We continue after a long break of almost two weeks. I hope you forgive me for this but I needed the break very much and enjoyed it very much. That means we continue not only with this story here but also with my Colab story which I write with StoryVibe and which urgently needs as much love as this one. So feel free to do me the favor of reading this one and please leave a review so that both of you know you like the story.
So what did I do during my break? Well, I continued playing Tears of the Kingdom, got inspiration from other movies/series, looked around for new games and celebrated my birthday.
Speaking of video games, I accidentally found a post on Twitter about a new Cuphead-like game called Enchanted Portals that will be released on Steam later this year. Why do I say Cuphead-like game? Well, because the art style is exactly the same and the gameplay in general is the same. So there are run and gun levels and boss fights. I don't want to spoil any more so I'll just say check it out for yourself.
Likewise, I will not spoil which episode will be in the next chapter ;)
Until then
In the underworld it was early in the morning and there was already a lot going on. Prisoners were brought out of their cells to do heavy physical labor like hauling metal plates or pouring coal into a burning stove. One of the prisoners was even swallowed alive by the flames while the others just watched in fear before the jailer beat them with a whip and shouted loudly "Get on with your work!". The cries of pain were hard to miss as they resounded from every Corner in the underworld. Everyone heard them and enjoyed the cries of pain while the others were rather afraid.
Only one did not mind at all. It was the devil who was just waking up and yawned loudly. And yes he wore sleeping glasses which he slowly took off from his eyes before he got up, went to the window to open the long red curtain with his hands which showed him a beautiful view of a lava lake in which several people were bathing.
They seemed to scream in fear and especially in pain, which pleased the devil very much. But not as much as another thing. His gaze wandered from the window to the bed. Under the bedspread almost hidden one would not see a small part. What it was exactly knew the devil grinning with glee as he lifted the covers, lay down in bed and pulled out the object. It was a framed photo of Alicia. He took it and clamped it between himself and the bedspread before lying down and looking at the photo more closely.
"Ah my love..." slowly he ran his fingers over the picture before kissing it. His lips were at the same level as Alicia's in the photo. His eyes closed and the photo disappeared and in its place appeared Alicia whom he hugged tightly and did not let go. No, he wanted her with him. She should be his and belong to no one else but him. His lips parted from hers.
She should never ever leave him because she belongs to him and is his wife and queen. "Oh my dearest please be mine" his eyes and hers stared deeply at each other. They almost mirrored each other, one could say. Alicia was about to say something when the devil wanted to kiss her again. But then the face of Alicia changed and that of Henchman was in her place that the devil almost wanted to kiss. "Aaaahhh!" he screamed and woke up.
The door to the bedchamber opened and a serving cart with a newspaper, a Food Hood and a coffee mug with 1# Boss written on it. The handle ended with a devil's tail. The one pushing the cart was none other than Henchman himself, who came into his boss's bedroom beaming with joy and with his eyes closed.
"Morning boss I hope you slept well and-" when he opened his eyes he was a little shocked. The devil kissed the photo and looked from it shocked to Henchman who had opened his mouth wide in shock. Both stared at each other for a while until Henchman started to talk. "Uh..." "There's nothing to see here Henchman" he removed the photo and quickly hid it under the covers "Absolutely nothing" but his flushed cheeks said something else.
Henchman's surprised-looking face quickly changed to a mischievous grin. The devil saw it and pouted about it. His lips sank and the flushed cheeks were now gone. His gaze wandered away from him because the devil was not very enthusiastic about the fact that Henchman, of all people, caught him making out with the photo. "Don't worry boss I'll keep it to myself I promise" his eyes stared at him suspiciously. Yes the devil didn't quite believe him but otherwise he didn't want this news to get out so he sighed and got out of bed to enjoy his breakfast.
It was English breakfast. Only it was not a normal English breakfast because the fried egg had an eyeball instead of the yolk. "Ah my favorite" he said and cut the fried egg in half before eating it with relish and turning to the rest of the breakfast. Henchman, meanwhile, turned his attention to the bed and put the covers down neatly. "Ahh what a start to the day" he put the empty plate on the serving cart and turned his attention to the newspaper that was next to the plate. He opened it and looked at the headlines. In the meantime, Henchman looked around and saw the soul counter from a distance that was only slowly going up. Also, very few souls were coming through the tubes than before.
Yes, he was very concerned about it because normally the counter would shoot up rapidly. But now this was not the case and that could mean that the devil could damage his reputation. "Haha Henchman come here a moment" his eyes wandered from the soul counter to the devil who now sat laughing on the bed and could not contain himself from laughing. Yes the one headline made him laugh as it was not only hilarious in his eyes but also the photo that was on it was more than stupid.
Henchman went to the devil who showed him the headline. On it there was a big barrel from which two legs were looking. The headline above it said: "Manager fell into the barrel after tasting". Henchman could not help laughing even though he tried. But his lips were trembling too much and he couldn't hold it in any longer and laughed like the Devil as well. It could be heard from a distance.
They both continued to laugh until the devil wiped away a tear and drank the rest of the coffee before placing the coffee cup on the serving table. "Oh yes, the day couldn't be better" his eyes wandered to the photo that now stood on his bedside table and smiled at him. Well, you could say that because Alicia was smiling on the photo, which was already rare because she looked rather neutral almost emotionless. The reason, of course, the devil did not know. But he would know it if she were with him. Oh yes the thought of it pleased him very much. His tail wagged with joy. So much so that he accidentally hit Henchman in the face, who tried to push him away.
"Uh boss..." the tailing kept his mouth shut which frustrated Henchman a lot. The devil, on the other hand, didn't notice this as he got up and went to his trident that was leaning next to his bed. He did not notice that he ignored Henchman again. One could think he did it on purpose, but no, that was not the case. "Where are you going?" asked Henchman curiously as he looked after the devil who walked up to the wall mirror and touched it. "To my bride Henchman" the mirror image no longer showed the devil and Henchman but Alicia who was carrying a small metal basket in her right hand containing six empty glass bottles.
She seemed to be wearing different clothes this time than last time. Instead of the hoodie she wore military clothes. Or rather clothes with camouflage pattern. "Ah my dearest Alicia is out and about" he liked that very much. That she was alone was enough for him. But Henchman saw something at the edge of the reflection. Something red and white striped. "Boss, I don't think she's alone" the devil looked at him with an annoyed expression on his face. He raised his index finger and was about to say something when a voice interrupted him. A voice that seemed familiar to him. "Hey, Alicia, isn't this a little too heavy for you?" Yes, it was hard not to hear that it was Cuppy's voice.
The devil growled when he heard this. "No, it's all right, and the bottles aren't that heavy," she answered him. She lifted the two baskets and smiled at the cup before the reflection showed the devil pouting and angry again. His hand clenched into a fist while the other hand held the trident. "This cup..." Henchman slowly took his distance from the devil as he slowly started to burn with anger. It wasn't long before the devil was completely on fire and roaring with rage. Yes that he did not like the cup, you could tell.
"I've had enough of this cup always escaping my clutches and me not being able to snatch his damn soul!" he was still on fire and looking at the picture frame. The photo of Alicia calmed him somewhat. Though he was still on fire but they were not as big as before. He breathed in and out. The flames were now completely gone and the devil was calmed down again. Henchman slowly came out from behind the bed he had been hiding behind to avoid being caught by the flames.
He saw how the devil tenderly stroked the photo and spoke softly to it. He couldn't hear it, but judging from the lips, one could think that the devil said "Don't worry my dearest Alicia, soon you will be here with me", he gave the photo a kiss and raised his trident to teleport, but Henchman interrupted him. "Boss, where are you going?" the devil looked at him, "Where do you think? To the surface to get my future wife and queen and to collect the soul of this cup that he still owes me" he raised his trident again but Henchman interrupted him again. "But boss shouldn't you worry about getting new souls?" they both looked out the window at the soul counter that wasn't really counting any more than before. "Don't worry about it Henchman, I'm already collecting more than enough souls" he patted him on the head with his hand.
When he said that, the counter shot up rapidly again. The previously empty tubes were now full of souls that landed in the vault. Henchman could not close his mouth in amazement. "The shortage of souls is low thanks to my new collaborator on the surface," the devil explained while Henchman was back to clear dispatch. "Yes, but doesn't the lady have something that shocked you last time?" Yes, the devil knew what he meant. Something had given him an electric shock. Only he did not know what it was.
No matter what it had shocked him he shook the thought away and was ready to teleport away "Don't worry Henchman this time I'll be well prepared" and he disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving Henchman alone who more or less shook his head. "Hopefully he won't find out about this" he said and looked out the window into the distance. Yes, Henchman was reluctant to let a certain demon know that the devil was still missing a soul. Nobody liked this demon. The reason for this was also more or less known among all the inhabitants of the underworld. Therefore, he closed the curtains again while the people who were in the lava lake screamed in pain until a lava snake swallowed them, his tongue ran over his lips and burped.
On the surface, Alicia and the three cups went to Porkrind's store to get new milk and to replace the empty bottles. Mugman opened the door and let the three through before closing it. Or rather slammed it shut. This startled not only Alicia, but also Porkrind, who was about to work on a puzzle in the newspaper, but was so frightened that he dug his pen into the paper. Yes it was not a small hole but a medium sized one to be exact.
Frustrated that the newspaper was destroyed and he could no longer read it, he threw it away and landed in the trash can with a big pile of newspapers that had a hole exactly the same size. Quite a lot of newspapers. The funny thing was that it was one and the same newspaper. How many does he have? Alicia asked herself as she looked from the pile of newspapers to Porkrind.
"I suppose you've come for the milk" everyone nodded "guessed right" Alicia handed him the baskets with the empty milk bottles. He took these and removed them before handing the baskets of now filled bottles to Alicia. She was about to leave but Cuphead begged her to. "Please Ali just one round" he knelt in front of her on the floor and literally kissed her feet. Or rather her shoes. She knew what he meant by that. Her eyes fell on the pinball machine in the corner. Cuphead loved this one more than anything. And that it was not the first and last time that he begged her, she knew. That's why she gave him 25 cents, which he immediately threw into the machine and began to play. Alicia, Mugman and Cuppy were watching him.
She had never really played any pinball machines. Well, at least not a real one. What she could remember was that she had often played Space Cadet on her father's computer together with her brother. Oh yeah, she liked that game a lot, as well as Purple Place. Oh yes, how she wished she was six years old again. Back then everything was fine with her family until the promotion and the move. Her smile disappeared as quickly as it came. She didn't seem to be really pleased, quite the opposite of Cuphead who had reached the high score. "Yes, finally I'm on top!" he turns to the others "Hey Ali look..." but she was no longer behind him but was outside with the basket and looked depressed on the floor. The three cups looked out the door and heard her sigh.
The three knew that something was wrong with Alicia. She would not change her feelings just like that for nothing. So there must have been something that made Alicia sad. And Cuppy already suspected what it could be. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to Alicia who was now staring at a tree. "Hey Alicia" she heard next to her and looked down where she saw Cuppy standing next to her, also staring at the same tree. He was rocking his feet back and forth while she just stood there normally and rolled her eyes.
Not because she was annoyed but because it was rather funny how he stood there. "Hey Cups..." yes she didn't call him Cuppy but after his old nickname she had given him when she was younger. At that time she, her brother and the two brothers were something like a group that had different adventures on the island. "Wow, my old nickname, I haven't heard that in a long time," he said, amazed. "Well, I only remembered him now, too," she said, looking from him to the tree. This time she was not sad but smiled contentedly. This reassured not only Cuppy but also the other two who were now standing next to him. "So you're feeling better again Alicia?" Mugman asked her. Alicia nodded, but she knew she had to explain to him and his brother why she was suddenly sad.
She took a deep breath and looked toward the three cups. "I guess I better fill you two in on why I reacted the way I did" Cuphead and Mugman looked at each other in confusion before looking to Alicia. Cuppy remained neutral. He knew why. Alicia took another deep breath and began to tell the two brothers about her past. Both listened as well as the devil who sat as a black woodpecker on the opposite tree and listened to the conversation. The eyes of the two brothers slowly filled with tears. It was not long before the two went to her, hugged her legs and began to cry. "That's really sad Alicia!" "Yes you said it Mugsy very sad even!" wailed the two while Alicia stroked their heads to calm them down again.
"Hey you two don't have to cry about my past" she said but both brothers disagreed and wanted her to feel comfortable and not uncomfortable. "But it's a very sad past" Mugman wiped away the snot and tears. "Yeah how can you forget someone's birthday?" when Cuphead said this Mugman stared at him annoyed. He noticed and smiled nervously at him while Mugman crossed his arms and bobbed his right foot up and down. "Oops sorry Mugsy" he rolled his eyes though and turned to Alicia. "So now that we have that cleared up what do you say we go home and ask Elder Kettle to make his world famous cocoa?" World famous cocoa? Alicia looked after the three cups while carrying the two baskets full of milk bottles.
These were also not difficult for her to carry thanks to her demon powers. Not only could she see in the dark but she could also carry things that were extremely heavy with ease. Among them were the two baskets with milk. "Hey guys just because the two baskets don't weigh anything to me doesn't mean you can just run out of my sight!" she called after the three who almost turned the corner and didn't notice her. Only when she mentioned this the three noticed it and stopped so that Alicia was up with the three again. She was not pleased, which is why she also left the baskets with the full milk glasses to the three. That this was much too heavy for the three, one noticed and saw them. The heads of Cuphead and Mugman reddened with effort as they tried to lift the basket. Cuppy also had problems lifting the basket, which is why Alicia decided to relieve the three of them of the work and took the baskets back while she went ahead with the three brothers following her.
The devil heard it when he looked out from behind the tree in front of which the four were still standing. "So my dear Alicia had a bad past" he looked after her and leaned his trident next to the tree while holding one hand under his chin and thinking. A light bulb with devil horns appeared above him and lit up as an idea occurred to him. He grinned mischievously and rubbed his hands together while he looked after the four who now disappeared completely from his field of vision. But that did not bother him. He took his trident and in no time he was gone.
Her wolf ears that appeared briefly twitched. Alicia felt it and knew that it would not mean anything good. Normally they only twitched when either Lucifer, her husband, stood behind her or when danger approached. Confused and slightly disoriented, she stopped and looked around like a frightened prey animal that just now realized it was in danger. "Guys..." she said, but the three cups didn't hear and kept walking. This worried her even more, which is why she followed them. But then...
"Hello my dearest" she ran into something or someone slowly stroking her cheek and running through her hair. Alicia knew who she had just run into. Her face already showed complete excitement. Well, it was rather an annoyed face, because she wanted to have peace from him. But she could forget that if the devil had fallen in love with her. And unfortunately he was just as stubborn as Lucifer and would not take no for an answer. Sometimes I feel cursed.
She felt his tail slowly wrap around her waist. Exactly around the same place where her scar was that she got from him. Not only that he started to slowly tickle her with his fingers behind her ear. Now she had enough. "Okay that's enough let me go or..." "Or what my dearest?" he asked her and grinned at her in love while Alicia looked at him annoyed. She felt that he was pulling her leg with that statement. "Or I..." before she could talk further she felt him kiss her just like that for no reason at all. Right on the lip. Okay that's enough for me! She pushed him away, or tried to. The toon was a bit stronger than he looked.
He didn't let go of her and continued kissing her while Alicia tried to free herself from his grip, which wasn't so easy. On top of that, his lips literally sucked on hers so that she couldn't even scream for help or even say that he should let her go. Only when he stopped kissing her could she breathe normally again. "Ahh your lips feel devilishly good my dearest" he looked at her in love and caressed her cheek again while she stared at him annoyed and not very pleased that he had kissed her just like that. "And you're a devilish pain in the ass" she said and freed herself from his grip to walk back to the cottage with the two baskets now lying on the floor. But the devil did not give up that easily. That he had kissed her was actually not planned, he had to admit. But the aftertaste after the kiss pleased him very much. He wanted to have more of it. No, he wanted to have her for himself so that he could kiss her whenever he wanted.
"You can go far away, my love, but I will always be behind you, no matter how far away you are from me," with these words he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Guys, where are you? Alicia asked herself as she walked along the forest path and didn't see the three of them anywhere. Yes, she was worried. Or rather, she was worried about Cuphead, because if the devil was here, he wouldn't hesitate to snatch the soul from him.
"I have to hurry!" she kept running with the hope of seeing the three cups and not the devil. Oh please, please tell me the three are right in front of me. Luck was on her side because as soon as she ran around the corner she saw the three cups who had apparently been looking for her and were glad to see her again. "Alicia! There you are!" the three called and ran towards her with a relieved expression that quickly changed into a confused one. "Uh Ali is everything alright?" asked Cuphead scratching his head in confusion "No it's not the devil is on my heels right now!".
When the three heard this, their pupils shrank in fear. "Cuphead, I know you owe him your soul, so we should go home as soon as possible," the others didn't need to be told twice and went with her. Every now and then Alicia looked behind her to see that the devil was not running after them or would appear somewhere else. But they were lucky because the cottage was not far away as they walked along the path.
Oh thank God. Alicia kept running while the three cups followed her and got closer to the front door. Mugman grabbed the door handle and opened the door in a panic so he and the others could go in. Well, almost everyone was inside. One was missing. That was Alicia, who ran out and tried to lure the devil away so that he wouldn't come into the house and take Cuphead's soul or see Elder Kettle. Neither of which she wanted.
"Alicia, what are you up to?" Cuppy called after her, but she didn't hear and had long since disappeared into the forest where the devil was still looking for her and Cuphead. The devil didn't know that the three cups were back in the house. Only when he saw a black wolf running past him, which was more than familiar to him, he stopped looking in the bushes and followed the wolf. He knew who the wolf was. That's why he changed into his dragon form to run after it. Is he following me? Alicia looked behind her to make sure the devil had seen her. After all, he should have seen her. Her question was quickly answered as she saw him in his dragon form. Yes, she saw him and kept running while the devil slowly approached her. She saw how his shadow almost took her. "You can't escape me my dearest!" he said and was about to grab her with his dragon tail.
But before he could grab her, Alicia turned right and the devil flew into the middle of a tree and turned back while scratching his head and a bump appeared on his head. Alicia heard it and was glad that he wasn't chasing her anymore. But unfortunately she didn't notice until too late the tree root that was hidden on the forest floor and over which she stumbled. "Woah!" she exclaimed as she flew and also hit a tree. The dull thud could be heard from far away. The three cups heard it and were worried about her, so they went to look for her even though she had told them not to. So the three searched for her before the devil found her.
But while they were looking for her, Alicia was lying next to the tree she flew into, becoming more and more unconscious with each passing second. "Guys..." she could still say before everything around her went black and three figures appeared before her eyes.
When she regained consciousness, Alicia realized that she was in a bed. She felt the warm and fluffy blanket she was wrapped in. Yes, it was very fluffy and she would like to stay in it, but the voices approaching the door woke her up again. Now Alicia was confused and scared at the same time. The three cups saw this when they came out of the door and saw her crawling anxiously under the blanket. "Uhhh Alicia are you alright?" asked Cuppy curiously as he walked over to the bed and lifted the covers slightly.
"Who are you? Where am I, and most importantly, how do you know my name?" Alicia asked the three cups, who were even more confused than before. All three knew that Alicia would never react like that, let alone show any fear at all. Something was wrong with her. "Alicia is everything..." but before he could speak further, Alicia jerked more and moved away from him. Yes now it was clear what was wrong with her. "She's lost her memory" Cuppy guessed. The two brothers, however, did not and were confused. "What do you mean she's lost her memory?" asked Cuphead as Cuppy looked to him and Mugman whose right eyebrow was slightly higher than the other. "Well, you must know that I've known Alicia since she was a little kid, because at that time her mother was in charge of writing the story in the book..." he took a breath before continuing and the two listened.
Or that's what they wanted, but suddenly their pupils shrank, which Cuppy saw, who was confused and was about to say something until he heard the door close and looked at the bed, where Alicia was no longer lying. It was now empty. "What! Where did she go?!" he asked the two who said nothing but pointed with their index fingers to the now open door from which he ran out. "Alicia wait!" he shouted and ran down the stairs into the living room but no one was there.
There was no sign of Alicia, which did not please the three mugs. But what the three did not know was that Alicia was very close. Only she was not in the living room but in the kitchen. More precisely, she was under the table and still could not believe that she was in a world where cartoon characters lived and she was the only normal person. "This isn't real, Alicia, it's just a dream" "What kind of dream?" she stopped as another voice could be heard next to her, slowly approaching the table. She saw two red slippers standing right in front of her and a yellow glove slowly lifting the tablecloth so that the person standing in front of the table could look down. "Alicia, what are you doing down here and why are you shaking like-" Before he could talk further, she ran out of the kitchen towards the living room and closed the exit door behind her while the three cups knocked hysterically on it and asked Alicia to open the door.
But she did not. She was thinking and wanted to know why she was here and why she was the only one who was not marked. "What is going on here, why am I here?" she asked herself several times and was already despairing. "Alicia, please come back inside, we can explain everything to you" she heard from behind the door and looked at it apprehensively. On the one hand, those behind the door knew more about her than she knew now. But on the other hand there were three humanoid cups and a kettle.
While Alicia was thinking whether she should go in or not, the devil appeared behind the cottage who had overheard everything and was grinning and giggling mischievously. "So she lost her memory and doesn't know who the three cups are" rubbing his hands he chuckled mischievously "That's perfect. Perfect to finally make her my wife and queen without the three cups interfering" but before he could go to her he only heard the front door slowly open.
"Alright, I'm coming in" he heard and knew that it was Alicia's voice that was now threatening to get away from him. He had to hurry and stop her from going through the door. But how? Well the light bulb above his head started to light up and was on fire when he thought of an idea that he used immediately. Before Alicia could even set foot, she was suddenly surrounded by a reddish glowing aura that prevented her from moving or even moving any muscle. "What's going on now?" she asked, but before she could get an answer from Cuppy and the others she was suddenly hurled into the forest. All three cups couldn't believe their eyes and had their mouths wide open. Only the devil was happy and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Alicia kept flying until she suddenly landed on the hard forest floor and felt the pain. "Yep that hurts" she said as she slowly got up and rubbed her right leg where it just hurt. Yes she hadn't forgotten what had just happened but still she was just more confused than usual. "Why am I in the forest, please?" she asked herself, looking around curiously, not noticing, or not noticing until too late, the cloud of smoke behind her from which someone came with a laughing voice. Slowly, wincing, she turned and saw the devil standing behind her. Was she afraid? Yes. Yes she was and slowly walked backwards away from him. She was reluctant to be near him. But she couldn't escape him, because before she could even set a foot she felt someone standing behind her.
"Where are you going my love?" he asked her, slowly stroking her hair. "Uh, far away from you and I'm not your love" she said nervously and walked away from him again. But as before she could barely move a foot he was already standing behind her "Oh really and why are you wearing that wedding ring on your finger?" he asked her looking at his claws meanwhile Alicia looked confused at her hand and only now saw the silver ring with a red ruby in the middle in which she reflected herself and the devil.
She looked from this to the devil and back again, still confused. "Wait don't tell me I'm..." "Married to me? Oh yes you are my dearest" he walked closer to her with a kissing mouth and was ready to kiss and hug her. But before he could do that he noticed that Alicia was showing her back to him and looking intently at the wedding ring. She didn't know why but a writing suddenly appeared around the wedding ring on which was written: "Remember who you are" she didn't know why but somehow the sentence seemed familiar... Wait... She...she remembered everything again.
The three cups, the wedding ring, the world and yes also the devil who was now standing behind her and was not her husband. No she was married to Lucifer. The devil from the Cuphead book. She missed him very much and wanted to be reunited with him and not be with this copy that stood behind her. "Is everything all right my darling?" Oh yeah, you can kiss my ass darling. "Don't call me darling, you hear?" she said in a growling voice as her human form slowly changed to her demon form and her claw clenched into a fist ready to punch him in the face.
But then she saw the three cups coming towards her and the devil from far away. Yes, she knew that this does not mean anything good when the devil was together with the three cups. "But Alicia, my love, I-" "Stop calling me that, I'm happily married and I'm not interested in you, understand?" he was very shocked by the statement that Alicia had just shared with him, not realizing that in front of him stood the three cups who were happy that Alicia was old again. Also pleased was Silk who watched the whole thing with Amnon behind a tree.
Less enthusiastic, however, was the devil who was again on fire with rage and could not contain his anger. The others saw that too, which is why Alicia literally vanished into thin air with the three cups while Silk and Amnon disappeared into the elevator from which they came before the devil exploded with rage and burned down the part of the forest, leaving only a crater behind.
"Why does everything always have to go down the drain?" he asked himself angrily, "I almost had her with me, but then poof, she was back to her old self!" He could not and would not believe what had just happened and yet his love for her still seemed strong. His heart was beating and his pupils were heart-shaped again "Oh Alicia my dearest..." in love he went to a tree that had not been torched and drew something in the bark with his claws. It was a heart in which he had written the two letters A and D inside. A stood for Alicia and the D for the devil. Slowly he drove over it and exhaled with relief.
He was no longer angry, "Don't worry, soon you will be mine. All mine" he said and disappeared as well, leaving that part of the forest burned down. The birds and squirrels were covered from head to toe with ash and lost their feathers and fur on the next second, showing their underwear that was underneath. Grinning nervously, the birds disappeared into their nests while a squirrel took a leaf and hid behind it.
"Man am I glad you're back to your old self Ali" Cuphead said with relief as he and the other two walked back the way with her. The sun was slowly setting and the first stars were already visible in the sky that threw away their nightcaps and yawned. Alicia found this a bit cute and had to smile. "Yes I am too I must admit" yes Alicia was reluctant to know what would have happened otherwise.
That the devil could have kidnapped her or could have made her believe that she was married to him, she did not want to imagine. No, I am happy with Lucifer and no one can take that away from me! No matter how muscular or charming one can be towards her, she would not want to replace Lucifer against anyone. Already for the principle because she loved him and felt safe with him.
Even if she already wondered if he would miss her too? "Tell me Ali..." her thoughts were torn apart when she heard the voice of Cuphead who was now no longer in front of her but next to her and put both his hands in his pants pockets. "How could it be possible that you regained your memory so quickly?" the other two asked themselves. But Alicia didn't really have an exact answer to that, because she herself was also confused about it and looked at her wedding ring.
"Good question Cuphead" she said and now looked from the ring to him "Unfortunately I don't know either and I guess my wedding ring is more than just a normal wedding ring" she said and went on while Cuphead was thinking. He wanted to know more about it because even though he knew little about getting married he knew that wedding rings were really only there to say "Hey I'm taken" so this wedding ring of Alicia's was already something special. But no matter what made this particular Cuphead shrugged his shoulders and followed her and the others to the cottage that was not far away and from which you could already smell the smell of dinner.
But who cared that Alicia was married and didn't love the devil was Silk who had more than enough of it and wanted the hybrid dead. But she was not the only one. No, Silk was only one of a few who were interested in becoming queen of the underworld. There were four more female demons who were after the throne. All four were different in strength and had different skills. Skills that Silk could use to eliminate the hybrid and then become queen herself.
"Uh Silk is everything alright?" she heard behind her and turned around and greeted with a smile the husky demon Amnon who however was startled by her "smile". She skillfully ignored this and grabbed his ring hanging from his harness collar and pulled him up so that he was at the same eye level as Silk. That he was even more nervous than before was obvious. "Amnon my most loyal servant do you happen to have news for me?" she asked him in a voice that was not exactly friendly. No, she sounded rather annoyed. And Amnon knew that annoyed was not her friendliest reaction. "Uh... so i-i-i got t-t-t-the j-j-job" that pleased Silk a lot who let him go. Amnon exhaled in relief and wiped the sweat away from his forehead.
But what he did not immediately notice was that he was still floating in the air. He looked down and then into the camera before landing on the ground with his butt. "But..." Amnon heard as he looked to his master who was standing in front of Amnon from her bedroom looking out the window to the throne room where no one was. "he won't stop until that scum of a demon sits next to him and becomes his queen!" Silk clenched her hand into a fist as she said this. Amnon swallowed nervously when he saw this. Yes, he knew that his master was in love with the devil and that she hated wolves. For good reason, because had it not been for the wolf mother, she would still be a good racer now. "That she-wolf will pay for daring to take my future husband away from me!" she snarled and turned to Amnon who flinched again. "Amnon I want you to get me the other four" he nodded still trembling and flew away with his little wings.
Satisfied, Silk grinned diabolically and could already imagine how she will dismantle the hybrid into pieces and become queen herself. Even if the other four would prevent her from doing so. She looked again to the throne room where now the devil was with Henchman and went away from the window to torture some prisoners. What else could you do as a demon anyway and she liked it.
"What you had no luck again although she had lost her memory?" said Henchman startled still holding the tray with a cup full of tea from which the devil had just drunk. "Yes, and I was just about to bring her to my kingdom!" he said growling and clenching his hand into a fist while he was slightly on fire. "That ring must have somehow helped her regain her memory" he explained, trying to breathe calmly so as not to freak out. Henchman had never heard of a wedding ring being capable of doing such a thing. "And what do you want to do now?" he asked curiously while the devil looked at him and did not become even angrier, as Henchman had hoped at first, but smiled. "Good question Henchman" the devil answered and in his hand two posters appeared. Henchman took a closer look at them. They were wanted posters.
One had Cuphead on it and the other had Alicia on it. Under both was written that they were wanted by the devil. The exact reason was not given but the devil did not care because he would get a message when someone finds the two. "I will give these posters to anyone who works for me on the surface" the devil declared as the two posters disappeared from his hand. But Henchman wanted to know who would please work for him on the surface. Gaston was fired, so who was the new one?
Now in a locker room a person sat in the dark and laughed diabolically. Not as diabolical as the devil but close. Why was she laughing? Well, because this person was holding the two posters in his hand. "Don't worry boss, I won't let you down!" said the person and saw something red light up hanging on the wall next to the door. "ON STAGE" was written on it and the person stood up and left the room while the two posters remained on the table.
In the darkness appeared with a dark purple writing the reason why the two were wanted by the Devil. Cuphead because of his soul and Alicia because she will become the future wife and queen of the underworld.