And will end the second season act of this story with this chapter. The cliffhanger is intentional because the next chapter will be a little different from the previous ones.
I won't tell you what it will be, but you can be surprised. I'm currently thinking about how I can add Alicia's rivals and Lilith to the story because the third season will still cause me problems.
If there are any suggestions I will gladly accept them ^^
Questions are also open again
Until then
The devil heard the knock on the door. It was hard to ignore apart from the silence in the room itself. You would have thought it was dead silent. Ideal for immersing yourself in thought and only thinking about Alicia. But only until there was another knock on the door was heard, disturbing his thoughts yet again. "Duh, boss, wakey, wakey" and the doorknob was turned to open the door.
Not by itself, of course, but by Henchman himself, who came into the room with the serving trolley to wish his boss a good morning. But instead of a devil who was usually always looking lively, Henchman only saw a devil still lying in bed whose face was clearly visible in the light from the open doorway. The devil still seemed to be fast asleep, or pretending to be. His grunts were hard to ignore as he tossed and turned in bed with sleeping mask over his eyes to avoid being blinded.
"Aw, boss" However, the friendly, beaming expression that Henchman had just shown disappeared with a disappointingly sad expression. "You've been in here for days" but that didn't stop him from going into the room and bringing the devil his breakfast. "Come on, get up. Look what a beautiful day it is" But before he went to the bed, Henchman went to the curtain and pulled on one of the two ropes to open it, which not only brightened up the room. No, there is also a view outside. To a lava lake.
A lava lake in which several black skeletons could be seen screaming in pain. Some were bathing in the lake through which a snake-like demon was swimming, its mouth tipped with razor-sharp teeth. With these it snatched at a skeleton that was trying to escape from the lake only to end up as food itself. Henchman grinned cheerfully like a honey cake horse while the devil showed little enthusiasm. He did lift his sleeping mask to look outside. However, he didn't seem to care and decided to crawl under the comforter.
Henchman closed the curtain again while his eyes fell on the daily newspaper "Uh, I know what'll cheer you up". He went to the serving trolley and grabbed it, "Just listen to these headlines" turning page after page until he found a headline he liked, which he read aloud to the devil. "Invasive beetles devastate crops" he read the next headline that was printed on the next page. "Meteor hurtling towards orphanage".
"Ooh, meteor!" Henchman emphasized again, but the devil didn't seem to care, so the purple Fat Demon Imp continued to read out headlines "Four horses of the apocabalypse on the loose" This was good news for the devil "What a time to be the Devil, huh?" but the only response Henchman got from the devil was another grunt followed by an arm waving. Not to greet Henchman but to shoo him away as the Devil didn't want to hear it and was still sulking. You could tell he was missing Alicia.
But Henchman ignored it and continued to leaf through the newspaper until he saw a headline that might please the devil. "Hey, there's a review. Of you and Lucifer!" The devil immediately stood up and removed the sleep mask from his eyes, which were now drawn back in shock as his name and that of the copy were mentioned. "What's that?" without hesitation he went to the edge of the bed "Ooh, gimme!" and snatched the paper from Henchman's hands who was surprised and could hardly get a word in edgewise.
However, the devil didn't seem to care as he was engrossed in the text. That was much more important now than a confused imp. "Once in a rare while, a figure commands our respect, summons our fear, and effortlessly tempts us into unhinged depravity" his neutral expression changed to a positive happy one while his tail wagged happily like a dog. "Did you hear that, Henchman? Unhinged depravity!".
Henchman seemed just as happy as the devil himself and gave him two thumbs up as a sign of how proud he was of him. "For millennia, it was clear without debate who that figure was." the devil continued, beaming with joy. He liked the review very much so far and not a word of the copy had been heard so far. It couldn't be better. Or not.
"After a recent string of humiliating setbacks, however" well the review seemed to slowly move towards the negative part which is clearly emphasized more than the positive part "It has become blatantly apparent that the Devil is losing his touch?" that was not good news. Absolutely not! "A silly caricature of his once powerful self" he still couldn't believe what he was reading. "Time to pass the walking stick on to the next contender?" he growled "It is clear that the devil is not able to keep his job or dignity, so it would be better that someone more charismatic, skillful and above all diabolical would be better suited for the job than a laughing stock with horns" his gaze darkened and his growl sounded even more menacing than before.
Henchman realized that it was a mistake to tell the devil about the review. Reading it himself beforehand might have prevented the anger that the devil was slowly building up with every sentence he read. "An excellent successor would be none other than another heard being that strongly resembled the devil" the devil knew who was meant. The critic meant Lucifer, the copy who thought that Alicia was his wife and queen, which was completely untrue.
But now hearing that he was to replace him pleased the devil even less. He couldn't take it any longer and let his anger run free. With a demonic voice he loudly uttered "It's a trident!" crumpled the newspaper into a ball, emphasized again with a demonic voice "And this copy will never replace me or have my dearest Alicia for himself!", threw the newspaper ball into the air, screaming before he turned it into ashes with his trident.
The ashes fell to the ground next to Henchman. He himself said nothing but remained silent and just stared at the ashes that had once been the newspaper. "Stupid critic" but then his eyes fell on the devil curled up on the bed, hugging the framed photo of Alicia and showing Henchman his back. "What does he know?" he whimpered, hugging the framed photo even more than before while he was lost in his thoughts of shame. Unfortunately, the critic was right. The devil really had lost his touch.
"Hey, you know what I would do if I was you?" but Henchman didn't want his boss to lock himself up in his bedchamber any longer just because some critic had made him look bad. However, the devil did not respond to his statement. No, his eyes were focused on Alicia's photo. She was wearing the wedding dress he had personally chosen for her. Oh how much he missed her. His index finger slowly slid over the photo as he sighed even more. He knew he wouldn't get Alicia that easily. She was rarely alone but always accompanied by these three cups, the wolf, the two foxes and now Lucifer. The copy that believes Alicia belongs to him alone. That's why the devil scoffed at Henchman's question, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
"I'd take my pitchfork err... trident and have some fun" but Henchman ignored the devil's taunt and used his own tail to imitate the devil's trident. But the latter still ignored it. "Go to the surface, torment some souls, blow off some steam" Suddenly, however, the devil thought about it. Actually, he could let off steam again after the last few incidents that had happened to him. A little chaos in Inkwell City couldn't hurt. At least then the residents would respect him and the oh-so-great critic would soon realize that he was wrong! "I'm just saying. Your are the Devil, after all and maybe Miss Alicia will change her mind and come running to you when she sees how special you are boss".
Eyes wide open, the devil decided to stop sulking in bed and do something. "You know, Henchman, you're right" he slowly stood up with a thoughtful look on his face as he was still unsure. "I am the Devil" but the uncertainty disappeared, as did the thoughtful look. Instead of lying around here, the devil finally decided to do something. So he took his trident in his hand and stood with his feet on the bed while his shadow slowly enveloped Henchman as he came closer and closer to the edge of the bed, now grinning proudly "I need to get out there and be the Devil I was born to be so that Alicia chooses me and not the flea rug".
Determined, he jumped off the bed and landed right in front of Henchman who was still holding his own tail before suddenly letting go as the devil bowed slightly to him "Thank you, Henchman. I'm about to make a lot of people very miserable" he didn't know if this was a thank you speech or not as the devil suddenly hovered in the air with his trident "I can't wait to see how happy my dearest Alicia will be when she sees how powerful I am".
Without many words, the devil flew out of the room and left Henchman alone. "That's my boss!" but this didn't bother Henchman at all. It was the opposite. He was happy to have his old boss back and wiped away a tear for joy. The devil was now on his way to the surface to cause chaos and "let off steam".
While he was doing this, a lot happened in the cottage. Well, you could say that because Alicia, Lucifer, Blood, both Cupheads, Varian and Eira were standing with their backs to the sofa. Well, almost all of them. "Now can I look?" Cuphead was the only one sitting on Elder Kettle's armchair, covering his eyes with his hands while impatiently rocking his feet back and forth. "Not yet" replied Mugman as he screwed on something.
"How about now?" Cuphead asked again as he slowly opened his right eye, which was held shut again by Cuppy so that he could look. After all, the thing Mugman was working on was a surprise for Cuphead and Cuppy. But why the others had to keep their eyes closed was not clear. Alicia assumed it was because it was supposed to be some kind of recognition for Varian. After all, Mugman had spent a lot of time with Varian. Not just recently, but even before Eira and he went to live with Dr. Kahl in the junkyard to build the portal that would help Alicia, Lucifer and Cuppy return to their world. Mugman saw him as a great role model and wanted to emulate him with his current work.
So he quickly tweaked a few things before allowing the group to open their eyes or turn around. "Ta-da!" he shouted proudly and announced that everyone was now allowed to see his work. Alicia and the other adults turned around while Cuphead and Cuppy opened their eyes. The former gasped in delight until he saw what was in front of his eyes. Um, is that a homemade tandem bike with three seats? Alicia asked herself while Lucifer and Blood tilted their heads in question. Varian and Eira remained silent and stared at each other with a worried look. Neither of them knew exactly what to say.
The wooden planks and the ropes were more than clearly visible. They held the rear fork of the red bike firmly to that of the blue bike, on whose mudguard an additional bike saddle was attached. Could Varian have done better? Of course. But Mugman had built it himself. It's the idea that counts, not what the bike or tandem looks like. "You mutilated our bikes!" However, Cuphead saw it differently. He was less than pleased with the tandem.
"It's a present. I made our bikes into a tandem bike" but the younger brother ignored the statement and proudly tapped his hand on the work he had built himself without spending any money. After all, they had both wanted a new bike for a long time anyway. But Elder Kettle forbade them to buy a new one. Uncle Scrooge sends his regards. So Mugman decided to build a bike without further ado. And just to be fair, it was a tandem.
So Cuphead didn't really need to complain. Alicia knew what she was talking about. John had built her a doll's house out of old parcels, shoe boxes and cardboard boxes when she was three or four years old. Of course it wasn't a Barbie dream villa. But Alicia knew it was a present from her brother and had played with it every day. Even with her brother himself, even though he wasn't so keen on dolls. "Now we can ride bikes together" Mugman announced proudly, but Cuphead seemed to be the only one not very pleased. On the contrary, he didn't seem to like it at all and didn't let his opinion out for a second.
"We already did ride bikes together, separately!" and not quite gently pushed his brother back. Mugman and the others quickly noticed that he didn't like the "surprise". "And why do we need a third bicycle saddle?" he added in question before his brother answered both of his questions in one go. "But now we can ride our bikes together, together and the extra saddle is for pedal breaks." The nervousness was clearly visible in Mugman's eyes.
Cuppy didn't actually think it was a bad idea. If you need a break from all the pedaling, you can just sit back and relax, enjoy nature or act as a navigator. But judging by Cuphead's moaning, he wasn't very enthusiastic about it. "Do we always have to do everything together?" he asked with annoyed rolling eyes, crossed arms and a pout. All signs that Cuphead didn't like it. He hated it and Mugman felt guilty. Tears slowly rolled from his eyelids and he began to cry. Oh Mugsy. Alicia, who knew that Mugman had problems dealing with difficult things like stage fright or criticism, comforted him. "Come here my little one" she didn't hesitate for a second, walked over to the young mug, knelt down to be at his eye level and offered him a hug to comfort him.
He accepted the offer without hesitation and jumped into Alicia's arms while crying on her shoulder. She gently stroked his back to soothe him before giving Cuphead a thoughtful look. He knew what she was trying to tell him. "Ugh!" he sighed with rolling eyes and approached his still whimpering brother. He didn't really want his brother to feel sad by his statement. It was just the shock when he saw the tandem for the first time. Of course it didn't look very nice. But the second time he looked at it, the older of the two knew that it was the hard work that counted.
"I should probably try it out before I judge" Mugman sniffled and felt his brother's hand on his shoulder. One or two tears were still falling from his eyes, but that changed very quickly. "Great. Let's go!" As if from one fell swoop to the next, Mugman's emotional expression changed from a weeping, sniffling mug to an outwardly cheerful one.
Oh man, I really can't get used to that. On the one hand, Alicia was glad that Cuphead admitted his mistake and that he shouldn't judge some things by their value. After all, Mugman worked on it for a long time and Elder Kettle saved up a lot of money to buy a new bike. Or in this case, a tandem. However, you should also value something you've built yourself as much as something you've bought. The doll's house that John built back then is still in top condition, unlike the Barbie castle that Alicia gave her cousin.
The flags were missing, the main gate had been torn out so that only one half of the door was left and a lot of furniture belonging to the castle was missing. But at the moment only one thing was important. Well, actually more than one thing. The safety of the three cups was the top priority. But also the safety of Alicia. The devil hadn't been in touch for days or weeks, but why wouldn't he just turn up now and could try to kidnap Alicia and grab the souls of both cupheads?
Neither Lucifer, nor Blood, nor Varian and Eira wanted to find out. That's why they followed the three cups and Alicia out of the cottage. Their eyes, ears and noses were on high alert in case the devil made an appearance.
But they didn't have to worry about him. The devil was far away from the cottage and the group. The cloud of smoke from which he always appeared when he teleported appeared under an oak tree on a small hill. From there he could see Inkwell City in all its size and splendor. Many buildings looked like normal buildings. There were skyscrapers in the center of the city, but also smaller buildings, including some that resembled objects like baby bottles or bones. The devil was not at all interested in their appearance. He wasn't here to look at the city from afar, but to cause chaos, fear and terror.
Relaxed, he breathed in the air, sighed and teleported away again in a cloud of smoke to start his chaos parade. His first victims were three small children. A sandwich child, a small puppy and a muffin child. They all had a balloon in different colors in their hands while the muffin child held a chicken drumstick in his other hand. They laughed and played together, not even noticing that the devil appeared on the fence behind them and watched the three of them. His mischievous grin grew wider by the second before he decided to pop the three balloons one by one with the tip of his tail. The children heard and saw the colorful shreds that were one of their balloons and began to cry. The devil was delighted and laughed diabolically before moving on to his next victim.
In the park not far from where the devil had previously made the three children cry, an elderly lady sat down on a bench. She opened her bag and took out a crumpled bag. She reached into it, took something in her hand and distributed the crumbs to the three pigeons that wandered back and forth in front of the bench she was sitting on looking for food. The pigeons ate the crumbs with relish and noticed just as little as the elderly lady that a few meters away from her and the pigeons the devil appeared from a cloud of smoke.
He caught sight of the elderly lady with the pigeons. He chuckled softly as he thought of a grandiose way to terrorize the elderly lady. Swinging his trident in a circle, he fired a green beam at the three pigeons, which fused together and became one huge pigeon. Terrified, a pigeon twice her size made the elderly lady scream before the mutated giant pigeon decided to grab her in its mouth like the breadcrumbs on the floor so that only the muffled screams of the lady inside the pigeon could be heard.
However, the devil liked this and couldn't help but laugh before disappearing and appearing on a traffic light in the middle of the city. Four signs were sticking out of the traffic lights, two red ones saying STOP and two green ones saying GO. The signs ran diagonally to regulate the traffic. But only until the devil appeared on the traffic light and manipulated it with his trident by firing a bluish beam of lightning at it. This caused all the signs to come back on and instead of two STOP and GO signs, all four signs were now green.
Without noticing that there were other drivers on the road, the cars waiting at the traffic lights thundered into each other. The devil liked the sound of screeching tires, crashing and car horns. He liked it so much that he laughed with glee and enjoyed the chaos he was responsible for before disappearing again in a cloud of smoke before he could be seen. But that's what he wanted, because a few streets away you could hear several residents fleeing in terror from the devil. For good reason, because he was out and about in his dragon form, breathing fire to terrify the inhabitants. But that was not enough for him. His eyes caught sight of a building with the name of the daily newspaper and its logo on it.
The devil had not forgotten that he was still angry with the critic. "I'm losing my touch huh?" but the half-destroyed city proved the devil wrong. He was still the same. Well, almost, but he kept hearing cries of fear and the inhabitants were afraid of him. He liked that. But he wanted to take it to the extreme and decided to pay a "visit" to the publisher of the daily newspaper.
In the office building, the employees ran away in panic or even jumped out of the window when they saw the devil in his dragon form meandering through the building in search of the critic who said he had lose his touch. He meandered through every room in search of the room where the critic was to surprise him. Losing my touch huh? he thought to himself as his eyes finally caught sight of the room the critic was in. His grin widened as he got closer and closer to the room. The chaos in the building was ignored not only by the devil but also by the critic. He was deeply involved in his next job and didn't even realize that the devil was standing right in front of him. "Hmm maybe I should have an inter-" but as he was about to stand up his eyes caught the yellow ones of the devil staring deep into his eyes.
The way he had criticized the devil in the newspaper suddenly disappeared, leaving the critic shaking like a leaf. He had not hoped for a visit from the devil, let alone to see the town in such a mess. Flames were everywhere, the crashing of cars could be heard and he could hear the screams of the town's inhabitants and employees running away from a printer that had just come to life and was equipped with sharp teeth. "So I'm supposed to have lost my touch?" the devil asked him, coiling his snake-like body around the critic several times before pinning him down like a prey animal. "So am I really just a silly caricature of my once powerful self?" The critic found it difficult to answer both questions because the devil was squeezing him too hard and the critic's face was turning red. Not from anger but because he couldn't breathe.
So the devil let him go and looked after the now screaming and terrified critic, while the former just laughed diabolically and decided to show Alicia how much he loved her as a sign of his love. His eyes caught sight of a camera and an envelope. He grabbed both while he returned to his normal form to prepare Alicia's gift.
When he had finished, the devil disappeared and decided to look at his work from a distance. With the help of his trident, he reappeared under the oak tree where he had appeared before and leaned not only his trident next to it but also himself. His legs crossed and both arms behind his head, he watched the burning and destroyed city. His masterpiece was complete. Chaos was back on the Inkwell Isles. Well, more like Inkwell City, but the devil didn't care. He had not only let off steam but also taken revenge on the critic.
Now he would see him in a different light and would certainly think twice about writing badly about the devil. However, the devil himself was not finished yet. Behind his back, he pulled out a pink envelope with a heart-shaped wax seal with devil horns. Alicia's name was written on the envelope. Of course he couldn't resist a kiss "Please be so good and fly to my dearest Alicia" he ordered the envelope before continuing to look at the burning city.
He sighed happily "Lost my touch? I think not" he mocked, chuckling as the elevator appeared not far from the oak tree under which he lay. His eyes wandered from the city to the very elevator from which Henchman appeared "Hiya, boss. So, how was it?" he asked curiously. "It was great!" replied the devil as he stood up, stretched "I feel like my old wicked self again" and positively told him how great he was. This pleased Henchman greatly. Seeing his boss happy was the best thing, but he wanted to know what the devil had done.
"Details. I want details" His fingers were already wriggling with curiosity. He wondered what his boss had done. After all, it must be something great. Now the devil was silent. But only until he was in the elevator "Very well, Henchman" he couldn't resist the request of his loyal assistant so he told him what he had done while Henchman prepared the elevator to go down. "First, I tortured some children, then I..." before the rest could be heard, the elevator door closed and the flames enveloped it. It disappears from the surface leaving behind a burned mark on the ground and something else.
I have a bad feeling while the devil returns to the underworld, Alicia and the others walked along the forest path, following the three cups on the tandem built by Mugman. Varian and Eira ran right behind them, followed by Blood, while Alicia and Lucifer were the only ones following a few meters behind the group. The latter sensed that Alicia was worried about the devil. Not because she was worried about him, but rather because, like him, she sensed that his presence was not far from the group.
He could be anywhere and appear whenever he wanted. And that worries both Alicia and Lucifer. Well, not quite him because Lucifer still had a bone to pick with the devil. Because nobody, and by that Lucifer means absolutely nobody, is allowed to interfere with his wife and queen! He will pay for it! But only one thing counts at the moment. That Alicia was fine and didn't have to worry. That's why he held her hand tightly and didn't let go. He didn't want to lose Alicia again under any circumstances. Not again. His heart wouldn't want to endure that. After all, she meant a lot to him.
But there was no sign of the devil. Nevertheless, Alicia felt him near her. Hopefully he wouldn't get the idea to wait in a bush and grab Cuphead and Cuppy. Alicia hoped not, as Cuppy and Mugman were unfortunately not traveling fast on their homemade tandem. The reason was Cuphead.
"You know what, Mugsy? I take it all back." He leaned back on the rear seat and didn't push on the pedals but lay relaxed on the bike and continued reading his comic. "This is some great bike" while Cuppy and Mugman, sweating, made the bike move with effort. After all, you can and should only ride a tandem in pairs and never alone. Or in this case, Cuphead could help out. "You two mind pedallin' faster? I could use a little, uh, breeze back here" Of course, neither of them felt happy about doing all the work while Cuphead just sat around lazily doing nothing. "A breeze, huh?" growled Cuppy, annoyed with exertion as he gave Cuphead an annoyed, sometimes angry look. "You know what? You're a real pain in our-", "Stop! Look!" Cuphead interrupted him, stopping not only Mugman from finishing his sentence but also the bike and the group chasing it. Varian, Eira and Blood looked at each other in confusion before following Cuphead's outstretched finger and keeping their mouths open in shock.
What's going on now? Alicia asked herself when she noticed that the group stopped and suddenly fell silent as if they saw something that seemed both surprising and threatening. But what was it? Alicia feared worse. Please don't tell me the devil is really here. She thought to herself as she joined the group with her husband to see what everyone was staring at
Well, it wasn't the devil. That reassured Alicia and also Lucifer and Cuppy. But his trident was still leaning against the oak tree. Apparently the devil had forgotten to take it with him on his way down to the underworld. "Is that what I think it is?" Cuppy asked with a questionable look while the two brothers still couldn't believe what their eyes were seeing. "It can't be," Mugman stuttered as he came out of his trance and began to shake while his brother jumped off his bike and slowly made his way to the Trident with thick pupils.
"Oh but it is" Like a moth attracted by the light, Cuphead slowly approached the trident while Cuppy and Mugman leaned the bike to the side and followed him with caution and care. The others did the same, especially Alicia, who knew what Cuphead was up to. Oh no, don't tell me he wants to grab the trident.
Panicked, she ran towards the trident and grabbed it before Cuphead could even touch it with his fingers. "Wait, don't touch it!" she admonished him. Cuphead didn't like that at all "Hey! I didn't want to touch the trident!" he grumbled with a big pouty lip. Yes, certainly Cuphead. "Surely that's what you wanted Cuphead or why are your arms outstretched?" she wasn't wrong. His arms were outstretched and wanted to grab the trident.
He realized it and hid his hands behind his back while an innocent grin appeared on his face. "Besides, we don't know where the devil is right now so I'd better keep my hands off it if I were you" she knew what she was talking about and put the trident back where it was before while she stared at Cuphead and hoped he wouldn't get the wrong idea and snatch the trident. Wouldn't be the first time. He had already tried several times to use both Lucifer's and Alicia's trident to wreak havoc. But the tridents didn't seem to listen to him and didn't fire anything. No flames or bullets. No nothing at all as Cuphead was not the owner of both tridents.
We didn't really have to talk about Blood's wand because it only listens to its own wizard and people without magic weren't able to use it. But now seeing the devil's trident could fulfill his dream. Well, if only there wasn't one thing "What if only the Devil can use it?" Mugman asked himself nervously as he and the others approached. Varian held Eira tightly in his hand while Lucifer kept an eye out for danger.
"But what if anyone can use it?" Alicia blocked the cup's path but Cuphead was more ravenous than he looked and snatched the trident in front of her eyes. Oh I have a bad feeling about this She knew it wouldn't end well if the devil found out that Cuphead had his trident.
The elevator landed in the throne room from which a laughing devil and Henchman emerged "Oh, the sound of screaming" he chuckled delightedly as Henchman listened to him. "Ah, what a delicious day" satisfied he walked out of the elevator and climbed up the steps to his throne "Precious memories" relieved he sat down on it "Just me and my trident and, uh..." he wanted to reach for his trident until he noticed that his hand wasn't gripping anything.
To be more precise, he was holding nothing in his hands. Confused, he looked at his empty hand, which was supposed to be holding his trident but now had nothing in it. He gasped in shock and mumbled nervously while his eyes looked everywhere for the missing trident. "Where's my trident?" he asked himself until he remembered that his trident didn't come with him when he and Henchman got into the elevator together. His dramatic expression was hard to miss.
The same could not be said of the explosion in the forest that had just been heard. "Ready, aim, fire!" The empty tin cans and glass bottles that had just been standing on a hollow tree trunk covered in moss were hit and destroyed in just a few seconds by a fired fireball. The tree trunk itself now also had a hole in it from the outside.
"Whoa" gasped Mugman and Cuppy, while the others looked shocked or unenthusiastic. Blood seemed to be one of the latter as he wasn't too happy about torching something just for fun. Alicia and Lucifer, on the other hand, just shook their heads. Of course he can use the trident and get up to mischief again! That's exactly why only Alicia and Lucifer could use their respective tridents, while everyone else had no effect, let alone worked at all. "Are you okay?" Alicia asked Cuphead anyway, because the force of the trident was not to be underestimated. The scuff mark Cuphead had left in the ground showed this. "This thing sure packs a wallop" explained Cuphead as Alicia helped him to get back on his feet while Mugman wiped the dirt off his pants. "I think we'd have more control if we three held onto it" surmised Cuppy, giving Cuphead a rather unintended idea.
But Mugman didn't seem too happy about it "Funny. Huh! I thought you didn't want to always do everything together" he scoffed. "Did I say that?" The nods from the other two answered his question. Mugman didn't even look his brother in the eye. "Well, if it makes you two feel any better, there isn't anybody else I'd rather go around blowing stuff up with" But that changed from one second to the next "Aw, gee, Cuphead" said Cuppy and Mugman. The latter was very flattered.
"Now let's go blow stuff up" Oh, please don't. But the mischievous grin was hard to miss. The three cups didn't give in and ran through the forest with the trident in their hands, faking everything that wasn't nailed down. Or in this case, fireproof. But fortunately the flames didn't stay there for long. Alicia, Blood and Lucifer took care of it.
Meanwhile, the devil in the underworld lifted the seat cover from his throne, under which lay nothing but a few pennies. "It's not under here," he grumbled annoyed and searched behind the throne. But there was nothing there either. "It's not back here". But he refused to give up and continued to search for his missing trident. His eyes fell on the tapestries behind which the trident might have been hiding. However, there was nothing behind them apart from the wall they were hanging on, of course. "Where is it?" you could see the frustration in his eyes. Well, or at least Henchman saw it.
"Did I have it with me in the elevator?" It had to be in the elevator. Wasn't it? Unfortunately not. It was empty and there was no sign of the trident. "Uh, I don't know," Henchman replied, shrugging his shoulders, which didn't improve the situation for the already annoyed devil. "Well, look around. Find it!" he grumbled even more "Ah, calm down", "You calm down!" roared the devil only more annoyed and enveloped in flames. "Well, let's retrace our steps" Henchman was startled by this, but it didn't help him much. So he suggested this "Where did you have it last?" the devil thought about it quickly "Well, I mutated some pigeons in the park, then I went to the zoo and released all the carnivores, and then I set the city on fire, uh, hmmm..." he enumerated and slowly but surely thought about where he had last seen his trident until he remembered.
He gasped as he remembered "I left it against that tree!" He knew exactly which tree was meant. It was the very tree that Cuphead, Cuppy and Mugman were avoiding as they fired wildly with the trident while Alicia, Blood and Lucifer were busy straightening out the mess. But try that when the three cups torched the same tree over and over again only to suddenly find themselves floating in the air like Harry Potter at his first Quidditch match.
"Whoa!" , "This is new" Well, they were actually dangling from the trident and not actually sitting on it. But that didn't make Alicia and the others any less worried because who knows what the three of them would do. The others didn't want to know, so with the help of Alicia and Lucifer, who transformed into their respective dragon forms, they left the others on their backs to fly after the three fleeing cups.
Just in time, because Lucifer had barely lifted off the ground when the elevator appeared with the devil and Henchman inside. "It was right here! I'm sure of it" the devil pointed to the tree directly in front of him as the elevator door opened. But the trident was not there either. Henchman, for his part, looked at the torched and still burning forest that he thought his boss had set on fire "Wow, nice work, boss".
"You really, uh, burnt everything up" Henchman mentioned positively with a thumbs up while one of the trees snapped. But that wasn't the devil's work, it was someone else's. "I didn't do that," he confirmed thoughtfully, as it couldn't have been him. "Which means someone has my trident!" he growled while in the background in the sky the three cups flew around on his trident while the others flew after them.
The three cups didn't mind much - after all, they now had a new "weapon" with which they could cause as much nonsense as possible. Burning it down was one thing, but what else could they do? Well, Mugman had an idea. "Well, there is something I've always wanted to try".
"Okay, why are we standing in front of a fancy restaurant?" Varian asked, the only one in the group who was busy watching Mugman with the trident eating spaghetti. "I don't know, but as long as they don't get up to any mischief, it's all-" Blood could barely finish the sentence before the group heard shouting and growling coming from the restaurant, which was now in chaos. The walls were smeared with sauce, guests and waiters ran away in fear and panic from the food that had come to life, while some fought with it at their tables. The furniture was not spared, which only added to the chaos in the restaurant. "Oh boy, I'd hate to be the owner of this restaurant," Varian shook his head as the door opened and all three cups went out. "I hope you had fun scaring the rest of the guests," the three cups saw the annoyed look on Alicia's face. Lucifer wasn't too happy about it either and just stomped on the floor with his own trident to put the mess back in order.
Of course, the three of them swallowed nervously and apologies came out of the gun, but that wasn't enough for the adults. After all, the three of them had caused more than enough chaos for Alicia, Lucifer and Blood to clean up. "Okay, we're really sorry", "Yes, we didn't mean to hurt anyone", "We were just too happy to finally try out a trident" the latter shocked the adults as this was Cuppy's statement.
He was actually the most approachable of the three after Mugman. Hearing that from his mouth was a bit surprising. But you could also say that about Cuphead. "Mugsy, old boy, earlier today, when you mutilated our bikes, you did something nice for me. Now, I want to mutilate something nice for you" The fact that he wasn't thinking about himself was something new for him. But what did he have in mind? Alicia asked herself.
Now back in the forest near a cliff facing a mountain, Cuphead fired his trident at it several times while all but Mugman covered their eyes and showed their backs. "I have a bad feeling," said Alicia. Not because she couldn't see what Cuphead was doing, but because she had that feeling again that always comes when the devil is in the immediate vicinity. „Can we look now?" Mugman asked nervously while still keeping his eyes closed and Cuphead stopped for a moment to look at his brother. "Not yet. Almost there" and continued firing at the mountain while Mugman and Cuppy were too impatient like the others and already wanted to look.
The tension was too much for the two cups to bear. Even Alicia and the others had trouble not turning their heads to see what Cuphead was working on. But Alicia couldn't stand it any longer and turned around. "What's..." the others followed her and were just as surprised as she was. Except Mugman and Cuppy, who were looking in a completely different direction and started stuttering. Not with joy but with fear, because Alicia's fears had turned out to be true.
While the adults marveled at Cuphead's Work of art, which was based on Mount Rushmore but with the heads of Mugman, Cuppy, Alicia, Blood, Varian, Eira and Lucifer instead of the four most important presidents of the United States. A certain demon is slowly approaching the group. "Very nice" but suddenly Alicia flinched. That voice. Alicia knew who it belonged to and was overcome with fear. Lucifer and the others knew it too and didn't hesitate to protect Alicia, Cuppy, Mugman and Eira while Cuphead had no idea who was behind him.
"Aww, thanks, Devil, but actually..." but then he realized it and his lips trembled like the rest of his body. Mugman and Cuppy clung to Blood's legs while Varian stood protectively in front of Eira. She trembled at the sight of the devil and was reluctant to be captured. Neither did Lucifer want the impostor to make a pass at his beloved Alicia. He was reluctant to risk it. "The Devil!" Cuphead screamed in fear and panic while the devil stared at him with a pinch of anger and menace.
For good reason, the devil looked at him like that - Cuphead had taken his trident and stolen his property, which the devil would like to have back. "I believe you have something of mine" Yes very obvious. Alicia rolled her eyes as Lucifer continued to stand back to make sure the devil changed his mind. "Hand it over" he demanded of the cup with a wide outstretched hand while the latter was still hesitating whether he wanted to hand it over or not. After all, he had a powerful weapon in his hands. Literally. "Uh, okay. Sure. Sorry" but his conscience got the better of him and Cuphead decided to return the trident to its original owner without nagging as he usually did.
The fact that his hands were shaking could not be ruled out "We- We- We was just horsin' around" the devil's hand slowly approached the trident and, for whatever reason, he received an electric shock that surprised not only Lucifer but also Eira and Varian. Even Cuphead was surprised and didn't know if it was an accident or on purpose. Either way, the devil seemed less than thrilled to be incinerated by the electric shock he had received from his own trident
"Here" Cuphead offered him the trident again and again he got an electric shock and again and again until Cuphead slowly enjoyed making the devil angrier and angrier. His smug grin was hard for Alicia to miss. "Okay, okay. Sorry, really" Cuphead apologized for the fifth time while the devil didn't buy it "Seriously, here you go".
But even on the sixth time, the devil was shocked again by his own trident, which made him realize that the cup was taking the piss. "You're doing that on purpose!" he growled while Cuphead stifled a giggle. "Really, now!" growled Alicia, annoyed, and decided to end the whole thing once and for all. It surprised not only Lucifer that she stood directly between the angry devil and the foolish Cuphead but also the others as well as the devil and Cuphead himself who could hardly say anything when Alicia took the trident out of his hands. "So really now Cuphead you know better than to play the big hero here" and handed the devil his trident, which he was desperately missing.
But that didn't help much either, because now, for the seventh time, the devil was once again subjected to an electric shock, and this time it wasn't Cuphead's fault, but Alicia's. Her flushed face, made the situation worse by Cuphead's laughter, than it already was.
Even Mugman's, Cuppy's, Eira's and Lucifer's giggles made the situation unintentionally better. Only Henchman and Blood remained neutral. "Okay, that was unintentional, but why are you reaching for the tip and not the staff?" Alicia asked the devil as he tried not to freak out in front of her, but instead turned his attention to the cup behind her. "You think this is funny? You think you have the upper hand just because you and your friends and my future queen have my trident and yours and that other cup soul debt has expired?" Excuse me what?
Did Alicia just hear that right or did she mishear when the devil said that she will be his future queen and that Cuphead and Cuppy's souls are no longer needed because the contract has expired? "You're kidding us, aren't you?" Alicia didn't quite believe him, but his shocked face followed by his hands covering his mouth made it clear that what he had just said was true. "Expired soul debt?" Mugman asked as he detached himself from Blood's leg and slowly walked towards the devil. "Ah..." Henchman sighed depressingly. "Wait, wait, wait." Oh boy, it can't get any better than this, can it? Alicia hoped not, but Mugman didn't disappoint her "Hold it. Stop everything", "Mugsy what are you up to?".
"Did you just say expired soul dept? He just said expired soul debt" Yes, we understood it the first time too, Mugsy. Alicia knew it didn't mean anything good for the devil but it was good for Cuphead and Cuppy. After all, both their souls were protected "Lemme get this straight. I and Cuppy no longer owe him our souls..." his eyes wandered to Alicia's hand, which still held the trident "And Alicia has his Trident?" Brainy is present or what? She didn't really care that she was holding the devil's trident. In fact, she didn't even want it, she only had it because Cuphead thought she was playing with the devil.
But the latter was hardly feeling any better himself "Oh, the humiliation" his face was hidden by his two hands as he found it difficult to look Alicia and the two cups in the face. "Oh wow" "Now this is just sad" added Blood and Varian. "Here, you should have this. It belongs to you" Alicia tried again while her face looked somewhat normal again and wasn't flushed because of what had just happened. Ofcourse, the devil wanted to reach for it but hesitated at first. "And you- you won't zap me?" he asked hesitantly to be on the safe side. Alicia nodded, "Hey, I wouldn't even dream of humiliating you any more than-" but his gurgling and trembling said otherwise as Alicia had electrocuted him again. Unintentionally, of course. "Aw, jeez," Henchman slowly walked backwards to prepare himself for what was about to happen. The devil had blown all his fuses and had had enough.
As Cuphead, Mugman and Cuppy continued to laugh, they heard not only the wind rushing past their ears but also an echo coming from the devil.
"You all have taken something of great value to me, so I shall take something of great value to all of you"
The silence was audible. Everyone in the group felt it. Varian and Eira held on to each other. Both foxes were reluctant to be separated from each other. Blood held Cuppy to protect him as well. Only Cuphead seemed to be less than enthusiastic about the threat the devil had made. He laughed about it, in fact. "Ha! There' nothing you can take from me that I care about" Lucifer agreed with the mug's statement "I have many things but there is nothing you can take from me" his hand wanted to stroke Alicia's head but instead he felt nothing. Alicia was no longer with him and Mugman had also disappeared. But where were they?
They searched everywhere but nowhere did they find the two missing people until an elevator bell rang and their confused looks turned to panic. The two missing people were in the elevator where the devil was standing with Henchman. Mugman was tied up by Henchman while the devil held Alicia tightly in his arms and wouldn't let go. She tried to free herself, but like any toon, this one was stronger than a real human.
"Say goodbye to Cuphead" the devil commanded the still trembling Mugman "Goodbye to Cuphead" Mugman whispered shakily. "Lucifer help-" the elevator door fell silent Alicia's plea for help. The only thing that could be heard was the devil's laughter. "No! Alicia!" Cuppy and Lucifer screamed as the elevator disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving only a burn mark where it had been. Alicia and Mugman were gone and separated from the group on their way to the underworld.
And all because Cuphead couldn't let it go and played with the devil. Lucifer was frustrated, angry and worried at the same time as he paced back and forth trying to think of a plan to free his Alicia and the cup. Cuphead remained speechless and didn't know what to say. Should he say anything at all? He didn't know.
He just had to pass the whole thing. But how when suddenly he heard a beeping that got louder and louder. "What's that?" Blood asked, annoyed, and looked at the source of the beeping. It was coming from Varian. More precisely, from his Bracelet, which lit up in red as if it were a warning. "Varian what is that? Is something wrong?" Eira asked gloomily. "It's the portal, it's out of control and seems to be opening some kind of rift in the dimension not far from our position.
His bracelet showed where the crack opens. It flashed several times and seemed to appear behind him and the others. "What's that?" startled, Cuppy pointed to the crack, which slowly built up until it parted and showed nothing but a bluish vortex from which something fell out. Or rather, someone did. It was a person, a female judging by the voice. This female person stood up slowly from the ground, wiping the dirt off her legs before looking around. "Don't think I'm in Kansas anymore..." as suddenly as she appeared, the person fell silent again as her eyes fell from the surroundings to the group standing a few meters in front of her.
Her eyes stared at the group. Blood, Varian, Eira, Lucifer, Cuppy and Cuphead didn't know who or what this person was. But they did know one thing. She was not an enemy but a friend.