Having been tasked with gathering ingredients for the Wondertart, the three friends set out in search of the items. Their first stop was the shop to stock up on supplies for their soon to be quarrels. A bell rang as they entered the shop. No one was behind the counter at the moment. There was a piece of paper on the counter that said "Having lunch. Be back in a bit. If you need something, please place money in can and take what you paid for. I WILL KNOW IF YOU STEAL!"
"I guess that works out." Cup shrugged. He placed some coins in the can next to the note and picked up the new magic powers that they could learn.
"Is it just me or does this look like one of Porkrind's shops?" Mug pointed out as his head lazily rolled around and gazed about the familiar environment.
"Gee, you're right, Mugs." His brother looked around and agreed. It even had the same pig musk smell to it as the other shops on Inkwell. For Porkrind the pig was not always the cleanest of Inkwell's residents.
"But why would Porkrind have a shop way out here?" The young mug wondered.
"Beats me. But we got what we came here for, so let's skedaddle!"
As soon as the trio of cups exited the shop, Cuphead wasted no time in firing off the new weapons. He had swiped the three available weapons: a red shot that cracked open and then homed in on the enemy, a yellow laser-like triple shot, and a blue bubble-like shot that arced upward.
"Gee, these new weapons are pretty swell." He remarked. "What do you think, Mugs?"
"Yeah, they're pretty awesome." His brother nodded.
"Well, whenever you boys are done playing around, perhaps we could get started with collecting the ingredients?" Chalice urged them to stay focused on the goal. The trio of cups were about to exit the town area of the island when a voice caught their attention.
"Extry! Extry! Chef Saltbaker awarded best baker in all the lands!" It was the news boy – or cat in this case. Its fur was black and had a white face. A red hat sat atop its head, pushing its ears out to the side a bit. He noticed the cup brothers approaching him. "Oi! You're them cups what took out the Devil, ain't ya?"
"Wait, how do you know about all that?" Cup inquired. How could a place so far away from their home possibly know about their scrap with the Devil?
"Duh, you guys made the headline on the Inkwell Blotter for weeks! This isle's got some tough customers. But if you sent that imp packing, you got suitcases to spare!" He handed them over a newspaper to look at.
"You mean to tell me that this is still Inkwell?" Mugman said and looked over the paper. Low and behold, the name of the paper was the Inkwell Blotter. The exact same newspaper and articles that came to their home too.
"So... we're not on a mysterious island?" Cup asked, clearly disappointed that they could not seem to get away from Inkwell. The young mug could feel that his demon was disheartened to hear about this as well. For Tsundere longed to see the world outside of Inkwell. Possibly even more than the cup brothers themselves.
"Oh, it's mysterious enough." The newsboy assured them. "A lot of you mainlanders tend to forget about us out here."
"Mainlanders?" Cuphead said accusingly. As if the cat had just stereotyped them. The cat's ears drooped a little as he attempted to hide behind his wad of newspaper issues.
"I wonder why no one ever mentioned this place?" Mug tried to change the subject before his brother could get into one of his fits.
"Hey boys! Why don't we start this way?" Chalice waved them over and away from town. She had moved down a sloped path that would take them to a lower elevation. The red cup started to go, but his sibling gave the newspaper back and took a minute to observe the layout of the island. Especially noting the tall snowy mountains. He wondered if any of the ingredients could be up there too. When he came out of his survey of the land, Mugman realized he was getting left behind.
"Hey, wait for me!" He called and raced after Cuphead.
"Keep up, slowpoke!" Ms. Chalice teased him.
The cup brothers caught up with the ghostly chalice to find that she was staring down a tunnel that went into the ground. There were precisely carved stairs leading to the underground. Dig marks covered the walls as if it had been dug by hand. There were some spider webs that seemed to hold portions of the walls up. It was clearly some sort of nest that had been crafted by insects and arachnids.
"All right, fellas! In we go!" Chalice announced and began to hover her way in.
"Wait!" Mugman called and held up a hand to say "stop" as the female cup continued to slowly weave into the depths. She turned around to listen to what he had to say, but was going in either way. "Are we really going in there without a plan? The locals aren't going to like us taking their stuff." Mug shrugged, not quite understanding this "no plan" angle.
"Mugman, you worry too much." She crossed her translucent arms. "We'll never get the stuff if we ask for permission. Ask for forgiveness if you have to, but I think we can give 'em the slip." Chalice winked at the boys and went into the nest without a worry.
But what if we can't? That's going to make a lot of people mad. They won't want to be our friends if we act rash. Mug silently pondered. In this scenario, it was two against one in style. Both Chalice and Cuphead overruled Mugman's cautious nature with their brave and sometimes brash nature, willing to go into situations without a plan.
"Don't worry, Mugs. Everything's going to turn out fine. You'll see." Cup tried to reassure his brother, giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder. The young mug was the last one to wander into the tunnel.
As they traversed down the path, the atmosphere began to turn damp and humid. The insects liked it nice and warm in their home. It would have been pitch black in there if the residents had not decided to put lights along the pathway. It even smelled a little moldy in there. Likely due to the moist nature of the environment. Mug's shoe tripped on one of the steps on their way down. He reached out his hand to grab the wall for support. A couple of his gloved fingers seemed to sink into the moist soil. He gave a sigh of relief at not falling face first down the stairs. Upon removing his hand, a stringy and gooey substance clung to him. It looked to be a mix of different saliva, mucus, and spider webs.
"Ugh, gross!" He cringed and tried desperately to shake it off. Cuphead ran back and shushed his brother.
"Let's try to keep our voices down." The red cup said. "That is pretty gross though." Chalice looked back as she heard their conversation. She gave a quiet sigh, being happy that she was far enough ahead that they wouldn't bother her with the nasty, slimy stuff. They continued on their journey into the depths. Mugman ended up having to take his glove off and scrape the goop off using the edge of one of those stair steps.
Farther down into the insects' domain, the sound of music and chatter reached their cups. Eventually, they came to a fork in the road. Ms. Chalice did not hesitate to pick the path from which the noise was coming from. The trio of cups realized that the path was opening up into a room. They cautiously poked their cups around the corner as it opened up into a grand room. No doubt the heart of the nest. It was tall and spacious. Holes littered the walls, making it hollow and easy for sounds to travel. Around the edge of the room stood a line of barrels and sacks. Mugman brought out the list of ingredients again. It said they should be able to get some Distillery Dough from this nest. The cups looked for something that was hopefully marked as such. Mug eventually found and pointed it out.
"At the complete opposite end of the room. Of course, it is." The young mug whispered in an annoyed manner and rolled his eyes. "How are we going to get past those guys?"
In the middle of the room was a table where a group of insects (and an arachnid) sat, playing cards. To the left of the table was the spider, wearing two yellow gloves on its hands and brown shoes on four feet. Long socks stuck out of these boots, crawling up the creature's gangly silver legs. It wore a teal shirt and hat with a white bowtie around its stubby neck. A red clown-like nose rested on its face right above where a cigar was poking out of its mouth. Sitting in the middle of the table was a purple light bug. Two small wings grew out of her back. All of her clothing was red: the dress, hat, and shoes. A big fluffy white decoration on the dress hugged her neck. On the right was a snail with a bright gold shell. Its slimy skin was a duller yellow than both the shell and the also yellow jacket it was wearing. Loitering around the area were some flies wearing orange shirts and teal pants and hats. Many of them also had cigars hanging out of their mouths too. Some of them were playing darts off in the corner.
"Okay, here's the plan: I'm going to create a distraction while you boys go to the back corner and nab the needed dose." Chalice volunteered. Before anyone had a chance to object, her ghostly figure floated off. She went right through the wall and towards the opposite direction of the ingredient. These mobsters needed to be distracted long enough to get the job done. The female started to crash things around in a ghostly manner.
"What all that racket?" The spider said.
"Someone's going through our stuff!" The snail announced. "After them!"
Cup and Mug waited until every one of those insects had left the room. It took the snail the longest to get out. Cuphead was starting to get impatient at one point, practically dancing around at one point. But his brother kept him from running out there too soon.
"Okay, go now!" Mug whispered. The cup brothers dashed to the far end of the room. Thankfully there was already a small tear in the sack that held the distillery dough. "Quickly and quietly. No distractions." He reminded Cuphead who picked up the sack and prepared to pour the needed dose into an empty jar that Saltbaker had given them. He had even marked how much to fill it.
"Since when do I get distracted?" Cup pouted as the jar was about half full.
"Just hurry!" Mugman urged. He looked around, having an uneasy feeling. It was a chill down his spine that said they were being watched at that very moment. That their cover was about to be blown. And then he saw it: a large eye peering through the holey but layered earth.
"Eye." He said and pointed up.
"Mugman, what did you just tell me about distractions?" The red cup said as he finished up with the measurement and put the sack down.
"No, eye!" Mug said with more authority and made an exaggerated point. Cup gasped when he turned around and saw the large figure peering through the honeycomb-like structure. The silhouette of an aardvark towered above them. A tan and white snout poked through one of the holes. It promptly launched its bright pink tongue toward the boys. Acting quick, Mugman pushed his brother out of range and then jumped away himself. The sound of the tongue colliding with the earth was loud. It didn't take the insects but a few seconds to come scrambling back into the room.
"Well, what do we have here?" The spider said as the rest of the insects stood by his side. All except for the snail, that is. For the yellow gastropod still struggled to get himself back in the room. The arachnid motioned for the flies to stand by as he and the ant approached the cup brothers.
"A couple of common thieves stealing our stuff." The light bug answered him.
"You know what we do with thieves, don't cha?" The spider questioned them. His cigar bounced up and down as he talked, trailing a constant stream of smoke from the addictive stick.
"You're gonna throw us in jail?" Cup guessed.
"Heh! You're gonna wish you were going to jail!" Laughed the arachnid. The rest of the nest's residents joined in with the mocking laughter.
"Now, now, everyone. Let's not be so hasty." The young mug marched himself into the middle of the scene and up to the mobsters. "I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name's Mugman. What's yours?" He asked the silver spider and extended a hand to greet them as if they were civil citizens. Treat them how you wanted to be treated. Mug always tried to get on their good side if he could.
The arachnid acted like he was going to be civil and shake hands with Mugman. But as soon as he grabbed the child's hand, a wicked smile came over his face. Without a second thought, he tossed the mug child right over his head. Mugman yelped as he was sent airborne. He uttered an "ouch!" as he came down on the ground. The young mug rubbed his head a bit and looked around. For he was now surrounded by the flies. They did their best to snarl and look menacing to the mug child.
"Mugman!" His brother called and tried to rush to him. The insects tightened their line and did not let him pass. Cuphead noticed the snail finally caught up and contributed to this line, seeming a bit out of breath. Perhaps the slow-moving gastropod would be the easiest to take out, Cup thought.
"I guess that means we're doing this the hard way..." The young cup challenged them.
"Did ya hear that, fellas? It sounds like this little cup is trying to threaten us." The spider teased, not taking the child seriously. Its friends started to laugh in Cuphead's face. But this did not bother the red cup. If they were laughing, that meant they were not on their guard. A prime opportunity to get in a first attack!
"Take this!" Cup announced and started pelting them with his new yellow triple shot that emitted from his finger. The insects were sure surprised. They did not expect such a small child to have magic abilities.
Meanwhile, Mugman got up and began using his enhanced magic from the demon against the flies. Dark blue pulses were sent out, quickly dealing with the small lackeys. They all tumbled to the ground, not getting up anytime soon. This excitement made Tsundere want to come out and transform the child into his mutated state. Mug could feel this coming on and told the demon to temper itself.
I know you want to come out, but I need you to stay in for now. He silently told the creature.
What? Why? The parasitic creature spat.
I don't want to freak these people out if they haven't seen a demon before. If things seem to be going badly, you can come out. He explained to it.
Very well. Tsundere grumbled. Heads up! We've got an incoming!
Mug noticed that the aardvark had set its sights on him. Its tan snout reached through a hole and ejected its tongue at him. The young mug was ready for it this time and ended up catching the slimy thing with glowing blue hands. With the help of the demon, Mugman held it firm and didn't let the animal take it back. His boots slid a couple feet before finding the right balance, feeling the confidence that he had a good hold and would not let go. The anteater desperately tried to yank it away from the child.
Oh-ho! This thing's got some fight. I like it! Tsundere beamed, having fun torturing the aardvark.
Cuphead ducked and weaved around the insects as he pelted them with his new weapon. He noticed that the light bug and spider seemed to be protecting the snail. The young cup paused for a second as he attempted to come up with a plan to single out the snail. It was just long enough for the light bug to throw a cross-body kick that went into Cuphead's gut. This sent the cup child spiraling to the ground. The spider grabbed him by the arms and hoisted him up.
"Get your mitts off me!" Cup yelled at the arachnid. All the while, the snail inched forward with an orange megaphone in its hands. The yellow gastropod took a deep breath, getting ready to blow into it. Cuphead closed his eyes and cringed, expecting something bad to happen. Mugman saw this about to transpire and let the tongue fling him forward and into the scene. He let go of the tongue once he had enough momentum to make it to his desired destination. His hands still glowed that dark blue color as they closed into fists. The snail happened to look behind him and see the flying mug child. It averted its attention from the one young cup to the other. Mug prepared to bring down a fist down on the creature's small head. With the megaphone now pointing towards Mugman, the yellow snail yelled into it. A powerful sound wave emitted from it and pushed the young mug back from whence he came.
"Mugs!" His brother cried as the blue mug crashed down at the opposite end of the room.
The ghostly chalice was making her way back to the main room now that she realized the insects had been diverted away from her distraction. She witnessed Mugman crash down rather painfully, his back absorbing most of the hit.
"Holy snails! Are you okay?" Chalice exclaimed as she floated over to check on her mug friend.
"Ugh....yeah." Mug groaned as he rubbed his head and shakily tried to get up. Just a little out of practice, he thought.
"Perhaps I could help." The female offered.
"Don't worry. Cuphead and I can handle this." Mugman brushed her off as he got up and started to walk back towards the battlefield. He wobbled a little, swaying to the right, clearly off balance.
"Looks like you could use a bit of a break." Ms. Chalice pointed out.
"We don't want you to get hurt, Chalice." The young mug insisted.
"Hey now, just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't fight." She said, sounding a bit offended. Chalice intended to take matters into her own hands if the boys weren't going to willingly give her an opportunity. The ghostly cup kept a spare astral cookie up her sleeve (literally) that she now intended to use on Mugman to make her have a turn. She pulled out the cookie and hovered above his head.
"Eat this cookie!" Ms. Chalice commanded him. The female pinched his big blue nose and shoved the whole cookie in his mouth. They immediately swapped places; Mugman became a ghost and Chalice got a body.
"Now this is more like it!" The gold cup beamed. "Be back in a jiffy!" She waved and headed off to battle. Chalice wasted no time in putting herself in the middle of the action. Like Cuphead, she used the new triple shot to hit the three main creatures. The spider ended up dropping the young cup as he started to get pelted again. Cup stood back to back with Chalice so that the enemies could not sneak up from behind.
"You distract those two and I'll go for the snail!" She whispered to the boy.
"You got it!" Cup agreed. He switched up his weapon to the red crack-shot. The magic pellets opened up and homed in on both the light bug and the arachnid. It kept them at bay while Chalice charged the yellow snail. It fought back by spitting projectiles from its megaphone. She ducked and weaved around these magic pellets being spewed by the megaphone. Her own yellow shots were sent off as the two magic attacks clashed. None of the snail's shots actually were able to hit the chalice, but plenty of her shots made it to the gastropod. The mob boss eventually had to cease fire and fight with his weapon. It was as if the amplifier had been jammed. His little fist bounced off the device, not seeming to have much effect on fixing it. Ms. Chalice took this moment to jump into the air and charge her secondary, more powerful shot. As her graceful body came down, she unleashed the pent-up energy. A solid beam of yellow energy hit the snail at close range. It exploded and sent the shelled gastropod tumbling away.
"Boss!" The spider and light bug called. They left their duel with Cuphead and went to check on their head-honcho. They helped stand the bruised and battered body upright. It sure didn't look like the snail would be willing to keep fighting. Ms. Chalice approached the scene, placing her fists on her newly formed hips.
"What do you say, fellas? You gonna let us have some of your distillery dough now?" She questioned them.
"Yes, yes, fine!" The snail stumbled out, not wanting to have to survive another blast like that. "Just please stop attacking us!"
"Appreciate your generosity, boys and lady." The female cup said. She looked behind her and gave a wink to Cuphead who was picking up the jar he had filled and left sitting out when they had gotten attacked. He gave a thumbs-up back to her. The trio of cups got ready to make their leave when the snail called over to them.
"Ya know, ya'll are pretty strong...if you ever want a job putting that strength to good use...give us a call." The mob boss said humbly. For he and his gang were clearly in awe of the cup trio's abilities. They were truly more than a match for the Moonshine Mob.
"Thanks, boys! That's a mighty fine offer." Chalice winked at the insects before she and the cup brothers left the underground nest.
"I think they like us." Cup said to the group when they got back to the surface. He then turned to the young mug. "Okay, Mugs. What's next?" His ghostly brother referred back to their ingredient list.
"Well, we could climb up the mountain to look for the Gnome Berries." He offered. His two friends agreed and began to set off in the direction of the snowy mountain. Mugman was about to ask Ms. Chalice if he could have his body back when she interjected with her own.
"Mind if I stay like this for a bit, Mugman? I haven't had the thrill of a nice hike in years!"
"Oh...sure." For the ghostly mug could not say no to the golden chalice that did not have a physical body without the aid of magic.