And we are half way through the second Season Arc.
I read some of the other chapters and idk why but Fanfiction likes to remove some texts from my chapter. I hope you understand this isn't my doing as I try to read and fix my chapters too as good as I can ofcourse.
Anyways I hope you like this chapter and could figure out which references I put into it and what the next chapter is
Until then
Deep in the forest, far away from civilization and any inhabitants of the Inkwell Isles, two people were talking under an old, shabby and rather dilapidated-looking tree whose branches almost resembled bony hands rather than, well, branches. Both people were concealed and looked around cautiously. They didn't want to be discovered while they were talking about the business they were conducting. After all, they didn't want everyone to know that there were people in the Inkwell Isles who were involved in the black market. That's why their conversation was kept deep in the forest where they hoped no one would hear them or, in the worst case, find them.
Neither of them wanted to end up in prison. That's why the smaller of the two spoke in a careful voice, "So, you got the stuff?" while looking at his much larger partner, who slowly took his hood down to reveal his face. It was Muru the Manticore who was doing his business here in the forest rather unintentionally. Of course he was often found here, but that didn't mean he did his business in the city. He was just not a friend of the black market. He despised it. But sometimes you have to break the law to get new customers.
He grunted in annoyance as his eyes looked at the customer who was still hoping for an answer from him. The Manticore would prefer to say no, but that would be a lie. "Yeah. I got your stuff you wanted" and opened his cloak from which he took out a box containing the things the customer had asked for. "One box of grenades, Two sacks of gunpowder, a spoon of piano wire and one tube of toothpaste" It was all in the box that the Manticore handed over to the customer. Muru was already confused as to why the customer needed all this stuff. But he didn't care. The main thing was that the customer paid him.
And that's what the customer did in the form of an old, ratty sack containing buttons. Old buttons that were attached to clothes so that they could be buttoned. "Spearmint. Nobody procures black-market goods like you do, Muru" Muru didn't know whether this was a compliment or not. But he did know one thing. He didn't want it to be known and kept the customer's mouth shut while he said quietly.
"Shh! Don't use my name! I want to keep my business out of the black market!" Yes, the Manticore was glad that the police weren't after him. But he didn't want to tempt his luck and decided to keep the whole thing a secret. The customer understood and was about to say something when he and Muru suddenly heard someone approaching them. Full of panic, the customer ran off with his goods while Muru spread his wings from his coat and flew away. "Damn, I must fly more with my wings or they'll sprain!" Yes, the Manticore hadn't flown for a long time and felt how exhausting it was for his wings to drag him.
However, Muru didn't realize that he had dropped something while he was flying away. But who exactly were they running from? Well, it wasn't the police, but two small children. Well, to be more precise, it was Cuphead and Cuppy. Both had just come back from the city and were dragging shopping bags in a trolley behind them.
Well, Cuppy pulled it behind him while Cuphead sat in the trolley and read his comic "How much longer until we finally get back to the cottage?" he asked Cuppy, who was just glad that he didn't have to run up another hill while he had to carry extra weight in the form of Cuphead. You could guess that Cuphead hadn't pulled the trolley himself once since they left town. No, he made himself comfortable and even lay down while Cuppy did all the work.
"If you hadn't slept and lain in the trolley the whole time, we would have been home long ago!" complained Cuppy, who was at the end of his tether and stopped pulling the trolley. Sensing this, Cuphead lowered his comic and saw Cuppy take a shopping bag from the trolley, ready to walk the rest of the way on his own.
He knew that Cuppy would no longer pull him and was visibly annoyed. "Hey, am I supposed to push the rest by myself?" Cuppy didn't answer his question but walked further annoyed and continued to ignore him. This didn't please Cuphead, who then jumped off the trolley and pulled it behind him, shouting at Cuppy to keep pulling the trolley.
However, Cuphead didn't realize as he continued to follow Cuppy that he was stepping on something and losing his balance while standing on said object and trying not to fall. But he lost his balance and fell down while the handle of the trolley fell on his head. "Ow!" said Cuphead, rubbing his head as he looked at the object he had been balancing on the whole time. It was a red bottle with a cork instead of a bottle cap and a label stuck on it. He read this out while Cuppy, who heard Cuphead's cry of pain, went over to him and saw him pick the bottle up from the floor and read the label out loud.
"Body-swapping elixir for natural needs" well, what do you need something like that for anyway? Cuphead wouldn't know and Cuppy certainly wouldn't. He only knew that this elixir would bring them nothing but trouble. That's why he snatched it out of Cuphead's hands before he could pull the cork out of the bottle. "Hey!" Of course Cuphead was annoyed and wanted to know why Cuppy had taken the bottle away from him even though he hadn't done anything. "I know exactly what you had in mind Cuphead and believe me we'd better give this bottle to Blood where it's in safe hands" Cuppy emphasized the safe hands with a more serious tone.
But Cuphead didn't understand and tackled Cuppy to the ground to get the bottle from him. Both were behaving like two toddlers fighting over a toy that they both wanted to play with. "Get off me!" grunted and croaked Cuppy as he tried to get Cuphead off him. "Only when you give me this bottle!" he demanded. Only then would Cuppy be free. But Cuppy didn't even think about it and kicked and punched Cuphead while he did the same to him.
The cork came off the bottle and the contents poured out, spilling onto both cups. The substance was reddish and seemed more slimy than liquid. The liquid also glistened. "Great look what you've done!" growled Cuppy as he tried to get the slime off his body. "It's supposed to be my fault? You pulled the cork!" Cuphead accused him as he removed his own head from his body and removed the remaining slime that had landed in his head.
"It doesn't matter who was to blame, we'd better go back home and bring the things to Elder Kettle before he punishes us." Cuppy didn't want to discuss it any further because he was already annoyed and just wanted to take a shower to get rid of the slime he couldn't reach, such as his handle. "Oh yeah, and what do we do then? Do we get bored again or try to do something with Alicia again? Your life must be really boring Cuppy" Cuppy stopped when he heard that from Cuphead "I'd hate to spend a day in your body just to experience how boring it must be" that was enough for Cuppy.
"Oh like being in your body would be much better!" Cuppy chewed "I doubt very much that your life would be much better than mine if you knew what I had to go through to protect the souls of me and my brother!" he had a good point about that. Cuphead didn't know what Cuppy had to go through before he and Alicia ended up here. He had to collect soul contracts from debtors, had to fight a casino staff and their manager, Lucifer, the keeper of the ingredients and a mad baker.
He had no idea and wanted him to know that a stay in prison and an angry mob was enough for him? Hardly. "You wouldn't even last a day if you were in my shoes" he was quite sure that Cuphead wouldn't last a second. But Cuphead scoffed "Okay then, let's make a bet" and held out his hand. "If you don't manage to live my life by sundown tomorrow, you have to clean my laundry for a week" Cuppy was a little disgusted and asked "Also the..." he swallowed and didn't want to blurt it out but Cuphead's nod confirmed what he wanted to say.
"Yes, those clothes too," he mentioned again with a nasty grin. However, he knew that Cuppy would ask for something else if he didn't win the bet. "And if I win, you have to do my chores for a week" now Cuphead swallowed nervously "Wait does that mean I have to do my own chores as well?" Cuppy's nod confirmed it.
Cuphead wasn't sure about that. Should he really risk it? On the one hand, he wanted to prove to Cuppy that he wasn't always right. But on the other hand, he had the feeling that he would regret it. But knowing him, Cuphead was happy to take risks. "Deal!" he said and both cups shook hands before walking the rest of the way back home.
Both were already looking forward to tomorrow. At least then it will be clear once and for all which of the two was the better one. Or something like that. But what the two of them didn't know was that they had still left the bottle with the slimy substance coming out of it. A squirrel and a frog noticed the slimy liquid and took a closer look. Curious, the two approached the bottle and smelled the liquid before the frog decided to taste it with its tongue. The squirrel followed suit and took some in his paws to taste the liquid too.
You could see that they both expected more from the liquid. Disappointed, they both went on their way until suddenly their bodies began to glow red. Both twitched briefly before looking around in confusion. The squirrel's eyes squinted for a moment before it decided to move on. Well, the squirrel didn't walk normally but hopped like a frog and also made the noises of a frog. The frog, on the other hand, also behaved strangely as he didn't hop but walked on all fours and tried to climb up a tree, which didn't really work as he kept slipping and ended up lying on his back like a turtle.
The squirrel also seemed to have problems. When it tried to chase a fly, it opened its mouth and wanted to stick out its tongue as frogs normally do. But the squirrel's tongue was unable to do so. So it pursued the fly and kept trying to catch it with its tongue while the frog kept trying to climb up the tree. It was as if they had swapped bodies after coming into contact with the liquid. But Cuphead and Cuppy didn't seem to be affected yet. Both were still in their bodies and arrived at the cottage after what felt like an eternity. "Finally, it's taken almost an eternity to drag you on!" Cuppy replied while his eyes looked at Cuphead who was still lying on the trolley and seemed to have fallen asleep.
Seriously? Now he's sleeping?! Cuppy couldn't believe it and decided to wake up the sleeping cup with a trick he liked to use on Alicia when she was smaller and even harder to get out of bed. He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out an alarm clock. He turned it a little and set it down next to Cuphead, who was still fast asleep. The alarm clock ticked before it started to ring, jumping up and down as it usually did in cartoons. The only thing missing was Cuphead hitting the alarm clock with a mallet and going back to normal sleep.
But instead, Cuphead jumped in fear and asked wildly what that loud noise was until the front door opened behind him and he realized he was standing in front of the cottage. "Really now?" said Lucifer, who was standing in front of the front door and just rolled his eyes as Cuphead looked up at him nervously before getting out of the trolley.
Lucifer wasn't so annoyed because of the action with the alarm clock or because he saw Cuphead lying in the trolley. No, he was more annoyed because Alicia had just been sleeping soundly on his chest and was woken up by the alarm clock. "Sorry Mr. Lucifer I didn't mean to disturb you" of course Lucifer rolled his eyes even more when he heard this. He had been living here for two or three weeks and almost everyone called him by his first name. Except Cuphead, who liked to put Mister in front of his name. Especially when he was as nervous as he was now. "I see you're back from shopping" Cuppy nodded his head in reply while Cuphead lagged behind but nodded as well.
The trolley was full of shopping bags. Lucifer was happy with it and took two full shopping bags in his arms and went into the little house with them. He walked past Alicia, who rubbed her eyes sleepily and wanted to help carry the shopping into the cottage. But she was prevented from doing so by a devil's tail that had wrapped itself around her waist and pushed her back to the couch.
Confused and slightly tired, she looked at him and then at the owner of the tail. Alicia might still be slightly tired but that didn't stop her from helping to bring the shopping into the house. But when she tried to get up, the tail pushed her back onto the couch, which annoyed Alicia considerably. "Lucifer, I can help, can't I?" but Lucifer shook his head and gave her no answer.
"Lucifer?" she asked again but her husband was stubborn and continued to ignore her while he brought the last two shopping bags into the house. Cuppy took the trolley to the shed behind the cottage and Cuphead sat down in the armchair and breathed out a sigh of relief. But he couldn't rest for long because Lucifer was standing behind the armchair and seemed less than pleased that the cups were now interrupting his time with Alicia. Alicia herself was asleep again on the couch with her head on a pillow, oblivious to the whole thing.
She didn't realize that Lucifer had just taken Cuphead upstairs to his room so that he could spend more time with her without being disturbed by anyone. Hoping it was quiet now, Lucifer took Alicia in his arms and lay down on the couch with her. Alicia felt his fur and rubbed her head deeper into it in satisfaction. This delighted Lucifer, who couldn't help but purr.
He liked it when Alicia burrowed into his fur like a mole in the ground. He only felt this sensation when she was with him. You would think it was as if he craved it. But in reality it wasn't like that. Alicia was just showing that she had missed him very much during the time they had been apart. Oh, how often she had dreamed of feeling his fur again, of being with him and feeling safe. But this time it wasn't a dream. This time she felt it and was glad about it. She was happy to be reunited with her husband. And Lucifer was also happy to be reunited with Alicia. His lips kissed gently over her head while his fingers caressed Alicia's stomach and slowly moved to her cheek. His other hand continued to clutch her stomach.
It was clear that he didn't want to lose her. Not again. He wanted her with him at all costs. So he always stayed with her, or at least within reach. Of course, he didn't follow her into the bathroom when she was undressing to wash or when she was changing her clothes. He wasn't that clingy after all. Alicia was very happy about this because she knew that the devil wouldn't care and would just barge in unannounced. But he wasn't here and Alicia was glad about that. At last she had some peace and quiet from him and could enjoy it.
However, before Alicia and Lucifer could finally be happy to be together again, the oh-so-beautiful silence was disturbed by none other than Cuphead, who didn't exactly go down the stairs quietly, but rather with a loud stomp. Lucifer's eyes twitched each time Cuphead walked down the stairs one step at a time. Alicia, of course, woke up to the noise and asked in a sleepy voice who was making such a racket until her eyes turned to Cuphead and gave herself a face palm.
Well, she rather buried her face in Lucifer's fur as her hand was not free but trapped under Lucifer's body. So it should be called a body palm rather than a face palm. "Cuphead!" grumbled Alicia as the cup looked straight at the two of them, confused. "Can't you walk down the stairs normally and not stomp around like a rhino?" Cuphead was about to say something, but before he or the others could say anything, they heard a throat clearing and looked towards the window.
Almost ironically and typically for cartoons, there was a rhinoceros in front of the window. It had heard what Alicia had said and felt addressed by the statement. Alicia swallowed and smiled nervously at the rhino as she tried to apologize to it. But no sound came out of her mouth and the rhino was gone before Alicia could even get a word out. Lucifer sensed that Alicia felt guilty. She didn't want to offend the rhinoceros. But she couldn't think of anything else she could use as an example. Cuphead wasn't as heavy as a rhino, but he still walked down the stairs as if he were one.
"Sorry Ali," Cuphead apologized before going into the kitchen. Lucifer looked after him and saw that Cuphead had taken a container of ice cream from the fridge, which he devoured with a spoon. Lucifer could only shake his head and thought nothing of it. He knew from Alicia that this Cuphead behaved differently from Cuppy. However, he didn't care about the cup's behavior for the time being. At least for the moment. The important thing was that Alicia was feeling better than she was now.
At the moment, she rested her head on Lucifer's chest and was on the verge of tears. Her eyes slowly filled with tears that were ready to flow down Alicia's cheeks. But it didn't happen as Lucifer's fingers caught her tear and stroked Alicia's back tenderly and gently. Alicia felt it and looked at Lucifer with watery eyes. He looked at her with a reassuring look and grinned. It wasn't the Cheshire Cat grin but rather a neutral, reassuring one. One that told Alicia that everything was fine and she didn't need to worry.
"It's all right, my love" he continued to stroke her and wiped away the next tear that ran down Alicia's cheek "You're not to blame" she felt him kiss her forehead. The kiss was warm and felt comforting. Alicia liked it and didn't feel so bad anymore. She was happy and back to her old self. That made Lucifer very happy.
Time passed and before the others knew it, it was already dark outside. Alicia didn't notice because she was fast asleep and was no longer lying on the couch with Lucifer but in the guest room. Blood, Varian and Cuppy were also in their beds, fast asleep. Cuphead and Mugman were also in their beds, fast asleep. You could hear the two cups snoring. But the others heard nothing of it. It was peaceful in the cottage, as it usually was every night. However, a bright white, almost yellow glow suddenly appeared from the window of the two brothers' bedroom and the guest room.
The beam of light could be seen from outside until it disappeared and could no longer be seen. But where it came from and what the reason for it was would soon be explained.
It was the next day.
Slowly, Cuppy's eyes opened, which were just so tired. Yes, he didn't seem to have slept very well, which confused him as he was always able to sleep well. Of course the guest bed he slept in wasn't as soft as his own. But he still couldn't complain. However, he wondered why he felt so bad until he opened his eyes and knew why.
He was no longer lying in bed in the guest room but in Cuphead and Mugman's bedroom. The red comforter with patches at the end, the pirate flag, the ladder to the top bunk with a piece of the cold gray comforter visible and the two doors were hard to miss. Just like the murmur that sounded from the top bunk.
Cuppy didn't know what was going on or why he was here. Had he and Cuphead swapped beds last night? He didn't remember and decided to get up to ask Cuphead if he knew anything about it. But it didn't come to that. When Cuppy tried to put the comforter aside with his hands, he saw that he was wearing yellow gloves instead of his usual white ones. "What the?" he was startled and jumped out of bed without hesitation and went to the mirror next to the dresser to look at himself in the mirror.
He really hoped it was a bad joke from Cuphead but it wasn't. When Cuppy looked at himself in the mirror, he realized that he was no longer in his body but in Cuphead's body. His eyes widened in fear while his pupils shrank to the size of a pea. He didn't want to believe it but he clearly felt the slap on his cheek.
So it wasn't a dream, it was real. Cuppy stuttered with every second that passed and didn't realize that Mugman had been woken up. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked at Cuppy and asked him "Cuphead why are you standing in front of the mirror and why are you stuttering like crazy?" The mug didn't get an exact answer. Well, you couldn't really count shouting as an answer because Cuppy was doing it and it scared the hell out of Mugman.
"Cuphead why are you shouting at me like that, I haven't done anything to you?" you could hear the fear in his voice. Cuppy, however, didn't quite seem to get it until it clicked in his brain and he knew that Mugman wanted an answer to his sudden shouting. "Well... I..." he didn't know what to say himself and looked several times at himself in the mirror and at Mugman who was hiding anxiously behind his pillow.
His pupils were huge and his straw bent backwards. Not like Cuphead, but similar. Cuppy felt bad about it and decided to tell Mugman why he was behaving like this. "I'm not Cuphead, I'm Cuppy" he hoped that statement would be enough. But Mugman seemed to see the statement more as a joke and stared at Cuppy in annoyance rather than fear.
"Yes of course and I am the Queen of England" Cuppy sensed the sarcasm in Mugman's words and already suspected that his statement would not be of much use. "But I am Cuppy. I'm just in Cuphead's body" Mugman stared skeptically at Cuppy and grabbed his chin before answering. "Oh yeah sure you are Cuppy" the sarcasm was hard to miss "You're wearing his black long sleeved sweater, white gloves, red pants and brown shoes".
As Mugman said this, he held in his hands Cuphead's clothes, which didn't quite match Cuppy's. "And clearly your skin is also light gray and not beige!" Yes, Mugman was clearly right. Cuppy had a hard time proving that he wasn't Cuphead. Or could he?
Apparently Cuphead had just gotten up and noticed that he was no longer lying in his bed. You could hear him screaming from downstairs. So Cuppy and Mugman didn't hesitate for long and ran downstairs to the guest room, where the scream was coming from. They both looked into the guest room and saw the chaos. Alicia was lying in the arms of Lucifer, who was also confused. His pupils had shrunk. But not from fear, more from shock. Blood and Varian were no longer lying in bed but had gotten up and seemed to be about to do something when Cuppy suddenly started screaming and startled the others.
"Cuppy why did you..." "I'm not Cuppy, I'm Cuphead!" Varian interrupted. The fox remained silent while the wolf scratched his head thoughtfully and asked the confused and frightened cup a question. "So if you're not Cuppy then answer me the following question" the others were silent and all waited for Blood's question. This question was not just any question, but one that could determine whether the person in front of you was the real one or not.
After all, it could be a work of the devil to lead Alicia astray or to get the souls of both Cupheads. The group didn't want to risk either, which is why they designed these questions just in case. "Do you like marzipan?" It was a stupid question. Alicia knew that. "Of course I like marzipan" Okay, not Cuppy but Cuphead. Alicia knew this because, unlike John and his Mugman, she and Cuppy hated marzipan. "Yuck, who likes the marzipan?" It was now more than obvious which of the two Cupheads was which. Alicia looked from Cuphead who was in Cuppy's body to Cuppy who was in Cuphead's body. Now that this was settled once and for all, only one question remained. "How the hell did you two even manage to swap bodies?" Alicia wanted to know just as much as the others.
Mugman especially as he was quite frightened when his brother shouted at him. He was still very anxious and clung to Alicia's leg like a frightened child about to go to the dentist. She felt for him and stroked his head gently. Literally, because otherwise she would reach into the liquid with her hand. Although Alicia had always wondered what kind of liquid was in the heads of the three cups. Milk, perhaps? Alicia was too shy to ask and preferred not to. After all, there was something much more important than asking that at the moment. Just like Alicia, the others were also waiting for an answer from both Cupheads.
"Well we found a bottle of body swap elixir on the way here and accidentally opened it" Cuppy in Cuphead's body explained, staring angrily at Cuphead who was sweating nervously in Cuppy's body and nodding in agreement. "Wasn't Cuphead?" Cuppy replied again with clear sarcasm. "Y-yes, certainly," she replied, sweating even more nervously than before. He hoped the others weren't looking at him as angrily as Cuppy was.
But that was not the case. In fact, Alicia and the others were more or less confused. They didn't know what a body-swapping elixir was. Well, Alicia, Varian, Lucifer and Mugman didn't anyway. Blood, on the other hand, did. And as Alicia could already guess, it wasn't a good thing. Please don't tell me it's the same as the happy ending potion from Shrek 2. Alicia knew what this would mean and was reluctant to go on an adventure that would end in her either being back in the underworld and having to escape the devil or the group encountering unwanted islanders.
"If that's the case, you'll need the counter-potion to get back into your bodies," Blood muttered in a loud voice as he thought and asked the two cups who had given them the potion in the first place. But the question answered itself. Blood knew who they might have gotten the elixir from and gave himself a face palm while shaking his head.
He knew who had given them the potion and he also knew where they would get the counter-potion. From none other than Muru the Manticore. An old acquaintance of Blood. However, Alicia noticed from the look on his face that Blood was not on good terms with Muru. Or rather, they didn't seem to be the best of friends, but they at least got on well enough not to refuse each other's help.
But it was difficult to find out where the Manticore was. You could search the whole island and still not find him. But Blood wouldn't be Blood if he didn't know one thing about the Manticore that he always carries with him. Because Muru likes to collect certain things that are either dangerous or capable of destroying entire worlds. Be it magical stones that are able to summon ancient powers, weapons that are able to bring about the end of the world or even creatures that were considered world destroyers. And it was precisely the latter that Blood had in one of his belt pouches.
The wolf had wanted to destroy this creature for a long time because it threatened to destroy his home if he hadn't captured it and locked it in a crystallized prison the size of a tennis ball that can only be opened with an ancient spell. But it never came to that and he would need the help of two other wizards to do the whole thing anyway. But at the moment, something else was more important than that. After all, both Cupheads had to take the potion before midnight or they would be stuck in each other's bodies forever.
Blood didn't really have to say anything to tell the others. They knew and were aware of the situation. But Blood didn't want to go and check on Muru alone. So the group decided to split into two groups. Alicia stayed here with the three cups and made sure that Cuphead and Cuppy stayed in the cottage and didn't go into town somehow. Blood, Varian and Lucifer, on the other hand, were looking for Muru to get the counter-potion from him.
"And that's very important." Blood repeated as he looked at Alicia and the others. "No one must know that Cuphead and Cuppy have swapped bodies and must not leave the cottage until the counter-potion is in my hands." Alicia and the three cups nodded, understanding how serious the matter was. It was very important that nobody found out about this, otherwise it would lead to problems that were very difficult to explain. Especially with the inhabitants of the Inkwell Isles.
That's why Blood and the others tried to get the job done quickly and went past Elder Kettle, who was sitting in his chair and reading the newspaper without saying anything. He just looked confused and continued reading his newspaper. "I really hope nobody finds out about this," sighed Alicia, lying down on her bed and not realizing that someone had overheard the whole thing. Someone she would have preferred not to meet at all while she was here in this world.
It was the devil. He grinned cheerfully and diabolically at the same time when he heard this and had developed a terrific evil plan to get Alicia to join him without this stupid copy standing in his way. "Oh my dearest Alicia, soon you will be mine and we will rule the Inkwell Isle's together" he was very much looking forward to putting this plan into action. And he already knew how.
His gaze wandered from Alicia to the two cups that still owed him their souls. With a diabolical grin that grew wider and wider, the devil disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Cuphead and Cuppy had no idea what kind of danger they were in when there was a sudden knock at the front door. They both looked at each other. Were Blood and the others back so soon? Cuppy was skeptical and had a bad feeling. He didn't want to open the door as long as he didn't know whether it was really Blood and the others or someone else.
His eyes were fixed directly on the door that suddenly opened. Cuppy was startled and almost had a panic attack as he thought back to the day when Alicia had first turned into a demon and Lucifer came to Cuppy's house with his brother and Elder Kettle. But his fear of Lucifer had subsided since he married Alicia. He even got on very well with him despite the fact that he was collecting soul contracts. But Cuppy feared that the devil was at the door. He feared that he was here to take the souls of him and Cuphead and get his hands on Alicia.
However, someone completely different was standing outside the front door. It was an ice cream vendor. "Hello there!" said the anthropomorphic black goat with dark yellow horns in the ice cream seller's outfit. He was wearing a white shirt, a white cap with a pin on which was a waffle with three scoops of ice cream and a waffle roll, black trousers that were partly covered by a red and white striped apron.
"Uhhh..." "Ice cream?" Cuphead pushed Cuppy aside into the doorway while staring at the ice cream vendor with googly eyes like a dog begging for food. His tongue, or rather Cuppy's since Cuphead was still trapped in his body, was already halfway out and yes, he was panting like a dog. The seller was pleased that at least one of the two cups was interested in the ice cream. "Well, I see we have a lucky customer who gets to try our free ice cream," Cuppy's eyes lit up as he ran his tongue or Cuphead's over his lips while asking the ice cream vendor if he had made a mistake.
But the vendor didn't bluff and held an ice cream in each of his hands that was intended for Cuphead and Cuppy. Well, one was a cone with three scoops and the other was a Popsicle. The scoops were in the colors blue, red and white while the Popsicle was striped red and white like Cuphead and Cuppy's straw.
They both stared at the cone with the three scoops and the popsicle with thick round pupils before the vendor handed it to them. Cuphead and Cuppy couldn't believe what was happening. They were getting free ice cream and no one was getting upset. Well, normally Cuppy would be upset, but you don't say no to free ice cream. They both licked their ice cream and wanted to go into the cottage. But that didn't happen because the tongues of both cups stuck to the ice cream and didn't come off. Cuphead and Cuppy tried several times to free their tongues but they stuck to the ice cream. "My tongue..." stammered Cuppy while Cuphead pulled at his ice cream and slapped it in his face before trying again to remove the ice cream from his tongue.
"I can't get the ice cream off my tongue!" Annoyed, they both tried several times to remove the ice cream from their tongues, but without much success. The ice cream seller saw this and grinned diabolically before he started to laugh. "Hey, what's so funny?" asked Cuphead as he turned to the vendor, the ice cream dangling from his tongue like a bell around a cow's neck.
Cuppy also turned angrily to the sales clerk and wanted to ask what was so funny about it. However, the two cups noticed that the seller was no ordinary ice cream vendor. As he laughed, his voice slowly changed and so did his appearance to the devil. Both cups screeched or somehow tried to be loud enough for Alicia and Mugman to hear.
However, their tongues were so frozen that they weren't even able to say anything. This didn't please the two of them, but it did please the devil, who made the ice cream cart disappear with his trident before he turned his attention to the two cups, which were trembling with fear and ran to the door with slow steps at first that turned into fast ones.
But before they could even reach the door, it slammed shut as if by magic in front of the two cups. "Hey, let us in!", "Alicia, Mugman!" the two tried to say before they were grabbed by the collar by the devil. He stared both cups deep in the eyes and grinned diabolically. "You two will come with me nicely and bring my dearest Alicia to me whether you like it or not" Cuppy glared angrily at the devil while Cuphead tried to swallow nervously. They both knew they were in a difficult situation and didn't know what to do.
There was nothing they could do at the moment anyway and the devil liked it. He liked it when he had the upper hand and could see how desperate the people were. It made him laugh. So he couldn't help it and laughed before disappearing with the two cups in his luggage. Alicia and Mugman knew nothing about it. Neither of them knew that both Cupheads were gone until the front door suddenly opened and a curious Mugman came out and looked around "Hey wait I want..." but was interrupted by a note that Mugman stepped on with his left shoe.
"Huh, what's this?" Curious, he picked up the note and read through it. His eyes followed the words and with every second his pupils dilated and his mouth opened in shock before he ran into the cottage and called for Alicia in a panicked voice. "Alicia! Alicia!" he shouted and ran into the guest room where Alicia was lying in her bed and had just fallen asleep until she was woken by the creaking door and the panicked Mugman telling her what had happened.
However, he was talking so fast that Alicia couldn't understand anything and asked him to calm down and explain to her slowly and calmly what was going on. Mugman followed her instructions and calmed down before continuing to speak and explaining what was going on. "Can you give me the note?" Mugman handed her the note, which Alicia read through. The note said the following.
To my dearest Alicia,
if you are looking for the two cups. Both are in my kingdom and will lose their souls in a few hours unless you come to me my dearest and become my wife and queen. Then I will spare the two cups.
Kind regards
Your sweetheart and future husband
The devil.
Alicia's eyes widened when she read that. Her heart was pounding just like her nostrils. Only not from shock but from anger. Yes, she was angry that the devil was blackmailing her and risking the lives of the two cups as if it were nothing. She was very worried about them and blamed herself for not being able to prevent it. But she was able to save them to prevent worse. Even if she had to go to the underworld to do so. "Are you out of your mind Alicia?!" Mugman asked Alicia as she transformed into her demon form and was ready to go to the underworld. Her trident lay ready in her hand, ready to teleport. However, Alicia couldn't yet as Mugman clung to her leg and begged her with tear-filled eyes not to go.
But Alicia was stubborn and told him that unfortunately she had to do this. And she had to do it alone, just like the last sentence in the letter said. In small print, of course. "I would love to take you with me, Mugsy, but..." she sighed as Mugman clutched her leg even tighter and started to cry. He wasn't making her decision any easier. If anything, it made her feel worse. But again, she doesn't want to take him to the underworld. Who knows what will happen then. Maybe he would even take Mugman hostage just to threaten Alicia even more and force her to marry him.
No, she didn't want that. She didn't want Mugsy to be in danger either and looked down at him with a sad expression. "But I can't risk the devil doing something to you too." She knelt down so that she was at the same eye level as Mugman. Her hand caresses her cheek tenderly, soothing the mug a little so that he lets go of her leg and she was ready to teleport.
"Promise me one thing though" Mugman heard and looked at Alicia with a curious and worried expression on his face. He knew that Alicia had one more thing on her mind that she wanted to let go of before she disappeared. "Please let Blood and the others know where I am if I'm not back within the hour," she gave him a kiss on the forehead as Mugman nodded and promised her he would.
She knew she could rely on him and disappeared in a cloud of blue-grey smoke. Mugman sighed and sniffled as he wiped away his tears and granted Alicia's request. However, Blood and the others had not yet returned.
He, Varian and Lucifer were still searching the forest for Muru the Manticore. "Where could this Muru be?" asked Varian as he looked behind a tree. Lucifer flew over the forest in his dragon form and landed next to the two "I flew over the forest several times but saw nothing of the Manticore" he mentioned as he transformed back into his normal form.
Blood thought before he gave his answer. He knew the Manticore and knew that it tended to withdraw rather than seek the company of others. The Manticore was a loner like Blood. But the two were very different. Blood served the royal family while the Manticore was independent. Muru was very secretive and revealed nothing about himself. Even Blood didn't know everything about him. He only knew that Muru sold things that came from different dimensions and worlds.
He didn't know exactly how he got the things. Some of the potions Muru offered for sale were brewed by Blood. But the body immersion elixir didn't come from him, but from a person called Fairy Godmother. He didn't know who the person was. But one thing was clear. This person knew nothing of the consequences of brewing potions and was only after the money. Each potion must give a hint when it is sold on how to make this effect of the potion retroactive. In other words, for every potion you sell, you must also sell an antidote. Unless you want the effect of the potion to last forever. And Blood knew that nobody wanted that.
So Blood hoped that Muru had an antidote. But the Manticore had to appear first. "Oh, are you looking for me?" the three heard the voice and looked behind them from where the Manticore appeared. His gaze wandered from Lucifer and Varian to Blood. He smiled at him. "Ah Blood my brother," the wolf rolled his eyes in annoyance while Lucifer and Varian looked confused at the statement.
Neither of them knew what the Manticore meant by that. But Blood did, and it hurt him a lot to explain it to them. "How many times Muru I'm not your brother" "Oh yes we are" the Manticore spoke back to the wolf and put his arm on his shoulder. The wolf growled softly and tried to ignore Muru. Well, as best he could. "So why are you here?" the Manticore asked as his eyes looked from Blood to Lucifer and Varian. He was not afraid of the former. Muru knew that Lucifer was the devil from the world Cuppy came from. However, he was friendly and not like the devil from this world. And he knew that Lucifer would not harm him.
"Well, we're here to ask you if you have an antidote potion for this," Varian reached into Blood's belt pouch and retrieved the potion with the body-swap elixir, which he handed to Muru. The latter opened his eyes in shock. On the one hand, the Manticore was glad to have the missing bottle back in his possession. "Oh thank you so much I was looking for this potion" Muru took the potion from Varian's hand and quickly realized that it was empty.
He was about to ask why it was empty. But the looks on the others' faces explained to him what the problem was and why they needed the antidote. Apparently something had happened. Something bad. "Well, I still have a potion" Muru looked in his coat and searched for the antidote while Blood thought about who the "fairy godmother" was.
Again, there were more important things to sort out at the moment than finding out who the fairy godmother was and why Muru had such a dangerous potion in his assortment. "Here," the Manticore pulled the antidote from his coat. It also had a label with the name and manufacturer of the potion on it. Blood was about to grab the bottle and take it when Muru pulled it back and demanded something from the wolf. He already suspected what it might be and rolled his eyes in annoyance.
Muru wanted to enter into a partnership with Blood to sell several more potions. However, Blood didn't like this at all. He wasn't anyone's business partner and certainly not Muru's. However, at the moment he had no choice but to agree. "Okay, it's a deal!" and shook the hand of the Manticore, who was happy to do business with Blood.
So much so that he not only gave Blood the potion but also a list of potions that the Manticore demanded of him. "I can rely on you, can't I, partner?" Blood made no comment. He was about to freak out if Lucifer hadn't calmed him down. "Don't worry, we'll take care of it as soon as we get back home," Lucifer assured him before disappearing in a puff of smoke with Blood and Varian.
The three of them were no longer standing in the forest in front of the Manticore but in front of the cottage and decided to share the good news that they had found the antidote. However, there was bad news when Varian opened the door and was the first to see the sniffling Mugman lying on the couch. There was no sign of Alicia and the two Cupheads. The three of them were very surprised. Especially Lucifer, who was even more worried than before. "Mugsy, where are the others?" Varian asked as he went over to Mugman and calmed him down while the mug continued to cry, losing the note he was holding in his hand. The note landed right at Lucifer's feet.
"Huh?" Curious, he picked up the note and read through it while Blood also calmed Mugman down. The latter calmed down a little and at least stopped crying. Lucifer, on the other hand, was furious and burned the note. He knew what had happened. "Lucifer, what are you up to?" Blood asked as he noticed the former appear with his trident in his hand and slowly raise it as if ready to teleport. Or so it seemed. But in reality he wasn't planning to teleport but something completely different.
Alicia, who had assumed her demon form, appeared from a cloud of smoke in the devil's throne room. The devil sat cross-legged on his throne and stared at Alicia with seductive eyes. He liked her demon form. Her fur, the horns that could perhaps do with a yellow tint, her tail, her claws and above all her eyes turned him on. She was perfect. And not just in appearance, but also in her strength. She had enormous powers that the devil only dreamed of possessing again. In general, he had had one of these powers. But they were stolen from him. That's why Alicia was the only way to get them back.
All she had to do was marry him and get her blood. Only then would he regain his powers. How he got her to do that was still a matter of time.
Alicia, on the other hand, was furious. Not because the devil had lured her here, but because he had dared to lock Cuphead and Cuppy in a cage that hung next to the throne and strongly resembled a birdcage. She saw how frightened the two cups were and wanted to free them from their situation as quickly as possible.
"Ali!", "Please help us!" the two begged in fear with tears in their eyes. Alicia knew how they felt and only became angrier at the devil. She walked towards him, not realizing that her devil's mark was slowly turning from white to red and starting to spark as if it was electrically charged. Cuppy and Cuphead saw it and knew it meant nothing good. Nothing good for the devil, anyway. But the devil was more interested in something else. "So I'm here," growled Alicia as her pupils thinned to resemble a snake. "Yes I see that my dearest" the devil replied as he came closer and closer to her.
He was now standing right in front of her and could no longer calm his tail. It was pure joy that she was now standing in front of him and he couldn't help but think how nice it would be if she stayed with him and let him kiss her. "I'm here alone like you asked and I want you to release both Cupheads" but Alicia wasn't really interested in staying here. She just wanted to free the two cupheads and that was it.
However, the devil still had an ace up his sleeve and didn't let Alicia go as easily as she had imagined. "Not without a kiss, my love," yes, he wanted a kiss from her. Alicia feared he was going to say that and rolled her eyes in annoyance.
But the devil ignored it and fetched a red mouth perfume bottle with gold lettering and small horns from behind his back. The perfume bottle had "love potion dust" written on it, which the devil spread on his lips. Yes, he was playing unfair. But he was still the devil. And he didn't want to let Alicia go so quickly. Oh no, definitely not. Alicia saw nothing of the perfume bottle as she tried to ignore the devil's face as best she could before her chin was grabbed by a claw and lifted upwards. She stared rather unintentionally into the devil's yellow eyes as he spread his lips into a kiss and slowly approached Alicia.
Yes, he wanted to kiss her on the mouth.
Alicia, however, was more disgusted by every second and stared at his lips rather unintentionally. Not because she liked him, but rather because they didn't look as beautiful as Lucifer's, but because they were slightly moist. And yes, Alicia didn't like that at all. She didn't like French kissing or wet kisses.
She didn't know why this was the case. Oh man must you disgust me even more than usual? she asked herself mentally as the devil's lips were about to touch hers. Alicia's lips lowered rather than being pleased. She felt small. And not because she was three heads shorter than the devil. No. It was because she had to think about the situation when she was in the second Die House. Back when, for whatever reason, she was as small as a mouse and sat in the manager's hand while Cuppy and his brother ran to Bon Bon to get the cookies that would help Alicia get back to her normal size. The jade green eyes that stared back at her still made Alicia shudder. Who could blame her? After all, those eyes were huge for her back then.
He was also very interested in her and wanted to see her entire body. Even though he knew that she had nothing on under the cloak she was wearing at the time and that her clothes were still at Bon Bon. Luckily she burst in just in time. Alicia was still happy about that because she didn't want to know what would have happened if Psycho Dice had undressed her completely.
He had literally earned this nickname. After that, Alicia tried to do more than just keep her distance from him. Especially after the thing with the love potion, she didn't even want to see him anymore and refused to enter the casino altogether. At least not alone and only accompanied by Lucifer or Cuppy and his Mugman. Dice knew that he couldn't easily flirt with Alicia when she was in the casino with his boss. He had to learn the rank he had. Dice was not the owner of the casino, just the manager. And unlike Lucifer, Dice could lose his job very quickly.
That's why he always kept his distance but couldn't avoid a wink or an air kiss when Lucifer wasn't looking or Alicia wasn't with him. However, she always rejected his flirting methods and declarations of love and yes, even letters. As if he thought I would fall in love with him after the thing with almost taking off my cloak. Yes, Alicia still held a grudge against him.
And she has exactly the same grudge against King Dice from this world and the devil whose lips are now only millimeters away from Alicia's. His eyes were still closed when he felt his lips touch something. He slowly opened his eyes to see if his lips were touching Alicia's, but he didn't feel anything soft or warm. Even though Alicia was always cold. Not towards him, but her hands were almost always cold and always had to be warmed up otherwise the others would complain about how cold her hands were.
But her lips were never this cold. That's why he was confused when he suddenly kissed the pillar Alicia had been leaning against when she tried to keep her distance from him instead of Alicia. "What the?" the devil asked himself as he removed his lip from the pillar. Why was he kissing the pillar and not Alicia? Or better, where was Alicia?
"Alicia my love?" The devil couldn't find her anywhere and looked behind every pillar, behind his throne and even behind his tapestries, but Alicia was nowhere to be found. "Where could she be?" he pondered. Alicia would never have disappeared without the two cups that were still in his clutches and would not be released without his condition.
He grinned diabolically and looked towards the cage where the two cups were supposed to be. However, it was now empty and there was no trace of the two cups. Then his diabolical grin disappeared and was replaced first by horror and then by an angry expression as his body slowly caught fire. His eyes glowed red instead of yellow while one pupil was yellow and resembled flames. The black fur quickly took on a reddish hue and matched the flames coming out of his fur, growing larger and larger with each passing second. The devil's nostrils quivered with rage. Yes, the devil was about to snap. Well, let's put it this way, he was just about to go mad when he breathed in and his diabolical roar could be heard all over the underworld.
The flames coming out of his fur and the ones around his throne room and the one that appeared behind him rose up like flames coming out of a pan of hot oil. But as the devil calmed down, the flames that appeared from his body and behind him disappeared, while those around the throne room returned to their normal size. The devil knew who was responsible for the disappearance of the two cups and his bride Alicia. "That stupid copy of me probably thinks he could just turn up here, grab my dearest Alicia and get away without any consequences?" Probably not. The devil had had enough and decided to call in his army of demons.
Not just any demons. No, his best ones. The best of the best and his pride and joy. These demons respected him and did his every bidding. No matter how difficult or complicated they were. However, the devil had to calm down first. After all, he wanted to change for Alicia. Yes, he had been watching Lucifer. Once to see how he dealt with Alicia and to find out what his weaknesses were. That's why he knew he had to change for Alicia. He had to become calmer. And that's exactly why Henchman gave him a book that was waiting for the devil in the library. "All right," he teleport and disappeared from the throne room.
"What the... Oof!" Alicia and the two cupheads that had just landed on her back were now in the living room of the cottage and were no longer in the throne room of the underworld. Alicia was delighted that both cupheads were now free and no longer had to tremble in fear. Their souls were safe for first. However, there was still something that needed to be sorted out. Something with Alicia. Before Alicia could even stand up, she saw a pair of feet in front of her, light gray with three white claws at the end. She slowly looked up at the feet, as did Cuphead and Cuppy, who swallowed nervously when they saw Lucifer's less than pleased face.
He wasn't angry with the three of them, but seemed concerned, like a parent. At least that's how Alicia felt as she slowly stood up while the two cups went down from her. "Lucifer I-" she was about to say something but Lucifer interrupted her and put his hand on her shoulder and spoke to her in a worried tone "Alicia my love I was so worried about you" and hugged her tightly while Cuphead and Cuppy dropped their jaws followed by both their heads.
Alicia didn't know what to say herself. Should she say anything at all? She had hoped Lucifer would scold her. But instead he was worried about her and the two cups. Something that was very uncharacteristic for Cuphead and especially Cuppy. After all, the latter had easily destroyed Lucifer's dignity after Cuppy and his Mugman had defeated him, destroying all the soul contracts they had collected from the Debtors back then along with Alicia.
However, Lucifer didn't care about that. "I... I'm fine Lucifer" Alicia said and assured him while he stroked Alicia with his fingers and rubbed his nose against her cheek. "That's good to hear," Lucifer said in satisfaction before looking to Cuphead and Cuppy who lifted their heads from the ground and placed them where they would normally be before realizing that Lucifer was staring at both of them and asking them the same question.
"We're fine", "Yes, we're fine, except that we're still in each other's bodies", the two replied with a nervous grin. Yes, they were both still inside each other's bodies. Cuppy was in Cuphead's body and Cuphead was in Cuppy's. "Good thing we have an antidote with us" both cups looked to Blood. He held the bottle with the antidote in his hands and removed the cork to immediately pour the contents into the two cups. "Wait a minute!" but Cuphead had other plans. His smirk was hard to miss and already said what he had in mind. "Since I'm in Cuppy's body, I could cause a lot of trouble without getting any of it," Alicia had to agree with him. They may have swapped bodies, but not their voices.
However, the others knew that this would only bring more than trouble. That's why Blood and the others didn't hesitate for long and held Cuphead while the potion was poured over them. "Hey let me go Varian!" Cuphead resisted but the fox was stronger and let Blood do his job while the antidote landed on Cuphead's head.
The liquid, which was also slimy green, had an immediate effect. Both cupheads remained emotionless while their eyes were empty shells. Okay, now they look like Gyroids from Animal Crossing The colors disappeared or slowly faded as their souls emerged from the mouths of both cupheads and entered their actual bodies.
Both cups breathed in and out deeply as their souls were back in their real bodies and their colors bloomed again. "Am I back in my body?" asked Cuppy, looking down at his hands, relieved to be wearing his white gloves again instead of the yellow ones. "Phew, I'm glad I'm me again and don't have to be in such a boring body" Cuppy heard Cuphead's statement and looked at him angrily.
"Oh yeah, your body isn't much better!" Oh boy, here we go again. Alicia rolled her eyes as two arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer to something soft and fluffy that was none other than Lucifer. He purred and didn't let go of Alicia. What was the point? Alicia didn't want to leave anyway, she wanted to stay with him and enjoy the togetherness.
The fact that Cuphead and Cuppy were butting heads again just passed her by. She sat happily on the sofa and let Lucifer spoil her while Blood and Varian kept both Cupheads from literally bashing each other's heads in, as both were made of porcelain and could break very quickly, as you could clearly see from Mugman's handle when it broke.
Yes, the day was full of adventure. First the body swap, then the search for Muru and of course the devil who had forced Alicia to come to him so that he wouldn't hurt the two Cupheads. You'd think every day was like this since Alicia and Cuppy landed here. But if Alicia is honest, she would like to spend a day just with Lucifer without being wrapped up in an adventure. A normal day that she could spend with him. She wished for that with all her heart.
Well, you might think that the universe meant well for Alicia. Unnoticed by the group, the newspaper for tomorrow came out of the mail slot in the front door. From it fell a flyer advertising an upcoming festival that the city was planning.