The Repairman nodded in return. “Yeah, I’m glad to see someone else here…”
He grimaced as she explained.
“Oh, that’s why it didn’t look right?” he groaned. “I thought this was just gonna be another lonely job, but now I gotta avoid those things?”
Peeking outside the room, he sighed.
“Well, monsters or not, I gotta fix the Wall.”
He peered to the right, where he knew the crack in the Fourth Wall was. For the moment, he wasn’t really paying attention to his surroundings…
“…Anything else I should know about…?”
“Well this place is basically one big death trap. The searchers that come from the ink, the rotting floor boards , busted pipes, and i’m the only resident here that wouldn’t kill you on sight.” Alice says with a sigh
She’d ask her questions in a second but if the Repairman is sticking around for a while it’s best to tell him about the dangers of the studio. Alice is tired of watching good people die or get hurt and not being able to stop it. This time she’s going to make sure this doesn’t end with more death in the studio.
“We should avoid the music department floor, there’s a man down there who isn’t very sane. We also have to make sure we don’t somehow let Bendyknow you’re here. He’s a toon but he has a lot of good and bad days, mostly bad ones, and he hates strangers in his studio.”
“…I see…”
Thankfully, the siren light wasn’t trying to direct him DOWNWARDS, so he assumed the break was still on this floor…
Rotting floorboards, “searchers”, and bursting pipes, eh…?
“Don’t worry; I’ll be caref–”
And then the wall to his left burst. The inkblot was launched to the other side of the wall as a practical geyser of demon ink submerged him.
“AUGHblblbllbllblb”
As the pressure finally subsided, the Repairman tried to surface, but was finding it difficult to do so. He splashed and resisted, but hands came from the other ink to try and keep him under.
“No fair!” he cried, before sticking a snorkel where his mouth would be. If this place cheats, so can he.
“Not that I know of.” Penny said. She looked back in the direction of
the light. “But for some reason, I don’t think whoever’s here is up to
any good.”
She paused for a moment, then decided what to do.
“I’m going to investigate.” she stated. “You have two choices. Stay right there or follow me.”
“…Well, then,” the Repairman replied, looking uncertainly at the light. Granted, he had a job to do, and she was apparently a plucky girl genius, but then, the job could wait, and neither one of them had any idea what was over there.
“…Let’s see what it is…”
Quickly, he tucked his tool cart into his hammerspace. He would have tiptoed towards the light, but seeing how he lacked legs, it looked more like he was shuffling and stopping to a cartoonishly sneaky rhythm.
“Okay, here goes nothing.” Penny gulped, tiptoeing towards the light source.
She sneakily peeked her body in the doorway and from the corner of her eye saw…
“Mike?!”
The karaoke robot turned to face Penny. His eyes flashed a bright red.
“Hey! What are you doing here?” He asked.
“I was going to ask you the same thing! Aren’t you supposed to be helping grandpa with his new project?” Penny shouted.
“What does that matter? You shouldn’t be here at this time! You’re fourteen!”
“You’re younger than me!”
Penny and Mike stared at each other.
“I’ll… keep this a secret if you will.” Mike said sheepishly.
“Okay, but what were you doing?” Penny questioned, looking very irritated.
“I was downloading Melody’s background music.” Mike confessed.
“–!” the Repairman exclaimed, spotting a tall, red-eyed robot. How much security did a game company NEED?! Or was this some kind of front, or…?
Wait, why was Penny bickering with him like he was a relative…? Oh, “grandpa”? That explains that…
He wasn’t sure if he was seen yet. This Mike character seemed more interested in Penny staying up late than a small, inky intruder.
He cleared his throat.
“…A-actually,” he began, “She was just making sure I didn’t do anything…Sorry ‘bout all this…”
The Repairman, meanwhile, was about to get moving again, so he tossed
the key ring back into his toolbox and shut it, humming to himself.
Little did he know that he had not only trapped the Denpa-Men, but also
possibly threw a pile of metal at them.
Cat Slime glared at the blue Denpa. She had to trip and ruin his pie? He was too busy being offended by that to notice what she was screaming.
He gently picked her up with his mouth, and unceremoniously dropped
her onto the pile just outside the pie. His attention turned back to the
rest of the Denpa-Men, making sure they weren’t going after his treat
again.
However, this only seemed to make the blue Denpa panic even more. “H-Help! It’s trying to kidnap me!”
The other Denpa-Men, however, were dealing with some trouble of their own. Suddenly, some sort of large metal object was dropped in front of them, very nearly landing ON them. To make matters worse, the lid of the box suddenly closed on them, just as they were preparing to escape.
“We’re trapped now!” The white Denpa suddenly panicked. “And that thing’s gonna eat Susumu!”
While the other Denpa-Men tried to open the lid again, the pink Denpa was on her way to help Susumu. “Hang on, I’m coming for you!” Her antenna started to glow, and… She fired a healing beam directly at the blobby creature.
Cat Slime tried to dodge, but alas, he was caught in the beam. Suddenly, a sense of warmth and bliss came over him. He hummed contentedly to himself. Maybe these bug things weren’t so bad…
When the Repairman’s cart started moving again, Cat Slime was snapped out of the healing effects. His body jostled, and several items slid to the right wall, with varying speeds.
He flicked his ears in what looked like an “oh well” gesture, and began to eat some of the pie. Finally!
“I mean, It’s called the Evolvo-Ray. It evolves animals to be more advanced versions of themselves. No disrespect to you personally, but I thought it was a little obvious. ”
“Ohhh…”
Marie was not expecting something like THIS. All she was told to do was “stand over there or something”. She had no idea that was a lift, or that it led to this weasel’s “Evolvo Ray.” But the weasel seemed friendly enough, so she wasn’t about to complain.
“Yeah, I guess it WAS a little obvious…” the paint blot chuckled. “You know, it’s weird; my brother looked really uneasy about this place. I don’t get it…you’re not exactly a MAD scientist, are you…?”
In a war-torn Suburbia…
A paint spatter kept watch. At least, that’s what the Repairman said Marie was doing. In reality, he didn’t expect anyone to come down the alley he found himself in. He just preferred to keep his job to himself.
Oddly enough, she seemed to think that turning her bow into one made of two small road cones tied by vines was a good way to blend in.
Well, whatever. He would just get the job done and they could get out of–
“REPAIRMAN! REPAIRMAN!” He heard Marie call out. “Someone’s coming! Some guy in orange armor, apparently…”
“What? Where?”
Marie said nothing, but pointed behind her brother…
“W-wait!” The white haired girl suddenly stood up and made her way
over to the toolbox. “You can’t leave yet! Not when Bowyetta is stuck
like this!”
Barrette looked at her mother, who was, indeed, still stuck inside the toolbox, before looking at Mr. Sir again. “Help Mama?”
While
Bowyetta was struggling to get herself back in the toolbox, Bonk had
reached the group and was shocked at what she saw. “Oh my god! Ink Bro!
What happened to Bowyetta? Who did this to her?!”
“B-Bonkakira!”
Bowyetta had had enough. “No one is having done anything to Bowyetta.
Please to be leaving her alone.” With that she tried to get out of the
toolbox, but her shoulder pieces were still stuck on the edge. “Um, Mr.
Sir? Please to be helping Bowyetta getting out of here.”
“Working on it,” said the Repairman, exasperated by how this was going. He scanned the floor and picked up a crowbar.
“I didn’t know what was happening, she just gave me the happy news” (He seemed to soften and smile at Barrette as he said that part) “like, five minutes ago.”
He grunted as he pulled on the crowbar, with the intent of popping Bowyetta out.
“She seemed really panicked, so I told her she could sit in my toolbox, but…”
I… thought we WERE joking…? *her previous grin turn into a frown* Wasn’t the point to all this to have fun? *she looked confused, had she hurt Blobert’s feelings somehow?*
“…Yeah…” the Repairman replied, laughing humorlessly. “I guess it is funny…”
He turned to leave, slowly shuffling before stopping to turn around. He looked about three seconds away from running away to quietly sob in a tent somewhere.
“Am I really…that one-note?”
*that hadn’t been the reaction she was expecting* One-? *realization hits her* nonononono! that’s not what I meant at all! No, you’re not one-note at all! *floats over to him, visibly upset as well* I’m sorry for the joke.
As Kitterah floated over to him, the Repairman was taking a few ragged breaths.
“I mean,” he mumbled, more to himself than Kitterah, “I k-know I was never the most complex T-Toon, and Idid nothing but fix the st…the stup…the Wall for decades, but I have developed, I have grown, I have…”
His words faded into unintelligible gibberish as he buried his head into Kitterah’s stomach, sobbing with comically oversized tears.
“I don’t doubt it.” She patted him comfortingly, not caring about any ink that got on her. “I may not have known you back then, but at the very least I’ve heard about it.” She decides to hug him as tightly as his inky body would allow.
Schlorp. Kitterah’s arms practically went through the Repairman’s liquid form, leaving them submerged. He didn’t seem to mind, though, as he hugged her back, blobby arms wrapped around her.
“…I…I…Sorry…” he finally sniffled. “…I-I didn’t mean to bring everything down…th-thank you…”
Tippy, however, at least had some idea of what to do in this
situation. Acting more on instinct than rational thought, she stretched
out her wings and tried to take the strange paint-creature onto her
back.
…Except she failed to account for the extra weight of
the extra items he was carrying. “Ack! L-Let go!” She grabbed at his
pogo stick and fire extinguisher, in an attempt to make him drop them.
“You’re weighing me down too-”
The next thing she knew, she was
tumbling across the sand. She would have gone pretty far, if the water
hadn’t slowed her down. “…A-arm! My arm is broken!” she suddenly started
yelling. That’s what she said, but she seemed to be moving her arm just
fine… “Lil Paintball! Where’d you go?”
“What the–?! AUGH! LEGGO…! IIDIDNTASKYOUTO”
Too late. He was already a smear on the sand.
“…ohhh….”
When he had finally rolled himself back up to size, his eyes widened.
“Your arm is broken?! Hang on I think I have–oh.”
Fine time to realize you left your cart behind!
“…We should get moving. Do you know where we could find a hospital or something…?”
He kept taking concerned glances at both her arms.
“Hi!” Marie waved, moving closer to the Bowyer. Clearly, the paint spatter was curious about this odd cast of characters. She grabbed Bowyetta’s hand and began shaking it a touch too hard. “I’m Marie!”
She paused for thought.
“Well…I’m not really his kid…”
The Repairman shook his head vigorously.
“No,” he said, resentfully, “You’re my replac–”
“Assistant,” she interrupted, wearily shaking her head. She paused for thought.
“Since we’re from the same studio…would that make us brother and sister…?”
The Repairman did not reply to this. He had no way to refute it.
Bowyetta’s arm joints could be heard squeaking as she was shaken a bit too hard. “Is much nice meeting of you, Miss Marie,” she replied, sounding a bit dizzy now. “Bowyetta’s name is being Bowyetta.”
Susumu then stepped up to Mr. Sir, handing him a box as she did so. “Well, we just wanted to bring some food for you and Cat Slime, but a new sister? That calls for a celebration, if you ask me!” She then turned to introduce herself. “I’m Susumu! I’m what you might call… Well, for everyone’s sake, let’s just say I’m the embodiment of a… Higher authority, as it were.”
Then it was Beep’s turn to introduce herself. She timidly extended her hand. “Well, Im Beep. I’m sort of the den mother of the void, you might say. If you and Mr. Sir need any help, you can just ask me, okay? Would you like to meet Bonk and Quartz too?”
“Nice to meet you, Bowyetta!” she said, lifting her bow as if she was tipping a hat. Gosh, this…character was interesting!
It took a moment for what Susumu said to register, but when it did, her eyes widened.
“Oh, does that mean you’re a—MMPH!”
The Repairman’s inky hand was suddenly over where the spatter’s mouth would be. She looked, shocked, at him, noting his stern expression.
“Yup,” he said, calmly, “It does.”
“Ohph,” she nodded. “Ophkaph.”
Well, she was new. She was grateful she was saved from blowing it before she did any actual assisting.
Once he removed his hand, she looked back at Susumu.
“Anyway, a celebration…?” she asked, confused. “I’d love to, but…I haven’t done anything yet…”
Finally, Marie shook Beep’s hand, in the same bit-too-hard manner as before.
“Hehe, help the helper! All right, thanks! And sure, I’d love to!”
“Yeah,” the Repairman piped up, “I haven’t met Quartz either. Now’s as good a time as any, I guess…”
At
first, the Denpas didn’t really take notice of anything that was going
on behind them. At least, they didn’t until the pink one heard an odd,
angry squeaking noise coming from behind her. She slowly turned around
and screamed at what she saw. “Eek! M-Monster!” She then took off
towards the lid of the box.
The other Denpas turned around and ran
in terror at the sight of the strange blobby creature. “Run for your
lives! Let’s get out of here!”
However, the blue Denpa wasn’t able
to make it, and instead ended up losing her balance and falling into
the pie. She tried to climb out, but all her struggling just seemed to
drag her further into it, flinging bits of apple and pie crust
everywhere. “Help me! It’s gonna eat me!”
The Repairman, meanwhile, was about to get moving again, so he tossed the key ring back into his toolbox and shut it, humming to himself. Little did he know that he had not only trapped the Denpa-Men, but also possibly threw a pile of metal at them.
Cat Slime glared at the blue Denpa. She had to trip and ruin his pie? He was too busy being offended by that to notice what she was screaming.
He gently picked her up with his mouth, and unceremoniously dropped her onto the pile just outside the pie. His attention turned back to the rest of the Denpa-Men, making sure they weren’t going after his treat again.
Siblings-a-Fixin' 