While Cuphead was gone, Mug and Chalice took a short walk in the forest. Sitting around seemed to make things worse. It caused the young mug dwell on his thoughts…his guilt. They came across a small clearing that held a few lumps sticking out of the ground. Mugman approached one thinking it was a bush at first. But then he felt it and realized it was stone that was heavily covered in plant growth. He looked to the other lumps.
"Is this…a cemetery?" He wondered aloud.
How fitting…. Perhaps that's a sign….that this should be my final resting place. Tsundere sighed.
"No, that's not-"
Can we please sit down for a minute? The bumps are getting to me. Up against this tombstone is fine….maybe it will end up being mine too. The demon weakly chuckled. Not wanting to argue with his friend during what might be his last night alive, Mug sat down leaning against the tombstone. He had not realized the headstone was cracked until he felt it against his back. Tsundere's breaths stayed shallow. This was worrying Mugman. How long did he really have? The demon said until morning, but he was starting to doubt this.
Chalice came closer. She began to hover around the young mug and studied the dying creature. The ghostly chalice even ventured a quick poke a couple times to see what it felt like. Tsundere raised his head and grumbled at her but didn't have the strength to swat her hand away.
"Does it always make that noise?" Chalice asked.
"Really only when he feels that someone is too close." Mug replied.
"Oh, well, pardon me. How am I supposed to help ya when I don't know much about him?" She insisted, throwing her hands up in an innocent manner. The demon sighed and laid its head back down on Mugman's lap. For he was giving up on trying to deter the female's curiosity.
Ms. Chalice was not sure what to do about the situation. She wanted to help in some way, but it just felt awkward being alone with Mugman and his demon. If only there was a way to distract them from the bleak situation. Even for only a moment. And then an idea came to her.
"I think I got something we can do for a few minutes. Wait here for just a sec." Ms. Chalice summoned herself a portal to the astral realm and floated through. It closed behind her, giving the two friends a minute of silence. That quiet was shattered as the chalice opened another portal and dropped a full and heavy sack of items to the ground with a loud clang. Mug flinched as it sounded nearby.
"Why don't we look through this bag of loot I swiped from the King's treasure room? Not even Cuphead knows that I got this stuff. He was off looking for you when I stumbled upon this treasure trove. Looks like some of this is from around the world." She said as she opened the bag and poked her head in to look about.
Around the world? Tsundere seemed to show interest. His black mug tried to turn and look where the female had set down the sack.
"Okay, let's see it." Mugman agreed.
"That's the spirit!" She beamed. "No need to be all doom and gloom while Cuphead's getting us help." The ghostly chalice plucked her way through the bag, taking out each item. There were all sorts of jewels and treasures and she explained what each one of them were. But then one in particular seemed to catch her eye.
"Say, take a look at this!" Chalice said and pulled out an old relic. It was a circular item with a brown frame around it. Inside the frame was a light tan color, almost like skin, surrounding a large eye with a green iris. There was a small steel ring at the top that seemed like it would have acted like a keychain lock. The ring appeared to be broken in such a way that if it once opened, it certainly no longer could. Of course, this is what Chalice noticed first.
"What do you suppose is in here?" She asked, her greedy little ghost fingers trying to open it. After a few seconds of letting her try, Mugman held out a hand to take a look at it. When she was done struggling with it, she huffed and handed it over to the young mug. Both Mugman and Tsundere felt over it.
It's hollow. The parasite said.
"He says it's hollow." Mug relayed and handed it back.
"What do you mean by hollow?" She asked, not believing what she was hearing. Her gaze went from the relic back to the boys.
"I mean it's empty. There's nothing inside it."
"Then what's the point of this thing if there's nothing in it?" Chalice spat and shook the relic as if hoping to hear something rattling inside. "Piece of junk!" She cursed it and went to toss it out of sight.
"Wait! Don't throw it away." Mug said and stopped her. "You said you found it in the King's treasure room, right? Perhaps it's worth something?" He offered.
"You know what? You're right!" Chalice agreed with him. She got excited and started to float about, letting her ghostly body slither up and around the various tombstones littered about the grounds. "If we can find the right sucker, we can sell it for some good loot."
"Or maybe we can find someone who knows what it is." Mug offered.
"Right, that too." Chalice said, although not really listening. For she was more interested in trying to get money out of it. Mugman saw his brother running back. Thankfully the young cup was still able to find them even though they had moved a bit from their last known location.
"Hey Mugs, good news! David can be here within an hour to help Tsundere!" Cup announced as he came up next to his sibling.
"That's great! Um…he did say that he could help him, right?" Mugman wanted to be sure.
"Of course, he can! He's the Devil!" Cuphead said.
"Cuphead…did he say those words exactly?" That didn't sound convincing to the young mug.
"Okay, okay, not exactly." Cup admitted, letting out a sigh. "He said he would do everything he could for him."
"But David doesn't know if he can save Tsundere?" Mugman wanted it straight. He didn't want to give his creature a sense of false hope if there truly wasn't any.
"Uh…" The young cup stuttered and pulled at the collar of his black shirt. He really didn't want to say those words, but he knew David had been a bit uncertain. But then Ms. Chalice saved him from saying anything.
"Hey, Cuphead, take a look at this!" The ghostly chalice floated over, holding out the eye trinket for the red cup to see. Her body folded over the tombstone that Mugman was sitting against. Cup and Mug flinched as the ground beneath them started to shift. It was as if they felt the click of a heavy door unlocking. A circular opening appeared below Mugman. It had a similar blue glow to the portals that Chalice summoned to take into the astral plane. Mug screamed as he began to fall into the hole. A darkness below seemed to swallow him up.
"Mugman!" Cuphead called and dove in headfirst after his little brother, not showing any signs of hesitation.
"Jumpin' jellybeans!" Chalice exclaimed and floated down in pursuit of them. She sped up as she realized the boys were nearing a cavernous floor. The chalice even dropped her relic so she could reach the brothers. Her ghostly hands grabbed onto their shirts as she changed direction. They were too heavy to lift up, but she was able to slow them down and soften their fall a bit. Mug landed on the ground. His sludgy parasite bounced out of his grip upon impact. Tsundere's body slid along the rocky, uneven surface. His being seemed to deflate a bit more as it came to a stop. The demon's breathing quickened for a few seconds but then fell back to the slow, steady rhythm.
Cuphead, on the other hand, landed on something hard and rigid. Definitely not the finer grains of the dirt. His eyes closed upon impact so he did not get a good look at what it was. A throbbing went through his head, causing him to keep his eyes closed for a few seconds.
Mugman realized he did not have hold of his creature anymore. He quickly scrambled to his feet and went to pick up Tsundere again. The young mug cradled the parasite in his arms, making sure it didn't jar him too much. His demon assured him that he was okay for the time being. Even though his strained telepathic voice caused Mug to worry. The duo began to look around at their surroundings. It was a spacious cavern that even had hallways that one could wander down. Almost as if this person was still alive when buried here. This environment was so crazy that Mug began to doubt his senses. So he voiced his confusion to make sure he wasn't the only one bewildered by this development.
"Did we just…fall into someone's grave?" The mug child asked the group.
"This sure is quite a grave. Look how spacious it is! Wonder who the fella was to get a grave like this?" Chalice noted. This confirmed to Mugman that they were definitely in someone's resting place.
Cuphead finally managed to open his eyes and find their culprit beneath him. Under the young cup lay a skeleton half buried in the ground. And Cup's face was mere inches away from a horned skull.
"Whoa!" He cried and quickly pushed himself off the inanimate object. Ms. Chalice and Mugman came to the red cup's side and stared at the skeleton as well. The cup brothers tossed each other a worried look when they realized who the skeleton looked like: the Devil.
It began to rise from the floor, popping each of its bones out of the ground with a horrible cracking sound. The upper body raised first. It hunched over like it was being dragged up by strings. The clawed feet hovered above the cratered earth before planting back down ever so gently. It stood there in silence for a few seconds, as did the cup friends. Cup and Mug were scared at what might happen next. But Chalice began to crack a joke with the boys.
"Look at this guy! Real dramatic." She whispered to the boys and laughed. Her ghostly elbow nudged Cuphead, trying to get a reaction out of him. He gave her a quick glance but then returned his attention to the skeleton. It was all quiet for a moment. Then a pained moaning sound began to rise from the corpse. It grew louder as something became visible in the skeleton's left eye socket. A creature seemed to be straining to claw its way out of the skeleton, as if it had been some sort of prison. Four-clawed hands poked out from the eye socket first. Then came its head that boasted thick and curved horns like a ram's. Fiery red fur came into view as more of the creature forced itself out. A long gangly body collapsed to the ground. It stayed motionless, not making a sound.
"What a clown!" The ghostly chalice still laughed. She floated over to go inspect the body. It seemed thoroughly passed out to her.
"Chalice, don't go near that demon! We don't even know who it is." Cup said in a hushed voice, trying to warn her not to get too close. For she was hovering around the body, not taking any caution.
"Sure is a hairy demon." Chalice said, still being too close for comfort. The creature's arm snapped upward, making a loud bone cracking sound. "Yipe!" The female squealed and retreated back with her friends. They watched as the furry red demon's body snapped and cracked its bones into place. It slowly began to stand. Its hands reached up and cracked its head around to finish its job. The demon's piercing stare glared down at the cup trio. They were the same glowing yellow eyes that the Devil had. If the young cups had been standing close enough, they probably could've seen their own reflection in the demon's eyes they were so sheen and glossy. The creature looked much like the Devil in body shape. It differed though with its ram-shaped horns, a pair of wings situated just below the shoulder blades, and its fiery red fur.
"Which one of you opened the portal with the relic?" He grumbled with a distorted and annoyed voice. The yellow eyes were narrowed as they stared the cups down. Ms. Chalice looked around and found that broken relic on the ground. She floated over and picked it up.
"You mean this relic?" Chalice held it up for the demon to see. But the creature did not answer. It merely looked at them for another few seconds.
I don't like this. Tsundere told Mug. He's watching us….reading us….trying to figure out who he wants to trick…
"Uh….I guess that's me." Chalice nervously answered.
"Wonderful!" The demon boomed loudly and threw his arms up in rejoice. Everyone flinched at the boisterous voice and sudden change in personality. He walked over toward Ms. Chalice. "I can't tell you how grateful I am to you for waking me up!" The red demon enthusiastically shook Chalice's ghostly hand. "I must know the name of my savior!" The female pulled her hand away, realizing how hot the demon's grip actually was.
"It's Chalice. Ms. Chalice." She told him.
"Well, Ms. Chalice, allow me to introduce myself. I am Tanuki, the bold, the powerful, the handsome!" He said, striking poses and even winking at the golden chalice when he said "handsome".
Tanuki? I've never heard of him. But there must be a reason that he was sent out here away from the others. Don't believe anything he says. Tsundere warned Mugman.
"If there's anything I can do to help you, let me know. After all, I owe you one." The red demon practically groveled where Chalice's feet would be. She was about to respond with something when Cuphead interrupted her.
"No thanks. We don't need any help from you. We're terribly sorry for waking you from your beauty sleep, but we really must be going now." Cup kept his explanation terse. "Come on, you guys." The red cup motioned to his friends. Mug began to back away slowly from the creature, not daring to turn his back on it. The young cup made his way toward one of those hallways, hoping he could find a way out. Before he could step foot out of the main room, bones rose up from the ground and blocked the pathway like a gate. It happened so fast that the cup child fell to his bottom.
"Trying to leave so soon when I don't even know your names? Besides, the exit's not that way. It's right here above my head." A clawed finger pointed to the portal that was still open. His tone was different when talking to the cup brothers instead of the golden chalice. It certainly didn't sound happy that it had to converse with these two as well. For he could tell that they were more aware than the female. Not as easily tricked for sure.
"All right, step aside cuz we're leaving. We will move you if we have to." Cuphead boldly said to Tanuki, who started laughing. For he found it amusing that two small cups could possibly think they could forcibly move him. To him it was just a good joke. But he was the only one laughing.
"You're funny to think you can move me, kid. I've fought against the Devil and won!" The red demon boasted, raising both his voice and wings. He sounded very proud of himself. Like he had done a feat that no one else could.
"Oh, yeah? Well, I'm Cuphead and this is my brother Mugman…and so have we!" Cup said, trying to intimidate the hairy creature.
"Ah. Looks like I might have a couple of worthy opponents…" Tanuki growled in delight. With a poof of flames, he teleported from his spot under the portal to right in front of the cup brothers. "Come on and take a whack at me!" It jeered while standing tall. Neither of the boys moved. The tall figure then leaned down towards them, staring Cuphead in the eyes. "Or are you chicken?"
"I-I'm not chicken!" Cup spat back, trying his best not to sound intimidated by him. But then Tanuki saw the sludgy parasite in Mugman's arms and moved his gaze over.
"Oh, perhaps this is the reason you runts stood a chance." The young mug saw that dangerous look in its eyes and tried to move his creature away from him as best he could. For he was afraid that this new demon would try to do something to Tsundere. "Unfortunately for you, it looks like your chance has seen better days." The sludgy lump attempted to hiss at the other demon. But the threat was cut off as he began coughing.
"Oh, my! That poor thing is suffering so. I fear it won't make it to morning." Cooed an angelic voice that sounded like it was behind the cup siblings. Their heads quickly whipped around only to find the hairy demon was behind them too. They looked back and forth quickly, but everywhere they looked, Tanuki had beaten them to it. The creature seemed to be everywhere all at once.
"Why don't I go ahead and put my brethren out of his misery?" Tanuki offered in a dark tone. His clawed hand reached for the shrinking demon.
"Don't touch him!" Mug exclaimed and jumped back, making sure Tsundere was out of his reach. Cuphead stepped in front of them to provide a layer of protection.
"Hey, back off!" He asserted and grabbed the greedy fingers. The red demon cried out like he was being hurt and dramatically fell onto his back. "Ow! Ow! That mean cup twisted my fingers!" He bawled, cradling his hand as if he were trying to nurse it back to health. The boys knew that he was lying, but his childlike behavior caught Chalice's attention.
"Did you really hurt him, Cuphead?" She asked.
"No! I didn't do anything of the sort! He's faking it!" The young cup tried to convince her.
"Please don't let them hurt me again!" The creature bawled to the ghostly chalice. His long body started to inchworm itself over to her.
"Sorry about my friends' behavior. But ya know….they're boys. Whatcha gonna do?"
"Chalice, please come over here. We need to talk for a minute." Cuphead ushered her over before she started telling Tanuki something he didn't need to know. The trio huddled up in a corner and kept their voices low.
"Look, we don't need any help from this guy. David is on his way to help Mugs and Tsundere. And you're going to get your Wondertart. There's nothing we need from him." Cuphead explained. But Mug inadvertently made a funny face when the Wondertart was brought up. He had a feeling that Chef Saltbaker wasn't going to just hand over the Wondertart anymore. Ms. Chalice saw this look and gave him a sharp: "Did you do something to my Wondertart?"
"What? N-no! Saltbaker has all the ingredients. I'm sure he'll give it to you." Mugman tried his best to sound convincing. But the female just gave him a disbelieving: "Mmm-hmm."
"Say, what's this Wondertart you guys are talking about?" Came a curious Tanuki's voice. His round red head floated through the floor and into their huddle. He pulled himself out of the floor and placed himself on his haunches between Chalice and the two boys. For he realized the boys would not tell him anything since they had prior experience with the Devil and other demons. The golden chalice, on the other hand, had never met one before today and was naïve to what one should and should not do around demons.
"You don't need to know that!" Both boys yelled at him. Tanuki's patience was clearly dropping. He now physically shook with anger. A layer of steam seemed to radiate off his back.
"Would you two shut up!" The creature spun around and whacked them with his curved horns.
"Ugh!" They both cried as they were thrown to the ground. Tsundere got tossed out of Mugman's arms again. The sludgy, melting demon panted as he lay there struggling to keep conscious. His being seemed to shrink even more. Mug saw how much he was suffering and desperately wished he could do something to help him. All he could do right now was give him words of encouragement.
"Hang in there, Tsundere." Mugman whispered. "Help is coming. I promise."
"Are you daft, boy?" Tanuki said as he placed a hand on each of the cup brothers' heads to keep them down. "The only person that could possibly save him now is….the Devil." A big, toothy smile spread across his face. "Is the Devil really coming here to help him?" The red demon prodded.
"No! No, he's not coming!" Cuphead answered. Anything to keep the creature from getting what he wanted.
"Wha-? Were you lying to your brother to give him hope?" Chalice interjected. "Is he coming or not?"
"Indeed." Tanuki growled. For he knew that the truth would soon come out. The female's confusion about the conflicting information made that clear. "Let's try this again." His one paw pushed the cup child's face into the ground so he could not talk. The other picked Mugman up by his head and brought him eye level. "Is the Devil coming here?" He questioned.
"N-no!" The mug child said, trying to sound convincing. But the hairy demon was not convinced of this. He saw right through their attempts to persuade him otherwise. It began to roar with a devious laughter.
"This is perfect! I'll finally get my long-awaited rematch with him!"
"Don't you dare stand in the way of him helping us!" Mug challenged him. The creature's yellow eyes narrowed and glared back at the young mug.
"What's it matter to me if there's one less demon in the world? Besides, it's not like you can do anything to stop me…" Tanuki was taking great pleasure in toying with the weaker species. For he had not been able to do that in years. He had been trapped down there for what seemed like an eternity to him.
Mugman gave a swift kick to the demon's nose, making him flinch. It didn't hurt Tanuki in any way, but it certainly annoyed him.
"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" He growled and dropped the mug child. Mug collapsed on the hard ground. The paw followed up and collapsed down on the mug's torso. Mugman wheezed out an: "Oof!" as the air was squeezed out of him.
"Ya know, maybe the boys are right." Came Chalice's voice. The round head whipped around to see the female. "Perhaps we don't need your help. Besides, you're acting weird. If you can't help us, then we really should be going. The time is ticking for poor….uh….Tsundere and we need to find someone that can help him." She turned around like she was going to leave. That was a bad thing for Tanuki. He was definitely surprised at her sudden change of heart.
"Wait!" The red demon yelped and jumped over toward her, leaving the boys alone. He put himself down low to the ground, showing a submissive body language. "Don't leave! I'll do anything you want. I was just playing around with your friends a little." It helplessly begged the chalice. If she left without making a contract with him, he would never be able to get out of this tomb.
"You really want to do something for me?" Ms. Chalice asked, her ghostly hands balled up and placed where her hips would be. The creature below her feverishly nodded. "You can start by helping your fellow demon not die." She pointed to the sludgy puddle on the ground that was struggling to keep shape. Tanuki looked from Tsundere back to the ghostly chalice.
"Sure, I can help him latch back to the mug kid again." He said sheepishly.
Cuphead pulled hard and finally got his face unstuck from the ground. He took a deep breath before he berated the ignorant creature again.
"He wasn't latched, ya mook! You'll only be helping him if you can get him back embedded."
The red demon stomped its foot on the ground, causing vein-like pulses to race through the ground. They stopped by the cup brothers' feet where more bones emerged from the ground, wrapping around the boys like vines. The bones held them upright and rigid, even covering their mouths to keep them from constantly talking back.
"Embedded….hrmm….." Tanuki grumbled, seeming a bit overwhelmed. He clearly was not sure what he was doing when it came to that kind of possession.
"Hey, if you can't do it…" Chalice started, making a ghostly shrug.
"I never said I couldn't do it!" He snapped back at her. "I just…need a minute to think." His white claws scratched at his chin, thinking it over.
"We can always get the Devil to do it. I mean, it is a big boy job, after all." She kept nudging him.
"Anything the Devil can do, I can do better! And don't you forget that!" He yelled so loud that it practically shook the tomb. Steam was starting to sizzle off his red fur. Chalice had really struck a nerve with that. Tanuki swooped over and towered over the melting Tsundere.
"Come here, you!" He grumbled and reached down for the creature. Tsundere gave him a weak growl that was completely ignored. A gasp escaped the black demon's airway as the claws got a good hold on him. In fact, they kept coming inward at him, squeezing harder and harder. Within a moment, his sludgy façade popped like a balloon. The inky sludge exploded everywhere. All that was left was a bubble-like center and ten tentacles that flopped about. The black demon let out a high-pitched screech. Chalice cringed, thinking that Tanuki had killed Mugman's demon for a second there. The cup brothers struggled against their binds to no avail. Mug wanted desperately to help Tsundere out of this situation. But the bones did their job and held him firm. The young mug nervously looked up as the red demon stood before him. He felt the bones in front of his chest part away.
"I suggest you hold still." Tanuki coldly said to the child. Using a powerful magic, the creature slowly forced Tsundere deep into Mugman's soul via being absorbed into the chest. Definitely not the most comfortable place to be bonded with a parasitic being. But last time when they had been bonded, Mugman was dead. Nothing but a ghostly figure. So he didn't feel a thing at the time. This was the complete opposite. It was an intense pain of something going inside him and smothering his heart. Mug let out muffled screams behind the bone gag. Water began to escape his eyes due to the pain. He definitely would have been thrashing about if the bones had not been holding him so rigidly. Cuphead tried desperately to get out of his bonds to help his brother. Unaware to Tanuki, Cup started to quietly shoot at the bones and weakening the grip. Chalice, on the other hand, was horrified at what was going on. She was convinced that she had asked the red demon to do something that was going to kill her friend. Ms. Chalice cringed and plastered her ghostly hands to her face.
Tanuki finally finished embedding his fellow demon as the last of the black tentacles folded up into the portal to Mug's soul. The young mug looked very close to fainting now that the ordeal was over. His head slumped low and eyes barely able to stay open. For he was now sharing all that suffering his parasite had been enduring. Even the red hairy demon looked wiped. It had used up more of his energy than he had wanted or intended. But the kind of power to embed a demon would even wipe out the king of Hell himself. It was a wonder that the red demon did not keel over on the spot. Tanuki panted and went to wipe off some sweat from his forehead. He only succeeded in smearing it more in his thick fur. Despite feeling woozy after his powerful bout of magic, he was insistent on making a deal with the golden chalice. It was his one and only chance of getting out of there.
"Now," Tanuki said, still panting as he turned towards the female. "About that contract…"
"Contract? You never said anything about a contract!" She argued back.
"Oh, it's nothing too hard. Just need a little something from you now. Perhaps we can work in whatever this Wondertart was supposed to do into the deal?" The creature tried to make it sound convincing. Chalice stayed quiet as she thought about it. Tanuki noticed her look over to the cup brothers. Cuphead feverishly shook his head, trying to tell her not to make a deal with the demon. Tanuki, on the other hand, saw how the golden chalice was looking at the boys enviously.
"Wait, is this Wondertart just supposed to give you a body?" He realized. "That's too easy. And it comes with the deal, darlin'" With a snap of his fingers, Ms. Chalice grew a body. She took in this new body. It was exactly the same as when she swapped places with one of the boys. It was as if the demon knew just how she wanted her body to look. After taking in her new physical form, Chalice cautiously asked: "So….what is it that you need from me?"
"Your soul." Tanuki said greedily. His toothy smile grew wide and yellow eyes glowing bright.
"Let me get this straight. You need to borrow….my soul?" Her gloved fingers nervously touched at her chest. After watching what happened with Mugman, the thought of sharing her soul and body with a demon did not sound like a good idea. Tanuki probably wouldn't go in as easy as the other demon. For the form that he took was much bigger than Tsundere's.
"More like use for all eternity or until I don't need you anymore. Whichever comes last…" The red demon said, sounding hungry for a soul of his own to consume and use to his heart's content. Chalice glanced behind the creature to find that Cuphead was able to wriggle free of his bonds. But he still needed to untie Mugman, too. So the golden chalice did her best to keep stalling Tanuki.
"But…why?"
"Why, what?" The red demon was confused. It tilted its head to the side.
"Why do you need a soul – or mine specifically?" She elaborated.
"Because you opened the door to my domain with the help of that relic." He folded a finger toward himself, seemingly ushering her forward. But Chalice looked behind her to see the relic coming at her at a fast speed. She caught it in her hands and turned back to the creature to keep stalling. Her high heels stumbled about to keep her standing.
"You mean this piece of junk?" The golden chalice said and went to place the object down. Only it didn't seem to want to let go of her. She silently panicked about this as her hand frantically waved around, trying to get the seemingly cursed relic to leave her alone.
"Yes. I need to make a deal with the mortal who opened the door in order to get out." Tanuki explained to her. The female stopped fighting with the haunted object and continued to stall.
"Well…if this is a contract, shouldn't it all be in writing?"
"Got it right here." The creature summoned a parchment to his hand. The paper unfurled and spilled out onto the ground, rolling past her shoes by about a foot. She began to look it over. "Go ahead, take your time. Most people forget to read the fine print anyway…" Chalice read through some of it, killing more time for the boys to get loose. Her gaze found the section on the contract that detailed all of the horrible things that could happen to the victim during their sentence. This included things like being burned alive or hacked to pieces. All of this was making Ms. Chalice quite nervous. She was hoping that the boys would hurry up and then they could blast their way out of there. Tanuki's clawed toes began to tap the ground after a couple minutes. He was clearly getting impatient with the female. To avoid him turning around and seeing what the cup brothers were doing, she attacked him with another question.
"Well, that's a fine how do you do!" The golden chalice exclaimed.
"What is?" Tanuki's impatient tone said.
"How am I supposed to sign a contract without a pen?" She asked. The red demon took this as she was done and ready to seal the deal.
"The Devil may have his victims sign in blood," He explained as the paper rolled back up to his hand and disappeared. "But I seal mine with a simple handshake." His hand extended toward the girl. Chalice took a furtive glance behind him to see that the boys were almost out. Mug's foot seemed to be caught on a root-like bone. They only needed a few more seconds! Without delay, Chalice began to play games with this opportunity. She fist bumped, then wiggled her fingers in front of the creature's hand. Anything but a real handshake to keep him distracted.
"What? What are you doing?" Tanuki hissed, clearly getting annoyed.
"You've never done a secret handshake before?" The golden chalice teased him.
"No, this is stupid! Come here!" He tried to grab her hand, but she kept jumping away from his reach.
"Hey, dumbass!" Came Cuphead's voice from behind him. His piercing yellow eyes glanced back there to see the cup child thrust its fists forward and unleash his powerful secondary attack to the triple shot. A solid yellow beam of energy exploded on the already weakened demon. Tanuki collapsed onto the ground, his body smoking. This time it wasn't just his personally created steam though.
"I told you not to get in our way! Come on, Mugs!" He dragged his brother along, who was teetering around like he was drunk. Cuphead used the red demon's head as a stepping stone as he motioned for Chalice to follow. "Jump, Mugs!" He whispered to his sibling, who blindly obeyed in his dazed state. It was just enough to reach the portal. The golden chalice followed in the young cup's footsteps and used Tanuki's head as an intermediate step. Before she could jump free, something hot had grabbed her hand. Chalice jabbed the sharp heel of her shoe into his yellow eye that was glaring up at her. It made the creature let go as she followed her friends out. A low growl of content bellowed in the red demon's throat as the portal closed up behind the cups.
"Phew! That was a close one!" Chalice announced upon making it to fresh air again.
"Are you all right, Mugs?" Cup asked his sibling, not having turned to the female yet. Mugman stumbled to a sitting position on the ground, but he seemed a bit more aware of his surroundings now. The fresh oxygen in his lungs seemed to freshen him up if only a little.
"Feeling a little heavy and weak, but other than that I'm okay." Mug proceeded to ask his parasite the same question.
Better for sure. Tsundere responded. Just need some time to recover. I think I'll be okay now. And I owe it all to the female's quick wit.
"Tsundere says thank you." Mugman directed to Ms. Chalice. But something didn't seem right about the situation.
Hey, wait a minute. Why does she still have a body? The parasite nailed the issue.
"Why do you still have a body?" Mug repeated. Cup turned to look as well.
"Oh, probably because I'm still holding this stupid thing." She held up the relic, which now looked a little different. Instead of a green eye in the center, it was now colorless except for a tan outline of a very narrow eye. Its background was now blue instead of the original skin color.
"Let me just toss this away." So she attempted to throw it afar. But it still stayed stuck to her. "Why don't I try that again?" Chalice said nervously. The golden cup tried and tried but no matter how much strength she tried to put into it, the object would not let go. "The darn thing won't come off!" She now began to panic. Putting her shoe on the relic, she attempted to push with her foot and pull with her hand at the same time. It only ended in the same result as before. The girl collapsed to the ground. She got up and began to rub her face with her hand. But then she realized it was the hand that had been stuck. Ms. Chalice began to rejoice. But it was short lived. For the relic was now stuck to her chest. "Oh, cripes…"
"Um, Chalice?" Cuphead interrupted her.
"What?" She impatiently snapped.
"You've got something…" His gloved finger pointed to his cup. The female's eyes slid up toward hers. There was a rolled-up paper sticking out of her head like a second straw. She reached up and pulled it out. Slowly unfurling it, she was nervous to read what it might say.
"What does it say?" Mug inquired.
Chalice silently read: "A deal's a deal. I'll be coming for you…" The text was red like blood and it even almost looked wet. Instead of sharing with the boys, Chalice began to crumple up the paper.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just a little practical joke." The golden chalice tossed the paper over her shoulder.
She's lying. Tsundere told Mugman.
"Uh, Chalice, it's still…." Cuphead pointed up there again. There was the paper rolled up inside her cup again. She plucked it out and opened it up. This time it read: "Try as you might, you can't get rid of me now. We're going to be together for all eternity…" The red text started to bleed down the paper, confirming that it was indeed blood that she was looking at. Even more frightened than before, Chalice ripped up the paper and threw the little pieces into the bushes. The boys realized that the deal must have gone through.
"Did the demon grab your hand as we left?" Cuphead asked her.
"Pfft! No way! I'm too fast for-" She began to lie yet again.
"Chalice." The young cup said sternly.
"Okay, okay! Maybe for just a second. But what does that matter?" Ms. Chalice confessed.
"A second is all it takes…" Mugman said solemnly. The truth of what just happened started to settle in for the golden chalice. She had agreed to let the demon use her soul….for all eternity. An overwhelming wave of fear and panic washed over Ms. Chalice. And that was pretty apparent to the cup brothers. For her face had flushed as pale of yellow as it would go.
"Now Chalice, you need to stay calm. We can help you-" Mug had tried to stand, but his legs wobbled and collapsed under him again.
"Mugs! Are you okay?" Cuphead inquired.
"I'm fine. We need to help Chalice before – where'd she go?" The golden chalice had fled the scene within a matter of seconds. Cup instinctively started to go after her. But then he stopped and looked back to Mugman. It wouldn't be right to leave his little brother alone right now either. He was still too weak to run away or defend himself if need be. What should he choose? But the blue mug made that decision for him.
"You have to go after her, Cuphead. You have to find her before that demon does. Don't worry about me. I'll just hide and rest in the bushes for the time being." As much as Cup did not want to leave his brother at a time like this, he knew he was right about helping Ms. Chalice, too. So without any argument, he helped the young mug into the bushes.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." He promised Mugman.
Meanwhile, Ms. Chalice fled blindly into the dense forest. She had one and only thought: run away and hide. For she cared about the boys and did not want them around to get hurt by Tanuki when he eventually did come for her. With any luck, she could hide well enough that he would never find her. Alone was better, she had convinced herself. The golden chalice found some thick bushes to obscure her presence. Perhaps that would be good enough for now…
"Chalice! Chalice, come back!" Cuphead called out for her. "I know you're out here somewhere. You have every right to be scared. But please don't run away. Mugman and I have dealt with this before. We can help you. Please come out!" The young cup continued to search and try to coax her out of hiding. Ms. Chalice stayed hidden among the brush as the red cup passed by. Once he was gone, the chalice pulled her newly formed legs up to her chest and sobbed into them.