't want Bendy walking in his weakened condition and, unable to say no to his idol, Bendy ends up climbing onto Felix's back.

The three of them rejoin the Cupbros and upon seeing Bendy on Felix's back Mugman asks if they're having a piggyback race before quickly scooping Boris up onto his own back and taking off. Felix happily takes off after Mugs and the B-Bros do their best to hang on as their runners decide that a tall tree on a distant hill is the finish line for their impromptu race. Just as Mugs and Felix are closing in on the tree, neck in neck, Cuphead speeds past all of them to reach the tree first and declare himself the winner. When Mugman points out that it was a piggyback race Cuphead turns around to show the group the kitten clinging to the back of his coat. As the others gather around to inspect the kitten that Cuphead's managed to coax off of his coat they see it has a collar that reads Figaro on it. Despite this, Cup decides that the cat will be his "partner" and he is renaming it Jackpot, which Bendy admonishes Cup for since the cat clearly belongs to someone. With no choice but to wait until they're back in the city to try to find the cat's owner, the B-Bros get off their respective runners only for Bendy to almost immediately fall down once more. Felix demands to know why Bendy would lie to him about being well enough to walk and Bendy can only stutter out a half explanation that he was just feeling a bit numb. With Bendy still not well enough to walk and the sun due to set soon the group decides to set up camp for the night. Bendy is made to sit under the large tree as the rest of the group sets up camp. Bendy thinks about how with a team like this they might really have a shot at success as he watches the others.

### Chapter 77 - We're Going Camping!

As the group sits around the campfire waiting for their dinner to finish cooking Bendy thinks about how Felix has seemed to be upset with him since they started setting up the camp. When he finally works up the courage to ask Felix about it the cat admits to Bendy that he doesn't like that Bendy is hiding things from the group because he doesn't trust Felix. When Bendy hurriedly explains that he's not hiding the information due to a lack of trust but instead because he was trying to prove himself Felix reassures Bendy that he doesn't need to prove anything to him. The sweet moment is interrupted by Cuphead teasing Bendy, which quickly leads to Bendy yelling at the Dish. Thankfully, the soup is finished and everyone is soon too busy eating to continue arguing. Boris pulls out his clarinet to play a bit of music for them, leading to a conversation about what musical instruments everyone in the group can play. This conversation then turns to the group choosing a name for their new questing team and they eventually decide to go with Bendy's suggestion of the Ink Questers. With the decision made the group spends the rest of the night stargazing and joking with one another until they turn in for the night.

The next morning finds Felix and Boris awake before the others and the two of them chat about Bendy's illness and his attitude about said illness. Boris opens up some more about his fears regarding his brother and Felix comforts him, causing Boris to reflect on how much he appreciates the way Felix treats both him and his brother. Once they've both cooled off from the early morning emotional conversation Felix and Boris start making breakfast, which wakes up the rest of the group. After breakfast, the group packs up camp and starts hiking once more. Bendy is back to his normal energy levels and the group makes good time, though Mugs starts lagging a bit near the end of the day.

Cup steps up next to Felix to ask when exactly they're going to be making camp, ignoring Bendy's teasing about getting tired, and Felix assures Cuphead that it'll only be a few more minutes until they reach a nearby meadow to make camp. Satisfied with the answer, Cuphead drops back to check in with Mugman about how he's doing. After Mugs reassures his brother that he's fine Cuphead also takes the chance to remind Mugman not to get too close with the others since they are ultimately planning to betray them. Mugman is upset by the reminder and picks up the pace to catch up with the others, leaving Cuphead behind to his worried thoughts about his younger brother. As promised the group soon arrives at the meadow where they plan to camp for the night. Cuphead and Bendy head out to grab firewood for the group, giving Bendy a chance to ask Cuphead what's up with his attitude. Cup quickly turns the question back on Bendy, asking why he's been fawning over Felix so much. Bendy pulls out one of Felix's books and gives it to Cuphead, telling him to just read it before he complains to Bendy about Felix. Despite having little to no intention of reading it Cuphead still pockets the book and the two of them head back to camp. As they all settle in for the night Cuphead wonders just how long it's gonna take for them to get the part, pushing the thoughts of the work he needs to do once he gets back into the city to the back of his mind.

### Chapter 78 - Drip, Drip

As the questers continue towards their goal Felix contemplates the dynamics of the group compared to others he's adventured with in the past. As the group reaches the top of one of the mountains the map suddenly glows and jumps up into the air, spinning itself into a cone shape. The group quickly makes the connection that the map is pointing to the large lake stretched out in front of them. The group walks into the lake to investigate and soon comes across a symbol etched into stone much like the one the B-Bros encountered back in New Orleans. An accidental collision between Mugs and Felix causes the cat to fall straight onto the symbol, inadvertently activating it. Before they know it the lake floor gives out beneath the group and they all fall into darkness. Felix gets separated from the group by the current of the falling water and comes back up in a cave. While he can't find any of the others nearby he does discover a soaking wet Jackpot in the cave alongside him. Seeing as both the cats are shivering cold from the water Felix takes it upon himself to shed his wet clothes and transform his magic bag into a hairdryer to get them both to more comfortable states. Once they're both dried off Felix takes Jackpot to go find the others.

Elsewhere in the cave system Cuphead wakes up to a soaked Bendy worrying over him and a chipped head. As he stands up he notices the vision in his right eye is blurry thanks to the chip, causing him to smack face-first into a pillar when the two of them start moving to look for the others. When Bendy makes a joke about Cup needing a sexy nurse Cuphead becomes flustered as he remembers Nurse Fanny. Deflecting Bendy's determined questioning about his blush and forcibly shutting down any more thoughts of Fanny Cottontail Cuphead tries to go back to searching but only ends up running into yet another pillar. After laughing at him a bit Bendy offers to guide Cup and place's one of Cup's hands on his shoulder. With only a little more grumbling from Cuphead the duo head off once more to search for their missing companions.

Boris fearfully wanders through the caverns, searching for the others. As he's calling out for Bendy he's suddenly attacked by a monstrous spider/crab mix of a creature. The monster slashes Boris on the side and catches him by his backpack, forcing Boris to slip free of the pack to escape. Boris tries to run but finds himself frozen in fear as the creature nears him. Just as the creature is about to bring another of its claws down onto the pup Mugman appears to pull Boris out of danger, firing bullets at the monster as they make a run for it. Finally, the two lose the beast and can take a moment to bandage Boris's wounds using Mugman's scarf. With Mugman's scarf off Boris can see the bandages of his wound and Boris worries about Mugman's health. Before Boris has a chance to ask any questions the ceiling above the two of them starts rumbling and Mugman pulls Boris behind him, lifting a glowing finger in preparation for whatever might be coming.

Back with Bendy and Cuphead Bendy is still trying to get Cup to tell him who he was thinking of that got him so flustered. Their conversation is interrupted by the floor once again giving out from under them, the two of them sliding down to a new cavern and landing in a heap on the floor. Thankfully, this is the same cavern Mugs and Boris are in. The two pairs of brothers happily reunite, though Bendy is worried when he sees that Boris was injured in his absence. After Boris reassures Bendy that he's fine and Bendy pushes down his self doubts the group begins looking for their last missing member. As they look for Felix Bendy tells Cup that they might find Jackpot too, but Cuphead doesn't have much hope that the kitten survived. Before Bendy can try to cheer Cup up one of the giant crab monsters from earlier collapses dead in front of them, Felix standing on its back with a bloody battle-axe. Felix happily greets the group and Cuphead is ecstatic to see Jackpot with him, the Cupbros happily petting the kitten when Felix hands him over. Felix also mentions that Boris's bag is nearby and the pup runs off to grab it while Felix pulls out a brush to start fixing Bendy's messed up fur. When Felix is done Bendy automatically says "Thanks, dad!", which Cuphead immediately starts laughing at him for. Bendy is mortified and tries to hide in Boris's half-empty bag in shame before Boris pulls him out. The group finally pulls itself together once more and starts following the map towards the symbol of the part, which is much closer than before. As they walk Felix tells Bendy that those monsters they saw are called boulder spiders and that they usually aren't as big as the ones in the caverns. He also mentions that he's seen parts of what seems to be eaten spiders lying around, hinting that something even more dangerous is lurking somewhere nearby. All of a sudden the group comes to a blocked passageway, though they can hear water behind the rocks so they know there is more behind it. Mugs steps up and volunteers himself and Cup to clear the passageway with one of their blasts but Cuphead once again makes an excuse not to use his powers, leaving it to Mugs to clear the way himself. With the passageway now clear the group walks forward to find themselves in a large cavern with a waterfall and sunlight pouring in from above. As they continue to move forward they find an ever-increasing amount of eaten spider parts, but the map continues to point them forward. Just as they turn a bend in the path they hear a loud crunch from up ahead. Poking their heads around they spot a giant female creature eating a spider, her upper body alone being at least two stories tall.

### Chapter 79 - Cala Maria

As the questers take in the creature Felix recognizes her as a high-sea mermaid, although she is unnaturally large just like the spiders. The map seems to indicate that the part is in her head somewhere and the questers wonder how they're going to kill her to get it. They decide to just shoot her and Cuphead once again pushes the responsibility onto Mugman, who is getting annoyed at his brother's antics. Bendy is also trying to figure out why Cuphead is acting like this and soon realizes why Cup doesn't want to use his powers. Bendy encourages Cup to use his bullets again, claiming he wouldn't hurt his brother since he cares for him so much. With the reason for Cup's odd behaviour revealed Mugs quickly pulls his brother into a hug but the moment is broken when Felix pulls Cuphead's attention over to where Jackpot has gotten far too close to the mermaid for comfort. Cup pulls Jackpot out of harm's way as Felix attacks the lunging mermaid. Bendy and Mugman join in the fight but it's not long before Bendy suddenly starts feeling the symptoms of an oncoming ink attack. As the attack begins to overtake him Bendy tries to figure out some way he can still help his friends in the battle and decides to try focusing his magic on the ink and his body in the hopes of powering through the attack. A rush of power flows through Bendy's body and suddenly not only does he feel incredible but he's also raring to join the fight, conveniently ignoring Boris's suddenly horrified reaction towards him by assuming everything is just a dream.

Meanwhile, Cuphead has recognized the mermaid as Cala Maria from the Cupbros childhood. Cuphead thinks about what could have happened to her as he watches the fight until something else grabs his attention. Bendy has rejoined the fight but he has transformed into a larger more demonic-looking form. After Bendy breaks away from fighting Cala he walks over to the Cupbros. Mugs is excited by the transformation but Cuphead is worried about just how lucid Bendy is in this new form. His concerns are quickly put to rest as Bendy begins teasing him as normal before turning back to the fight with Cala, leaving the rest of the group no chance to question him on this sudden change. The fight continues and Cup is surprised to find he's actually worried about the other member's safety, despite his attempts to not get attached to any of them. He's so caught up in these thoughts that he doesn't notice Cala lunging for him until Mugman pushes him out of the way and gets eaten for it. The rage and horror at seeing his brother eaten finally pushes away any doubts Cuphead had about using his powers and he open's fire on Cala, demanding that she spits out his brother.

Now inside of Cala, Mugman is surprised to find that he seems to be in a smooth cavern instead of a mouth. As he makes his way through the darkness he comes across what seems to be the true form of Cala Maria, who begs him to please save her from this place. Realizing that she's not in control of the being attacking them Mugman promises to free her from her place halfway stuck in the floor of the odd cavern. Mugman tries to pull her free but the only thing he manages to achieve is popping some of his stitches. As he takes a break from his rescues efforts a soft gold and pink light fills the space. He turns and finds the source of the light is a large Cog, which Cala explains is the power source of the whole place. Mugman realizes that the gear must be the part they're looking for and wonders aloud if he can just pull it from the wall. Cala tells him not to bother, claiming that the Cog is just as stuck as her. Mugman tells her not to give up hope, promising to save her as he begins the difficult task of slowly twisting the stubborn gear off the wall. As she sees the Cog begin to move Cala starts cheering for Mugman, calling him her hero.

Back on the outside, the fight is still raging on. Boris races in with a wrench determined to face Mugman until Cup stops him. Cup tells Boris that he's gonna protect him until they get Mugman back safe and sound, calming Boris down enough to back off from the fight. Bendy teases Cup about his soft-heartedness as he continues to fight the giant Cala, who seems to be weakening. Suddenly, Bendy goes rigid and begins to fall from where he was perched near her head. Felix transforms his bag into a raft to catch Bendy before he hits the water and Boris goes to retrieve his brother. Boris pulls Bendy out of the large puddle of ink in the raft, the Demon now transformed back into his original form and unconscious.

Bendy dreams about himself back when he was younger. He's playing in some puddles surrounded by the hazy forms of many others Demons. One large Demon that seems familiar to Bendy offers him his hand and he takes it without hesitation. Then Bendy awakens from the dream, coughing the last of the ink from his lungs, and is quickly wrapped up in a hug by a relieved Boris and Felix. Bendy is confused about what's going on and starts to panic when he can't see the Cupbros. Thankfully, Cuphead soon comes into his line of view and asks Bendy why he would transform back before the fight was over. Bendy is confused about the other form Cuphead mentions but their attention is soon brought back to the fight. At this point the giant body of the Cala look-alike has been completely destroyed, leaving just a floating head left to defeat.

Mugman has been slowly working at turning the Cog when a loud crack from behind him makes him whip around just in time to see the ground give out from under Cala Maria. Mugs dives forwards and catches her just in time, pulling her back up to safety. She ends up sitting in his lap, thanking him continuously, until they both realize their position and become flustered. Movement from through the hole brings Mugman back to reality and he pops his head out, getting an upside-down view of the rest of the questers fighting the giant head he's in. Boris is still taking care of Bendy, who is trying to rejoin the fight despite his current state, while Felix and Cup immediately focus on getting Mugman back down to ground level. Felix turns his bag into a grappling gun and shoots a line up through the hole Mugman just hung his head out of. The room around Mugs begins to shake apart so he picks up Cala and begins to make his way down the rope, reluctantly leaving the Cog behind. Once on the ground the two only have a moment to greet the rest of the group before Cala begins to scream at the sight of the giant bloody version of her own head cracking into pieces and falling into the water. Mug tells the rest of the group that the part is still in the head and they attempt to save a part of the head by pulling on the grappling line but unfortunately the hook pulls free midway through the attempt. With no other option, it's decided that the Cupbros and Felix will go swimming for the part. As Cup and Felix get ready to dive in Mugman heads over to comfort a distraught Cala Maria, once again getting flustered in the process. Boris points them in the right direction and the three of them dive into the cold water to begin the search. After searching for a little while Mugman finds the Cog and the three of them manage to dig it out and tie a rope through its center in order to pull it out. With that, the three of them return to dry land to dry off while Bendy pulls the Cog up to the shore. With the part finally retrieved the group can now take a moment to rest. They begin to wonder exactly how they're going to get the Cog back to Toon Town, a problem which Cala claims to be able to help with as thanks for the rescue. Cala then gasps as the blood from Mugman's popped stitches begins to seep through his shirt and Mugman nervously looks up to see his brother's reaction.

### Chapter 80 - A Whale of a Tale

Mugs and Felix are aside from the rest of the group treating Mugman's injuries, which had garnered an intense reaction from Cuphead when he saw them. After telling Mugman that everyone is worrying over him because they care Mugman gives Felix a vague explanation on how he got the injuries in the first place. Felix then Mug's some advice on how to handle Cup before the two of them rejoin the group only to find that Cala has taken off somewhere to get them a ride. Now that they are back with the group Felix's thoughts turn to Bendy and he considers just how little about Demons he actually knows. He thinks about how hard it is to get unbiased information on Demons due to their terrible reputation and bad relationship with the Angels following the Angel-Demon War. His thoughts are cut off by Cala's return from the ocean and it is revealed that the "ride" she was grabbing them was a passing Blue Whale who agreed to give them a lift. The group quickly recovers from their shock and goes to swim out to the whale when Bendy suddenly feels his side burning. Bendy throws himself into the water to cool off and when they lift his shirt there are indeed burns there, despite him being near no discernable source of heat at the time. The burning sensation has subsided so the group swims to the whale and clambers onto its back, sitting in a circle around the Cog. With its passengers safely aboard the whale begins to swim back to Toon Town.

The group chats as Felix begins to patch up Bendy's burns and the conversation soon turns to Bendy's transformation during the fight. Bendy still insists he doesn't remember any of it and the group is left with no answers as to what could have caused it. With that topic sufficiently dead-ended they switch to telling various childhood stories to one another. The Cupbros tell the group about all the various animals Cup would bring home as a kid and the time they got caught stealing honey from the Queen Bee Hotel. The B-Bros share the story of a kid named Gideon who used to bully them at the Sillyvision orphanage and how Bendy got revenge on him. Cala tells a story about how she and her sister messed with one of King Triton's meals and ended up getting the food stuck to the wall. She also goes on to explain her symbiotic relationship with the octopus on her head. Finally, Felix explains how he was a fairly cowardly child and it was thanks to Sheba's "tough love" that he learned how to stand up for himself. The group continues to tell stories until they arrive at the Toon Town docks.

The questers climb off onto the nearest dock and wave goodbye to the whale. The group begins talking about the parts a bit more when suddenly Nurse Fanny comes marching up to them, yelling at the Cupbros about not taking care of themselves while Mugs is still injured. As she yells at the Cupbros about dragging them back to the hospital Nurse Dovil and Holly also walk up to join the group. The B-Bros barely have time to greet Holly before Fanny turns her wrath onto them and demands they come to the hospital as well. Since Fanny is insisting they head to the hospital immediately Felix offers to bring the Cog back to the house. Cala pulls Mugman aside to ask when she can see him again and when he says he isn't sure she gives him a magic pearl that can summon her to any body of water. She also says that she'll work on a way to live on land full time since there's not much left for her in the ocean before pulling Mugman into a quick kiss on the cheek and dropping back into the sea. Cup has to pull his dazed brother along as Fanny begins to usher all the injured towards the hospital, Felix promising to meet up with them once they've been released. Left alone, Felix and Holly begin to talk as they make their way to Dr. Oddswell's house.

### Chapter 81 - A Rough Return Home

The boys have just finished getting patched up at the local hospital, although Cup is annoyed at the eyepatch and cream he has to use for his injures. Fanny had also recognized Jackpot and taken him to his rightful owner, further adding to Cup's bad mood. The boys leave the hospital and head straight to Dr. Oddswell's house. The group heads into the kitchen where Felix, Holly, Xedo, Dr. Oddswell and Red are waiting for them. Unfortunately, the exhaustion from their recent adventures causes the boys to forget that the last time the majority of the room's occupants saw the Cupbros the two Dishes were attacking them. Red in particular is very angry at the Cupbros and the group explains the Cupbros change of heart as best they can, Bendy even personally vouching for them. Holly asks them what exactly the Cupbros connection is to the mob that has continued to attack the group in Toon Town while the questers were gone with incidents including the burning down of Xedo's apartment and an attack on the detectives. Cup scoffs at the idea that he and Mugs are on the same level as the Sykes brothers, the ones behind the attacks. Sick of trying to defend himself Cuphead says he and Mugs will just go but Bendy stops them with the argument that if they won't accept the Cupbros for being thugs then they won't give him a chance for being a Demon. Felix also stands up to vouch for the Cupbros and the two of them agree to stay after all. Realizing that the questers aren't going to budge on the issue the rest of the group reluctantly accepts the Cupbros presence except for Red, who angrily storms out and is quickly followed after by Dr. Oddswell so he can talk with her. The rest of the group awkwardly sits down to eat and talk.

Now settled, the Cupbros explain themselves in more depth and explain their history with the B-Bros to Felix. Unfortunately, the fact that the Cupbros still refuse to explain everything doesn't help alleviate the suspicion around them. After a bit of bantering between the questers, Felix brings up the fact that the trip to get the Cog actually took 8 days instead of just the three the questers experienced. The B-Bros recognize that the same thing happened to them back in New Orleans but the Cupbros are upset to discover just how much time has passed for the rest of the world. That's not the only issue as apparently during the fire at Xedo's apartment the Doll went missing, although they know that the Doll escaped mostly unharmed due to Bendy only having minimal burns on him. After trying to use the map to locate the Doll brings up nothing Holly suggests they can try using Snowball since she seems to be very sensitive to magic, especially the strong magic of items related to the Ink Machine. She pulls Snowball out but before they can do anything the dandehog excitedly launches herself at the Cupbros, happily running around Mug's shoulders before jumping over to Cup's head. Surprised by the enthusiastic greeting the group starts chatting about what Snowball is and Cup's strange connection with small animals until Snowball diving into Cup's head startles him. After some laughter and more banter, Snowball is retrieved from Cup's head and the group gets back down to business. Cup suggests they stick Snowball on the map to find the Doll and when they do they're surprised to see she is indicating Dr. Oddswell's house. At first, they think it's due to the Cog being there but Snowball still insists that the Doll is also at the house. The Cupbros get up to begin searching the house without hesitation, even though it makes no logical sense for the Doll to be in the house. Holly asks Snowball if she can show them where in the house the Doll is to which Snowball happily agrees, jumping back up into Cup's head and leading him around by perching on different sections of his rim. With no other options, the rest of the group follows behind Cup as he makes his way through the house. Snowball leads them up into the study and then jumps off of Cup's head to squeeze herself between a couple of the books on one of the bookshelves in the room. The B-Bros are shocked when they realize that Snowball has brought them straight back to their previous hiding place for the Doll and rush to pull the books down. Once enough books are pulled out of the way Bendy reaches back and emerges with the Doll in hand, though he hisses in pain when he accidentally brushes the Doll's burns. The group briefly talks about how weird the Doll is and how they'll have to bandage it up when Dr. Oddswell enters the room, announcing that they all need to talk.

### Chapter 82 - Drinks Out Tonight

The Cupbros lay down in their new room in Dr. Oddswell's house after an exhausting day of constantly explaining themselves to the various residents of the house. The Cupbros discuss what they're going to tell the boss since they didn't attend to the business they were meant to do on time thanks to the time distortion they experienced while retrieving the Cog. They eventually decide to just tell him the truth and plan to sneak out in a couple of hours when everyone else is asleep. Mugs brings up the fact that Cup is still mad at him. Cup answers by saying that of course he is, Mugs could have died after all and threatens not to bring Mugman along with him anymore if he can't trust him. Mugs drops the subject and instead brings up how he doesn't want to betray the B-Bros after they've been so nice to the two of them. Cup wants to argue with Mugs but he can't because it would hypocritical since he's also come to care for them. The Cupbros fall into a restless sleep and awaken a few hours later to sneak out of the house.

Having successfully snuck out the Cupbros walk through the streets to find an acceptable spot to contact the boss, chatting as they go, when suddenly Snowball jumps out at them from the darkness. Putting the pieces together Cup calls for Holly to come out or else he's just going to keep Snowball for himself, which surprisingly does work. Cup calls her out for trying to follow them but Holly makes the excuse that she just happened to see them and wanted to ask them a question. After bombarding the Cupbros with questions she finally awkwardly settles on asking why they were out so late. Cup asks if she really wants to know and, when she hesitantly says yes, picks her up to hook the back of her coat on a nearby tree branch. Holly struggles to get down but can't escape and the Cupbros leave her behind with the promise to come to get her down later.

With Holly taken care of the Cupbros finally find a suitable alley and contact The Devil. The Devil initially orders that they immediately bring him the Ink Machine part but Cup points out that if they betray the group now then they wouldn't be able to accompany them to get all the other parts, leaving The Devil with only one part for himself. The Devil realizes that Cup is trying to manipulate him into letting them stay with the group longer but he does want those parts more than he wants to punish Cuphead so he lets it slide. With that settled The Devil orders them to collect the Sykes brother's contracts before sunrise and take care of anyone else involved with the attempted cover-up by any means necessary. The Devil then angrily sends them off, telling them that the Sykes brothers should already be waiting for them. The Cupbros head off to a warehouse on the docks where the Sykes brothers, Mr. Winky and Ratigan are waiting for them. Since The Devil didn't tell them exactly what their cover story with the group was Cup eases into the conversation, checking that all the members are accounted for. It turns out this is everyone since the Cupbros got the mayor, Fairfax got arrested and the Sykes themselves took out the commissioner for planning to double-cross them. Cup realizes that the group believes they will be rewarded for the work they did complete and the Cupbros will take care of the rest. The group talks for a while as Cup subtly questions them to find out if there's anything already set up that will need to be dismantled. Once he's sure there's nothing currently in the works Cup stands up, telling the Sykes brothers to hand over their contracts before ordering the other two to leave the warehouse and never speak of the work they did for the cover-up. When the other two go to move Robert Sykes pulls a gun to stop them but Mugs quickly disarms him and the other two take their leave while the Cupbros have both the Sykes covered. Cup demands the contracts from Bill Sykes, who claims he needs to go into an office to grab them before opening the door to unleash two angry dogs on the Cupbros. The dogs are quickly dealt with but Robert manages to grab the gun again in the chaos, leading to the Cupbros taking cover behind a table. The Cupbros end up throwing the table at Robert, effectively knocking him out, but Bill pulls a gun on them from behind. Bill then demands the Cupbros give him their contracts since the two of them are smart enough to keep their soul contracts on them at all times. Cup goes to pull the contracts from his coat pocket, taunting Bill as he does so to bait the man into lunging close enough to grab him. The Cupbros finally get Bill pinned to the floor and Cup finds the Sykes contracts hidden inside of Bill's tie. The Cupbros walk away with the Sykes brother's contracts as Bill yells at them about dooming him and his brother to hell.

As the brothers walk to an alley to contact the boss Cup notices that there seem to be a couple of dark cars following them. Pushing the possible threat aside for the time being the Cupbros duck into the closest alleyway and hand over the Sykes contracts to The Devil. With their work for the night complete the Cupbros start to head back to the house, still being trailed by black cars along the way. They eventually arrive back at the tree where Holly is stuck to find that she's fallen asleep while they were gone. She wakes up and Cup banters with her for a bit before Mugs pulls her down from the tree. With Holly's leg's effectively useless from hanging so long Mugs ends up picking her up and carrying her as they all begin to make their way back to the house. As they walk back Mugs finally catches sight of the dark cars following them and the Cupbros decide to spilt up and meet back up at Baker street after they've dealt with the issue. With a plan chosen they both run off in different directions, forcing one of the cars after each of them. Cup quickly shoots out the tires of the car coming after him, causing it to crash, and sticks around just long enough to question the men about what this is about and threaten them to keep away before racing off towards Mugs. Cup eventually ends up on a rooftop overlooking where the second car seemingly has his little brother and Holly trapped against a chain-link fence before Mugman uses his dodge move to teleport to the other side of the fence. The Cupbros take advantage of the resulting confusion to shoot at the men but when the men pull guns Cup tells Mugman to bail while he takes care of them. Once Cup is finished taking down and threatening the remainder of the thugs he meets back up with Mugs and Holly at the house. They go to the door only to realize none of them have a key so Cuphead has to pick the lock. Mugs and Holly head inside but Cuphead stays outside to smoke for a bit. Mugs soon ends up coming back out as well since he shoved a chair under their bedroom door before they left and now has to sneak in through their window. Mugs informs Cup that he told Holly they were trying to pull out of the mob world and relays his suspicions on how exactly Holly is connected to the mob/casino before heading to bed. Cup is then left alone with his thoughts about how Mugs has changed lately and how them getting invested in the questers might just end up dooming them both. Cup is able to comfort himself somewhat with the idea that it'll take a while for them to gather all of the parts so he'll have time to figure something else out. With that final thought, Cup puts out his smoke and heads into the house.

### Chapter 83 - Dr. Oddswell's Tests

The next morning Bendy heads downstairs to have breakfast with the other occupants of the house where Finley, who is still somewhat suspicious, points out how sleep-deprived Cup looks. It's also explained that Red is taking a "vacation" of sorts from the house since the Cupbros are staying there. Xedo asks what Bendy was talking about the other day about people not giving them a chance since he's a Demon and the questers explain Bendy's transformation during the fight for the Cog. While trying to figure out what could have caused his sudden change during the fight the group brings up that it could have been due to the Cog, Mugman even mentions that he seemed to have gone oddly numb after touching the part. The group agrees they need to do some more research on the Cog but Bendy, Finley and Wakko are pulled aside from these efforts to run some experiments for possible pain medication treatments for those with Ink Illness. The group then splits up to complete their various tasks such as visiting the hospital, researching the Cog and assisting the experiments.

The boys head up to one of the guest bedrooms and Holly explains how she's been running rune tests on ink from Wakko's previous Ink Attack to try to find magical treatments. Each of the three boys lies down on a bed (with Boris standing by Bendy's bedside) and when Dr. Oddswell explains that they're each at different stages of the illness it's revealed that Finley also has Ink Illness, although it's still fairly early on. After recovering from that surprising reveal the boys all agree to act as the test subjects despite the unpredictable nature of rune magic and the fact that the experiments could accidentally set off an Ink Attack. The first test is one of Holly's rune bracelets with the Joy rune on it. Once the rune is activated the boys at most feel a pleasant warm feeling but not much else. The joy runes are deactivated and the next rune bracelets, the Sun rune, are activated. Once the Sun rune is activated all three of them start feeling hot, though the degree of heat changes depending on the stage of the illness. The Sun rune is deactivated and the next rune bracelets with the Need rune on them are activated. The Need rune causes intense pain in all three boys and triggers an Ink Attack in Finley. The Need rune is quickly deactivated and the Joy rune is reactivated on Finley, which seems to help him through his attack. Once Finley has recovered from the attack they continue with the tests, this time with a rune combination of the Day and Delay runes. The runes cause disorientation and issues with perceiving time properly in the subjects, while also making them almost impossible to understand to those around them. Wakko mentions that it reminded him of his talent and that it wouldn't be a helpful treatment for the illness. With that settled they're on to the last rune, Courage. While activated the rune fills the boys with energy and confidence but once it's deactivated they all immediately feel exhausted. The rune also seems to trigger an Ink Attack in Bendy and they quickly reactivate his Joy rune, which does help him somewhat. The rest of the group are unnerved by the severity of Bendy's attack and it's decided that the exhaustion caused by the Courage rune makes it too dangerous to use. With all the rune tests complete Dr. Oddswell has one last thing for them to test, a liquid compound of the doctor's own design using a special sample Holly had recently gotten for him. Wakko and Finley feel refreshed after drinking the concoction but Bendy gets a painful stomach ache and they have to induce vomiting to get the doctor's compound out of his system. It's revealed that his reaction is due to one of the ingredients the doctor used, the White Egret Flower, which is an angelic plant from the Upper that is not compatible with Demon physiology. Finely is upset that Bendy was almost poisoned and goes to walk off his anger, leaving the B-Bros, Holly and Dr. Oddswell to talk amongst themselves.

The B-Bros question where they even got White Egret Flower from and Dr. Oddswell says that he was more interested in experimenting with its healing properties than asking for explanations from Holly. When pressed, Holly explains that while the questers were gone she went to the casino to visit Alice, who isn't looking very good and seems to be hidden from the majority of the rest of the staff for some reason. Alice wouldn't explain what exactly she was doing at the casino despite Holly and the Warners pushing for answers but Holly admits that she started looking into it on her own, which is around when she got the flower sample. From her tone Bendy can tell that she didn't find out anything good.

### Chapter 84 - Saving Grace (Technically Alice)

Holly informs the B-Bros that when she secretly followed Alice through the casino she found that Alice was being drained of her Angel magic in a lab there, only she was feeding too much of her magic into the machine and was at risk for causing serious harm to herself. Holly also mentions that Alice is doing this because Black Hat stole something important from her but Bendy is far more focused on the revelation that Alice is an Angel. Boris reminds Bendy that it was an Angel who gave him the map in the first place and Holly confirms it was Alice, which only serves to further confuse Bendy. Finally pushing his swirling confusion to the side Bendy asks what he can do to help and Holly says that since Demons and Angels can sense each other there's a chance Bendy could find Alice's halo for her. Bendy points out the fact that it's going to be hard to get the halo back with Black Hat around and Holly suggests they distract him so he won't notice them. The group decides to get the Warners to provide a distraction while a group of them head into the casino in two teams, one team to get the halo and one to get Alice. Bendy has to be on the team searching for the halo and Holly claims that she'll be able to talk Alice into coming with them. It's also decided that the rest of the questers, Finley and Sammy will make up the remaining team members. Bendy wants to immediately start working on the details of the plan but the others all insist that he rest for a few hours since he's still exhausted from the tests. Bendy reluctantly agrees and quickly falls asleep once his head hits the pillow.

After five hours of mostly fruitless research, the research team is heading back from the library. Felix tells Cuphead how unhealthy his smoking habit is as they walk to the house. When they arrive at the house Boris tells them that the B-Bros have something to discuss with the group. As Boris runs to grab Bendy the group gets settled in the front room and Cup thinks to himself how annoying it was to have Felix keeping a close eye on them at the library thanks to Holly having talked to him. It's not long before the B-Bros come back to rejoin the group and inform everyone that they're planning a rescue mission for Alice. The B-Bros fills in the group on the fact that Alice is an Angel and her magic is being taken. At the mention of Black Hat's Casino, the Cupbros start paying more attention and Cup figures that this is part of one of Hat's attempts to take down The Devil. Cup notices some flaws in the B-Bros current plan, such as not taking Hat's lackeys into account and the fact that using a large amount of rune magic like Holly suggests would also get Black Hat's attention. Cup corrects the plan and finishes deciding who will go with what group- him, Bendy and Felix will get the halo while Mugs and Boris head with Holly to get Alice. With a plan set, the group plans to leave in an hour and Mugs takes this time to pull Cup aside. Mugs suggest that they tell their boss about the situation but Cup shoots down the idea and tells Mugs to calm down. Neither of them wants to go back to the casino but since they don't have much of a choice they need to push past the awkwardness to make sure everyone makes it through this mission. The Cupbros head back to where the rest of the group is and Cup asks Bendy if he can talk to him in private. Bendy agrees and they head up to Bendy's room to talk. Cuphead awkwardly explains that the Cupbros spent a decent amount of their childhood with Black Hat but he's quick to reassure Bendy that they're on his side and have no issues with going up against Black Hat even with their shared history. Despite Bendy clearly wanting to ask questions he accepts what Cup has told him without pushing and the two of them head back downstairs to the rest of the group.

The group takes a couple of cars to the casino and heads into the casino in teams. As the halo team searches Cup tries to think about where Hat would have hidden the halo and figures the first floor is their best bet. As they search the first floor Bendy asks if there is anywhere in particular Cup thinks had would have put it and Cup responds that Hat would probably put it somewhere he thought was funny. Felix suggests that it might be being used as a lightbulb somewhere and Bendy suddenly remembers sensing strong magic near the stage last time he was at the casino which means that it's probably being used as a stage light. Once at the stage Bendy identifies the spotlight currently being used as the halo and Felix darts off to go get it. Bendy and Cup sneak backstage to help Felix but 5-0-5 happens to be there and pulls Cup into a hug. Cup deals with 5-0-5 while Felix frees the halo from inside the stage light. Only moments after Felix obtains the halo Black Hat bursts into the room and lashes out at them. Hat demands the "budling" (Bendy) hand the halo back before catching sight of Cup and mockingly welcoming him back home. Brushing of Cup's resulting protests Black Hat once again demands they give him back the halo, claiming that both it and Alice are his. With no other choice they prepare for a fight but Hat is confused when his mocking inadvertently reveals the fact that he is the first other Demon Bendy has ever met. Regardless, the fight begins with Bendy quickly outclassed by Black Hat, who gives him the option to either be killed or brought down to Hell. The other two jump into the fight, despite Cuphead's reservations, which just further fuels Hat's rage. Cup gets injured in the fight, causing Bendy to leave the rest of the group behind so Cup can get to safety, but Cup just takes the chance to send 5-0-5 off to find Dr. Flug before he and Felix follow Bendy. Cup blasts Black Hat off of Bendy and the trio make a run for it but it's not long before Black Hat catches them all. Just as Hat is about to strike at Bendy Mugman appears to ask Hat just what he's doing. Black Hat claims that he's just punishing Cuphead but Mugman reminds Hat what happened the last time he tried to punish Cup and tells the Demon just who he'll have to explain himself to if he goes through with it. Despite his obvious displeasure Black Hat relents at the threat and lets the trio go. Black Hat starts talking about how he'll have to tell the other Demons that there's a rogue fledgling (Bendy) on the surface. When they demand to know what Hat is talking about he explains that it's a phase in Demon development that often leads to the fledgling going on a killing spree. Bendy is unnerved by this and, with Hat's mocking laughter following them, the injured group limps their way out of the casino.

### Chapter 85 - Wake Up Call

Sammy wants to take the injured questers to the hospital but Bendy can still feel Hat's magic following them so they head to Dr. Oddswell's house to give Alice back her halo instead. Bendy pulls out the halo to inspect it as they pull up to the house and Mugs offers to run it in for them. However, the moment the car stops the dark magic following them slams into the injured trio and their instincts have them all immediately up and running into the house. The trio is in rough shape and everyone is too busy asking what he thinks he's doing to tell Bendy where Alice is so he ends up yelling for Alice as he collapses to the ground. Holly runs to grab Alice and the Angel is there within moments. Alice quickly senses the dark magic around the trio and once Bendy hands over her halo she banishes it away. With the threat of the dark magic gone all three of them begin to submit to their injuries and exhaustion, collapsing onto the ground. Around them, the group argues about how to help the trio when the Blue Fairy, one of the other patients in the house, steps up to use her magic on them just as Bendy finally passes out completely.

Elsewhere, Cala circles the bay as she waits for the sea witch Ursula to finish preparing the enchantment to give her legs. As she's swimming Cala notices a girl walking away from a warehouse who she recognizes as being one of the girls who was there when she dropped the questers off. Cala approaches the girl and, upon feeling the presence of dark magic from the warehouse, asks if she's ok. The girl claims she was just out for a walk and instead starts asking Cala about herself. After talking for a little bit Cala recognizes the dark magic as the magic of the Cog and when she touches the girl's hand she finds that the Cog magic has attached itself to her in some way. Cala tries to explain things to the girl but she doesn't seem to understand so Cala suggests they go somewhere else to talk more comfortably which the girl agrees to. The girl starts to walk away and Cala swims alongside her,  the girl asking questions about the Cupbros as she goes. The girl is particularly interested when Cala mentions knowing the Cupbros when they were younger and starts pushing for more information. When the girl starts asking about their mysterious boss Cala get's panicked as she realizes how close the girl is to some very dangerous information. After Cala once again asks for them to take the conversation somewhere else the girl retrieves a wheelbarrow to cart Cala around in. The girl wheels Cala over to a building and it's only as she's unlocking the door that Cala starts feeling apprehensive about trusting this girl. That fear only increases after she is wheeled into the building and the girl locks the door behind them.

Two days later Bendy wakes up in Dr. Oddswell's house, immediately worried about Alice, to find Boris at his bedside. Boris reassures him that everything is ok, Felix is awake already and it's not long after Bendy is up that Cup also returns to consciousness again. The trio is healed up and Alice explains that the dark magic was a curse Hat had placed on them before she banished it. Mugs tells them that he, Alice and Boris already went back to the casino to deal with Hat. Cup is upset that Mugs went back but Mugs explains that Alice got Hat to back down, let the other two Angels at the casino go and agree to not bother them as long as they keep quiet about the incident for political reasons. Bendy is upset that Hat gets away mostly scot-free but accepts that there's nothing he can really do about it. The group continues to catch the trio up on what happened and Dr. Oddswell mentions that Bendy had an Ink Attack while asleep but it seems like it was less severe than the last one. Bendy notes that Hat did something with his magic to him while at the casino so it could have been because of that but he isn't sure. With orders to rest, the trio is free to get back to their normal activities but the B-Bros ask Alice to stay behind so they can talk to her. Bendy thanks Alice not only for giving them the map but for everything else she's done for them so far. Alice thanks them in return for retrieving her halo and explains that she's on the Surface trying to earn her wings so she'll probably be sticking around for a while. Bendy and Alice make a deal so that if Alice ever leaves again she has to say goodbye in person and the B-Bros promise not to tell anyone else that she is an Angel. With the matter settled, they leave to go rejoin the others.

With a sudden day off the group talks about what they should do and eventually decide to all visit Mickey's circus. The Warners pop up at the mention of the circus and start messing around with the group but Scratchansniff soon comes over to remind them that they have a train to catch. Turns out that once Yakko turns eighteen the Warners will officially inherit control of the ACME company but right now someone is trying to steal the company from them so they have to go deal with it. The Warners say their goodbyes and leave with Dr. Scratchansniff. Just as the group is about to leave for the circus they get a phone call from Xedo, who informs Bendy that the Sykes warehouse has burned down and the Sykes themselves have disappeared. Bendy relays the information to the rest of the group and they all decide to be careful before continuing towards their original destination. As they walk Cup talks to Bendy about how he's handling everything that happened with Hat at the casino. While talking, Cup explains that his and Mugs past with Black Hat was essentially a forced foster situation. Snowball is also shown to be seemingly hiding in Cuphead's pocket for some reason and Cup is letting her stay there despite not knowing what's caused the sudden fear. The group arrives at the circus and plays a mallet game, which Bendy and Alice win at, as well as some other carnival games before heading to the main show. During the show, one of the clowns spots them and tells the B-Bros that Mickey will want to see them after the show. Once the show is over Felix and the B-Bros are swarmed by fans in the crowd so the Cupbros and the clown from earlier have to save them from the frenzy. The clown brings them to Mickey, who enthusiastically greets Boris before the rest of them, and asks them to come and relax for a while until Ozzy comes back so they can all have dinner together. The group tells Mickey some vague information about the Ink Machine and the quest but Mickey makes sure to remind Boris that there's always a job for him at the circus. At the mention of mechanic work, Bendy asks Mickey to show them what work needs to get done since they have some free time before dinner. Just as they're about to leave so the B-Bros can check out the various mechanical issues the bunny kids flood into the room, immediately burying Felix in their excitement. The bunny kids decide to tag along with the group as the B-Bros jump from project to project, some of the group helping the B-Bros with repairs while the rest play with the kids. Bendy can't help but feel a little bitter about the amount of praise Boris is getting from Mickey and Cup catches his bad mood. With some prodding from Cup Bendy admits that he's a little worried that Boris might leave him to go work for Mickey but Cup points out that Boris would never leave Bendy. Bendy thanks Cup before getting back to the repairs, finishing up the rest of the work quickly. Work done, Bendy rejoins the rest of the group only to find that a couple of the kids have been impressed by his mechanic skills. As Bendy is talking with the kids Ozzy arrives and the kid's attention quickly switches over to their father. Mickey introduces Ozzy to the rest of the group before declaring it's time for the group to go grab dinner.