A/N: Thank you for 'tooning' in to this latest chapter of "Heart, Soul, and Mind". This week, Liam and Matt are making their way to save us from the Devl's clutches! But the question is...can they beat us to it, or will the Devil nab us first? Stay 'tooned'!
(Liam's P.O.V)
After stopping by Misterie's shop, we flew towards the casino on the third Isle. To be honest I was really nervous, not only for myself, but for Lexie too. I couldn't imagine the terrible things that she's going through. I just hoped I could pull off a good fight.
I kept looking at my watch, still in awe of what it could do, giving me weapons of my choice. I think I would make Link proud knowing I could, or at least starting to, wield a sword.
I was also glad that Matt had a weapon to defend himself. I know he can take care of things, but regarding our situation, we had to be extra careful.
My train of thought was interrupted when I heard Cuphead exclaiming, "Hey! What the heck is that?"
"What's what?" I asked.
Suddenly, something came up so fast, it couldn't stop itself when it smacked itself onto a surprised Mugman's nose.
"That." Cuphead answered.
"GYAH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" Mugman screamed, waving his arms frantically.
"WAIT!" A voice cried out.
We all jumped a bit. Where did that come from and where was the person who spoke?
"Who said that?" I asked, looking around.
"Right here!"
The thing that was flattened against Mugman's nose peeled itself away and hovered away to reveal itself. Imagine to our surprise it was a small pocket-sized, white furry dragon-like creature with long rabbit-like ears, antlers, a fox-like tail and flowery wings.
"Whoa, none of us ever saw a creature like you before." I smiled. "Who are you?"
"My name is Kaichi and I'm an Ocean Sprigon." He answered. "You're Liam, Lexie's boyfriend, right?"
"Yeah. How did you know?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.
Kaichi had an urgent and worried look as he replied, "Katie told me. She got a note from the Devil that he captured Lexie and Natty, telling her to go to the casino alone. She told me to go find you if anything happens to her. I think the Devil has all three of them trapped in the casino!"
"Oh no! That's horrible!" I gasped, now becoming more scared. "Do you know where in the casino they're at?"
Kaichi nodded. "In that cave back on Isle 3! What's worse, the Devil had reopened it and people were practically flocking there!"
"Oh great…" Cuphead muttered. "That's another problem right there."
"He reopened the casino?" Mugman asked, a bit surprised. "Wow, I didn't think it would reopen so soon."
"Especially after we kicked his tail back there." Cuphead replied.
"Well, remember, gambling is addictive." Hilda reminded us. "Sometimes people just can't resist getting their fix."
"True, but regardless, we're gonna need to be very cautious about this." I mentioned. "If people are in there too, finding the girls might be difficult, not to mention all the staff and imps running around."
"Right." Cuphead acknowledged. "What we need is a disguise."
I had to hold back a laugh. When he mentioned needing a disguise, it made me think of that one Cuphead Show episode where he, Mugman and their ghost friend Ms. Chalice, put on disguises to go deliver a package to the Fly Trap. Cuphead's disguise was pretty cool, as well as Ms. Chalice's but Mugman's made me laugh so hard, especially since he was a 'washed up dancer.'
"And where exactly are we gonna find any disguises?" Kaichi deadpanned. "And even if we do find some, we might be too late to save the girls. Who knows what the Devil could be doing to them right now?"
"Wait, doesn't Porkrind have a shop in the third Isle?" I asked. "Maybe we can stop by and get some disguises there."
"Oh, right! He does! He practically set up shop on all three Isles," Mugman confirmed. "Maybe we should stop by there and see if he has anything we can use to sneak into the casino."
"I just hope we can find something quickly." I claimed. "As much as I want to spend time finding a good disguise, we're kinda on a time crunch here."
Kaichi looked just as worried, his ears drooping down.
"I feel like it's partially my fault." he said sadly. "If I was a lot bigger, Kate and the girls wouldn't be in this mess…"
"Don't blame yourself." I told him, scratching his head. "You said it yourself Kate was supposed to go alone. Besides, if I know one thing, big things come in small packages."
Kaichi managed a sad smile. "Thanks, Lee. Lexie's pretty lucky to have a guy like you looking out for her."
I couldn't help but beam. "No problem. Now, let's head over and see what we can find for disguises."
Kaichi nodded, getting more determined as he declared, "Let's go!"
"Hey, Hilda, ya mind takin' a detour over at Porkrind's?" Cuphead asked.
"Okay, no problem! I'll get you fellas over in a jiffy!" Hilda exclaimed with a wink. "Y'all better hang tight!"
Sure enough, she dove down to the Isle as we hung on for dear life, getting closer to the ground. She then swooped up a bit, flying near the docks until we saw a familiar shop.
"So, you think Porkrind will help?" Kaichi inquired. "From what Katie mentioned, he's not exactly one to give out things cheap."
"Just let me and Mugs handle the talking." Cuphead informed us. "We've talked to him a lot and know how to make a bargain with him."
"Okay, sounds fair." I shrugged.
We all opened the door and entered the shop. Standing at the counter was Porkrind himself. With a snort, he lays an elbow on the top of the counter as he leans over it.
"Welcome!" He grunted. "What can I do for ya?"
"We're looking for some disguises to use," Cuphead informed him. "We need them for a task we need to complete."
Porkrind squinted his visible eye as he said, "A task, eh? Must be somethin' really big."
"You could say that." Mugman muttered.
Porkrind scowled. "Ever since that painted wolf lady came along and opened up shop, sellin' those fancy-schmancy glass beads and all those other voodoo knick knacks, business had been kinda slow."
Begrudgingly, he bends down and reaches for something behind his counter.
"Don't worry, I think I might have something in the 'lost and found' storage."
I arched an eyebrow. He literally ranted on about how Madam Misterie's shop is better than his and now he shows what he has? Kinda pointless if you ask me.
"Not to mention now that the Devil had reopened his casino, gettin' shipments of wares had been difficult. I'm tellin' ya, all those imps runnin' rampant all over the Isles is BAD for business!"
"Yes, we are well aware of the Devil reopening his casino." Cuphead stated, annoyed, rolling his eyes and tapping his foot impatiently. "Look we don't mean to rush ya, but we need them now. Kinda on a time crunch here."
Rolling his visible eye, Porkrind pulled out a cardboard box from behind his counter as he straightened back up again. Typed to the box was a piece of paper with the words, "Lost & Found" scribbled on it. With a deadpan look on his face, he tilts the box, dumping piles of clothes at our feet. A few landed on Cuphead, appearing to be a familiar looking coat, turtleneck sweater and a cap. There was even an eyepatch among Cuphead's pile.
"Sweet! An eyepatch! Wonder if Briney lost his." He wondered.
I leaned close to Matt and whispered, "If Mugman gets a flapper dress like in the show, I might start laughing."
Matt covered his mouth and giggled, and began searching through his pile.
I was actually very happy with the clothing I found. I found an old black fedora, red bandana, a brown suit jacket and black glasses that had no glass in them. The jacket was a bit snug, but eh, I live.
Matt's disguise consisted of an old baseball cap with a red sleeveless vest and a pair of sunglasses.
For Mugman's disguise, he placed on a long turquoise trench coat that left only his shoes exposed, a dark blue wide-brimmed hat with a light blue band around the brim and a teal scarf wrapped around the bottom of his face with only his eyes and nose visible.
Okay, to be honest, I did kinda want him to find the dress but I think this is cool too. Also, he kinda reminded me of Matt when he was really little. He would go through my stuff and pretend to be me, copying my moves and what I said. The clothing was way too big for him, but it was pretty darn cute, and I have the photos to prove it.
I adjusted my coat, Matt finished buttoning up the vest, and the Cups were finished dressing up, looking in a small mirror on one of the counters.
"This is so cool! I look like a secret assassin!" Cuphead giggled.
"I do have to admit the trenchcoat is a bit long, but I could pull off being a spy or someone going undercover." Mugman shrugged.
"Are we all good to go?" Kaichi asked.
"Yep. Let's head on over." I answered. "Uh, thank you, Porkrind. We'll get these back to you as quick as possible."
We scurried out, met up with Hilda who transformed again, hopped on and took to the skies once more.
Now, we are ready.
(Normal P.O.V)
It was about an hour or so later after their encounter with the Devil, the girls were still in the dungeon, trying to think of a way to escape before he decided to come back for them to get an answer from them.
Katie sat on the cot fiddling with her locket next to Natty, who was resting her head in her hands, and Lexie paced the floor, trying to come up with a plan.
Finally, Natty broke the silence by asking, "Okay, is it me, or is this super boring?"
"What do you mean?" Lexie asked as she stopped pacing.
"I mean, yeah it's scary to be in a dark dank cell, but with a place like this, you would have thought it'd be more terrifying." Natty explained. "I'm bored, there's nothing to do and it's completely pointless. How long does he intend to keep us here? A day? A month? A year? Hopefully not eternity?"
"I know this much… we can't just sit around and do nothing like stereotypical damsels in distress." Katie spoke up. "We need to think of a way to escape before Mr. Stupid decides to drop in again, expecting us to give him the answer he wants."
"Speaking of damsels in distress, I guess I know how Peach feels when she's held captive." Natty sighed. "Wish we had a 'Mario' plan to escape."
Just then, Lexie snapped her fingers, as if she thought of something.
"Wait! That's it! Hey Nat, remember that episode in Super Mario Bros Super Show!? Love em and Leave em?" She asked.
"Oh yeah, I love that episode." Nat mentioned. "Why?"
Katie looked a bit confused on what Lexie was talking about. How was an episode from a Mario cartoon gonna get them out of the cell?
"I have a plan." Lexie replied to Natty. Turning to Katie, she claimed, "But Kate...I'll need you to put on your acting hat."
"Huh? Oh, okay." Katie responded. "But what do I need to do?"
"Act like you're sad because we left without you." Lex instructed Katie.
"Ooohh, I see where this is going." Natty smirked.
Lexie proceeded to take off her jacket and instructed Katie, "Oh, and give Nat your jacket."
Katie raises a confused eyebrow before she shrugs and removes her cold shoulder jacket, handing it to Natty.
"Here you go."
"Sweet, thanks." Natty claimed. "Now what?"
"Nat, you're with me." Lexie informed her as she stepped on the cot, and began climbing to a ridge of the cell toward the ceiling.
"Up we go." Natty shrugged as she followed suit.
Once the girls were in position, Lexie whispered, "Okay, Kate. Lights, camera, action!"
Katie nodded and got into position. She cleared her throat before she made the most convincingly sad face and broke down, sobbing.
"Guard! Oh, guard! Please let me out!" She cried. "It's so dark and scary in here! This is certainly no place for your future queen to be kept in!"
Lexie and Natty held back a giggle. They couldn't wait to see the look on the guard's face when he showed up.
"If the Devil truly loves me, he wouldn't think twice of locking me in here, forgotten and neglected!" Katie proceeded to sob. "What does a future queen have to do to get some luxury and respect around here!? Oh, please let me out!"
"Hee hee! This outta be good." Natty snickered to Lexie as Katie continued to cry.
It didn't take long for an imp guard to approach the cell, stating annoyed, "Okay, okay! Sheesh, no need to bawl your eyes out. So, you're accepting the boss's proposal, eh? Well, he oughta be happy."
The imp pulls out a ring containing several keys from a pocket in his hip (cartoon logic after all) and begins to unlock the door. Once that was done, he opened the door.
"Now you can come with-hey! Where are the other two?" The imp exclaimed in shock when he noticed that there was only one human in the dungeon cell.
Katie, with her back turned to the perplexed imp, peeked up from her hands to look over her shoulder and smirked secretly.
As the imp began to inspect the cell, little did he know a surprise was about to drop in.
"Wait for it…" Natty thought as she prepared herself, waiting for Lexie's signal. Then the imp was dead center, giving them the chance.
Without missing a beat, Lexie cried out, "Right HERE!"
The two then jumped down and buried the imp in the jackets. During the scuffle, Katie quickly grabbed the keys from him. Once she got them, the three bolted out of the cell, while grabbing their jackets in the process, slamming the door behind them and locked it.
"What the!? HEY! Let me out!" The imp shouted, banging and pulling on the door.
"Thank you, sir." Katie said with a mischievous wink. "It's been lovely and all, but I'm afraid we'd have to leave now. Please, don't trouble yourself. We'll be more than happy to see ourselves out."
"Peace out, SUCKA!" Lexie laughed, sticking her tongue out.
"See ya!" Natty called, as the three ran out of the dungeon.
As they vanished from sight, the embarrassed imp slumped down and groaned.
"Man, the boss is going to kill me for this."
Meanwhile, our heroines exited the dungeon, giggling with delight.
"Can't believe that worked!" Katie beamed.
"Yeah! Who knew Mario cartoons would make a great escape plan in real life?" Natty added.
"Good ol' Princess Peach! SHE came up with that!" Lexie smiled.
The girls burst out laughing, still thinking of how silly that was and how embarrassed the guard must be. After a bit, they stopped laughing and sighed happily.
Lexie cleared her throat and informed the two, "Alrighty then, so now if my memory of the game is correct, we have one exit out of this casino...the front entrance."
"Right. Let's make like a rug and beat it." Natty commented.
"The sooner we get out of here, the happier I'll be." Katie agreed, nodding her head.
Carefully and quickly as they could, they rushed down the hallway of the casino, hoping to find the exit before the Devil found them. The main problem was the hallways looked almost alike and they wondered if they were going around in circles. On some occasions, they hid behind pillars to avoid staff members who passed by.
In one instance, the girls overheard a few imps talking to each other.
"Boy, the boss seemed to be in a really good mood. More than usual." One mentioned.
"Really? I mean I guess it makes sense to be excited for the grand reopening of the casino." The other stated. "Guess he's excited to get this place up and runnin' again."
"You've gotta be kidding." Lexie muttered under her breath. "That fool's seriously opening that place back up?"
Natty pondered over for a second before recalling something.
"Wait. I remember seeing a flier about it go by when I was in Inkwell Isle two. I only looked at it for a second, but from the looks of it, the grand reopening might be the talk of the town."
"I'm surprised I didn't see any…though I was in Isle 1." Lexie mentioned.
"I didn't see any in the third Isle. Maybe I must have passed by them." Katie added. "But when I received a letter from the Devil about him capturing you, I had bumped into Chips Bettigan mentioning about the grand reopening. Although I was too nervous about meeting the Big Dope to pay any mind to it."
Natty shrugged and they heard the imps talk again.
"Though I gotta tell ya. Next to the grand reopening, I think the weddin' between the boss and that pretty girl in blue is gonna be a hit!" The first imp claimed.
"Think we'd get an invite?" The second asked.
"Who knows. Come on, we're wastin' time."
The two then left the room and the girls were finally alone.
"Sheesh. Thought they'd never leave." Lexie sighed.
"If that overgrown throw rug thinks he can marry me so easily, he's got another thing coming." Katie scoffed.
Just then, they heard a loud demonic roar that echoed through the halls.
"Speaking of that overgrown throw rug…" Natty trembled.
"Welp, so much for doing this quietly!" Lexie exclaimed. "Let's MOVE!"
"Good idea!" Both Natty and Katie replied in terror.
The girls ran down the hallway as quickly as they could, turning sharp corners and slipping in and out of doors. They then entered a long wide room and were about to make it to the door when suddenly-
*POOF!*
A large puff of smoke stopped them in their tracks and sure enough, it was the Devil that had teleported in front of them. The girls felt their faces go pale and their hearts began to pound hard.
Lexie suddenly blurted out, "Quick, split up! He can't go after all of us at once!"
All three humans scattered and ran in different directions before the Devil could grab them, making him yell out in frustration. Either it was at random or it was his Villainous Crush talking, but the Devil had decided to go after Katie.
As Lexie ran in one direction while Natty fled to another, a couple of imps jumped out, small, thin pitchforks in hand, as they backed the younger girls into one another.
Meanwhile, Katie found herself fleeing into a dead end. She was about to turn back and run the other way when she was horrified to see the Devil advancing on her. Frightened by this, she unconsciously backed up against the wall, practically frozen in terror as his shadow fell over her.
"Come to me, my sweet!" The Devil sneered, cornering Katie as he prepared to make a grab for her.
Thinking fast, Lexie smacked one of the imps off his feet, snatching his small pitchfork in the process, aimed and threw it at the Devil's behind.
*BOINK!*
"YEOWCH!" The Devil screamed in pain, and began to pry it off his tail, giving Katie the chance to slip away.
Natty held back a giggle as she claimed, "Looks like he was the 'butt' of the joke!" And proceeded to laugh.
As the Devil managed to pull the little pitchfork off and threw it to the side, he heard:
"HEY! TALL, DARK AND UGLY!"
He turned around and glared at Lexie guarding Katie, assuming the blonde human was the one who threw it at him.
"YOU WANT HER?! YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO GET THROUGH ME!" Lexie shouted, grabbing the small pitchfork from the floor and prepared for battle.
"That can be arranged!" The Devil snarled, grabbing his pitchfork.
Lexie then gestured to herself, shouting, "COME AT ME, BRUH! LET'S GO!"
As the Devil charged at her, she signaled to Natty shouting, "Nat! Get Katie outta here! NOW!"
"We're not leaving without you Lex!" Natty protested. As much as Katie was in grave danger, she needed to make sure that both of them were out safely.
As Lexie dodged a swipe, she then shouted "JUST GO FOR GOD'S SAKE!"
While Katie was too terrified to move, she shook that feeling off, grabbed Natty's hand and replied "She's right! We gotta move and pray she'll catch up!"
"But-!" Natty started to protest.
"We gotta trust her! Hurry!" Katie cried. "The Devil will capture us again if we stay!"
Not wanting to argue, Natty nodded and the two rushed out of the room while Lexie fought off against the Devil. While she didn't have much experience with sword fighting or anything like that, she managed to battle him without any major problems. Soon, the two clashed pitchforks together, Lexie glaring at him while he gave her a sickening grin.
"Gotta say I'm very impressed with your fighting skills." The Devil commented. "They'll become very useful to me."
"Oh, shut your dang TRAP!' Lexie shouted. "I'm NOT interested in joining you at all!"
"Now, is that anyway to speak to your father, Alexis?" The Devil asked, pretending to be an offended parent. "Honestly, such bad manners you have."
Lexie began to feel this anger bubble up inside her, more than she felt in the throne room. The Devil had the NERVE of referring to himself as her father?! How DARE he!
She. Was. TICKED!
"You. Are not...MY FATHER!" Lexie screamed. She shoved the Devil as hard as she could and without hesitation, she smacked him in the face with the pitchfork she had, scratching him in the face.
The Devil hissed in pain, stumbling back a bit. He then felt the mark on his face and saw a bit of blood in his claw, before shooting her a menacing glare, his eyes turning into a blazing red.
Realizing her mistake, Lexie felt her face grow pale again.
"Oh, shoot. Time to go!"
Trembling, she made a dash to catch up with the others. They thankfully were near the door at the far end of the room, waiting with anticipation for Lexie.
"Hurry, Lexie, hurry!" Katie shouted, gesturing for her to come.
Lexie ran as hard and fast as she could, zig-zagging in different directions, hoping to evade the Devil's grasp. It worked for a bit, but the Devil, now getting more irritated, used his levitation spell on her, pulling Lexie back hard and grabbing her neck, making her face him.
"Oh, no! Lex!" Natty cried as Katie gasped in horror.
"You are testing my patience here, Alexis." The Devil growled. "If you think you are stronger than me, you are wrong!"
Lexie squirmed in his grip, trying to free herself, but to no avail. The girls panicked. What now?!
Frantically looking for something, Katie noticed the pitchfork that Lexie dropped and suddenly had an idea.
A crazy one no doubt, but an idea.
As Katie grabbed the pitchfork, the Devil began squeezing Lexie's neck a bit too tight, causing her to squirm more in his grip.
"I will make you suffer until I get what I want." He sneered at her.
"You're... just...a big...BULLY!" Lexie choked out. "Take... your best shot...you FREAK!"
Before the Devil could do anything else, Katie bolted towards him and screamed, "LET HER GO!"
Then, she leaped into the air towards the Devil and with all her might, stabbed his tail. He shrieked in pain, causing him to drop Lexie on the ground while she coughed and gasped for air.
"Lex! Are you okay!? Natty asked as she rushed over and helped Lexie up to her feet.
"Yeah..I'm fine." Lexie gasped. "Let's go! C'mon, Kate! Let's get outta here!"
Katie nodded and rushed out with the girls, nearly avoiding the Devil trying to snag her, before he struggled to painfully remove the pitchfork from his tail.
After a while of running, the heroes were finally out of sight of the Devil and now were in the main area of the casino. While they were relieved to be away from him, the place was swarming with patrons, all chatting, laughing and having a drink or two.
The girls stood off to the side and caught their breath, panting and gasping. Once they caught their breath, Natty sighed.
"Whew, that was way too close!"
"Yeah, but now what?" Katie asked. "The place is filled with patrons. Getting out is going to be tricky, especially with servants rushing about."
"We need a disguise! Fast!" Lexie announced, looking around the area for something.
"Where are we gonna find any?" Katie asked. She never took the Devil to wear any clothing, nor any of his servants. The only one who wore clothes here was King Dice (and to some extension, Mr. Wheezy, that creepy monkey, Mr. Chimes, Chips, Phear Lap and that psycho bunny, Hopus Pocus).
They looked around the room until they spotted a closet in the far corner of the room, which was guarded by an imp.
"Nat, I'm thinking "Unzappables" style…" Lexie pointed out. Natty took a second and then understood what she was saying.
There was another episode of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! called The Unzappables, where the gang had to stop Bowser from stealing these hats that made him and his goons "unzappable." In one scene, the group was trying to sneak into Bowser's hideout and needed some disguises to slip in. Thanks to that, as well as Mouser practically giving them the lame password, they managed to sneak in and defeat Bowser.
"I follow ya." Natty nodded. "As long as I don't wear a dress like she did, I'm with ya."
Quickly and quietly as they could, they snuck to the coat closet. After Lexie gave them a signal, they quickly grabbed the imp while tying him up and gagging him
"Sorry, sir, nothing personal." Katie shrugged as Natty unlocked the door and opened up the closet.
"But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go." Lexie stated. "And by that I mean, leaving this place."
"I figured you meant that." Natty smiled. "Now let's see, what can we use...?"
They began digging through the closet, trying to find something that could be good to slip out with. The closet was filled with long coats, fedoras, hats, fur coats and other gear.
"I need something non conspicuous...ah okay!" Lexie exclaimed, as she pulled out a brown trenchcoat and black fedora.
"Let's see...oh! I like this!" Natty beamed as she grabbed out a brown paperboy hat and a navy blue jacket.
Katie dug deeper into the closet until she found a dark blue-black hooded cloak.
"This looks nice." Katie smiled. "I think I'll go with this one."
Soon, they began putting on their disguises. Lexie took her scrunchie and put her hair in a messy bun, covering it with her hat, Natty took her black hair ties and made a low ponytail before tucking it under her hat and slipped on her jacket, and Katie fastened the button that held the cloak in place, before putting the hood on.
As they put the finishing touches on, Natty brought up, "Also, Kate, amazing leap and stab! That was awesome!"
Katie began to blush and smiled. "Aw, thank you. I was only acting out of instincts. The oldest gotta protect young, am I right?"
"Yeah, thank you...I was sure he was gonna snap my neck." Lexie shuddered, as she rubbed her neck gently. Thankfully, nothing was broken, but it was a bit stiff and sore.
"No problem. And I should thank you for saving me when the Big Doofus cornered me." Katie mentioned. "I really appreciate it."
"No problem, Kate. Friends gotta stick together, right?" Lexie smiled, rubbing Katie's back.
"But man, did he look ticked off!" Natty giggled. "You scratched Old Scratch's face!"
"I know, I'm shocked! I didn't even think he'd get hit!" Lexie mentioned. She paused for a second and began to giggle. "I just realized what you did there, Nat!"
The girls giggled a bit before Natty shrugged "Eh, it came to me."
"Alright, let's leave before that overgrown throw rug us here." Katie mentioned, enfolding the cloak around herself to conceal her attire.
The rest nodded and moved towards the sea of patrons.
It was a bit tricky navigating; bumping into them, trying not to spill any drinks over or on them, covering their mouths to keep the smoke from them, and avoiding stepping on their shoes. Thankfully, they managed to get out and near the door without any major problems. They just hoped they can keep this up before the Devil found them again.
As they stepped towards the door, Lexie muttered "Easy does it…"
Natty reached for the door and opened it carefully as she could. It gave a low squeak as she opened it, and got a bit worried that someone might here it.
"Careful… careful…" Katie trembled.
"Almost there, almost there…" Natty quietly stated. Then, she got the door opened, motioned with her head for the girls to step out first, slipped out, and carefully and quietly as she could, she closed the door gently behind her.
Once the door was shut, the girls took a sigh of relief.
"Whew...I can breathe again." Lexie gasped.
"That was soooo freaky!" Natty added as they made their way down the small stairwell. As the group stepped off, a familiar voice popped up:
"Lexie!? Girls?!"
They looked up and their eyes grew wide. Standing there was Liam, who wore a disguise himself, along with Matt and the cup boys.
"Liam!" Lexie cried, running to him and giving him the biggest hug. He held her tight and felt her body shake. It was a lot to deal with; being separated, captured, knocked out and then escaping from the Devil himself.
As Matt gave Natty a hug, a voice gasped, "Katie!"
Katie looked and saw Kaichi coming out of Liam's pocket and flew towards her.
"Kaichi!" Katie gasped as she hugged her little friend. Everyone had rounds of hugs, as well as introducing the boys to Natty and Katie, finally relieved to see everyone ok and together.
"Good God, I was so worried about you!" Lexie claimed, as she finished hugging Matt.
"Oh, man, I was so worried about you guys!" Liam added after hugging Natty. "After we fell, I woke up and no you, or anyone. Thankfully, I found Matt, and we searched all over for ya."
"We must've been scattered during the portal attack the Devil pulled on us!" Lexie pointed out, rubbing the back of her neck. As Liam nodded, he looked closer at her neck and saw that it was a bit bruised.
"Oh jeez what happened? You okay?" He asked, gesturing to her neck.
Natty took a look and winced a bit. "Oof, that does not look good, Lex."
Katie bit her lower lip, feeling guilty for the whole thing. Lexie put her life at risk to save her from the Devil's clutches and now she's hurt.
"Oh, Lexie… I…I'm so sorry. It's all my fault." Katie said.
"This is no time for the blame game. We gotta go before the Devil spots us." Lexie stated. "Let's move out!"
"Right. We can see if we can find something to heal it." Natty suggested.
The group then rushed up the stairs and out of the cave, being nearly blinded by the bright light of the sun, and found a surprised Hilda ready and waiting for Liam.
When she saw the group, she looked shocked.
"Wow, Lee. That was the quickest rescue I've ever seen!" She beamed.
"Considering we broke out ourselves, yeah, we saved ya the trouble." Natty mentioned.
"Good call, Now, time to go! The faster we leave, the faster he doesn't get us!" Hilda commented.
"No need to tell me twice!" Kaichi claimed.
Hilda then transformed herself into her bull form and the group hopped on her back. Lexie couldn't help but squeal a bit.
"Man, I'm trying not to fangirl right now.."
"Same!" Natty smiled. "Next to Bon Bon, she's one of my favorite boss fights."
Hilda then took to the skies and flew off, far away from the casino and the Devil. The girls sighed of relief once more. Finally, after hours of being trapped and terrorized in the casino, they were finally free and away from that freak show and his circus.
"Whew. Talk about close calls! That was insane!" Natty gasped.
"Dang, I'm sore…" Lexie muttered, rubbing her neck a bit. "At least I can breathe."
Natty gently felt around her neck and replied "Well, nothing appears to be swollen or broken, so you should be okay."
"Yeah if it were broken I'd be dead." Lexie sheepishly claimed.
"Hilda, can you take us to go see Misterie?" Katie asked. "Maybe she might have something to see to Lexie's neck."
"Sure thing!" Hilda called back. "She had to move to a different location, but I think I have a good idea on where she's at."
Natty arched an eyebrow. "Who?"
"She's a friend I had just made when I woke up on the third isle before I went looking for you guys." Katie explained. "She specializes in healing remedies, as well as beads and charms. I'm certain she can help."
"Oh yeah, she can totally help. The boys and I ran into her when I pulled them from a ditch." Liam added. "They told me about Lex's capture, no thanks to King Dice, and we found her. She gave us cool weapons to help us."
"Nice!" Lexie smiled. "Maybe she'll have answers as to what's going on too."
"Getting answers would be nice." Natty agreed.
Noticing Kaichi, Lexie and Natty were surprised and confused by his appearance, never recalling him seen either in the game or the cartoon. Although they felt like they had seen him before somehow.
"Say, Kate, isn't that little guy that character off from one of your sketches you had shown Natty and me a while back in one of our group chats?" Lexie asked.
"Yeah, how is he suddenly real?" Natty added.
Kaichi shrugged sheepishly as Katie replied, "It's a long story."
The group continued to fly toward Misterie's place, feeling more confident than ever.
Meanwhile, however, the Devil is sulking over the human girls' escape, clutching the wound in his face with a cloth, not looking thrilled.
"I cannot believe those three manage to escape me, because I have a staff of NITWITS!" He shouted, as his minions flinched in fear.
Dice, who had given his employer a clean cloth, commented, "Well ya gotta admit; the blonde sure knows how to come up with a plan, and fight."
The Devil glared at Dice before growling, "You say one more thing about that, I will CRUSH YOUR HEAD TO PIECES!"
"Okay, okay! Sorry! Sheesh." Dice claimed, putting up his hands in a defensive position. He then muttered, "Take a chill pill."
"I cannot allow those three to leave Inkwell!" The Devil snapped. "They hold such vast power that can be used against me. I want them back!"
"How?" Dice asked. "They're probably meeting up with the brats now."
"True...hmmm…"
The Devil pondered over for a second before he began to have a terrible, sickening grin appear on his face. One that made even Dice feel tense.
"Dice, I believe it's time to put my plan into action. I want those souls, every last one of them. The more we take, the more we break them." The Devil ordered. "They'll eventually be at my complete mercy and I will be victorious. Now, go find them, and see if you can rough them up a bit. But under no circumstances is any harm to come to Katie Gemwing! She's due to be my bride, and I want her in perfect condition before our big day."
"As you wish, Boss." Dice replied, taking a small bow to his employer before departing.
The Devil leaned back on his chair and chuckled. While the girls managed to put up a good fight and resistance towards him, they were still human after all, and like all people, including the toughest ones, had to eventually crack. He didn't care that his methods were terrifying and oftentimes gruesome. When he wants something, he will use any means to get it.
Even if it meant breaking the will of three humans, one soul at a time.
A/N: Uh oh! We may have escaped the casino, but it seems we have yet to escape his attacks. How will we navigate this situation, and what 'power' is the Devil referring to? Find out next chapter in "Heart, Soul, and Mind"!