Hello my lovely readers! We are back with a new chapter!

Before we begin, I got a few more questions from the reviews! Let's take a look!

Does Audrey have an old childhood toy she cherishes or an old plushie she used or often sleeps with whenever she needs comfort or have bad dreams?

She does! She still has a stuffed animal which is an orange kitten which she calls Soft Paws. She got it as a birthday gift when she turned 4 and loves to keep it near her in when she's scared at night.

Is Audrey a fan of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir? If so, if she were in the Miraculous world, what would be her Miraculous, Kwami, powers, animal motif, weapon and hero name be?

I was really excited to get this question and I thought about it for a while. First, yes she has seen the show. Her roommate and her used to watch it on the weekends. If she were in the Miraculous world, her Miraculous would be a beaded bracelet that has pink and blue beads as well as a sand dollar charm. Her Kwami would be a dolphin named Sirenna. Her powers include swimming fast, and creating bubbles to make pathways, hold and move objects, act as a protection barrier, and distracting goons. Her weapon would be a fighting spear. Her hero name would be Maren, which means "Star of the sea". Also, the way she activate her powers, she calls out "Sirenna, high tide!"

Love these questions! They're so fun!

Also, I want to state to Guest who asked "Could the plot get any thicker?" I wanted to extend my apologies I was trying to be playful saying "oh you'll have to find out" but if you didn't get that at first, I'm very sorry. I didn't want to hurt anyone or say anything mean.

With that being said, let's continue our story...

Chapter Fourteen: Battle in the bakery

(AUDREY'S POV)

Seeing Josh and the others made my heart soar. I was worried sick about them and didn't know what had happened to them or where they ended up. While I was thrilled to see them ok and unharmed, the mention of them meeting the Devil was not something to gloss over.

I know the guy tried to marry me the last time I was here, and I honestly thought he would have given up after I left. I guess I should have remembered that the Devil was very stubborn and wouldn't give up on me like that.

The good news was he didn't know where I was exactly, so I guess I was in the clear for now. Though I have to say I was really mad when I heard that Dice came on to Lex. I know he liked to flirt with me, not to mention bother me on my journey, but that was low, even for him!

But considering they're back in the casino, I shouldn't worry too much.

Once introductions, as well as me and Josh making up for our fight we had, where out of the way, we headed inside the bakery. Only as soon as I, and the cups entered, the door slammed shut, leaving the others outside. I tried to open it, but it was locked shut.

"Ugh! It won't budge!" I shouted, pulling and tugging at the door.

I saw that Lexie tried to body slam into the door, but no luck. "Nope. That ain't working." She panted.

She then called in, asking me "What should we do, Audie?"

There was a pause before I replied "I think it's best to wait outside. I don't have anything to get the door open. I'll get it open once we're finished making the tart."

"Ok just...be careful please?" Josh called.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." I replied.

Just then I heard Cuphead call for me. "Yo, Audie! Mugsy, Chalice and I found something!"

I nodded and then replied to the group "I'll be back in a moment. I think we found something."

With that being said, I scurried over and saw a few things; one, that Chef Saltbaker was not behind the dessert display, and two, there was an opened hatch on the floor, leading down to the basement or something.

"Whoa, this is new." Mugsy replied. "This wasn't here before when we first came inside."

"What do you think's down there?" I asked. My first thought was probably a storage area or something. I mean, what other reason would one have a basement in a bakery? Keeping deep dark secrets in there?

Joking, totally joking.

"I dunno, but we should check it out." Cuphead brought up. "Chalice went down to check but she hasn't come back up yet."

"Could be a lot of stuff down there, but it wouldn't hurt to look." I agreed.

We then saw a stairwell spiraling down, and after we walked down, we found ourselves in a cellar of some sort. It reminded me of one of those dungoes you see in medieval movies; brick walls, torches light up, stone pillars, stone floors, and there were even skull heads between the columns, one wearing a chef hat.

"Ok, either he is secretly a murderer who killed off other chefs, or this was here before he opened shop." Mugman shuddered as we walked down the pathway.

"Why do you think this is all here?" I asked. "Seems a bit odd for a bakery like this to have a secret underground passage of sorts."

"Yeah, but when Elder Kettle would read mysteries to us, sometimes a guy would have a secret basement because they're hiding something." Cuphead recalled. "You think Saltbaker is hiding something?"

Just then, we heard a faint voice, probably female, that was calling for help. It wasn't far, sounding like it was coming from a room nearby.

"If he is, I think we're about to find out." I pointed out, noticing someone's shadow in the room nearby. The shadow looked like he was cackling, seeing his pointed teeth and raised arms, holding a knife in his hands.

I got a bit nervous for a few reasons. Those pointed teeth brought back memories, regarding a certain demon who I wish to not see ever again. That, and this reminds me a lot of the scary movies Josh and I watched, where the guy would head down in the creepy basement. At night of all times. I had to bury my head in his shoulder before the killer could attack.

We headed into the room and were shocked. It looked like a generator room, with a power box next to it, and on the table, there were some knives, a few lying flat and one was upward, stuck in the cutting board.

We looked and sure enough, Saltbaker was in there. While it was great to finally meet him, something was off. He wasn't very friendly looking as the boys described him. Instead, he had a terrible grin on his face and his eyes were yellow and menacing.

Again, reminds me a lot of you-know-who.

"Chef Saltbaker?" Mugman asked. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, you look a bit…different." Cuphead added.

"Welcome back, you meddlesome brats!" He announced, his voice sounding vile and a bit cold. "I didn't think you'd be back so soon…"

"Where's Chalice?" I asked, my voice shaking a bit. "She came here to check-"

Before I could finish, he swiftly turned, facing us, and struck the knife into the cutting board, making me jump a bit. Now, I began to believe we were in a horror movie, only this time, I couldn't skip ahead.

"No matter, it's too late to stop me now." He declared. "The Wondertart will be my finest work yet!"

"What do you mean by that?" Cuphead asked. "I thought you were gonna help us make the Wondertart to help Chalice."

"Oh, please, you actually thought I was wanting to help?" Saltbaker chuckled. Honestly, children will believe anything."

There was a pause before he recalled "It's a shame though, I never told you about the most important secret ingredient…"

"Uh, is it love?" Cuphead asked. I rolled my eyes. Of course he'd be the one to ask him that. And to be honest, I was kinda thinking the same thing.

But in all seriousness, what was the secret ingredient?

Just then he moved to the side and showed us what he was hiding. Our faces turned pale; it was Chalice, trapped inside a jar. The jar had a rubber curled pipe connected to the top, while the jar itself was on a table, surrounded by other containers and ingredients. She was screaming for help, but it was very faint, even though we weren't that far from her.

"The secret ingredient is...a living soul! While you suckers were out doing my bidding, I nabbed your little friend here." Saltbaker explained. "When her soul is baked in the Wondertart, the cosmic powers of the Astral plane will be mine!"

"Cuphead! Mugman! Audrey! You gotta help me!" Chalice screamed from the jar.

"No! You can't do that!" I shouted at Saltbaker. "If you do that, Chalice will be gone forever!"

"We won't let you hurt our friend to get what you want!" Cuphead argued, as he and Mugsy got their finger pistols ready.

Then, Saltbaker leaned close to us, making us jump back, as he grinned diabolically. Man, I hated that type of grin. Makes me nervous.

"But in addition to that soul, there's one more special ingredient I need for the tart." He claimed.

"What else do you need?" I asked, reaching in my bag to get my pen and notebook ready.

"Oh, that's simple; you!"

Then without missing a beat, he grabbed me and shoved me inside the glass jar with Chalice. I quickly got up, and pounded the glass. It seems that the glass was one to let people in, but not out.

Problem was, now I was in more trouble than I could imagine.

"Hey! Let her out!" Cuphead shouted. "What do you want with her?!"

"I have heard about this young one running around inkwell with the magic pen, and I want that!" he claimed. "Once I drain the Scribbler power from her, I will have the ability to rewrite history and gain power to write my own story!"

"No! You can't!" Mugman cried. "We won't let you!"

Saltbaker gave a nasty laugh before claiming

"But first, I'll take those ingredients…and then, I'll use your heads as serving dishes!"

"Cuphead! Mugman!" I called out. "Be careful!"

"You got it, Audie!" Cuphead called back. Turning to his brother, he claimed "Come on, bro. Let's bash this phony baker!"

"It's on!" Mugman claimed.

The boys then hopped on the table, and to their surprise, they shrank down to size! I'm not sure if it's magic or what, but they were small as mice, compared to the tom cat size of a chef.

As the two gave a fist bump, Chef Saltbaker exercised his hands by pulling his ascot and pushed away some Icy Sugar Cubes, which I suppose were there as a pre-ready ingredient.

I had a feeling there was a battle starting soon. Once I pulled out my book, it began to glow. Looks like it wants to record the battle in the bakery.

As I opened it up, the battle started.

Chef Saltbaker has four different attacks based on the ingredients we collected throughout the journey.

He first pulled out a gigantic version of the Icy Sugar Cubes with a sailor hat with the word "SUGAR" on it, pushed the hat away and hitted it with a hammer and a stake to break it into smaller pieces, levitating some with his magic and blowing them away. As the boys used their abilities, there were five pieces that traveled from the side where the sugar cubes were blown, attempting to hit the boys.

Chef Saltbaker then brings and sliced up a group of the Desert Limes, then pushes the slices away. Four slices then appeared on the side where they were pushed off, then boomeranged back.

Chef Saltbaker conjured a roller and flattened the Distillery Dough that came in. He used some cookie cutters to cut out some animal-shaped cookies and used his magic to bring them to life. Six cookies bounced from the side, but thankfully they could be defeated.

Finally, a basket of Gnome Berries ran across near the villainous chef. But narrowly avoided escape as Saltbaker squished it with all his might and caused all the berries inside it to fly out of him, with the basket running away crying. 12 berries then rained down, trying to hit the boys. Ok, that was just mean, stealing those berries like that! So rude!

There was a flame that appeared above that would occasionally jump down and aimed at the boys, trying to scorch them.

To me, everything but the kitchen sink was after them!

As they battled on, I was shocked and mad. All of our hard work; the battles, the tasks, the near-death experiences, the trials, everything, all for nothing! I bet the Cups were furious about this betrayal but as I looked over at Chalice, I can tell she was angry, scared and hurt.

"Hey, you ok?" I asked.

"No. I feel, terrible." she muttered. "I trusted him with providing the wondertart and now he backstabbed me. I-I feel like such an idiot…"

"Chalice, no! That's not true! You're not an idiot." I argued. "We had no idea he was going to pull this stunt. He's the villain, not you."

"I know, but, I asked so much of you and the boys." she recalled. "Going across this Isle trying to find the ingredients and battling people for them. I should have known it was all a tick…"

"Chalice, like I said, it was something unexpected. Look, if it was the Devil, then this would be something different." I mentioned. "But none of this is your fault."

"You-you sure?" she asked, looking at me with sad eyes.

"Positive! You're a great person, and him using you was low." I commented. "Besides, I know the boys will help us. They've fought worse."

She nodded and gave me a hug. I wasn't going to let someone feel terrible for something someone else did.

Believe me, I know the feeling.

After a while, Saltbaker slammed his hands on the table in frustration and placed a mushroom inside of his head. That caused him to grow as the crazed chef scoops up the boys with his hands, commencing the next part of the battle.

"Ok, so he got a Super Mushroom like Mario did." I groaned. "Terrific."

After the crazed chef grew and captured the two cups in the palm of his hand, Chef Saltbaker's body was slightly cracked, as I noticed, and he laughed wickedly.

This time, he summoned four pepper shakers on the corners of his palm by snapping his fingers. The Pepper Shakers sneezed peppercorn out of their caps. Ironic isn't it? Pepper shakers sneezing. I know I mentioned that when I saw Ollie front the Root Pack cry, but still. Thankfully, they could be defeated, causing them to be launched at the giant chef to damage him

During that time, he occasionally pulled out some Pineapple Mint leaves with his free hand, threw them up and sprinkled them on the boys, as well as the flame from before.

After enough damage was done to Saltbaker, his glass body broke as he shrieked in agony, his eyes rolled into his body, which was pretty horrifying if you ask me, releasing a massive amount of salt in a white flash.

Sheesh, I know Steve told me to be "Salt and Light" but this is too salty!

After the smoke and salt was clear from the air, we saw that Saltbaker was completely different.

He was reduced to the salt mass in his old body which sat motionless in the background. The chef clapped his hands together to create two dancing salt clones who bounced along the area while a saw blade slided along the floor to 'accompany' them.

"Seriously?! Where did the saw blades come from?!" Cuphead asked, annoyed, throwing up his hands in frustration.

"You're guess is as good as mine!" Mugman cried. "I don't like those saw blades!"

Just then, Saltbaker rose back up from the pile of salt in the background, as his old body split in half to reveal his salty mass. After laughing maniacally, he turned into a pair of salt tornadoes with multiple faces that slowly closed in, and glass platforms fell from the top to the bottom.

The boys had to hop from pillar to pillar in order to keep up. Satlbaker's heart then appeared and bounced throughout the area in between the pillars. The boys had to shoot his heart to damage him, but the heart could be parried when it turned pink.

After he is defeated, the salt tornadoes start to break apart and he yelled in pain as his heart stretched about.

That was it.

The battle was over.

Just then the tornados stopped, and the pillars ceased. But as we looked, we couldn't find the boys.

"Oh no." I muttered. I then called out. "Cuphead?! Mugman?! You two ok?!"

There wasn't an immediate response, but about a moment later, I saw a pile of salt move…and the boys popped out, completely unharmed, and back to their normal height.

Chalice and I took a sigh of relief. Ok, they really need to stop scaring me like that. I think I get more heart attacks from that than I did from exams.

I swore Sasha nearly did CPR on me every week when I had a test.

They shook the dust off themselves, and ran towards Chalice and I, who were still trapped inside the glass jar.

"Ms. Chalice! Audrey!" Mugman cried, with a worried look on his face.

Just then, the jar began to shake a bit, and then shattered. Thankfully, we were unharmed and in perfect condition. I slipped out and hugged them, while I noticed in the background that Saltbalker was back to his original form, sobbing.

"Guess that's what happens when you lose to the best." I thought.

"Thank goodness you're ok!" Mugman beamed as Chalice rejoiced. But, it was short lived as she looked down in sadness.

"That dastardly Saltbaker!" She groaned. "He had us hoodwinked the whole time!"

"Look, Chalice, it's not your-" Before Cuphead could finish, suddenly, we all felt a violent shake from the place and pieces of the building began to fall off. Something told me that the bakery could handle many things, but a battle is not one of them.

"Oh no! That's not good!" I cried.

"Gadzooks! This place is coming down!" Chalice gasped. "Let's get outta here!"

"Don't tell me twice!" The brothers simultaneously replied. We frantically ran out of the area and saw an opening that led back to the first floor of the bakery. We got back up and, thankfully, the door was unlocked and we ran out with great speed.

"Eeeeeeeeeekkkkkk!" The four of us screamed, as we ran out, followed by Saltbaker crying out "Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

We ran to the fountain, barely making it, panting, as we saw the entire building come crashing down to the ground. The only thing remaining of the bakery was the roof, as it sat in a pile of dust.

"No! My bakery!" Satlbaker wailed, as he collapsed and hung his head in defeat.

Once we caught our breath, Cuphead grunted "Hmph. Well, it serves him right for duping us!"

"Well, the good news is we're alright." I sighed, gazing at the destroyed building. "Can't say the same for the bakery..."

"Yeah, but with the bakery destroyed, you're never gonna get that Wondertart, Chalice." Cuphead sadly stated. "Now we have no way to get you back to normal."

"We're sorry, Chalice. We really are." Mugman sighed. "We wanted to help, but it ended up in a disaster."

"It's ok…if some poor soul has to be sacrificed for me to live again, it just ain't worth it." Chalice claimed.

Then in a more confident voice she announced "But mark my words, fellas! I'm never gonna stop searching! And in the meantime, if you ever find yourselves in a scrape, I'm just one cookie bite away!"

She then pulled the three of them in a group hug as she giggled "Besides, who needs a Wondertart when they can have three new best pals instead!"

"Awww, Chalice…." The three of us beamed. As we gave a group hug, a thought dawned on me.

"Oh shoot! Speaking of pals, I wonder where my friends are." I sheepishly replied. "I hope they saw the building come down and ran for cover."

I looked around the area, but didn't see them. Did they go off for a walk or something? I mean, granted they could have gone exploring the Isle, considering the door was locked shut, but where could they have gone?

I continued to scan the area, when suddenly, I heard Mugman cry out "Audrey, look out!"

I looked, jumped and screamed. Standing there was a small imp. Jeez, that little guy scared me. Wait, what's an imp doing here? I thought they'd be at the casino or something.

Both boys had their finger guns pointed at him, as he raised his hands in defense.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Easy! I'm not here to hurt anyone." He claimed.

"Then, what are you doing here?" Cuphead sternly asked.

"I was told to give the pretty girl this note, and be on my way." He claimed, holding a folded note in his hand.

He then handed it to me, which I reluctantly took. He then teleported away, leaving us very confused.

"Ok, what just happened?" Chalice asked.

"It's not like for imps to be wandering about." Mugman pointed out. "Something's up."

I looked at the note and unfolded it, wondering what the message could be. Then after reading it over, my face turned pale.

"Oh no…" I trembled.

"What's wrong?" Cuphead asked, concerned.

"It-its from Dice. H-he has them." I replied, my hands shaking.

"Oh no!" Mugman gasped.

"Gadzooks! We gotta go after 'em!" Chalice declared.

"No, just me. I-I need to go alone." I replied, feeling hot tears sting my eyes. I was starting to get a very bad feeling about this. The Devil knows where I am and decided to use my friends as bait. And since Dice was now eyeing Lexie…oh gosh, I can't even think about it!

It was already bad enough when he flirted with me.

"You know it's a trap." Cuphead reminded me.

"They'll be waiting for you!" Mugman protested.

"I know, but if I don't go, they'll hurt my friends." I argued. "I can't let him hurt them, especially since I know what kind of power he has."

"But that's what the Devil wants!" Chalice mentioned. "You can't do this alone! It's too dangerous!"

"I know, but they seem pretty serious about this." I reminded her. "And knowing the Devil, he doesn't joke about things like this. My friends are in danger, I can't let him hurt them."

There was a pause before Mugman asked "Can we at least get you back to Inkwell?"

I pondered it over for a second before replying "Sure, that would be great. Thanks."

"Come on, let's head over to the docks and head home" Cuphead announced.

We nodded and raced towards the docks. I felt my heart race more than ever. They were in huge trouble, and I had to help them.

(Normal POV)

As the group rushed towards the docks to find the mysterious stranger, Cuphead pulled his brother aside and whispered

"What are you doing? You know we can't let Audrey go alone like that. The Devil is waiting to grab her!"

"I know that." Mugman whispered, his voice sounding annoyed. "But, we need to get the others to help. If the Devil is planning a wedding, he's gotta have the casino reopened to the public!"

Chalice nodded. "And, I ain't letting that overgrown throw rug marry a sweet girl like Audrey! She's got someone fat better than him!"

"You're right. We gotta help her." Cuphead replied. "Gonna take some real convincing for them, but we can't let him win!"

They then reached the docks and saw the same stranger from before.

"Ah, the young cups have returned." He claimed. "I trust your journey went well?"

"Yeah, it was, something." Cuphead mentioned. "But we don't have time for that. We need to get back to Inkwell stat!"

"It's a matter of life or death!" Audrey added. "Please, we must return!"

"I see. Very well, we have no time to lose." the stranger replied. "Step into the boat and we shall venture forth back to your home.

They hopped in the boat and he began rowing, heading back to Inkwell.

Audrey was more worried than before. She didn't know how long the Devil would wait for her, especially with her friends on the line.

"I just hope I can get there in time to help them." She thought as she twisted her ring a bit. "Don't worry. I'll save you guys. No matter what happens, I will never give up."

While she needed to help her friends, the thought of returning to the casino was anything but pleasant, knowing it's run by a demonic freak who's madly in love with her, not to mention a certain blockhead.

But no matter what's in that casino, new or old, she had to help them.

Even if it meant going into the mouth of the lion's den.

Well, that was a huge turn of events! Not only did they find out Saltbaker's true intentions, but now Audrey has received word about her friends! Will Audrey be able to rescue them, or will she have to surrender herself? Stay tuned!

Gonna warn ya; the next chapter is gonna be crazy!

As always, thanks so much for reading! Make sure you leave a review but let's avoid the flames please :D