Blackwolfen - Sorry for the long wait guys. This month was a bit stressful for me and my axiety. But we finally did it and the two parter is done and we can go on with the rest of the third season and the final arc of this story. Thanks again for Gemwing for helping me out and I hope you love this chapter as much as I do. Until then ;)
Gemwing88: It took a while with some editing and some alterations of scenes but it was all worth the wait. I am very happy to have a part in this two parter special and I do hope everyone enjoyed this as much as I did. Stay "tooned" for Alicia's further adventures and may your dreams shine ;)
Alicia was uncertain how long she had fallen asleep since the Devil had left her locked up in the bedchamber to break Mugman's spirit to spite Cuphead even further. It was a cruel enough act of retaliation by kidnapping them both but Alicia was most especially worried for the young mug given how very emotionally sensitive he can be.
On one hand, she didn't have the slightest idea that Mugman was taking his captivity in stride, confident that his brother, her husband and their friends would come down to come and save them. And she also didn't know that the Devil was trying and failing to break Mugman's spirit with every tactic he could pull out of his book of tricks. And most of all, Alicia didn't even know that her husband and friends have indeed arrived in the Underworld and are staging a rescue right now. And with some special help from another friend she had never expected to see again. "Why is he so stubborn? I don't want to be his wife and queen. My heart belongs to Lucifer." Alicia sighed. She wanted to get out but with the bracelet around her arm and with the two demons standing guard she couldn't flee.
Outside the bedchamber, the two demons continued to guard the door, completely unaware that someone unexpected visitors were close by, about to get the drop on them. "Do you see the door?" Cuppy asked. Kaichi, being the smallest, peeked around the corner undetected before he pulled back and nodded. "Oh yeah." The Sprigon confirmed. "And like Lucifer had said, the Big Doofus left a couple of demons guarding it." Lucifer growls a bit. "He's trying his best to keep my love away from me." His head peaked up behind the Sprigon. "But not for long."
Getting an idea, Katie transformed her beaded bracelet back into its Keyblade form. Out of her pocket, she pulled out a charm to bear a strong resemblance to the Heartbinder from Kingdom Hearts 3. Muttering a summoning spell under her breath, there was a small and faint burst of light. Miraculously, the demons guarding the door dismissed the light as just a flicker of one of the torches lighting the tunnels and thought nothing much else of it. As the light shimmered down, a small fluffy blue ball unfurled to reveal itself as Stitch from Lilo & Stitch. The fluffy blue alien blinked as he stared at a smiling Katie and the surprised Cuppy and Lucifer.
"Hiiiiiii." Stitch greeted as he awkwardly flexed the claws of his left hand in an attempt of a wave while grinning. A bit scared Cuppy hugged Lucifer's leg in fear. Lucifer couldn't blame him for that and asked himself only one thing. "What is that?" Cuppy asked, focusing his eyes on Katie to wait for an answer from her. "Don' worry, he's a friend and the means to deal with those demons." Katie replied in reassurance. "Stitch is also cute and fluffy!" Stitch chimed in. Lucifer looked confused but said nothing and watched what would happen. "Stitch, you see those demons over there?" Katie asked the alien, pointing at the demons guarding the door. "They're the bad guys and they're holding a friend of mine locked up on the other side of their door. Think you can get the drop on them? It could increase your goodness level even further if you do me that little favor.", "Ooooh! Yeah, yeah!" Stitch beamed, clapping his hands together in excitement.
The blue koala-like alien then dropped down onto all fours and scuttled across the floor. He then started to climb up the wall like Spider-Man, scurrying across the ceiling. Katie and her group peered around the corner, watching Stitch scurry across the ceiling until he was stopped, clinging there over the demons. "Yoo-hoo!" Surprised by the small call, the demons looked around from left to right until they glanced up to notice Stitch above them. "Aloha!" Stitch cackled before he dropped down from the ceiling and got onto one of the demons' heads.
"GET THAT THING OFF ME!" Yelled one of the demons while the other tried to remove the blue alien. Only he accidentally punched the other demon on the head as Stitch avoided the large first before it hit the other demon on the head, leaving behind a large bump. Stitch laughed as he was jumping around, latching onto the other demon and started to scurry all over him. The demon struggled to grab Stitch and yank him off, but the little guy proved to be fast for him. "What is going on outside?" Alicia hears the screaming, yelling and painful groans from the demons outside her room and wonder's what is going on.
Sure, she could check what caused the sudden noise but on the other hand it could be a trick from the Devil. Back outside the door, Stitch was yelling something out in his alien language before he got under the demons, lifted them over his head and threw them at a wall. The little alien was laughing hysterically as he bounced up and down in excitement. "He had coffee today didn't he?" Kaichi asked bluntly as he and an exasperated Katie watched on. "Coconut cake AND coffee!" Stitch corrected happily.
Lucifer looked even more confused than before. "What does this have to do with coffee?" he asked while his eyes followed the little blue alien. Katie shrugged. "He likes coconut cake as much as coffee and would occasionally have both together.". "Okay…" Cuppy spoke slowly, not sure what to add in as the two demons fell to the ground with stars circling above their heads. "Thanks, Stitch, you've been of great help." Katie smiled as she petted the alien's head like she would with a puppy. The others didn't know if they should pet him too but a small thank you was enough.
"You're welcome!" Stitch beamed in reply before he started to glow, indicating that he was returning to his world the moment his job was done. "Bye!", Lucifer and Cuppy looked shocked and confused as Stitch disappeared in light particles right in front of their eyes. "Is…is.. did he just die?" asked Cuppy in panic, hoping the little blue alien was fine. "No, he just returned to his world safe and sound." Katie answered, holding up her summon charm. "Misterie gave me, Lexie and Natty one of these to summon an ally to come to our aid on separate occasions. They really come in handy from time to time."
"Didn't Alicia tell you and your brother about video games like Kingdom Hearts?" Kaichi asked. Cuppy shakes his head. "No they haven't. As a child they played other games like Super Wario World and stuff." He said, remembering what Alicia and John had told him and his brother Mugman back then when both were six and nine years old. "Ah, I see." Katie said simply. "Anyway, now that those guards are dealt with, let's bust Alicia out." Lucifer didn't say no to that, grabbed his own trident and fired a fireball at the door. "What the…?" Alicia heard the explosion outside the room. Whatever happened outside seems to be causing chaos and apparently explosions too. But why is the door opening when a battle is taking place outside of it? When the door opened, Alicia thought it was the Devil coming back, but once the large horned figure stepped in, trident in hand, it was actually her husband and Cuppy, who soon followed in. "Lucifer? Cuppy?" Alicia gasped, hoping it's not a trick from the Devil.
"My love." Lucifer spoke, his eyes practically brimming with relieved tears. Alicia's eyes are filled with tears too as she runs in her husband's arms like she hasn't seen him for months. Even though it was only hours. "There, there. I'm here." Lucifer crooned, rubbing her back. "We're here to get you and Mugman out." Cuppy added. "I missed you so much." Alicia cried as her eyes filled more and more with tears. Katie and Kaichi were at the doorway, smiling tenderly at the moment. It took a while to get used to see this version of the Devil from the book to be a far cry from the one in their dimension but they were still happy for Alicia to be in the arms of a devoted husband.
Alicia wiped her tears away and noticed Katie and Kaichi. "Katie?" She gasped. Not in fear but in joy. "Hey." Katie greeted. Alicia smiled and walked towards her with a big smile on her face as she couldn't help herself and hugged her and Kaichi. "I never thought of being saved by you too but I guess it's a payback." Nervous, Alicia scratches the back of her head. "All I said is we don't know how we'd ever repay you." Katie shrugged. "And as for how Kaichi and I ended up here, it's kind of a funny story. But we don't have time to explain. We need to find Mugman and get you both out of here. And we also need to find that marriage contract and destroy it so the Devil won't force you into that blood ritual."
Alicia's eyes widened as Katie mentioned that and held onto her husband like if her life depends on it. "And what about this?" Alicia asked, lifting up her arm to reveal the cuff that prevented her from shape shifting or using any of her demon powers. "Speaking from experience, it's difficult to remove it yourself, but with a little help, it's very manageable." Katie said. Lucifer looked confused before Katie gave an encouraging nod. Getting the message, he walked over to his wife, reached for the cuff and easily removed it from Alicia's wrist. "If the Devil claimed he's the only one to remove that cuff, obviously he hadn't been specific of WHICH Devil he meant." Kaichi smirked. Alicia smiled, happy to have her powers back. She couldn't help it and turned into her wolf form jumping and running around like she's having the zoomies before turning back into her demon form since she can't change back into her human form since she's in the Underworld. "It feels good to feel my powers." She exclaimed, hugging her husband.
"I know that feeling." Katie agreed. "But we gotta move." Cuppy spoke up urgently. "Blood and the others have gone off to look for where the Devil's keeping Mugman. We need to meet up with them and leave before the Devil catches us here." Alicia didn't forget about that and nodded in agreement to Cuppy's words. They may have saved her but Mugsy was still in the Devil's claws. "Then let's go! There's not a moment to lose!" Lucifer exclaimed, taking his wife's hand as they followed Katie and Cuppy out of the room.
Meanwhile, the other group is searching for the mug around the throne room. Just as they were finding no signs of poor Mugman, they stopped to hear the voice of the Devil echoing off from somewhere in frustration. They all turned to see that his voice was coming from a tunnel not too far off from them. "Oh come on! I've been torturing you all day!" The Devil yelled in anger "Will you just break already?". "I don't know what you're talking about." Mugman's voice responded innocently, making the Devil growl in frustration.
Cuphead gasped as Eira cried, "That's Mugman!". The others stopped what they were doing and walked up to what the others meant when they heard the voices coming from a hallway, leading into the darkness of the dungeon. "He must be there." Varian mentioned while Blood steps closer to the hallway giving the others a sign to follow them but on a quiet foot. They don't want to alarm the Devil or any other demon about their presence down here in the Underworld.
The frustrated Devil marches angrily back into the control room, having zero luck in breaking Mugman's spirit. He then stops and yelps in shock and dismay when he notices the clock was drawing closer to striking twelve, about to lose the bet for sure. "Duh, cuttin' it pretty close." Henchman said casually, looking pleased with winning the bet. He could just taste the luau he was planning to eat on his vacation about now. The Devil started to panic, thinking of a way to stall a bit more time. He needed more time to break Mugman and seduce Alicia into giving him her cooperation. That he really hates losing.
Just then, he thought of something to get Henchman out of the room. "Oh! Say, Henchman, I just remembered." The Devil exclaimed. "I have some, uh, dry laundry for you to pick up.". Surprised and confused at first, Henchman was quick to happily oblige to his duties, not thinking twice about the fake errand the Devil assigned for him. "Duh, okay." Henchman happily replied before he started to leave. Once Henchman left the control room, the Devil saw his opportunity to cheat without his loyal minion knowing. What Henchman won't know can't hurt him. Or the Devil, right?
Without a second thought, the Devil reaches for the clock, deliberately attempting to turn it counter clockwise. However, just as the Devil looked like he was going to get away with cheating Scot-free, he didn't expect Henchman to suddenly come back so soon. "Duh, what do you think you're doing?" Henchman asked sternly, making the startled Devil turn to look over at him. The Devil practically looked like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar as Henchman scolding glared at him with a stern frown on his face, his gloved hands on his hips as he caught him red handed.
"Oh, Henchman! I was just… dusting." The Devil lied, chuckling nervously as he made multiple excuses to weasel himself out of trouble. "It was slow so I was just… Daylight savings?" As his boss beamed him an innocent smile, Henchman simply crossed his arms around his chest in reply. He doesn't mind the Devil doing some bad stuff since it's his job, but he doesn't like it when the Devil cheats at games. Especially cheating at a bet with him. "Boss, Boss, Boss." Henchman sighed, shaking his head in disappointment, making the Devil frown nervously. He knew his boss would somehow try to cheat to win this bet.
But what neither the Devil, nor Henchman nor even Mugman knew was that a certain group just entered the Dungeon. "Woah, it's big in here." Varian mentioned as he looked around the place while Blood, the biggest member in the group, watched out not only for Mugman but also for guards that might be nearby. The only one in the group who wasn't happy to be back was Eira. "Hey, you okay there?" Cuphead asked in concern. Eira shakes her head. "No, I'm not okay." She clung to Varian as if her life depends on it.
"Don't be worried about it." Cuphead said in reassurance. "The sooner we find Mugsy and get him and Ali outta here, the sooner the better. I'll be just as happy to leave this joint as you do." Blood nodded in agreement and soon found Mugman playing with his marbles. The group approached Mugman, who wasn't paying any much attention until he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He looked over and gasped in joy to see it was his brother and friends. Both Cup Brothers squealed in excitement and delight before they happily embraced one another, happy to be reunited. Even though there have been times they often argue, fight and get on each other's nerves once in a while, they're still family and they care for one another.
After with family, anything in the past is all water under the bridge. As he and Mugman pulled away from their hug, Cuphead sincerely apologized, "I'm so sorry, Mugsy!" Before Mugman could reply, he looks up and quickly shushes his brother. Cuphead, Blood, Varian and Eira all turned to look to spot the Devil arguing with Henchman up in the control room. "You're being very rude!" The Devil argued. "I'm not kidding, Henchman. It was dusty, it was running way too slow-!"
"You ought to be ashamed." Henchman scolded, wagging his finger at the Devil in stern disappointment. Blood wondered what they were talking about but his thoughts were interrupted as the others arrived in the dungeons as well. Alicia smiles when she sees the other group and rushes to them. "Guys I missed you so much!" She hugged both cups tight as well as Blood, Varian and Eira. Katie and Kaichi, looking up, both looked suddenly concerned when they spotted the Devil still arguing with Henchman in the control room. Even though neither of the demons have noticed the group yet, it was only a matter of time the Devil will come after them.
"We need to leave. Now." Katie spoke up with urgency. Alicia looked up to the control room as well and agreed with her. "Yeah, before my crazy lover comes to get us." Alicia joked a bit to change the mood even though it's not the best time to laugh right now. "Let's go." Varian spoke quietly and urgently as everyone began to sneak away. The Cups tiptoed out while the others tried not to make any noises that could alert the Devil or any other demon around the dungeon area. Before they leave the dungeon Mugman decided it was a good idea to say goodbye to his new 'friend'. "I'll talk to you later." Mugman smiled, waving. Of course the only answer he got was another scream from the prisoner.
Katie winced in discomfort by this, unconsciously clapping her hands over her ears while Kaichi's ears lowered down as he pressed his paws over them. "Aw jeez. Can this guy get any louder?" Kaichi complained. "I barely stood putting up with all that screaming when I was down here with Lex, Nat and our Mugman.". "I really have no idea." Katie shrugged with a sigh. Mugan took notice of the two as he asked, "Say, uh, Cuphead, who are those two? I don't remember seeing them before."
"Long story for later." Cuppy said quickly before Cuphead could answer. "Let's focus on getting outta here and fast." The gate to exit the dungeon was nearby and in arm reach for the group. "Finally we're getting out of here!" Alicia sighs in relief to be out of here with the people she loves the most. To think she would like to stay here is an understatement. "I don't wish to discuss this matter any further." The Devil grumbled in annoyance as he discussed the situation from before with the clock and how the Devil tried to cheat to win the bet. However as the Devil refused to discuss this further, Henchman noticed something behind the Devil in the background.
His eyes were fixated not on his boss but on the group in the background. He saw Alicia and Mugman in the dungeon on their way out. But they weren't alone. Her friends, both Cupheads, Lucifer and a woman as well as a tiny furry dragon-like creature he had never seen before were with the young adult and the mug. The annoyance changed to a shock expression. He couldn't believe his eyes and how the Devil could ignore that his future queen was on the run with the cup who stole his trident. "Boss, look, it's Cuphead and Cuppy! The wolf, foxes and your copy are here too!" He cried as he pointed around the Devil. "And there's a mysterious woman and a furry fairy dragon with 'em!"
He hoped his boss would turn around and spot the rescue team and the two prisoners escaping but the Devil was more offended that Henchman was interrupting him. "Uh, excuse me, I was talking!" The Devil exclaimed, oblivious to Alicia, the Cups and their group about to open the door. "But Boss!" Henchman protested, frantically pointing with both index fingers around the Devil, trying to alert him of his prisoners and their rescuers about to escape. But still the Devil refused to turn around just as Blood and Lucifer opened the door, allowing the others to hurry on through it.
"Henchman, you're being very rude." The Devil scolded, still ignorant of what was going on behind his back. Henchman mumbled in frustrated desperation before he had no choice but frantically grab the Devil around the hips and quickly turned him around to face the window of the control room. The Devil gasped in shock to see Alicia and her group escaping through the door. Just as Cuphead and Mugman were the last ones through the door, they quickly closed it, only to end up repeatedly banging it against the trident a couple of times. "Oh for goodness sake!" Katie's voice shouted before she quickly came back to pull the trident all the way through the door before slamming it shut. Upon seeing the group escaping with his prisoners, trident and bride, the Devil spun around and grabbed Henchman.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!" The Devil screamed, frantically shaking Henchman. Looking back at the door, the Devil lets go of Henchman, dropping him to the floor as the poor chubby demon grunted. The Devil attempted to teleport after them, but he quickly remembered he still doesn't have his trident anymore as a trident-shaped dotted line briefly blinked a few times in his fist. All he could do was yell out in frustration before. With no other choice, he resorted to going after the runaways on foot as he ran out of the control room, accidentally stepping on Henchman on the way out.
Running out of the door in the control room, the Devil angrly ran down the stairs, demandingly yelling, "Hey! Get back here!" Alicia twitched with her shoulders as she heard the Devil's voice. "Don't tell me he's…" She and the others turned around and gasped in shock to see the Devil was indeed after them. And oh boy, was he mad! "Uh-oh!" Cuppy gasped in alarm. "Run!" Katie cried. Cuphead and Mugman screamed in terror before they, along with the others, ran for it as Lucifer took Alicia's hand. "I kidnapped the two of you fair and square!" The Devil shouted after Alicia and Mugman as he furiously chased after them and Katie's group.
In hopes to at least slow the Devil down, Mugman quickly got an idea as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his bag of marbles. Without a second though, he turned the marble bag upside down while holding the bottom, dropping and scattering all of his marbles all over the floor as he kept running. Although he knew he wouldn't be able to come back for them and he would end up having to buy a new set of marbles, it was a necessary sacrifice he was willing to make so that he and his friends and the mysterious lady could escape.
As he kept running, the Devil gasped in alarm the moment he spotted the marbles scattered across his path. Unfortunately, he was not quick enough to stop as he wound up running across the marbles. He struggled to keep his balance as he slipped across the minefield of marbles before he comically fell flat on his back, throwing up some marbles into the air. The Devil couldn't have chosen a worse time to leave groan in pain when the marbles he kicked up into the air descended back down, falling right down into his mouth, causing him to accidentally swallow them. He clutched his throat and coughed up a storm. As he sat back up, the Devil coughed the marbles back out before he resumed to chase after Alicia and the others, angrier than ever.
Everyone eventually made it out of the cave and into the throne room. Cuphead and Mugman immediately jumped onto the tandem bike. "Come on, Mugsy! Hurry!" Cuphead yelled as he and Mugman started to peddle like their very lives depend on it… which in fact, it does. The foxes' ears perked up as they heard some angry snarling not too far off as the Devil was back on his feet and was still combing after them and the others. "Hurry! He's coming!" Eira cried in panic as she and Varian ran. Mugman couldn't help but look behind him and is just as terrified to spot a snarling Devil coming around the corner, running towards him and the others. "Faster!" Mugman screamed before he and Cuphead picked up more speed in their peddling as best as they could.
"He just doesn't know when to quit!" Varian exclaimed as he held Eira's hand tightly as they both ran. "He's the Devil! What do you expect?" Kaichi piped up. Katie suddenly stopped as she took on a fighting stance. Even though she was right to be scared herself, she knew that the Devil she was facing wasn't like the one in her dimension so he wouldn't have any interests in her. All the same, the least she can do is slow him down as long as she can. "Keep going! I'll hold him off!" Katie shouted, transforming into her dragon form.
But Alicia disagrees with her. "No Katie, don't do that! He's after me, not you!" She begged Katie to keep running from the Devil. She even goes so far as to turn into her wyvern form to stop the Devil from following her and the others by creating a wall of blue flames to separate the Devil from the group. Or that's what she wanted to do if not for Cuphead. Just as he had turned his lead to look behind him, Mugman spotted something ahead of them, making him warn, "Look out!" The front wheel of the tandem bike hits a rock, causing the brothers to jump a bit. Cuphead quickly grabs the trident, accidentally shooting fire from it. The fire blasts at a nearby wall, creating a hole in it and causing a stream of lava to flow out.
"Whoa! Head's up! Hot stuff coming this way!" Katie exclaimed as she, Kaichi, Alicia and Lucifer, who had turned into his dragon form, shot up into the air to avoid the lava flow. Alicia then swooped in to snatch up Blood, Varian, Eira and Cuppy, saving them from the lava. Cuphead and Mugman cycled past the lava as it blocked the Devil's path. The Devil quickly skidded to a halt, just barely avoiding any collusion with the lava. He then threw his head up, screaming in outrage before he transformed into his serpent-like dragon form. He roars in pure fury before he flies after the group, hissing.
Alicia, who was the last one to go to the exit, hears his fury. "Keep going Alicia!" Shouted Cuppy. Cuphead and Mugman turned to look back to spot the Devil tailing behind them and the others as he roared viciously, causing them both to scream in terror and peddle faster. Alicia noticed that and swooped down to grab them both with her claws while the Devil flies after her. "Oi! Leave her alone, you glorified rattlesnake!" Katie demanded as she chased after him. "Leave my wife alone!" Lucifer agreed with a demonic voice. The next thing Alicia and her group knew, they wound up in a case of the classic Scooby-Doo doors chase scene gag as the Devil chased them around through the pillars in the throne room.
At first, the Devil chased her and her passengers in his dragon form with Katie and Lucifer not far behind him. Suddenly, Varian and Eira were seen trying to flee from the Devil, who had transformed into a demonic gorilla as he was gibbering angrily with his arms raised over his head menacingly in one direction. In another direction, Katie (with Kaichi on her head) was flying past them. Next, Blood and Cuppy were trying to outrun the Devil as a snarling jaguar in one direction while Alicia and Lucifer flew by in another. Almost comically, Blood and the foxes were running in a separate direction with Blood holding a surprised and confused Katie over his head with both his hands while the Devil chased Cuppy as a giant spider in a different direction.
Cuphead and Mugman, still on the bike, were peddling away from the Devil as a giant octopus as he creeped after them, screeching menacingly while Lucifer galloped past as a horse in a different direction. Just then, the Devil, in his normal form, yelped as he frantically ran away from Alicia and Lucifer, who were both in their wolf forms. But not for long as the Devil stopped and grinned mischievously. "Oh no please don't tell me." Alicia's wolf ears dropped like a scared dog going to the vet. Just then, Katie appeared behind the Devil and blew fire at his tail, prompting to yell out in pain before he ran off as she chased him.
Lucifer sighs. "Thank you Katie." The chase continues with Cuphead and Mugman fleeing from the Devil as he was on the tandem bike as all of the others ran/flew in different directions of the pillars. The Devil chased him and the others away from the pillars in his dragon form again. But only until Lucifer fires at him with his flames. Katie follows up to help slow the Devil down as best as she could. As the others kept fleeing, Cuphead and Mugman hit their bike across a crack in the ground, causing Cuphead to accidentally shoot fire from the trident again. This time, he hits the tapestries, causing them to be set on fire.
As the Devil managed to shake off the flames Katie and Lucifer blasted him with, he was shocked to notice his tapestries were on fire, causing to clasp his main set of talons over each side of his head in dismay, crying out, "My paintings!". Noticing the Devil's devastated reaction, Cuphead smirked and laughed a bit, getting an idea. Since the Devil had kidnapped Mugman and Alicia and tried to force her to marry him while trying to torture Mugman, it was only fair that Cuphead ought to teach him a lesson. "Hey, guys. Watch this." Cuphead said. Taking aim, Cuphead shot out a fireball at the Devil. Seeing the fireball hurtling in his direction, the Devil panics and quickly ducks his head down, causing the fireball to speed towards his throne instead, destroying it into a pile of ashes.
"My throne!" The Devil screamed in horror. "I just had that reupholstered!" Just then, he gets hit in the chest by another fire blast, receiving a scorch mark on it. "Oh, that really hurts." The Devil groaned before he growled furiously, clutching four of his talons. His furious eyes fell from the cups that were mocking him to the mysterious dragon girl to Alicia. His eyes are on her and he wants her for himself, no matter what. "COME BACK HERE WITH MY QUEEN!" He roared in anger as he followed the group through the Underworld.
While they are searching for an exit Alicia tries not to turn around or to stop at all. "Why can't he leave me alone?" she asked herself. "I don't love him and want to be his wife and queen!" The panic on her face was visible as she tried to concentrate to escape. "Believe me, I've been asking myself all the time…" Katie groaned, recalling all the times the Devil from her dimension was trying to seduce her. "Hey, what are all these tubes?" Cuphead suddenly exclaimed. Alicia looks around to notice she and the others had entered a chamber filled with massive glass tubes. "They're all coming up from up there!" Mugman cried, pointing up. Alicia and all of the others looked up to see all of the tubes were all connected to a tunnel in the ceiling above them and spotted a dozen souls being sucked in through them. "Oh my gosh, they're full of souls!" Cuphead gasped. "Afraid so." Katie said grimly. "They are all of the poor unfortunate souls who had either made a deal with the Devil or were tricked by him. Either way, once you deal with the Devil, your soul is sucked down and off into his soul vault it goes."
"That's horrible!" Eira cried. Lucifer feels kinda guilty. As the Devil himself, he had collected the souls of unsuspecting people when he ran the casino long before his marriage with Alicia. But tricking people and forcefully taking their souls under dishonest means was over the line. Sure, he had convinced patrons to bet on their souls whenever they gamble but at least they knew what they would lose the moment they lost a game. He hadn't exactly been a good person back before Alicia came into his life. Alicia noticed his guilt tripped face and reassured him she still loves him and that he changed.
Unfortunately, the moment didn't last for very long when the Devil swooped in. He then transformed into a giant bull, charging towards the group, bellowing angrily. "Oh, crap! He really wants me now!" Alicia panicked as she gained more speed than before as the Devil tried to get her. The cups screamed in panic as the Devil gained on them on the others, puffing out steam from his nostrils before he tried to ram them with his horns. "Watch out for the horns!" Katie cried out in warning as she grabbed Cuppy in her arms and threw him onto her back to avoid the Devil's horns. "I try my best not to get caught again!" Alicia shouted before her husband grabbed her with his coils. She was relieved to be away from the Devil's point of view but he seems to be more focused on someone else.
The Devil repeatedly attempted to ram the tandem bike with his horns before he eventually threw them up into the air and they landed on one of the giant glass tubes. "Cuphead!" Mugman yelled as his brother fell off the bike and landed on one of the tubes below him and the bike as Mugman kept peddling. "Would you quit fooling around and get back on the bike!" "Hey! Get off those tubes!" The Devil protested as he looked up at the cups as he was still running. "They lead to my…"
CLANG!
He wasn't looking where he was going as he accidentally ran into his giant soul vault, making a huge hole in it with his head. "Ouch!" winced Alicia, now sitting on the back of her husband's serpentine dragon body. Sure she might hate the Devil but still she felt sorry for him. "... soul vault." The Devil groaned in pain, rubbing his forehead before he realized one thing. With the vault now particularly open the captured souls could easily escape from their prison in the underworld. Much to the Devil's dismay. After all, he worked really hard to collect all those souls after the incident at the carnival. Or rather Carn-Evil.
"Not again!" The Devil cried as he attempted to grab the escaping souls but failed since hooves were not made for grabbing things. "Curse these hooves!" His bull form wasn't helping him gather all those souls so he decided to change to his octopus form, allowing him to grab multiple souls at once. "Serves you right, ya big jerk!" Cuphead taunted. Just then, he started to blast at the glass tubes with the trident, freeing all of the souls to further spite the Devil in retaliation for kidnapping his brother and Alicia. Of course, the Devil noticed this and wasn't really happy about the chaos Cuphead created.
"What are you doing?!" The Devil demanded in shock as he clung onto a handful of souls in two tentacles just as he grabbed another soul with one. Smirking, Lucifer decided to join in the chaos as he blasted at some tubes with his fire breath. "Whoo!" Cuphead cheered as he slid down the tubes, trident in hand as he fired at multiple tubes while his brother followed him. "So… you wanna join in the fun?" Katie asked Blood as she was preparing to break a tube herself. The wolf thought for a second before he decided to join in as well, using his wand to fire a blue beam at another tube destroying it, or cutting it in half.
"That answers that." Katie smirked before she used her earth element to form pieces of rock around her to form into a boulder and threw herself at a tube, shattering it. "Stop that, all of you!" The Devil demanded angrily. But no one was listening to him and the cup, the wolf, Katie and Lucifer kept destroying multiple tubes, freeing more souls than before. "Yayy!" The soul of the telephone cheered as he and the other souls began to ascend upwards to reunite with their rightful owners. This upsets the Devil so much, he accidentally releases all the souls he gathered before from his arms or rather tentacles. "No!" The Devil wailed as he feebly reached a few tentacles for the souls as they flew upwards.
Sadly, they were beyond his reach now. He hangs his head down, whimpering a bit in dismay of losing all of his hard work of collecting them. Suddenly, he became even more furious as he literally burst into flames in pure rage, snarling as he glared at the ones responsible for his string of misfortune. "Uh-oh, time to go guys." Alicia said nervously when she saw how angry the Devil was. She knows far too well that you shouldn't mess with an angry Devil. "No need to tell me twice, Ali." Cuphead gulped before he jumped back onto the bike.
He and his brother drove on the tubes dropping down on the next set of tubes before they reached the ground and were reunited with the others. Lucifer landed next to them and turned back to his normal form. Sure they may be together but they still need to find a way out of here. "Hurry!" Katie cried. Cuphead looked around until he saw the elevator not too far off. "There's the elevator!" he gasped. "That's our ticket out of here!" Alicia added in before Lucifer is heading towards the direction his wife was pointing at. But Katie and Kaichi were uncertain as they had a bad feeling about this as though they had been through this before.
"Wait!" Katie protested. "Don't you think it's better if Lucifer could just-?". Before she could finish, the cups ran into the elevator, asking the others when they decided to come in. "What does it matter?" Varian asked. "We made it to the elevator. Let's get in and get the heck out of here before the Devil catches up!" Alicia agrees with him. "I agree with Varian here. What could possibly happen? Like the Devil would try to eat us?" she asked. "No but we went through something-!" Before Kaichi could protest, the others ushered him and Katie inside the elevator. "Come on, come on, come on, come on!" Cuphead panicked as he frantically pushed the up button multiple times before the elevator door finally closed.
The group sighs in relief finally to get out of the Underworld without the Devil capturing them. Well, everyone but Katie and Kaichi, who were both on edge for some reason. "We made it!" Cuppy exclaimed happily. "Thanks for coming to save Alicia from forced marriage and rescuing me from eternal torment." Mugman said happily as he and Cuphead embraced one another. "No, thank you for saving my soul so many times." Cuphead said. Alicia signed in relief when the door closed. She escaped the Underworld again and was back in the arms of her husband Lucifer.
But the moment was short-lived when everyone but a nervous Katie and Kaichi noticed something was wrong. "Why isn't the elevator moving?" Blood asked with a frown. Cuppy's nose twitches as he sniffs the air before he claps his hands over his nose and mouth, Eira and Varian doing the same. "And what's with the devilled eggs smell?" Cuppy groaned in disgust. Kaichi's ears drooped down as he nearly turned green in disgust as he and Katie instantly knew the reason. "That's what we've been trying to warn you about!" Katie cried. "This is exactly the same thing that happened to us! We're actually in a fake elevator! This is a-!"
Before Katie could finish, the walls of the supposed elevator suddenly fell down as Mugman whimpered in worry while still clinging onto Cuphead. Much to Alicia's horror, she and her group were all inside a giant mouth as Mugman and Eira screamed in terror. "Not again!" Katie yelled in horrified dismay. It didn't take Alicia long to realize that she and the others were inside the mouth of the Devil himself, who used his size changing power to turn himself into a giant much like in the fairytale book she, her husband, Blood and the Cups had been zapped in.
"YOU PITIFUL, INSIGNIFICANT FOOLS!" The Devil angrily thundered in a demonic and deeper voice due to his current height. Alicia didn't know what to say nor if she should say anything right now at all. It was bad enough that the elevator turns out to be fake but to be inside the now giant Devil's mouth was completely new and terrifying for her. No wonder she clung to her husband, wanting to be out of this trap once in for all before the Devil could even think about swallowing the group and force Alicia and Cuphead to give him what he desires. To force Alicia to be his wife and queen and for Cuphead to hand over his trident and maybe even his soul.
After all, we're talking about the Devil here. "Let's get outta here!" Cuphead screamed as he and Mugman made a run for the opening of the mouth as the Devil was yelling. Alicia was still shaking in fear from being inside the Devil's mouth. "Hurry! Move it!" Katie cried as she pushed Alicia and her husband forward, urging them to make a break for it, Blood, Cuppy and the foxes following. Everyone jumped out of the mouth of the giant Devil while he tried to bite them with his sharp teeth but missed the second they jumped out of him. Katie, who had transformed into her dragon form as she had Cuppy on her back while Kaichi was clinging onto one of her horns, couldn't help but yelp in terror as the Devil's teeth barely snapped at the tip of her tail as she managed to escape.
Lucifer had turned into his dragon form to carry Blood, Mugman the foxes on his back while Cuphead rode on the trident like a broomstick just as Alicia was about to transform into either her wyvern or pheonix form to escape. But as they try to escape the Devil, still fuming in anger, grabs Alicia in his giant hand before she could transform. He pulls back towards him, laughing evilly in a scary, booming voice.
"ALICIA!" Katie shouted in horror. Struggling Alicia tries to free herself while the Devil uses his free hand to stroke her head. "Let me go! I don't want to be your wife and queen!" she yelled. "Release my wife!" Lucifer demanded , baring his teeth at the Devil. "NEVER!" The Devil snarled. Alicia winced like a scared puppy as the Devil said that holding her tighter. "Now give me back my tri-!" The Devil suddenly started to gag and cough, followed by a couple of dingings of a bike bell. The others look confused as to why the Devil was coughing and dinging like when he reached into his mouth with his free hand and pulled out the tandem bike. Turns out the Cups have forgotten they had left it behind when escaping from his mouth earlier and he was choking on it. Grunting in irritation, the Devil angrily flicked the tandem bike away. Cuphead barely dodged it as the bike landed on the ground, slightly coated in saliva. "Eww!" Katie winced in disgust. Blood, Kaichi and the foxes were quick to agree with her. The concept of a bike being drenched in demon spit was disgusting. "Gross!" added Varian while Eira holds her nose with one hand to not smell that dreadful smell of rotten eggs. "That's gonna need a whole week's cleaning after this." Kaichi groaned.
"NOW GIVE ME BACK MY TRIDENT!" The Devil boomed, causing the entire room to shake. Alicia winced more and more. She didn't want this at all. All she wanted was to be back in the arms of her husband and not be in the grip of the Devil. And sadly the only way for that to happen is if Cuphead gives the Devil back his trident. But he wasn't thinking about doing that at all but rather keeping the Trident for himself. "Mm, I don't think so. I found it fair and square." Cuphead simply said, throwing the Devil's own words back at him. "Cuphead please don't make the situation worse than it already is." Alicia inwardly begged, hoping the cup would understand his mistake soon.
The Devil growled in anger, followed by Alicia screaming in pain as his grip around her was getting tighter and tighter with every second. Soon she couldn't breath probably and could only do one thing: "CUPHEAD!" she yelled in pain hoping he would understand how dangerous the situation for her is right now. She wasn't a Toon after all and the Devil could hurt her or worse. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Katie shouted. She flew up to the Devil's face., catching him by surprise as he stopped squeezing Alicia like a stress ball, giving her a moment to breathe.
"Despite your abilities to transform into various animals and changing your size, you're still powerless without your trident since half of your powers are tethered to it!" Katie berated. "And you won't be able to regain them if your 'bride' is crushed to death like that! Since you're much weaker than your counterpart, he'll likely pummel you back to the Stone Age in retribution for potentially murdering his wife! Without your trident, you're powerless! Besides, have you forgotten about the rule of trident ownership?"
The Devil gasped as he heard what Katie said. His ears dropped in terror while his voice remained the same, "Finders keepers.", "Losers weepers." Cuphead finished with a casual smirk. "Was it gonna be, big guy?" Katie challenged. "Do you want your trident back the easy way or the hard way?" The Devil sighed in begrudging defeat before he started to shrink down. The next thing Alicia knew, she was no longer in the Devil's fist but in his arm as he shrunk fully down back to his normal height with a defeated scowl on his face. "Phew!" Alicia signed in relief. She may be out of his grip but she was still a prisoner to him and not reunited with her husband.
Katie and the others flew down as Lucifer allowed his passengers down before he returned into his normal form with a glare at the Devil before Cuphead landed with the trident in hand. "If you want your trident back, you'll have to make a deal." Katie stated sternly. "We'll return it to you in exchange for Alicia and Mugman's freedom. And we all leave here with NO strings attached!" The Devil was still glaring at her and the others. He really wanted to have Alicia for himself. Not only to get his old powers back but also to have her as his wife and what kind of Devil would he be without his trident?
"I suppose I have no choice." He gave in. "Finally. I knew you were always the reasonable type." Lucifer spoke sarcastically. The Devil rolled his eyes before he continued. "Give me my trident and you can have my future bride.", "Fair deal." Katie nodded. "On the condition you let us all go free WITHOUT any deception or backstabbing. Least you wanna get beaten up by her hubby here." The others agree with that deal. Especially Lucifer who wants his wife back in his arms. "Trade on three?" The Devil asked while he glared at Cuphead and Katie.
"Trade on three." Cuphead agreed. "One… two…" the Devil counted but before he could say three Cuphead interrupted him. "Wait, wait! Is it on three or right after three?" Cuphead asked. "On three." answered the Devil bluntly while Alicia remained silent the whole time. But knowing Cuphead, he wanted to know it precisely, annoying her and the Devil more than before. "Or should it be after?" Cuphead inquired, unsure. "No, on three!" The Devil argued. As this goes on, Blood facepalms, Varian groans and Eira looks on uncomfortably.
Lucifer, Alicia, Cuppy, Katie, Mugman and Kaichi, getting a little impatient, simultaneously shouted out, "Will you just do the trade already?!", "Okay, okay!" Cuphead and the Devil spoke. Reluctantly making a compromise, Cuphead and the Devil decided to each make a countdown on the exchange. "One…" the Devil counted. "Two…" Cuphead added. Then, simultaneously they declared, "Three!" And with that, the Devil pushed Alicia away just as Cuphead threw the trident towards him. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion until the Devil caught his trident in his hand while Alicia safely fell into the arms of her husband.
"My darling!" Lucifer cried in joyful tears of relief. "Honey!" she said and stroked his cheek to be happy to be in his arms again. "Hey, buddy! Welcome back!" Cuphead beamed, happy to have his brother back. Both cups hugged each other while the Devil was happy to have his trident back. "All right. The deal is done. Now get out of here before I decide to change my mind and keep Alicia for myself." The Devil growled, annoyed to see his bride in the arms of his copy and the cups happy he felt disgusted and angry. Sure he has his trident back but he still is weaker than his counterpart without it.
"Gladly!" Katie scoffed. "Come on, let's get out of here, people." And of course, Cuphead couldn't help himself to upset or rather make the Devil angrier than before. "Jeez. Mr. Grumps over here." He casually teased, fueling more fire to the Devil's anger. "Somebody needs a nap." Mugman added jokingly. The Devil couldn't hold his anger back as the rest of the group started to laugh and giggle. Even Alicia couldn't hold back her laughter which angers the Devil even more than before. "I said… get out!" The Devil roared angrily in a demonic voice.
The group didn't say no to that and used Alicia's and Lucifer's teleportation to appear in front of a large metal gate. Getting on the tandem bike, the Cup Brothers frantically peddled out through the gate as the others soon followed, leaving the Devil and his domain behind them. With his trident back in his possession, the Devil decided to put it to better use by fixing the damage throughout his home during the chaotic chase. Tapping his trident to the ground, he put out the fires burning his tapestries, restoring them back to their monstrous glory. Then, he fixed the shattered glass tubes and the hole in his soul vault as well as the one in the wall and got rid of the lava flaw.
He finally restored his throne back to how it was and sat down to rest, trident in hand. While he may not have his bride again, he was so happy to have his trident and the rest of his powers inside it back. "Oh! Back at last, my darling." The Devil crooned as he embraced his trident in both hands. He then repeatedly kissed it a few times until he stopped when he felt something was… a bit off about it. Pulling away from his trident, he smacked his lips a bit, getting a strange taste from it. "Is that… grape jelly?" The Devil questioned before he noticed a few other things. "Ew, there's a hair on it! What… and it's bent?"
The Devil suspected the reason why his trident was slightly bent was because it previously had the dungeon door repeatedly closed on it thanks to the Cups as they attempted to escape. "UNBELIEVABLE!" The Devil screamed angrily in a demonic voice. Of course, the Devil's string of bad luck lengthens even further when Henchman casually enters the throne room, suitcases in hand and dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, a flower garland and a sun hat.
"Duh, okay, Boss. Time to pay up." Henchman said. The Devil simply groans and slaps his hand over his face, realizing he had forgotten about his bet with Henchman and lost. Or was it? Well, technically Henchmen hasn't exactly won since the Devil couldn't break Mugman's spirit. Which means the Devil has partly won. Realizing his boss isn't really happy with what happened a few minutes ago, Henchmen offered his boss to accompany him on his vacation. "Duh, hey Boss, I know you're still mad about Miss Alicia having escaped and not being your wife and that you couldn't do the ritual…" Henchman's voice interrupted the Devil's thoughts. Sure he couldn't forget about Alicia, his wife being gone and about the ritual. If he wants his old powers back he needs to do the ritual. There's no questions asked. But Henchmen's voice sounded like he wanted to change the Devil's mood.
"Why don't you come with me, Boss and relax a bit?" Henchman suggested. "I mean the ritual and soul collecting can wait." The Devil wasn't sure about that offer his loyal minion was giving him. Sure, he loves to be on vacation but his grudge against Lucifer and the others was still there. "As much as I want to go on vacation with my dear Alicia, I accept your offer, Henchmen." The Devil sighed. With the help of his trident, he taps it on the ground. A cloud of smoke appeared around him which disappeared to reveal him wearing suitable clothing for his vacation with Henchman.
Just like Henchmen, the Devil also wears a flower garland with black and red flowers, sunglasses over his eyes, a straw hat with holes for his horns and a red colored Hawaiian shirt. "Might as well take some time to relieve the stress and get away from all the hustle and bustle." The Devil claimed. Henchman's wings flapped like a happy dog receiving a treat as his boss said yes to accompany him on this vacation. Seeing his boss happy makes him happy so both demons don't waste any time and use the Devil's trident to teleport back to their vacation destination.
Back on the surface world, Alicia and her group had made it to the forest as both Cuphead and Mugman heaved a huge sigh of relief, happy to finally get away from the Devil. "That was a close one." Kaichi muttered as he was slumped over Katie's shoulder. Alicia nodded in agreement. "Yeah it sure was a close one." She looked towards Cuphead in question. For a good reason. "Well, I hope you learned something from all of this." Mugman said with a scolding frown towards his brother. "Believe me, Mugsy. This guy's on the straight and narrow and starting right now." Cuphead claimed. "I hope you're right, Cuphead ." Blood said in a rough tone like a strict parent berating his child to behave.
"Whew! Music to my ears." Mugman sighed in relief. "So, uh, now that you don't owe the Devil anymore, what do you wanna do?" Alicia smiled but suddenly noticed Varian was looking at his bracelet again. Confused, she walks up to him. "Is everything okay, Varian?" She asked in concern. "Is there something wrong?" Katie added, just as concerned. Before the fox could answer another portal appears behind him, shocking the group. "Whoa!" Kaichi yelped. Alicia looked stunned while the cups gasped. Not because of the portal but because of the familiar sounding voices that could be heard from the other side of the portal
"Are that…?" Alicia asked before Katie nodded. "Looks like Kaichi and I have to leave." Katie sighed in reply. "It's too bad. I was hoping we could do some catching once the nightmare down there was over. Maybe some other time under better circumstances I guess.". "Yeah…" Kaichi mumbled. "Oh!" Katie realized something. "Before I go, there's something I need to give you." The brunette removed her backpack and pulled out a small portfolio, taking out some kind of sketch. When she handed it to her, Alicia was surprised to see what it was.
The drawing was that of a Sprigon just like Kaichi, but this one was different. It has black fur, a light gray underbelly and paws, a long white mane and small white spines. It also has silver antlers, yellow eyes and its flowery wings are dark blue with light blue tips. It also has wolf ears and a bushy wolf tail. And judging from the design, the Sprigon in the drawing appeared to be female. "What's that?" asked Alicia, confused as she looked from the drawing to Katie. The others tried to look in the drawing as well to see what it could be.
"A Sprigon." Katie replied. "For some reason, I had a dream about you with a Sprigon with wolf-like features. I'm not sure what it means but I had to draw this while I could still remember the details." Alicia looked at the drawing again. She has a weird feeling about it. Like the drawing is alive or something like that. "Wouldn't be new for me." she thought before putting the drawing back in her hoodie pockets and saying goodbye to her friend. "Goodbye, Alicia. I sure hope we'll see each other again soon." Katie smiled softly. "Oh, and might I recommend taking the Cups to the ice cream parlor? They make the best waffles around."
The Cups smiled and giggled, literally begging Alicia and the other adults to bring them to the ice cream parlor. "Only if you behave on our way back home I might consider taking you to said ice cream parlor." Alicia stated while scolding the cups. "No worries, Ali. I've learned my lesson." Cuphead promised. "I hope you're right." Lucifer added in. Katie leaned towards the other adults as she whispered, "Trust me, it's better than going back to that rigged carnival. No doubt the Devil had decided to rebuild and reopen it since the incident with the Cups. So, better to be safe than sorry."
Even thinking about it makes Alicia shudder. The fire, the chase and the zombie-like people were enough for her. She didn't want to experience that again. "I think getting some ice cream would be a lovely idea." Eira agreed. Varian nodded. "Yeah, I could use some after the heat from the Underworld." He waved his hand to get some air as he was sweating like crazy. Who could blame him? With all this fur no wonder he, Eira and Blood are sweaty. "Well, it's been nice to meet all of you." Katie smiled. "I do hope to see all of you again one day. And I'll have to arrange a meeting for Lexie and Natty to meet you someday." Alicia smiled as she heard that idea. She really wanted to see the others again.
"See ya again soon." Kaichi waved. "Take care of yourself, Ali." Katie said, hugging her. "And always remember that no matter what, you have friends who care about you." With these words, Katie and Kaichi entered the portal and left this dimension as the portal closed on its own. Alicia unconsciously reached for her wrist which carried the bracelet that Katie, Lexie and Natty had made for her since their first meeting, the symbol of their unbreakable friendship. "Well, let's go to the ice cream parlor!" Cuphead said as his mind was focused on the ice cream he really wanted now after the chase from the Devil to get his brother and Alicia back. The others agreed with the cup and went to Inkwell City to get some frozen treats.
Meanwhile, over at a tropical island paradise, the Devil and Henchman were over at the beach, relaxing and soaking up a few rays of the bright summer sun. Henchman was lying on a pink beach towel, dressed in a blue and white striped swimsuit and sunglasses, drinking from a coconut. Next to him lying on a red beach towel was the Devil enjoying the sun while drinking from his own drink. But as he tried to drink from the straw, nothing came out of it. "Huh?" The Devil frowned. Confused, he removed his sunglasses and looked inside his coconut only to see that it was empty. "What? Empty already?" The Devil exclaimed in disbelief.
He couldn't believe it. The mango juice was so delicious he drank it one bit down his throat. After taking a few sips of his own drink, Henchman sighed happily before he said, "Ah, finally, some time to get away from it all.". "You said it, Henchman." The Devil agreed with his loyal minion. He doesn't remember when he was on vacation the last time or if he was on vacation at all. "To a long overdue break, for both our sakes." The Devil concluded as before he looked from his empty coconut to Henchman. "Cheers to that." Henchman lifts his drink up, wanting to toast with his boss.
Henchman then notices his boss's drink was empty. So he offered him a sip of his instead. "Oh, uh, want a sip?" He asked, handing his drink over to his boss. "Oh! Don't mind if I do." The Devil beamed, happily accepting the drink and taking a sip from it. However the "sip" soon turns into drinking the whole juice, much to Henchman's dismissal as he only offered his boss a sip. "I said a sip, Boss." Henchman scolded, annoyed that his boss had emptied his drink as well. Now both had to get new drinks to enjoy the sunny day on the beach.
But right now the two of them enjoyed this overdue vacation before the Devil plans his next steps on getting Alicia for himself. After all he still wants her as his wife and queen and needs her for getting his old powers back.