in the heights | natalie scatorccio x reader
hey! I'm back!
I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, really. but I'm happy with the engagement and the new followers here on the blog, welcome everyone and I hope you like my stories below.
I haven't made the masterlist yet, but as soon as I do, I'll pin it to organize it better.
this first oneshot is super cute, I hope you like it. I'm also not going to open requests for now, but I'll leave my ask open in case you want to send me messages and interact through it too!
thanks for following along!
enjoy!
sorry for any grammatical or coherence errors, english is not my first language and I'm trying to improve!
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in the heights | natalie scatorccio x reader
-> prompt: you and natalie at a ferris wheel. but it gets stuck. <-
warnings: non cannon, no crash, most fem!reader but it works for gender neutral readers too, natalie having a soft side, a lot of swear words, very cliché and gay.
***
"I already told you I don't want to go. That's for children."
You laugh, watching Natalie blow out the last of her cigarette and use her worn-out sneakers to crush it on the floor. The two of you are leaning against a street light, but you're more focused on the popcorn that's almost gone and the noise of the kids screaming behind you, enjoying the huge roller coaster, or the carousel, or yelling for their mom to buy more tokens to hit the clown's mouth and win a damn stuffed bear.
It's your last year before heading off to college, but you're not old enough to enjoy the rare amusement park event when the mayor is in a good mood, which is why you make a point of not only inviting Natalie, but the rest of the girls on the team.
The difference is that you're not as close to them as you are to the platinum blonde who's snorting as she's being bumped into by a four-foot-tall boy who's running after another boy whose height you haven't yet identified.
"Oh, please, it's just going to be a single ride. I really want to see the city from up there", you insist, using your best whining voice, to try to convince Natalie to join you on the ferris wheel. She rolls her eyes as you shove another handful of popcorn into your mouth. "Then we can go on the ghost train, since you want to be that frightened."
"You know I hate the ferris wheel, (Y\N), no way."
Natalie was always closed off about her feelings and desires - and unless it had to do with addictions, cigarettes and drugs, you'd never guess any of the things she was passionate about. Of course, you knew about her problems with her father, her terrible relationship with her mother and how much she wanted to buy a trailer in the park closest to her school so she wouldn't have to live with this nightmare again, but otherwise, none of Natalie's fears were obvious to you.
So it was fun to hear her complain, in her usual grumpy mood, about how she hated rides on the ferris wheel.
“It’s not that bad,” you tried once more. "One ride, I promise. I'll give you one of my cigarettes later, don't worry."
Natalie huffed again, rolling her eyes at you, and put her lighter in the pocket of her old moss green jacket before walking over to you.
"Just a ride and then it's over. It's not a question."
You nodded, shrugging and swallowing hard, before starting to walk beside her. Oh, one more thing about Natalie that you knew since you met her: she hated holding hands.
***
"I swear I'm going to kill you. It seems like a good thing to push you from the highest point, don't you think?"
Natalie proposed, whispering through clenched teeth as the ferris wheel monitor buckled you up and closed the cabin. There was a noise in the background, coming from other laughing children and families in the cabins behind, so Natalie had to get a little closer to you to whisper in your direction.
"Ah, come on, it's going to be fun!", you murmured, in your usual joy, looking to the side and enjoying the view of the park before the ride started to rise. "But if you feel unwell, I can ask the monitor to stop first and come down."
"It is not necessary."
She murmured, taking a deep breath, and you felt like there was too much air gathering in Natalie's lungs. With your free arm, you passed it over the cabin, around the platinum blonde, in an attempt to comfort her. It didn't help, but you were sure you saw her lined eyes relax a little.
And then, the ride began. The families behind you screamed loudly when the cabins started to rise a little, and then they started laughing when theirs stopped in the air and slowly descended, giving a good view of the city from up there.
You looked away again at the huge windows and the landscape, even though you weren't so high up. It felt good to reassure Natalie at that moment, her fear feeling like it was going to leave her body and hover like a cloud of dust above your heads.
"Are you okay?"
"Absolutely."
You laughed, making a mental note and finding it amusing that Natalie always used colloquial language when she was scared. Suddenly, she looked down, and her clear eyes widened again.
"Holy shit! Why are there two guys down there? And why does it look like they're arguing? Oh, God, don't tell me we-"
You looked down, just to see where she was looking, and then, suddenly, the voices of the families became clearer, as if they purposefully escaped from the windows of the cabins straight into yours. "we're stuck!" "it looks like the toy broke!" "damn, bunch of irresponsible people!" "I want my fucking money back!" "get that fucking toy down soon, buddy!"
Gritting your teeth, you looked at Natalie, and you were sure that she had heard at least half of the whispers, or, well, at best - and probably the most terrible - she had enough intelligence to figure out what had just happened on her own. to happen.
"Fuck me," she muttered, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Once, twice, three times. And then, you grabbed her with your free arm by the collar of her shirt, the back collar.
"Calm down, it's just a quick stop, it's supposed to give more excitement. Soon the ferris wheel comes back, just try to breathe", you whispered, and obviously it didn't help at all.
"I'm not five anymore, (Y\N). Don't act like you're my fucking parents."
"Hey, don't freak out, it won't help…", you clicked your tongue. "Well, how about if we just try to distract ourselves while the toy doesn't come back? Make small talk? There are some things going on that you haven't told me yet, right?"
You don't know how this caught Natalie's attention, but you saw that her face had returned to its usual paleness, and that she had raised an eyebrow in your direction.
"What are you talking about?"
"Why, the most obvious. You and Travis Martinez, what else?"
She rolled her eyes. "It's not what you think. He's just my friend. Just like you are too."
Ouch, that one hurt. It would have affected you more, of course, if you had even had feelings for Natalie, but obviously you had nothing more than a friendly affection for her, and in truth, her and Travis' sudden closeness wasn't bothering you in the slightest. in an unhealthy way…
Absolutely not. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath.
"Just friends? Oh, sure, like, okay then…" You took another deep breath, and then blushed when you saw her raised eyebrow again. "It's just, like, he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would hang out with our gang…"
"You mean he doesn't look like a rebellious kid?" Natalie scoffed, biting her lip and looking away from you. "Yeah, I mean, you'd be surprised by some things about him."
"And how come you know so much, huh?"
She pursed her lips. You had used an intonation that definitely wasn't as ironic as you thought it would be, and in fact, maybe that would have surprised Natalie. You were about to open your mouth to apologize, when she spoke first, her eyes fixed on you and that cheeky smile that only she knew how to give.
"Damn, I didn't know you were that possessive, (Y\N)…"
It was your turn to roll your eyes.
"And I'm not. I don't give a shit about your circle of friends, okay?"
"It's not what it looks like…"
"Okay, let's change the subject…", you pursed your lips too, looking away. "Did you buy the hair dye? Your roots are turning black again…"
She nodded, but that sleazy smile was still on her lips as she looked the other way. In fact, it only disappeared when she realized that you guys weren't coming back down, and that it would probably take hours to do so.
"This shit's never going down again, is it? What the fuck…"
You laughed, looking at her again and shaking your head. "You know, if you're so scared, you can hold my hand. I won't bite you unless you ask me to."
Natalie rolled her eyes again, looking at you with closed eyes. She hated vulnerability, especially when it was her own. Her hand slid across the space in the seat that separated the two of you in the cabin, and then, her fingers caught yours, lightly, as if they were magnets attracting each other.
"If you tell anyone tomorrow, I'll kill you," she whispered, her teeth clenched and her gaze still very serious. That made you laugh and eased the blush on your cheeks a little.
Suddenly, like an answer to her silent prayer, the cabin gave a sharp start and threatened to descend. This caused Natalie's already trembling and vulnerable body, barely secured in the seat belt, to fall until it reached your arms. You held her just in case, but she made sure to lean on your waist to straighten herself up again.
"Oh, God, I think I'm going to throw up," she murmured, returning to the fear inside her. You watched her and, in a rush, had an idea that might help. Well, it helped you with your now rare panic attacks before a decisive test in class.
Instinctively, you grabbed her cheek, pressing your faces together at a considerable distance. Her eyes were on you, but specifically at the level of your nose, and she seemed shocked by your unexpected attitude.
“What the fuck are you doing?”, she whispered, her lips barely moving.
"I'm trying to take your focus away. Pay attention to other things, don't fucking look down," you replied, your tone as neutral as possible, your eyes focused on her. But your closeness was incredibly suspicious and, even if you denied it, it took away some of the attention that should have been hers. Clearing your throat, you whispered again. "Do you feel better?"
Natalie didn't answered. She closed her clear eyes and took another deep breath, swallowing hard. And then, her pale, calloused hands touched your shoulder. At first, it seemed like an attempt to push you away, but then, suddenly, when she unexpectedly pressed your lips together, you understood everything.
Responding to the kiss as best you could, terrified that it would be clumsy, you let your mind wander to the darkest parts, and you also understood that you always wanted, deep down, for this moment to happen. And then, after minutes of the wind in your hair and your body getting hot with the blood bubbling almost to your head, Natalie finally did what she normally would do, using the grip on your shoulders to pull you away from her.
"Fuck, this wasn't supposed to happen," she whispered, trying to apologize. And suddenly, she fixed it. "I mean, maybe it was, but not like this. I guess I was just a little… too vulnerable, my bad."
You laughed, blushing once more before holding her hand again, this time placing your palm on hers.
"It's okay to be vulnerable sometimes. You look cute with that soft side," you whispered, nodding. "Well, not like that…"
"Don't be stupid, of course it's like that," she murmured, raising her eyebrow. "Okay, I'm not going to punch you in the face because you kissed me and because you have feelings for me."
"For the record, you were the one who kissed me."
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, fuck. Nobody cares."
Suddenly, the ferris wheel gave another start and, finally, with the screams of satisfaction from all the families who were still waiting up there, it started working normally again. Natalie sighed, still holding your hand in hers, and you smiled, relieved, looking away.
"Just promise me one thing, (Y\N)?"
"Anything, Nat."
"That you won't tell anyone that we kissed-"
"That you kissed me."
"Whatever! Don't tell anyone, do you hear me? Or I'll change my mind and punch you in the face, yes."
You laughed before pulling her closer with your free hand, by her chin, and kissing her once more. "Don't worry. It'll just be our little secret for now."
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Cuphead: Isle of Shadows (Rewrite)
*Hey guys! I'm back with another episode of Cuphead: Isle of Shadows Rewrite. This is published on August 14, 2023. If you guys like this chapter/episode, don't be afraid to vote and comment! That would be great! Enjoy!*
Episode Eleven: The Chef's Ingredients
Mugman’s body was numb to the cold.
He could feel something developing inside of him, almost like another set of lungs…or gills? He gasped as his eyes shot opened. He started to breathe…underwater? Mugman looked up to the surface and saw the rough waves clashing throughout the storm. He blinked and saw the pieces of the ferry boat sinking towards the bottom of the ocean faster than his group were.
Mugman watched his friends and family drifting in the ocean, blacked out. The young mug breathed heavily in fear. Are they dead? He didn’t know what happened until his vision went blue again. He didn’t know what was going on, but he could feel lips moving and the strange words he spoke causing the water underneath the raging storm to move.
“Cape nos ad litus.
Cape nos ad litus.”
Mugman tried to understand what he…himself…was saying. His ears foreign to the language until it was translated the more the language repeated itself.
“Take us to the shore.
Take us to the shore.”
Mugman could feel something moving him. He was too paralysed to look, but he could tell it was huge, bigger than any fish he’d seen. Mugman could feel himself slipping towards the back as he finally managed to see what it was that was carrying him. It was a whale…strangely…with its eyes glowing blue like Mugman’s. He looked to see more whales coming into the scene with their eyes bright blue like Mugman’s, carrying his friends and family. It was almost like the whales were controlled by him, carrying them all towards the shore. Was this all a weird dream? He wouldn’t know.
~.~
Mugman gasped heavily, his chest heaving. He coughed out the water and sat up on the sand, his body trembling. He could feel his nose bleeding against and wiped the blood off. He blocked the sunlight with his hand. He looked out onto the ocean to see the storm ahead of him. He blinked to realize they were at the other side of the storm and glanced down at the others who were laying on the sand with him.
Mugman gasped to find his brother groaning awake. “Cuphead. Cuphead!”
Cuphead groaned. “Huh? What just happened—?” He looked down to notice Natalie laying on his chest. With a blush, he moved her off of him gently and patted her head.
King Dice sat up with a groan until he noticed sand on his damped purple suit. “Ugh! Dang sand! Now, I need to get this to the cleaners—” He looked out into the ocean and blinked in confusion. “Wait, are we—dead? How in the world did we get here?”
Mugman rubbed his head. “That’s a bit hard to explain.”
Soon, Ribby and Croaks raised their heads with groans.
“Did we make it?” Croaks uttered while they looked around the shore to see pieces of their ferry boat washed up on the beach.
“Our boat! It’s destroyed!” Ribby cried.
“You sayin’ it’s my fault?!” Croaks barked at his brother.
“So what if I did?!”
The imaginary bell rang as Ribby and Croaks started to punching each other, waking Captain Brineybeard up from next to them.
“Argh, will ye two stop fightin’ ‘n--wait, where are we?” Brineybeard questioned his surroundings. “How did we end up here?”
Chalice and Canteen sat up from the sand, their hands holding until they noticed and blushed.
Chalice smirked at him. “You know if you wanna hold my hand, you could’ve just asked.”
Canteen swiftly moved his hand away from hers, blushing madly. “Wha—?! Oh, I…that, uh, I wasn’t trying to hold your hand or anything—”
While Canteen was stuttering with Chalice smirking at him, Porkrind, Elder Kettle, Jerry, Natalie, and Murray got up from the sand with Porkrind spitting the sand out.
“Goodness…what just happened?” Jerry uttered before looking around the shore. “Wait, are we in the other island?”
“I guess…” Porkrind looked to not find Cassidy. “Cassi…CASSI?!”
“Cassi? CASSI?!” Mugman screamed in fear.
Natalie looked around for her baby sister. “Aurora?! Aurora?!”
Aurora popped out of her sister’s bubbled brown hair. “Sissy!”
Natalie brightly smiled and lifted Aurora off of her hair. “Aurora! You okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Nope, I’m fine!” Aurora replied happily.
Natalie hugged her. “Oh man, that was so scary.”
“CASSI?! WHERE ARE YOU?!?” Porkrind called for his daughter.
“I’m right here.”
Everyone turned to see Cassidy perching on the pier on the beach.
“I went to dry myself off. Sorry,” Cassidy asked with a blush.
“CASSI!” Mugman pounced on her on the pier, causing the group to widened their eyes in shock.
“Phew,” Porkrind sighed in relief.
Cassidy giggled at Mugman snuggling her. “Aww, I’m okay. I’m okay, Mugs.”
“I’m so happy you’re safe,” Mugman said while snuggling her.
Chalice looked up at the sign and gasped in happiness. “Guys! We’re in Inkwell Village!”
Everyone looked at the sign with her.
“Meaning…?” Porkrind uttered.
“Meaning that we’re safe here,” Chalice responded.
Natalie clenched her teeth. “Oh boy.”
“What?” Murray asked Natalie.
“Mom is here. She has a bakery over there,” Natalie pointed out.
“Let’s go to it!” Cassidy replied while hugging her boyfriend and cuddling with him with purrs. “Maybe your mom knows about the Night Stalkers situation and can help us out.”
“Cassi, you give Mom way too much credit,” Natalie responded with a bit of sass in her tone.
“Why not try?” Dice uttered. “Maybe we could convince her. If that doesn’t work, Murray can get into her memories and paralyze her.”
“What?” Murray responded with confusion.
“Aye, great idea! Check t’ see if Natalie’s mom will take us in. I’ll help Ribby ‘n Croaks rebuild thar ferry. Let us know if thar’s a safe galleon where we could stay at,” Brineybeard suggested for the group.
“Well, what are we waitin’ for? Let’s go!” Cuphead responded excitedly.
Natalie sighed deeply and carried Aurora in her arms. “Okay. Just…act proper around her please.”
Natalie led the group away from the shore.
“What does she mean by acting proper?” Murray said with a brow raised.
Elder Kettle shrugged his shoulders. The group went up to follow Natalie and Aurora while Captain Brineybeard stayed behind to help Ribby and Croaks rebuild their ferry.
~.~
The group walked through the village, standing out from the amount of sand stuck on their wet clothes and seaweed in either their hairs or their ceramic heads.
There were two bakeries across from each other. One of them led into the forest at the back and the other one was blended into the village. Natalie led the group to the bakery that was near the woods. She stood in front of the door and looked at the window displaying “We’re Closed” sign. She jiggled the knob to see that it was locked.
“Figures,” Natalie sighed and put Aurora down. She knocked on the door with the group standing behind her. She waited anxiously while Aurora held her sister’s hand to comfort her.
There were footsteps coming up to the door and the locks clicked. The door opened to reveal a woman cup with bags under her eyes and brown bubbly hair that was messy like Natalie’s.
“Mama!” Aurora replied happily.
“Oh my gosh! Aurora, what happened to you?!” Natalie’s mother gasped and leaned down, cleaning Aurora’s face.
“We god indo a huge sdowm an we ended up hewe!” Aurora replied with a big grin on her face.
“Ugh, now look at you two, you’re so dirty and—Natalie, what have you been eating? You’ve gained weight,” Natalie’s mother responded while cleaning Natalie’s face as well.
“I’ve tried to exercise,” Natalie uttered defensively.
“Well, try harder,” her mother responded. “Remember how I taught you to measure your food? Have you done that?”
“I have. Plenty of times, Mom,” Natalie said with a groan.
“There’s no need to squabble,” her mother replied. “I’m only looking out for the best of you and—is that a chip on your head?!”
“WHAT?!” Natalie gasped in fear while her mother tilted her head forward.
“Oh no, no, no, Natalie, your beauty won’t recover from this chip,” her mother said with a sigh.
“Hey, she ain’t that bad-looking,” Cuphead spoke up, earning a screech from her mother.
Natalie turned to see Cuphead standing by her. “Um…Mom…this is my friend, Cuphead.”
“Friend? Please, don’t tell me you’re still friends with that—”
“Hi, Ms. Ruth,” Cassidy uttered with a wave at her.
“Great, you’re still friends with that burden,” her mother groaned, earning glares from Porkrind and Jerry.
“You know, you don’t have to make it so obvious that you hate my daughter, Tabitha,” Porkrind growled at Tabitha, Natalie’s mother, while pulling Cassidy beside him.
“Oh, hello, swine,” Tabitha sneered. “I thought you and your little family of peasants would’ve been dead by now by the Night Stalkers, especially along with that burden of the daughter of yours.”
Mugman glared at Tabitha, his eyes turned yellow with red irises. Before he could attack Tabitha, he was held back by Canteen, Murray, and Cuphead.
“Not yet, Mugsy,” Cuphead determined.
“Alright, alright, why don’t we all calm down for a second?” Elder Kettle responded. “Look, uh, Ms. Ruth, we need a place to stay. Do you think you could let us stay for at least one night?”
“Ugh, not while you all look like that,” Tabitha said, looking at the group disgusted.
Chalice put her fists on her hips. “Well, excuse us for being so dirty. If you have running showers, maybe we could clean ourselves and live up to your standards of perfection.”
“And let the drain be clogged up by so much dirt? I don’t think so,” Tabitha responded with sass.
King Dice plastered a smile. “Tabitha, look, we are in a situation with the Night Stalkers…you know, they’re going to kill all of us if we don’t, you know, hide. So…if you can kindly give us someplace or point us to the direction we need to go to be safe if you won’t take us in.”
“Please, Mom, they’re my friends,” Natalie pleaded.
“No,” Tabitha said. “They’re all peasants. I can’t believe they dragged you and Aurora into this situation.”
“They didn’t. I let them in the house,” Natalie said.
“You did what?!” Tabitha yelled. “What did I tell you about letting in complete strangers?!”
“They’re not strangers! They’re my friends!” Natalie growled.
“Then pick better friends. So far, you have peasants and that burden as your friend,” Tabitha argued back with her daughter.
Mugman growled, his teeth sharp while he lunged towards Tabitha, but was held back by Cuphead, Chalice, Canteen, Cassidy, and Murray.
“Whoa, calm down, Mugsy!” Cuphead shouted.
“No, let him go, I wanna see what happens,” King Dice responded.
“Ugh! What are you, a rabid dog?!” Tabitha uttered in disgust.
“Yeah, you might not want to insult Cassidy in front of him since they’re together,” Natalie warned her mother.
“Yeah, I’m not letting that thing in my bakery,” Tabitha growled while pulling Natalie and Aurora into the bakery. “Find somewhere else to stay.”
“Mom!” Natalie shouted.
Tabitha shut the door with Natalie and Aurora inside of her bakery.
“Well, that didn’t go well,” Dice said with a groan.
“Plan B!” Chalice determined once Mugman settled down and breathed heavily to calm himself.
Mugman’s eyes went back to normal as the group saw Chalice running off.
“I know another place where we might get help!” Chalice determined.
The group hurried after Chalice to wonder where they were being led to next.
~.~
The group went to another bakery in the village square as Chalice opened the door to the other bakery. She peeked and gestured fore everyone to follow her.
“Hello, is anyone home?!” Chalice called while the cup brothers caught up with her.
“Huh, no one is here,” Mugman assumed.
“Either that, or he’s busy with something. He’s usually packed with customers,” Chalice replied.
“Who’s he?” Canteen questioned.
“He’s the famous Chef Saltbaker…well, famous in this town,” Chalice replied with a bright grin. “Everyone here knows him.”
“Even Tabitha?” Porkrind questioned.
“I guess so. They were competing each other right now and Chef Saltbaker won by a landslide,” Chalice responded.
They approached the front counter with Cuphead peeking over.
“Hello?! Is anyone here?!” Cuphead called. He noticed the bell and started to ring it annoyingly until it broke from his uncontrollable strength. “Oops.”
“Hold your horses! Man, I only get one minute of break and y’all would come running to me—” The anthropomorphic saltshaker with the chef’s hat entered the room with a tired sigh. The chef gasped to see Chalice at the front counter. “Chalice?!”
“Chef!” Chalice responded with a bright grin and leaped into the chef’s arms, who laughed in joy.
“Oh, Chalice, it had been some time since I’ve seen you last!” Saltbaker responded. “How are things back in the big city? Not too much I hope.”
“Oh, great! How are things here in the bakery?” Chalice questioned with a bright smile.
“Oh, a bit difficult at times. But, you know, now that you’re here, I’m working on a special ingredient just for you and your new friends! Give ole Saltbaker a second!” The chef said while entering back in the kitchen.
Dice nodded his head. “He seems fine.”
“I don’t know…he seems a bit too jolly for my taste,” Porkrind responded with a brow raised.
“Yeah,” Jerry whispered.
Murray nodded his head in agreement.
“Oh, you guys can be so cynical sometimes,” Elder Kettle responded. “He seems super nice.”
“I wouldn’t be fooled by his super niceness,” Porkrind replied with distrust.
Saltbaker came back with the plate of cookies and a grand smile on his face.
“Cookies?!” the kids gasped in delight as Saltbaker laid the cookies in front of them.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Dig in,” Saltbaker responded happily.
The kids started to dig in the cookies except for Cassidy, who rubbed her arm shyly.
Saltbaker noticed and leaned on the counter to look at her. “You okay? You don’t like cookies?”
“Oh…um…I’m allergic to sugar,” Cassidy informed the chef.
“Oh! Well, that’s fine and dandy. We got cats in this area who’s allergic to sugar. Soooo, I made sugar-free cookies instead for cats like you!” Chef Saltbaker said while pulling out another plate of cookies that were ‘sugar-free’.
Cassidy sniffed the cookies and ate one of the cookies, her mouth melting at the taste. She started to eat some more, the taste becoming addicting.
Saltbaker smiled with glee and looked at the adults. “Would you gentlemen like anything to eat? The options here are endless.”
“It’s no wonder you beat the Ruth bakery by a landslide, you have too many options to choose,” Elder Kettle responded with glee while looking at all the sweets displayed.
“Aw, I wouldn’t brag. Believe it or not, Tabitha Ruth was once my apprentice,” Saltbaker indicated. “I would say she���s still learning. The problem with her cooking was not that any of her stuff tastes bad. They tasted delicious, don’t get me wrong. But…she doesn’t make them with heart and soul. She gets weary after cooking for a while…not that I blame her in anyway. One gets tired from cooking after a while. Especially if you get the townspeople demanding you to make pastries left and right every single day and screaming and yelling at you to ‘hurry up’ and such. Gets irritating after a while…very irritating.”
Saltbaker said the last part darkly with yellow irises in his eyes before clearing his throat and his irises went back to normal. “Anyhow, no one appreciates good cooking anymore.”
“I appreciate your cooking,” Cassidy said innocently.
“Aww, that’s very sweet of you,” Saltbaker replied with a soft smile. “You’re the first person I heard that from for a long while. Anyhow, enough of this ole chef’s rambling, how are you kids enjoying the cookies?”
“Pretty good—” Mugman’s head twitched, causing him to breathe heavily. He could feel Tremaine acting up again inside of him. He tried to be calm, but his friends and family started to notice, including Saltbaker.
“What’s going on with him?” Saltbaker asked with a brow raised.
Chalice clenched her teeth. “Did you hear anything about what’s happening in the big city?”
Saltbaker shook his head. “Too busy to really listen to the radio. What’s going on over there?”
“Well,” Chalice began to explain. “There’s a cult called the Night Stalkers and they were killin’ people left and right. One of them managed to inject Mugman with Tremaine.”
“Tremaine?” Saltbaker questioned.
“Yeah, it’s a chemical that makes you go insane,” Cuphead added.
“And makes you into a monster you didn’t want to be,” Mugman responded sadly, looking away.
Saltbaker clenched his jaw. “Oh my. It sounds dangerous.” He turned around to rub his chin for a second until a grin spread across his face. Saltbaker turned back around to face the group. “You know, there might be something that will help get this Tremaine chemical out of ya.”
“Really?!” the kids gasped in happiness.
“Have any of you ever heard of a Wondertart?” Saltbaker asked.
The group shook their heads.
“Weeell, let me tell you. The Wondertart proves to be just as delicious and delectable as all the dishes. It will grant any wish you make once you take a bite and one bite only. If Mugman desires, he could have a bite of this wonderful Wondertart and wished Tremaine away.”
“A-And it will go away for good?” Mugman uttered in pure disbelief.
“If so desire, yes,” Saltbaker replied. “You got to be specific with your wish though. You only get one.”
Mugman’s smile brightened. “You hear that, guys?! I might get Tremaine out of me!”
“You think you can make that for us?” Chalice asked Saltbaker.
“Well, I would, but I don’t have the ingredients for it. I tried to get it from the others, but, uh, they think I’m insane for bringing up the Wondertart. Here are the lists of ingredients I need to make this,” Saltbaker said while showing the kids the ingredients.
“Distillery Dough. Pineapple Mint. Desert Limes. Gnome Berries. And Icy Sugar Cubes?” Canteen said while reading the ingredients.
“Yes,” Saltbaker answered. “You should get the Gnome Berries from Glumstone up in the mountains. The Icy Sugar Cubes are being kept by Mortimer…that ole stubborn goat. Good luck convincing him to give away the cubes. The Howling Aces should have the Pineapple Mint and Esther should have the Desert Limes. Oh! The Moonshine Mob had a secret underground bunker where they kept all the Distillery Dough. Good luck trying to get them to hand over the dough without a fight.”
“Are you sure this will help Mugman?” Murray questioned.
“Oh, by a lot. Think about it, your son won’t have to suffer under Tremaine anymore. Wouldn’t that be great?!” Saltbaker replied to Murray, almost like he was selling him something.
“I don’t think I trust this,” Murray uttered.
“Please, Dad,” Mugman replied.
Murray could see the look in his son’s eyes, his body trembling from Tremaine trying to take control of him earlier. Murray sighed heavily. “Alright. We’ll get you the Wondertart.”
“We should split up. It makes the whole trip faster,” Chalice suggested.
“Then meet back here?” Cuphead asked excitedly.
“Yep! Let’s go!” Chalice replied as the group hurried out of the bakery, not knowing that Saltbaker cornered a wicked grin behind them.
~.~
Murray didn’t like to be separated from his boys after being separated from them for so long. He didn’t even trust King Dice with Cuphead when they decided to split up. Of course, King Dice wasn’t even thrilled to have Cuphead stick by him. However, Murray knew that if anything happened, his boys had their own unique powers to protect themselves with. With that being said, Murray was stuck with Canteen.
“Sooo, the Howling Aces are this way,” Canteen muttered to himself. “We might have to plan to fight them just in case. Hey, what can you do? I saw you fight before. What did you do that one assassin?”
Murray scratched the back of his head. “Well, I can get into people’s memories and look into their past. Sometimes, when fighting them, I go into their most torturous parts of their past and use it against them. They would stay in it for a while.”
“Ooh, you can use that against them if it ever came down to it,” Canteen said with a bit of fascination. “Wait…where did you even get these powers?”
Murray shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Ever since I was born, I always had this ability whether I meant to use it or not.”
“Interesting and fascinating. Did your parents ever tell you where it came from?”
Murray rubbed the hole where his missing eye was. “I don’t remember. I can only remember half of my life. Luckily, I remembered the half where my boys were born.”
“Oh…that’s…your eye—”
“Was shot out of my own head by Hunter Manson himself.”
“Geez,” Canteen said nervously. They walked towards the base where the Howling Aces were presumedly at. “Okay, we’re here…should we—?”
“Oi, who are you?!”
Canteen and Murray jumped and looked up to see the bulldog up on top of the roof, jumping down on his combat brown boots. He cracked his muscles and headed towards them both.
“You must have been new here. Haven’t you read the sign?” the bulldog soldier said while pointing at the sign that said ‘No trespassing’.
“Uh…we didn’t see it on the way here…uh, we apologized,” Canteen said while sweating from the sides of his head.
“Bulldog,” they heard a female voice calling out for the bulldog in front of them. They watched the slender saluki dog coming besides Bulldog, wearing a yellow uniform.
“Take it easy,” she said. “You’re going to strain yourself gettin’ angry like that.” She then looked at Murray and Canteen. “Sorry about Bulldog…he can be very territorial. The name’s Sergeant O’Fera. How can I help you?”
“Canteen Hughes,” Canteen introduced himself nervously. “And that’s Murray.”
“Murray Cup,” Murray added, rubbing the back of his head with a blush.
She craned her neck up to look at Murray. “Aren’t you a tall fella? What do you boys need?”
“Um…well, we were wondering if you guys have, um, Pineapple Mint,” Murray inquired.
“Oh, is that so? Yeah, you can have it,” O’Fera replied with a nod. “Cooking something special with it?”
“Oh…uh, yeah. Sort of,” Murray uttered nervously with his face turning more red.
O’Fera nodded her head in understanding. “I’ll be back with the Pineapple Mint.”
Both Murray and Canteen blinked in shock. They watched Sergeant O’Fera walked away for a moment and then come back with the Pineapple Mint in the red dog dish.
“Here you go,” Sergeant O’Fera replied in a friendly tone. “Don’t worry, we got plenty of it in storage for everyone in the village.”
“Oh, thank you,” Murray said with a friendly smile.
She exchanged a smile back at him and looked at Bulldog. “C’mon, Bulldog, we got a plane to repair.”
Bulldog nodded his head and followed O’Fera back to base.
“I was not expecting that,” Canteen whispered after the dogs walked away.
“We should get going,” Murray suggested.
Canteen nodded his head in agreement and they both walked away from the Howling Aces base.
~.~
Cassidy and Porkrind headed up the mountains, tiptoeing up the to the snow until they encountered gnomes mining a face made of stone. Both the father and daughter duo looked to see a small garden where the Gnome Berries were grown. Before they could reach it, they were noticed by one of the gnomes.
“Hey, it’s a cat!!!” one of the gnomes called the other gnomes.
The other gnomes looked to see the red feline.
“It’s a red one!”
“Get her!”
Porkrind and Cassidy gasped in shock when the gnomes hurried towards them, only to grab Cassidy and took her over to where they were mining at.
“HEY! YOU LET HER GO YOU—!!!”
“Oh my gosh, she’s so soft,” one of the gnomes said, petting her head. This shocked Porkrind before he could jump and kick gnomes off of her.
Cassidy was also shocked by how it turned out, afraid that the gnomes would throw her off the mountain.
“Aww, gee, she’s so cute! Look at her fluffy face!” the other gnome gasped while caressing her fluffy cheek.
“And her tail is the fluffiest!” the gnome near her tail squealed.
“Can we keep her, Glumstone?! Can we keep her?!” The lead gnome asked excitedly.
The stone broke off, revealing a face of the giant with his head shaped like mountain tops that would fool anyone into thinking there were more mountain tops. Cassidy and Porkrind widened their eyes in shock at the monstrosity in front of them.
“Ugh, what’s the hold-up now—? Oh, why hello there, little kitty,” the giant, Glumstone, greeted with a big warm smile.
“Can we keep her, please?!” the lead gnome begged.
“Hi,” Cassidy uttered in a friendly tone. “I-I’m Cassidy.”
“SHE TALKS!!!” the other gnome gasped in shock.
Glumstone sighed in discouragement and glanced at Cassidy. “Forgive them. It’s not often we see people coming up here.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Cassidy replied with a small friendly smile. “We don’t mean to intrude.”
“Oh, well, that’s quite alright. The gnomes would love to have you visit up the mountains. Heck, you can come to my puppet shows if you want,” Glumstone offered with a smile.
“I’m sure that sounds fun, but…um…I wanna say about the gnome berries. Is it okay if we can take them?” Cassidy asked.
The gnomes nodded their heads excitedly.
“Yeah, yeah! We’ll get basket for you right now!” the lead gnome stated as the other gnomes hurried over to the small garden and put the gnome berries into the basket and gave it to Porkrind.
“Hey, if you ever get the time, we’re going to need seeds to plant the gnome berries again,” Glumstone commented.
“I’ll be sure to do that,” Cassidy replied. “Thank you so much, Glumstone.”
“Why, thank you. And hey, don’t you be afraid to come up here and watch the puppet show! The gnomes would love to have you there!” Glumstone called.
“Thanks, Glumstone! I’ll be sure to be there,” Cassidy replied while hurrying with her father. The gnomes and Glumstone bid Cassidy goodbye as they were walking away.
“Wow, I was not expecting that,” Porkrind whispered to his daughter.
“Let’s be glad that we don’t have to fight a giant and his army of gnomes over the gnome berries,” Cassidy replied.
Porkrind nodded his head in agreement.
~.~
Cuphead could feel his body burning up from both inside and outside walking through the hot desert with King Dice. King Dice was sweating from all over the place, his suit damped again from his sweat.
“Why did we choose to go to the desert?” Dice complained while wiping the sweat off of his brow. “Or why did I choose to come with you?”
“Eeeh, maybe you want to take my soul to the Devil?” Cuphead guessed.
“As much as that would be a great opportunity to do that, I don’t have anything that could bring your soul to him,” Dice grumbled and wiped the sweat off of his brow. “Besides, you might burn me alive before I could even catch you.”
“Maaaybe.” Cuphead smirked at Dice and then shape-shifted in Devil. “Oh, Dice~! You have been such a good number one for me. And because you have been such a good number one for me, I’ll give you a little treat.”
Dice gave Cuphead a deadpan stare. “You ain’t gonna fool me into thinkin’ you’re Big D.”
“Yeah, uh, why are you callin’ him Big D?” Cuphead, as Devil, said while looking down. “He doesn’t look like he has a big di—”
“OKAY!!! Why don’t we just focus on gettin’ those desert limes and not scare the citizens by you pretending to be the Devil?!”
Cuphead was transformed back to his normal self. “Oh, no problem, I can be your twin.” He shape-shifted to King Dice, freaking out the real King Dice next to him. “Oh hello there, good-looking~. How’s it hangin’?”
Dice sighed heavily. “I hate you right now.”
“Oh, you know you love me because I am you,” Cuphead, as King Dice, teased.
“Stop it,” Dice grumbled.
“Nope,” Cuphead, as King Dice, answered.
Dice and Cuphead, as King Dice, found the blue wagon with them looking up at it. They exchanged glances before Dice sighed heavily.
“Could you go back to being yourself, Cuphead? It’s getting weird to look at myself standing right next to me,” Dice said with a groan.
“But you look at yourself in the mirror all the time.”
“Well, yeah! The difference is I don’t have some weird shape-shifting child pretending to be me when I look at my reflection,” Dice responded with a huff in annoyance.
“Alright, alright, I’ll change back,” Cuphead responded while coming back to his normal self. “You’re no fun.”
Dice sighed. “Let’s just get these Desert Limes and get it over with.”
Dice and Cuphead entered the wagon that was filled with music and laughter. They froze and noticed them with their judgmental gazes.
Cuphead cleared his throat and shape-shifted into a random cowboy. “Yee-haw! I’m a cowboy!”
Everyone’s judgemental gaze faded away in an instant, replaced with pure shock.
“That kid can shape-shift,” the cowboy, who had poker chips as a body, uttered in shock.
Minutes later, everyone gathered around the bar with Cuphead in the center of the circle, laughing and drinking when Cuphead was making funny shape-shifting impersonations of everyone at the bar.
Mr. Wheezy, the anthropomorphic cigar, wheezed to death from seeing Cuphead impersonating him.
“Boy, I haven’t laughed like that in decades,” Mr. Wheezy commented.
“Hey, hey, kid, can you do Esther over ‘ere?” Chips, the stack of poker chips, laughed and pointed at Esther, the brown cow, next to him.
Cuphead shape-shifted to Esther, impersonating her.
Meanwhile, Dice sat there in silence and looked over to find a crate of desert limes. When no one was watching, he sent two cards over to push it the crate over to him. He quickly picked it up and snuck out of the wagon.
Dice tried to get Cuphead’s attention to let him know that he got the desert limes, but Cuphead wasn’t paying attention and was having too much fun. So, Dice snuck out of the wagon and started to move away, hoping Cuphead got the message that Dice wasn’t there along with the desert limes.
“Hey, Ginette, give this kid the strongest drink you got!” Esther Winchester ordered from the bartender, a martini glass known as Ginette.
Ginette slid the shot glass of strong whiskey over to Cuphead, who shape-shifted back to himself. “It’s on the house!”
Cuphead gulped down the shot of whiskey. However, it burned his throat and the pit of stomach, igniting the flames from within him. His body became on fire and exploded the wagon, destroying it into pieces. The cowboys and cowgirls in the wagon had soot all over their bodies from the sudden explosion from Cuphead.
Cuphead blinked his eyes and laughed nervously before turning to notice King Dice right outside of the wagon, running with the crate of desert limes. He then looked back at the crowd. “Uh, haha, I guess I’ll get going.” Cuphead rushed off and caught up with King Dice at super speed.
“Hey, they stole our desert limes!” Ginette gasped to notice.
“GET THEM!!!” Esther growled.
Everyone from the wagon got up from the seat and chased after King Dice and Cuphead, chasing them out of the desert.
~.~
Chalice and Elder Kettle snuck underground of the Moonshine Mob’s lair, searching for Distillery Dough.
“So, Chalice, how long have you known Saltbaker?” Elder Kettle asked with a brow raised.
“Oh, since I was a little. He practically raised me until I decided to go into the big city and go big, ya know? He always got a little room for me up there…but…I’ve kind of noticed he was acting strange lately.”
They snuck towards the lower bridge, finding two more higher ones above them.
“Huh? So, I guess I’m the only one who thought he was a nice guy.”
“He is…but…he seems…more irritated than usual.”
“HEY! What are you bozos doin’ here?!”
Elder Kettle and Chalice jumped at the sudden voice as they saw a gray spider descending down towards them with only a web and a pretty pink blond bug sitting on one of his eight legs.
“Youse twos got a lotta nerve to show up here!” the spider growled at both Chalice and Elder Kettle.
“Take a breath, dear,” the light bug whispered to his ear.
“Don’t worry, darlin’. I ain’t stressin’ myself out…yet,” the spider said with a glare at Chalice and Elder Kettle. “You better have a good explanation on why you both were down ‘ere.”
“Charlie! Charlie!” the caterpillar mobster entered the scene from behind the spider named Charlie. “We got the cops at the casino!”
“Now ain’t a good time, Lenny. Can’t you see I’m interrogating our trespassers?” Charlie responded to the caterpillar named Lenny.
“But, Charlie—”
“Well, well, if it ain’t the Moonshine Mob,” the head of the bug cops said while entering the other side on the top bridge above Elder Kettle and Chalice. “You’re under arrest for the violation against federal prohibition laws!”
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THAT ENDED THREE YEARS AGO!” Charlie yelled at the bug cops.
“I’m not finished!” The head of the bug cops barked. “And for selling illegal drugs through the means of your Distillery Dough!”
“Hey, we are coming for that!” Elder Kettle responded with a gasp. “I didn’t know there are drugs in the dough!”
“Well, none of ya are gonna get it!” Charlie growled while taking out a button and pressed to summon bombs wrapped in spider webs with an evil laugh. He charged towards Elder Kettle and Chalice, who dodged out of the way for him while the bug cops hurried to go after him.
The blonde bug turned on the music, making it more intensifying.
Lenny hurried over to hide somewhere in fear.
“What are we going to do?” Elder Kettle questioned Chalice, who looked up and saw the distillery dough up on the high shelf. She turned herself into a ghost and flew up to pick it up and flew back down.
“Got it!”
They felt something shake underneath them as they saw a huge anteater bursting through two bridges while the cops were chasing after Charlie and the other gang members. With an evil grin, the anteater tried to get the cops with his nose and tongue in his nose.
Chalice and Elder Kettle freaked out and rushed out of the underground way, letting the chaos unfold by itself when leaving.
~.~
Mugman knew he should’ve packed a coat for the snowy trails towards the large igloo. Jerry was all prepared with a trench-coat, hat, and scarf, which made Mugman regret not taking his coat even more. Jerry noticed Mugman freezing in the cold and unwrapped his scarf to wrap it around Mugman’s neck to at least keep him warm. Mugman widened his eyes in shock to see Jerry’s under bite from his scarf.
“You’re going to give me back that scarf once we’re done here,” Jerry replied.
“S-S-Sounds good,” Mugman said with a shiver.
Jerry knocked on the icy door of the igloo, waiting for someone to answer.
They heard someone opening the door, turning out to be a wizard with a worn-out purple wizard clothes and a pointy hat.
“What d’ya want? I’m in a middle of my spa,” the wizard, Mortimer, said while flicking the cucumbers off of his eyes.
“Uh, we don’t mean to interrupt, but you don’t happen to have icy sugar cubes, do you?” Jerry asked with a brow raised.
Mortimer arched a brow. “Saltbaker sent you here, didn’t he?”
“Oh, uh, well—”
“Nah, you don’t have to tell me. I already know,” Mortimer responded, interrupting Jerry. “Tell him that he ain’t gonna have my sugar cubes.”
“But we need it to cure him,” Jerry replied while pointing at Mugman shivering in the cold.
Mortimer crossed his arms. “Cure him from what? Tremaine?”
Mugman widened his eyes in shock.
“You don’t think I can’t tell by the way your veins are glowing right now,” Mortimer said, pointing at the orange-glowing veins shown on Mugman’s body to keep himself warm against the cold. “It’s only a matter of time before you lose control and snap.”
“Just give us the icy sugar cubes and we’ll be out of your hair,” Jerry said urgently.
Mortimer tilted his head. “Is it because of this stupid ‘Wondertart’ craze Saltbaker has? I’m telling you the same thing that I told him. Don’t cook something up like the Wondertart. It will only consume you in darkness.”
“I thought it has the power to grant wishes,” Jerry uttered in confusion.
Mortimer put his fists on his hips. “That’s what he thinks. But if you want it so badly, then I might as well challenge you to a dual.”
“Me?” Jerry uttered.
“No, him.”
Jerry glanced down to see Mugman breathing heavily in fear.
“If you think that this Wondertart can grant your wish to cure yourself of Tremaine, then why not make it worth fighting for, eh? You’ll be matched against Jupiter and if you win, you’ll have the icy sugar cubes. You lose and you won’t have them. No catches. It’s that simple. You think you’re up for it, kid?” Mortimer asked with a smirk.
Mugman took a deep breath and nodded his head. “I’m up for it.”
“What?! Are you insane?” Jerry gasped in fear for the mug.
“You got yourself a deal, chap,” Mortimer replied while putting his cold hand out for Mugman to grab. Mugman didn’t hesitate and shook the wizard’s hand.
Soon they were teleported into the ring with all the cheering snowmen and snow women while Jerry was seated up as the audience watching the ring.
“I would be careful if I were you. Jupiter will not go easy on you, little mug,” Mortimer said while teleporting onto the seat next to Jerry. “LET THE MATCH BEGIN!”
Mugman heard something coming out of the doors of the ring, sauntering towards him. He squinted and looked down to see a tiny little snowman, assuming to be Jupiter that Mortimer mentioned.
“Aww, he’s so adorable—”
The snowman became larger and larger, interrupting Mugman’s cooing words and towering over him with an orange bucket over his head. Broken handcuffs were on his wrists and his eyes were hollow, his mouth resembling a cage when he grinned.
The liquid in Mugman’s head leaked out of his blue straw in pure fear and then he screamed, running from the large round snowman. The snowman, Jupiter, rolled after him in a snowball, bumping into a wall when Mugman turned a corner. Jupiter bounced over the mug and landed right in front of him, transforming into a refrigerator, firing large ice cubes that broke into pieces after him. Mugman dodged all of it with heavy breaths, earning laughs from Mortimer.
“Go on! Punch the big guy! He ain’t gonna bite!” Mortimer taunted Mugman.
Jupiter transformed back into a snowball, rolling after Mugman and running him over this time. He transformed back into a snowman, using his arms to pick up crushed Mugman and throw him across the ring.
The audience cheered for Jupiter while Jerry gripped his coat in fear.
“You’re insane!” Jerry shouted at Mortimer.
“Nah, don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Mortimer said while both Jerry and Mortimer witnessed Mugman getting thrown around like a rag doll across the ring. “Ooh! Come on, is that all you got?! You oughta try a little harder, son!”
Mugman breathed heavily, his body bruised from being beaten up by Jupiter. Before he could even try to get up, he was picked up by the leg and thrown again across the ring. The mug could’ve sworn that he was feeling like he was losing control of his own body. Not…now!
Mugman barely looked up before being socked in the face.
“Stop this! Let me fight in his place!” Jerry shouted at Mortimer.
Mugman collapsed onto the snowy ground, having a black eye from impact of the punch. Jupiter raised his fists up, ready to slam it down on Mugman.
Mugman gritted his teeth, his veins now glowing blue instead of orange. He raised his finger guns, letting out bursts of electricity that caused the large snowman beast to stumble back away from the mug.
The audience gasped in shock while Mortimer leaned forward in interest.
“Ooh, now, this is getting intense,” Mortimer said with a wicked grin.
Mugman breathed heavily, his eyes glowing pupils glowing blue. The orange glow tried to take over his blue veins, causing him to scream in pain. However, his scream turned into a sonic scream that pushed Jupiter away from him. The audience was dead quiet while Mugman charged towards Jupiter, punching the snowman as rapid as he could and sending electric shocks from each punch the mug gave the snowman. Then he gave one final blow to the stomach, sending electric shocks inside of Jupiter.
Jupiter stumbled back away from the mug, laughing in a cocky matter until he could feel his stomach vibrating. It was then that the snowman realized that Mugman sent more electric shocks inside of him, causing him to burst up and losing the top half of his body. His bottom half ran towards the other direction in a cartoony fashion while collapsing first. Mugman started to mutter words before losing the blue in his eyes and collapsing in the ring.
Mortimer and Jerry watched with shock while Mortimer gave him an orange bag of icy sugar cubes. “A deal’s a deal. He won the battle fair and square.”
Jerry took the bag of icy sugar cubes and hurried down into the ring. “Mugman…Mugman..”
“Cultus mali venit.
Cultus mali venit.
Cultus mali venit.
Cultus mali venit.”
“Mugman?”
“The cult of evil has come…
The cult of evil has come…
The cult of evil has come…
The cult of evil has come…”
Jerry picked Mugman up and carried him out of the igloo along with the icy sugar cubes while Mortimer watched intensely, fascinated by what just occurred.
~.~
Porkrind and Cassidy were the first to get back to Saltbaker’s bakery along with Murray and Canteen.
Murray looked around for his boys, now growing more concern for them. “Have you guys seen my kids?”
“Nope,” Porkrind answered while examining their surroundings. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Those boys of yours are tougher than you think.”
“I know that,” Murray responded. “I’m just…worried about them.”
Porkrind softened his gaze at Murray and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I understand your concern. Kind of the curse of being a dad, am I right?”
Murray let out a soft chuckle. “Yeah.”
“AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”
They turned their heads to find Cuphead speeding through the village, bumping into Porkrind’s stomach. It felt like a punch in the gut as the pig doubled over to cover his belly.
“Wow! Sorry, Porkrind…I’m still gettin’ used to these powers,” Cuphead glanced up at his father. “Hi, Dad!”
Murray immediately enveloped Cuphead into a hug, who found it weird that he was being hugged by his father.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Murray said with a sigh of relief. He broke away from his son and looked at him in the eyes. “Have you seen your brother?”
Cuphead shrugged his shoulders as King Dice entered the scene with the crate of desert limes.
Porkrind noticed King Dice’s suit torn and tattered into pieces, trying not to huff a laugh. “Had it rough out there?”
“Yep,” Dice responded. “The people in the desert area are insane! They almost killed me!”
Porkrind looked behind Dice to make sure they weren’t being followed. “But you’re still here.”
“Thank Sa—I mean, Thank the Lord,” Dice replied while clearing his throat.
“Go! Go!” Elder Kettle shouted.
They looked to see Elder Kettle arriving with Chalice, carrying Distillery Dough.
“Man, they’re insane down there,” Chalice replied. “Say, where’s Mugsy?”
“Let’s go find him!” Cassidy determined.
“No need,” Jerry’s voice uttered.
The group turned their heads and widened their eyes in shock to see Jerry walking towards them with the bag of icy sugar cubes and a bruised Mugman in his arms.
“Mugsy!” Cassidy shouted and hurried over to her boyfriend. Jerry put Mugman down so that she could check on him.
“What happened to him?!” Murray questioned in fear.
“Uh…it’s a long story,” Jerry responded while rubbing the back of his head. “Let’s just say that he was thrown into the ring by this crazy old wizard and won the fight.”
“But the Wondertart is for him though…is he going to be awake for it?” Canteen questioned the others.
“I’m not sure,” Jerry uttered. “He said some strange words in both Latin and English…that’s…that’s weird.”
“YOU FREAKS!!!”
Porkrind perked his ears up and whirled around along with the group. They saw Tabitha, pissed off and angry, charging towards them with Aurora waddling behind her.
“Mama! Mama!” Aurora called while Tabitha went for Porkrind and slapped him on the face.
Porkrind stumbled back from the unexpected slap. “HEY! What did I ever do to you?!”
“You gotta a lot of nerve doing that!” Jerry growled while standing between Porkrind and Tabitha.
“You freaks took Natalie!” Tabitha growled.
“What? I thought she was in the bakery with you,” Dice responded while checking to see if Porkrind was okay.
“She was and now she isn’t there. You took her!” Tabitha growled.
“Did you ever think that maybe your daughter ventured off on her own and hadn’t returned yet?” Porkrind snarled at her, covering his cheek.
“Maybe if your burden of a daughter hadn’t filled Natalie’s head with some silly little adventures, we wouldn’t be having this problem,” Tabitha responded with a glare at Porkrind.
“Call Cassi a burden one more time, I dare you,” Jerry said with his brows drawn together and his fists clenched.
“Mama! It’s not Cassi’s fault!” Aurora begged. “I saw where Natalie went!”
Cuphead perked his head and looked at Aurora. “Do you know where she is?”
“The big bad salt man took sissy!” Aurora confessed to Cuphead.
“Big Bad Salt Man. Hey, that’s Saltbaker!” Canteen gasped in shock.
“Why would Saltbaker take Natalie?” Chalice questioned.
“Let’s go find her!” Cassidy determined.
“I’m sure Saltbaker has his reasons,” Chalice said with a small nervous laugh. “We’ll be back.”
Chalice hurried inside of Saltbaker’s bakery with Cassidy, Canteen, and Cuphead hurrying behind her.
Murray picked up Mugman and cradled him while the adults watch in shock.
“S-Should we go in there with them?” Elder Kettle questioned.
“Nah, they’ll be fine…I think,” King Dice responded.
~.~
Chalice, Cuphead, Cassidy, and Canteen explored the bakery until they saw a trap door over the counter that led down in the darkness.
“Did you know he had a trapdoor there?” Canteen questioned Chalice.
“No…I hadn’t seen that before. It looked recent that he added it,” Chalice theorized. “Come on.”
They descended down to the dark dungeons, their eyes widening in shock.
“Chalice, something’s up with Saltbaker,” Canteen uttered in shock.
“I knew he was acting weird,” Chalice replied. “C’mon. We should be finding Natalie down here.”
They froze when they looked to their left, seeing Natalie’s soulless body chained up.
Cuphead gasped in shock and then clenched his fists angrily, his eyes turning red. “Oh he better be prayin’ right now.” Cuphead stormed to the light where they saw Saltbaker’s silhouette.
They entered the lab room where Saltbaker was setting up the machine.
“You gotta a lot of nerve taking Natalie’s soul like that!” Cuphead growled with his teeth gritted.
Saltbaker turned his head, his eyes yellow. “Oh, haven’t I forgot to put the most important ingredient on the list for you? The most important ingredient to this delicious Wondertart is a living soul!”
Saltbaker gestured to the glass containing Natalie’s soul, pounding on it in panic.
“GUYS! GUYS!!! HELP ME, PLEASE!!!” Natalie’s soul screamed in fear.
“Speaking of ingredients, where are the rest of the ingredients?” Saltbaker said with an evil smirk.
“We ain’t gonna give it to you!” Chalice growled, her eyes filled to the brim of the tears.
“Why didn’t you tell us that it’s going to cost a soul as well?!” Cuphead said angrily.
“Well, you want to cure your brother of this so-called Tremaine, don’t you?” Saltbaker responded with a sly grin. “You would need all the ingredients to make this delicious Wondertart.”
Canteen noticed a hidden poster on the wall and went to look at it as the kids were arguing with Saltbaker. He looked at the ingredients list to see a soul ingredient being crossed out. Then, he noticed the capabilities that it could.
“Have access to the Astral Plane.”
Canteen widened his eyes. “Guys, the Wondertart doesn’t grant wishes! It’ll give him an ability to have access to the Astral Plane!”
“Oh, you’re no fun,” Saltbaker grumbled while glaring at Canteen.
The kids glared at Saltbaker.
Chalice turned into a ghost and charged towards Saltbaker, attempting to possess him. Cuphead’s fist turned red with anger and started to punch Saltbaker in the face out of pure anger and hatred.
Cassidy hurried over to the glass where Natalie’s soul with Canteen following behind her.
“Why did you lie to us?!” Chalice, in Saltbaker’s head, screamed at him.
Saltbaker ate a mushroom, which had the ability to kick Chalice out of his body.
“Why would you do this?!” Chalice cried, tears streaming down on her golden face.
Saltbaker softened his gaze at her before getting punched in the face by Cuphead. “Okay, you had your fun, little cup!” He ate another mushroom causing him to grow bigger than before, bursting through the ceiling above him.
Cassidy and Canteen dodged the falling debris as they approached the glass where Natalie’s soul was held. Cassidy used her claws to scratch through the glass, which fell over. Natalie’s soul gasped to see Cassidy extending her hand out for her friend. Natalie grabbed Cassidy’s paw and was pulled out of the glass while Cuphead and Chalice were fighting Saltbaker in his large form.
“That’s for lying to us about the Wondertart!” Cuphead barked angrily, punching Saltbaker’s nose, breaking it in half. “That’s for hurtin’ Natalie!”
“You dining room dunce! You think you can beat me?! You’re in my world now!” Saltbaker barked at the dishes.
Cassidy hurried out of the lab with Natalie’s soul in her arms with Canteen hurrying behind her.
Saltbaker noticed them. “Get back here!”
They rushed back to Natalie’s soulless body while Cassidy stuffed Natalie’s soul back into her body. She lock picked the chains around Natalie’s wrists with her claws as Natalie took a deep breath.
“Oh my gosh! Wh-What just happened?” Natalie panicked.
Everything shook around them as they saw Saltbaker’s hand reaching towards them. Cassidy picked Natalie up in her arms and rushed through the dungeon with Canteen running behind her.
When they reached towards the exit of the hide-out, Canteen’s ankle was grabbed by Saltbaker’s finger, pulling him back to his lab room.
“HEY! LET ME GO!”
Cassidy noticed this with a gasp and set Natalie down on the stairs.
“HEY!” Natalie cried when Cassidy left to get Canteen, grabbing his arms and pulling him.
Cassidy snarled and used her claws to scratch Saltbaker’s hand, causing Saltbaker to yelped and let go of Canteen’s ankle.
Canteen’s ankle was crushed while she helped him up on his feet and hurried away from Saltbaker’s hand.
She noticed Mugman showing up the scene, recovered from what happened earlier. Cassidy didn’t have to say anything for him to pick up Natalie in his arms and carry her out of the dungeon. They hurried out of the bakery to meet up with the rest of the parents.
“What’s going on?!” Porkrind questioned the kids.
“You!” Esther growled. She and her crew stormed towards Dice in an aggressive manner.
Glumstone, the Howling Aces, the Moonshine Mob, and Mortimer arrived at the scene.
“Hey, you forgot something—what’s going on?” O’Fera questioned.
“Saltbaker, he—”
They felt the earth shaking suddenly, interrupting Cassidy and endangering everyone in the village.
“Watch out!!” Dice yelled.
Saltbaker broke through the roof of his bakery and towered over everyone in the village, except for Glumstone. The whole village gasped in shock while Murray noticed Cuphead and Chalice fighting Saltbaker.
“What the—?!” Bulldog gasped in shock.
“Saltbaker?!” Esther screamed in horror.
“He didn’t consume the Wondertart, did he?” Mortimer asked Jerry.
“He hadn’t even made it yet,” Jerry uttered in fear.
“I knew he’ll be consumed by darkness,” Mortimer replied solemnly.
Saltbaker growled at Cuphead and grabbed him with his giant fist, squeezing him. Cuphead screamed in pain.
“Let my friend go!” Chalice cried while getting onto his broken nose, trying to get him to release her friend.
“Chalice, stop!” Saltbaker growled. “I don’t want to hurt you!”
“Then stop hurting my friends!” Chalice said while her ghost form was strangely turning into gold. She became brighter than a sun, blinding Saltbaker.
Murray watched this unfold and hurried over to Saltbaker.
“Murray! What are you doing?!” Elder Kettle cried in fear.
Murray jumped up on the rooftop and climbed on Saltbaker’s leg, his eye glowing violet. Saltbaker’s veins turned violet, reaching up to his eyes. Before Saltbaker could notice Murray on his leg, his vision went violet.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Next order! Next order!
“Hurry up, will you?!”
“Come on, what’s taking so long?!”
Saltbaker cooked for as many people as he could in the town, but it was never enough. Never catching a break, never resting, no, he was never a person who gets tired…right? It didn’t just go on for one day. It went on for years…and years…and years! Saltbaker finally snapped one day, using all of his resources to search up for the answers to his problems. Finally…he has his answer.
The Wondertart…If he could get his hands on it, why, he’ll rule the Astral Plane and he will no longer be pushed around. Everyone in the world deserved to be drowned by his fury. This world will be made of salt and he wouldn’t mind that one bit.
Then…there was another memory he almost forgot about. It was when he was working in the bakery, overworked as usual, until he heard something collapsed in the trash can with a scream. He hurried outside to see what the commotion was and he saw someone stumbling out of the trashcan. It was a young chalice toddler, with a gap between her teeth and her innocent eyes looking up at him in fear. Her stomach growled as she hugged it with a groan in pain. He softened his gaze at her and gestured her inside with a small friendly smile.
Once she was inside, he cooked up a full meal with some desserts alongside with it. She smiled and ate as much as she could. At that moment, that was the moment Saltbaker decided to take her in. He had a room prepared for her to sleep in, and he felt this joy when she sees her own room for the first time and slept on the big comfortable bed.
She would help him out in the kitchen when serving the customers, bringing back his love and passion for cooking since he has someone to help around the kitchen. She was growing up right before his very eyes, watching her dance in the streets for extra coins for herself.
“When I grow up, I’m gonna be a dancer! And I’m going to be the best dancer in this whole world!” Chalice, as a little kid, would always say.
“I have no doubt you will, Ms. Chalice. I have no doubt that you will.”
Saltbaker was shrinking back once his memories of Chalice filled in his mind, almost like it was calming him down.
He released Cuphead, who fell with a scream before O’Fera caught him in her arms.
“You okay, kid?” O’Fera asked.
Cuphead nodded his head shyly.
“Good,” she said while putting Cuphead down and watching Saltbaker shrank down to his normal size, with Murray moving his hands up a bit to Saltbaker’s shoulder.
Chalice floated downwards and watched Murray removed his hand away from Saltbaker’s shoulder. The violet from Saltbaker’s eyes disappeared as he gasped like he hadn’t breathed in a while. There were tears in his eyes as the bug cops hurried to get the padi wagon.
He looked up to see Chalice, staring at him with innocence…the same innocence she had when she was younger. Saltbaker glanced back to see his destroyed bakery and then back at her.
“I’m sorry…” Saltbaker uttered to her.
He was handcuffed and was guided into the wagon to take him to jail. Saltbaker frowned and sat in the wagon, not even trying to struggle against his restraints.
Tabitha watched Saltbaker being taken to jail and then looked at the homeless group with a sigh. “Well, since you’ve taken out my rival, I guess I’ll let you stay for a night.”
The group arched their brows in confusion.
“Only for a night!” Tabitha grumbled and led them into the bakery.
The group glanced at each other in confusion and decided to enter Tabitha’s bakery while the rest of the villagers watched in shock at the event that just happened.
To Be Continued...
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