It was already night on the Inkwell Isle's when Alicia and the others returned from the harbor after the unwanted high seas adventure that Cuphead had so longed for. But as soon as the group was back at the cottage, they all wanted just one thing.
Off to bed and off to sleep.
So Alicia didn't hesitate for long and went into the guest room first, followed by Cuppy, Varian and finally Blood. But when they opened the door, the four of them saw that one of the beds was suddenly uncovered. The blanket, the pillow, the sheets and even the mattress were missing. There was no trace of it. And to make matters worse, Varian and Cuppy were normally sleeping on the now empty bed without a mattress.
Now they both needed a place to sleep and wanted to know why the bed was empty, just like Alicia and Blood. Elder Kettle was the only one in the cottage when they got up this morning. Surely he could tell them where the things were. But the question answered itself when Alicia opened the door to the living room and heard the washing machine in the room next to the guestroom.
The comforter, pillows and sheets were still in the washing machine while the bed mattress was hooked on a rope like a wet T-shirt on a washing line. At least that's how it looked. That answered the question of where the missing things were. But they still didn't know where Varian and Cuppy were supposed to sleep. The couch was just long and wide enough for one of them to sleep on. Varian opted for the couch while Cuppy was surprised to get an offer from the two brothers who came down with their onesies to wish the group a good night. They had heard about the problem and wanted to help solve it. "That's really nice of you two to let Cuppy sleep in your room" Alicia hugged the two cups whose cheeks flushed slightly as Alicia gave them each a kiss on the cheek.
"You're welcome Ali" "We're happy to help" they both said, their faces flushed. Cuppy was happy too, of course, and went into the guest room only to find himself standing in front of the stairs not a second later with a dark blue sleeping bag, pyjamas and pillow under his arm while Alicia followed him.
Once upstairs, Cuppy and Alicia followed the two brothers down the corridor until they arrived in their bedroom. Elder Kettle was not yet in bed as he was taking care of the clothes and folding them before they ended up in the closet.
In the brothers' bedroom, Alicia placed a small air mattress next to Cuphead and Mugman's bunk bed so that Cuppy didn't have to sleep on the hard floor with his sleeping bag. He already had his pyjamas on. So he just put the pillow where his head was in the sleeping bag before wrapping himself up like a caterpillar in its cocoon. Cuphead and Mugman also went into their beds and lay down. Alicia had to smile when she saw the three cups and how peacefully they were sleeping in their beds. She walked slowly to the door and switched off the light.
It was now dark in the room but that hardly bothered Alicia as she could still see everything thanks to her demon eyes which were able to see even in the dark. She saw the three cups sleeping peacefully and left the room. Or that's what she wanted. However... "Al?" was all she heard behind her and she looked at the three cups. All three were no longer in their beds, or rather Cuppy was in his sleeping bag, looking at her. Alicia knew that the three of them wanted something from her. Their faces said it.
"Is something wrong?" Alicia asked curiously, while Cuppy and Mugman looked at Cuphead, who asked the following, twirling his index finger. "Could you tell us a good night story?" all three cups looked at Alicia with thick round pupils like a begging dog begging for a bite of sausage. Alicia thought about his question and nodded. This delighted the three cups, who all sat down on Cuphead's bed while Alicia went to the bookshelf to take a book from it. But then all she heard was a groan followed by "Oh no, not that book again". It wasn't hard to make out that it was Cuphead who had uttered this.
The book that was already a quarter of the way out showed a dog's head. Alicia was confused as to why Cuphead didn't want to read this book until she saw that it was actually a book for toddlers. Okay Elder Kettle, I guess it's time to put some things in the attic. She slid the book back in and walked over to the three cups that were following Alicia with their eyes while she thought about what stories she could tell that all three cups might enjoy.
She took the chair next to the desk, placed it in front of the bunk bed and sat down on it. All three cups were confused and wanted to ask why Alicia wasn't holding a book in her hands. "Because I've decided to tell a story of my own that I'm sure you three will like". Now the three cups were curious. What kind of story would Alicia tell them? "Definitely a story about warriors!" said Cuphead with a grin. He was sure that Alicia's story would be about that.
"Come on, Ali can tell a better story than that" Mugman disagreed. Cuppy just nodded and agreed with Mugman that Alicia could tell a better story than the one Cuphead had suggested. "Fine. I'll tell you a story. A story about a certain mug" Alicia began to talk while the three cups listened to her. Mugman's pupils thickened as his smile widened. He knew he was the cup Alicia was talking about.
"A story I'd like to call, The Devil's Voice".
In the living room, Alicia sat on the couch while Cuphead and Cuppy played cards, Blood examined the treasure map, Varian cleaned his tools and Elder Kettle relaxed and read the newspaper. It was quite quiet in the cottage until suddenly the front door opened, or rather was ripped open. Confused and slightly startled, everyone looked towards the front door and saw none other than Mugman with what looked like a bite mark on his right arm. "Guys! Guys!" he shouted hysterically "I think I just got bit by a snake!" he showed the bite mark on his arm to at least get sympathy or to be hugged and comforted by Alicia.
But he didn't get any sympathy. No, the complete opposite happened. Elder Kettle started to laugh, as did Cuphead and Cuppy and the rest. Mugman was confused as he rubbed his arm. "What? What's so funny?" he asked. "Sorry, Mugsy it's just hard to focus on what you're saying with that squeaky puberty voice you got there." replied Elder Kettle, who could no longer contain his laughter. "My what?" Mugman was even more confused and went to the mirror to look at himself. Why would his voice be so high-pitched? "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Mugsy," the young mug felt his brother's hand on his shoulder. In the mirror he saw him and Cuppy standing next to him before he looked at them and turned his back to the mirror.
"Your voice is hilarious" added Cuppy, who patted him on the shoulder. "Are you saying my voice cracks?" the others looked at each other before looking at Mugman and nodding in answer to his question. This was not the answer Mugman had hoped for. "My voice doesn't crack!" he grumbled. "Mugsy, no offense, but it cracks so much we've already made a techno remix out of it" Alicia reached for her smartphone and searched for a video to play.
Nice to meet you my name is Mugman.
Mugman, Mugman, Mugman
Nice to meet you
Mugman, Mugman, Mugman
The others danced or swayed to the music while Mugman's lips lowered, showing a rather sad and annoyed expression. "Do I really sound like that?" he asked curiously, hoping that the others would change their minds about his voice. "Oh, here comes my favorite part!" said Varian before he and the others went back to watching the video.
Stop it guys!
Everyone laughed, not realizing that Mugman was only getting angrier than before. His face turned red and steam poured out of his straw like a locomotive before he left the house to stop hearing the others and humiliate himself even more. No one noticed that he was gone, walking along the forest to calm himself down before returning home. At the moment he was consumed with rage and wanted to let his anger out. But he didn't know how. He wasn't the devil and could just burst into flames with rage.
The only thing he could do now was sigh. But even that annoyed him. "Ugh! Even my sighs sound weird" he kept walking until he bumped into something or someone. Confused and slightly annoyed, the young mug thundered onto the floor "Hey, watch out..." his gaze slowly wandered upwards to the person who had helped him onto the floor.
"Oh hello Mr. Mugman how nice it is to see you" said a familiar voice that sounded more than familiar to Mugman. It was Muru the Manticore. "I couldn't help but overhear your sitchy-action" Mugman looked at him confused at first and didn't know what he meant until he remembered what Muru meant. It was because of Mugman's voice.
It seemed that Muru had something under his coat that could help Mugman. At least Mugman hoped so, as Muru kept his hand inside his cloak, searching for something. Curious as to what it might be, Mugman looked patiently at Muru who, after what felt like an eternity, pulled something out of his cloak.
It was an vial with a greenish liquid that glowed like glow sticks. "This should help you with your problem," said Muru as he handed the vial to Mugman, who stared at it in confusion. "What is this?" asked Mugman, who was a little frightened by the liquid as he didn't know what it was. "A voice-altering tonic," Muru answered his question. "This will really fix my voice?" Mugman asked, looking at the ampoule apprehensively and not quite sure whether he could trust the liquid or not. "Well, an older gentleman I met one day explained to me that this liquid works and that it had helped a little boy." That was enough for Mugman, who swallowed the liquid in one gulp. He gave the empty test tube back to Muru before going back to the cottage.
"Come mornin', you'll sound like a new man!" Muru called after him before his gaze fell back into his cloak where the Manticore noticed something. He had given him the wrong liquid. "Oh damn!" he said and continued walking, whistling nervously.
The next day, Mugman woke up in his bed and yawned. He rubbed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak. "Good morning, Mugman," he said to himself and rubbed his eyes again. Sleep was getting to him. But the new voice he had was not. Wait, his voice was new? Mugman's eyes snapped open and he began to shake. His voice wasn't like his old one. It was more British and seemed older. "I did it! I did it!"
he said, shocked and delighted at the same time. Now nobody made fun of his voice anymore. "Now I have a new voice!" Mugman was proud of it and decided to demonstrate his new voice to the others. After all, they didn't know his new voice yet.
So he climbed down from his bed and approached his brother, who was still sleeping peacefully in the bottom bunk. "Morning, Cuphead. Who's my favorite brother?" Cuphead opened his eyes in horror and started screaming. He knew who this voice belonged to.
"Ahhh! The Devil!" this was not the reaction Mugman had hoped for as his brother screamed at him. Or that his brother would hit him on the head with his pillow and chase him around the room while Mugman tried to explain that he was still his brother. Only his voice had changed.
"What have you done to my brother?!" Cuphead asked hysterically as he continued to chase Mugman until he climbed onto his bed to escape his brother. "Mugsy! I'll save you from that Old Scratch!" Cuphead prepared to throw the pillow at his brother. But... "Cuphead, it's me!" Cuphead fell silent and dropped the pillow that fell on his head before it hit the ground. "This is my voice now. I sound awesome" Mugman declared proudly.
But Cuphead wasn't very enthusiastic about it and seemed to be more afraid than happy when his brother behaved differently than usual. "I knew our voices will change but this is weird. Weird and bad" yes Cuphead didn't know whether to categorize this as positive or negative. "Cuphead, this is the best thing that ever happened to me" Cuphead wasn't so sure about that one.
"Just think of the prank calls" Mugman stretched out his arm and reached for a phone. A candlestick phone, to be precise, and waited until someone answered the call.
"Hello?" asked a deep male voice that could be heard from the receiver. "Hello. This is the president of the United States of America," Mugman said confidently, while Cuphead was even more apprehensive than before. "I'm calling to tell you..." and he blows a raspberry. "What? Who is this?" the voice now asked in an annoyed tone, expecting Mugman to answer him. But he just laughed, which only made the caller angrier. "Magnificent!" said Mugman happily, but Cuphead disagreed "Cuphead no like" said the eldest and showed him his back.
Downstairs in the living room sat Alicia, Blood, Cuppy and Varian who were listening to a new song on the radio and didn't notice Cuphead and Mugman walking over to the group. Alicia was the first to notice the two and greeted them with a "Good morning you two, did you sleep well?" before Mugman answered her. "Oh we slept well. How you diddly doing, Alicia?" Alicia and the others were silent for a minute before Alicia's eyes widened in fear. The voice she had just heard was not Mugman's but the devil's.
She shivered and hid behind Blood, who didn't hesitate for long and drew his wand while Varian enlarged his omni wrench. "Kill it! Kill it with fire!" shouted Cuppy, who grabbed a broom and started beating Mugman like he was some kind of monster. "Alicia flee!" he shouted before he tried to strike another blow to Mugman's head.
But before he could do so, someone suddenly held the broom and prevented Cuppy from doing so. He looked behind him and, to his shock, it was Alicia who was holding the broom. "Wait, something's wrong here," she explained and tried to calm the others, who slowly lowered their weapons. "Yeah, what gives, guys?" Mugman asked the others as he rubbed his head to get rid of the pain or the bump he was getting. "You guys all made fun of my old voice. I thought you'd like the new one" the others didn't know what to say. What he said was the truth, but hadn't Mugman known that his new voice sounded like the devil?
"Mugsy, at least before you sounded like a real person" the young mug was confused by Varian's statement "Now you sound like the Devil himself" Mugman was not very happy about this and went out of the cottage to talk to someone who appreciates him as he is now. "I'll find Elder Kettle. He'll like my new voice. You'll see!" he said before walking out of the front door and showing his back to the others. "I'll be right back after these messages. Er... I mean, goodbye". Oh boy this will end up bad doesn't it?
However, Elder Kettle was not in the garden as he was in the cottage itself, so Mugman searched the whole island for him, shouting "Elder Kettle. Elder Kettle!" to at least hope that he would hear him. But what he didn't realize was that he was walking past the Flytrap that was docked at the river. Both frogs were looking after the boat when suddenly "Where are you, Elder Kettle?".
Croaks stopped his work and dropped the sponge as this voice reached his ears. He knew that voice and was extremely angry to hear it here. "Huh? I'd know that voice anywhere!" Ribby looked at his brother in confusion before his eyes also fell on Mugman who stopped when he heard Croaks and winced slightly.
"You're the guy who prank-called me earlier!" growled Croaks while Ribby tried to calm him down. "No. No, I'm not. I'm just a 12-year-old mug!" Mugman tried to explain but Croaks growled even more while Ribby didn't really believe him "You expect us to believe that, you crazy-voiced punk?" Ribby asked him while he himself was now getting angry like his brother. Nobody should take the piss them off, let alone make fun of them. "Wait! No!" Both frogs started to strike at the young mug, but Mugman dodged the blows, even if he had to separate his head from his body for a moment.
Both boxing gloves thundered to the ground and narrowly missed Mugman, who took the chance and fled. Ribby and Croaks tried to follow him but both boxing gloves were stuck in the ground, much to the frustration of the two brothers. But they still had an ace up their sleeve when the staff walked out of the ship and stared at both frogs in confusion.
"There's a prank caller on the loose!" Ribby said. "Let's get him!" Croaks added. The staff, including Sherman, stared at the two frogs emotionless at first. But barely a second later they were roaring and holding various types of weapons in their hands. They raised them and followed the two brothers to hunt down Mugman. "Yeah! Come on!" "Come on, let's get him!" shouted the staff.
Mugman ran as fast as he could to get rid of Ribby, Croaks and their staff. He ran away from the river straight into the forest and didn't look behind him. Not even when the voices got further away from him.
He merely looked ahead but turned around in confusion to make sure he was safe. "Whoa!" however, he bumped into someone and sat with his butt on the forest floor, rubbing his head in pain as he slowly opened his eyes and saw a person in front of him that he could now dimly recognize. It was Muru the Manticore. His eyes didn't lie as Mugman rubbed them and was glad to see him again. "Now look at that-" "Muru! That liquid was a catastrophe!" Mugman interrupted him as he clutched at his right leg.
"That's probably why I should never buy stuff from someone living in the dump" Muru said quietly to himself, but Mugman heard it anyway. "My own brother didn't recognize me. I scared away crowds!" Mugman enumerated while slowly missing his old voice. "I even sound ridiculous when I cry". Mugman started to cry and didn't know what to do. But Muru had the solution. "Well, now, here's yer problem!" Mugman sniffled and looked up at Muru, who was holding two test tubes in his hands. "I gave you the wrong one," he thoughtlessly threw the almost empty test tube behind him, which was destroyed by a shattering sound that could be heard in the background.
He showed the other vial to Mugman, who wiped the snot off his nose while still sniffling. "How about this one?" but Mugman shook his head and said sadly "I want my old ridiculous voice back". Muru grinned "You got lucky. Come sundown you'll have reverted back to your old voice" the young mug said nothing and remained silent. But when he heard this, Mugman was happy again and refused Muru's offer of a new voice.
Late in the evening, he returned to the cottage and opened the front door. Or that's what he wanted. However, he took another deep breath and resolutely went into the cottage where the others were already sitting in the living room and noticed him. The faces of the group seemed to have different emotions. From fear to anger you could tell the group didn't know if this was still their mugman or the devil in disguise.
Mugman took a deep breath and "Hey, guys" It was his old voice that came out of his mouth and not that of the devil. "Mugsy!" shouted Cuphead and Cuppy as they got up from the floor and dropped their cards. "Oh, you're back!" Alicia hugged him and lifted him up so Varian and Blood could hug him too.
The group was glad that he was well again and that he was back to his old self. "Yeah. I guess I realized that even though my voice might not be perfect" Alicia and the others didn't know what to say and kept quiet so that he could finish "It's still mine and I wouldn't change it for anything" which delighted Alicia who gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Not even for whatever was in this new vial" Mugman held the half-empty test tube in his right hand. Alicia and the others looked at it and asked him the following. "So what did you do with the rest of that potion?" the question answered itself as Elder Kettle walked down the stairs holding a coffee cup. "Any of you seen my girdle?" Elder Kettle asked in a feminine high-pitched voice "Where my girdle at?" but the others couldn't answer his question as they laughed at him for his new voice.
He was confused. Why were the others laughing at him? "What? What's so funny? I'm Elder Kettle! Kids laughin'. Laughin' at their Elder Kettle".
But who was less than pleased that his voice sounded strange for half the day was the devil who had locked himself in his bedchamber so that no one could hear his new voice. And let's be honest, charades weren't exactly his strong point. So it was embarrassing enough for him that Henchman and Amnon heard his new voice and laughed for hours. What did he sound like? Well, he sounded like Mugman. Or to explain it better, he had Mugman's voice for half the day and not his own.
Of course, he wasn't particularly happy about it and just wanted to forget all about it.
"I spy, with my little eye, something..." Cuphead said, interrupting Alicia to finish the story and look for something. But Cuppy and Mugman were less than pleased that Cuphead interrupted the story with a search for something. However, the good guy had a suitable excuse ready "I'm starting to get bored" he went back and lay on his bed "Alicia, tell another story". She didn't know what to say but she had a suitable story for him.
She cleared her throat and began to tell the story.
"The story is called, 'Cuphead vs The Volcano!'"
His eyes widened when he heard this and he jumped out of bed and sat down between his brother and Cuppy. He squeezed in between them so that he could sit in the middle. Alicia just rolled her eyes and began to tell the story.
Alicia was in Porkrind's store with the three cups to pick up a product for Elder Kettle. Alicia stood with Cuppy at the sales counter while Mugman looked at the shoe collection and Cuphead focused his attention on the pinball machine where he was trying to beat the high score.
But so far he had never had any luck and his glass full of tips was already empty except for a few coins. He took one of the coins in his hand and was ready to beat the high score this time. "This is it, guys. After four long years of trying, I might finally get the high score on that pinball machine," declared Cuphead as the others looked to him. "If I do this, I'll go down in pinball history with the likes of SAL, CALA, and of course, DEVI" The last name irritated Alicia a little because it sounded familiar. But she thought nothing of it and waited impatiently for Porkrind to return with the ordered goods.
"Have you ever tried, maybe, just tilting the machine?" Mugman asked him "I don't know, Mugsy. Isn't breaking the rules, like, against the rules?" Cuppy thought the idea of cheating just to be at the top of the list was a bit stupid. "Nuts to the rules!" replied Cuphead, who looked at Mugman, Cuppy and Alicia. But she didn't hear him and only heard the machine reply "Failure. You stink!". That was enough for her.
She walked over to the three of them and the pinball machine, nodding at Cuppy and Mugman while holding one side of the pinball machine with both of her hands. Mugman and Cuppy held the other. "Ready, guys?" Mugman and Cuppy nodded and at Cuphead's signal, the three began to shake the machine back and forth "Tilt! Tilt! Tilt!" the three cups shouted while Alicia laughed and the high score shot up.
"Quit tiltin', adventurers!" the machine called out several times, but the group didn't hear it. They laughed and the ball landed in the volcano, Smoke came out of this. "Hole-in-one!" it said. The high score table changed and SAL moved into second place. Cuphead had made it and was in first place in the table. His name or abbreviation appeared in first place.
"New high score!" the machine flashed and the group rejoiced in Cuphead's victory. "This is the best moment of my life" Cuphead explained while wiping away a tear. "This is totally beats my old best moment" This was no less than when Cuphead opened the fridge, which still contained a full tub of ice cream addressed to him.
Alicia and the others weren't so sure and didn't know what to say. They were suddenly interrupted by someone. And it wasn't Porkrind. No. It was the pinball machine. or, to be more precise, the volcano.
"That ain't right. You cheated" confused, the group stared at the machine with mixed emotions. Mugman twitched with fear and hid behind the machine so that only his straw was visible, Cuppy furrowed his eyebrows, Alicia was skeptical and Cuphead just laughed. "Oh, yeah? What are you gonna do about it?" Cuphead mocked him. "You're just a pinball game." said Mugman confused as he lifts his head to look at the volcano.
But Alicia and Cuppy quickly realized that something was wrong with the machine. It lit up green. "Uh, guys? There's an awful lot of green lightning coming out of that game" Alicia pointed out as she slowly stepped away from the machine, taking Mugman and Cuppy with her. She wanted to take Cuphead with her. But then. "No, that's the normal amount of green lightning" Cuphead said casually as if it was nothing and was already about to insert the next coin.
But the machine spat out the coin and began to crackle even more than before. Cuphead noticed this too and also kept his distance. But it was too late. The flashes became more and more intense until they briefly disappeared and turned into a bright green flash that blinded the four of them. Everyone protected themselves from the blinding light by putting their arms and hands in front of their eyes to avoid being blinded even more. It got brighter and brighter until everything in the salesroom was white and slowly returned to normal. However, there was no sign of Alicia and the three cups.
It was as if she had simply disappeared. As if she had disappeared from the face of the earth.
Alicia slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was glass. Yes, she saw glass. Or rather the glass ceiling that was above her. Since when did Porkrind... She stopped her thoughts when she realized that the glass ceiling didn't belong to Porkrind but to something else. Alicia saw the actual ceiling that belonged to Porkrind's store and suspected the worst as she got up from the floor and looked around. She saw several mountains, crocodiles and rivers.
However, these were not real or looked real. No, they looked like hard plastic or whatever the parts were made of inside a pinball machine. So they were in the pinball machine. Super duper great. Alicia rolled her eyes until she suddenly heard a bell not far from her. Curious, she followed the sound and found the three cups sleeping on the floor. Cuphead was the only one of the three who was responsible for the noise. Because he was the only one sleeping next to the bumper and he hit it several times with his fist.
"Five more minutes" he groaned and continued hitting the bumper until he realized that this was not his alarm clock and immediately stood up with his eyes wide open. "Aah! That's not a normal alarm clock" Mugman and Cuppy also woke up and were just as shocked as Cuphead and Alicia, who only now noticed the three of them. "Guys. I think we're inside the game" she explained to the three of them.
Mugman and Cuppy also woke up and were just as shocked as Cuphead and Alicia, who only now noticed the three of them. "Guys. I think we're inside the game" she explained to the three of them. All four of them looked around and didn't know whether to be amazed or afraid that they were inside the pinball machine. "Crazy", "Sweet Moses!" said Mugman and Cuppy. "Hushed exclamation of wonder" added Cuphead in confusing the others more.
But when a pinball rolled past the four of them, the three cups ran after it and started having fun with the bumpers while Alicia didn't know exactly what to say. "If this is a dream, I never wanna wake up!" Cuphead declared proudly and never wanted to leave. "That can be arranged" but when he and the others heard this voice they ran back to Alicia in fear and hid behind her while the latter searched for the source of the voice, which claimed to be the volcano that was at the top, looking down on the four now tiny ones with a mean expression.
"Welcome to Volcano Island, adventurers!" he said in a joyful voice as everything in the machine began to flash, the crocodiles snapped their mouths shut and the river moved up and down as if it were waves. "Hey, it's the talking volcano," said Mugman. "Did you zap us into your game?" asked Alicia, who was less than pleased to be in here. "I hope to congratulate me on getting the high score" added Cuphead who hoped to get a prize for being on top. "I beat DEVI, pal" but the volcano showed little enthusiasm and stared at the four with an extravagant look before giving his frank opinion which didn't really please the four.
"Hardly. If'n I do recall, I warned y'all not to cheat" That was true. He had told them that they had actually cheated to get to the top. Not exactly the smart thing to do. "I tried to be gentleman-like. But I'm plum sick of being tilted" Oh boy that doesn't sound good. The lower bumpers moved up and down as if they were trying to free themselves. "So now I reckon. I'm gonna tilt you!". "Oh, yeah? Well, take this!" Mugman, who was standing next to a bumper, punched it only to get hit in the face himself "Ow!" Alicia went over to him and checked if he was hurt. But he was fine. He didn't even have a black eye.
However, stars circled above him, which Alicia waved away with her hand. The volcano, however, liked it and laughed as mischievously as ever. The crocodiles also opened their mouths with laughter. But the one who didn't laugh but growled was Alicia, who stared menacingly at the volcano. "Get yourselves ready for the..." Oh no... "Multi-ball!" the cups shouted as the display next to the volcano lit up. Several pinballs flew out of the volcano's head and slowly rolled down the mountain. Slowly was an exaggeration, because the pinballs were getting faster by the second and were hurtling towards the four of them at breakneck speed as they tried to avoid the balls.
"Over there!" Mugman pointed to a small crack in the wall that was big enough for everyone to walk through. Well, all except for Alicia, who was the last to slip into the crack, her lower body leaning against the outer wall while her upper body lay on the floor. "That was awesome, Alicia, the way you slid through it!" She didn't know what to say to that. But Alicia took Cuphead's statement as a compliment.
However, they were not yet safe here. The volcano had lost sight of them, but that didn't mean it would leave them alone. "I'm not done teachin' you a lesson about cheating!" The four of them had already feared that. "How are we ever gonna get out of here?" Mugman asked while Alicia and Cuppy were thinking. "Think, guys!" said Alicia, who had not yet come up with a solution. "But it's hard with that gorgeous pinball wench distracting me" the others looked in the same direction as Cuphead and saw a cardboard cutout of a young explorer standing in front of them. Alicia and Cuppy rolled their eyes as Cuphead waved to her while Mugman just gave himself a face palm.
"Okay, don't worry, guys. I know every inch of this machine" It was news to Alicia that he knew his way around the machine. Then again, he had been playing the machine for years, so he would probably know how to get out of here. "There's a manual power switch inside. I can sneak in there and turn off the game" that was good news. "But we'll have to distract the volcano" This was bad news again because Alicia didn't want one of the cups to get hurt. So she decided to do so. "Come on out and show yourselves, varmints!" Did he really just call us vermin? Alicia growled and went outside to face the volcano while Cuphead slid down a shaft that led into the chamber where all the coins were stored and where the manual power switch was located.
He stared at them while Alicia confronted the volcano, who just laughed. However, he then heard something behind the right wall. It was Cuppy and Mugman loosening a screw and looking down from where Cuphead was standing in front of the switch, pondering until he heard them and looked up. "Cuphead! Psst! What's going on? Just press the switch already!" but Cuphead had concerns. "Okay, so I was gonna do that but I've been thinking" He pointed to the note below him, which mentioned that all the data would disappear when the machine was switched off.
"According to this, turning off the power erases the high score permanently" he pondered "That score is, like, my one big life accomplishment" but Cuppy and Mugman were less than pleased. Is that exactly why Cuphead didn't want to flip the switch? Was he still in his right mind? "What? If you don't hurry up, we could die in here!". "Fair point. But, what is life anyway, when compared to the immortality of a high score?".
The others couldn't believe what Cuphead had just said. They were locked in this machine here, Alicia tried to distract the volcano so Cuphead could flip the switch but now he doesn't want to because he doesn't want to lose his high score? "Cuphead! Are you out of your..." suddenly the walls behind which Cuppy and Mugman were hiding came down. "There y'all are".
The volcano looked angrily at the two cups and at Alicia. "Get ready to meet yer maker, kids!" Erm what? Alicia didn't know what to say because it was already too late as the volcano was starting to erupt. Lava flowed out of it like a raging river that engulfed Alicia and the two cups. "What do we do now?" asked Mugman in a panicked voice as he climbed up Alicia. "I don't know!" Alicia answered him. She herself panicked as the lava encircled her and the two cups more and more until there wasn't much room left to get out of the way.
Alicia saw herself standing in the lava and closed her eyes while Cuppy slowly climbed up her leg. But it didn't come to that.
When Alicia opened her eyes, she and the three of them were lying on the floor of Porkrind's store right in front of the pinball machine. All three cups also opened their eyes and rubbed their heads painfully as they groaned and grunted. "You guys okay?" Alicia asked the three cups. All three were lying on their stomachs and only realized it too late when Alicia sat upright.
"Yeah, Cuphead. You did it!" Mugman hugged his brother tightly. "You freed us!" added Cuppy, who also hugged him. Alicia grinned when she saw this and how annoyed Cuphead looked, who was thrilled. Not because of the hug but because the high score list was now empty and Cuphead's high score was gone. Alicia noticed how sad he was looking at the list and tried to cheer him up. "Hey, I'm sorry you had to lose your high score," she said and put her hand on his shoulder, to which he looked.
Surprisingly, Cuphead took it in his stride: "Oh, I ain't too worried about that. I got a new life accomplishment now" Of course the others wanted to hear this "Saving you guys" Alicia smiled and was pleased that he didn't see it so drastically that his high score was gone. "Aw!" said Cuppy and Mugman, hugging Cuphead even harder than before. But the mood was quickly disrupted by a loud "Ah hm". The group looked towards the sales counter where Porkrind was now standing with a package in his hand addressed to Elder Kettle.
Back in the brothers' bedroom, Cuphead, Mugman and Cuppy slowly rubbed their eyes. Sleep slowly took control of their bodies and they were ready to fall asleep. "I can't believe this nonsense!".
All three cups woke up immediately. Alicia was also wide awake and wondered who had said that. Confused, she and the three cups looked around until they saw Elder Kettle standing in the archway, apparently having overheard the story Alicia had told. "Magic tonics? Cuphead winning at something?" Cuphead pouted and gave Elder Kettle an annoyed look that could kill. Alicia, however, tried to calm him down.
"Where did you come up with this stuff Alicia?" Alicia thought about it and remembered the Gravity Falls episode where they also told each other stories. But how was she supposed to explain this to Elder Kettle? Yes, I have this idea from an animated series. Surely he will accept this. "I'll tell you a good story" He took a chair, pulled it behind him and sat on it while the three cups and Alicia, who was sitting behind them, listened attentively to Elder Kettle.
"It's called".
'Elder Kettle Wins The Football Bowl'
A big football match is taking place in a large stadium somewhere in Inkwell City. All the seats were taken and a red zeppelin flew over the stadium with a flag that said 'FOOTBALL' on it. On the pitch, Elder Kettle could be seen running past several muscle-bound players with the football under his arm, even pushing some away. His goal was to get the football to the other side. He grunted and laughed as he managed this and smashed the ball on the ground. He couldn't resist a little dance interlude, just like the horde of football players who approached him with angry looks. "Mr. Kettle" confused as well as curious, he turned around to the group who quickly changed their facial expressions.
"I thought old folks were useless, but you taught me and my gloating friends a lesson" Elder Kettle grinned with delight as the group clapped and cheered him on. But that wasn't the only reason he was happy. "Here's your football winning trophy, Mr. Pines!" a huge trophy appeared behind him with 'Football winning Trophy' written on it. This was being pushed along on a rolling pallet. But that wasn't the best part. Sitting on the trophy was a beautiful young porcelain teapot with white skin and a blue floral pattern around her head.
Her spout was slightly shorter than Elder Kettle's, but the handle was completely attached to her body. Elder Kettle's eyes couldn't believe it and dropped his jaw before he shook his head, tilted his jaw up and thanked the woman. "Thanks, beautiful woman, but I couldn't have done it without my sidekick, the goat".
The goat appeared out of nowhere and jumped into Elder Kettle's arms "Thank you for believing in me, Daddy" the goat said before jumping out of his arms again. Everyone stood for a photo and laughed as three Fighter Pilots flew over the stadium, trailing a white, a red and a blue smoke respectively. "I love you, Stan," the young teapot said before giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Ewww!" the three cups said in disgust and booed Elder Kettle. Yes, the story wasn't exactly great when you compare it with the other two. "Come on!", "Ridiculous!", "Come on, that was really dumb!" The three were not satisfied. That much is certain. "What? That story was great. I even threw in a talking robot for the boys" Alicia didn't know what to say. The story was poorly thought out from beginning to end and could do with improvement. For the three cups, the story was more than confused because firstly, what is Elder Kettle doing in a stadium and secondly, since when can the goat talk?
"Yeah , yeah, Alicia is gonna tell us a non-terrible story" Mugman said and turned to Alicia, as did Cuphead and Cuppy, while Elder Kettle just sulked and listened to what Alicia was going to say. "Okay, but this will be the last one!" all three cups nodded while Elder Kettle just rolled his eyes.
"A story called..."
'Truth lid'
Alicia and Cuppy were in the garden looking after it. Alicia held the water hose firmly in her hand while Cuppy turned it on and the water slowly flowed through the hose and came out at the end. She poured the water over the plants, the vegetables and the new harvest that was still ripening. "Okay Cuppy you can turn off the tap and get the fertilizer and insect repellent from the shed". The young mug nodded, went to the tap to turn off the water and walked towards the shed. There he was just about to drag the heavy bag of fertilizer with him when he saw Elder Kettle in front of him "Oh Cuppy why don't you go inside and play with the others while I take care of the fertilizer and insect repellent?" Cuppy was skeptical "Does Alicia know you want to help us?" he asked curiously.
Elder Kettle nodded, confirming Cuppy's question. He walked contentedly into the cottage and saw both brothers playing with their marbles. "Hey, can I play?" asked Cuppy while Mugman was on his turn and was about to flick his marble away. "Have you finished yet?" he asked curiously.
Cuppy nodded, "Yes, Elder Kettle will do my job," he explained, not realizing that Elder Kettle was sitting directly behind him on the sofa, reading his newspaper. "So can we play or not?" Mugman opened his mouth when suddenly the front door opened and a dirt-covered Alicia walked through.
She looked very exhausted and was about to go upstairs to take a shower when she noticed Cuppy and seemed to be angry with him. "Really nice to see you're in her, playing with marbles while I have to do the work and you didn't bring me the bag of fertilizer, let alone the insect repellent, Cuppy!" she grumbled. "Alicia, I thought Elder Kettle helped you?" he stuttered, but it made Alicia even angrier than before.
"Isn't that right, Elder Kettle?" Cuppy turned to him questioningly. Alicia also waited patiently while Elder Kettle put the newspaper aside and opened his mouth to give his answer. "I don't remember that" and continued to read his newspaper as if nothing had happened. Cuppy was shocked to hear this. He wanted to explain to Alicia that this was not what she thought it was. But she had gone upstairs and didn't want to hear his excuse. Cuppy knew that this wouldn't improve the situation and went into the guest room feeling depressed.
Both brothers wanted to cheer him up, but instead they decided to confront Elder Kettle, who went into the kitchen and grabbed a plate of spaghetti. "Elder Kettle, how could you lie to Alicia and Cuppy?", "Don't you know lying is always wrong?" said both brothers, staring at Elder Kettle with disappointed looks. But he thought nothing of it and gave them both his honest opinion. "Boys, when you get to be my age, you'll learn that sometimes you have to bend the truth for the greater good".
He was about to continue eating when Blood came into the kitchen and Elder Kettle hid the plate of spaghetti under the table. "Hey, has anyone seen my plate of spaghetti?" the wolf looked everywhere but couldn't find the plate "No. But I bet Varian has. You know how foxes like to steal others food" the cups knew this was not true "I doubt it but I'll ask him" Blood went out of the kitchen into the back garden to talk to the fox. Relieved, Elder Kettle took the plate from under the table and continued eating undisturbed.
The three cups, however, refused to put up with this and decided to do something about Elder Kettle's lies. But what?
"What are we gonna do about Elder Kettle?" Mugman asked. The three of them were no longer in the cottage but in the forest on their way to town. "He needs to stop lying," suggested Cuphead. However, the three knew that Elder Kettle was very difficult to persuade. "But how do we stop him?" was the question they asked themselves as they continued through the forest. "Maybe we should-", "Ask me?". The three cups stopped when they heard the voice and looked around in confusion until they saw someone standing in front of them. It was Muru. He looked down and had heard about the three's worries and already had a solution ready in the form of a glittering golden teapot lid. "This should solve your problem gentlemen" Cuppy took the lid and looked at it more closely before asking "How would this help us?".
The Manticore was happy to answer his question, as he was glad to get rid of this part. "This lid, or should I say this cap, allows it to adapt to the wearer which force upon the wearer an inability to lie". Cuppy, Cuphead and Mugman looked at each other with a smile and knew what to do. However, Mugman seemed to have second thoughts "Maybe we shouldn't do it" it's not always nice to know the truth but Elder Kettle telling nothing but the truth can also lead to problems.
"Are you crazy?! Elder Kettle always lies and you know when we took the family photo with him that he broke our promise to go to the amusement park or the movies!" Cuphead wasn't wrong. Elder Kettle had promised them and, despite the photo, hadn't kept it. Mugman didn't think for long as the memory came back to him and he decided not to give in. "Okay then, let's give Elder Kettle a new lid!" his face resembled that of the devil as Mugman said these words, grinningdiabolically, rubbing his hands before bursting into maniacal laughter. Cuphead and Cuppy just looked at him in confusion while Muru scratched his chin.
Back in the cottage in Elder Kettle's bedroom, the elderly teakettle lay in his bed, fast asleep. His lid, which he always took off before going to bed, hung on a hook next to his bed. He slept peacefully and didn't even notice that the door was half open with all three cups looking out. Their heads were above each other as they looked to see if Elder Kettle was fast asleep. They didn't want him to wake up and see them swapping lids with each other. "Are you guys ready?" whispered Cuppy, whose head was above Cuphead's. Cuphead and Mugman nodded and looked up at him while Mugman held the lid in his hand and went into the bedroom first.
Well, it wasn't running or sneaking because the three of them tiptoed up to Elder Kettle and placed the lid on his head. It began to glow brightly. This blinded the three cups, so they shielded themselves from the bright light by raising their arms in front of their eyes.
The light stopped shimmering and the group decided to put the new lid to the test. After all, it was supposed to ensure that Elder Kettle would no longer lie. But first he had to be awake, so they woke him up by holding his "nose". It wasn't long before Elder Kettle opened his tired eyes and stood up "What's going on? What? Boys?" Elder Kettle was confused. Why were the three of them still awake and not in bed?
"Quick question. What happened to Blood's spaghetti plate?" Cuppy asked while Cuphead and Mugman stood behind him and just looked at Elder Kettle with their arms crossed, waiting for his answer. "I ate it because I have little to no concern for other people's possessions or emotions" That was the truth and not a lie. So the lid worked. "Huh. That was strangely candid" Elder Kettle scratched himself before continuing "Almost as if I'm unable to lie" his eyes wandered to the three cups who answered him with a shrug. "Well, goodnight!" and he fell asleep again.
Knowing that it had worked, the three cups also went to bed and decided to tell the others the news the next day.
In the kitchen, Cuppy whispered something to Alicia that didn't really excite her, Blood or Varian: "You what?" Alicia was perplexed when she heard what Cuppy told her "That seems like a horrible idea!" whispered Blood, who thought little of making a person tell only the truth. But the cups saw it differently. "It's great! Now he has to tell the truth" I don't know. It certainly won't end well. Alicia was sure that somehow it would go wrong, just like everything else the three cups had planned.
"Scrambled meat, here it is" Elder Kettle went to the kitchen table with the pan and gave everyone a portion of the meat. When he got to Varian, he asked him a question. "Elder Kettle, what do you do when we are not in the cottage?" Elder Kettle thought and replied "Usually I spend the hours cleaning the cottage, taking care of the garden and scratch myself in places I shouldn't mention" the group was very if not extremely disgusted by the last point Elder Kettle had mentioned.
"Now I'm going to avoid making eye contact by pretending to read this newspaper" He sat down with the newspaper in his hands and ignored the group. "Well, that was... something," said Alicia, who didn't want to know anything about it. Especially not at breakfast as she had lost her appetite like the rest of the group.
Mugman, however, took a positive view "Don't worry, Ali, Blood and Varian. The truth is always a good thing","I still stand by my opinion that it will end badly".
Alicia's fear turned out to be true when the group went to get new clothes with Elder Kettle. A hippopotamus lady walked up to him in a white dress and asked him "Excuse me" Elder Kettle turned to her with a questioning look "Do you think this dress is my size?" she could actually answer the question herself as the dress was far too thin for her. "Never mind the dress!" Elder Kettle said in a loud voice while pointing at the hippo, "Hey, everybody!" Everyone in the clothing store looked at the group with a confused look while the hippo slowly began to sweat with nervousness as everyone stared at her and Elder Kettle didn't help the situation by pointing at her.
"Look at this fat hippo!" the hippo lady cried and left a river of tears as she ran out of the store. Alicia felt bad for her and just shook her head in dismay. "I'm so sorry!" Cuppy called after the hippo lady but she was already gone.
In the cottage, Elder Kettle and the three mugs were listening to a new radio program that had recently become very popular on the Inkwell Isles. "Oh, no!" said the voice from the radio, which was very high-pitched and almost resembled Mickey Mouse. The three mugs laughed, of course. Elder Kettle, however, did not. "Sometimes I think, 'Is this all there is?'" Cuppy and Mugman looked at him with puzzled looks while Cuphead continued to listen to the radio.
"Is life just some kind of horrific joke without a punch line? That we're all just biding our time until the sweet, sweet, release of death?" Cuppy and Mugman didn't know what to say and remained silent rather than saying anything.
Over the next few days, things got worse and worse with Elder Kettle as he announced every absurd and disgusting thing. Cuphead and Mugman were so disgusted that they taped two pillows to their heads so they couldn't hear Elder Kettle anymore. "I can't take it anymore, Mugman!" Cuphead said frantically, tearing both pillows off his head "Huh?" replied Mugman, who couldn't hear anything because he was wearing sleeping headphones and couldn't hear a word his brother was saying. "We have to take the lid off of him" Mugman was still perplexed "Huh?!" he shouted again before his brother took off his sleeping headphones and repeated his sentence so he could understand.
"I agree with you but then he'd be a liar again!" Mugman wanted the old Elder Kettle again, but he knew what it would mean. "Could it possibly be any worse than this?" His question was answered by a knock on the door. Cuphead and Mugman ran down the stairs when they heard a familiar voice that turned out to be the devil, who apparently wanted to take the chance to get Cuphead and Cuppy's souls. "So after further investigation, the souls of those two cups are mine so I want them to hand them over to me" the devil with Henchman at his side showed Elder Kettle the wanted posters of Cuphead and Cuppy "Duh, you better hand them over or the boss will be mad". Elder Kettle just nodded.
"Oh, of course" His eyes wandered from the Devil and Henchman, who were both perplexed that it was so easy, to Cuphead and Mugman, who were standing at the top of the stairs, more anxious than before. "In that case, I'd like Alicia Powell to sign this contract," the marriage contract appeared in Henchman's hand, missing Alicia's signature.
But before this could happen, both the devil and Henchman were thrown out of the cottage by a force. Both brothers were relieved and decided it was definitely time to give him his old lid back before things got any worse. So in the evening, the three cups went back into his bedroom and replaced the lids. However, the question of what they should do with the truth lid remained unanswered. Perhaps sell it? No, that wouldn't end well. So they only did the right thing. They buried the lid deep in the forest where no one would find it and from then on they had no more problems.
Thus ended the fourth story Alicia told and the three cups slept soundly. Not in their beds, but Alicia helped them out by putting both brothers and Cuppy in their rightful beds, or in Cuppy's case, putting him in his sleeping bag. Before she left the room, she gave each of them a kiss on the cheek and quietly closed the door behind her.
She quietly went back downstairs to go to sleep herself as it was already very late. At least the three cups were asleep, there was no sign of the devil yet, which pleased Alicia greatly, and it was peaceful. However, Alicia felt that emptiness inside herself again. She knew what was missing. Her husband. Lucifer the devil from the book. She missed him very much and unfortunately couldn't help but shed a tear as her thoughts turned to him and what would happen if he lay here next to her. Lucifer, I miss you so much. Alicia tried to sleep while she continued to cry.
Lucifer, however, also felt this emptiness and wanted Alicia back with him. He wanted to hug her, stroke her cheek, run his fingers through her hair and feel her heartbeat. He missed that very much and wanted to do everything he could to be with her again. "Don't worry, Alicia my love, I'll be with you soon. I promise".
Okay, that was a long story.
I hope you like it and I won't be posting anything else for this year except for the Space Jam story. U
ntil then, I wish you dear readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!