It was the next day. Alicia, Blood, Varian and Elder Kettle were in the living room watching the three cups try to imitate the dance Chalice had shown them to charm their way into people's hearts. Or in this case, Elder Kettle holding the cookie jar. They were tap dancing and Elder Kettle liked it very much. He smiled and couldn't help himself but to enjoy the dance.
All three cups saw this and continued to dance. They danced not only on the floor, but also on the banisters, which startled Alicia, Blood and Varian when the three cups turned around and landed on the floor. Well, both Cupheads. Mugman landed on the chair in front of the piano and played on it while looking in the same direction as his brother and Cuppy.
Since the music was coming from the radio, Cuphead grabbed it and made his rounds while holding onto the radio. From the dressing room, Mugman grabbed a black top hat and Elder Kettle's walking stick. With these he rocked back and forth until the two rolled forward with a roll and stopped in front of Elder Kettle. Okay, where did they get the confetti? Alicia asked herself as it appeared while the two brothers stopped in front of Elder Kettle and grinned. This one whistled and steam came out of his nose. "Looks like it worked," Cuphead whispered to his brother. "Yeah, he's charmed all right," he whispered back as Elder Kettle stood up with the cookie jar in his hand. "So charming!" he said, reaching into the jar and holding three cookies in his hand.
All three hoped that Elder Kettle would give in, but he quickly changed his mind when he threw two of the three cookies into the jar before putting the lid on.
"But you three will never charm your way into my cookie jar!" he said and ate the cookie before putting the jar back on the shelf. "Aww!" said the three cups, despairing. The three had been practicing the dance Chalice had taught them for weeks. But apparently this had not helped. More precisely, the dance brought them nothing.
"We've been doing that dumb dance Chalice taught us for weeks, and it hasn't worked once" said the younger brother annoyed. Weeks is rather an exaggeration, you have been trying the dance for two or three days. The accident with the Devil was only three days ago and the three cups practiced the dance two days earlier than that. "I tell ya, Cuphead and Cuppy, she was messing with us" said Mugman with crossed arms and annoyed look. "I totally agree with you Mugsy" Alicia agreed while Cuppy nodded. Only Cuphead disagreed.
He was still of the opinion that she was good. "No way! Chalice wouldn't do that," he said, but that didn't change Alicia, Cuppy's, and Mugman's minds. Even Blood and Varian shared her opinion even though they hardly knew Chalice. "We know nothing about her" Alicia said annoyed. "Except she abandoned us and then never came to visit us in prision" Mugman added.
"Or that shedidn't knew I was in the underworld while Cuppy had lost his soul.", "See, that's two things we know about her already." Alicia gave herself a face palm as she sat down next to Blood with Varian on the sofa. Mugman and Cuppy sat down with the three as well and sighed "I really thought she was gonna be our friend" the mug was slightly dejected as he looked at the top hat and walking stick.
He had really hoped that Chalice would be their friend. But after the thing with the prison and with Alicia and the devil, he was of a different opinion. Annoyed and slightly angry, he got up and walked to the clothes rakes next to the front door with his top hat and walking stick. "It was nice not being on our own". Cuphead however disagreed with him "Hey, Chalice is a great friend".
Alicia almost swolled when she heard that. "I doubt that" Cuphead looked to Alicia as she said this. "She left you in the lurch, me in the hands of the Devil and let him grab Cuppy's Soul". Mugman and Cuppy nodded and agreed with her. All three didn't want to see Chalice again after a stunt like that.
"Well, if she's so great, how come we never heard from her again, hmm?" Mugman asked as he hang the walking stick and the top hat on the two clothes rakes. Alicia wondered the same thing. She had heard nothing more from Chalice and wondered why they had brought the three cups and her to the factory in the first place.
It felt like Chalice had been forced to take Alicia there. Almost as if the devil had forced her to do it. No, I can't imagine that. Chalice doesn't even know me. Or does she? Alicia had several questions in her head that were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the front door.
Mugman looked to the front door "Ooh, maybe that's your dear friend Chalice now" with a sarcastic tone he opened the door. You've got to be kidding me right? Behind the door stood Chalice smiling at Mugman. "Hey, it's me, Chalice!" Before she could say anything, Mugman closed the door. Cuphead was happy, of course, and was about to open the door for her when Alicia blocked his way.
"Wait Cuphead!" Alicia said as he ran into her and landed on the floor with his butt. "We're not letting her in no matter what!". Alicia was reluctant to look Chalice in the eye, let alone hear her name. Ms. Chalice in the book was never like that. Of course she was suspicious of Alicia at first because she was half demon. But during the trip on D.L.C. Island, they both developed a better relationship and were almost like sisters.
Chalice here, however, was quite different. She seemed to be mysterious and that worried Alicia a lot because she feared that she would try to bring the devil into the game in the future and Alicia didn't like that. She already had enough problems with him being in love with her and after Cuppy's and Cuphead's soul.
"Not letting who in?" asked a voice behind her. Seriously? Alicia turned around and there stood Chalice with a smile on her face right behind her. "How did you...?" Alicia was about to ask when Chalice interrupted her, pushes the cups further away from the door and said "Shh! Keep it down, will ya?".
Alicia and the others were confused as Chalice sat down on a chest and looked outside as if she was being followed "Um what's going on here?" Varian asked her "I'm being chased by an angry mob" "Angry mob!" the cups said simultaneously as Chalice closed the curtains behind her. I wonder why. Alicia rolled her eyes.
"Yep, an angry mob" Chalice said as she opened the chest and tried to barricade the windows with a wooden board, but Alicia took it out of her hand. "And why don't I hear anyone?" asked Alicia to her. Chalice just shrugged her arms at her question. "All those chumps who gave us free stuff?" both cups and Alicia nodded. "Well, they started to catch on that I was scamming 'em" Wait does mean they are mad at me too? Alicia was not thrilled when she heard that.
She was also involved and would be sought after. That is really great. Exactly what I wanted to prevent. Alicia never wanted to stand out because she felt that if the people of this world knew what half of her was, they would hunt her down. Like a monster being hunted by an angry mob. "Apparently, they got a problem with that" she explained further.
"So I thought I could stay here, since we had such a great time last time" Chalice said and gave the two brothers, Cuppy, Blood, Varian and Alicia a fist punch in the elbow. Cuppy, Alicia, Varian and Blood were not so thrilled about it. "Some great time!" groaned Cuppy in pain while Mugman walked past her and his brother to close the chest.
"You ditched us!", "Whammo, you're gone! And we wind up at the big house! While Alicia was kidnapped and Cuppy lost his soul" said Alicia and Mugman. "The big house?" Chalice said startled as she looked from Mugman to Alicia and Cuppy "And you two were..." Alicia just nodded while Cuppy scoofs and said nothing else as the two joined Varian and Blood. "Gee, I had no idea" she said, looking at Cuphead again more closely before looking to Cuppy. Yes they both looked almost the same. That's why she was surprised. "Gosh, fellas, I'm sorry I got you tossed in the hoosegow" The What?. Alicia was confused.
Chalice sat down on the chest and looked sadly to Mugman who was still angry. "Sorry won't bring us back so many cold, cold nights in the slummer" Mugman said "Or that I lost my soul and that Alicia was almost married to the devil here" Cuppy explained to her. "The crowbar hotel", "The pokey", "The clink", "The stony lonesome", "The convict condo!", "The zoo for criminals", "The ol'hooba-dooba" Cuphead, Mugman and Chalice said which confused Alicia and the others. Okay weird term for jail.
She had to admit some terms were funny. "Yeah! The old...hooba-dooba?" Cuphead said in a confused voice as he and his brother looked to Chalice. "The old hooba-dooba?" asked Mugman. "That's not even a thing!" said Cuppy. "Well, if you never heard of it, that's your problem" Chalice said to his face which annoyed Cuppy.
"Hmm" said Chalice and Cuphead. "Okay, okay the point is, you two knocked yourselves out, cops stormed in, and I was lucky to get away" she said, but that didn't make things any better. "And what about Alicia and Cuppy?" asked Cuphead. You could tell Chalice was thinking about what to say, but in response she gave the cup a shrug as an awnser.
Alicia suspected that Chalice partly knew about it and partly did not. She had this sense that Chalice wasn't telling the whole truth. Maybe it was because of the eyes or because Alicia could partly sense the sins in people like her husband Lucifer the devil from the book.
"Cookies were pretty good though, huh?" Chalice said with a snap. "She's got us there," Cuphead said. "I do like cookies" Mugman and Cuppy couldn't agree with that and were happy again but Alicia still had a slight grudge against Chalice. Not as strong as against both King Dices. "So what'll it be, boys, Alicia and the two of you?" asked Chalice while looking to Blood and Varian. "Can your old pal Chalice stick around? Or am I gonna be out on my own, running from an angry mob?". Alicia was definitely against it as was Elder Kettle who was walking down the stairs and heard the last sentence. "Angry mob?" the group turned to him.
You could tell that he was angry and annoyed."That's where this kettle draws the line!".
He walked over to Chalice "I want you out of here this instant, missy!" he said, pushing her toward the front door. "Wait! Did I mention, uh, this?" she said nervously as she freed herself from his grip. Alicia suspected as much and gave herself another face palm as Chalice began to perform the same dance the three cups had shown him. Of course, Elder Kettle changed his mind out of knowhere "Oh, how delightfully charming,". "Of course you can hide here from your mob, Ms. Chalice," "Seriously," Alicia said annoyed.
The three cups couldn't believe it either when Elder Kettle gave her a cookie just like that. Not only were their mouths wide open, but their heads fell off as well. Well Cuppy's didn't fell off but he gave himself a facepalm. "How does she do that?" asked Cuphead. Their bodies grabbed their heads, put it down in its original place and turned their heads like a bottle cap, causing their eyes to turn slightly greenish and stars to circle above their heads before they shook their heads and returned to normal, realizing that Chalice was no longer standing next to them.
"I don't know" replied his brother. Alicia,Varian, Blood and Cuppy ignored the two when suddenly between Alicia and Blood sat Chalice munching on her cookie as she looked to the young adult and the Wolf. "So, what do you six do for fun around here?"
"Um various things," Blood anwsered. "Mostly trying to not get in contact with the Devil" Alicia added. But Cuphead and Mugman showed her what they were doing to have fun around here.
The four cups went out of the cottage and saw the goat lying asleep on the lawn, nibbling on a blade of grass. However, it was woken up by Cuphead jumping on it, which the goat did not like, so it tried to throw it off its back several times.
Alicia, Varian and Blood watched the whole thing from the inside through the window. She was worried at first that the goat would throw him down. However, she seemed to like it. Even when Mugman sat on her back, she seemed to smile. Even Cuppy couldn't hold on and jumped on the goat while the two brothers sat behind him.
Alicia had to laugh when she saw that. However, the one who was not very enthusiastic was Chalice who sat bored next to the fountain and yawned with boredom."All right, all right," Chalice said as she walked over to the three cups. "I see exactly where this is going" Cuppy and the goat got off and were confused. "Nowheres" the three were a little crestfallen when Chalice said that.
"Come on fellas, huddle up". The four cups formed a circle. saw it and were concerned because they did not know what the four were saying to themselves. Alicia suspected something worse when she saw the four going to the truck and about to jump into it. She and the other two knew that none of the four cups was old enough to drive a car. Let alone that they could even reach the pedals with their short legs.
She knew this was not going to end well, so she didn't think twice and went out of the cottage to confront the four who had just jumped the fence while Chalice was about to get into the truck.
"What do you think you're doing?" asked Alicia of the four while Blood and Varian followed her, looking just as annoyed as Alicia. Cuphead and Mugman grinned nervously at her while sweat fell down their faces like a waterfall. Cuppy twiddled her thumbs while Chalice thought about what to say or if she should do her dance to charm the three adults.
However, she knew that it would bring her nothing why she remained silent and only shook her head. Alicia wanted to hear an answer from the four of them and bobbed her right foot up and down while Blood rested his right elbow on his left arm and thoughtfully cupped his hand around his chin. Varian remained neutral about it. Of course he was not very enthusiastic about seeing the four mugs just leave with the truck without telling him first.
"We were going to the city to that... What was it again?" asked Cuppy Chalice who quickly answered his question "Dance contest!". Alicia looked at her skeptically. She didn't trust the young Chalice at all since the incident at the cookie factory.
Not only because of the cookie she had given her, but also because she was responsible for the three boys getting into mischief and probably being sought by the mob when they were in city. However, she didn't want to send them off alone, so Alicia decided to drive the truck.
"Okay fine, get in the truck everyone I'll drive" all four cups nodded and shared the back seats while Blood and Varian sat in the front with Alicia who had trouble with the car at first until she remembered the conversation with Elder Kettle when she and Mugsy had to help him. "It's a manual transmission" he said as Alicia sat down in the car. He showed her how it worked since Alicia only had an automatic transmission. Mugman sat next to her as she shifted into first gear. Just as she did now when the engine started and the six of them drove off.
Despite the condition, the car drove quite fast which impressed Alicia very much. "Faster!" shouted Cuphead while his brother and Cuppy held onto himselves. Alicia stepped on the gas pedal and drove faster than before which, however, frightened Mugman. "Whoo!" shouted Chalice. The latter noticed that something suddenly appeared in the sky and sat down between Alicia and Blood without being asked. The former was focused on the roadway until Chalice lifted her head up "Lookie there!".
"Chalice I'm driving! Don't do that!" said Alicia as she removed her hand from her head and was about to look ahead until she looked up again and saw the red blimp. Wait is that? Yes, that's her Hilda Berg. The blimp turned into her and laughed when she saw the group. She looked very much like Hilda from the book only with lipstick and a pointier nose. Alicia was happy when she saw her again and waved to her as well as the others.
Hilda waved back and flew on when Alicia saw that they were going into a cornfield. "Whoa!" the group shouted as Alicia stopped the car. "Okay don't do that ever again if I'm driving!" Alicia growled annoyed. The others nodded and looked to Chalice, also with an annoyed expression. But suddenly the group heard a horn. "Wait don't tell me we are" she looked out of the car and saw the train tracks they were standing on "You're kidding me right?".
But unfortunately it was true. From afar a train is approaching the truck. "Everybody out now!" Blood said. No one argued with him and jumped out of the truck. Or they wanted to, however, the seat belts were jammed. Alicia started to panic when she saw the train approaching and honking its horn at the group, telling them to get off the tracks.
Blood and Varian, however, had a solution ready and used both magic and technology to protect the truck from the incoming train. This did not touch the truck but the shield that the truck and its occupants flung like a bouncy ball into the city directly in front of the building in which the competition was held.
A banner with the inscription Dance Contest hung over the entrance door. "Well at least we are safe and sound" said Cuppy while Alicia gasped. Chalice dragged the three cups behind her and a minute later won the competition.
Fortunately, the way home was not as exhausting as the way to the city. "Don't you want to come inside?" asked Chalice holding the trophy. "Nah we'll stay out here for a while" said Alicia as Chalice closed the door. "That was swell! I usu-" Alicia, Varian and Blood heard as Chalice walked into the cottage with the three cups.
"He didn't get any damage when you two created the shield?" Alicia asked the wolf and the fox as she looked to the truck. "Don't worry the shield blocked the train and everything else." said Varian.
Alicia breathed a sigh of relief and went with the two into the house where they noticed that the three cups were missing. Confused, they looked around but didn't see them anywhere. "Hey! What gives?" asked Cuphead, annoyed. The three heard it and followed the voice that could be heard under the stairs where there was a cupboard in which Elder Kettle had stored small things. However, this was still large enough so that all could fit in. Yes literally!"Cuphead, me and Mugsy are starting to wonder if there ever was an angry mob" said Cuppy. "You calling Chalice a liar?".
Before Mugman could say anything, the three noticed the closet door open and looked at it. It was Alicia, Blood and Varian who were confused as to why they were in the closet at all. "Think about it. We've been out all day" said Varian as Cuphead looked to him with confused eyes. Well, it was so dark in the cupboard that you could only see the eyes of the three cups.
"She isn't hiding from anybody," Cuppy agreed, as did Alicia, Mugman and Blood. Normally she wouldn't even go outside if an angry mob was after her. "Okay" said a voice that suddenly appeared like a pair of new eyes. It was Chalice who was also in the closet as well . "I admit it. I lied" I knew it!
Alicia was not thrilled as well as Cuppy and Mugsy. "The truth is, I..." she fell silent and took a deep breath before continuing "I like not being on my own" She bowed her head sadly as she said this. Now Alicia felt bad. However, she still had a grudge against Chalice because of the cookie factory thing. "I just wanted to hang out with you three porcelain dum-dums, Alicia, Varian and Blood again" she said.
"Wait, so you're saying that you really did miss us?" Mugman asked her "That's right, ding-dongs" she said when suddenly the doorbell rang. Who is that? Chalice turned on the light in the closet. "Who could that be?" asked Varian as he open the closetdoor. The others followed him. Alicia had a bad feeling in her stomach. She already suspected who was waiting for the group out there.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe that's your angry mob now" Mugman walked to the front door and open it. As it turned out, Alicia had been right. Outside the front door stood the angry mob of people Chalice had scammed. "Give us Chalice!, Give us Alicia!, Give us-" he closed the door. "Chalice, Alicia it's for you". Alicia's eyes changed color to yellow and she stared angrily at Chalice as she struggled to keep her temper. "So the angry mob is real?" asked Alicia.
She circled her fingers and smiled nervously at the group. "Remember when I said I was lying about the angry mob?" all nodded and looked at her with varying degrees of anger. Blood was rather annoyed as well as Cuphead, Cuppy was slightly red with anger while Alicia was on fire, Varian growled and Mugman stared at her even more angrily.
"Well, the funny thing is, I was lying about lying about the angry mob" she giggled nervously and looked at the six "We're still friends, though right?" she asked but just as Alicia was about to say something they heard the door bang and fell to the floor as the mob burst through it into the cottage.
But suddenly Cuphead stopped the mob "Guys, guys!" he said, pointing to Elder Kettle lying in the chair, fast asleep. Alicia gave herself a face palm as she saw the angry mob's understanding. "Oh, sorry! Sorry. Let's go outside" said the optometrist as she and the rest tiptoed outside. The group followed them.
Once outside, Cuphead shut the door and turned to the mob. "You were saying?" Cuppy asked the angry mob. "Step aside, boys, we don't want you," said the optometrist. This greatly reassured the three brothers "We just want the Chalice and the young woman over there" this in turn scared Alicia as she hid behind Blood while Varian grabs a wooden stick. "Give us Chalice and Alicia!" said the mob and approached the group while they kept shouting "Give us Chalice and the Alicia!".
Everyone looked scared except for Cuppy and Blood. The latter protected Alicia and drew his wand, ready to fight. "Being the fourth ding-dong was fun while it lasted" said Chalice "But it looks like I'm on my own again". "On your own?" Alicia's eyes changed color to yellow and she stared angrily at Chalice as she struggled to keep her temper. So he pulled up his pants and faced the angry mob. "Now listen here!".
The mob stopped in front of him, angry and confused at the same time. "Ahem. I know all of you are angry. You're an angry mob, it's in your name". Cuphead and the others were a bit confused when he said that. Alicia however knew what he was trying to do. "That's exactly right!" said the mob with torches and pitchforks raised. "It's true, Alicia looks beautiful and has a singing voice like an angel's" he turned to her and smiled. Aww thanks Mugsy. Alicia blushed slightly.
"And yes, Chalice is a lying, grifting, friend-abandoning thief who-", "Okay! Mugman, everybody! Give him a hand!" Chalice interrupted him and pressed her hand into his face, which annoyed him. She tried to push him away, "Not finished!" he said, pushing her hand away before turning his attention to the mob.
Alicia took advantage of this chance to teach the mob a lesson. So she disappeared in a cloud of smoke and stood behind the cottage, slowly transforming into her Wyvern form.
"But didn't her dancing bring you joy?" the mug asked the angry mob. "And isn't that joy worth the cost of an eensy-weensy, little bit of money?". The mob looked at each other, nodding before agreeing. "No!" was they awnser. Mugman slowly walked back to the others "Okay then" he hugged his brother and Cuppy "Nice try, Mugsy, but looks like they're not buying it" Cuphead said as he turned to Chalice and Alicia "Any ideas?" he asked but neither Chalice nor Alicia there.
Confused, Blood and Varian looked around but Alicia was gone as was Chalice. This did not please the angry mob, who were fed up. "Hey! His heartfelt speech was just a distraction so that both woman could get away!" said the gum machine. "Wait! We did come all this way. You want to just beat them up?" suggested the optician as she points to the group.
Everyone in the mob agreed and walked towards the group with pitchforks and torches raised. "Been nice knowing y'all!" said Cuphead as he looked to his brother and the others. The hotdog vendor was ready to swing his club. However, it slipped out of his hand which confused the vendor who looked at the floating club "Hey, my club!" As soon as he finished his sentence, the club hit his head and knocked him out. The black cat standing next to him hissed. But not at the club but because of something else.
Suddenly all the torches went out and a growl was heard. The mob and the others looked around as a large shadow suddenly appeared from behind the cottage.
Two yellow eyes appeared above it followed by a wide open mouth from which blue flames appeared. The mob trembled in fear and was surrounded by blue flames followed by a menacing roar that resembled that of a monster. With the flying club on top of that, the mob ran away screaming in horror. The Cups trembled until they were nudged by something.
"Ahem. Yoo-hoo!" said a familiar as they both opened their eyes and saw Chalice in her Ghost Form floating in front of them. With her dragon snout Alicia nudges the cups. "Hiya, fellas!" she said and waved at them before throwing the club away. "You're a g-g-g..." said Cuphead and Mugman when they saw Chalice. Cuppy knew that Ms. Chalice from his world lived in the astral plane and always had a portal behind her from which she came. But here she was a complete ghost. That scared him a little bit.
Varian and Blood, however, showed no fear. Both knew nothing about ghosts, because in Blood's world they were rather weak and in Varian's world there were no ghosts.
"A g-g-g-g-ghost? That's right!" she said and imitated the brothers before looking at Alicia who was still cuddling with them. Mugman also had to giggle when she stroked his belly. "And I see Alicia is a Wyvern" Chalice said and approached her to stroke her muzzle before she flew away but still turned around. "She's half a demon and can turn into more than just a Wyvern" said Cuppy which more than surprised Chalice. "Anyway, I gotta lay low for a while, but we'll hang out again soon. Promise!" she said as Alicia transformed back and was human again. "And I'm very excited to see what other powers and abilities you have Alicia" Alicia blushed when she heard that. "You're welcome".
Chalice winked at her and had to giggle. She was about to turn around when she remembered something else. "Oh, and, uh, fellas?" Cuphead, Cuppy, and Mugman looked to her. Only Blood and Varian remained neutral "Yeah?", Chalice came closer "Boo!" and disappeared. All three cups got scared when Chalice said that and fell to the ground with crosses appeared in place of their pupils.
Alicia and Varian had to laugh while Blood also giggled and took two of the three brothers in his arms and brought them into the cottage. Alicia took Cuppy in her arms and followed him into the cottage. The day was definitely different than Alicia had hoped. Sure, the devil wasn't after her, but still, it doesn't mean Alicia was always safe. She knew that if the mob had known she was half demon, they would have hunted her down like a monster.
However, Alicia had a bad feeling that she would soon be threatened with something worse. Something that would probably be even worse than the devil himself.
Sorry for the late upload. At the moment there is a lot going on on Fanfiction. As some have noticed the news when a new chapter is posted will no longer be communicated by email. Only by app although that doesn't work one hundred percent.
You can probably already guess what the next chapter will be.
Until then