One afternoon, Gwen was at work finishing up her upcoming sketches to be published. She clocks out and leaves the Honeycomb Herald to meet up with her best friends who have been trying to get into show business by having Mugman use a dummy for his comedic act. She meets her best friends near the ruined building the radio show 'Roll the Dice' used to be held.
"Okay guys, I'm here! Let's see your show." Gwen said to the cups.
"Step right up! Step right up! Come one! Come all!" Cuphead called out holding a cane and standing on a soap box.
A crowd of people gathered around the cups next to Gwen.
"Ladies and gentleman! Step right up and see the amazing ventriloquist Mugman and his friend the dummy!"
Mugman is sitting on a suitcase holding a dummy version of himself.
Gwen is the only one who clapped in support of her friends.
"Hey, Dummy, what do you cross an elephant with a fish?" Mugman asked the little dummy.
"I don't know. I give up." Mugman used his dummy voice.
"Swim trucks!" Mugman answered.
"Wow, that joke's a stinker! Ah, Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" The dummy said.
The crowd is unimpressed and leaves the trio behind.
Cuphead nervously laughed and said,
"The better jokes come at the end folks."
"Guys, you need to find some new material for your act. You're not selling it with those jokes." Gwen advised.
"Let's get one thing straight. If I'm gonna be your manager, you gotta get some new material like Gwen said." Cuphead scolded Mugman.
Gwen sighed and shook her head.
"You know Mugsy, you didn't even freeze in terror this time. I'm impressed. How did you overcome your stage fright?"
"Oh, I read a book called, 'Overcoming Your Fear' and learned some techniques like deep breathing and focusing on the material." Mugman bragged.
"Oh, good for you Mugsy. I'm so proud of you." Gwen complimented.
Just then, a familiar figure approached the trio from behind. Gwen recognized the shape of the shadow as a familiar voice yelled,
"Oh, you!"
Gwen grabbed her ink pen, turned around and pointed it at King Dice holding a broken pipe, ready to attack. Gwen made her ink pen glow, preparing for a fight.
"King Dice! How dare you show your face to me again! And what happened to you?" Gwen asked as she noticed that King Dice was all washed up and dirty.
Both cups gasped and happily asked,
"King Dice?!"
"The biggest star in showbiz?!" Cuphead asked.
King Dice and Gwen were both shocked.
"It's been a long time since someone's called me that." King Dice said as he chuckled.
"Where have you been? We haven't heard your radio show in months." Mugman asked.
Gwen stood there confused, not understanding why they don't recall all the terrible things he did to her.
"Uh, well, I don't have my show anymore." King Dice said sadly as he dropped the pipe and walked into a street alley.
The cups and Gwen follow King Dice into the alleyway. Gwen is shocked at their discovery that King Dice is now homeless, jobless and broke.
"What do you mean you don't have your show anymore?" Cuphead asked.
"It's not just the show. I've lost everything. My money, my glitz, my glamour. I'm all washed up." King Dice said as he lays down on an old mattress sadly.
Gwen stood there, feeling some sympathy even though he attempted to capture her three times. She figured the Devil must've abandoned him after his numerous failures.
"You could sure use a washing up. Ah, ha!" The dummy said.
"Shh!" Mugman told the dummy.
"Mugman!" Gwen scolded.
Cuphead goes up to King Dice and said,
"Are you kiddin'? You're one of the greats! You can easily make a comeback."
"I can't do it on my own. I had a falling out with the boss." King Dice sadly explained.
"Oh, yikes." Gwen said, confirming her theory.
"Well, I don't know who your boss is, but that guy sounds like a real jerk. You don't need him, I'll help you. I'm already managing this guy and his dummy." Cuphead said.
"In case you're wondering, he's the dummy." The dummy said.
"Hey!" Mugman scolded.
"Ah, ha! Ha!" The dummy laughed.
Gwen was shocked that Cuphead and Mugman didn't remember who King Dice really worked for. Then again, it had been months since they last saw King Dice and probably forgot.
"Cuphead, are you sure about this?" Gwen asked, concerned.
"Of course, I'm sure Gwen! You can help me too with that inkwell!" Cuphead suggested.
"Management? What do you know about show business?" King Dice asked.
"What do I know about show business? Only everything there is to know. I'll give you first-class representation. Besides, what have you got to lose?" Cuphead explained.
Just then, a pile of garbage was poured on King Dice from an anthropomorphic cat.
"Whoops. Sorry." The cat called and walked away.
King Dice sighed and hesitantly said,
"Okay, kid. You've got yourself a deal."
Both King Dice and Cuphead shake on it.
"Gwen? Would you mind?" Cuphead asked Gwen to use the inkwell.
Gwen sighed, held her nose, and pointed her ink pen at King Dice and magically splashed the garbage off of King Dice. Then she magically summons a rain cloud and gives him a shower and gives him good scrubbing with a brush and soap. After rinsing him off, Gwen finishes with magically summoning giant floating blow-dryer to dry King Dice off.
"Viola!" Gwen said in a monotone voice.
Later at the cottage, Elder Kettle helps the cups and Gwen create a new outfit for King Dice, shaving and polishing his head. After putting on the finishing touches, King Dice is restored to his former self as he checks out his reflection in the mirror with the family giving their approval.
King Dice checks himself out in the mirror as his reflection pointed at him and said,
"Hey, handsome. Looks like you're ready for the stage."
Cuphead comes up to the mirror and said,
"Way ahead of ya, reflection."
Gwen stood there shocked.
"Wait, how did that… you know what? I'm gonna stop questioning this." Gwen gives up on how impossible things were possible in the cartoon world.
"My dancing's a little rusty. I need to refresh my memory." King Dice said.
"I know where you can practice!" Cuphead said, getting an idea.
Later, they were out in the forest where Gwen practiced her dancing.
"Huh, I guess this'll do." King Dice said.
King Dice looked at Gwen and held out his hand to her, gesturing her to help him dance. Gwen is hesitant to dance with King Dice again, recalling how he pretended to befriend her to capture her.
"Come on, Gwen! Get over there! You can help him remember!" Cuphead encouraged her.
Gwen took a deep breath, walked over to King Dice and he held her in a dance position.
"I didn't think I'd be doing this again." Gwen confessed.
Then she used her ink pen to make a phonograph and it started playing the Louis Prima song Sing, Sing, Sing covered by Benny Goodman.
"Let's see if we remember how to do this… beautiful." King Dice said with a smile.
Gwen sighed, hoping he'd never call her that name again. But regardless she said,
"Yeah, sure."
The both rehearsed the swing dance together as they previously did for their ballroom recital months ago. After King Dice dips Gwen for the final pose, Cuphead and Mugman cheered King Dice and Gwen. To Gwen's shock, she finds her sister Rose and William cheering for her too.
"Rose? Will? What are you guys doing here?" Gwen asked as King Dice lifted her back up.
"We dropped the twins off with mama and papa and decided to come see you." Rose explained.
"You didn't tell us you could dance! Especially with this guy!" William said, impressed with Gwen's dancing skills.
"So, you gonna introduce me to these two humans, doll?" King Dice asked Gwen.
Gwen sighed and said,
"This is Rose Smith. My older sister. And this is William Smith, Rose's husband and my brother in-law."
"It is a pleasure to meet you both."
King Dice said as he shakes hands with Rose and William with a big smile.
"So, what are you guys out here dancing for?" Rose asked.
"Me, Mugsy and Gweny are helping King Dice with his comeback! I'm his manager!" Cuphead explained.
Rose and William looked confused.
"Uh, comeback?" Rose asked.
"I'll fill you both in." Mugman said.
Mugman explained King Dice was once a big star in show business until he had a falling out with the boss and lost everything. So now they're helping him with his comeback.
"That's very kind of you guys, helping him out." Rose complimented.
"Maybe we can help." William offered.
"Great! Come with us! We were just about to head to the club for his comeback right now." Cuphead said excitedly.
Later, the group heads to an old barn with a sign that said 'Club'. Cuphead is leading King Dice wearing a blindfold to surprise him.
"Wait till you see this. You're gonna love it!" Cuphead said.
They arrive inside the barn with tables, a bar and a stage set up.
"Okay, you can look now." Cuphead said, instructing King Dice to take off the blindfold.
He does so and is shocked at what he is looking at.
"Uh…"
"It's a club for your comeback!" Cuphead announced.
"Kind of a dump. Ah, ha! Ha! Ha!" The dummy said.
"Quiet you." Mugman scolded his dummy.
Gwen slightly giggled until Rose shushed her.
"Ugh! I agree with the dummy. But, I guess it is better than nothing." King Dice reluctantly agreed.
"That's the spirit. Now, all we need is a band." Cuphead said.
"Rose can play piano. She's the best at it." Gwen suggested as Rose nodded.
"Thanks doll, but leave that part to me." King Dice said as he grabbed a stack of cards out of his coat.
He shuffled the cards and threw 10 of the cards and popped up as anthropomorphic card musicians, to the cups and human's shock.
William was curious about King Dice's cards and was about to touch the card stack until King Dice put them back in his coat and said,
"Uh, uh, uh. Don't touch boy."
"Sorry." William apologized.
"That takes care of that. But I'm a little rusty. Maybe we should do a rehearsal." King Dice suggested.
"You got it Dicey." Cuphead agreed.
Gwen, Rose and William sit at a table as Cuphead announced in a microphone on stage,
"And now, back from a long tour of the gutter, it's King Dice!"
Cuphead threw the microphone to King Dice.
"All right, here goes nothing." King Dice said to himself.
The card band started playing the theme song to the radio game show 'Roll the Dice.' King Dice started singing and dancing to the music. Just then, nearby citizens heard King Dice singing and all head to the barn and sit down at all the tables and cheer King Dice on. King Dice along with the cups and humans are all shocked and amazed.
"Oh, it's great to be back in the spotlight. But I could have never done this without you, the little people. Give yourselves a round of applause." King Dice announced.
Everyone applauded as Gwen, Rose and William also applauded for King Dice.
"And now, I'd like to invite a special girl up here for a dance with me." King Dice announced as the audience is awed.
King Dice reaches his hand for Gwen, gesturing her to join him on stage. Gwen is shocked and looked at Rose and William.
"Go for it sis!" Rose encouraged her.
Gwen looked at King Dice, reached her hand for his. He pulls her up on the stage and held her in a dance pose. The card band started playing the song Sing, Sing, Sing and both King Dice and Gwen swing danced for the audience. After the dance, the audience cheered for both King Dice and Gwen. Rose and William stand and applauded Gwen, feeling proud of her sister. Gwen smiled as King Dice lifted her back up.
"Thank you. Thank you. Let's give a round of applause for my dance partner here." King Dice gestured to Gwen.
The audience applauded Gwen as she took a bow and rejoined Rose and William.
Later that night, more and more people kept arriving at the club with cars parked outside. Just then, the Devil and Henchman arrived outside the barn.
"This is your hip new club? It's a barn!" The Devil asked confused.
"Uh…" Henchman struggled to speak until the Devil said,
"Wait, shut up! That music, that voice! I must see who that is!"
The Devil and Henchman peek in the door. But to their shock, they see King Dice singing and dancing on the stage with Gwen.
"King Dice?!" The Devil exclaimed.
"Oh, boy!" Henchman said excitedly.
"So, this is where he's been hiding the whole time! And he's dancing with my beautiful flower!" The Devil said angrily.
"I'm gonna take a short break, but we'll be right back." King Dice announced with his signature pose and exits off stage while Gwen joined Rose and William at their table along with her parents who brought the newborn twins to the Inkwell Isles for the first time.
"You! Wait here!" The Devil instructed Henchman and sneaks off.
King Dice goes backstage to wash his hands until hears a familiar voice.
"Hello, Dice."
King Dice gasped and turned around to see the Devil behind him, folding his arms.
"Boss?" King Dice asked.
"The last time I saw you, I said that if you fail to capture that cup. I would destroy you! And I thought I warned you to not get any ideas of stealing my beautiful flower from me!" The Devil said angrily and held up his flaming pitchfork, ready to kill King Dice.
"It's funny you bring that up. You're gonna love this." King Dice said as he goes up to the curtain. He pulls it a little and says,
"Look who's sitting right over there."
King Dice pointed out Cuphead sitting with a group of friends.
"And look who's sitting right over there. And look who's she's brought with her."
King Dice added, pointing to Gwen, Rose, William and their parents holding the infants, laughing and having a drink.
"The cup thinks he's my manager. All I have to do now is get him to sign a little 'business' contract, which gives ownership of his soul directly to you." King Dice explained his evil scheme as he held a contract.
"As for the girl, all I have to do is get her to sign a 'partnership' contract, which gives ownership of her hand in marriage without her parent's blessing directly to you. She'll be rightfully yours to marry boss. No parent's blessing required." King Dice explained the rest of his evil scheme as he held up another contract.
The Devil stood there in shock.
"Wait. So, you've been working on capturing that cup and the girl this whole time?" The Devil asked, confused.
"Of course, come on man. You're talking to your number one, remember? King Dice reminded him.
"Hmm. Okay. I'll give you one last chance. Thrill me." The Devil said.
"Be right back, boss." King Dice said with an evil grin and heads towards Cuphead's table.
Meanwhile, Gwen and her family were chatting until Gwen brings up her concern.
"I know we did a good thing, helping King Dice with his comeback. But, something tells me he could still be at it trying to capture me again. We don't exactly have a good history together." Gwen recalled her past with King Dice.
"Didn't you say he's one of the people we're supposed to watch out for when I first came here to the Inkwell Isles?" Rose reminded her.
"Yes, because he is actually the Devil's self-proclaimed number one. We first met at the circus where he picked me as his volunteer, only it was a setup to capture me. Then, I was held prisoner in Hell for two days and during one of my escape attempts, he caught me. Then, he joined my theater class and chose me to be his dance partner for the ballroom recital. We bonded for a while only later I discovered he was just pretending for another trap to capture me."
"Oh my. He sounds like a conman. He maybe conning us with this comeback." William said, now feeling unsure about King Dice.
"Now Gwen, I was wrong for trying to marry you to that conman. But I don't want this Dice guy to con you like I was almost conned." Edgar said, getting worried for Gwen.
"Don't worry papa. I have a few tricks up my sleeve too." Gwen assured him.
Just then, King Dice approaches their table. Gwen puts on a smile and says,
"Hey Dice! What's up?"
"Could you folks give us a minute? I need to speak to my 'dance partner' here." King Dice asked the Emmons and Smith families.
Rose and Gwen looked at each other. Gwen gestured her that she'll be okay. Rose nodded and gets up with the rest of the family and all walk away. King Dice sits next to Gwen and she asked,
"So, is everything okay?"
"Oh doll, it couldn't be better. You know, I owe this all to you for all you've done for me. I've been doing some thinking and I think it's time we took it to the next level. I whipped up this partnership contract and you'll officially be my partner when you sign it. We'll officially be a team."
King Dice explained as he passed her the contract. Gwen took one look at the contract and read it carefully.
"Wow, Dice. How very thoughtful of you to do this for me." Gwen said with a smile.
King Dice was eager to wait for her to sign the contract.
"But…" Gwen continued.
King Dice's face suddenly dropped.
"… I'm gonna have to decline your offer. I'm more of a solo act. Besides, I just noticed that somebody's replaced you already." Gwen said as she ripped up the contract and noticed Mugman on stage with his dummy.
Gwen's family laugh at Mugman's jokes along with the audience.
"He's gotten much better with his jokes. I'm sorry, it just wouldn't work with us." Gwen continued.
"But I…" King Dice was about to protest.
"Hey, nothing personal. It's just showbiz." Gwen finished.
King Dice got up and was about to leave the barn.
"Oh, one more thing." Gwen said as she was approaching King Dice at the door.
"Yes?" King Dice asked.
Gwen glared at him and folded her arms.
"I know that contract you gave me wasn't a partnership contract! Because every time we cross paths, you always have a trick up your dirty sleeve to capture and deliver me to your boss! You didn't think I'd fall for a stupid trick like that, did you?! And tell your boss if he thinks he can trick me into signing a contract without me reading it first, think again!"
Gwen scolded and punched Dice right in the face and he fell outside the front doors. Gwen patted her hands and slammed the door.
King Dice weakly gets up, groaned and sadly walked away. Gwen peeked outside from behind a car with Rose next to her. Rose suddenly got a glimpse of the Devil and Henchman in the elevator at the end of the red carpet.
"Oh my gosh! You were right about King Dice! There's the Devil and his henchman over there!" Rose warned Gwen.
"Yep, I knew it. I knew King Dice was faking it the whole time. He can't fool me anymore." Gwen said.
"I'm so proud of you sis." Rose said as he wrapped her arm around Gwen.
Just then they notice the Devil approaching King Dice.
"Wait!" The Devil said as he put his hand on King Dice's shoulder.
"Look, you failed me. But you've got something that's been sorely lacking from the organization for too long. I need your glitz, your pizzazz. I need your razzle-dazzle!" The Devil begged him.
King Dice's eyes popped.
"Oh, well, you've come to the right place." King Dice said as he accepted his offer.
"Splendid. First, we're going to put an end to that ledger review and replace it with a musical variety hour…" The Devil said as he brings King Dice with him and Henchman into the elevator and all disappear back to Hell.
Gwen and Rose were both shocked.
"And here I thought the Devil was gonna punish him even more severly." Gwen said.
"I guess not." Rose added.
Just then, their parents carrying the twins along with William come outside and join the sisters.
"Well, that was a fun night Gwen! I can't believe you can now sing and dance." Edgar complimented.
"I had a few teachers." Gwen said, recalling some of her dancing memories.
"Well, I think we better call it a night. The little ones need their beauty sleep." William said as he put the twins into a baby carriage.
Rose joined William and both kissed each other.
The family head back to the cottage and the families were about to head back to their homes in the human world.
"Well, you take care of yourself dear." Magarine said as she hugged Gwen.
"I will mama. I love you all." Gwen said.
"We love you too." Edgar said as he hugged her.
"See ya later sis!" Rose said as she and William rolled the baby carriage through the door portal and back home.
Edgar and Margarine walk through the door portal until Edgar called,
"Oh! Gwen! Sunday dinner at Five!"
"I won't forget papa! Love you!" Gwen called.
After they were gone, Cuphead and Mugman arrived home.
"Hey guys! How did the comedy go?" Gwen asked.
"It was great Gwen! They love me and my dummy!" Mugman answered.
"They love me more! Ah, ha! Ha!" The dummy said.
Gwen giggled and said,
"Aw that's great Mugsy. By the way, did King Dice try to get you to sign a contract or something?" Gwen asked Cuphead.
"Oh, yeah. He tried to get me to sign a business contract so I'd officially be his manager. But I turned him down." Cuphead explained.
"Good for you buddy. That was a very smart decision you made for once." Gwen complimented, figuring the Devil had something to do with the contract too.
"Thanks, Gweny. Well, I'm gonna hit the sack." Said Cuphead after yawning.
"Me too, all this comedy makes me sleepy." Mugman said after yawning.
"Alright, I'm calling it a night. Good night guys." Gwen said as she headed upstairs to bed.
Gwen brushed her teeth, put on her nightgown and invisible sweater and went straight to sleep, happy she got out of another scenario with King Dice.
