"That should be the last of them before we get to the final boss." Venus pulled his pen out of his bow, changing back into Sammy.

Well, not Sammy Sammy, but as close as he would ever get.

He would never be the same man he was before getting hired in Joey Drew's hellscape of ink and insanity.

Not the same man as before getting too invested in that evil man's work.

Not the same man as the one before that argument with him over that stupid ink machine, the one that slowly crushed him to death underneath its horrendous gears, screaming himself dead as that man watched with a cruel half smile.

He could still see his face every time he closed his eyes.

"Then logically, it should be smooth sailing from here, right?" Jupiter scooped Mercury up, hoisting the spaghetti bear into her arms.

Sammy frowned. "It's never going to be that easy. We need to stick together at all costs."

That's what got me killed in the first place.

"Of course. We can just rest for now before confronting him." Jupiter pulled her pen out, changing back into some strange robot bear with a broken eye.

"Can I nap?" Mercury tilted their head as they changed back into whatever that mess of wires was supposed to be.

Eh. Sammy didn't look any better these days.

"Shit, man, go ahead." He shrugged.

"But I'm a Molten Freddy?" The wiry bear said, tilting their head.

"Molten doesn't have a gender." Mars explained, going back to Scraptrap. "For the record, I might not have one either."

Oh, man, has Sammy been misgendering him, no, her, no them? He could relate, honestly. "Wait, then what are your pronouns?"

"He/she." Sammy audibly gasped.

"You use multiple pronouns!" He hadn't met another person with multiple sets since, what, college? A close friend, too. "I use he/they a lot, but I don't mind it/its."

"Come on, you guys, you're supposed to rest." The robot bear stifled a laugh. "Especially you, Scraptrap."

Scraptrap poked at his eye sockets, her ears lowering back against his head.

"Aw, don't be like that, bud." Sammy patted her shoulder. "Listen, we can talk about The Owl House for a while, then we'll cheat death again."

"Sounds fun." The bear grinned. "As a she/they, I'm in."

Sammy damn nearly screamed with joy.

"So you know how everyone kept saying Hunter was a grimwalker?" Sammy sat down, dragging Scraptrap down with him.

He gasped. "No, they didn't."

Out of the corner of his mask, he saw the bear laying down, snuggling that pile of wires.

"Oh, let me tell you..." Sammy went on, describing 'Hollow Mind' in great detail up until he felt a weight resting on his shoulder.

That old rabbit had fallen asleep! He couldn't blame her, honestly. They would have done the same thing.

Maybe there was something worth fighting for.

"Sammy. Sammy, wake up!"

For a few, terrifying seconds, Sammy was back in the studio. Fighting for his life over and over, scouring for food, and always looking for an exit that didn't exist.

"Sammy!" A harsh slap across his face jolted them back into the real world.

"Shit, man!" Sammy yelled, pain flaring up in his cheek. "If you wanted me to wake up that badly..."

"No, listen!" Scraptrap replied, holding his flaming shive close to Sammy's face. The fire illuminated her rotted face, her eye sockets, and even bits of whatever the hell was inside. It looked dangerously like brain remnants...

"Fuck outta my face, Scraps." He pushed his shiv away, getting up off the ground.

"Guys, calm it." The bear put her hand on Scraps's shoulder, easing him away. "Listen, Sammy, we need to get going."

Oh, shit, that's right, Sammy was also a sailor guardian now!

"You know I would never slap you without reason, Samalyn." Scraps thought for a moment, then asked, "Can I call you that?"

"Of course, Scraps. What's up?"

"I think Nightmare knows we're here." He said.

"Well, no shit, Sherlock."

"Fuck off, Watson." Scraps fired back. "Now listen, we have to lay low for now. Otherwise, we will die."

"Maybe you will. I guess we need to go?"

Scraps nodded and immediately walked into a wall.

Sammy sighed, picking him up and slinging her over his shoulder. "Come on, blind bunny."

"Hey, put me down!" She squirmed, kicking at him.

A screech. Sammy froze, his inky muscles stiffening.

Not one of an animal, but one akin to something so familiar, so terrifying. Sammy had heard it countless times, always so close, too close, but never reaching it.

The very last sound he heard before the world had gone black around him, before his brain and heart were shredded in its horrific gears.

The Ink Machine.

Was this done on purpose? Did Nightmare purposefully recreate that haunting sound, if only to torture him?

Well, it's not called a Nightmare Kingdom without reason.

Sammy choked back a sob, fumbling in his pocket for their pen. Scraps shifted against them, no doubt doing the same.

"Venus-" He let out a high pitched scream, toppling as the floor shifted underneath them.

Sammy groaned, holding his head momentarily. His eyes widened in horror.

The bear, now Jupiter again, was drifting away from him, clinging to Mercury and screaming.

"Sammy!" Jupiter yelled, reaching out.

"Samalyn, don't let go." Scraps pleaded, his fingers digging into his inky flesh. "Mars Power, make up!"

"Venus Power, make up!" Sammy grasped at his pen, finally transforming into Venus.

Venus clawed at the ground, trying to get back up. Too late. The ground was drifting apart too fast for him to balance.

"Mars!" Venus gasped, staring at the glowing red rising up from the chasms.

Only then did he notice that the ground was splitting underneath her.

"Mily!" Venus screamed, grabbing at her hand before he fell.

"Don't let go, Venalyn, please don't let go." She begged, his claw like hands digging deep into their skin.

"I won't." Venus promised, grabbing her arm with both hands.

The chasm below her burned with white hot fire, black spires rising up from the flames.

"Come on, Veve, pull him up." Mercury blubbered.

"It's too far, I won't make it!" Jupiter shouted.

Venus's shoulders ached, pain flaring through his arms.

All he needed to do was keep Mars there. Just keep her there until Jupiter could help. Until... until Venus could get the strength to pull him up. Until... until what? Just dangle her there for eternity, taunting his new friend with an inevitable death?

"It's no use, Venalyn." Mars gave a weak smile.

"No, no, there is a use!" Venus sobbed, yanking on his hand. "Please, please, Mily, you can't die!"

I just survived death!

I just got out of the hellhole I was trapped in for thirty years!

I finally found friends!

I CAN'T LOSE YOU!!!

"Venalyn..." Oh, no, Mars was crying now. Bloody tears trailed down her face, staining his moldy fur. "Someone has to die."

"No one has to." Venus choked out, his heart shattering into little tiny pieces. This can't be the end. "Mily..."

"Venalyn." Mars lowered her voice, as if seeing those little splinters that used to be his heart. "I'm so sorry, but the princess herself told me. I can hear her."

Mars raised her shiv and stabbed it into his wrist.

Venus screamed, ink gushing out of his wound. He grabbed at Mars with his free hand, only to catch his blindfold and tear it off. The red fabric tore easily, ripping off the accompanying purple bow with it. The last thing they saw was Mars's deep, blackened eye sockets, somehow more lifelike in her final moments.

And when Mars disappeared with a gentle smile into the flames, Venus knew he had lost everything.

Venus was still staring into the hellfire, gripping Mars's blindfold in his hands with a death grip.

As if that would bring Mily back.

"Venus?" Jupiter's heavy hand rested on their shoulder. "Hey, Venus, the chasms are closing."

Venus momentarily contemplated jumping in the slowly closing crack.

"I'm so sorry." Mercury nudged his cheek with their nose. "We'll get Rei back, I promise."

That wasn't Rei. Rei wasn't like that at all.

That was Scraps, that was Mily. Scraps was their friend, not Rei.

Scraps was sensitive to touch, aggressive, small, and was just like Lilith. Rei wasn't any of those things. Venus didn't know Rei. Rei was just a faceless girl with black hair and crows in her hands.

That wasn't Rei that wasn't Rei that wasn't Rei that wasn't Rei THAT WASN'T REI.

"Oh, we will, all right." Venus dragged himself up, holding the soft, delicate cloth in his hands. Mars must have made it soft on purpose, so as to not irritate her sensitive sockets.

Venus slid his mask up and off his head, tying the red blindfold around the mask's devil horn.

Let's watch The Owl House when you get home, Samalyn! Did... did Venus just hear Mars's raspy voice? See his rotting, buck toothed smile, a brand new blindfold tied over her eyes.

I'm coming, Scraps. "I'll be killing that son of a bitch myself." He whispered, sliding the mask back on.

"Venus, we need to be careful." Jupiter said. "We already lost Mars." Her eyes clouded over slightly. "Venus, we can't lose you. Not now, not ever."

"And we could lose Mars?" Venus snapped, his voice shaking with both rage and sorrow.

"Veve..." Mercury tapped their fingers together slithering closer. "Please don't die, ok?"

If it meant seeing Mars again... "I promise you, little guy."

Venus wasn't sure if he would deliver on that promise.

"We just need to stay close, ok?" Jupiter scooped up Mercury.

Venus and Mars were close, but that didn't stop him from dying.

"Sure thing, Ju. What now?" Bendy, save us. Venus sent a silent prayer to a god he had long forgone, one that would never hear him again.

"Keep moving." Jupiter said, "The closer we get to Nightmare, the closer you get to avenging Mars."

Venus couldn't die here. Not now, not ever. If they wanted to go home, if Venus wanted to see the light of day again...

Venus waved his hand, beckoning for the others to follow his lead down the dark hall.

Mars's blindfold dangled in front of their vision like a bloodred flag, signalling a deadly path ahead.