~Author's Note
Chapters and chapters...college papers after college papers. I have never read so many things in my life until I started college. Leaving that statement behind me, hope you guys enjoy this one. It's gonna be a doozy.(Is doozy a word?)~
Blackruth slams the Bible, that Porsha handed him, on the desk in his room. The man shifted his form into the Devil. The demon began laughing as he leaned up against the wall. He crossed his arms as Blackruth turned around with an infuriated stare.
"Why are you LAUGHING!?" Blackruth asked coldly and the Devil responded easily.
"You've lost yer touch. Ever since I ended ya, back then, you are steadily falling down a rabbit hole. The funniest thing about it is that ya can't get out." Devil stated and tried to contain his chuckles.
"Well, if you hadn't of killed me then I would not be in this position!" Blackruth retaliated grabbing the bible.
"You shouldn't touch that as much." The Devil scolded as Blackruth threw the book at him.
"Do not throw this. Even I am not that stupid." The Devil replied stopping the book from hitting the ground.
"Wait, even you care about this godforsaken book?" Blackruth angerly said as the Demon scoffed.
"This 'book' is nowhere near that statement. If I think correctly this has more truth than you spewing out recklessly to those souls out there." The Devil's statement made Blackruth step backward in regret.
"You wanted a person to lead a group of poor believers to their fate!" He argued as the Devil put up his finger.
"Nope, that was the deal I made with you. Remember, I think it was something like this: If I can get this whole city to obey my every command, then you cannot have my soul." He laughed again, but more obnoxiously. "You got three who did not follow ya! Now you have lost two bets in one day."
"Wait, I haven't lost any bets! I still have Dollface under my wing! Also, these fools are still breathing, so, I can still persuade the other three!" Blackruth stated as the Devil gave him with a smudged look.
"The two of the three are dead. So, you already lost that. Oh, and another thing; you know that the people who you executed did not follow ya. They count as well." The Demon explained and Blackruth looked scarce. "I will leave you on that note. Also, the cup brothers are here with who used to be my number one right hand."
The Devil exited the room, morphing back into his hooded form, and walked down the hallway. Blackruth sat down on the bed and put his hands over his face. Meanwhile, Porsha and wheezy were back at the cathedral. Porsha finished the final touch on the writings around the circle. Wheezy noticed the machines whirling around them glowing a light blue as Porsha put her hand on the circle.
"It's done." She said as blue whisps began swirling around her.
"What are those things, toots?" Wheezy asked pointing to the whisps.
"You should know after being with the demon for so long." Porsha begins, "They are souls of the damned and forgotten." and holds on in her palm gently.
"Wait, those are souls?" He asked her and she nodded.
"Why else would they be here? They are executed people that Blackruth killed in this city." Porsha explained as Wheezy noticed one flying around him.
"Blackruth may not remember them, but they do. It is sad really, a killer doesn't remember the victim he killed, but the victim remembers who killed them. Wheezy, I would advise you to get out of this city and go back to Inkwell. People do give others second chances." She said and Wheezy scoffed.
"Not me...Toots, I made a deal and I cannot be saved. Even you should know that..." He replied sitting down in a pew.
"Well, why not be the one to point others in the right direction?" She asked sitting down beside him.
Wheezy looked at her as he asked. "How, so?"
"Lead others in the right path, so, that they will learn from your mistakes and grow stronger because of it. You may be damned, so to speak, but that doesn't mean you have to be evil."
Wheezy pondered her statement as she stood up. The cathedral doors opened and it was Blackruth walking in. He noticed the machines and the lighted circle in the center of the church. He walked up to it and looked at Porsha and Wheezy.
"It's done?" He asked and Porsha nodded. "Good...now we can begin the final phase..." Blue wisps flew around him and he swatted them away.
"They won't leave you alone." Porsha said grabbing a hymn book.
"These damn pests...Wheezy burn them, so I can concentrate."
"No can do boss..." Wheezy said and Blackruth turned around.
"What was that?" He asked bitterly and Wheezy pressed on.
"They already dead, boss. Ya can't kill 'em because they'll just come back."
"True he tried, but failed." Porsha backed up the little white lie Wheezy was sputtering out.
"Fine then! Dollface! Get over here and make the last step." Blackruth motioned her to come over, but she just sat in the pew reading the hymn.
"It is so interesting how these are actually real hymns..." She said and Blackruth walked to her and jerked her arm, causing her to stand up.
"You will do as I say! You are still under my command!"
Porsha scoffed, "You already broke our arrangement since the beginning. Remember? You were not to hurt any of the ones that the boys cared for. That included me and the people that they meet." and removed her arms away from him.
Blackruth let out a frustrated grunt and went to the machine nearest to him. "Then I will just do it myself!"
"You'll burn this whole city down again." Porsha replied putting the hymn back in the pew.
"What?" Blackruth asked and Porsha sighed.
"You don't remember do you?" She saw all the wisps around her now and more overflowed the cathedral. "You're still dead, just like the rest of the people you took to hell with you."
Gideon pours Dice a glass of rye whiskey, and give the brothers milk to drink. The boys were still trying to get over the fact that this whole city is a ghost town and Dice gulped down his shot. Dice looked at them, seeing the people in the pubs chatting and having conversations, they don't even know they are dead. All of these souls are going about a life that was smudged out like a cigaret being stomped on by a shoe.
"So, how come you know you're, ya know-deceased?" Dice asked Gideon and he laughed at his statement.
"Moon and Sun Flare were the ones who told me and the rest of us. I realized when I woke up still having a bullet in the chest, but my soul not ascending out of my body."
"Like when we got beat trying to get all those contracts?" Cuphead replied and Dice sighed.
"Somethin' like that, but you two could parry each other and get ya'lls souls back in your bodies. Which brings in my next question: where are everyone's bodies?" Dice asked while Gideon poured him another shot.
"Our bodies were burned to a crisp, so, we got no way of returning back if it's nothin' but ashes." Dice pushes the shot to the side as he recalled his memory from earlier.
"Blackruth burned this whole city?" He asked shaking the memory away from his mind.
"Yes, but one did survive." Gideon exclaimed giving Dice a glass of water.
"who?" Mugman asked and He looked at them all.
"Porsha Doll. The darn kid was burnt badly, but managed to get out of the city by sheer grace. It seems that she had no recollection of what her family did to her, but you all made her remember. I thank you for that." Gideon explained as the three boys looked at each other.
"Wait, why thank us?" Cuphead asked and he patted him on the head.
"Cuz, she can set all of us free. With yall's help, she can get everyone here peace and finish her family's work."
"What is her family's work?" Dice asked the ever looming question.
"Her family's work was to get the people to not believe what Blackruth was preachin' and to get everyone off this cursed place. Unfortunately, her parent were the first ones to be burned alive because of this." Gideon responded sitting down.
"So, it was to create a way for the people to see that Blackruth's a fraud? How so?" Dice replied with another question.
"Don't know about that because it wasn't ever completed, but look outside." Gideon said and the people were rushed out the door.
Dice and the boys walked outside as they looked tot he sky. It was red, everything around them was crimson in multiple hues and the brightest was to the church. Except the church was glowing in hues of blue. The people started to get disoriented and Blackruth stood up on the stage. Wheezy walked up beside him. The poor cigar looked to have taken a beating to the face and you could see his black eye matching his cuts. Mugman noticed Porsha wasn't up there with them and tugged on Dice's sleave.
"Where's Miss Porsha?" He asked and Dice immediately began scanning the crowd to find her.
"Boys, let's get closer." He said as he picked them up and placed them on his shoulders.
"Mr. Dice, why is the sky like that?" Cuphead asked while Dice was pushing through the crowd.
"I don't know, but it can't be good." Dice replied and Blackruth began to speak. Dice stopped while Mugman and Cuphead saw the cathedral behind the stage. The doors were opened and they could see a silhouette inside, but motionless.
"My fellow followers! The time has finally come! The Doll has fulfilled the prophecy!" Blackruth proclaimed and the crowd grows wild. Wheezy walked off the stage into the crowd.
"Dice!" Wheezy said motioning them to follow.
"Mr. Wheezy? What's he doing here?" Cuphead asked as Dice followed him.
"Ya need to get Porsha out this hell hole." Wheezy stated opening a door. "I can make sure no one will see ya."
"Wait, why are you doing this?" Dice asked and Wheezy sighed.
"Because... she deserves to be saved..." Wheezy said and Dice looked at him with sympathy.
"She gave you a chance, like these boys did with me?" Dice replied and Wheezy smiled.
"Yeah, now go get ya, girl. I can handle Blackruth and his posse." He said as he closed the door behind them.
"Mr. Dice!" Cuphead shouted as a large hand smashed the ground beside them.
Dice jumped up and started running. The hand retracted and them two more shot out from the darkness. Dice dodged the first one and realized he wasn't going to be able to dodge the second. So, he threw the brothers off of his shoulders and braced himself for impact. The second had wrapped around him tightly. He coughed and tried to break free from the strong grip. Cuphead and Mugman called out Dice's name, but heard him instead.
"BOYS STAY BACK!" Dice yelled and let out a yelp of pain from being squeezed so hard.
"Stop it!" Porsha shouted out as the creature holding Dice illuminated the room.
Cuphead and Mugman ran to Porsha. "You're okay!" They said and hugged her tightly.
"Yes, yes, I am fine. But, B-one and B-two release this man immediately!" She said sternly and the mechanical giant birds put Dice down.
Dice gasped for breath as he was dropped to the floor suddenly. Porsha and the boys rushed to his aid. "Dice!" Porsha said while she sat him up and checked his vitals.
"P-Porsha..." Dice noticed her hair was shorter and mangled while he touched her cheek gently.
"Dice! Thank goodness you all are alright!" Porsha says and hugged him tightly.
Dice wanted to stay in her embrace for what seemed like an eternity, but he knew he had to cut it short. He held her tightly, as the brothers smirked, and then released his embrace. Porsha turned to the cup brothers who were giggling and covering their faces.
"You two are full of laughter today. Well, do you want to help us finish this or what?" Porsha asked smiling and Dice could see the beautiful color slowly returning to her skin.
"Yes, but-" Cuphead was cut off by Mugman.
"Good gosh! Your hair!"
Porsha touched her hair and realized they noticed it was shorter. "O-oh, this was from an accident in the lab. I should have kept my hair up and not down, but now I don't have to!" She replied with a smile, but Dice could tell something else happened.
"Tell us what to do." Dice said as he took her hand.
Porsha gripped it tightly."We have these two at the center of the cathedral and then they will shut down."