Gwendolyn 'Gwen' Mae Emmons was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts and lived under the strictness and control of her father Edward and her mother Margarine. She has an older sister named Rose Mary Emmons who moved out of the house and is working a teacher and is engaged to a rich man named William Smith. Gwen's passion is art and dreams to be a cartoonist against her father's wishes. She's under high expectations to be a housewife like most women in the 1930s. Gwen longs to live a free life away from her uptight family.
One day while walking in the park, she stumbles upon a glowing object that suddenly fell from the sky. Upon getting a closer look, it looked like a glowing magical inkwell. At the moment she touches it, a power suddenly beamed into her, thus making her the chosen wielder of the magic inkwell. She pulled her ink pen out of her dress pocket and dipped it into the magic inkwell and it glowed and sparkled. She decided to test it out on a piece of paper by painting a butterfly and whatever she imagined it painted the colors how she wanted it to look to her surprise. Suddenly, the colorful butterfly started to move and came out of the paper and fluttered around her to her shock. Then she tried out the magic inkwell by just painting a flower on the air and it suddenly turned into a real anthropomorphic cartoony flower.
At that moment, she realized she had the power to bring any of her cartoon creations to life. She suddenly hears someone coming and quickly tried to hide her creations until she accidentally swiped her ink pen and imagined they would go away and they just disappeared just like she wanted. Gwen hides the magic inkwell as some children run past her, acting like everything was normal. Gwen runs home and hides herself in her room and is excited about her new powers she obtained from the magic inkwell, unaware that someone was watching her from an unknown place.
That night at dinner, Edgar announces he found a suitable rich husband for Gwen to her horror. But Gwen objects to the idea and she and her father have an altercation. Gwen finally stands up to him and expresses her dream to go to art school to be a cartoonist and is fed up with them controlling her life how they want it. Out of anger her father destroys her art book and tells her to get her "stupid dreams" out of her head and threatened that if she doesn't go through with the marriage, she will be disowned.
Then she runs upstairs to her room and slamming the door. Having enough of her father's strictness and him controlling her life, she decided to pack up her stuff and the magic inkwell and planned to run away. Hearing a knock at her door, she quickly hides her stuff under her bed and pretends to sit on her bed and cry. Her mother comes in and tries to convince her into going through with the marriage. But Gwen still doesn't want to and asks why couldn't she just choose her own path. Margarine firmly reminded her that the USA is going through tough times and they need her to marry into a rich family like her sister Rose is doing to save them from being poor so she advises her to make her peace with it despite her objections.
Learning that her mother was also unsympathetic with her dreams, she tells her to leave her alone. After her mother leaves, Gwen grabs her suitcase and magic inkwell and decides to take the morning train to California with some money she was saving and puts it in her dress pocket along with her ink pen. As she was making her plans, a thunderstorm starts approaching her area. Thinking it was nothing serious at first, she decide wait until morning to run away. So, she goes to bed as she didn't want to risk going out into the storm.
While the storm raged on outside of her home that night, an unexpected intruder came from out of nowhere to the Emmons residence from an elevator that appeared from a fiery portal on the ground. A tall dark figure and a short minion step out and observe the area. The dark figure asks his minion,
"Are you sure, this is where the magic inkwell was taken to?"
"Uh, yes boss." The short minion answered.
"What does our 'person of interest' look like?" He asked.
The short minion grabs his notepad and says,
"Uh, our sources were able to determine that the inkwell was taken by a human. Let's see, female, 18 years old."
The stranger's eye's widened, "Ooh, a young female human, eh? Is she beautiful?" He asked with a menacing grin.
"Uh, yes boss. Anyway 5'6, short red hair, wears glasses, freckles, blue eyes..." The minion read from a notepad.
"Okay, okay thank you Henchman. I'll begin my search now. In the meantime, you stand guard. Make sure no human sees us. I can't imagine what would happen if humans saw the Devil." He instructed Henchman.
"Yes, boss." Henchman agrees and stands watch for other humans.
The Devil magically disappears in a puff of smoke and appears in Gwen's room. He quietly approaches a sleeping Gwen and pulls her blanket down a little to reveal her head. He is struck by her beauty and quietly says to himself,
"What a beautiful human."
But snaps out of it and searches around her bed, looking for the inkwell. Finally, he discovers her suitcase under her bed while he was trying to be quiet as possible.
"Aha! I found it!"
He whispered as spots the magic inkwell. He tries to take it until it suddenly shocks him.
"YEEOUCH!" He yelled in pain, frantically waving his hand.
The sudden noise startled Gwen awake as she gasped,
"Who's there?"
The Devil gasped inaudibly and turned to see Gwen starting to sit up in bed. Tapping his pitchfork to the floor, the Devil quickly disappeared out of her room before she turned on her bedside lamp.
"What was that?"
Gwen wondered as she looks around for the intruder. But there was no one there.
"That's odd. I could have sworn I've heard…"
She trails off as she heard a crack of thunder booming outside. Sighing, she assuming it was just the storm that just woke her up.
Outside, the Devil appeared by Henchman, sucking his finger, still in a little pain from the shock.
"Gee boss, what happened? Did you get caught?" Asked Henchman.
"Almost, ugh! I was afraid this would happen. The inkwell chose that human girl to be its new wielder." The Devil said.
"What are ya gonna do now boss?" Asked Henchman.
"Now, I won't be able to use its magic to control the worlds and steal souls without cheating people!" The Devil said in frustration.
Suddenly, the Devil gets an idea, smiles evilly and says,
"Hmm. But since I can't, perhaps there's another way I could still have the inkwell's magic. Just in a... different way."
Henchman was shocked and asked,
"Are you suggesting you're gonna… kidnap her?"
"Not just that Henchman, I will make this human my queen of the underworld. I have been a little lonely for companionship sometimes. Then, with her as my wife, I'll be able have the inkwell's power within my grasp to control the worlds and collect all the souls I want!"
Henchman was not sure about his plan and asked,
"Don't you think that's a little extreme boss? You barely know her and she doesn't even know you."
The Devil hits him on the head with his pitchfork and yelled,
"Oh, shut up! Now, I think I'll go introduce myself to my lovely fiancé. You go back home and get the dungeon ready."
Henchman sighed and said, "Yes boss." He said and steps in the elevator and disappeared.
Before Gwen was about to go back to sleep, she suddenly gets a glimpse of some unusual wet footprints on her floor. She puts on her glasses, gets out of bed and kneels on the floor and realizes that someone was there and her suitcase was opened up and the magic inkwell was still there.
"Wait a minute, somebody was here! Somebody did wake me up! That wasn't the storm!"
She grabs it and her ink pen as she prepares to search for whoever was stalking her. When she looks by her window, lightning flashed and saw a tall demon-like figure with black fur, pointed ears, 2 long horns on his head, with yellow eyes, red pupils and a toothy grin and holding his pitchfork outside. She gasped as she raised her ink pen while the magic inkwell glowed and pointed at the demon, only to realize he just disappeared.
"That's not a human at all." Gwen said as she was breathing hard.
She realized as she looked at the footprints and noticed they had claw marks. Now feeling more scared, she runs to get her suitcase and decided to leave immediately despite the storm raging outside. Gwen changes out of her nightgown and into her favorite red dress, black boots, gold necklace, pink belt and red head band. After getting dressed, Gwen resumes packing her suitcase. Suddenly, a male British voice spoke to her,
"Going somewhere dear?"
Gwen gasped and her heart started pounding as she realized the intruder was right behind her. Gwen stood up, slowly turned around to see the mysterious intruder revealed to be…
a 2D cartoon version the Devil himself smiling evilly, waves his fingers and said to her,
"Hello…my beautiful flower."
Gwen screamed and fell backwards on the floor. She remembered being warned about the Devil her whole life at the Catholic Church that she and her family attended.
"You're the the the the…" As Gwen struggled to speak.
"The Devil!" He finished her sentence in a menacing tone.
"B-b-b-but, that's impossible! You're a cartoon, you're not real!" Gwen exclaimed, being in denial.
"'Not real', eh? If I weren't real, would I do this?" The Devil asked.
Suddenly, he shapeshifted into a goat and pretended to charge at her, only to flinch. But she opened her eyes and he was gone. Then, he turned into a spider and hung above her head, dropped on the floor and shapeshifted into a dragon and slithered up to her as growled and was about to breathe fire.
"Okay! Okay! I'm convinced! Just stop it! Please don't hurt me!" Gwen fearfully yelled.
"That's better." Said the Devil.
He flicked his dragon tongue at her face then shapeshifted back to his real form. The Devil laughed and said,
"You should've seen the look on your face!"
Gwen sat on the floor shaking with fear, now convinced the Devil is real and not some religious tall tale.
"W-What do you want with me?" Gwen asked in a trembling voice.
"I'm glad you asked. You got something I've been searching for quite a while now." The Devil answered.
Gwen realized he was after the magic inkwell.
"Such as that inkwell you currently possess. It seems you've taken quite a liking to it."
"Then take it! Just go away and leave me alone!"
Gwen said as she was willingly to surrender the inkwell to see if it will make him go away. But as she handed it to him, it shocked him again, making her realize it really was him getting electrocuted as if the inkwell was protecting itself. After being shocked again and sucking his finger, he said to her,
"Well, I would, but unfortunately it appears that it has chosen a new worthy owner: You my dear."
Gwen looked at the magic inkwell in awe as if it had a mind of its own. Gwen gets up on her feet then said,
"Then why are you still here? If it's no use to you..."
Gwen pointed to the window and sternly said,
"Get out! Now!"
The Devil snickered and approached her as she backed against the wall.
"I admire your fighting spirit, but I'm not going back to Hell in the Inkwell Isles… empty handed."
Gwen never heard of such a place called the Inkwell Isles as the Devil continued.
"Since I can't use the inkwell and it's magical powers, do you know what I'm going do instead?"
Gwen shook her head fearfully. He leans towards her, gently holds her face as she trembled and whispers into her ear:
"I'm just going to take… you. I could use a beautiful magical bride."
"NEVER!"
Gwen yelled, pushed the Devil away and quickly ran for the door with the magic inkwell and ink pen in tow.
"Oh, you're going to try to run away from me. How cute."
The Devil said and then floats in the air and goes after her. Gwen runs in the hallway and down the stairs. Just as she was about to reach the front door, Gwen feels herself being lifted off the ground and pulled away and dropped into the Devil's arms.
"No no no no. No use trying to run away."
He carries her back to her room as she struggles to break free and calling for help.
"Okay fine, I didn't want have to do this but you leave me no choice."
The Devil said as he was losing patience with Gwen. The Devil made a cloth soaked in chloroform appear in his hand, puts it against her mouth and nose and within seconds, she is knocked out unconscious.
"Good night, my sweet princess."
The Devil said to her and kisses her forehead as a fiery portal appeared and the elevator appeared with Henchman inside. The door opens and Henchman says,
"Hey boss, you ready to go?"
"Yes Henchman, I got her. Now let's go!"
The Devil said. Just as he stepped into the elevator, he decided to get her parent's attention.
In her parent's bedroom, his eerie voice wakes them up and echoes,
"Something of great value was taken from me by one of you in this family! Now, I shall take something of great value to you!"
"Huh?" Edgar said.
"What was that?" Margarine asked.
Both parents gasped and yelled,
"Gwen!"
They into run to Gwen's room and see the Devil in the elevator, holding Gwen in his arms and grinning evilly and says menacingly to them,
"Say goodbye to your daughter! She's mine now!"
Margarine gasped and yelled,
"The Devil! He's real!"
"No! Let her go!" Edgar yelled.
Gwen's arm dangled, hinting her parents that she's unconscious. Margarine gasped and yelled,
"What have you done to her?!"
The Devil laughed evilly as the elevator door closes and disappears into the floor. Edgar and Margarine stood in shock and Margarine knelt down where the elevator was and yelled and start crying.
"Gwen! No!"
Edgar angrily yelled, "Noooooooooo!"
Meanwhile, back in the elevator traveling between worlds, The Devil chuckled, then said to Henchman,
"That was some trip, eh Henchman?"
"Uh, yeah boss, it was." Henchman said uncomfortably at the Devil's recent actions.
"I may not have the magic inkwell, but I got the next best thing: the new owner that will soon be mine! I just didn't think it was gonna be a young woman."
The Devil looks at Gwen. Unconscious in his arms and said to her,
"You hear that my dear? You will soon be mine!"
They make it back to their cartoon world with Gwen unconscious in the Devil's arms as he and Henchman both walk out into the throne room.
"Henchman, is the dungeon ready?" The Devil asked.
Henchman says,
"Uh, yes boss."
Henchman notices Gwen was still in her live-action appearance.
"Uh, boss? She looks the same in her world."
The Devil notices this and says,
"Don't worry, I can fix it."
The Devil used his magic and turned Gwen's live-action appearance to a cartoon-like appearance.
"There, that's better." The Devil says, admiring his own work.
"Wow, now she looks different in our world than the human world." Henchman said as he noticed Gwen's altered appearance.
"That's because the perspective in the human world is far different than the one in our world. She even called me a cartoon for some reason. Anyway, she'll fit in with our world now."
The Devil starts his way to the dungeon as his imp workers all stop working and stare in awe at the human as their boss held her in his arms. The Devil notices and angrily yells,
"What are you all looking at?! Back to work!"
The imps hurry and get back to work while the Devil carries her downstairs, goes into a holding cell, and places her gently on a bed and covers her in a blanket. Henchman takes the magic inkwell and ink pen and places them on a pedestal. Before the Devil leaves, he holds her face, takes off her glasses, puts them on little shelf on the wall and says to her,
"Soon my beautiful flower, you will belong to me… forever."
Then the Devil closes and locks the door and walks away laughing evilly.
That night, Gwen wakes up in the bed in an underground-like place with flames burning all around. Gwen notices she didn't have her glasses on, but manages to find them on a little shelf on the wall next to the bed. To her surprise, the background looks just like a technicolor background in a cartoon. Then she looks at herself and realizes, she is no longer a live-action person, but instead, a cartoon version of herself.
"What did he do to me?" She asked herself.
She looks all around looking for an escape route only to realize she's in a dungeon cell. Suddenly, she hears the door unlock and Henchman comes in and greets her.
"Uh, hi Miss Emmons. I see you're finally awake."
Gwen stares at Henchman and then asks him,
"W-Where am I?"
"You're in another world called the Inkwell Isles, in the underground part of it if you catch my drift."
To her shock, it was all being in a cartoon movie.
"Anyway, boss wanted me to check on you. See how you're holding up. Oh, and boss fixed you up a little in case you were wondering about your new appearance."
Gwen looked at herself, fearfully pleads him,
"I don't wanna marry him! Take me home, please!"
"I'm sorry Miss Emmons, but I've got orders to keep you here until boss decides to plan the wedding. Well good night, ma'am."
Then Henchman leaves and locks the door. Gwen realizes she can't stay in solitary confinement and plans to escape and find help. She looks out the bars of the door to see a lock on the handle. Then she sees the magic inkwell and ink pen on the pedestal not too far from her. Remembering she had a bobby pin in her hair, she uses it to pick the lock and to her surprise, it unlocked!
She quietly sneaks out of her holding cell and grabs the inkwell and ink pen. Before she leaves, she goes back to her cell and draws a look-alike cartoon of herself to cover her tracks, closes and locks the door and then starts to look for a way out. She quietly climbs up the stairs and peeks out to see if the coast was clear but notices little imps working on running a network of stealing souls and witnesses souls being tortured in lava and chains to her horror.
Thinking to use the magic inkwell, she decided to try something: Drawing herself invisible. And to her surprise, it worked! With that in motion, she quietly opens the door and sneaks past the imps and the tortured souls. She makes it to the throne room and spots the elevator down the main hall where the Devil sat on his throne humming happily to himself and polishing his pitchfork. She saw the elevator that leads to the outside world and quietly snuck up to it. But she needed to activate it without the Devil noticing. She could do nothing but be quiet and stay put until the Devil leaves.
Just then, Henchman approached the Devil and said,
"Uh boss, Miss Emmons is awake and is still in the dungeon."
"Thank you, Henchman. Once everything's up and running, we'll start planning the wedding. Come along now, we might as well go check on the soul safe."
After they leave, she restores herself and says to herself,
"If he thinks I'm gonna marry him, he's got another think coming."
Gwen was about head to the elevator only to hear someone scatting and footsteps approaching, making her realize someone was coming. She gasped and hides behind a rock and take a peek to see a tall human-like figure with a cube head walk from around a corner.
"Hey hey boss! I heard you brought someone from the human world."
Suddenly he realized the Devil wasn't there.
"Uh boss?"
He looked all around and turned his head only for Gwen to suddenly hide before he caught a glimpse of her.
"Is someone there?"
He called and starts sneaking up towards Gwen's hiding spot.
"Come on out. Show yourself."
He warned her in a singsong way. Her heart started pounding and grabs her ink pen and gets ready to attack. But before he could surprise and grab her, the Devil suddenly called,
"It's about time you showed up!"
The cube-headed stranger walked away quickly and said,
"Oh, hey boss! Sorry, I thought I saw something."
"Ugh, don't be stupid now come on! I got another job for you."
They both walk away and Gwen sighed of relief and saw her chance to escape. She quietly sneaks into the elevator, closes the door, turns the lever all the way to the top. The elevator goes up all the way out of Inkwell Hell as she sighs of relief to almost getting away. The elevator dings and the door open to see she's in an empty radio talk-show studio and sees the exit. Gwen sends the elevator back to Hell, then runs for the exit and steps outside into a strange new city called Inkwell City. To her shock, everyone around her were anthropomorphic animals and objects. She runs away in fear towards the amusement park and into woods where she decided to hide out for a while until things calm down.
As she walked further into the woods, she started to cry as she was taken from her family and is now in a whole new world.
"Why is this happening to me? I never should've picked up that inkwell!"
She cried, now regretting finding the inkwell. Gwen starts to get sleepy and decided to sleep under a big tree for the night and maybe go back to the city in the morning despite it was blowing a cold wind.
Just then, two little boys with cups as heads are playing out in the woods past their bedtime. Suddenly one of the boys gets a glimpse of Gwen sleeping as he decided to see who or what she was. He whispered to his brother,
"Hey Cuphead! You better get over here! Look at this strange creature!"
So Cuphead walked toward his brother Mugman and said,
"Okey dokey Mugsy, what have we got here?"
Cuphead takes a closer look at Gwen and realized that Mugman wasn't kidding about the "strange creature." Mugman asked
"Cuphead, can we go home now before it wakes up, eats us and Elder Kettle discovers we're missing?"
"But Mugman, it doesn't seem like a monster, in fact I think it looks cute. Let's keep it!"
"Cuphead, are you nuts?! We don't know if it's friend or foe!"
Gwen starts to wake up, listening to the two cups bickering and realizes she's been found. Gwen is shocked to see the two boys with cup heads so she decided to try to talk to them.
"Uh excuse me?"
Both Cuphead and Mugman stop arguing and slowing turn to see that Gwen is awake.
"Uh, Hi."
"AHH!"
They both screamed and hide in the bushes.
"Wait! Don't go! I won't hurt you!" She called out to them.
They both peeked out of the bushes and stared at her. Feeling brave, Cuphead steps out and approaches her and checks out every inch of her since he or anyone have never seen a human before.
"Uh, what kind of monster are you and are you gonna eat us?"
Gwen was shocked.
"Monster?! I'm not a monster! I'm a human! And no, I'm not gonna eat you! Must you be so rude?!" She yelled.
"Okay okay sorry! Geez! What are you doing out here anyway? It's after dark and it's a little cold out here." Asked Cuphead.
"Well…"
Gwen explained the whole story that she was abducted from her home in the human world by the Devil because she possessed the magic inkwell, plans to marry her, and then escaped from the underworld and ran away out into the woods.
"Wow, that's quite a story lady." Said Mugman approaching Gwen and Cuphead.
"Why would the Devil just take me away and marry me? I wanna go home. I'm scared."
"I don't know." Said Cuphead.
So, both Cuphead and Mugman thought for a while and then came up with an idea.
"But we may know someone who might have answers." Mugman suggested.
"Really? Who?" asked Gwen.
"Our dearest Elder Kettle." Said both boys in unison.
"Come, we're taking you home with us." Said Cuphead.
"Oh, thank you boys! What are your names?" asked Gwen.
"I'm Cuphead." said the one in red pants.
"And I'm Mugman." said the one in blue pants.
"What's your name?" asked both cups.
"I'm Gwendolyn Mae Emmons. But everyone calls me Gwen."
"Okay Gwen, let's go!" Said Mugman.
Both Cuphead and Mugman pull Gwen to her feet and hold her hands and guide her down a dirt road in the dark. They walked for a while until they approached a tea pot-shaped cottage with a white fence surrounding it and a tied-up goat sleeping in the front yard by a garden. They approach the door as they open the door and realize that Elder Kettle was right there waiting for them.
"Boys! Where have you been? It's past your bedtime!" yelled the large kettle.
"Sorry Elder Kettle! But we found someone we want you to meet!" Said Cuphead as he presents Gwen to the kettle.
Elder Kettle stood in shock, staring at the human before him as she was staring at a giant living kettle.
"Oh, my goodness! Humans are real after all!"
Gwen stood shocked, believing that no one in this world had ever seen a human before. Elder Kettle then asked her,
"What's your name my dear?"
"Gwendolyn Mae Emmons. Gwen for short." She answered politely.
The cups take Gwen inside the cottage and close the door. Elder Kettle sits on the couch and gestures her to sit down with him. She does so, and Cuphead and Mugman join her on her lap since they both now have taken a liking to her.
"I see my boys found you in the woods all alone huh?" Asked Elder Kettle.
Gwen looked sad, but then again, she was blessed that they have found her and took her in.
"So why don't you tell me everything that happened?"
Without hesitation, Gwen told Elder Kettle the whole situation with the magic inkwell, the Devil, her kidnapping, her escape, hiding in the woods and being found. Elder Kettle sat there in shock as Gwen showed him the magic inkwell.
"Do you have any idea what that is my dear?" Elder Kettle asked.
"It's some weird magical inkwell I found earlier today." She answered.
"That's no ordinary inkwell, that the magic inkwell! It has the power to bring anything you think of to life with your imagination!" Elder Kettle explained.
Gwen took out her ink pen and stared at both objects in shock.
"That does explain why my two sketches came to life earlier. But that doesn't explain why the Devil wanted it at first, then targeted me instead. And now he plans to marry me and I don't know why! I never did anything to him! It's the truth!"
Elder Kettle shushed her, then he thought for a moment. Then explained,
"The Devil's goal in life is to collect people's souls by any means necessary. So, when he heard about the magic inkwell, he wanted to claim it's power. And as you well know, he's known to be a liar and a cheater. But the inkwell somehow magically transported to your world and you just happened to find it by accident. Tell me, when you touched it, did you feel anything unusual?"
Gwen thought for a moment. Then said,
"Yeah, I did feel a sudden power flow through me."
"Aha! That means, the magic inkwell has chosen you to be its rightful owner! But I think the Devil realized since the inkwell chose its owner; he took you instead thinking you might a threat to him and decided to marry you so he could still have the power of the magic inkwell through you."
Gwen winced at the thought of being married to the Devil.
"I never wanna go back to that horrible place! It was so scary and miserable! And I don't wanna marry the Devil!"
Gwen shouted and started crying.
Elder Kettle calmed her down by patting her back saying,
"Shh shh shh. I know you're scared and you're tired; but you need to stay calm."
The boys hug her and Cuphead says,
"There there."
Mugman give her a tissue.
"Here, blow." He said.
"Thanks guys."
Said Gwen, taking the tissue and blowing her nose, then putting the tissue in her dress pocket.
"Don't you worry, dear. You'll be safe here with us. I was thinking since you're new to this world, why don't you stay here instead of out there in the woods?"
"If that's okay with you, that would be most appreciated. It was feeling chilly out there." Gwen answered.
"Just until we can figure out how to get you back home. For now, you need to get some sleep. Boys, will you show your new friend the guest bedroom?" Elder Kettle told the boys.
"Yes, Elder Kettle." Both boys answered together.
Cuphead and Mugman take Gwen's hands again and pull her upstairs to the guest bedroom and show her where the bathroom was. Gwen decided to draw herself a nightgown, toothbrush and toothpaste. To her surprise, they all came to life and got ready for bed. Gwen, Cuphead and Mugman brush their teeth together and all said "Good night" to each other. Before Gwen went to her room, Elder Kettle says to her,
"Remember Gwen, don't worry about it anymore tonight. You've been through a lot. You're safe now. Well, good night, we'll be in our rooms if you need anything."
Then Elder Kettle goes into his bedroom and closes the door. Gwen goes into her new room, lays in bed, she started to feel sad and started crying again. Feeling scared and unsure about what to do now. But then she felt that maybe a good night's sleep will make her feel better. And as long as the Devil thought she was still in the dungeon; he won't come looking for her. With that thought in mind, she finally went to sleep.
The next morning, Gwen wakes up to the sun shining through her bedroom window. She was hoping to wake up back in the human world and it was all a bad dream, but she's still in the Inkwell Isles and it was all real. Cuphead and Mugman burst into her room and both jump on her bed and yell,
"Gwen! Gwen! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"
Gwen laughs, puts on her glasses and says,
"Good morning boys. I'm already awake."
"Elder Kettle's cooking us breakfast! Let's go Gwen!"
Cuphead said excitedly.
"All right Cuphead, I'll be down in a minute." Said Gwen.
After the boys leave, she gets dressed, brushes her teeth and comes downstairs to join Cuphead and Mugman at the table for breakfast.
"Good morning my dear. Did you sleep well?" Elder Kettle greeted Gwen.
"I did, thank you sir." She replied.
Cuphead and Mugman hand Gwen a plate for breakfast. Elder Kettle was cooking pancakes as Cuphead told Gwen to get ready to catch the pancakes. Elder Kettle throws the first stack at Cuphead's plate and catches them all.
Mugman unfortunately misses his catch and the pancakes hit the wall, then fall to the floor. Feeling sympathetic, Gwen uses the magic inkwell to magically make him a stack of pancakes of his own. Mugman smiles and whispers to Gwen,
"Thanks."
"No problem." She replied with a wink.
"Here comes yours Gwen." Called Elder Kettle as he tosses her pancakes.
Gwen grabs her plate and holds hers up to catch her stack of pancakes. Elder Kettle grabs his breakfast and joins the cups and human at the table.
"So, tell me Gwen, how are you feeling today?" Asked Elder Kettle.
"Better, thank you for asking. I just don't know what I'm going to do now." Said Gwen as she was eating a few bites of her pancakes and sipping some coffee.
"You could help us out around the house and we'll show you the whole Inkwell Isles." Suggested Cuphead.
"Well, since I'm stuck in this world for who knows how long, I might as well get to know this place." Gwen replied.
"That's the spirit dear. In the meantime, I'll do some research on how to get you back to your world." Said Elder Kettle.
After breakfast, Gwen helps the boys tidy up the house and helps them with their daily chores, with a little help from the magic inkwell that she equipped on her pink belt. Even going so far as to magically paint their fence in her own way.
Afterwards, the boys take Gwen out into the woods to show her the Inkwell Isles.
As they walked, Cuphead asked,
"So, Gwen, what's your world like?"
Gwen thought and then answered emotionally,
"I come from a land similar to this place called the 'United States of America' in a city called 'Boston'. I have an older sister and strict and controlling parents trying to get me married to a rich dumbbell I don't even know so I'm planning to leave to a state called 'California' to pursue my dream to become a cartoonist to help make picture shows instead of them wanting me to be a common housewife like my sister or else they're gonna disown me!"
Both boys looked at her like she was crazy at first. After Gwen catches her breath, she says,
"Sorry, I had a heated argument with my parents before the Devil came and brought me here against my will. But enough about me, what about you guys? What are your lives like?"
"Well, day after day, Elder Kettle has us do boring chores. A bunch of banana oil if you ask me. What we want is fun and adventure." Cuphead answered,
Mugman, being the cautious one said,
"Well yeah, but sometimes that gets us into trouble, like how Cuphead here owes the Devil his soul after what happened at the carnival or should I say 'Carnevil'?" Mugman revealed.
Gwen looked shocked.
"You're in trouble with the Devil too?" She asked.
Both boys shush her.
"Shh! Elder Kettle doesn't know and we wanna keep it that way." Whispered Cuphead.
The boys make her promise them not to tell Elder Kettle their secret, then they continue their walk.
"At least you guys have a nicer parent than my parents." Said Gwen.
"You sure you wanna go back Gweny? Your world and your family sound terrible. How do you humans have fun and adventure?" Asked Cuphead.
"Some people do, but my family doesn't. My world is going through tough times right now with money problems. I just wanna be free, happy and be myself somewhere better. I thought maybe California would be the place than back home in Boston. I feel like I never really belonged there." Gwen expressed her mind.
"I don't know about Cali-what's-that-place, but maybe you could belong here in the Inkwell Isles, with us." Mugman said.
"Hmm, maybe."
Gwen thought about that and decided it maybe a possibility but she wanted to wait and see what their world is like first.
"Hey, look where we are."
Said Cuphead pointing to a wagon-shaped shop.
"Mind if we stop here first? I wanna grab something."
Mugman and Gwen walked into the shop after Cuphead. Gwen looks around, seeing all kinds of merchandise from food to everyday supplies, including questionable items. Then she turns to see an obese human-sized pig with an eye patch behind the counter reading a book and listening to the radio as she quietly gasped at the enormous pig. He looks at the cups and the human and angrily says,
"Uh, what do you cups want now?"
Gwen noticed right away that he wasn't friendly and should be careful.
"And what the heck is that creature?"
Gwen took offense as Mugman stepped up and said,
"Hey Porkrind! This is our new friend Gwen. She's a human from another world."
Gwen smiled and waved to him politely.
"Eh. Whatever."
Porkrind muttered as Gwen looked at him un-amused.
"Porkrind, you got the latest Adventure Comic book yet?"
"Sold out, now you gonna buy something or not?"
"Aw nuts! I've been waiting forever for that!" Cuphead said in frustration.
"Look, if you three ain't gonna buy anything, get lost!" Porkrind warned.
Gwen with some quick thinking looks at a blank sketchbook and decided to try to buy it.
"Uh, Porkrind is it?" She asked.
"What human?" He answered.
"Is this sketchbook for sale?"
Porkrind looks at her and says,
"That depends. You got money lady?"
She takes the sketchbook and goes up to the counter in front on Porkrind as he gives her a grumpy look. Remembering the money she had in her dress pocket, she grabs some change and decided to try fifty cents.
"How does fifty cents sound?"
She sticks out her hand with two quarters, but Porkrind pushes her hand away.
"You're gonna have to do better than that, kid."
Gwen reached into her pocket again and pulled some more quarters.
"How about 2 dollars?"
"Nuh-uh."
Losing patience with Porkrind, she finally asks,
"Okay, how much do you want then?"
"Hmm… Five bucks." He answered.
Cuphead and Mugman were shocked and both said,
"FIVE BUCKS?!"
Gwen sighed and looked into her pocket but realized she didn't have enough. But to her surprise, the magic inkwell and the ink pen glowed and made three one-dollar bills after she touched both while thinking of having another three dollars. Acting like nothing's wrong, she grabs the money and gives him the five dollars.
"Here, will this be enough Mr. Pig?"
She asked, accidentally calling him that.
"What?!"
Porkrind asked as he takes and inspects the money to make sure she wasn't lying or cheating him.
Cuphead and Mugman stifle their laughter.
"It's Porkrind! And fine, sold! Now get out!" Porkrind says in the most rudely way.
Gwen takes the sketchbook and hurries along with the boys out of the shop.
"Fricking, fracking, lousy cups and fricking, fracking, lousy human new to this world. But at least her money's good here."
Porkrind muttered as he put Gwen's money into his cash register.
After leaving, Gwen makes herself a satchel so she could carry her new sketchbook and other supplies. Then, expresses her thoughts,
"Wow, he was rude and cheap! And I thought my father was cheap."
"Eh, don't take it personally Gwen. He's rude to everybody." Said Cuphead.
"Well at least I have a new sketchbook to sketch in since my father destroyed my last one on purpose." Gwen said.
"Your dad sounds mean." Said Mugman.
"Look I love him, but he's not exactly what you would call a 'lovey-dovey' supportive type." She explained.
"Oh."
Both boys said as they walked past the amusement park over to Inkwell City on the third isle. They arrive in Inkwell City as Gwen stares at all the buildings in awe.
"Gwen, come on! We wanna show you our favorite places!" Said Cuphead.
Both boys grab her hands again and pull her up the street to their favorite places to visit.
Meanwhile back in Inkwell Hell, Henchman goes down to the dungeon to check on Gwen. He unlocks the door and steps in and says,
"Uh, good morning, Miss Emmons. I trust you slept well?"
Henchman looks at the copy of Gwen as it just stood there doing nothing.
"Uh, ma'am, are you alright?"
The Gwen-copy is just standing there doing nothing, not moving at all. Henchman takes a closer look and pokes it, only for it to fall over like a standee, making him realize that wasn't the real Gwen. Henchman looks at the pedestal and realizes the magic inkwell and the ink pen were also gone. It finally clicks for Henchman and learns that she's escaped.
"Uh oh. Boss isn't gonna be too happy about this." He said worryingly.
Henchman goes back upstairs and sends a team of imps to find her. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't find her anywhere. So, it was up to Henchman to break the news to the boss. This grabs the attention of someone in the shadows.
"Hmm… perfect."
The cube-headed man summons his playing card minions and says,
"Gentlemen, go to the surface, search everywhere in the Inkwell Isles for a certain beautiful human girl. Find her but don't capture her, just report back to me where she is. She maybe the key to becoming the boss's 'number one' again and getting my precious radio show back."
He ordered the cards and they leave up the elevator.
Meanwhile, Henchman finds the Devil planning on his next scheme to torture souls in his conference room.
"Uh, hey boss?"
"WHAT?! Can't you see I'm busy planning another scheme to torture souls?!" The Devil yelled rudely.
"Uh, it's about the human." Henchman nervously said.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot about her. How's she doing?" Asked the Devil calmly.
"Uh, funny story boss, you know I was doing my usual job checking everything around here, the network's running smoothly, the imps are still working hard…"
"Never mind that! How's the girl doing?!" The Devil yelled.
Henchman continued,
"Uh, I went down in the dungeon to check on her, making sure she's doing alright, but uh…"
"What Henchman? What's going on?" Asked the Devil suspiciously.
"She may or may not have uh…"
Henchman hesitantly tries to speak the last word,
"e-e-e-escaped."
"WHAT?!"
The Devil roared as he blew fire in fit of rage.
"What do you mean she's escaped?!"
The Devil yelled loudly.
"Uh, she's nowhere around here. We searched everywhere. She's gone."
The Devil disappears to the dungeon to see for himself and he sees the Gwen-copy on the floor and the magic inkwell and ink pen gone from the pedestal. The Devil growled angrily and threw another fiery fit of rage until the whole dungeon burnt black and destroying the Gwen-copy in the process.
After catching his breath, he disappears back to the conference room and scolds Henchman,
"I am very, very disappointed in you Henchman! I gave you one job to do then you turned your back and this happened!"
Henchman begged for forgiveness,
"I'm so sorry boss!"
"Sorry's not gonna cut it! Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did!"
The Devil shouted and pointed to a corner.
"Oh no! Not the corner! I hate the corner!"
Henchman said sadly as walks away to the corner.
"I must get her back. But how?" The Devil pondered.
"Perhaps I could be of some assistance?" asked a familiar voice.
The Devil turned to see the cube-headed man entering the conference room.
"You, King Dice? How could you possibly help? Especially after you failed me last time?!" The Devil yelled.
"I can explain boss! I thought I saw someone hiding when I came here last night. That must've been her I saw hiding behind that rock. I went to investigate but then you showed up and she must've used the elevator to escape to my radio show studio after you and I left. I sent my cards to look for her just now." King Dice explained.
The Devil laughed and said,
"How could those losers possibly find her?"
Just then, a diamond playing card enters the room.
"Excuse me Mr. King Dice sir?" The diamond card said.
"Yes?"
Asked King Dice, eager to get some good news and gestures him to come over.
The diamond runs up to King Dice and whispers to him the news.
"What? No way! Oh, really? Beautiful. Well done!"
Said King Dice proudly and shoos the card away and runs away out of the room.
"Well? What did he say?!" Asked the Devil impatiently.
"Oh, I was just informed that my men just saw her in Inkwell City with two certain… cups."
The Devil's eyes widened.
"She's met those two nitwits?!"
"Yes sir. They're showing her around the city as we speak." He said proudly with his arms folded.
"Hmm, maybe you can help me after all." Said the Devil.
King Dice smiled smugly, knowing that finding Gwen would impress the Devil. Now he patiently waits for his chance to capture her.
"This could be your chance to redeem yourself as my 'number one' King Dice. Do you have that gig you suggested ready?"
King Dice evilly smiled and said,
"Oh, it's ready boss. And I promise you, I'll have her delivered to you in no time."
"Excellent!" The Devil said excitedly.
"Oh, and one more thing."
"Yes?" Asked King Dice eagerly.
"Do not disappoint me… AGAIN!" The Devil yelled.
King Dice hurried out of the conference room and headed to the surface to carry out his evil plan.
Meanwhile, after exploring their favorite sights, Cuphead and Mugman take Gwen to the amusement park at the second isle.
"And here is our favorite-est sight of all Gwen! The amusement park!" Said Cuphead.
Gwen looked in awe and excitement after exploring Inkwell City and is ready to have some fun.
"Wow guys, this does look like fun!" She said.
"Then let's go!" Shouted Mugman.
So, they ride all the rides, eat hot dogs for lunch, riding more rides, Gwen watches in disgust as the boys throw up into a barrel after eating too much junk food, then finally leaving the amusement park to find other stuff to do.
"Wow, I haven't had this much fun in years!"
Said Gwen as she was licking a chocolate ice cream cone.
"You see Gwen? We told you you'd love it here." Said Cuphead.
He and Mugman were also eating some ice cream cones, despite not learning anything from throwing up.
"Hey guys look, there's a circus in town!" Mugman said as he saw a poster.
"Cool! Let's go guys!" Said Cuphead.
Both boys quickly eat their ice creams cones, then grab Gwen's hands again (making her drop her ice cream cone) and pull her with them to the circus. They arrive to the big top tent and see a playing card diamond barker selling tickets. The three walk up, buy their tickets, grab a bag of peanuts and head inside. While they were walking to their seats, Gwen catches sight of a familiar-looking man with a dice for a head getting ready with some playing cards helping him. She felt sure that she had seen him somewhere before but didn't remember where. After passing them, the diamond card barker runs in and tells King Dice,
"The human and the cups are in the tent! They've taken the bait!"
"Perfect!" King Dice said evilly.
"It's showtime!" He announced and sends his cards to get everything ready.
Gwen, Cuphead and Mugman finally take their seats and wait for the show to start.
"Guys! The show's starting!" Said Cuphead.
"Shh!" Said Mugman.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the grandest show in the Inkwell Isles! Presented by your master of ceremonies: King Dice!"
Jazz music starts playing as the dice-headed man comes out into the spotlight and starts dancing and singing.
"Welcome everyone to our spectacular circus! You're all in for a real treat!"
As King Dice was talking to the audience, Gwen asks the boys,
"Who is he?"
"That's King Dice." Answered Mugman.
"He was the host of the radio gameshow 'Roll the Dice' and I guess he's doing this now."
"Oh. I have a bad feeling about him." Said Gwen, unsure about him.
"Don't worry Gwen. Maybe he learned his lesson on rigging a show." Said Cuphead.
"He rigged his own gameshow?" Asked Gwen.
"Yeah, I was a contestant and I was the first one to lose while everybody else won. King Dice tried to make me go into the mystery prize room by force despite my loss for some reason, I don't know. He seemed pretty desperate." Said Cuphead, recalling his experience on 'Roll the Dice'.
"Oh, that's weird." Said Gwen.
For the first act, King Dice presented clowns doing funny tricks and throwing pies. The second act, King Dice presented flying trapeze performers. Then they watched the high dive, juggling, living cannons shooting cannonballs, until they reached to the final act: Magic Tricks.
King Dice announced,
"For our final act, we're going to need a special volunteer from the audience. Who will it be?"
Everybody was shouting and raising their hands to be picked except Gwen and Mugman.
"I don't wanna volunteer, I have really bad stage fright Gwen." He said, holding Gwen's arm.
"It's okay Mugman. I don't like being the center of attention either." Gwen admitted.
"Look at all you eager beavers. But you know what? I'll choose a volunteer myself." King Dice announced, knowing exactly who he has in mind.
So, King Dice walks into the audience, looked at all the eager happy faces until he learns from a club playing card where Gwen was sitting. He walks towards Gwen, Cuphead and Mugman's row. King Dice looks at Gwen talking to Mugman, acting like he's having never seen her before. Then gives her an evil look and snickered.
"There you are my 'ticket to being number one again'."
He quietly said to himself but snaped out of it and acted normal. So, he strolls up to her and announced,
"You!"
"Huh? What?"
Gwen turns around to look up to see King Dice right next to her smiling at her as a spotlight shone on them.
"Aw nuts. Oh well, she should get some attention at least." Cuphead says as he sees that King Dice has chosen Gwen.
"Hey, you had your shot on the radio gameshow, so she should have a chance." Said Mugman.
"I've never seen you before young lady. What's your name beautiful?" King Dice asked as he held a microphone to her.
"G-G-Gwen sir." Gwen answered nervously, she also didn't like being flirted with.
"Well, today's your lucky day Gwen! You are the lucky volunteer!"
The audience cheers as King Dice reaches his hand out to her, gesturing her to come with him.
"Uh…"
Gwen was unsure, then she looks at Cuphead as he whispers,
"Go for it Gwen!"
King Dice loses a little patience but keeps his cool and says,
"Come on doll, don't be shy."
Gwen takes a deep breath, then shyly reaches her hand to King Dice's hand. He pulls her out of her seat and takes her to the center of the ring for the final act.
"Welcome Gwen! Now, tell us a little bit about yourself kid." King Dice said to her and held the microphone in front of her.
Gwen takes the microphone from King Dice and answers,
"Well, I come from a place called Massachusetts, I have a strong passion for art, I graduated from high school recently and I'm new here in the Inkwell Isles."
King Dice takes the microphone from Gwen and says,
"What a lovely introduction doll. Now, for our final act, you get to be part of the Magic Act which consists of three tricks!"
Everyone cheers as Gwen nervously smiles and waves at everyone including her friends.
"First up, the Sawing-In Half Trick!"
Everybody cheers as Gwen is shocked. But she remembered in her world, the sawing-in half trick includes getting into a box and squeezing the legs in as the saw doesn't really cut them in half but with fake feet in the other end.
"Now, into the box you go beautiful." Said King Dice
A cartoony rabbit wearing a magician's hat and a blue tuxedo opens the box and gestures her to get in. So, Gwen climbs in and sees a pair of fake feet inside and she bends her legs into the first half. So, the box is closed, her head and the fake feet stick out and the magician starts sawing the box. Gwen was pretty sure she wasn't going to get hurt so she kept her cool until the sawing is complete and the magician pulls apart the two halves. A fanfare plays and everybody cheers while Cuphead and Mugman cheer their friend on.
"He did it folks! Now let's put her back together, shall we?" King Dice announced.
The magician brings the two halves back together and uses his wand to seemingly put her back together while the fake feet were swapped with her real feet. He opens the box and Gwen gets up in one piece unharmed to stretch her legs as the audience is awed and cheered.
Gwen almost loses her balance standing back up, King Dice goes up to her and says,
"Here, let me help you beautiful."
He reaches his arms out to her, Gwen puts her arm around King Dice's shoulder as he scoops her up in his arms and out of the box and carries her back to the center then puts her down.
"Well done, Gwen! You're doing really well doll!"
King Dice congratulated her as she cringed at him for being called those names.
"Uh, thank you. Is that it? Am I done?" She asked.
"Not yet! For our second trick, you're going to be part of the Levitation Trick!"
The rabbit magician gestured her to lay down on a table and cross her arms.
Gwen sighed and said,
"Okay fine."
She complies and gets onto the table, ready to get the trick over with. The Magician waves his magic wand and Gwen closes her eyes fearing the worst. Suddenly feels herself lifted off the table, just like when she was captured by the Devil that fateful night. Now she believes that something's not right. The audience is amazed and cheers Gwen on.
"He did it!" Shouted King Dice as the audience cheered.
"Now put her back down please." King Dice ordered the magician.
Gwen is lowered back down onto the table, gets off and prepares to go back to her seat.
"Okay that was great but I'm done. I'm gonna go. Bye-bye!" Gwen said quickly.
But just as Gwen was about to leave, King Dice takes her hand, pulls her away, wraps his arm around her and says,
"Whoa there beautiful, you're not done yet! For the third and final trick we have the Vanishing Bird Cage trick!"
Aside from King Dice making her feel uncomfortable, Gwen now was feeling scared as she starts to suspect that this maybe a trap meant for her.
"Right…" Gwen said uncomfortably.
She realizes King Dice wasn't going to let her go. The rabbit magician has a giant bird cage and gestures her to get in.
"Now into the bird cage you go beautiful." King Dice says to her.
Thinking of a possible escape, she remembered she had the magic inkwell and quickly thought of a plan. Gwen gets into the bird cage and a curtain covers the cage. King Dice eagerly watches as this was the moment he was waiting for. Gwen gets out her ink pen and uses it to make an opening out of the cage and quickly steps out.
Suddenly, a trapdoor opens on the bird cage floor and Gwen looked down the trapdoor and realized her suspicions were correct: the circus was a setup to trap her back into Inkwell Hell into the Devil's clutches. Gwen uses her ink pen and draws a big anvil and drops it down the trapdoor to test her theory.
Then she puts her hand up to her ear hearing it fall then… THUNK!
"OUCH!" Yelled the Devil.
Her trick worked, then she sneaks away and tries to find a way back to her friends without being spotted.
While King Dice presented the empty cage as a success as the audience cheers, Cuphead and Mugman wondered where Gwen disappeared to. Suddenly, a paper airplane flies to Cuphead and Mugman. They catch it and it read
"Guys, the whole circus thing was a trap meant for me! I'm at the exit! We have to go now! The Devil's after me!"
Cuphead and Mugman looked at each other in shock and then look at the exit, where Gwen was hiding under the audience seats waiting for them. So Cuphead and Mugman get up and head towards the exit, preparing to escape. They reach Gwen's hiding spot and she hugs them.
"Gwen! What's going on? What happened?" Asked Cuphead.
"Oh guys! I knew something wasn't right! Cuphead, remember you told me he rigged that gameshow? Well, he's rigged this circus too! We have to get out of here now!"
"How did you escape the bird cage?" Asked Mugman.
"I secretly used the magic inkwell when King Dice wasn't looking. And I left the Devil a little present while I was at it." She admitted.
"He did it!" Announced King Dice.
"What a great trick that was folks!"
Suddenly, a puff of smoke appears off to the sidelines that catches King Dice's attention. King Dice was expecting that the plan worked but an angry Devil appeared with a long bump on his head with an icepack. The audience screamed and all ran away out of the circus as Gwen and the cups were making their escape into the second isle and back to the first isle.
"What's the matter boss, isn't she down there? And what happened to you?" King Dice nervously asked.
The Devil angrily answered,
"No, she is not! She dropped an anvil on my head. Did NOT enjoy that! She's escaped again you idiot!"
"What? Look, I swear I saw her go into that cage!" King Dice fearfully explained.
"SILENCE!" Roared the Devil.
"I gave you a chance to redeem yourself and you failed me again! Now let's go find her and fix this setback! And this time, no mistakes!"
He grabs King Dice and they both disappear in a puff of smoke.
Gwen, Cuphead and Mugman were running for their lives as they reach the woods heading for home in the dark.
"We never should've gone to that circus in the first place!" Cried Cuphead.
"I thought there was something familiar about that King Dice! He's the guy I saw entering Hell the night I escaped! King Dice works for the Devil!" Gwen realized.
"He's probably helping the Devil try to get Cuphead's soul too!" Mugman said.
Suddenly, a cloud of smoke appeared in front of them as the Devil laughing evilly appeared before them along with King Dice. Cuphead, Mugman and Gwen all stop running and stood there scared.
"Oh no." She says nervously.
Gwen feared the moment would come when the Devil found out about her escape and planned to recapture her.
"Gwendolyn Mae Emmons, at last I found you!"
The Devil said as he was pushing his bump back into his head with the icepack.
"And I see you've been with my runaway debtor and his brother this whole time! I'll just take his soul along with you while I'm here."
"No! I won't! I'm never going back with you! And I won't let you take his soul!" Gwen shouted.
The Devil laughed along with King Dice.
"Oh, that is just too cute!" Said King Dice.
"And just how are you going to do that my beautiful flower?" The Devil asked.
Gwen thought maybe she could use the magic inkwell as a weapon to defend herself and others.
"I thought so, now let's get this over with."
The Devil starts approaching her with his pitchfork as she grabbed her ink pen and the magic inkwell started glowing. Having enough of the Devil she holds out her ink pen like a weapon and yells,
"Get away!"
Then, a cyan-blue beam blasted the Devil away from her and the boys.
"Wow! I didn't know you could do that Gwen!" Cuphead said with fascination.
"Neither did I. I wonder what else I can do?" Said Gwen.
"Show them what you can do Gwen! Unleash your imagination!" Encouraged Mugman.
The Devil got up, now even angrier and said,
"Okay, now you're making me very, very angry!"
"Good! Cause I'm just getting started!"
Gwen said angrily, preparing for a fight.
The Devil gets his pitchfork and points at Gwen and shoots some fire blasts at her. Gwen uses her ink pen and deflects his blasts at him and King Dice fearfully jumps out of the way. Then Gwen decided to try some new tricks from the magic inkwell. She makes ice blasts at the Devil, causing him to freeze temporarily. Then she makes a giant cartoon glove fist appear and starts pounding the Devil into the ground. Finally, she zaps him with some lightning as Gwen is enjoying her much deserved revenge on the Devil for kidnapping her and trying to marry her by force.
Meanwhile, Cuphead and Mugman are enjoying the show and munching some popcorn with bystanders from the circus watching.
"Now this is a show!" Said Cuphead.
"I couldn't agree more." Said Mugman.
The people cheer for Gwen as she was giving the Devil a good beating with the magic inkwell.
Meanwhile King Dice tries to sneak up on Gwen to stop her. Mugman notices and yells,
"Watch out behind you Gwen!"
Gwen quickly notices King Dice and grabs him with the giant glove just in time before he could grab her.
"Hey, guess what King Dice? This time, I have a trick you get to be part of! It's called the I-Kick-Your-Sorry-Butt Trick!"
Her ink pen and magic inkwell start glowing as King Dice nervously says,
"Now now, let's not get too hasty beautiful."
She angrily brings him closer to her and yells at him,
"And stop calling me those names!"
She throws King Dice next to an injured Devil and started whaling on him with all her attacks until they both were severely beaten. The crowd cheers as Gwen catches her breath, thinking that was enough, they have given up.
Henchmen suddenly appears from the elevator with a team of imp medics and prepare to escort the Devil and King Dice back to the underworld for treatment.
Gwen notices and walks up to the Devil in a stretcher and tells the imps,
"Wait, I'm not finished with him yet."
The Devil catches his breath and says to Gwen,
"Don't think this ends here Gwen. This is exactly what I feared when the inkwell picked you. I will recover, I will get Cuphead's soul and I will get even, then marry you!"
"No, we're even and I will keep fighting you if you come near me again. Even if it takes the rest of my life. But you made one big mistake you evil monster: if this is what you were afraid of, you could've simply left me alone back in my room! Then again, I'm actually glad that you did bring me here otherwise I never would've met the two best friends in the Inkwell Isles that I don't know what I would've done if it weren't for them."
Gwen told him, referring to Cuphead and Mugman. They both run up to her and jump into her arms.
"Nice try Devil, you should try something else that doesn't fail all the time. Anyway, you can't marry a girl you just met." Cuphead said smugly.
"Yeah, we may not have the impenetrable sweater, but we have the next best thing protecting Cuphead from you: our new best friend Gwen. We really should be thanking you Devil for bringing her into our lives." Said Mugman and they give Gwen a big hug.
The Devil rolled his eyes and said,
"Uh, I guess I didn't think that one through. But nevertheless, I'll be back for all three of you!"
The Devil declared as he and King Dice were both taken away back to Inkwell Hell.
After the Devil and his minions were gone, Gwen with the boys in her arms turned around and faced the crowd as they cheer her for her victory. Gwen feels happier than she ever felt in a long time and feels that she's been accepted by society. The people run up to her and lift them up in victory. A celebration was held with music, dancing, and Gwen sketching caricatures of some of the Inkwell Isles residents in her sketchbook.
After the party, Gwen along with Cuphead and Mugman head on home back to the cottage, all very tired from a very long day. They enter the cottage as Elder Kettle comes to greet them.
"There you all are. Looks like you all had a very exciting day."
"We sure did Elder Kettle! We went to Porkrind's, Inkwell City, the amusement park, the circus and watched Gwen kick the Devil's butt!" Cuphead excitedly told him.
"Wow, you actually took on the Devil dear?" Elder Kettle asked Gwen.
"Yep, I gave him exactly what he deserved with the magic inkwell." Gwen said proudly and folding her arms.
"Well good for you dear. Hey, I did a little research and I believe you could get home to your world with the magic inkwell if you simply paint a door portal. Why don't you try it?"
Gwen was shocked that she had the power to get back home the whole time. So, Gwen thinks really hard and uses her ink pen again to paint a door. She opens the door and there was her old live-action house in the human world. Elder Kettle and the boys stood in awe as Gwen walks into the human world and she is restored back to her old live-action self.
Cuphead and Mugman step into the human world and they still remain in their 2D cartoon forms.
"Woah! Look at this place! It really does look different than the Inkwell Isles!" Cuphead exclaimed, looking around the front yard.
"Yeah! It's so much different!" Mugman agreed.
"So, Gwen, what are you gonna do now? This isn't goodbye, is it?" Asked Cuphead sadly.
He and Mugman don't want to see their new best friend go back to her old life. Gwen walked up to the front door, happy at first but realized that Cuphead was right: she did need to make a choice. Either go back home to her parents and go through with the arranged marriage and be miserable for the rest of her life; or she could stay in the Inkwell Isles with her new friends, live her own free life and protect Cuphead from the Devil at the cost of being disowned by her parents.
So, after Gwen stops herself from grabbing the front doorknob, she says to the door like she was talking to her parents,
"You know what mama and papa? If you disowning me means that I can live my life how I want to live without you controlling me, then so be it! You're never gonna see or hear from me again! Goodbye!"
Gwen walks back as Cuphead and Mugman were watching. Gwen reaches out her hands to the boys and happily says,
"Let's go home guys."
Cuphead and Mugman boil their milk in their heads with joy.
"WHOO-HOO!"
They both cheered and take Gwen's hands and run back in through the door back into the Inkwell Isles and close it. Elder Kettle asked,
"Gwen, what are you doing? Don't you want to go back?"
Gwen answered,
"Elder Kettle, after everything that's happened and knowing that I could go back to the human world whenever I want, I've decided to stay. I've never been happier here than I ever was back home in my life. I'd rather be disowned and free than be miserable with an arranged marriage and controlling parents. I'm a grown woman, and I decide how I want to live my life. Besides, my two best friends here need me. In fact, they're the only friends I ever had."
Cuphead and Mugman hold Gwen close. Elder Kettle sees that his boys love her so much, he decided to respect Gwen's wishes.
"Alright, you can stay dear. As long as you help me keep the house and take care of the boys. We could use a woman's touch around here. You really did a great job earlier today." He explained his conditions.
"It's a deal." Agreed Gwen.
"Yay! She's staying!" Cheered Cuphead and Mugman.
"Oh, I should grab all my stuff from my old room and bring them into my new room." Gwen remembered.
So, Cuphead and Mugman help her secretly move all her stuff from her old human world room to her new cartoon room using the door portal. After setting up her new room, the boys and Gwen were all tired and all decide it was time for bed. So, they all get ready together, say "Good night," and they all went to sleep. Gwen put her past behind her and was finally free from her parent's restriction, control and expectations so she finally sleeps in peace, ready to start her new life in the Inkwell Isles.