Hi everyone this is my first ever fanfic post and first fanfic collab with BlackWolfen. Hope you enjoy the story :)

Inkwell Isles. A large island that shone with colors. The inhabitants live their lives as best they can. There are the good, the bad and those in between. But what if it was not always so? Well, a long time ago, when the island was not so technologically advanced, witches and wizards lived on the island. They were all good and used their magic to help the inhabitants of the islands. And not only because of their magic but also because of their potions and much more. Many of the inhabitants turned to the witches and wizards when they had problems. Many wizard families were known for different things. Be it their magic or their potions. The inhabitants recognized these families immediately. It was very peaceful on the islands until one day an evil wizard named Lucius Tale abused his magic for evil. He did not help the inhabitants of the island but terrorized them by creating a creature that sucked the life energy of all the inhabitants to give it to him.

With the life energy of the inhabitants, his magic became stronger. He became very obsessed with it and decided to rob not only the residents but also life energy of the witches and wizards. The other witches and wizards did not put up with this for long. They fought against him and his creature and defeated both of them. While the creature was locked in a cave blocked by powerful magic. A ritual was performed on Lucius Tale to drain him not only of his magical powers but also of the life energy he had stolen. But this ritual, unfortunately, had a drawback. It cost the life of one wizard. It was Raymond Spark, a famous, powerful and well-known wizard and Dora Spark's husband. He sacrificed himself when Lucius Tale tried to steal the life energy from the other wizards and witches by using a powerful spell that no wizard could ever control. Since then, a lot has changed on Inkwell Isle's. The inhabitants evolved and no longer needed the help of witches and wizards For little things like turning on the lights in the house or helping with heavy chores. As a result, most of the Wizards and witches left the islands. Only a few witch and wizard families remained scattered and living in secret on the islands. One of them are the Sparks.

Many practiced other activities to still use their magic. Be it brewing potions or other things. But every good witch and every good wizard who was still on the island knew that the danger was far from over. The cave with the creature was well hidden, but Lucius Tale was still running around the island, trying in vain to get back his magical powers that the witches and wizards had locked up in a magic crystal hidden on the islands. The exact location was told only to a few. This should prevent Lucius from ever getting his powers back. Therefore, since time immemorial, new good witches and wizards are trained to continue this task.

Several years have passed since then. A lot had changed in Dora's life. Her son Jay Spark grew up without a father and married Rosa Luz Diaz. With Rosa he soon had his first and only child and Dora's only granddaughter.. Her name is Iris Sparks. She is 18 years old human has a slim body, brown eyes, wavy medium dark brown hair with a low ponytail. She always wears a blue dress with black Mary Jane shoes. She lives with her grandmother Dora in the family cottage which was deep in the forest and had three floors. It was made of wood and had white walls from the outside and red roof tiles. A stone staircase led from the front door to the garden where various fruits and vegetables were planted. Under a canopy that was next to the stairs were various gardening tools, bags of fertilizer and seeds and wooden boxes that blocked a door leading to the cellar. Around the house was a wooden fence that ended in a gate and a mailbox.

This one looked like a mini version of the house. Besides the roofing for the garden tools, there was also a roof over the front door and over the porch and the balcony that was on the back side of the house and gave a view of the back garden that was huge. There was a field with wheat, a training doll that was already very worn and several barrels. The inside of the cottagee looked different. The walls were not white but red and seemed to shimmer and change their hue. The entrance area consisted of a small vestibule where jackets, coats, capes, scarves and shoes were and a portrait of the Sparks family moving and waving to the viewer. Through this one came into the hallway which, besides the spiral staircase made of oak wood, had four doors and two passages. One door led to the basement, the other to the downstairs bathroom, one to the pantry where everything edible was stored and the other to the magic pantry where magical ingredients and objects were stored.

The two passages led to the living room where there was also the dining table from which you could go to the kitchen. On the second floor was the bedroom of Iris's parents and Dora's, as well as a bathroom. The top floor had, in addition to Iris's bedroom, a bathroom connected to her bedroom and a door that took her to the balcony, which had a small roof from where you could not only look over the trees but also look at the chimney. This was a dragon that spews steam and now and then also fire. The growling could not be overheard, when Iris was in her room and just got up. Slowly she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she looked to the foot of her bed and saw a black cat with two small white horns sitting there. The green eyes shone like emeralds as they opened and closed. Iris knew who or what it was on her bed. It was her grandmother's magical companion. She knew why she was here. It was time for magic lessons. But Iris was still tired and fell asleep again. Yes she didn't want to get up so early but when she heard a loud "Meow!" next to her ear she couldn't go on sleeping and got up with tired eyes. "Okay okay Ms. Meow Meow I'm awake!" she said and got out of bed.

She wore her white nightgown and went to the closet while Ms. Meow Meow sat on the bed and watched Iris as she just looked through her clothes. Yes, she was still a bit tired, but she knew that her grandmother's companion would not leave her alone until she left her room. One look at hers told her that. The scratch marks were not caused by magic. She took out two dresses, one in white and the other in blue. She held the white one in front of her and looked at Ms. Meow Meow. "This or..." she now held the blue one in front of her and waited for a response from the cat who meowed as she held the blue one in front of her. "So the blue one it shall be" she said and took off her nightgown to put on the blue one before going downstairs to the living room with the cat. There on the dining table were already her textbooks and empty bottles that she used to brew potions. Her wand appeared in her hand and was a maroon five inches long with a dark gray handle with an engraving in it.

With these she went to the dining table and was about to open the textbook where the bookmark was stuck when the textbook was snatched out of her hand and a plate with fried egg, bacon and beans and a cup of freshly brewed coffee appeared in front of her. "First comes breakfast and then your lessons my dearest" said a voice coming from the kitchen. Iris had to smile and looked towards the kitchen where her grandmother was standing and brewing a new potion. She is one of the few good witches who are still on the island and make sure that everything is in order. Like Iris, she is also a human with a round build, white hair tied into a topknot so that her otherwise long hair does not come into contact with the pot. Her eyes are hazel and she wears, like almost every good witch, a cloak that is green and decorated with symbols that light up and show an animal. It was a cat with horns. Under the cloak she wore her normal clothes. A dress that went to her knees and showed a flower pattern. You could see this even if you look more closely out of the cloak. At the neck area of the robe that connects it with a few buttons was a brooch that showed an silver eagle with outstretched blue wings and open mouth.

Behind it was a necklace that her husband gave her at the time. Iris didn't know exactly what it looked like, because she had never seen her grandmother walking around without a cloak. Even in summer she wore it. Well it was also a magical garment. That she neither sweated nor froze did not bother Dora. "Okay grandma, I'll eat my breakfast before I practice the repair spell" Iris said and enjoyed her breakfast while Dora went from the kitchen to her with the spell book while the pot stirred by itself and the ingredients flew into the pot by themselves. She put the book down beside her and looked at her granddaughter with a slightly worried expression on her face. Normally, Iris would not be here, but in her school of magic and sorcery, which was far away from Inkwell Isle. But exactly six months ago, while returning from shopping in Inkwell City, Dora suddenly had a vision. In it she saw how the Islands had fallen into chaos and Lucius Tale was freed along with his creature. She could not believe it, but the only bright glow on the horizon was her granddaughter Iris.

Only she could stop the coming catastrophe by becoming a good witch like her grandmother. That it is not easy was clear to Iris because it means that she had to master every spell flawlessly. And this, unfortunately, was not one of her strengths. She was always very behind with the others in her class. While the others were able to cast elementary spells without any problems, Iris had problems with the simplest spells. The teachers immediately suspected that she was a victim of bullying and gave her special lessons so that she could catch up with the others after school. But as soon as she was ready, she received the information that she would be taught from home. This was a big shock for her as Iris began to feel more comfortable at school than before. Of course, the rest of her classmates were very confused about this and wondered why she was being homeschooled. Many knew that her grandmother was a good witch.

But her grandmother had only begun her training as a good witch at the age of 21. Iris, however, was 17 when she began her training. That was exactly one year ago. And unfortunately, Iris didn't really get any further. All the spells she cast didn't work, failed or fired back. That she was quickly frustrated Dora suspected very much. But she always tried to cheer up and motivate her granddaughter. "No spell works perfectly on the first try, my dearest," she would say whenever Iris was on the verge of despair. Most of the time the spell worked but since the last spell she had to learn it had changed a lot. Iris had problems with this one because it required a lot of concentration. It was the repair spell. A spell that Iris was supposed to learn when she was still in the eighth grade. But before she could even finish the eighth year, she was sent home.

She still knew how the spell went. "Something broken into two, time to make you good as new" went the spell. But reciting the spell just like that was not the only thing. You also had to concentrate. Or rather, you had to imagine what the object looked like before it was destroyed. This was easier with smaller objects than with larger ones. Iris's test object, however, was a flower vase that lay broken on the table and smiled at her. However, Iris thought that she could not repair the stupid flower vase. Either the spell didn't work at all or something else went wrong. She really wanted to master this spell today. So she took her wand in her hand after she had eaten half of her breakfast. She closed her eyes and recited the spell while visually imagining in her mind how the vase that was broken in front of her with the flower lying on the floor repaired itself. "Something broken into two, time to make you good as new" she said while the tip of her wand and the flower vase glowed blue. The pieces came together and the flower vase was whole again.

Oh please tell me it worked. Iris hoped very much because she wanted to finally master this spell. So she slowly opened her eyes and saw the vase of flowers in front of her. It was whole and no longer broken. Iris could not believe her eyes. She...she had done it. "Great Iris, you did-" Before Dora could congratulate her granddaughter, something suddenly happened to the vase. It started to burn? It burned along with the flower until only ashes remained. Annoyed and groaning, Iris dropped her head on the table and was even more frustrated than before. She had not expected anything like this. Dora was about to say something but Iris raised her index finger "Don't say that sentence grandma" she said while Dora stroked her head. She did not even suspect that this would happen, although she had the gift to look into the future. Whereby this is not always the same. She saw how Iris performed the spell without problems, but it was not at this table. She was not even in the cottage but alone and outside in the forest with two other figures that she could not really recognize.

She did not know what that meant. But she knew that Iris would eventually explore the islands alone, and only then would her magical powers become stronger than they are now. But unfortunately she also saw something darker. Besides Lucius Tale, there was another person on the island who was a thorn in the side of the witches and wizards. It was a furry creature with horns and claws. Who or what the creature was Dora did not know. That's why she was worried about her granddaughter. Because she saw the creature next to her granddaughter. But no matter how often Dora tried to look further into the future, she saw nothing but shadows. Everything darkened and her vision disappeared every time. "I will never be as good a witch as you Grandmother" Iris said as she slowly lifted her head. Dora was completely carried away by her thoughts and only realized too late that Iris was talking to her. She looked down at her and saw the depressed face. Yes, Iris knew what was coming. To become a good witch, she still had to learn a lot. To master spells was only one thing a good witch must know. Dora knew that there was more to come for Iris.

So she gently stroked her granddaughter's cheek to cheer her up. "Don't worry, Iris, You will manage it," she said and went back to the kitchen where the potion was now ready. It was a light blue liquid that Dora filled into a triangular shaped test tube and closed with a cork. This she put with the others that were in a small box. In it was a red thick bottle that also had a cork as a closure, a long green bottle with a normal closure, a purple bottle with a handle that also had a normal closure, an orange bottle with a lid, another red bottle with a rectangular bottom and red lid, a yellow round bottle with a handle and a thick yellow cork and another light blue bottle with a cork and a string on it. Yes, these potions were for Porkrind. His store was not far from the cottage. Iris knew the way in and by heart, because she always went with her grandmother when they were on the way to the city, they always passed his store. "So the next delivery for Porkrind is ready," said Dora as she was about to lift the crate. "Grandma wait I..." Dora turned around and saw Iris standing behind her in the kitchen. She looked into her granddaughter's eyes and saw that she was about to do something she would never do. "Couldn't I take the goods to Porkrind?" Iris asked her with a twinkle in her eye.

"No Iris" said Dora turning around and lifting the box she walked out of the kitchen with while Iris looked after her "But I-" she kept silent and followed her grandmother into the hall where she put the box down to put on her shoes. "No Iris for the last time you are not going to Porkrind alone" Dora said as she looked for her shoes in the closet that was under the stairs where next to her shoes were those of Iris and her parents. "But grandma, I could do your work for you and you could take care of your plants" Iris suggested. But Dora continued to refuse and just shook her head "It's too dangerous out there and you can't defend yourself" she said as she found her shoes and closed the closet before going to the stairs and sitting down. But Iris did not give up and tried to persuade her grandmother to send the goods to Porkrind. "Please I'll be back after this, grandmother," Iris begged as she knelt down in front of Dora. She just rolled her eyes in annoyance. She didn't even have one of her shoe on and gave in. "Okay Iris you can take the goods to Porkrind" she said and pinched her nose bone. Iris was very happy about this and jumped up and down while hugging her grandmother who was a bit startled. "Thank you grandma, thank you!" she said as she let go of her and put on her shoes, grabbed her wand and shoulder bag and lifted the box containing the potions.

She was about to open the door with her free hand when it didn't open, confusing Iris. "But I want you to come back right after,and wear this understood?" said Dora as Iris turned to her and felt something around her neck. She looked down and saw a necklace with a blue gemstone inside. Iris was about to ask what it was, but she decided not to. Yes, she knew that her grandmother was very protective of her. Even if a little too much. "Don't worry grandma, I'll be back before you can say honey beer," Iris said, opening the door and walking outside while Dora watched behind her. She knew that Iris would be on her own at some point. But still she wondered who or what the two figures were with whom she was traveling. "I hope those two don't hurt Iris," she said to herself as she looked out the door, while next to her appeared Ms. Meow Meow, who was meowing dejectedly. Dora looked down at her and bent to pet her. The cat purred and they both went inside the house while the door closed on his own.

Iris was more than happy. Finally out of the house. Yes she was glad about it even if it will be only for a short duration. Because from far away she saw the wagon that was Porkrind's store. So she walked to it and went up the stairs before she knocked on the door and heard a voice asking her who she was. "It's Iris" she said, but the voice kept asking her. Iris rolled her eyes annoyed "Iris Spark" she answered while the voice asked her to come in.

She opened the door and entered the store. This was slightly larger than from outside and had directly opposite the entrance and exit a sales counter with a cash register and various products. Behind the counter was a shelf that was full of goods. From jars that had various items such as teeth or cucumbers was also a bird claw on the shelf. But Iris wasn't really interested in that, because her gaze went from all the goods that were in the store to the store owner who was standing behind the counter. It was an anthropomorphic pig with a portly, yet somewhat muscular build, with skin color similar to humans, a pink snout, and a black curled mustache. He wears a grey shirt with white hems, brown overalls, and a black eyepatch with a grey band.

It was Porkrind who was pleased and surprised to see Iris alone. Normally she was always accompanied by her grandmother. "Why are you alone, if I may ask?" he asked her while Iris brought the box with the potions to him. She placed it on the counter before turning to him. "Oh, uh, I talked my grandmother into letting me out of the house," she said, scratching the back of her head nervously as Porkrind stared at her before turning to the box he was opening. "Ah, I see my order is finished" he said, taking out the potions he placed on the left side of the counter before placing the empty box behind the counter. "How much does your grandmother want again?" he asked as he walked over to the register and opened it. A ringing sound was heard as the register opened.

"The usual as usual" Iris said as she opened her shoulder bag and pulled out her wallet. It was leather brown with a buckle and several compartments containing change and bills. "So $25" said Porkrind as he took out three bills from his register and gave them to Iris. She counted them through before putting them in her wallet and putting them in her shoulder bag and walking to the exit to open the door. "Thank you and have a nice day Pork-" "And try not to get- Ouch!". Iris felt and heard that she had accidentally slammed the door into someone who was about to open the door. "Ow my head!" said a voice she heard from behind the door she was slowly opening. Behind the door stood two figures. Well, one was standing and the other was sitting with his butt on the floor. Iris opened the door slowly as she walked through it and slowly closed it again. While she did this she looked at the two figures more closely.

Both were two humanoid figures with cups for heads. In both cups was a white liquid that Iris could hardly describe. Is that milk or something else? she asked herself. A straw was sticking out of each of their heads. One was long and curved while the other was short and straight. Both figures had large eyes with black pie-cut pupils. However, there were several differences in appearance between the two. One had a small red nose with a red and white striped straw and red shorts. The other wore blue shorts, had a big blue nose and his straw was blue and white striped. The skin color of the two was beige and both wore a black and long sweater that covered their arms and went up to their hands on which both wore yellow gloves. Iris saw that one of them was rubbing his head and knew that she had caught him with the door. But what worried her even more was the cracking sound she heard. Damn it, don't tell me I scratched him! She really hoped so, because islanders like this can break very quickly. Especially if they were porcelain cups. "Sorry I didn't mean to slam the door in your face" Iris said as she closed the door behind her and walked down the stairs to the two humanoid cups. They both heard her and looked to her. Well one.

The other was still rubbing the painful spot before he realized that someone was standing in front of him. He looked up and saw Iris. "I-i-i-i uh..." the figure said as his cheeks slowly blushed. The other figure saw this and just shook his head "He's fine don't worry Mugman can take a door slam to the face" said the other figure while the other one he called Mugman just nodded and grinned at Iris. "Thank goodness, I thought that crack was from his head" Iris said as she walked past the two figures. Both cups looked after her before one of them reached into his pocket. "Oh no not my precious yo-yo!" said the mug in a sad voice. Iris stopped when she heard this and turned around. She saw the depressed mug and felt bad. After all, it was her fault that the yo-yo was broken. So she decided to fix it. Grandma won't mind if I'm a few minutes late. "Wait, I can fix it!" she said, and with her wand drawn, she walked over to the two cups that were looking at her in confusion.

Iris concentrated as she took the broken yo-yo from the mug's hand and recited the spell. "Something broken into two, time to make you good as new" she said softly but both cups heard it and were stunned and frightened at the same time when they saw the glow at the tip of the wand and around the broken yo-yo. It reassembled and was whole again. "Wow!" both cups said, completely amazed at what had just happened. Iris opened her eyes and did not believe her eyes. The yo-yo was repaired and was not on fire. "It...it worked," said Iris, who was glad that the spell had worked. She gave the yo-yo back to the mug who was very happy to have it back. He put it back in his pocket while the cup watched Iris slowly walk away from the two of them. "Wait!" he called and followed her. Iris stopped and looked behind her where she saw the cup and the mug. They both wanted something from her, she guessed. "Are you a witch?" the cup asked her.

"Yes..." said Iris as she wanted to go further but both cups got in her way. "Do you know any other spells?", "Can you transform?", "Can you brew potions?" they both bombarded her with questions that Iris had trouble answering. "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" the cup asked her. She gladly answered this question "A good one" said Iris. Both brothers were more than astonished by this. "Tell me, what is your name?" the mug asked her. Iris hesitated a bit but she answered him "Iris, Iris Spark" she said. "Nice to meet you Iris" the cup said and held out his hand which Iris shook. "My name is Cuphead" said the cup before pointing to the mug "And this is Mugman my younger brother" Iris looked to him while Mugman nervously waved at her. Cuphead and Mugman strange names. Iris found the names both strange and fitting. After all Cuphead was a teacup while his brother was a mug. "Anyway, I have to go, my grandmother will be worried about me" she said and was about to leave when she noticed someone pulling at her dress. Iris looked behind her and saw Cuphead also holding his brother by the handle. "Mugman, Iris look!".

They both looked in the same direction as he did and saw a carnival from a distance. "Um, Cuphead, I'm not so sure-" said Mugman as he looked to his brother who was very happy to see the carnival. "Yeah I don't think I should go to the carnival" said Iris who agreed with Mugman. "You know what I do when I'm not so sure?" asked Cuphead to the two looking at him. "I double down!" he replied but neither of them really knew what to do with that. "What does that even mean?" Iris asked him. "It means we're going to that carnival!" he said with joy as he stretched out his arms. But Mugman was against it "Absolutely not!" he said and stood in front of his brother who was looking at him gloomily. "There's no way we're going-" but unfortunately that was not the case. The three of them did go to the carnival and rode roller coasters, ate popcorn, ice cream and hot dogs, rode a carousel, ate popcorn, ice cream and chicken drumsticks again, rode the Ferris wheel, ate cake and corn dogs, rode the chain carousel and both brothers finally threw up in a barrel while Iris just shook her head and ate her hot dog.

"I warned you not to eat too much before riding the next attraction" she said, patting both brothers on the back. Both had thrown up everything and were now empty. "Shall we ride the roller coaster again Mugsy?" asked Cuphead to his brother who looked with his head out of the barrel and nodded while Iris just shook her head. This time she didn't ride with them but just watched them.

Some time passed and the three walked along the carnival and were more than happy. Especially Iris, who hadn't laughed so much in a long time "I've gotta hand it to you, Cuphead. That was great!" said Mugman delightedly. Iris agreed with him "Yeah, I must say a distraction like that really did me good after all the stress of my training to become a Good Witch" Mugman heard this and looked to her. "What do you mean by training?" he asked her. Iris and the others stopped. Now both cup were curious and wanted to know more. Iris already suspected it and decided to explain to the two why she was in training to be a good witch. "But please keep this to yourselves" she said while the two cups looked at her and nodded. She didn't want everyone to know. Especially considering that some on the island could take advantage of her. Her grandmother had told her the story of Lucius Tale. He was once a young wizard in training until someone gave him a dark book that led him to the dark side. "Don't worry our mouths are closed" Cuphead said to reassure Iris.

She was reassured to hear this and went on with the two brothers. The day was not over yet. Actually they could stay here but Iris had to go back to her grandmother and Cuphead and Mugman still had a job to do. Iris learned about it when Mugman explained it to her after they went from Porkrind to the carnival. "And we still have time to get supplies and fix the fen-" but suddenly he and Iris noticed that Cuphead was no longer standing next to them. Both looked for him but didn't find him "Cuphead?" asked Mugman as he turned and saw his brother. He walked over to a booth with a sign above it that said Soul Ball. It was a skee ball machine. Slowly he walked over to it and stared at it before his eyes wandered to the basket that contained several balls.

He took one and rolled it up the ramp where it ended up rolling against a hill and landing in the middle hole. The light bulb above the holes lit up green and a voice said, "Winner!" Cuphead delighted rolled another ball while Mugman and Iris stood behind him watching. The ball rolled again into the middle hole and the voice said "Winner!" again. Cuphead noticed that his brother and Iris were behind him and turned to them "Eh? Eh?" he said while Mugman gave him a thumbs up and smiled. Only Iris was a little skeptical as she continued to watch Cuphead throw ball after ball into the middle hole.

He did this in a variety of ways. Before throwing the ball, he pulled up his pants, turned his back to the stand and held a hand mirror in his hand with which he saw it and threw the ball into the middle hole. His throwing skills and the fact that he always hit the middle attracted the other visitors who then left the other booths and watched Cuphead. Almost everyone rejoiced and cheered with him except Iris. Mugman noticed it and looked at her. She didn't look at Cuphead at all, but at another participant who was also trying his luck at the skee ball machine.

It was an anthropomorphic brown telephone with gold accents. His microphone takes the form of his mouth below two eyes, with two golden rings surrounding the back of his face. He is tall and thin, and has a curvy base with a gold bottom. The lower portion of his back reveals a black cord extending toward the earpiece, which is held by two golden clips from his shoulders. His arms are long and thin like his torso, but darker. Like Cuphead and Mugman he also wears gloves with 3 stripe markings. He also rolled a ball, but it didn't land in the middle hole, it landed in the lower hole where it said "Loser" above it. The light bulb did not light up green but red. But what came next scared not only Iris but also Mugman very much. The machine shook and the middle hole began to acts like a vacuum cleaner and sucks the soul of the phone out of his body into the hole while the phone lost its bright color and was now faded and did not express any feelings.

Iris immediately kept her distance from the skee ball machine while Mugman looked at the sign "Soul Ball" he said looking at the other visitors who also had their souls stolen and were now moaning like zombies and walking around uncontrollably not knowing what they were doing. He looked around and saw the entrance sign that said Carnival, "Carnival" he said while Iris also looked at the sign and was shocked. The lights around the word Carn began to flicker before it went out and only the word Evil remained. "Carn-Evil" Mugman said until he knew what it meant. "Evil?!" he cried in shock and gasped. Iris now felt uncomfortable and wanted only one thing. Away from here. She knew that besides Lucius Tale there was someone else she would rather not meet. "Uh...Cuphead?" said Iris slightly nervous to get his attention. But he was too busy concentrating on his litter. "Not now, Iris! I'm on a hot streak!" he explained to them both and threw the ball that landed in the middle again.

While the rest of the visitors were cheering, a lot was going on in the underworld. Yes, the souls were brought through tubes into the underworld where they are watched by someone. It was a furry creature covered with black fur, a long tail with a triangular tail tip, long yellow horns and claws, yellow eyes with a red iris and a red nose. It was the devil. The lord and ruler of the underworld. He was more than pleased and rubbed his hands mischievously while grinning as he watched all the souls fly past him through the tubes. He smirked, "Everyone loves a carnival," he said, and walked over to a counter that was counting all the souls that had just arrived while a creature stood in front of it. The Creature is a purple fat Demon.

It has a long beaky nose, a pair of short thin yellow horns, small wings form his humps, elephant hoof-like feet, pointy devil tails and slightly loose elbow-length gloves. Like the Devil it has yellow eyes with red pupils. The face is white while his wing-webs and gloves are yellow. He looked from the counter to the clipboard he was holding in his hand while writing something down with a ballpoint pen. The devil appeared and looked at the counter while rubbing his hands again. "What a haul" he said and began to sing.

"Whoa!"

"In case you ain't heard, I'm the Devil"

He stretched out his arms and stamped his left foot up and down while bending forward and pointing his right finger at himself before dropping his body to the ground.

"I'm a real lowdown, not on the level"

Like a snake he moved away until he stood up again and stood in front of a rock against which his trident was leaning.

"They call me Old Scratch"

"Mr. S, the Big D"

He grabbed this one with his hands before turning it in a circle and slithering with his feet on the ground while taking out a white top hat from behind his back, which he put on his head and with a jump sat on his throne surrounded by statues and portraits of himself.

"I'm the king of the underworld"

"Yeah, it's great to be me"

He turned to one of his statues that showed only his head which he scratched under his chin before turning around with his throne and playing his organ that was behind it.

"Ho-di-llie doh-di-llie doh"

His head detached from his body as it was tossed back and forth from his shoulders before landing back in place while the devil pointed at a few imps as he stopped singing.

Imps: "Ho-di-llie doh-di-llie doh"

These work on a heating furnace. One imp turned the valve attached to the stove while another threw in fresh charcoal with a shovel. Another sat on a swing above the other two and sang along like the other two. The Devil's Imps are small black demons with red or purple noses, devil tails, orange horns and yellow eyes with red pupils. They also wear a pair of yellow gloves.

"Hee-di-llie hee-di-llie hee!"

the devil continued to sing while behind him other souls flew through the tubes and sang along as well. The devil continued to play his organ and enjoyed it very much.

Souls: "Hee-di-llie hee-di-llie hee!"

The souls also sang along as they continued to fly through the tubes. Where these led they did not know.

"I'm a real naughty boy"

"I'm sure you'll agree"

But the devil knew it and grinned mischievously before turning into a dragon and wrapping himself around the fat purple Imp who was so busy writing something down that he didn't realize until too late that someone had wrapped himself around him. The devil grinned at him with his razor sharp teeth while the Imp just smiled nervously and nodded.

"I get my kicks"

"Playing tricks on the locals"

The devil was now a spider hanging from the ceiling and looking into a wall mirror which he touched with one of his many spider hands causing the mirror surface to look like water while slowly an image appeared in place of the devil.

"They're easy marks"

"They're real dumb yokels"

In the mirror you could see the devil standing behind a sandwich kid who was licking a lolly while holding a balloon in his other hand. This brought the devil with his tail tip to burst whereby the child began to cry while the devil grabbed the lolly, licked it and bit into it.

"But now, folks, listen closely"

"It's time I made a confession"

He threw away the stem after eating the entire lolly and walked out of the mirror while everything around him darkened and only he could be seen.

"Collecting people's souls"

"Is my greatest obsession!"

It became brighter around him again and he stood in front of a huge vault where all the tubes went in. The devil grinned and rubbed his hands together before he started laughing. As he continued to laugh, his appearance changed. He wore the white top hat on his head again but that was not all. He also wore a white tailcoat, white spats and a red bow tie. With this he danced and did not hear that someone called for him. "Uh, hey, boss" said the voice but the devil ignored it and continued singing and dancing. "Boss!" said the voice while the devil threw away his top hat which was caught by an imp who was writing something down before his vision disappeared and he lifted the top hat.

"Hey, boss!" "What?! I was singing!" the devil yelled at the fat Imp who was now standing next to him and constantly interrupting him. "The..." he said slightly nervously while the devil looked at him annoyed. Yes he wanted a good reason why he had interrupted him. "The soul counter stopped" he said and pointed upwards where the devil was standing. The devil did not like this at all, which is why he hit the counter several times in the hope that it would continue to count. But unfortunately it stopped. To be sure that it was only the counter, the devil, who was no longer wearing his clothes, went to the tubes where there were no more souls. They were all empty, which shocked the devil very much. "What the-" he said and reached for a periscope. This broke upward and the devil looked around why no more new souls came. The carnival was completely empty which confused the devil more until he heard cheering and looked to it. He saw Cuphead hitting the middle hole with four balls he was juggling, impressing the rest of the guests. "Cuphead! Cuphead! Cuphead!" they said several times and continued cheering. This, however, did not please the devil who pushed up the periscope again, "Terrific. Looks like we have a real-" he said and was about to reach for his trident when he suddenly saw something next to the cup.

"Hold on..." he looked through the periscope again and now looked at Iris who looked as worried as Mugman. "Who is that beautiful creature?" the devil asked himself as hearts appeared in his eyes while he wagged his tail. This was seen by the fat Imp standing next to the devil, who was more than confused. He had never seen his boss like this before. Let alone that he had ever wagged his tail so strongly. "Uh, boss? Are you ok?" he asked him while the devil lifted the periscope again. He shook his head to clear his mind before he looked at the Imp "What? Yes I'm fine Henchman" he said and looked grim again because he knew what the reason was why no new souls came. He grabbed his trident and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Iris and the two brothers didn't know what was coming. But Iris and Mugman knew what would happen if Cuphead lost the game. Both of them kept trying to ask him to stop, but Cuphead was stubborn and kept playing while not far away from the trio someone appeared out of a cloud of smoke. It was the devil who frightened the visitors with his appearance. "The Devil!" screamed an elephant that ran away in panic while the other visitors also fled. But this interested the devil little "My fans. They love me" he said while turning around and slowly walking towards the trio. His eyes saw not only the cup but also the beautiful young lady. Iris felt as much as Mugman that someone was suddenly standing behind her. Yes, the fur she felt on her cheeks told her that.

Both turned around and looked up where they were greeted by the devil. "Hello" he said as he looked at Mugman who started to stutter. "and Hello to you" he said sweetly as he looked at Iris who kept her distance from him. But that didn't bother him as he slowly walked towards her while she panicked. Iris knew who he was "Your the- the- Devil?" she asked him in a shaky voice. He nodded "In person, but might I ask what your name is my dear?" he asked her and walked around her while his tail slowly wrapped around her. Yes he wanted to take a closer look at her.

Iris, however, was not sure if she should tell him her name. Her grandmother had told her many stories about the devil when she was little. Many of them were not very nice if you consider that he is an enemy with the good witches and wizards of the isles. She didn't know why, but he seemed to like her. His tail turned her in his direction while he gently ran his claw over her cheek and pushed her hair away so he could look into her eyes "I must say you have beautiful eyes my dear" he said while Iris was just panicking and trying not to have a panic attack. "Don't worry I won't hurt you my dearest" he assured her while slowly lifting her chin with his fingers. "Such a beautiful rose like you should be touched with gentle hands or else-" before the devil could speak further, he and Iris only heard Cuphead, who had apparently lost. "Aw, heck," he said, annoyed that his throw fell into the bottom hole. He knew who was to blame for his throw and turned to his brother, "Now look at what you made me do!".

Yes, Cuphead was angry that his brother had messed up his throw and wanted to hear an apology from him, but instead Cuphead noticed that his brother was pointing at a person holding Iris in his clutches. Just like Iris and Mugman, he began to tremble and stutter when he saw the devil. He heard the machine shake and knew what was about to happen. "And that's game," he said as he gently caressed Iris' cheek. As with the telephone, the middle hole acts like a vacuum cleaner and sucked Cuphead's soul out of his body much to the shock of Mugman and Iris. Iris wanted to help but the devil held her tightly in his arms. But Mugman was faster and managed to grab his brother's soul and pull it out of the machine. The devil was a bit surprised and let go of Iris who took the chance to escape from his clutches before going to the two brothers. "Cuphead are you alright?" she asked him as Mugman shoved Cuphead's soul back into his body while he took a big breath and yelled "Run!" loudly before running off with the other two.

The two brothers ran past the devil who was looking after them "Ooh, I love it when they run" he said in a joyful voice while trying to stroke Iris' cheek with his free hand. But he felt nothing and was confused. That's why he looked down and saw her no longer in his grip but running after the two cups. This shocked him a bit but also drives him to chase the three through the carnival. "I'm sorry I made you miss!" cried Mugman hugging his brother tightly as they fled from the devil "This is all my fault!". Cuphead also cried "We should've never come here in the first place! It's all my fault!" "You're right! It is your fault!" Mugman agreed with him while Iris who was lagging behind came closer "Guys, we got a bigger problem right now... so..." she looked behind her and saw that the devil turned the corner and slowly pulled out his trident which started to burn "SHUT UP AND RUN!" she screamed and ran past the two brothers to avoid being caught by the devil.

Both were confused but when they saw the fireball exploding next to them and the two looked behind them and saw the floating devil chasing them they screamed in panic and followed Iris. She thought about what could help them now until she thought of a spell. So she pulled out her wand and recited the spell "Trouble is in our way, time for us to get away" she said and Iris as well as both brothers disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke in front of the eyes of the devil who stopped and looked around dumbfounded. "Where the hell did the three of them disappear to?" he asked himself while he heard screaming in the background and looked around. Out of the sky the three fell and threatened to fall onto the roller coaster tracks if the devil hadn't activated the roller coaster that passed right under the three and thus picked them up.

"I think we lost him" Cuphead said with relief as he and the others were glad to be safe for a short time. Both cups exhaled in relief while Iris calmed down again until she noticed something wrapped around her waist and felt the fur next to her cheek again as well as the warmth "Surprise!" the three heard and saw the devil who was in the last seat and his trident was burning again. "Hey!, Let me Go!" said Iris annoyed as the devil pulled her to him before firing the ball of flame at both brothers who dodged at the last moment. But that didn't bother the devil at the moment. He had the beautiful young lady in his hands again "Got you my dear now only two to go" he said and disappeared with her in a cloud of smoke.

Iris did not know where she was because everything around her was dark. Oh no, don't tell me I'm in the underworld. She didn't want to hope that, but fortunately she wasn't. Light appeared above her and she saw that she was standing next to a mirror that had four large frames and looked very much like a screen. She stood in front of it and saw herself before she heard screams above her and both brothers landed in her arms. "Thank you for the soft landing Iris" Mugman thanked her while she smiled at him and the three looked at the mirrors.

In these the three were reflected before their mirror images became the devil who laughed heartily and reached for the three with his hand. But they ran away before he could. All three landed out of a pipe outside before it exploded. Iris looked behind her and got even more scared. Behind them was the devil in his dragon form, following them as he destroyed everything around them with his fireballs. This gave Mugman an idea of how they would get rid of the devil. "Come on, Cuphead and Iris! It's time for a double down!" he said, pulling on his brother's handle while Iris, who was more than confused, followed him "What are you nuts?!" Cuphead asked him in a panic while Iris kept her mouth shut.

All three turned around and faced the devil. The sheer fear could be seen on the faces of the three. Neither Cuphead nor Iris knew what Mugman was up to. "Now pretend like we're cornered!" he said, but that didn't help calm the fear that was growing in the other two. "We are cornered!" said Cuphead while Iris tried to calm him down, but the sinister laughter the three heard coming from a cloud of smoke prevented that. The devil appeared from the cloud of smoke and pulled out his trident which he pointed at the two brothers. He did not want to hurt Iris. His trident was already burning again and the moment he fired the fireball the three jumped out of the way and showed the devil what was behind them. It was the Skee Ball machine that was completely destroyed by the fireball. The devil was shocked that he had destroyed the machine but also when he saw all the souls he had collected being freed. "No!" he shouted when he saw this.

All the souls returned to their owners while the devil, who was furious, looked after the trio that ran out of the carnival. "You don't just get to run away" he said, surrounded by the chaos he had made. Henchman appeared next to the devil who was surprised not only by the chaos and destruction but also by the fact that he let the two cups and the young lady go. "Wow, boss. I never saw you let no one escape before" he said while the devil looked at him. "He didn't escape!" the devil roared at him "He played the game. He lost. His soul belongs to me" he explained, staring at him with annoyed eyes while Henchman just nodded. "I'll get that cup" "Head?" added Henchman while the devil looked at him and hit him on the head with his trident "Oh, shut up" said the devil and pouted until he saw Iris who stopped to fix her shoes while looking in the direction of the carnival before following the two brothers. "And I'll get that beautiful girl too" he said and clenched his hand into a fist while Henchman who was still rubbing his head looked at him confused "What Girl?" he asked and got another blow on the head with the trident as an answer. "Oh shut up and let's just go!" he said and they both disappeared in a cloud of smoke while the carnival burned down.

Meanwhile, Iris was with the two brothers at their home. It was a teapot with a thatched roof, windows and door. Of course, Iris learned why one part of the fence was destroyed and was little surprised. Cuphead wanted to ask her if she could use her magic, but Iris refused, fearing that she would get into more trouble than before. So both brothers repaired the fence by themselves before painting it. "What an amazing day. We rode rides" said Cuphead who listed all the things they did and experienced today. "And you owe the Devil your soul" said Iris standing behind him "We played games" "The Devil is after Iris" added Mugman standing next to Iris. "We made a new friend" Cuphead continued "And you owe the Devil your soul" Iris said "We're almost finished with this dumb fence!" Cuphead declared with a grin on his face.

"And you owe the Devil your Soul!" Iris and Mugman shouted together while looking at Cuphead who was pouring a bucket of paint into a cannon while tipping it over. "Eh, I ain't too worried about it" he said and the cannon exploded and fired at the fence and at Elder Kettle who had just come out of the house to see their work only he was covered from head to toe in white paint. Iris had to stifle a laugh, but suddenly she heard a throat clearing behind her that she knew more than enough. It was her grandmother standing behind her, and yes, she wasn't thrilled that Iris didn't come back immediately after giving Porkrind the goods. Both brothers wanted to tell her that they were to blame, but Dora raised her index finger and silenced them. "I know you want to defend Iris, but I'm proud of you too, my dearest," she said, which confused Iris and both brothers until Dora explained that Iris could use her spell without any problems and that it didn't work the way it did in training, firing back or not working at all. "It seems that these two have encouraged you a lot" she said and patted Iris on the shoulder who nodded and smiled.

Dora knew that she could not train Iris locked up in the house. She had to go outside and try the spells in practice like she did when she was training to be a good witch. So she allowed Iris to visit the two brothers if she did not neglect her training.

Meanwhile, in the underworld, the devil tried to sleep but he kept thinking too much about the girl he had seen at the carnival. He dreamed he was in a field with beautiful flowers. Butterflies flew past him as he followed them and saw them land on someone. The devil stopped and was more than shocked. The person was the young lady he had seen today. "It's you" he said and looked at her more closely. She was wearing a white dress and smiled at him while his cheek blushed and his heart pounded. He was more than confused about this and didn't know why he was looking for a red rose to give her. "A rose for a rose" he said and reached out his hand to give her the rose she wanted to accept but he woke up.

He lay in his bed again and was more than disappointed. It was only a dream but still the devil felt something in his hand. He looked at it and saw the exact same rose in his hand that he had in the dream. "Oh beautiful mystery girl who haunts my dreams. Who are you?" he asked himself and got up and went to the wall mirror "Show me the girl I saw yesterday with those cups" the mirror showed him Iris laughing. Never before in 3,000 years has there been any woman to catch his attention until now "I don't know how or when but you will be mine" he clenched his hand into a fist while looking at Iris in the mirror. Yes, he wanted her with him, but who was she? What was her name? That's what he wanted to know. "Henchman!" he yelled and he appeared in the devil's bedroom "Ah yes boss" he said as he landed in front of him. "Henchman you get any other Imps that you can" he nodded while listening to the devil.

"All of you are going through every file we have on everyone who lives in the Inkwell Isles to find this girl and find out who she is" the devil pointed at Iris in the mirror while Henchman nodded and left the devil alone, who turned to Iris in the mirror and grinned at her. Yes, he wanted to have her with him come what may. If she tried to escape, he would find her. Just like the two cups. "Soon my dear, you'll be here with me".