One morning, the shopkeeper Porkrind was carrying a crate of goods to the Inkwell Pier. He walks down a sidewalk and waits impatiently at a crosswalk for the light to turn red so he could cross the street. A mother duck and her young son walk past him.
"Good morning, Porkrind." The little duck greeted as he walked away with his mother.
"Whatever." Porkrind grumbled.
The light finally turned red, and the crosswalk light turned on. Porkrind crosses the street when something caught his eye. He sees a beautiful female pig with short, curly blonde hair walking down the street wearing a beautiful purple dress. Porkrind is smitten by her beauty and stares at her, forgetting he was crossing the street. He snaps out of it when a car honks at him.
"Hey! I'm walkin' here!" Porkrind yelled and hurried across the street.
He catches up to the female pig. He cleared his throat, getting her attention. He tries to smile flirtingly at her. But she rebuffs him and ignored him. He sighed out of disappointment.
"What do I do? I need help. But from who?" Porkrind asked himself.
He thought for a moment and thought of an idea, but he cringed at the thought of who to ask.
Meanwhile, Gwen and her friend Kizzy were both out at Inkwell Pier hanging out. Gwen was throwing darts at balloons to win a prize.
"How's everything at home?" Gwen asked as she threw a dart.
"Not good. My boyfriend just dumped me." Kizzy sadly answered.
"I'm so sorry Kizzy." Gwen said, feeling sympathetic.
"I'll level with you Gwen. I caught that dimwit excuse of a boyfriend with another woman. Then, he had the nerve to say that he chooses her over me because not only is she prettier, but that I'm too serious and too hard-boiled. So, I gave him and his new girlfriend a good scare with my fist and walked away." Kizzy explained her story.
"I'm so sorry. It'll get better." Gwen assured her.
"Thanks Gwen, but I dunno. Anyway, that's why I asked you if I could come here and hang with you in the cartoon world for a while." Kizzy said.
"What else are friends for?" Gwen asked.
Then, she threw a dart at a balloon.
"You win Miss Emmons. Here's your prize." The game attendant said as he handed Gwen a plush dolphin.
"Come on Kizzy. Let's go play some more games. Take your mind off that breakup." Gwen said as she took Kizzy's hand.
"Okay I guess." Kizzy reluctantly said.
Gwen takes Kizzy to the milk can toss game. Gwen goes up first with three baseballs. But she missed the first two balls and only hit a few cans off. Kizzy felt bad and goes up next. With all her strength, she thew the ball hard enough that all the milk cans knocked over.
"You win!" The game attendant said and handed Kizzy a plush dragon.
"Good job Kizzy!" Gwen congratulated.
"Thanks girl. I'm starting to feel better already." Kizzy said.
Next, they head to the 'Test your strength' game. Gwen goes up first, but her shot doesn't make it to the bell.
The game attendant says,
"Aw too bad. Maybe next time!"
Kizzy felt bad for Gwen and said,
"Give me that hammer!"
Kizzy took the hammer and slammed it down, making the bell hit to the top, thus winning the game.
"We have a winner!" The game attendant announced.
Kizzy picked out a prize and chose a cheetah plush.
"Nice one Kizzy." Gwen said.
"Thanks girl. That one felt good." Kizzy said.
"You wanna grab a funnel cake or something?" Gwen asked.
"Sure girl." Kizzy answered.
They both get in line for funnel cake when to their surprise, they spot Porkrind carrying the crate and delivering it to the carnival game stands.
"Uh oh. That pig's here." Kizzy whispered.
"At least he's not making me deliver those orders." Gwen said.
"What's your deal with that 'bent out of shape' pig? He said you were in trouble with him last time when I met him?" Kizzy asked.
"Yeah. I did something I shouldn't have with the magic inkwell. But I don't wanna talk about it." Gwen said, wincing at that memory.
"Girl, you can level with me. I leveled with you on why I asked to come here to hang out with you. So, please?" Kizzy insisted on knowing.
"Well, okay. But only if you promise to keep it between us." Gwen stated her condition.
"I promise." Kizzy said.
"I used the inkwell to magically make money appear in my pocket to pay for items I wanted. I didn't think it would turn into such a big deal at first. One day, he confronted me and that he revealed to me that he caught on to that. To avoid jailtime, he made me work it off which took about a week. And trust me, he's my least favorite guy to work for." Gwen explained.
"Oh wow. You really messed up." Kizzy said.
"Yes, I did. But I learned my lesson." Gwen said.
"Well, I too have messed up before. I once got caught stealing a candy bar as a kid. Boy, mama and daddy were hoppin' mad. They made me return it, apologize to the clerk and I got grounded for a week. I learned my lesson too." Kizzy explained her past.
"Well, nobody's perfect. Your mama knew you're a still good girl." Gwen said.
"That's true." Kizzy said, remembering her mother.
"Next!" The funnel cake attendant called.
Gwen ordered funnel cake, paid five dollars and both girls sit down at a table and eat.
Meanwhile, Porkrind finished making his delivery and was about to leave when he suddenly noticed Gwen and Kizzy eating funnel cake together. Porkrind cringed at the thought about asking Gwen for help. With no other option, he hesitantly approaches their table.
Gwen and Kizzy were still eating when Gwen accidentally sneezed.
"ACHOO!"
The impact of the sneeze blew powdered sugar in Kizzy's face. Gwen snickered at her as Kizzy looked at her unamused.
"Oh yeah?" Kizzy asked.
She blew the sugar at Gwen's face, making her face messy.
Both girls laugh it off until Kizzy looked up and her eyes popped.
"Kizzy? What's wrong? You look like you've seen…" Gwen was about to say when Kizzy pointed behind her.
Gwen's eyes widened and looked up, noticing Porkrind looking down at her with a grumpy look.
"Porkrind!" Gwen exclaimed.
She quickly got out of her seat, wiped the powdered sugar off her face and turned around as Kizzy quickly did the same.
"Uh, hey. What brings you here?" Gwen nervously asked.
"I was just in the area and noticed you playing food fight with your friend kid. I gotta ask you something." Porkrind answered.
Gwen and Kizzy looked at each other.
"Uh, sure. What is it?" Gwen asked.
"Do you know who this is?"
Porkrind asked as he held up a picture of the lady pig he tried to flirt with earlier.
Gwen took one look and remembered something.
"Oh, I've seen her around the city a few times. Why?" Gwen asked.
"Well, I tried to talk to her earlier today, but she rebuffed me." Porkrind answered.
He took a deep breath.
"So, I thought, you and that human boy are together now. So maybe… you could... I dunno…" Porkrind hesitantly tried to ask.
Gwen smiled smugly, figuring out what Porkrind's trying to ask her.
"Are you actually asking me for my help?" Gwen asked.
Porkrind groaned and gritted his teeth as he struggled to answer.
"Y-y-y-yes."
Kizzy gets up from her seat and stands next to Gwen.
"Gwen, can I help too? Maybe this'll help me get over my breakup." Kizzy asked.
"Sure Kizzy." Gwen answered.
"Come with us Porkrind." Gwen said as she and Kizzy take Porkrind's hands and led him out of the Inkwell Pier.
They head back to his wagon-shop and Gwen magically sets up a chalkboard.
"Okay, so the way to approach this girl is to smile and say 'hello' and tell how beautiful she looks. And ditch the flirty eyes. That won't work." Gwen said as she drew a smiling happy face.
"Smile and say hello? Not really my thing." Porkrind said, sitting at the counter with a grumpy look on his face.
"Just trust me on this Porkrind. Then, you should ask a question about herself. Like how was her day? What's her favorite food? Favorite song? Favorite place to go? It'll show her that you wanna get to know her." Gwen explained as she wrote down of examples to ask.
"Fine, then what?" Porkrind impatiently asked.
"Then, listen to what she has to say. She'll probably wanna get to know you too." Gwen answered.
"Hmm, so you're saying I should ask her questions about herself, listen to her and she'll ask questions about me?" Porkrind asked.
"Yeah. Strike a conversation with her. You'd be surprised." Gwen answered.
"Hmm." Porkrind said and thought about it.
"Okay, now that we got that down, and when the time is right, you could ask her to go for coffee or go get lunch. You know, do something fun together." Gwen said.
"Hmm. Okay. I know where she likes to hang out. But will you come with me kid? I need your help." Porkrind asked.
"Sure, I will." Gwen answered.
"First though, let's make you presentable." Kizzy suggested, noticing Porkrind was a little dirty.
"What's wrong with the way I look?" Porkrind asked Kizzy rudely.
"Nothing! You're just a little dirty. I meant just wipe the dirt off of ya. That's all." Kizzy answered defensively.
Porkrind looked in a mirror and realized he did have a little dirt on him.
"Oh, I see your point." Porkrind said.
Kizzy gets a towel and wipes the dirt off Porkrind's face, making him look nicer.
"Okay, that oughta do it. Let's take him out Gwen." Kizzy said.
Later, Porkrind and the humans arrive at the mall in a dress shop where the lady pig liked to look at beautiful dresses.
"There she is! I can't do it kid!" Porkrind whispered as he hid behind a shelf.
"Hey! No time to chicken out now!" Kizzy scolded.
"Would it make you feel better if I helped you introduced you to her?" Gwen asked.
"I guess so." Porkrind hesitantly answered.
"Great! I have a plan." Gwen said as she held up her ink pen.
"Oh boy." Kizzy said.
Gwen hides behind a stack of dresses, raises her ink pen and makes the dress the lady pig was looking at floating in the air.
"Ahh! I was looking at that!" Lady Pig screamed.
Gwen made the dress fly towards Porkrind and floated above him.
"Hey! Could you get that dress for me?" Lady Pig asked.
"Oh! Um…" Porkrind answered nervously and reached up and grabbed the dress.
"Oh, thank you! I thought there was a ghost!" Lady Pig exclaimed.
Porkrind looked at Gwen hiding, she winked and gave him a thumbs up.
"Oh, um you're welcome. Uh… you look very lovely today." Porkrind nervously said.
"Oh, well. Thank you." Lady Pig answered.
"So um, how are you today?" Porkrind asked.
"Oh, I'm in need of a new beautiful dress! So, not very good!" Lady Pig complained.
"Oh, um. So, what do you need a new dress for?" Porkrind asked, remembering Gwen's advice on asking questions about her.
"If you must know, I have a very important work meeting to attend to. And I need to look presentable." Lady Pig answered.
"Oh. Well, I think any dress you pick will look beautiful on you." Porkrind said.
"Aw, thank you. That's very nice of you to say." Lady Pig said.
Well, uh if you don't have any plans for tomorrow… would you like to maybe… go out?" Porkrind asked, finally gathering some courage.
Lady Pig's eyes popped.
"Are you asking me to go on a date with you?" Lady Pig asked.
Porkrind took a deep breath and asked,
"Yeah. So, what do you say?"
"Wow, you really have a way with words. Very impressive Mr.?" Lady Pig said, asking for his name.
"Porkrind." He answered.
"Porkrind. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon at the Fancy Restaurant." Lady Pig said with a smile and walked off with the dress.
Porkrind smiled as Kizzy stood in shock. Gwen walked up to Porkrind with a smug look on her face.
"You get an A+ Porkrind." Gwen said.
"Yep. I still got it kid. Heh Heh." Porkrind bragged.
The next day came, and Gwen and Kizzy were at the wagon shop to help Porkrind get ready for his date. Gwen magically makes Porkrind a nice outfit while Kizzy cleaned him up, making him presentable. She even gives Porkrind a breath spray to put in his pocket in case they kiss.
"Okay, you remember what we talked about?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah. Ask questions about herself, compliment her and strike a conversation." Porkrind answered.
"That's right. Now, here's your lucky handkerchief." Gwen said as she gave him a pink handkerchief.
"Okay, I can do this. I can do this." Porkrind said to himself.
"Oh, I almost forgot, I'll make you some flowers to give her. Hang on." Gwen said as she went to get her ink pen.
Porkrind thought for a moment, then turned his attention to Kizzy.
"Hey kid?" He asked.
"Yeah?" Kizzy answered.
"Did I hear you correctly that you said you just went through a breakup recently?" Porkrind asked.
"Yep. You heard correctly." Kizzy answered, folding her arms.
"I don't mean to pry but, what happened?" Porkrind asked, now interested.
"You really wanna know?" Kizzy asked.
Porkrind nodded.
"Okay, I'll tell ya. My now ex-boyfriend cheated on me with another woman." Kizzy answered sadly.
"Oh, sorry kid." Porkrind said, showing a little sympathy.
"Thanks." Kizzy said.
"Why would he do that?" Porkrind asked.
Kizzy sighed and answered,
"Well, we met like how you and that lady pig met. He struck a good conversation with me; we went out on a few dates together all that romantic stuff. I thought he was the one for me. I was in love with him, and he loved me or so I thought. One day, I was coming by his work to talk to him when I caught him with another woman. He straight up told me that he was leaving me because not only was that girl prettier, but that I'm too serious and too hard-boiled. So out of anger, I scared them both with my fist then walked away heartbroken. That's when I asked Gwen if she could bring me here, to blow off steam." Kizzy told her story.
Porkrind was shocked at her story.
"I'm sorry he hurt you. But don't worry kid, you'll find someone better than that jerk. He didn't deserve you." Porkrind said to her.
"Thanks." Kizzy said, feeling better.
Gwen comes up to Kizzy and Porkrind with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
"Okay, here's the flowers. Hey, you guys alright?" Gwen asked, now concerned.
"Oh, yeah girl. I was just telling him about my breakup with Porkrind here." Kizzy answered.
"Oh. Well, anyway here's the flowers and it's almost time." Gwen said as she handed the flowers to Porkrind.
"Oh right! The Fancy Restaurant! We'll never make it in time!" Porkrind exclaimed.
"Leave that to me." Gwen said.
She grabbed her ink pen, tapped it and they all disappeared to the restaurant.
"Okay, we're here." Gwen said.
They down the street and notice Lady Pig was arriving.
"Thanks kid. I'll take it from here." Porkrind said walked up to Lady Pig and led her inside.
Gwen and Kizzy both watch Porkrind meet up with Lady Pig and both walked inside the restaurant together.
"I hope this works. He deserves to be happy." Kizzy said.
"Yeah, he does. Even though he's a penny-pinching grump who really hates the cups." Gwen said.
"If this works, maybe you and Porkrind can be friends for real." Kizzy said.
"Maybe. I hope so." Gwen said.
Meanwhile, inside the restaurant, Porkrind and Lady Pig's date is going well. But unknown to the humans, someone else was also dining at the restaurant. At a single table, the Devil's self-proclaimed number one King Dice was dining on a steak with roasted vegetables and having a martini glass.
As he was drinking his glass, he barely catches a glimpse of Gwen and Kizzy outside the restaurant of the reflection of the glass. He coughs in shock and quickly turned around and saw out the window Gwen and Kizzy leaving together.
"What the? It's the girl! And there's that other girl who broke my beautiful nose!" King Dice angrily exclaimed.
He gets up from his chair, leaves the restaurant and goes after the girls. Gwen and Kizzy were walking down the sidewalk, and both notice a little bird on the ground injured. They both kneel just as King Dice jumped toward the girls, barely dodging him. He accidentally falls down an open manhole leading to a sewer when a splash sound was heard.
"Did you hear something?" Kizzy asked.
"I dunno." Gwen answered.
Gwen used her magic to heal the bird and the bird chirped at her, thanking her and flew away.
Later, the girls stop by the arcade and play some of the games for tickets. Kizzy wins the whack-a-mole game and wins more tickets. She trades her tickets at the prize stand for a toy sword. Gwen tries her luck with the whack-a-mole and wins some tickets, unaware King Dice was hiding behind a game machine and prepared to ambush her. Gwen collects her tickets and tosses the hammer. The hammer lands on King Dice's head, thus injuring him. He held in his pain to avoid attention as he cringed. Gwen picks a teddy bear and both girls leave the arcade.
Later, both girls get hungry, and both spot a hotdog stand. They both approach the hotdog attendant pig and purchase two hotdogs. Both girls walk off and eat together while King Dice, getting fed up tries one last tactic. He hides in an alleyway holding a large bag, ready to snatch Gwen.
Both girls nearly walk towards King Dice's hiding spot when Gwen suddenly noticed Porkrind and Lady Pig leaving the restaurant. Both girls quickly head back when King Dice attacks with his brown bag. But realizes too late he ambushed the wrong person. He nervously removes the bag off the stranger, revealing to be an enraged Katzenwagen. King Dice gulped in fear as Katzenwagen grabbed King Dice's neck and beat him up severely. King Dice groaned in pain as he laid on the sidewalk defeated with pain stars circling his head.
Gwen and Kizzy watch Porkrind and Lady Pig laughing and talking.
"Ooh, I think he's pulling it off!" Kizzy said.
"I think you're right…" Gwen was about to say when suddenly without warning, King Dice grabbed Gwen, lifted her up on his shoulder and attempted to run off.
"Oh no, not you again you dice-headed blockhead!" Gwen angrily yelled.
"You made me look bad in front of the boss with your stupid pranks at the casino! Now, I'm gonna return the favor by finishing the job! Delivering you to the boss!" King Dice evilly said.
"Oh no you don't!" Kizzy called out.
Kizzy jumped at King Dice, making him drop Gwen as Kizzy pulled her behind her.
"I remember you. You're that babydoll who broke my nose!" King Dice said, brushing himself off.
"Don't call me that!" Kizzy angrily said as she prepared for a fight.
"Or else what… babydoll?" King Dice asked tauntingly.
Gwen gets an idea and whispers to Kizzy,
"Are you gonna let him talk to you like that like your stupid ex?"
"No! Not this time!" Kizzy answered angrily.
King Dice charges at the girls, but Kizzy manages to block him from reaching Gwen. She punches him in the gut, then kicks him the head, thus knocking him down. Kizzy grabbed King Dice by his shirt and raised her fist, ready to finish him off. King Dice gulped in fear.
"Not again." He fearfully said.
POW!
Kizzy once again delivers the final blow to his face, breaking his nose once again as he is knocked out cold.
"Wow Kizzy! That was awesome!" Gwen exclaimed.
"Thank you, Gwen. I am totally feeling better now! I'm over my ex-boyfriend now! Who needs him anyway?" Kizzy said proudly.
"You don't for sure." Gwen answered.
"Ahem!" Porkrind called.
Both girls turn around to see Porkrind standing behind them.
"Hey, how did it go with her?" Gwen asked nervously.
"Well kid…" Porkrind said as the girls were anxious to know.
Suddenly, Porkrind grabbed both girls, lifted them up and hugged them to their shock.
"It went great! You were right! We totally clicked. She asked to do it again next week!" Porkrind said happily.
Both girls looked at each other and smiled. Porkrind lowered the girls down.
"Now, take me back to the shop." Porkrind ordered Gwen.
Gwen lifted her ink pen and teleported themselves back to the shop. Gwen and Kizzy leave the shop and head back to the cottage.
"Well, that was a fun day, huh Kizzy?" Gwen asked.
"Oh yeah girl! This is just what I needed to get through that breakup! I'll find someone right for me when the time comes." Kizzy said.
"I know you will." Gwen said.
"Alright, I'm gonna call it a day. Can you take me home?" Kizzy asked.
"Okay." Gwen said.
She teleports themselves in front of Kizzy's house in Mattapan in the human world.
"I'll talk to you later?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah Gwen. You too. See ya!" Kizzy said and walked up to her house.
Gwen teleported herself back to the cottage and rejoins the cups and Elder Kettle. She goes up to her room and sits on her bed. She hears a knock on the door.
"Come in." Gwen answered.
Cuphead and Mugman enter her room.
"Hi Gweny!" Both cups said.
"Hey guys. What's up?" Gwen asked.
Both cups sit on her bed with her.
"What have you and Kizzy been up to since you brought her back?" Cuphead asked.
"Oh, she needed my help getting over her breakup with her ex-boyfriend." Gwen answered.
"Aw. Poor Kizzy." Mugman said.
"Eh, she'll get over it." Cuphead said.
"Oh, she is over it Cuphead. She couldn't be happier now." Gwen explained.
"Another thing. We recently noticed Porkrind was happy today. He's never been happy. What gives?" Cuphead asked.
"Well, he recently started dating someone. Kizzy and I helped him out with that." Gwen answered.
Both cup's mouths dropped.
"You and Kizzy helped him?" Both cups asked.
"Yep. He asked us to help him out and we did. He even helped Kizzy get over her breakup." Gwen said.
"Wow, that's unlike Porkrind." Mugman said.
"I know. Hopefully his new girlfriend will make him happy." Gwen said.
"That's great." Cuphead said.
"Well, I'm gonna hit the sack. I'll see you guys in the morning. Good night." Gwen said as she prepared to go to sleep.
"Good night!" Both cups said and leave her room.
The next morning, after breakfast, Gwen decided to pay another visit to Kizzy in Mattapan. She teleports herself to her house and knocked on the door. Kizzy answers the door.
"Hey girl! What brings you by?" Kizzy asked.
"Hey Kizzy. I was checking to see how you're holding up." Gwen answered.
"I'm doing great. Thank you for asking. Anyway, I gotta tell ya something. I recently met someone new. He works at the same school I work at. His name's Isaiah and he's really nice." Kizzy announced.
"Aw that's great Kizzy. I wish you the best of luck with him." Gwen said.
"Thanks. Well, I gotta go to work. I'll talk to you later. See ya." Kizzy said.
"You too." Gwen said.
Both girls hug each other and Kizzy leaves to work. Gwen teleports back to the cottage in the Inkwell Isles. She decided to go check on Porkrind and heads off into the forest to his shop. She arrives at the shop but kept her distance. She hears the door open, and she quickly hides behind a tree. She watches Porkrind and Lady Pig exiting the shop, talking to each other and holding hands as they walked away together.
Gwen feels happy for him and believed there was a higher chance of her and Porkrind finally becoming friends in the future. Just then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Gwen gasped, grabbed her ink pen and turned around, only to find Clarence behind her.
"Woah! Easy Gwen!" Clarence exclaimed.
"Uh, Clarence! Don't do that again! I thought you were the Devil!" Gwen scolded him.
"I'm sorry Gwen. It won't happen again. Anyway, I see Porkrind's got a new girlfriend, huh?" Clarence asked.
"Yeah. I've never seen him so happy before." Gwen answered.
"Well good for him. Anyway, you wanna go get an ice cream? Ice Cream Man's in the area." Clarence asked.
"Sure Clarence." Gwen agreed and walked away with Clarence.
Both humans get an ice cream from Ice Cream Man, and both spent the afternoon together. Gwen was happy to do both Kizzy and Porkrind acts of kindness as she felt that Quadratus was right about hope being there for her. She believes Clarence could be her hope to save her from the Devil.
