It was 8:15 when Kettle tried to get ahold of Cuphead, Mugman, and Miss Chalice again. He ended up with the same results – no answer. Soon it was 9:00, and still no calls or texts. This was getting ridiculous! Kettle could deal with either of the triplets not responding immedietly, especially since they shared a phone, but they would have answered by now. Once again, Kettle called their phone; threatening to ground the cup trio if they didn't pick up and give him a good explanation why they didn't clean up their mess in the living room.

Eventually, Kettle decided to walk around the island a bit to ask the residents if they had seen his grandkids. He started with some neighbors, then some of the former debtors, like Hilda and Goopy le Grande, and finally the local shopkeeper, Porkrind. Nobody saw Cuphead, Mugman, or Miss Chalice, but Porkrind brought up an interesting fact.

"They said something about some arcade," The pig said nonchalantly.

"An arcade?" The old kettle questioned.

"Yeah, when they were here yesterday," Porkrind explained without looking up from his magazine, "They said something about hanging out with buddies at the arcade around noon or something."

The arcade, huh? Thinking back, Cuphead said the triplets planned to meet some friends at their friend Mac McTosh's house and then go to the Inkwell Arcade together. Could they have all gone there early to be the first to enter the arcade before anyone else? Kettle would soon find out, and if that was the case, the trio were in HUGE trouble. Kettle thanked Porkrind and then took off to the McTosh house.

The walk from Porkrind's to the McToshs' didn't take more than a ten-minute walk. When he reached the gate, he saw his grandkids' friends: Mac, Jimmy the news cat, Bowlboy, Willy, Buster, Ginger, and Rose the cactus, yet he didn't see the triplets. They were all on their phones only to look up when he saw Elder Kettle walking up to the fence.

"Hello, Elder Kettle." The children greeted the man.

"Hello, Children," the old man acknowledged, "I hope you kids aren't planning on having your faces glued to those devices all summer."

"Nah, we got too many plans this summer to play on them 24/7," Rose confirmed.

"What brings you here?" Mac asked.

"My grandkids," Kettle answered, "Have you seen them?"

The Seven kids looked at one another and shook their heads no. Kettle gave them a suspicious look.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes sir, honest," Mac answered immediately. He couldn't blame the old kettle for not believing them. The kids have covered for the cup trio before, but this wasn't one of those times. Though Kettle didn't seem convinced. Thankfully, Ginger Spoke up.

"It's the truth Elder Kettle," She replied, "In fact, we've been trying to get ahold of them ourselves."

"Or at least see if someone else had seen them," Willy added, handing his phone to elder Kettle. The man looked at the messages ranging from individual to a group chat. One in particular stood out:

Bad news guys. We may have to try the arcade next weekend. My dad told me last night that it's gonna be closed for the rest of the week. The owner's out of town for the week. Lame.

- Ginger. 7:00 A.M. Sat. 5/28/22

That message surprised Kettle, "You sent this message around 7?" He asked Ginger, who nodded.

"After we found out, we figured we should tell the others," Buster replied.

"Not that it would have mattered for some of us," Rose explained, "Cora couldn't come because she had a doctor's appointment. Angel went fishing with her dad. Puphead was spending the day with Djimmie. Horace Raddish was helping the rest of the root pack with the garden, and Chip was helping his mom out with some housework."

"We were hoping Cups, Mugs, and Chal would have gotten back to us at least by 8, but when they didn't, we figured they either got in trouble or forgot to charge their phone," Jimmy added.

"That's when my mom told us you were looking for them," Mac said.

"You're mom?" Kettle questioned. He didn't bump into Mac's mother.

"She overheard your conversation with Porkrind." Mac explained to the confused man, "When she heard you were looking for Miss Chalice and the boys, she called me to see if they were over at the house. Obviously, they weren't, so we tried to get ahold of them again," The sentient apple held up his phone to show the numerous text messages he sent out, "No replies, no new messages, no calls . . . Nothing."

"We even called a few people to see if anyone saw them," Bowlboy explained.

This new information surprised Elder Kettle. Yet a piece of him still wanted to be sure if he was wrong.

"And…Nobody saw them?" Kettle inquired, worried he already knew the answer.

The seven ten-year-olds shook their heads. "Nobody did Elder Kettle." Ginger answered.

"Truthfully, we thought they went for a quick walk, only for Cups to get distracted and drag the other two along," Jimmy stated.

Elder Kettle grew pale, "I-I see . . . Well, thank you, kids . . ." He stuttered as anxiety grew, "Well…E-Enjoy your day. I-If I see Miss Chalice of the boys, I-I'll send them your way. A-And good seeing you too," The old man made a beeline across the bridge for his home, leaving the seven children behind. Any remaining anger or frustration he held on melted away and was replaced with fear and concern.


It was 11:20 when Elder Kettle returned home and immediately made a beeline for the answering machine, praying that the triplets left a message on the answering machine. No new messages and none were on his cellphone. Once again, Elder Kettle Called his grandkids' phone, praying they would answer. Once again, no answer. He let out a frustrated whine as he kept calling the number. The rational side of the elder wondered if the battery for the triplet's phone died or if Cuphead had it for the day since Miss Chalice and Mugman. Part of Kettle wished he had just bought two more phones so each grandkid could have one, and he wouldn't have to worry about who had that blasted contraption.

Several tries later, and still nothing, Kettle gave up. He sat down on one of the chairs. His mind drifted to what the triplet's friends had told him as he glanced at the clock – 11:45. Fear began to bubble inside Kettle's stomach. Something wasn't right. Could his boys and girl be in trouble? Was it all a crazy misunderstanding? What was going on!? A knock at the door snapped Kettle out of his thoughts. Thinking it was Cuphead, Mugman, and Miss Chalice, Kettle rushed over and pulled the knob. Instead of his kids, however, almost everybody he, Miss Chalice, and the boys knew: from old friends and acquaintances to new ones, including the former debtors and ingredient guardians, all looking at him with concern. Mac's mother stepped forward.

"The children told us everything Elder Kettle," She said worriedly.

"So, the triplets are missing?" Ollie asked, feeling nervous.

Kettle looked at everyone around him, half practically pleading for this to be a misunderstanding. One look from him proved that it was all too real. Cuphead, Miss Chalice, and Mugman were indeed missing.


This Chapter took TONS of edits and rewrites. Had to rewrite interaction scenes, and more on Kettle talking to the cup trio's friends. I gave the cactus girl from the dlc the name Rose; mainly because I, thought it would be cute and it would be a cute pun to a desert rose flower. As for the paper boy, I decided to call him Jimmy (like from the cuphead show. though him and cups are good terms lol.) And bowlboy's there too (I see him as the friend the gang likes to have, but is often the butt of everyone's jokes.) But all of them are good friends.

As for Mac's last name, McTosh...a pun off of McIntosh apples...corny I know lol.

All Characters belong to the Cuphead Franchise which belong to Studio MDHR.