Hello my lovely readers! We are back with a new chapter!

The next few episodes will be based on the show's moments but we will do some originals soon! Trust me you'll love them!

Now, Let's continue our story...

Season 2, episode 3: Friend or Foe?

A week had passed and the boy's punishment was over. They were allowed to go out and play and explore the land of Inkwell once more. During their time of being grounded, they rehearsed dancing just like how Chalice taught them to.

They didn't want to go out in Inkwell and attempt to get free stuff, learning that the hard way, so they decided to start small and work their way upward. They focused their attention on getting one of Elder Kettle's cookies, since he's still not willing to share his cookies.

Like who does that? Again, even my own mother would share some of her fries with me.

Anyway, the group was in the living room. Kettle was seated on his easy chair, while Audrey, Josh, Monica and Andy were seated on the couch.

They were watching the boys do their cute little dance, tapping their shoes, playing the piano, and gesturing to one another to do their own moves. Cuphead was then seen spinning around the table with the radio on it while Mugman danced with a top hat and cane.

The two concluded their performance by tumbling towards the rest and finished with a big pose, with confetti popping out.

Huh, nice touch.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Audrey cheered, as they applauded.

"Whoo! That was awesome!" Josh added.

"Wonderful job you two!" Monic beamed, as Andy whistled.

Kettle was impressed as he clapped for them. The cups looked excited, thinking they had a shot of getting a cookie from him.

"Looks like it worked." Mugs whispered.

"Yeah, he's charmed all right." Cuphead chuckled.

"So charming!" Kettle beamed, holding two cookies in his hand. The boys waited eagerly to be handed one his baked goods. However, their mood changed when Kettle retorted. "But you two will never charm your way into my cookie jar!"

He then handed the four heroes a cookie before departing, munching on one himself.

"Aww!" Both boys groaned.

"Ok, that was just cold, even for him." Josh piped up.

"We've been doing that dumb dance Chalice taught us for weeks, and it hasn't worked once!" Mugman exclaimed.

"Really? That time I thought it was pretty good." Andy mentioned. "Here, you can have my cookie."

He handed Mugman his cookie, and proceeded to break it in half giving one part of his brother. As Cuphead scarfed down his half, Mugman tapped his foot, frowning as he pondered over the events at the cookie factory.

He didn't understand how they were able to charm the guard into letting them in, but now can't charm their caretaker into giving them a cookie.

"I tell ya, Cuphead, she was messing with us." He stated.

"No way! Chalice wouldn't do that." Cuphead argued.

"Honey, she ditched you when you needed her most!" Audrey pointed out. "She's crafty, selfish and nothing but a troublemaker!"

"Miss Audrey is right! And on top of that, we know nothing about her, except that she abandoned us and then never came to visit us in prison." Mugman listed off. "See, that's two things we know about her already."

Mugman took a deep sigh before adding. "I really thought she was gonna be our friend. It was nice not being on our own."

"Hey, Chalice is a great friend." Cuphead argued, as his brother went to put the cane and top hat on the rack.

"Dude, how can you say that?" Josh asked. "A friend doesn't leave their pals in a sticky situation. That clearly states she was only looking out and caring for herself and went off scott free."

"And also, if she's so great, how come we never heard from her again, hmm?" Mugman asked.

Suddenly, the group heard a knock at the door. Audrey arched an eyebrow. Who was visiting?

"Ooh, maybe that's your dear friend Chalice now." Mugman sarcastically replied.

He opened the door and who do they see but Chalice herself.

"Hey, it's me, Chalice!"

Now, Mugman could have responded in various ways when he saw Chalice at the front door. But out of spite, he slammed the door right in her face.

"Huh, never took him to do that." Josh mentioned.

Cuphead responded in a completely different way as he rushed to the door and squealed.

"Chalice!"

He opened the door but once she stepped in, she quickly closed the door, with an anxious expression on her face.

"Shh! Keep it down, will ya?" She sharply whispered. "I'm being chased by an angry mob."

"Angry mob!?" The boys gasped in fear as she strolled over to the window, shut the curtains and opened a chest that was near it, grabbing a wooden plank and a hammer and nails.

"Yep, an angry mob. All those chumps who gave me free stuff?" She asked, nailing the plant to the window. "Well, they started to catch on that I was scamming 'em. Apparently, they got a problem with that."

Well, I mean she's not wrong. I don't think people who get their stuff stolen will be ok with that.

She then hopped from the chest and wrapped an arm around the boys, grinning.

"So I thought I could stay here, since we had such a great time last time."

"Oh sure, we had a great time, especially the part when you ditched them!" Audrey snapped.

Chalice looked and saw Audrey, with a scowl on her face, along with three other people who weren't happy to see her.

"Oh, hey, bestie!" Chalice beamed. "Nice to see ya again! Say, I love that dress! Where can I get one like that?"

"Don't change the subject!" Josh growled. "You have some nerve coming back here!"

"Oh, come on!" Chalice rolled her eyes. "We had a great time at the cookie factory!"

Mugman gave a groan before he spatted out "Some great time! You ditched us! Whammo! You're gone! And we wind up at the big house."

"Not only that, but some jerk came out of nowhere and kidnapped me!" Audrey added. "You put not only me, but the boys in a very dangerous situation!"

"Wait, someone kidnapped you?" Chalice asked. "Who was it?"

"Not important. The main thing is I escaped and now that you're here, I'm really mad at you." Audrey mentioned, placing her hands on her hips.

"And like the boys said, they ended up in the big house because of your acts of selfishness." Josh added.

"The big house?! Gee, I had no idea." Chalice sighed, as she sat down on the chest. "Gosh, fellas, I'm sorry I got you tossed in the hoosegow."

"'Sorry' won't bring us back so many cold, cold nights in the slammer." Mugman shuddered, clutching his fists.

Just then, the three cups began to list off the different names of the jail, giving the rest of the group confused looks at each other.

"The crowbar hotel."

"The pokey."

"The clink."

"The stony lonesome."

"The convict condo!"

"The zoo for criminals."

"The ol' hooba-dooba." Chalice finished.

"Yeah! The old... hooba-dooba?" Cuphead repeated, arching an eyebrow.

"The old hooba-dooba? That's not even a thing!" Mugman shouted.

"Well, if you never heard of it, that's your problem." Chalice remarked. "Hmm!"

After a second, she stood up on the chest as she recalled.

"Okay, okay. The point is, you two knocked yourselves out, cops stormed in, and I was lucky to get away. Cookies were pretty good though, huh?"

The boys pondered that for a second before Cuphead replied.

"She's got us there."

"I do like cookies." Mugman nodded.

"Oh no! Don't you dare say that!" Andy piped up. "You're completely failing to see that this is your fault!"

"Look, I said I was sorry." Chalice recalled. "Besides, how was I supposed to know the cops would come?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you three broke into a factory?" Monica sarcastically asked.

Chalice looked at Monica for a second before asking "Uh, I take it that was sarcasm?"

"Yes! It was sarcasm!" Monica argued.

"Oh. Well, that's good to hear." Chalice beamed. Turning to the boys, she asked. "So what'll it be, boys? Can your old pal Chalice stick around? Or am I gonna be out on my own, running from an angry mob?"

"Absolutely not!" Josh argued.

"What? Oh come on!" Cuphead whined. "I know it was a bit crazy after what happened, but she's still our friend."

"Cuphead, you're completely missing the point." Andy explained. "When someone does something really hurtful like that, I wouldn't want to hang out with them again."

"And, Mugman, aren't you supposed to be the voice of reason here?" Josh pointed out. "The one who is cautious about things like this?"

"Well, yeah, I guess, but I think she left because she panicked." Mugs pointed out. "Plus, trying to get two knocked out people out is rather difficult."

"I get that, but that's no excuse to leave." Josh calmly pointed out. "She should have stayed and at least tried to reason with them or explained that you were the one who taught them how to 'charm' people."

"Look, I'm sorry, but after that incident, you are not allowed to see the boys again." Audrey informed her, gently pulling the boys away from Chalice. "It's bad enough they got in serious trouble with the police, let alone with an angry mob."

"Angry mob?" Kettle's voice popped up, entering the living room.

"Uh-oh." Cuphead gulped.

"That's where this kettle draws the line." Kettle announced. He then started pushing Chalice towards the door. "I want you out of here this instant, missy!"

"Wait! Did I mention, uh, this?" Chalice quickly piped up.

Then, she began to do that cute little tap dance and didn't take long to charm and impress Elder Kettle, much to the group's annoyance. Once she had finished, posing to finish, Kettle chuckled.

"Oh how- how delightfully charming. Of course you can hide here from your mob, Ms. Chalice. Oh! And here, have a cookie."

He then pulled a cookie from his back pocket, again cartoon logic, and flicked it in her hand like he was flicking a coin.

"What a delight!" He sighed, as he departed, leaving the boys' jaws to the floor, and then their heads fell to the ground.

"How does she do that?" Cuphead asked, as Josh and Andy grabbed and placed their heads back on their bodies

"I don't know." Mugman replied.

"Well, she may be able to charm other people, but charming us is a whole different story." Audrey huffed.

"Oh really? Let me give it a try." Chalice smirked.

She then did her cute little tap dance again and looked over, hoping she got their attention. But to her surprise, they didn't. They still glared at her, hands on their hips. She tried a bit harder, doing more moves, slides, twirls and other dance moves, but nothing. Finally she spun around and ended with a pose, confetti flying out, as she gasped for air.

Just like before, the group was not impressed. She stood up, dusted her skirt and replied "Wow, you fellas ain't swoonin' over it. How's that possible?"

"Well, for starters, I'm still mad at you for what you did." Audrey explained. "And another thing, the four of us are from different worlds. So your little "charm" scam probably doesn't have an effect on us."

"Wait, other world?" Chalice repeated, surprised. "Where y'all from?"

"It's complicated to explain where we're from, but, like Audie said, we're from different worlds." Josh mentioned.

"You may have Elder Kettle all for you, but as the grownups here, we don't allow you to see the boys."

"Please, Miss Audrey. I know we wound up in a heep of trouble, but doesn't everyone deserve a second chance?"

"Yeah, like in those stories you tell about that Mario fella along with his pal Sonic." Cuphead pointed out. "You told us about one time when the big bad Bowser and the evil Dr. Eggman tried to take over the Winter Olympics? And even after all that, they still wanted them to compete?"

"They could have told them no, but they wanted them to have fun with everyone, giving them a second chance."

Audrey opened her mouth to argue, but stopped. She knew the boys were right, especially as she remembered telling them that despite Bowser and Eggman's scheming, the heroes allowed them to compete and this situation was no different.

Judging by their puppy dog-eyes, and whimpering, they wanted to spend time with her, and knew she would be unfair without her making it up to the boys. She then took a deep breath and responded.

"Ok, she can hang out with you."

"Really?!" The three cups squealed.

"But! And this is very important to know. If I get word out that you tricked the boys into robbing a bakery, toy store or anything else and if the police are involved, you will no longer be welcomed here and allowed to see the boys. Got it?"

"Got it! Got it!" Chalice chirped, raising her left hand half way and placed her right on her heart. Audrey looked and didn't see any fingers crossed and she did sound sincere.

Seeing that she was serious, she relaxed a bit and took a breath.

With that cleared up, Chalice munched on her cookie and asked the boys.

"So, what do you two do for fun around here?"

The twins shot a smirk at each other. Oh, they knew how to have fun.

A bit later, the three were out in the front yard having a blast. The boys took turns playfully riding the goat, who was bleating happily. The boys even rode each other, giggling with delight, and then had the goat on their shoulders. It was for Chalice to watch at first, but after a bit, it got boring and kinda repetitive.

Audrey came out with a tray, topped with a jug of lemonade and three glasses along with some snacks.

"So, how are things going?" she asked.

"Eh, ok." Chalice shrugged. "Gotta ask, is this what they do for fun?"

"Pretty much." Audrey smiled. "I think after their last adventure behind bars, they need to do something less exciting for the moment."

"Well, I guess." Chalice groaned as Audrey placed the tray on the table.

"I'll be inside with Josh and the others. You three have fun and make sure the goat has time to eat."

Chalice nodded and Audrey headed back inside. Once she was gone, Chalice groaned and approached the boys.

"All right, all right. I see exactly where this is going. Nowheres." She claimed, as they slumped down. "Come on, fellas, huddle up."

The three cups, including the goat, huddled up, like they were on a sports team, ready to go over the next play of the game.

"Now, we can stay here at the boring old cottage, or we can go out into the real world and live." Chalice suggested. "What do you say?"

The two looked at each other before responding

"We're in."

The goat bleated happily in response, hoping to be part of the fun they were planning.

"Swell. There's a dance contest downtown." Chalice informed them. "I entered us in it earlier."

"While you were running from the mob?" Mugman asked, arching an eyebrow.

"That's right. But it's too far to walk. We're gonna need a ride."

They pondered over how they could get to the contest without any issues. They then looked to the goat…who pulled away from the group and jumped behind a bush.

Yeah, that is a definite no.

"Well, any other ideas?" Chalice asked.

"Well, if we are going to go to the contest, we better let Miss Audrey know we're heading out." Mugman suggested.

They rushed to the front door and opened it up, seeing the humans chatting over some tea.

"Erm, Miss Audrey?" Mugman piped up, approaching them.

"Yes, sweetie? What can I do for ya?" She smiled.

"Well, we wanted to ask if it was ok for us to go downtown?" He asked. "We were hoping to go to a fun dance contest that was happening."

"Oh sure! That sounds like fun." Audrey beamed. "Just remember for you three to be back by dinnertime."

"I'm cooking up some chicken tortilla soup tonight." Andy winked. "Next to being a great dimensional traveler, I am a wizard in the kitchen!"

"What about that one time when you nearly burned down one of your mentors' huts?" Monica slyly pointed out.

"That was one time and you know it!" Andy recalled. That made the group laugh while Mugman went back outside to his brother and Chalice.

"Ok, they said we can go."

"Sweet! Now all we need is a way to get there." Cuphead pondered. "I don't want to bother Audrey again, so we'll just have to find a way to go ourselves."

The three wandered around the yard for a bit, until Chalice saw something. They peered over the fence and saw an orange truck that looked a bit faded, decorated with a barrel, tools, and two arrows stuck on the side.

Oh I really hope he didn't run into Indians or something.

When Chalice saw that truck, a smirk came over her face and the boys knew what that look told them.

"But that's Elder Kettle's truck." Mugman argued.

"Yeah, we're not allowed to drive it." Cuphead mentioned.

I mean, he's not wrong. They're both ten and aren't old enough to get a learner's permit yet.

"Ha! Nobody said anything about you two driving." Chalice chuckled.

"Wait, what?"

Before Mugman knew it, he, Chalice and Cuphead were driving Kettle's truck, zipping at great speed down the dirt road. Chalice and Cuphead were having the time of their lives, while Mugman hung on for dear life.

Just then, Chalice pointed up, exclaiming "Lookie there!"

The boys looked in her direction and saw a red blimp go by. However, that blimp turned into Hilda Berg, only she had a pointed nose and lipstick. She shot a sickening grin on her face and waved to the group, laughing menacingly.

The trio, not thinking much about it, waved and honked the horn, calling out

"Hi!"

However, the group failed to see that Chalice had driven off the road and skidded right into a cornfield. Chalice jerked the truck as hard as she could, trying to regain her control. They burst out of the field and spun around, before coming to a complete stop.

"Whew. That was close." They sighed.

However, they weren't out of the woods yet as they heard the sound of a train track dinging. They looked and saw they were stuck on the tracks with a locomotive coming right at them at full speed!

They screamed as the train whistle blew, approaching closer and closer. Chalice scrambled to put the key back into the ignition, and turned it, but the truck wouldn't start!

"Oh no!" She cried, whimpering.

The anthropomorphic locomotive pressed his hands in his mouth, whistling again. The group screamed as it advanced closer and-

CRASH!

The train collided with the truck, smashing it to pieces and sended the group flying in the air…and landing right into the building where the dance contest was being held.

The truck surprisingly landed back into place, parked right in the open spot.

Ok, well, that happened.

A few hours passed and Josh and Audrey were finishing up dinner. Elder Kettle decided to take a nap, so the two of them decided to help around. Andy was stirring the soup, Josh cut up some bread and Audrey set the table.

"There we go. Ready for dinner." Audrey smiled.

"Awesome. Here, try this." Andy instructed, holding a bit of soup in the spoon. Audrey took it and slipped it in her mouth.

"Mmm. That's so good." Audrey beamed. "Wow, you're an amazing cook."

"Thanks. Aside from cooking in college, I learned a trick or two from my mentors." Andy beamed.

"Wow, ok I'm gonna say whoever is going to date you, is going to be very happy you can cook." Josh chimed in.

The trio laughed and suddenly heard the door opening. They saw the porcelain pals entering the cottage, laughing while Chalice held a small trophy in her hand.

"That was swell! I usually charm my way into first place alone, but we did that one together. It's kinda nice not being on my own, and we could do it all again tomorrow." Chalice beamed.

She then twirled off to wash up while vocalizing "And the next day, and the next day, and the next day too."

"Well, sounds like you three had fun today." Audrey smiled. "You guys go to the dance contest?"

"Yeah! Turns out she entered the three of us in." Mugman smiled. "We got there on time and the crowd loved us!"

"Yeah! The crowd went wild with our performance!" Cuphead cheered.

"I'm glad you boys had fun with Chalice." Audrey grinned. "And I'm sorry if I startled you boys when she came over. I just didn't want you to be hurt again. I know what it's like to have people say they're friends, and then leave you when you need them the most."

"It's alright, Miss Audrey. You were just looking out for us." Mugman assured her.

"Yeah, and after that last time, we have to be more careful but I think we're ok now." Cuphead mentioned.

"Well, it seems like things are dying down a bit. I think we're in the clear. Now go wash up, dinner is almost ready."

Audrey then headed back to the kitchen as the boys stayed behind in the living room.

"See, Mugsy? Chalice is a great friend." Cuphead reiterated. "Now, aren't you glad we let her hide here from the angry mob?"

Tha caught Mugman's attention. She did mention about the angry mob chasing her, but something didn't seem right to him.

"Angry mob? Hmm..."

As Audrey was tidying up, she saw Mugman grab his brother by his handle and proceeded to slip into the closet that was connected under the stairwell.

Hey! Just like Harry Potter! Only it's filled with supplies and items, not a ratshack bed and a poor orphan boy who had magic powers.

Curious, Audrey approached and knocked on the door. Mugman answered.

"Hi, Miss Audrey."

"Hi. Uh, what are you boys doing?"

"We need to discuss something about Chalice and I think you need to be on this as well." He answered

He made room for her to fit in and she slipped in. Once she closed the door, the room was pitch black. The only thing she could see was their eyes.

Again, cartoon logic.

"Hey! What gives?" Cuphead asked, annoyed.

"Cuphead, I'm starting to wonder if there ever was an angry mob." Mugman replied.

That caused his brother to gasp in shock.

"You calling Chalice a liar?"

"Now, hold on, Cuppy. We aren't calling her that but I think Mugman has a point." Audrey calmly assured him. "But yeah that does seem rather odd that an angry mob hasn't shown up for a while. They would have picked up on where she was."

"Think about it. We've been out all day." Mugman added. "She isn't hiding from anybody."

Just then they heard

"Okay."

They nearly jumped as they saw and heard that Chalice was in there with them.

"Whoa! How'd you get in?" Audrey gasped.

"I admit it. I lied. The truth is, I... I like not being on my own." She blurted out. "I just wanted to hang out with you two porcelain dum-dums again and you, bestie."

"Wait, so you're saying that you really did miss us?" Mugman asked, surprised.

"That's right, ding-dongs." She grinned. Audrey was still unsure about something but as she opened her mouth to ask, suddenly, the doorbell rang. "Who could that be?"

The four piled out of the closet and headed to the front door. Josh poked his head out from the kitchen with a confused look on his face.

"Say, uh, are we expecting anyone for dinner?" He asked.

"I'm not sure…" Audrey trailed off.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe that's your angry mob now." Mugman replied, chuckling.

But as soon as he opened the door, who were they greeted by but the angry mob. There were about six people, who were shouting

"Give us Chalice! Give us Chalice! Give us-!"

Mugman, like he did earlier this morning, slammed the door shut in their faces. After about a second, he quietly announced.

"Chalice, it's for you."

The mob was outside, thankfully, but that didn't stop them from pounding hard on the door, nearly breaking it down. Mugman panicked and rushed back as Audrey held him in her arms.

"So the angry mob is real?" Cuphead asked Chalice, as the four glared at her.

"Chalice, tell us the truth. Right now." Josh growled.

"Uh, well, remember when I said I was lying about the angry mob?" Chalice asked. "Well, the funny thing is, I was lying about lying about the angry mob."

She gave a nervous chuckle, but the group didn't bother to join her, not even Cuphead who would be easily persuaded.

"We're still friends, though, right? Right?" she asked nervously.

"After the huge lie you pulled today, I don't think so." Audrey retorted. "How could you do this?! We allowed you to take cover for a bit and this is how you thank us?"

Chalice wanted to respond but the pounding got harder and harder until they shoved the door down and entered, glaring and grumbling at them. Oh and I should let you know, that it was ten people who came, not just six.

Before they could do anything, Cuphead sharply whispered.

"Guys, guys! Shh!"

He gestured over to Elder Kettle, who was fast asleep on his arm chair, snoring and whistling like a train from his nose.

"Oh, sorry! Sorry. Let's go outside." The screwdriver lady insisted. They all tiptoed outside, as Cuphead and Audrey secured the door back in its rightful place. They waited a second, wondering if Kettle heard anything, but they were in the clear.

Cuphead turned his attention towards the mob again and asked.

"You were saying?"

"Step aside, boys, we don't want you." The screwdriver lady growled. "We just want the chalice."

They then began to chant once more as they cornered the group

"Give us Chalice! Give us Chalice! Give us Chalice!"

"Uh Josh? Miss Audrey? What do we do?" Mugman shuddered.

"I don't know! I don't want to hurt these people and my sketchbook is in the house." Audrey trembled.

"Being the three ding-dongs was fun while it lasted." Chalice gulped. "But it looks like I'm on my own again."

That's when a thought came to Mugman.

"On your own…?"

He then took a breath, adjusted his pants and approached the angry mob.

"Now listen here! Ahem. I know all of you are angry." He began. "You're an angry mob, it's in your name."

The mob agreed and nodded with his statement.

"And it's true, Chalice is a lying, grifting, friend-abandoning thief who-" Mugman proceeded but Chalice interrupted him by nervously announcing

"Okay! Mugman, everybody! Give him a hand!"

"Not finished!" He retorted, pushing her back. Turning to the mob, he spoke once more. "But did her dancing not bring you joy? And isn't that joy worth the cost of an eensy-weensy, little bit of money?"

Now you would think that would move them, making them see a different side and turn the other cheek.

However, they shouted at them

"No!"

Audrey groaned. That didn't go as planned.

Mugman then laughed nervously, baking towards the group. "Heh heh. Okay then."

He then clung to his brother as the humans held them in a protective state.

"Nice try, Mugsy, but it looks like they're not buying it." Cuphead trembled. "Any ideas, Chalice? Chalice?"

They looked and saw that she vanished from sight.

"She ghosted again!" Mugman cried.

"How? She was right here!" Josh exclaimed.

"Can't believe this." Audrey groaned. "She ditched us again in a most dire moment. She clearly can't be trusted."

"Hey! His heartfelt speech was just a distraction so that she could get away!" The anthropomorphic gumball machine spoke up.

Even though he was part of the mob, Audrey almost mistaken him for Sargent Gumbo Gumbull, who worked for Baroness Von Bon Bon. She hadn't seen her yet, but had a funny idea she would be seeing her at some point. When that was, she was unsure.

The crowd began to grumble and yell, before the screwdriver lady spoke up.

"Wait! We did come all this way. You want to just beat them up? The cups I mean?"

They thought it over for a moment and then agreed with each other, before glaring at the boys again and approaching them.

They swallowed hard.

"B-been nice knowing you, pal!" Cuphead shuddered as they squeezed their eyes shut. Audrey and Josh began to panic trying to figure out what to do. They didn't want to hurt them, but they didn't want the boys to get hurt.

Just as they were getting closer, suddenly, one of the members lost his grip on the cub he was holding and it began to float on its own.

"Hey, my club!"

Without warning, it whacked him on the head, surprising the humans.

"Uh, guys? What's going on?" Josh asked

"I have no idea…" Audrey muttered.

It began to swing and hit other people, until they screamed and ran off from the cottage, vanishing from sight. Audrey was trying to make sense of the whole thing while she felt the boys whimper and tremble.

Suddenly a voice popped up

"Ahem. Yoo-hoo!"

They opened their eyes to see the floating club and were a bit lost. Right before their very eyes, Chalice reappeared to them, but they saw that her appearance had changed.

Aside from the fact that she still had her sweater and head, she was now turquoise blue, and her legs were replaced with a tail, which reminded Audrey of the one Genie from Aladdin had.

"Hiya, fellas!" She beamed.

She tossed over the club as the group starred in shock. Even Josh and Audrey couldn't believe it. Finally the boys sputtered out

"You're a g-g-g-g-g-"

A g-g-g-g-ghost? That's right!" Chalice giggled. "Anyway, I gotta lay low for a while, but we'll hang out again soon. Promise!"

She gave them a wink and proceeded to leave when she stopped and smirked at the group.

"Oh, and, uh, fellas?" She asked

"Yeah?" They asked, still in complete shock.

She flew close and simply responded with

"Boo."

Then she vanished from sight in a puff of smoke. The boys screamed before 'X's came over their eyes and collapsed to the ground.

"Ok, that was really startling." Josh claimed as they helped up the boys. "First the angry mob, now that? Sheesh, this was one weird day."

"Tell me about it." Audrey sighed. "Come on, let's go inside. Maybe a good meal and a nice bedtime story will help."

Josh nodded and once they got the boys up and conscious again, they headed inside and sat down for dinner. Elder Kettle was up and they had a nice meal. They had to lie to Kettle, saying that Chalice had to leave to take care of something important. He bought that and they moved on.

After a good meal and reading the boys a story, Audrey and Josh got ready for bed. As Josh slipped on his shirt, he saw Audrey lost in thought.

"Hey, you ok?" He asked.

"Oh yeah I'm good." she replied. "I was just thinking. You remember when you went to Inkwell in the book right? And met the boys and Chalice?"

"How could I forget?" Josh sighed. "As much as that was awesome, it was super scary, especially with the Devil."

"Right. Anyway I was thinking more about Chalice." She claimed. "In the book, she was able to swap out between her normal and ghost form, but that was because of the cookies Slat Baker gave them. But in this sense, she's able to do it without one. Wonder how that's possible."

"Well, remember, this story is a bit different from the book." Josh reminded her. "Maybe they have it that she has a secret power and is one of those things where they don't really explain it. I could be completely wrong."

"No, no, I see where you're going with it." Audrey mentioned. "While that's true, I wonder if there's more to that. Eh, I could be overthinking it."

"I think we had enough thinking for one day." Josh claimed. "Come on, let's head to bed."

The two snuggled under the covers, gave each other a kiss and Josh switched off the light. As he dozed off, Audrey stared at the ceiling. She was happy that Chalice was able to get them out of the mess she got them into, but something in the back of her mind told her something was off.

It wasn't about Chalice, but about something with Chalice. She was charming no doubt, but there was something she was missing.

"Eh, I think I'm overthinking it." Audrey sighed. "I'll just get some sleep."

She closed her eyes and slept peacefully, knowing she was next to the person she loved the most.

Well, that was a really crazy! Chalice is a ghost and they nearly locked horns with an angry mob! Glad that things were cleared up. But Audrey may have a right idea to think about Chalice and where did she get her ghost powers from? Were they given to her from something or someone...eh time will tell!

"Toon" in next time for a thrilling adventure!

As always, thanks so much for reading! Don't forget to leave a review but let's avoid the flames please :D