Okay, this idea bit me and wouldn't let go. :)

Cuphead belongs to Studio MDHR. I only own Monica.

A Lucky Roll Of The Dice

Chapter 1: Intruder

King Dice smiled as he wrote down the numbers in the books. Hopus came into the room with a newspaper and smiled at seeing his boss looked happy. "A good turnout, boss?" He asked.

"Yes," the owner of the casino said. "All this week we've had a good turnout."

The rabbit smiled and placed the paper down in front of the man. "Look at the first article," he said.

The purple-suited man turned his head to look and was surprised to see that the casino was in a story on the front page. Setting aside his pen, he picked it up to read it, smiling as the story painted the casino in a good light, saying the atmosphere had become better since the monster had been defeated. Even those that had been cheated by the monster before were coming back and enjoying themselves. "Hard to believe it's been a year already," he said softly.

"Yeah," the magician said softly.

Just then, they heard something and looked up as it sounded like it was coming from the main room of the casino. King Dice stood up and looked at Hopus. "Gather the mini bosses and find a place to hide," he said. "Hopefully it's nothing, but I'm taking no chances."

The rabbit nodded as they had had issues with punks before that had hurt them or they were afraid the monster might have returned to seek revenge. As he headed away, the owner of the casino cautiously headed into the casino, looking around before hearing scurrying and following the sound, his card minions ready to come out and fight if necessary.

Whoever it was was trying to be quiet, something Dice noticed at once, but he also noticed they seemed to be moving away from him. He looked around, but didn't see anyone. Keeping his guard up, he continued following the sounds he heard. After a bit, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned his head to find the doors to the kitchen were swinging a little. He also heard the fridge door open and this prompted him to move towards the kitchen, wondering if one of the mini bosses had come to get a snack. Carefully, he teleported into the kitchen so that he didn't alert whoever was in there in case it was an intruder.

His green eyes settled on a small figure in front of the fridge, who was eating cold fried chicken frantically as if they hadn't eaten in a long time. Dice noted the frantic eating and as he observed the person, he was surprised to see it was a girl, if the dress she wore was anything to go by. But the way the dress hung on her made him realize something was wrong and as he moved a bit closer, he was shocked to see that the girl's arms were very thin, much thinner than they should have been. Her face from what he could see was thin too, her cheekbones visible under her skin and now that he had a closer look, he could see she was thin as a toothpick.

He noted the girl had eaten all the chicken and a look of relief was on her face, but she also still looked hungry and she also looked to be young, probably no more than eleven years old. He then saw her freeze before she stiffly moved her head to see him watching her and her light brown eyes widened in fear before she took a step back.

Dice felt worried at seeing the look of pure fear on her face and he held his hands up in the universal gesture of meaning no harm. The girl flinched at that, taking another step back. "Easy, little one," the owner of the casino said, making his voice calm and hoping it would soothe the young one as he took a careful step forward.

The poor child jumped at both his voice and the step he took before turning and running away, making the man chase after her. "Wait!" He called out. "Slow down!"

The girl kept running and when he saw she was heading for the doors to go outside, Dice quickly teleported, popping up in front of her just as she reached the last step to get to the doors and, unable to stop, crashed right into him. A hoarse scream escaped her as he wrapped his arms around her to stop her from running and she began struggling like crazy, trying to get him to let her go, but he held her securely, grunting a little as she managed to get a few punches to his shoulders and one to his chin, but he didn't let go. Instead he managed to wrap one arm around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides.

Feeling herself being restrained, the girl struggled harder, kicking and grunting with effort, but the owner of the casino just tightened his hold on her before he finally made it to his office and he entered it, having his card minions lock the door and guard it while he finally set the girl down. She immediately ran for the door, but found it locked. She turned to look at Dice with a look of pure terror and he felt bad for her. "It's alright," he said, speaking calmly in hopes to soothe her. "I'm not going to hurt you."

She moved away from the door, but away from him too, to which he sighed and moved towards her. She dashed to the right and he moved quick, just missing her as she dodged at the last minute, but in her haste, she found herself cornered as he moved closer, his hands reaching out to grab her.

The look of terror on her face became a look of sadness and fear that she wouldn't survive and she trembled, sinking down to the floor and curling up in a ball, shaking as tears fell from her eyes, a small whimper escaping her.

Dice felt his heart break at seeing this, like the little one was almost giving up. Still reaching for her, he picked her up, to which she whimpered louder and her trembling increased, but he stood up before cradling her in his left arm, wrapping the left side of his jacket around her. "Shh," he soothed her. "Easy, little one."

He noted how small she looked. She couldn't have been much taller than Cuphead and Mugman, but her face, now that he could see it clearly, was human, which surprised him. Humans didn't often come to Inkwell, so what was a young child doing there?

The little girl looked up at him after a moment, her brown eyes looking confused, as if she was wondering why he wasn't hurting her. That made his heart go out to her and he smiled at her reassuringly. "See? I'm not going to hurt you, little one," he said, instinctively rocking her gently in his arms.

She still looked confused before jumping at hearing a knock on the door and Dice waved to his card minions, who opened the door to show it was Pirouletta, who was smiling before her face took on a look of surprise at seeing the young girl. "Dice...is that...a child?" She asked in shock.

"Yes," he said. "A human one at that."

Seeing the girl's physical state, the dancer felt her heart go out to the child. "Oh, the poor dear," she said, going up to them as Dice kneeled down to let the dancer have a better look at the young one. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know, but she's much too thin for her age," Dice said. "She can't be more than eleven years old."

The girl moved her hands, holding up seven fingers, to which Pirouletta gasped. "Seven years old?" She asked, to which the girl nodded, but then looked away.

Now the owner of the casino was getting a sinking feeling about this. "Do you have parents, little one?" He asked.

She looked up at him and cocked her head to the side, as if confused. "A caretaker then? Someone who takes care of you?" He clarified.

Pirouletta noted the child didn't seem to know what those were and she took a deep breath, biting her lip as she didn't want to ask, but she had a feeling her next guess was right. "Are you an orphan, dear one?" She asked gently.

The child looked at her before tears filled her eyes and she curled up in Dice's arm. "I think we can take that as a yes," he said softly, not caring that the girl's tears were soaking into his suit or that dirt, which he had just now noticed on the girl's clothes, was messing up his shirt. He looked at the dancer and made up his mind. "Pirouletta, would you be willing to help this young one get cleaned up and settled for the night?" He asked her.

"Of course," she said with a nod, smiling at the child gently. "How about it, little one? You come with Aunty Pirouletta and we'll get you cleaned up. Perhaps some hot chocolate too to warm you up?"

The girl looked at her as if the words were a bit foreign to her. Then again, they probably were. She looked up at Dice, who smiled gently at her. "It's okay. Pirouletta won't hurt you," he said. "But I'm sure you'd like to have a bath and some cleaner clothes, wouldn't you?"

She looked down for a moment before gazing back up at him and nodding hesitantly. "Alright," he said, still smiling as he gently handed her to the dancer, who held her gently, rubbing the child's back soothingly.

The little girl tried to look over her shoulder, making the two chuckle gently at her actions before Dice noticed something. A bracelet was around the girl's left wrist and it looked like it was made of plastic beads and a name was visible. He gently touched the child's arm and she looked at him. "May I see your bracelet?" He asked gently.

She looked a bit afraid, but looked up at Pirouletta, who smiled. "He just wants to see it, sweetie," she said reassuringly. "He won't take it from you."

The child hesitated a moment more before slowly extending out her left arm and the owner of the casino gently held her hand in his own, looking at the bracelet and noticing the name. "Monica," he said, making the child look up at him. "Is that your name, little one?"

She looked unsure about answering, but then nodding. "Yes," she said, her voice a bit hoarse.

"What a pretty name," Pirouletta said, smiling. "I'm Pirouletta and this is King Dice."

Monica looked at them, her uncertainty replaced with curiosity and Dice noticed she seemed a bit happy that they liked her name, which led him to believe that not many people called her by her name. "Alright, why don't you go with Pirouletta and I'll close up everything here," he said.

The child looked at the dancer and saw her smile, to which she smiled back. "Okay," she said softly.

Seeing the child was at least willing to trust her a little, Pirouletta smiled. "Come," she said. "First things first, a nice warm bath for you."

King Dice smiled as he watched them head out before he returned to his paperwork, finishing it up before calling in Chips Bettigan, who came quick. "You called for me, boss?" The cowboy asked.

"Yes," he said. "There is a young girl here, seven years old. Her name is Monica and I have reason to believe she is an orphan and one that was mistreated."

Chips was shocked. "A kid?" He asked before standing up straighter. "You want me to investigate?"

"Yes," the owner of the casino said. "One more thing. She's human."

The cowboy was stunned. "Wonder how she got here," he said before a thought crossed his mind. "What if...her caretaker left her on the Isles? If I remember right, there were some tours yesterday and earlier today."

Dice nodded before they heard someone come in and saw it was Pirouletta and she held the child in her arms. "Monica fell asleep after the bath," she said, showing them the girl, who they could see had pale skin and her hair was a dark blonde. She was wearing a a blue floor-length nightgown and a blanket was wrapped around her as the dancer held her.

Chips came a bit closer and smiled at seeing the child. "She's a cutie," he said.

Monica opened her eyes blearily, seeing the cowboy and she shrank back a little in Pirouletta's arms. Chips, seeing this, gave her a gentle smile. "Don't be afraid, little lady," he said, taking off his hat and bowing to her. "You're safe here."

She liked his voice and a smile came to her face. "Look at that," Dice said, smiling. "You made her smile, Chips."

Pirouletta chuckled before seeing Monica yawn and the child settled her head on the dancer's shoulder. "Sweet dreams, little one," she said softly. "Sleep well."

Chips smiled. "Are we going to keep her, boss?" He asked hopefully.

Knowing how much the cowboy loved children, Dice smiled, already finding a place in his heart for Monica and he could see that Pirouletta already had a soft spot for the child. "Yes," he said. "At least until we find out more about her situation, but...if what we've learned is true and she is an orphan, then...," he paused before taking a deep breath. "Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"I'll start the investigation right away, boss," the cowboy promised.

"And we'll all take turns watching her and showing her that she's safe," Pirouletta said.

Dice nodded before smiling and gently brushing his hand over Monica's head. To his surprise, the child smiled in her sleep, sighing peacefully when his hand gently cupped her the left side of her face and his thumb rubbed her cheek soothingly. "Aww," Chips said with a smile. "You made her smile too, boss."

"Are you getting a soft spot for her, Dice?" Pirouletta asked.

The owner of the casino chuckled. "I believe I am," he said before nodding. "Chips, how about you start that investigation in the morning? Pirouletta, are you alright with Monica bunking with you tonight? I'll see about getting a room ready for her tomorrow."

"You got it, boss," the cowboy said with a nod.

"I'm fine with Monica bunking with me," the dancer said with a nod as she smiled at the child.

Smiling again, Dice wished them both good night and then headed for his own room, his mind on Monica as he vowed that he would make the people that hurt her pay for what they did and he and the casino mini bosses would treat the girl as one of their own. He thought about adopting her and while the idea appealed to him, he decided it would be best to wait until Chips completed his investigation and they saw how Monica settled in. If he couldn't adopt her, then he'd find a family that could.

But in his heart, he knew that he would adopt her and would fight for the child no matter what. She deserved a good life and a good family, and he was going to make sure she had both.

Yup, you can tell he's hooked. :)

Next up: Monica's first morning at the casino. :)

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418