Hello my lovely readers! We are back with a new chapter!
As I stated before, I will be making my own adaptation for The Cuphead Show! I have a few ideas for episodes but if you have suggestions, feel free to bring them up! Would love to hear them!
In this chapter, we are gonna take a small break from Audrey's adventure and see what her friends are up to!
Now, let's continue our story...
Chapter ten: locked horns
(Normal POV)
It was a short while after Josh was captured and the group being down the long hallways, escorted by Henchman, to meet Dice's employer. There were a few times they thought they were going in circles, considering the hallways looked alike, but surprisingly, he knew his way around.
Josh, however, wasn't taking this lightly, still trying to wrap his mind around the whole thing. Everything happened so fast; from falling through a portal, to being kidnapped and now being lead down the hallway to meet the owner of this place.
"This is crazy we're being held hostage and now we're seeing the owner of the casino!?" He asked.
"Still getting scared to know who it is…" Sasha whimpered, holding onto Steve's hand.
"I'm not looking forward for this not one bit" Steve muttered. He looked over at Lexie and noticed that she wasn't saying much. That was because she was silently praying for safety as well as the Holy Spirit to be present with them.
"Lex, you're praying? Can I join?" Steve asked.
"Sure. We'll need all the Holy Spirit we can get." Lexie replied.
Soon, the two began to pray while Josh sighed a bit of frustration.
"Ok, so we got two people praying and two freaking out. Great." He muttered.
"Honestly, we'll need as much as we can." Sasha assured him. "I just hope we get answers really soon and quick."
"All that matters is that we're together and God's with us." Lexie reminded them. "He'll get us through this."
Steve nodded and then pondered over something. "Hey you know, I remembered something; going down one of the hallways, I noticed a desk with a bunch of pamphlets that read 'The Devil's Casino'."
Josh looked at Steve really uneasy. The words "Devil" and "Casino" did not sit right with him. He had a thought, a terrible though, and asked in a nervous voice.
"Wait, do you think 'he' owns this place, do you?"
"Uh, maybe its just the title trying to scare ya you go in and lose your money and soul kinda thing." Steve suggested, shrugging his shoulders.
"Complete with full blown demons for the "Hell" effect?" Lexie asked, with an arched eyebrow and gesturing to Henchman.
"Not to mention the other demons that chased me and Lex." Sasha added.
"Still, it's a gut feeling." Steve smiled.
"That's what you said when you thought you were gonna pass that bio exam and bombed it." Josh reminded him.
"Still, went with my gut." He chuckled.
Sasha gave herself a facepalm and asked Lexie, "Do you see what I have to live with?"
"Oy vey…" Lexie groaned, rolling her eyes.
Just then, they arrived at a set of two large white doors in front with golden knobs and came to a stop.
"D'uh we're here." Henchman replied.
He then turned to the doors, knocked three times and waited.
Then, a deep sickening voice replied from the other side.
"Come in…"
Then, without missing a beat, the doors swung opened and when the humans saw who was inside, all faces went completely pale.
"Is that-!" Josh chocked out
"Oh, sweet mother of baby Jesus he's freaking real!" Steve gasped as Sasha whimpered and clung to Steve tightly.
Sure enough, who they saw inside was none other than the Devil himself, along with Dice who stood to the left of him, both having sickening grins on their faces. The room they were in was a huge office space with filing cabinets, chest drawers, and other office cabinets were on different sides of the office, a sofa was on the right side of the wall, and two office chairs were sitting in front of the desk.
The Devil was sitting in a huge black executive chair that had a gold trim on the face and armrests of the chair. There was a huge window to the left, overlooking the underworld and a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling.
The four humans shook in complete fear, not sure what was gonna happen next, when Lexie asked
"Wait, that's him? I didn't expect him to look like something outta the corner of Elm and Sesame Street…"
"Lex! Seriously?!" Josh argued.
"What? He just does!" Lexie protested, but while she tried to be brave, Josh could still hear her voice shaking. He then asked Steve,
"Uh, Steve, what you said about him owning a casino. Were you joking by any chance?"
"Uh no, I was pretty serious about that, and now I regret saying that." He sheepishly replied, his voice trembling.
Then the Devil replied "Ah! My esteemed guests! Come in, come in no need to be shy. I don't bite." He gave a wicked grin and his pointed teeth began to show. They were sharp like a shark's line of teeth. One bite and an entire arm or leg could be eaten off.
Sasha gulped. "Uh, the fangs say otherwise."
"Y-You sure you're not gonna eat us...?" Lexie asked.
The Devil gave a chuckle, one that made a shiver go up their spines.
"Now why in the world would I do that? Seems silly of me to devour guests like you four." He stated. "Now, have a seat and we'll have a friendly chat." He gestured to four chairs that were in front of his desk.
The group was hesitant. This was coming from the Devil himself and knowing him, he could end their lives in a matter of minuets. Was he gonna talk to them about the painful ways he'll kill them? Who knew.
Josh then asked Steve "Uh, you and Lex are the religious experts. What do we do?"
"I'm scared to say yes but I'm terrified to say no." Steve replied back.
Despite being scared, Lexie knew they had to get answers regarding Audrey as well as where they were. Even though they would have liked to get more from others who were more friendly, at this point, they didn't have much of a choice.
Holding Sasha and Josh's hands who were next to her, she confidently replied
"We walk in... together. It... it's the only way to survive this."
The group nodded and made their way to the chairs, their legs feeling like jello. Lexie avoided eye contact with Dice, who shot a smirk at her and the group stat down. Josh wanted to be brave but he could feel his heart pound hard and his stomach feeling heavy as a rock. Just looking at him made his skin crawl and he was scared he was gonna hurt them somehow.
"Good now we can have a good chat." The Devil sneered, looking quite satisfied with the humans in front of him.
"Can-can I ask something please?" Sasha asked in a trembling voice.
"Why of course." The Devil answered. "What's on your mind?"
"Are-are we in trouble?" she asked.
"Why, no! Not at all!" The Devil replied. "I was just hoping to have a friendly conversation with you four.
"Not sure it's 'friendly' if it had to include kidnapping us." Lexie chimed, arching an eyebrow.
"My apologizes, Ms. Luthor." The Devil stated. "I was hoping to invite you properly but my minions tend to take it very drastically they are very stubborn."
"Yeah I can tell." Steve muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Okayy...? Sooo uh...what was it you wanted to talk about so bad that 'your minions' decided to rough us up?" Lexie asked.
"I'm glad you asked. you see, humans are a rare thing in InkWell." The Devil started. "Sure there's some here and there, but seeing more than one here at the same time happens once in a blue moon."
"Sooo, you went through all that trouble, just to say how rare we are? Steve asked arching an eyebrow.
"It's more than that." The Devil continued. "When something unexpected happens in InkWell, I am not one to let the opportunity slip by and hearing that humans came from another world, it's quite fascinating."
While that was relieving to hear that he wasn't planning to kill them, they were still lost on what he could want with them.
"So what're you gonna do to us...?" Lexie asked, as she felt Sash squeeze her hand gently.
"Pretty simple actually; humans don't come here unless they have a, 'task' to complete. They have to work on something in order to return home." The Devil explained. "I encountered the last person on their journey, had high spirits and knew how to put up a fight. Which brings me to my question; does the name Audrey Susan Keller ring a bell to anyone?"
They were completely silent. They remembered that Dice knew Audrey and figured he would too, but telling him they knew her was like back stabbing her. They had no idea where she was and they were worried about what he'll do to her if he got his claws on her.
"Uhhhh..." Lexie started but looked over to the rest of the group with a face of "What do I say?"
Sasha gave Lexie a look- that was a signal- not to say anything, considering she practically told Dice that they knew here.
Josh was the one to speak up. "Uh, that depends. What do you want with her?"
"And how do you know her?" Steve asked.
"Like I said, she was someone I met on her journey. I don't know her personally, mind you, but there was something she was supposed to give me but yet didn't because she left so quickly."
"If this is about her soul, then FORGET IT!" Lexie snapped.
The Devil rolled his eyes. "Oh don't be ridiculous. I'm not after her soul. It's something else I want."
"But what could you want with her? Oh wait, because she used to be a scribbler here, you want her to change the story, huh?" Josh sternly asked.
"As much as I would like that, I can't have her change it." The Devil informed him. "Her task is complete and she now needs to pass it along to some other mortal. But regarding what I want from her, it's something that is not an easy thing to consider, mind you. What I desire from her is her acceptance to be my bride."
They group was silent with shockness. They were completely baffled and didn't know what to say. It seemed to go for a long period of time when Steve broke the silence by claiming
"Oh I get it. You did that to scare us. Ok ha ha, real funny. Whoo, got me good." He chuckled a bit, hoping the group would join him in laughing, but none of them did.
"Steve...I don't think he's kidding around…" Lexie shuddered and then turned to Josh. "Josh?"
"Steve. I'm with Lex on this one. He looks really really serious." Josh trembled.
"Oh." Steve calmly stated. There was a short pause before he quickly realized "WAIT WHAT!?"
"Eww!" Sasha shrieked.
"Oh that's so gross!" Josh argued.
Dice leaned towards his employer and informed him "Huh, they took that well."
Lexie wrapped her arms around her stomach, looking a bit green. "Oh sweet baby Jesus Christ, I'm gonna hurl..." She groaned.
"Please don't!" Sasha pleaded, rubbing her back trying to soothe her. Once Lexie calmed down, she gulped a bit and then glared at the Devil.
"DUDE! You're not even the SPECIES as she is! You can't marry her! Or else are you trying to recreate the Nephilim incident…?"
Steve groaned. "Please don't bring that up. It was hard enough to read it let alone see it."
The Devil simply gave a shrug and replied "Never saw that as an issue."
The group then gave themselves a facepalm. Clearly, he was delusional.
"Well, there goes my dignity." Sasha muttered.
"But aren't there female demons that you could be with? Not ones that are human?!" Steve asked.
"I bet they're real "hot" down there…" Lexie muttered, giggling to herself.
"Lex!" Josh groaned annoyed.
"Sorry had to say it." She argued, shrugging. Realizing they needed to get back on track, Josh protested to the Devil
"Look, you can't marry Audrey!"
The Devil arched an eyebrow.
"Oh? And why does it concern you, boy?" Josh began feeling his throat go tight. Telling him that he was engaged to Audrey was a huge risk, especially since he could kill him in a short amount of time.
"But I'm willing to risk everything to keep her safe." Josh thought. "I know it could be the dumbest thing to say, but I care for Audrey and want to show this guy who really loves her!"
Taking a deep breath, he replied out loud in a shaking voice
"Because-because, I'm her fiancé!"
There was silence from everyone. Silence from the group to see what'll happen and silence from the Devil and from Dice, who were completely shocked. They looked at the group, then at each other, then at the group again...before busting out laughing. Now, this wasn't a laugh that everyone could join in. This was a taunting and wicked laugh.
Josh felt his face grow red with anger as he asked
"What?! What's so funny?!"
"You, engaged to Dollface?" Dice cackled. "Wow, and I thought the staff was hilarious." He then continues to laugh, making the rest of the group really mad.
"Hey! CUT THAT OUT!" Lexie shouted.
"Stop that!" Steve argued.
"That isn't funny!" Sasha cried.
The Devil laughed for a bit more before he collected himself, sighing and clearing his throat. He then turned his attention towards Josh and replied.
"Apologizes. I thought what you said was quite humorous. I'm surprised she'd stoop down to someone who's...second best."
Now, Josh was ticked. He had heard from a lot of jerks saying that he shouldn't be with Audrey since she'd be better off with someone like them and not him. And he was reopening the wound.
"I am NOT second best!" Josh shouted, his voice trembling. He wanted to get up in his face, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Maybe it was nerves or maybe he was looking out for the others' safety. Who knew?
Lexie, on the other hand, did not hesitate to stand up and slam her hands on his desk, looking really, really mad.
"I said KNOCK. IT. OFF! I don't know Josh well, but so far he's been the smartest, kindest, and just coolest dude I've ever met. Audrey's LUCKY to have a man like him!"
She then turned to Josh and announced to him "You are worth it, Josh. Don't let Tweedle Sleazy and Tweedle Stupid over there tell ya any different! Okay?"
The three humans were shocked by what she said. Lex was brave enough to shout at both of them, especially to one who could end people's lives in a short amount of time. They didn't know how she did it, but she did. And they saw a new side of Lexie.
"Yikes, never seen her like this before." Sash muttered.
"Ok, note to self; don't tick her off." Steve mentioned
"Th-thanks Lex. That's really nice of you to say." Josh stated, rubbing the back of his neck.
Lexie smiled "Don't mention it. If there's one thing I can't stand is BULLIES!
She then shot a Glare at the Devil and Dice, who were a bit surprised by her reaction, especially Dice who shot a smirk at her.
"Huh, didn't see this side of you before. I guess I better step up my A game if I really wanna impress ya."
"I didn't know you had sights for Ms. Luthor." The Devil replied to the manager. "I'll have to see if I can arrange something for you both."
"Aww thank you boss you're too kind." Dice beamed pridefully.
"Uh HELLO?! I'm in the room!" Lexie announced very annoyed. "Do I get a say in this?!"
"Hmm let me think. Nope!" Dice laughed.
"Dude, she's not interested! Back off!" Steve argued.
"Yeah! Show some respect!" Josh added.
Lexie rubbed her head in annoyance as she claimed to the two baddies. "My gosh, y'all are creeps! BOTH of you!"
The Devil chuckled. "Very amusing, Ms. Luthor. I'm surprised that even the baby of the family can take charge."
Lexie's face turned red, like in the cartoons where someone is ticked off and they have had it. Josh saw that on her face.
The Devil was clearly stepping over the line on this one.
"Oh no, you did NOT just call her that!"
"Oh you better watch your lying mouth, you pathetic excuse of a MUPPET!" Lexie growled, rolling up her sleeves. Sash began to quickly realize that Lexie was about to suckerpunch that guy.
Thinking fast, she quickly hopped up from her seat and held Lexie back.
"Lex! Lex! Take a chill! I know you're angry and you have every right to, but now's not the good time to pick a fight even with him." Sash argued, trying to calm her down.
"Yeah we need to be smart about this." Steve added.
Oh yeah?!" Lexie snapped. Turning to the Devil, she shouted. "Call me "baby" again! I dare ya!"
The Devil, who was quite amused by her anger, decided to taunt her more.
"Oh how cute, little Lexie is moving from the baby park to playing with the big kids." Lexie growled and was ready to lunge at him, if it wasn't for Sasha who held her back.
"Lex! Calm down! Please, you know he enjoys this." Sash reminded her.
"Yeah fight that temptation. Steve added. Now, it was Dice's turn to chuckle and to tick off Lexie.
'My my such spirit. I'm starting to like you more and more…" He gave her a very seductive grin, which made Steve mad.
"Try anything and I'll let Sasha suckerpunch you again!"
"Awww thanks hun I'll be happy to do so." Sash beamed.
"Please, someone do so before I do it myself!" Lexie shouted. Sash, snapping back to her attention, proceeded to calm Lexie down.
"Lex! Lexie! Take a breather. The more mad you are, the more he leads you to temptation." Sash reminded her. "Don't let anger blind you."
After taking a second, Lexie eventually calmed down, and pulled back. The three sat back down while Sasha rubbed Lex's back. Josh shook off the last debate and claimed
"Ok we're getting off topic. I am not gonna just sit her and let you try and take my fiancée from me because you think you're all that, which you're not by the way!"
"Oh and I suppose you can take me on?" The Devil asked Josh annoyed. "Please, I could end your life in five seconds."
Now Josh was starting to get angry. He didn't like the fact he's taunting him about Audrey and now is threatening to kill him. He rolled his eyes.
"Please I managed to take down a big fella in wrestling when I was a freshman. You are no different." He started to roll up his sleeves, stand up and was about to tackle the guy, but Lexie interfered.
"Josh..don't. I wanna punch this guy too, but he's the Devil, not some WWE fighter."
"I don't care he's messing with my girl and he needs to-" Josh started but Steve interrupted.
"Josh, dude, remember what coach told ya; you get overheated, you can't play. You need to take a breather and chill. You know Audie is head over heels for you. Take a deep breath and calm down."
"Plus there isn't much he can offer her more than you. At least you're not condemned to die because you were dumb enough to play "Adam and Eve chess" with the God that made you." Lexie added.
Josh glared at the Devil, still wanting to beat him up and make sure he teaches him a lesson if he messes with Audrey...but instead, he took take a breath and stopped. The last thing he wanted was for things to go down south real fast and he wanted to make sure Audrey was safe. How they were going to do that was still a mystery.
He took another breath before sitting down and felt Lexie rub his back.
"That Elmo crackhead's got nothin on you, Josh. Don't forget it." She muttered. Josh nodded, still feeling a bit uneasy but steady knowing he's got people to look out for him.
The Devil studied that carefully before responding.
"Interesting I find it fascinating that even you out of all people need your friends to back you up. Though I should remind each of you that I am not one to be messed with. You don't want see me angry, do you?" He shot the group a glare which made the group nervous again. As much as he was a real jerk and they wanted to teach him a lesson, they had to be smart about this, considering he has powers and could kill someone by just looking at a guy.
"Ok guys, think we need to simmer down a bit." Sash trembled as she felt Lex hug her.
"That's better. Now, once I get my hands on my bride, she'll have no chance of escaping me." The Devil sneered. "I am not one to back down from a challenge.
"Look i don't know what kind of creepy fantasy you have, but unfortunately for you...Audrey isn't here. In InkWell I mean." Sasha quickly claimed confidently stated. The rest of her friends, who quickly caught onto that, made additional comments too.
"Yeah, she's busy planning her own wedding. NOT to you!" Lexie reminded him
"Oof, sorry pal ya just missed her." Josh shrugged.
"But hey I'll give you an A for effort!" Steve smiled.
The Devil pondered it over for a second before replying "Hmmm. yes that would be true well I guess there's no point but to… show you fools this!" He then pulled out a folded note and showed the group the note that Audrey had written the previous day.
Sure enough, that was her handwriting. The group groaned in frustration.
"Ah fudge…" Lexie muttered.
"Dang it! Josh: dang it so close." Sash groaned.
"Crud." Steve gave himself a face palm.
"Oh trust me when word gets out, I have eyes and ears everywhere." The Devil taunted. "Now, I will be sending word to my bride to be. If she wants her friends alive and well, she'll come to me. Guards!
Just then, the door opened and the guards came in, saluting to their master.
"Take the four back to their holding cell and don't let them try anything funny!" He ordered. They nodded and proceeded to grab the humans and drag them out of his office.
"You're not getting away with this, JERK!" Lexie screamed, as she struggled against their grip.
"Correction, Ms. Luthor. I just got away with it!" The Devil cackled.
"This isn't over! Audrey will NEVER marry a freak like you!" Josh shouted.
"We'll see about that." The Devil sneered.
As the group was being led away, the Devil stopped laughing as he saw a slight glow coming from Lexie's body. At first, he thought it was the light playing tricks on his eyes, but as he looked closer, he noticed she was indeed glowing. Somehow.
"Huh interesting." The Devil claimed.
"You saw that too?" Dice asked.
"Yes most interesting indeed. Perhaps I should keep a close eye on her." The Devil then stood up and replied to his manager "Now Dice if you'd be so kind to accompany me with cake taste testing for my wedding."
"Yessir!" Dice exclaimed, as he followed his employer out of the office.
Meanwhile, as the group was being lead down back to their cells, Steve looked over at Lexie and noticed a strange glow illuminate around Lexie.
"Whoa Lex, you're glowing." He claimed.
"Huh? Whaddya mean?" Lexie asked.
"I mean, a light is illuminating from you... wait its gone?" Steve asked. Now Lexie was a bit confused as she looked around herself and didn't see anything.
"Maybe it's the shock of encountering the Devil himself...?" Lexie suggested.
"I dunno. Could be." Steve shrugged as the group came to a halt. The guards opened the cell door once more and shoved everyone in. Without another comment,
SLAM!
The door shut and locked in place, leaving the group trapped again.
"JEEZ! Again with the slamming?! RUDE!" Lexie called out sitting on the cot. While everyone tried to recover from that meeting, Josh rolled his eyes
"Well, that went well."
"I can't believe this! Not only does he know Audie, but he wants to marry her!" Sash exclaimed.
"That is so wrong on so many levels!" Steve added.
"We can't let that happen guys." Lexie announced as she stood up and began to pace a bit.
"But how are we suppose to get out? I mean even if we did we have no clue where Audrey is." Steve commented. "I looked around where I landed and didn't see her."
"Same with me and Lex." Sasha added.
"Same with me." Josh chimed in. He then paused for a second before asking "Question; how big is Inkwell anyway?"
"Honestly, I don't know." Steve shrugged and Lexie shrugged as well. Josh took a sigh. It wasn't the answer he was looking for, but at least everyone was on the same page as him, despite not knowing much about where they were.
"Well, as long as doesn't know where she is exactly, I think we'll be ok. For the moment." Josh mentioned, trying to keep everyone in good spirits.
"But we need to get to her before he does..." Lexie mentioned.
Josh nodded and gripped the bars of the cell door.
"I just hope wherever you are, Audie, you stay far away from this place as possible." Josh thought.
He knew the Devil was cunning, and was willing to go to extreme measures to find her, and bring her back.
They needed a plan.
Now.
Well, that was INTENSE! The good news is the group is getting a better idea on Audrey's first journey in Inkwell, and now need a plan to warn her about the Devil wanting to marry her!
But what about the light that illuminated from Lexie? Guess you'll have to wait and see!
As always, thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review, but let's avoid the flames please :D