Chapter 6: Too Late?

Angel made it to the castle, but paused to catch her breath as it has been quite a long climb. "I'm never complaining about Hilda Berg's cloud staircase again," she promised herself.

"Ah, a new contender?" Came a kingly, but kind voice.

She looked up to see a king standing before her and she straightened before giving a polite curtsey. "Good afternoon, Your Majesty," she said respectfully.

He smiled before noticing her necklace and gasping, removing his crown and bowing down on one knee to her. "It is an honor to be graced by your presence, Your Grace," he said.

She looked confused and he noticed, chuckling lightly. "I sense you are rather puzzled," he said. "You defeated the monster who claimed he was a king, so when you dethroned him, you took his place, but as a queen."

Angel felt her head spinning. "Whoa, hold on a moment," she said. "With all due respect, Your Majesty, I'm simply a regular citizen who fought the monster because he was after me and he had hurt the ones I love. I'm not a queen and have no desire to rule over anyone. King Dice had the monster's side of the casino demolished after we banished him three years ago."

The King smiled. "You are humble, Milady. A good trait to have," he said. "But I feel you didn't come up here to hear me sing your praises."

"I'm afraid not," she said, looking worried. "Your Majesty, did two boys and a young woman come up here? One has handles on both sides of her head and one boy has a red and white straw while the other has a blue and white straw."

"Why, yes, they did come up here a few times," he replied. "They battled valiantly in the bouts and came out victorious."

"Bouts?" She asked.

"They battled against my pawns, my loyal knight, the bishop, the rook, and even my wife, the queen," the King told her. "Not easy tasks, I assure you."

She believed him as she realized the bouts were like a chess game, which she found intriguing, but she put that aside for now. "Are they here now?" She asked hopefully. "I'm looking for them."

The King sensed the urgency in her voice. "Why do you seek them, Milady?" He asked.

"They are my nephews and sister-in-law and I fear Saltbaker has tricked them into collecting the ingredients for the Wondertart."

The King gasped in shock. "How many ingredients have they gathered?" He asked.

"Three out of five, to my understanding," Angel said. "But I'm worried Saltbaker may have one of them trapped for their soul."

"I fear you are right," he said before they heard bawling. "And it sounds like they got the desert limes or possibly the distillery dough."

The young woman felt her heart sink. "I have to get back down there then," she said. "Your Majesty, if my nephews or sister-in-law come back up here...,"

"I'll keep them here and send one of my men to find you," he promised. "Hurry, Your Grace. And be careful."

Nodding, she headed for the rope ladder and climbed back down, finding a cow that was dressed like a sheriff from the wild west sitting near some cacti and crying. Beside her were a group of insects and an anteater that had clothes that indicated they were either very wealthy or business people. The spider noticed her and held a female bug closer to him protectively. Angel held up her hands in a placating gesture to show she meant no harm. "I'm guessing you guys were visited by some people looking for the ingredients you guarded," she said.

The cow looked at her. "How do you know that?" She asked.

"Look at her necklace," the anteater said.

"The angel," the snail on the anteater's head said in awe.

"Yes," Angel said. "And the ones that fought you are my nephews and sister. Did they truly get the ingredients you guarded?"

"I'm afraid so," the spider said. "We're the Moonshine Mob, keepers of the distillery dough."

"And I'm Esther Winchester, keeper of the desert limes," the cow said.

The young woman gasped. "They have all five ingredients, which means they've gone back to Saltbaker, which means...," her eyes widened in fear.

The female bug noticed and looked alarmed. "He has a living soul trapped," she said.

"Oh, no," the spider said.

The snail glanced around. "There they go!" He said, pointing down the path nearby. "They're going into the bakery!"

Angel knew there was no time to waste. She gave them all the last of the healing potions she had. "Take these. I've got to stop Saltbaker," she said.

She ran off fast. "Wait!" Esther called out, but the young woman was gone.

The spider mobster sighed as he felt better after drinking the potion. "Come on," he said. "Esther, you best round up everyone. We owe Miss Angel a debt and we're going to repay it by helping her teach Saltbaker a lesson."

Esther moved fast and it wasn't long before the inhabitants of the Isle were gathered and they started to head for the bakery, eager to help Angel and to stop Saltbaker before he made the tart.

Angel entered the bakery, seeing a trap door nearby and she heard Saltbaker's evil laugh before hearing a familiar voice cry out for help.

"Hang on, bro!" She heard Mugman say.

"Saltbaker, stop!" Chalice pleaded.

"Never!" Saltbaker exclaimed, his voice sounding evil. "I won't stop until the Wondertart is mine!"

Angel moved down the stairs fast before running down a long hall, drinking one of the potions Beppi gave her, her hands lighting up with her powers. "SALTBAKER!" She yelled angrily as she burst into the room, making the others jump.

"Aunt Angel!" Mugman said, relieved to see her. "Saltbaker has Cuphead's soul trapped!"

"He tricked us!" Chalice said worriedly.

The young woman saw Cuphead's soul trapped in a glass container and he looked at her with teary, pleading eyes. "Aunt Angel!" He called out.

Angel felt angry now and she turned to glare at the chef, who stood there in surprise at seeing her necklace and recognizing her. "You're...You're...," he trailed off, still stammering.

"Yes," she said, her hands glowing white with hints of red. "I'm the one who kicked the monster off the Isles after he hurt my family. I'm also the high-class lady that came into your bakery earlier, singing praises about your desserts."

The chef paled at that before looking angry. "Well, no one likes a deceiver," he said with a growl.

"That's rich, coming from you," she snarled back. "Considering that you deceived my nephews and sister-in-law."

A laugh echoed after she said that and Saltbaker looked around before noticing Mugman and Chalice were grabbing the ingredients to get them away from the chef. "Get back here!" He said, about to chase them.

"Hurry, Mugman!" Chalice cried out.

Angel pushed her hands out, fireballs erupting from them and hitting Saltbaker, making him fall down. He turned to glare at her. "You won't stop me!" He said.

"If I could beat the monster, then I can certainly beat you," the young woman said.

He grinned. "Then let's see how well you stand against me," he said as he grew to a giant size.

"Aunt Angel, look out!" Mugman cried out in alarm.

Chalice gasped and looked worried. "Angel, I'm sorry!" She called out.

"Don't worry, sis. It's not your fault," Angel said. "I suggest you and Mugman go with the others and get out of here."

"What about Cuphead?" Mugman asked worriedly.

"I'll get him out after I deal with this crooked chef."

But Chalice shook her head. "No, I'm not leaving," she said. "I'm staying to help."

"No matter how many of you try to battle me, you won't succeed!" Saltbaker said.

His words resonated with Angel and she grinned. "Are you sure about that?" She asked before pulling out a dragon scale, holding it close to her heart and singing a clear, beautiful note.

The scale glowed brightly before vanishing and Angel pulled out the snowflake and stick Mortimer had given her, hitting the beautiful snowflake and it made a sweet tinkling sound before vanishing too.

Mortimer heard the sound and he nodded. "Come on," he said to the others. "The angel needs our help."

"Let's fly!" Saluki said as they began to move faster to the bakery.

On the main Isles, Grim heard Angel's call and nodded, taking flight to the Mystery Isle, hoping it wasn't too late.


So Saltbaker has already captured Cuphead, but it looks like Angel arrived in time to stop him, or has she? Will the inhabitants of the Mystery Isle and Grim get there in time?

Next up: Angel battles Saltbaker.

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