Blackwolfen: And we continue with our Story here. I hope you all had a great Halloween ;)

Gemwing2012: Having a scene with Lena Hyena was fun to do. No doubt she would have a thing for any man she deemed attractive whether he'd be a human toon or even a furry. It's fun to spice things up with some twists and turns as well as a few musical numbers every now and then.

Nataliepthatsme: If I were to see another woman desire for Anubis I would have said "He's all yours honey." It was a clever idea to use that from Who Framed Roger Rabbit as Eddie was tricked thinking he found Jessica. Glad to see the story is still progressing and can't wait to see what'll happen next

LexieLuthor98: It's nice to see Alicia back on her feet again! And Anubis running away from Lena the Hyena was HILARIOUS! XD! Beautiful that he gets a taste of his own medicine.

But uh oh, it seems the Devil's got something up his sleeve. Ugh, what now? I'll stay "tuned" for the next chapter. Peace!

Back with John and the others, they looked everywhere for the Toad Workshop and the Black and White neighborhood. But since it was during nighttime, it was hard to figure out where the neighborhood is.

The group wandered further not knowing that a certain demon and a certain bounty hunter walked just past them a street away.

"Oh, terrific. Looks like that frost-bitten dragon and the boyfriends of that blonde brat and pink pest are here, too." The Devil muttered in sarcasm. He then eyed John.

"And no doubt that's the human disguise of my double who claims to be the hubby of my darling Alicia! Ugh! I can come up with a much more dashing and better looking human form than that!"

As the boys and their group were passing by, the Devil came up with a plan.

"Anubis, why don't you go look for your own bride and I'll handle those mortals and their companions?" The Devil ordered, grabbing his trident.

"Si, that would be my pleasure, Señor Diablo." Anubis replied with a wicked grin before he disappeared into the shadows and creeped away into town.

The Devil taps his trident to the ground and disappears in a great puff of black smoke.

As the group were walking still when…

*POOF!*

"What the…?" John stopped.

There, standing in front of him and his group was the Devil with a glaring frown on his face, hand on one hip while holding his trident in the other.

"Wait a minute… No, you are not him." John was confused as he saw the Devil standing in front of him.

He didn't watch The Cuphead Show, but he knew that the other Devil had white horns and not yellow ones or even a red nose.

"John! Look out! That's the Devil from the cartoon! The same jerk who's been after Katie and your sister!" Kaichi warned while Matt grabbed Ash and clung onto Liam's leg.

John turned around to him and the others "That Rudolph clone is after my sister even though she's already married?"

"Yep." Liam answered bluntly.

After a second, John bursted out laughing.

"Uh, excuse me! What's so funny?!" The Devil demanded, annoyed and offended.

But John laughed more before he could answer his question.

"Sorry, but I doubt that my sister would be in love with you. I mean does your nose glow too when you are angry?" He laughed even more than before.

This greatly angered the Devil as he literally bursts into flames of rage. He then pointed his trident at John and blasted a fireball at him.

"John! Look out!" Vale cried as he ran towards John.

The dragon took to the air and grabbed John by the shoulders in his claws and yanked up before the fireball could hit him. Instead, the flames left a crater in the road where the young man once stood.

"Thanks for the help buddy." John thanked him.

"You're welcome." Vale nodded.

"WHAT?! You again?!" The Devil roared. "Why must you and that double of mine have to get in between me and my beautiful brides, you frost-bitten lizard?!"

"Again my sister is already taken dude." John rolled his eyes.

"And that's actually her brother you tried to burn just now, you Big Dimwit!" Andy snapped.

Ash, now angry, started growling and barking at the Devil, bearing teeth and everything.

"SHUT UP!" The Devil snarled at the Jack-a-Bee in a demonic voice.

Ash whimpered in fear and hid behind a terrified Matt and a now furious Liam.

"OI MATE! DON'T YOU DARE YELL AT MY DOG!"

"Woah! Easy fella you don't have to be so angry." John tried to calm the Devil down.

"I'LL GIVE YOU 'ANGRY'!" The Devil thundered as he pointed his trident at John again.

But before the Devil could do anything, Andy got out his wand and casted a lightning spell, zapping the Devil like in the same fashion when he gets electrocuted by the impenetrable invisible sweater up to the point of his skeleton is showing.

"Alright, that is cool and disturbing at the same time." John said with Duke standing next to him.

"Funny, too." Duke commented, wagging his tail.

"Yeah, you're right buddy." John agreed and petted him.

After the spell subsided, Vale used his ice breath to freeze the Devil solid in a huge block of ice.

"That takes care of that." Liam stated.

"I'm rather confused by how he had mistaken John for Alicia's husband in disguise." Misterie said, rolling her eyes in disbelief.

"Maybe we can talk about that when we see my sister and the others." John mentions.

"Good idea." Kaichi agreed. "Sure hope they're doing okay."

"Oh, they will be." John said.

He and the group walked away. As they were gone, the Devil freed himself from the ice as he literally exploded in a burst of flames in rage.

The Devil furiously looks around himself to find that John and his group have left, much to his further outrage.

"Unbelievable!" The Devil exclaimed in frustration. "Where did those nitwits and those fur balls go?!"

With trident in hand, the Devil stormed off to go look for Alicia and Katie while grumbling under his breath.

Meanwhile, Anubis was prowling about downtown, tracking down Natty and her friends. He happened to come upon Bart Simpson, who was just skateboarding across the street. The yellow-skinned 10-year-old stopped and hopped off his skateboard and casually walked up to the jackal.

"Hey, man. If you're looking for some pretty girl with black hair and wearing a pink shirt wandering by, I saw her just checking in at that hotel over there." Bart said, pointing at a large and fancy hotel.

Anubis smirked deviously before he put on a fake sincere smile as he said, "Gracias, little amigo."

As the bounty hunter hurried over to the hotel, Bart gave out his signature snicker of mischief as he muttered, "Sucker."

The Simpson boy, while a prankster and troublemaker, he's still a good kid and often puts his mischief to good use. He suspected Anubis was up to no good and what better way to keep a creeper from bothering one of the girls than a prank?

From outside the hotel Anubis saw the shadow of a young woman on the third floor standing behind some curtains.

Anubis grinned lustfully like a predator herding its prey into a corner before he went inside. At the lobby, he went to the elevator and pressed the button to go up. As the doors open, Droopy is dressed as a bellhop as he manning the elevator.

"Going up, sir?" Droopy asked.

Anubis looked down to him and nodded before he tripped and fell in since the interior was steep.

"Mind your step, sir." Droopy cautioned. As Anubis got up, the doors closed and Droopy prepared to pull the lever for up. "Hold on, sir."

As the elevator goes up, Anubis suddenly feels his body turning into liquid and is stuck on the floor of the elevator like a puddle.

*DING!*

The moment the elevator reached the floor he wanted to reach, Anubis was suddenly thrown up into the air and was stuck to the ceiling of the elevator.

"Your floor, sir." Droopy informed.

The doors open and Anubis comically falls to the floor. In annoyance, he glared at Droopy.

"Have a good day, sir." Droopy said before he closed the door and the elevator went back down.

Getting up onto his feet, Anubis dusted himself, muttering out his frustrations in Spanish, before he composed himself and approached a door. He peeked through the keyhole and sees the silhouette of a young woman inside a hotel room, unpacking a suitcase.

"Ah, now I have you, mi corazon." Anubis smirked.

He opened the door and was ready to grab her… when he noticed something off about the woman.

Her body looked almost like Natty's. Only her face wasn't.

"A MAAAAAANNNNNN!" Yelled the woman named Lena the Hyena as she runs towards Anubis with open arms and her eyes turning into hearts.

"Ay Caramba!" Anubis yelped in horrified disgust as Lena came running towards him, puckering up her lips towards him.

Before she could hug and kiss him though the jackal closed the door on her. Anubis quickly made a run for it just as Lena's lips smashed through the door while still making kissing noises. Lena then kicked the door down as heart bubbles formed around her head.

"Yoo-hoo! Puppy!" Lena called lovingly. "It's Lena Hyena!"

Anubis spit out his tongue in disgust as he tries to get away from her. He runs to the elevator and pressed the button in panic but comically a sign appears that says "Out of Order."

"Maldito!" The Jackal cursed in annoyance and panic at the same time. For a good reason. Lena was on his tail and wanted to smooch him.

Anubis looked around until he saw an open window and jumped out of it before Lena could run into him and hit the wall with her lips, turning her flat and sticking to the wall.

Anubis sighs in relief and lays back before closing his eyes.

Until he noticed he was falling down and almost hit the ground if it wasn't for the Devil to catch him with his hands.

Anubis sighed. "Gracias, Jefe."

"Did you find either of my darling Alicia or my lovely Katie?" The Devil asked.

There was an awkward pause before Anubis answered, "Uhh… I was looking for mi amor when I ran into… some trouble with the wrong woman."

The Devil made a deadpanned look before letting go of Anubis, dropping him to the ground.

"I see and that's why you fell out of the third floor of this hotel?"

"Si, I had thought mi corazon was up there, but I was proven wrong and I had to run for my life and dignity from that crazy woman." Anubis explained.

The Devil wanted to say something when suddenly someone rushed out of the hotel and ran towards him and Anubis.

It was Lena the Hyena.

"Here comes Lena!" She called out while coming at a horrified Anubis and surprised Devil with the speed of a freight train, giggling lovingly and stupidly.

Panicking, Anubis got up onto his feet and started to do the Bending motion with his arms much like the characters from The Last Airbender. Just as a giggling Lena was coming closer, Anubis used his Shadowbending to manipulate Lena's shadow and threw her face first at the wall of a building close to him and the Devil.

"Oooh!" Lena groaned as she was comically flattened against the wall.

"What the heck was that?!" asked the Devil, confused and somewhat unnerved at the same time.

"Please don't ask." Anubis sighed. "Perhaps we should go look for our amors somewhere else before that loco chica pulls herself together?"

The Devil nodded and teleported himself and Anubis away from the street before Lena regained consciousness.

Back in the gym all the Toons are standing in front of a small TV and doing exercises like the woman in the TV.

Some Toons don't have any problems with that while others have because of their body.

Patrick, Homer Simpson, Po from Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda and Baloo were some of those Toons and ended up on the floor most of the time.

"D'oh!" Homer grunted in pain and frustration as he had bumped the back of his head the moment he had flopped back onto the floor while attempting to do sit-ups.

The others don't have any problems at all while doing the exercises.

Almost all seats are taken by cartoon or anime characters coming from all around Toon Town to see the training for themself and maybe ask to be in the Toon Squad.

"Hey, uh, fellas!" Mickey called, getting everyone's attention.

All the Toons who were training or some who were supporting them from the sidelines stopped what they were doing and looked over at Bugs and Mickey had stepped into the gym and moved one side of the door.

"Look who's ready to play." Bugs announced.

The door opens and the Dreamstones enter the gym in their sports uniform.

The Toons were stunned by their look and didn't notice that Alicia was missing and still sitting in the locker room.

"Hey, Al? You okay?" Lexie asked in concern.

"I'm coming guys, you can go ahead!" said Alicia.

She walked out as well with a basketball in hand and looked towards the others. The Toons were awed by her tunic, impressed.

Alicia smiled nervously but she was ready for the Training.

The Dreamstones and the Toons were ready as well and watched Alicia play basketball while Lexie, Natty and Katie tried to block her or grab the ball from her. But Alicia avoids them and tosses the ball in the net.

"Wow! She's amazing!" Katie beamed.

Like Micheal Jordan Alicia slam dunk the basketball and held onto the ring. The Toons were completely awed by this as they all grinned and cheered.

Even Daffy was impressed as his eyes turned into basketball nets, his pupils as the balls being tossed through the hoops.

"Whoa!" Alicia falls down but thankfully she didn't hurt herself thanks to her Ultrahand Ability.

"That was new." she said with relief and heard something behind her.

"You were awesome!" Natty commented. "None of us were able to keep up with you."

"I'll say! You're a natural!" Lexie added.

"You think?" asked Alicia.

"Most definitely!" Katie smiled. "You'd practically be the next Micheal Jordan with that brilliant talent!"

Alicia blushed. "T-Thanks guys."

Before the other girls could answer, John was at the door, followed up by Kaichi, who was carrying Lexie's paintbrush in its bracelet form.

"John! Kaichi!" Natty exclaimed.

"Hey!" Kaichi responded, flittering over to Lexie, holding out her bracelet. "Here, Lex. Carrying it back out from the hotel wasn't easy, but it was still manageable."

"Wow! You're awesome!" Lexie beamed, taking her bracelet in gratitude. "Thanks so much!"

"No problem." Kaichi replied before Katie happily took him in her hands and snuggled him against her cheek in relief.

"Just glad you're back safely." Katie sighed.

"Sure hope nobody minds, but we also bumped into some friends of yours who are excited to see you again." John spoke up as some familiar faces walked up behind him.

The Dremstone girls gave a gasp as they saw Liam, Andy and Vale approach them, with big grins on their faces.

"Liam!"

"Andy!"

"Vale!"

The girls rushed up and hugged them tight. Coming through the door were also Misterie, Blood and Muru. Misterie smiled warmly while Aren cooed, as they witnessed the reunion.

"Oh, Lee! I'm so glad you're here!" Lexie smiled, as Andy and Nat gave each other a kiss.

"Same here. I'm glad you're ok." Liam replied.

"Vale! You're here!" Katie exclaimed lovingly as she embraced Vale like one would with their dog. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too." Vale mentioned. "I was worried about you and the rest but I'm glad you're safe. I wouldn't know what to do without you."

"But how did you manage to get to California without being seen by other humans?" Katied asked in concern.

"Oh that was easy." Misterie chimed in. "I had given him a magic charm bracelet. Once he put it on, it gave him the ability to look human. He blended in perfectly."

As a demonstration, Vale touched the bracelet and before the girls' and Toon's very eyes, he took on the form of a human.

Katie's eyes widened as she was blushing a deep magenta.

"W-wow…! Vale, you're… so incredible!" Katie exclaimed in awe and lovetstruck.

Vale smiled sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head with a chuckle before Katie hugged him again, kissing him on the cheek.

Alicia smiled a little bit as she saw her friends being happy to be reunited with their friends. She was also happy to see Blood, Misterie and Muru again. Suddenly she began to have a flashback running in front of her eyes like a movie.

It was a bad memory back when she was in high school. She was performing in a Shakespere play and her parents weren't there to cheer for her.

"Look, her parents didn't show up!"

"Oh my, I feel so sorry for her."

"Don't her parents love her? Or is she just a failure?"

All those hurtful words were running through her head while she slowly moved backwards to the entrance door of the gym.

Her eyes slowly filled up with tears.

Not because she was jealous or like that. No, she felt left out.

All her friends had their loved one with them.

But she didn't and that's not even the worst part. She missed the Inkwell Isle's from the book even more than the one from the Cuphead Show.

Natty took notice of her distraught look and piped up, "Al? You okay?"

She didn't get an answer as Alicia turned around with tears running down her eyes and ran outside the gym before she teleports away.

"Alicia! Wait!" The girls called, but were too late to call for her.

John noticed something was wrong and followed the girls outside the gym.

"What could have happened?" Lexie wondered. "We didn't say or do anything."

"I don't think it's that." Natty mentioned.

John sighed sadly.

"John? Do you have any idea?" Katie asked.

"I have but before I tell you that you need to understand one thing first." He replied. "Since we were kids, we visited the Inkwell Isle's from the book almost everyday and every debtor was a part of our family."

"Is she homesick?" Natty asked. "I mean, that's totally understandable…"

"Not only that. Since she is, well, married with you-know-who, she is back to her old self and feels better than before." He sighed again.

"Oooohh, she misses her husband." Katie concluded. "And seeing us with our lovers made her miss him."

"Him the most, but also our godparents and the Cups." John added.

A small tear slid down his cheek he wiped away.

"Look guys, I know the Devil you meet was different from ours, but you know what they say "Never judge a book by its cover" right?" He smiled nervously.

"Yeah, I know that saying" Lexie mentioned.

"It's still hard most especially for me to wrap my head around it but, she always did tell me that he's shockingly sweet to her despite her first visit in the book." Katie admitted. "And he's certainly much more caring about her well-being than the Devil from the show."

"Not to mention all the terror he caused and how he kidnapped her a few times." Natty chimed in.

"Well that's because she didn't tell you the whole story. Maybe you should talk with her about that and maybe she will be okay but I can't promise anything." John stated.

"Okay, we'll try." Lexie smiled.

"I certainly hope we'll find her before the Big Doofus does first." Katie spoke up in concern. "The last thing she wants is for that overgrown throw rug trying to kidnap her while she's at her most emotionally vulnerable."

"Well, I don't know where she could go to." said John, thinking about where his sister is right now.

"Does she often find somewhere that she finds most comfortable to hide away in to cry?" Vale inquired. "Like a glade or by the river? Anything that carries a calming atmosphere?"

"Hmm, maybe a blanket or something fluffy?" John suggested. "When she was a baby she had a small blanket my mother always wrapped around her. She still has this blanket with her today if she feels well… sad or lonely."

In fact, Alicia was not far away from the gym. She was back in the area where she and the Dreamstones and her brother landed the first time in Toon Town.

Alicia was cuddling the blanket she had in her pocket and cried. Slowly, she changed to her demon form. Her tail wrapped around her leg while her wolf ears lowered down.

"Alicia?"

Katie had slowly approached her with a look of great concern on her face. Lexie and Natty soon followed her with the same worried look.

Alicia heard her and showed her her back.

"Leave me alone!" She sobbed. "Don't you see what I am?"

"Yes, but… we don't care." Katie answered. "Demon or human, you're still our friend and you're the most pure-hearted person we have ever met."

"That's right. We only look at the heart of people, not the appearance." Natty calmly stated.

"And what about the others? Do they think I'm a monster just because I'm lonely?" Alicia asked.

"No! Alicia, they're worried about you!" Lexie informed her. "It would be horrible for someone to mistreat someone who gets lonely. You're NOT a monster."

"But I have the feeling I am one and everyone is ignoring this so why should I be the coach in the first place?" Alicia wept.

She was ready to remove the tunic and hand it over to Lexie.

"Alicia, no one is saying that." Natty assured her. "We're all trying to help one another for the big game. The Toons are under a lot of pressure, since they could be taken from their homes. We all need someone who can help us, someone who has a better understanding of basketball and you're one of the best coaches we got."

"Nat's right. Not one toon as said you're a monster or thinks negatively of you." Lexie added.

Alicia said nothing but through about that as tears run down her cheeks as her tail closed around her leg.

Katie approached Alicia and rubbed her back.

"I know it's a lot of pressure and you think that no one cares." She started. "But you have to know, we do care and everyone is happy to have you as their coach. We didn't ask you to lead us so we can make fun of you. We asked you because we saw the potential you have to lead us to victory. We're all happy you're here and we couldn't have asked for a better coach."

Some Toons appeared around the area, feeling sad themselves when they saw Alicia.

"Alicia, please don't be sad." Peach chimed in, handing her a handkerchief.

But Alicia ignored it.

"Al, look, we get it, you have had some bad experience, but that can't stop you from helping us." Sonic claimed. "If you let that bug ya, it'll totally knock you down."

"I love all your effort but… I…" Alicia went silent and hid her head in her blanket. She didn't know what to say.

Suddenly Mugman remembered what John had said and tugs on Lexie's shirt.

"Say, Miss Lexie. I think I have something that could help. John mentioned this to me earlier."

Lexie looked down at him and nodded.

She knelt down and listened to what he whispered in her ear.

"Uh huh…okay…yeah, that'll work."

Surrendered by Toons, Alicia noticed someone was walking up to her.

It was Lexie.

"Hmm?" said Alicia.

"Maybe this could help." Lexie spoke up as she took off her beaded bracelet and transformed it into her paintbrush.

With a wave, she painted a starry dome around Alicia, their group, Blood, Misterie, Muru, the Toons and herself.

Alicia was more than confused about what was going on.

Catching on, Misterie pulled out a crystal from her bag and signaled Blood with a nod of her head, prompting the timberwolf to cast a light spell from his wand to cast a light to shine onto the crystal. The light reflected off the crystal, creating starry shapes of various animals and creatures, including a wolf, a wyvern and a phoenix.

****New Song: "Who You Really Are" from Balto 2: Wolf Quest****

Blood: You must go to the east, go to the west. The road is rocky and the way is far.

Muru: It's a dangerous trail, a difficult quest. If you want to know who you really are?

Misterie: There are voices all around you, To comfort and to guide you

Blood: Fathers and teachers, powerful creatures

All three: And a voice that sings inside you Or you can turn back around

Blood: Run along home. Back to the place where your friends are.

Misterie: Perhaps that is best. You need the rest

Muru: Who wants to go on a ridiculous quest?

Misterie: Unless you want to know

Blood: You truly want to know

Muru: Unless you want to know

All three: Who you really are?

Chorus: Who are you?

Who are you?

Who are you? (repeat 6 times)

****End of song****

Alicia was speechless when she heard that song. She didn't know what to say at all but the song seemed to work.

She smiled again and slowly but steady, returned back to her old self.

"You see? We're all here with you." Mickey smiled. "You're never alone and always with good pals."

Alicia wanted to say something about that but was group hugged by Katie, Natty, Lexie and the cups.

"It's ok, Alicia. We're here for ya!" Cuphead beamed.

"Thanks, guys." said Alicia.

"No prob, Al." Natty smiled.

"Actually, I'm sorry guys." Alicia explained.

"Why are you sorry?" Lexie asked. "There's nothing to be sorry about."

"I'm sorry for running away so suddenly. I had a flashback and I…didn't…know what to…" tears ran down her cheek as she went silent.

"Al, it's okay. We all feel insecure about something and our memories remind us of that." Katie brought up. "But the most important thing is to move on and to build confidence in one another. We can't let the past determine our future."

"I just hope that I will see them again." Alicia mentions.

"We know you will, and when you do see them, they'll give you the biggest hug you'll ever imagine." Natty assured her.

"I can already imagine it." Alicia smiled.

The boys smiled, overjoyed to see Alicia is feeling better.

"Well, since we're all here, maybe we can lend a hand by joining the team." Andy suggested. "I'm sure you're all gonna need all the help you can get."

"To be honest, basketball is still new to me when I've been told what it's all about but I'm sure with enough practice, I'll be happy to do my part." Vale added.

"Should I really be the coach?" asked Alicia.

"Of course!" Katie beamed. "You have more experience and you're the best basketball player among us. You have what it takes to lead us to victory."

"And to give those Goon Stars what for!" Kaichi piped up, pounding his paw into his fist.

"Alright, you got me there guys. I will do it." Alicia accepted.

"Whoo Hoo!" Homer whooped as he threw his arms up into the air while the other Toons cheered.

Alicia chuckled and felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to see it was her brother and the Baroness.

"You know that we're always with you, right sweetie?" Bon Bon asked.

"Don't worry we will find a way to get back in the book." John added.

"The Monstars might have some fancy moves and muscles, but there's a couple of things we have that they don't." Lexie assured.

"Teamwork and true friends who always got each others' backs." Natty chimed in.

Katie nodded.

"The Monstars are just a gang of bullies who are way in over their heads and have the tendency to underestimate people. Their arrogance is their main weakness." She stated. "In a strange way, they seem to remind me of LT. Surge and his Raichu underestimating Ash and Pikachu during the gym battle rematch from Pokémon. They think they have a chance of winning because they're bigger and stronger but they lack strategy."

"Indeed." Misterie agreed. "The Monstars are overestimating themselves. They lack common sense to think of strategies and their overconfidence will be their own undoing.

"Well in that case why don't we decide to show them what we can do?" Alica knuckles her hands.

"Ya know it, girl!" Lexie grinned, holding her hand out. "The Toon Squad?"

"The Toon Squad!" Katie and Natty cheered as they laid their hand over Lexie's.

Cheered up, Alicia stood up, took a big breath and said loudly for everyone to hear:

"Everyone back to the gym we need to train and build our team if we want to win this game!"

Everyone cheered and headed on back towards the gym to train.

Unknown to anyone, the Devil was hiding from the shadows, watching them.

"Well, it seems to me that they're moving along nicely." The Devil claimed. "This might be an interesting game indeed."

He started chuckling to himself slowly at first before he broke out into a fully chilling cackle that could even terrify the dead.