Chapter 3: True Worries

Angel knocked on the door of the office. "Come in," she heard a moment later and she opened the door, looking to see King Dice stand up from his desk to greet her.

"Ah, Angel," he said, smiling before noticing how worried the young woman looked. "Is everything alright?"

"I wish it was," she said.

Dice gestured for her to sit down while he got her a glass of water, which she accepted and he sat down beside her with his own glass of water. "What is the matter, milady? The monster hasn't returned, has he?"

"Not that we know of, but...we may have bigger troubles," Angel said before pausing and then looking up at him. "Dice, what can you tell me about Saltbaker?"

The dice-headed man had just taken a drink of water as she asked that and he did a spit take of his water, his green eyes wide with shock and worry as he coughed. Angel, seeing this, at once began patting his back to help him out. After a bit, Dice caught his breath and he looked at her with an expression of fear and worry.

"Angel, where did you hear that name?" He asked.

"Djimmi told me and he mentioned something about Saltbaker wanting to create a Wondertart, but the ingredients are hard to come by."

Dice turned pale at that, which worried the young woman. "Dice?" She asked gently. "I'm guessing by your reaction, Saltbaker is up to something?"

"Yes," the casino owner said before looking worried. "Do you know what a Wondertart is?"

She shook her head. "Djimmi didn't say what it was exactly. Only that he had been hearing rumors of Saltbaker and the Wondertart after I told him and Beppi that the boys were on the Mystery Isle far from here."

She didn't think the purple-suited man could turn any paler, but he did, his face now deathly white. "Angel, I need you to listen to me very carefully," he said.

She nodded and took his hand in her own. He gently squeezed her hand before looking at her. "The Mystery Isle is a mysterious place, one that has most of the ingredients for the Wondertart, but the inhabitants are very protective of those ingredients. You'd have to fight the people there in order to get what you seek."

"You can't just buy it from them?" The young woman asked.

"Not these ingredients," he said, shaking his head. "But there is one ingredient that cannot be found on that Isle...because it is what we all have inside of us."

Angel cocked her head to the side in confusion and noted how Dice looked very disturbed. "Dice?" She asked gently.

He looked at her. "The Wondertart is a treat that can grant a ghost a physical body," he said. "Certain other treats can grant a person the ability to switch places with a ghost. For example, if you wanted to see what being a ghost was like and Specter wanted to see what it was like to have a human body, you would eat a certain cookie that would have you and Specter switch bodies temporarily."

She blinked in surprise. "So...Specter would be human and I'd be a ghost?" She asked.

"Yes, but the cookie's effects are temporary, while the Wondertart is more permanent because...your soul would be one of the ingredients to allow Specter to be human...forever."

Angel's eyes went wide in fear, shock, and horror. "You mean...I would die?" She asked before it then hit her. "The Wondertart needs a soul because a soul gives a body life."

"Yes," Dice said. "Were the boys with anyone?"

"Yes," she said. "Chalice."

He took both of Angel's hands in his own. "Angel, Saltbaker has no doubt tricked Chalice and the boys," he said. "Because he is looking to gain a power that will make him pretty much unstoppable."

"Are you talking like...cosmic powers?"

He nodded. "If a person like you and I were to eat the Wondertart, we would gain such powers as well...but at a hefty price."

"The price of a life," she said before looking at Dice. "I have to get over there. I have to save the boys and Chalice."

Dice nodded. "You must hurry," he said. "Stop Saltbaker from creating the tart and save our nephews and Chalice. Because if that man has one of their souls...I fear time is short."

Angel nodded, putting on the gloves Beppi had given her when she first had arrived on the Isles and she made sure the potions he had given her were safe in her pockets. "Here," Dice said, handing her some healing potions. "And take this."

He handed her a shiny box that was no bigger than game dice. "Roll this on any flat surface and it will open a portal that will connect to one of the slides I use to get to the Die Houses here on the Isles. You'll be transported safely to the first Die House, where you can get to Elder Kettle. I'll inform him of what's going on and we'll be ready in case things go south."

She nodded again and to her surprise, Dice pulled her into a hug, his shoulders heaving as he sounded ready to cry. "Dice?" She asked.

"Please be careful, Angel," he begged her. "Please promise me you'll be careful and you, Chalice, and the boys will return safely."

While she was a bit curious about his behavior, she nodded and hugged him back. "I promise, Dice," she said with absolute resolution in her voice. "I swear on my father's grave that I, Chalice, and the boys will return, safe and sound."

He nodded while Pirouletta came in and hugged her husband. "Be careful, dear," the dancer said. "And good luck."

Nodding, Angel headed out, finding Grim flying overhead and she waved to him. He landed lightly and looked at her before his face took on a look of worry. "It's true then," he said. "You're off to the Mystery Isle to find the boys and Chalice."

"Yes," she said. "How far is it from here?"

"About an hour by boat. Twenty minutes by flight," he replied before gesturing to his back. "Climb on. I'll give you a lift there."

Angel climbed up on Grim's back and held on as he took flight. After twenty minutes, they had reached the Mystery Isle and the dragon landed, letting the young woman dismount. She looked around and then looked back at Grim. "Thank you, Grim," she said. "Hopefully, I'll be able to find the boys and Chalice quickly."

"Do you have a means to escape quickly should things get bad?" He asked.

"Dice gave me something to open a temporary portal and told me how to use it," she explained.

He reached for his arm and carefully plucked off a loose green scale as he occasionally lost scales when new ones were growing in. He handed it to Angel, who looked stunned and she looked up at him. "If you get to a point where you can't use the portal Dice gave you, either if it gets stolen from you or you're not in a safe area to use it, hold this scale up to your heart and let out the loudest musical note you can. The scale will resonate and I will hear it and come at once to your aid," he said.

She gave him a grateful nod, putting the scale in a safe place. "Thank you, Grim," she said, giving him a gentle chin scratch. "The boys, Chalice, and I will see you soon."

He nodded and took to the sky while Angel turned and looked around, spying a boat nearby with a person who looked like he either had a clock or a compass for a face. She couldn't really tell and so she moved closer, being quiet as the boat person didn't see her right away. When she was right behind him, she quickly wrapped her arm around his shoulders and clapped her free hand to his mouth, dropping down into a crouch on the ground.

Surprised by the sudden grab, the boat man had no time to counteract as Angel used her weight to drag him down and he was soon trapped as she had his head in a headlock and her eyes were angry, making him gulp. "I want you to listen carefully and answer me truthfully," she said to him. "I received word of two boys that are here on this Isle. One has a blue and white straw. The other has a red and white straw. Did you bring those boys here?"

The boat man nodded. "Yes," he said, a bit fearful as she looked quite angry. "They were requested to come here by Miss Chalice. She paid me to bring them here."

"Why?" Angel asked.

"Something about her finding a way to have a physical body and she needed their help," he replied. "I didn't hurt them. I swear."

She let him go and stood up. He also stood up before seeing her necklace and he gasped. "You're the angel," he said. "The one the monster was after, but you beat him and banished him."

Angel cocked an eyebrow at him. "Word of that has reached here?" She asked.

"The Howling Aces heard all about it and the battle that Cuphead and Mugman had against the monster to free everyone he had trapped," the boat man said. "They told everyone here, so yes, we all know about them and you. By the way, I'm glad you banished that monster."

"He didn't come here, did he?"

"No, thankfully."

While that was a bit reassuring, she wasn't sure if Saltbaker was working with the monster or not. "Thank you," she said. "And I apologize for being so defensive. When I heard they were over here and what Saltbaker's plans are, I wasn't sure who to trust here."

"Understandable," he said before seeing her look around. "Saltbaker's bakery is just down the way. It's the only bakery on this Isle. You can't miss it."

"Thank you," she said, giving him a grateful nod before heading down the path and straight into the small town, intending to meet the chef she had only heard about. She took a deep breath as she stood outside the bakery. Her first instinct was to storm in and demand he tell her everything, but then she decided a softer approach was better.

"Even if he knows the battle the boys and I had against the monster, he may not know my face," she said to herself before remembering the boat man had seen her necklace and she realized that was what made him recognize her. She quickly hid the necklace inside her shirt before checking her bag to see if she had anything to help her disguise herself or at least some coins to buy something to help with a disguise.

To her surprise, she found a disguise potion that would change her hair and eyes. Smiling as she realized Cagney had put that in there, she made a mental note to bake the flower's favorite dessert as a thank you when she, Chalice, and the boys returned. She read the instructions and drank the potion.

A moment later, her dark hair had turned to blonde and her eyes were a pretty purple color. Checking the small mirror she had with her, she smiled in satisfaction before pulling out a fashionable black-and-white silk scarf that Cagney had also packed for her. She quickly wrapped it around her neck and tied it in a neat, fashionable knot before taking a deep breath and entering the bakery, a bell at the door announcing her arrival.


So Angel has stepped foot into a lion's den, essentially. Next up, she meets the man she's only heard about. What impression will he leave on her? We shall soon see.

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GoldGuardian2418