Elder Kettle and the boys settled in Dice's apartment. Dice offered the boys to work with him at the shop while Porsha did the same. The Cup brothers chose to help with the library, since it would be more beneficial, as they could get to it easier. Porsha would take them every morning and they would all meet for meals afterword. Dice would clean the dishes as Porsha helped the boys with their homework. Elder Kettle was happy that he could finally be at ease, knowing that the boys were safe here.
"Alright!" Porsha said to Mugman in excitement. "You are done with your homework and now can go and play."
"Yes! C'mon Cups!" Mugman exclaimed as he rushed to his puzzle.
"Cuphead?" Porsha noticed he had only done one problem on the math portion. "Do you need help?"
"N-no, maybe?" Cuphead says as he scratched his head while he pointed to the problem.
"0 = 4x + 52." Porsha said allowed and the numbers caught dice's attention
"That would equal thirteen." Dice recalled walking over to them.
"How so?" Porsha asked him, raising one eyebrow.
"You minus the 52. Get it over to the left-hand side, like this. Then, in order to solve for X, you divide the 52 and four. After that, you get X = 13." Dice explained to Cuphead as he wrote out everything. "It's like cards."
"Cards?" Cuphead questioned his statement.
"Yes, like a deck of cards." He pulled out his deck from his pocket. "Don't shoot me now. I am explaining with visuals." He whipped the cards in the air and put them up in the order of the problem. Dice explained again to Cuphead and then put the cards back in his pocket when he finished.
"Wow, I didn't know you needed math for gambling and taking people's money." Cuphead replied as he understood the problem.
"Cuphead, that's not nice!" Mugman scolded his sibling and Dice laughed.
"No-no, he has every right to run his mouth. Especially when it's true." He sighed, realizing where he is now. "There are some things that need to be said. Even if they are bad, they need to be spoken sometimes if it hurts others. The truth can be more beneficial than creating a mountain of lies."
"What was it like at the casino, anyway?" Cuphead asked him and Mugman sighed.
"Chaotic probably. He was running around when we stumbled in it."
"Mugs is right on that part." Dice started to explain to them what it was like. "It may seem strange, but the Devil himself took me in as a kid. I have grown up in that place ever since and soon became the manager. With managing such a big establishment, I was in charge of payroll, schedules, keeping stock, entertainment, and many other things. I hired and fired many people who were hard and not so good workers. The casino was a big thing to manage at the time, but I had others to help me along. Along with those people gambling and drinking their lives away they had a choice to say no when the Devil asked for a wager. The people had a say when we told 'em it was not a wise choice or too much to handle for them...but people do what they want and it took two brothers to change that."
"Why did you do it?" Mugman asked him.
"It was the only place I could call home. I didn't have any kin after I lost my parents and sibling, so, the casino was my home. I was fed, accounted, and sheltered. That was enough for a young boy like me to feel safe, so I stayed." Dice answered as Porsha chimed in.
"I don't mean to interrupt, but could one of you boys turn that radio up?"
"Sure." Dice turned the dial of the radio beside him.
"This is an emergency broadcast. Please seek shelter immediately. WHISKEY. OSCAR. LIMA. FOXTROT... PAPA. ALPHA. CHARLIE. KILO... INDIA. SIERRA...BRAVO. ALPHA. CHARLIE KILO..." The radio repeated the broadcast over and over again.
"That's the-" Porsha got out her notebook, wrote down the words, took the first letters from each one, and realized it was the NATO alphabet. "What does 'wolf pack is back' mean?"
Elder Kettle coughed, hearing those two words, and the brothers looked at him. Dice was shocked, but not too much, as he realized the only reason the town was safe was due to the devil's protection. With all the contracts gone then that mafia could roam free on this island.
"Cuphead. Mugman. You heard of the rumors right?" Dice asked the boys and the two brothers nodded in agreement.
"The isle was taken over by the Wolfpack, but someone made a deal with the devil to get 'em out." Cuphead answered.
"That's right, but do you know who made that deal?" Dice asked and Mugman answered this time.
"Lady chalice was what I heard."
"No, it was Foxtrot..." Dice replied and Porsha looked shocked.
"What? Him, but why?" She was skeptical, but wanted to know the details.
"They killed his whole family, friends, and everything else he loved, so, he wanted to return the favor. He came to the casino and I didn't need to escort him to the demon himself. In fact, he walked straight up to the man and asked to make a deal. The Devil agreed and the Wolfpack was gone the very next day...or at least I thought."
"So, with us burning those contracts then they are back." Mugman stated and Dice nodded.
"With actions comes positive and negative consequences. Even I know that much, but you boys did somethin' good for all of us." Dice stood up and straightened out his shirt.
"What was that?" Cuphead asked, awaiting a sure answer.
"You made all of us wake up and smell the roses or finally see the light for us."
"Dice, where are you going?" Porsha noticed he put his other deck of cards in his coat pocket. Those were two decks, what was he planning, and why was he going to? She grabbed his tie and tapped his shoulder. "Love?"
Dice turned around, seeing her worried expression, and noticed the tie in her hand. "They might not know that I have cut ties with the devil. I drove 'em away once before and can probably do it again."
"But didn't you almost lose your whole soul!?" Porsha stated, causing Dice to stop walking away.
He sighed bitterly, "I only did that because the person who I thought loved me stabbed me in the back afterward..." and saw her put the tie around his neck.
Porsha tied it and straightened out his shoulders. "KD, please be safe. Notify me if anything happens to you."
"I will PD. Don't you worry." Dice smiled faintly as he kissed her forehead.
The door shut behind him. Porsha felt like something was off. He wasn't telling her the full story and it made her mind wander. What was he afraid of telling her and why? She knew he needed time, after all, Dice is going through things as well. Porsha sighed and close the locked the door.
Please be safe Those words echoed through Dice's mind as he exited the apartment building. He knew how to stop it before, but his magic was gone now because mainly the Devil gave him. He could ask Porkrind and speak of the devil he was outside the shop.
"Porker?" Dice questioned why he would be out after the emergency signal went off.
"Ah, just the guy I needed ta see!" Porkrind said walking to him. "Take these." He handed Dice some potions he had never seen before.
"Wait, what!?" Dice looked perplexed as to why he would give him these.
"Use 'em to get those wolves outta here... also, don't ya worry, it ain't comin' out of yer paycheck." Porkrind scoffed as he left Dice alone in the streets.
"Alright then..." Dice took in a deep breath and then popped the lid off the lid off of the bottle. He drank the first one, a bit bitter tasting, and looked at the second one. He chuckled and realized it was soda. "You ain't right old man." Dice swigged some of the beverage down to drown out the taste while he heard wolves howling around him.
"Well, look who it is! Mister King Dice? The gamest in the land. Who never plays nice!" The wolves spoke separately as if connected as a whole entity that was trying to use different voices.
"Long time no see." Dice stated, finishing his drink.
"We heard from a little birdy that the contracts were burned." One snarled as it spoke.
"So, we came back to get what was taken from us." Another grinned menacingly.
"Too bad because there is nothin' left for ya here!" Dice said as he threw the can away in a recycling bin.
One of the wolves scurried and stood on his hind legs in front of Dice. "Our boss wants something here and it just arrived."
"Boss? You got a new one after the number I pulled on him?" Dice smirked, knowing this would tick some of the old timers off.
"King Dicey, why I am right here." Foxtrot said walking out of the middle part of the wolves.
Dice stood there, frozen in shock, because why would he team up with the wolves when they killed his family. "..." He couldn't say a word, more or less find the letters in his mind to create them. Foxtrot broke the silence.
"Honey, don't look at me like that. After all, I learned all your tricks from when we were hot and heavy."
"We were never that!" Dice retaliated back, with fire in his tone. "You did nothing, but use me! I bet you are using them to, just to get what you want!"
"Ooh! Such fire in that voice of yours! I always did like that about you." Foxtrot laughed and fixed his hair. "Now then, give me her and these people won't get hurt."
"Her? There is a lot of women here, so, you need to be more specific." Dice said as the animal looked at him irritated.
"Your Doll. Ya, know, the one you haven't shattered yet because of your size?"
"Porsha? Why would you want her?" Dice asked him and saw his response.
"For this." Foxtrot twirled around a pendant in his hand as on the wolves put it around the collar. "Someone said she knew about these things."
"It's just a piece of jewelry. Nothing more, nothing less." Porsha said walking up beside Dice.
"P-Porsha!?" Dice turned around to see her and She winked at him.
"Now leave." Porsha stated as Foxtrot laughed.
"You think we will just leave? You really are a doll. Just like in the stories with that city of yours." His words made Porsha look surprised and Foxtrot continued. "Sugar, you know why we are here for you, so, just come with us."
"No." Porsha replied crossing her arms.
"Why are you dolls so hard headed. It is the opposite of the composition of your fragile body, but what can you do." Foxtrot ranted about her more than pointed in their direction. "Get her!"
The wolves dashed towards Porsha. Dice shielded her as he flung the deck of cards out from his coat pockets. The cards turned into bouncers with the cards for heads and held the wolves back. Porsha was surprised by the bouncers around her then noticed the cards disperse. Dice held four spades in each of her hands and threw them at Foxtrot. He missed, but knew he would and turned around and the Ace of spades pinned the animal down. Porsha sighed and took out a whistle. She held it up in the air and the wolves stopped moving.
"Get out of this town." Dice stated again to them and Turned to Foxtrot. "This is the last warning-PD, why do you have a whistle?"
"Dog whistle. Hurts their little ears and also foxes too." She replied, seeing the wolves back down.
"Give me that! it doesn't belong to you!" Foxtrot screeched, trying to grab it.
"No, because it isn't yours." She handed it to Dice. "The Devil said for me to give you this."
Dice blinked twice then looked at her. "O...okay?"
"I won't leave!" Foxtrot repeated and Dice sighed.
"Why not? You are not getting her, so just go and pester someone else!" Dice was getting irritated at his stubbornness.
"She is a doll! We need her because she is a doll!" The wolves repeat and they are all in different tones.
Dice looked back at Porsha and saw that she was closer to his side. "I am not a Doll. I am a person, just like the rest of you."
"That's not what your father said to Blackruth." Foxtrot replied and Porsha froze.
"...my father..." Porsha scarcely sputtered out those words and Dice noticed her voice trembling.
Dice took her hand, causing her mind to ease a bit, and Glared at Foxtrot. "Leave." His Ace of spades threw him out of the Isle and his other cards pushed the wolves out as well. He sighed and turned to Porsha.
"Did you know about this?" Porsha asked him, causing him to pause for a moment.
"In all honesty, no. I am just now hearing about this from him." He responded as Porsha felt her knees giving way. "H-hey! Easy now!" Dice caught her in mid-fall and she gripped onto his arms tightly.
"S-sorry, I..." She heard a cracking noise and looked down.
"C'mere..." Dice picked her up, bridal style, and she wrapped her arms around covered her face with his open coat as his ace of hearts came back. He saluted Dice and he nodded, dismissing the card to go and blockade the isle. "Let's get you home."
~~~(Author's Note)~~~
Welp, she is an actual porcelain doll and the next chapter may explain why she is not regenerating anymore or maybe the next. Keep being amazing all you beautiful people and thanks for reading!