The red cup noticed the Devil and King Dice having trouble holding the demon. He gasped and told the golden chalice to stay put and away from the dangerous creature.
"But…" The girl began to argue. She held out her gloved hand as the young cup left her side. "I don't want to be useless." A trill came from behind her. Chalice whipped around to find Kiki standing behind her. The skinny tail slowly tilted to the side as the feline held the diamond necklace in her jaws.
"Huh? Sue's necklace?" The golden chalice wondered aloud and took it from her grip. "I thought I gave this back to Saltbaker. Why are you giving it to me?"
Kiki merely chirped a meow and blinked her emerald eyes.
"I don't understand what you want me to do with this."
And then a scream of pain from Cuphead reached her. She turned her head to witness Cuphead get slapped away from the wrestling trio. Tanuki proceeded to shake off his other two attackers and galloped toward Cup.
"Cuphead, watch out!" Chalice cried and began to run towards her friend with the necklace still in hand. The diamond began to glow a yellow color as her run picked up speed. The glow radiated until it engulfed her whole body. Kiki watched as the travelling light sped up and blocked Tanuki from getting to Cuphead. There was a big explosion of yellow light that caught everyone's attention. The red demon yelped and got tossed backward. His body violently tumbling over itself multiple times.
As the yellow light died down, the figure of Ms. Chalice stood in its place. Only she had grown tall, almost as tall as Tanuki. The chalice now had a long, flowing white dress. A golden halo floated above her head and two golden feathery wings sprouted from her shoulder blades. In her hand where the necklace was now rested a golden spear.
Chalice had closed her eyes for the impending impact with the red creature. She now opened them to find herself feeling much taller. The girl promptly looked herself over. And then she met eye contact with Cuphead, who had his jaw stuck open and eyes wide. His expression said both shock and awe. Chalice gave a small wave of her gloved fingers and a smile.
"I…I'm going to make you and your friends pay." Tanuki panted. His four paws stumbled around, trying to keep his gangly body standing upright. "Our deal will not be broken so easily." His vision was becoming worse as the acidic fluids soaked through his guise. Chalice was only a golden blur to him.
"I refuse to let you hurt these people any further! My friends deserve better than this! I'm not running away anymore. We're ending this right here, right now." She took a step back and pointed her spear at the panting demon. "Even if that means I go down with you!"
"H-how noble. But your efforts are too little too late." Tanuki started to step forward. He stopped when his vision caught sight of white blobs appearing around his victim. "Wh-what is this? Who are you people?" The creature gasped.
Chalice gasped too. For the spirits of her deceased friends started to materialize in the field in front of her.
"How is this possible?" She whispered to herself. The spirits seemed to hear her and turned around.
"We're here to help you, Lady Chalice. We'll follow you anywhere. Just give us the word." They told her.
"You guys…" The girl's eyes started to water. But she shook that away and focused back on the demon. "Let's do this!" She said, raising her spear.
"Charge!" The spirits cried and rushed forward.
Each one of them tagged Tanuki, making him stagger. A couple of them circled back and delivered another punch to the mangled creature. The demon struggled to get up as Chalice now rushed him. A swift flap of the wings brought her in front of her adversary in the blink of an eye. Tanuki let out a small gasp as his one decent eye quivered in fear. Ms. Chalice started to deliver powerful punches and kicks to the wounded creature. Tanuki attempted to lunge at her. The chalice's gloved hand caught him by the throat.
"Going up!" She said and took to the sky. For the first time in his life, Tanuki felt completely helpless. His paws scrambled at her arm to get her to let go. But she didn't let up. The golden chalice tossed him up and began to volley his body as if he were a soccer ball. She varied between using her hand, feet, and even spear to play around with him. The demon cried out each time his body was jarred back up.
Once she had enough playing with him, she let the furry body come down to eye level before she raised the spear and brought the stick part down on his head. The demonic creature was sent plummeting down to the earth. A puff of dirt and dust emanated from the ground as he collided with it. Chalice followed up and flew down at him. She delivered a glowing yellow punch to his back that caused another wave of dirt to fill the area. Her friends had to shield their eyes from the debris.
Tanuki's body twitched as it lay half buried in the ground. Chalice panted a little as her ghost friends surrounded their enemy. The demon groaned and slowly dislodged his head from the ground. He didn't get far before feeling the otherworldly pounding by the spirits on his back and sides, keeping him down.
"Ch-Chalice, please! Have mercy!" The creature begged pathetically. "I'll do anything! Honestly!"
"What could you possibly offer us to make up for your crimes?" Chalice tested him. She held up a hand for her friends to stop with the beating for now.
"I'll give you gold, health, anything you want. Just please spare my life!" The demon raised its upper body off the ground with difficulty.
"If we let you go, you will never be allowed to leave Hell again, you understand?" Chalice said firmly.
"Oh, such a nice girl! Thank you!" Tanuki thanked and proceeded to stand up taller. "….and also naïve." He hissed before lunging at the girl. It was a good thing Chalice had her spear ready in case he tried one of his tricks again. The girl raised the weapon high enough that Tanuki impaled himself through the gut as he lurched forward. Unlike the trident he had pulled out of there earlier, this angelic spear caused much more pain. He coughed out a spurt of blood, seemingly unable to scream. His breaths appeared to be getting trapped in his throat. Chalice saw his paw reach down for the weapon but couldn't seem to touch it. To Tanuki, it radiated an angelic aura that was painful to the touch. His eye looked fearfully to the golden chalice.
"Looks like you've just lost your last chance." She told him. Chalice pulled the weapon out, letting his mangled body drop to the ground. Blood pooled under his fading guise. His hands pulsed between paws and tentacles as he gasped for breath. "I guess there is one way we can give you mercy." Chalice pondered. "…and make this quicker." She turned to the young spoon.
"Spoonfred, would you like to do the honors?"
The utensil looked shocked that he was being called on. For he was still in Saltbaker's arms to prevent him from touching his father's simmering body. The chef slowly put him down and reached for the last acidic vile.
"Go on, Spoonfred. Do it for your dad." The salt shaker encouraged, handing him the fluid. He saw the boy gulp as he took the item and turned to the chalice and suffering demon. The boy shuffled his feet as he approached.
"Hold his head up." Chalice told her ghostly friends. They were more than happy to oblige.
"H-hey, what are you-?" Tanuki started to argue, barely able to formulate his words.
"Open up." She told him and used her spear to pry his mouth open. The demon's yellow eyes widened in fear as the utensil stood near, holding the acidic liquid. "Shove it down in there, Spoonfred."
The young spoon seemed to hesitate for a moment. He took another gulp. But then he realized his father would still be alive if not for this creature. His rage boiled.
"Take this!" The boy cried and dropped the bottle down the demon's gullet. Chalice and Spoonfred backed away as Tanuki began to shriek in pain. The ghostly people even moved away as the body violently seized. It began to fade between its devil-like façade and its parasitic origin form. The screams began to sound less human-like as it reverted back to its tentacled state. Chalice and Spoonfred huddled close together as the body fell silent and motionless. Everyone stayed still for a few seconds in the silence.
"….I-is he really dead this time?" The young spoon cautiously said. Chalice reached over with her spear to poke the bubble-like center of the creature. As soon as the point made contact, the red bubble popped and deflated like a balloon. A green mist floated out of the corpse. The same green of the acidic liquid. An awful rotting smell followed. Everyone reeled and went to pinch their noses.
"Ugh! Yeah…definitely." The golden chalice said, trying to wave the smell away. The relic that had been stuck to her chest this whole time finally fell off. She sighed in relief before kneeling down next to the young utensil.
"Good job, Spoonfred." She praised him. "I'm so sorry for what he did to your father. If only I could've done something about it…" Her gaze fell away from him. They both looked over as some garbled words came from Mugman. He seemed to be directing his speech to the Devil.
"You want me to what?" The battered black creature spat. So Mug repeated his words that were still unintelligible to everyone but the Devil. "I can't just pull souls out of my realm like they're a piece of paper in the lottery bucket!"
"I mean…it kind of is." King Dice replied.
"Shut up!" David hissed at him.
"Wait…are you saying that you can let me talk to my father's soul?" Spoonfred turned to the ruler of Hell. The black creature smacked his head with his gray paw.
"Sure, why don't we just have a party with everyone's deceased relatives?" The Devil said sarcastically. Mugman growled at the alpha demon's behavior.
"All right! All right!" David pouted. He sighed and then turned to the casino manager. "Dice, would you get the list?"
"Sure, boss." The die man reached into his purple suit and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper.
"What's that?" Spoonfred inquired.
"It's the list of names of those who reside in Hell. Each time a new soul arrives, their name gets added to the list." David explained. Meanwhile, Dice had unrolled a portion of the document. His green eyes went wide before whispering something to the big man.
"What do you mean it's not there?" The Devil spouted loudly. It made the casino manager flinch. Dice rolled up the paper before speaking.
"Well, if his name's not there….then that would have to mean he's redeemed himself. And he wouldn't come down to us, but would go….up there." The king pointed to the sky and said those last two words quietly.
"WHAAAT?" The Devil fumed, quite literally. But then he breathed and calmed down. "It's fine, it's fine. It's only one soul." He tried to tell himself.
"That's great news, Spoonfred! Your father redeemed himself and is in Heaven now!" Chalice beamed to him.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." A small smile formed on the spoon's face. But then he turned to approach his father's body again. The utensil curled his legs under him and sat nearby. Saltbaker went to comfort the boy.
Ms. Chalice realized her ghostly friends gathered near.
"Guys…I'm sorry for everything that happened. If only I had been a better friend, a better leader, we could still be alive together." She apologized, her gaze sweeping to the ground.
"We'll always be with you, Lady Chalice. Even when you can't see us. But we're friends forever and we will help you whenever you call on us." The apparitions faded and merged toward the amulet that lay at her golden shoes. They seemed to absorb into the relic that glowed a bright white. After the light faded, the artifact now had a blue background and a tan eye with radiant sunrays shooting around it.
The golden chalice reached down and picked it up. She flinched when she realized her body was shrinking back down to its normal size.
"Well done, Ms. Chalice." Came an angelic voice. The same one that had scolded Tanuki and helped her escape from her mind's prison. The girl quickly realized the diamond necklace was glowing. She held it at face level. A small form appeared above the jewel. It had the same body structure as Saltbaker. "You've grown so much, learned the importance of friendship, and know what it means to be a leader. And now you'll be able to transform into that angelic form as long as you have that relic with you. It has been blessed with the power of an angel."
Chalice only heard part of what the apparition had said. For the girl was so focused on who this was rather than what she was saying.
"Wait a minute….aren't you Sue? Chef Saltbaker's wife?" Her jaw hung open, not believing what she was seeing. "You've been with me all this time?" The salt shaker heard the mention of his wife's name and rushed over next to the golden chalice.
"Well, not the entire time. By having this necklace, you helped me escape from Tanuki's grasp."
"Sue, my darling!" The chef gasped. Chalice handed over the necklace to him. "I can't believe you're here! I thought you were gone for good!" Tears flowed from Saltbaker's eyes.
"My body might be long gone, but my spirit still remains intact." The ghostly figure explained. Ms. Chalice could see that it was killing Saltbaker that he couldn't touch and hold his wife even though he could see her.
"Thanks for everything, Mrs. Sue. You really helped me too." Chalice said to the salt shaker's ghost. They nodded to one another before the young chalice slipped away to give Saltbaker a minute with his wife. She went to take a sigh of relief when Cuphead rushed to hug her. Chalice flinched at the sudden sign of affection.
"You were amazing, Chalice!" He praised. "Looks like you've got some pretty cool powers now!"
"What? You mean my powers before this weren't cool?" She spat and pushed him away.
"Th-that's not what I meant! I'm just saying-!" Cup stuttered, afraid he had offended her. But Chalice chuckled and gave him a gentle punch to the shoulder.
"I'm just messin' with you, ya ding-dong!" She then pulled him back into a hug. They felt something else wrap their arms around them. Chalice looked up and saw a still mutated Mugman hugging both of them. "You three are the bravest boys I've ever met." Even Tsundere smiled as he was finally acknowledged by the girl as being something other than an icky creature. And then Elder Kettle came over to join the group hug. The demon flinched at the kettle's touch at first, but then relaxed. He realized that everyone was safe. And that was what mattered.