The story continues. Sorry you had to wait but I really hope you love this chapter.
We are slowly approaching the end of the second season arc.
The story will also be finished soon. I estimate that we will be finished around October.
Until then, the question of what happens next remains unanswered. Whether I will start the prequel or the sequel straight away. I'm open to what you want more.
Until then
It was a sunny and beautiful day on the Inkwell Isles. Residents were going about their business, shopping in the city for fall and winter clothes, eating in restaurants that allowed them to sit outside and eat, or just going to the park. A small group of three young children went even further out of town to a large meadow full of flowers. The meadow was filled with everything from cosmos to carnations.
The children themselves were a young fawn whose antlers were slowly growing, with a chestnut brown coat, white underfur, wearing gray-blue pants and a matching blue shirt with red collar and sleeves. The second child was an anthropomorphic cake fork with a pink and white floral dress. The third and final child was a rhinoceros wearing a red and white plaid shirt with buttons that were not only black but about to burst. Like the fawn, the rhino child wore brown jeans.
"Wow!" said the fawn with its mouth agape when it saw all the flowers they were standing in front of. "I really didn't think there would be so many flowers here" "See, I wasn't lying" said the cake fork child while the fawn and the rhino child scratched nervously behind their heads. For good reason as the other two did not believe that this place existed as their parents had repeatedly told them not to enter it as there was supposedly a monster roaming around that scared away everyone and everything that came near.
But the fawn didn't care. It wanted to take a flower with it to give to its mother. His fingers were only centimeters away from the flower when he was suddenly pulled back by the others as if he was doing something bad. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked the two others annoyed as he freed himself and wanted an explanation from them for their sudden behavior.
"Haven't you been listening? There's a monster living here that scares away or even eats everything and everyone that comes near this flower meadow," the rhino child explained to the fawn while the cake fork child nodded in agreement. "Oh nonsense, there's no such thing as a monster!" denied the fawn, annoyed. "I'll prove it to you!" Bravely and proudly, he went to the flower he wanted to pick, grabbed it by the flower stem and pulled on it.
The rhino child covered his eyes in fear while the cake fork child hid behind him. Both were trembling with fear that the fawn did not understand. He rolled his eyes in annoyance until a large shadow suddenly appeared behind him and the others. Next to it, the flower, which suddenly had a face, began to cry like a baby. This frightened the fawn so much that it not only let go of the flower but clung to the rhinoceros kid while the other two trembled even more than before.
The shadow that appeared above them belonged to a monstrous creature with a snake-like body growing out of the ground, a head that resembled a lion and lizard claws. All this combined made the children so frightened that their colors disappeared and only white remained, as if they had been sprayed with paint thinner. "WHAT ARE YOU THREE DOING IN MY FIELD?!" roared the creature like a roaring lion. The colors returned to the children, who cried out in fear and ran away in panic.
The cloud of smoke behind the three children could be seen from afar. "You were right, we shouldn't have come here!" replied the fawn in a panicked voice "We should have gone to the flower store around the corner instead of being out here when the devil is running around!" gasped the rhinoceros, snorting. The three of them had already met the devil several times and avoided him as much as they could. Many balloons have fallen victim to him and quite often sweets, toys or comic books have been stolen while the children either cried because their balloons were burst or they were frightened by the devil. "Yes, I wish I hadn't listened to my sister!" the cake fork kid was ashamed. All three of them knew they would definitely get into trouble if their parents found out.
But while the three children flee in fear, the supposed monster turns out to be a large carnation. Not just any carnation, but Cagney Carnation. "And stay out!" Satisfied that the children were gone, he wiped the dirt off his hands and tended to the flower, which was still crying like a baby. "Don't worry my little one, the naughty children are gone and won't hurt you anymore" he said and soothed the flower with a little caress. It calmed down, yawned and went back to sleep like the other flowers. This pleased Cagney and he decided to look after his "babies", as he called his flowers. So he picked up a bag of fertilizer, cut it open with his knife-like finger and poured the contents into his mouth.
He kept it in his mouth while his face became a Gatling gun with which he spread the fertilizer over the entire flower meadow without getting his hands dirty. The flowers devoured all the bits of fertilizer flying towards them. Some burped a little while others rubbed their full bellies. All were satiated and satisfied. But Cagney wasn't quite finished yet. He held his nose and blew from it, causing little Toothy Terror Floaters to come out of his head, which he ordered to each take a bucket and fill it with water at a water pump before scattering it over the flower meadow like a water sprinkler.
"That's good, everyone gets enough nutrients to grow," Cagney surveyed the flowers, satisfied with his work. He could go back to rest and wait until either his babies needed food and water again or some of the townspeople approached his meadow again. But this did not happen as he noticed how some of his flowers were not getting enough nutrients and were slowly dying of thirst and thus withering away. "Hey, who's being too greedy again?" he shouted as he went in search of the culprit.
He looked at each of his flowers that just kept eating with relish and sharing their nutrients with each other while others threatened to dry up and pointed to the culprits to make Cagney's job easier to look for the ones, or rather the ones that were greedily stealing the nutrients from the other flowers. Cagney saw that there were three flowers. However, they were not carnations like the other flowers in his meadow. The flowers had a different shape, the leaves were either too deep, too short or too long. So he knew that three strangers had made themselves comfortable in his meadow and were stealing the nutrients from the other flowers.
He didn't like that at all "Hey!" the three strange flowers stopped eating, swallowed the fertilizer and turned to Cagney. To his surprise and annoyance, they were three early bloomers. A snowdrop, a crocus and a tulip were the culprits. "Early bloomers," Cagney growled, approaching the three like an annoyed teacher lecturing three restless students who were disrupting his lesson. Well, that's what they did by stealing all the nutrients from the rest of the flowers. "Okay, you three have exactly three seconds to explain to me what you're doing here in my meadow!" Cagney admonished the three early bloomers in an annoyed voice while spikes slowly grew from his stalk. Yes, he was not very enthusiastic about this as Cagney was not a great friend of early bloomers.
They were like magpies and liked to steal the nutrients from other plants. One more reason why Cagney wanted to get rid of the three because he didn't want to see his babies dry up. "Oh sir we didn't want to steal all the nutrients" the snowdrop explained as he nervously took his brown fedora off his head and held it nervously in front of his "chest" "We thought this meadow was deserted and thought we could spend the night here before we moved on" his grin was hard to miss.
"Yes, we don't have a home anywhere," added the tulip, who had a very high-pitched female voice. The crocus heard this and suddenly became emotional "What really that sounds so, so, so-" but before he could finish his sentence the snowdrop grabbed his mouth and pulled him down to her and stared at him with an angry look while whispering to him "Idiot pull yourself together or the carnation will realize we're lying and then we'll all be screwed".
The crocus couldn't say anything because his lips were literally held shut by the snowdrop until he nodded in agreement and fell silent. "Sorry for our buddy's behavior," the snowdrop apologized to Cagney, who was still looking skeptical with his arms crossed. "He's very emotional," you could see that in his face. Cagney thought to himself. "My name is Snow, this is Cronus and Tulpia," the snowdrop introduced himself and the other early bloomers. Cronus and Tulpia nodded "May we know what your name is sir?" the latter asked Cagney with a dog-like look as if she was begging him to say his name. "Cagney, Cagney Carnation," he said.
Cagney didn't seem really pleased. He didn't really want any unwanted visitors who not only wanted to steal the food from the other flowers but also wanted to stay here. Just for one day. "Please Mr. Cagney, we know it's a lot to ask of us, but could we stay here for the night and put down our tired roots in your meadow until we get our strength back?" "We promise we'll be gone as soon as the sun comes up, Darling" Cagney thought. Normally he would say no.
Nobody except him and his babies were allowed to reside on his meadow. Normal visitors were forbidden access. That's why Cagney scared away or chased away anyone who would harm him or his babies. But as the three strange flowers were only the size of Cagney's hand, he didn't see them as a real threat. The soil still had enough nutrients to provide Cagney with enough strength to defend himself if the three early bloomers decided to stay longer than desired.
"All right, you can stay. For now," grumbled Cagney, annoyed, as he now had to scatter fertilizer again to replenish the missing nutrients that both the soil and his babies urgently needed. "Oh thank you very much sir. We won't disturb them any further," Snow thanked him profusely. But Cagney didn't care. He just rolled his eyes in annoyance and turned his attention to his work, which was apparently going to take longer than expected.
He had run out of fertilizer and had to get more before he could even think about taking care of his babies who were starving. "Looks like I get to go back to town," his eyes fell deliberately on Snow, Cronus and Tulpia as they were responsible for wasting the fertilizer. This pleased him all the less as he was reluctant to go into town because of all the noise and smoke. Especially because of the latter. "I'm off to get something and I want everything to stay as I left it," the early bloomers looked at him. They didn't really say anything, just nodded as they engaged in a deep conversation that Cagney was not supposed to hear while he was away. "Don't worry Mr. Carnation, we won't do any nonsense," Snow promised while Cronus and Tulpia giggled softly and mischievously and watched Cagney slowly walk further and further away from the meadow towards the town until he was no longer visible.
"What a fool!" laughed Snow melancholic, "He just leaves us in his meadow without thinking about what a feast he has left us!" Cronus was not wrong. The meadow was bright green and lush. Ideal for the three of them. "Now what are we waiting for? Fill your stomachs, you two!" "You don't have to tell me twice, darling," the three sat down on the ground and slowly began to suck the nutrients out of the soil. They sucked everything up from the meadow like a straw. The green slowly faded, the flowers in the immediate vicinity dried up and the flowers that could still be saved jumped out of the ground in panic, hoping not to suffer the same fate as their brothers and sisters.
It was clear that the three early bloomers had taken advantage of Cagney's hospitality to feast on his lush meadow, which not only gave them enough nutritional value to survive but also helped them grow to a respectable size. They were now just as tall as Cagney himself. If not bigger. Well, Cronus was growing muscles on his arms and upper body. He was the tallest and most muscular of the three. Snow himself was normal in build and just as tall as Cagney if you didn't count his fedora which looked like new and had no tatters or holes like before. He also had a white flower growing from his neck that resembled a bow-tie. He propped it up so that it was straight and didn't hang halfway down.
Tulpia grew a large, long purple flower around her waist. This grew over her head until it was covered. But not for long as Tulpia bent the blossom downwards, making it look like a dress. A gala dress in a purple color. She took out a perfume-like bottle in the shape of a tulip. On the side hung a long black cord that ended in a dark purple ball pump. She squeezed it several times to spray herself with the perfume. Not to smell better, but for something else.
The small carnations that had been spared from the nutrient deprivation and were the only ones that had not dried out hugged each other shakily while the shadows of the three formerly small early bloomers shaded them. The sinister laughter of the three was hard to ignore. It was more than clear that Cagney didn't know what was happening in his meadow while he was away. But he would find out soon enough.
Whistling with four sacks of fertilizer under his arms, he returned to his meadow. The song he whistled sounded strangely similar to the song the devil had once sung about himself before he met Alicia and the three cups. How Cagney knew the song, however, was unknown. Presumably his roots had recorded something, which was not unlikely as he liked to whistle Ms. Chalice's melody even though he had never seen her before.
"So here I am again and bought fresh ..." but when he opened his eyes he realized that his beautifully flowering meadow was now dry like the floor of the Grand Canyon. The grass had dried up and seemed to turn to dust with a loose touch. But that wasn't the worst of it for him. Almost all of his babies were dried up and looked like they were close to death. They were still alive, but not for long if Cagney didn't take care of them soon.
But for the moment, he had to take care of the guilty ones. And they were right in front of him. "Oh look who's back for dessert," Snow said casually, as if he hadn't just made sure the whole meadow dried up with the others. "Oh boy I'm starving" "But don't eat as much as I barely got anything" Tulpia complained and poked Cronus on his belly. You could tell he was embarrassed. "I don't care what you three are talking about, I just want one thing" but Cagney didn't care about the conversation between the three of them. He only wanted one thing: "You should leave right now!" But no matter how threatening Cagney's voice sounded, the three early bloomers couldn't help but laugh and not take him seriously. It sounded more like a joke to the three of them than a threat, especially because firstly they were no longer small and secondly because they were outnumbered.
"Oh really and how are you going to do that Carnation?" Snow asked as Cronus cracked his fists and Tulpia held her perfume bottle at the ready. Well Cagney already knew how to get rid of the three of them. But at the moment he felt few nutrients in the ground that would allow him to awaken his powers with which he normally frightened away unwanted visitors. But because he lacked the nutrients, he couldn't use his powers and didn't know how to get rid of the three flowers himself. His angry face changed to a nervous one. The three early bloomers knew he couldn't think of anything and loved watching Cagney struggle to find a word. What he also found difficult was the situation he found himself in as Snow, Cronus and Tulpia approached him. All three had the same nasty mischievous grin on their faces.
It was clear to see that they had something in mind for him that even Cagney or his babies could foresee as they jumped into his arms, trembling with fear. They were chased out of their meadow and had to find a new home. Cagney didn't like it at all that he was betrayed by his own kind and lost his home. "You'll pay for this, you three," Cagney swore revenge and disappeared into the depths of the forest to look for a new home.
The next morning dawned in the cottage. The sun was just rising and the first rays of sunlight shone through the windows and woke up the sleeping people who were still in their beds. However, the sun's rays woke them up and they greeted the day with a yawn and "Good morning," Mugman greeted his still sleeping brother, Cuphead. Mugman already suspected that he was still fast asleep. "He really shouldn't have read the comic so late" Mugman knew what he was talking about. Cuphead liked to stay up late to read his comics, listen to certain game shows or talk shows that Elder Kettle and the other adults listened to. However, this also had a disadvantage for him. It also meant he stayed in bed longer. Much to the dismay of Mugman and Cuppy.
But the one who didn't mind was Alicia. She and Lucifer were the only ones in the kitchen at the moment, while the others were just getting up. But no one could ignore or resist the smell of frying bacon, fried eggs and potatoes. Well, no one except Alicia. She looked very tired and couldn't really keep her eyes open for long, let alone keep her mouth from yawning. You could tell she had hardly slept. Well, who could blame her after the thing with the devil and the wedding she didn't want and was forced into. But that wasn't even the worst thing in her eyes. The worst thing was that she had agreed to marry the devil. "Y-yes I w-w-want" rang through her head several times, reminding her for days what a mistake she had made.
She blamed herself for it. But Lucifer and the others reassured her that it wasn't her fault. The former had been looking after her for days and never let her out of his sight. Not because he was punishing her or anything like that, but because he cared about her and showed her through his hugs and constant kisses and repeated caresses that he wasn't angry with her for something she had no control over. That's why he prepared an exquisite breakfast for her. A breakfast that Alicia had eaten for the first time in Inkwell Hell. An English breakfast. Without the special eggs, of course, which had an eyeball instead of a yolk.
He knew that she was not particularly fond of demon food. She had told him several times that she preferred mortal food. He couldn't argue with that. If Alicia didn't want to eat it, he didn't want to force her to. After all, he wasn't a monster. Even if Lucifer was the devil of the other Inkwell Isle's. Still, he was a little different for Alicia. He was her husband and that pleased him. "Breakfast is ready my love" with a skillful flip the bacon landed in the pan with the rest of the ingredients. The dish was ready for Alicia and smelled delicious. "I hope you like it my love" with the plate in his hand, Lucifer turned to Alicia and kissed her on the cheek before placing the plate on the table in front of her and sitting down next to her.
His tail wagged with joy and curled around Alicia's waist "It looks beautiful" she slowly ate her breakfast that Lucifer had prepared perfectly for her without using any of his powers. "And it tastes heavenly" so good that she gave him a kiss as a sign of her gratitude and his cooking skills. "Just for you my love" his fingers caressed her face tenderly and wiped away her black hair to reveal her beautiful eyes. The Sky blue and emerald green were reflected in his yellow eyes. They represented the earth as well as the sky and the sea. While Lucifer's yellow eyes reflected the sun and his horns the moon. Whether Alicia walked around in her human or demon form, he liked her just the way she was.
His lips were already trembling with anticipation and couldn't help but turn into a kissing mouth that slowly moved closer to Alicia's lips with each passing second. She realized it and was ready to kiss him, but then a yawn intervened and Alicia had to fight the tiredness not to fall asleep again. "You probably didn't sleep well after that thing with the devil a few days ago, I take it wasn't my love?" Alicia just nodded in agreement and tried to enjoy her breakfast, even if she found it difficult. "Is it still that nightmare?" he asked her gloomily. In response, Alicia only gave him a slow nod of her head.
Alicia had escaped the devil in the real world but not in her dream world. There he continued to terrorize her so that she would belong to him. Yes, he didn't give up that easily. Alicia should belong to him and not to a cheap copy. So he decided to visit Alicia where Lucifer could not enter. In her dreams, which he had been haunting ever since thanks to his powers, which were slowly returning with each passing day. "I have a feeling he's doing this to weaken me or to force me back into the underworld." Alicia didn't want either. She was loyal to Lucifer and would never even think of joining the devil, let alone becoming his wife and queen.
"I already knew he would do something like this," Lucifer sighed thoughtfully as he was worried about Alicia on the one hand, but also because he had had no success so far in finding the devil in her dream world. Even Angel and Demon, who lived in Alicia's dream world, didn't know where the devil was. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Even freeing Alicia from her dreams or nightmares seemed almost impossible as the doors were always firmly closed from the inside.
It was as if someone wanted to prevent them from being freed. This frustrated not only Angel and Demon but also Lucifer, who was even more worried about Alicia than before. He could no longer protect her and it was eating him up inside. He wanted to be with her all the time. Even in her dream world. But what if the door kept closing as soon as Alicia's dream self entered it? It was a desperate situation for them both. But Lucifer didn't want to give up and start the day with bad news. No, he wanted to sweeten Alicia's day as much as he could. That's why he tenderly stroked her cheek and tried to kiss her again. This time properly!
His lips moved slowly towards Alicia's. She noticed them and smiled delightedly. As she was still tired, she could do with one of his kisses. She was looking forward to it, as was Lucifer, whose grin was hard to miss. Lucifer's lips were only centimeters away from Alicia's. They were almost touching, you could say. Just one more centimeter and it would have happened.
"Oh, I'm so excited!" but the oh-so-great mood and the actual kiss were disturbed by the three cups who came running into the kitchen with joy on their faces. "Yeah, I wonder if he's feeling better today than yesterday" Mugman wondered with a worried expression on his face as he nervously stroked his hands. "I think he'll be better. Believe me, Mugman, the care he received last night helped him overnight." Okay, what are the three of them talking about right now? not only Alicia but also Lucifer wondered.
Both were no longer annoyed that the three cups disturbed the kiss that didn't take place. Quite the opposite. "Who are you talking about?" Alicia asked the three cups. All three flinched in shock as Alicia's and Lucifer's shadows fell on the three cups. The three only now realized that they were not alone in the kitchen and swallowed nervously one after the other before Alicia and Lucifer got an answer.
"Hey Ali and Luci we didn't even know you were here" Cuphead stuttered nervously which was unnatural for him. But Alicia already suspected that he was only saying this to avoid feeling guilty because he was the only one who had seen her and looked slightly disturbed when Lucifer tried to kiss Alicia. Nice try Cuphead. But that still didn't answer her question. So Mugman jumped in and answered it "We're talking about Pumpky" "Pumpky?" Lucifer was confused.
"Who is Pumpky?" Alicia asked, confused and thoughtful at the same time. She knew why. A few months ago, the three mugs had found an earthworm that they kept as their pet. Hidden from Elder Kettle, of course, as he didn't allow any more pets after the raccoon incident. So they hid the earthworm in a cardboard box under their bed so that neither Elder Kettle nor anyone else would find it. Well it almost worked but Alicia found it one day and was told that the three cups now had a pet. But unfortunately, despite the good hiding, there was a big misunderstanding by Elder Kettle who secretly listened to the three cups while they were talking about the earthworm and he only heard things that were for him although it was actually about the earthworm. You could imagine the catastrophe that followed.
Please don't tell me that you have bought a new pet. Alicia's concern was seen by the three mugs who assured her that it wasn't a pet "Really it's not a pet Alicia we'll even show it to you if you want" Mugman's reassuring words encouraged her a little as Alicia really wanted to know who this Pumpky was. Lucifer, on the other hand, was just curious and thought about who or what this could be or who this name would fit.
Well obviously not to an animal or a person. If you could call it that on the Inkwell Isle's, because in addition to people and anthropomorphic animals, inanimate objects such as cups, screwdrivers and food such as fruit, vegetables and sweets were also people. So Pumpky could also count as one of them. But in this case it wasn't a child or a pet, it really was a pumpkin. A medium-sized pumpkin that was bigger than Mugman's head. If not bigger. Or does that just seem to be deceiving me? It's hard to tell when you look out of the window instead of looking at the pumpkin in real life. "Well, at least it's not a pet," Alicia muttered in relief as her eyes slowly drifted shut while she rubbed them.
"Now that we've discussed that, let's continue to look after Pumpky so that he grows big and strong" Cuphead was the first to run out of the back door into the garden, followed by Mugman who called out worriedly behind him "But don't douse him again like last time Cuphead!". He knew what he was talking about and didn't want the pumpkin to get sick from too much water. But Alicia wanted to know why the three cups were looking after the pumpkin. Especially Cuphead, who liked gardening the least and found it boring. There had to be a reason for this and Lucifer found it out in the form of a poster hanging on the fridge on a clipboard where the shopping list for the next week was normally displayed.
The poster featured a large pumpkin with "Pumpkin competition" written on it in capital letters. Oh, that explains a lot. Alicia wondered why the three of them, especially Cuphead, were so intent on taking care of this one pumpkin, which was much bigger than the others in the garden. "And if we were to win, we wouldn't just win $500 in prize money-" "Because the winning pumpkin would also end up as the main decoration at the Halloween festival the following week and be placed in the center of the festival," Cuphead interrupted his brother, who was less than thrilled.
Well again, the three of them didn't do any nonsense as usual and learned how important the gardening is that Elder Kettle does every day. This reassured Alicia, who was reluctant to be drawn into another adventure against her will. No, today she wanted nothing more than to relax and enjoy the day. Lucifer didn't seem to mind and stayed with her while the three cups went into the garden and left the two lovers to their own devices. Cuphead stuck his tongue out, reluctant to see Lucifer kissing Alicia. Typical boys, what else would you expect. Alicia and Lucifer didn't mind though. They were both relieved to be alone. Or at least the latter was, as he was able to start where he'd left off earlier as the three cups came storming into the kitchen.
With a wagging tail and a grin on his face, he tenderly grasped Alicia's chin with his hand and stared at her with his eyes in love. His pupils, which were pie-cut like the rest of the toons, changed to hearts while his cheeks turned reddish. Not with anger but with love. Love that he felt for Alicia and would like to show her in the form of a kiss. His lips approached Alicia's again and were only centimeters away from his. They were almost touching until the mood was disturbed again when the back door opened and the three cups ran into the kitchen in panic, hiding behind Alicia and Lucifer as if they had encountered something evil and scary that had frightened them.
"What is it now?" Lucifer asked annoyed and looked down from Alicia to Mugman and Cuphead. Both were hiding and clinging to his legs as if their lives depended on it. Cuppy was the only one who seemed to show little fear or acted as if he was the bravest of the three, which was not uncommon since Alicia and he had been stranded here in this world. But he wasn't the only one waiting for an answer - Alicia was too. "Is the devil back?" she asked nervously, which was unnatural for Alicia as she was always annoyed when he appeared to flirt with her. After the wedding, however, Alicia had changed her mind and was now just as afraid of him as the three cups. Since then, she had constantly had nightmares because she feared that he would come for her and she would be trapped in the underworld with him forever.
A thing she didn't want to be true as the devil could then have her with him forever without her being able to do anything about it. Well, what could you do about it? Nothing really and that frustrated her greatly. But the devil wasn't the reason why the three cups ran into the house, it was something or someone else that neither Alicia nor Lucifer had expected. "No the devil isn't here it's something else" Cuphead replied in a shaky voice as he clutched Lucifer's leg even tighter as if his life was hanging on it. "It's plants!" Okay now you're kidding. Alicia thought to herself until she looked out the window and saw a Toothy Terror Floater peering into the cottage before disappearing into the shed with the door wide open.
"We were just getting some gardening supplies and fertilizer from the shed when we suddenly heard a growl followed by seeds being shot at us!" Mugman explained in a hysterical voice. Alicia could guess what happened to them. The shed didn't have a light bulb or anything, so it was dark inside when they want to get something out of it. Be it just gardening tools or fertilizer. Then to be attacked from the dark by something or someone didn't sound very pleasing. It sounded frightening, to be more precise. So it was no wonder that the three of them ran back into the cottage in panic and sought shelter behind Alicia and Lucifer. Blood wasn't in the kitchen at the time as he had only just emerged, brewed himself a coffee and wished the others a good morning.
He himself could already guess what exactly was going on from the looks on the others' faces and said nothing as he drank his freshly brewed coffee. "Okay, now that we know you're not messing with us, me and Lucifer will go see who or what is in the shed so you can take care of your pumpkin undisturbed," Alicia suggested and went outside first as Lucifer was having trouble getting Cuphead and Mugman off his legs as they were literally clinging on like spider monkeys.
However, thanks to a shoehorn, or rather a crowbar, he easily detached the two of them and followed Alicia out the door into the garden. She stopped in front of the shed, took a deep breath and opened the door, which opened with a loud creak and squeak, revealing nothing but darkness. Very inviting. She thought to herself, stretched out her arm, opened her hand and a small blue flame appeared in it, which Alicia used as a source of light as she went into the shed to find out who or what was responsible for the three cups panicking and leaving.
She was followed at every turn by the three cups with garden utensils in their hands for defense, Lucifer who had his own trident at the ready and Blood whose wand glowed bluish. "Please be careful, Al!" Cuphead said gloomily with a shovel in his hand while his brother stood by with a pitchfork and Cuppy with a rake in his hands to support Alicia should the monster in the shed attack or otherwise injure her. The group was ready for anything. But there was one thing they were not prepared for. "Guys..." Alicia turned back to the others and seemed to show no sign of fear or the like. Quite the opposite. She seemed to look normal with no sign of fear which confused the three cups. "You don't need to be scared it's just Cagney" the confused looks on Cuphead, Mugman and Blood's faces weren't hard to miss.
Both brothers were confused and still not entirely enthusiastic about what Alicia meant by the statement. Blood, on the other hand, was confused and wanted to see with his eyes whether what Alicia meant was true and whether they really had little to worry about. But when they looked into the shed, they saw that Alicia was right. Someone was crouching in the far corner of the shed, looking slowly at the group with a partly worried but also annoyed look. Nobody knew why he looked annoyed, but for the moment only one thing mattered. There was no monster or anything like that in the shed, just an over-sized carnation holding several small carnations in his arms and feeding them with leftover fertilizer that he took from an open fertilizer bag.
The Toothy Terror Floaters flew around above him like vultures around a carcass. Thanks to the blue flame in her hand, Alicia could see Cagney better. He looked a lot like his counterpart in the book. Only his handle and hands were a darker shade than those of his counterpart. But its flowers were all the brighter. Wait, is he wearing a neckerchief? Alicia took a closer look and realized that Cagney was wearing a green neckerchief that blended in with the stem. The little carnations in his arms were the same color as him and also seemed to have faces and hands. Only at the moment they sounded like hungry babies waiting for the next feeding that Cagney gave them in the form of fertilizer. "Here, here you little ones, so you don't starve and grow big and strong".
He took good care of them and occasionally looked at the group with a threatening expression on his face. It was clear that he didn't want to hurt them as long as they didn't hurt him or his babies. "Okay, having three huge vegetables in the shed is one thing, but an over sized flower is something else!" Mugman wasn't really pleased that there was another unwanted visitor in the shed. Cuphead and Cuppy nodded their heads in agreement while Lucifer and Blood were just confused. Well, they hadn't seen what happened when the Root Pack showed up and used the garden as their party zone while Alicia was at the movies with the three cups. Elder Kettle's vegetables would almost have dried up if they hadn't done anything about it or if Alicia hadn't chased them away.
However, they didn't see Cagney as a real threat to the garden and their pumpkin. Again, Cagney saw it differently as the three cups, the wolf and Lucifer still had their weapons in their hands and Alicia with her blue flame didn't exactly look innocent. No wonder Cagney started to growl and told the group to leave him alone. "Wait, we're not here to hurt you!" Alicia explained as she extinguished her flame and asked the others to lower their weapons with a hand signal. Lucifer and Blood didn't contradict her and lowered their weapons. But the three cups contradicted Alicia "Are you crazy Alicia? The monster is just waiting for us to do this and then strike!" Cuphead and Cuppy agreed with Mugman's statement. They didn't trust the whole thing and feared the worst.
However, Alicia assured the three of them that everything was fine and they had nothing to worry about. Cagney realized this and stopped growling, but he still held his babies tightly in his arms as if his life depended on it. He grumbled and approached the others gently and slowly. His low growl told Alicia to make way or get out of the shed. So she went outside and stood in front of her husband. His hands were on her shoulders as he pulled her closer to him so that he could protect her if the worst came to the worst.
Alicia knew that Cagney was bigger than normal carnations. But the fact that he was taller than Lucifer worried her a little. Was he always this big in the book? she asked herself, swallowing nervously and trying not to tremble. She only remembered her adventures in the book when she was a child. But she knew that Cagney had always been kind to her and John. He always liked to tickle her and John with his "fingers" while they both dangled upside down from his vines. He and the other former debtors always took good care of the two siblings. So it was common for Alicia and John to refer to them as aunts or uncles.
But half a year has also passed since her own journey in the book with Cuppy and his Mugman. She really didn't know if Cagney was as big in the book as his counterpart from this world. "Hmm, you don't look so threatening up close," but one thing was clear. Both had this character. Yes, Cagney might look weak with his thin arms, but you shouldn't underestimate him. He had a lot in store. "But I'll still keep an eye on you if you think you can outsmart me, you can look forward to a good spanking!" Fists cracking, Cagney was ready for a lot. "Don't worry we won't do anything like that" Alicia assured him while looking at Cuphead "Right Cuphead?" he just nodded. Nodding nervously you could say as he spilled some of his liquid and spread it all over his brother and Cuppy whose heads were completely wet and dripping.
"Don't worry Mr. Flower we-" "Flower? My name is not Mr. Flower but Cagney! Cagney Carnation and you tots better learn that name or else!" angrily he clenched his fist in his other hand and snarled at the three cups who understood how serious he was. "Don't worry, Mr. Carnation, we'll remember the name!" The trembling teeth or knees could not be ignored by the three cups who were reluctant to cause trouble. Especially not with Cagney, who only wanted one thing: peace and quiet.
But if that was what he wanted, why was he here? Wouldn't a meadow be more pleasant than an old shed? Well, as Alicia had already guessed, Cagney could read minds just as well as Baroness Von Bon Bon and explained to the group why he was here of all places and not, as Alicia had already thought, in a large meadow where he would certainly feel more comfortable. "Oh my goodness" the group was shocked to hear what had happened to Cagney's meadow and why he was here. "This is so not nice!", "Yes, how dare three other flowers take you away from your home!" Mugman and Cuphead showed little joy at this news. They were rather angry and wanted to tell the three flowers what they thought until Alicia stopped them.
"I know you want to help, but didn't you want to take care of Pumpky?" the realization reached the three cups immediately. All three looked at the pumpkin they had been looking after for weeks. "Ali is right, we already have something to do," sighed Cuppy. "Yes, we do want to win the competition" that was their goal and they had to work hard to achieve it. Even though the competition would not take place for a few days, the three of them wanted to take good care of the pumpkin and not neglect it as they usually did. So to give the three of them enough time, Alicia decided to take matters into her own hands and deal with Cagney's problem.
She asked him where exactly his meadow was so she could go there "You really want to face the three of them?" Alicia nodded. "That sounds crazy what you're trying to do. I hope you know that?" Cagney couldn't take Alicia's statement seriously. Not because she was trying to look as serious as possible or because she was much smaller than the rest of the adults. No, the reason for his statement was something else.
"Well, a little blue flame won't be enough to drive these flowers from my meadow, darling." Did he really call me darling now? not only Alicia asked herself, but also Lucifer, whose eyes were burning with rage. No one was allowed to call Alicia "darling" except him. Well, not quite. Her godmothers were the exception. But no one else! "I don't want to brag, but my roots are fireproof thanks to the nutrients I've been spreading on my meadow for years," Cagney admitted. That didn't seem to worry Alicia much though, considering all she'd been through, three little flowers probably wouldn't bother her. I'll pull them out if I have to. She was sure of that. "Nevertheless, I will accompany you, my love".
Of course you're coming with me. Alicia feared that Lucifer would not leave her alone after the events of a few days ago, about which the group said little or nothing. For good reason as they all knew that Alicia was not safe despite her rescue, she would be wandering the Inkwell Isle's alone with no one to protect her. So she did not contradict him but accepted his offer. Even if it wasn't one. Alicia didn't care, she wanted to spend more time with him anyway. "And besides, we wanted to do something together anyway without three cups running after us," he whispered in her ear while his tail wagged with joy.
"Of course I haven't forgotten, my love," Alicia whispered back before kissing him on the cheek. Lucifer liked this and his tail wagged even more as his cheeks flushed. "Eww!" but the three cups, or at least the two brothers, didn't really seem to like the affection. Cuppy joined in anyway for whatever reason. Well, they were still too young to understand what love is. But Cagney didn't care. He couldn't stop them from leaving and finally gave in. He reluctantly told them about the location of his meadow as he was still skeptical. His meadow meant everything to him. It was his home and he didn't want to lose it. "Promise me one thing!" Alicia and Lucifer looked at him "Don't you dare set fire to my meadow!".
They both took this promise seriously and assured him before they disappeared in a great cloud of black smoke that not a hair, or rather blade of grass, would be harmed in his meadow.
With Alicia and Lucifer out of the picture, the three cups and Blood were now alone with Cagney. An over dimensional flower that disappeared back into the darkness of the shed. No one knew what to do. Well, Blood at least didn't know. He could continue to study the treasure map and search for the treasure he had been looking for since he landed here. The three cups in turn had to take care of their prize-winning pumpkin so that it would continue to grow and win first place for the three of them. So they took care of the pumpkin to pass the time.
Meanwhile, not far from the meadow Cagney calls home, Alicia and Lucifer appeared out of a large cloud of black smoke. Both held their tridents in their hands. Alicia was briefly in her demon form but quickly changed it in case a resident saw her. Alicia was reluctant to be called a monster or something similar just because she was half demon.
She was not a monster. Her nervous nature showed this. After all, she liked to hide behind Lucifer or Blood should any of the inhabitants speak to her or approach her. But since she was outside the city, she didn't have to worry much about encountering residents. Nevertheless, she remained in her human form. "Hmm," Lucifer murmured, curious but also worried and confused. "Is something wrong honey?" Alicia asked him with a worried look on her face as he spoke after finding her destination. "I know where we need to go," his voice sounded positive but his face said something different.
Alicia saw it and suspected worse "But?" she didn't want to say anything else but waited for Lucifer's answer while she suspected that his answer was behind her. "I'd say just look behind you," Alicia didn't need to be told twice and turned around. She could now see the meadow and what had scared Cagney away. You've got to be kidding me. Alicia saw the three over sized flowers that had made themselves comfortable in the meadow and almost dried it out. But that wasn't the reason why Alicia felt teased. She didn't really feel threatened by the three flowers. The three of them were just as big as Cagney, if not bigger. But why should the three of them be dangerous? "I don't understand what's so dangerous about the three flowers?" Lucifer didn't know himself. Nevertheless, he growled softly and stood protectively behind Alicia.
He was ready to protect her as she came closer and closer to the flowers and overheard what the three of them were discussing. "I still can't believe your plan worked," said the tulip with a mischievous giggle. "What a sweetheart setup!" all three laughed as if it were a joke. But Alicia and Lucifer didn't think it was funny. "Thanks to this carnation, we can go ahead with our plan and gather all the nutrients of the Inkwell Isle's to become even stronger!" laughed the snowdrop as he continued to explain his plan, not realizing that he and the two others were being watched.
"This meadow is only an appetizer!" according to the crocus' statement "So what are we waiting for, come on dig in!" The slurping noises were hard to ignore as the three flowers pulled the remaining nutrients from the meadow. The green slowly disappeared from the meadow and the little carnations dried out even more. Alicia didn't like that. So she didn't hesitate for long and... "Hey!" the three flowers heard it and looked around, confused but also frightened and annoyed, to see who was calling them. Their first thought was the carnation and then the police. But they hadn't reckoned on a young adult approaching the three of them angrily, accompanied by a furry creature with two white horns.
The silence was more than captivating as Alicia and Lucifer stood before the three flowers, barely able to form words themselves. The tulip was stunned, not by the young lady, but by her companion, who bore a striking resemblance to the devil. The crocus and the snowdrop, on the other hand, were rendered speechless, seemingly smitten with Alicia. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. Not again. She hoped there wouldn't be another incident of someone falling for her, especially with her husband right there and her wedding ring clearly visible.
"Well, well, well, it looks like a beautiful lady has found her way to us and wants to stand by us while we try to take over Inkwell Isle," the snowdrop winked at her, while the crocus flexed its muscles, attempting to "impress" Alicia.
Only the tulip seemed less than enthusiastic, appearing almost annoyed, a sentiment Alicia didn't hold against her. "Excuse me, but I'm not here to flirt with you or support your plan, which sounds utterly ridiculous anyway!" Alicia corrected them, making it clear she wasn't on their side. But the three flowers laughed and did something neither Alicia nor Lucifer could have imagined. They ensnared Alicia in a cage made of thorny vines. "Hey!" Alicia yelled in anger as she dangled like a piñata from a nearby branch. The crocus tied the end of the vine around the tree and giggled mischievously. "Put me down right now, or I-" "Or what?" the snowdrop interrupted, trying to stroke her with its leafy hand. But she pulled away from the trellis before he could reach her.
"Or you'll feel my wrath!" the three early bloomers laughed at first, thinking Alicia had said that. But when a large shadow fell over them, they knew that someone else had said it. Someone the three of them seemed to respect more than Alicia herself. Or so it seemed. "Hey, isn't that it?" asked the snowdrop curiously. "Yes, isn't that the devil?" added the tulip, while the crocus remained silent and said nothing. Even though he was shaking like a leaf.
But his fears were uncertain because while the snowdrop and the tulip were staring at Lucifer, they suddenly started laughing hysterically. This confused not only Alicia but also Lucifer. He raised his right eyebrow in confusion while he himself didn't know what was going on. But Alicia knew. The three had confused Lucifer with the devil from this world. It was a running gag that had occurred from time to time since he had landed in this world. In the beginning, it was still difficult for some to come to terms with the fact that Lucifer was actually quite friendly as long as you didn't get on his nerves or flirt with Alicia in front of him or anything else.
But from the looks of it, the three seemed to be laughing at Lucifer for good reason. Apparently, and Alicia had already thought so, the dignity and fear of the devil in this world seemed to be slowly crumbling. With each successive failure, the inhabitants no longer took him seriously or were no longer afraid of him. Unfortunately, Lucifer looked a lot like the devil from a distance, so the three of them thought he was the devil and began to mock him.
"Oh he's definitely about to snap!" "Only if you continue to annoy him or remind him that he can't even beat three cups!" The snowdrop and the tulip laughed hysterically like two hyenas while the crocus laughed like an idiot. But this neither enraged Lucifer nor triggered anything in him. Of course he was beaten by Cuppy and his brother back then, but unlike the devil from this world, he has come to terms with it and has a good relationship with them. "If you think I'm the idiot, I definitely know that you're all just as stupid as he is." Lucifer's statement surprised the three of them just as much as his voice and the grin he was known for. His eyes changed and a reddish glow appeared between his pupils and iris, making him look even more menacing than usual. But he had no intention of harming the three of them. At least not physically.
But he wouldn't be called the devil for nothing if he didn't have a diabolical plan in mind. "Lucifer, what are you..." Before Alicia could finish her thought, a table materialized out of a cloud of smoke. Alicia recognized it immediately; it was the same table where Cuppy and his brother Mugman had played craps and lost to Lucifer. The coffin-like appearance was unmistakable, as were the two red dice that Lucifer now held in his right hand, showing them to the three flowers.
"Are you trying to play a game with us?" asked Snowdrop, confused and amused at the same time. He and the others couldn't help but laugh, oblivious to the seriousness of Lucifer's intentions. He wasn't just playing for Cagney's home; he also had his sights set on Alicia, who had inadvertently become another unwanted lover thanks to Snowdrop's introduction, calling her Snow.
"You could say that," Lucifer replied with a devilish grin, placing the dice in Snow's hand. Snow examined them, his expression a mixture of confusion and contemplation, as if the dice held some hidden threat despite their ordinary appearance. "What are we playing for?" Snow inquired. He knew that this game would have a catch for him and the others. But what could it be?
The shed door creaked open slowly, revealing a pair of eyes peering into the garden where the three cups were busy. Sacks of fertilizer, one already opened, lay scattered on the ground along with hand shovels in red, blue, and yellow. A water hose hung over the fence, dripping water until Mugman attached a sprayer to it and began watering the pumpkin they were tending. "Here you go, pumpkin, to keep you growing," he said with a grin, as Cuppy and Cuphead scooped fertilizer from the bag and spread it around the pumpkin.
"Again!" growled Cuphead, irritated. A bug had crawled onto the pumpkin, a bib around its neck and a fork and knife in its other pair of arms, ready to feast. Just as it was about to burrow in, Cuphead flicked it away with his fingers. Instead of devouring the pumpkin, the beetle landed on a tomato and devoured it in a single bite, causing its stomach to bloat and take on the shape of the tomato.
Satisfied, the beetle flew away, and all three cups exhaled with relief. Their pumpkin was safe. For now. "What are you doing?" but when Cagney's shadow darkened, the three were startled until they knew again that he wasn't doing them any harm. Cagney was just curious, just like his babies, who approached the pumpkin slowly and cautiously. "Oh, we're going to take care of our pumpkin so he gets even bigger," Mugman explained happily with a smile as he stroked Pumpky. "Even bigger? I think you've already given him more than enough nutrients." That may be true, but the Three Cups wanted Pumpkin to keep growing. For good reason, because the three were participating in a contest to find the biggest pumpkin on Inkwell Isle. Not only would the winner win a cash prize, but the winning pumpkin would be the main attraction for the following Halloween as a jack-o'-lantern.
Both brothers have wanted to win the competition at least once in their lives since they were little. Unfortunately, luck has never been on their side. Either they came in last and got nothing but a participant's trophy or a bag of old candy, or they came in third or second, where the prizes hardly changed except for the trophy, which was a silver or bronze medal like those won by Olympic athletes. But this year, the two wanted to achieve first place. Not because they had no desire to hang another silver or bronze medal on their wall to remind them of how much they had failed, but also to outshine none other than their rivals. Who was their rival? Well...
"Hey Cuphead, hey Mugman," the voice replied. "Oh, and hi Cuppy," the three cups turned to the fence, annoyed but also a little scared, where none other than Bowlboy looked over with his neutral, stupid yet creepy look. His grin was hard to miss and said loud and clear that he had something planned that would please none of the three cups. In fact, they were already less than pleased to see him. For good reason. Some time ago, Cuphead and Mugman had fallen out and decided to find another brother to have more fun with than themselves. Mugman chose Cuppy as his brother, although his first choice was Hali or Alicia, while Cuphead opted for Bowlboy.
The latter quickly realized that Bowlboy was not quite right in the head and escaped an explosion of a homemade rocket and the subsequent hospital stay. But Alicia and the others forced both of them to at least visit Bowlboy to make him feel better. Something Alicia quickly regretted when he tried to sedate her with a syringe, not knowing what was in it. But luckily Blood was able to prevent this. However, it was clear to the three cups that they should get far away from Bowlboy to avoid getting into the kind of chaos that Cuphead almost got into.
And that's exactly what they did, trying as best they could not to pay any attention to the bowl. "What are you three doing?" but that was harder said than done when he kept interrupting them while they were trying to concentrate on their work. "Are you blind? Can't you see we're taking care of our pumpkin?" Cuppy replied in an annoyed tone as he tried to control his already borderline anger so as not to say anything wrong that he would later regret. "Ohhh are you talking about the little pumpkin you three are sitting around?" Bowlboy pointed out while chuckling softly "I highly doubt you'll get first place this year let alone second or third".
"How would you even know that The competition doesn't start for exactly six days so why do you have to get your ego so high again?" Cuphead wasn't entirely wrong with his statement. Bowlboy couldn't say who would win first, second or third place and yet he acted like he was the winner. "Oh maybe it's because I have my winning pumpkin with me?". With these words, Bowlboy pushed his pumpkin, which was much bigger than that of the three cups, onto a trolley behind the house to present it proudly while the mouths of the three cups stood wide open. They couldn't believe how big Bowlboy's pumpkin was compared to theirs. Pumpky was barely the size of Mugman's head.
But Bowlboy's pumpkin was half the size of the shed. So three times the size of Pumpky. So they knew that Bowlboy would win again, for better or worse. This frustrated the three of them a lot because they had put so much effort into growing the pumpkin this time so that it had a better chance than last year. "Well, it looks like it's going to be a participant trophy again this year," laughed Bowlboy hysterically as he dragged his pumpkin behind him, leaving the three cups behind dejectedly. All three were not very pleased with the news and were about to give up caring about their pumpkin at all.
"He's right, we won't win first place again," sighed Mugman sadly and dejectedly. His straw bent down like himself as his lips trembled and he was on the verge of tears. Cuphead and Cuppy were no different. Both felt like they had achieved nothing. However, Cagney was of a different opinion. He had overheard everything and decided to do something he would never have done otherwise. He helped the three of them, "All right, I'll help you." The three of them looked confused at Cagney, who turned his attention to his pumpkin. The three of them didn't actually want to accept any help. Neither from Elder Kettle and Alicia and Lucifer nor from Blood. They couldn't ask Varian anyway as he was busy and lived in the junkyard anyway. The fact that Cagney was now helping them was surprising but also relieving for the three of them.
But the three cups didn't know what he was up to. But Alicia knew one thing at the moment. "What?!" She knew that no one could win against Lucifer when it came to craps. The dice fell and showed two ones. "Ah Snake-eyes" Lucifer chuckled diabolically while Snow and his assistants Cronus and Tulpia couldn't believe they had lost. Not only had they lost the game, they had also lost their temporary home. As they wagered, Lucifer not only got back the meadow that once belonged to Cagney, but also Alicia, who was freed from her thorny prison and landed in the arms of her husband, who never let her go. Why would he? "And now get lost or I'll change my mind and turn you three into potting soil!" But what bothered him were the shocked, sometimes angry looks from the three losers who didn't want to leave as quickly as Lucifer and Alicia thought they would.
The three early bloomers took the threat quite seriously this time and ran away in panic when they saw Lucifer's angry face. The flames didn't really improve the situation as they rose up behind him while he said this. But the positive thing was the rain that followed and made the meadow as green as it once was. The withered flowers feasted on the rain and shone again in their bright colors.
The news that the three early bloomers are gone will surely please Cagney. "I think we should tell Cagney the news. I'm sure he'll be glad to be back in his meadow instead of a dark shed." Oh, I suppose you're right, my dear," but before they teleported away, Lucifer kissed him on the lips. A kiss that lasted nearly five minutes, if not longer, had Alicia not freed her mouth and reminded her husband that they still had to deliver the news.
"Oh sorry Alicia, I forgot," Lucifer was ashamed as his cheeks turned red and he and Alicia disappeared in a puff of smoke. But their news wasn't the only positive thing as they returned to the hut. What the... Alicia and Lucifer hadn't really expected much when they returned. But a pumpkin that was big enough to be turned into a carriage was not on their list. To be more precise, Alicia didn't want to know how it came about that a small pumpkin turned into such a huge one. As far as I know, there are no fairy godmothers or fairy godparents here. So how did the pumpkin grow so quickly?
Well, the question answered itself when Cagney peeked out from behind the pumpkin with the three cups and they thanked him. "Great work Cagney!" "Yes, we're going to win first place this year!" Both brothers were more than happy and, unlike Cuppy, didn't notice that Alicia and Lucifer were back with good news. Cagney didn't notice at first either. Well, until Alicia cleared her throat and the attention fell on her and Lucifer. "Oh Al we haven't seen you and Luci" you could tell Cuphead was embarrassed. Annoyed, Lucifer rolled his eyes at the mention of his "nickname", which he didn't like at all. He actually wanted to say something about it but didn't. He wasn't like his copy from this world and burst into a rage at every insult. No, he was still civil and swallowed it.
But just like Alicia, he was surprised to see how big the pumpkin was. "Look how big Pumpky has become thanks to Cagney's help!" announced Mugman, beaming with joy, who could no longer contain his delight and thanked the carnation with a hug. A firm hug to be precise, as Cagney had difficulty letting go of him. His face said that it made Cagney uncomfortable to be hugged or even embraced so tightly. He had a hard time describing the feeling he was experiencing before he managed to get the young mugs away from him. "Um, thanks, not worth mentioning" but the three cups and Alicia saw it differently. The latter didn't beat about the bush for long and announced the news.
"Really? You have..." Alicia nodded, confirming his statement. His shocked face and the subsequent smile that formed on his trembling lips showed that this news more than pleased him. They thrilled him. Not only was his meadow back in his possession and the intruders gone. His babies were thriving and he could hardly wait to return. But Lucifer prevented him from doing so. "Not so fast, I want you to sign the following" a contract appeared in his hand. Cuppy gasped as Alicia's eyes widened in horror. They both knew what the contract reminded them of.
The soul contracts that Alicia, Cuppy and his brother Mugman had to collect when Alicia was on the Inkwell Isle's for the first time in the book. Both were surprised that Lucifer would resort to this again, but their fears were allayed as Lucifer had no intention of collecting Cagney's soul, but offered him an ordinary contract that the meadow was his alone "And if any unwanted visitors should approach it, there would be a little surprise that they would not soon forget".
Cagney didn't know what he meant by that. But that didn't stop him from signing the contract and securing his meadow even further. "Thank you so much to you two" Alicia and Lucifer felt his hand on their shoulder as he leaned towards them "Without you and the three cups I would have lost not only my home but also my babies". "Don't mention it, even if I was a little surprised about the contract my husband gave you, I hope you might come and visit us one day," Alicia hesitated to say as she didn't want to be thanked. She hadn't really done anything. Lucifer had done everything while she was dangling in a cage like a damsel in distress.
She felt rather uncomfortable about it and it showed. Her smile disappeared as she lowered her head sadly and looked down at the floor. Cagney and the others saw it and worried about her. No one wanted to see Alicia sad. So Cagney assured her that he would visit her and allow them to enter his meadow "After all, you have helped me so you are welcome to ask for my help in the future if you need it." With these words, Cagney made his way back to his meadow with his babies and left the cottage behind him.
Satisfied that they could help another resident, Alicia and Lucifer turned their attention to the three cups and their large pumpkin, which the three of them tried to roll onto a small red metal trolley. "Come on!", "Just one more little..." "Argh!" but no matter how hard they pushed the pumpkin wouldn't budge. He remained standing on the spot. "How the heck are we supposed to transport the pumpkin if we can't even get it onto our trolley?" Cuphead asked himself. A question that was quickly answered when the pumpkin suddenly started to float and plopped onto the trolley. The three of them were very confused. Had Cagney bewitched the pumpkin, was it alive or had Blood had a hand in it?
None of the three. It was Lucifer who levitated the pumpkin with his powers and did the hard work for the three of them while the pumpkin was taken to the shed. This was even more difficult as the pumpkin was considerably larger than the shed itself. However, the three of them managed to get it into the shed while Alicia shook her head. Cartoon logic. Normally, either the pumpkin or the shed would break. But nothing of the sort happened. But as on the other Inkwell Isle's, the laws of physics didn't seem to play a role here either. One thing Alicia still had to come to terms with was that, unlike the others, she was not a toon but a real person. So the cartoon laws didn't apply to her.
Well, at least the day wasn't as bad as the last one. She thought to herself and went back to the cottage with her husband, who faithfully stood by her side and didn't leave her alone. Not because he was clingy, but because he liked and missed her closeness. After all, the two of them had missed a very long time without cuddling, which they had to make up for. No one could stop them. Neither Elder Kettle, who was preparing dinner in the kitchen, nor Blood, who was busy at work studying the treasure map, nor the three cups who stayed outside to play. Even the devil, who was still bitter that Alicia was no longer in his arms, couldn't do anything about it.
But since Alicia was not a toon, she was more prone to illness. And since it was fall, the diseases returned and affected some of the residents. Among them was Alicia, who felt that she wasn't feeling well either.