Hello, my lovely readers! We are back with a new chapter!
This is part-two of the sweater adventures, and I'm soooo excited to share this one. First time I watched this episode, I laughed so hard. It's so good and honestly, no matter how many times you see it, it never gets old!
I should also let you know I will be out of town in November as well, but I should get a good amount of chapters in before then. Just a little heads up!
Now, let's continue our story...
Season 1, episode 11: Sweater get going!
Several days have passed since Cuphead got the impenetrable, invisible sweater from Quadratus. The Devil was in his throne room of the underworld, breathing heavily, gripping the arms of his throne tightly, and was very angry. He had a lot on his mind and it was not great for him.
He felt angry that he couldn't get Cuphead's soul, and, on top of that, he didn't get Audrey. To make matters worse, he knew Stickler would ask about it and he would have to come clean, listening to the annoying lecture about his failure.
He was in deep thought, and didn't notice that Henchman, Bash and Shriek entered, each carrying a plate with a slice of cake.
"Uh, hey, boss, want some leftover congratulations cake?" Henchman asked.
"Oh, man. This is sooo good!" Bash sighed, as he took a large piece in his mouth. "Still good after a week."
"And I love the little decorations on it!" Shriek giggled. "So cute! Love the skulls!"
They waited for their master's response, but he didn't say anything, and proceeded to huff angrily.
"Boss? You ok?" Bash asked.
"Something on your mind?" Shriek asked.
"Yeah, uh, you look mad for somebody who just got that cup's soul." Henchman brought up. "Congratulations, by the way."
"Yeah! It was great to hear that you got his soul." Bash added. "He'll be forever trapped in your soul vault and will never escape!"
"And soon, we'll get your bride!" Shriek chimed in. "And we'll have a big wedding, tons of food, loud music, all the souls watching, especially Cuphead's-"
That ticked him off.
The Devil gave a demonic roar, startling the three as he finally confessed.
"I didn't actually get his soul yet, okay?! I just said that to buy myself some time before Stickler finds out. I hate that guy."
"Wait, you didn't get it?" Shriek repeated. "Then, why did you come back, saying you got him? Were you confused with another soul you captured?"
Bash slapped the back of his head, snapping "No, you idiot! He lied to us, so he didn't have to hear Stickler talk his ear off!"
"Ohhhh!" Shriek realized. Then he asked "You sure you didn't get the wrong one?"
Bash groaned. He was hopeless.
The Devil slumped back in his throne. "Ugh! It's bad enough my darling Audrey is protecting him, and now they have a sweater along with it! I just need a way to get it off him! Ow, my head is killing me…"
He rubbed his temples with two of his fingers, trying to calm down.
Henchman pondered, trying to think of a good way to help him calm down.
"Reading the latest destruction and terror around the world? Nah, probably not. A neck rub? No, he got one earlier today. A bubble bath with Mr. Squeaks, his rubber ducky? I'll put that in the 'maybe' pile. Oh! A nap with Mr. Pebbles, his dolphin plushie! Oh, but the imps just made the bed…"
He pondered more until a thought came to him.
"Oh! I know what'd make you feel better, boss. The Obliterator!"
"The what?" The Devil asked, arching an eyebrow.
Henchman then held up a newspaper titled "The Inkwell Blotter"
Now, I know you have read that Audrey has been working for the Honeycomb Herald. Which is very true, but they write and edit articles for The Inkwell Blotter, as a partnership.
On the cover of the page, there was a ride that looked like one of those swing rides you'd see when you're at an amusement park or carnival. While the picture was black and white, there was an umbrella-like top along with a scary painting of a clown on the pole.
In big black letters it read "THE OBLITERATOR! SO FAST IT'LL TEAR THE CLOTHES OFF!"
"It's a new ride down at the Inkwell Pier." Henchman proceeded. "They say it goes so fast, it'll tear the clothes right off of you."
"Ohhhh! That sounds like fun! Bash cried. "Finally, some thrill around this sleepy town."
"Can we ride it boss?! Can we?! Can we?! Pleeeeeease!?" Shriek begged, on his knees near the throne.
The Devil simply levitated him and threw him far off to the side, landing with a THUMP.
"I'm ok!" Shriek called. "I landed on my head!"
"The only thing that'll make me feel better is getting that cup's soul." He growled. "He's gotta take that sweater off sometime…"
"So, let's see if I got it; a sage advisor gave you this sweater so the Devil can't get his soul. All Cuphead has to do is keep it on and it'll keep the Devil away?" Josh asked Audrey. The group was outside, walking near the forest after stopping by Porkrind's shop.
It was not a secret to be kept, and Audrey needed to inform Josh about their late-night adventure. The boys were in front of them chatting, while the young couple were a few feet from them, holding hands as they strolled.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Audrey shrugged. "When he tries to take it, it gives him a nasty shock. You would have loved to see it."
"Sorry I missed it. Hope I can see that next time he tries." Josh smirked. "Though, I gotta ask, how long does he need to keep it on? It doesn't bother me or anything, but I'm just curious."
"He needs to wear it. It's only temporary, or in this case eternally." Audrey answered. "I know the Devil can act like a five year old, but when it comes to Cuphead or me, he won't stop."
"Yeesh. He sounds desperate." Josh stated. He pulled back with Audrey and muttered "And to think, he owes him his soul for playing Soul Ball. It was bad enough that people lost their souls at the casino."
"Yeah, it was way worse in the storybook." She whispered as well. "But, it is a different way to show how he owes his soul, since this is their version."
"True. I know the Devil is evil, but in this series, he acts like a child." Josh added. "The other one was really scary."
Audrey giggled and nodded. There was no argument there about him, especially with their obsession to take Cuphead's soul. Speaking of Cuphead, Audrey noticed that he was tugging at his sweater collar.
The invisible one to be precise.
"Honey, you shouldn't do that." Audrey calmly called out. "You need to keep it on."
"But it's so weird!" He whined. "I just wanna take it off for a second."
Mugman stopped his brother, faced him and placed his hands on his shoulders, taking a deep breath.
"Cuppy, I am going to say this, because I love you as my brother, in the calmest of ways…you're wearing that sweater forever!"
"But-" Cuphead started, but Mugman didn't let him finish.
"No buts! That sweater's the only way the Devil can't get your soul. You can never take it off! Ever!"
"No offense, Cuphead, but you saw how persistent he was the last time he saw you." Josh brought up. "We need you to keep that on until we can find a better solution, or when he gives up."
"And seeing that he's not going to give up, we have to be very, very careful." Audrey added.
Normally, a sensible person would totally agree with what their friend was saying and advising.
However, Cuphead responded differently.
"Eh. I ain't too worried about it." He shrugged. Mugman rolled his eyes. Of course he would say that.
Before they could proceed with their walk-
*POOF!*
Once more, the Devil teleported right in front of Cuphead, scaring him.
"Gahhhh!" He screamed.
Mugman jumped and trembled, as Josh held onto Audrey in a protective state.
"Your soul is mine!" The Devil wickedly announced.
He then reached for Cuphead when-
*ZAP ZAP ZAP!*
Once more, he got electrocuted, and groaned, feeling dizzy.
"Wow! That was awesome!" Josh gasped. "Now I can see why we need that sweater."
"Yep." Audrey nodded.
Mugman faced the Devil and sternly announced "He's never taking that sweater off!"
"Yeah! Give it up!" Cuphead added.
"Never!" The Devil shouted. He then tapped his pitchfork on the ground and teleported out of the area.
Cuphead couldn't help but laugh. It was really funny to see. Then a thought came to him.
"Ok, yeah. I'll keep the sweater on. Just in case he comes again."
"Good idea." Josh and Audrey agreed.
While they had a good victory, the Devil was right about one thing; he wasn't ready to give up.
And so begins the many failed attempts to get Cuphead's soul.
In one instance, the group was at the beach. It was a hot day and Audrey and the rest decided to cool off for a bit.
Audrey and Josh were reading on beach chairs while Cuphead was shoving sand on his brother, who was up to his neck in sand.
Before Cuphead could put more sand on him
*POOF!*
The Devil appeared once more. Normally, they would scream in terror, but they didn't as the Devil shouted,
"Give it to me-!"
*ZAP ZAP ZAP!*
Aaand he got electrocuted once more. Annoyed, the Devil teleported out, allowing our heroes to resume their activities.
Another instance was a few days later. While Josh was at work and Mugman had to run some errands, Cuphead and Audrey were walking home eating ice cream.
The two were happily chatting and eating, when once more, the Devil hopped from the bushes and shouted
"You're mine now-!"
*ZAP ZAP ZAP!*
The two looked oddly at him, as he growled in annoyance and teleported out again.
While it was funny to watch him get electrocuted and cry in pain, which is still funny to see by the way, it got to be a bit boring and annoying for them since he came on a regular basis.
They couldn't do anything fun or interesting without him showing up, like watching the boys chase each other with a garden hose
"Give me-!"
*ZAP ZAP ZAP!*
Or sleeping at night
"Your-!"
*ZAP ZAP ZAP!*
Or even go clothes shopping at the store
"Soul-!"
*ZAP ZAP ZAP!*
Seeing that it wasn't getting him anywhere, he groaned, gave himself a facepalm and teleported out.
Audrey, who had gone to get some clothes, saw the boys as Mugman held up a shirt to Cuphead, as he shook his head.
"Hey boys, still looking for shirts?" She asked.
"Yeah, I think I'll look over at the other one I saw." Cuphead replied.
Several days later, it was Saturday and the group was in the living room hanging out. Audrey was sitting on the couch, sewing a sampler, while Josh was reading a book. Mugman was on the floor happily reading the newspaper next to Cuphead, while he listened intently to the latest Durk Dangerous adventure on the radio.
"Will the fireproof pants of Dirk Dangerous be enough to save a flaming bank vault full of orphans?" The announcer declared. "Tune in tomorrow for the stunning conclusion of Dirk Dangerous vs. Pyromaniac Pete!"
With that, Cuphead turned off the radio, sweat dripping down his body.
"So sweat-inducing!" He sighed as he slumped down in his puddle of sweat.
"What I don't get is, why do orphans get the short end of the stick?" Josh asked. "I mean, come on. Half the movies we've seen usually have a kid who loses one or both their parents at the start of it."
"While that is true, not all films, Disney to be precise, have that happen." Audrey piped up. "I mean, I get it, it's annoying, but there needs to be conflict in a movie."
"Ok, name one film that allowed the main character to have both their parents." Josh replied in a joking manner.
"I can name a few." Audrey smirked. "Let's see, Mulan had both of her parents, so did Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, Miguel from Coco, even though his grandmother died at the end due to old age, Moana had hers from Moana, Mirable had a big family from Encanto, and The darling children from Peter Pan."
"What about Alice in Wonderland?" Josh asked. "The lady who was with her at the beginning of the film could be her mother, and her father was nowhere to be seen."
"That wasn't her mother, but her sister." Audrey pointed out. "They didn't think it was necessary to have them in the film since it focused more on Alice. They were probably there, but somewhere else."
"Ok, ok point taken." Josh shrugged.
"Hey, Cuphead. You wanna see something even more sweat-inducing?" Mugman asked.
That got Cuphead's attention as he gasped "Do I?!"
"It's a new ride! New, Cuphead, new!" Mugman squealed, as he ripped off a bit of a photo from the paper. It did cut off a bit of it, but it was enough to see a new ride at the Inkell Pire. "Says here it'll go so fast, it'll... something. I dunno. But it's new, Cuphead, new!"
"Oh! If we go now, we can get there before Elder Kettle wakes up from his nap." Cuphead informed them excitedly.
Before going to the door, they turned to their human friends and asked "Can we go? Pleeeeeease?"
"Eh, sure. Why not?" Josh shrugged. "I have nothing to do today. Might be fun."
"Yeah, let's head on over." Audrey nodded.
The boys cheered and the group headed for the door. But as Cuphead opened it, low and behold, the Devil was there, with an annoyed look on his face.
Josh gave a groan. "Oh come on, not now. This is seriously getting less and less funny."
"Hand it over!" The Devil demanded, as he started to reach for Cuphead. He then slapped his hand away in annoyance. "Ow!"
Seriously?! That hurts you?! You got shocked like forty times and you're mad about that!? Sheesh, what a baby.
"Would you get outta here?" Cuphead asked in a sharp whisper. "Elder Kettle can't see you."
"Who is Elder Ket-" The Devil started to ask, but Cuphead slammed the door in his face. He got angry and screamed a demonic roar, causing flames to burst out.
"Would you cut that out?!" Cuphead sharply whispered, opening the door. "Look, just meet me around back."
"Listen, you little shoehorn-" The Devil started, but once more Cuphead slammed the door in his face.
Getting frustrated, the Devil retreated to the back door as he grumbled.
"Stupid cup making me go around the back. I'm the Devil! Nobody tells me what to…"
Once there, the heroes opened the back door and approached him, aggravated.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble we'll be in, if Elder Kettle sees you here?!" Cuphead whispered firmly.
"Look, he can tolerate a lot of things, but if he sees you, he will not be happy." Josh added, grasping Audrey's hand.
"You already are in trouble! You owe me your soul!" The Devil growled. Turning to Audrey, he demanded. "And you! You will agree to be my wife and queen! Or else!"
"Or else what?!" Audrey snapped. "You going to throw a temper tantrum? Oh, that's a new one."
"I do not throw tantrums!" He shouted. "You will agree or I will kill your stupid guy friend over here!"
"I'm her husband!" Josh argued. "And you can clearly see that she wants to be with me!"
"Oh, sure, you're 'married'!" The Devil sarcastically replied, making air quotes. "If you show me some certification, then I'll believe you!"
"You want a certificate?! You got it!" Josh growled, as he raised his fist to punch him.
But before they could, they heard Elder Kettle shout from his window
"Hey!"
Thinking fast, Cuphead shoved the Devil in a bush as Kettle opened the window and, wearing a nightcap, poked his head out his window.
"What's with all the noise?!" He snapped.
"Dang it, we woke him up from his nap." Audrey thought. "He will not be in a good mood later."
"Uh, nothing." Cuphead sheepishly replied. "That was just a large cat... man."
"Well, tell him I'm taking a nap!" Kettle called from his window. And another thing; Audrey, make sure the boys paint that fence! It looks terrible!"
They looked and sure enough, the fence was burnt up and had many scorched marks all over.
He then slammed his window shut before the heroes groaned in annoyance, and saw the Devil step out of the bush, dusting himself off.
"Thanks to your little tantrum, the fence is all burnt up!" Cuphead stated annoyed.
"Yeah! What do you intend to do about that, huh?" Mugman asked.
"Nothing! I'm the Devil!" He snapped.
"Well, we are not painting since you messed it up!" Audrey argued. "We are going to do something fun and I am not going to waste the evening painting the fence!"
Cuphead then pondered over for a second before coming up with a plan. "Hmm... Tell you what. You paint the fence, I take off the sweater."
Ok, that was not the plan I was thinking of. I was hoping it was more on the line of making him jump off a cliff or something.
Mugman grabbed his brother and the four were in a huddle.
"Cuphead, are you crazy?!" Mugman whispered.
"Dude, that is super risky." Josh added. "And a really bad idea!"
"Please don't tell him this idea…" Audrey pleaded.
"Hold on. Let's see where I go with this." Cuphead assured them.
That doesn't really make me feel better.
The group turned back to the Devil as Cuphead asked. "Well, what do you say?"
"Let's see, I paint the fence. You take off the sweater. I take your soul and my bride." He pondered. "Hmm…"
About a few minutes later, the Devil was in front of the fence, paintbrush in hand.
Now, usually, a person would have a general idea on painting a door, or a bedroom or whatever. It's honestly not rocket science.
The Devil was a different story. He gave a few dabs of paint on the fence, muttering with delight. "Painting the fence. Oh, yes. Oh!"
The group, however, looked confused at one another. Like I said, painting a fence is not rocket science and from the way he was dabbing a few spots, he looked a bit lost.
"Say, uh, have you ever actually painted a fence?" Cuphead asked.
"Yeah, looks like you have no idea what you're doing." Mugman added.
"I mean, I've painted a few things in the past, but this, this honestly looks like you're completely lost." Audrey claimed.
Getting frustrated, the Devil turned to them and retorted "Is that so? Watch this."
He then cleared his throat and using his magic, he began to levitate the paintbrushes as the paint boiled like hot water and changed color. He then flew them to different paint bucks and pulled them out, brushing over the fence and repeating the process a bit.
The boys looked at each other in amazement. Oh, not because he was giving a good show, but because they realized they could slip off to the pier. They all gave each other the signal to be quiet and crept away as the Devil proceeded to move the brushes along the top of the fence, completely in the zone.
"And on the one, and on the two, here we go." He muttered.
Poor guy didn't realize he was suckered into doing their chores.
Wonder if I can trick someone like that into paying my taxes.
A bit later, the heroes arrived at the pier and headed towards the Obliterator, passing through a large crowd of people and glossed over the many rides like the roller coaster, carousel, fun house, ferris wheel, and various shops and foot spaces.
They got to the line for the Obliterator, and boy was that line very long. Thankfully, it wasn't as long as the entrance of the park, but it was a good two-three hour wait. It wasn't super late in the day, thankfully, but the length of the line said they were going to be there for a while.
"Ugh! This line!" Cuphead groaned. "Can't believe we have to wait for so long."
"I blame the Devil for this." Josh mentioned. "He slowed us down with his five year old temper tantrum."
"Yeah, but at least we're here now." Audrey mentioned, trying to look on the bright side.
She was always known for looking at the glass half-full, hoping to see a positive note on things even when things don't look so good.
As they waited, Audrey took out a small pocket book and resumed her reading. Normally when she's in a long line, she would be on her phone, but considering her situation of not having it in this time, she had to come up with another method of passing the time.
Just then, Cuphead pondered something for a second before responding
"Hmm, say, Mugsy, hold my spot. I'm gonna go grab us some funnel cake."
"But you don't even like funnel cake." Mugman reminded him
"Hey, you don't like knitting soul-saving invisible sweaters, but you made me one anyway." Cuphead smiled, putting an arm around his brother. "The least I can do is buy you some funnel cake."
He then headed off and the young couple smiled.
"Aww, that's so sweet of him to do that!" Audrey sighed.
"Yeah, that really shows he's growing up." Josh agreed.
"So true. And while he can be annoying, I'm glad he's being more responsible." Mugman smiled. "You know, I think I see a change in him…"
Just then Cuphead popped back over and asked his brother
"Can I borrow five bucks?"
The trio groaned.
"Aaaand the moment's passed." Josh sighed.
"Cuphead, how about we go get it together?" Audrey suggested. "We can get one that's big enough for all of us to share."
"Ok!" Cuphead smiled. "The more the merrier."
They then headed off to the food court to get some funnel cake.
While the group was having fun, elsewhere, the Devil was continuing to use his magic to paint the fence, skipping along to the beat of music, which was playing "Saint-Saëns-'Danse macabre'.
Also, getting serious Fantasia vibes here.
The paintbrushes, upon his command, were swirling colors around the fence, dipping back in the paint buckets, and creating different designs.
At one point, the Devil swept them up in the air, and placed two brushes on each side of a can, each to their designated color. With a twirl of his finger, he caused the paint to swirl up in the air, as he floated in the center and clapped his hands together, causing the colors to fall on the fence, finishing the song.
The paint fell on the border, covering sections of various colors, and creating a clean and glistening touch to it. The colors then magically vanished before lightning strikes, counseling it now in white paint. The brushes then hopped into the buckets as the Devil floated down, bowed and announced
"And that is how you paint a fence!"
After a second, he heard a small round of applause. He wondered if that actually amazed them, but then heard two familiar voices praise him
"Wonderful job, boss!"
"Yeah! It blew me away!"
When he looked he was shocked to see Bash and Shriek, clapping for him.
"You two?! What are you bimbos doing here?!" He snapped.
"Well, we finished a few things you asked us to do." Bash replied. "We wanted to come up here and help you with the cup and Audrey, but you looked pretty busy."
"Yeah, but the show was soooo cool!" Shriek squealed. "Though, it was a bit weird for you to do this great performance with no one watching."
"What are you talking about?" The Devil asked. "The four of them are right-"
He looked around, but for some reason, he didn't see the group anywhere. The sound of cicadas filled his ears as he looked back and forth in the area.
It became pretty clear to him what happened and he felt more of an idiot than he did an hour ago.
"Unbelievable!" He cried. "Those idiots missed out on a great show and made me do their work!"
"Well, to be honest, you kinda should have seen that coming." Shriek mentioned.
*BAM!*
The Devil then blasted fire at Shriek, making him burnt to a crisp. He blinked twice before becoming a pile of dust. His brother grabbed a broom and dust pan and swept him up, pulled out a potion from his pocket and got him back to normal.
"Ugh! Where did those three nitwits go?" He growled.
"Uh boss-" Bash started, but before he could finish, the Devil stepped on something wet.
He looked down and saw some white paint on the bottom of his foot, as well as many white footprints on the ground, leading away from the cottage.
He frowned and growled, as his minions looked with confusion and a bit of worry.
"Erm, boss, you ok?" Bash asked.
"You two, head back to the underworld and clean my throne." He instructed. "I'll be back in a moment."
Tapping his pitchfork, he teleported out.
The two looked at each other, and after a second Shriek groaned. "Oh man, we have to clean his throne! I don't wanna do that!"
"Come on, let's get the manual…" Bash sighed.
The two then teleported back to the underworld.
Meanwhile, after a few hours had passed, Cuphead and Audrey returned to Mugman and Josh, while carrying a plate of funnel cake.
Cuphead, however, was covered head to toe in powdered sugar. That was very obvious, as a trail of it made residents cough and gasp at the cloud. They finally made it to the boys and Josh looked with confusion as well as concerned.
"Whoa. What happened?" He asked.
"There was a little, powdered-sugar mishap." Cuphead replied.
"Turns out a 'little' dust of sugar ended up being a mountain of it." Audrey sighed, dusting the sugar off her dress. "But otherwise, it's no biggie."
"Oh yeah! No problem! I never say no to extra sugar." Mugman smiled, as he took a piece and lightly tapped Cuphead's chest.
He popped it in his mouth as Josh and Audrey took a bite and giggled. "Let's hope I don't eat any invisible sweater hairs."
"Oh man, that would be bad." Audrey chuckled.
"Heh, you might…if I didn't take it off hours ago." Cuphead claimed.
The four had a good laugh, thinking Cuphead was just pulling their legs. However, as Mugman thought more about it, he had a very horrible feeling.
Shocked, he spat out his food and gasped. "You what?!"
"I took off the sweater." Cuphead repeated.
"Wait, what?!" Audrey cried. "You actually took it off!?"
"Well, where is it?!" Mugman frantically asked, shaking his brother.
Cuphead thought it over before he announced. "Hmm... Looks like I don't remember."
"Dude!" Josh groaned. "Why did you do that? He's still at the house!"
"Cuphead, what happened to 'never take it off'?!" Mugman cried.
Cuphead rolled his eyes and stated. "Big deal. It's not like the Devil's around or anything."
That was very short lived because suddenly they heard-
*POOF!*
They saw that the Devil appeared behind them, really really mad.
Cuphead yelped and jumped into his brother's arms, screaming
"Ahhh! The Devil!"
"Stay calm, Cuphead." His brother whispered. "He doesn't know you took the sweater off."
"Oh, yeah!" Cuppy recalled, smiling at the annoyed Devil.
Though, to Audrey's surprise, even though a few people saw him, they didn't run off screaming like they normally would. They just saw him, shrugged and proceeded to wait in line.
"Wow, they must be used to him." She pondered. "Wonder if it's because of his constant failing."
The Devil took a breath and announced with teeth gritted.
"I painted your little fence. Now, off with the sweater. Let's go!"
"Well, how do we know you painted the fence?" Cuphead asked, as Mugman placed him down.
"I don't know. Go look!" He replied, annoyed. "It's actually quite good."
"Fat chance, buddy. We've been waiting in line all day to ride the Obliterator." Cuphead stated.
"The what now?" The Devil asked. Cuphead pointed upward, and he saw the ride he was talking about. It spun fast, before instantly spinning at rapid speed. It spun so fast, clothes were torn off of people.
A sock landed on the Devil's face and as he grabbed it, he remembered something Henchman told him earlier that day.
"Hey, boss. It's the Obliterator, remember? It'll tear the clothes right off of you."
Suddenly, he had a terrible grin come on his face, chuckling evilly.
"Why do I have a very bad feeling about this?" Josh asked.
"He's planning something, that is certain." Audrey informed him.
Finally, after a bit, the Devil replied "On second thought, I think I'll join you, boys."
"What? Join them?" Audrey asked. "Look, I know you're about thrills and chills and everything evil, but I don't think you would wanna ride this. It might not be something you'd enjoy."
"Oh, nonsense, my sweet. I'd be more than happy to join them for a bit." The Devil informed her. "Besides, I got nothing better to do and this ride looks like fun."
"That's the spirit!" Cuphead beamed. "The more the merrier!"
Mugman knew that the Devil would find out about the sweater and he knew he was not going to be happy.
Hoping to buy him some time, Mugman asked. "Uh, hey, Cuphead. Maybe you should go back to the cottage?" He then made gestures of taking off and putting on a shirt as he proceeded. "In case you forgot something you took off, and need to put back on?"
Cuphead, clearly not getting the message, whined "But it's almost time for the ride."
Mugman groaned. This was literally impossible to get what he was saying. He threw up his hands in defeat and groaned. "I'll go!" As he passed by the group,he grumbled. "Always doing everything around here because he took off the sweater…"
"Josh, would you be so kind as to help Mugman?" Audrey asked. "I can save your spot here."
"Will you be ok with him around?" Josh asked, motioning to the Devil. "He could nab you in a second."
"Not as long as I have my sketchbook." She informed him, showing her shoulder bag. "I'll be fine. If he tries to get me, I'll drop an anvil on him."
"That's my girl." Josh chuckled. Giving her a kiss, he rushed off to catch up to Mugman.
Now it was just the three of them. Cuphead gave the Devil a cute smile which he ignored, pulled out a filer from his pocket (cartoon logic) and began filing his claws. Audrey decided to continue reading, hoping to ignore any conversations he might strike up.
Cuphead, however, stepped close to the Devil, who ignored him, and grinned at him.
"Hey, Devil. Wanna hear a joke?" He asked.
"I hear nothing." He sternly replied.
However, Cuphead decided to proceed with the joke, much to his annoyance.
"What's worse than finding a worm in your apple?" When the Devil refused to respond, Cuphead finished with
"Finding half a worm in your apple. Get it? 'Cause that would mean you ate the other half? Get it? 'Cause it's only half of it in there? 'Cause you ate the other half?"
Audrey could see that the more Cuphead talked to him, the more annoyed he was becoming. She had to hold back a laugh. She didn't know why it was amusing to see a little boy annoy the king of darkness, but it really was entertaining.
To her, Cuphead was like the Annoying Orange she and her friends would watch on Youtube. It was annoying, as the title said, but they did have fun laughing at the videos.
Finally, having enough, the Devil shouted. "Yes! I get it! Thank you!"
Cuphead then proceeded to hop on a barrel and asked him a different question.
"You know what's worse than finding half a worm in your apple?"
The Devil pinched the bridge of his nose and grumbled. "Ugh, What?"
"Falling in a sewer." Cuphead replied. Audrey wasn;'t sure how that was supposed to be funny, but the Devil held back a laugh, containing his laughter.
"I saw a smile!" Cuphead stated in a sing-song tone, giving the biggest and dopiest yet cutest grin he could make.
"You most certainly did not." The Devil disagreed.
"You sure?" Audrey smiled. "Thought I heard something."
"Well, you, my dear, were mistaken." he simply put. "Besides, jokes are childish and I have no time for that."
Audrey thought it was interesting he found a joke funny, especially since he said it was 'childish', considering he acts like a child. She wanted to tell them a good joke but nothing sounded good to her.
That is until she had a thought.
"Say, I have one, if you want to hear." She finally chimed in.
"Please tell me!" Cuphead beamed. "I love jokes!"
"Oh, fine. Might as well hear what you got." the Devil shrugged.
"Ok, what is black and white and red all over?" She asked.
The two contemplated the joke, but shrugged after a bit.
"It's a zebra, with a bad sunburn." She announced.
Cuphead busted out laughing, holding his stomach, and the Devil snorted, trying to hold back his chortling, but it came out in giggles.
"Oh man, that was funny, Audrey!" Cuphead giggled. "That was a good one."
"Yes! That was really something." The Devil sighed.
"So, jokes aren't childish behavior?" Audrey asked in a sly tone.
"Well, I guess I can make an exception." The Devil shrugged.
As they waited in line, they told one another jokes or funny puns, laughing with one another.
While it was all fun and games, Audrey just hoped it was enough to buy Mugman and Josh some time to get the sweater.
One that can blend in with anything perfectly
Meanwhile, once the boys got home, they immediately began searching high and low in the house, determined to find the invisible sweater.
Mugman rushed to his bedroom, opened his closet and pushed back the many hanging clothes.
"Where did he put it?! Where did he put it?!" He frantically gasped. He then retreated to his dresser and opened a drawer, throwing clothes out, but to no luck.
Josh came into the room, and announced "It's not in the kitchen, hallway, or the guest room. Starting to run out of places to look."
"Oh! This is horrible! We're running out of time!" Mugman whimpered. "Come on, Mugs! Think! If I was Cuphead, where would I put an invisible sweater?"
Suddenly, they both heard the radio announcer down in the living room.
"Attention, Dirk Dangerous fans. Did our last sweat-inducing episode leave you sweatier than ever?"
Then, Mugman's straw went in an upright position, with a small light ball underneath it, along with a "Ding!"
"Josh, I think I know exactly where it is."
"And then the banana says, 'Thursday!'" Cuphead gleefully replied
That caused the trio to laugh once more. As they passed the time with jokes, and laughing, they found themselves next in line for the ride. Audrey knew she was not going to ride it, that was certain, but she wanted to make sure the boys got to it without any issues.
Things seem to be going well for the moment.
The Devil wiped a tear away as he claimed.
"How delightfully unexpected!" He took a happy sigh and added "You know, Cuphead, you're not so bad after all."
"Thanks." Cuphead smiled, as the three faced the front. The Devil then gently patted Cuphead's arm. Now, usually when one does that, they would pull their arm away. However, the Devil kept tapping his shoulder, as if he was feeling for something.
Normally when he attempted to grab his chest, he would feel a terrible shock surge throughout his body. Only this time he didn't.
He turned Cuphead around, poke his chest, felt around and then, it clicked for him.
"You're not wearing the sweater!" He gasped.
Audrey realized he figured it out and began to panic
"Oh, no that's not good." She muttered. She started reaching for her sketchbook while Cuphead argued.
"Uh... Am too!" But his bravery turned to fear as the Devil had a horrible grin come upon his face.
He backed away from him, but couldn't go far since there wasn't a good place to run to. Audrey attempted to stop the Devil, but he slapped the book out of her hands and wrapped his tail around her, trapping her and pinning her to his chest.
"Hey! Let go!" She shouted, squirming.
Ignoring her, he turned to Cuphead, and taunted "Are not!"
With that, he reached over, and grabbed his chest, pulling out his soul and began to drain the color and life from him.
"NO!" Audrey screamed.
The Devil was close to pull out the boy's soul completely when suddenly they heard Mugman shout
"You're right. He's not wearing the sweater. You are!"
The Devil had very little time to react, as Mugman lept in the air and shoved the sweater on him, causing him once more to feel that terrible shock surge though his body.
*ZAP ZAP ZAP!*
That was enough to release Cuphead's soul and Audrey. She scampered back and rushed to Josh, who held her in a protective hug.
As he shouted in pain, Mugman patted his brother's back in his body, giving him life and color again. Cuphead took a gasp and panted, feeling his heart race. He, along with the rest, saw the Devil being shocked.
Normally one would try and help, but the residents thought it was better not to, as one began to eat popcorn as they witnessed his pain.
The boys winced at the pain, but then, Cupehad nudged to his brother the ride, seeing empty seats pass by.
He nodded and the two hopped into a seat.
"Whoa! This is crazy to watch!" Josh gasped. "Not a pretty sight."
"I know." Audrey nodded. "What should we do?"
"Hmmm…wanna go on the ferris wheel?" He suggested.
"Sure. Love that idea." she smiled.
Gathering her sketchbook, the two quickly passed by the crowd and headed to the ferris wheel, while the boys laughed cheerfully, riding the Obliterator.
"Well, that went just as I planned." The Devil sighed. It wasn't long after the incident at the pier, and the Devil was once more in his throne room, reclining on his chair.
The only thing was, the sweater did an insane amount of damage to him, losing his fur on his belly, chest and upper arms, leaving behind bare and bruised skin.
Henchman, accompanied by Bash and Shriek, dapped a cotton ball soaked with medicine on his master's arm, which caused him to scream in pain.
"YEOW!"
"Uh, sorry, boss." Henchman calmly stated.
"Looks like you'll need time to recover." Bash claimed. "Big time."
"You look like a roast turkey." Shriek piped up, getting some wrapped bandages prepared. "Only, the oven timer didn't go off…"
Ignoring that comment, the Devil took a huff, asking "And where is the sweater now?"
"It's hidden away." Henchman replied. Leaning close to his ear, he replied in a loud whisper. "in an undisclosed location."
"Thank you, Henchman." the Devil growled, shoving Henchman away. In a more sickening tone, he claimed " Perfect. Without the sweater, I can just go and take that cup's soul and my bride any time I want!"
However, that was going to be a very, very long time to recover before he could do anything like that.
Henchman made it clear as he once more lightly dabbed the cotton ball on his back.
"Yow!" He groaned.
"Uh, sorry, boss." Henchman apologized.
The Devil groaned. He knew that his recovery was going to be a while. Even though he would like to go back and try to steal his bride away, he needed to come up with a careful plan, one that would be full-proof and diabolical.
But for now, he's on bedrest for the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, after riding the ferris wheel and meeting up with the boys, the group decided to head back home. After all that had happened, they needed to go home for some well deserved rest.
"Wow! What a great day." Cuphead smiled as they walked across the stone bridge from the pier. "Gotta say, it was the most exciting day I've ever had!"
"Well, except I'm pretty sure the Devil's angrier than ever, and you no longer have the one thing that'll stop him getting your soul." Mugman mentioned.
"Yeah. We need to come up with a better plan to keep him far, far away." Audrey agreed. "I know we have some time since he's going to be in the ER of the underworld, but we need to be prepared for anything."
"That is facts." Josh nodded.
"True. But, hey, I got the best brother and best human friends in the world looking out for me." Cuphead mentioned. "Really makes me feel so much less exposed."
Audrey had to hold back a laugh. The ad for the Obliterator was right; it went so fast, it tore the clothes right off them. The only thing that they had on were their shoes, gloves and underpants.
She thankfully found their clothes and before they made their way home, she stopped them and put them in their clothing.
"Sorry. I know you boys had fun, but walking around in your underwear isn't a pleasant sight to see." She informed them.
"Gotcha." They nodded.
As they walked home, Audrey was in thought.
"Well, that was not the way I hoped things would go, but on the plus side, he'll be gone for a while. Hopefully, by the time he recovers, I can find those people to help me and Josh get home. Though they are supposed to find me, not the other way around. They 'sweater' get going. Ha, I'm funny."
Well, that was a really shocking, wasn't it? ha, made a joke. Well, with the sweater gone and the Devil in the ER, seems the group will have a bit of a breather...or will they? "Toon" in next adventure!
As always, thanks so much for reading! Don't forget to leave a review, but let's avoid the flames please :D