I was influenced by Burgundy_Beauty's 'The Bendy Straw Show' that I decided to write my own take which is on AO3, which I highly recommend. I am attempting not to steal any ideas made in that story.
Also, I am going to do something a little different unlike a lot of rewrites, I am only writing for certain episodes that Bendy would most easily fit into rather than him being in the whole series. I may also include some original chapters as well.
I hope you enjoy it!
Once upon a time, in a far off land that's far off the coast from wherever we are, maybe 29 miles, who knows? There laid a small sections of land that make up the place called the Inkwell Isles. At first glance it may look any other city like yours and mine, but deep in this land was where surprises, mystery and occasionally danger can be found in unexpected places.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
This all began far off of the bustling city and in the middle of the quiet and humble section of the Inkwell Woods, there laid a quaint little cottage. Inside was one of the occupants, the lively and wise Elder Kettle flipping and serving flapjacks by letting them fly in the air and onto the plates of his two boys.
Who are these boys? Well, there was Cuphead, the eldest, who is just by the name, was a boy with a cup for a head. He can be quite the scamp, but luck was often on his side. Cuphead managed to catch his breakfast and onto his plate, all the while reading his comic book.
The other was his young brother Mugman, the more wary of the two. He tried to catch his flapjacks which ended up on the wall and onto the floor. Mugman, wasn't granted with the same amount of luck or courage as his brother.
Cuphead offered half of his flapjacks to his brother and the maple syrup. Mugman glared at his brother who used the whole bottle of the syrup on his flapjacks, which he ate in one satisfied gulp. Mugman loved his brother, but boy how he envied him sometimes.
"Cuphead, Mugman," their caretaker answered.
"Yes, Elder Kettle," the boys responded.
"Today, you boys are in for a real treat!"
"Really?" It was rare that the boys would be given a surprise.
Elder Kettle showed them two buckets of paint and brushes, "You get to paint the fence!"
The boys' hopes were shattered in an instant as they soullessly painted away. Cuphead broke the silence with a groan.
"Geez, guess we know what we're doing for the rest of the day," Mugman commented.
"Aw, banana oil! Paint the fence, milk the goat, patch the roof! It's the same old stuff every day; what we need is a little fun and adventure," Cuphead complained while splattering paint where he stood.
Mugman sighed, "If we could only speed things up, maybe we'd still have time to squeeze in a little fun and adventure at the end."
"Way ahead of you, pal!" Cuphead wheeled in his small cannon, poured his bucket of paint, aimed it right in front the fence and lit it up; but not until Elder Kettle stepped outside to check on the progress.
"Hey, boys; how's that—", his sentence was interrupted by the cannon shooting out paint, leaving him covered in paint. While the fence was painted, but it was destroyed it as well. Cuphead would often take things to an extreme level.
Soon after a harsh scolding from Elder Kettle, the boys were given money for more paint to buy at Porkrind's, which was a small shopping cart in the middle of the woods.
"Boy was he steamed," Mugman commented.
"Eh. I ain't too worried about it. You know that should've worked. If only I used a little less gunpowder...Hmm…Oh well," Cuphead shrugged as they made their way up to the store.
"Let's just focus on getting more paint. And try not to get distracted," Mugman reached for the door before Cuphead grabbed him by the handle.
"Mugman, look!" he gasped.
In the distance, in the middle of the meadow, there were tents that were either hosting games or serving food and there were thrill rides in the back. It was a carnival! In the middle of the forest, of all places!
Mugman raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Cuphead, I'm not so sure."
"You know what I'd do when I'm not so sure? I double down!"
"What does that even mean?"
"It means we're GOING TO THAT CARNIVAL!"
Mugman stepped in front of his brother, with his hands on his hips. "Absolutely not! There's no way we're going—"
It didn't take much for Mugman to get caught up in all the fun. The brothers went on roller coasters and ate, went on merry-go rounds and ate, went on the Ferris Wheel and ate, went on the high swings and thrown up and went on roller coasters, in that order!
After trying out everything the carnival had to offer, it seemed that it was what the boys needed: just a few minutes of fun and excitement. The boys laughed as they were heading to the exit.
Mugman smiled, "I've gotta hand it to you, Cuphead. That was great! And we still have time to get supplies and fix the fen..." He then realized he was talking to no one. "Cuphead?"
The cup was entranced by the words 'WIN BIG'. What stood were multiple signs with blinking lights, meant to tempt visitors like 'WOW' 'PRIZES' and 'PLAY'. The signs pointed down at a ski-ball machine.
Standing in front of him is a player with black fur with matching shoes and a golden yellow bow tie and gloves. His head was round with a crescent split, almost like horns. The mystery player was focused on the game, threw the ball which landed into the center hole.
'Winner!' the machine rang out while ringing a bell.
Cuphead shook his head in disbelief. The player threw another ball and got it in the same hole.
'Winner!'
"Wow," Cuphead was watching the player from behind getting a perfect shot with each throw, hearing 'Winner' being heard over and over. He then went to slap the players back and smiled, "Hey, you're real good at this!"
The smack made the player yelp throw weakly towards the target…which landed in the center target once more.
'Winner!'
'Whew!' the player responded wiping his brow.
Cuphead complimented, "Gee, that was a close one!"
The kid turned around, to grab Cuphead by his shirt aggressively. Cuphead got a look at his face, he had a light grey face, a high hairline, no nose and two glowing yellow eyes with red irises that seem to match his fiery mood. "What's the big idea?! You trying to break my record?!"
"Record?"
It looked like if this kid was about to punch him; Mugman raced behind Cuphead grabbing his arm.
Mugman whimpered, "I'm so sorry for my brother. We were just about to leave…"
Cuphead asked as the boy let him down, "Wait, what record you say were talking about?"
The boy grinned boastfully, "In case you didn't know, I'm Bendy, the reigning champ at this game. As well as ALL the other games around these parts!" An echo was heard, "These parts…these parts."
Cuphead and Mugman asked in amazement, "Really?"
Bendy threw another ball in the hole.
'Winner!'
"The gamesays so. "
Cuphead ran up to the platform, next to Bendy."Say, let me have a crack at this!" Just as he grabbed a ball to throw, Mugman grabbed him by the handle. "Hey!"
"No, Cuphead! We have to go to Porkrind's to get paint for the fence!" Mugman barked while dragging his brother.
Bendy shrugged in a sarcastic tone, "Gee, that's too bad. That is, unless you're too chicken."
Cuphead stops in his tracks and stomps towards Bendy with Mugman being dragged back by his brother's sudden strength. He sneered at Bendy who was around 2 inches shorter than him, "What'd you just say?"
Bendy walks up slowly towards the cup. 'Unless…you're too…Bawk-BAWK!' He put his hands on his hips to mimic wings and scratched the ground while clucking.
Cuphead broke free from his brother's grasp, stomp towards the game with a ball in hand. "I AIN'T NO CHICKEN!" He focused onto the target. "I SHOW YOU!"
Mugman watched while Bendy smirked, "Can't wait to see this."
Cuphead was not someone who'd back out of a challenge, especially if he's called a chicken! He took a breath and threw the ball that flew up…and into the center hole!
'Winner!'
Cuphead shrugged, "Huh. Lucky shot, I guess."
Bendy rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Big deal! Bet ya can't go again!"
Bendy offered him a ball, which Cuphead shrugs and scored again. This is much to Bendy's shock.
'Winner!'
Cuphead showed off, "Heh-heh?"
"Oh, yeah?" Bendy went to the machine next to him, grabbed a ball, makes it slide down his arm and hits it with his elbow for flair. "Try and beat that!"
Cuphead snickered while pulling his trousers up, and threw another winning shot.
The two were head to head in score but now they were just showing off each other. As the game continued ringing, the visitors gathered around to see the two competitors.
"Go get 'em, Cuphead!" Mugman cheered. He then turned a telephone guy on another ski-ball machine, but the buzzer rang as he missed. The game shook and sucked air with such forced that it cause the telephone to lose what appeared to be a ghostly figure which was seen as…his soul.
Mugman read the game name, "Soul Ball?" he then looked around to see some of the park goers looked just like that telephone: soulless.
His attention was onto the flickering entrance lights. "Carnival." A few letters burnt out revealing an encrypted word. "Carn-Evil…EVIL?!"
Mugman gasped. This fair is a death trap and they had to go now!
"Uh…Cuphead."
"Not now, Mugsy! I'm on a hot streak!"
Like I said, there was always excitement, mystery and danger that can happen anywhere on Inkwell Isle and this carnival was no exception. As it turns out, the telephone's soul was sent through a tube that brought him underground, along with other unlucky souls down, down, down into Hell or the Underworld as it was referred to!
Who was the one leading such a treacherous plot? Who would want to snatch these unfortunate souls into this place? It was none other than the Devil himself!
The Devil rubbed his hands with delight watching the souls by the hundreds, no thousands, no millions go down into a large, black vault further beneath the ground connected with multiple tubes.
"Everyone loves a carnival. What a haul."
The high numbers brought him so much joy that he couldn't but sing his heart out:
Whoa! In case you ain't heard, I'm the Devil. I'm real low down, not on the level. They call me Old Scratch, Mr. S, the Big D. I'm the king of the underworld. Yeah, it's great to be me. Ho-di-llie doh-di-llie doh-di-llie doh.
Demons joined in while, "Ho-di-llie doh-di-llie doh-di-llie doh."
Hee-di-llie hee-di-llie hee-di-llie hee!
The trapped Souls joined in, "Hee-di-llie hee-di-llie hee-di-llie hee"
I'm a real naughty boy, I'm sure you'll agree. I get my kicks playing tricks on the locals. They're easy marks, they're real dumb yokels. But now folks, listen closely, it's time I made a confession. Collecting people's souls is my greatest obsession!
As much as he enjoyed singing, he also danced with delight that he couldn't hear his Henchman.
"Uh, hey, boss. Boss! Hey, boss!"
"WHAT?! I was singing!" The Devil hated being interrupted, especially during a musical number.
"The... the soul counter stopped."
The Devil banged The Soul Counter but to no effect. He then raced toward the soul tubes to see that they were clean of souls.
"What the...?"
He had to get to the bottom of this; what was slowing down the numbers? The Devil peeked underground using his telescope to find the source. At first, he saw a section of the fair was lifeless but he turned to see a crowd around the Soul Ball game, cheering on for a player as he was scoring win after win.
Devil sighed with annoyance, "Terrific. Looks like we have a real show-off, "He grabbed his pitchfork and vanished.
Meanwhile, the competition was heated. Bendy was starting to lose steam as his arms were drooping from exhaustion. But he somehow still threw a winning shot, which everyone cheered at.
Bendy panted, "Beat…that!" He then felt weak in his body that he fell down.
Mugman whispered, "Cuphead, maybe you should quit while you're ahead."
Cuphead shouted, "No way! Double down!" He placed a ball in his straw to blow it out using his thumb. The ball ricochet a sign, bounce off the rear of an elephant before landing in the hole.
'Winner!'
"Thank you! Thank you!"
As the crowd was watching this extraordinary event, the amazement suddenly shifted as the skies darkened and huge puff of smoke revealed…
"The Devil!" a fair goer cried as he fled and the others followed suit. Bendy vanished quietly when he heard the name.
I think there is no surprise that Devil was the most feared being of the whole world, especially to the citizens of Inkwell. He was capable of dark magic, destruction and chaos. He was so feared even the police wouldn't touch him for even if they locked him up, he still would've escaped. He was THAT powerful! People would warn you to never interact with him or God forbid, make a deal with him!
The Devil smiled with vain, "My fans, they love me."
The tall figure walked up towards the two unsuspecting brothers. Mugman turned to see that Bendy had disappeared.
"Hey, where'd that kid go?"
"Chickenedout probably," Cuphead shrugged while grabbing another ball. Mugman noticed a shadow looming over them, turned to see that the sky had darkened and right in front of him, maliciously grinning at the mug.
"Hello," he greeted.
Mugman couldn't get the words out of his mouth and kept patting for his brother's attention. But he patted too hard that Cuphead threw the ball into a lower hole. "C-c-c-Cuphead!"
"Watch it!" He accidentally tosses it into the losing hole, which a loud buzzing sound and in a deep voice the machine shouted, "LOSER!"
Cuphead turned to his brother in a pout, "Aw, heck. Now look at what you made me do!"
He then spotted the figure looming over them and began stuttering.
Devil rang, "And that's game."
The machine, just like with that Telephone fellow, suckered Cuphead's soul out of his pale withered body. Mugman's instincts kicked, grabbed his brother soul and returned it back to him. Cuphead quickly gained back his color and gave a huge gasp of air.
"RUN!"
The Devil watched the boys run pass him, before growing excited for the chase, which makes it interesting. "Ooh, I love it when they run," he cackled while pursuing the boys.
The brothers had fear in their eyes while crying in terror for their lives.
Mugman sobbed, " I'm sorry I made you miss! This is all my fault!"
Cuphead replied, "We should've never have come here in the first place! It's all my fault!"
"You're right! It IS your fault!"
Meanwhile, the Devil began shooting out balls of fire from his pitchfork, which has the boys bolt towards the roller coaster as it was boarding.
Cuphead panted, "I think we lost him."
"Surprise!"
They looked to spot the Devil aiming his pitchfork, shooting out another fire ball, but the boys jumped off the ride landed on a carousel horse until it transformed into a skeleton by the Devil's magic and began bucking them off.
"Whoa!"
"Bad horsey! Whoa!"
They ran into a fun house which was quickly converted to a demonic fun house of death, filled with misleading illusions, sliding spikes, sideway corridors with buzzsaws and multiple mirrors with living reflections of the Devil.
The boys slid out of the fun house before it combusted into flames by a large dragon, shooting fire.
When it seemed liked this chase wouldn't end, Mugman's face lit up as he passed by the Soul Ball Machine.
"Come on, Cuphead! It's time for a double down!" He grabbed his brother by his handle back to the game.
"What are you, nuts?!"
"Now pretend like we're cornered!"
"We ARE cornered!"
From out of the debris and smoke, the Devil finally caught with them; with his pitchfork locked and loaded.
"JUMP!"
Mugman manages to shove Cuphead away as he jumped in the opposite direction, missing the large fireball which blows up the Soul Ball Machine. The Devil's jaw dropped as the millions of souls lost from his rigged games flew into the sky.
"NOOOOO!"
The Telephone regained his soul back, which had him cheer "Yay!" Not only his soul, but the other souls of patrons returned to their owners, bringing back their color.
Seeing his scheme up in smoke, the Devil face-palmed several times before bursting into flames and seeing his victims running off.
"Youdon't just get to run away!"
Another demon, his minion, appropriately called Henchman flew by the Devil in surprise.
"Wow, boss. I never saw you let no one escape before."
Devil defended, "He didn't escape! He played the game. He lost. His soul belongs to me. I'll get that cup..."
"Head?" He was given a whack by his boss' pitchfork.
"Oh, shut up," the Devil huffed, folding his arms over his first lost.
Cuphead and Mugman were still running off into the forest for dear life. "Let's hurry to Porkrind's before he closes and get that paint!"
"Right behind ya!" Cuphead panted.
They pass by a bush which started rustling and displays a pair of yellow eyes peeking through.
A few hours later…
Cuphead put in the last nail of the once destroyed fence, but it still wasn't pretty to look at.
"What an amazing day. We rode rides."
"You owe the Devil your soul," Mugman reminded him.
"We played games," Cuphead continued.
"And you owe the Devil your soul."
"We're almost finished with this dumb fence!"
Mugman raved, "And you owe the Devil your soul!"
Cuphead shrugged off the whole ordeal with the Devil like it was nothing, while pouring the recently bought paint into his cannon. "Eh. I ain't too worried about it."
Elder Kettle went up towards the fence again, "Hey, boys, how-"
The cannon exploded and destroyed the fence once more.
Cuphead sighed, "Still too much gunpowder."
"And you still owe the Devil your soul."
Mugman couldn't help but feel that this may come back to haunt him. But who knows…