And with this chapter, we're briefly pausing the story until the Halloween Special is done. For those who do not know where the special is located. Just search under the category Cartoons until you come to Cuphead Show! It's the first one.
Yes, and Alicia still has to learn to fly properly. But luckily she knows a friendly dragon who can help her
Personally, I have to say I don't find the Howling Aces that hard. In general, all boss fights from Cuphead are easy for me. I find the monster fights from Monster Hunter harder.
Until then
"Okay then, let's start the engines!" said Alicia as she sat in the Stormwulf. Both brothers sat behind her, sharing a seat while Chalice was above them, looking over Alicia's shoulder. "You sure know your way around a plane!" she said as Alicia pulled out of the hangar and slowly headed for the runway. She was wearing headphones with a mic in front of her mouth. The machine was slightly smaller than Brutus but it was faster. "Okay, Alicia, can you hear me?" asked Hughes, who was in the tower next to the runway, looking at the airfield where the plane was. "Yep loud and clear," said Alicia. Before the four could board the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Brutus took off for the airfield, which was surrounded by mountains to the north of the island.
He would receive them from there and fly back with them when they found the ingredients. Skye also told Alicia that her mother was just as motivated by flying that she secretly snuck into the hangar at night and flew the plane around the island. "Really, all alone?" Alicia asked as Skye laughed. "Yes she was fascinated by it and wanted to stay in the air forever". This was not how Alicia knew her mother. She was always very strict and forbid Alicia and John to do anything. So from middle school on before that, it was different. But Alicia didn't remember that anymore. It had been so long ago.
"All right then, we'll do some tests before you start the machine," Hughes said. Alicia knew what he meant and tried if the wings moved and if the two propeller motors worked. When the propellers started the four heard a wolf howl. "Was that the plane or you Alicia?" asked Mugman as he looked to the engine where the propeller was and saw it turn into a wolf's head. The propeller was on his nose. Both engines and the nose of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning became a wolf and resembled the Chinook very much with the head. The wheels became paws and the body took that of a wolf. This howled again as both propellers spun so fast they could no longer be seen. "It's all right Hughes do we have permission to take off?" asked Alicia through the mike.
Hughes looks down "Yes you have permission to take off" with that said Alicia drove forward onto the runway. The plane gained speed and flew into the air on its way north to the runway where Brutus would be waiting for them. The plane flew gracefully through the air and Alicia couldn't help but do a barrel roll, loops and a humpty bump. "Wow Alicia since when can you do that?" asked Cuphead who was amazed by the flying maneuvers. "Well, only a member of the Howling Aces knows that," she said, showing Cuphead a pin Skye had given her along with a brown corduroy jacket, brown jeans and a brown aviator cap with goggles.
On the badge and on the back of the jacket was a print with a dog paw and the two letters H and A which were diagonally above the paw. Two banners of which one was above and one below the paw said "Howling Aces". Mint leaves and pineapple grenades peeked out from behind the paw. Inside the jacket Alicia was wearing, it said A. Powell. It was abbreviated to her name. She was the second in command. The first was Brutus. Arriving above the clouds, Alicia saw the mountain peaks and slowly flew down. "Ah there's the runway!" she reached for the mic and hoped Brutus saw her. "Yes I see you" said a raspy voice. "Do we have permission to land?" asked Alicia as she prepared the plane for landing. "Yes you may but watch out the runway is a bit slippery".
Slowly and cautiously she makes her way up and prepared for landing. The wheels extended and the Stormwulf landed slowly on the runway. As Brutus said it was a bit slippery but she stopped without problems and stopped next to Brutus plane. This one came from the small tower and was thrilled by her landing. "So you're off to see Glumstone the Giant, then?" asked Brutus as Cuphead nodded and jumped out of the plane, followed by Mugman and Chalice. Alicia stayed inside and zipped up her jacket. It was freezing cold outside and she didn't want to freeze to death.
"He and his gnomes are not far from the base here" Wait did he said gnomes? She hoped he had misspoken because Alicia didn't really like gnomes. It wasn't because of their looks but rather because of a former classmate who had annoyed her with garden gnomes. If you could call it that. She was locked in the shed and surrounded by garden gnomes in the dark while he played creepy music. She didn't want to think about it. The ingredient is more important than the stupid gnomes.
They quickly found a path that led them safely through the mountains. "How big do you think Glumstone is?" asked Cuphead as he ran ahead. "As big as a mountain, I bet," said Mugman as he nervously ran after his brother. Yes the mountains don't look very nice. Am I seeing faces? She hoped not. Otherwise I'd think of the movie Saludos Amigos with the plane Pedro. But the mountains only looked like that. Anyway, she didn't see any mountain that looked like Aconcagua from the movie. Just the thought of it made her shiver.
But they went on without problems until they came across a field covered with strange snow. Small blue spikes stuck in the ground that moved. They were small gnomes that jumped out of the holes as far as they approached them. But that did not bother them. Actually it was something else. It feels like hair. Alicia felt it, anyway. Nor did it make it better when she saw the mountain that was in front of them. It was a snow covered mountain with a Goldmine. Damn, that's a lot of gnomes. She backed away a little when she saw them. "Hey, what are they doing up here?" "Yeah, don't they know this is our territory?" the gnomes said in a squeaky voice. That didn't make it any better. Cuphead noticed that Alicia was slowly walking backwards.
"Alicia is everything alright?" she shook her head as she saw a couple of gnomes heading their way. "Not really" she said as her eyes changed and became her demon eyes. These looked even more menacing than the gnomes. At least that's what Cuphead saw. "What you want to talk to Glumstone?" said one of the gnomes standing in front of Mugman and Chalice. "Yeah, we're looking for the Gnome Berries," Chalice said as the gnomes laughed at her. Alicia didn't know why but she started to growl. It sounded like a wolf growl. This scared not only Cuphead, Mugman and Chalice but also the gnomes.
One of the gnomes in the mine fell down in fear while hitting a chuck of gold with his pickaxe. Suddenly the ground began to shake and the mine collapsed one along with the gnomes. The wooden frame broke with the stones behind which a face came to light. It was a giant wearing a roughly-tailored clothes. His head has a few bruises with bald spots similar to the peaks of a mountain and his beard lays across the field on which Alicia and the others were standing. He has a big red nose and a few missing teeth, with pink puffy cheeks and thick eyebrows.
So this must be Glumstone. In any case, he was not very happy about being woken up. His eyes wandered to Cuphead, Mugman and Ms. Chalice. Alicia he ignored completely. That calmed her down a lot. One giant protecting me is enough for me. "What do you mugs want from me?" he asked in a low deep voice. There was no mistaking the smell in his mouth. "Gosh you smell strong from your mouth" Cuphead said as he held his nose. Mugman followed suit. Only Chalice smelled nothing. Alicia also noticed the strong smell and were close to vomiting. Dude what have you eaten that you stink so much from the mouth. "Am I to understand that you have come into my territory, want my Gnome Berries, and are still insulting me?" asked Glumstone angrily as the three got used to the bad breath.
Mugman shook his arms nervously "No we didn't mean to-" but Glumstone was still angry. And the cookie he had in his mouth again didn't make it any better. "Sorry Mugsy but I think Glumstone is more one to let his fists do the talking" Chalice said as she looked at Alicia and Mugman who stood back a bit as platforms rose from the ground where Cuphead and Chalice stood. Both knew that it means fighting again. So for Cuphead and Ms. Chalice. Alicia was allowed to watch again with Mugman and write down the whole fight. Hopefully he doesn't get the wrong idea. She doesn't want to be kidnapped by one again just because he thinks she's beautiful. "Sometimes I really wonder if I'm some kind of magnet for people like that" Mugman looked at her confused. "What do you mean?".
"What I mean is that some people would like to take me as their wife and I would prefer not to have anything to do with them" the younger brother understood what she meant. The devil was all right because he really cared about her. But the thing with King Dice or the boss of the Moonshine Mob was something else. "That's why we make sure no one harms you" she stroked his ghostly cheek as he said that. His flushed face could not be missed. Just like the flock of geese flying above them on which gnomes rode. She also heard a whistle. You're not serious, are you? Glumstone's nose turned into a whistle as another flock of geese arrived.
The platforms on which Cuphead and Chalice were standing moved up and down alternately. "Watch out Cuphead duck!" screamed Chalice as the platform he landed on slowly went up. But he dodged the swarm in time, which did not please Glumstone. But he saw a bear not far away that he grabbed by its stubby tail and dragged upward. Both cups ran onto the platform next to Glumstone as he continued to drag the angry bear forward toward the two. But he quickly loses the desire to do so and threw the bear away. Instead, he pulled his bottom lip to reveal two gnomes, brewing a potion. Okay how can that be possible?
She didn't even want to know. It is a cartoon world with cartoon logic never forget that Alicia. Shaking her head, she continues to watch the fight. Purple and pink clouds are summon from the potion. These flew towards Cuphead and Chalice, both of whom parried the pink ones and avoided the others. This made Glumstone angry. So angry that he pulled at his beard. But this one seemed to have grown together with the field. With all his might, he tore off his beard. He is writhing in pain, as his eyes revolve around each other. "Oh no my beautiful beard!" said Glumstone. He screams and falls down into the background.
"Did we beat him?" asked Cuphead as Chalice looked at him with a shrug. But the question was quickly clarified when suddenly two puppets appeared. Seriously? The puppets looked a lot like the Devil and King Dice. Only they wore different clothes and the devil now had red fur instead of black. The devil wore a king's cape and a small crown on his head. I must say he looks cute. She also missed him very much and hopes to see him again soon. Seeing him over and over again in dreams didn't really help her loneliness. Especially not when a certain baker kept appearing in her dreams.
King Dice, in turn, wore the clothes of a jester. They also suited him after the thing with the love potion he was nothing but a fool for her. Maybe he should wear these things as a proper punishment. The devil has not yet decided what to do with Dice. Maybe it's enough if he walks around dressed like that for a month. Just the thought of how he would look made her laugh. Mugman, however, was still confused. Not because she suddenly had to laugh, but how Glumstone knew that they had defeated King Dice and the devil.
Presumably, the news has spread furiously. Or was it just there to annoy Cuphead? In any case, both puppets seem to be doing that. The devil held both hands open while Dice held only a sack in his hands. He tried to throw it at Cuphead, who dodged it at the last second before it landed in the devil's hands. Chalice had no trouble dodging until both but saw something move under Glumstone's torn beard. It was the gnomes jumping out of the beard and towards the two cups. But they also dodged them as well as the sack the devil threw. It almost hit Chalice if she hadn't jumped to the side in time.
The rest of the fight remained the same. The devil and Dice threw each other the bag while gnomes came out of the beard and tried to hit both cups. But no matter how many times they tried it didn't work and the two puppets broke. Annoyed, Glumstone lowered the puppets and boiled even more with rage. "Wait don't tell me he..." Yes he did. With his two hands he broke the rock Cuphead and Chalice were standing on and swallowed them both whole with a loud belch. The anger in Alicia's eyes was visible. She had the slit pupil again like when she had turned into a wolf for the first time.
Mugman saw her slowly transform into her demon form and boil with rage. A burning halo appeared above her head. The same as in the mural that hung in the Devil's Throne Room. But Glumstone did not notice. He slapped his belly while lying down. "HEY!" screamed Alicia. Her voice resembled that of a demon. It was very deep and sounded threatening. Glumstone looked around in confusion until he saw the two of them. "What do you want too-" he grabbed his stomach in pain. "Damn it, I wish I hadn't eaten those two cups!" said Glumstone as he leaned against a mountain in pain. Mugman flew up to his face, startling Glumstone. "Just give us the berries and that's it," but Glumstone refused.
Alicia had had enough. Especially when she saw Glumstone about to devour Mugman. She transformed into her Wyvern form and flew toward the giant's belly. He fell to the ground and spat out both cups. "Wow, we're free!" said Chalice. "Yes, and we're falling down very fast and very low!" said Cuphead as he and Chalice threatened to come into contact with sharp rocks. But something held them both down. They both looked up. It was Alicia who held them both by their shirts with her Wyvernmouth. "Oh, thank you, Alicia," Chalice said. "Yeah really thanks for the rescue" said Cuphead.
She lowered them both onto a rocky platform before turning her attention to Glumstone. Blue flame peeked out of her mouth as she snarled at him. "Okay I'll give you the Gnome Berries" Glumstone said as a couple of Gnomes jumped on Alicia's back to give them to Cuphead and Chalice. They look like strawberries. Only they were in a gnome hat and on top of Glumstone's beard. "Thank you very much!" said Cuphead as he grabs the Berries and walked up to Alicia's head. Chalice was a ghost again while Mugman sat on Alicia's back holding onto one of her spines.
Gently she climbed down with the two cups until they were back on the mountain path that leads them safely through the mountains. "Oh man am I still pissed!" said Alicia as Cuphead saw the steam coming out of her nostrils. "Relax Alicia the fight is over, we're fine and we just need one more ingredient" said Cuphead as he looked upside down into her eyes that still resembled a snake. He twitched slightly as he tried to soothe her with stroking. Mugman tries to do the same while Chalice tries to take Alicia's mind off things.
Before Cuphead and Mugman could do anything Chalice had already taken control of Alicia. Her eyes were now blue and no longer yellow. She also didn't seem as tense as before. She only opened her mouth to exhale. "Um Alicia is everything okay?" asked Cuphead as he looked her upside down in the eyes again. She blinked briefly and her eyes were yellow again, the burning Halo disappered and she had her normal pupils back. Straining, she fell to the ground and lay on the snow-covered floor. Cuphead plopped down as she lay on the ground and was much more relaxed than before.
"Are you okay Alicia?" asked Mugman as he climbed on top of her head. She just nodded before closing her eyes and Chalice flew out of her mouth startling the younger brother. "Don't worry I just mentally calmed her down so she couldn't accidentally hurt anyone" Chalice said as she flew next to the two brothers and explained to both of them. "But why is she knocked out again now?" asked Cuphead as he looked angrily at Chalice. Waking up a giant Wyvern wasn't easy.
Especially when they are in the middle of no man's land. "Don't worry, she'll wake up in a minute," Chalice said with a nervous smile. But both brothers were not really pleased about it and looked at her angrily with folded arms. But as Chalice said she opened her eyes and lifted her head. "Did I miss something?" said a voice behind the two brothers. They both flinched and turned around. "Alicia!" they both said as they hugged the Wyvern's muzzle. She lifted her muzzle a bit while trying to speak, which didn't really work because both brothers were clinging to her mouth.
Before the two brothers could say anything they were on her back. Both let go of her mouth. "What are you going to do?" asked Cuphead as Alicia continued down the path. Chalice followed her. "We still have an ingredient to collect right?" she asked as Chalice flew next to her head. "Yeah?" she said "But how do you know where the next ingredient is?" asked her. Wings outstretched, Alicia tried to fly into the air. But she was too weak and almost fell back to the ground. "Don't overexert yourself Alicia!" said Cuphead as he grabbed hold of one of her back spines. "Yes please don't hurt yourself!" said the younger brother in a worried voice. She looked at the two and nodded. She understood and instead continued to walk on the ground along the path.
After a while of walking, the three arrived at an ice gate that blocked their way. "Hey, what's the gate doing here?" asked Cuphead as he looked up at the gate. There stood two snow people with empty eye sockets and an ice spear in their hands. These giggled until they saw the Wyvern. Without thinking about it, they threw the spears at them. But that did not bother Alicia. She opened her mouth and blue flames came out of it, melting the ice gate. The two snow people disappeared before the flames could reach them. The gate no longer blocked their way and they could continue without problems.
But unnoticed by the four of them, two other snow people watch them from a distance with binoculars. "Are you sure these are the cups that are after the ingredient Mortimer Freeze is guarding?" asked the one without binoculars. "Do you really think that three walkers with a dragon would show up here, melt our gate only to run away again?" asked the one with the binoculars as he gave him an annoyed look. "No not really" said the other. Shaking his head, the other looked through the binoculars again, where he saw the Wyvern almost leave the ice canyon and melt two more ice gates.
The road to Mortimer's cult was still a long way off, to be sure. But at this rate, they would soon be there. "We'd better tell Mortimer" with these words they both disappeared into the snow. Only the binoculars remained there until a snowy hand grabbed them and took them away.
When Alicia came out of the ice canyon they were on a large snow field with frozen lakes, small of snow covered trees and small ice sculptures. "Wow look up guys" said Alicia as she looked up at the sky. It was already a little dark but you could see the many colored lights flying through the sky like fire snakes. They were the aurora borealis. Both brothers and Ms. Chalice looked up and were as excited as Alicia. "They look beautiful" said Cuphead. "Yes beautiful" said Mugman as he leaned on Alicia's back spine to continue looking at the auroras.
Only Chalice noticed that suddenly something was wrong. The weather suddenly changed. When they arrived at the field, it was not snowing. But now it began to snow heavily. Snowing it could no longer call it was more or less a blizzard. "Golly, why is there a blizzard here now?" asked Chalice as she held onto one of Alicia's horns. Both brothers hid behind the largest spine spike to avoid being flung away. Alicia, in turn, struggled against the strong wind. Snow fell in her eyes as she tried to open them again and again. "Damn I keep getting snow in my eyes!" she said as she tried to walk forward. Chalice was able to see the field better thanks to her current position and was able to guide Alicia through the blizzard without any problems.
"Just keep going straight Alicia!" said Chalice as the Wyvern did so. The snow sculptures that lay on the path were surprisingly not destroyed by her. Except for one. Damn I hope I didn't hurt anyone. She kept walking, not noticing that one sculpture was of an old man wearing a wizard's hat. Once on the other side of the snowfield, Chalice removed the layer of snow that had formed in front of Alicia's closed eyes. "So now you can open your eyes again Alicia" she did and found herself back in an ice gorge that was slightly shorter and led to a large frozen lake.
Why do I have to think of the Polar Express right now? She knew the Movie inside out. The train driver had briefly lost control of the train because he had swallowed the one part. This caused them to land on the frozen lake where he spat out the part and caused the ice to crack. Ironically, she also saw some rails, but they were broken. She stopped in front of the lake and lowered Cuphead first. "What is it Alicia?" he asked her, confused. "You go first and let me know if the ice is strong enough before we can cross it" he nodded, understanding what she meant.
Gently he walked on the ice and it did not crack. But Alicia wanted to be sure, so Cuphead kept going until he was almost on the other side of the lake. Mugman was lowered second and followed his brother. He slipped slightly and landed on the ice several times but he made it without any problems. "Come on Alicia you can do it!" both brothers called after her. She was still unsure but changed back into her demon form. She did not feel the cold thanks to her fur. But as a heavy Wyvern, she did not want to step on the ice. So well very gently. Slowly she stepped onto the ice that was beginning to crack a bit. Chalice stood behind her.
With every step she took, she got closer to the two brothers. But the cracking noises unsettled her very much. Out of the corner of her eye she saw two snow people doing something on the ice. Please don't tell me. It was already too late. The two snow people made the cracked ice crack and the crack followed Alicia and circled her. The ice under her broke and she fell into the water. "Alicia!" screamed Cuphead as he jumped into the ice water. "Cuphead no!" yelled Mugman as he jumped in after her. But Chalice stopped him from doing so. "We have to find them and make a hole so they can get out!" she explained to him.
They both wipe the snow away from the surface to be able to see where they were. "They're not here!" said Mugman as he continued to search. Chalice searched as well, "Not here either". They continued to search. But while the two continued to search on the surface. Cuphead swam underwater and found Alicia in her wolf form breathing through a small hole. Her claws held on to the ice so she wouldn't get caught in the current. She didn't even see Cuphead. Nor did she see him trying to break the ice with a stick. It worked, and Mugman and Chalice both saw them. "Mugman give me a hand". She also picked up a stick they found on the surface and was about to hit the same spot when Cuphead and Alicia were caught in the current.
They chased the two until they heard something crack not far away on the other side of the lake. They both turned around and saw Alicia coming out of the ice, soaked, with Cuphead on her back. Both were very happy to see both of them again and ran after them. Well Mugman ran and briefly fell on his head while approaching the two at breakneck speed. Alicia was very exhausted and lay on a log that was next to the lake and was covered by Cuphead. He also saw Mugman racing towards her and landing on Alicia's back. Through him she threw up the rest of the water that was in her lungs.
"Mugman!" growled Cuphead as he got his feet in his face and took them away. "Sorry Cuppy" he said as he took them off his face and walked over to Alicia who was still wiped out. "Alicia are you okay?" he asked as he hysterically shook her head up and down. Her mouth eyes were now brightly awake. "Come back to life" Mugman said several times as he continued to shake her head. "Mugman stop shaking Alicia back and forth!" the older brother said, annoyed. But Chalice saw that it did some good. She opened her eyes again.
Now wide awake and still shaking, she lifted her head and looked around in confusion. "Where are we and what happened?" she asked as she looked to the three. "You fell into the ice and Cuphead saved you" when she heard that she was more than shocked. "Is that true?" Chalice nodded as she looked to her. Before Cuphead saw it he was licked by a wolf's tongue. "Hey that tickles!" says Cuphead laughing as Alicia stopped licking him. But the cold was still getting to her, despite the thick fur. She was shivering. The three cups saw that. So they decided to cover Alicia up and cuddle with her so she wouldn't freeze to death.
But unnoticed, the same snowmen watched the four from far away with binoculars. "Damn it they made it over!" "Mortimer won't be pleased" they both said as they suddenly saw someone behind them. "Give me the binoculars" said an old raspy voice. The snowman handed him the binoculars. The person saw the wolf and the three cups on the other side of the lake. "So these are the four that survived my blizzard, destroyed my snow sculpture, and got out of the lake alive" he said in a growling voice. Both snow people shivered. "Let them into my arena when they get closer to our territory" he said and gave the binoculars back to the one snowman. "Sure Mortimer Freeze" said the one snowman.
The part with the snow sculptures is a small reference to Rudolph with Stormella's ice garden while the scene with the frozen lake is based on the Polar Express and Balto.