[Chapter 1, Scene 4: After You Get What You Want…]

The air outside the casino swelters- granite walls lit and licked by Hell's ever burning flames. Jack wipes the sweat from his brow, hot even as ice crawls into his veins as the seconds tick by.

If things don't turn out like he plans… he might as well start getting used to the heat.

Jack lifts his head as he hears the back door open, the muffled din of the casino sharply rising just before the doors slam shut again. He tenses at the sound of cracking joints but soon gathers the nerve to face his visitor.

Cuphead's expression is frustratingly blank, "Oh, it's you."

"Who were you expecting?" Jack shoots back.

"Not that it should matter to you but," Cuphead shrugs, "I have a list. Now what do you want? Deal didn't work out the way you wanted it to, huh?"

"Sounds like you expected it not to."

"People are rarely ever satisfied around here," Rolling his shoulders, Cuphead offers him a sardonic smile, "Then again, it's always a pleasure to deal with their complaints."

Jack meets his eyes and chills at the reflection of hellfire he finds. The first time they'd met, the bartender's eyes had glowed with amusement, softened under the pale pink bar lights so that all he'd seen was his sought-after comfort. It was all too easy to crumble under those eyes and honeydew words. All too easy to believe in the myth that Hell was full of fallen angels.

Now, captured in that gaze, he knows more than ever that he is nothing but prey.

But even quarry fights back when it has nothing left to lose.

Cuphead raises an eyebrow when Jack whips out a gun and aims it between his eyes, "Well that was faster than I expected."

"My sister is dead!" Jack spits out, incensed at the absolute apathy Cuphead continues to show him, "She was the only family I had left. You and your people knew this. You knew! You promised me she'd get better!"

"I don't remember promising jackshit," Cuphead grins cheekily at his own pun, "What I remember is lending you a couple hundred Cs for the treatment after you gave me your little orphan Annie sob story. Now what you did with that money was up to you. Not like I could stop you if you chose to blow it all on tricks and booze."

Jack growls, "I'm nothing like you! That money all went to my sister, and you know it! We had a deal!"

"Christ, would you close your head for a second? I didn't promise you she'd get better. I'm not some kind of fucking miracle worker." Despite the vitriol in his words, Cuphead continues to give Jack a mockingly polite smile, "I lent you money in exchange for your soul, nothing more. You promised to pay us back once she was taken care of and," he shrugs, "Well, I'm sure they're taking good care of your sister up there."

Cuphead pauses, then sniggers, "'Course if you want, I could still check in with the boss and see if any of the new girls down at the demon brothels matches her description. How's that sound?"

The air cracks with a loud sound just as he finishes.

Bright red stars fly out from Cuphead's back, all of them swerving to catch the bullet heading for his eyes. It bursts into flames as they make contact and its trajectory shifts- the bullet crashing into the ground next to his feet.

Jack screams and pulls at the trigger again, arms shaking in rage and adrenaline. The back of his neck grows hotter as Cuphead continues to stand unflinchingly, the stars continuously blocking and shielding him until all that's left of his bullets are the holes buried in the ground around them.

He freezes when an ominous 'click' comes from his gun.

Cuphead sighs and scratches the back of his neck, "If that was your idea of revenge, you're an even bigger simp than I thought."

What the hell was that?

Jack knew that Cuphead wasn't normal. Nobody who works for the Devil is.

But that… that was inhuman.

"You're a demon," he gasps, still pointing the gun at Cuphead like a flimsy excuse for a shield.

"Aw shucks. Flattery won't get you anywhere after that," Cuphead cracks his neck, delighting in the horror he finds growing in Jack's eyes as he saunters closer, "You're wrong, but it's a common mistake. I'd forgive you, but I don't think you'll find a single person alive who likes having someone try to kill them."

.

.

.

Bartending is a hobby. Really, it's more of a part-time job that King had forced him into. Cuphead would complain, but he finds it surprisingly enjoyable to stay out on the casino floor- mixing drinks and meeting new people.

(What he loves is the noise- loud, endless, chaotic, distracting. It wipes out the silence that torments his head when he is left alone to his thoughts, drowns out the crying he hears in his mind- a young and sweet voice that calls his name over and over and over again-)

But he knows what his calling is.

Cuphead is a debt collector.

A hunter.

He sees the fear and panic fester in Jack's eyes and can barely stop himself from laughing, the rush never-ending. He curls his fingers just as Jack bends his knees, clearly about to turn tail and run, but stops when he feels the jeweled chain around his handle pulse and tighten.

Tch. There goes his fun.

Cuphead drops the grin on his face and steps back from Jack, crossing his arms behind him. He watches as King Dice rises from a portal behind Jack and chuckles when the confusion on his face is again replaced with trepidation when King lays a hand on his shoulder.

"Do accept my apologies, sir. Our employee here can be a bit of a hothead," King's voice is ripe with sympathy- full of the false charm and empathy Cuphead had been taught to use himself when first dealing with patrons. The tremors wracking Jack's body begins to lessen, and his heart slows its rapid thumping.

Cuphead closes his eyes, unable to hide the mirth in them.

"Pardon me for interrupting but an employee had grown concerned when they heard the sound of gunshots from outside," King's eyes flit to the gun still hanging limply from Jack's hands, "Now what seems to be the problem?"

There's a period of silence among them as Jack hesitates, the gun slipping from his hands and onto the ground as King squeezes his shoulder and offers him a sympathetic smile.

Go on, you bozo. I don't know how you managed to live long enough to be this stupid. The edge of Cuphead's mouth turns up at his own thoughts.

"...He lied to me," Jack whispers. He looks up at Cuphead, remnants of his fear washed away by the reminder of his sister and the assurance of having the manager behind him, "I promised him my soul for my sister but he didn't save her at all! She still died!"

"I didn't promise him anything," Cuphead interjects, tone more formal in the face of his employer, "He asked for help to pay for her treatment and so I lent him the money. There was no guarantee that it would save her."

"What kinda heartless monster are you!" Jack lashes out, held back by King's hand on his shoulder, "She was only a kid, she didn't belong in that fucking hospital bed where our parents left her!" Tears hot on his cheeks, he shrugs King off and lunges at Cuphead, pulling him up by lapels of his vest, "I'd have given up the world if it meant saving her, don't you understand that?! Don't you have anyone in your life you ever cared about like that?!"

For only a moment, Cuphead hears an echo of his own voice trail after Jack's.

["...what I've got on the line is worth more than your sob stories and my own damn soul combined."]

His eyes widen, then narrow fiercely.

"That's enough," King Dice pulls Jack away just as Cuphead starts to lift his hand up, "Now that I understand the situation, allow me to cut you a new deal."

"What?"

"We can bring your sister back to life."

Jack looks back at him, brittle hopes in his eyes.

"You can do that?" he mutters, voice fragile. Behind them, Cuphead tugs down his vest, his face shadowed.

"Of course," King Dice smiles, "How do we expect to attract more patrons if the house doesn't treat its guests with the fairness and respect they deserve? Now, you'd still have to give us your soul, but surely having your sister back is worth it?"

"Yes!" Jack cries out immediately, "Anything. Anything."

"Very well," King Dice strides up to the doors and holds it open for him, bowing low at the waist, "Now if you'd just follow me into the office, we can get started on rewriting your original contract."

Jack walks in without any hesitation, desperation written in every bone of his body. Cuphead remains still and lets him walk past the door, just as King Dice straightens up and meets his eyes.

He nods and Cuphead raises his arm and snaps.

A violet bullet whizzes past the doors and buries itself straight into Jack's heart.

They hear him whimper, a soft sound of shock and pain torn from his throat as he touches the bleeding, smoking hole.

His body shudders… and he drops to the ground.

Cuphead throws his head back and finally lets himself laugh.

.

.

notes: jack is a hammerhead. his full name is jack hammer. (listen, he was gonna die anyway so i didn't have to be creative.)