The story continues and I apologize for the end of the chapter.
The week was very exhausting for me but luckily I was able to finish the chapter this week.
Until then.
"We have to save Ali!" declared Cuphead boldly and determinedly as he ran to the front door and opened it full of zest for action. But before he could take another step, he was lifted off the ground and floated in the air. He knew it wasn't him but that someone had lifted him. Someone called Blood. "Hey, put me down!" the young mug ordered the wolf. But the wolf ignored him and took him back to the cottage where the others were still and didn't know what to do. The mission was clearly to save Alicia.
But first they had to know how they got to the underworld in the first place. Alicia was there, lying unconscious in the devil's bed. "I'll do that, but first you'll listen to us," Blood's voice didn't sound as friendly as usual. Rather annoyed because the wolf knew it was a reckless plan to just run into the underworld without making a plan first. The devil was not stupid and would place guards everywhere to ensure that the wedding went off without a hitch. Yes, Eira had told the others that the devil had planned the whole thing to have Alicia for himself. Eira merely served as bait for Alicia to land in a cage from which she could no longer escape.
Literally, as she is bound to the underworld after marrying the devil and can only return to the surface if he accompanies her. The others knew that Alicia did not want this and therefore did everything they could to free her so that the marriage did not take place. But how were they supposed to do this? They had to implement the plan well. Otherwise Alicia would inadvertently become the queen of the underworld. Even though she was already a queen.
Now Lucifer had a plan. "I know how to get to the underworld" his hand clenched into a fist as he finished the sentence and reached for his trident that appeared out of nowhere. His eyes traveled from the front door to the others. It was clear that he had something planned and was just waiting for the others to realize what was about to happen. "Oh, I like that more," Cuphead said, freeing himself from Blood's paw that was still holding his handle.
"Okay, here we go!" Cuphead stood resolutely next to Lucifer and waited to be teleported with him. But the latter didn't do anything yet and waited until the others had decided whether they would come with him or stay here. Cuppy's answer could be seen. He also went to Lucifer and was ready to free Alicia from the underworld. He didn't care whether he lost his soul in the process or not. As long as Alicia was fine, he didn't care if he lost his soul or not. Mugman was of the same opinion. Even if he looked less determined than his brother and Cuppy. He also wanted to free Alicia, but he was very worried that there might be problems, such as her ending up as food for some demons.
The three cups had heard of the first finest demons. They were huge, dangerous and menacing. It was not for nothing that they were the best of the best and served the devil. If he wanted, they could hunt down the three cups at any moment. But that seemed to be the least of the three cups' worries at the moment. The important thing at the moment was saving Alicia. Mugman saw it the same way and swallowed his fear, breathed in, stuck out his chest to look brave and also walked towards Lucifer and the two cupheads.
Only Blood, Varian and Eira were still undecided as to whether they should come or not. Blood was still of the opinion that they needed a plan and should not recklessly break into the underworld without thinking of the possible consequences. "We don't have time for that, Alicia could be standing in front of the altar at any moment and inadvertently say yes I do!" replied Cuphead while the others nodded in agreement.
For once, the others agreed with him. Which is quite rare. Just as rare as Blood agreeing and joining the four of them. He knew that every second counted and asked Varian if he would accompany them. "I won't come with you, I'll stay with Eira and try to calm her down," but the fox declined the offer and took care of Eira. She was still lying shakily on the couch with a blanket licked over her body so that she could calm down better. The others understood and decided to go to the underworld without the two foxes to rescue Alicia. Lucifer raised his trident and thundered it onto the ground. He and the others standing next to him disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Varian sighed and hoped very much that they made it before he turned his attention to Eira.
Meanwhile, a lot was going on in the underworld. The Imps and demons were running back and forth with trays full of food and drink. Others were holding decorations. Two flying Imps were holding a large banner with "A VERY DEVIL ENGAGEMENT PARTY!" written on it. Both hung it above the entrance. At that moment, the devil entered the room where the party was taking place. The Imps and demons congratulated him on his engagement.
Each Demon and Imp wore a party hat like they did at the Celebration Party a few months ago in the gluttony department. Silk, Vespae, Daiyu, Caterina, Scorpina and Lilith also wore party hats. All but the latter were less than pleased to be here. It wasn't because they were wearing those stupid party hats. It was because the four demonesses knew that the engagement party was not directed at them. The devil was not engaged to them but to someone else.
"Congratulations, boss!", "Way to go on the upcoming nuptials!", "Never thought you'd settle down!", "When do we get to meet the bride?" some demons congratulated the devil as he walked past them, smiling contentedly and happily before going to a table and taking an hors d'oeuvres from a tray that an imp was holding in his hands as he walked past the devil. "Don't worry boys you will meet the bride and your future queen soon" he announced before eating the appetizer.
Or that's what he wanted. "Boss, can I ask somethin'?" but Henchman stopped him before he could eat the appetizer and put it back on the tray, turning to Henchman with a rather forced smile. "Henchman, if this is about my bride, you can..." he leaned down to him, looked around carefully and whispered the rest of the sentence in Henchman's ear. Henchman knew where the bride was at the moment. He also knew that the devil whispered this to him because Silk and the others were also at the engagement party and didn't really seem happy. It was not for nothing that most of the Imps avoided the four demonesses so as not to feel their wrath, which could be clearly heard through Silk's growling or Caterina's hissing.
If the four of them found out where Alicia was, they wouldn't stay here for long and would probably hurt or even kill her. The devil didn't want that. That's why he kept it quiet until it came to the altar. He wanted to make sure that no one could get to Alicia. Nobody but him, of course. "Actually, I was wonderin' if maybe I could be..." but Henchman didn't want to ask that. But something else.
"The flower girl?" the devil looked at him in confusion and blinked several times "The flower girl?" the devil asked him. Henchman nods bashfully. He was serious. The devil rolled his eyes "No Henchman, you cannot be the flower girl" The joy on Henchman's face disappeared when he heard the bad news. His ears and wings drooped like a sad dog's while he sighed, "Because you're the best man!" Henchman was so happy about the good news that his ears stood upright again and his wings and tail wagged with joy. Of course he gasped in anticipation while the devil jumped up and down with him like two little children who had just found out what was for dessert.
But if Henchman wasn't the flower girl. Who else would it be? "Gee boss, who's the flower girl?" Henchman asked curiously until a clearing of the throat interrupted him and the devil and showed Stickler, who was also wearing a party hat and carrying a basket of petals, which he calmly scattered around. "For the last time, Stickler, it isn't happening" but Stickler scattered more petals "And yet he persisted".
"Hey Stickler, word to the wise – if you really want somethin' , you gotta call dibs" Henchman called after him as the accountant put the basket of petals aside and looked confusedly at Henchman "Ahhhm, I am not familiar with dibs?" this statement was new to the accountant and seemed unnecessary. Henchman wanted to explain it to him but before he could, the devil grabbed him and left the festivities with him to discuss important matters "Let's go, Henchman! It's time for that age-old tradition between the groom and the best man!".
Henchman didn't know what kind of tradition it was. "D'uhh, what tradition, boss?" he asked. The devil was confused by his statement. You could see it clearly as his lips dropped and he generally gave himself a face palm before giving Henchman an answer to his question. "Why, sampling wedding cake!". This, in turn, delighted Henchman. So much so that the two of them couldn't wait any longer and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The rest of the imps and demons didn't seem very excited or surprised. In fact, no one seemed to have noticed that the devil was gone because there were more important things to do. The wedding preparations were not quite finished yet. The carpet leading to the altar was only halfway rolled out, some seats were still missing, the decorations were not yet hanging or were missing completely.
Although it was the devil's wedding, there were only a few seats available. Only six benches to be precise. Well, the devil certainly won't invite just anyone. Not to mention the fact that Alicia's rivals still existed. They were the only ones not really thrilled to see the devil about to be married. Even though they would have preferred to marry the devil. Silk only growled more at the thought of the devil marrying someone else before her eyes who wasn't even worthy of being Queen of the Underworld.
"Ahhhm, always a bridesmaid" But Stickler ignored her like the rest of the Imps and helped himself to the punch he was about to drink until suddenly "Dibs!" someone snatched the cup from his hand to drink from it himself.
That someone was none other than King Dice. He was enjoying the punch with a mischievous look on his face. "Excuse me! That's my punch!" Stickler said annoyed in a monotone nasal voice while Dice continued to drink, paying little attention to the accountant and sipping some of the punch himself. "Sorry, Stickler! Dice called dibs" he explained and drank the punch again.
"But I poured it" Stickler confirmed with his statement to at least inform Dice that the cup did not belong to him. But as before, Dice ignored him and gave his opinion "Ah but ya didn't call dibs" he stirred the cup a little to make the contents taste better "You got to call dibs" and swallowed the punch "Mmm, tastes like dibs" King Dice tasted out of the punch.
Stickler already suspected that he wouldn't get his punch back and decided to pour himself another one while Dice leaned against the table and watched the rest of the festivities "So!" Stickler looked up at him as he savored his punch, not gulping it down like the other Imps. "Bridesmaid, huh? Who's gettin' hitched?" Dice asked curiously as he took another sip from his punch and waited patiently for an answer from Stickler.
"The Devil" Stickler replies neutrally, almost bored because there was nothing going on. But it was quite the opposite for Dice, who spit out his punch in surprise. "Say that again," Dice asked the now wet, punch-spattered Stickler, who barely showed any emotion as if he wasn't exactly surprised that he was completely wet. "The Devil is getting married".
A grin spread across Dice's face as he heard the news of the devil's wedding. He danced with joy as he usually did in his show and added a little cheer to the festivities until the news fell on his non-existent ear. "Ahhhm, Dice is wedding singer". The sound of glass shattering was clearly audible in the background as Dice heard this rather unpleasant news. He wanted to hope that Stickler was joking with him and asked rather friendly and with a nervous laugh if he wasn't the best man? "The best mans are..." as Stickler was, he pulled out his thick book from behind his back and leafed through it until he came to a page from which he took a list of all the guests invited to the wedding.
"Henchman and Amnon" Dice were very saddened by this news. So much so that he fell to his knees and screamed in frustration "DEVIIIIIIIL! WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN MEEEEE?!". No one really paid any attention to him. Sure some looked at him while holding their food for a moment before continuing to talk, eat or do other things. Even Stickler turned his back on him. Or would have if Dice hadn't grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the wall, causing his cup of half-punch to fall to the floor. Of course he sighed, but Dice did so for the following reason: "I need to know two things, Stickler and I need to know them right now!" The accountant seemed to show little fear. In fact, he hardly showed any emotion at all.
But Dice didn't care at the moment. He just wanted to know the following. "Who's he gonna kiss, and who's wearing the dress?" the question should actually answer itself. The devil is definitely not wearing a dress. It was not for nothing that three Imps were taking care of his groom's outfit in the background. And Dice knew that he was kissing the bride.
Speaking of the bride.
Alicia's eyes opened slowly. Her vision slowly returned and she no longer saw everything as black but recognized everything around her. "What is..." she looked around as she slowly stood up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned. "Oh man am I tired" who could blame her. She was lying on a soft and warm bed. Of course she still felt tired and didn't want to get up. But as she lay in bed, she took a closer look at it. It looked exactly like Lucifer's bed. A king-size bed with a red comforter cover, a red comforter and two large red pillows. Alicia lay on one a minute ago before sitting up and wondering if she was dreaming it all?
That was a strange dream. Another version of the Inkwell Isle's. The characters are the opposite of the characters from the book and in general it seemed strange to Alicia that she couldn't get away from these Inkwell Isle's like she could from the other one. The book counted as a portal for her or the characters to travel to her world as well as the cartoon world of Cuphead.
Alicia looked around and saw no sign of Lucifer. He's probably already up and waiting for me outside. Determined, she got up and walked towards the door. "What the?" but the door wouldn't open. It was locked. From the outside. Okay? That's strange. Confused, Alicia went to the curtain next to the door. It was closed, of course, but Alicia pushed the curtain aside slightly to look outside.
The bright light blinded her eyes, so Alicia shielded her eyes from the glare. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the light from outside and Alicia's face quickly showed that she had not been dreaming. The other Inkwell Isle's really existed and so did Inkwell Hell, also known as the Underworld. Alicia quickly closed the curtain as two flying Imps flew past the window she was looking out of. Her heart was pounding harder every second. It was now clear to her where she was. And she also knew why she was here.
Only now did her eyes catch sight of the bride's dress lying next to the bed on a red chair with golden paintwork. The wedding dress was not typically white as it would normally be at a wedding. The dress was black at the top and ran in a gray tone down to the end of the dress. Spikes were visible around the waist and shoulders. It was, as best Alicia could describe it, made to the devil's taste. The golden decorations resembling ancient hyroglyphs were spread across the dress. But Alicia didn't know exactly what they were supposed to represent. To be honest, she didn't care because she only wanted one thing. She wanted to escape from here before the devil could marry her.
So she didn't hesitate for long and took her trident, which was leaning against the wall next to the bed, and was about to burst open the door until she heard someone opening it from outside. She wondered who had just opened the door. It could be an Imp, Dice or maybe even the devil himself. That's why she walked away from the door so as not to be surprised by the latter. Oh please. She shivered and walked further away from the door until suddenly she was lying on her back on the bed and sat down cross-legged to see who had just come out of the door, which was wide open.
Alicia exhaled with relief. It was Henchman who had opened the door. And for some reason he was wearing a best man's suit that was far too small for him? What's going on here? Alicia asked herself until it clicked in her head and she knew what was going on, or rather what she would soon have to prepare for.
For the wedding. Her wedding with the devil.
Unfortunately, one of her nightmares came true. Alicia had suspected that she would eventually be forced to marry him. She already suspected this when he showed her the full proposal. This was a wish from the devil that he got from Djimmi when the latter was in his power. She therefore knew that he would not hesitate to bring her to him. And unfortunately she had to admit that he had done it. She was caught like a mouse in his mousetrap. A trap that was difficult to get out of.
"Oh, you're awake already," Henchman's friendly voice interrupted Alicia's thoughts as he entered the room and closed the door behind him. Alicia said nothing. She was trying to process everything that had just happened. She still couldn't believe what had just happened. "Uhh I think we should put on your wedding dress Miss Alicia uhh or should I say Bride Alicia?".
Alicia heard this and now paid attention to him. "W-w-what?" Alicia stuttered and began to tremble slightly as she watched Henchman take the wedding dress from the chair and walk over to her. Or that's what he wanted. But Alicia refused to even come close to the dress. She didn't want to be married to the devil because she was still faithful to Lucifer. Her real husband.
Henchman already suspected that something was wrong with Alicia and tried to cheer her up. "Oh, uhh, you don't have to worry," he assured her and tiptoed to the door, which he locked with a key. He hid the key in his "trouser pocket", which consisted of his own skin. "I'm just here to get you ready for the altar" Okay, how did the wedding dress appear behind his back? Wasn't it on the- The chair was empty where the wedding dress used to be.
"Cartoon logic," Alicia sighed softly, thinking nothing of it as Henchman walked over to her with the wedding dress in his hands. "But I'm already married and I don't love the devil!" but despite all this, she still refused to put on the dress. Even Henchman's puppy dog eyes didn't help. Alicia was steadfast and would not put on the dress. But Henchman still has an ace up his sleeve. Or rather, in his trouser pocket. "Oh, but you have to wear it or you won't get out of here." Damn he's right. Alicia had to admit defeat and slowly changed her clothes while Henchman placed a room divider in front of her so that she wouldn't have to be ashamed.
"Oh don't worry the boss is a good husband and king" Alicia didn't know if that was sarcasm. She hoped so, because the devil here was completely different from Lucifer. "No offense Henchman but I have no love for the devil" she had now taken off her clothes except for her underwear of course and her shirt. "Maybe you're right about that, but I don't see it that way" and slowly put on the dress that fitted her like a glove even though it was marked like the rest in this world. "I'm certainly not going to marry the devil for love, I'm going to disappear before it even comes to the wedding ceremony!" she sulked annoyed.
Love? Love is what we read about in books, Miss Alicia.
Is he starting to sing now or am I just imagining it? she asked herself as she put the dress on completely and pushed the room divider aside to look Henchman in the eye.
"Here comes the bride" is a lovely little ditty
But marrying for love is not a foolish thing to do
'Cause this love will pay the chaos or put souls in your bowl
Miss Alicia, marry the Devil
She was silent and could hardly believe her eyes when she heard Henchman singing. Of course his singing voice wasn't the best, but she still found it hard to imagine hearing him sing.
True, it's a fact that he's witty
He's handsomer than a cat but at least his eyes are yellow
His breath may be alarming but he's charming, for a demon
Miss Alicia, marry the Devil
Oh god. Alicia didn't know what to say to that. So she kept quiet and just listened to his singing. She couldn't do anything else at the moment anyway.
Romeo and Juliet
Were very much in love when they were wed
They honoured every vow
So where are they now?
They're dead, dead, very very dead
Okay, Alicia didn't want to hear that. She and Lucifer were happy together and loved each other. That was something completely different as far as the devil was concerned. Alicia didn't feel any love for him. In fact, she loathed him. But he would probably see that as a compliment rather than an insult.
Poor Alicia, your brain so itty bitty
I hate to seem a pest but I know what's best for you
Just think of all the ways that you could decorate the underworld
Take my advice, I'll bring the rice
Miss Alicia, marry the Devil
She didn't know it, but while Henchman was singing he had led her and himself out of the room and was now standing in front of a large white door that led to the throne room where the wedding would take place.
Marry the Devil
Marry that Devil
D is for Dominance!
Eh...
V-I-L!
Her heart pounded with fear as Henchman opened the large heavy door and the wedding altar and pews of guests slowly turned their attention to the bride. Of course, Alicia wore a veil that hid her face from the other guests. After all, they weren't supposed to see her before the wedding ceremony. Silk, Vespae, Caterina, Daiyu and Scorpina also sat in the ceremony as guests and didn't really seem pleased. Well, who could blame them. Actually, they wished that one of them was the bride instead of the hybrid who just walked past them.
"Lucky devil!" Silk muttered in frustration, crossing his arms and growling softly. Alicia, however, felt anything but lucky. She felt more like a jinx. In fact, she had been for most of her life except for her marriage to Lucifer and the confirmation from the university back then. But the devil didn't seem to mind. In fact, he was very happy to see Alicia in the wedding dress he had chosen for her. Dice, who was standing next to the altar with his cards, could no longer hold back his tears when he saw the bride. Amnon, who was standing not far from him, offered him a handkerchief but Dice refused. For now, "I'm not crying cuz I'm sad, I'm crying cuz I'm happy for the Boss" and then took the handkerchief and blew his nose.
Alicia ignored him while she was only a few meters away from the altar and the devil. Of course he was wearing a groom's suit. I wouldn't have expected anything else. Lucifer was only wearing a tie at the time and that was enough for him. But of course the devil had to overdo it again here. The suit was dark blue with a white shirt. A pink rose peeked out of his suit pocket. Great. Alicia wasn't a fan of pink. Most of her clothes were black.
But now she didn't have to worry so much about the color of the rose. The most important thing at the moment was to escape before the devil could force her to say yes. So Alicia didn't hesitate for long and tripped Henchman. Sorry, but it had to be done. "Woah!" Henchman was surprised when Alicia tripped him and used the time to flee the wedding while the best man landed on King Dice and his cards that fell like bowling pins. "Strike!" Amnon shouted and clapped. A few Imps sitting in the front row looked at each other in confusion, shrugged their shoulders and clapped too. But only until one Imp was reduced to dust. The clapping stopped and both Amnon and the Imps trembled with fear.
This was because the devil's shadow appeared in front of them, not happy that the Imps were making fun of Henchman's stumble and, more importantly, that his bride was on the run. His eyes focused only on Alicia, who was slowly approaching the door from which she entered with Henchman. He already knew or suspected that Alicia would use some trick to escape at the last second and end up back in the arms of the copy. But this time he wouldn't let that happen, so he gave the following order: "BRING MY BRIDE BACK!" His roar resounded through the room. Everyone heard it and so did Alicia, who tried to move faster with the long dress. And that's exactly why I hate dresses!
Alicia was carrying most of her dress in her arms and yet she still threatened to fall down from time to time. But luckily she caught herself with her shoes, which were still the same ones she wore every day. No high heels. Fortunately. But luck didn't seem to be on her side for too long. The shadow that darkened Alicia was not from the devil or one of his imps. No, it belonged to one of his finest demons. "Gotcha!" His hand, five times the size of Alicia's, grabbed her and brought her back down the aisle. The devil was already waiting for her there, beaming with joy. But Alicia was anything but pleased "Let go of me, I don't want to marry the devil!" she refused. The demon, however, ignored her and her efforts to free herself from his grip as he returned to the altar and deposited Alicia next to the devil.
"Someone's afraid of the wedding ceremony," smirked the devil, while Alicia just gave him an annoyed look and growled softly. "Don't worry, it'll be over quickly and afterwards we'll be alone, just the two of us" just the thought of it made Alicia wince. She was all too reluctant to be alone with him. If he were Lucifer, it would be different. But even so, Alicia had little desire to be with the devil. But that didn't bother him or the priest who began the ceremony. "Dear wedding guests, we have gathered here today..." Alicia was getting more and more nervous by the second and started looking for an escape route again.
But at the moment there was no way to escape because the demon who had brought her back here was standing right behind her. And to make matters worse, the devil held her tightly with his tail around her waist. So there was nothing she could do at the moment and Alicia didn't like that at all.
However, neither she nor the guests, nor the demons nor the devil knew that uninvited guests were appearing behind the front door or gate at that very moment. Lucifer, Blood and the three cups appeared from a cloud of smoke. "Okay, how do we find Alicia and how can we stop the devil from marrying her?" Cuppy asked nervously as he looked around frantically. He ignored the fact that directly behind him was the entrance gate, above which hung a banner with the words "Wedding ceremony. Uninvited guests not welcome!".
"Look behind you and you'll know the answer," Blood suggested, turning Cuppy around in the same direction he and the others were looking. Now Cuppy knew the answer and was a little ashamed that he hadn't thought of it straight away. Normally this wouldn't be the case because when Lucifer teleports himself or others, he always teleport directly in front of the destination or in the immediate vicinity if there are problems with this.
In this case, the target was Alicia herself, who caught sight of Lucifer through the slightly open doorway as he slowly opened the gate without making a sound. After all, he didn't want anyone to notice him. "And can you see anything Lucifer?" Mugman asked nervously. "I see my beloved at the altar next to that idiot who bears my name," Lucifer growled softly as he clenched his free hand into a fist that was on fire.
The news was not very pleasing to hear. Especially not when the priest moved on to the wedding speech and asked the devil if he wanted to call Alicia his wife and queen. "We have to stop the wedding, but how?" the question was not in vain, because now it was Alicia's turn to call the devil her husband and king, even though she had already given the title to someone else. Someone who was not far away and had a great idea.
"I think I know how we can crash the wedding," Lucifer mentioned with a grin on his face as he turned his attention to the group who were only more confused than before. "What do you mean?" asked Cuphead, who didn't quite know what was going on until a giant gingerbread man suddenly appeared out of a cloud of smoke, which Cuppy remembered well and was beaming with joy to see again.
"Mochi!" he shouted with joy as the gingerbread man opened his eyes, stretched and yawned before catching sight of the group standing at his feet. Just like Cuppy, Mochi smiled and bent down to get closer to the group and greet them. Especially Cuppy, of course, whom he recognized immediately. "What the heck is that thing?" but Cuphead and Mugman, hiding behind Blood and not knowing if the thing was friendly or not, were less than pleased to see a giant living gingerbread man.
Who could blame them? After all, a few weeks ago the two brothers were chasied by Whippet creampup the Baroness' living Candycastle when they rather unintentionally "tore off" a part of it and of course did not "eat" it. Even though the curse was broken, the living castle seemed less than thrilled about being eaten for dessert by anyone. Even though it had feelings of its own. So it wasn't hard to see that it wanted revenge and after the last visit began to chase the two of them across the whole of Sugar Land until Alicia and the Baroness stopped it and of course taught both cups not to do it again. But let's be honest. Neither brother is going to stick to it anyway.
But now seeing a giant living gingerbread man was something different and out of the ordinary for the two brothers. Well, what was ordinary for them? Probably the same as for Alicia. Just doing nothing all day long without anyone or anyone else having the grandiose idea of starting an adventure here and now that would end in disaster like most other adventures did. But the reunion had to be cut short because Lucifer had brought the Gingerbread Man back to life for a reason. Mochi had a job to do. A very important task, to be precise. "Mochi, I have a special job for you," the gingerbread man heard his name and immediately stopped playing with the three cups and listened to what task was to be given to him.
"Hmm?" Mochi asked, curious to know what his task was that he had to do for Lucifer. The Life Cake Man's naive face resembled that of a toddler who was just waiting with joy to go to the fair or the movies. Lucifer used this to his advantage "I want you to lift us up on your shoulder, break through this gate and stop the wedding to get my beloved Alicia from an impostor who looks like me" Mochi thought about it but agreed, took Lucifer, Blood and the three cups, placed them on his left shoulder or rather his right shoulder, lifted his right leg and-
The priest looked at the devil as he continued with his work "Devil do you want to take Alicia, standing here before you, as your wife and queen? Love and honor her? To infinity?" Silk growled more and more every second and could be heard loud and clear among the guests. But she wasn't the only one who was angry that the devil was marrying someone else right in front of her eyes. In the eyes of the four demons, she should be the one standing at the altar as the bride. Not a hybrid. A hybrid who wasn't even worthy of being queen.
"Oh my answer is clear" grinned the devil before winking at Alicia and continuing "Yes I do" even though Alicia and her rivals didn't have that much in common here. They did have one thing in common. Neither Alicia nor her rivals wanted her to become the devil's wife and king. But that didn't seem to bother him or the priest, who asked Alicia the same question and made her bite the bullet.
Or so it seemed to her, because Alicia actually had the choice to reject the marriage. There was no compulsion and the devil couldn't change that. "N-" but Alicia had underestimated the devil. For whatever reason, she couldn't say the word "no". She didn't know why, but she suspected the reason as she looked anxiously at the devil. His grin was not in vain. He had guessed that Alicia would say no to the marriage and decided to do something about it. He took away her ability to say no and seemed to control her lips to force her to agree and become his wife and queen. What a-
Boom!
The gate crashed open and all the guests as well as the devil, Priest and Alicia looked at this and... "Is that a gingerbread man?" the Devil wondered while almost all the guests except Silk, Vespae, Caterina, Daiyu and Scorpina fled the wedding in fear of the giant gingerbread man come to life whose roar resembled Godzilla coming closer and closer to the altar.
This seemed confusing for the devil. But Alicia was glad that the wedding was off. Because on the gingerbread man's shoulder she saw not only Blood and the three cups but also Lucifer. Her husband. "Oh Lucifer..." Alicia whispered, relieved to see him. Her cheeks flushed and the devil didn't like that at all. So he did something that neither Lucifer, nor the cups, nor Alicia could have guessed. "Y-y-yes I w-w-want to" Alicia stuttered out of her mouth. Cuphead, Cuppy and Mugman gasped in shock, Blood didn't know what to say and fell silent before growling. Lucifer, on the other hand, was furious. Not because Alicia had agreed to marry the devil. No, he knew she didn't love the devil. The reason for his anger was the devil himself, who grinned mischievously at him like a spoiled child.
"YOU! HANDS OFF MY WIFE!" Lucifer growled in rage and jumped down from the shoulder, transforming into his dragon form and wrapping himself protectively around Alicia while staring angrily into the devil's eyes. The fact that he wanted to threaten him didn't bother the devil at all. On the contrary, "I don't know what you're talking about, but Alicia is my wife and doesn't belong to a cheap copy like you," the devil taunted him.
But Lucifer didn't react and only growled more menacingly than usual as his body continued to wrap itself around Alicia. But not so strongly that she felt or got pain. He was gentle with her. Unlike the devil, of course, who demanded that Lucifer hand over his "wife" and keep both cups here as they still owed him their souls. Cuppy seemed to have guessed that the devil would not forget her. Even if he hadn't been so actively involved in collecting his and Cuphead's souls recently, he wanted to take the chance to get them into his possession. However, this did not happen.
Instead of Alicia and the souls of the two cups, he received nothing as Lucifer disappeared from the underworld in a cloud of smoke along with Alicia, Blood and the three cups. "What the" that really surprised the devil until he was on fire with rage, growling and setting the altar on fire. The priest, Henchman and Amnon managed to escape the explosion by hiding behind one of the many pillars. Dice, on the other hand, didn't have to hide as he was far enough away with his band to be spared from the flames. The cards themselves exhaled in relief while Dice just swallowed nervously. Not because he almost escaped the flames but because of the still raging devils.
"Chapel aflame... Guests fleed... fiery annoying flower girls wrestling on the altar..." the devil looked at some imps fighting over the bouquet. "Why is this the wedding of my dreams but I'm still feeling so lonely?" the flames that still stung from his fur disappeared. The devil was no longer angry but lonely. You could say that. Well, his bride or wife was no longer in the underworld but was back on the surface in the possession of the impostor and the others. He sighed sadly, undid his tie and was about to go to his bedchamber when suddenly Silk, Vespae, Caterina, Daiyu and Scorpina stood in front of him.
Confused, he stared at the five of them until he realized that they were all wearing a bouquet of flowers and a wedding dress. "Oh no," sighed Henchman and gave himself a face palm while Amnon dropped his jaw in shock. Not because he knew what Silk and the others were doing wouldn't please the devil, but because he thought Silk was beautiful. She always looked beautiful, but now in her wedding dress she looked magnificent.
His tail wagged more than ever before, a sign that he liked something. But it was something new for him. Why was his tail wagging? Had he developed feelings for Silk even though he knew she would never take him? After all, she reached for the devil's hand, but he pulled it away and paid no attention to her or the others. No, he only wanted one thing. To go to his bedchamber and stay there. For how long he didn't know himself. "Boss are you all right?" Dice asked curiously as the devil walked past him and didn't hesitate to tell him that he was fired. Dice's pale face was hard to miss, followed by his stutter. "B-B-B-But..." but the devil didn't care about his cheap excuse and disappeared from the throne room in a puff of smoke.
The remaining banners hanging from the pillars came off one by one as the altar collapsed. It was pure chaos, you could say. A mess that Henchman and Amnon had to clean up. "And once again we have to clean up the mess," Henchman sighed, grabbing a broom and vacuum cleaner and handing the former to Amnon while he began to vacuum away the ash residue himself. Amnon pushed some flower petals together into a pile and occasionally looked over at Silk and the others. Yes, his feelings for her were real and not an act. He had fallen in love with his master and he liked it.
Lucifer also liked the fact that Alicia was with him again. He held her tightly in his grip with his snake-like body and rubbed his head against hers. Alicia enjoyed it and was not only happy to be reunited with him but also to be wearing her normal clothes again. No stupid dress at last! She felt more comfortable in her normal clothes and knew that Lucifer liked it too. He didn't really care what she was wearing. As long as she felt comfortable, he felt comfortable too. His purring confirmed it.
"What do you mean?" but the wonderful atmosphere was disturbed by the three cups that went into the guest room where Alicia and Lucifer were and followed Varian. The fox didn't come with them to the underworld but stayed here to calm Eira down. She was also feeling much better. She helped Elder Kettle and was talking to Blood in the living room while Varian went to the closet next to his and Cuppy's bed and took out his toolbox and a small suitcase in which he had stored his spare clothes.
It was obvious that Varian was planning to leave. But where to? Well apparently Cuppy is not only the only one who can read minds but also Varian "Well while you were in the underworld to free Alicia I took care of Eira to make her feel better" Eira felt better than before and seemed to be talking to the others intensely and no longer trembling with fear. She was much better than before. According to Varian's statement. But where he and Eira wanted to go now was a surprise for both Alicia and the others, you could say.
"Dr. Kahl?" the surprise in Alicia's voice was audible. She knew that some of the debtors from the Inkwell Isle's book version would be here, like Brineybeard or Sally. But so far the group had not seen all the debtors. Only a few and Alicia was glad about that. Not because she had a bad relationship with most of them, but because some of them turned out to be unwanted lovers or monsters who wanted to harm Alicia and the others rather than help them.
But apparently Dr. Kahl was just as friendly here as in the book. At least that's what Varian claimed as he walked out of the room with his toolbox and suitcase. Of course, the three cups followed him while Alicia and Lucifer stayed behind. Alicia was still coming to terms with the fact that Varian would no longer be around and they would have less contact. Or so she thought. "Don't worry just because I'm no longer here doesn't mean I won't visit you" his words helped to calm the three cups a little. Of course they still looked sad, but not like before. "Where are you going to stay?" "Yes, I hope somewhere nice," but that didn't mean they were worried about him. That didn't come from nowhere as Varian was still being discriminated.
Some of the Inkwell Isle's inhabitants, including Porkrind, still seemed to think that all foxes were the same. They cheat, steal and have been known to manipulate. They were bad blood you might say and took advantage of anyone they asked for help. Varian was very upset by this statement and struggled to cope on the Inkwell Isle's for a while. However, this quickly subsided thanks to the help of Alicia, who could not put in a good word for him, but also because a certain newspaper article had ensured that Varian was given the respect he had earned. His inventions were mentioned everywhere and everyone admired them.
Many quickly changed their minds while some were still firmly convinced that Varian was only pretending. Hypocrites, what else can you expect, Alicia thought with rolling eyes. But Dr. Kahl seemed to be very enthusiastic about Varian. So much so that he decided to ask the fox if he would like to be his assistant and live with him. "Of course I couldn't say no when I told him about my next project and he agreed to help me with it." Alicia knew which project he meant. "Do you think he wants to help you build the portal that will allow me, Lucifer and Cuppy to return to our world?" Varian's nod confirmed it. That was great news for Alicia, Lucifer and Cuppy. All three of them would be home soon and would no longer have to worry about the devil threatening to steal Cuppy's soul or kidnap Alicia.
Yet another reason for Alicia not wanting to stay here any longer. But it will still take a while until then. Varian himself said that the portal he had built had taken three months to function properly. So it will probably take just as long or even longer until the portal here is finished. Of course, Alicia took advantage of this time and promised Varian and Eira, who were standing outside waiting for Dr. Kahl, who had just arrived at the cottage in a 1930 Pierce-Arrow Model A.
The car was a reddish color with some scratches in the paint and dents. Otherwise the car seemed to be in good condition. Except for the loud exhaust, of course. It was the first time Alicia had seen Dr. Kahl as he pulled up in the car. He looked very much like his counterpart in the book, except for his glasses, which were yellow instead of green. He greeted the group and activated a mechanism by pressing a button. Or rather, two mechanical arms came out of the trunk and took Varian's suitcase and toolbox and carried them into the trunk without the Fox having to move a muscle.
Dr. Seuss sends his regards. Alicia thought as she noticed the gloves on the end of the mechanical arm, a trademark of Dr. Seuss characters. But the group knew it was time to say goodbye to Varian and Eira. The two foxes got into the car and waved to them. A mechanical arm also waved before Dr. Kahl started the engine. "Don't worry, you can always visit us at the Inkwell junkyard," Dr. Kahl said in a raspy voice that was somewhat shocking to Alicia. He didn't usually have a raspy voice in the book world.
His voice sounded like Dr. Light from Megaman. But his counterpart here sounded more like Dr. Eggman or Dr. Doofenschmirtz. Fortunately, he's not an evil scientist. Alicia really hoped so, because a lot of things in this world were different from the other Inkwell Isles. Cala Maria was the perfect proof.
But they didn't know what was going on in the underworld as Alicia and the others said goodbye to Varian and Eira for the time being.
The wedding between the Devil and Alicia ended in chaos. Not because most of the guests had fled, food and paper scraps were everywhere, and the throne room was strewn with huge amounts of gingerbread. Or because Dice cried about being fired and Silk and the others tried to fill in as "spare brides". None of these reasons made the Devil angry or depressed. On the contrary, he knew that Alicia was back with Lucifer. She was now his, destined to be his wife and the future Queen of the Underworld. However, the coronation hadn't yet taken place due to the incident with the giant gingerbread man. The devil had destroyed him in a fit of rage as Lucifer fled with Alicia and the others.
Henchman and Amnon were able to comprehend the source of his anger. Typically, the devil rarely exhibited overt displays of joy. It could be argued that he derived pleasure from the suffering of others or from the occurrence of natural disasters. However, no individual had ever observed him as jubilant as he was when he first laid eyes on Alicia. The heart-shaped pupils, his heart beating so hard that one could see its imprint through his chest, and the hysterically wagging tail were unmistakably new to the two demons.
It was strange for the two of them to see the devil back in his throne room, which now shone brightly for them after hours of work and was free of any crumbs, leftovers, or anything else. "At last we're done," Amnon groaned with relief and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Uh...You said it, but have you noticed how quiet the boss is right now?" They only noticed the silence now. Absolutely! It was so quiet in the throne room, you could hear a pin drop. Or the sound of a flame appearing in the devil's hands. Wait, a flame in the devil's hand without him having to use his trident? Henchman and Amnon couldn't believe their eyes. Their mouths were wide open and almost touching the floor.
"Damn it!" growled the devil when the flame went out and he couldn't relight himself by flicking it like he had just done. "Um boss, is everything all right?" the annoyed rolling eyes weren't exactly hard to miss. "I'm just about to regain some of my old power Henchman" the devil explained annoyed and snapped his fingers several times but nothing happened. The devil was furious. He aimed his trident at a loose banner but didn't fire. Why? He now knew how to regain his old powers. Judging by his wagging tail, both demons suspected it had something to do with Alicia. "Boss, are you sure you're all right?" Amnon asked, trembling, hoping he wouldn't get yelled at in response to his question.
That was not the case. "I'll regain my powers by crowning Alicia and performing the ritual with her." They both knew about the ritual and how complex it was. After all, they needed the devil's blood and Alicia's, but also a lot more. The ritual required certain herbs, stones, and flowers, which were scattered throughout the underworld as well as on Inkwell Isle. To gather everything, the time of day and the weather had to be perfect. The devil understood this all too well. In a deep, bellowing voice, he commanded every imp to prepare for the ritual. "I will ensure that my powers return," he declared, "and that Alicia stays with me for all eternity. She will never be taken from me again!" The gravity of the situation was palpable. The devil's obsession with Alicia consumed him. He would move mountains, sink valleys, and even dry up the ocean if it meant keeping her by his side. Nothing would stand in his way.
Not even the cups, the wolf, the two foxes and his copy.
Song: Mary the Mole from Thumbelina (1994)