Cuphead raced after the salt shaker as he headed for his tools. The young cup rounded the corner to find Saltbaker at his table. The chef chopped up ingredients with his glittering, oversized butcher knife. His weapon swept the food items off the table. They seemed to gain magical properties and floated towards Cuphead. Sugar cubes floated up and down in the cup child's general direction. Lime slices swiveled around like boomerangs. That distillery dough formed itself into animal-like shapes that bounded toward him.

Cup did his best to duck and weave around the ingredients he had once collected. Good to know that they were all going to waste now, huh? What was the point of gathering all those ingredients if he wasn't going to use them? Cuphead wondered. Or they weren't being used for their intended purpose, that is.

The red cup was able to come out of that menagerie with minimal injuries; nicked on the shoulder with a sugar cube and a little lime juice in his cup. At first the sour liquid didn't seem to have an effect.

"That all you got?" Cuphead taunted. But then he realized that lime juice was starting to settle in. There was a fierce stinging that came up behind his eyes. Water forcibly came out of them as he reached up to rub the awful stuff out. He cried out in pain. The red cup stopped with his incessant rubbing just in time to see the salt shaker rush him. Saltbaker turned to the side and shoved the child with his shoulder. A shelf rattled as Cuphead got slammed into it. Miraculously, none of its contents spilled out on the ground.

Cup looked up and saw the chef advancing on him again. The throbbing pain in his back made him a little stiff. Despite this hindrance, he lifted his hand and unleashed a stream of blue peashooter shots at his adversary. Saltbaker grunted from the unexpected bullet-like shots. The glass person did his best to deflect the pellets with his shining knife. Only a small percentage of them actually got deflected. Most of them found their target and succeeded in slowing the salt shaker down.

Saltbaker watched as the child stopped shooting but then thrust both of its fists forward. A large pulse of blue energy came at him like an explosive rocket. And that's just what it did. The energy exploded on Saltbaker sending him across the room. His knife went spiraling out of his hand in the chaos. Its blade side got stuck in a crack in the tile's anatomy. They both saw the weapon open for grabs and rushed for it. Cup's gloved hand grabbed it first, but the chef held onto his hand before he could pull the knife out.

"Let go, kid. You're messing with a power that you don't understand." The salt shaker said to the cup child.

"So are you!" Cuphead spat back.

"Your brother was going to be the last ingredient for the Wondertart….unless you want to take his place?" The chef taunted him.

"No!" Cup yelled and used his free hand to start pelting the man with his red spread shot. Eight arrowheads rapidly released from his finger and dealt damage to the salt shaker, who cried out in agony. Those magic shots at close range dealt lots of damage. As soon as Saltbaker let go of his hand, the young cup began to use his other hand to utilize yet another attack while Saltbaker was near. His other hand changed up and started to use the new crack shot. The pinkish magic shells opened up and homed in on the chef as he tried to back away from this barrage. Cracking noises could be heard as Saltbaker's glass casing weakened. But Cuphead did not let up until his adversary had collapsed in the corner of the room.

"This is just a mere taste of what I can do to you." The young cup threatened, both his fingers still poised to fire. "Do not come after us anymore, you understand?" But the salt shaker just sat there in a slumped manner. His half-open eyes stared at the floor, not reacting. "Hey, did you hear me? I know you're not dead!" Cuphead said and poked his nose.

Saltbaker reacted faster than Cup anticipated. The chef grabbed the child's wrist and then sent a punch to his gut. It winded the boy just long enough for the salt shaker to pull him close and wrap his thick glass arms around his small enemy. Cuphead thrashed about, throwing kicks and anything he could at the attacking man. The red cup was able to wriggle his way out of the grip. He didn't get far when Saltbaker grabbed him again. An arm promptly went around Cup's neck. The young cup squirmed around again, but the grip was much better this time. It began to tighten. He knew he had to get out of there before he suffocated. Cup pointed a finger back and began to blast Saltbaker with his spread shot right in the face, ultimately creating a big crack on the chef's nose. The salt shaker promptly dropped the child from the pain. It did not take long for the chef to lash out again, though.

He grabbed Cuphead's leg and tripped him up. Falling flat on the floor, the salt shaker advanced on him. The young cup went to turn around and face his adversary. He was met with two glass hands that came down on his neck and tried to strangle him. Cup tried desperately to get the adult's hands away from that vulnerable area. Desperate, empty gasps escaped from his mouth. The red cup knew he was in trouble if he couldn't find a way out of that hold and fast. His oxygen supply was dropping fast, making his eyes want to cross and blur. Cuphead's gaze desperately looked around for something within reach that could help him. Saltbaker's knife was just off to his right. Knowing that was his best shot, he lashed out his arm for it. His fingers came up just short of the weapon. But he wriggled them around and eventually got hold of the knife's handle. Cup jerked it back and let the glittering blade fall into the chef's arm. The sound of glass breaking accompanied the man's screams.

Cuphead yanked out the weapon as the salt shaker let go of him and backed away. The few seconds of the man's agony gave the cup child a moment to recover from the death grip. He coughed a bit and rubbed his neck but then got up. His porcelain body rushed the salt shaker, who was clutching his arm as a few grains of salt fell out. This left him vulnerable to another attack. Cup did not hesitate to run the butcher's knife into his torso. The shattering noise came even louder this time, as did Saltbaker's screams. Cup yanked out the knife again. He watched as the man fell to his rump, seemingly in utter agony. The salt shaker's hand tried to cover the hole, but it did not stop his salt from pouring out. As the chef looked up at him, the young cup saw fear in his eyes. Cuphead kept the knife pointed at him in case he tried to lash out again. Saltbaker's yellow eyes slowly closed. The red cup watched as every grain of salt drained from the man's body. It was only then that he lowered the blade.

"Serves you right for hurting my friends." Cup said in a serious tone. He stayed watching the body for a few seconds to make sure he was down for good. The body did not make a peep. Cuphead was satisfied with how the chef looked and turned around with the knife still in hand. He only made it a few paces when a big shadow seemed to loom over him. A shiver went down his spine. Cuphead spun around on his heels. The salt rose up, forming the shape of Saltbaker's body but without the glass casing. Black hollow holes were where his eyes should have been. The monster's salt grains pulled back into a wide, devious smile.

"Oh, this is not good…" The red cup sighed. He swallowed his fear and prepared for round two. Cup grunted and swung the knife across what was supposed to be Saltbaker's torso. A pocket of salt ejected from his body. The salt monster merely smiled and raised a nearly invisible salt eyebrow. Cuphead watched as the salt was summoned back to the monster's body. This would be something hard to defeat if it could heal like that, the young cup realized.

Saltbaker swung a punch that the boy avoided by jumping to the side. Using both hands, Cup tossed the knife toward the chef. The salt creature merely elongated its body, creating a hole in its torso that the weapon spiraled through. Cup watched as the knife kept going and hit a shelf behind Saltbaker. The wooden shelf swayed back and forth, threatening to vomit its contents down. A pink mushroom from the top shelf fell down and got absorbed into Saltbaker's body. The grainy body proceeded to more than double in size. Cuphead frantically started to pelt the beast with his peashooter shot. The chef hissed as if it stung when the pockets of salt were blasted off. But he plowed forward, the salt still returning to him each time it was removed.

Meanwhile, Spoonfred and Kiki worked to break a hole in the jar. The cat would scratch at it for a bit, then the utensil would take a turn to kick at it. They were weakening the structure, but could not seem to break it. Mugman sat there hopelessly watching. He knew it would be so easy if he were at full power. Even just a little energy would really help at this point.

Come on! Isn't there anything we can do to help? He pleaded with Tsundere.

Even if I helped you break the glass, I'd have no energy to do anything else. The demon explained.

But no one else can do anything because we're stuck in here. Mug pointed out.

Fair point. It grumbled.

So… will you help me? The young mug urged. Tsundere thought about this for a moment and then replied: Very well.

Mugman pulled his tired body to his feet. He watched as Spoonfred attempted to tackle the glass with his shoulder. The utensil merely rebounded back squealing "Ow!" and rubbing his shoulder.

"Stand back." The mug child told them. Both Spoonfred and Kiki heeded this warning and got out of the way. It took a few tries, but Mug eventually built up enough energy for a soccer ball sized projectile. The blast easily broke through the area the other two had been working on. The young spoon shielded his face from the shattering glass and the cat hid behind his legs. As soon as the coast was clear, he grabbed Mugman's arm and pulled him out.

"Great work! Come on!" Spoonfred urged the mug child that looked like he might fall back to the ground. He pulled Mug along with him as he went towards the back of the room. The young mug leaned up against a chair while the spoon untied his father. Forkington rubbed his arms a bit, still feeling the rope's tight hug. He thanked his boy for coming back for him.

After letting the utensils have their moment, Kiki jumped up onto a shelf. She pawed at a vile of liquid, knocking it down. Spoonfred acted quick to catch it. The feline trilled and flicked her tail at Mugman.

"I think she wants you to drink this." He told the mug child. Mug took it from his hands and looked it over. The liquid was a green color similar to the Miracle Heals that he had received from Djimmi. His gloved fingers plucked the cork-like top off. The substance fizzed and bubbled when it was exposed to the air. It even made his blue nose sting a bit, reminding him of the soda pop he always liked to drink from the candy store. The fizz seemed to drown out any odor that the beverage gave off.

Mugman hesitated to ingest this unknown liquid. Kiki chirped at him to hurry up. The feline tended to have good judgement on what he should do, so Mugman chose to trust her once again. Pushing any doubts away, the mug child chugged it down quickly. It ended up not tasting as bad as he feared it might. The liquid did indeed seem like a mix between the Miracle Heal and soda. Mug put down the empty bottle and looked his body over, expecting something visible to happen. Nothing seemed to happen at first. But then his energy started to build up so much that he began to glow a blue color.

"Whoa…I feel good!" Mugman said, moving his arms and legs around a bit. He could feel raw energy coming off him now. "It's like my energy has suddenly been replenished."

If that's the case, then we better not waste it. Let's go help Cuphead before this energy drink wears off. Tsundere said.

"I'm off to help Cuphead." He told them. "You all should get out of here. It's dangerous." Without another word, Mug took off in the direction from which he heard their struggle. This left the utensils and the cat to decide what they should do. Forkington urged his boy to leave like the mug had suggested.

"No, there has to be something we can help with." Spoonfred insisted. The fork hesitated for a moment, but the feline was with Spoonfred every step of the way.