To Be Immortal

Cuphead could feel his soul falling into a void. He noticed his hands were see-through, which confirmed to him that he was indeed no longer within his body. Around him the environment was blood red. No doubt décor influenced by Tanuki himself. Foggy swirls rushed past him as he fell. But then he realized he wasn't just falling. The demon was dragging him down by the ghostly collar of his shirt.

"That was very foolish of you, kid." Tanuki snarled at his prey. "And now you're going to be stuck here forever." He smiled in his evil, greedy fashion.

"Where's Chalice? Take me to her now!" Cup yelled at him, trying his best to turn around and face the creature. For the demon held the child down low under his body. It was supposed to be an intimidation tactic to make himself look bigger compared to the young cup. Bur Cuphead wasn't about to fall for any of these tricks.

"You must love to be tortured, kid. Because that's what you're going to get if you go down there with her. She's a soul that's very lost….and easy to manipulate. Before long, she will be too far gone for you to save anyway." The red demon told him.

"Don't say that! Put me down with her now!" Cup demanded. Tanuki stopped and brought the child eye level with him.

"You know, you're the bossiest kid I've ever met. Perhaps some time down in her world will straighten you out. Have fun!"

With that, he tossed Cuphead down into the black hole below them. The cup child screamed as he fell. He watched as the demon shrunk to a dot in the environment. And then it completely disappeared from his view as his surroundings began to change. It felt like he had fallen through some sort of elastic barrier. Around him now was the night sky lit up by millions of stars.

"Huh?" Cuphead said. A couple seconds later, his ghostly body hit the grassy ground. Since he did not have a body anymore, there was no pain. But the sudden change from a high speed to motionless made him feel disoriented. For he was not crazy about heights in the first place and he had just fallen what felt like hundreds of feet.

Cup took his time in getting up, being sure that his head had stopped spinning. He stumbled a bit, feeling light on his feet. The cup child looked about, finding himself in the middle of a clearing. To his right, he saw Chalice and a group of people that came in all shapes and sizes. He barged right up to greet the female. She was wearing a flowing white dress and held a golden spear in her left hand.

"Hey Chalice! I've been looking everywhere for you. You look really great in that dress." He shyly complimented her. Had he been in his body, Cup was sure that he would be blushing. The golden chalice stayed staring straight ahead, her intense gaze unwavering. As if she were looking right through the red cup. "Um…Chalice?" He tried again to get her attention.

"To battle!" She announced and raised her spear. The crowd behind her roared in agreement. They didn't hesitate to follow her charge. All of them ran past Cuphead, who had stepped to the side. Cup followed the group to see where they were going.

The people came to a stop, leaving about a 50 foot distance to the edge of the forest. Cuphead weaseled himself up to the front to see what they were looking at. Just beyond the tree line stood a cloaked figure. Half hidden by a tree, the humanoid figure seemed to let out a foggy breath. Its back was clearly hunched over as if it were trying to stay low.

"Hey you, Necromancer!" Chalice called to it and banged the blunt end of her spear on the ground. Small glowing white eyes turned toward her. Another foggy breath snorted out from under the cloak.

"A Necro-what?" Cup asked.

"It ain't right for you to be skulking around our town just to scare and hurt people." She told it.

"Yeah!" Her troops roared in agreement.

"It's time for you to leave. Are you gonna go quietly or are we going to have to escort you?"

"Escort me?" The hooded figure laughed. Its male voice sounded ancient and broken up. Each of its words came out as nearly double the syllables they were supposed to be. "That's funny. But I don't take orders from anyone. Not even you, princess."

"Princess?" The young cup said blindly. It took him a moment to realize the creature was not joking about this title. His ghostly figure turned to the chalice that could not see or hear him. This was her memory, he realized. And Cup was just there to witness this moment that the demon was using to torture her. "You're a princess?" He said again, not truly believing the words he was saying.

"I should be the one warning you to leave….before you do something you'll regret." The Necromancer croaked out.

"The only one that will have regret around here is you!" The golden chalice pointed her spear at him.

"Is that a challenge, little girl?" Its bony hand grabbed the tree it was standing next to. The color of it was a pale gray. Cuphead was unsure if it had any skin or coverings over the bones.

"You better believe it!" Chalice asserted. "It's us against only one of you!"

"Only one of me?" It wheezed in an amused fashion. The creature's jaw seemed to remain open while it talked, as if the voice came from somewhere deep within. The more it talked, the thicker the fog cloud that came out of it was. "I command an army that is far greater than you could ever imagine. But if you insist…." The Necromancer came out under the moonlight. He let his cloak fall away as he stood up tall. The bone-thin creature seemed to be covered in a combination of moss and mud, as if it had lived in a swamp for most of its life. There was clearly no skin or covering over his face. Just slow-moving gray-stained bones. The lack of any facial features made it hard to tell its emotions or state of mind. Long, jagged antlers sprouted from the back of its head.

Cuphead's ghostly silhouette jumped in front of his friend.

"Don't do this, Chalice! Stop for a minute and take a look at this guy. I may not know what a Necromancer is, but I can tell he's bad news. Think about the welfare of your friends!" The young cup cried out. By this point he knew she couldn't hear him, but still couldn't help himself from crying out with his opinion. He had a bad feeling that things were not going to end well. Cuphead wished he could change the outcome. He knew how it felt to be trapped in one's worst memory.

Cup turned around to find the Necromancer lift its head to the night sky. It let out a banshee-like scream from its jaw that still hung open. Everyone cringed and covered their ears. Cup didn't know how the people's eardrums were not damaged from the piercing shriek. Once the ungodly noise ceased, the Necromancer put a bony foot forward. Its three-clawed foot stepped down, creating a crack in the earth. The crack started to grow outward like a network of veins. A ghostly blue light emanated from it. A thunderous roar came over the clearing as the ground was being ripped apart. Bony, decaying creatures crawled out from the cracks. Their eyes glowed that same blue, seemingly powered by that undead energy from within the cracks. Soon enough, there was an army of undead soldiers that stood between the Necromancer and Chalice's forces.

"Last chance to run home to your family….little girl." But the creature's words only seemed to strike a nerve with her. It only egged on her fighting spirit even more.

"You're really asking for it…" She growled at him, tightening her grip on the spear. The Necromancer merely laughed, a thick puff of fog coming out of its static jaw.

"You amuse me, young chalice." He still teased her.

"Charge!" The golden chalice announced. They let out a battle cry and rushed forward. Both armies clashed, doing anything and everything they could to subdue one another. Cuphead cringed as he watched their violent rage. The skinny creature merely stood there and observed as well. It seemed as though Chalice's soldiers had the upper hand for a little while. A lot of the Necromancer's servants had fallen. The creature lifted its head up again, its jaw hanging open. A low gurgle rose from it. The mist pouring out of its mouth turned that ghostly blue color. The eyes of his warriors glowed this color before obediently standing up. It was a call that they had to fulfill. There was no other choice but to obey it. Chalice's forces tried yet again to subdue the undead warriors the creature commanded.

"What are you doing? Fall back! Don't keep fighting! They're too strong! Run away!" Cup hopelessly yelled to them. Why weren't they stopping? These people clearly could not be defeated in such a way. The Necromancer laughed, almost as if he could hear the young cup's desperate pleas. No matter how many times his forces were cut down, they just kept getting back up due to his wordless command.

The Necromancer watched each one of Chalice's people. It was studying every aspect of their form and strength. Cup watched as he finally made a move. It got down low and crawled its way over to one of Chalice's friends. The Necromancer had his sights on another glassware who was fighting valiantly. There was no doubt that this friend was willing to fight until the very end for his princess. Cuphead could see that he was tired and badly wounded though. The knight saw the creature approach. Chalice's friend charged, ready to slash the skinny creature with his sword. He was about to bring his sword down when the Necromancer brutally swiped its claws across his chest. A life essence fluid erupted from the knight as he was torn open. The poor man was dead by the time he hit the ground.

"No!" Chalice cried and ran toward them. She tried to hit the creature with her spear, but it merely backhanded her away. The princess could only watch as it loomed over her friend, breathing that blue mist into his eyes, nose, and mouth. The Necromancer backed off and let his new minion have the room to stand up. Now a lifeless puppet, the once valiant knight began attacking his own comrades.

"What are you doing? It's us!" They tried to convince him. But the undead knight did not recognize them anymore. It's only purpose was to attack whom the Necromancer wanted him to. The creature continued on, slaughtering Chalice's friends. Some he brought back for his army and others he left dead. Those that joined his army were some of the stronger members of the group. The golden chalice was frozen in fear as her soldiers fell one by one.

Soon enough, Chalice was the only one from her side left alive. All glowing blue eyes of the Necromancer's army fell on her. They circled around her but did not attack. A few of them parted, to let their leader into the circle.

"Why is it that you hesitate to fight to protect your friends?" It croaked at her. The fog that came out of his mouth floated towards her face. Chalice looked over to her undead friends that gave her a disappointed glare. "Now is your chance. Fight me… and prove yourself. No one likes a scared little girl, wouldn't you agree?" It continued to tease her.

The young chalice shakily grabbed her weapon and got up. All of her confidence had drained from her. She had lost all of her friends. Was there really anything for her to fight for anymore?

The Necromancer opened himself up and coaxed her with his claws to come attack him. She weakly lunged at him. His skinny figure easily dodged her feeble attempt. Chalice ended up running into her line of friends, whom merely rebounded her back into the ring. They still looked at her with their disappointed stare. Would they wear that frown for all eternity now?

With no other choice, Chalice ran back toward the ancient creature. The Necromancer swiped his claws at her. She yelped and fell back to avoid those deadly claws. The gold cup noticed a tree just behind the creature that made a gap in the ring that encircled them. Chalice rolled to the side, avoiding another swipe from the gangly thing. She made a beeline for the tree and used her golden spear to hoist herself up onto a branch. Chalice panted for a moment, seemingly outside the Necromancer's reach. Its soulless eyes looked up at her before slapping a hand on the tree. The plant seemed to rapidly age and die off from its touch. The golden chalice took a jump for it, narrowly missing the creature's claws again.

The undead mob caught her before she could hit the ground. Her golden spear fell from her grip as the people squeezed tightly. The Necromancer gave a grunt. That seemed to be the signal for them to put her down. Grabbing her weapon, she picked herself up and looked to the creature. It groaned as if it were bored.

Chalice had only taken a couple steps forward when the Necromancer charged her. The girl held up her spear to block a powerful swipe of the claws. It was so powerful, in fact, that it broke her weapon in half. The spear's two pieces went in opposite directions as she was forced back to the ground. Chalice shivered as she looked down at the shattered prized weapon. It had been a gift from her brother. And she had always taken good care of it.

"Wh-what are you going to do with me?" The golden chalice nervously asked. For she was clearly at the creature's mercy. Its skull face made a motion toward his undead soldiers. "Y-you're gonna turn me into one of them?" She glanced at the emotionless zombies.

"Turn you into one of them?" The Necromancer said innocently. "No, no, I would never do that. A princess deserves special treatment. Come closer." Chalice stayed where she was. "Come closer!" He growled. The young cup flinched and then obeyed. What else could she do?

The Necromancer dangled his long fingers over her head.

"I call upon powers far beyond the mortal realm," The ancient creature breathed. Its minions began to chant and sway back and forth. "Out past the oldest elm. I cast you to the astral plane, where even the strongest won't stay sane." Mystical bolts of lightning rained down from his fingers around the female. She screeched as the ghostly blue zaps hit her directly. They began to change her body composition as she thrashed about, trying to get away from them. When the Necromancer was done with his spell, the girl was nothing more than a transparent figure. She no longer had any legs but a ghostly tail sprouting from her waist.

"What is this? What did you do to me?" Chalice panicked as she looked herself over.

"It's what every princess wants." The Necromancer croaked. "To be immortalized. From this point forward, you will be frozen in time. To stay beautiful and never grow old. Why don't I introduce you to your new kingdom?"

A handful of claws began to glitter like the starry night sky. He took a swipe at an empty patch of air. Just like that, he had torn an opening between worlds. It was easy as tearing through a piece of clothing for him. A tearing sound screeched as he stopped a breeze that was passing by. The claw marks swirled in a circular motion, blending together and causing the opening to grow. Now a circular shape, it kept rotating in a clockwise fashion until the pathway was wider than the Necromancer but just as tall. On the other side was a dull gray color with little to look at other than a desert-like façade. No sounds or smells came from the place. It was just completely still and devoid of anything.

"There's not much there right now, but I'm sure there's something you can do with it. After all, you've got eternity to figure it out." His undead army began to laugh at her. "Have fun." The Necromancer snarled and wrapped his hand around her cup. He easily picked up her massless body and chucked her through the opening. Chalice started to scream but it was quickly cut off as she was tossed far into the portal. The creature and its army took one last laugh at her. His soldiers then proceeded to bury themselves back underground.

"Poor Chalice. I had no idea…" Cuphead's soul said as he watched the scene seemingly come to an end. To his surprise, the Necromancer turned in his direction. Its bony hand reached out for him. "Hey, wait a minute! You're not supposed to see me!" He panicked. Just like the Necromancer did with the chalice, he picked up Cup by the head and chucked him into the portal as well.

The young cup went spiraling down another long drop. His transparent body jerked as it seemingly hit the ground again. A cage materialized around him as he sat up.

"Cuphead, what are you doing here?" Came Chalice's voice. "Did he take over your soul, too?" She sat in a corner with her ghostly golden legs tucked up near her chest. Cup scrambled over to talk with her.

"Yeah, it's really me." He assured her. "I'm here because I told him to take my soul."

"Why would you do that?" The princess asked in alarm.

"To come in and save you, of course!" Cup beamed. "Now come on! Let's get out of here while Mugman and the others have him distracted!" He grabbed her wrist and tried to drag her with him. But Chalice promptly pulled it away.

"No, Cuphead!" The girl snapped and averted her gaze away from him. "This is my prison. I'm stuck in here because of him." She nuzzled her head down onto her arms that wrapped around her knees. Cuphead realized that she was losing hope. And that was not good if either of them had a desire to escape. The young cup knew that lack of hope also meant lack of control.

"Tanuki may have hold of you, but that's not why you're stuck here. This is your mind, Chalice, and you're only trapped in here if you believe that. If we work together, we can get out for sure! I know you must feel guilt for what happened with that Necromancer."

The chalice's transparent body trembled for a second before snapping at the young cup.

"You don't know anything about what happened that day!" She roared, stood up, and gave Cup a quick push. Her outburst caught him off guard and he ended up falling down onto the cage façade. "You have no idea how that made me feel…" The golden chalice began to get a little emotional. Instead of arguing with her, Cuphead agreed with this sentiment and urged her to explain.

"You're right. I don't know everything. Why did you go after that creature anyway?" He asked and sat up. Chalice gave a sigh before sitting next to him.

"All my life, my family had been running away from the Necromancer. Every time we settled and thought we were away from him, he would show up and bring death to every village that we established without fail. It was as if we were cursed. And, as you found out, I was a princess. As such, I was handled with the utmost care. Kept away from those violent situations as much as possible…and expected to hold a prim and proper image at all times." She rolled her eyes at this last statement.

"Pfft! Prim and proper? You?" Cup chuckled.

"Heh-heh, yeah. That was the last thing I wanted to be. You see, my older brother was a valiant knight and I wanted to be just like him. My parents didn't want me to go anywhere near a weapon. But my brother agreed to train me in secret, believing it was a good thing for me to know how to defend myself.

"One night while we were training, the Necromancer appeared and attacked us. My brother had told me to run, but I stayed to fight with him. Despite his warnings, I went after the creature. The Necromancer swatted me away, his attention seeming to home in on me for some reason. I froze as its claws started to come down at me. I had heard a tearing sound, but did not feel any pain. When I looked back, my brother stood between me and the creature. Its claws had torn right through his armor and punctured his arm. He told me once again to run. This time I didn't hesitate to do so. I heard the Necromancer push my brother to the side followed by its advancing footsteps.

"The next thing I knew, it rose up in front of me from the shadows. He had picked me up by my dress when my brother came rushing to my aid again. But the Necromancer didn't give him much notice as it held him down with its other hand. Still not having taken its gaze off me, it opened its mouth. Inside of there was a misty blue vortex that swirled around. I realized I still had hold of my spear at that moment and quickly shoved it into his mouth. The Necromancer shrieked and backed away from us. It even spit out a puddle of bright blue liquid.

"As it proceeded to come toward us yet again, the royal guards had heard the commotion and arrived at the scene. They all tossed their weapons at him. It turned tail and ran away for the time being. I guess it figured it had already been wounded and didn't want to stay around for another weapon to get shoved down its throat. As the sound of the guards gathered 'round us, I looked down at that blue puddle of what I could only guess was its form of blood. The fact that I had wounded it gave me hope that it could be defeated. I turned to my brother and said that we should train more and then go after the Necromancer. To which he told me: 'Absolutely not! No one's going after the Necromancer. It nearly killed us…and the way it came after you…" He trailed off, squeezing a hand to his deep wound.

"'But we can beat it! I know we can! We just have to try a little harder!' I tried to convince him.

'That's enough, Chalice!' He snapped at me. And he almost never called me by my real name. He always used the nickname Challie. 'Get inside where it's safe or there will be no more training for you!'

"And then our mother's voice interrupted. 'Make it snappy or there won't be training for either of you!'

'But Mother, that's not fair! It's my duty to-' My brother had tried to argue his case.

'Violating house rules!' She snapped and didn't let him finish. And then she turned to me. 'And you – you're lucky I don't ground you for the rest of your life! Both of you inside now!'

"It was after that night that I kept sneaking out and joined a rebellion group where we trained hard."

"And then you confronted the Necromancer again when you thought you were ready." Cuphead concluded the story. Chalice merely nodded, still not meeting his gaze.

"And then he destroyed all my friends." Her legs curled up near her chest again. "….and left me the only one alive – if you can call it that." The girl nuzzled her face into her arms as she began to sob. "It's my fault. I gave them hope and led them to battle despite my family's attempts to stop me. I betrayed my family, Cuphead. How am I supposed to live with that?"

"I take it you haven't gone to see your family since that happened?" Cup asked.

"No…I mean, what do you even say to them when you've done something so bad? Would you go home after you had betrayed your family?"

"Maybe not at first, but yeah." The young cup replied. "Yeah, I would go home. My family would be worried about me if I just up and disappeared like that. They would want to know that I was okay. By this point, I don't think your family would be mad at you anymore. They just want to know you're okay. How long have you been gone exactly?"

"Years. I don't know how many though. I've lost count." The golden chalice sighed.

"Then they would be thrilled just to know that you're alive!" Cuphead encouraged her.

"You really think so?" She finally picked her head up and looked in his direction. Her friend eagerly nodded. "But…what do I even say to my brother? I mean…we kind of had an argument that day I disappeared."

"Is that all? You just had a little argument with your brother?" The red cup sounded relieved.

"What do you mean, is that all? Is there something that could be worse?" Chalice snapped, sounding a bit offended by his lighthearted response.

"Yeah, there could be something a lot worse." Cup now looked away from her. His transparent cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

"Like what?" The girl prodded.

"At least you didn't kill your brother." Cuphead gave a nervous chuckle.

"That's awful! Why would you say something like that?" She gave him a quick whack on the shoulder.

"Because…it's a true story. And it happened to…" He pointed to himself, unable to utter the word "me".

"Are you trying to tell me that you've killed Mugman?" Chalice said in horror, her eyes going wide.

"Yeah. Technically twice." His face turned apple red with guilt when he held up two fingers. "And it's only by miracle that he was able to come back both times." Cup nervously chuckled again. "You're not only one who's done bad things." His fingers nervously scratched at his head.

"Cuphead….I didn't realize…." The golden chalice was at a loss for words. "But how do you live with all that guilt of what you've done?"

"I'll be honest, it's never easy. There was a time when I thought my biggest oopsie was gambling our souls away to the Devil. Mugman didn't want to forgive me for that for some time. And just when he was beginning to forgive me for that incident, I got greedy and obtained a power that I couldn't control. Suddenly, the whole soul gambling thing looked like a pebble compared to the mountain of things that happened after that….killing Mugman being the peak of it all. Ever since that one fateful day, it seems like our lives have been a series of misfortunes. It's a wonder that Mugman still likes me after everything I've done. But that's enough of me blabbering. The point is, we were there for one another every step of the way. Whenever I was having a moment of doubt, I could talk to Mugman or Elder Kettle and they would help me. But you've been alone this whole time with no one to talk to, no one to trust. It doesn't have to be that way anymore. We're here for you now, Chalice. And you can talk to us about anything. You'll never have to be alone again. That's a promise from both of us." Cup stood up and offered her a hand. "Please come with me, Chalice. We'll face any and all challenges together. And I promise that we'll get you back to your family. But I need your help to get out of here first."

"What do you want me to do?" The girl asked as she accepted his help.

"The first thing is to make this cage go away." He looked to the box that surrounded them. Chalice looked at it, too. Her figure seemed to shrink as fear crept back in. "This is your mind, Chalice. You control what happens in here. Tanuki only has as much power in here as you believe." The female continued to look about nervously. Cup put a transparent hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "I believe in you, Chalice. You mean a lot to me."

"Best friends, right?" The princess timidly chuckled.

"Yeah…and possibly something more." Cuphead blurted out. They both blushed hard at this statement. Cup was unsure how she was taking this. But his doubts quickly went away as the golden chalice pulled him into a hug.

"I feel that way too, Cuphead." She whispered. They stayed in one another's spiritual embrace for a few seconds. When they finally pulled away from each other, the cage around them had disappeared.

"See, Chalice? You did it! As long as you don't succumb to your fear, you have power over him." Chalice gave a worried smile, but realized he was right. Once she stopped focusing on her grief and the belief that she was trapped, the cage went away. "Let's get out of here, Chalice." Cup grabbed her hand and began to lead her up and out.

It was a weird sensation to them. For they were basically running on air. There was no floor beneath them or walls shaping the room. It was just a red swirly vortex that looked like it should have been creating a powerful wind. But the warm environment was all quiet. Cuphead had aimed them running up, knowing he had fallen from up there. He could only hope that door he fell through was still open. If it wasn't, it would be up to Chalice to create a new doorway.

Cup picked up the pace when he realized that portal was still there. The golden chalice began to hesitate, but the young cup pulled her along. They hit the portal at full speed. It bulged out like a bubble. But it was much thicker though. Like trying to tear through rubber.

They eventually got through. The film exploded on Cuphead, covering him a sticky liquid. Most of it slid right off. The small pieces that did stay seemed to harden and turn sharp. As if shards of glass were trying to poke into his celestial body. And then the sharp poking turned into a burning sensation. Cup winced and let go of Chalice's hand.

"Cuphead!" She cried and hovered in front of him. She could see his body trying to curl up and into itself. He was clearly hurting. Cup and her looked down to his hands and arms. Burn marks were forming on his porcelain skin. Being in a transparent state, his burns were even visible through his clothes. Something that left a mark like this would certainly linger.

"Th-that's g-gonna leave a mark." Deep down, Cuphead knew this was going to transfer to his body when he got back to it.

"Come on, Cuphead! We have to keep going!" She urged him.

A low gurgling sound rumbled throughout the chamber of her mind. The demon knew they had broken out of his prison. For breaking through that barrier was like creating a vibration on a spider's web. Its owner knew exactly where the movement came from. The sound got the two cups moving for sure. Now it was Chalice dragging Cuphead along. His burns slowed him down a great deal. He considered telling Chalice to leave him behind, but she was just as stubborn as he was and would not take that for an answer.

As they kept going, a figure seemed to form in the distance. It certainly looked like the long, gangly form of the demon. They could even see its wings flapping and propelling itself toward them.

"Tanuki's coming! What do we do?" Chalice gasped.

"Don't panic! Just focus on your desire to get out and see your family. You'll be able to push right past him." Cuphead explained.

The golden chalice closed her eyes, started running forward, and just took his word for it. She could only hope that her friend was right about being able to push right past. A bright flash of light came at them. It was such a powerful light that Chalice could see it through her closed eyes. She yelped in surprise and fell back. The two cups ended up huddling together, their eyes tightly squeezed shut. They shivered, expecting something bad to happen. The light eventually began to die down. Chalice was the first to venture a peek.

Before them hovered a figure that had the demon's body shape. But this person's fur was not blood red. Instead it was a light blue, almost sky-colored fur. The creature wore a dark blue tunic. Its horns were very small and above them hovered a golden halo. The eyes glowed the same color as the halo. Pure light energy seemed to rain from these eyes. Not the hate that radiated from Tanuki's eyes. Its claws were also very small compared to Tanuki's.

"Don't be frightened." The angelic figure cooed. "I mean you no harm. You've done well to make it this far, little ones." Cup and Chalice looked to the person in utter confusion. Who was this and why were they here?

"You….I've heard your voice. You keep telling Tanuki off and preventing him from doing certain things." The princess realized. She watched as the person's round head slowly nodded.

"My light is limited, so I have to choose wisely on what decisions I prevent him from making. But your hope has restored some of that power….and I'd like to help." The voice bounced throughout the chamber. Different tones seem to echo and overlap one another, making it difficult to tell if it was supposed to be a male or female.

"Who are you?" Cuphead asked. "Did Tanuki take your soul, too? You should come with us. We're escaping right now."

"A very generous offer, young cup." It cooed. "But I have no body to return to anymore. Despite that, I will do everything I can to help you escape from here…and beyond."

"Don't you dare!" Snarled Tanuki's voice. The angelic figure seemed to teleport behind the two cups, resting each of its hands across their shoulders. "You've caused enough trouble already!" The red demon's fur sizzled as he flew down towards them, shaking a fist in rage.

"You will not harm these children!" The angel argued. Its tone seemed to stop Tanuki in his tracks. As if he knew this presence could do something to him.

"Little ones," It now addressed the young cups, who looked over their shoulders at it. "Trust in one another and never give up." The warm yellow eyes slid to Cuphead. "You still think you have not redeemed yourself for things you've done in the past. Oh, but you've made up for it ten times over, young cup. You do not owe anything more to your brother. Your loyalty and love are all that you need to remember." It then looked over to Chalice. "Don't stop fighting, princess. There's always something to fight for. You've given me hope again. And because of that, I am giving you the last of my soul….and my eternal gratitude."

"Gratitude? Do you know this person, Chalice?" Cup asked her. She merely shrugged as she gave him a glance. The angelic figure then aimed itself at the golden cup. It began to dissolve as it seemingly entered her chest. A small white light was all that remained of the angel. It hung below her neck like a piece of jewelry.

"Go forth, young cups. Nothing will harm you now." The echoed voice spoke to them. The light brightened as it spoke. And then the white radiance spread over Chalice's body. It was a powerful source of energy. One that she had never felt before. It seemed to fill her with overwhelmingly positive thoughts. The complete opposite of how Tanuki had made her feel.

Chalice held out her hand to Cuphead. The red cup merely nodded with determination and took hold. Her light transferred over to encompass him too. The two cups stood in the void, staring down the demon. Their hard stare nearly made the demon tremble in his own fur. But then his round head shook that trepidation away. With one swift movement, he swooped toward the young cups, his claws extended out to grab them.

Cup and Chalice sprinted toward Tanuki, ready to meet him head-on. They separated and swerved away from his claws as if it was no big effort. Just as the red creature's eyes began to widen, two fists collided with his chest. Tanuki made a gagging noise as he was pushed upward. The three of them hurtled toward the exit. Cup and Chalice intended to push him out for good. A bright light engulfed them as they neared the opening that was Chalice's cup.