'Cuphead, please, you simply must try to calm down.' Elder Kettle spoke with a sense of clarity in his voice.
'Calm down? CALM DOWN?' Cuphead yelled dramatically, filled with anger. 'How in the name of Jiminy Cricket could I possibly calm down when the girl of my dreams is in the hands of that no good King Dice? Or maybe even The Devil?!'
'W-wait... did you just call (Y/N) the girl of your dreams?' Mugman questioned with a giggly tone, smiling warmly to his brother. Cuphead soon realised what he had just said and began to blush brightly on his cheeks with a shy gleam in his eyes. 'Ooo!'
'M-Mugman, shush! T-that doesn't matter...' Cuphead stammered before gathering his thoughts together, 'What does matter is that we need to save her. The question is... how are we going to do that?' He pondered to himself for a while before he was snapped out of his thoughts by the touch of Elder Kettle placing his hand gently on the side of his grandson's shoulder.
'I'm not sure...' The senior mumbled with a slightly worrisome tone. 'There's nothing we can do as of now. It's late and you boys need some rest.'
'But Elder Kettle...' Cuphead sighed heavily, looking up to face the caring Elder Kettle, trying to hold back any pain he felt the best he possibly could, 'how can I sleep when (Y/N) could be in danger? How do I just pretend everything is fine when it isn't?' He looked down in an instant as soon as he felt a tear form in his eyes. Cuphead was not the type of guy that was willing to show any sadness he felt within himself, no matter how painful it was to hide it. This time, though, it was the strongest pain he had ever felt, more intense than the pain of when he could have damned him and his brother to an eternity of Hell. He just felt he had to be strong, be the tough guy everyone thinks he is.
'Cuphead, I'm not asking you to turn off your emotions.' Elder Kettle responded, 'I simply want you to get some rest. You have had a big day and you won't be able to do much this late at night. Besides, all shops are closed.' Cuphead breathed heavily, sniffing a little before looking up at his grandfather, who carried a caring smile on his face. A pair of footsteps on the creaky wooden floorboards drew closer to the duo as Mugman began walking over to them.
'Elder Kettle is right, Cuphead.' Mugman spoke softly, gently sitting down beside his brother on the linen couch. 'You need to get some sleep. There's no point staying up stressing if it's not going to do anything to help her.' Cuphead couldn't say much. He just wanted to find me and bring me back home safely where he could keep me in his arms and know that I was okay.
'You can stop by Porkrind's Emporium tomorrow morning if you like.' Elder Kettle suggested, 'He may have something that can help you or give you some advice.'
Cuphead looked over at him and nodded in agreement, reassured by the fact that Porkrind may be able to help. 'Okay, first thing tomorrow, I'll talk to Porkrind.'
'Right then!' Elder Kettle beamed, looking at the boys. 'I'll give you some money tomorrow just in case. As for now, run along to bed you two. It's way past your curfew.'
Unwillingly, Cuphead obliged and followed his grandfather's orders, walking up the stairs ever so slowly with his head hanging down, watching with each footstep he took as he moved his feet up one by one. Mugman followed behind patiently and once they both reached the second floor, he patted his brother on the back softly with a tender smile before walking off into his room. Cuphead sighed as he opened the door to his room, looking inside with eyes that could only see the darkness of the night as it consumed his once colourful bedroom. He walked over to his bed with a moping posture as he plopped himself down on it, burring his head in his pillow. As much as he didn't want to, he knew he had to at least try and doze off into a slumber, knowing with a sorrowful heart that tomorrow was going to be a tough day to get through.
Waking up to the morning sun was no easy challenge for Cuphead, especially due to the fact that he had a restless night from the worrying thoughts of his friend being constantly stuck in his head. Somehow, though, he pulled himself up and out of bed, not bothering to get changed since he slept in his usual attire all night, something he almost rarely does. He paced himself down the stairs and entered the kitchen room, stopping under the big wooden doorframe where he was greeted by the two caring faces of his bubbly brother and Elder Kettle.
'Morning Cuphead!' Mugman beamed with a cheery smile, hoping to enlighten his brother a little.
'Morning Mugs...' Cuphead spoke with a groggy voice, rubbing his eyes a little.
'How did you sleep last night, chum?' Elder Kettle asked with a hint of worry in his voice, turning to look at his grandson.
'Meh... same as usual I guess.' Cuphead responded, walking over to the nearby shoe rack and grabbing a brown pair of sneakers to put on, tightening them on his feet before proceeding to stand up. 'Elder Kettle, is it alright if I go to Porkrind's now?'
'Of course it is.' Elder Kettle exclaimed, reaching his hand into his imaginary cartoon pocket and digging around. 'Here, you might as well take these with you.' Pulling out his hand, he reveal to Cuphead three gold coins. Cuphead thanked him as he took the coins from Elder Kettle's hand and placed them into his own pocket, where he then proceeded to head out the front door and make his way over to Porkrind's Emporium.
Little did anyone know I was just about a mile away from Cuphead, scouring across the other side of the Isle where I managed to emerge myself through the forest thickets and trees. As I scour around the land, I have but one thought in my mind; find Cuphead. It was a task that was given to me, a mission that I feel I have to complete successfully, or else who knows what will happen. I remember very intently how it all went down.
Back in the cell I was being held captive in, King Dice managed to put me under a spell, a forceful power that I was not able to control within myself. I had turned to the dark side and was now abiding by the rules of the Devil. King Dice walked me through the lands of Hell to find the wicked Beelzebub, travelling through the dimension of which sinning and evil was tolerated. Instead of having a fearful mind like any normal citizen would have, I was rather excited to meet this God of Darkness. After a long distance travel, we stumbled across a dark castle looming over us with a spine-tingling face if it ever had one. Walking inside, the walls were paved with what looked to be the blood of a few unlucky victims of his, making me rationalise the scenarios that could have gone down here. The air was cold and thick, yet the atmosphere around me felt like it was on fire, walking down a silenced hall with nothing but the sound of mine and King Dice's feet pitter-pattering on the hard brimstone floor. Pushing the thoughts aside, we walked down a seemingly long hallway with numerous closed doors both left and right that held many mysteries inside each and every one of those rooms. By the end of the hallway, we stopped upon becoming right next to a tall closed door, decorated in a deep shade of red and various golden symbols from head to toe. Watching as King Dice reached out his hand, he grasped the golden doorknob and pushed the door in gently, leaving it slightly ajar for us to walk into.
Stepping inside, I was immediately greeted by the hair-raising grin of none other than Satan himself, sitting high upon his golden throne with daunting eyes that seemed to stare right through my soul. It was surely more than enough to scare anyone right out of their skin. It was more than enough to make me not even think about the room I was in, not daring to avert my eyes away from him. As his giant figure loomed over us, he looked me up and down before speaking.
'Well well well... look who we have here...' His voice echoed through the walls, deep and dark as an endless ocean abyss. 'Just the little servant I wanted to see. Walk closer to me; I have something special I need to tell you...'
To put the long story short, from then on he basically explained what had become of me and why I transformed into the way I am now. I was told that I now have remarkable, magical abilities that only he can bestow upon fellow citizens that he chooses. These powers include; controlling flames to ignite on the palms of your hands at will without ever burning yourself, and the power to see insides one's mind when heavily focusing on their eyes. I had been given a few practise runs for my newfound powers and had a few unlucky sinners down in Hell to be my training dummies, preparing me for my upcoming mission. And that mission was to find Cuphead and bring deliver him to Satan, alive.
And that's why I am back here in the land of Inkwell; to find Cuphead and turn him in. As I rustled my way through the growth of the forest, my mind was racing with thoughts that were always travelling back and forth between what was right and what is wrong. By now, it seems I had lost all perspective as to what goodness the world holds, for now I can only perceive everything as evil and villainous, unable to see the world the way I once did even if I tried. It almost felt as if the memories I had of the world are now resting in the back of my mind, locked in a small, dark chest that can only be opened by a certain key that will never exist. I had lost the sweet, tender side of me that I once had and now carry a much dark and sinful mind, and the worst part was that I didn't mind at all. My legs moved simultaneously one in front of the other, the cool breeze of the morning wind brushing past my whole body as I looked at my surroundings, taking in all the new sights and smells and discovering them in a whole new way. Regardless of the morning sun beaming down, the trees provided shelter for me, causing a darkening effect on the area with my shadow being almost non-existent. Each step I took, I drew closer and closer to the direction I was heading, Elder Kettle's cottage, suspecting my victim would be inside, clueless to the fact that I was looking for him.
Before taking another step forward, I heard the faint sounds of feet colliding down on the grassy earth beneath, a little over to my left. Out of curiosity, I faced the direction where the sound came from and followed it, only to end up at a clearing of trees where a little shop called Porkrind's Emporium stood. As I glanced around, my eyes caught attention of a figure walking towards the entrance of the shop, hands in their pockets with their head hanging down, deep in thought. It was Cuphead.
Perfect...
I slowly crept out from under the trees just a little, only enough so that most of my body was still covered by the darkness of the shadows that loomed over me. Clearing my throat, I looked at Cuphead just as he was about to walk up the few wooden steps outside the Emporium.
'... Cuphead...' I called out softly in a dainty voice, trying my best to sound as pure as possible. In an instant, Cuphead stopped in his tracks as he jolted his head up and eagerly looked around, trying to figure out to himself whether or not he just heard what he thought he did. A few silent seconds passed, until...
'...Cuphead? ...' I spoke yet again, trying to hide a smile within the darkness.
'(Y/N)... I-is that you?' He called out, looking all around him. 'Where are you?'
'Cuphead, I'm over here!' I responded, watching him as he glared his eyes into the direction of the forest. It was so tauntingly beautiful how I could see him, yet he had no clue he was looking straight at me. Curiously, he took a few slow steps towards the woodland area and stopped just before the first few sets of trees.
'In... the forest?' He questioned with a cautious voice, tapping his fingers together anxiously.
'I think so...' My voice yelled out softly. The closer he drew with each step, the more I backed away from him, trying to drag him into the darkness with me. 'Oh goodness, it's so dark! I-I'm so s-scared...' I then proceeded to act out a few faint crying sounds as I eventually started walking backwards and away from him, in hopes that he would follow.
'Just stay where you are. I'll come find you!' And with that, Cuphead impatiently dashed into the woods whilst I was silently laughing, hiding from behind tall and unsuspecting trees, watching him run off straight past me without a clue. It was so hilarious to watch him fall for my trick, seeing how he just fell right into my trap. I silently followed him from behind, sneaking past from tree to tree as I kept my cover unknown, until finally, I had him right where I wanted him. Then, and only then did I want to show myself to him, reveal what had become of me and let him see that his precious doll was no longer around.
As I played tricks on him with his dull little mind, calling his name from many feet away and watching him try to track me down, he began to lose his breath and stopped in the middle of the forest, a small patch of light beaming down onto the dirt from a of blue sky within the trees. He put his hands on his knees as he struggled to get the air back into his lungs, breathing in and out heavily. Eventually, he caught his breath back and in doing so, he let out a hefty sigh as he stood straight again.
'(Y/N), I can't seem to find you...' He shouted out with dismay, not knowing I was right behind him. I made sure to take quiet steps in order to not startle him just yet. Once I was a few steps from him, I stared intensely at him with a toothy smirk.
'That's okay...'
His whole body froze while his head filled up with mixed emotions and thoughts. Instantly, from the tone of my voice, he knew something was off. He had the biggest urge to run to me and give me the biggest hug ever, but his sixth sense stopped him from doing so, as if my voice hinted a bit of trouble was about to erupt. Cautiously, he turned his whole body around, looking at me with a blank, empty stare.
'I found you...'
Not daring to shift my gaze away from him, we locked eyes and I could feel my hands getting warmer and warmer by the second. As I began to raise my right hand up, I could see from the corner of my eyes that my hand was ablaze, ready to fire at any moment at will. The fire was warm and comforting on my palms, not the slightest bit of pain was generated from the flames. Watching as Cuphead looked at my hands, he held a look of fear and terror on his face, only riling up the greedy demon inside me even more.
'(Y-Y/N)...' He mumbled, leaving his voice shaky and unnerved. 'What have they done to you...'
'Do you like it?' I asked, my glare averting from him for just a brief second to analyse the ever-growing orange flame on my hands. I smiled and looked right up at him again. 'It's an improvement to say the least. I think the Devil was very benevolent to give me my powers.'
'T-the... DEVIL?' Cuphead questioned in a fearful yell, causing his straw to extend fully upright for just a quick second before resting back down again. His eyes widened as much as they could, almost as if they were going to pop out of his head. 'How could they... I-I fought him and won, fair and square. I thought it was all over...'
'I guess you thought wrong, huh?' I chuckled, taking very few steps forward so I could look into his eyes a little more. Remembering the other power I was bestowed, I used it to my advantage and stared deeply into his eyes as he was doing with mine, only difference being I could see what was going on in his mind.
As I focused more and more into his desolate eyes, a cloudy daze filled my vision as I began to see images of a familiar background. I could see Cuphead, the bright, happy-go-lucky guy with a whimsical smile on his face. He was walking along happily next to his brother, Mugman, whistling in tune with each other as they entered Elder Kettles cottage. The images then shift to when he first laid his eyes on me. I could see through his point of view just how radiant and beautiful I was, how shy and sweet I seemed. It was as if I was reliving that moment through his body all over again. Then the images suddenly changes again, to when I came downstairs after a refreshing shower and had tried on the dress he picked out for the first time. He couldn't stop smiling, watching as this gorgeous girl descended slowly down the stairs, being very poise and elegant in her posture. The Images change yet again; now we are at the carnival, sitting at the very top of the ferris wheel. Now we are at a jazzy restaurant, dancing the night away. Now we're at the roller-blading arena. Next, we're in a café, then a park, then we're a thousand feet in the air.
The images hit me hard, and I had absolutely no reason as to why. My heart doesn't feel the same way his does about me... at least not anymore, I thought. I was certain that since I had transformed into the demon I am now, I didn't have these feelings of care and empathy and love. I thought I was all full of evil and hatred. But seeing these memories, reliving them through Cuphead's mind... it was almost as if that was the key I needed to unlock the chest that held all of my previous memories. ... Almost. I'm not sure what I must have looked like as of right now through someone else's eyes, but I could have sworn I felt the smallest tear for up in my eyes. I was just so lost in thought, looking at these visions that I had completely forgotten what I was doing.
'(Y/N), please, try and snap out of it. This isn't like you at all.' Cuphead consoled, making me focus a little more on reality. I felt torn; I want to remain in possession of The Devil. It felt enticing. It felt powerful. But at the same time, I wanted to go back to myself, who I originally was when I first came here. 'I know you can do it... ... ... please, doll...'
And that was my breaking point. Hearing him call me "doll" made something inside me snap, and it was strong. I felt like I now had to acquiesce to the darkerside of me. I shook my head and started to growl as if I were turning into a tiger. The flames on my hands grew brighter and stronger than before as I focused all my attention on him, careful not to stare to intently into his eyes yet again.
'DON'T CALL ME DOLL!' I screamed in a fit of rage, my eyes lighting up with anger. Without hesitation, I pushed my right hand out in front of me as far as I could, causing the flames to launch itself at Cuphead's direction. Once it was released, it flew forward faster than lightning, my eyes following it closely as the light drifted away from me. Incredibly, Cuphead shifted to his side in a panicked reflex action, just in time to avoid the fire. The look on his face was one right out of a Hollywood horror film, making an expression one would make after seeing a ghost or something even more strange.
'(Y/N), please snap out of it. This isn't who you are!' Cuphead pleaded full of emotion, putting his hands together and entangling his fingers with one another. No matter how much he tried to persuade me to stop, I didn't listen and couldn't care less if I were to hurt him. As I proceeded to throw more and more punches of fire at him, he began to back away fast and sprint as far away from me as possible. This only enticed me more, filling my heart up with violent tendencies as I began chasing him through the forest, continuing to launch my flames at him. But no matter how good my aim was, or how close I got to him, he somehow always managed to miss my shots, causing a rush of adrenaline to flow through my veins as it only made me want to target him more.
Unfortunately, through all the darkness these woods possessed, I eventually lost him amongst the tall trees with their looming shadows swallowing down. I turned my head in every direction I could, darting my eyes everywhere as I was so incredibly desperate to find him. I felt quite ashamed of myself for having gone and lost him, especially since I was so close to capturing him. But I kept myself alert for any sounds or movement that I could pick up nearby, in case he was still lurking around.
'Oh Cuphead...' I chanted softly, 'Where are youuu...?' Upon calling out for him, I knew I wasn't going to get a response out of him since he'd be too scared, but I thought I'd just give it a try. 'If you come out now, I promise I won't hurt you.' Still, there was nothing but the echo of my voice running through the woods. No matter how much I tried to bargain with him to get him to show mercy, it just never happened as I kept getting nothing in response to my desperate pleas. After a few minutes of calling out and getting nothing back, I began to wonder if he was still in here with me. Surely he was, he couldn't have escaped from me that easily, right?
Somehow, Cuphead had managed to flee from the derange woman that was chasing after him, despite being tailgated the entire time. He dashed out of the forest as fast as his legs could move, not daring to look back in case I was following behind him. He had managed to make it all the way back to Elder Kettle's cottage, where just before he opened the front door, he stopped to observe his surroundings, being cautious in case I was still following him. Luckily for him, I was no where in sight, but he wasn't too sure he was safe just yet and he certainly didn't want to be seen going into his grandfather's house. So, he decided to run around to the back of the house, where he frantically climbed over the wooden fence, zoomed past the backyard and opened the back door, quickly stepping inside before closing it shut and taking a heavy, stressful sounding sigh. Elder Kettle was in the lounge room, sitting calmly in his rocking chair listening to the tranquil music that was being played from the phonograph beside him. As soon as he saw Cuphead rush inside through the back door, he stopped the music and looked at his grandson with a concerning look.
'Why Cuphead, what's the trouble?' He asked worriedly as Cuphead made his way over to him.
'It's (Y/N)... somethings not right...'
'Oh, did you find her?' He spoke with a gleamy smile as he stood up slowly, stepping over to the window with his walking cane and glaring outside. 'Where is she?'
'NO, DON'T go out there!' Cuphead shouted, running over to the window before pulling down the blinds. He decided it would be best to cover all the windows and lock all the doors, so he scuttled his way around the house, finding every door to lock and every window to cover. Before heading upstairs to finished the other windows, Elder Kettle stopped him in his tracks.
'Cuphead, what is the meaning of all this?' He questioned, staring at Cuphead with a bewildered expression.
'I just told you, it's (Y/N), something isn't right with her.' He defined yet again.
'But what do you mean by that?' Elder Kettle wondered, scratching his head a little.
'Just let me fix up the windows and I'll explain everything.' And without saying anything else, Cuphead rushed upstairs to shut all windows and pull down all the blinds. Despite being broad daylight with the sun shining brightly outside, most of the house was as dark as ink, with the exception of a few dim lights being turned on downstairs. When he reached Mugman's room, he barely even noticed his brother silently reading on his bed as he darted over to the opposite side of the room to pull down the curtains, leaving the room pitch black.
'Hey, what's the big idea?' Mugman whined, putting his book down rather harshly.
'Come with me, I'll explain.'
'Wait, wha-' Before Mugman could finish his sentence, he felt his brothers hand wrap around his arm and pull him off from his bed, proceeding to dash down the stairs in a hurry to find Elder Kettle sitting on his rocking chair yet again under the dim glow from the light up on the middle of the ceiling. Both of the boys sat down together on the plush couch, one very scared and one very confused. Elder Kettle leaned forward in his chair as he crossed his hands together on his lap, looking over at Cuphead.
'Okay, now please, Cuphead, can you explain what is going on to us now?' Elder Kettle begged anxiously.
'Alright... so basically, this is what happened....'