Chapter 2
Even though I had to admit that being transported to a world of cartoon physics with my body being changed to fit its style was actually kind of awesome, the fact that I had to either defeat every single boss or I'd get turned into sentient scrap metal was absolutely terrifying to me. And I knew the only way out was to not only beat the Devil at his own game (literally) but also do a counter-bet against him when I soundly trounced him and have Yubel rig it in my favor. But one thing I learned was that... I actually had some form of cartoon physics to my body as I could extend my arms around like they were rubberbands! And I could even punch enemies with elastic punches like Elastigirl or Mister Fantastic, which I used to great effect when going through Forest Follies in order to reach the Root Pack and Goopy LeGrand, as it was a large section of woodlands the moment I crossed the bridge from the Elder Kettle's house. And despite me finding the Run and Gun levels quite challenging in Cuphead, especially the Pacifist runs, with my elastic arms and different weapons like the Converger and the Roundabout, it was actually kind of fun, especially since I could rotate my head with a rubbery neck just in case any bullets came from behind!
"Huh, I'm actually doing quite well... but I shouldn't get too uppity, because now I have to face a boss... but which one do I go with?" I asked as I looked to the different areas and saw that Goopy's house was shaped like him (a slime drop) and the Root Pack was actually a bit south and part of a garden next to a greenhouse, which was probably their pad. "Hmm... I'll flip a coin," I said, having found all 5 in the Forest Follies level. "Heads for Root Pack, Tails for Goopy." I then flipped the coin up into the air and caught it again, me seeing that the results was a heads up. I then went to the garden with the greenhouse, wondering if it'd be at all possible for me to talk my way out of the fight... but then again, that probably wouldn't happen the moment they saw that I had something on my cheek, that being the mark of King Dice himself, which I'd only learned was on my face when I saw my reflection in the windows of the Elder Kettle's house.
I simply walked into the garden, looked around and then started to gab. "Hello? Excuse me? Is there anyone named Ollie Bulb, Sal Spudder, or Chauncy Chantenay here?" I asked, the result being that the giant potato burst out of the ground in front of me, him being just about as big as two of me, which definitely made me feel like I was the size of a fly.
"Whatzittooya?" he asked with a heavy mob accent, me gulping at him.
"Um... well... I kind of got into a bit of a dilemma involving a big monster with horns and black fur... um... and uh..." I said with concern as he then started to laugh.
"PAHAHA! You're for real? You think I don't know what's goin' on?! You're tryina collect our souls for the devil, ain'tcha?! Well, little lady, that ain't happenin'! Have at youse!" he shouted as he then got into a battle stance and proceeded to spit the spuds at me, me jumping over the brown ones before parrying the pink, gross one, all while shooting at him and continuing to talk.
"I-Isn't there a way we could talk this out?!" I asked, him not listening and continuing to spit at me as I saw he was starting to peel from the shots of the converger. "I just want to go home, OKAY?! LISTEN!" I shouted, the potato only then stopping as he then panted a bit.
"What do ya mean 'go home?' Did the devil take yer house or somethin'?" he asked, me sighing at that.
"No, he took me from another reality! And he said that, if I don't come up with the soul contracts, then I'm going to be turned into scrap metal, but still have sentience without the ability to talk, move, or feel anything. Here, look at the contract," I said as I then showed him the paper of the devil's contract with me, him then looking at it and mulling to himself as he read it.
"Curly Barnaby... mm... sentient trash pile... nn... soul contracts of all debtors... win and be my bitch... lose and be my trophy?... This is a bit different than our contract," he said as he then handed the paper back to me. I nodded at him as I did read the contracts of the Root Pack and Goopy's before I cross the bridge, seeing tha the devil wanted their souls so he could control them as his henchmen, but for Goopy's, he was going to force him to work as his personal masseuse forever.
"I plan on rescuing everyone the moment I turn in the contracts by knocking the sense outta that big dumb bastard, but I need the soul contracts to be fulfilled before doing so... and I don't want to have to hurt anyone if I can help it," I said, him frowning at me before then giving a whistle, which caused the other three (yes, Horace Radiche was included in the contract) to show up and look at me in confusion or concern.
"What's goin' on, Sal, ol pal?" Horace asked as he looked at me in confusion.
"Why is there a stranger here?... You know I'm scare of 'em," Ollie said with concern on his big, chubby cheeks.
"I already know what's goin' on, an' I feel I need to say this, we're gonna be the easiest to convince about this whole ordeal, little lady," Chauncy frowned at me.
"Chauncy's right. Even though we'll help ya out with this ordeal, it don't mean the others will be more willing to listen. Be especially wary of anyone from the other two isles, because they have been evading the devil's lackeys for almost a decade or more," Sal frowned.
"Wait... we're giving this bitch our souls? What's wrong with you, Sal?!" Horace asked in annoyance.
"It's not going to be without... benefits," I said to him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ollie asked with concern.
"I mean that I have an ally that gave me a special perk to help in the devil's defeat. For every contract I collect, I manage to be able to talk to the souls of who is in the contracts and I gain an ability based on them... though, not going to lie, I don't know what I'll get from a contract involving four different talking veggies," I admitted.
"Your world was different then, I can tell just by seeing your mind," Chauncy said as he held his hands to his head, me nodding at that.
"We certainly didn't have rubber bodies, that's for sure. And the only things that could talk were humans, so there's that too," I frowned.
"Alright, enough chatter. Boyos, let's just get this over with," Sal frowned as he then simply placed his hand on the contract for the Root Pack, followed by the rest before their souls all entered the piece of paper and the contract was considered collected. And when this happened, a small bit of light emerged from the contract and into me! And when this happened? I gasped as I got 4 new powers just from one contract! I could spin around to the point of being the Tasmanian Devil, move things with telekinesis, create powerful tears that could hurt foes, and I could spit gobs of phlegm that could not only damage opponents, but also gross them out!
"Um... I'm kinda scared here... why is it so dark? I don't like the dark..." I heard Ollie say from the contract as I then spoke.
"Don't you live underground, though? Where it's always dark?" I asked, that making the bulb gasp.
"O-Oh my! I-I can hear you, but I can't see you!" Ollie said with fear as I saw that the bodies were completely missing, meaning the bodies were also in the contract.
"Don't worry, Ollie, she'll get all of us outta this mess. And if she doesn't, we're gonna have a good talk with her metal remains after," Sal frowned at me.
"Don't remind me. It's my absolute greatest fear, caused by a horror picture book I read," I frowned as I shuddered at the images from that book... to think that could actually happen to me if I failed this quest.
"Well, you did get some powers, right?" Horace asked as I nodded.
"Uh, yeah, I did! One from each of you! I can cry powerful tears, hurl of globs of phlegm, use telekinesis, and I can spin around to the point I can become a tornado1" I smirked.
"Haha! Sounds like you can beat the devil at his own game if you can make it all the way to the end! But like we said, just because we gave in peacefully, it don't mean the others will be nearly as nice," Chauncy said as I nodded and saw my options now were Ribby and Croaks or Goopy. I then flipped a coin with Goopy being heads this time and the result was face-up again!
"And what about mister Goopy?" I asked.
"Heh, not much to get him convinced, actually. Just tell him that you want to help and he might do that. He's pretty gullible. Hell, we scammed him outta his greenhouse for free rent," Sal smirked.
"You know I still don't like that we did that," Ollie frowned.
"No tears, Ollie. Just take a rest for right now," I smiled at him with as gentle a voice as I could muster.
"O-Okay, miss... what's your name?" he asked.
"Curly Barnaby. Please don't make fun of the name," I frowned.
"I think it sounds neat," Horace smirked.
"Better than what our parents named us," Chauncy snickered. I then proceeded due north and knew that the next stop on the trail would be the lviing pile of goo that could hurt you as a tombstone... had to hope it didn't escalate to that point.
After a short walk, I then made it to the house of Goopy LeGrand and knocked on the door, wondering how he'd answer.
"Howdy-doody! Who may you be?" asked the voice, me being stunned that he sounded like Ned Flanders from the Simpsons, but hiding it through a smile.
"Um... hi, mister LeGrand. I uh... wanted to ask if I could come in and chat for a spell?" I asked, him then opening the door, but then, when he saw my cheek, he immediately slammed it shut.
"Sorry, nobody home, please go now," he said before locking the door and closing the blinds, me knowing that I had to convince him somehow.
"I'm not a willing participant either, you know? If I don't come up with the contracts, the devil is going to keep me as a scrap metal trophy!" I said, that making Goopy look at me through a looking glass on the door.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.
"He's going to turn me into a living pile of garbage, but without the ability to move, feel, or speak. It's my greatest fear come true and I'd stay like that for eternity... the only way out of it is to get the soul contracts and then beat the snot outta him," I said, Goopy frowning at me before then unlocking one door and opening it to show he was still behind a screen door.
"And how do I know you're going to keep to your word? Because I don't want to be a masseuse for that greasy pig. He bathes in blood and guts and expects me to spread my body over him to massage him? Tell me why I should expect you to win," he said as I then proceeded to show him the only way I knew how. By using the strengths I'd obtained from the Root Pack by becoming a tornado, crying painful tears onto the ground that caused the ground to crack and blow up in parts, use telekinesis on the door from the other side to unlock and open it, and then spit a pile of phlegm onto the ground that was in the shape of a duck?
"Okay, where'd you get those powers?" he asked.
"From the Root Pack," I admitted. And when I said that, Goopy only then got a small smile on his face.
"So you can absorb some powers from the ones you defeat? And you gave 'em a right trouncing?" he asked.
"Wow, rude," said Chauncy from the contract he was on.
"More that I managed to convince them to do it willingly, but they did try to fight for a bit before I got a cease fire," I said, Goopy smirking at that.
"Okay, you've got my vote," he smirked as he then touched his hand to the contract and was immediately sent into it... and when this happened, I gawked at how the power I'd obtained from him was the power to melt my body into the ground and then reappear in a different spot! It was kind of cool to be able to melt and reform with no issue at all!
"So this is what it's like in a contract, huh? Not what I expected," Goopy frowned.
"What did you expect?" I asked him.
"Maybe hellfire, eternal torment, that kind of thing... wait, how can I hear you?"
"Because of another perk. I can talk to whoevers' contracts I've completed through the contracts themselves," I smirked. "How about we decide on where to go next?" I smirked.
"Well, from what I know, there are only three more debtors on this isle, those being Hilda Berg, the frog brothers, and Cagney Carnation. In order to get to Cagney, though, you'll need to get through a very tall tree to reach a high cliff, filled with his minions," Goopy spoke.
"And what can I expect?" I asked, playing dumb.
"You'll need a flying machine to reach Hilda in her element, the sky. Ribby and Croaks are known for attacking on multiple sides, and Cagney likes flooding his garden with dangerous flora that can really hurt, due to them being poisonous," Sal said.
"I'm going to go for Ribby and Croaks, then," I smirked.