A Cup Of Desire (Cuphead x Reader)

Chapter XVII - Time For A Change

'And... w-what might that be?'

'You have the trust of a mortal. A certain someone. A boy with a heart full of adventure and compassion. A boy that you seem to have fallen for... does this ring a bell?'

'C-Cuphead...?' I mumble quietly to myself.

'That's right, darling.'

'But why does that stuff matter to you?' I pondered, asserting my voice a little, 'Cuphead told me everything about what happened between you and him. He and Mugman played by your rules and they won their side of the deal, fair and square. Cuphead burned all the contracts and set everyone free!'

'... Everyone... except himself...'

My heart dropped upon hearing this. 'W-what?'

'I never gave him the deed to his own soul...' He stopped, as if evaluating my body language.

'H-his and Mugman?'

'Not Mugman.' He let out a sigh that somehow seemed eerily sadistic. 'Mugman never signed a contract. He only ever went along with his brother to help him. Those two are as close as can be.'

'S-so... why am I here?' I asked, fearing I shouldn't have said that out loud.

'Well, I am in need of his soul. He has yet to pay the price, but he's refusing. So I ought to step up my game a little.' He giggled in a low growl. 'Sure I could have used Mugman, but I needed something a little more precious to him...' There was a long pause before he continued, 'That is why I have you...' He laughed deeply with a voice of fire, causing my blood to curdle in response.

'No...' I sighed heavily, feeling my eyes cover slightly with uprising tears. 'NO! PLEASE, YOU CAN'T DO THIS!'

All he could do was laugh at my fear 'My dear, I am The Devil! I can do whatever I please!'

'NO! LEAVE HIM ALONE!' I yelled, crawling on top of my wooden bed and bashing on the cold metal roof. At this point, my eyes were flooded with tears as they ran down my face like rain and dripped onto the cemented floor. My blood was boiling at the thought of anything happening to Cuphead, desperate to get out and protect him, but as long as I'm trapped within these cold walls, there was nothing I could do. I kept calling out to The Devil in hopes to try and reason with him, but no matter what I did or said I could not get a response out of him again. This only stirred up more anxiety within me and caused me to collapse on the bed, curl my legs up to my chest and sob harshly into my knees. My heart was aching, feeling as if there was a massive thunderstorm and lightning bolts kept striking directly through my heart.

All I could do was wait. Wait for something, anything, to let me out of these prison walls and let me know Cuphead was going to be okay.

Crying for what seemed like forever, I figured letting out as many tears as I could was not going to stop the Devil and his malevolent plans for Cuphead, so as my body grew weak from shedding sorrowful tears, I lay myself down on the hard wooden bunk and rested my head slowly, closing my eyes as I let out a cumbersome sigh and feeling one last cold tear stream down from my eyes. Somehow, I had managed to fall into a small moment of light sleep, before being awaken by the distinct sound of something heavy clashing violently on the outside of the metal door. As the banging got louder and louder, I looked over my shoulder and noticed the door kept pushing in ever so slightly with every blow, only just being able to stay shut. Until one large, final boom was heard before the door couldn't withstand anymore and fell onto the ground, a small cloud of dust encompassing the area around it. Sitting upright, I kept my knees close to my body as I watched a tall, dark silhouette emerge from the dust. As the indentified object kept moving closer and closer to me, it was only a few seconds before the silhouette became a figure that stood tall, my eyes being able to make out just who it was.