Author's note: Forgive the lateness of my posting. The heat wave was terrible and was trying to survive a rigid strict diet with strong medicine.
Along with writer's block. Sorry if the chapter feels rushed, not very creative with making comedic disaster scenes. In this chapter, we meet at least two bosses from the videogame and implications of the casino.
As the owner of the casino, the Devil is able to offer his victims the illusion of fulfilling their desires, but ultimately, he is only interested in collecting their souls. His willingness to go back on his promises and cheat his victims further underscores his devious nature.
For the record I will post a flashback which will explain Ruer's reason for being smothering and overprotective.
Fair warning after a few chapters the fic, will get a little dark….let me put it this way there's a reason not to rush into becoming a grown up…
Ch10: Rats and Robots
Tazita had always felt a bit stifled by her Aunt Ruer's overprotection. While her friends were allowed to go out and explore the world around them, Tazita was always under strict rules and supervision.
Ever since she ran away, she was enjoying her new found freedom with the boys and Chalice.
Now you're all wondering if Ruer ever did see the mess in the cottage. Let's just say when she arrived, the vegetables were already gone along with the ransack of Dice's cards on the garden.
When she saw the mess, only thing that she thought was: "I've been burglarized!"
Then starts looking about to see if there was anything stolen, yet this wasn't issue.
A few days later, a thought had come to Tazita and she inquired the boys if they ever wondered about their birth parents.
They replied that Kettle showed pictures of them and they have passed on after they were infants but they had grown accustomed without two specific parents.
And this is where their next adventure kicks in. Tazita makes an announcement about heading back to cottage…. BUT only to look for a photo of her parents.
Fortunately for them, Ruer had gone out continuing her search for her niece in town and cities in the isles.
The kids approached the cottage, with caution not wanting to encounter Ruer. They looked over through the trees, so far so good, no sign of the teapot lady.
Tazita shows them her secret method to climb in through her window into the cottage.
The boys were curious when they first got a glimpse of a girl's room, simple innocent inquisitiveness nothing major that some people assume.
Tazita reminds them to focus, no time for her to give a tour of her old home. They had a job to do, look for a photo of Tazita's parents within the cottage.
So, they split to start looking for the photo, Tazita looked about. And even looked into a small closet, nothing inside but some supplies and a curious looking rodent. He wore white gloves, black shoes, and light brown pants (with a tan stripe running down each side of the pants) held up by a single suspender strap. His most notable feature was his metal Pickelhaube helmet strapped to his head, he must have been a veteran.
The Cup girl happily greets him "Hello mister Rat!"
The rat looks annoyed as he turns around facing the cup girl. And spoke to her with a german accent, "Mr. Rat?! I'll have you know; the rat has a name. And everything has a name, keep that in mind next time you feel like reducing me to 'Mr. rat.' "
She asks innocently "So do you have a name?"
Werner rolls his eyes and says "Of course I do! It's Werner Werman. And you will address me as such."
"Alright." Tazita nodded
"And I hereby claim ownership of this cottage and all its contents," Werner said calmly then orders "You will leave immediately!"
The cup girl is taken aback, "What?! But we just got here! I need to retrieve something important. And furthermore, what do you mean claim ownership? Did you already buy off the cottage from my aunt?"
Werner just facepalmed. "Let me explain things your innocent little head could understand. I didn't buy it off the crazy frau! I stole it! Or I'm stealing it in this case. And unless what you are looking for is the deed for the cottage, leave now or face the consequences!"
"Steal?! But why would you wanna that? Have you already tried talking it out?" suggested Tazita but remembers the incident many days before she ran away, "What am I saying! This my aunt Ruer, I'm talking about. She's always been judgmental and she's not exactly a fan of rodents…"
"At least you had the decency to weigh your cons…" nodded Werner.
The two cup boys entered the room over hearing the voices, "Hey Tazita, who are you talking to?"
"This rat Werner who wants to steal the cottage. I know I want my aunt out of my hair but I don't want her homeless!"
Cuphead and Mugman groaned. "Oh no! Not him again!"
They remembered trying to handle Werner last time when he tried to steal their home while they had been preparing a cake for Elder Kettle who ironically was the one who finally got him to leave.
"You know him?"
"Yeah," replied Cuphead, "he tried to steal our cottage too! And wrecked the cake we made for Elder Kettle."
"Thanks to Elder Kettle outsmarting him, is that he finally left." added Mugman
"But one thing though did any of you closed the front door when we entered?" asked Cuphead
"Cuphead, we used the tree to get in through my window." corrected Tazita
Werner peeks out from the cupboard and replies, "Precisely, that is how I got in,"
Next thing the three cups knew a mechanical boot kicks out from the cupboard knocking them all back.
As the cups stumble back from the mechanical boot, they look up to see Werner Werman emerge from the cupboard. He smirks at them, his Pickelhaube helmet glinting in the light filtering through the window.
"You should have left when I told you to," he says, brandishing a wrench. "Now you'll have to face the consequences."
Cuphead and Mugman step forward, fists clenched. "We're not afraid of you, Werner. We've beaten you before, and we'll do it again."
"If I recall it was your Elder Kettle, you're not so tough with him around" Werner mocked
Tazita, meanwhile, looks around frantically for something she can use as a weapon. Her eyes fall on a nearby vase, and she grabs it, ready to defend herself.
Werner lunges forward, swinging his wrench. The cups dodge and weave, trying to get in close enough to land a punch. Tazita stands back, waiting for an opening.
But Werner is quick and nimble, and he seems to anticipate their every move. He ducks under Cuphead's punch and swings his wrench at Mugman's head. Mugman barely manages to dodge in time.
As the fight continues, Tazita spots something glinting on the floor. It's a key, lying just out of reach. She makes a break for it, dodging around the combatants. She grabs the key and looks around for a lock to use it on.
Meanwhile, the cups are still struggling to gain the upper hand. Werner seems to be getting the better of them, landing blows with his wrench and dodging their attacks.
Just when things seem hopeless, Tazita spots a lock on the cupboard where Werner had been hiding. She rushes over and tries the key, and to her relief, it works. The cupboard swings open, revealing a pile of stolen goods.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Werner shouts, distracted by the sight of his ill-gotten gains.
Tazita seizes the opportunity and grabs the wrench from his hand. She swings it at him, knocking him back against the wall.
The cups, seeing their chance, rush forward and pummel Werner with a series of punches and kicks. He falls to the ground, dazed and defeated.
Unlike last time the cup kids were better prepared.
As the adrenaline wears off, Tazita and the cups look around at the chaos they've caused. The cottage is a mess.
"We should probably get out of here," Mugman says, looking around nervously.
Tazita nods in agreement. "Yeah, let's go. My aunt is not a fan of a big messes"
"Wait got an idea…you said your aunt is not a fan of rodents?" said Cuphead, having a sneaky look.
"Oh…" Tazita grinned mischievously
Next thing is seen the cups are tying Werner up, and in sight. And let Ruer deal with him like last time, she'll probably beat him again with the broom.
"Hey what's that?" Mugman said pointing at something he sees at the corner of his eye.
They notice in their fight with Werner, the door to Ruer's room had been opened. Tazita even admits to the cup bros she hasn't been in here not since she reached the age of inquisitiveness.
Thanks to Mugman, that they find a hidden photo of a couple.
It was a man with a Barrel steel beer stein mug as a head accompanied by a pretty lady with a bell shape wine glass as a head.
This was a picture of Tazita's parents.
Tazita hugged him in delight, they found what they were looking for.
They hurry out of the cottage, leaving Werner Werman behind. As they make their way back to Inkwell Isle, they can't help but feel a sense of relief. They've faced a tough challenge and come out on top, and found something but still many questions that need answering.
Children are born eager to learn. Curious by nature, you can't keep them from exploring as they try to comprehend their environment. Everything is a wonder.
Such as one time when the group meets another resident of the isles, particularly the third isle within the Junkyard.
"What's over there?" Asked Tazita pointing in one direction.
The cupbros look over.
"That's the Junkyard, where people claim to have seen a giant robot." Said Mugman
"Fellas, it's probably exaggerated rumors." Said Chalice
"Ain't no rumor, it's real as the ghosts in the graveyard." replied Cuphead "They say it's even bigger than a building."
"The junkyard is the same as a dump?" asked Tazita
"Sort of, junkyard is a place where rubbish is placed while dump is a place where waste or garbage is left." answered Mugman.
"Danger coming, ahead of us!" alerted Chalice.
The group jumps in alarm. Tazita yelps runs into the junk yard while the other cups scatter. It wasn't the Devil. It wasn't King Dice.
It was Ruer. She is wondering the area, persistent in locating her niece.
Tazita had long ago described to Cuphead, Mugman and Chalice what her aunt looked like in order to evade her.
In order to avoid being seen Tazita is still running and to find a place to hide but slips down a slope, falling.
She stumbles hits her head knocking her out.
Ruer keeps looking but gives up mostly because she didn't want to enter a dirty place.
The unconscious Tazita is on the ground, as it shakes a bit.
Source of the shaking came from the Automaton, a giant robot, described by his inventor as a "metal man". He had a hatch on his head which leads to a cockpit from where his inventor controlled him.
Glimmering yellow eyes with vertical, rectangular black pupils, and even a light at the tip of his antenna
The giant robot looks down at the unconscious cup girl. Then picks her up, carrying her gently in its palm.
It starts walking deeper in the junkyard.
When the cup bros with Chalice return to looks
Chalice spots Tazita being carried by the Robot.
"The robot's got Tazita!" cried out Chalice, "What are we gotta do?"
"Maybe we're overreacting but that thing hasn't hurt anyone." rationalized Mugman, "Yet…"
"There's one thing we can do." said Cuphead.
After speaking, they did what most kids do, they run off screaming in terror.
Out of character yes, but they're still kids and are more prone to freaking out when afraid because their fight or flight responses are fully formed.
Tazita recovered slowly waking up. She finds herself in some make shift lab with lots of tools and robot parts.
"Where am I?" she asked
"In my lab, Young lady" replied a voice.
She looked to one side to see a man. Dressed in a white lab coat like some scientists usually wear, green glasses, purple mustache, beard and balding hair. He was making some tea from some quirky looking inventions.
"My automoton found you hurt." Said the man.
"I must've slipped while running…" muttered Tazita she felt around her head hoping nothing is broken or dented.
The man approached offering tea. "Allow to introduce myself, I am Dr Kahl, What's your name?"
"Tazita" she replied
"And what I'd like to know is what were doing running about in my Junkyard." He asked sternly.
It was the kind of tone; an adult uses when addressing a child that has been caught doing mischief.
"Your junkyard?" she asked incredulous.
"Yes. And isn't it a bit late for you to be out?"
Tazita shrugged. "Cuphead, Mugman and Chalice, know I'm out. I just need to tell them I'm alright."
"It's a bit disrespectful to call your parents by their first name."
"No," Tazita shook her head. "No, you misunderstood. They're my friends, two cup boys and another cup girl. If you're are talking about parents, I don't have any, they died a long time ago."
"Oh? Sorry…however it's dangerous for a child to be running about at night away from home."
Tazita shook her head. "I feel liberated actually, away from the so-called home and away from my aunt."
"What are you saying?"
"So, you ran away from home? Your relatives don't care for you?"
Tazita frowned, remembering why she ran away in the first place. "I wouldn't call caring by not letting me go to school or forbid me from going out to meet new friends."
Dr. Kahl raised an eyebrow, "What? She didn't allow you to go to school? We all need to learn all we need to know to survive this world. Most the lessons are required even after college. Did you at least have homeschooling?"
"Yeah, but my aunt Ruer teaches them herself. She's scared of everything! The least she could've done is told me, we used to live in the fourth isle and my parents died of a plague."
"Ah yes…quite a number of citizens perished from there. Your aunt must be crying her eyes out worried about you."
"That's the issue," she retorted "she's too overwhelming! She won't even let me live my life how I want it! And don't get me started on the incident of the radio show Roll the dice!"
While Tazita was ranting, she noticed Dr. Kahl actually wince and turn pale when she mentioned Roll the dice. He even looked over his shoulder discretely while his eyes shifted nervously.
He composed himself.
"Have some supper, better a full stomach and the less the heart suffers." He offers some bread and cheese to the cupgirl.
"Forgive me for jumping to conclusions. Sometimes the ones who were fortunate enough to have a full family, have a hard time understanding what's it like for some who never got the chance to meet their parents…"
Tazita shook her head. "It's alright. You didn't know."
"I don't condone whatever motives your aunt does. However, it must come from fear from losing the only family she has left. After all you are a part of her loved one's piece they left behind in the world."
"I know that. But I'd wish she'd give me the space and choice to grow. Something else is causing her to hold back and it's not the illness that took my parents…"
"Well usually this intensive parenting approach is often chosen in a loving but misguided attempt to improve their child's outcome. But there are many cons."
"Try telling that to my aunt."
Dr. Kahl nodded understandingly. "I can see that it's not easy for you. But you know, sometimes it's important to face our fears and talk to the people who care about us. Maybe if you have an honest conversation with your aunt, she'll understand your perspective."
Tazita considered this for a moment. "Maybe you're right. But what about you, Dr. Kahl? Why do you live in the Junkyard?"
Dr. Kahl sighed, "I'm a debtor to a really unpleasant fellow. Other than that, you can find many materials in the junkyard to build many ingenious inventions."
Tazita looked at him in concern. "Is it dangerous for you to be here?"
Dr. Kahl shrugged, "It's always a risk, but I'm willing to take it. Besides, I have my Automaton to protect me."
Tazita looked at the giant robot with newfound respect. "It's amazing what you've created, Dr. Kahl. Maybe one day you'll be able to pay off your debt and live-in peace."
"I hope so," said Dr. Kahl with a smile. "But for now, I'm just happy to have a place to work on my inventions and help out those who need it."
Tazita finished her supper and prepared to leave. "Thank you for everything, Dr. Kahl. I'll be sure to come back and visit."
Dr. Kahl smiled warmly, "You're always welcome here, Tazita. And remember, sometimes it's important to face our fears and talk to the people who care about us."
With those words, Tazita left the lab and headed back to her friends, eager to tell them about her adventure in the Junkyard and the kind-hearted inventor she had met.
Tazita left the lab, feeling a sense of newfound courage and determination. Dr. Kahl's words had struck a chord with her, and she realized that it was time to face her fears and talk to her aunt about her feelings.
As she made her way back to her friends, Tazita couldn't help but feel grateful for the unexpected encounter with Dr. Kahl. Despite his predicament, he had been kind and understanding towards her, and his inventions had left her in awe.
"Looking for me?" she called out reassuring the cup kids, she wasn't in any danger. She just met another neighbor on the third island.
When she finally met up with Cuphead, Mugman, and Chalice, Tazita couldn't wait to tell them about her adventure. She recounted the story of how she had met Dr. Kahl, the inventor of the giant robot, and how he had helped her when she was hurt. She also told them about his debt to a bad person and was making the most of it in his Junkyard.
Cuphead and Mugman were fascinated by the story of the giant robot, and Chalice was impressed by Dr. Kahl's kindness towards Tazita. They all agreed that they should visit him sometime and see his inventions for themselves.
As they walked back towards their own isle, Tazita felt a sense of anticipation building within her. She knew that it wouldn't be easy to talk to her aunt, but she was determined to try. She would tell her how she felt, and maybe, just maybe, they could come to an understanding.
The cup kids continued their journey, with Tazita feeling more confident and empowered than ever before. She knew that whatever challenges lay ahead, she was ready to face them head-on.
Little do they know, the threat of the Devil still loomed over the horizon. And the Devil's casino is connected to many of their neighbors who are victims of this trap.
Sooner or later, the cups will venture this establishment however fate seems to keep them at bay for the time being. It's like it's preparing all four of them mentally because they were going to need it should they face the Devil.
AN: Further on I'm considering Tazita to meet more of the games Bosses among themis Beppi the clown. And yes, there will be an incident where she finally befriends the Root Trio. I know you're all hoping she'll meet the main villain soon, don't worry she will. It's just I don't want it to follow too much like the show before we get to the events of the videogame.
That reminds me, I am working on another fanfiction cartoon crossover original. Sort of a sequel to Whiteling's fic "The Other side". Only bigger and better. And making some fanart as we speak.
Long story short: When a mysterious infernal being steals Earth's Dragonballs after learning about the wishes, and Beth leads a small group on an undercover mission to retrieve them.
Upon reaching Hell's capitol, Pentagram city they find out that the dragonballs are scattered in the nine circles. Simple, the group divides to find them but how to recover them while avoiding the many dangers of the infernal underworld? (Yes, it's the Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss universe).
And how are they going to figure out the thief's identity? Nearly everybody in Hell had a reason to steal the dragonballs...
