Chapter Text
He let a bubbly sigh as he shifted inside the Machine, if it weren’t filled to the brim with ink he would probably have more room to move. He shifted again bumping his arm on a gear and hitting his head on the edge of the Machine, stars it was cramped in here. When was Joey supposed to come again? He honestly couldn’t remember it might have been a few hours ago that he had tried ‘fixing’ him but he wasn’t really sure.
He could take a look to see what was happening outside the Machine but really didn’t feel like seeing the same bland sepia tones of the studio, at least the ink had varying degrees of black or blue and sometimes green if he was lucky. If only Joey had listened to him he wouldn’t be stuck in here and the studio wouldn’t be going bankrupt. But no, Joey didn’t want to listen, and even if he had heard him whatever he said most likely went in through one ear and out the other. If Joey had just given his form more time to properly stabilize none of this would be happening. But it seemed like Joey wasn’t the kind of person to wait, oh no, he wanted everything the way he wanted when he wanted. It’s like he had expected him to come out of the Machine and instantly be perfect. But that is not how life worked and that certainly isn’t how the Machine worked either.
He needs time to get used to his new form, but that isn’t what happened, after he came out of the Machine he had been shoved back in with Joey yelling about something- Crrreeeak
What was that? He listened harder, something was moving outside and suddenly the machine lurched upward with a groan and a lot of creaking (he yelled a lot of unpleasant things as his body was tossed around inside the machine) the machine made one final lurch before going quiet. Now, what in the world was going on outside? He focused on connecting with the cutouts of himself, trying to figure out what was going on. He was shocked to find the studio in worse shape than the last time he had been out.
The whole place was falling apart at the seams and he wondered how Joey let things get this bad. A flash of color passed by the cutout and he refocused his attention on the present. What he saw momentarily stunned him. There two little boys running around the ruins of the Studio. His mind went blank for a few minutes as he tried to process this.
Suddenly the machine started making strange noises as ink began to pump through the studio and into the machine itself and he was still in shock even as the ink began to pull him forward. He shook his head and lunged forward, forcing his body out of the front of the machine. He came out with a splat and tried wiping away the ink the always dripped down his face (it never stayed away for long though) and looked up to see the same two boys who were running around and he grinned and stood up to his full height.
“Thanks for setting me free kiddos, though you should have left when you had the chance,” they both froze in terror and he thought their faces were the funniest thing ever. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you to keep yer hands to yerself?” He placed his hands on both of their shoulders and grinned even wider. “Now, Let’s play a game shall we?”