Cuphead: The Stolen Soul

Chapter 11

Cuphead raised his hand in front of Mugman as the Ink Demon glanced at them, still smiling. Slowly, he stumbled toward the brothers.

The Devil grinned before falling through a portal in the floor.

The moment the Devil was gone, Bendy lowered his body, his arms supporting half his weight. He opened his mouth and an unworldly scream erupted from his throat.

Cuphead pointed at Bendy, ready to shoot him. But Bendy was the first to attack. He stretched his arms like wings and reached behind him. His hands began to shake as he raised them, summoning three mangled creatures from the ink. All of them were black and white, like him.

Cuphead instinctively shoved Mugman away as the creatures surrounded him. He shot in all directions, wounding the creatures. Mugman put himself between Cuphead and Bendy, attempting to calm the Ink Demon.

Though Bendy seemed to recognize Mugman, he still attacked him, lunging at him with his claws. Mugman ducked out of the way and Bendy struck down one of the monsters and Cupehead.

Mugman quickly lured the Ink Demmon's strikes on the remaining monsters while Cuphead rose to his feet. Cuphead turned around just as Bendy swung at Mugman, knocking him off balance. The devil quickly seized Mugman and pinned him against the wall.

Cuphead froze. He was afraid, and had anticipated something like this; but he had never seen it. Someone that Mugman had a deep bond with was about to kill him, right in front of his brother. Yet, even at that moment, Mugman didn't look afraid, he didn't scream, he didn't call to Cuphead. He only reached out to Bendy sympathetically.

The tall devil's grip on Mugman seemed to loosen. His grin began sinking to a frown.

Cuphead began to search the room for something to help him. Bendy wouldn't be able to fight the Devil's commands forever and time was running out.

Suddenly Cuphead was pulled backwards and shoved into the ink puddle. One of the creatures had survived Bendy. Cuphead was pushed under the ink. He began to panic as the air fell out of reach.

The world around Cuphead became a blur for a moment. When Cuphead could see again, he was upside down. Bendy was holding him inches above the monsters by his ankle. Cuphead looked down and saw Mugman helping Bendy. Eventually, all the monsters melted into the pool of ink.

Cuphead was dropped onto the marble floor, just next to the ink pool. He coughed up the remaining liquid before he looked up to Bendy, "No hard feelings.. right bu-"

The brothers froze. Bendy was kneeling, hunched over with his left hand over his chest. The three wounds where the Devil had impaled him were bleeding ink. The black demon struggled to breathe. He glanced over his shoulder at Mugman.

"Go on... buddy... Kick his butt."

Bendy chuckled hoarsely before his body collapsed in the ink. Cuphead and Mugman waited for him to move, but the demon was still. They couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.

Both stared at the body for a moment before Cuphead pulled Mugman with him. "Well you heard him. Let's go show that fiend what for."

Suddenly, the floor opened up beneath them. They plummeted into a cave, their only light source being the fire below them. The boys were lucky enough to land on a floating stone plate, surrounded by other stone plates.

Cuphead and Mugman looked up at the Devil, now the size of a giant. His laughter taunted them from every direction possible.

The Devil's grin was ten times more disturbing than Bendy's grin, "I'll show you what for!"

The Devil balled his hand into a fist and struck the wall, causing burning ruble to fall all around the brothers. Two demon henchmen flew around them, throwing burning skulls at them as they flew passed. Every direction was consumed by chaos. You couldn't look in one direction without seeing demons trying to kill you. The brothers each focused on one target. Cuphead removed the smaller demons from the fight, while Mugman kept the Devil at bay.

The Devil was enraged now. He no longer seemed to care what he killed. The only thing that would help him remain sane was seeing bodies falling into the fire below him. This proved to be his undoing. He struck down one of his own demons, failing to see the brothers releasing all their firepower on him. He was quickly overwhelmed and passed out from all the pain. His unconscious body collapsed into the fire, quickly being burned alive.

The brothers froze. They had beaten many debtors, but never killed them. The only forced them to surrender the contracts, with the intent to free them once they defeated the Devil. Now they had, and the Devil was gone, forever.

However, Cuphead and Mugman weren't safe yet. They still needed to climb out of the cave. They used all their remaining energy to carry one another up the stone walls of the pit. As they climbed, they heard one final scream from below them. They became frightened and climbed even faster.

When they finally reached the surface, Cuphead pulled his brother over the ledge. The two took a moment to calm down. They'd just defeated the Devil himself. They had freed themselves from debt, along with the population of Inkwell Isle. 

Mugman stared at his brother, shaking his head, "Just watching, huh?"

Cuphead froze for a moment. Then he began laughing as he remembered his words that dragged them into this adventure.

"The Elder Kettle said that we shouldn't get into trouble there. I don't think just watching will do that."

Both the brothers laughed hysterically at the irony. However, their moment of joy was short-lived when they remembered Bendy.

Mugman looked over at Bendy. His body was barely visible in the pool of ink. Though his body was still withered, he seemed to have returned to his original size, and his eyes were visible once again.

Mugman rested his hand on Bendy's shoulder, "Bendy? You okay?"

Bendy didn't answer. His eyes didn't open.

"Buddy?"

The black devil didn't move.

"C'mon Bendy," urged Cuphead, "you can take a dozen balloons and pummel a giant robot. Don't tell me you can't take a blow from that guy!"

Still, Bendy was silent. There was no sign of life in him. His physical body began to loose it's features as he began to melt. Mugman tried desperately to push the ink back into place, but Bendy's body was dispersing far too quickly.

"No!" Mugman pleaded, "No! No! Bendy! Don't leave! Please don't leave!"

Bendy's body was nearly gone now. Mugman gave up, crying was he watched his friend disappear in the ink.

Cuphead turned away. He didn't want to cry. He never thought of Bendy as a friend. Once he had thought of him as a possible ally, but never a friend. He never wanted to. He only agreed to save Bendy because he was his brother's friend. Yet, Bendy was willing to die for them. He gave his own life for them. Not once had Cuphead helped him.

Cuphead couldn't help it. He felt so guilty for his actions. A tear welled up in his eye. He turned to face Bendy's remaining body once again. "I am so sorry... I'm..."

The elder brother knelt down next to the younger, embracing him. The last of Bendy's form was now gone.

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Man. It's been a while, hasn't it?

I know. You've been waiting a while for the updates, and I'm really sorry that I haven't been updating the stories these passed few months.

Lots of exciting things have happened recently.

Don't worry. I didn't forget about the story. And I'll try my best to keep updating.

Once again, I'm sorry for the lack of content, and I hope you can forgive me.

Anyway, thanks for reading the story and taking the time to share your thoughts and opinions on it. It really means a lot to know that you guys are enjoying what I'm making, and it just makes it all worth it.

Alright. The speech is done. Have a nice day. See you in the next one.