And on it goes.

Warning this chapter contains blood

A little more info.

From 12 - 18 June I will publish nothing because I have to plan a lot in this week because of my birthday.

So please do not be surprised. I am always open for birthday wishes. (Is the 14 June only so mentioned in passing)

Until then

It was the next day. Alicia and the others were in the living room listening to music from Elder Kettle's new radio. Of course, it was not music from Alicia's time. It was soft jazz music that could be heard from the radio. Unfortunately, not music from the 21st century. But Alicia didn't care, she liked the music very much even if she wasn't a fan of jazz music. No just old jazz and blues songs of which she didn't know the names. But even if it was not her taste in music, she had to bob along with the one or other song. Elder Kettle sat on his armchair next to the table on which his radio stood. He was reading a book called "The Maltese Falcon". She didn't know the book, but she remembered that her grandfather had a similar book.

Meanwhile, Cuppy and the two brothers played with marbles. Alicia watched them and saw that Cuppy was in the lead. His orange marbles had thrown Cuphead's and Mugman's red and blue marbles out of the circle that Mugman had drawn with chalk on the wooden floor. It was Cuphead's turn to make his move and he focused a lot on it. He wanted to throw out the two outermost marbles of Cuppy because they were perfectly positioned. But before he could flick his marble he was suddenly interrupted. The music suddenly disappeared.

Everyone looked toward the radio and was confused. "Hey, why did the music stop playing?" asked Cuphead as he walked over to the radio, annoyed. Mugman and Cuppy looked at each other with a shrug before following him. Elder Kettle and Alicia also looked at the radio and heard a voice coming from it that was quiet at first until Elder Kettle turned the radio up and the group heard the radio announcer speak.

"Sorry guys that we had to turn off the music but we have a very special guest in our studio that we would like to interview for you" now Alicia was curious. "Hello dear radio listeners" said a French voice that could be heard from the radio. Cuphead rolled his eyes in annoyance when he heard it while Cuppy was confused like Alicia. Only Mugman was different from the others. He grinned with joy as if he were receiving a gift from Elder Kettle. He also sat patiently in front of the radio and listened to the interview. "Dear radio listeners in our studio is the famous explorer Gaston LeBoast". When Alicia heard the name, she thought of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. This swanky muscle mountain who wanted Belle for himself and wanted to kill the Beast.

A famous explorer huh? She didn't really know what to say to that. Especially when she saw Mugman almost clawing at the table with excitement. "Mugman, I've never seen you like this before," Alicia said. "Well, no wonder Mugsy here likes Gaston LeBoast a lot" said Cuphead as he got up, went to his brother and tapped him on the shoulder. The latter was blushing with nervousness. "B-b-but Cuphead you don't have to mention that" he said in a nervous voice. Someone must have a role model. Alicia had to smile and gently stroked his cheek to calm him down. He quickly calmed down and jumped on her lap, which surprised Alicia so much that she was back in her demon form.

But that didn't bother Mugman or the others who knew they were no threat to them. Mugman even liked it because their fur was very soft and cuddly. That's why he cuddled with her right arm and curled up while Cuppy and Cuphead looked at them with jealous expressions "Now don't tell me you two are jealous?".

Both cups said nothing and showed her their backs annoyed which made Alicia and Elder Kettle giggle. "Well, you two do not have to be jealous," said Kettle, taking them both on his lap, even though they were struggling and trying to get free. But Elder Kettle was stronger than he looked."Of course I came to Inkwell Isle to fight a monster that has been scaring the inhabitants for a very long time," said LeBoast. The three cups, Alicia and Elder Kettle looked to the radio. "Oh, you don't mean..." the radio announcer fell silent before he could finish his sentence. "The black furry monster with two golden horns" LeBoast said as the radio announcer's nervous gulping was heard. "Then let's hope you find it and come back safely".

Alicia was confused. What monster does he m- Oh that monster. She knew which "monster" it was. The description fit to none other than her unwanted lover the Devil. "Now no one has ever challenged this monster. Let alone that someone ever found its cave in which it dwells" "As far as I know, it must be deep in the forest" said Gaston LeBoast. The radio announcer swallowed even more nervously than before. "Okay, but let's not get off topic" he exhaled in relief "I heard that the next book of your adventures will be out soon, is that true?" the radio announcer asked curiously.

Bored, Cuphead and Cuppy jumped down while Mugman got off Alicia's lap and sat down in front of the table, listening to the conversation that Alicia was getting more and more bored with every second. Cuphead flicked the marble away with his fingers and saw in the corner of his eye how Alicia, who had returned to her human form, went out the door. He followed her. "Hey Alicia wait where are you going?" he asked her as she walked through the gate and turned to face him. He also went through the gate and stood in front of her.

"I uh..." Oh man how am I going to explain it to him? Actually, she just wanted to go out for a relaxing walk. She didn't want to hear the conversation with the oh-so-great explorer anymore. Alicia exhaled and looked down at Cuphead who was looking at her with a confused look. "I just wanted to go for a walk that's all" she said and walked towards the forest. "Okay then I'll come with you!" said Cuphead and walked beside her into the forest. She said nothing to this. Surprisingly, she was glad that he accompanied her and went with him deeper into the forest.

The trees became higher and wider the deeper the two were in the forest. "Gosh I've never been here before" Cuphead said as he looked around and was amazed by this part of the forest. It almost looked like a fantasy forest with the little crystals growing on the rocks that were in little caves. Also, the mushrooms were growing very fast here and were very large. Some even bigger than Alicia. A mushroom with a white hat and red stripes that also colored the lamellae resembled Cuphead's straw very much.

The mushroom was also as big as Cuphead. That fascinated him very much. So much so that he jumped on the mushroom which spread red and white spores that landed on the ground or on trees and stones from which a new mushroom immediately grew. This mushroom was not the only one here, but there were also blue and white striped ones and white ones with a golden hat.

The mushrooms reminded her of Mugman, and Ms. Chalice in terms of the color pattern. Alicia wondered where Chalice was anyway? Or if the two brothers knew her. Who knows. They both kept walking, leaving the mushroom field behind to move on. "I hope we don't meet that explorer" Alicia said slightly annoyed which Cuphead noticed. "Yeah, I don't like this guy either" he said, putting his hands in his pocket as he and Alicia continued walking down the path. "I also wonder why Mugsy likes this guy so much?". Alicia was about to say something about when she heard something rustling in the bush in front of them. They both stopped.

Alicia was ready for anything. But there was one thing she was not prepared for when she stood protectively in front of Cuphead.

From the bush came a large and slightly muscular anthropomorphic toon rat with grey fur, a black nose, dark grey inner ears and the usual black pie-shaped pupils. He wears a safari type of attire consisted of a beige coloured shirt with pockets and dark brown buttons, khaki shorts that reaches down over his knees and a brown belt. On his feet are dark brown spats, white gloves and a dark green ascot with white polka dots stood directly in front of the two. "So I didn't mishear when I heard that charming voice from behind the bushes, mademoiselle," said the rat with a French accent. Oh no, don't tell me that's Gaston. Alicia rolled her eyes as the rat approached her and took her hand and kissed the back of it like a fine gentleman. She hated it though and took her hand away before he could even touch them with his lips.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked him annoyed while Gaston was more than confused. Normally the women only fall over him. But Alicia was different. "Oh, uh, where are my manners?" he said nervously, while Cuphead, who had a bad feeling, stood in front of Alicia and clearly told him to stay away from her. After all, she was already taken."Hey, make-out machine, leave her alone!" he said to get Gaston's attention. "Oh you little gosse can't you see I'm talking to this lady right now?" said Gaston as he turned to Alicia who was no longer standing in front of him. This shocked him, which is why he looked around until he saw them next to Cuphead and went on with him, ignoring him completely.

Normally, all the women ran after him and swarmed him. But Alicia was different and didn't seem to like him. He didn't like that, but he knew how to win her over. The hasty formula: The damsel in distress.

"I am very sorry for the inconvenience and I wanted to ask you to help me in my La mission to find and defeat the monster?" Both were not sure and agreed with the explorers. More or less they couldn't say no because every time Alicia or Cuphead wanted to go another direction than he stood in front of them. "Now then my Accompagnateur follow me!" said Gaston as he walked into a dead end. "Um, you know that's a dead end, right?" said Alicia. But the explorer ignored her and kept walking until he ran into something and was fully covered with dirt and leaves. "Yeah, I knew it was a dead end," he said annoyed, not even thanking Alicia. Both continued walking while Gaston wiped away the dirt that was on his shoulder.

He was about to set foot when something occurred to him. The two looked very familiar to him. He didn't know where they were from until he pulled out two wanted posters from behind his back, showing Alicia and Cuphead. Cuphead smiled happily at the camera while Alicia looked nervous. Both were wanted by the devil. "Ah, so these are the two Cherché the boss searched for". Yes, Gaston secretly worked for the devil to whom he owed his fame in the first place. Of course, he also demanded something from him in return. Not money, but souls of innocent people that Gaston has taken in the course of his journey or other explorers who disappeared in an inexplicable way.

Well, if the boss is interested in them, I will gladly send them to him personally. He smiled mischievously and followed the two who had no idea what was coming.

Hours passed that the three spent in the forest. LeBoast, of course, got lost several times and ignored the instructions and clues that Alicia and Cuphead gave him until he saw them himself and passed them off as his. Alicia and Cuphead just rolled their eyes in annoyance. After a while, the three took a break from walking. Gaston took out of his pocket a small box which he opened and from which came a fetid smell. "Ew what's that smell!" said Cuphead as he held his nose and wiped away the threads of smell that were trying to crawl up his nose.

"This my cup friend is the best Fromage around" said LeBoast as he held up the cheese to show Cuphead and Alicia. It was Brie. One of the few cheeses Alicia didn't like. And the smell didn't make it any better when Gaston cut a piece and poked it with the cheese knife to eat it that way. "Ah parfait" he said. Alicia and Cuphead were not thrilled about this, preferring to enjoy the many blueberries growing around them. Gaston thought nothing of it and enjoyed the rest of the Brie before they set off again to look for the monster.

It didn't take long until the three stood in front of a cave that looked dangerous. Also, everything around the cave seemed to be dead. No plants were growing. It was all dry and decayed. "This is the Monstres cave," Gaston said as he and the two peered out from behind a rock. "What kind of monster is this supposed to be?" asked Alicia. She knew which monster it was but still she asked him. But Gaston thought nothing of it and jumped out from behind the rock to face the beast they were yet to meet. "Alicia, if you please, can you be the first to enter the cave and lure the monster out?" the explorer asked her.

She stared at him with an annoyed expression that said she wouldn't do that. "Are you out of your mind?!" she yelled at him. Yes she refused but the cup he could still ask. But Cuphead just shook his head and crossed his arms while staring angrily at Gaston.

Gaston was furious when both refused to go into the cave. But he saw another way to lure the woman and the cup into the cave. Before Cuphead or Alicia could say anything, Gaston took Cuphead by the handle and threw him into the cave. "Hey what the-" he yelled while Alicia's eyes widened in horror. Alicia was angry and shocked at the same time as she ran after Cuphead. Both were now in the lion's den. As Gaston wanted, he rubbed his hands mischievously.

"Cuphead where are you?" called Alicia as she searched for the cup. The latter was lying on his head leaning against a rock, rubbing his head while stars circled overhead and he slowly regained consciousness.

Alicia heard his moan and went to him. "Ah, there you are" she said with relief as she helped him stand up. He shook his head and was back to his old self. "What happened where are we?" he asked looking around in Confusion. "In the cave Baron Von Brie threw you into," Alicia said with a roll of her eyes and an annoyed voice. Cuphead was also angry about this and was about to go outside when the two heard a familiar laugh and suddenly felt warmth. "Please don't tell me that we..." she didn't want to say it but Cuphead knew what she meant.

Yes both were in Entrance of the underworld. Really great She actually wanted to stay away from this place just like Cuphead who was now more scared than before. Sure, both were angry but they can't turn around."If we get out of here alive, I'm going to kill that Baron Von Schnitzel!" said Alicia as she went deeper into the cave with Cuphead. Well, there was no other way because the exit was locked. Or rather, it was no longer there, but instead only a wall was visible.

The underworld looked a little different from the one in the book. But that didn't bother Alicia. She just wanted to hope that he would not find her. Otherwise not only she would be in danger, but also Cuphead. The latter still owed the devil his soul. "Ah the cave of the beast" said Gaston as he suddenly stood behind the two and lured them to a rock behind which they hid. Alicia didn't notice, but Cuphead did when he saw her devil's tail. "Um, Alicia," he whispered to her. She looked to him as he pointed to something. She followed his finger and saw her devil's tail that she was trying to hide from Gaston. Gaston just looked at her in confusion before turning his attention to what he was actually in the Underworld for.

He knew what to do but had to wait for his boss to show up. Only then could he bring her and the cup to him.

"Well then my dearest would you agree to come and lure the monster out of his hiding place?". Alicia looked at him annoyed. "Why don't you go?" she said annoyed as she showed him her back. Cuphead saw her Devil's tail and sat on it so Gaston wouldn't see it. But he pushed him away and grinned mischievously. Before Alicia saw it he threw her into the open field in front of where they were hiding. She was back in her demon form and was now more than angry.

"Oh you stupid..." slowly she turns to him. Her eyes burned with anger. She was ready to teach him a lesson when suddenly she heard a laugh and behind her someone appeared whom she was reluctant to see again. You've got to be kidding me! Out of a hallway came none other than the devil, who was more than pleased to see her here. "Well look who's here" he said as he approached her and lifted her chin. "You must have missed me or why are you here my dearest Alicia?" he asked her as he tried to kiss her. But she avoided his kissing mouth and walked away from him. "Honestly, I'd rather be anywhere but here" she said annoyed as she turned her back to him and wanted to leave.

But when she turned around Gaston was standing in front of her holding Cuphead tied in his hand. What the... the devil laughed mischievously while Cuphead became even more panicked than before. He tried to free himself but Gaston held him tight. "What's going on here?!" asked Alicia, confused. She knew that something was wrong here. "Boss I think we should tell the truth to these two" suggested Gaston as he nudged Cuphead on his nose. He did not put up with this and bit his finger.

"Ouch! You little..." but before he could finish his sentence the devil interrupted them both with a throat clearing that sounded very threatening. "Very well my dearest Alicia I will tell you why Gaston is my number one..." And I thought King Dice was your number one. "...and works for me" he approached her ear while his tail wrapped around her waist so she couldn't escape.

She learned that Gaston was nothing more than an impostor who, like Gilderoy Lockhart, had stolen his adventures from other explorers he had traveled with and passed them off as his own. This is how he became so famous. "So you're really nothing but a coward who steals other people's ideas!" she growled, looking at Gaston with anger in her eyes as he played around with Cuphead a bit. More precisely, he was dangling upside down and about to throw up.

Alicia could no longer watch Gaston torture Cuphead and wanted to pounce on him, but the devil held her down. Too tightly, in fact, because Alicia felt a sharp pain around her waist. Gaston chuckled when he saw how hard she tried to free herself until he suddenly noticed a reddish liquid lying next to the devil's right foot. It was not magma. It was too dark for that and it didn't glow. No, it was blood. Blood that came from Alicia and that dripped down the tail of the devil.

"Now then Gaston would you please take the cup to the dungeon with the others and leave me alone with my future wife and queen?" Gaston nodded and left with Cuphead, leaving the devil alone with Alicia. She was not very enthusiastic about it. You could see it in her face. "Let go of me, you furry brush on two legs!" she tried to free herself, but the devil held her tight. "Don't resist, my love" he slowly ran his fingers down her cheek and stroked her.

However, she didn't really like it but she wasn't strong enough to fight him. So she had to watch him take her to an elevator while she left a trail of blood drops behind. "Let go of me you're hurting me!" she said several times as she tried to free herself from his grip. "Not until you marry me," he said. Oh yeah sure. She rolled her eyes when he said that. But he was serious and led her to an old elevator above which was a yellow eye with a red iris. It resembled the eye of the devil very much. He pushed the door aside before he went in with her and pressed one of the many buttons, closing the door and the elevator disappeared.

Meanwhile, Gaston and Cuphead were on their way to the dungeon where the devil had more prisoners chained and hanging on the wall or locked in cells. Gaston continued down the stairs until he saw an open cell where he was going to bring Cuphead in. But when he looked at his hand, the cup was no longer there but gone. "What the..." he looked around but the cup was already long gone from the dungeon and on the way to save Alicia.

saw the elevator disappear in which Alicia and the devil were inside and thought about what kind of plan he should use to free Alicia. Cuppy is killing me! Yes Cuppy was very worried about Alicia should something poke her. After all, he and she were best friends. He had to save her, but how?

"Do you know my dearest that you are special?" said the devil as he looked from the buttons that were rapidly going up and down to her, ignoring the blood that was now also in the elevator. "Maybe!" she said annoyed. She was still trying to free herself from his grip. But he just had to chuckle. "You know, I may look dangerous and scary, but I can be different, too," he said and started to tickle her behind her wolf ears. She calmed down and growled. "Hmm I knew you liked it when I scratched you behind your ears like a dog" He found her weak spot and exploited it. "That's so evil you know thaaaAAAhhhhhh!".

The pain around her waist was stronger again as the elevator stopped and the door opened. Henchman stood in front of the two and the first thing he saw was all the blood on the floor of the elevator before turning his attention to the Devil and Alicia. "Uh... boss she's bleeding" he said pointing to Alicia. Good guess smart guy. The devil only now noticed the Blood puddle. "Why are you bleeding my dear?" he asked her in confusion as he walked with her out of the elevator.

He still held her tightly and Alicia tried not to cry out in pain. No, she didn't want to show any sign of weakness. But both demons were waiting for an answer from her. "Because I'm a real human from the real world and not a Toon like you!". Alicia was even more annoyed than before and tried to free herself until the devil loosened his tail around her waist and she fell to the ground, losing more blood. "Henchman bring the first aid kit!" the devil ordered this one. Henchman nodded and flew away with his little wings.

He flew through the corridor in front of a closet from which Cuphead came out, still trying to free Alicia and escape from Gaston who was looking for him everywhere. He knew where Alicia was because he heard her painful moans from far away and saw the shadow of the devil talking to Alicia at the end of the corridor. "Don't worry, when Henchman is back with the first aid kit and we have healed your wounds we can talk about our relationship in peace" Cuphead showed a face of disgust. He stuck out his tongue and wanted to free Alicia from his clutches at any cost. But before he could do that, he had to lure away both the devil and Gaston.

But how? Well his question was answered when he saw not far away from him a sign that went into a junction on the "Mirror Maze. Don't break the mirrors or it will rain bad luck!" he had an idea and called Gaston to him. "Hey you wannabe explorer here I am!" he taunted him. Gaston heard it and saw the mug taunting him with a silly dance while showing him his behind and blowing a raspberry. This gave him the rest to lock the cup away once and for all. But first he had to catch him. So he ran towards the cup which ran into the corridor on his right.

Only now did he realize that the cup had lured him directly into the mirror maze. But the cup was right in front of him within reach. "Here I am!" shouted Cuphead, who waved at him, stuck out his tongue and showed him his butt. Gaston's face was bright red and resembled a bull that was chasing a matador. To be precise, his face had mutated into a bull. He mooed menacingly, spread his legs and ran head first and he thundered into the mirror which immediately broke into a thousand shards like the rest of the mirrors.

"Ouch, that's what I call bad luck". Gaston was about to get up from the pile of broken glass when suddenly, out of nowhere, an anvil fell on his head and a thick reddish bump grew out of his head where the anvil had hit him. He rocked his head back and forth and opened his mouth from which all his teeth fell before he fell to the ground unconscious. One was already done, only the devil was missing. Cuphead thought and had an idea when he saw the pile of shards and formed a head from a part of the shards that resembled his very much.

The devil continued to stroke Alicia's cheek while she tried to avoid it. But he was tough and held her chin with his other hand so she couldn't move her head and saw his lips slowly approaching hers. Oh God don't tell me he wants to kiss me! she rolled her eyes annoyed and wanted to say something but then they both heard a voice."Hey Devil" it was not Alicia or Silk but Cuphead. Or rather the shadow of Cuphead that the devil saw in the corridor. "Come and get me if you want my soul!" Cuphead taunted the devil.

He was furious. Very angry, to be more precise, because he was on fire. "Come here you mug so I can rip out your soul and eat it right in front of you!" He's not serious, is he? She looked at a tapestry hanging in the room on the right side where the devil was depicted in an Egyptian drawing eating the soul of a toon. She gave herself a face palm. But she didn't want to stay on the floor any longer, so she stood up, or at least tried to.

Every movement hurt and more blood flowed from the wound and dripped on the floor where there was already a small puddle. Alicia wanted to give up because she couldn't stand the pain anymore. But then she noticed who was helping her to get up. It was Cuphead standing next to her. "Cuphead what are you doing here?" she asked him confused. "Well, I came to save you" he said and went with Alicia to the elevator before the devil came back annoyed. At the end of the corridor he found only a dummy of Cuphead made from the Shards that he had destroyed in anger. Only he got an anvil on his head himself which is why he put a cold pack on the bump and was more than confused and angry when he saw Alicia and the cup disappear in the elevator in front of him.

Furious and on fire, the ice pack melted and the bump disappeared. Just like Henchman who just arrived with a first aid kit and disappeared again, because not even a second later a big flame came out of the open door and almost caught him. He calmed down again and saw the blood that was still on the ground. Using a test tube, he filled the blood and took a closer look. "Hmm a real human" said the devil thoughtfully.

Once on the surface, the two got out and found themselves in front of the cave again. The elevator closed and disappeared. But they saw no trace of Gaston. Alicia was still angry with him and wanted to punch him in the face. But the pain around her waist distracted her. "Alicia you are too hurt to walk" said Cuphead when he saw how exhausting it was for Alicia to walk even one step. "Maybe, but I can fly" she said and changed into her Wyvern form. Cuphead was surprised by the size and appearance. He had never seen anything so big. "Wwwwoooooooooowwww" said Cuphead as Alicia grabbed him by the collar and sat him on her back. "Hold on tight!" she said before stretching her wings. Cuphead held onto a back spine as Alicia took off and the dry trees toppled over from the strong wind she created with her wings.

Both were in the air and it was fortunately before sunset so that no one saw them. Cuphead enjoyed the flight very much and could see more of the island than usual because of the height. He saw the city, the pier and much more. The Inkwell Isle's were huge and had many places that still had to be discovered by the four. But that had to wait because the cottage was not far away from them and Alicia was getting worse the more blood she lost.

She landed in front of the cottage and put Cuphead down before she turned back and almost fell to the ground if Cuphead hadn't caught her. "Come on we'll get you inside and tend to your wounds" Cuphead said as he walked with her to the door that opened from where Elder Kettle came. "Where have you two been?" he asked until he saw how worried Cuphead was and that Alicia was on the ground, bleeding to death. His anger was gone and he was now more worried about her. Mugman and Cuppy also came out of the door and saw Elder Kettle helping Cuphead bring the injured Alicia into the house.

Elder Kettle and Cuphead laid her down on the couch before the latter ran to the kitchen for bandages. It was a white metal box with a red cross underneath that said "First Aid". Elder Kettle opened it and tied a tourniquet around the area to stop the bleeding. While he did that, Cuppy and the two brothers wiped away the rest of the blood that was on the floor in the living room. "Lie here for now my dearest" said Elder Kettle as he caressed Alicia's cheeks. She nodded "Thank you again Elder Kettle and all three of you" she said as she felt Mugman reach for her hand and literally hug her. He stayed with her the whole time.

But Cuppy was not reassured. He was angry. Angry at Cuphead and therefore looked at him angrily before Elder Kettle went into the kitchen to prepare supper. Why she was hurt he knew. He also knew that Cuphead could have prevented it. "Why didn't you step in and save her before!" he yelled at him. Cuphead didn't know what to say when he saw the angry Cuppy. "I-I... uh..." he didn't get a chance to speak and that only made Cuppy angrier than before. "You could have prevented all of this if you had faced the devil!".

Cuphead knew that Cuppy was right. He could have prevented it, but instead he was a coward. "Yes I did!" he shouted at him but Cuppy became even angrier than before. "Cuppy, please don't make it worse than it already is!" Alicia begged him, but he ignored her and took out all his anger on Cuphead. "If you had listened to us at the carnival, you wouldn't owe the devil your soul!" with these words Cuphead ran upstairs to his bedroom crying. Mugman didn't know what to do and ran after his brother to cheer him up. The mood was now gone. It was quiet in the living room now.

Cuppy sighed "I don't want to be so hard on him but he reminds me a lot of myself back when I gambled away our souls in the casino and we had to collect those soul contracts." Yes, Alicia knew that Cuppy was more mature then the two brothers before they had to collect the soul contracts. Mugman had told her many times what kind of nonsense he had done. Cuphead also had little concern for his own soul. The devil could just steal it from him in his sleep and he wasn't worried about that. But when he saw how badly she was hurt, she saw in his eyes for the first time that he cared.

"Go to him and cheer him up I'm already feeling a little better" she said and stroked his cheek. Cuppy didn't want to, but he decided to go and apologize to Cuphead. Alicia meanwhile ate her slice of bread that Elder Kettle had put on the table next to the sofa and noticed that her clothes were full of blood. It's too bad I don't have any spare clothes. She had already guessed that she would have to go shopping again soon.

She already hated it because she knew that there were only dresses or dress-like clothes from that time. That some clothes would not fit her did not bother her. But she now knew that the Devil could easily hurt her here like in the book if not die. Cuppy knew this too and was even more angry at the devil than before. Not only that he flirts with Alicia and wants to make her his queen. No, he can also hurt her and that only made him angrier. The next time I see him he will feel my finger gun!

Meanwhile, in the underworld. The devil was looking at two test tubes. One was black and seemed to move while the other was red and did not move. He looked at them both again and did not notice that Henchman was standing next to him with a tray with his dinner. "What exactly are you looking at boss?" he asked. The devil did not look at him but still stared at the test tube with the red liquid. "I'm going to take a closer look at Alicia's blood and compare it with ours" he said when black dots came out of Alicia's blood that moved like the black blood.

Henchman was very surprised by this and stared at the black dots before the devil took the test tube and shook it gently. But the black dots did not mix with Alicia's blood. "So she is a hybrid". Henchman looked at him in confusion. "A human-demon-Toon hybrid" said the devil. "But if she's a Toon, shouldn't she bleeding?" asked Henchman, confused. "Yes, she shouldn't, actually" He put the test tube on the holder before looking at Henchman. "But since her blood doesn't mix with ours, she can die very quickly here," he explained. "Unless of course we find a way to mix the two together, then she would turn in a Toon" Of course he was the devil and wanted to use this chance to force her to be his queen when the time came.

He also already knew how to mix the blood. With a snap of his fingers, a book appeared out of a puff of smoke right in front of him, and he flipped through it until he came to a page that showed an ancient ritual. Henchman also looked into the book and his eyes widened in fear. "Uh boss do you really want to perform this ritual I mean it's not a forbidden ritual for nothing". But the devil did not pay any attention to him but was very engrossed in the book and read through everything he needed. "Well, we have to prepare some things before we can start the ritual" he said and closed the book while he passed Henchman who raised his index finger and was about to say something but let it be and followed the devil.

Meanwhile, the three cups were with Alicia, watching over her. She was lying in her bed in the guest room and was being well cared for by the three cups and Elder Kettle. Her clothes were now no longer bloody and hung on the clothesline behind the house where the spare clothes from the three brothers still hung as well as her Onesie. Until then, she wore spare clothes from Elder Kettle. Or rather his military clothes, since these were the only clothes that fit her.

But Cuppy was still angry at Cuphead for not being able to protect Alicia. He would have protected her by any means. But what he didn't know was that Cuphead couldn't do anything about it because he was being held by Gaston. That's why he couldn't prevent Alicia from getting hurt.

The latter now stood trembling before the throne of the devil who was more than disappointed in him. "So you couldn't lock up the cup because it got away from you and made you follow it into the mirror maze where you destroyed all the mirrors! He roared at him. Gaston was shaking and sweating even more than before "B-b-boss please stop it-" "Enough!".

"I've heard enough Gaston" the flames that had just risen at the edge of the throne room became smaller again. Gaston was shaking badly and swallowed nervously, "You know I love to call you my number one because you help me fill my soul vault," he looked from Gaston to the vault where new souls were flying in. "But I'm afraid I'll have to take that title from you" Gaston looked at him in horror "W-w-what?" he didn't want to believe it. But the devil was not joking. "Does King Dice mean anything to you?" he asked him but Gaston just shook his head. "It's a pity because his show is very popular in Inkwell Isles" Yes, the show Roll the Dice was very popular among the inhabitants of the island.

Gaston knew that he could not keep up with it and gave in. "But I can still publish my book?" he asked nervously. The devil gave him no answer to his question. He knew that he was done. Well, but he could still pretend. He was a master at lying.

Now alone in the throne room, the devil pulled out a framed photo from behind his back. On it was Alicia. He stroked it and calmed down again. The flames were like before and not as big as before. Yes, he was completely different when he thought of Alicia. He was more relaxed than before. "Oh my love..." yes he was in love with her from head to toe. You could tell that the flames of passion were burning in him. He wanted to have her with him at all costs. That was no doubt. But how he did not know. But he would already think of something. He was the devil and so easily he did not give up. "You can try to escape me my love but I will find you and bring you to me come what may".