If it weren't for Mugman, who somehow worked his magic on me; the whole ordeal would've been a bust. I remember seeing my adoptive parents happily waving goodbye as I stepped out of the Sodapop Shack where I lived.
"So, you're Cocoa Cup, right?" Cuphead asked as we strolled. " I'm sorry for what I did downstairs."
I chuckled softly.
" That's ok, Cuphead; I get it," I replied.
"So, do you have any other friends?" Mugman asked.
I didn't say anything, but my saddened look spoke for itself.
Suddenly, Cuphead's face brightened up, as a lightbulb appeared on his head.
"Say, can we be your friends?" He asked. "That way, you won't be lonely anymore!"
I was about to answer when some distant carnival music caught my attention.
" Fellas, look! A Carnival!" I exclaimed. " we should go there!"
Cuphead and I were over the moon, but Mugman had his doubts.
" Cocoa, Cuphead; I'm not so sure-"
"You know what I do when I'm not so sure?" Cuphead asked abruptly." I double down!"
Mugman was visibly confused and asked what that meant.
" He means, we're going to take a further risk, by going to this carny!" I explained, charmingly.
Cuphead placed his hand on my shoulder, which made me blush for a while, but deep down, I liked it.
" What Cocoa said, 'sides, we promised her that we'd show her all of Inkwell; right Mugsy?" He replied.
Despite Mugman's initial protest, we went to the carnival and had a blast! We went on rides, gorged on the food, then rode the rides again, and threw up. I raised my head, only to see Cuphead, holding my hair back.
" Thanks, Cuphead," I said, with a smile, before I retched into the pail once more.
"No Problemmo, Cocoa!" he chuckled before we rode the carousel. When the first half of our day was over, we walked in the park laughing and gloating about our trip.
"Well, time to get some paint, so we can paint the- Cuphead? Cocoa?" Mugman called for us.
Meanwhile, we came across a game called: Soul Ball, honestly it's a game I never heard of before, and in a carnival no less.
" Say, do you wanna give it a shot?" Cuphead asked, "Y'know, double down?"
I was feeling bold, so I rolled up my sleeves like I was going to give someone a good wallop.
" Cuphead, ball me."
Cuphead took a ball and handed it over to me, to which I tossed it with much gusto.
" Winner!" Shouted the machine. I felt a sudden rush of adrenalin through my veins.
"Ya doin' great, keep goin'! Cuphead cheered me on.
Soon a crowd drew in from all corners of the park to see me play, and cheered for me every time, I scored another ball. The crowd cheering, the machine yelling WINNER! with every score I got, was something I never heard before, and yet, I wanted to hear these sounds for hours on end. Little did we know that we would be in hot water, very soon.
Meanwhile, in Hell; the Devil danced and sang, about how he loved stealing souls, and tricking the locals, basically because he's proud to be bad. But had to stop to attend Henchman.
"WHAAAT?! I WAS SINGING!" He roared.
Henchman became nervous immediately.
"Well... er... the soul counter stopped." He hesitatingly confessed. " And... your daughter's at your carnival, boss..."
The devil couldn't believe his ears.
" My WHAT?!"
He rushed to get his periscope, which popped out of the ground at the end. He scanned left and right until he caught sight of me playing soul ball with Cuphead, and he and I took turns in playing. This made the devil scowl in annoyance.
" Great... now she's with a real show-off!"
With a tap of his gold trident and a puff of smoke, he was on his way to cause torment like usual. After all, I was of his blood, but I didn't know it yet.
It was my turn, after Cuphead's, and yet again I scored another win, much to the crowd's delight.
"Thank you, thank you one and all!" I shouted to the crowd and winked at Cuphead, signaling his turn, as I handed one more ball to him.
I turned right, only to see Mugman, with a visibly scared expression. But before I could ask what was wrong, or comfort him...
BOOM!!!
The Devil appeared with a puff of smoke as the sky suddenly turned dark. Which made the audience alarmed.
" The Devil!" Someone screamed, leaving the crowd to run away in panic. This granted Devil some satisfaction.
"My fans, they love me," he said, with pride before making his way to the soul ball game.
" Look at my sweet cup of cocoa, all grown up, and frolicking around with boys..."
I turned around and saw the devil towering over us, with a wicked smirk.
"Are you enjoying my carnival, dear?"
I was more revolted than alarmed.
"'Scuse me, but who do you think you are?" I asked.
Mugman was already shaken and tried hitting Cuphead to warn him, but that only made him diverge his shot.
"LOSER!" The machine spoke following a buzzer. This upset Cuphead, as much as I did.
" Aw heck, now look what ya made me do!" He complained, but once he looked up, fear was displayed in his eyes, as he even struggled to make words. The Devil turned to me as if he wanted to teach me something horrible.
"And that's game!" He singsonged.
Without warning, the game machine rumbled and we watched as Cuphead's soul painfully got sucked into the machine. I was mortified, as I saw one of my two only friends become a soulless shell of a cup...person.
" MUGMAN, DO SOMETHIN'!" I shouted as I shook his arm, frantically.
Without warning, he retrieved his brother's soul and placed it back inside his body. I was relieved to see Cuphead back to life, but there was only one thing left to do, at this point.
"RUUUN!!!" He shouted, before sprinting into a run... And tugging me in, to join them to join the chase. This made the Devil change from proud to pissed.
" HEY, HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER!" He said, before going after us. Before we knew it we were running like our lives depended on it. The Cupbros lamented their faults but this was useless.
"FELLAS, LOOK OUT!!!" I warned them before fireballs were being shot at us, from every direction. Luckily I spotted the Rollercoaster.
"The Rollercoaster! Get in!" I shouted.
We got inside the buggy where we rode for our lives and breathed with momentary relief.
"I think we lost 'em." Cuphead panted.
"Surprise!" Said a mocking voice, behind us; it was the Devil, who had his arms ready to yank me at any given second.
"Cuphead!" I screamed for him, he squeezed my hand, and pulled me away, before the Devil even had the chance to grab me. He hasn't let go of it, since then. The nightmare continued throughout the attractions, but the scariest part of all in my opinion was the funhouse. we had to dodge and swerve booby traps until we were safely spat outside.
" C'mon fellas, it's time for a double down!" Mugman said.
"What're you nuts?!" Cuphead and I replied, in exclamation.
We ran for hours, but then we ran out of paths to run, in other words, we were cornered; cornered, with the Devil laughing maliciously behind our backs, as he cocked his trident like a gun. My new pals were shaking with fright, it looked like it was the end for them.
"Hey, Devil!" I called all of a sudden.
This made even the Devil face me.
"Huh?" The three of them asked.
"LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE, OR ELSE!!!" I said, before standing up and clasping my hands together like a gun, making a violet color flame appear on my pointers, it grew bigger, and bigger, until I released my finger shot, causing the machine to explode, and the jaws of Cuphead, Mugman and the Devil to drop. With the machine, and the whole park destroyed to smithereens, the guests of the Carnevil, got their souls back, and the devil screamed declaring his defeat.
"EVERYBODY SCRAM!" I shouted to the citizens, before they ran for the exit, some of them even thanked me.
"Thank you, miss.!"
"Thank you for saving our souls, miss!
"You're the best miss!"
I smiled and waved at the new compliments, but Cuphead grabbed my hand.
"C'mon, let's beat it outta here, ourselves," Mugman said before we ran. Yet I still had time, to turn my head, to see the Devil with a shocked, but saddened expression deep down, for some reason, I felt bad for him.
Later on, the boys dropped me home, at the Sodapop Shack where my parents were waiting for me with open arms.
"There you are darlin', what took you so long?" Cherril asked.
"Well, you see, my two new pals took me to a carnival, in town," I told them, little did I know that the Devil was watching me from the window. My happiness made his eyes well up with blood-colored tears.
"Wow, is that your daughter's new family?" Henchman asked, "She looks quite happy with them-"
" I DON'T WANT MY DAUGHTER, WITH THESE, THESE, IMPOSTERS!" The Devil cried, "I WANT HER WHERE SHE BELONGS... WITH ME!!!"
Henchman patted the Devil on the back while looking at him pitifully.
"Wanna go home?" Asked Henchman. The tap of the Devil's trident, was the answer, as they disappeared in a cloud of smoke. I rushed to investigate what I heard outside, but I saw nothing. I closed the window of my house, with my back plastered against the wall. I then went to bed, knowing that my new friends have my back, and we'd meet again real soon...