Moving on, I have both good and bad news to announce.
Let's start with the bad news first. This week has unfortunately not started very positively for me. Unfortunately, my beloved dog passed away and that has depressed me very much. She was for me more than just a pet but more a little sister I never had. Therefore rest in peace bee. I miss you so much.
Furthermore there is an update to my other story "The Good Witch on the Inkwell Isle's".
To promote it some more, me and three other writers are writing a crossover from the Cuphead show with Space Jam. We would be very happy if you would read it as well.
And last but not least, you can not only decide which clothes Alicia should wear but also suggest fan episodes to me.
Until then
She got out of bed and yawned. A new day had just began and with it another one with new adventures. Even though Alicia would like to have a day of rest. I really would kill to have a normal Day for once! Not that would bother her. No it does there was always something that happened. Be it that the three cups did something, Elder Kettle was again of the opinion to change something according to his mood or that she is again flirted by the devil. Even though I'm already married.
But unfortunately, she was not in her world but still trapped in the cartoon world of The Cuphead Show. Unfortunately. She and Cuppy as Quadratus explained to both of them that they would stay here a little longer until the two mysterious characters would show up and help them. I hope those two are friendly.
She did not like to have more enemies. Even if she wondered if the rivals would also be here. It is possible since the devil has fallen in love with me. But luckily she hadn't met any of them yet, so everything was fine until now. Who knows how long until I meet Silk and the others again. The Memories came back.
Yes Alicia remembered when Silk send those Bounty Hunters after her. Only because she couldn't live with the fact that she and Lucifer are together, married and in Love. No wonder she reminds her of Steele from Balto. But that's happened in the past and she is far away from her and couldn't hurt her or anyone Alicia loves.
With slightly tired eyes Alicia got up from the bed and walked to the closet where her hoodie, jeans, underwear, socks and shoes were. She opens her closet and... "Wha...?" Well, her shoes, socks and underwear were in the closet. But her hoodie and jeans were not. "What the?!" she looked all over the guest room for her clothes. She looked on all three beds, on the desk and even in the closet Cuppy was using. But her clothes were nowhere to be found.
She didn't know what to say. Sure, she was wearing pajamas from Elder Kettle, but she didn't want to leave the guest room like that. She was alone because Cuppy was an early riser and already on his feet. Well, he could fall asleep quickly without any problems. Probably a typical Toon behavior. She rolled her eyes annoyed. Yes, sometimes she wished that cartoon logic would work in the real world.
Just lie down in bed, sleep and get up at the desired time without being tired. But that was not the most important thing now. She could think about that later. Right now she had to find out where her clothes were. Until then she didn't want to leave the room.
"All right, let's go through the whole thing again. Where did I put my clothes before I went to bed last night?" She thought and went through the events again. She was with the three cups at the pier after the devil almost managed to take Cuphead's soul, had some fun there and then went home. But Cuphead and Mugman didn't wear their clothes, only their shoes and underwear.
After that, everyone went to bed. Alicia of course took off her clothes and noticed that her hoodie smelled very strong as well as her jeans. "I should probably wash my clothes soon" yes they smelled like powdered sugar and charcoal? "Oh I'll be happy to take them off you my dearest" Elder Kettle looked out the half open door and took the clothes while closing the door behind her. Alicia wanted to say something but she shrugged her shoulders and went to bed.
That solved the mystery of the missing clothes, but one thing still worried her. She hadn't brought any spare clothes. Well, she couldn't take any spare clothes with her because she landed here unintentionally. In the Cuphead book she could travel back and forth because the book serves as a portal. Here, however, they still had to build a portal. That's what Alicia suspected.
And she didn't want to go through the city in her pajamas either. So what should she do now? "Hey do you think Alicia is awake yet?" heard Alicia from outside the guest room. It was Mugman. "Hmm usually she is but I wonder why she hasn't come out of the guest room yet?" Don't tell me the three of them are coming now. She took a step back from the door. All three cups stood in front of the door and opened it and saw the reason why Alicia hasn't come out of the room yet. "Why are you still wearing your pajamas?" Cuphead asked her confused.
Alicia was about to say something when another voice spoke up and answered his question. "Because I washed her clothes" all three cups looked behind them. Or rather they turned their heads so that they looked backwards while their bodies looked the other way. Not creepy at all. The four saw Elder Kettle walking through the living room whistling with a now empty laundry basket. He didn't notice that Alicia was still in her pajamas standing inside the guest room.
Only when he saw her plate on the table with three pancakes did he realize it and went nervously sweating and smiling into the living room. Alicia looked at him with her arms crossed. "I think we'll have to get you some spare clothes, my dear" Oh really? She didn't say anything but nodded "But Elder Kettle she can't run around in her pajamas all day" "And she couldn't go to the city either" both Cuphead and Mugman said. Elder Kettle agreed. Alicia couldn't go out looking like that.
So what should they do? Well, there was a solution for the question of spare clothes that Alicia could wear at the moment. Elder Kettle went upstairs to get the spare clothes. There was a lot of banging and rumbling as he did so. Is he throwing boxes around or did he open a closet with a lot of things in it that fell on him? No one could answer exactly, but Elder Kettle came downstairs with the spare clothes, which he handed to Alicia.
"Seriously you want me to wear your old military suit?" Alicia couldn't believe it when Elder Kettle handed her the suit. She thought it was a joke but he insisted that she should put it on. Okay here goes nothing! And she went into the guest room with the suit to change her clothes and walked out with the Military suit on.
It fit her like a glove as if the suit was made for her. But that was unfortunately only a cartoon logic again. Clothing in cartoons always adapts to the wearer. Whether the wearer was tall, short, fat or thin didn't matter much. The clothes always fit. "Wow!" the three cups were more than speechless when they saw Alicia. Mugman's nose even fell off. Uhh... Alicia and he saw it which is why Mugsy picked it up from the ground and nervously put the nose back on his face as if nothing had happened.
It was clear that the clothes pleased the three cups. However, Alicia did not really know whether she should walk through the city in this suit. She wasn't a soldier, let alone one who could handle a firearm. That the citypeople would be confused could not be ruled out. "Hmm maybe I should go to the city alone and get some new clothes for you Alicia" Oh please not. Elder Kettle suggested to her while he took out a tape measure from behind his back and measured her body.
"But you don't even know what clothes I like?" She knew that the fashion from the 30s was rather monotonous. The women wore either dresses or skirts. Alicia didn't like either. "Oh, don't worry so much, my dearest," said Elder Kettle and went out of his way. The four heard the car's engine and knew he was gone. Oh great. Alicia was less than thrilled about it.
Annoyed, she looked toward the kitchen and saw her clothes hanging on the clothesline outside. That relieved her a bit, which is why she decided to have breakfast first before going outside. That had priority over everything else. But her thoughts were still on the question of what kind of clothes Elder Kettle would buy her.
After all, he was no longer the youngest and very forgetful. Not for nothing Cuphead and Mugman told her and Cuppy some stories. Like, for example, the family photo they had taken. He had promised the two brothers that they would go to the movies and the amusement park afterwards. But unfortunately he didn't keep his promise.
Both brothers were very grumpy with him for a week after that until he took them to the movies and to the amusement park. Only that didn't really calm Alicia down. She didn't suspect that he would forget to buy her clothes, but she feared that he would buy her the wrong clothes.
But what could she do about it? For the moment, nothing. Her hands were tied until Elder Kettle returned. Until then, she could only watch her clothes drying on the clothesline. "Hey Alicia do you want to go out and play a game of football with us?" she couldn't say no to his face as Cuphead brought out his googly eyes again. It was hard for Alicia to say no to that look. "Okay kiddo you win" she said and went outside with the three of them into the backyard.
There, playing became more like watching for her. Alicia just watched the three cups play as they throw the football back and forth. It looked very used and had apparently been repaired many times. The seams were not hard to miss. In fact, it now looked like a small medicine ball on the side of a football. Or maybe it just looked like that from a distance.
Alicia, however, looked over at the clothesline several times and got up every now and then to check whether her clothes were already dry or not. Cuphead's socks were in any case. Her clothes, however, were not. Her hoodie was still wet and dripping a bit. "Really great." Groaning, she went back to the wooden bench she was sitting on before, watching the three cups play, and sat down again, annoyed.
Cuppy caught the football Mugman had thrown him and heard her moan. Concerned, he looked to her and saw Alicia looking dejectedly at the ground. He felt for her and wanted to cheer her up. But how? She was no longer a little girl but a grown-up young lady who was married to the devil from his world. At that time, a bowl of ice cream had been enough to cheer Alicia up. But now? He was at a loss and didn't know what to do.
"Hey Ali wanna bet Cuppy can't hit that branch up there?" both Alicia and Cuppy looked at Cuphead who was pointing up at the branch Cuppy was supposed to hit with the football. "What are we betting?" asked Alicia curiously. Now Cuphead had her curiosity piqued. "Hmm..." Cuphead thought until he thought of something. "If Cuppy doesn't hit the branch, I get your money" Dream on, lad! "And should I hit?" yes that still had to be settled.
Cuphead thought again before continuing to speak. "If Cuppy is lucky, I will clean our room for a week," Mugman liked that a lot, because normally he was the one who always had to clean the room of the two. A break would please him very much. "Okay deal!" both Cupheads shook hands. Alicia watched as Cuppy prepared for the throw. The branch was way up, after all. Almost in the treetops you could say.
As the three watched Cuppy warm up, a bush outside the cottage moved toward it, stopping every so often to observe the situation before the bush arrived at the fence, which was still freshly painted. Well, that's how he looked thanks to the devil. "Oh, it looks beautiful, the fence" said a voice that came from the bush and looked at the fence until the bush jumped over the fence.
Alicia heard something behind her and turned to the fence but saw nothing but the bush. She didn't know if it had always been there. She didn't care, as long as it wasn't the devil or some secret admirer who thought he was going to marry her or something like that.
But unfortunately, neither Alicia nor the three cups did not suspect that this bush was not a normal bush. Well, only in this one there was someone inside. Someone the four unwillingly wanted to see again.
Slowly, two golden horns emerged from the bush. These horns belonged to none other than the devil himself. His yellow glowing eyes looked out of the bush and caught sight of the four. But his two targets were that one cup who owed him his soul who had now lost his invisible sweater and was thus unprotected and Alicia. All she had to do was sign the marriage contract and she would be his.
Already the thought that she will be pleased him very much. The bush shook and shook. Alicia heard this and turned again to the bush, which, however, remained still and was again a normal bush. Something is wrong with that bush. She knew that the flowers here could be alive, but she had never heard of living bushes. Well, she hadn't seen one yet and she didn't want to. But in the bush was now no longer the devil in it. No, he had now hidden behind the house wall with his trident in his hand and peered over it to the four.
"So near and yet so far" the devil wanted her with him. No matter what the cost. But Alicia was stubborn and unfortunately much stronger than him. Well, in terms of magic and so on, but physically he was stronger. So he could easily grab her with his dragon tail and drag her away from the three cups. Or he could cast a spell on her so that she only loved him.
His claws held his trident, which he pointed at her. Alicia did not even notice that the devil was not far away from her. She watched as Cuppy threw the ball upward and hit the branch. The tip of the trident glowed green. The devil was ready to fire at her, but before he could he got a football fired in his face and unintentionally fired the spell that flew back and forth like a bouncy ball. The devil knelt down to dodge the spell that fired against a tree, then against a wheelbarrow, and then against the wall of the house that fired it at Alicia and hit her.
A shiver ran down her spine as she shook herself, wondering if it was just the wind or something else. "Is everything all right Alicia?" from her hand she looked at Mugman and the others who looked at her first worried, then frightened and slowly moved away. "I uh..." she suddenly realized something was wrong. The devil stood up again and looked out from behind the house wall and was also startled like the three cups.
He dropped his trident and slowly walked backwards, tripping on his trident as he did so, causing him to land with it in the bush.
Everything around her suddenly became smaller. First the cups, then the clothesline, and then the cottage as well. "Why did you guys shrink?" "We're not shrinking Alicia" Cuphead answered her. "You're growing!" added Mugman. Yes Alicia grew to a size of 295 feet, much larger than the cottage. She had to bend down to be hidden to some extent. But her horns could still be seen. Unfortunately. "Why are you so big now, Alicia? Did you eat something that made you grow?" asked Cuppy curiously. He knew that Alice could grow taller with the help of cookies. "No, I don't know why I'm suddenly so huge, Cuppy!" said Alicia, as she sat down annoyed. She was glad that she hadn't shrunk to the size of a mouse, but she didn't want to be a giant either.
Fortunately, her clothes have grown with her. Thank god. She was reluctant to have the same experience as the first time she was shrunk. The devil, however, was not very enthusiastic about the matter. Actually, she was supposed to fall recklessly in love with him and not grow insanely big. But he had to admit one thing. She still looked beautiful despite her size. "What do I do now?" she asked as she looked down at the three cups who didn't know what to do themselves.
"Maybe Porkrind can help us?" suggested Cuphead who had an idea. "Do you really think he would have something that could help Alicia shrink back to normal size?" Cuppy wasn't exactly sure, because Porkrind from this world didn't have anything in his store that Porkrind from his world had. Neither the potions with which he and his brother could fire from their fingers nor any other things like the smoke grenade.
It was worth a try, though, because how could they explain to Elder Kettle that Alicia was now bigger than the cottage? He would go into a coma from fear if he saw her as she was now. "Well, we could give it a try and see if he has anything" nodding, the three cups went into the cottage as Alicia blocked the way with her legs, which she was now sitting cross-legged. She knew she couldn't come with them, otherwise chaos would break out on Inkwell Isle. Terrible chaos.
The three cups ran out the front door and turned to Alicia who was behind the cottage looking worriedly at the three. The four did not see or notice the devil. He was hiding in the bush again and waited until he was alone with Alicia. "Don't worry Ali we'll hurry" Mugman and Cuppy nodded and smiled at her although they were worried themselves. Alicia nodded at them and sighed. So much for wanting a day of peace and quiet. Yes, she was not very happy about it. The devil, however, was. Finally he was alone with her and could get her to sign the marriage contract that urgently needed her signature.
In his store, Porkrind enjoyed the silence very much. Today, there were hardly any customers, if any at all. That was because today was Wednesday. A day where hardly to no customers came. So a day ripe for relaxation for him. Therefore he leaned with his chair against the wall, switched on the radio and took a newspaper as well as a pen. He enjoyed the peace and was about to write something in the crossword puzzle when the door opened. Well, not quite opened. It was slammed open by three familiar customers who the pig knew more than too well.
His pleasure very quickly turned into an annoyed groan. "Porkrind we need your help" said Mugman as he and the others walked up to him with worried expressions on their faces. "And that's why you can't open the door like everyone else or what?" all three cups turned to the door which was stuck in the wall, came loose from the door holder and fell over with another bang. "Sorry, but we're in a hurry" "Yes, our friend needs something to shrink back to normal size" Porkrind looked at the three cups in confusion.
"Do I look like I sell magic items and potions?" all three cups nodded and pointed to the potions that were on the left side of the sales counter. "That's hair shampoo, flea powder, and flour!" he turned three of the potions over, each with a symbol on it. "Ohhh" the three cups replied nervously while Porkrind just shook his head. "If you want magic items or anything like that, you'll have to talk to Muru."
"Muru? Who is Muru?" asked Mugman confusedly while Porkrind leaned against the wall again. "He is a wandering merchant who is very well known here on Inkwell Isle's" only the three cups did not know him. "So if you don't mind, could you please go and hook the door back onto the bracket and close the door properly?" but the three slammed the door shut again, causing it to fall to the floor once more. Groaning and rolling his eyes, Porkrind got up, went to the door and fixed it himself before standing behind his sales counter again and working on the crossword puzzle. "I hate these cups."
Thoughtfully, the three cups walked away from the store. The name Muru didn't mean anything to them and that although on the Inkwell Isle's everybody knows almost everybody one could say. But here it was a mystery. Who was this Muru? And above all, where to find him? Unfortunately, the three cups had not considered this when they went into the forest and thought.
While the three cups were thinking about where they would find the mysterious merchant, Alicia had no idea that she was not alone. "Well this is new" Alicia was never normally as tall as she was now. Either she was normal size or she was shrunk to the size of a mouse or a rat.
She had always gotten used to Lucifer placing her on his huge hand while he cuddled with her. But now. "Well, it can't get any worse, can it?" "Oh my dearest it gets even better" she opened her eyes in shock when she heard that. This voice was very familiar to her. Oh no not him again. Alicia knew who the voice that just spoke to her belonged to. One look down and she saw the culprit. Or rather a pain in the ass? No, more like an unwanted lover number, I don't know.
He stood right at her feet and grinned seductively at her. She, however, just rolled her eyes in annoyance and looked away from him. But unfortunately she couldn't stop him from climbing up her leg. Alicia had never had cats as pets, but Soos had cats as pets and especially a lot of kittens. Soos knows that the claws of kittens are sharper than those of adult cats. You can feel that when they slowly crawl up your leg.
Alicia knew that from Soos who had talked again and again in the group chat about the little ones scratching her jeans again. Only that she would feel this herself once Alicia did not suspect until the devil slowly climbed up her left leg like a cat.
She couldn't really do anything because before she knew it he was already sitting on her chest and smiling seductively at her while Alicia unintentionally leaned against the cottage. "Aww why so shy my love?" the devil asked her as he slowly approached her. Me shy? Oh you! "Could you please get off my face?" she pushed him away with one hand but he was persistent and jumped over and approached her. "Oh but my love..." "Stop calling me that I'm not interested in you get it!" annoyed she grabbed him by the tail end and dropped him outside the cottage.
She hoped that he would at least leave her alone, but unfortunately she thought wrong. He was there again, only this time he lay on her head and played with her hair. "You can toss me away as often as you want, I will always come back to you" Yes, certainly Prince Charming. She moaned annoyed when he said that and continued to play with her hair while he devoted himself to her horns. "My goodness your horns look particularly beautiful" Don't say it "Almost majestic" Okay you're done! She grabbed him with her hand, took a swing and flung him into the forest.
He flew deep into the forest until he hit a tree and got his horns stuck in it. His trident also landed against the same tree and was stuck in the tree a little further below him. "I guess we're playing hard to get again my love" he looked down and saw his trident and grinned mischievously.
"Oh great we got lost!" all three cups were still searching for the merchant Porkrind had suggested to them. But that's when it started. Where were they going to find him? They didn't really have a clue. This frustrated the three of them, so they thought about giving up until they remembered that they had to help Alicia, who was still huge.
So they couldn't return either, which frustrated them even more than before. So what should they do now? A good solution should already be found. Only the three of them were busy blaming each other. "You should have asked before we left!" "What? Why are you blaming me for this now?" it was obvious that the situation was not getting better, but rather worse. While the three continued to argue, fog suddenly appeared around them. The three cups noticed it and immediately stopped arguing. "Where did this fog suddenly come from?" Cuppy wondered, while Cuphead and Mugman just shrugged their shoulders. But the fog was not the only thing that suddenly appeared. The three also heard a whistle. A whistle that approached them.
"What is that?" asked Cuphead now clinging to his brother while the two were now shaking. Cuppy, however, was prepared for anything and pulled out his finger pistol. He looked around frantically because the whistling was coming from all directions. Whatever was coming at them could attack from any direction. And Cuppy didn't want to risk that.
But suddenly someone appeared out of the fog right in front of them. A cloaked figure that whistled and began to sing.
A song for the forest, a song for the plains, I sing while I travel across this terrain. I sell my goods to gain my gold, a traveling merchant with much to be sold.
The figure approached the three. Cuppy still drew his finger pistol, which now glowed orange at the tip, while the two brothers trembled even more.
A song for the forest, a song for the plains, through sunshine and snowfall, through thunder and rain, I sell my goods to gain my gold, a traveling merchant with much to be sold!
The figure rose out of the mist and now stood in front of the three cups. Cuphead and Mugman were now hiding behind Cuppy, who was still pointing his finger gun at the figure and waiting to see what would happen next.
A song for the peasants, a song for the kings, I'll sell you potions I'll sell you magic items, come view my goods and you will see I have what you're looking for buy it from me!
Cuppy suddenly realized that something was hidden under the cloak that enveloped the figure. But he did not know what it was.
A song for the peasants a song for the kings, my songs entertain you the songs that I sing, come view my goods and you will see, I have what you're looking for, buy it from me!
With the last verse, the figure pulled down his hood and the three cups saw what was hiding under it.
It was a lion head with a graphite gray coat, white curved horns, a coal black mane that almost resembled coal, a black nose, the ears were white inside, his right eye glowed purple with a slit pupil while his left was blue and blind and a scar ran through it from his left ear to the tip of his nose. The cloak was jet black and covered the rest of his body except for his left hand, both feets and tail.
This saw the three cups and were shocked. It was not a lion's tail but a scorpion's tail. So the figure standing in front of them was not a lion but a Manticore. Its hand and feets had no special features except for the claws that the Manticore had extended. They looked like typical lion paws, nothing more.
The Manticore looked at the three cups with both his eyes before opening his mouth. The pointed teeth were hard to miss. "Three cups," he murmured and smiled. "Yeah, and what's so special about that smiling at us, mister?" asked Mugman in a trembling voice as Cuppy pointed his finger pistol at the Manticore.
The latter, however, only smirked "Well Dear Mugman..." all three cups were shocked when the Manticore mentioned Mugman. "H-h-how do you know my n-n-n-name?" Cuppy and Cuphead also wanted to know and stood in front of their brother. Cuppy's fingertip lit up even brighter than before while a small orange ball formed in front of it. His attack was completely charged.
"Well as a wandering merchant traveling through multiple dimensions you pick up quite a few names" he walked around the three cups. His scorpion tail rustled like a rattlesnake while a greenish liquid came out of the opening at the tip. "And your names are more than familiar" the three cups looked from the tail to the Manticore holding three posters in his hand, each depicting one of the three cups.
Cuphead and Cuppy knew they were wanted by the devil but why would he want the Mugman? He didn't owe him anything? Or did he? The Manticore, however, noticed that the three of them were more than worried when they saw him holding those posters. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not working for the devil or anyone else," the posters burned to dust in his hand.
"I'm just a wandering merchant nothing more" he surveyed his claws as he said this, waiting for a response from the three who had calmed down. But Cuppy was not calmed down yet. "How do we know we can trust you?" "Well, you'll just have to trust good old Muru, whose customers are always happy when he comes around." Wait Muru. That name. The three cups have heard that name before. Hasn't... Yes Porkrind mentioned his name! "You are Muru that Porkrind told us about?" he nodded and looked at the three cups who were not only speechless but also relieved.
Finally they found him and were able to help Alicia grow up again. "Ah, I see the pig brought you to me" all three nodded while Muru smirked and reached for his cloak with his left hand. "Well then, feast your eyes on my wares!" he opened the cloak and the three risked a glance at the part of his body hidden under the cloak.
Under his cloak, Muru wore a black coat behind which his right forearm was hidden, as well as the rest of his torso. From the waist up, he wears medium-length brown pants that were covered with patches and had cracks in many places. Symbols were on this but you could not see through the cracks exactly what it should be.
A black leather belt completed the pants. On the right and left side hung one sheath each, in which there was a weapon. It was not a sword but two sickles. One of which was attached to a long chain that was also attached to the belt. The pants went almost to his knees. Otherwise he did not carry anything worth mentioning.
The eyes of the three cups kept wandering, wondering why Muru was hiding his right forearm. "What's wrong with your right arm?" asked Cuphead curiously. Muru stopped smiling when Cuphead asked him this question. "That's a question I'd rather tell you sometime later" Cuphead nodded and, like the others, looked toward the open side of the cloak where three cloak pockets contained goods. "Well what shall it be gentlemen?".
In one of his pockets there was a small blue vessel flute with a white ring on it with three golden triangles, in another there was a gold shiny jiggy and in the third and last pocket there was a blueprint for a machine called Blast-o-Matic. Of course, the three cups did not seem to be very interested in the goods as Muru thought they were. Only Cuphead thought, was about to reach for the blueprint when Muru closed the cape "Hey!" Cuphead commented annoyed while Muru just smirked even more. "Sorry gentlemen but it seems it's not what you're looking for I guess" unfortunately that was true.
The three were actually here to look for a means to shrink Alicia back to normal size. "Hmm..." Muru thought and opened his cloak again. This time there was only one thing in one of the several cape pockets. "Maybe you are more interested in this" He took the thing out of the cloak pocket and showed it the three cups.
It was a small green bottle with a cork around the neck of which was tied a rope ending with a note that said "Drink me". The three cups did not know what it was. Well, Cuphead and Mugman didn't. Cuppy, however, did. "What's this?" asked Mugman curiously as he reached for it, but Muru pulled his hand away and put the bottle back in his cloak. "This is a potion I got from a land where nothing is as it seems" now the three were even more confused than before. "From living flowers that could talk to a queen who had cards as soldiers and played croquet with flamingos and hedgehogs" Yes, it wasn't hard to figure out that it was Wonderland. Cuppy knew it and was glad that they found a solution for Alicia. "We will gladly accept this potion" he said while Muru smiled.
He opened his cloak and took out the bottle but did not give it to the three because he was a merchant and wanted to be paid for it. But unfortunately the three cups had nothing in their pockets. Alicia was also the only one who had money. "Oh you don't have to pay me with money or gems my friends" his eyes moved to Cuphead who swallowed nervously. "It seems to me that you have something in your pocket" and so it was, but it was nothing valuable, just a stone.
He took this out and showed it to Muru. "Ah, I'm not going to say no to that." The Manticore grabbed the stone and handed the bottle to Mugman. "What are you going to do with this stone?" "Yeah, it's completely useless and not worth anything?" but Muru disagreed and explained to the three of them how his business worked. "Well, you see, my interest is in possessions and not in money," which confused the three.
"I have traveled a long way and currency is not the same everywhere gentlemen" he put the stone away "For you it may be green bills and small round disks but in other places there are more colored gems called rupees, in another world there are small bouncing yellow or blue balls and in another world you pay with bolts" okay that was understandable to the three cups.
But still they were confused. "So from now on we can always pay you with stones?" but the Manticore shook his head. "It's not that simple" he stared at the three with his eyes now starting to glow. His blind eye lit up white. "The payment increases with each purchase" the three swallowed nervously as the Manticore said this. "Since only Cuphead paid me you two need not worry. Because..." suddenly his mane flamed blue and strongly resembled a coal that was glowing. "if you mess with me or try to escape with the good I will get another way of payment" with his right hand he reached for a sickle which he pulled out of the blade and presented to the three cups.
The sickle was small but very sharp and attached to a holder on which was still a rake so you could attach a chain. The blade glowed blue and seemed to be made of crystal or a similar material that was strong enough to cut through anything without breaking. A bandage was wrapped around his right forearm, threatening to slowly come off. Muru noticed it and pulled back the sickle and hid it with his right forearm under his cloak. "I hope that this warning was instructive enough for you," confirmed the nod of the three cups, who understood that he should not be made fun of. "Well then, our business is almost done" he reached into his cloak again and with his left hand took out an envelope with Alicia's name on it.
Cuppy took this and stowed it in his pants pocket. "Give it to her when she's back to normal size" that startled the three a bit "Wait wait how do you know..." but the Manticore had disappeared without a trace in the mist and whistled again while leaving the three cups alone.
Confused, they looked around but didn't see him anywhere and decided to return to Alicia who desperately needed their help. With the bottle in their luggage, the three went back home while Muru watched the three cups from behind a tree and was hidden in the shadows. "Hmm could it really be the Alicia she was talking about?".
Meanwhile, Alicia looked up at the sky and was bored out of her mind. She didn't know what to do except wait for the three cups. But they were already gone for what felt like an eternity. Or so it seemed to her. That the devil was also annoying her with his constant flirting and pick-up lines didn't really please Alicia. But he was gone and she was alone. It could not be better at the moment. But unfortunately, the devil appeared on her chest again, grinning mischievously at her and holding the marriage contract in his hand.
"For the last time No I will not marry you and I will not sign this marriage contract!" she rolled her eyes in annoyance and was about to slap him away but the devil was persistent. "Come on my dearest Alicia sign it and I'll shrink you back to normal size" Are you kidding me? she couldn't take him seriously but he insisted. "In that case I say no Romeo" she refused to sign the contract. "Come on my love" Oh you! "Don't you get it, I'm not in love with you! I'm already married!" she showed him her wedding ring which was also huge and resembled a swimming hoop in size "I'm not wearing this ring for nothing so forget it and find someone else to marry!" she pouted and gave him no attention.
But the devil did not want to give up. No, he saw it as a challenge and wanted to have her for himself. "I could, but unfortunately I've decided for you" Of course you have, "so we can go on like this all day until you decide to sign this marriage contract" she thought it was a joke, but unfortunately it wasn't the case. He was serious. Very serious. "And what if I don't sign this contract?" he didn't know where the three cups were so he couldn't do anything to them.
"Then I'll have to force you to do it, and believe me, my dearest, you wouldn't want anything to happen to the three cups, would you?" her eyes were wide open when he said that. "You wouldn't..." "Oh yes I would" unfortunately he was the devil and yes he would go so far as to endanger the lives of the three cups just so she could marry him. Lucifer would never have gone that far even if Cuppy and his Mugman had slightly damaged his reputation when they had defeated him back then.
But now that their lives were at stake, Alicia was more than worried because, with the exception of Cuppy, neither Cuphead nor Mugman could protect themselves. Only Cuppy still had his sweater to protect him from the devil. Cuphead had lost his and thanks to Mugman it was now in the possession of the devil. It couldn't get any worse, could it? Well, the devil slowly approached her face and grinned even more diabolically than before. He knew that she was thinking and that she would soon give in.
Soon she would be his. But... "Hey leave my best friend alone you fur brush with two horns!" annoyed and angry about the insult the devil growled and looked down to the source of the voice. To his delight, there stood none other than the cup that still owed him his soul and was now unprotected by the missing sweater.
"Don't worry this won't take long my dearest" before Alicia could say anything he flew down with his hand outstretched ready to grab the soul. But as he was about to do so, he received an electric shock so strong that his bones were visible for a brief moment. He stopped getting an electric shock and was slightly burned from head to toe.
The devil didn't know that it was Cuphead, but Cuppy, whom he had just tried to tear the soul out of his body. But he still had his invisible, impenetrable sweater and was thus protected from the devil. This he noticed himself as well as another thing. The fur sweater the devil wore to cover his bald spots came undone, revealing his bare skin. Cuppy and Alicia saw what the devil noticed, which is why he disappeared without hesitation, leaving them alone before Cuphead and Mugman showed up. "Is he gone?" the latter asked the two, who nodded and answered his question. "Luckily, otherwise I would have really signed his marriage contract only to be normal sized again" she didn't want that of course.
That is why Mugman handed her the bottle they had bought from Muru. Seriously? Despite the fact that the bottle was extremely small, she could read the sign that said "Drink me" and felt very screwed. But suddenly the four of them heard Elder Kettle's car slowly approaching the cottage. Now fooling around or getting upset about it didn't help anyone, so Alicia opened the bottle and drank the entire contents, which to her felt like a drop.
Whistling, Elder Kettle walked out of the car he had parked in front of the cottage and returned with two no four full bags of spare clothes he had bought for Alicia. He walked through the gate toward the front door and opened it. "Boys, Alicia I'm back!" he called and opened his eyes. All four of them were sitting in the living room. Alicia was sitting on the sofa with Cuppy, with whom she was cuddling, while Cuphead and Mugman turned their attention to the radio and lay on their bellies on the floor.
"And now we return to our broadcast..." said the voice from the radio until Mugman turned it down so that almost nothing could be heard. "Oh Elder Kettle back so soon?" both brothers asked him with a smile on their faces that could almost be called forced. But Elder Kettle ignored this and turned his attention to Alicia, who was no longer wearing his military uniform but her old clothes, which were dry enough to be put back on.
She and Cuppy looked to him and saw the four full bags with some clothes already peeking out. "Oh, Elder Kettle, I'd be happy to take them off your hands if you want and put them in the guest room" he liked that very much so Alicia took the bags from him and went with them to the guest room while he sat down on the sofa, turned up the radio and closed his eyes. Yes, the day was already very exhausting for him. This also counted for Alicia and the three cups who were glad that everything was back to normal. Alicia was no longer huge, the devil was gone and Elder Kettle knew nothing about it. It couldn't be better.
While the five were resting, Muru, who was holding a glass ball in his hand, was talking to Alicia, who had just come out of the guest room, before he continued talking to the person who was not standing in front of him but was talking to him about the glass ball. "So you're sure she's the right one?" "Yes, she is" confirmed the voice that came out of the sphere and sounded feminine.
"Okay I trust you but do you really think she will get along with your three apprentices? After all, two of them are Christians and if I don't remember they hate any kind of demons" but the other voice contradicted him. "Trust me, I know they'll get along," Muru smirked, "but I still don't understand how she's going to help us find the artifact," the Manticore was confused, and unfortunately didn't get exactly the answer he was hoping for.
The voice just told him that she should trust him. But that was not enough for the Manticore, who put the glass ball, which now showed nothing more, into his big gray backpack, out of which a lot of stuff was already looking and also a lot of stuff was hanging on the outside, like glasses with a glowing ball that had four wings and much more.
He put the backpack on his back before he put his wings which were hidden under his cloak. These were gray and his wing-webs were white. This he stretched out and swung into the air. I really hope she is right. The Manticore was reluctant to let this plan go wrong that he and two others had planned with Alicia unaware. But what she knew now, thanks to Cuppy, was that she would soon be invited to a ball. Not just any ball. The annual Inkwell Ball.
Song: A Marchent's Song by Ronald J. Fontenot