"Come on and slam, and welcome to the jam."
"Come on and slam, if you wanna jam."
Well this was an intense Chapter but here we go with the story.
You can probably guess what I reference here but just to be sure you should read the chapter first. (Nope no spoilers here ;P)
Anyways we're close to end this story guys. Only a few more chapters and it's done
Man it's so weird but hey atleast you guys can enjoy it and who knows what's happening in the sequel *hink* *hink*
Alright I hope you could waited for me to post this new chapter and enjoy it as best as you could
Until then
Sitting in the underworld in his study, surrounded by many open, half-open and closed books, the devil was looking for something. For something specific. "Come on!" he growled, frustrated that his search was not helping him. But what was the king of the underworld looking for anyway? For his favorite story? His bookmark? Or a note that Henchman had left for him?
No, none of the things mentioned. In general, the devil was looking for a solution regarding the souls of the two cups and how he could keep Alicia to himself without the copy being able to do anything about it. So he flipped through every rule book he owned and had only just reached book 13 when his luck was with him. "Aha, finally!" He had found what he was looking for. He hoped so because it wasn't the first time he had hoped to find something that would help him only to be disappointed with the next paragraph. For example, he could not devour the souls of the two cups as long as they owed him nothing.
However, he seemed to have lucked out with the current paragraph. His frustrated face changed to a nasty, mischievous smile. It could not be ruled out that the devil had planned something so diabolical that no one had ever suspected it. "Oh, those two mugs will wish they'd never met me," he chuckled mischievously. "And Alicia, my dearest Alicia, you will soon be mine. Only mine and no one else!" his cheeks flushed while his tail wagged with joy.
He closed the book with a bookmark in it, of course, after reading this paragraph several times to make sure it was the right one. Which of course it was. Before he stood up, picked up his trident that was lying on the wall next to his desk and disappeared in a dark cloud of smoke from the underworld, leaving his study behind him. Where he went, or rather teleported to, was more than clear.
His targets were, of course, the two almost authentic-looking cups and the love of his life, his future queen and, at the moment, wife Alicia.
Of course, the three of them had no idea. How could they when they were busy with other things? Well, you could say that if you can call playing basketball with the ripped-out one or cuddling and kissing with your husband 'busy'. Well, that's what the three of them were doing anyway. Alicia and Lucifer were in the living room listening to soft jazz music on the radio while kissing, hugging and whispering how much they loved each other.
"I love you Alicia," Lucifer whispered in her ear as he gently nibbled on her earlobe and scratched Alicia's back. He seduced her as best he could to satisfy his wife. Either way, Alicia was always satisfied when he was with her. She felt safe around him and enjoyed his presence every second. So much so that she relaxed against his soft fur while his arms wrapped around her. You could see that he didn't want to let her go. "I love you too, my honey pie horse," Alicia replied in a slightly sleepy voice as she looked into her husband's eyes.
Her tiredness but also her love for her husband was more than obvious. Both were happy and content with each other. No matter what others thought. Alicia loved Lucifer for who he was. And not as others saw him. Sure, he was the devil, but that didn't mean he could or should feel love. Lucifer had completely changed his character. Unlike the devil here, who still hadn't realized that Alicia had no interest in him.
However, their twosomeness was disturbed by a whistling coming from the pantry which was right next to the guest room. "What the?" said Alicia and Lucifer at the same time and had to laugh at the same time before they also said 'jinxed' together. But who or what was responsible for the whistling? Well, the three cups didn't come out of the pantry and Blood was just visiting Muru, his old friend. So there was only one left. That someone was Elder Kettle, carrying a sack of potatoes over his back with a piece of bacon under his arm while casually slamming the door behind him with his foot, unaware that there was anyone else in the living room.
Typical Elder Kettle. Alicia and Lucifer thought nothing of it when the whistling kettle went into the kitchen to prepare lunch. "Looks like we're having something tasty today," Lucifer whispered in Alicia's ear as he tenderly caressed her cheek and was ready to kiss her when suddenly a glass shattering sound was heard. Alicia, who was about to close her eyes, opened them in shock. "What the heck was that?" she asked herself and was about to get up from the sofa when she and Lucifer heard Elder Kettle cursing and opening the back door to confront those responsible for the noise. Don't tell me those three just threw a ball right through the window. Now the rolling basketball coming from the kitchen answered her question. "Oh boy..." she sighed.
Both got up from the sofa while Lucifer turned off the radio before they both went into the kitchen to see the damage the three cups had done. "Oh boy that doesn't look very nice" the large hole in the window next to the door leading to the backyard was hard to miss. "I only ask for one thing while I prepare lunch. And that's silence!" Elder Kettle's voice sounded more than just angry as he lectured the three cups, who looked at the floor with sad, almost depressed expressions while the elderly kettle lectured with a warning finger.
Well, it was clear that he wanted to have his peace and quiet because, apart from the broken window, the lunch for today was all over the walls. Delicious. Alicia swallowed to avoid throwing up at the sight. "Sorry Elder Kettle," the three cups apologized, hoping that would be enough. Well, almost. Elder Kettle demanded more than a cheap apology "If you want to make it up to me you should play in the front yard before I put the ball away like the others!" growling he pointed out of the kitchen where the three cups ran out past Alicia and Lucifer as Mugman who was the last one reached for the basketball.
Of course, just like Elder Kettle, they slammed the door and ignored the growl that came from Lucifer while Alicia just narrowed her eyes. "They can't close the door normally, can they?" he muttered annoyed before turning his attention to Alicia, who scratched his belly reassuringly. He lay on the sofa like a cat purring and asked Alicia to keep scratching him in the exact spot where she was scratching him before.
She didn't say no to this and was just about to continue cuddling when suddenly the front door opened and three panicked, screaming cups ran into the cottage towards Alicia and Lucifer to hide behind them, or rather behind the sofa. "What's going on now?" asked Alicia, confused, as she looked behind the sofa to check on the three mugs trembling with fear. Not only Alicia wondered why the three cups were trembling with fear, but also Lucifer, who was less than pleased that his petting session had been interrupted. Like Alicia, he wanted an answer to this question. Not out of concern, but rather because he was annoyed. Even though Alicia knew he meant the former, it was hard to admit. "Cups, Mugs, what's going on?" she asked in a soft voice before Mugman pointed his index finger towards the front door and answered shakily, "It's the devil. He's at the door".
Alicia's worried face quickly changed to an annoyed one when the mug mentioned the devil. "Not him again!" she grumbled annoyed and buried her face in one of the sofa cushions. Lucifer, for his part, seemed more than annoyed. He was furious to hear that the devil was standing right outside the front door. Of course, there was another reason why he was at the door. These were one hundred percent that Alicia should be his wife and queen and that both Cupheads should hand over their souls to him.
Alicia didn't like this any more than Lucifer did. More precisely, he tried to control his anger so as not to burst into flames like the devil always did. After all, he wasn't like the devil but could control his emotions. But he still wanted to let his anger out, so he separated from the group and went to the half-open front door while Alicia tried to calm the three cups. After all, she knew how they felt. But what if the three cups shook like a pneumatic hammer, making a hug impossible? What's more, the argument going on outside was not exactly quiet, but loud. Fortunately not loud enough for Elder Kettle to hear, but still Alicia was reluctant to explain what was going on outside and why the boys were so scared.
That will be fun to explain. Oh Elder Kettle it's just the devil who happens to want the souls of Cuphead and Cuppy even though they don't owe him anything anymore. Oh and almost forgot he wants to marry me and crown me his queen even though I'm married. Alicia thought to herself as she hoped it wouldn't come to that. But she knew what the devil and her husband were like when they were both angry. Both could get extremely loud. Elder Kettle would hear what was going on outside and would not ask who was out there but would indirectly go to the front door and open it.
So without hesitation, Alicia approached the front door that Lucifer had closed behind him, ignoring the words and begging of the three cups and opened it. "Oh yeah? As if my dearest Alicia is happy with a stray like you." the devil boasted. "I think by stray you mean yourself," Lucifer countered. Growling, the devil pressed his nose against Lucifer's. Both stared at each other, snarling angrily, before the door behind Lucifer opened and the sounds of footsteps approached them.
Confused, perplexed but also curious, both demons looked towards the source of the noise and saw not only Alicia behind them but also the three cups. "Ah, there's my future queen with the two cups that still owe me their souls," grinned the devil. Is he stupid or just pretending? Alicia asked herself. She knew what she was talking about. The devil had lost the right to take the souls of Cuphead and Cuppy in the first place. He had also agreed with the group that Alicia only belonged to Lucifer in order to regain his trident. So why was he claiming this?
Now the devil's mischievous smile seemed to answer not only Alicia's questions but also those about the cups and Lucifer.
Behind his back, the devil took out his thick rule book and leafed through it until he reached the page he had found earlier and presented it. "I have come here to inform you that I have found a way to get what I want" the group read through the page the devil presented to them. Next to several paragraphs about the possession of souls and how to obtain them, one paragraph was in large, bold print.
§666.6 - The soul of a mortal can be obtained even after the time limit has expired if the devil challenges the mortal to a competition.
Read the group. Neither Cuphead nor Cuppy was really happy about it. They were already glad that the devil was no longer hunting them for it. But hearing this made both cups tremble. They clung to Alicia's legs while she read the bottom part of the paragraph, which didn't really bring any positive news for herself.
In addition to souls whose time limit has expired, this also applies to other things the devil has demanded.
Damn! Alicia couldn't believe what she was reading before the devil closed the book in front of her eyes and grinned seductively and mischievously as if he was enjoying the feelings the young adult and the two cups were feeling. The panic in her eyes delighted him. He liked to see the fear in people's eyes. Especially in those who still owed him.
But Alicia read that he will only gain the souls and herself as wife and queen if he wins a competition. But what kind of competition? Alicia asked herself and stared at the devil questioningly before he pointed with his index finger to some small print that more or less answered her question. The group was allowed to choose the competition itself. However, there was one hitch. The devil had to agree. "And don't even think about taking your stupid marble game, you stupid cups!" He said this not because the competition was stupid anyway, but because he still felt the pain when he accidentally swallowed two marbles that landed in his mouth after the younger of the three cups dropped them to stop the devil from following them when they tried to escape from the underworld.
"I also want to have a competition that is team-based," said the devil as he waited for an answer from his challenger and leaned relaxed against the outside wall of the cottage, grooming his claws with a nail file.
The pressure that fell on the two Cupheads and Alicia was clearly noticeable. They knew that they had to decide on a competition that would determine whether the two Cupheads would keep their souls or not and whether Alicia should only belong to Lucifer or not. What's more, they should opt for a competition that is team-based. If it were a competition for drawing, she wouldn't see a problem with that. But she knew that the devil wanted a sports-based competition. She couldn't think of any except one. "Would handball be an option?", 'What?! You're crazy!' argued Cuphead and Mugman while Cuppy thought.
He would have found a solution to her problem. But before he blurted this out, he wanted to ask the others what they thought. So he asked the others to follow him and talk about his idea in a circle. Without the presence of the devil, of course.
"Alicia I think we could use basketball as a competition," the cup suggested as a solution. Alicia's eyes widened when she heard this and she swallowed nervously before asking him in a friendly, shy but nervous tone if he was sure. His nod confirmed her statement and Alicia was about to have a panic attack if Lucifer hadn't done something about it. His fingers stroked and soothed Alicia. She breathed in and out, not even suspecting that the three cups had decided on the choice of competition. "But why basketball of all things? Just because it's the only ball we have?" Mugman asked before grabbing his brother by the handle stopping him in his running animation before he could even run to the devil to tell him about it.
Cuppy thought about what he should say. Of course the choice could have been that they only had one ball, which of course was a basketball. Well, you could hardly tell it was a basketball. The outer layer of the ball had been battered over the years. The inside of the ball could be seen in some places between the outer layer.
This was certainly not the reason why Cuppy suggested basketball. No, there was another reason that Alicia was reluctant to hear while Lucifer held her tightly in his arms and purred to reassure her. "Alicia is a pro at basketball and could practically lead us to victory and save our souls," his hand clenched into a fist and gently slapped Cuphead's shoulder. Although gently was rather a different word. The cup rubbed heavily against the spot where Cuppy had hit him.
Cuphead liked the idea that Alicia could train her. "Yeah, now that I think about it, maybe we could do basketball," he agreed, getting his brother to agree before Alicia could say anything. The cups approached the devil, still leaning against the cottage and filing his fingernails, to inform him which competition they had chosen.
Showing off and with his belly stretched out, Cuphead challenged him. The devil just grinned devilishly as he was.
"We challenge you to a basketball game". "So basketball huh?" asked the devil before making his nail file disappear in a puff of smoke. His smile quickly changed to a mischievous giggle. "What's so funny?" asked Mugman, unaware that the devil had a size advantage. Most basketball players were tall for a reason. "Oh nothing, I was just thinking of something devilish," lied the devil. The cups stared at him skeptically before Alicia could say her piece. She would have loved to take any other sport. But not basketball.
However, the devil prevented her from saying a word. The elevator appeared a few meters behind the him. The flames around the elevator went out before the door opened and the devil's accountant set foot on the slightly scorched grass. "Have they decided?" he asked in a nasal voice before approaching the devil to take care of the paperwork that was important to him. After all, this was the devil we were talking about. Grinning mischievously, the devil turned his attention to his accountant, deliberately ignoring the confused expressions on the faces of the three cups, Alicia and his copy. "It's going to be a basketball competition Stickler" surprised, the devil seemed to answer him normally and not with an annoyed undertone as was usually the case. "That's good to hear," the accountant continued in a monotone before opening his book, he always held under his arm.
It didn't take him long to find the right page and pull a shiny gold contract out of the book. This contract flew into one of the devil's hands while a shimmering golden feather appeared in the other. Oh boy... Alicia thought to herself. She couldn't stop the two Cupheads from signing the contract. Both had added their signatures. Cuppy's was formal and beautiful while Cuphead's looked rather unattractive. Well, it was smeared and scrawled. Like the writing of a toddler. Although both cups were actually almost teenagers.
Never mind. In addition to the signature on both cups, another one was missing. One that was very important to the devil. So important that he would trade every soul of the Inkwell Isle for it. Alicia's signature. It was still missing from his contract. "Come my dearest Alicia, sign the contract," he asked her kindly, waving the contract in his hand while the quill appeared in Alicia's right hand. She knew that the devil was just waiting for her to sign the contract. But Alicia didn't want to. She didn't want to sign the contract because she was afraid that the devil had something planned. But she had no other choice. She had to sign the contract and did so without hesitation while Lucifer, her husband, stood by her and whispered assurances that all would end well. I hope you're right Lucifer.
She really hoped so. "Ah how beautiful your signature is my love," the devil cajoled Alicia and snatched the contract from her hand before putting it in his 'jacket pocket'. For safekeeping, of course. "That's settled then," satisfied, even if you couldn't tell from his face, Stickler walked towards the elevator and disappeared into the underworld. The devil remained.
Why? Well, it still had to be agreed exactly how many days of training the group would need to start the competition. "Would ten days be okay?" suggested the devil. Alicia was about to agree when Cuphead interrupted her, "Oh we can do it in nine!" he challenged the devil, swaggering as he was, "Eight!", "Seven!", "Six!", "Cuphead!" Before the cup could argue even more about how long they needed for the training, the others stopped Cuphead from going any further down with the number of days by dog piling him.
"Six it is then" the devil assumed while Mugman and Cuppy stuffed Cuphead's mouth shut to prevent him from going any further down than six days. His words were not heard, however, because of Mugman's hands covering his mouth and preventing him from saying anything clearly. Six days until the competition. Alicia's heart was pounding as ever. She could think of nothing else but this. I wish I'd said something. Alicia was reluctant to play basketball again after the one incident she had to experience back then. Should I really tell the others why I stopped playing basketball? she asked herself before a familiar voice could be heard coming directly from the forest. "What's going on here?" the group turned to the source of the voice. It belonged to Blood, who had just come back from his important conversation and didn't really realize what exactly had happened while he was away. An explanation was needed for the wolf. Unnoticed by the three cups, Alicia was about to have another panic attack.
They could argue later about the thing that had just happened while the wolf was away. Right now, the group only wanted one thing. Prevent Alicia from having a panic attack. The three cups, Lucifer and Blood didn't hesitate to hug Alicia and calm her down. Her breathing, which at first was like a gasp, quickly changed to normal. Alicia felt the hugs. They felt warm and familiar. As if Alicia was a child again and in the arms of her parents. Something she had wanted for a long time. A simple hug like the one she just felt.
She calmed down. With her breathing normal, the others broke away from the embrace. Well, all except for Mugman and Lucifer. Both were still holding Alicia to make sure she was okay. "Whoa Mugsy I think Al is better now you don't need to keep hugging her leg" without hesitation Cuphead and Cuppy grabbed the handle from Mugman and with combined strength tried to remove him from Alicia's leg. But like a limpet, Mugman was difficult to detach from Alicia's leg. Or to describe it better, both mugs could only remove the mug's head while his now headless body still clung to Alicia's leg like a spider monkey.
But not for long. Alicia carefully detached Mugman's arms and legs herself so that his still headless body could stand on its own two feet again. His hands, however, wanted to know where his missing head was. Cuphead was still holding it in his hands and slowly realized that his brother was staring at him in annoyance. "He he sorry brother" so Cuphead didn't hesitate for long and placed his brother's head back on his body as if nothing had happened.
However, Alicia knew that she owed the others an explanation for her sudden panic attack. This time it wasn't because of the devil and his challenge, but because of something she had forgotten since her high school days. A reason, rather, why she had vowed never to play basketball again. She had to tell the others. But how? It was already too late to end the competition, let alone change it to another sport. "Guys, I think I should tell you something that I should have said much earlier," she sighed, looking at the group with depressed eyes. They waited until Alicia had the strength to explain what she meant. She sighed again and let Lucifer calm her down while she started to talk about the time when she had played basketball.
Back in high school, Alicia and her brother John played on the school team. Both were good at the sport and were praised by the coach for their performance. "Well done John, although I must admonish you for your tendency to take the ball from others by force," the coach always lectured him, while Alicia was always praised for her friendly way of playing. Only this would prove to be her undoing a year later.
"Why are you still in our team?" asked a female teammate a year older than Alicia in the changing room. "Because..." "Because what? Because your brother was part of the team?" another teammate interrupted Alicia and poked her not-so-gently on the shoulder, pushing Alicia even further into the corner she was already in. "Coach only put you in because your brother was his best player, that's all!" That wasn't true. Alicia knew it.
But the words of the three girls stung more than knife stabs in the back. They weakened Alicia's self-confidence and will to continue playing basketball. However, the three girls didn't seem to like it. They continued to pick on Alicia without thinking about what they were doing to her mentally. "We'll be a lot better off if we don't have to see you or have you on the team anymore!" these words were deep and painful. "I mean, haven't you noticed that nobody wants anything to do with you? You're holding us back from getting further into the championship with your personality," Alicia wondered how that could possibly bother her. After all, knowledge and ability counted in a sport like this. Looks and character were less important.
"Just do us a favor and leave the Team Powell!" the discrimination and the spit Alicia got in the face from one of the three girls was the final nail in the coffin. Alicia couldn't take the bullying anymore and finally broke down crying in the locker room. She felt lonely and abandoned at that moment and wanted nothing more than to leave the place of shame. She took off her uniform in tears and brought it to the coach's office, sniffling, who was surprised to see Alicia not only sad and in tears, but also that she was leaving the team. "Alicia, you liked basketball, why are you quitting so close to the championship and leaving the team?" the coach asked her in his soft, calm voice while Alicia could no longer keep quiet about why she was leaving.
The coach didn't like the answer at all. He did not support bullying and wanted Alicia to stay on the team despite the bullying. But she had decided to leave. She didn't want to fight it anymore and vowed not to play or even touch a basketball from that day on.
With the thing now off her shoulder, Alicia sighed in relief but also in dejection. The reason? Well, while Alicia was telling her story, the three cups couldn't take it anymore and cried. Tears that really did flow from their eyes like waterfalls. "Oh Ali!" sniffled Mugman. "That's so sad!" emphasized Cuphead with an emotional voice that he rarely used. Both brothers clung to Alicia's legs while Cuppy stood next to Alicia with a shocked face, unable to believe what Alicia had just said.
He knew that she had problems with bullying at school and that John had always helped her and stood up for her when someone bullied her. But her brother graduated from high school before she did. The last two years she also had to look after herself. John couldn't help. College was more important than any visit from the principal. At least in Alicia's eyes.
"Alicia, we didn't know you didn't want to play basketball anymore because of this," Cuppy's words were hard for him to say. He thought he knew everything about Alicia. But apparently a lot had changed in the time before Alicia came back into the book world and took over from her mother, her grandmother and all those before them and finished writing the story of the book and filling the blank pages with it. "I know it was my fault," Alicia replied in a depressed voice as Lucifer hugged her and soothed her with his soft purr. He knew this would calm her down. It wouldn't be the first time Alicia had talked about her terrible school days. But where she was right, she was right. She should have said something when the group still had the chance to agree on what kind of competition they wanted to have. Now it was too late.
But what Alicia saw as her fault, the others saw differently. "Al, it's not your fault," "Yes, we shouldn't have agreed on one thing so quickly. Your opinion counts too!" The two brothers were not wrong. In addition to the souls of both Cupheads, the devil was also after Alicia's marriage. She was just as affected as the two cups with the red and white striped straw.
They are in the same boat. No further questions. Alicia had to get over her horrible thoughts and go back to playing basketball. Whether she wanted to or not. There was no other choice. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and was outwardly ready to play basketball. But not on the inside. Her doubts didn't make it any easier for her to see the whole thing in a positive light. Well, that wasn't one of her strengths. Alicia found it difficult to see things in a positive light. Well, unfortunately there was another problem. There were four of them with Alicia. But you need five people for an official basketball team. They needed one person. But who could they ask?
There was a lot of hustle and bustle in the port of Inkwell City. Sailors were transporting their goods from ship to shore and vice versa, some engineers were repairing leaks and dents while a few were taking care of the barnacles that stuck to the ships like burrs. Most of the ships were huge and cast enormous shadows on the nearby buildings. But in the middle of the huge ships was a small red wooden ship operated by just two people. One of them was the captain himself. Captain Brineybeard. "Arrgh," he snored, lying on his hammock, which was stretched between the main mast and a rake next to the captain's cabin.
His two wooden legs were lying crosswise at the other end of the hammock on which his parrot was sitting. The bird was also asleep and only let out a yawn from its mouth while its owner imitated it. Nothing could disturb the silence. Well, it wasn't that quiet either. After all, the hammering against the nearby ships and the loading and transporting of goods was not exactly quiet.
But when you spend your whole life at the harbor, you overhear and get used to the noises. But whether you could say the same for residents who live next to a streetcar stop is another matter. Anyway, the peace and quiet was disturbed by a sudden conversation coming from the jetty. "Are you really sure?" said a young, nervous male voice that the captain recognized immediately. "Yes, I'm one hundred percent sure," the female voice also sounded familiar to him. Curious, Brineybeard stood up straight to see who the familiar voices belonged to.
"Well blow me down, I don't think I'm seeing right, or isn't that Mugman and his crew?" the voices the captain heard belonged to Mugman and Alicia. Both were not there alone but accompanied by both Cupheads, Blood and Lucifer. The captain didn't know the latter, but he knew that there was a relationship between Alicia and him that Brineybeard couldn't break. "Hi Briney," Alicia greeted the captain with a friendly smile while the three cups waved at him. Lucifer and Blood just nodded. "What gives me the honor of seeing you again?" Brineybeard asked curiously as his parrot landed on his right shoulder and cawed, repeating his phrase to annoy the captain. "Stop imitating me!", "Bawk! Stop imitating me! Bawk!" but the parrot continued.
Before the captain could reach for the bird to strangle it, Alicia answered his question and spared the unsuspecting parrot the choking it was about to experience. "We're looking for Hali," Brineybeard could barely open his mouth before Hali appeared beside him and beckoned to the group. "Hey!" she greeted and jumped down to the jetty where the group was standing to greet them formally, beaming with joy.
"It's good to see you again Alicia" Alicia smiled 'Good to see you again Hali' she replied before Hali looked behind Alicia and was shocked when she saw Lucifer. "Wait is that the..." Lucifer knew that the young rabbit meant him and probably mistook him for the devil, which is why he tried to explain to her that he was the devil but not of this world. "Hmm now that you mention it your nose isn't red, your horns and claws aren't saffron yellow and generally you look different" the differences were clearly visible.
What's more, he and Alicia seemed to be in a relationship. "Actually, I'm married to Lucifer and I'm his queen," Hali was shocked when Alicia corrected her and why she was able to transform into other forms like her leviathan form. "Oh, so that's why you were able to transform and help us escape from Cala Maria" Alicia nodded. Alicia would love to show her more of her demon powers, but that would have to wait for the moment. There was a reason why the group wanted Hali. A very important one, to be precise.
"You want me to play on your team and compete against the devil to prevent him from taking Cuphead and Cuppy's souls and Alicia's marriage?" Brineybeard spat out his coffee in horror and sprayed it at his parrot, who was less than thrilled about getting brown feathers.
Annoyed, the parrot shook itself and flew onto Hali's shoulder, giving Brineybeard an annoyed look. "Hmph!" with a snapped beak, the bird ignored its owner and flew away again. Brineybeard muttered something annoyed before he got to the point of why the parrot was annoyed in the first place and was about to clean itself up. "Since when has the devil been after you?" he asked curiously but also frightened in a shaky voice. Nothing seemed to frighten the usually courageous and self-confident Brineybeard. Neither monster waves nor his "girlfriend" could scare him. But the devil, on the other hand, was another matter. The demon king was not someone to be taken lightly. At least for Brineybeard.
"It's complicated to explain" Alicia was reluctant to recount the moments since the devil was after her and wanted the souls of Cuphead and Cuppy. "But the point is that we've been challenged by him and now that's what's at stake," Alicia explained, leaning against her husband Lucifer. Both Cups, who were also affected by this, no longer seemed to be beaming with joy but were looking down at the deck.
Hali now knew why she had been chosen. Of course, she was not the first choice when it came to the two brothers. Cuphead wanted Chalice to be the fifth member of the team. But the others immediately refused. Especially after the last action with the haunted house and the fact that Alicia was almost locked in a painting herself, it was clear to her and the others that Chalice was not a good team player.
What's more, Chalice rarely seemed to come into contact with them to have a healthy relationship at all. No wonder I prefer Chalice from the book despite the bad start we had. She would prefer to be in the book world among the people she understands. But unfortunately she was in this world. So much for that. "Well, I always wanted to show off my talent but never had the chance." Hali's gaze fell on the basketball hoop she had made herself from a used old laundry basket with a cut-out base, hanging on a pole where a lantern would normally be hung. The basketball itself was not homemade but bought and looked a lot better than the one the three cups had been playing with.
"So you play basketball in your spare time?" Cuppy asked curiously. The bunny nodded, grabbed the basketball, jumped against the nearby pole with her feet and catapulted the basketball through the net. She caught the ball and performed a trick by spinning and balancing the basketball on her finger. "Is that enough to prove how well I play?" asked Hali as the three cups dropped their jaws one by one in shock. Lucifer and Blood applauded her and Alicia beamed with joy. She had found her fifth player and was ready to start training. "Hali I didn't know you were so good" Hali smiled nervously and grinned. She was very touched by the praise. "Oh... uh thanks" she didn't know what to say. Of course she accepted the offer and joined Alicia's team to kick the devil's ass.
But before that could happen, the others had to be trained first. Not everyone can become a professional basketball player like Alicia and Hali overnight. Especially as the three cups were significantly smaller than the two women. However, it should be easy for the three of them to grab the opponent's ball. Especially when the opponent was the devil himself. The group practiced each of the six days they had before the final showdown. There was still a lot to be improved for the Grand Slam. Cuphead was energetic and seemed to catch every pitch thrown to him. But he had a hard time passing the basketball to his teammates. "Cuphead!" growled his brother every time he refused to throw him the ball, preferring instead to score a point himself.
"What, I was supposed to make a point, wasn't I?" he asked, annoyed himself, as everyone stared at him angrily. "Yes, you should, you do realize that basketball is a team game," Alicia mentioned while the cup realized what the young adult meant and saw his mistake. "Oh uh hehe" smiling nervously, he handed the ball back to his brother.
He knew it wasn't a game they were playing but a serious matter. After all, his and Cuppy's soul was at stake. What's more, Alicia's marriage to Lucifer was in danger of collapsing if the devil won. Neither Alicia nor Lucifer nor Cuppy wanted that. But someone else did.
This person was watching the group the whole time. He wanted to know what they were doing and, above all, what they were up to. Okay well I'll say who it is. It's the devil standing in front of the mirror watching the group's training game and trying his best not to drool at the sight of Alicia. But a thread of drool fell out of his mouth and landed rather unintentionally on Amnon, who was filing the devil's toenails. "Boss, you're drooling again," Henchman mentioned as he helped Amnon remove the drool and thanked him with a nervous smile.
The devil quickly noticed this and did not hesitate for long to conjure up a handkerchief to wipe away the remaining drool. "Oh thank you Henchman" with a drool-free mouth he continued to stare in the mirror and did not seem very pleased now. Why? Well, he didn't like it at all that they were getting good, if not better. As a team, the five of them coordinated perfectly. Alicia threw the ball to one of the three annoying pesky cups like it was nothing. They caught every ball and dodged every obstacle that came their way. The devil didn't like that at all.
"Henchman, Amnon where's my team?" the devil asked in an annoyed tone that made both Imps wince. "Uhhh they're on their way here boss" Henchman explained with a raised index finger while Amnon shook his head hysterically. However, the question of where his team was remained. The throne room was empty except for the devil and his two henchmen.
But that quickly changed when the ground began to shake. The scattered rocks on the carpet shook, the dust fell from the pillars and the tapestries blew back and forth. Amnon whimpered and hid with Henchman behind the devil's throne as several large, partly muscular but also fat shadows could be seen overshadowing the devil at the other end of the throne room. The growling and roaring of the four demons standing in front of the devil pleased him greatly, but his henchmen less so. "Now that's what I call a top-class basketball team!" The devil's eyes lit up like a small child being handed a lollipop and he couldn't help but jump back and forth in anticipation.
His team was ready, as was Alicia's team. The next day could come to decide whether the souls of the two Cupheads and Alicia's marriage belonged to the devil or not.
Well, Alicia seemed to be the only one asking herself this and could hardly turn a blind eye while she slept with Lucifer in the guest room and stared at the ceiling. "Alicia, are you all right?" her gaze to the ceiling was cut off by Lucifer's worried voice. Slowly, she looked away from the ceiling into her husband's worried yellow eyes. They shone even more intensely than usual in the dark. But that shouldn't be important now. What was important was why Alicia was so worried and not sleeping. Yes, Lucifer knew that tomorrow was the big day, but his wife and queen still needed a good night's sleep so that she would be ready to kick his copy's ass tomorrow. "Are you worried about tomorrow?" Alicia just nodded and let him stroke her.
He tenderly stroked her cheek with his claws and slowly moved behind her ears. One of the few parts of her body that calmed her down if she panicked or couldn't sleep because she was too worried. She sighed and snuggled closer to him before confirming his statement, "Yeah, I'm worried about tomorrow," she whispered as Lucifer gave her a reassuring kiss on the forehead and whispered softly that everything was going to be okay. "Don't worry my dearest Alicia everything will be fine" with tired eyes the young adult finally fell asleep and silence returned to the guest room and the entire cottage.
Everyone was asleep. Elder Kettle slept soundly in his bed, releasing steam as he breathed in and out, while both brothers lay snoring in their beds. Mugman slept upstairs, hanging half his body in his bed while his free arm and leg dangled in the air. His foot was almost touching his brother's nose, who was sleeping just as strangely as he was. The others slept normally. Lucifer held his sweetheart Alicia tightly in his arms while Blood slept towards the wall and Cuppy towards the closet.
The night flew by over the Inkwell Isle's. The crescent moon with a white nightcap with blue stars and bobble at the top yawned as it moved away from the horizon and the sun slowly appeared with sleeping goggles over her eyes. She also yawned like the moon. But not because she was tired, but because she had just woken up and cheerfully removed her sleeping goggles to shine her sunbeams on the Inkwell Isles. The inhabitants slowly woke up from their beds, prepared breakfast, got dressed and prepared themselves for the day.
So did the inhabitants of the little cottage. All three cups were wide awake and already motivated for the upcoming game with the devil. Elder Kettle was in the kitchen like every morning, preparing breakfast. Blood was the only one sitting at the dining table and, surprisingly, was reading the daily newspaper rather than anything in his little notebook. Lucifer and Alicia were still in the guest room, mentally and physically preparing for the basketball game.
"Are you ready my love?" Lucifer asked in a soft soothing voice as he massaged Alicia's shoulders and kissed her cheek several times. Several kiss marks remained on her cheeks and continued to smooch Alicia. The memory of the first time she had kiss marks still lingered in her mind. How she had tried to avoid them only to be surprised by them under the comforter and be attacked made her smile. "I'm ready Lucifer" she answered in a positive but thoughtful voice. She was still unsure how the competition would turn out. But she knows that her team was ready.
"That's what I wanted to hear my queen" Lucifer proudly continued kissing Alicia until they both heard a knock on the guest room door and stopped their cuddling. They both got up from the bed they were sitting on, wiped the hickies off their cheeks and necks, brushed their hair and opened the door behind which Blood and the three cups were standing. "Guys, did something happen?" she asked, glancing nervously at the three cups. Their beaming faces were replaced with worried, sometimes nervous and anxious expressions.
It was clear that the time had come. Cuphead, Cuppy and Mugman said nothing. They just pointed to the front door where someone tall was standing. Someone with two big horns on his head. Oh boy, here we go, sighed Alicia and walked with single strides to the front door and held out her hand for the doorknob. It shook before she could wrap it around the doorknob. Slowly and creakily, Alicia turned the doorknob to the right and a click was heard.
The door was now open. Alicia swallowed nervously before slowly opening it. The shadow that had been on the door was now on the floor. The others could now see the shadow more clearly than before. "Huh?" the three of them examined the shadow more closely and quickly realized that it wasn't the devil standing in front of the door but.…
"Hali? Up so early?" It was Hali who was standing outside the front door and not the devil. Her protruding ears looked very similar to the devil's horns from a distance. "When you grow up on a ship, you always have to be awake early no matter how long you've slept," the young bunny explained to her before she went into the cottage and greeted the others. She shook hands with the three cups, gave Blood a fist bump and nodded to Lucifer before saluting him. The latter was a little confused about the salute but shrugged his shoulders and thought no more about it.
Now Alicia knew that life on a ship was different from life on the mainland. But she was surprised that Hali was here so early. Alicia would never have expected her at 05:00 in the morning. Especially since Alicia didn't get up until 07:00am anyway and was the last one in the cottage to have breakfast. But today was the exception. For good reason. "When does-" Hali suddenly interrupted her sentence. Her ears perked back as she heard a bell behind her that belonged to an elevator. "I think that answers your question," Hali slowly turned around while behind her and Alicia the cups, Blood and Lucifer approached the front door to see who or what had appeared.
A family elevator stood a few meters away from the front door. The flames that surrounded it disappeared, leaving a square burn mark in the floor. The door of the elevator opened to the side and three familiar faces that Alicia knew all too well could be seen inside. Oh man why does he has to wear pink? It was the devil and his two henchmen.
All three wore uniforms. Basketball uniforms in the colors pink and purple. The pink one was worn by the devil, of course. He grinned in love and mischievously as soon as his yellow eyes with red pupils caught sight of Alicia. They turned into throbbing hearts and couldn't stop staring at Alicia. You could clearly see that Alicia didn't like it. She felt like she was in an old Pepe le Pew cartoon, which sounds ironic as she was in a cartoon world surrounded by cartoon characters.
But she wasn't the only one who didn't like the fact that the devil was staring at her like a French skunk in love who would do anything to be with her. Lucifer seethed with rage and dyed his fur a reddish color. His white horns now glowed orange-yellow as did his claws with which he gently and tenderly pulled Alicia towards him before giving the devil a death stare. He made it clear that Alicia belonged to him and no one else. The devil stopped raving and was furiously on fire. Literally. Nervous and anxious, Henchman moved away from his boss while Amnon picked up a wooden stick with a marshmallow on the end and roasted it. Of course, the devil ignored this and turned his attention to the others instead. Especially his copy.
"I didn't know you liked pink," mocked Lucifer. "Oh, thank you for the compliment. Yes, it suits me very well, don't you think, my dearest?" the devil approached the front door with a grin while his hand reached out for Alicia's before it was knocked away by Hali. "Ow!" the devil growled at the bunny ladies while both pressed their noses together and stared at each other before a clearing of the throat broke the silence.
Both devils calmed down and stared downwards to the source of the throat-clearing. It was Alicia who had cleared her throat to end the argument Lucifer and the devil were having. "I hate to interrupt, but I don't think the color of your uniform is the most important thing right now," Alicia admonished with an annoyed look on her face. The three cups agreed with her. "Yes, Ali is right, we're not here to compare clothes, we're here to kick your ass!" Cuphead pointed a threatening finger at the indignant-looking devil. He gasped indignantly and put both hands over his mouth because he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
The devil forbade himself that the cup could dare to mock him. "Oh you little..." his pointed teeth appeared and looked even more menacing than usual up close. With outstretched claws, the devil wanted to grab the cup and take its soul. However, Hali slapped his hand away again "Ow! Don't do that!" he growled "Uhh nope" Hali replied with a mischievous smile. "Oh, you're doing it on purpose!" The devil had had enough! He didn't want to wait any longer and decided to start the competition. "We'll start right now!" he declared while the others asked themselves one thing. "Um, where should we play?" the devil's angry face changed from one second to annoyed and then to embarrassed. He gave himself a face palm that he hadn't thought of that. "Oh man am I stupid" I agree. Alicia thought to herself, smirking in victory before the devil came back to his senses and countered with an appropriate response.
"Well, I know where we could hold the competition," his smile didn't bode well. Alicia knew and couldn't stop the devil from using his trident to make not only himself but everyone around him (not counting Elder Kettle) disappear in a puff of smoke.
The black-purple smoke slowly billowed out. Alicia, the cups, Blood, Hali and Lucifer didn't know where they were at first. "W-where... Where are we?" Mugman asked nervously as he held on to his own uniform as if his life depended on it. Wait, he's wearing a uniform? Alicia and the others didn't realize it right away, but yes, they were wearing basketball uniforms in red and blue. Well, more like red and blue stripes with the numbers 1 to 5 on them.
Alicia wore the number one, Cuppy the two, Hali the three, Mugsy the four and Cuphead the five. "Hey, why am I wearing the last number?" asked the latter, annoyed, until his question was interrupted by an earthquake-like shaking. The shaking was so strong that all three cups couldn't even stand properly on the ground, but floated briefly into the air with each tremor before they stood on the ground again and the process started all over again.
"What's that...a...quake?" as Hali asked this question, the group noticed the four large, muscular and fat shadows eclipsing them. It soon became clear who the shadows belonged to. Behind the devil stood four red, fat, large and muscular demons. They all wore basketball uniforms (pink, of course) with the numbers 2 to 4 on them. The demon with the number 2 was a red bull-like demon with two black curved horns from which two more grew, muscular forearms on which were several tattoos with numbers of his victims on them. His hind legs were much smaller than his front legs but just as muscular. Like the devil and Henchman, his tail had a devil's tail tip.
The demon with the number 3 was a troll-like one and was very similar in build to the troll from the first Harry Potter movie. Only this one had red skin, wore the uniform and had considerably more muscles. His feet and hands were huge and could easily hold Alicia twice. The demon with the number 4 was the panther demon that the devil had sent to catch Alicia and bring her to him. Instead of his armor, he was now wearing his uniform, which was far too small for him as it was in danger of tearing in some places and just barely fit.
And the last demon was a creature consisting of several tentacles and eyes. The fact that it was wearing a uniform surprised the others. Especially Henchman, as he was the one who gave the uniforms to the four demons. All three cups gasped, dropped their jaws and didn't know what to say. Mugman toppled backwards unconsciously. Luckily Hali caught him before he could't break his handle again.
Alicia and the others didn't want to go through this dilemma again. "Surprised to see my team?" smirked the devil, confident of victory. It pleased him to see the hopelessness in the eyes of the others. Just a moment ago, the cups were confident of winning the competition. But this confidence quickly turned into hopelessness. They already suspected that the devil would have his own team. But no one had expected it to consist of four large, muscular demons. So much for fairness. Alicia was the only one to roll her eyes, while Hali, who had successfully brought Mugman back to consciousness, was of the same opinion. "Well they are very muscular I must say" she mentioned as the devil himself bragged and walked past his demons. He couldn't help it and tweaked the muscles of the bull demon's forearm which made a squeaking sound.
"But with or without muscles we will not give up" the devil stopped tweaking his muscles. His grinning face changed to a horrified pout. Alicia was convinced that they would manage to defeat the devil despite his team. No matter how big and dangerous they might be. Every team had weaknesses. And Alicia knew exactly what the devil's team had.
She showed her back to the opposing team. It was time for a short team talk before the game started. So everyone gathered in a circle and discussed everything in detail. "Ali, what do we do now? The other team is too tough to beat," Cuppy trembled as if his life depended on it. Which wasn't wrong as his soul was at stake. "Yes Cuppy is right, how can we have any chance of winning with a team like that?" The question of how they would win was still open to the others but Alicia knew how.
A glance over to the other team who were talking to the devil answered the questions the cups asked her. "Guys the others may be strong, big, muscular and fat but we can still beat them" all three cups stared at each other in confusion before staring together at Alicia in confusion. They didn't know what Alicia, their team captain, meant. Hali, on the other hand, did. So the young rabbit helped the young adult out a little by simply explaining it to the cups.
"What Alicia means by we can still win is that we are smaller than the others and could easily run through their legs or past them" now the cups understood exactly what Alicia meant and regained their confidence. Their depressed, still unconcerned faces quickly changed to a confident, encouraged one. With a synchronized nod of their heads, the group lined up in their respective places and waited for the devil and his team, who had just finished speaking, to stand in their places.
Of course, the Devil was opposite Alicia at Point Guard while Cuppy was at Shooting Guard, Mugman at Small Forward, Hali at Power Forward and Cuphead at Center. The positions were explicitly chosen by Alicia and not just randomly selected by the others. Honestly, Alicia didn't want to be at Point Guard at first, but the thought of Cuphead being there was too risky for her. So she put up with the devil's flirting attempts for a moment and looked at the spectator seats instead of at him. Lucifer and Blood sat side by side, waving to her and the others as they sat surrounded by the many Imps with banners, flags and giant foam gloves that said "1# DEVIL" and "GO TEAM!" on them. The Devil liked the applause and cheers and let himself go until Stickler ruined the moment with his nasal, raspy and annoying voice. "Um, excuse me!" said the accountant, who was wearing a referee's uniform instead of his normal clothes and had a big whistle around
His neck. In his right hand he held a stopwatch and under his left arm was a basketball.
The devil sighed annoyed to see that it was not Henchman but Stickler who was the referee and stopped flirting with Alicia. "Would everyone involved be ready to start the game then?" the accountant's eyes wandered to both the devil and Alicia. Both were the team captains of their respective teams and therefore looked behind them at their teams. Cuppy and the others nodded and gave Alicia a thumbs up. The young adult smiled with relief and confirmed this to the referee. The devil did the same.
"Well then, I'll start the game here," said Stickler, throwing the ball he had just tucked under his arm upwards to start the game. Everything went in slow motion as the devil and Alicia grabbed the ball together and passed it to the player standing at shooting guard. Which in this case were Cuppy and the bull demon. The devil was certain that he would be the first to reach the ball. His fingertips were almost touching the skin of the ball when suddenly a hand enveloped them, bursting the devil's hope like his pupils, which shattered into several pieces like dishes falling on the floor.
The hand that just pulled the basketball away from him belonged to Alicia. She had been quick enough to grab the basketball before the devil and didn't hesitate a second longer as she touched the ground with her feet to throw the basketball to Cuppy "Here Cuppy!" she shouted and ran past the perplexed looking devil and two of his demons while Cuphead, Alicia and Cuppy ran to the basketball net on the side where the devil and his team was standing. The latter only realized what was going on too late and saw with his own eyes how the cup that still owed him its soul (despite the expiring contract) had just bagged two points. The devil was boiling with rage and ordered his team members to hand them the ball Cuphead was holding in his hands. "Uh-oh," he said uneasily as three shadows eclipsed him and his eyes slowly looked up to the source.
He was surrounded by the bull, panther and tentacle demon. Swallowing nervously, Cuphead tried to find a way out but the latter grabbed the basketball and hurled it towards the troll demon who ran past Cuppy, Alicia and Mugman ready to score a point until Hali stood in front of him ready to defend the net despite her size comparison. "Try to stop me doll?" giggled the demon just before he was ready to thunder the ball into the net. "Doll?" Before the demon could score, however, Hali jumped into its face and dripped on it until the demon's face resembled dough and its eyes raisins or chocolate chips. "Don't ever call me doll" Without fighting back, the demon dropped the ball and Hali threw it back to Alicia, who caught it in mid-air and bagged three points because she sank the ball from a long distance, much to the devil's frustration. The score was now 5-0, five for Alicia's team and zero for the Devil's.
But the scoreboard would soon change. It didn't take long for the zero to become a 20 and the five a 15. The Devil's team quickly proved to Alicia and the others to be a professional team that played at the same level as NBA players. Alicia quickly realized that she could not win this competition so easily. "I knew we would lose our souls and Ali would be with the devil" Cuphead gave up mentally, knowing they would never win. "Oh come on guys, no need to give up so quickly when we've only just reached half-time", Alicia tried to cheer her team up. Lucifer and Blood went down from their seats to encourage the team. "You've seen how good the four demons are!" declared Mugman in frustration as he sweated like a waterfall. Cuppy and Hali were the only ones not complaining.
"Maybe these four demons play on the same level as NBA players, but that doesn't mean we should give up right away. Especially you Cuphead. You're always someone who doesn't give up at all!" Alicia's words activated the spark of hope in the young cup. She was right. Cuphead was someone who didn't give up easily. No, he fought when he had to. And that's exactly why he fought and didn't give up. "Okay Al let's kick the devil's butt!" Alicia and the others smirked when Cuphead said that. "That's what I wanted to hear" Alicia's words also seemed to work wonders as she not only encouraged Cuphead but also the others to start the next half time with full vigor.
Even if a little too encouraging. Mugman exaggerated a little and stared deep and hard into the bull demon's eyes with a snarling look. The bull demon did not put up with this and pressed his face down into that of the mug. It was like a staring contest between the two before the referee's whistle reminded them both of the basketball game that was about to start.
Much to the frustration of the Devil, who had to watch the scoreboard play against him. Instead of his team scoring more points, the number of points scored by the opposing team increased. Alicia's team, that is. The final score just before the final whistle was 55-55, an even draw that the troll demon was able to equalize before Alicia was able to grab the basketball that was now in the devil's possession. He dribbled it casually and was ready to score another point, but then he finally realized that there was nothing but empty air in his hand.
Where the basketball was supposed to be was now a yawning void and the devil had to watch with his eyes as the cup that had always screwed him ran with the ball towards the net where no one was standing to defend it. Now on fire, the devil roared with anger and outstretched fingers "Stop them from throwing the ball into the net!". The demons all looked in the direction the devil was pointing.
Their dark eyes focused on the pair who were about to take a run-up to score the last point. Without any hesitation, the four big demons ran towards them. The ground beneath Alicia's and Cuphead's feet shook with every second as the demons approached them. Alicia and Cuphead knew that there was only one way to end this game now. "Let's try our special trick!" suggested Cuphead and Alicia nodded in agreement. Without any further objections, Alicia placed the basketball in Cuphead's head and held him in her arms while she jumped from one hand, hoof, claw and tentacle trying to stop her and flung the cup towards the basketball net.
"Woah!" Cuphead grabbed the ring around which the net was stretched and positioned himself so that he was upside down over the net. "Come on! Come on!" Alicia begged as the basketball slowly came loose and the time counted down to the end of the game. It felt like an eternity for the group. Especially for Cuphead as all eyes fell on him and the basketball that was halfway out of his head and could be released with several shakes of the head.
5…
4…
3…
2…
1…
Alicia closed her eyes. She knew it wasn't going to end well. They wouldn't manage to score in time. Cuphead and Cuppy's souls would belong to the devil and she herself would be his wife and queen. She accepted all of this until her thoughts were interrupted by the thud of the basketball followed by the switch that changed the score and the final whistle that ended the game and of course a disappointed sounding devil who just screamed loudly and indignantly "NOOOOOO!" before falling to the floor and slamming a fist against it in frustration.
The devil had lost and thus lost the right to the souls of Cuphead and Cuppy as well as the right to Alicia's existing marriage with Lucifer. Beaming with joy, everyone on the winning team hugged each other and couldn't believe that they had won against the devil and his team. "I'm really amazed that we made it!" Mugman marveled. "Yes, we showed Old Scratch what we can do!" Alicia grinned a little and was glad that she belonged to Lucifer again and not to the devil, who was so angry he couldn't believe he had lost to three mugs, a rabbit and his favorite Alicia, even though he had the better team.
Of course, the three cups would have loved to see his tantrum, but Lucifer decided against it and teleport the group back to the cottage right in the kitchen where Elder Kettle had already placed pancakes on the table for everyone and continued reading the daily newspaper as if nothing had happened. Of course, the basketball game remained a secret that nobody was supposed to reveal. Especially not Elder Kettle, who already had enough problems and shouldn't know that the devil was after his little boys. No, they let it go and enjoyed the rest of the day as best they could. The three cups continued to play with the used basketball, Blood devoted himself to his potions and Alicia enjoyed the cuddles with her husband Lucifer while the devil, humiliated with a framed photo of Alicia, went to bed to sleep on his loss.
Let's be honest, the devil would never give up so easily to win Alicia over.