#king dice x porkrind

[blankalisek]

3 Cuphead ship scenarios/prompts for ships I DON'T ship <3 part 1

Chalice has been feeling down lately so Cuphead surprises her one day, playing a song (on the piano ofc) he made specifically for her

Mugman and Bowlboy meeting when they are like 16-17, Bowlboy more mentally okay, and they become friends and fall in love

Shortly after King Dice became homeless Porkrind finds him and he hires him as he is tired of running the shop and needs a break, and when King Dice works for him they catch feelings for each other

[elm-writes-stories]

Cuphead: Isle of Memories (Rewrite)

*Hey, everybody, I know that it's been a month since I published this. I'm so sorry about that. These updates will be at a slower pace since I have a job and I will be going back to school in a couple of months. Anyway, this is published on November 12, 2023. If you guys like this episode, don't be afraid to heart, reblog, and comment! This will be greatly appreciated. Enjoy!*

Episode Nine: The Growing Problems

Today started out like any normal day.

Elder Kettle was making breakfast for Cuphead and Mugman as if they were back in their old house except they were in the Howling Aces’ base. Elder Kettle flipped the pancakes over in an upbeat rhythm from the music in the morning. He flipped the pancakes over his shoulder, letting the boys catch the pancakes.

Cuphead, as always, caught the pancakes flawlessly with his plate. However, his brother didn’t catch all of the pancakes. Mugman appeared dejected until he noticed a pancake stuck on the wall. He peeled it off and…there was nothing on the wall. His brother shrugged and placed the one pancake he peeled off the wall on the plate.

Elder Kettle noticed the skies getting red from the kitchen window. “Say, the skies are getting red. What’s up with that—?”

It was sudden that everything shook as if something exploded. Cuphead gasped while the fire consumed the Howling Aces’ base.

“Elder Kettle—!” Cuphead screamed for his caretaker, but Elder Kettle was soon burned up in flames.

“Cuphead! What did you do?!” Elder Kettle cried before melting in front of him.

“NOOOO!!!” Cuphead cried while breathing heavily.

He looked to see Mugman being held hostage by a figure of Hunter and The Devil combined.

Cuphead growled and his fists lit up. “You better let go of him!”

“Or what?” Hunter’s and The Devil’s voice mixed in together. “You’re going to shoot me with your magic bullets? Your poor brother has suffered enough from you as it is. Why does he need to stay with you any longer? You’ve already put him through enough.”

“No! Get your hands off of my brudda—!”

“Stop, please,” Mugman whimpered.

“Mugsy—”

“Stop, you’re going to hurt me—”

Cuphead frowned at the sight of his brother being in pain in front of him. “Mugman…?”

Mugman’s veins started to glow blue in front of Cuphead, causing him to breathe heavily in fear. Mugman’s veins went from blue to orange. The mug screamed in pain with tears at the corners of his eyes.

“No, leave him alone—” Cuphead ran towards Mugman and reached his hand out to him. However, Cuphead felt like Mugman was further than he was.

Mugman screamed in pain until he couldn’t scream anymore. The mug collapsed forward on the ground, milk spilled out of his head before Cuphead could reach him.

“NOOO!!!” Cuphead cried, his tears streaming from his face. He approached his brother’s body and collapsed on his knees. “MUGMAN!!”

“Now look what you did,” the figure with Hunter’s body and Devil’s body combined. “Your brother has done so much for you. What have you done for him in return?”

Cuphead drew his brows together, his body lit up in flames. “You’ll pay for that!” Before Cuphead could attack the figure, he realized that his flames were consuming the house around him.

“Cuphead! Cuphead! Wake up, you’re setting the place on fire—”

~.~

Cuphead gasped and the flames around him died as soon as soon as he opened his eyes. It turned out to be Natalie waking him up from his nightmare with a concerned look.

Cuphead looked around to find that there were burn marks on the wall and on the bed. He sweated nervously. “Uh, hehe, sorry.”

“You okay? You look like you are having some sort of nightmare,” Natalie uttered.

“Eh, it’s nothin’,” Cuphead responded. “Just a stupid dream.”

Natalie frowned and sat next Cuphead. “You know, you don’t have to toughen up around me, right?”

Cuphead blushed and shook his head. “No, I ain’t…”

She smirked a bit.

He sighed. “Fine, maybe a little. But I really mean it when I said it’s nothin’.”

“You were screaming your brother’s name in your sleep.”

He paused and looked away.

“That is why I woke up…and then I noticed the flames rising in your sleep. Luckily, it didn’t burn the entire place down,” Natalie added.

Cuphead looked around to not find Mugman anywhere. “Did…Mugman hear me?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure. I know he’s awake…but he must be helping your dad with somethin’…along with Cassi. He probably didn’t hear it.”

“Good—”

On cue, Mugman zoomed into the room. “I heard someone screaming for me. What happened? What’s going on?”

“Nevermind, he heard you,” Natalie responded.

Cuphead straightened up. “Oh, it’s, uh, nothin’.”

Mugman squinted at his brother for a brief moment. “You sure?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure. Everything is fine, buddy,” Cuphead reassured.

Mugman arched a brow while Werner suddenly popped out from his ceramic head.

“He’s lying,” Werner whispered to Mugman.

Werner was picked off of Mugman’s head by Mugman and was set down on his shoulder. He patted Werner on the head with a small smile and looked at his brother.

“W-Well, if you need me, I’ll be over by the gates with Cassi,” Mugman informed his brother and Natalie.

“Okay,” Cuphead replied while Mugman walked away. The cup sighed sadly. “I oughta stop worrying Mugsy.”

Natalie turned her gaze to him. “What do you mean? He’s your brother. He wants to look after you.”

“Yeah, but…I feel like him being worried about me is going to get him killed if we ain’t too careful,” Cuphead confessed his fear.

She softened her gaze. “I-Is that what your nightmare is about?”

He hugged himself and gazed at his shoes. “Yeah…”

She frowned. “Do you think that it’s still your fault?”

“For what?”

She shrugged. “For everything that might have to do with Mugman, I guess.”

He nodded his head. “Yeah. I mean…I know that Mugman is okay now and he got Cassi back. And I’m happy for him that he was getting better. But I can’t help, but think that something might happened that will hurt him. It’s been a couple of days since Cassidy is back and he’s been actin’ somewhat normal again. Everything was somewhat normal…it’s only the matter of time before the shoe drops.”

Natalie placed her hand on top of his. “Well, we have some normalcy now except for the infectees…we might as well make the most out of it before something happens.”

He smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Thanks, Nat.”

She grinned at the new nickname. “No problem, Cups.”

They blushed at the use of nicknames. She scooted closer to him and leaned against him, which shocked him a bit.

“It’s gettin’ chilly,” Natalie explained.

He giggled. “Heh, don’t worry about it. I don’t mind.”

Unbeknownst to them, Mugman was standing by the doorway, listening to the conversation with Werner on his shoulder. He frowned and walked away from the bedroom.

Once they’re out of ear-shot from them, Werner glanced at Mugman and sat on his shoulder. “Zo, do vu zink he’s vorrying too much?”

Mugman shook his head. “I don’t think so. Geez, I didn’t think Cuphead feels bad about me worrying about him. I wonder if I’ve ever made him feel that way.”

Werner shrugged his shoulders. “I’m nein exbert on Cup bzychology or vat’s koing on in zat liquid prain of your prozer’s, put it zeems to me zat vu poth haffe peen through ein lot from zee Night Sdalkers to now. “

“Yeah, I guess. I feel going back and telling Cuphead that he doesn’t need to worry about me worrying about him…”

“Vat’s sdobing vu?”

“I-I don’t know…Guilt? I’m not sure.”

Werner frowned. “Vell, if vu poth truly loffe und vant to brodect each ozer, zen vu poth need to sdop vorrying apout purtening one Hanozer.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You never have a brother,” Mugman said with a frown.

Werner appeared to be taken aback, which the mug noticed.

“Do you have a brother?” Mugman asked.

“Once.”

Mugman frowned and walked further down the hallway. “I’m sorry.”

Werner waved it off. “It doesn’t matder.”

“Look, there has to be another way to get the cure!” they heard Chef Saltbaker’s voice from the kitchen.

Mugman and Werner exchanged looks of confusion and entered the kitchen to see Saltbaker arguing with Charlie, Esther, and O’Fera.

“We can’t keep using Chalice’s blood to make the cure for the infectees outside,” O’Fera replied, siding with Saltbaker.

“Look, she might be the only answer we have left!” Esther responded.

“Yeah, besides, she’s half-ghost. I’m sure it won’t bother her,” Charlie argued.

“Look here, eight legs!” Saltbaker barked at Charlie, his eyes turning yellow. “She may be half-ghost, but she’s also half-mortal! Meaning that she could die if we drain all of her blood—”

“Which can turn her into a full ghost,” Charlie responded. “But hey, it counts as her making a sacrifice for the greater good.”

Saltbaker drew his brows and took out his knife. “You wanna say that again?!”

O’Fera and Esther stopped Saltbaker from charging towards Charlie with the knife. Charlie stumbled back against the wall, pulling out his fists.

“Whoa, whoa, chef, take deep breaths!” O’Fera replied.

“Wanna say that again?! I’d be happy to feed you to the infectees!” Saltbaker barked at Charlie.

“Calm down, psycho!” Charlie shouted at the chef.

“Who are you callin’ psycho?! You’re the one who wants the draw all of the child’s blood out!” Saltbaker argued.

“Chef, c’mon, calm down. Charlie didn’t mean it like that, right?” Esther questioned while trying to hold Saltbaker back.

“Well, if you put it like that, I guess I did mean it like that—”

“You son of a—!” Saltbaker broke free from O’Fera’s and Esther’s grasps, tackling Charlie to the ground.

“Are ya kiddin’ me?!” Esther yelled.

O’Fera groaned and pulled Saltbaker away from Charlie.

“Let me at him! Let me at him!” Saltbaker shouted while slashing his knife through the air.

“Put the knife away!” Esther barked while forcing Saltbaker to drop the knife.

Mugman and Werner watched it all unfold.

“Do vu know if zere’s ein cure for Tremaine ozer zan uzing your friend’s plood?” Werner questioned the mug.

Mugman frowned and shrugged. “I-I don’t know.”

Saltbaker noticed Mugman with his yellow eyes faded and his plastered grin widened. “Ah, Mugman, you totally didn’t see me waving a knife around.”

O’Fera groaned in discouragement. “Look, we need to find an alternative for the cure. Just because Chalice somehow has the blood of the Calix Animi, it doesn’t mean we can draw all of her blood out. There has to be another way.”

“Well, at least someone is on my side,” Saltbaker responded.

“Why not speak with Quadratus?” Mugman suggested shyly.

Everyone turned to the mug.

“Who’s Quadratus?” O’Fera inquired.

“Ah, the all-knowing pool of wonders,” Saltbaker said with a sigh. “He knows anything and everything next to the Most High. Well, I don’t think he knows as much as the Most High. Great idea, Mugman! Let’s go find this Quadratus fellow!”

“Uh, chef—”

Saltbaker rushed out of the base before O’Fera could say anything.

Mugman shrugged to the group and hurried after the chef with Werner perched on his shoulder.

O’Fera arched a brow. “Now I’m curious.”

~.~

Mugman led Saltbaker, O’Fera, Esther, and Charlie through the forest as soon as they passed through the infectees with Werner peering over his porcelain head.

“He should be around here somewhere,” Mugman said mostly to himself.

“Be careful, we don’t know if there are any demons nearby,” O’Fera cautioned.

“Ha! I dare zem to come out und blay!” Werner replied with a laugh.

“The German rat will get us killed if he doesn’t lower his tone,” Charlie grumbled.

“What are you afraid of, Charles? Are you afraid that demons will just appear out of nowhere and bite your neck like rabid zombies?” Saltbaker teased the spider. “Man, even being the head of a gang doesn’t make you less afraid.”

“Listen here, salt shaker,” Charlie growled with his finger pointed at the chef. “You gotta a lot of nerve to talk to me that way.”

“And you got a lot of nerve to tell me that Chalice will make a sacrifice for the ‘greater good’,” Saltbaker responded.

“Hey, I’m just making a point!” Charlie snarled.

“Are we seriously still fightin’ about this?” Esther groaned. “Look, if we get the answer from this Quadratus guy, we should be set. Hopefully, Chalice ain’t the only way to get the cure.”

“Here we are,” Mugman informed the group once he spotted the pool. He hurried to the pool and took out a jawbreaker from his pocket and dropped it into the pool. The pool bubbled and the ground shook. The blue light shined, blinding nearby group.

“Come one! Come all! Seek my wisdom and heed my words! The broken pieces will soon mend and the cries of the suffering will fade!” The pool announced.

Werner turned to the rest of the group. “Und vu all kot onto me for peing too loud.”

Saltbaker rolled his eyes and focused his attention. “Ah, Quadratus, the all-knowing pool. The legends say that you know everything.”

“Yes, the legends were true,” Quadratus said with his face appeared. “And you’ve come to seek my knowledge.”

“Yes,” O’Fera answered. “Do you know if there’s another cure for Tremaine other than using Chalice’s blood?”

“Chalice has the blood of the Calix Animi warrior. I’m afraid that’s the only way to cure someone of Tremaine,” Quadratus stated.

“Now, hang on just a minute. Chalice is just a child,” Saltbaker argued. “You expect all of us to drain her blood?”

Quadratus sighed sadly. “I’m afraid that is the only way unless you can reach Heaven to gather gold, holy fire, and the feathers from an angel’s wings. But Heaven is unreachable.”

“Not unless I cook up the Wondertart,” Saltbaker determined with a growl.

“Are you serious?!” O’Fera shouted at him. “You were just in jail for it!”

“Hey, at least I got a different motive this time,” Saltbaker responded. “If I cook up the Wondertart, I can get to the Astral Plane and reach up to Heaven to gather the ingredients to cure everyone infected with Tremaine.”

“But doesn’t cooking up the Wondertart require a soul?” Esther questioned.

“Oh, I’m not going to get anyone’s souls. Why, I know someone from prison I can use to make the Wondertart,” Saltbaker said with a mischievous grin.

“You can’t really reach up to Heaven, even if you have any control of the Astral Plane,” Quadratus said.

“Oh, come on!” Saltbaker scowled.

“How will we get to Heaven?” O’Fera questioned.

“By following Most High’s son since He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” Quadratus answered.

“How do we physically get there?” O’Fera clarified.

“No mortal can ‘physically’ get to Heaven. Spiritually, sure. But not physically. You can only enter the Heavenly Realms once you die,” Quadratus responded.

“Wait, how come we can get into Hell so easily, but it’s harder to get to Heaven?” Charlie questioned.

“The pathway to Heaven is a narrow path while Hell has a wider path. Take that for what you will,” Quadratus answered. “However, I have just received knowledge that based on the recent findings that there is more out there than the Eternal’s Orb and the boys’ powers are adapting to the new changes.”

“Adapt to change? Does it mean that there’s another way to cure the infectees?” O’Fera responded with a bright smile.

“Well…sort of. We’ll have to see,” Quadratus responded. “Speaking of Eternal’s Orb, it’s mixed with two gifts such as the gift of bravery and the gift of visions. There are other gifts from the Calix Animi, such as the gift of nature, the gift of love, and the gift of knowledge out there in the mausoleum in this island. The gift of memories and the gift of light were already inside two of your friends. Maybe that can be the answer you’re looking for.”

“Uh…”

“Search for the rest of the gifts and let the powers adapt to the new surroundings! You’ll find the permanent cure for the curse of Tremaine!” Quadratus’ voice boomed until his face disappeared from the pool.

“Well,” Saltbaker responded. “He didn’t give us an exact answer we’re looking for.”

“Soo…maybe using Chalice is the only solution,” Charlie replied.

“No!” Saltbaker denied. “He said that the boys’ powers are adapting, right? Maybe there’s a way that one of them could get Tremaine out of the infectees in Chalice’s place.”

Esther crossed her arm. “Maybe it doesn’t require blood of the Calix Animi warrior anymore.”

The group turned to the cowgirl with their brows arched.

“What do you mean?” O’Fera asked.

Mugman watched the conversation along with Werner.

“Like…maybe blood is out of the question,” Esther responded. “Maybe it’s something else that doesn’t drain someone’s body.”

“You make a good point,” Saltbaker replied.

They heard a loud boom in the distant, causing them all to perk their ears up.

“Uh…vhat vas zat?” Werner questioned.

O’Fera bolted through the forest. Mugman dashed after her with Werner hanging onto his head.

Saltbaker, Charlie, and Esther didn’t hesitate to follow after them.

~.~

O’Fera sprinted through the forest and realized that the base for the Howling Aces was caught on fire as the infectees started to pour in like zombies.

Mugman, Werner, Saltbaker, Esther, and Charlie approached O’Fera and saw the base burning up.

“Holy cow,” Charlie uttered.

One of the infectees turned her head and roared at them, catching half of the infectees’ attention towards the group.

O’Fera snarled, her fists clenched.

Mugman glanced up at Werner. “Uh, Werner, you might want to get out of my head.”

When Werner noticed the sparks coming from the mug’s body, he nodded his head. “Roger zat.” The rat hopped out of Mugman’s ceramic head and crawled up onto Saltbaker’s arm. Werner took out his mini-gun and aimed it at the infectees.

Saltbaker took out his knife and his eyes turned yellow.

Mugman’s eyes glowed blue along with his veins, his blue glowing wings spread out. The electricity were under his control this time, glaring at the infectees invading the Howling Aces’ base.

Charlie Left-Legs pulled out the bombs wrapped in his webs from his teal suit jacket.

Esther Winchester took out her shotgun with a daring smile at the infectees.

Half of the infectees turned and charged towards the group.

O’Fera swung her fists at the incoming infectees while Mugman used his electricity to electrocute them.

Werner fired his small mini-gun with a maniacal laugh, and Saltbaker slashed through his enemies with his knife. Charlie threw bombs at them to blow them up. Esther started to shoot from her shotgun with a smirk. More infectees turned to see them and were about to attempt to charge at them until a bomb was dropped and electrocuted the infectees. The electricity had a shape of the familiar mad scientist as O’Fera looked up to see Dr. Kahl and his robot flying up in the sky and firing the bombs at the infectees.

Inside of the Howling Aces’ base, Bulldog took out his larger mini-gun and fired at the infectees charging at him and the Yankee Yippers.

The fire lit up inside of Cuphead’s ceramic head. His fists were covered by fire and his orange wings spread out. He zoomed through the base, taking out every single infectee he encountered.

Brineybeard picked Aurora up and placed her on his shoulder, taking out his blades to protect her from the incoming infectees.

Ribby and Croaks teamed up with Sally and Philip to take out the infectees. Chips Bettigan, Mr. Wheezy, and Phear Lap joined them with their guns drawn out.

Djimmi used solar balls to throw at the infectees, protecting Bowlboy. Bowlboy was holding the lamp close to his chest while watching the red genie fight the infectees.

Cagney’s face contorted into a machine gun with a crank at the bottom of his chin. He grabbed the crank and spun it around to shoot seeds at the infectees, letting the seeds grow into plants within the infectees.

Hilda flew up into the sky and came back down, shape-shifted as a cloudy bull. She started to run over the infectees with her horns, pushing them out of the building.

Rumor Honeybottoms joined to help Cagney and Hilda along with Pirouleta, Ginette, Rumulus, and Ol’ Ethan. Rumor used her wand to cast purple balls at the infectees while Rumulus and Ol’ Ethan worked together to spill whiskey at the infectees, burning their eyes.

Ginette took out her shotgun and started to shoot at the infectees with her teeth gritted together.

Elder Kettle took out his sword with a battle-cry, slashing through the infectees in the kitchen. The Root Pack hopped into battle with Elder Kettle with Sal spitting out a brown potato and thrusted it at the infectees while Chauncy used telepathic powers to fire at the zombies. Ollie was the only one who was frozen in fear as he was ready to cry.

“Ollie, no! You’re gonna make us cry if you cry!” Sal shouted at Ollie.

“I-I can’t help it,” Ollie muttered.

Dice noticed the situation and ran towards the onion. “Hey, uh…”

“O-Ollie,” Ollie sniffled.

“Ollie, it’s okay to cry,” Dice replied while taking out his cards.

Ollie whimpered and began to sob loudly.

“Hey, what are—?!” Sal shouted at the die until he realized that Dice was blowing Ollie’s stench away from the others with his cards and aiming it at the infectees attacking them. The infectees started to break down in tears once Ollie’s stench hit them.

Elder Kettle slashed through the infectees with his sword until one of the infectees jumped behind him. Before the infectee could get to Elder Kettle, Murray touched the infectee’s head to get into his memories and trapped the infectee into one of his most loving memory he had.

Elder Kettle whirled around to find Murray behind him, his eye glowing purple. The old tea kettle soon let Murray joined him in the fight with a smirk.

Meanwhile, Light Bug used her radio outside of the gates and managed to make the infectees dance around her while Lenny and Announcer Snail were on top of Anteater’s shoulders.

Porkrind, Jerry, and Cassidy fought the infectees together while Natalie, Canteen, and Chalice slashed their weapons at their enemies.

Cassidy found herself cornered by the infectees at one point and Porkrind managed to hit the two other infectees with his hammer. Natalie saw this and charged at the remaining infectee from behind with a battle-cry. She jumped on the infectee’s back and stabbed him with her steak knife.

Cassidy watched Natalie take out the infectee and smiled brightly. However, Cassidy noticed an infectee charging towards her best friend.

“Natalie, look out!” Cassidy cried out. When she was about to leap to protect Natalie, a sword stabbed through the infectee. Natalie whirled around and found Brineybeard being the one to stab the infectee with his sword.

“Are ye alright, Natalie?” Brineybeard asked.

Natalie nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Brineybeard nodded his head and set Aurora down next to Natalie. He stepped in front of the two sisters to protect them from the incoming infectees.

Cuphead flew by Natalie and gave her a small smile while standing by her to protect her from the infectees.

Cassidy growled at the infectee coming towards her. The infectee in question was a cactus girl ready to attack the red feline until Mugman crashed through the roof and shot electricity at the cactus girl.

The electricity went through her veins until she threw up Tremaine and collapsed on the floor.

Cassidy gasped in shock to find Tremaine being extracted out of someone without using Chalice’s blood. Before she could say anything to her boyfriend, Mugman shot another electricity at the black cat coming towards them, causing him to throw up the Tremaine in his systems. Mugman gasped in shock when he noticed that the electricity from his body was getting Tremaine out of people.

Mugman didn’t hesitate to use his electricity on the apple, the orange fish, the coin with a bag of coins, and a metal axe that had a chip on his blade.

Jerry and Porkrind witnessed it with gasps in shock.

Dice started to see demons pouring in along with the infectees. “Uh…guys…I’m not sure if we can stay and keep fighting.”

“We gotta get out of here! Now!” Charlie shouted to the group.

Anteater gathered the Moonshine mob and placed them on his back while the Casino Gang hopped into Esther’s wagon. Esther joined them while Phear Lap took the reigns to move the wagon. The people Mugman managed to get Tremaine out of it seemed to be disoriented about what was going on.

Cassidy and Mugman exchanged gazes at each other and then jumped in to help the disoriented individuals.

“Come on, we got to get out of here,” Cassidy urged the others.

Cuphead, Natalie, Canteen, and Chalice noticed this while joining them to help the disoriented people.

Elder Kettle and Murray hurried to the kids, protecting them from the incoming infectees.

Porkrind and Jerry noticed O’Fera and her crew pulling up in the truck.

“Hop on!” O’Fera shouted to the others.

Porkrind grabbed Jerry by one of his arms and pulled him out of the building with Dice following them to the car. Elder Kettle and Murray urged the kids and the individuals no longer affected by Tremaine to follow them to the car. Once everyone was in the car, O’Fera drove away from the base.

~.~

They ran through the forest as fast as they could.

Phear Lap pulled Esther’s wagon that had the Casino Gang inside of it with all of his might.

Anteater managed to carry the Moonshine Mob along with the rest of the fugitives on his back.

O’Fera was driving Bulldog, Yankee Yippers, Elder Kettle, Murray, Porkrind, Jerry, Dice, the kids, and the ex-infectees through the forest. O’Fera had her driver window down so that she could listen to the others while driving.

“Where are we even going?!” Charlie shouted to anyone who could hear him.

“A safe place!” Sally answered.

“That’s not specific enough!” Charlie barked.

“Where can we go where the infectees and the demons won’t find us?!” Saltbaker yelled.

Cassidy looked up to find they were going towards the mountain and gasped happily. “Guys, go up the mountain!”

“Are you sure that’s safe?” O’Fera questioned.

“Yeah, I know someone up there who could help hide us,” Cassidy replied.

“How many people do you know that can help us?” Natalie questioned.

Cassidy blushed in embarrassment. “Um…well…many I think…I can’t keep track of the number.”

“Well, we’ll take whatever can keep us safe!” Chalice determined. She turned into a ghost and phased out of the car to go ahead and tell the others.

“Do you know the path to get up to the mountain?” O’Fera asked Cassidy.

“Yeah…”

O’Fera gestured Cassidy to come up by the driver’s seat. “Then take the wheel.”

“What?! Are you insane?!” Porkrind gasped. “She’s just a kid!”

“I did have her drive while we’re on delivery runs,” Jerry replied.

Porkrind looked at the bug with a withering glare. “First, you pulled her into your secret operation and then you made her drive!”

“Hey, she was actually pretty good,” Jerry replied.

“Great!” O’Fera responded while taking her hands off the wheel. “Take the wheel and lead the way!”

Cassidy yelped and jumped onto O’Fera’s lap to grab the steering wheel. O’Fera pressed her foot on the gas pedal as Cassidy steered the wheel onto the pathway to the mountain. Anteater and Phear Lap followed with their haul of their friends and family.

Mugman gasped in shock while hanging onto Cuphead. Natalie was holding onto Cuphead, clinging on his shirt.

Chalice came back and sat next to Canteen, holding on his arm. “I got the others to follow us!”

Dice glanced back from the back window to find the infectees and the demons catching up. “Oh no, they’re going to catch up!”

It was sudden that a missile bomb landed on the ground, electrocuting the infectees and the demons. Dice arched a brow and looked up to find Dr. Kahl and his robot landing on the ground.

“Get ‘em, sonny!” Dr. Kahl encouraged from within the cockpit of the robot’s head. He cackled like a mad scientist.

Dr. Kahl’s robot took out his guns on his shoulders and replaced his hands with bigger guns. With a glare, he blew his last bubblegum with a smirk. He fired lasers from his antenna and his bullets from his guns, pushing every demon and infectee away from the group.

Dice noticed with a shock gaze. “Okay, the robot’s got it. Cool.”

Cassidy steered the car up the hill with Anteater and Phear Lap following the car. O’Fera pressed on the brakes for every time Cassidy was about to make a turn.

“Are we almost there?” O’Fera asked.

“I think so!” Cassidy answered.

It was sudden that the resistance group noticed boulders coming down on them. Cassidy swerved to dodge them while the others were screaming in the car.

“O’Fera, this is a perfect time for you to take the wheel!” Murray shouted.

“I’m sorry!” Cassidy panicked.

“Don’t apologize—!”

“WATCH OUT!!!” Porkrind screamed while O’Fera slammed her foot on the brake. The car screeched to a stop to find a silhouette of a giant staring down at them.

“Who dares come into my mountain?!” the silhouette giant shouted, causing everybody to fear him except for the red feline.

Cassidy brightly smiled. “Glumstone!” She climbed out of the driver’s side window and onto the car rooftop. “Hey! It’s me, Cassidy!”

Glumstone leaned down to get a closer look at Cassidy and brightly smiled. The small gnomes peeked around the bumps of his head.

“Cassi!” the gnomes rejoiced.

“Gee, sorry about hurling boulders at ya. I thought you was one of the demons and the infectees comin’ to get us,” Glumstone explained.

“Well, they are chasing behind us. We need a safe place to hide,” Cassidy replied to Glumstone.

“Oh, are these people all of your friends?” Glumstone asked.

“Yeah.”

Glumstone nodded his head. “Any friend of Cassidy is a friend of mine—wait, what are you doing here, Saltbaker?! You should be in jail!”

Saltbaker, who was on Anteater’s back, grinned nervously. “Well—”

“We need him,” Cassidy replied. “He was able to make a cure to save me and my boyfriend from Tremaine.”

“Boyfriend?” the gnomes started to whisper around each other.

“It’s a long story,” Cassidy responded.

Glumstone hummed. “Hmm, alright. I’ll take you all to the safe place where there’s plenty of food, water, and shelter. No demon or infectee will ever come to this place.”

“That sounds too good to be true,” Djimmi whispered to the others.

“How does that sound?” Glumstone asked Cassidy.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Cassidy answered.

With that said, Glumstone picked up the car Cassidy was standing on. He also picked up the wagon Phear Lap had been pulling and put the wagon on the same arm that was holding the car. He then picked up Anteater while the people on his back like Cagney, Hilda, Djimmi, Bowlboy, Rumor, The Moonshine Mob, Sally, Philip, Ribby, Croaks, Brineybeard, Saltbaker, and Werner screamed and held onto Anteater’s fur.

Glumstone began to carry the others over the mountains while being approached by Dr. Kahl’s robot, guns raised up to aim at the giant.

The top of the robotic helmet opened and Dr. Kahl popped out.

“And where do you think you’re going to take our friends?!” Dr. Kahl growled.

“Wait, don’t shoot!” Djimmi shouted. “He’s going to take us someplace safe!”

Dr. Kahl blinked in shock. “Oh…nevermind! Lower the guns, sonny!”

Dr. Kahl’s robot lowered his guns.

“Let’s go then!” Dr. Kahl encouraged the other. “Sonny managed to hold them back long enough.”

Glumstone nodded his head and hurried through the mountains with Dr. Kahl’s robot flying behind him. 

~.~

It felt like hours and Glumstone was still taking them to the safe place. He stepped over every mountain he came across.

“We’re almost there,” Glumstone reassured everyone in his arms.

Dr. Kahl’s robot caught up beside the giant.

“We better be almost there. Sonny here is running low on battery,” Dr. Kahl replied, patting on his robot’s head.

“Vu keep calling your ropot ‘zonny’. It’s getding Hannoying,” Werner commented.

Dr. Kahl glared at the rat on Saltbaker’s shoulder.

“Is that the name of your robot? Sonny?” Saltbaker asked in curiosity.

“Nah, it’s a nickname I give him,” Dr. Kahl replied. “His real name is Automation. But, uh, I am considering changing his name to either Junior or something.”

“Let me guess, it’s because he’s like zee zon zat vu’fe neffer had,” Werner said in a mocking tone.

Dr. Kahl softened his gaze while patting on the metal head. “I lost my son during the war. What do you mean he’s like a son I never have?”

Werner immediately dropped his mocking tone and blinked in shock. “Oh, um, I’m sorry—”

“I don’t need your pity,” Dr. Kahl responded with simple waves of his hands. “Or your sympathy. Let’s just get to the safe place and not talk about it anymore.”

Dr. Kahl’s robot, Automation, flew forward to avoid talking about it.

Glumstone soon approached the safe place. “We’re here.”

Everyone looked to find a lake surrounded by the mountains with luscious grass and trees all around the lake. The light reflects on the water, glimmering as the sun sets down on crests of the mountains to the west.

The giant set the group down and let them explored the safe place.

Cuphead, Mugman, Natalie, Aurora, Chalice, and Canteen got out of the car with the ex-infectees to look around. Cassidy jumped down to join her boyfriend and her friends.

“Wow,” the apple uttered in shock.

“Are we really safe?” Natalie asked the others.

“Aye, we are!” Brineybeard shouted in joy.

“This is amazing,” Sally replied.

As the others were looking around the new area they were in, Djimmi glanced over at Bowlboy, who was still holding the lamp. “Do you still want to make a wish?”

“Hm?” Bowlboy uttered in shock.

“You haven’t been making wishes in a while. Usually, my masters would wish things in one day.”

“But…I’ve already made my wishes though—”

“Including your father’s wish?” Djimmi said.

Bowlboy nodded his head sadly.

Djimmi placed a hand on the bowl’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t let that wish get you down. Besides, you’re here and you are taking your father’s place as the wish-holder. Although, this is your last wish. I’m excluding the one where we teleport to the Howling Aces because you were forced to make that wish. So, what do you wish for?”

Bowlboy blinked. “Um…um…uh…wait! What about you? What do you wish for?”

“Me?” the genie questioned.

“Yeah,” Bowlboy chirped. “If you can grant yourself three wishes, what would they be?”

“Hm…well, I don’t normally have masters ask me what I wish for. Let’s see…well, the first wish is definitely to be free from the lamp. The second wish would be…hm, well, being able to help people without having someone make a wish to help someone. The last wish would be…well, I guess to have limitless powers to help people. Hey, if someone has a tumor, I can take it out less than a second. You know what I mean? But, those are just dreams at this point.”

Bowlboy blinked in shock to hear the genie’s wishes. He looked at the lamp he was holding and then smiled softly. “Okay, I know my next wish.”

“Really?” Djimmi asked.

“Yeah! I wish for you to be free!” Bowlboy replied.

“Alright, let’s make the magic happen and—wait, what?”

“I wish for you to be free, so that you can help people with your limitless power,” Bowlboy repeated.

With that said, Djimmi could see the lamp glowing dim and falling on the ground as he was able to gain legs. He blinked in shock at this gesture.

Bowlboy grinned happily. “Now you get to help the people you want without someone making a wish for you.”

Djimmi stuttered. “I-I don’t know what to say—”

“You’re welcome,” Bowlboy responded.

Djimmi cracked his knuckles and let sparks fly from his fingertips. Tents and houses appeared, housing each resistance member.

The Howling Aces were able to have their base, and the Moonshine Mob were able to have their own casino.

Saltbaker had his own bakery to shelter him and Chalice, and Elder Kettle had his own house that would house Cuphead, Mugman, and Murray with him.

Dr. Kahl had his own lab in the tent, and Werner had his own workshop to build all of his machines.

Sally and Philip got to live in their theater that appeared out of nowhere, and Rumor Honeybottoms had her own honey company to make honeys.

Brineybeard, Ribby, and Croaks had their own ships with Ribby and Croaks owning a ferry with their own restaurant and Brineybeard having his own ship that would house both Natalie and Aurora.

Porkrind had his own shop to shelter him, Jerry, Dice, and Cassidy.

The Root Pack had their own garden and soil to eat. Cagney was given a space for his flowers while Hilda was given a house to live in.

The apple, the fish, the coin, the cactus girl, the black cat, and the metal axe a house to recover from Tremaine.

Then, Djimmi got his own tent with all of his wooden puppets, adding a room for Bowlboy to sleep in.

Everyone looked around at all of the houses that were given to them.

“Holy cow!” the cactus girl gasped in shock.

“This is amazing!” the black cat replied with joy.

Glumstone smiled brightly to see everyone settling in on their new home without the infectees and the demons lurking around. Then, the giant had a bright idea.

“Say, I got a swell idea to celebrate this new place. How I put on a puppet show? My gnomes love the puppet shows. However, I only got two sock puppets, um—”

“Oh! We can add some elements from the theater!” Sally said excitedly. “Ooh! I wonder if Djimmi added some costumes into our theater.”

“I got my own puppets if you need more than one,” Djimmi interjected.

“Ooh! We can pull off our own entertainment!” Ribby replied while nudging Croak’s chest from hearing an excited opportunity.

“And I got the singing voice,” Dice replied with a smirk.

“Same and the dance moves,” Light Bug added.

“Ooh, we’re going to have to compete,” Dice teased Light Bug.

“Make that three!” Chalice joined in Dice’s joke.

Cassidy smiled brightly. “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

Glumstone nodded his head with a smile. He took out his hand puppets, one that looked eerily similar to King Dice only except in a jester outfit and the Devil only except in a royal robe and crown.

“Let’s do this!” Glumstone told his puppets with a grin.

~.~

The night was young.

Djimmi was able to snap the stage into existence in front of everyone.

Glumstone had his hand puppets prepared while the gnomes were watching as the audience.

Cassidy and Mugman were seated in the middle of gnomes with Porkrind and Jerry sat behind them to keep an eye on them. Elder Kettle sat a few inches away with Murray sitting close to O’Fera and her crew.

Esther had the whole Casino gang with her on the back row.

The Root Pack sat in the middle row behind Rumor Honeybottoms.

Aurora sat on Natalie’s lap while Cuphead was sitting next to her. Brineybeard sat behind the cup kids with a bright smile in excitement.

Canteen watched on by himself, seeing Chalice in the backstage with Dice, Sally, Djimmi, and Light Bug.

Charlie sat on the front row in support of his wife along with his gang.

Anteater sat at the back with Dr. Kahl’s robot with Dr. Kahl resting on the robot’s shoulder along with Werner.

The apple, the black cat, the orange fish, the coin, the axe, and the cactus girl sat in different spots, surrounded by the gnomes.

Hilda and Cagney sat next each other in the second row, a few inches away from The Howling Aces.

Philip sat at the very front row to watch his wife in the shadows of backstage.

The show was about to begin. The cards were holding instruments to play the music when given the cue. Ribby and Croaks were the first to appear in the spotlight.

“Ladies and Gents and Gnomes,” Ribby announced. “We proudly present to you the performance of a lifetime!”

With that said, Ribby and Croaks stepped out of the spotlight. Under Ribby’s cue, the band started to play an upbeat jazzy beat as the spotlight moved towards Dice onto the stage, dancing towards the center while scatting.

“Heedle-Heedle-Heedle

Skideedle-be-diddly-doo

Zoobediddleday!

Dee-Diddily-Doo.”

Dice soon approached the mic with a swift confidence he once had. He sang with swag in his steps, a grin placed on his face.

“Now, I have been chained—I have been enslaved too.

I’ve rolled the dice and collected the souls.

I have risen an empire of fame,

Only for it to crumble under my feet.”

Dice smiled and danced on stage while holding the mic to sing more verses, the music building up unexpectedly. As Dice was dancing on stage, he gave a wink to both Jerry and Porkrind. They both blushed a bit while listening to him sing beautifully.

“Oh, but I’ve never felt this feeling, this feeling.

Oh, but I feel alive, alive.

And I don’t think I want this feeling to end.”

Chalice started to tap dance while sliding next to Dice, who welcomed it with a bright smile. They both sang together in a beautiful unison as the jazzy music build up more.

“Oh, but I’ve never felt this feeling, this feeling.

Oh, I feel alive, feel alive

And I don’t think I want this night to end.”

The beat dropped while King Dice started to sing on his own.

“Oh, don’t bet on what the days will bring.

You can never know until it comes.

Dance the night away, my friends.

For tomorrow’s worries are only a day away.”

During Dice’s chorus, Glumstone pulled out laid behind the stage and pulled out his jester hand puppet that looked like King Dice, bouncing up and down. The gnomes clapped their hands to the beat of the chorus while Cassidy and Mugman danced together in their seats.

Then Chalice had a turn to sing with the most angelic voice Canteen had never heard before.

“I’ve danced my way to the top.

Makin’ trouble and friends along the way.

I’ve turned up my charm,

Always looking out for number one.”

Canteen brightly grinned to see her sing and tap-dance on the stage. Who knew she was a lovely sight when she sang and danced? He got up from his seat in excitement and went up to Djimmi to whisper something to the genie. The genie grinned brightly and snapped his fingers, the violin appearing in Canteen’s grasp.

Before she could continue to sing, she heard a beautiful strings from the violin and looked to see Canteen strumming the violin from the shadows of the stage. She blushed at the sight and smirked at him. She headed towards the shadow and pulled him into the spotlight, skipping towards center stage while he played violin.

She began to sing beautifully.

“Oh, but I’ve never felt this feeling, this feeling.

Oh, I feel alive, alive.

And I don’t want this feeling to end.”

Light Bug joined Dice, Chalice, and Canteen on stage while her and Dice sang with Chalice again.

“Oh, but I’ve never felt this feeling, this feeling.

Oh, I feel alive, alive.

And I don’t want this feeling to end.”

Light Bug sang all by herself while dancing on stage, gaining admiration from her husband, Charlie.

“Oh, don’t bet on what the days will bring.

You can never know until it comes.

Dance the night away, my friends.

For tomorrow’s worries are only a day away.”

Everyone in the audience started to dance to the rhythm of the music.

Brineybeard lifted Natalie and Aurora onto his shoulders to dance with them. Cuphead smiled and danced with Elder Kettle watching him with gleam.

Cassidy got up and pulled Mugman up to his feet, pulling him close to the stage and danced with him. He giggled and spun her around as the gnomes joined and danced with them.

Hilda brightly smiled and pulled Cagney onto the dancefloor, leaving the flower blushing.

O’Fera saw this and decided to pull Murray to the dancefloor as well.

“Dance with me!” O’Fera replied in pure joy.

“Wait, what?” Murray uttered in confusion.

Djimmi summoned his puppets in the shapes of cups and danced with Glumstone’s hand puppets.

Charlie snapped his finger while Saltbaker clapped his hands with a jolly laugh.

Automation moved his shoulders in a rhythmic motion, rocking Dr. Kahl and Werner side to side.

Anteater bounced in his seat with a grin.

Philip danced on the dancefloor, waiting for his wife to come out from the backstage.

Sally came out of the backstage and danced in the spotlight. Djimmi soon joined, dancing along with his puppets with a grin.

Ribby and Croaks soon came to the spotlight once the music was reaching to the bridge with Ribby singing first.

“We was dreaming of makin’ our ma proud.”

Croaks wrapped his arm around his brother to croon.

“Only to keep running into dead-ends.”

Djimmi appeared between the brothers and wrapped his arms around them with a grin and sang in a deep harmonious voice.

“I’ve granted wishes for tyrants and lazy bums.

Never able to make my own wish.”

Sally walked forward to her husband while pulling her husband onto the stage and singing.

“I’ve performed and pursued my dreams,

Now I have the love of my life with me.”

All four of them came together and sang harmoniously together as the jazzy music filled with trumpets and violins started to pick up more.

“Oh, but I’ve never felt this feeling, this feeling.

Oh, I feel alive, alive.

And I don’t want this feeling to end.”

King Dice finally stepped forward, taking the spotlight to sing his final chorus as the music started to soften up.

“Don’t bet on what the days will bring.

It will be a losing battle.

Let the night last long, my friends.

For tomorrow is coming soon.”

The song ended while the gnomes were clapping ecstatically, hollering and whistling.

Everyone laughed from the good time as Chalice and Canteen looked at each other and held hands.

“Now where did you learn to play the violin?” Chalice asked with a blush.

Canteen shrugged. “It’s…a long story.”

“Well, you can tell me another time if ya want.”

“That actually sounds nice.” They tightened their grip of each other’s hands.

Mugman and Cassidy exchanged looks of euphoria and smiles. She cupped his face and gave his big blue nose a few licks.

He giggled. “Hehehe, Cassi. That tickles.”

She purred while rubbing her head against his.

Porkrind softened his gaze at Dice, who was just socializing with the others. The one-eyed pig felt his heart thumping against his chest when Dice looked to notice Porkrind in the crowd and gave a flirty smirk.

The pig grumbled and closed himself off a bit.

Jerry noticed this and chuckled with a blush. “Boy, he can really sing, can he?”

“I’m not even going to look at him. I’m not even going to look at him,” Porkrind grumbled that to himself, earning giggles from Jerry.

Meanwhile, Cuphead watched everyone laughing and talking to each other. He looked up to find Natalie chuckling with Brineybeard and Aurora. His face went red at the sight of her, and his heart turned to mush at the sight of her.

For the rest of the evening, everyone celebrated for the place to live in a wonderful place where they have food, water, and shelter.

To Be Continued... 

[bellamer]

Big brained moment

Poly ship of King Dice x Porkrind x Saltbaker

Devil being included is optional but I find that I ship DevilDice more in the game in the casino setting than the cuphead show, even though this is a mix of the show and dlc.

But like, after Dice is fired, he gets a new occupation as a bartender. The bar is near Saltbaker's bakery, so after a long day of trying to redeem himself, Saltbaker goes to have a drink to ease his frustrations.

Dice is his shoulder to cry on and hears him out about the situation with the wondertart and his community service and trying to get the public to trust him again.

Porkrind comes in after a long day of work and isn't much of a talker, but he and Dice both have the same taste in aged whiskey and other liquors and after some time, Porkrind opens up a little more and talks to Dice about his profession and his wares, saying he could get Dice some nice stuff for the bar in exchange for free drinks.

Both of them end up falling for Dice, Saltbaker and Porkrind end up getting to know each other through Dice and start feeling fond towards each other before realizing that they love Dice and eachother and they all become an item.

Saltbaker brings treats for his boyfriends, giving Dice powdered beignets, his favorite. Porkrind doesn't really have a sweetooth so Saltbaker bakes him different kinds of bread

Porkrind will sometimes give them things he gets delivered to his shop that he knows they'll like, be it new cufflinks or cologne for Dice or new cookbooks or ingredients for Saltbaker

Dice shows his affection in many different ways, sometimes serenading Saltbaker with a song or sharing a hundred year old whiskey he's been saving with Porkrind when he knows Porkrind has had a rough day

On their off days, they'll sit in Dice's apartment, Dice putting on an old record while Porkrind either reads or shows Saltbaker how to cook an old meat dish he learned a while back, while Saltbaker watches eagerly, Dice also watching them with adoring eyes.

I'm calling the ship KingSaltRind.

[morsokami]

It's always sad when you go to reread a fic you read while back only to find it's been taken down. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I was searching for Bad Beats, a Cuphead fanfic about King Dice basically running away with Porkrind to escape the Devil. The Devil is trying to marry Dice to complete some evil ritual. When i finally found what it was called and the Authors name i was hopefull to reread it and see if it had ever been finished. But when i got to the Authors page I found that they have no stories posted anymore. I found them on Tumblr but it looks like they've been inactive and didn't post any reason for the take down. Last they posted was a link to the latest chapter (broken now) and a couple reblogs of fanart. I'm super bummed about it.😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[firecurls-27]

Ok ok ok….hear me out…..

A cuphead x arcane league of legends au.

Cuphead is vi,

Mugman/vile mugman is powder/jinx

Devil is silco

King dice is sevika

Elder kettle is vander

Porkrind is Enzo

That’s all I got for now but imma draw it later-

(Y’all can draw it too if you want👀-)

[robfozdarling]

Spooky Month X Cuphead crossover idea:

Cuphead: Skid

Mugman: Pump

Elder Kettle: Gramps/Lila

Porkrind: Frank

Devil: Skid’s Dad

King Dice: The Uncle

Root Pack: Hatzgang

Goopy: Moluch

Hilda: Jaune

Riby and Croaks: The Thieves

Cagney: Eyes of the Universe

Bon Bon: Kevin

Djimmi: Candy Dealer

Beppi: Mr. Clown

Wally: Rick

Wally Jr: Kid

Grim: Sad Guy

Rumor: Jack

Brineybeard: John

Cala Maria: Patty

Werner: Hobomen

Sally Stageplay: Radford

Dr. Kahl: Dexter

Dr. Kahl’s Robot: Happy Fella

Phantom Express: Ooga Booga

Casino Bosses/Imps: Cultists

Legendary/Ms. Chalice: Susie

So yeah that’s the idea I had. I’ll try and make some art of it when I can. If anyone wants to, they can also make art of it, just give me a little credit! (Or not I don’t know lol)

[cupheadconfessions]

King Dice x Porkrind

EBT Answers~

Opinion: This feels like one of the rarest rarepairs I’ve seen in CH. Haven’t seen much about it to form a decent opinion.

A HC: Porkrind has a shit-terrible singing voice and likes to badly sing KD’s theme to annoy him.

[mothstache]

I want to know why Porkrind isn’t in more ships...like Porkrind x L. Chalice is a pretty damn good ship and Porkrind x King Dice is as well (I invented the name Knucklebones for that ship...because dice back in the day were made out of pigs’ knucklebones)

I just want more Porkrind love in general I guess ;w;

[p0ply]

Porkrind x King Dice x Devil *no ship name yet

OOF

ew / nonono / maybe?? / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

[emmagottlieb52]

Cuphead Magical Girl AU

This is not a Sailor Moon crossover! This is an AU where everyone in Cuphead is a magical girl and lead rather undercover lives. My inspirations are from Cuphead,Emily Martha Sorensen’s Magical Mayhem series,and old magical girl series such as Himitsu no Akko-Chan,Majokko Tickle,Miracle Shoujo Limit-Chan,and Sally the Witch. It will also be based on Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou-ii Desu-kara.

Cuphead-Name stays the same,transformation phrase is “Formal Open Wave Cup Power!”powers over care and love,transformation item and weapon is a wand

Mugman-Name stays the same,transformation phrase is the same as Cuphead’s,powers over the stars and light,transformation item and weapon is a wand

Elder Kettle-Cuphead and Mugman’s mentor,can transform without need for a phrase,has psychic,light,and energy-based powers,transformation item and weapon is a wand

Legendary Chalice and Porkrind-Elder Kettle’s mentors,the ones who gave him the charms in the first place,the Chalice apparently is Kettle’s mascot

Root Pack-Name is the same,have not detransformed ever since,powers are the same,plus agrokinesis,have no weapons

Goopy le Grande-The Goo of The Grave,transformation phrase is “This is what I live for!”,powerful super strength and immortality,plus shapeshifting,transforming item is a pill bottle,weapon is his magic box gloves,which can break any substance apart

Hilda Berg-Starshine,transformation phrase is “You lost too soon and I was only half-moon!”,can see the future and has space and sky based powers,transformation item is two star bracelets,weapon is the weather vane on her head

Ribby and Croaks-New Super Frog Bros,haven’t detransformed since,superstrength and ninja fighting skills,have no weapons

Cagney Carnation-The Black Rose,transformation phrase is “Extreme pollination and total domination!”,plant and flower-based powers and agrokinesis,transformation item is a compact,weapons include his Flower scepter and his intimidation skills

Baroness von Bonbon-Sweet Tooth Witch,transformation phrase is “Magic powers of the sugary,lend me your strength!”,sweets-based powers,transformation item is unknown,weapons included her candy rifle and a scepter

Beppi the Clown-Name is the same,hasn’t detransformed ever since,shapeshifting and magic abilities,has no weapons

Djimmi the Great-Name is the same,hasn’t detransformed since,powers stay the same,weapons include his magic and his dreaded sense of humor

Wally Warbles-He and his son are The Breakneck Bird and the Brainchild,respectively,both haven’t detransformed since,Wally has velocity and speed-based powers while his son is psychic-based in power,weapons include a stopwatch for Wally,X-Ray glasses for Junior,and each other to pitch in

Grim Matchstick-Puffin the Magic Dragon,transformation phrase is “1,2,3!You’d b-b-better flee!”,has fire-based abilities and can cast spells and illusions,transformation item is an amulet,has no weapons

Rumor Honeybottoms-The Golden Hope,hasn’t detransformed since,shares her empathy with bees and can control them to use for attack or defense,also has love and hope based powers,weapons include her scepter and her magic brain

Captain Brineybeard-Captain Silver,hasn’t detransformed since,powerful super strength and can use his living ship as a weapon,his ship can fire energy beams from its mouth,weapon is his precious ship

Dr Kahl and his robot-Dr Kahlenstein and the Holy Iron Giant,transformation phrase is “Junkyard Society Rag!”,Dr.Kahl has electricity based powers while his robot has powers of the light,transformation items are power gloves for Kahl and a heart pendant for the robot,weapons include a lightning rod for Kahl and the robot’s Holy Arrow and a sword for the robot as well

Werner Werman-Name stays the same,transformation phrase is “Ze magical power ov ZE BANANA!”,has a working can tank to travel around in to use as an extra weapon,and his “useless” “veapon ov love” is a tiny toy gun that can shoot energy beams,transformation item is,you guessed it,a banana,weapons include his tank and his gun

Sally Stageplay-The Dramatic Disguiser,hasn’t detransformed since,can disguise herself into any form she wishes using her cloak and can attack using her umbrella,which shoots spells from its top and can teleport her to any location she wishes,weapon is her umbrella

Cala Maria-Princess Siren,transformation phrase is “Holy Mermagon power,make up!”,has control over water,can transform into her gorgon form at will,and can summon her sea creature minions at will,transformation item is a scepter,weapon is a water staff

Phantom Express-Eyedrop(Blind Specter),Charon(T-Bone),the Power Rods(The Blaze Brothers),and the Iron Hearse(The Head of the Train),Specter’s transformation phrase is “Crystal...Divination...Death Power!”,T-Bone can transform without a phrase,the Blaze Brothers haven’t detransformed since,and the Head uses the spell “Mahal Tamala Folampa”to transform solo,in other cases,the other members must combine their powers to transform him,Specter can see beyond space and time through his wand and his eyes,plus has powerful telekinesis,T-Bone has density change in self,an additional broomstick to fly,and his wand can transform into a microphone for singing or a scythe for that final blow when the Head isn’t around to do the job,the Blaze Brothers have powers over electricity and the weather,plus strong radar/satellite-like telepathy between each other and limited-range telekinesis,and the Head has super strength and speed and can control the dead in any form possible,all express members can cast spells and illusions,transformation items are unknown but Specter has a pendant that does his magic in earth form while the Head needs the others to aid him to transform,weapons include a pendant/scepter for Specter,T-Bone’s wand also doubles as a transformation item,and all members but the Head carry magic wands

King Dice-The Snowflake Gambler,hasn’t detransformed since,has luck and ice-based powers,weapons include nimble luck and ice scepter

Tipsy Troop-Names stay the same,all three haven’t detransformed since,liquor-based water-like abilities,Cala’s former mascots

Chips Bettigan-Name stays the same,transformation phrase is “ALRIGHT!”,uses his hat as a weapon,which can slice anything it comes in contact with and can generate many other things inside it,Goopy’s former mascot,transformation item is unknown

Mr.Wheezy-Name stays the same,hasn’t detransformed since,has fire-based powers,Grim’s former mascot

Pip & Dot-The Dominators,transformation phrase is “Two VS One! Try that on for size!”,hide a third mouth,have acrobat combat moves,super strength and speed,hypnosis for Pip and permanent promise sealing for Dot,Ribby and Croaks’ former mascots,transformation item is a small radio which also is used as a normal radio,mini mascot and weapon is their domino bird

Hopus Pocus-Name stays the same,can transform without a phrase,can cast spells and illusions,the Head’s former mascot, transformation item and weapon is his own wand

Phear Lap-Deadman of the Derby,transformation phrase is “And they’re off!”,has sonic and undead-based powers,T-Bone’s former mascot and Wally’s first mascot before the bird had his brainchild son,transformation item is unknown,weapons include a gift gun and his own greed

Pirouletta-Babushka’s Death,hasn’t detransformed since,has ballet-style combat moves and wind-based powers,Sally’s former mascot

Mangosteen-8-Ballderdash,hasn’t detransformed since,powerful psychokinesis and ESP,Specter’s former mascot

Mr.Chimes-Name stays the same,transformation phrase is “I am Mr.Chimes!”,uses his cymbals as weapons and has empathy with stuffed toys and can control them to do his bidding,Beppi’s former mascot,transformation item is unknown

Pachinko(deleted Casino boss)-Name stays the same,transformation phrase is “Cling cling,clang clang,your bell has rang!”,has fire,mechanical,and electric abilities,the Blaze brothers’ former mascot,transformation item is unknown,has no weapons

The Devil-Main antagonist,duh! Name stays the same,hasn’t detransformed since,Has ill-Defined fire and darkness based powers

[elm-writes-stories]

Cuphead: Isle of Memories (REWRITE)

*Hey, everyone, I'm back!!! Who misses me?! Eh? Eh? Well, anyways, I'm back with another episode of Cuphead: Isle of Memories. We're about halfway done with the story. However, the updates will be slower to maybe once a month because I got work and school to contend with. This is published on February 10, 2024. If you guys like the story, don't be afraid to leave kudos and comment! They will be greatly appreciated! Have a blessed day! Bye!*

Episode Twelve: The Living Legend

“We are the Calix Animi.”

Mugman kept hearing the phrase. He couldn’t move or wake up for a moment. Pictures of strangers fighting each other flashed before his eyes until finally he saw a pool in a dark wide hallway. It was glowing with three glowing orbs with two on one side and one on the other side.

“Love. Value. Protect.”

“Love thy neighbor. Value the lives around you. Protect those less fortunate.”

“Mugman…Mugman…Mugman!!” his mother’s voice cried from within the pool.

Mugman couldn’t respond to the voice or call out to her. He was paralyzed.

“Mugman! Mugman! C’mon, Mugman, wake up!!”

He felt like he was being pulled towards the pool, but he couldn’t scream or move to get out of whatever force was pulling him towards it. His vision had become more blue as he got closer. He looked into it to find a group of warriors within the reflection of the water, laying dead in a battlefield. He watched his arm moved towards the water to touch it before—

“Mugman! Mugman, wake up, bud!!”

Mugman gasped and snapped his eyes open, his vision a blur for a moment until he could finally move again. He saw Cuphead, Cassidy, Natalie, Canteen, and Chalice standing over him.

Cuphead smiled in relief. “Oh, thank goodness.”

“DJIMMI, WE GOT A SITUATION!!” Ribby’s voice was heard from a distance.

“It’s okay! He’s awake now!” Cuphead shouted, but Djimmi came into Mugman’s field of vision to look at him.

“What happened?” Djimmi asked the kids, mostly Mugman.

Mugman groaned in pain and held his head.

“I dunno. One minute, we’re looking at Natalie and Cuphead dancin’ and then the next minute, he just fainted,” Chalice explained.

Mugman tried to remember why he fainted exactly. He could’ve sworn he heard someone calling his name. Then there was that pool…that glowing pool. Why did he see a glowing pool? Was that Quadratus calling him? No, Quadratus didn’t have a power to do that, he would think. The vision bothered him as he looked to see his hands glowing blue and shaking.

Djimmi noticed this and examined his hands. “What’s wrong with your hands?”

Mugman was snapped out of his thoughts. “Huh?”

The genie helped the mug up on his feet. “C’mon, let me take a look at your hands.” When he saw Mugman’s legs wobbling, Djimmi picked him up and carried him over to his tent.

Cuphead glanced over in concern. “What’s wrong with Mugman?”

“Give me a second,” Djimmi sat Mugman down on the chair while the kids came over to the genie’s tent in concern.

Mugman could his hands shaking more while glowing blue.

Cassidy saw this and attempted to hold his hand, but she felt a small shock when trying to hold his hand.

He gasped when he saw her get zapped from trying to hold his hand to comfort him. “Sorry.”

Djimmi observed this while kneeling down in front of Mugman. “Hold still.” He gently grabbed Mugman by the arm and examined the hand shaking. “It looks like your hands are under a magnetic force.”

“What?” the kids uttered in confusion.

“Magnetic force?” Natalie questioned.

“Yeah, like he’s being pulled towards someplace unknown,” Djimmi explained.

Mugman thought for a moment, and the vision of the pool kept invading his mind. He tried to ignore it, but he couldn’t keep quiet about it.

“The pool…”

The kids and Djimmi looked at Mugman.

“Huh? What pool?” Cuphead questioned his brother.

Canteen and Chalice exchanged quick glances at each other as if they were thinking of the same thing and then back to their friend.

Mugman shook his head. “I don’t know…”

“Are you seeing Quadratus in your vision?” Djimmi questioned.

“No…Quadratus…he wasn’t in the pool. But someone else is…” Mugman uttered, now feeling the blue glow spreading up towards his arms.

Chalice could feel a shiver down her spine.

“Maybe you shouldn’t talk about your visions for a little bit,” Djimmi said before getting out two bracelets and put them on Mugman’s wrists, causing the blue glow to fade from Mugman’s body. “It’s an anti-magic bracelet. It will probably keep your visions at bay for a while. Take it off if you need to.”

“What’s happening to me?” Mugman asked Djimmi in a shaky tone.

The genie frowned. “I don’t have an answer for that. Whatever it is, it’s probably nothing. I suggest you get some rest and drink water, okay?”

Mugman nodded his head.

Djimmi was putting everything away in his tent as Mugman walked out.

The kids followed Mugman out of the tent.

“You okay?” Cuphead asked his brother.

Mugman had the look of guilt on his face to see his brother still wearing the red suit and Natalie wearing her dress. “I’m sorry I ruined your date.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Natalie reassured Mugman. “It was coming to an end anyway.”

“Yeah, we ain’t worried about that,” Cuphead replied to his brother. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“No…Yes…” a sigh escaped Mugman’s lips. “I don’t know.”

Cassidy leaned her head against his with a small purr. “Whatever it is…we’ll all get through it, okay?”

He nodded in agreement with his lover. “Yeah…okay.”

Chalice and Canteen had been silent the entire time, looking at the mug in concern.

Chalice, however, decided to plaster a smile. “Hey, why don’t we all get some rest? It’s gettin’ late, ya know?”

Mugman rubbed his arm and nodded. “Yeah…I guess.”

He walked away from the group with the vision still in his mind, leaving the kids to look at him in concern.

~.~

It was late at night when the boys were already in their pajamas. The brothers decided to switch bunk beds with Mugman at the bottom and Cuphead at the top, just in case Mugman would have a vision and fall off the bed. He wouldn’t have to fall far if he ended up rolling off of bed.

With both of the brothers asleep, Mugman started to toss and turn from a strange dream that no one will ever know except for him.

He saw the faceless warriors fighting against each other. He was breathing heavily in fear while watching the demons tearing through citizens with their bare claws and teeth. Blood was everywhere while he could hear the words in Latin once again.

“Multa bella pugnabuntur.

Multi milites in manibus sunt mali.

Nondum venit finis, sed cito venit.

Agnus ueniet ad gregem et reducet eos in campums seculorum.”

In the real world, Mugman groaned uncomfortably and clutched his blanket tighter. His hands started to glow blue again, breaking through the anti-magic bracelet around his wrists. The blue glow spread across his body as Mugman tossed and turned more.

Back into his vision, the battle raged on while he noticed that his body was glowing blue. He breathed heavily and grabbed his head. He shut his eyes while his body was trembling.

“Make it stop! Make it stop!” Mugman screamed, but it was muffled by the Latin words spoken to him.

He snapped his eyes open to find that glowing pool again, but he shut his eyes again. The tears leaked out of his eyes.

“Ite, et lapsorum quaerite memoriam.

Ite, et lapsorum quaerite memoriam.

Ite, et lapsorum quaerite memoriam.

Ite, et lapsorum quaerite memoriam.”

“Shut up! Shut up!!” Mugman screamed.

“Mugman…MUGMAN!!!”

Mugman snapped his eyes open with a gasp to find Cuphead by his bedside. His vision was blue.

“Buddy, you okay?” Cuphead asked.

Mugman rubbed his eyes and the blue in his vision was gone. He looked down at his body glowing blue, which caused Cuphead to clench his jaw.

“Your bracelets were broken while you’re asleep,” Cuphead explained.

Mugman kept seeing visions of the pool and hearing words whispered in his head. He groaned and massaged his head to soothe his headache.

“I-I gotta go…” Mugman uttered as he stood up.

“Whoa, whoa.” Cuphead hurried to stop his brother. “Where are you going?”

“I don’t know, b-but I have to get there. I can’t keep ignoring it.”

“Ignoring what?” Cuphead questioned with a brow raised.

“The vision, Cuphead!” Mugman blurted out, his hands trembling. “Something is trying to lead me somewhere and I need to get there. I know it sounds insane and probably ridiculous, but I can’t ignore it. I-I can’t…”

Cuphead watched his brother’s body trembling with a soft look. He frowned and pondered for a moment until his head perked up like an idea came to him.

“Why don’t we go wherever you’re going together?” Cuphead asked.

“Really? You would come with me? You don’t know where we’re even going,” Mugman pointed.

Cuphead gave his brother a deadpan stare. “Mugsy, how many places have I dragged you into where you didn’t know where we were going at first?”

Mugman blinked for a moment to think about it. “A lot of places.”

“Sooo, you get to drag me to a place I don’t know either.”

“But, Cuphead, we both don’t know where we’re going.”

“So? Let’s go,” Cuphead said while opening their bedroom window.

“Wait,” Mugman uttered. “What if it’s someplace dangerous?”

“We got powers, bud. I ain’t too worried about it. We can bring the others if that makes you more comfortable.”

“Maybe…I think we should have more people just in case something goes wrong,” Mugman replied logically.

“Great idea, bud,” Cuphead whispered before climbing out of the window.

Mugman sighed and followed after his brother.

~.~

“So, let me get this straight,” Natalie uttered while walking through the forest with Cassidy, Chalice, Canteen, Cuphead, Aurora, and Mugman. She rubbed her eyes with a yawn. She was in her nightgown and holding her little sister’s hand. “Mugman has some weird vision of some pool…and we’re going towards it.”

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it,” Cuphead replied. “Though I don’t think we know where exactly.”

“Djimmi said something about Mugman’s hands being under some kind of a magnetic force,” Canteen noted while pointing at Mugman’s hands glowing blue and guiding everyone through the forest.

Cassidy stayed beside Mugman and pressed her head against his. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, angel,” Mugman replied while receiving affection back.

“What’s going to happen once we find the pool?” Chalice asked. “Is it going to hurt Mugman or—?”

Chalice’s sentence was cut off once they noticed the mausoleum glowing blue in front of them.

Aurora noticed Mugman’s pupils glowing blue. “What’s happening to Mugsy?”

The rest of the kids looked at Mugman.

Mugman’s body glowed blue as if he was being pulled towards the mausoleum.

“Mugman?” Cuphead called nervously.

Mugman didn’t listen to his brother as he headed towards the entrance of the mausoleum.

“G-Guys?” Mugman stuttered, looking around for them.

“We’re right here, Mugs,” Chalice reassured him. “Whatever is going on with you, don’t fight it, okay?”

Mugman nodded. He stopped fighting the pull and headed into the blue glowing building. The others glanced at Chalice in confusion as she frowned and looked away.

“What’s happening to him, Chalice?” Cassidy asked in fear.

Chalice frowned and looked at her friends. “It’s hard to explain.”

Canteen held her hand, reassuring her that it was okay to not talk about it at the moment. Whatever it was that she was keeping from everybody, anyway.

The kids shifted their attention back to Mugman, who came upon the square gap on the floor. He jumped into the darkness as everyone else approached the edge.

“What is he doing?” Natalie questioned.

Chalice frowned and jumped into the darkness to follow Mugman.

Cuphead swooped Natalie off of her feet while picking up Aurora. He dropped down with his orange wings spread and both of the girls in his arms to keep them safe.

Canteen and Cassidy exchanged glances at each other. They held hands and jumped down into the darkness.

Once the kids landed on the ground, Cuphead managed to let Natalie and Aurora go. The kids watched Mugman walking down the wide hall, approaching the glowing pool at the end of it. The three orbs glowed brighter at the mug’s presence. He looked into the pool and caressed the water.

The voices grew from the pool, Latin phrases that the kids weren’t familiar with except for Chalice. She understood the words:

“Noli timere.

Noli timere.

Noli timere.

Noli timere.”

Cuphead felt the sudden burn in his chest, causing him to stumble.

“Ack! Mugsy!” Cuphead cried, getting everyone’s attention.

Natalie rushed by her boyfriend. “Cups! Cups, what’s wrong?!”

“I-I don’t know!!!” Cuphead cried in pain.

Chalice noticed her hands glowing in a bright sunny color. She felt the sudden warmth that she could’ve sworn it wasn’t from the fire. She started to tremble at the sight of the brightness, trying to snuff it out by covering herself. But it wouldn’t dim the brightness.

Cassidy’s heart was racing as she saw Mugman falling into the water. She hurried towards him to save him, but Canteen stopped her.

“No! Cassi, you’re going to drown yourself!” Canteen shouted.

The kids turned and watched the pool glowed brighter.

~.~

“Stop! Thief!”

Mugman snapped his eyes open with a gasp. What did he just do? Was he stealing something? He looked around to find himself in a town that was smaller than Inkwell Isle. There were cabins everywhere with citizens using stoves to cook their food. There wasn’t electricity either.

“W-Where am I?”

“Stop, thief!”

Mugman turned to see a couple of soldiers in bright red uniforms charging towards him. “Wait, wait, I didn’t steal—”

The soldiers phased right through him as if he was invisible.

“—anything,” Mugman finished his sentence and turned to find the soldiers were chasing someone else.

He joined them in the pursuit, wondering who they were chasing. However, he felt something magnetic pulling him in another direction to the left. He stumbled and noticed someone hiding in the shadows. Mugman could see that this must be the thief that the guards were calling…except he recognized that thief somehow. Once the thief leaned into the light to watch out for more guards, the white porcelain cup head with a curved handle and some designs shaped like electric shocks and there were fire engravings on his handle.

Mugman widened his eyes in shock. “G-Gabriel?”

“Hm?” Gabriel responded to his name, but he didn’t find anyone nearby him.

Mugman realized that he couldn’t see him as well…but could hear him strangely.

Gabriel shrugged it off and hurried off.

“Wait!” Mugman cried while chasing after Gabriel.

Gabriel rushed around the town, carrying a satchel of whatever he stole from the market.

“Gabriel, wait!” Mugman shouted, chasing after Gabriel until they arrived at a shack. It looked rundown and in poor condition with just a fireplace and furniture scattered all over the place.

Mugman widened his eyes in shock at Gabriel’s living conditions and followed him into his home where he saw a pregnant cup woman who…looked a lot like his mother, but different. She appeared to be sickly while her blonde hair was falling out.

“You alright, love?” Gabriel asked softly while kissing her cheek tenderly.

“I’m alright. I felt a kick today.”

“You have?” Gabriel inquired with a soft smile.

She placed his hand on her stomach to feel little feet kicking inside the womb.

“Do you feel it?” she asked.

“Aye, I do,” he responded. “You can tell he wants out.”

“She,” she teasingly argued.

“Oh? I don’t think so. He’s going to be a strapping young boy like me.”

His wife rolled her eyes. “Or she’s going to become a strapping young girl like her father.”

“You think?”

“I know so.”

He chuckled. “Remember the deal, love? I name the boys and you name the girls.”

“If it’s a girl, I’m going to name her Rose.”

“Rose, huh? Beautiful.”

She noticed the satchel strap over his shoulder. “What did you steal this time?”

“You’re saying that as if I have been stealing every day,” Gabriel replied with a smirk.

“You have,” his wife said without hesitation.

He rolled his eyes playfully and opened his satchel to find that it was food. “A lot of food. Wouldn’t want you and the baby to starve.”

“That’s considerate of you, dear,” his wife said while sitting up to eat the food.

Mugman gazed at Gabriel softly. Before he could reach towards Gabriel and his wife, the memory switched to Gabriel being captured by the guards for the professor, who was a fork with a coat and glasses.

“I see that you have a nasty record of stealing things in the market, Mr. Arch-Cup,” the fork professor replied while looking through Gabriel’s records. “If I were you, I would thank the Most High that you’re not in jail right at this second. Though you should consider your choices carefully. What I am about to offer you could enrich you from this poor state you and your family were living in.”

“How did you—?”

“Rumors fly, good sir,” the professor answered without hesitation. “There is something I would like you to steal and it could save your entire family. Heck, I shall pay you a good sum for it and keep the soldiers off of your back so that you can provide for your family.”

“What am I stealing?”

“An excellent question. There are two orbs that were untouched by this exclusive group called the Calix Animi. They say that only the purest of blood and worthy can obtain these orbs, but you, my friend, are a common thief, not a pure blood and definitely not someone the Most High would deem worthy, which is perfect for this operation,” the professor replied.

Gabriel arched a brow. “Uh…thanks?”

“You’re welcome,” the professor said abrasively. “It’s up to you whether you’re up for it or not.”

“How much will you pay me if I do this?”

“As I said before, just enough to keep you and your family off the streets. Besides, I’m sure you didn’t find any better jobs than the jobs here.”

Gabriel took a moment to ponder about this offer.

Mugman looked to the side to find another memory of Gabriel’s wife coughing and holding her stomach. She couldn’t move and rubbed her stomach to soothe the baby in the womb. The memory disappeared, causing Mugman to shift his attention to Gabriel.

Gabriel huffed out a breath and looked up at the fork professor. “I’ll do it.”

“Excellent,” the professor said with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll do fine in this operation.”

Mugman watched a memory appear to see Gabriel sneaking into the familiar mausoleum and followed after him.

Gabriel approached the two orbs, one blue and one red. With a deep breath, Gabriel carefully put the orbs in his satchel to take back to the fork professor. Both Mugman and Gabriel weren’t sure why the professor wanted the orbs, but one could assume that the professor might be studying in a subject to which everyone called him insane over. But before Gabriel could make his quick exit before the members of the Calix Animi wake up, the orbs were mixed together in his satchel. Were the orbs supposed to do that?

When Gabriel opened the satchel, the substance leaped inside of Gabriel. Everything was turning blue and red in his vision while screaming in agony from the flames and electricity.

Mugman watched in horror at Gabriel’s suffering as everything became a blur to Mugman. He felt electricity running through his veins as he cried out in pain. His powers must have been responding to Gabriel’s newfound the powers. Mugman felt a tug towards Gabriel, but he couldn’t tell what was going on after everything went dark.

~.~

The building started to shake slightly, which was noticed by Canteen.

Canteen let Cassidy go and noticed Chalice’s body glowing brighter than usual.

“What’s happening?!” Canteen shouted his question.

“I-I think there’s s-something else I didn’t mention to you,” Chalice stuttered, her body glowing brighter.

“What?!”

Chalice stumbled trying to go to her boyfriend until Canteen rushed to catch her.

“Chalice, what’s happening to you?” Canteen asked, his voice trembling.

“Cuppy!” Aurora’s shout caught Chalice and Canteen’s attention.

They turned to find Cuphead burning up in his body, agonizing him further.

Natalie tried to get near him, but was too afraid of the growing flames coming out of his body. “Cups!”

Cassidy looked down at the pool for her boyfriend. She heard Natalie calling Cuphead’s name. She turned to notice the flames growing with wide eyes in fear for Natalie’s life. She looked at the water and then glanced around for a bucket. Once she found an old bucket, she scooped the water from the glowing pool and hurried to douse the flames on Cuphead’s body. Once she poured water over him, the flames exploded as if it had been doused by gasoline instead of water. The explosion pushed Natalie and Cassidy away from Cuphead.

Natalie bumped into the podium and noticed a pink orb about to fall on Aurora behind her. She got up and held up the orb to save her sister from the pink orb falling on her little sister. However, the pink substance flew out of the orb and into Natalie’s body, causing her to drop the empty orb in front of her feet. She collapsed on her knees and gripped her chest as her veins glowed pink.

Aurora hurried by her big sister. “Sissy, Sissy! What’s wrong?!”

Natalie gritted her teeth to keep her from screaming in pain.

Cassidy flew onto the podium that held the green orb, knocking it over. The green orb broke and the green substance was set free. The red feline noticed it coming towards her, but it was too late to run from it since it entered her body. She could feel something growing inside of her. She clenched her teeth with tears in her face.

Chalice noticed the girls suffering. “Oh no…”

“Oh no, what?” Canteen asked in fear. “What’s happening to them?”

Chalice glanced up at him. “The prophecy…it’s coming true.”

“What prophecy?” Canteen probed. He could feel the building shaking, knocking over the dark blue orb and breaking it. The substance from the orb lingered out and into Canteen without hesitation. Canteen’s body tensed up from the strange feeling, until he could feel his head hurting.

“C-Chalice,” Canteen whimpered in pain. He held his head and fell onto his knees with screams in pain.

Chalice noticed this and hugged him tightly while he started to scream in pain.

Aurora witnessed all of this with fear in her eyes. She trembled until an idea came to her. She looked at her sister and said in a hurried tone, “I’m going to ged Briney! Hold on!”

She looked around for an exit and found it on the side by Cassidy. She hurried to the exit and rushed up the stairs to get help.

~.~

Mugman fluttered his eyes open and noticed that he only had red vision on one eye and the blue vision on his other eye. A groan escaped his lips…but he didn’t sound like him.

“What the—?” Even Mugman’s own voice didn’t sound like his own.

He saw six strangers around him, but their faces were clearer than before. One at the center of the group was a familiar female chalice leaning down to get a closer look at him.

“Chalice?” Mugman recognized…but his own voice still didn’t sound like him.

“That’s the Legendary Chalice to you,” she corrected him with a growl. “Question is, who are you, thief?”

“Thief?” Mugman glanced at his hands to realize that…wait a second, those weren’t his hands. They were much bigger than his usual hands. He got up on his feet, completely ignoring the Calix Animi group. He didn’t realize he was so much taller than before. He spotted a mirror and hurried towards it to look into it. Once he looked into it, his eyes widened in horror. He could see that he had one eye red and one eye blue…but that wasn’t all. He appeared a lot like Gabriel…wait, no, he was Gabriel now…or possessing him.

Mugman turned back around to face the Calix Animi group as Gabriel. He noticed their eyes glowing different colors.

“Who are you?” Mugman asked with Gabriel’s voice.

“We asked you first,” a silver spoon said with her arms crossed.

Before Mugman could introduce himself, he felt like something pushed him out of Gabriel’s body. Mugman tumbled onto the ground and looked to see that he was himself again. He glanced up to find Gabriel blinking in confusion.

“The bloody hell?” Gabriel uttered.

“Who are you?” the spoon asked impatiently.

“Gabriel…who are you?” Gabriel replied in confusion.

“We’re the Calix Animi,” The Legendary Chalice said. “You better have a good reason for stealing those orbs.”

“Let alone absorbing them,” the spoon, Silversmith, spoke up.

“He must have a pure blood and was worthy of the Most High if he’s able to absorb it,” the adult cup girl with pink glowing eyes, Esther, replied softly.

“Look, I didn’t think I could absorb whatever this substance was in those bloody orbs,” Gabriel growled at the group.

“Hey, hey, you don’t need to get angry. We just want to understand why you broke into the mausoleum,” the other cup man, Chester, said with his hands raised up.

“I need to get whatever this is out of me. Is there a way to do it?” Gabriel interrogated the group.

The group looked at each other and then at Gabriel.

“Unless you died, there’s no way to get the gifts out of you,” the old plate said.

Mugman watched it unfold while tilting his head.

“Well, I’m definitely not going that route,” Gabriel responded.

The Legendary Chalice smirked. “Or we can train you on how to use your powers and become part of the Calix Animi.”

The old plate glared at her. “Are you crazy?! We are going to welcome a thief! I bet he came from a poor family and had nothing else better to do than to steal.”

“Oi,” Gabriel uttered in offense. “I have a sick wife, mate!”

“You have a sick wife?” the cup girl with pink glowing eyes uttered.

“Don’t fall for his deceit, Esther,” the plate groaned. “You know he’s using that to his advantage.”

“No, I’m not,” Gabriel argued. “My wife is pregnant and if I can’t save her, then she’ll die along with the baby.”

Esther, the cup, stepped towards Gabriel. “Show me where she is. Maybe I can help her.”

Gabriel arched a brow to appear skeptic, but he nodded in agreement. “I’ll show you.”

Mugman watched on with curiosity and another memory appeared when the members of the Calix Animi in Gabriel’s shack with Esther healing Gabriel’s pregnant wife.

Esther smiled to see Gabriel’s wife healed from the sickness. “You have beautiful babies.”

“Babies?” Gabriel uttered.

“Yeah, you’re going to have twins,” Esther pointed out to him.

“We should get her somewhere safe,” The Legendary Chalice replied.

“Wait, we’re already taking him and his wife in already?” the silver spoon with green eyes questioned the Legendary Chalice. “Didn’t he try to steal from us?”

“Hold on for a second,” the cup with purple eyes glowing replied while placing his hand in Gabriel’s head.

Mugman watched with wide eyes and noticed Gabriel’s veins glowing.

The cup with purple eyes removed his hand from Gabriel’s head. “He’s trying to help out his family.”

“There’s gotta be something we can do to help,” Esther replied.

“We are not going to take them in,” the old plate growled. “They don’t have pure blood and they were not worthy to the Most High.”

“Why? They’re too poor for your taste?” the purple-eyed cup, Chester, responded. “C’mon, Grandius. The man is trying to help his sick wife, who is expecting twins soon.”

“Exactly,” The Legendary Chalice replied. “We are the Calix Animi. We are supposed to help people and fight the demons.”

“Yes, we are helping people who needed help. Not criminals,” Grandius, the old plate, said with a growl.

The female plate, Marilyn, frowned with dark blue glow in her veins. “Perhaps maybe there is a purpose as to why he’s here. Why don’t we take him in since he already absorbed the orb?”

“I’m not sure about this,” Silversmith said with uncertainty.

“Then let’s do it,” the gold chalice answered excitedly. She turned to Gabriel. “What do you say? We take both you and your wife in and keep you safe from the demons and soldiers on the streets.”

“Until the twins are born at least,” Grandius said. “But after the twins are born, you and your wife won’t be welcomed further into the mausoleum. Understood?”

The others turned to Grandius with small glares.

Gabriel nodded his head in understanding. “Understood. Thank you.”

The Legendary Chalice smiled. “No problem.”

As the others were exiting out of the shack, Grandius pulled Gabriel aside away from Gabriel’s wife’s earshot.

“Since the others think you and your wife are worthy of staying, you might want to watch your step around here. If you pull one little trick up from your sleeve, you best believe that I will make sure that you won’t breathe again. Filthy criminals like you will become the downfall of the Calix Animi. You better remember that,” Grandius said before walking away.

Gabriel stood there with widened eyes. He looked back to see his pregnant wife staring up at him to silently ask what was wrong.

It was sudden that everything glitched around Mugman. Mugman could feel the sparks electrocuting his body. He clenched his teeth in pain as his eyes turned bright blue. The vision of the battlefield showed up except it was the members of the Calix Animi members fighting it.

“Stop…Stop!” Mugman screamed while watching each Calix Animi members slaughtering themselves. “STOP!! WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING EACH OTHER?!”

“Mugman…”

“Ma?” Mugman whirled around and noticed someone tackling him onto the ground. For a moment, he saw Grandius Plate choking him.

“You shouldn’t be here!” Grandius Plate growled at him. “You should never exist!”

“Get off of me!!!” Mugman barked, zapping the plate with his electricity. His eyes widened when he realized that he shattered Grandius in pieces when trying to get him off of the mug. “What’s happening?”

Mugman glanced down to look at his hands.

The pieces of the Grandius Plate were put back together automatically.

“Your bloodline ends now!” Grandius growled.

“Leave me alone!” Mugman cried. He felt paralyzed in his whole body that he couldn’t run when he wanted to. The plate gripped Mugman around the throat again. It was sudden that the plate was transformed into the familiar tiger with green eyes staring into his blue ones.

“Did you really think you could get away from me?”

“GET OFF OF ME!!!” Mugman cried and zapped Hunter with the sparks. He watched Hunter stumbled back away from the mug. Mugman kept shooting sparks at the tiger. “GET AWAY!!!”

Hunter had electricity in his veins.

“Get away!” Mugman repeated again as he kept shooting the sparks at the tiger. However, he could feel himself draining. “G-Get away…from me—”

Everything went dark around him once again. 

~.~

The storm was brewing in the night sky.

The thunder boomed and the lightning cracked across the sky. Aurora was sure that the heavy rain will come pouring down next. She was lost in the woods, forgetting the way to get to the hide-out.

“Briney! Briney!” Aurora cried. She put on a brave face and hurried through the dark woods. However, she could see yellow eyes lurking in the shadows, causing her to breathe heavily in fear. Were these creatures in the woods dangerous? The rain poured in the woods, making it harder for her to see where she was even going. She shivered in the cold rain as she stumbled into a space where the water droplets weren’t rained on. She felt a warmth behind her back and saw a glow shining from behind to light up her path.

“Are you lost, little one?” A gentle voice asked softly.

She turned to face the bright glowing man, towering over her to shelter her from the rain.

Aurora nodded her head and answered, “My friends are in trouble and I need to get Briney.”

“I’ll help you find him,” He said, holding out his hand.

Aurora took his hand with a smile. He walked her through the dark woods, lighting up the pathways so that no monster could snatch the toddler up in the dark.

“What’s happening with your friends? Are they hurt?” He asked.

“I think so. They were screaming in pain. There’s something inside of them, but I don’t know what,” Aurora answered, sticking close to the bright glowing figure.

“And you think Briney can help?”

“I think he can help Sissy. I’m not sure about the others.”

“Where were you at?”

“A temple I think?”

The glowing figure nodded in understanding. “I’m sorry that it’s happening to them.”

“Why is it hurting them?”

The Most High stayed silent for a moment. Then he sighed, “Their bodies weren’t used to these kinds of powers. Or “gifts” they’re once called. It will take some time for their bodies to be used to it. That’s why it’s hurting them now.

“Then I hope they will be okay.”

“I hope so too,” He said before looking ahead.

“Who are you?” she asked Him.

“I’m the Most High. And you?”

“Aurora,” she chirped.

“Beautiful name,” He said as He noticed her little legs getting tired. “You need a lift?”

“Please,” she uttered innocently.

“Here.” He lifted her up onto his shoulders with her legs dangling around the back of his neck. He held her legs just so that she wouldn’t fall. “How’s that?”

“Wow! I can see the camp from here.”

The Most High chuckled. “We’re getting closer to it.”

Aurora rested her hands on the Most High’s glowing head. “Can we be friends?”

“Of course, we can be friends.”

The little girl gasped happily. “Best friends?”

“Yes, even best friends.”

“Really?!”

He nodded. “Really. Really.” Up ahead, he noticed that they were approaching camp. “Here you are. You should be able to get to Briney from here.” He lifted Aurora off of his shoulders and placed her on the ground.

“Thank you, bestie,” Aurora said while rushing off towards the camp.

The Most High chuckled and watched her hurry to find the pirate over by Porkrind’s shop. He heard a scream in pain and hurried to the house where it came from. He peeked through the window and found Elder Kettle trying to get Murray to wake up from the couch while Murray was screaming.

“Murray!” Elder Kettle called while shaking him.

Murray snapped his one eye open with the purple glow, muttering Latin words.

O’Fera barged into the house with an urgent look. “What’s going on?!”

“Something’s happening to him!” Elder Kettle shouted.

O’Fera shook Murray. “Murray, Murray, can you hear me?”

Murray grabbed his head and curled himself up, screaming in pain.

The Most High gasped in concern and phased through the wall. He walked beside Murray and placed his hand on his shoulder without O’Fera and Elder Kettle seeing him.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” The Most High soothed. “It’s okay. The pain won’t last.”

With that said, the pain in Murray’s body became less tense, surprising both O’Fera and Elder Kettle.

“The mausoleum…” Murray finally uttered.

“What?” Elder Kettle questioned.

“My boys…” Murray said with tears in his eye. He rushed out of the front door, not aware that he moved away from the Most High’s hand.

“Murray, wait!” O’Fera called, following Murray with Elder Kettle.

The Most High was left alone in the living room. With a huff in determination, he walked out of the house by the front door to follow the others.

Meanwhile, Brineybeard found Aurora around the shop after he asked Porkrind and Jerry if they had seen Aurora and Natalie. Chef Saltbaker was there as well, looking for Chalice.

“Lass!” Brineybeard gasped and picked her up with a hearty laugh. “Yer okay, lass! Wait, where’s yer sister?”

“Sissy and the others are at the temple!” Aurora alerted Brineybeard.

“Wait, Cassi is there too?!” Porkrind shouted.

“Yeah, something is happening to them!” Aurora explained.

“Then let’s not waste time,” Chef Saltbaker determined.

Dice walked up to the group from his tent. “What’s going on here? Why is everyone shouting in the middle of the night?”

In the distance, there was a familiar scream echoing through the forest.

“What was that?” Chef Saltbaker uttered.

“That sounds like Cuphead,” Porkrind responded.

“Murray, where are you going?!” Elder Kettle shouted from the side.

The group turned to find Elder Kettle and O’Fera following Murray towards the forest.

“What’s going on with him?” Porkrind questioned O’Fera.

“I don’t know,” O’Fera responded in panic.

“We got to hurry! Sissy and the others might be in danger,” Aurora encouraged.

They watched Murray entering the forest to follow the scream.

“Let’s go!” Brineybeard responded as the adults awake hurried to follow after Murray with Aurora in the pirate’s arm.

~.~

Mugman gasped awake and sat up in the middle of the battlefield.

He realized that Gabriel was trying to fight the demons trying to get to his pregnant wife.

“Run, Lily! Run!” Gabriel called out to his wife while fighting the demons.

Lily, Gabriel’s wife, ran from the scene.

“Lily?”

In a flash of memory, Mugman saw his own mother running out of the house with both Cuphead and Mugman as babies in her arms. He glanced to the side to see that Murray was fighting back against Hunter and his assassins.

The memory faded back to Gabriel slashing the last of the demons. He turned to the side to see the Legendary Chalice stumbling back with side bleeding. Gabriel rushed by her side with urgency.

“Are you alright, lass?” Gabriel asked.

She nodded her head.

“Good, come on,” Gabriel urged while helping the Legendary Chalice up on her feet.

The memory switched back to Mugman’s mother, as a nurse, tending to Murray’s wound while the bombs were going off outside of the tent. She wrapped the last bandage on his side with a soft smile. Murray stared at her in pure awe and adoration.

“Get some rest,” she replied to him. “You should be able to recover in a few days.”

“Wow…” Murray uttered.

“What?”

He blushed and looked to the side. “Nothing…sorry.”

She smiled at him softly. “Rest up.”

“What’s your name?”

“Hm?”

“You know, in case I see you again,” he added.

She grinned at him. “Lily…Lily Rose.”

“Murray Cup.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” She gave him one last smile and walked away to tend to other patients.

The memory switched back to Gabriel helping The Legendary Chalice behind the boulder while fire arrows were shot at them.

They both looked over the boulder as Gabriel rose back to fight the demons once again.

“Wh-What are you doing?” She stuttered.

“Our friends are back out there. I’m going to help them,” he reassured her.

He ran back out into the battlefield.

“Gabriel, wait!” She called out to him.

As Gabriel was running through the battlefield to help the others, Mugman watched arrows raining down from the orange fiery skies.

The Legendary Chalice noticed this as well as she got up and hurried after Gabriel to help him in the battlefield. She cast a shield to protect Gabriel from the incoming arrows.

Gabriel noticed and looked to see her joining the fight with her spear. She impaled one of the demons charging towards her. With a nod from her, Gabriel spread his wings with red and blue feathers. They charged into the battle, fighting the demons trying to get to the mortals in the village.

Mugman noticed Grandius Plate stumbling through the battlefield, appearing to be fearful of everything around him. When Gabriel approached Grandius to help him, Mugman noticed an arrow coming down to Grandius, causing him to grab Gabriel and moved him in the way to get shot by the arrow instead of him.

The arrow impaled Gabriel from behind, causing him to fall over.

Mugman breathed heavily at this sight and looked to the side to find the Legendary Chalice clenching her spear in anger after witnessing it.

“NOOOO!” The Legendary Chalice screamed while aiming her spear. The lightning burst out of the tip and zapped into Grandius Plate, shattering him.

She hurried up to Gabriel and held him. “Gabriel? Gabriel! Are you alright?!”

“C-Chalice…my wife…my kids—”

“C’mon, let’s get you—” The Legendary Chalice looked up and watched the Devil and the demons rampaging the village as if it was theirs to claim. “No…”

“Ch-Chalice…”

She glanced back at him.

“M-Make sure that my family is safe…please…”

“No, Gabriel. You’re going to make it. You’re going to see them again—”

Gabriel passed out in her arms, exhaling his last breath. She saw the gifts extracted from him, combined together in her hands. She shook her head rapidly in denial.

“No…No! C’mon, Gabriel, I know that you’re stronger than that…please…come back…”

Mugman frowned and noticed a shift in the memory back to the empty hallway with Gabriel disappearing from her arms. He watched her standing over by the pool he kept seeing in his visions with her spear.

Out of spite, she dropped her spear into the pool and watched it sink further and further until the light from the spear faded.

Mugman gasped to see the Most High approaching beside The Legendary Chalice, who was now just holding the Eternal’s Orb.

The Most High stood quietly beside her, taking in the silence until she spoke.

“We’re never your chosen ones, are we?” The Legendary Chalice replied while looking away from the Most High.

The Most High was silent for a moment. He looked down at the pool. “Your group was made to protect mortal kind from demons.”

“But we failed at that…heh, I guess pride really got into some of our heads.”

“If I were you, I would protect these gifts from the Devil. Who knows what he could do with them once he finds them?”

“Right…”

He frowned and placed his hand on her shoulder. A sigh escaped his lips. “You will remember them for a long time. The memories of both the good and the bad will be engraved in your head. You will be reborn and you will still have half of your powers once you moved on to the next life. But I will tell you this, you will have this again. You will have friends who you cared about. People you will fight for and with. And they will care for you back.”

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

“The New Calix Animi will be formed in the times of trouble. You’ll see,” The Most High replied.

The memory of the Most High and The Legendary Chalice faded away.

Mugman was left facing the darkness.

~.~

 Captain Brineybeard, Aurora, O’Fera, Elder Kettle, Dice, Porkrind, Jerry, and Saltbaker followed Murray through the forest where they witnessed the mausoleum glowing blue.

“What the heck?!” Saltbaker shrieked at the sight.

Murray ran into the building without hesitation.

The others stood outside of the entrance with wide eyes in shock.

“Are we sure we should enter there?” Dice questioned the group.

The screams echoed from outside, sounding like Cassidy’s.

“CASSI!” Porkrind and Jerry gasped in unison and hurried inside.

“Guys, wait!” O’Fera shouted while the others chased after them.

They noticed a large gap in the middle of the room, but they didn’t hesitate to jump in.

Once they reached the bottom of the pit, they widened their eyes at the sight of the kids suffering with something glowing within each of them. There was a bright blue glow within the pool ahead of them, but they weren’t focused on that.

Brineybeard didn’t hesitate to hurry besides Natalie and cradle her in his arms. “Natalie, are ye alright, lass?”

Natalie clenched her teeth and looked up at Brineybeard and Aurora. “B-Briney…?”

“It’s alright, lass, we’re here.”

Porkrind and Jerry noticed Cassidy screaming in pain at the far corner of the hallway.

“Hold on, honey!” Porkrind shouted while both of the men hurried towards her.

Cassidy noticed both of her father figures coming up to her, scurrying back in fear. “No, stay back—” Unintentionally, the vines burst from the ground to stab the men, but Dice’s card swiftly moved in front of them to block the attack.

Porkrind shielded Jerry with his body, not aware that the card came to defend him too until he noticed Dice hurrying beside him.

“You guys okay?” Dice questioned them.

Porkrind moved the card aside and watched his daughter writhe in pain. He was about to go around the card and the vines to get to his daughter, but the vines grew more to block his way.

Saltbaker rushed by Chalice and Canteen holding each other. “Hey, what’s going on?!”

Both Chalice and Canteen couldn’t answer, their limbs shaking from gold and dark blue glows in their veins.

O’Fera noticed Murray crawling over to Cuphead, hugging him despite his son being on fire and suffering. The different colored glows grew brighter and brighter in the room where Elder Kettle and O’Fera were the only ones covering their eyes.

The different-colored glows shined bright from outside of the mausoleum and then dimmed. Once the brightness was turning dim, Elder Kettle and O’Fera uncovered their eyes to watch the glow from the pool faded into darkness.

Murray fell over on the floor with Cuphead in his arms, no longer suffering.

Natalie went limped in Brineybeard’s arms for a moment.

Chalice and Canteen regained their breaths, still holding onto each other for dear life.

Cassidy trembled in the cold as Porkrind was able to get around the now dead vines and picked his daughter up in her arms.

“Are you okay, honey?” Porkrind asked softly.

“I-I don’t know,” Cassidy answered with a whimper.

Jerry came beside them and comforted Cassidy. “It’s alright. We’re right here.”

Elder Kettle approached Cuphead and Murray. “Are you guys okay? Wait, where’s your brother?”

Cuphead lifted his eyes up to the old tea kettle and then shifted his gaze at the pool that was no longer glowing. “M-Mugsy…”

O’Fera glanced at what Cuphead was looking at. She didn’t hesitate to jump into the pool after Mugman.

“O’Fera!” Elder Kettle called.

There were bubbles forming into the surface as O’Fera popped back out of the water with passed out Mugman in her arms. She yanked him out of the water by the collar of his shirt with her mouth and used her arms to get on the cobblestone floor.

Mugman breathed heavily, his limbs trembling. He fluttered his eyes open to find his friends, his brother, and his girlfriend having different-colored glows in their veins. He blinked a couple of times to realize something must have happened while he was in the pool. He glanced up at O’Fera.

“You okay, kid?” she asked.

“What happened?” Elder Kettle probed the other kids.

The other kids looked at Mugman, who didn’t know how to answer.

“What did I just do?” Mugman uttered in fear. 

To Be Continued...

[elm-writes-stories]

GUESS WHO THOUGHT ABOUT MAKING A FREAKING CUPHEAD AU BASED ON WISH!!!

Okay, okay, hear me out. My friend, @animationgirl89, and I were talking about Au's for our ships and she brought up Wish for an AU. Now, I haven't seen Wish and I thought I would see it. So, I saw Wish and...I don't hate it. But I felt like Disney should've used the first draft concept art, which was this AU story will be based on. BUT IT'S GONNA BE CUPHEAD!!! So, this AU story won't relate to any of the Cuphead series I'm doing. It's just a random AU I want to do just for the fun of it.

And I made a cover for it and everything. I also made spoofs of songs and I can't wait to show you all! I only got the first chapter done for that AU and currently working on the second chapter of this story. So, what do y'all think?

This is a cover I made. The art doesn't belong to me at all. So, whoever did this original art, you get all the credit and big claps for this beautiful artwork.

[elm-writes-stories]

Cuphead: Isle of Memories (Rewrite)

*Hey guys! Happy New Year! I'm sorry that I've published this late! I've been busy with work and had been running into a writer's block, but I'm back! Anyway, this episode is published on January 1, 2024. If you guys like this chapter, don't be afraid to heart, reblog, and comment! That would be greatly appreciated! Happy New Year and let's hope this year will be a good year! Enjoy!*

Episode Eleven: Turning Up the Charm

Today was a relaxing day for once in Mugman’s life.

No demons. No Tremaine.

Just him reading a story with Cassidy sitting on his lap to read. Her purring were the only sounds that he could listen to all day. Now, he wished every day could be like this. It didn’t help he was sitting on the bean bag in the corner of the library Djimmi made.

She was resting her eyes while they were reading, which was causing him to fall asleep reading the story with her. And he didn’t mind as long as she was in his arms. But he could’ve sworn he would accidentally drop the book falling asleep like this. He started to move around to close the book, which woke her up a little.

“Oh, sorry,” Mugman whispered to her while putting the book back on the shelf.

���It’s okay,” she said tiredly, cuddling her head on his shoulder. Her paws were making biscuits on his shirt with a content smile.

Once he put the book away, he leaned back so that she could get comfortable laying on him. A smile formed his face. He began resting his eyes and holding her in his arms.

Before he could sink into a deep sleep, Chalice appeared by his side as a ghost.

“Mugsy!” Chalice shouted with a sudden urgency, waking both Mugman and Cassidy up with yelps and jolts.

Mugman took a few deep breaths with a groan. “Chalice…”

“I have a crisis,” Chalice replied. “It’s urgent…and, uh, private.”

“Private?” Mugman questioned.

Chalice nodded her head. “I promise it’ll be real quick.”

“Okay…” Mugman moved a little while Cassidy scooted off of him. “I’ll be back.”

“Okay,” Cassidy said while watching him get up from the bean bag.

He felt his legs ache from letting Cassidy sit on his lap for too long. He shook off the aches and followed Chalice around the corner away from Cassidy.

“So, what exactly do you need from me?” Mugman questioned.

“I’ll tell you in a minute,” Chalice stated. Once they got away from Cassidy, she turned to him. “Okay, there’s been something that has been bothering me and you’re the only one…well, besides Cuphead by now, that knows what to do.”

“Uh…know what to do about what?”

“Ya know? Uh…this…um…well, you know how you are when ya first met Cassi.”

Mugman tilted his head for a moment until he realized what she was talking about. Then he smirked teasingly at her. “Yeah?”

“Well, let’s say that there’s a fella who knew how to play the violin, fix some things, and he’s a nerd when it comes to myths and legends. I dont’ know if he likes me back the same way though,” she responded.

He blinked in shock. “I thought he already likes ya.”

She blushed. “He does?!”

“Yeah, I thought that was obvious.”

“Wait, we’re talkin’ about the same guy, right?” she asked.

“Canteen Hughes?” Mugman inquired.

“Yeah, we’re talkin’ about the same guy,” she said.

He arched a brow. “And you like him back.”

“Well, yeah…I mean, I think he’s neat. I dunno how this works. You and Cuphead might be the only two ding-dongs I know that knows about this kind of feeling,” Chalice replied. “Ugh, now I realize why Saltbaker kept saying he’s my future boyfriend.”

“Okay, okay, calm down,” Mugman responded while rubbing his hands. “Maybe you can ask him out on a date.”

“Oh, like you did with Cassi?”

“Yeah.”

“Good one. But if I were to ask him out on the date, it has to be spectacular!”

“Uh, well, it doesn’t have to be—”

“I know! We can start arguing and then not getting along until finally we confess our feelings for each other and we are dating officially!” Chalice replied.

“Uhhh, I’m not sure that’s how romance works—”

It was sudden that Cuphead zoomed into the scene with a panicked look on his face. “Hey, Mugsy! I just asked Nat out on a date and she said yes! What do I do now?!”

“Whoa, whoa, one at a time!” Mugman shouted until he noticed his brother’s legs bruised. “Wait, what happened to your legs, Cuphead?”

“Uh…it’s a long story,” Cuphead answered nervously.

“Wait, you asked Nat out on a date?” Chalice questioned with a gasp.

“Yeah,” Cuphead responded nervously.

Chalice’s smile brightened. “Way to go, Cups! I knew you had it in you! Now, I have a question for you. How did you do it?”

“Do what?” Cuphead asked.

“Ask her out on a date?” Chalice persisted.

“I dunno. We got ourselves into a dangerous situation and kind of confessed our feelings to each other. I mean, we kissed on the lips first and then I asked her out on a date,” Cuphead responded.

“Wait, what?!” Chalice and Mugman gasped.

“You jumped into it?!” Mugman shouted.

“No, she kissed first!” Cuphead said immaturely.

“Aww,” Chalice replied. “Wait, you said you were in a dangerous situation?”

“Yeah?” Cuphead uttered.

“And you confessed to each other about your feelings?”

“Yes.”

She pondered for a moment and then smirked mischievously. “That gives me an idea.”

“Wait, Mugman, which one of you kiss on the lips first? You or Cassi?” Cuphead asked.

“We haven’t kiss each other on the lips yet,” Mugman answered sheepishly.

“WHAT?! You two have been together all this time and haven’t kissed each other on the lips yet?!” Cuphead yelled.

“Not so loud, Cuphead!” Mugman whispered harshly to his brother.

Chalice groaned impatiently. “Can we get back to the matter at hand?”

Mugman nodded. “Yes, yes, please.”

“How did you two ding-dongs get those girls to like ya? Let alone letting girls kiss ya first?” Chalice asked the brothers.

The cup brothers were silent for a moment while looking at each other. Then they glanced back at Chalice.

“I dunno,” Cuphead responded.

“Yeah, me neither,” Mugman replied.

Chalice slapped her forehead with a sigh in discouragement. “I thought you both would be more experts on romance.”

“Chalice, I just asked Nat out on a date. I don’t know how I got her to even like me,” Cuphead responded. “I mean, I did tell her how I feel about her.”

“Yeah, I did the same to Cassidy…although I thought I was confessing it to you,” Mugman said while looking at his brother.

“Hey, at least, you got together with Cassi thanks to me,” Cuphead replied with a smirk.

“So, I guess I got to tell him how I feel then,” Chalice replied, pondering. “While turning up that charm of acting like a ding-dong! That’s what I’ll do! I get him to come with me on a perilous journey, get trapped in a cave with him, confess to him on how I feel, and then ask him on a date. Or kiss him on the lips first and then ask him out on a date. Whichever works!”

“Uh,” the brothers uttered.

“Thanks, fellas! Wish me luck!” Chalice said as she flew away.

Cuphead and Mugman froze and looked at each other.

“Should we go after her?” Cuphead questioned.

“Nah, she’ll be fine,” Mugman responded and shifted his attention back to Cuphead. “Soooo, you asked Nat on the date, huh?”

“Uh, yeah,” Cuphead said with a blush. “Mind helpin’ me out?”

“Helping out?”

The cup brothers turned to see Cassidy walking to them.

“Oh, Cassi,” Mugman replied excitedly and hurried over to her. “Sorry I was taking so long to get back to you.”

“It’s okay,” she said with a smile. “I was wondering about what’s happenin’ with Chalice.”

“She’s on her own journey. Say, maybe you could help us,” Mugman suggested to his girlfriend.

“Ooh, help with what?” Cassidy asked excitedly.

“You see, Cuphead just asked Nat out on a date,” Mugman replied.

“Hey, no need on tellin’ the whole world about it,” Cuphead responded defensively.

“Shush,” Mugman replied, continuing to talk to Cassidy. “I’m going to get Cuphead a nice suit for his date. Do you think you would want to help Natalie with getting ready for the date? Kind of like what they did with us?”

Cassidy seemed uneasy for a moment, which was noticed by Mugman.

“Oh, you don’t have to help if you don’t want to,” Mugman replied.

“No, I want to,” Cassidy said. “It’s just…I’m never a fashion expert. Natalie knows more than I do and I feel like I’m going to mess it up for her.”

“You won’t,” Mugman said softly. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

Cassidy thought about it. Her ears perked as soon as an idea struck her. “Ooh! I know someone else who’s a fashion expert!”

The red feline kissed Mugman on the cheek and ran off with a newfound determination.

Mugman gazed at her with a lovey-dovey smile.

Cuphead rubbed his arm. “So, are you gonna help me pick out a suit?”

“Yeah!” Mugman said excitedly. “Right this way, my dear brother!”

Cuphead walked with Mugman while rolling his eyes.

~.~

 Canteen had been trying to get back into building things in his tent.

Ever since he was a kid, he had a mechanic family that didn’t have a happy family. Remembering those families that died all those years ago still brought him back to that trauma. However, he wanted to build something…something like a plane.

Canteen had been drawing on a blueprint paper of all the screws and parts needed to build a plane on his wooden desk, but his mind started to drift off today.

Instead of drawing screws, he drew a face on the blueprint. His pencil outlined the details of the person’s face and he found himself drawing Chalice. It appeared to be accurate to the detail. He kept drawing her face, including her eyes and her dimples when she smiled. Then he drew her torso and a skirt she always wore since he first met her. Her heels were last. A smile came on his face as he drew more in detail.

“Whatcha drawin’?” A familiar cheery voice spoke beside him.

Canteen jumped with a yelp and covered the drawing of Chalice. He looked over his shoulder to find Chalice floating next to him.

“Uh…nothing. Nothing…j-just working on a new project,” Canteen stuttered with his face red.

“Ooh, can I see?” Chalice asked excitedly.

“Uh…i-it’s not really complete yet.”

“That’s okay. I don’t mind seein’ it anyway. Unless you don’t want me too—”

“No! No, uh, I just…uh, haven’t sketch the full picture yet.”

She turned into her physical form with a bright grin. “Well, you can show me it when you’re ready! But, on a fun side of things, I got an adventure we both can go on! Together!”

“T-Together? As in me and you together?”

“Yep! I heard that there’s a really cool place that we can explore together! It’s about…maybe thirty miles from this place. What d’ya say we go and see what’s there?”

Canteen blushed at the thought of going with Chalice someplace. “Um…yeah, sure.”

“Alright! Let’s go!” Chalice started to walk away.

“Wait,” Canteen urged while leaving the blueprint behind. “Where are we going exactly?”

“Well, that’s for me to know and you to find out,” she said with a wink.

He blushed and followed her out of the camp.

~.~

Natalie had been pacing in front of the ship with her anxious thoughts running through her liquid mind. She couldn’t believe she said yes to dating Cuphead. First, she kissed him and then she accepted his offer for a date.

She had been many dates before because her mother forced her too and most of them were little boys richer than her. Or guys that were way older than she liked to admit. And of course, she chased away the dates who were boys her age. She always thought it was them, but now she believed it to be her once she realized how badly she mistreated Cassidy. Natalie couldn’t believe that it took Cassidy being under the Devil’s control to wake her up.

“Natalie—”

Natalie screeched and spun around to find Cassidy behind her. She grabbed her chest and sighed in relief. “Oh, Cassi, it’s just you. Sorry, I was thinking about stuff.”

Cassidy gave her a smirk. “About your date with Cuphead?”

Natalie’s face turned redder than a tomato. “How did you—?”

“Cuphead told Mugman and Mugman told me,” the red cat said.

“Oh,” Natalie uttered while rubbing her arm nervously.

“And I came to help you get ready for your date. You know, the same way you helped me get ready for a date with Mugman.”

Natalie frowned. “You remembered that?”

“Of course I remembered,” Cassidy said. She noticed Natalie’s frown. “Are you okay?”

“I didn’t think you would remember what I’ve done that was good.”

Cassidy softened her gaze. “Well, I would be lying if I said that you never did anything to help me.”

“Yeah, but I—”

“I want to forget the past.”

Natalie glanced up at her friend in shock. “But—”

“You have done horrible things to me in the past,” Cassidy said softly. “I stuck around you, because you were the only friend my age who even tolerated me at the time. I feel like I have to want to do things with you so that I can be around you. Or do the things only you want to do just to be around you. But you’ve changed. I’ve noticed that you’re not like that anymore.”

Natalie widened her eyes more.

“I don’t hate you, Natalie. I’ve never hated you. I’m always going to be your friend…I’ve always made that promise to you. But I want to forget about what happened in the past. It brings pain to even talk about it.”

Natalie softened her gaze and nodded. “Okay. I just want to say I’m sorry…for everything.”

“I forgive you.”

There was silence as both of the friends exchanged soft smiles.

“Now,” Cassidy began excitedly. “Let’s pick a cute dress for you.”

“But you don’t like clothes shopping,” Natalie pointed out.

Cassidy grinned. “Well, I know someone who knows about fashion. C’mon!”

She grabbed Natalie by the wrist, pulling her away from the ship and hurrying away to pick a cute outfit for her.

~.~

“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Canteen asked while strolling through the forest with Chalice.

“Oh, I’m sure of it,” Chalice said while looking for a cave around them to get trapped in.

Canteen didn’t seem convinced by Chalice’s answer. He looked around the forest to hear the pretty birds chirping and the sun shining through the leaves of the trees. The branches swayed to the gentle breeze, setting chills down on his spine.

He glanced at her and softly gazed at her. “Sooo, are you going to give me some hint as to where we’re going?”

She turned back with a small smirk at him. “It’s gonna blow your socks off.”

“That’s not a hint,” he teased with a blush.

“It’s some hint,” she quipped.

He rolled his eyes playfully. “Look, if you think it’s my birthday, you’re way off by two months and twenty days.”

Her smirk widened. “I’ll be sure to note that. But it’s not for your birthday.”

He dropped his playful look. “Then…what are you taking me out for?”

“Well, there’s something I oughta show you and I thought you would like it—”

Both Chalice and Canteen stopped when they noticed a temple ahead of them. For some reason, the white stoned temple seemed familiar to her.

Canteen gasped in recognition of the temple. “Whoa.”

“Whoa what?”

The silver canteen headed off towards the temple, taking the lead now with fascination in his eyes.

“Canteen, wait!” Chalice chased after Canteen towards the temple.

The kids reached to the bottom of the steps, looking up at the two front statues.

Chalice softened her gaze at one of the statues of a cup woman with long wavy hair resting on her shoulder and her name engraved under her feet of her name.

“Esther Cupchal.”

Chalice frowned at the name and then looked at the other statue, a man with a cup for his head that was chipped on the side. His name was engraved under his feet as well, but it was barely readable.

“Chester Cupchal.”

Canteen focused on the entrance of the temple with an awed look. “Is this what you’re trying to show me?”

Chalice faked a smile. “Yeah, definitely. Definitely! Since ya like myths and stuff, you might like looking at a mausoleum.”

He turned to look at her and saw her fake smile. “Are you sure this is the place you want to show me?”

She waved off her emotions and took him by the hand. “Yeah. C’mon. There’s so much to look at.”

They head into the mausoleum. Once they were inside, Chalice found herself more familiar with her surroundings. She looked at more statues of familiar friends, remembering their dead bodies in the glitch of her memories. She moved her eyes away from the statues and focused forward, leaving Canteen in confusion.

Canteen noticed one of the statues that was a spoon with the name under her feet:

Silversmith Spoon.

The canteen realized that Chalice was trying to keep her gaze away from the statues. He frowned at the sight of her and hurried beside her, faking a grin.

“Hey, if you want, we can find somewhere else to explore. I’m sure there are plenty of things in the forest we can explore other than this mausoleum,” Canteen said.

She faked a smile. “Aww, I thought you liked myths and legends.”

“I do,” he replied with a blush. “But I’m sure there are more adventures out there than this old mausoleum.” As he was saying the last part, he stepped on the floor plate that sunk below his foot.

He widened his eyes in shock and looked down to see that he pressed the floor plate.

The ground began to open under their feet as they wrapped their arms around each other and fell into the dark abyss with screams. 

~.~

Cassidy was guiding Natalie through the village, looking for this supposed “fashion expert” to help her find her friend a perfect dress for the date.

Natalie was surprised to see this side of Cassidy, the one who was all giddy and excited for her best friend’s date. Not that Cassidy had never been happy for Natalie before, but Natalie could see a gleam in her eyes that were filled with pure genuine joy. She knew Cassidy didn’t like clothes shopping as much as Natalie, but it didn’t feel like Cassidy was sacrificing her own happiness for Natalie’s sake. Or forcing herself to dangerous situations to please her best friend. Maybe because this time…Natalie didn’t ask her too. And maybe this time…Cassidy wanted to do this.

However, Natalie felt a slight disappointment when she was taken to Porkrind’s shop. She blinked in confusion and glanced at her best friend.

“Why are we—?”

The answer was revealed immediately after Cassidy opened the door. The girls noticed Dice leaning over the counter and talking to Porkrind, who seemed to lean a bit towards the former gambler in interest of what he was saying.

“So, here’s the thing, if we can make your shop just a tad bit fancier,” Dice began while gesturing to the shop without looking at the girls. “You should be getting more customers and more customers means more money.”

“Make it fancy?” Porkrind questioned. He crossed his arm with a brow raised. “How fancy are we talking?”

“Well…” Dice looked around the shop until he noticed the girls. “Oh, hey, girls.” He glanced at the pig to whisper, “You got your first customers.”

“Actually, Dice, we’re looking for you,” Cassidy clarified.

“Me?” King Dice glanced at Porkrind, who shrugged his shoulders. Dice shifted his attention back at the girls. “Why me?”

“We need your fashion expertise,” Cassidy replied excitedly.

A smug smile formed on the die’s lips. “Well, well, you came to the right place. So, who do we need to dress up?”

Cassidy glanced at Natalie, who waved at Dice nervously.

“Hi,” Natalie uttered.

“Hello,” Dice responded.

“She needs a perfect dress for her date with Cuphead,” Cassidy said with a bright smile.

Natalie’s entire face turned red and she smiled nervously.

“Oh,” Dice responded with a small chuckle. “I didn’t think that cup is gonna get a girl because of his lack of…well, intelligence. But I see he’s got you fallin’ for him.”

“Hey, Cuphead is not stupid,” Natalie argued with Dice in a defensive manner.

Dice blinked in shock.

Porkrind put his hand on his hip and looked at Dice with a teasing smirk at him. “Better not talk bad about her man.”

Dice giggled and glanced at the one-eyed pig. “He ain’t a man just yet.” He shifted his attention to Natalie while rubbing the bottom edge of his square face. “Buuuut…I can get you pretty up before the date. You know, if we put some light make-up and a pretty pink dress on ya, you would look fabulous. It’ll even knock Cuphead’s socks off.”

Natalie suddenly became uncomfortable when Dice offered his hand to guide her. Cassidy noticed the discomfort in her friend’s face along with Dice and Porkrind.

“You okay, Nat?” Cassidy asked with a brow raised.

Dice blinked in realization and frowned for a moment. He shook off his frown and gave Natalie a comforting smile. “Would it better if you have a lady help getting you ready for your date?”

Natalie glanced at Cassidy for a moment and then back at King Dice with a small nod.

“What—?” Cassidy seemed confused until Dice pulled her aside and whispered to her about what happened to Natalie before they went to rescue the feline from Hell. The red cat gasped in shock and glanced at her friend with a soft look.

Natalie looked away in shame and embarrassment.

Dice turned to Porkrind. “Hey, Porks, you got a phone? I gotta make a call real quick.”

Porkrind darted his gaze at Natalie and then back at Dice. He pointed at the phone hooked on the wall next to him. “Knock yourself out.”

Dice nodded and headed to the phone. He dialed the number and leaned against the wall, holding the speaker.

“Hello, is this Sally?” Dice called. An answer came, causing him to smile. “This is Dice. Uh, say, someone needs your help in dressing her up and getting her ready for her date. Do you mind helping her out?”

Dice smiled when he got a response he wanted to hear. “Great. We’re right inside of Pork’s shop. See you soon.”

He hung up the phone and glanced at the ladies. “So, I got someone on her way to help ya out.”

“Thanks, Dice,” Natalie said with a weak smile.

Not even a minute later, Sally entered the shop with a bright smile and dresses on her arms.

“I heard someone is trying to get ready for a date,” Sally replied excitedly.

Natalie rose her hand slowly. “I am.”

“Ooh, I got a bunch of pretty dresses that are not costumes. Wanna try them on?” Sally asked while showing many dresses on her arms.

Natalie nodded her head. “Sure.”

“I can come with you if it’s okay with Dad,” Cassidy said while looking at her father.

Porkrind smiled. “Yeah, yeah. Just stay safe out there and have fun.”

The feline grinned and stayed by Natalie while they walked away to go with Sally to try on dresses.

Once the girls left, Porkrind huffed a sigh and looked at his desk.

Dice noticed Porkrind’s sigh. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine,” Porkrind said.

“You sure?”

The one-eyed pig glanced at Dice to notice the former gambler leaning forward a bit in interest.

“It’s nothing. It’s just that…she keeps reminding me too much of an old friend I had once.”

“Shayna, right?”

Porkrind glanced at Dice in shock.

“Uh, Jerry told me about you lost her. I’m sorry for your loss.”

The pig waved it off. “It was years ago.”

Dice frowned to notice him looking away. “But it still hurts you to this day, right?”

“Sometimes.”

Dice tilted his head. “Is she Shayna’s daughter?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh…well, that puts things into perspective than.”

“What?”

“Well, most people hate red cats back then. But you didn’t because your friend was one of them. I guess it’s why you cared so much about Cassidy since she’s your friend’s daughter.”

Porkrind huffed a laugh. “You’re a detective now?”

“You can say that I’m connecting the dots here. Am I getting any of it right so far?”

The pig looked away sadly again. “Yeah, you’re getting it right.”

There was a brief silence while Dice frowned and looked away.

Porkrind noticed Dice shifting his glance away and cleared his throat to get his attention back. “You know, I’m wondering what the boys are even doing to get Cuphead ready for his date.”

Dice huffed up a laugh. “Yeah, I wonder that too.”

~.~

Mugman searched through the closet of their new home, finding a bunch of clothes he didn’t know they even had. Suits, shirts, shorts, and pants. Heck, even coats with two pairs of winter boots for the snow.

Cuphead sat at the edge of the bed while staring at his brother looking through the closet.

“Man, to think Djimmi would add clothes on top of giving us a house to live in. Oh! There’s that red suit I was lookin’ for!” He turned to show the red suit to Cuphead. “What do you think, Cuphead—?”

Mugman noticed Cuphead looking at the ground without lifting his eyes up to see the suit. He tilted his head in confusion. “Hey, aren’t you excited about your date?”

“Huh?” Cuphead snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his brother. He faked a smile. “Uh, yeah, I am.”

Mugman wasn’t convinced. “Cuphead, the date is gonna be fine as long as the Devil, the demons, and the infectees won’t find us here. Which they won’t tonight. Or any other night hopefully—”

“I ain’t worried about the date.”

“Then…you’re worried about something.”

Cuphead rubbed his hands without saying a word.

Mugman set the suit aside and sat by his brother. “Hey, if there’s somethin’ bothering ya, you know you can talk to me about it, right?”

Cuphead nodded his head, but there was no response still.

Mugman looked ahead with a sad look. “Did I…do anything that made you feel like you can’t talk to me?”

His brother shook his head. “Nah, you did nothing wrong—”

“Are you sure?”

“Mugman, it ain’t got anything to do with you. I just—” Cuphead couldn’t finish the sentence without hugging himself.

“You just what?”

“I just thought about how I was trying to help you set up for your date with Cassi. Now you’re trying to help me set up for my date with Nat. It’s kind of nice, you know? Like how you were trying to keep me from losing my soul to the Devil. And now, sometimes I feel like I’m trying to keep you from getting hurt.”

Mugman frowned while listening to his brother.

“I’m sorry I hadn’t been the best brudda to you in a past,” Cuphead said.

Mugman chuckled a bit. “I hadn’t been the best brother to you either.” He placed a hand on Cuphead’s shoulder, getting his brother’s attention. “It’s okay, Cuphead. You don’t have to feel guilty about it anymore.”

“I know…I just…can’t help but think about what it could’ve been if I ain’t so stupid.”

“Well, what you did a lot of stupid things,” Mugman corrected his brother. “Going to that carnival where the Devil tries to steal souls, getting answers wrong on Roll the Dice, stealing cookies from the cookie factory, getting ourselves arrested being in that said cookie factory, almost getting yourself injured at every turn, blowing up wood for the winter, stealing the Devil’s pitchfork—”

“Are you trying to make me feel better? Because it ain’t workin’ so far.”

Mugman sighed. “But besides all of that, Cuphead, I couldn’t have asked for a better brother who is also my best friend. You annoy me and irritate me, but you also taught me a lot of things….good things! Like being brave and making decisions that were opposite of yours when situations arise.”

“Okay…”

“You also were there for me when I’m hurt, sad, lonely, and when I needed you the most. You get me into a lot of trouble and it was all fun while it lasted. What it could’ve been doesn’t matter now. We got each other and right now, I’m gonna help you get ready for that date of yours. Just like how you helped me.”

Cuphead smiled softly. “Thanks, Mugsy.”

Mugman nodded and skipped off the subject. “Say, you want to wear the red suit or…any other suit?”

“I’ll stick with the red one since it suits me more.”

“Perfect.”

Cuphead pondered for a moment. “I wonder how Chalice was doing confessing to Canteen.”

“Oh yeah. I’m sure they’re fine.”

~.~

Canteen and Chalice were laying on the ground with groans of pain from the fall.

Chalice sprung herself up on her feet and dusted herself off. “Well, that was quite a fall—” She noticed Canteen barely standing up with wobbly legs. “Golly, Canteen, you okay?!”

“Yep…” Canteen answered with a thumbs up. “Are we still at the mausoleum?”

Chalice looked up at the hole they fell from. “Looks like we’re under it now.”

“Geez…”

“Hey, we got ourselves trapped in the cave.”

“Uh…yeah?”

“Ooh, okay. Um…how should I—how should we—?”

“We just look for the way out,” Canteen said with an obvious tone. He pointed straight ahead. “There might be something ahead. Let’s go.” He limped forward, causing concern for her.

She clenched her teeth. “Man, I didn’t think about the injuries for this trip.”

Both of them walked through the cave, shivering in the soft breeze. Canteen’s limping started to bother Chalice to the point where she contorted her face in guilt.

“Man, this is not how I would imagine this.”

“Imagine what?” Canteen asked with confusion.

“Well, you see…um, I was thinkin’ that we go on a perilous journey—without gettin’ injured…and, you know…say our deepest feelings.”

“Deepest feelings?” Canteen questioned.

“Yeah. What’s your deepest feeling right now?”

He rubbed the back of his head. “Well, I’m the one that got us trapped here. I didn’t think there was a pressure plate.”

“Yeah, I didn’t see that either. Don’t feel bad. It happens.”

He frowned.

She noticed it with a curious look. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

“Canteen…”

He went silent for a moment until he glanced at Chalice. “Have you ever felt like…?”

She leaned a bit to listen what else he had to say.

“You know…have you ever felt like you’re a bad omen?”

Chalice blinked at the question. “A bad omen…?”

“Yeah.”

She pondered for a second. “Well, before I met the two ding-dongs, I did feel like a bad omen. But when I did meet them, I didn’t feel so…alone. I felt like I gained something that I’ve lost a long time ago. It’s…hard to explain.”

He reached his hand out for hers to comfort her until she noticed. He pulled away, blushing in embarrassment. She gave him a warm smile and held his hand. He was shocked at the gesture for a moment until he exchanged a warm smile back to her and held her hand a bit tighter.

“Soo, do you feel like a bad omen?” she asked softly.

He lost his smile. “Well…yeah. I get called ‘Bad Luck Hughes’ growing up.”

“Oh golly! Why?”

“Heh, it’s complicated.”

“I’m all for complicated, you know.”

He paused for a moment and then sighed. “Whenever I get adopted…my parents just died…”

Chalice blinked in shock.

“Like…one of the parents who adopted me got into a car accident. The other parents got themselves killed in a fight…Heck, the third time I got adopted, my parents just got jumped by a gang and died. That’s when the rumor started to spread by the caretakers in the orphanage. They would tell the parents who would think about adopting me that I was ‘Bad Luck Hughes’ and to not adopt me if they don’t want bad luck in their houses. Then the kids became afraid of me…like I was going to hurt them…and I would never hurt anyone…ever…” He started to choke out the words at the end.

She widened her eyes in shock to hear this from him. Then she watched him trying not to sob in front of her with a frown.

“I wouldn’t want to hurt anyone ever…not even you.”

She smiled softly and held his hand tighter while listening to him break down and cry.

“Now I got us trapped in this cave and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I haven’t brought the best of luck with the group…it’s almost like every bad thing happened and I’m scared that if I lose you…I-I don’t know what would happen. I just…I guess I don’t want anything bad to take you from me.”

She blushed at his words.

He shook his head while wiping his tears away. “Sorry…that was pretty stupid thing to say.”

“It ain’t stupid. Out of all of the things I’ve heard in my past lives, you ain’t saying anything stupid.”

He glanced at her and sniffled. “Sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” she said while leaning her head against his.

He smiled softly and let her lay her head on his. They continued to walk through the cave and saw a door ahead.

“Is that the way out?” Canteen asked timidly.

Chalice opened the door. They both widened their eyes to discover there were three orbs resting on both sides of the wide hallway. One was glowing pink, one was glowing bright green, and one was glowing dark blue.

By the end of the hallway, there was a glowing pool. She stepped forward towards the pool, followed by Canteen.

“Chalice?” Canteen called, but she didn’t respond.

Her eyes started to tremble as she continued towards the pool. She looked down to find that there was no bottom of the glowing pool. She didn’t want to jump into it, but she remembered something about it…something familiar.

“I—I remember this place…”

He looked at her in shock. “What?”

She tilted her head and got on her knees, trying to find the source of the glow in the pool. “I remember this pool.”

He arched a brow in confusion. “What are you remembering?”

She glanced at him. He could see the tears in her eyes.

“I don’t know…” she said sadly.

He frowned and looked at the orbs. He was curious about the dark blue orb, but he didn’t draw near it when he turned to look at her. He came by her and sat next to her to stare at the glowing pool.

“Canteen…there’s something I oughta tell ya…and I need you to not tell the others about it,” she said finally. “Not until I can be brave enough to tell them.”

He looked at her and nodded. “I won’t, I promise.”

She smiled at him softly. “You read the legends of the Legendary Chalice, right?”

He nodded his head.

She continued, “Well, what those legends didn’t tell ya was a long time ago, the Calix Animi were supposed to serve the Most High and protect mortals from dealing with demons, but the gifts from the Most High became their own gifts when the members of the Calix Animi became prideful. The members say that only people who are chosen by the Most High and worthy will obtain the last two gifts. Then a ding-dong thief managed to mix the last two gifts together and became one of them.”

Canteen tilted his head. “ The two gifts mixed together? Wait! Are you talking about the Eternal’s Orb?”

She smiled. “Yep. That’s how the Eternal’s Orb was born. Anyway, the other members didn’t react too kindly when they saw a thief having the Eternal’s Orb inside of him. Of course, that caused a lot of division between them. The Devil sees this and well…took advantage of it. There was a battle and…let’s say that the Legendary Chalice lost everything. She’s the only one who survived the battle.”

He frowned when listening to the story. “She must have felt alone.”

“And a bad omen too.”

He perked his head up.

She sighed sadly. “She decided to do something that she regretted and caused her to reincarnate so many times. She threw her spear down into that pool, gather the powers of her dead friends, and hid them away in this place…except for one.”

“The Eternal’s Orb?”

“Yeah, she placed it over at the other mausoleum at someplace different that eventually became Sugarland,” Chalice replied. “Don’t ask me why…I still didn’t get why I decided to place Eternal’s Orb to this day. Probably scared that the demons might find it…? Not sure.”

He frowned. “And now you’re here.”

“Yep…”

He held her hand, catching her attention. “I won’t say anything to anyone. I promise.”

“I know. I trust you, Hughes,” she said with a soft smile while she grabbed his face and kissed his lips. He widened his eyes before melting into the kiss. He grabbed her face to keep the kiss going until they broke away to look into each other’s eyes. Their eyes suddenly broadened cartoonishly as Canteen let go of her face.

“Whoa,” he uttered.

She felt sudden chills coming down her spine. “Wow…heh, I’ve never felt this before.”

“Me neither…” he said while blushing madly.

She got excited and kissed his lips again, almost knocking him down. He gasped in shock once her lips crashed into his again, but his shock melted away as he caressed her face.

They both broke away, causing Chalice to bounce away like a little kid.

“Whoa, wow! Wow,” she responded, trying to keep herself together.

He giggled giddily. “Yeah…” He realized that they were still in the hallway. “Uh, should we get out of here? Maybe later we can…you know, find someplace to hang out and…”

“Date?” she finished with a smile.

“Yeah.”

She came up to him and helped him up on his feet with a lovesick grin. “I would love that.”

They both turned to look and found a door to the side. They went to the door and opened it to find that there was a way out from under the ground. As they went up the stairs, they were holding hands and walking as close to each other as they could.

~.~

The night was young.

Cuphead had been standing outside of the theater with his red suit after the brothers were told by Cassidy through the phone that they were getting ready at Sally’s theater.

The cup became impatient, which was noticed by his brother.

“She’ll come out. Don’t worry,” Mugman reassured his brother.

Cuphead looked away ashamed. “I know. I’m just…well…you know how it feels, huh?”

“Anxious, impatient, nervous, and excited all mix together?”

“Yeah.”

Mugman smiled softly. “Welcome to dating.”

They heard heels clicked and turned their heads to notice their girlfriends coming out.

Cassidy let Natalie walk towards Cuphead.

Cuphead’s pupils dilated when he saw her wearing her dark pink dress with a skirt that appeared to be fluffy and with feathers dragging on the floor. She had only light make-up with light pink eyeshadows and light blushes on her cheeks. She had her brown liquid hair up in a bun, pinned by the dark pink feathers. She had long light pink gloves on that went up to her elbows and heels.

She seemed nervous. “Heh, I don’t know if I picked the right dress for the date—”

“Pretty,” Cuphead blurted out.

She stopped her sentence and blushed. Then she gave a smile. “You think so?”

He nodded his head. “Yeah.” Then he noticed Natalie wearing the pink pearl necklace that Cuphead gave to her when Mugman was first dating Cassidy. “Hey, you’re wearing the necklace I gave ya a long time ago.”

“Yeah…you don’t mind, right?”

He shook his head. “I bought it for you. I don’t mind at all whether you wear it or not.”

She grinned at him. “Ready?”

He nodded and held his arm out. “Ready.”

She wrapped her arm around his and stayed close to him.

Mugman watched them with a proud smirk at his brother. He felt someone lean against him and looked to see Cassidy rubbing her head against his with purrs. He wrapped his arm around her waist while her tail embraced around his waist.

“Are we going to spy on them like they did to us?” she whispered against the side of his head.

He giggled. “Maybe. Maybe not. I ain’t too worried about them.”

She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. “You know, since everything is getting calmer, do you think we can try another date?”

He looked at her. “Like going out to eat kind of date?”

She nodded her head with a ‘Mhm’.

He gave a small chuckle. “I would love that.”

Chalice and Canteen approached them with bruises and scratches, which were noticed by Mugman and Cassidy.

“By golly, what happened to you both?” Mugman questioned Chalice and Canteen.

Both Chalice and Canteen exchanged glances at each other and snickered a bit.

“Well, let’s just say that we went on a perilous journey,” she said with a shrug.

Mugman looked to see Chalice holding Canteen’s hand. “Oh. Well, congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Canteen answered bashfully.

Chalice looked to see Cuphead and Natalie going to Fly Trap and sitting at the dock of the ferry ship. “Did I miss anything with Cuphead and Natalie?”

“Other than them getting ready for a date, not that much,” Mugman answered.

They watched as the cups were going on date. By the end of the date, Cuphead and Natalie danced with each other to the music played by Ribby and Croaks.

As Mugman watched on, he felt something strange in his body. His vision became a blur for a moment. He almost stumbled, but he felt Cassidy holding him up. He glanced at her to notice her concern look with a clearer vision.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said.

His friends and his girlfriend didn’t believe him, but they didn’t push further.

As they watched, Mugman couldn’t help but felt like something was calling him. It was calling his name. He tried to ignore it, but it was getting harder and harder to ignore. A vision of a pool came and went for a second. He became light-headed from trying to ignore this weird vision. He felt like he was going to throw up, but he couldn’t. His legs were shaking and he was breathing shallow breaths. He could barely hear Cassidy’s concern tone, but it was muffled. He could assume that she was asking if he was okay. He gave a slight nod to her as his vision became a blur. Then the blur became black. He lost his balance and collapsed onto the ground.

He could no longer hear the voices asking him if he was alright. It was just him and the darkness. 

To Be Continued...

[elm-writes-stories]

Wish(A Cuphead AU) Chapter Two:

*Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter of the Wish AU with the Cuphead characters. Now things are going to get interesting. This chapter is published on December 16, 2023. If you guys like this chapter, don't be afraid to reblog, heart it, and comment! That would be greatly appreciated! Have a blessed day!*

The dinner at Porkrind’s shop was silent. In the back crowded room with all the strange collections filling the shelves, each of the family had bowls of food in their hands.

Cassidy hadn’t been talking, which was concerning Porkrind throughout the silence. He couldn’t take it anymore when he let out a sigh.

“Okay, what’s on your mind?” Porkrind asked Cassidy.

“Hm?” Cassidy questioned.

“I’ve seen how you are throughout the ceremony. You look like you were ready to break down crying. Are you doing okay?” Porkrind confronted her.

Cassidy kept her mouth for a second. She took a deep breath and said, “I’m just happy for the new couple giving their wishes to the king.”

“That ain’t no tears of happiness,” Porkrind pointed out.

“Po,” Shayna spoke softly, her voice weak a little.

Jerry looked at the one-eyed pig. “Just eat. It’s probably nothin’ to worry about.”

Cassidy bit her bottom lip. Oh, Jerry couldn’t be more wrong. She kept eating her soup from the bowl until she had to put on the courage.

“Actually, there is something I need to tell you guys,” Cassidy finally said.

Porkrind, Shayna, and Jerry leaned forward in anticipation.

Before she was about to tell them, she gasped to see a card of ace of spades with eyes watching her. A realization came to her when she saw the card gesturing her to zip her lips. King Dice might have sent that card to spy on her to make sure she wouldn’t open her mouth.

She shifted her gaze to see her family pale again, reminding her that their souls were in danger if she were to spill the beans.

With a sigh, she lied, “Natalie wants to take me shopping tomorrow night. So…I might be back late.”

“Aw, you don’t have to keep that from us,” Shayna replied. “You and Natalie go have fun.”

“That’s not what you’re about to tell us,” Porkrind replied.

“Porks—” Jerry groaned.

“Cassidy, what are you hiding from us?” the pig questioned. “You don’t have to hide anything from us.”

“You don’t understand,” she muttered.

“What don’t I understand?” Porkrind interrogated.

“Po, calm down,” Shayna scolded Porkrind.

“No, whatever she’s hiding, it’s causing her to hurt. She doesn’t have to hide it—”

“She’ll tell it to us on her own time,” Jerry cut Porkrind off. “Give her time.”

Cassidy bit her bottom lip ragged.

Porkrind sighed to surrender. “Fine. Fine. You don’t have to tell us anything.”

She wanted to cry because she did want to tell them. She wanted to warn them so badly of King Luci’s deceit of his identity. But they would never understand if she told them or the repercussions of what happens when she tells them. She was too afraid of what King Luci will do to their souls if she did say something.

It was getting to the point where she couldn’t sit still.

She got up from her seat and ran out the door of Porkrind’s shop.

The three adults looked on with concern, noticing the way she exited the shop.

“She’s definitely hiding something from us,” Porkrind said, now convinced more than ever.

Shayna frowned. “We need to give her time. Maybe she’ll tell us eventually. Whenever she’s ready.”

“Yeah,” Jerry chirped in agreement.

“I’ll give her the same respect, but I can’t just sit idly while watching her hurt inside.”

“I know, Po. I know,” Shayna said while rubbing his shoulder.

~.~

The soft music played in the background as Cassidy strode through the woods, tears in her eyes. She hugged herself and she started to sing in a croaked voice.

“Why can’t I just tell them?

Am I not as brave as Nat has said?

If I tell them about everything I’ve seen,

Would they believe me if they knew?

Would they open their eyes to the truth?”

Cassidy hugged her shoulders, more tears streaming down on her cheeks.

“But when I speak, no words came out.

How can I tell them when it can kill them?

Oh, this is what happens when we make our wish to him.

Did the generations before us know about this? Maybe not.”

Cassidy glanced up at the stars twinkling at the sky, straightening up. She wiped her tears away and started to sing her heart out.

“So, I will wish upon the stars tonight.

And pray it will be granted.

Mom’s desire to become a singer.

Porkrind’s want to expand his business.

Jerry’s dream to become an entertainer.

My wish for one true love.”

Cassidy frowned once she mentioned her own wish in the mix. She sighed and clutched her chest with her paws.

“Now, I make this wish,

To restore the souls deceived by him.

Now, I make this wish,

To restore the souls deceived by him.”

Cassidy could hear the choir of invisible beings singing in the background as she traveled through the woods towards the tree by cliff.

“Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah-ah.

Restore the souls.”

Cassidy climbed up on the tree to the branch and saw her father’s grave. She took deep breaths and sat on the branch to look up at the stars.

“I never knew there’s more than just wishing to the king.

Yeah, people come to give wishes to him, but they won’t be granted.

Now I’ve been freed from the manipulation,

I’ve seen how messed up our society has become because of him.”

Cassidy climbed down the tree and approached in front of her father’s grave as if she was talking to him.

“But should I let my fears control me?

‘Cause I feel so small

In the world full of giants.

We have generations of lifelessness.

It’s no wonder everyone here is dying inside.

If I can change their minds, how will I go about it?

My confidence shrinks, but I will look up.

Just like how I promised you once.”

Cassidy caressed her father’s grave with a small smile to remember her father and she were sitting on the branch she would usually sit on to look up at the stars.

Cassidy sang her heart out, her environment changing all around her. The winds picked up, blowing against her ebony hair and her skirt of her purple dress. She spread her arms out and closed her eyes, not caring if the winds pick her up and carry her away from this place.

“So, I will wish upon the stars tonight

And pray it will be granted.

Natalie’s wish to have courage.

Chalice’s dream to become a top dancer.

Canteen’s desire to own a mechanic shop.

Bowlboy’s wants to be a knight.

Cuphead’s ambition to explore the world.”

Cassidy opened her eyes, sparkled by the starlit sky. She climbed up on the branch of the tree and stood on it, extending her paw out to the biggest star that shined the brightest.

“Now, I make this wish,

To restore the souls deceived by him.

Now, I make this wish,

To restore the souls deceived by him.”

The invisible choir could be heard around her, but she didn’t care where they came from.

“Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah (Now I make this wish)

Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah-ah (To restore the souls deceived)

Restore the souls deceived, oh-ah-ah.”

Cassidy cupped the bottom of the brightest star and sang the last part softly.

“Now, I make this wish.

To restore the souls deceived by him.”

The music ended with a high note until the star started to glow brighter. Cassidy was blinded by the glow that covered her surroundings, but something was off. It was almost like it was someone falling towards her. She could see someone being thrown at her with a scream. She yelped and ducked her head, watching the glow flew over her head and crashed through the woods behind her with strange grunts.

She straightened up and widened her eyes to realize that she was covered in sparkles. “Sparkles?” She noticed her dress glowing, causing her to be lifted up in the air. She yelped in fear and grabbed the branch.

“What the heck?” Cassidy gasped and then she fell on her feet on the ground. The feline looked ahead to find the glow in the dark woods. “What…is that?”

~.~

 Cassidy followed the sparkles that create a pathway through the dark forest. She could see the grass became…greener than she expected. The bushes have eyes and mouths that weren’t normal. The trees came to life, watching the red feline making her way through the woods.

“Hello?” Cassidy called the glow in the dark. She finally approached it to find young boy laying up against the tree.

“Shh, he’s sleeping,” the talking tree he was laying up against said to the feline.

“No, I’m not,” the glowing boy groaned. He moved around, his cape covering his entire head. “Man, I should learn to land better, huh?”

He lifted the cape off of his head to reveal a cup headed boy with a big blue nose and a blue-striped straw that stuck straight up. He focused on Cassidy, examining her from head to toe. He then leaned on his side, his hand propping his head up.

“Hey,” the star cup greeted.

She arched a brow at him. “Who are you?”

He hovered off of his feet, causing her to wince at his sudden movement. “Why, I’m the wishing star. Well, my actual name is Mugman. But I’m part of the Wishing Star Legion. You can say I’m kind of a newbie around here.”

He whispered the last part while leaning his elbow against the mushroom on the tree with a smile, leaving gold sparks on the top of it.

“Yeah, he’s definitely a newbie,” the mushroom spoke out nowhere.

Mugman widened his eyes in shock and moved his arm away from the mushroom. “Oops…I did not mean to make you talk.” Mugman shifted his attention to Cassidy. “Heh, sorry, it’s my first time here. Anyways, I’m here right now. What wish do you want me to grant?”

Cassidy blinked in disbelief. “Wait, wait, Wishing Star Legion? I didn’t think that exists.”

“Yeah, no princess knew about the Wishing Star Legion.”

“Oh, no, no, I’m not a princess.”

“Oh, that’s okay, you look like one to me,” Mugman replied. Then he blushed. “I mean, you looked like royalty. I’m sorry for the mistake.”

“And you’ve never been here before.”

“Well, I’ve never been sent here before. I’ve been to this world plenty of times…but, uh, I’ve never been here in…what is this place called?”

“Inkwell Isles.”

“Ah, yeah, that’s right. Well, what wish do you want me to grant?”

“How many can you grant?”

“Well, I’m here for as long as you need me.” He paused for a second with a blush. “I don’t mean that to be a flirty remark.”

She chuckled. “It’s okay.”

“But I am here for as long as you need me. The Fairy God-Kettle created the Wishing Star Legion to grant many wishes around the world. Or if the wishes were bad and unhealthy, we were sent there to help those that wished those awful things change their minds. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. It’s sad when it doesn’t though.”

Mugman looked away with a frown for a second before shifting his attention to Cassidy. “But I’m sure your wish isn’t that bad, right?”

“Well…it’s not bad…but it’s…risky.”

“Risky? Huh, never encountered a wish that’s risky. What is it exactly?”

Cassidy took a deep breath. “I wish to restore the souls to the people deceived by King Luci.”

“Oh, that isn’t bad…but why risky?”

“Because the people I’m wishing for is…mostly everyone here in the Inkwell Isles.”

“Oh…and the souls—did they lose their passion or…?”

“No, the king took the souls from innocent people and had them locked up in the soul vault in some…fiery place.”

Mugman widened his eyes. “It…doesn’t happened to be Hell you’re talking about, right?”

“I guess so.”

The mug gasped in fear. “Oh no, no, no, that’s Hell. And the king…oh, son of a gun.”

“What?”

“That’s the Devil. He’s been devouring souls since the beginning of time. Does anyone know about this?”

She shook her head.

“Those poor people,” he muttered.

“Can you help me? If it’s too much, then I understand if you don’t—”

“No, I will help,” Mugman replied. “But the thing is…I can’t snap their souls back to their bodies. We need to find a way get those souls out of Hell. If I remembered correctly, if we burn soul contracts of the people he took wishes from, their souls would no longer be tied to Hell.”

Cassidy’s smile brightened.

“Hey, there’s this card spying on you both—” the tree next to them said while holding King Dice’s card in its branch.

Cassidy gasped in fear. “Oh no.”

“Oh no what?” Mugman questioned.

“It’s one of the king’s spies.”

“Oh, the Devil’s spies. Say no more,” he responded and took the card to rip it to shreds. He plucked the eyeballs and made them disappeared in his sleeves. “There, now we don’t have to worry about the spies.”

Cassidy took a moment to ponder. “We need a plan to get into the castle and fast. And…I think I might just know the way.”

~.~

 In the early morning, when the bell rang loudly to wake the kingdom, Cassidy had a blue hood, sneaking through alleyways of the town.

Mugman followed behind her, wary of his steps. He seemed fascinated with the city around him until he looked at her, watching her every movement with interest.

However, his attention was off of her, and he noticed a chef pig selling hot dogs with a gloomy look on his face. He read the price for hotdogs was about fifteen dollars a hotdog. It was no wonder the chef wasn’t getting any customers. He covered the price sign with his hand and slid against it, changing it to a dollar and sixty-nine cents with added words, “Buy one, and get two free”. The customers came to the chef pig’s stall in an instant, buying all the hotdogs he could ever imagined.

Mugman smiled and continued with his walk with Cassidy.

He noticed the lady selling fruits and vegetables, but they don’t appear fresh. He walked up to the stall and spread his gold sparkles, freshening up the fruits. The lady seemed shock at the gesture. She took a small bite of her apple, and her confusion melted into a grateful smile.

He gave her a grin back and continued walking with Cassidy.

He noticed a group of children playing, with one of the boys stealing a toy from the little girl. The little girl was left crying and chasing after the boys who stole her toy. With a huff of annoyance, he took the toy from the boy’s hand when the boy ran past him and gave it back to the girl when she came up to him. She held her toy close to her chest, giving him the satisfaction that he helped someone. The toy was covered in sparkles, causing it to come to life in her arms. The little girl almost screamed until the toy showed how friendly it was by dancing with her. The little girl giggled and danced with the toy, who was now her new friend.

He noticed a humanoid lady named Hilda, limping around with metal parts. Her brown short hair frizzy and red outfit falling apart. She looked up at him. She faked a grin, but he could see pain in her eyes. He walked up to her with a sympathetic gaze. He took her hands gently and watched the glow fill her body, getting rid of the red twisted part in her soul. A glow came from her chest, straightening her up. She could walk better now and she’s flying in the air without having limitations and hurting from flying so much. He beamed when he watched her take off.

He noticed an elderly woman sweeping near the fountain, sweeping all by herself. She appeared to be slow, her back pain bothering her. He rubbed his chin and snapped his fingers, making more brooms appear with arms and brushes as their feet. Her broom came to life as well, sweeping the floor around her. She seemed in shock before more brooms showed up and guided her to her lawn chair under the shade of the palm tree. One of the brooms got out a pillow to ease her lower back and the other two brooms helped her sit down on the lawn chair. The other broom showed up with a palm branch and fanned her from the heat. The brooms were multiplied magically and swept the entire square around the fountain.

He caught up with Cassidy as they hid behind the wall. They peeked around the wall to find the entrance of the castle.

“There’s the entrance to the castle. Only Cuphead and Bowlboy knows that secret entrance. Maybe Canteen too since he’s snuck into the castle many times. Or we can blend in with the—.”

She looked back and noticed the brooms cleaning around the square magically while the people behind them seemed happier than they were before. She looked at him, who stared back at her.

“Yes?” Mugman responded.

She smiled softly at him. “Nothing. Nothing at all”

He looked around the town some more. “Man, you guys have so many diverse folks here. Who’s the queen?”

“King, actually. Two kings ruled the kingdom.”

“Oh, wow. Most countries don’t have that.”

“Mugman, I need you to focus. We can take the secret way or we can enter through the entrance.”

“We can split up and try both ways.”

“Great idea. We can meet in the closet in the kitchen. Or wait…you can teleport us there, right?”

“Well…if the castle is magic resistant, we can’t really risk it,” Mugman responded.

“Okay, then let’s split up. And don’t try to stand out,” Cassidy whispered to him before taking off to find Cuphead and Bowlboy.

Mugman snapped his fingers to disguise himself with a spark.

Meanwhile, Cassidy snuck through the plaza and reached for the stables at the back of the castle. She noticed Cuphead and Bowlboy working raking the hay. She decided to hide within the pile Cuphead was working on, but was stopped by someone.

She gasped in fear until she realized that it was just Canteen.

“What are you doing?” Canteen asked.

“Uh…sneaking into the castle,” she answered.

“Oh cool, I know a shortcut. It would take long for Cuphead to notice ya anyway. C’mon.” Canteen led Cassidy towards the trimmed bushes, which was noticed by Bowlboy. Bowlboy arched a brow in confusion for a second before going back to work.

Cassidy followed Canteen towards the side door, which they saw King Dice by the front entrance of the castle. She noticed how his arms were crossed with a sneer on his face. He appeared to be angry.

“So, since you’re with me, you get a sneak peek of the latest theory I came up with. So, you know how Cuphead said that the wishes might possibly be locked into a vault yesterday? Well, I thought up a joke-theory that the wishes were not the only ones locked up in the vault, but people’s souls as well. I know that it sounds ridiculous and there’s not enough evidence—”

Cassidy turned her head to Canteen and placed her paws on his shoulders. “Canteen, you can have so many wrong theories or theories without proof. But for this theory, or joke-theory you have, you’re right.”

Canteen blinked in confusion. “Wait, what?”

“You need to swear to me that you’ll never say anything to anyone about it. People’s lives are at risk if this secret gets out.”

Canteen zipped his lips and crossed his heart. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Which hopefully will be never.”

“What?”

“The mere fact I’m even telling you this is risking your life,” Cassidy responded to Canteen.

“Oh, well, me being here every day is risking my life, sooo, this isn’t my first rodeo.”

“What the hell—?!”

Cassidy and Canteen turned their heads to notice King Dice staring at someone in the distance. It was a woman cup with big breasts. She wore a cyan-colored dress, a bright maroon fluffy scarf, and a silver headband with a maroon feather.

“Hi, your Majesty,” Mugman’s voice came in but with a higher pitch in an attempt to sound feminine. “I’m Tallulah. Tallulah Piccolo.”

Cassidy dropped her jaw once she recognized Mugman’s voice.

King Dice arched a brow and smirked. “My, my, haven’t seen you around here before. You must be one of the new tourist.”

“Nah, I’ve been here for a while. I don’t come out much since I’ve been a washed up dancer for years, but I’ve heard that you are holding auditions for dancing and I thought I would give dancing another try,” Mugman answered as Tallulah Piccolo.

King Dice arched a brow. “Huh, I didn’t think we have any auditions for the dances.”

Mugman became discouraged as Tallulah. “Aw, I must have heard wrong then. Well, since I’m here, do you have a bathroom I could use?”

“Uh, yeah, by the kitchen,” King Dice responded while pointing into the castle.

“Thank you, your Highness,” Mugman responded while walking into the castle with his heels clicking on the tile floor.

Cassidy blushed and looked at Canteen, trying to change the subject from what they witnessed. “Can you sneak me into the castle? The others can’t know I’m here.”

Canteen nodded his head. “Yeah. Don’t worry, I got your back.”

~.~

 Canteen and Cassidy hurried up the stairs and towards the kitchen, noticing Natalie and Chalice there. They hid behind the wall.

“Oh no…they’re going to notice me.”

“So, why don’t you want them to notice you again?” Canteen questioned.

“Because it will get them kill if they see me,” Cassidy replied. “The Devil is looking for me by now.”

“The Devil?”

“That’s King Luci’s real name.”

Canteen gasped. “Oh, that makes so much sense. I think I got something to distract the others. Hold on.”

He rushed into the kitchen without Cassidy being aware of what he was doing.

Canteen seemed out of breath from running, catching their friends’ attention. “Guys! I got a new theory!”

“Oh come on,” Natalie groaned.

“I swear, this will be worth your time,” Canteen responded. “Follow me!”

Canteen led them to the broken window. “So, remember me jumping out of the window yesterday?”

“Like a fool,” Chalice responded with a giggling grin.

“What if I told you I thought of something last night about how gravity works and how we control the gravity of our fall?” Canteen asked the girls.

“That makes no sense,” Natalie responded.

“Well, I landed the hay and that broke my fall and—”

“You’re suggesting us to try it?” Chalice questioned.

Canteen started to sweat nervously. “Uh, yeah.”

Chalice looked at him in suspicion before smiling. “Okay!” Immediately, Chalice jumped off the cliff.

“Are you kidding me? I broke my leg jumping off a cliff,” Natalie grumbled at Canteen.

“Oh, you don’t have to jump off if you—”

“Whoa, there’s plenty of hay down here!” Chalice screamed from the bottom.

Natalie and Canteen exchanged gazes.

Natalie sighed. “Here, hold this.” She gave him a crutch and jumped out of the window.

Canteen looked down to find that Cuphead caught Natalie in his arms instead of her landing on the pile of hay like Chalice said.

“DANG IT, CHALICE!” Natalie barked while blushing madly. “I COULD’VE BROKEN MY OTHER LEG!!!”

“At least you got him catching you when you’re falling,” Chalice responded with a wink.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” Cuphead replied from the bottom.

Canteen watched from above as Cassidy snuck through the kitchen behind him. When he turned around, she smiled at him.

“Thank you. I owe you one,” Cassidy whispered.

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Canteen insisted while holding onto Natalie’s crutch and jumped out the window with a cheer.

Cassidy turned a corner to find the closet door. She saw Mugman, disguised as Tallulah Piccolo, approaching the closet door in the opposite direction when entering into the kitchen. They both hurried into the closet to realize they’re full of chickens. Once Cassidy shut the door behind them, Mugman snapped his fingers and turned into his normal self.

“Okay, now that we’re here, we need a way to get to the Devil’s bedroom,” Cassidy whispered to Mugman.

Mugman kept his eyes on a chicken, tilting his head at the way it moves and pecks at nothing on the cobblestone ground. “Hi there. Can you fly?”

“Oh, no, chickens can’t fly,” Cassidy responded.

The star cup smiled brightly. “Aww, every bird deserves to fly.” When he scooped the chicken up in his hands, the sparkles were on the chicken’s body. The chicken flapped its wings and took off flying around the room.

She watched with fascination, noticing his child-like grin. She couldn’t help, but smiling at his gentleness when he watched the chicken flying around the room. More chickens approached Mugman.

“You guys want to fly too?”

“Uh, Mugman, I’m not sure if that’s a good idea—”

She watched as he sprinkled pixie dust from his hands on all the chickens that approached, watching them take off with their wings flapping around the room. He gasped in fascination, smiling.

She tilted her head. “How are you doing that?”

“What?”

“Do what you do…I noticed people were happier after you walked by them. How do you know what their wish was?”

“Well, people have many wishes. It’s connected to who they are and their souls are what drives them to pursue their wishes. Without their souls, how will they ever obtain the drive to pursue their dreams?”

“Yeah, I guess. I wish that I found out about the Devil taking wishes sooner. I wonder if the generations before knew about this.”

“I highly doubt it. They’re probably dead if they knew. You know, you should consider yourself lucky that the Devil spared you.”

“Why did he?”

“I don’t know…killing you would lead to some suspicions towards him and his acts. Or maybe you got too many people around you already.”

“Not really…”

Before Mugman could retort at her statement, they heard the door opening.

“Say, where’s Cassi?” Chalice’s voice could be heard from the other side of the door. “Has anyone seen her? King Luci and King Dice had been looking for her everywhere.”

“Maybe she’s late again,” Cuphead predicted.

“I saw her with Canteen,” Bowlboy’s voice replied.

“Pssh, what? No, I haven’t seen her at all—”

“Liar, you were with her. You must be taking her somewhere private,” Bowlboy growled.

“What? What on earth do you mean?”

“I mean that you took her somewhere private…just the two of you,” Bowlboy snarled.

“Whoa, whoa, just because you and Cassi used to be together, that doesn’t mean you gotta get possessive over her,” Cuphead responded, attempting to diffuse the situation. “Besides, you guys just broke up three months ago.”

“I’m not being possessive over her!” Bowlboy argued. “I’m just saying. She moved on quick.”

“It’s not like that at all. I don’t even see Cassi like that—”

“SHE’S WITH YOU!!!” Bowlboy pointed out.

“Whoa, calm down,” Cuphead soothed.

“Hughes, you sure you haven’t seen Cassidy?” Natalie questioned.

Cassidy clenched her teeth.

“Nope, haven’t seen her,” Canteen lied.

“Then why are you sweating?” Chalice interrogated.

“What?”

“You sweat when you lie,” Chalice added.

“I don’t sweat when I lie. I sweat when I’m nervous—”

“Of lying,” Bowlboy ended with sass.

“Shh, wait, did you hear that flapping sound?” Cuphead interrupted.

“Oh no. We have to—”

It was too late when Cuphead opened the door and the chickens flew out of the coop and out of the door, blinding Cassidy’s friends temporary until the chickens flew out of the broken window.

Canteen looked into the coop for a second to see Cassidy and Mugman with a small wheeze and shut the door quickly. He stood against the door before the friends glanced back at him.

“Why did you shut the door so quickly?” Chalice questioned.

“Uh, no idea,” Canteen said, starting to sweat.

“You’re sweating again,” Chalice responded.

“W-Well, since we don’t have chickens anymore, what’s the use of this room anyway?”

Cuphead gave Canteen a deadpan stare and moved him out of the way. “Get out of the way.”

“Wait, don’t open the door!” Canteen shouted.

Cuphead opened the door to find nothing in front of them. He stepped further into the coop and looked around before glancing up at the corner of the ceiling by the door and noticed Mugman keeping himself up on the corner of the ceiling, his cape draped down.

“Hey,” Cuphead greeted in the most nonchalant tone.

“Hey,” Mugman responded. “Uh, how are you?”

“Besides seein’ chickens flying and a strange guy hiding at the corner of the chicken coop, I gotta say pretty good,” Cuphead answered. “How about you?”

“Well, I say good. It’s a nice day out,” Mugman replied.

“Sure is,” Cuphead agreed.

Chalice, Natalie, Canteen, and Bowlboy came into the coop.

“What the—?” Natalie gasped.

Chalice let out a giggle. “Whatcha doin’ hiding like that?”

“Uh, nothing. Just gettin’ my daily exercise,” Mugman responded.

“Uh-huh. And how’s that workin’ for ya?” Chalice questioned.

Mugman noticed his legs wobbling. “Uh…well, my legs hurt now.”

Chalice turned to Canteen. “Is this who you’ve been hiding this whole time?”

Canteen faked a smile. “Oh yeah, definitely.”

Bowlboy glared at Canteen. “But I saw you with Cassidy.”

“I don’t know what you’ve seen, man. You must have been seeing things,” Canteen responded.

“Are you gaslighting me?” Bowlboy growled.

“What? No, no, no, not at all—”

“Really, because it sounds like you are—”

“Guys, chill,” Cuphead replied. “Take a pill and chill.”

“Yeah, calm down,” Chalice added while shifting her gaze up at Mugman. “Why don’t you get down from there and we can meet face-to-face—?”

Mugman lost his grip and fell forward with Cassidy clutching at his back. They tumbled onto the ground together, causing the group to gasp in shock.

“By golly!” Chalice exclaimed.

Cassidy and Mugman were covered by Mugman’s cape when they crashed on the ground. Cuphead and Canteen hurried towards them and uncovered his cape to find Mugman on top of Cassidy.

Both Cassidy and Mugman blushed at the position they were in and they looked up to find her friends staring at her with confusion.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Cassidy replied.

Natalie smirked. “Uh-huh, I can see it now.”

Cuphead helped Cassidy up from the ground. “What are ya doin’ with that strange guy?”

“Yeah, what are you doin’ with that strange guy?” Bowlboy interrogated.

Cassidy clenched her teeth. “Guys, look, I can’t say a lot, but…”

“But what?” Natalie asked in concern.

The red-furred feline kept her lips sealed until she sighed. “If I tell you guys this, it will cost you your lives.”

Cuphead leaned in. “Now, I’m interested.”

Natalie nodded in agreement. “Yeah, tell us—”

Cassidy shook her head. “But you’re going to be killed if I tell you this—”

“Does it look like we care?” Chalice questioned. “Just tell us.”

Canteen kept his mouth shut, letting Cassidy do the talking.

Mugman glanced at her, waiting for her to say something.

Cassidy was about to say something and took a deep breath. “Shut the door.”

Cuphead shut the door without hesitation.

She took a deep breath and began, “Yesterday, I was assigned to clean the king’s study.”

“Wow, that’s rare,” Chalice responded.

“No one ever goes in there. How come you’re different?” Bowlboy questioned.

“Is it cool?” Canteen asked.

“Yeah, it is,” Cassidy continued. “So, he told me to never open the black door in his study. Only to clean it. A-And I did. I cleaned it until it opened by itself. I heard someone scream and ran through the door…and-and I was at someplace strange…”

“How strange?” Cuphead asked.

“Very strange. I think Mugman says it’s…Hell. So, I saw a vault. I opened it and…then I saw souls of those that gave their wishes away to King Luci for years.”

The kids gasped in shock, except for Bowlboy, who stared at her with disbelief.

“It’s no wonder everyone looks so tired all the time,” Natalie blurted out.

“Huh, I had my suspicions,” Cuphead added.

“Then…King Luci caught me and…I saw his true form. He’s known as the Devil. I saw him taking wishes along with people’s souls. I-I couldn’t say anything to my family about it. S-So, I wished upon a star for the souls to be restored to the people he deceived and there he is,” Cassidy said, referring to Mugman.

Mugman gave her friends a friendly wave.

Bowlboy glared at Mugman more, his arms crossed.

“So, we’re trying to free the souls from Hell,” Cassidy said with tears in her face. “And now…you guys know.”

Chalice softened her gaze when she noticed Cassidy tearing up. “You okay, girlie?”

“You have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone about this,” Cassidy replied.

“We promise,” Natalie said with a soft smile.

“Yeah, your secret is safe with us,” Canteen added.

“Are you lying?” Bowlboy asked Cassidy while glaring at Mugman still.

Cuphead gave Bowlboy a withering glare. “What? Do you seriously think Cassidy would lie about something serious like that?”

“She lied about loving me once,” Bowlboy responded.

Cassidy felt her heart sank at the statement.

“You know what. I’m done with this. It’s been three months since we broke up and she moved on with this wishing star guy already,” Bowlboy blurted out.

“It’s not like that…” Cassidy told him.

“Really? Because it’s getting hard to believe you,” Bowlboy responded before striding out of the coop, leaving the door open.

“Bowlboy, don’t be like that,” Natalie called out.

Cassidy frowned and sighed.

“Don’t let what Bowlboy said get to ya, girlie,” Chalice said softly.

“No…he’s right. I thought I did for a while. I didn’t mean to make him feel lied to,” Cassidy replied in a sad tone.

Mugman noticed with a frown and patted her shoulder. “We need to get back to rescuing souls.”

“Well, King Luci is up in his room. He’d been cooped up there for a while,” Natalie responded.

“And King Dice had been hunting you,” Cuphead added. “Do you think he knows about this?”

“I believe so. He wouldn’t send his card to spy on me,” Cassidy answered. “We can’t get in the room if he’s up there.”

Chalice pondered for a moment. “I think I have an idea on how to get him out of his room.”

To Be Continued... 

[elm-writes-stories]

Wish (A Cuphead AU) Chapter One:

*Hey guys, I'm back with the first chapter of the Wish AU with Cuphead. I do want to let you all know that this book is not related to the other books about Cuphead I've published. It's just an AU I like to do for fun. Now, this is published on December 5, 2023. If you like this chapter, don't be afraid to heart it, reblog, and comment. That will be greatly appreciated. Enjoy!*

The streets of Inkwell Isles were filled with citizens shopping and exploring the stores around them. The town came to life from the excited chatters from soulful people. At the corner of the street by the fair, the children sat around the creature in green trench coat and hat.

“Gather around children. Let me tell you a story,” the creature replied, holding his puppets in his tent.

“What’s the story today, Jerry?” the child asked.

“Hush now, child, and I will tell you,” Jerry, the creature, responded. He began using the angel version, blue furred with wings attached to the back and a halo held over the head by a wire. He had the tapestry of the appearance of an angel he was puppeteering.

“Once upon a time, there was an angel named Lucifer.”

The tapestry changed by the snap of the genie’s finger. It transformed to what appeared to be Heaven with Lucifer being surrounded by angels. Lucifer shined the most.

“He was the Morningstar, outshining all the angels of Heaven. But his shine was never enough to fill his desires. He made a wish so dangerous that drove him to his own self-destruction.”

The tapestry shifted to Lucifer appearing like he was jealous of the hands of the Most High creating mortal kind.

“Lucifer wanted the seat of the Most High’s. He wanted to be a god to all the living mortals down on the earth the Creator created.”

The next tapestry appeared next to one that changed, revealing Lucifer waging war with him holding his pitchfork while the Most High clenched his fists with lightning around them.

“He waged war on Heaven, convincing most angels to side with him. Both he and the Creator fought and fought for many days and nights until Lucifer fell off of Heaven with his angels turned into demons now.”

The tapestry shifted to Lucifer falling from Heaven and down into the fires of Hell.

“Their wings stripped off of their backs and their halos crumbled above their heads, tiny glass shards jabbed on top of their heads that became their horns. Lucifer was no longer the Morningstar he used to be. He was now the Devil. He became the ruler of this burning lake of fire called Hell. However, he desired to rule the mortal realm still.”

The next tapestry revealed that Devil crawled out of Hell and towards the mortal realm. The next tapestry moved ahead to reveal the Devil disguising himself as a snake to tempt the first mortal woman ever created to eat the forbidden fruit. Then it showed various stages of the world falling with mortals either turning to their selfish desires such as a brother killing another to be in favor of the Most High, a mortal who built an ark to put all the animals and mortals that was in faith with the Most High, and a half mortal and half son of the Most High dying on the cross.

Then the last tapestry revealed that the Devil was building his kingdom in the isle far from where these events at.

“His rise to the top wasn’t easy, but he decided to built his kingdom on sand. A demon disguised as a man, a king. He anointed himself with oil and ruled the mortals who had been in the kingdom so early on. His name was changed to King Luci.”

The next tapestry showed the Devil as the king meeting King Dice, a die head in a purple tuxedo.

“His man, King Dice, caught the eye of the king a few centuries later. It was one day, he found out about these wishes and desires in human hearts through his husband. Together, they ruled the kingdom, finding ways to gather these wishes and grant them.”

The next tapestry revealed Devil and Dice ruling the kingdom as both kings.

“A system was built now. And more people came over the centuries and settled. These isles the Devil ruled are now known as the Inkwell Isles”

The last tapestry showed a tree off of the shore with the red feline.

“This is where our story begins. This is where we meet one feline who changed the course of history forever,” Jerry concluded his narrative. 

~.~

Cassidy, the red-furred feline with black short hair and a purple dress, was sleeping against the tree with a branch she was sitting on extended to the side. She leaned against the trunk with quiet snores, spending time being under the stars.

What she didn’t know was that her mother, Shayna, approached her. With a soft smile on her face, she climbed up on the branch next to her daughter. She nudged on Cassidy’s arm gently.

“Hey, wake up,” Shayna whispered.

Cassidy groaned awake and fluttered her eyes open to see her mother sitting next to her. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi,” Shayna responded. “You’re looking up at the stars again, aren’t you?”

Cassidy rubbed her eyes with a yawn. “Yeah.”

“Did you make a wish?”

“Not really,” she said while looking down to see a gravestone on the edge of the cliff.

It had an engraving that said, “Here lies Jack Cat: A father and a husband.”

Shayna frowned and looked at her daughter. “Believe it or not, I miss him too. But you know, you’re going to become of age soon in a few months. Eighteen, to be exact. You get to give your wish to King Luci.”

“Yeah…but I’m not sure if he’ll ever grant it. It might sound like a stupid wish,” Cassidy replied sadly.

Shayna caressed her daughter’s fluffy cheek. “As long as it’s not a bad wish, you’ll be fine.”

Cassidy smiled softly until she jumped to hear the bells ring from the town just down the hill. “Oh shoot! I’m going to be late!” She hopped off of the tree branch and turned to the gravestone to bid it goodbye. “Bye, Dad.”

Shayna followed after her daughter when Cassidy started to run. “Honey, honey, wait! Slow down!”

“Sorry, Mom, I gotta go—”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Shayna questioned.

Cassidy stopped for a second and pondered. “Um…”

“Don’t tell me you forgot someone’s birthday?”

Cassidy gasped excitedly, her tail wagging a bit.

Meanwhile, Porkrind, the one-eyed pig, was cleaning around his shop by dusting the shelves full of peculiar objects on them. His skin was pale as if his soul had been sucked out of his body. He sighed deeply when hearing someone sneaking around him.

“Ya know, Jerry, you could’ve just walk into the shop like a normal person,” Porkrind responded, turning to see Jerry, the mysterious person with black fur and red hooked nose, appearing on the other side of the counter.

Jerry pulled something out from within his trench coat and took out the crates. “Here are some special deliveries that a friend told me to give to you on your—”

“Ba-ba-ba,” Porkrind interrupted. “If it’s secret, it’s better to be kept that way.”

“It’s a gift from Shayna and Cassidy.”

“Huh? Why would they—?”

“It’s for your birthday…did you forget?” Jerry asked.

“Of course not,” Porkrind groaned. “Great. Just great. Another year closer to my death.”

“You always say that every year.”

“I meant it every year.”

“You used to be, uh, happier before King Luci took your wish. What happened to you?”

“Because the king doesn’t even bother to grant my wish. For forty years, he hadn’t granted my wish. Why? Is it not good enough for him to grant?”

“I’m sure the king has his reasons.”

“I like to see him come up with one. Tell me, Jerry, since he took your wish, had he granted you any?”

Jerry rubbed his chin. “Nah. Not really. But even if he didn’t grant my wish, it’s alright. I’m content with just where I’m at right now.”

Porkrind sighed. “I wish I can be that content.”

Cassidy and Shayna entered the shop.

“Happy birthday!” Cassidy replied happily, rushing up to the pig and hugging him.

He stumbled back from her jumping on him to hug with a chuckle. “Whoa, whoa, easy there.”

“Did Jerry give you our presents?” Cassidy asked excitedly.

“It’s right here,” Jerry showed the felines.

“You didn’t open it?” Shayna asked the pig.

“Not yet.”

Cassidy hopped excitedly. “Open it. Open it.”

Porkrind huffed a laugh. “Okay, okay, okay.” The pig opened the presents both Cassidy and Shayna gave him. He widened his eye in shock to find a stack of paper for ads around his shop. The papers have drawings of strange objects that look both colorful and realistic.

Shayna smiled softly. “Those are Cassi’s drawings for your shop.”

Cassidy leaned forward. “Since you wanted to expand your business, you can post ads everywhere in Inkwell Isles. I’m sure you’ll get someone’s attention.”

Porkrind smiled softly. “Well, how awfully considerate of you. I might have to consider putting these up.”

“And you get to sell all of your collections,” Shayna responded.

Porkrind smiled softly at them. “That would be lovely…” he yawned a bit. “Not sure how I could if I’m so tired all the time.”

Cassidy frowned to notice him getting sleepy. “Are you okay?”

“Just gettin’ older,” Porkrind answered softly.

Everyone in the shop heard the bells ring from the kingdom.

“Oh shoot! I’m going to be late!” Cassidy gasped in shock. She kissed her mother’s cheek and hugged both Porkrind and Jerry. “I gotta go before I’m late. I love you all!”

“We love you too. Be safe!” Shayna called as her daughter was out of the door.

Jerry sighed happily. “She’s growing up so fast.”

“Too fast I’m afraid,” Porkrind said with a frown.

Jerry and Shayna glanced at Porkrind and lost their smiles.

Shayna decided to change the subject. “C’mon, let me make a birthday breakfast for you.”

“Thanks,” Porkrind responded.

~.~

 Cassidy rushed into the kingdom in the early morning. Entering the plaza full of shops opening up, she started sweat around her head. “I’m late. I’m late—”

“Excuse, miss.”

Cassidy jumped when she heard a voice. It came from a female human with blonde hair and her husband.

“You seem knowledgeable about this place,” the woman began. “We just got here and we’ve been looking for a tourist, but everyone here…looks dead inside. You and the kids seemed to be the only lively ones.”

Cassidy faked a smile. “They probably just woke up. But, um, let me find you guys a tour guide—”

“But we want a tour guide that’s lively like you, dear,” the woman clarified. “Do you mind giving us a tour?”

“Uh…sure. I mean, I would love to give you a tour. I’m sure this will only take a couple of minutes with a song,” Cassidy replied.

“A song?” the woman and her husband responded in confusion.

On cue, the music began to play as Cassidy swayed her hips side to side to the beat of the tambourine instrument played by a random civilian. Then she started to sing beautifully.

“Welcome to the Inkwell Isles!

Come on, there’s so much to show you!”

Cassidy led the couple down the plaza and showed the colors coming to life around them.

“Welcome to the happiest place on Earth.

There’s no other place like the Inkwell Isles.

Your dreams and reality will combine.”

She showed gypsies dancing in the center of the plaza while they were drumming on the tambourines.

Cassidy danced with them while showing the couple. She showed them someone conducting a live performance in the street with a wand.

“You want to be taken to Fantasia?”

She twirled around to a woman with long hair in a tight braid that reached to her heels. She pointed at the girl when singing the line.

“Or have your hair grow longer than Rapunzel?”

She hopped towards a couple of kids in the playground dressed up in space ranger suits.

“Or become a Space Ranger?”

She popped up between the new couple in the plaza and chirped in her melodic voice.

“Well, hey, you’ve came to the right place!”

She twirled around the center as the citizens started to join her and sing along with her.

“‘Cause here in the Inkwell Isles,

You can skip all of your hardships just to be where you want to be.

No more suffering and no more obstacles.

Oh here, in the Inkwell Isles,

It’s impossible to be unhappy with so much magic to see.”

Cassidy sang softly while pointing each citizen she sang to. The more colors came to life, the more the tourists who arrived at the city and watched her in fascination.

“A home for every one of us, and yes, even you.

In the Inkwell Isles.”

The pirate with two peg legs tilted his head. “So, who’s your ruler here?”

Cassidy gleefully smiled. “Well, here, let me introduce you to our kings.”

She guided the tourists to the statue of the king in silver stone shining in the early light in front of the castle.

“We have our ruler called King Luci.

And he built Inkwell Isles all by himself.

With talons and fangs, sharp enough to cut into you!”

The tourists gasped in fear with a wince.

Cassidy had the sudden guilty look from scaring the tourists, faking a smile.

“Wait, no, no, I’m just kidding...but you don’t want to mess with him.

He’s different than us, that’s for sure.”

“He looks like a joke,” the flower with orange petals commented.

“Hey, shut up and listen to her,” the blonde woman scolded the flower.

Cassidy blushed and sang.

“Aww, thanks.

Oh, look over here,

It’s—”

“Cassidy!”

The music paused as Cassidy turned to look at the man with a purple suit and a die for his head. His thin mustache around the top of his lips while arching a brow.

“What are on earth are you doing?”

Cassidy straightened up. “Sorry, your majesty. Just giving a tourists a tour.”

“A tour? Oh-ho-ho, you folks seem to have a fun time. The name’s King Dice, the gamest in the land. I see our maid is giving you all a spectacular tour.” He said the end of the line by showing off his card tricks to them, getting the audience to gasp in fascination when the music started to play.

“Yeah, she seems lively out of—” The blonde woman looked around to find out that everyone was now lively. “Um…nevermind?”

“Well, yes,” the die-headed king responded with a smile. “Everyone here is lively in the Inkwell Isles,”

The music continued as he began to sing.

“Oh, has she forgot to mention once you come here with a wish,

You give it to the king of wishes, my husband?

He’ll take away your burdens and store them away.

So, don’t worry your pretty little heads,

When you got a king to take all your worries away?”

The flower arched a brow. “Uh, that sounds too good to be true.”

“Oh, what a great place to live,” the woman replied to her husband.

“Wait, does it hurt when he takes our wishes?” the pirate questioned.

The king shook his head and sang beautifully.

“No, and you won’t feel a thing once they’re gone.”

The king looked at Cassidy as they both sang together and showed the tourist around the streets of Inkwell Isle.

“‘Cause here in the Inkwell Isles,

You can skip all of your hardships just to be where you want to be.

No suffering and no obstacles.

Oh here, in the Inkwell Isles.

It’s impossible to be unhappy with so much magic to see.”

Cassidy sang beautifully for the last two lines.

“A home for every one of us, and yes, even you.

In the Inkwell Isles.”

The music ended on the softer note while the tourists clapped for Cassidy and King Dice.

“Oh, we’re going to love it here!” The husband replied happily.

“I got so many wishes to make,” the wife said with excitement in her tone.

“Huh, it sounds a bit nifty,” the flower whispered to the pirate.

King Dice shifted his gaze down at Cassidy. “Well, well, I didn’t even notice you have good singing talents. I’m sure you make a great tourist one day.”

She looked away with guilt while following the king back to the castle. “I’m sorry, your majesty. I know that it’s your job to give tours.”

“Oh no, no, it’s fine. I didn’t think there were already many tourists coming into this place so early in the morning,” Dice responded. Once they’re inside of the castle, Dice dropped his pleasantry face and glanced at her. “Now, for the chores at hand.”

He shoved a bucket full of soap water and a sponge onto the feline’s chest. “The king wants the floors cleaned. We’re going to have a special event involving your little tourists friends. Get every corner and every tile on the floor. And since you’re late, you better chop-chop before the king sees you standing idle.”

“Yes, your majesty,” she responded as he walked away.

With a sigh, Cassidy started to scrub the floors throughout the entire kingdom, getting every corner she could find as King Dice instructed her to do. 

~.~

Natalie, the cup girl with brown bubbly hair, baked the last batch of cookies with King Luci’s face on it. King Luci’s face appeared to be a man with a bright blue hair with only a gray streak line. She limped over to the lift, using her crutch to get her there. She opened the wooden door and lifted it up to deliver it to the king in his bedroom. She never had been up there before and, frankly, she didn’t care much to go up there.

“Can I have some of your cookies?”

“AH!” Natalie screeched and punched a random stranger in the face. Although, she realized that it was just a cup boy with a striped red straw bent backwards on the floor.

“Oh golly! I’m so sorry, Cuphead! I didn’t even know it was you who was there,” Natalie exclaimed, helping him up on his feet with a blush on her face.

“I should’ve known better than to sneak up behind ya,” Cuphead responded with a small smile. “Didn’t mean to scare ya.”

“It’s fine. It’s fine,” Natalie responded, her face flustered. “Um, what did you ask before I punch you in the face?”

“Oh, I was just gonna ask if you still have some cookies left over,” Cuphead replied. “But I think the last batch went to the king already.”

“You can have my burned batch.”

“Oooh!” Cuphead perked his head up interested. when she showed him a tray full of burned cookies.

“I know how you like them. Hope you don’t mind—”

Cuphead grabbed one of the cookies and started to chew on it. He gave a thumbs up. “Ten out of ten. As always.”

She blushed and grinned nervously. “Thanks.”

He softly smiled back at her. “No problem.”

She rubbed her arm nervously around him. “So…”

They were interrupted by the door opening, revealing a metal canteen with goggles on his forehead.

“Hey, guys,” the canteen replied.

“What on earth are you doing here? You know you are going to get yourself in trouble with the king again,” Cuphead whispered to Canteen harshly.

“Yeah, yeah, but I came up with a new theory about where the wishes go!” Canteen responded.

“Not your theories again, man,” Cuphead groaned.

“Now here me out,” Canteen replied. “Hear me out. What if the wishes were buried?”

“Buried?” a female voice replied, scaring Cuphead and Natalie.

Natalie threw a punch, but she punched a see-through face. She realized she was punching through a blue ghost chalice, who phased her head away from Natalie’s fist.

“Sorry there, girlie,” Chalice, the blue ghost, replied. She took one of the burned cookies and hovered over the table, focusing on Canteen while turning into her physical form. Now her head was a golden chalice with a black top and an aqua skirt. “So, what do ya mean that our wishes were buried?”

“So, think about it. Have any of you ever seen any wishes around here somewhere in the castle?” Canteen asked his friends.

Cuphead crossed his arms. “There ain’t no wishes over at the stables.”

“Or in the kitchen,” Natalie added.

“Or in the king’s bedroom…unless it’s somehow behind the magical wall that I couldn’t phase through somehow,” Chalice responded.

“Wait, what?!” the kids gasped.

Chalice nodded her head. “Yeah, the king got a secret wall that he usually goes into. I tried to phase through because, you all know, I’m nosey…and…well, I couldn’t.”

“Have you tried to go around and phase through the windows that might lead to the secret room?”

“Yep, tried that. It zapped me before I could even go inside,” Chalice responded to Natalie’s question.

“Huh, a ghost resistant magic I see,” Cuphead replied to himself.

Canteen gained everyone’s attention back. “So, maybe…it’s buried under the castle. It is said that King Luci built this kingdom on sand…right? Well, he could have buried the wishes under the castle and sand…makes it easier to dig.”

Cassidy entered the kitchen, out of breath from work. She widened her eyes to see her friends gathering in the kitchen.

“What are you guys doing?” Cassidy asked her friends.

“Makin’ theories I suppose,” Natalie responded.

“But wishes are special. There ain’t no way he would be keeping ‘em underground,” Cuphead replied.

“Then where would you keep the wishes at?” Chalice asked.

Cuphead shrugged. “A vault…somewhere. I don’t know.”

“RIGHT! YOU CAN BURY A VAULT FULL OF WISHES UNDERNEATH THE CASTLE!! CUPHEAD, YOU ARE A GENUIS!!” Canteen shouted excitedly.

“Huh?” Cuphead uttered.

Cassidy arched a brow. “Did you have a pot full of coffee again?”

Canteen took out an empty pot of coffee from behind his back. “Yeah, but, hey, at least it kept me up all night theorizing about where our wishes go.”

Cassidy tilted her head. “Why would that matter?”

“Why wouldn’t it matter?” Canteen replied. “Like, you have King Luci here taking wishes from you and where do they go? They don’t just disappear into thin air. He just took them and store them away somewhere. He claims to be the wish-granter and had granted wishes before. Like, you know that lady that wished to fly through the skies?”

The kids nodded their heads.

“Didn’t she get transformed into…you know, a blimp?” Chalice replied.

“A humanoid blimp! She’s flew through the skies as the wish granted. So, he kept her soul, but somehow…twisted it into something completely different. All he had to do was shoved her wish back into her chest and Voila! She’s a humanoid blimp.”

“You think she didn’t want to be a blimp?” Natalie questioned.

“It’s not what she asked for,” Canteen responded.

“But she gets to fly,” Cassidy replied.

“Yeah, but not in the way she probably didn’t want,” Canteen added.

“How would you know that?” Chalice questioned.

Canteen sighed. “I’ve just seen the way she’s walking. She ain’t walking good lately—”

“Are you talking about Hilda?” Another voice peered into the conversation from behind Canteen.

Canteen whirled around to see a bowl with freckles. “Bowlboy! Hey, you’ve came just in time since I’m done makin’ another theory.”

“Oh, great,” Bowlboy responded while plastering a smile, his eyes droopy from the lack of sleep.

“How late did you stay up?” Cuphead asked, noticing the bags under the bowl’s eyes.

“D’ya need coffee?” Chalice asked.

Canteen offered his empty coffee pot. “You can refill it.”

Bowlboy shook his head at the offer. “Nah, I’m fine. Uh, I slept pretty early actually. Is it normal to feel drained out after you gave away your wish to the king?”

“I guess,” Natalie responded shyly.

“That reminds me. We all got wishes coming up to give to the king,” Cassidy responded. “What did you guys wish for?”

Natalie looked at Cuphead and blushed, earning a smirk from Cassidy. She shook her head. “Uh, nothing.”

“I wish to be the top dancer! Look, I’ve been practicing!” Chalice replied while tap-dancing in front of the group.

The group awed in fascination.

“Oh! I’m lookin’ to open a mechanic shop,” Canteen responded, taking out a wrench with glee. “I’m already good at fixin’ things. Why not open a shop for it?”

“You should be opening a shop where you just tell your customers all your theories,” Cuphead teased his friend.

“I mean, I can hold a good conversation with them while they wait,” Canteen went along with the joke.

Cuphead chuckled and moved the subject to himself. “Well, I want my own ship to explore the world with. Have you guys ever wonder what’s beyond the Inkwell Isles?”

“No.”

“Not really.”

“That’s really admirable,” Natalie said with a wistful sigh at Cuphead. She blushed and stuttered. “I-I mean, it’s admirable that you want to explore the world.”

Cuphead smiled obliviously. “Thanks.”

Bowlboy sighed. “Well, you guys are going to have to wait for a while to have your wish granted. I mean, I just wished to be part of the king’s army…but I guess that won’t ever come true.”

“Aw, Bowlboy, don’t lose hope,” Chalice responded. “Besides, I’m sure King Luci has his reasons.”

“Reasons he’ll never tell us. Which makes room for more theories and suspicions!” Canteen replied excitedly.

As Chalice and the boys were chatting about the wishes, Cassidy noticed Natalie staring at Cuphead with a goofy smile.

“Why don’t you go and tell him? You don’t have to wish it to tell him how you feel.”

Natalie turned to Cassidy with a blush. “No, I can’t. I mean, what if he says no?”

“You’ll never know until you tell him right. You know that wishes can’t make a person fall in love—”

“I know, I know. I’m not even wishing for that. I just wish…I was brave…like you.”

“Like me?”

“Yeah, you see a guy you like and you went for it—”

“Not really—”

“Don’t sell yourself short.”

“Well, last time I went to a guy I think I like and dated him, it didn’t work out,” Cassidy responded while looking at Bowlboy to refer to him.

Bowlboy took a moment to glance at Cassidy and then look away with a soft grunt.

“He must be mad at me. I just didn’t have feelings for him. I didn’t want to keep pretending and be honest with him. I guess, being honest is a bad thing.”

“Hey, just because you and Bowlboy didn’t work out, that didn’t mean that it’s the end of the world. Besides, you gotta kiss many frogs to find your Prince Charming.”

“Says the one who hasn’t approached her potential Prince Charming yet.”

Natalie blushed madly. “Hey, I’m talking about you—”

The door opened and the room fell silent. The kids glanced up to see the other king in a purple robe, a gold crown, and appearing like a man with red hair.

“What are you all doing lollygagging? Chop-chop! We have tourists today! We need to make a ceremony to welcome them!” the king responded impatiently until he noticed Canteen. “Wait, you’re not supposed to be here—”

Canteen ran and crashed through the window. He fell and screamed out his words on the way down. “I’LL SEE YOU GUYS TOMORROW!!!”

Cuphead and Bowlboy looked out of the window to see Canteen landing on the pile of hay and scurrying out of it.

“Well, at least he landed on the pile of hay,” Cuphead replied to Bowlboy, who nodded his head in agreement.

“Cuphead, Bowlboy! You’re supposed to tend to the stables,” King Luci ordered.

“Alright, alright, your Majesty. We’re on our way,” Cuphead responded. “C’mon, Bowls, we got work to do.”

Bowlboy nodded his head sadly in agreement.

They exited out of the kitchen while Cuphead waved Natalie and Cassidy goodbye.

“You,” King Luci pointed to Natalie. “Get cooking. And you?”

Cassidy shrank down nervously.

“Come with me,” King Luci replied.

Cassidy nodded her head obediently and bid Natalie goodbye. She followed the king out of the kitchen.

~.~

 The king and Cassidy stepped out of the kitchen.

“You know, since King Dice has been reporting all the great efforts you made of keeping the castle spotless and giving new tourists a grand welcome, there is one special favor I need you to do for me,” King Luci replied to Cassidy.

“Of course. What do you need me to do?” Cassidy asked.

King Luci led her up the stairs and towards his room. “I need you to clean my study. I don’t trust many servants in this castle. Including you. But, since Dice has spoke highly of you and trusts you, I thought I would let you do the cleaning instead of me. Now, here are a few rules when it comes to cleaning my study.” He pushed the doors opened and guided her through his spotless room full of red colored floors and bed sheets, and velvet curtains on one side of the room.

King Luci opened the velvet curtains to reveal a wall reflecting both the maid and the king. “Rule number one, you do not touch anything.”

He used his hand to open the wall magically. The wall slid to the left, revealing the king’s study that Chalice was talking about. Cassidy gasped in fascination to see all the potions and the neat inventions to help create potions.

He moved objects around telepathetically and placed them on the empty shelves high up so that she could clean the dusty counters properly. “Rule number two, don’t drink the potions. Unless you have a wish to die, then by all means drink them.”

She looked out the window to see the entire city of Inkwell Isles below them. Her smile brightened when she looked out to the beautiful city.

He used his mind powers to move the books to the shelves. “Rule number three, and this is the most important of them all.”

She glanced up at the king, who gave her a firm stare.

“Whatever you do, even when you are cleaning it, don’t ever open the black door,” he replied while pointing at the black door at the corner of the room. “Unless you have a death wish, I suggest you to never go through the door. Do you get all of these rules?”

Cassidy nodded her head. “Yes, your Majesty.”

“Good. Now, I trust King Dice more than I trust you. If he speaks highly of you, that means you must have some value. Oh, and if you ever want to get out, there’s a lift for you to take since you don’t have the magic to open the door. Now get to it,” King Luci demanded while walking out of the room, the door closing behind him.

Cassidy sighed and looked around the study. She glanced up at the ceiling to notice nothing up there. Without wasting anymore time, she began cleaning the dusty counter with a rag from her pocket.

It was only thirty minutes later of deep cleaning the king’s study as she finally got to the black door. She wiped the dust off of the black door, intriguing her curiosity. But she should know better than to be—

Her thoughts interrupted when the door opened automatically. She yelped and stepped back in fear, feeling nothing than heat coming from down the stairs. The smell of brimstone infiltrated her nose. Now her curiosity grew stronger.

“Unless you have a death wish, I suggest you never go through the door.”

Cassidy’s ears twitched and looked around the king’s study. She could hear screaming from below. Her heart raced. Someone might be in trouble down there. She rushed down the stairs without thinking about it. Down the stairs, the heat really started to make her sweat. She might as well be in an oven since the heat was rising the more she stepped down the stairs.

Cassidy finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, but she could see that there were…demons? Demons were walking through the pathways of this strange place. She really wasn’t supposed to be down there. Now many questions filled her head, but she snuck through the new place. She kept hearing screams and went towards the sound, realizing that it came from the lake of fire. She saw many people burning in the lake, trying to crawl out but the demons always pushed back into the fire.

For the first time, she felt nothing but fear. She wanted to jump in and help them out of the lake fire, but what if they dragged her in there with them? She was too deep to go back to the surface. She glanced up and noticed a glimmering silver giant vault at the other side of the lake of fire.

She snuck around the lake and approached the vault. Cassidy opened the vault and it swung open. It revealed the souls of all the people in the Inkwell Isles who had given wishes to King Luci. She noticed Porkrind’s soul along with her mother’s and Jerry’s. She reached for them and noticed an orb within their souls. She looked into them and saw that her mother was singing her heart out, Jerry was entertaining a group of kids with his shows, and Porkrind was having more customers at his shop.

She glanced up to see her father’s soul, who was also a red-feline like her and her mother.

“Dad?” Cassidy recognized, feeling tears edging out of her eyes. She started to breathe heavily. Unbeknownst to her, a tall figure with bigger horns loomed over her.

“So, you do have a death wish,” a familiar voice growled.

Cassidy whirled around and gasped to find the king in his true form. A charcoal-furred demon with glowing ruby eyes and sharp fangs gritted together.

“You’ve been stealing their souls,” Cassidy said with her voice croaked.

The demon king yanked the red feline out of the soul vault and shut the door. She started to tremble in fear for her life.

“I told you to not open that door!” the demon king growled, sharpening his talons in a ready to strike her.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she cried, her body trembling more. “Please, I won’t tell anyone! I swear!”

“You swear?”

“Yes! I won’t say a word to anyone about it! Not even to my family and my friends! Please! Don’t kill me!”

“How pitiful. Look at you. So small and begging for your life.”

She closed her eyes, awaiting her death until she heard a fist pounding against the wall. She opened her eyelids to see the demon’s fist pounding on the wall.

“Consider this mercy,” the demon king growled. “But you are not cleaning my study again. And you won’t say a word to anyone about this. If you do, you won’t be the only one who suffers. I have your family’s souls…I’m sure you don’t want to know what I will do to them if you tell anyone in your family. And as for your little group of friends, I’ll have to take their wishes sooner than when they’ve become of age. Am I understood?”

She nodded her head fearfully.

“Good. Now why don’t we get you cleaned? Don’t want to walk around the ceremony smelling like brimstone, now do we?”

Cassidy nodded her head again in agreement this time, but her eyes were stuck wide in fear. 

~.~

Cassidy had to convince herself that she was okay, but she had a terrible poker face.

She smelled like lavender after the demon king offered her a shower to hide away any suspicious smells of brimstone. Throughout the ceremony within the golden ballroom of the castle, she tried to fake a smile.

Her friends, who were dressed nice for this occasion like her, noticed the looks on her face. She should’ve known better than to hide anything from them.

Natalie leaned over to Cassidy. “What’s going on, girl? You’re sweating all over the place.”

“I-I’m fine. Just a bit nervous about the ceremony,” Cassidy replied.

Chalice joined in. “You do realize that we only got a few months until we give our wishes to King Luci.”

Cassidy nodded her head. “Yeah, I know. Uh, can’t wait.”

She could herself screaming ‘no’ to them in her head. They didn’t know. They shouldn’t know. But how long could she keep her mouth shut from them? She always tell everything to them. But now there was a reason to keep this from them. She did notice the King Dice had been keeping a special eye on her, gesturing her to smile. King Dice might have known about what his husband really was.

The feline felt sick to her stomach. She looked to notice her mother there with Porkrind and Jerry, looking paler after she realized why they had been pale. Even Bowlboy was pale. His soul might have been taken into that vault too.

“Cassidy,” Natalie’s voice finally snapped her out of her thoughts.

She turned her head sharply to look at her friend.

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Natalie whispered to the feline.

Cassidy faked a smile. “Everything is fine, Nat. Everything is just fine.”

Natalie didn’t seem convinced, but didn’t push further.

The lights dimmed in the ballroom as the king appeared on stage with a grand smile.

“Welcome, my fellow subjects! I see some new colorful faces here! My name is King Luci. I’m sure you’ve met my wonderful husband, King Dice! I hope you’re getting comfortable here, since this is the happiest place on earth! If any of you have a wish, I be happy to take them from your hands!”

The newly-wed couple that Cassidy gave a tour a while ago came up to the stage excitedly.

“We wish to have a theater!” The blonde woman replied excitedly.

The husband nodded happily in agreement.

“You both have the same wish? Now, isn’t that interesting? Here, let me take them,” King Luci replied, holding his hands out for the couple to grab. The couple grabbed King Luci’s hands respectively. “Now, wish this desire with all of your hearts and souls.”

They did just that…in fact, their souls were being sucked out of them in the orb that was holding their wishes. Once their souls were in the dim blue orbs, the couple’s bodies turned pale.

“Now, how does that feel?” King Luci replied.

“I don’t feel a thing,” the blonde wife responded.

Cassidy witnessed this, silencing her sobs that wanted to spill forth so bad.

Porkrind looked through the crowd to find Cassidy on the verge of breaking down crying, looking at her in concern. 

To Be Continued...

[elm-writes-stories]

Teaser for the next episode of Cuphead: Isle of Memories

Episode Eight: The Devil in a Red Dress

Chef Saltbaker sat alone in his cell with a bored look on his face. His head was resting on his hand while sitting on the creaky bed. The police had shut down the prison since Tremaine had infected half of the population of the town. Now, they barricaded the premises of the prison, not letting any infectees into the prison. 

Saltbaker couldn’t do community service, which part of him was glad. But he was still banned from the kitchens and his sentence has been extended since he was in the kitchen to make the cure for Mugman. A little sacrifice won’t hurt…right? Well, if it weren’t for the fact that the sentencing went from five years to ten years, maybe he wouldn’t feel like he was tortured by boredom and Tabitha’s constant complaints of the prison’s condition. 

He heard a clink sound from the bars and looked up to see the bug cop standing there with a baton.

“You got yourselves visitors,” the cop responded while referring to Porkrind, Dice, Jerry, Chalice, Cuphead, Mugman, Canteen, and Natalie approaching the cell. 

“Ah, you still allow visitors. It makes being here less boring I suppose,” Saltbaker replied cheekily to the bug cop.

The cop rolled his eyes and turned to the others. “Ya got fifteen minutes.” He walked away from the group.

Porkrind instantly turned to the chef. “So, I heard you can make a cure for Tremaine.”

Saltbaker arched a brow and stood up from his bed, walking over to the bars dividing him and the group. “Well…yeah. That’s what extended my sentencing period.”

“Sorry,” Chalice uttered.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. Is Mugman…?” Saltbaker noticed Mugman standing there without having Tremaine inside of him. “Oh good, it cured him.”

“Well, we’re going to need your help curing someone else,” Chalice uttered with a nervous smile.