Going to be alternating between this story and A Wondrous Wonderland since I've been getting into ghostbusters recently and this was an idea that I had for a while. Hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Cuphead is owned by Studio MDHR and Ghostbusters is owned by Columbia
Chapter 1: The Library
Typically, it was very quiet in the nice forest lands of Inkwell Isle I, and the library in Inkwell Elementary School was no exception. The kids were outside playing and laughing without a care in the world. However, some of the more socially awkward children would go into the school library for a place of solace and quiet, choosing instead to spend their free time keeping their eyes on the pages rather than go out and play.
Ms. Cherrywood, the school librarian, had just checked out a book for one of the children. She enjoyed her job, seeing the kids smile when they checked out their books, the peace and serenity of the library was all that she needed in her li-
*Bump*
Ms. Cherrywood turned her head behind her. She could've sworn she thought she heard something in the back section. Normally, she probably would've shrugged this off except she felt this strange wave of dread wash over her. Her curiosity overruling her common sense, she walked through the corridors of book shell, trying to find the source of this feeling.
As she looked around, she failed to notice some of the books shuffling themselves on the shelves as she passed by. She then turned right, passing by some of the regular card catalogs. And she would have continued passed them when suddenly several of the drawers opened with anyone pulling them and papers began flying everywhere. Now she was scared.
With a yelp, Ms. Cherrywood began to run, her curiosity now killed as she tried to find her way back to her desk. But now the book shelves that once brought warmth and comfort now felt like an ominous maze, one that she didn't intend to stay in.
She rounded the corner... and she screamed as she faced perhaps the most horrifying thing she had ever seen in her life.
Cuphead could be doing anything else right now. He could be sitting on a bench out by the old mausoleum. He could be enjoying himself at the carnival on Isle II. Or he could be having a nice time at the beach on Isle III. But instead, here he was with his brother Mugman going to meet with their friend Silverworth at the old elementary school they used to go to. What better way to spend the day?
Mugman had an excited grin on his face as he held a small camera in his hands. "This is it!" He exclaimed, he and Cuphead walking briskly down the dirt path towards the school. "This is definitely it!"
"I'm very happy for ya, Mugs." Cuphead said sarcastically. Ever since they were kids, Mugman had always had this fascination with the paranormal after hearing stories about how the three mausoleums on the Inkwell Isles were haunted, so much so that it seemed like he was obsessed with it. Cuphead had supported him in his efforts for quite a while, but it was mainly because his brotherly duties told him to. "Why am I coming along for this?"
"Hey, this is something we've worked on for a while, in case you forgot. Besides, you did study a little psychology back in school right? So we might need you in case communication is needed." Mugs replied defensively. He then smiled again as he started to get giddy. "At 1:40 p.m. today, in the library of Inkwell Elementary, ten people witnessed a free-roaming, full-torso, vaporous apparition. It blew books off shelves and scared the socks off Mrs. Cherrywood."
"Mrs. Cherrywood?" Cuphead asked, mildly surprised but still disinterested. "Our old school librarian? She still works there?"
"Apparently." Mugman replied, shrugging.
Returning to the subject at hand, Cuphead gave his brother a deadpanned look. "Well, I'm very excited. I'm very pleased. But do you really need me to come along for this?"
"Yep." Mugs replied as the finally came within sight of the elementary school. "Silverworth's already in there. He took the PKE (psychokinetic energy) valances, said they went right off the charts. Buried the needle. We're close on this one, I can feel it in my gut."
Cuphead rolled his eyes as they entered the school. "As your brother, I gotta tell you... I think you've finally gone around the bend on this ghost business. You and Silvy have been running your butts off meeting and greeting every schizo and joe in the Isles who says they've had a 'paranormal experience'. And what have you seen?"
Mugman's demeanor faltered a bit. "Well hopefully we'll see something today." He replied as they turned from the hall and entered the library.
Inside, most of the kids had already left and everything appeared to be in tight order. Books were still on shelfs, tables were still set, everything seemed fine. By one table, Cuphead and Mugman spotted Silverworth, sitting down on the ground and listening with a stethoscope (which was somehow able to fit on his fork head).
Deciding to be cheeky, Cuphead walked over and lightly rapped his knuckles on the table. "SiLVey..." He said in a faux haunted voice as Silverworth perked up. Cuphead then picked up a hardcover book and slammed it on the table, startling Silverworth and causing him to jump.
"Oh! You're here." Silverworth said, standing up and adjusting his monocle.
"Yeah, yeah, we're here. What've ya got?" Cuphead remarked.
"This is big, Cuphead." Silverworth stated as the trio walked towards the front desk. "Something is definitely here."
Cuphead smirked, shaking his finger. "You know, this reminds me of that time when you tried to drill a hole in your head, remember that?"
Silverworth half-heartedly glared at him. "And it would have worked if you hadn't stopped me."
Just then, Lucien, one of the teachers at the school (who had a lightbulb for a head) approached them. "Ah, Cuphead, Mugman, Silverworth. Good to see you all again."
Mugman smiled as he shook his hand. "Pretty sure Cuphead never thought he'd be back here after we graduated." He joked, getting a chuckle from Lucien (and a glare from Cuphead).
Lucien's face then turned serious. "Still, thank you for coming. I hope we can clear this up quickly and quietly."
"Let's not rush things, now." Cuphead told him. "We don't even know what you have yet."
Following Lucien, the trio were soon guided to a nearby table where Mrs. Cherrywood sat. Her eyes were wide and she was visibly shaking as she clutched the towel around her shoulders tightly. After reintroductions, Cuphead, Mugman, and Silverworth sat down at the table to listen to her.
"It had no legs," She told them, Mugman recording everything on his camera, "but it did have arms because it reached out for me."
"Arms?" Mugman asked, excited and quite oblivious to her trauma. "I can't wait to get a look at it."
Cuphead scooted closer to the librarian. "Mrs. Cheerywood, I'm gonna ask you a couple simple questions, alright? Have you or any of your family... every been diagnosed with schizophrenia or being crazy?"
Mrs. Cherrywood thought for a moment. "My uncle thought he was the devil himself."
Cuphead made a face. "I'd call that a big 'yes'." He said. "Are you smoking any kind of drugs or drinking any alcohol?"
"No."
"Oh, you'd know about smoking, wouldn't ya, Cups?" Mugman remarked. "What with your secret stash of cigars you under your bed?"
Cuphead gave his brother a flat look. "I got rid of those a long time ago for Elder Kettle's sake, remember?"
"I hate to interrupt but, what exactly has that got to do with anything?" Lucien asked.
"Hey back off, man." Cuphead told him. "We're the experts here."
Just then, a mild beeping sound came from Silverworth's pocket. He reached in a pulled out a small device (which he had dubbed the PKE meter since he had built it himself) as the little arms on the sides rose up, with little green lights on them flashing.
"C'mon, guys." Silverworth said to Cuphead and Mugman, standing up. "It's on the move."
After Lucien agreed to stay behind with Mrs. Cherrywood, the trio walked into the long aisles of books with Silverworth in the front, Mugman in the middle with his camcorder, and Cuphead in the very back. The signal appeared to faint though as meter was beeping quite slowly.
A couple minutes passed by nothing seeming out out of the ordinary when the trio turned a corner and were surprised (well, Silverworth and Mugman were surprised. Cuphead was only mildly interested,) upon seeing a large stack of books in front of them that went all the way up to the ceiling.
"Wow, look at this." Mugman said.
"Definitely getting some strong readings here." Silverworth stated as the PKE meter began to beep more rapidly.
"Symmetrical book stacking, just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947." Mugman noted.
Cuphead still looked disinterested. "You're right, guys." He remarked sarcastically. "No living being would stack books like this."
"Listen!" Mugman told them suddenly, with all three of them standing up straight. "Do you fellas smell something?" Cuphead sniffed the air.
Following the smell and the steadily growing PKE readings, the three soon came across the file card catalogs that Mrs. Cherrywood had described in her story. There were cards scattered all over the floor and a gross looking slime cover the drawers which were still open.
"Talk about telekinetic activity. Look at this mess!" Mugman exclaimed.
Silverworth looked closer at one of the open drawers. "Mugman, come look at this."
Mugman walked over and looked at the drawer covered in slime. "Gee willickers, ectoplasmic residue. It's the real thing!"
Silverworth then reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic petri dish. "Cuphead, I need you to get a sample of this." He told him, handing Cuphead the dish.
Cuphead made a disgusted face. "Some poor schmuck blows his nose and you wanna keep it?"
"It's for analysis." Silverworth told him as he and Mugman continued down the hall, turning a corner. "I'm getting stronger readings down this way."
Getting the ectoplasm into the dish was not easy for Cuphead as he tried to scoop it up but ended up getting some of it on his hands. He groaned and grunted, trying to flick it away unsuccessfully, even getting some on his face in a comical way. He then resorted to wiping the slime on some nearby books. He didn't care he would be scolded after this, he was just glad to get that stuff off.
After Cuphead caught up with the others (and handing Silverworth his 'mucas' as Cuphead called it), the trio was about to continue when one of the bookcases behind them suddenly fell over on it's own, nearly crushing and startling the three.
"This happen to you before?" Cuphead asked his brother calmly who simply shook his head in response. "First time?" Mugman nodded.
The trio kept going, turning right into another aisle, with the PKE meter now beeping rapidly. Turning left, the PKE meter suddenly spiked, now beeping like crazy.
Now emerging from the aisle, Silverworth swept the meter around, trying to get a fix on the signature when he turned to the right and paused in surprise. "It's here." He said, Cuphead and Mugman emerging from the aisle as well. Needless to say, the trio couldn't believe their eyes at what they saw.
Directly in front of them was the ghost of an old looking woman just floating there, covered in an odd magenta glow.
"Unbelievable." Mugman whispered, trying to contain his excitement as they stared in astonishment. "A full torso apparition. And it's real."
The ghost didn't seem to notice them as she pulled a book off a spinner rack and began reading. The trio could only stare in silence as Mugman recorded everything.
"So what do we do?" Cuphead suddenly asked.
Mugman and Silverworth paused before slowly turning towards each other. Which made it quite obvious that they hadn't really thought that far ahead when it came to this.
Cuphead rolled his eyes. "Could you guys come over here and talk to me for sec, please? Come here, Francine. Come here." He said quietly, grabbing Mugman by his handle and pulling him back behind the aisle, with the ghost only taking a minor glance at them.
"Well, what do we do now?" Cuphead questioned. "We've found the spook, so now what?"
"I don't know." Mugman replied unsurely before turning to Silverworth. "What do you think?"
Silverworth didn't answer. Instead, he pulled out a small calculator from his pocket and began typing random digits.
"Stop that!" Cuphead hissed, immediately karate-chopping the calculator out of his hand.
"We should probably try to make contact." Mugman reasoned. "One of us should try to talk to it."
"Good idea." Silverworth agreed. "So whose going to do it?"
The trio went silent before Mugman and Silverworth slowly looked towards Cuphead. Pretty easily understanding the unsaid message, Cuphead rolled his eyes in annoyance and walked out of the aisle. Silverworth took the cam recorder and continued to film while Mugman took some pictures with a small camera.
"Hello." Cuphead spoke up, talking to the ghost. "I'm Cuphead. Where are you from? Originally?"
The ghost didn't reply, instead taking a slow glance at him. The ghost stared at him for several seconds before raising a single finger to her mouth. "Shh." She whispered before returning to reading her book.
Cuphead frowned and went back behind the aisle. "Okay, the usual stuff ain't working." He said.
"Don't worry," Mugman smiled, "I know exactly what to do."
The trio emerged from aisle together, slowly inching towards the spirit.
"Okay, get ready." Mugman said with Cuphead and Silverworth tensing up. "Ready? GET HER!"
The trio rushed to grab/tackle her. But before they could, the ghost suddenly fully turned towards them. And in a flash of light, the quiet and somewhat timid looking librarian morphed into a horrifying creature with decaying skin, ragged clothes, and a skeletal face as she let out a spine-chilling shriek at them.
Cuphead, Mugman, and Silverworth all screamed in terror and quickly ran for their lives as fast as they could. They ran, and ran, speeding past the aisles in a blur and once they reached the main room, they quickly dashed to the nearby exit door and barged out like a stampeding herd.
"Did you see it?!" Lucien yelled after them as the trio kept running. "What was it?!"
"We'll get back to you later!" Cuphead yelled back as he, Mugman, and Silverworth continued to run.
Lucien stood at the doorway as continued to watch the trio run down the dirt path away from the school.
Oh, how was he going to explain this to the principal?
And that's chapter one done! I hope you all liked it! Quick note: Casting for this fic was a little difficult when writing it. I knew Cuphead and Mugman were perfect for the roles of Peter and Ray, but Egon was a little harder. At first, I considered having Ms. Chalice be the Egon character, but I scrapped that and decided to go with Silverworth, since he definitely looks like an Egon-like character. Another note: Lucien being a teacher at Inkwell Elementary was something from the Cuphead novel "Carnival Chaos."
Any way, I hope to come back to this soon so stay tuned! Peace!
