I've been watching a lot of previews from the Cuphead Show and I gotta say, I love how they portrayed the Devil! The Devil is so charismatic, deliciously evil, and finally gets his own villain song! Their Devil is definitely different from my Devil, that's for sure. But it's ok. I guess I base my Devil on the video games. Anyway, I'm already in love with the Cuphead Show and can't wait to start watching it. Enough about me. Here's the newest chapter. Enjoy!
"It wasn't easy but one of my riders managed to locate where the Devil is," Phear Lap was telling Dice. "They've searched high and low but they've found him."
"Well? Don't keep me in suspense! Where is the Devil?" Dice asked at once.
Phear Lap checked to make sure they were alone in the Devil's office before finally answering. "The Devil is inside the Mausoleum in Inkwell Isles 1. That's in Inkwell Forest."
"The Mausoleum…?" Dice said puzzled. "Why there? If that's where the boss is, then how come he hasn't come back?" But Dice knew it couldn't be good. The Devil must be trapped in the mausoleum.
"I'm familiar with the Mausoleum," Phear Lap said, removing his green visor, wiping his brow before placing his hat back on. "It's a spooky place. The Spectre Syndicate usually occupies the three mausoleums. They're not on good terms with the Devil, though. But still… I wonder how Monty Bank has trapped the Devil in a place like that."
"There's only one way to find out," Dice said determinedly. "I'm going there. I have to help the Devil. Once I do, the Devil can break off whatever deal he has with Monty Bank and rightfully take back ownership of the casino." There Dice turned and started to head back to the casino.
Phear Lap managed to catch up with Dice along the corridor that linked between the Devil's Tower and the casino next door. He grabbed Dice's shoulder to stop him. "Wait a minute. You can't go running off now," he warned. "Monty Bank has those meanie-bags crawling all over the casino. If they see any suspicious activity, they'll set off an alarm. Monty Bank is a creep but he's no fool. He won't allow you to leave the casino."
Dice had to admit that Phear Lap had a point. But luckily he knew exactly what to do. "What I need is a distraction. And don't worry, I know just what to do," Dice said with sly smirk.
Back at the casino, Dice was hiding behind a large potted plant and was carefully watching Monty Bank from afar. Monty was busily arguing with the customers who were already accusing him of incompetence. Typical. Hiding here with him were Phear Lap and Hopus Pocus who insisted on being in on it. They've gone over the plan again. They would keep Monty Bank distracted here while Dice went out to rescue the Devil. Hopus could barely sit still and he was fingering his magic wand with his evil eyes on Monty.
"Now?" Hopus said impatiently for the millionth time.
"No… Wait for the imps," Dice told him. "The imps have all agreed to keep his meanie-bags at bay."
Right on cue, the imps cackling madly ran up to Monty Bank and immediately began to beat him with broomsticks. Monty let out a surprised yell and tripped. Still laughing manically, the imps continued to smack him silly with broomsticks while customers burst out laughing at the hilarity of it. Nobody came to Monty's defense despite his outraged protests. Even Phear Lap couldn't resist giving a whinnying laugh and that's when Dice finally gave Hopus the go-ahead. Hopus zoomed forward at once and using his wand levitated Monty Bank into the air, turning him into a literal piñata for the imps to beat with broomsticks. This would definitely keep Monty busy for a long time.
"That should do it," Dice said with an evil grin. "Try to cover me, Phear Lap. I'm going to set out for the Mausoleum in Inkwell Isles 1. I'll bring the Devil back. And then Monty Bank really will pay…" Now Dice quickly headed straight for the casino exit while the commotion went on in the casino.
It's been a long while since Dice has been in the woodlands at Inkwell Isles. Years of experience has taught him that Inkwell Forest was the best place to hide out. But Dice decided to teleport directly here instead on traveling on foot. Working at the Inkwell Hell Casino has earned Dice a very bad reputation and he was sure any Inkwell citizen would be unfriendly towards his presence. Luckily he was able to stay out of sight. Instead he started for the spooky temple-like building known as the Mausoleum.
According to Phear Lap, colorful pink ghosts called the Spectre Syndicate made their homes here. He wondered if maybe they're the ones who imprisoned the Devil somehow. Dice stepped into the cool building and the first thing he saw was spooky cobwebs, skull-remains, old dusty angel-statues and decorative stained-glass windows. It was eerily silent in here that Dice had the creepy feeling that invisible eyes were watching him. Going further in, Dice found broken vases and old coat of arms hanging on the stone-wall. There was a lot of interesting lore about the Mausoleums here in Inkwell Isles.
Just when Dice thought he was alone, a ghostly voice suddenly rang out from seemingly nowhere. "What have we here? Somebody with nothing to fear?" Dice stopped walking and looked all around, trying to locate the source of the voice. "Have you come here to take a look? Come to have a good spook?" This voice seemed different. In other words, there were more of them…
Dice wondered where the Devil could be. There could only be one place to cheek. The lower level of the mausoleum where the ancient coffins were kept tucked away into the walls. Dice took a couple of steps forward but then ghostly wailing stopped him in his tracks again. By now Dice was starting to feel paranoid and thought on hurrying up his visit here. But then materializing out of nowhere, pink ghosts started to appear to him. All kinds of ghosts. Boy ghosts, girl ghosts, hat-wearing ghosts, ghosts sporting an impressive mustache. Together they all looked at Dice with their scary eyeless sockets.
"Whoooo are you? What do you do? Do we have to spook you too?" This must be the Spectre Syndicate. A whole community of ghosts that liked living in the mausoleums. They all surrounded Dice and seemed to float around him. Taking in the die-headed man with their expressive eyeless sockets.
Dice always avoided trying to come in here. Everyone knows the mausoleums were haunted. But he needed to get by. The Devil was here somewhere. "Just passing through," Dice said shortly.
But the Spectre Syndicate didn't let him get any further. "This is no place for the living," they immediately moved in to block Dice's path. "Danger lurks here below. A dangerous and cunning foe. Turn back or we will attack!"
"A dangerous and cunning foe?" Dice said, and then he forgot to be on his guard. "You mean the Devil? Where is the Devil? Is he trapped here? I have to let him out!"
Wrong answer. The Spectre Syndicate all gasped in unison and Dice saw actual fear in them. Those scary ghosts were scared of the fiendish Devil, the epitome of evil. "You wish to release ultimate evil? You cannot, you will not!" Soon all of them were gathering and eying Dice with hostility. "Now we get it! Now we understand. You are the Devil's right-hand man! Prepare yourself for the great beyond!"
So much for being left in peace as Dice took a step back as the Spectre Syndicate began to advance upon him. They weren't going to let him get to the Devil. He would have to fight back. Dice threw a card at a nearby pink ghost but it went right through. The Spectre Syndicate laughed at him. "Ghosts…don't…die! Heh, heh, heh. Can you get out of here alive?"
No good. No matter how many cards Dice flung at them, it had no effect. Just when Dice thought he was cornered, he heard excited twittering in his sleeve. His Ace of Hearts wiggled out and was glowing a bright pink. The exact same color as the pink ghosts. Trusting his poker-cards, Dice used his Ace of Hearts and sure enough, this did have an effect. Each ghost he hit with an Ace of Hearts card caused them to vanish out of sight. Soon Dice was making his way through the mausoleum when the rest of the Spectre Syndicate fled away in fright. Nothing would stop him from reaching the Devil.
Dice finally came upon stone spiral stairs that led him ever downward. As Dice climbed lower and lower, he wondered what he was about to find. Was the Devil being kept in some kind of cage? How exactly did Monty Bank trap the Devil in a place like this? But most of all, would he be able to release the Devil? Finally Dice reached the bottom and the first thing he saw was… The Devil… The Devil was just standing there, practically in the middle of the room and wasn't moving at all.
The Devil was standing around, wearing a bad-tempered scowl, but he looked up at the sound of footsteps. The next thing, the Devil and Dice stood staring at each other, both of them looking just as surprised as the other. This clearly wasn't what Dice had been expecting. This was a very strange thing to walk upon. But after a moment passed, Dice realized he was already running forward at once and throwing his arms around his missing demon. The Devil's arms closed around Dice as he returned the embrace. The two most evil villains were finally reunited at last.
"Boss! I finally found you!" Dice said happily. He smiled into the Devil's catlike yellow eyes which glinted warmly back at him. "I'm so glad you're alright."
"Me too," the Devil said elatedly. He missed Dice and was glad to see the die-headed man's handsome face again and breathe in his familiar musk. "It's been an absolute nightmare! You have no idea how long I've stood inside this thing. That Monty Bank… He was a lot cleverer than I gave him credit for. But he knew I was after him. That's why he set this trap for me."
"Uh…If you don't mind my asking, but why are you just standing there?" Dice had to ask. "Monty Bank is wrecking chaos in the casino and you're just standing here? He says that you gave him ownership of the Inkwell Hell Casino! Please tell me he's lying, boss…"
The Devil pointed to the ground and this drew Dice's attention for the first time. There he noticed that the Devil wasn't just standing on the ground. He was standing in the center of what appeared to be some kind of pentagram that appeared to be drawn in some black ink. The Devil was standing in the center of it. The symbol seemed drawn with strange symbols and written in an obscure language that Dice didn't recognize. Nevertheless, he looked back up at the Devil.
"What is this?"
"This is called a Devil's Trap," the Devil explained to him. "They're rare symbols and not too many are familiar with them. It has the ability to trap any demon without fail. This is the reason why I'm stuck here. I can't leave the pentagram."
"Well why don't you just use your powers to break the seal or something?" Dice suggested. But the Devil was sadly shaking his head at that.
"I can't. This trap seals my demonic power. I'm not able to destroy the seal myself. Believe me, I've tried," the Devil sighed bitterly.
It was starting to make sense to Dice. "I get it. So that's why your imps lost contact with you. If your power's been cut off, they wouldn't have been able to find you. Phear Lap must have suspected as much and that's why he sent out his riders to search for you instead."
"Precisely," the Devil confirmed. "This seal keeps me stuck here. As you've probably already figured out, I've been out collecting the souls of the previous candidates who were conspiring to become my manager. I was worried they would keep targeting you, Dice. That's why I did it."
Dice gazed into the Devil's eyes and felt powerful emotions at these words. "You mean… You did all this for me?" The Devil reached for Dice's hand, brought up to his lips to kiss and he smiled for the first time. Dice was deeply touched. "You really think I can't handle myself?" he said scoldingly.
"Hasn't crossed my mind once," the Devil said lovingly as he cuddled Dice affectionately. But he turned serious once more. "I can't stay here. Monty Bank trapped me and then he forced a deal with me. The ownership of my casino in exchange for my freedom…"
"Let me guess… Monty didn't keep his word, did he?" Dice said sarcastically.
"Of course not. The fink-rat just up and left me here. The no-good lying weasel. And now he's mucking up my own casino and there's not a darn thing I can do to stop him," the Devil growled in frustration.
"There has to be some way," Dice insisted. "Isn't there any way to remove the seal?" With that, Dice reached down and thought he could wipe away the ink but to no avail. The seal couldn't be cleared away and it continued to imprison the Devil within.
"Yes, there are ways to break the seal," the Devil told Dice. "The seal can be broken but it won't be easy. You need to break the circle in order for its effect to wear off. I can't use my own powers so I need someone just as strong." Dice stared into Dice's face and asked the important question. "Dice… I need you to do it. Can you break the seal?"
"Yes I can do it," Dice said without hesitation. Little did Dice know, his old insecurities and self-doubt would come back to haunt him…