Back at the site of the bonfire, the cup brothers, Spoonfred, and Kiki huddled close to keep warm. The fire was starting to die down a little and Saltbaker was still not back with the said herbs. Cup reached over for the last couple pieces of wood and tossed them onto the pile. The flames hissed and rose up about an inch. Not nearly enough to last the night, they realized.
A sudden change came over the air. Almost like a physical whisper that removed the blanket from over the island. The sea breeze finally came in and tickled the feline's fur. She gave a short trill as her ears and whiskers twitched. Her emerald eyes looked about.
"What was that?" Spoonfred asked. Cuphead looked up. Even though he couldn't see a physical change, he could feel that it had happened.
"The barrier…it's gone." The young cup then looked to his brother. "You don't think….?" For he couldn't even finish his question. Didn't want to utter those words caught on his tongue. But the look on Mugman's face confirmed his suspicion. The solemn stare told him that the worst had just happened. "Oh no…." Cup couldn't help but feel that it was partially his fault for being unable to protect Chalice in her hour of need. "What do we do now?"
"You can start by explaining why you never came home." Came a familiar voice.
"Elder Kettle!" The cup bros rejoiced as their guardian came down upon the island on the back of the green dragon. Despite his great size, Grim planted himself down on the ground as gentle and quiet as he could. His stubby limbs curled under him as he went to lay down for the moment. The tan snout pointed towards the young spoon.
"Djimmi's been looking for you and Kiki, too." Grim snorted at the utensil as his passenger slid off his back.
"I'm sorry." Spoonfred apologized. This was the first time he truly realized that he had been missing for hours, too.
Kettle walked forward, ready to embrace his grandsons. One arm went to each of his boys as he pulled them in close. They squeezed tight, basking in the temporary relief of their grandpa's warmth. The elder pulled back a bit to get a look at them.
"At least you boys are o-" But the glassware stopped when he realized their condition was less than okay. "What happened? It looks like you two have been through a war."
"Well, sorta." Cup replied with a shrug. "Long story short, we were helping Chalice gather ingredients for a Wondertart when a psycho chef pulled Tsundere out of Mugman and tried to get him to search for his wife in the astral plane." They could tell Elder Kettle didn't know how to respond to this. It was a blank, horrified stare that said so much without anything actually being said. He tried to force himself to say something.
"But how did – you know what? I don't need to know." He waved it off with a flick of his gloved hand. "What's important is that you are all still in one piece. But it's a good thing I came prepared." The kettle turned and walked back to the dragon. Attached to one of Grim's spikes was a satchel. Elder Kettle fished around in the brown tote and pulled out two Miracle Heals.
"Thank you! You're the best, Elder Kettle!" The boys rejoiced at the sight of the familiar green liquid. They snatched their share away from their guardian and began to chug them down. Cup and Mug gave a sigh of relief as they consumed the last drop of the potions.
"We should probably get out of here before that furry red dragon sees us again." Grim mentioned to the group. Had the cup siblings still been drinking their Miracle Heals, they would have choked on them for sure. All they needed to hear was red and furry to know whom Grim was talking about.
"You saw the demon? Where was it going?" Cuphead frantically asked.
"That was a demon?" Kettle said, completely bewildered.
"Er, yeah, That's the other part of the story: we accidentally woke it up and Chalice made a deal with him. She had asked him to put Tsundere back in Mugman…and in return, he wanted her soul. But if the barrier's down, then that must mean…" The red cup couldn't even finish his sentence. He felt sick to his stomach at the thought of that creature hunting down the beautiful chalice.
"We'll get her back, Cuphead. I promise." Mugman said as he put a hand on his sibling's shoulder.
"Count me in, boys. I'll do what I can to help!" Kettle said enthusiastically. The elder went to pull something else off of Grim. Mug smiled at the sight of his grandpa wielding his old sword that had been unsheathed from its secured position on the dragon. The heavy sword wobbled in the kettle's grip. Its tip fell to the ground. Elder Kettle chuckled and so did the boys.
Their moment of comic relief was short lived. A pained groaning sound came from the forest behind them. The trio of insects from earlier came dragging themselves toward the bonfire. They were all beaten and bloodied, seemingly pretty badly. Cuphead and Spoonfred rushed over to help them.
"Are you okay? Who did this to you?" The utensil asked. Each of the insects trembled in pain. The snail lifted its head to answer the question.
"Th-that chalice girl! I don't know what happened to her. She didn't look like herself anymore and attacks anything that moves!" The gastropod explained.
"So he did find her…" Cup said solemnly. The mobster's words only confirmed his suspicion that the worst had happened. Grim's head rose high to address the wounded folk.
"Here, climb on my back and we'll get you someplace safe." The dragon offered. Cuphead and Spoonfred helped the insects climb up and get situated between the spikes on the great reptile's backside. "You too, Spoonfred." He snorted at the utensil.
"Not yet. I'm not leaving here without my father." The spoon explained.
"Your father?" Grim's ears shot up alert.
"Yeah, he went off to do some spy work for us and hasn't come back yet."
But Forkington was not a person that Grim trusted. For he knew the utensil to be a conniving and abusive person. The dragon's ears now went back flat on his head. His lips turned down into a scowl of distrust, almost to the point of baring his teeth. He was clearly not convinced of the fork's innocence.
"He really has changed for the better." Mugman added.
"Forkington went off to watch the psycho chef to make sure he wasn't up to any more tricks." Cuphead said.
"Ex-psycho chef." Mug corrected him.
"We don't know that he's really changed. Forkington proved himself, but Saltbaker still has yet to do so." The young cup said to his brother. Mug nodded in agreement and then addressed the group.
"I think our goal should be to get everyone we can off the island. That way the demon can't hurt anyone else." The blue mug offered. Grim's tan snout nodded.
"Let's see who else we can find." The dragon rose to his feet and started to follow the group. They went around and picked up the wounded residents. Some climbed onto Grim's back and others just needed some help to get to their own means of transportation. But the one thing they could all agree on was to evacuate the island where the demon was laying waste to.
Upon giving aid to most of the island's residents, the cup brothers came across a tall, lanky figure in the forest. It had not seen them so they planned to keep it that way. Cuphead assumed it was the demon that must have left Chalice's body temporarily. Thus, leaving it exposed. The young cup wasn't about to pass up on an opportunity like this. He gave a quick "Sh!" to Mug and snuck up on the creature from behind. Cup jumped and latched onto its head.
"Gotcha!" He shouted. The demonic figure nearly jumped out of its skin from the surprise.
"It's me, you nitwit! Get off!" Roared a familiar voice.
"Oh…sorry, David. I thought you were the demon." Cuphead apologized and got down. He was a little disappointed that it had not been that easy to find the culprit. But he was also relieved to know that the Devil was here to help them now. An uproarious laughter came from nearby.
"You should've seen your face, boss! He got you good!" King Dice slapped his knee in his fit of laughter. The die man had to go lean his weight on a tree to keep from collapsing due to his hearty laugh. He had not known the last time he laughed so hard.
"Yes, hilarious…" The Devil said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "So what's all this about a demon roaming around here?"
"I'm afraid he's got our friend, Ms. Chalice. I don't even want to think about what he might be doing to her right now…" Cup explained.
David sighed and slapped his face. He let his gray hand slide down the front of it.
"Okay, what do you know about this demon? Any past trauma from your friend that he might take advantage of?" The Devil prodded.
"We don't really know much about the demon. Only his name and that we woke it up from some underground prison." Mug said. He then turned to his sibling. "Do you know anything about Chalice's past, Cuphead?"
"No." The young cup said solemnly and shook his head. "She doesn't seem to like to talk about it whenever I try to bring it up….which worries me…." His gaze fell to the forest floor. Mugman put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.
"So, where are they?" The black creature asked.
"We don't know. We're looking for them now." Mugman answered.
"Ugh! Fine, fine!" The Devil said in an exasperated manner. For he was not very patient at the moment. He was ready to get this favor over and done with. The alpha demon did not exactly like helping mortals, but was forced to under the contract Mugman and Tsundere had made with David. "Here's the plan: we'll split up to cover more ground. Whoever finds this Ms. Chalice first will pull the demon out."
"I think we should have a signal to get in contact with one another. How about: caw-caw, caw-caw!" Spoonfred offered from the shadows of the forest.
"Who is this pipsqueak and why is he telling me what to do?" The Devil spat. This made the young spoon cringe and hide behind Mugman.
"This is Spoonfred. We're also looking for his father." Mug wrapped an arm around the utensil's shoulders. This brought the spoon in full view for the Devil to see. The boy nervously waved at the ruler of Hell. "So if you see a fork-"
"Or a chef." Spoonfred squeaked.
"Please don't attack them and direct them to us."
"Very well." David grumbled. His small ears curled down in annoyance at this request.
"Oh, and David," Cuphead called. "If you find Chalice, please don't hurt her."
"Oh yes, I'll try to make the extraction as painless as possible." The Devil said sarcastically and rolled his glowing yellow eyes.
"Hey, that's not nice!" Cup argued. The tall, lanky figure leaned down to his level.
"Look Cuphead, the truth is if she attacks, I'm going to attack back. And you know that a demon extraction isn't exactly painless." The red cup crossed his arms as the lanky body raised back up. For he knew the truth, he just didn't want it to happen to the delicate chalice. "If you boys find her first, extract it, make the signal." He grimaced. "And then retreat. Demons are at their strongest when freshly expelled from a body – as you probably remember."
"Got it. And if we need a place to rest and regroup, see that floating castle up there?" Mug pointed and they all looked up. "Go up there and into the library. It's so vast and thickly padded with books that no one will hear you." The young mug explained. Everyone nodded in understanding.
"Well, we'll be off now. Good luck and be careful out there, boys." The Devil said, swishing his tail and walking off.
"Don't worry, Cuphead. I'll make sure the boss doesn't go too hard on your friend. I promise you that." King Dice winked at the young cup and followed the black creature.