It had been so long that the Devil started to slump in his chair. For he was getting impatient with the old kettle. He had told the elderly person he had all eternity, but he didn't really think Kettle would take it seriously. The satanic creature had expected him to crack by now. Instead, Kettle sat there seemingly lost in thought. The tan kettle tapped his cane in a steady beat and hummed a tune. For he was trying to find a ray of utopia despite his abysmal situation. Cuphead's mutated body paced back and forth, seeming uncomfortable with the elderly person's humming. It came to the point where the black creature just could not take waiting anymore.
"Enough!" The Devil roared, slamming a fist down on the arm of the chair. Elder Kettle flinched in surprise and ceased his tune. Cup's mutated body snarled at the loud and sudden noise.
"Do you have something to say or not?" It spat in the kettle's direction. Imp ears twitched in clear frustration. He watched as his former friend gave this some thought. Its spout ultimately turned towards his slave.
"Couldn't you give him a break?" Kettle squeaked out.
"What?!" The Devil was flabbergasted. After all the time he had taken to think about everything, that was the only thing that concerned him?
I waited all that time just to hear this?The satanic creature thought. Anger burned within his heart, turning his eyes red. His scarred body huffed in exaggeration. Elder Kettle tensed up at his old friend's reaction to his request.
"If you're not making him do anything, then please let me have a minute with him." The kettle ventured with a hint of fear in his voice. He was surprised when the Devil actually complied with his plea.
"Tch! Fine!" It scoffed and stood up very unceremoniously. For he was waiting for the kettle to say something in particular. And he hoped that giving him a moment with his grandson would make him more talkative. Gray feet marched right up to Cuphead. The creature yanked out the demon from the boy's soul just as fast as it did before. It had to give an extra yank since the demon hung on so tightly. The suction cups on the tentacles made loud popping noises as the pressure released. Cup screeched in pain when the dark presence was taken out by force. His body melted back to normal. Once the last of the tentacles let go, he fell to his hands and knees, gasping for breath. He could feel a burning sensation on the underside of his cup where the chain had dug into him. But poor Cup didn't know where it was from. He just knew it hurt like hell. For the chain had dissolved away when the Devil took the demon out.
"Cuphead!" His guardian cried out.
"Elder Kettle!" The boy responded in a strained voice and whipped his head up. He immediately tried to go forward to embrace his grandfather. The Devil gave a simple flick of the tail as he turned toward his throne. Chains appeared around the little cup's wrists and held him in place. Cuphead struggled against the binding apparatus that drilled itself into the ground. Elder Kettle approached his son when the confused and scared little cup could go no further.
"Sorry, Kettle. Can't have him destroying the place .....or me." The Devil quietly added as he stopped just before his magnificent blood red chair. He placed the translucent, purple creature atop of it. Kettle caught a glance of the monster that almost seemed a bit larger than when it went into Cuphead. "You sit there quietly!" It demanded the lesser creature. The ten muscular tentacles draped around the chair and felt around it. For it tried to understand its environment without being able to see anymore. A host gave it the opportunity to actually see its surroundings. Now it had to go by feel once again.
Elder Kettle began to stroke his boy's cup. Little gloved hands tried to hug the larger piece of glassware as best they could despite the chains. Cuphead finally broke down into tears. He just couldn't take it anymore. Not only did his throat hurt, but his body felt drained of its positive energy. Cup pressed his chin against the kettle's torso and looked into his grandpa's eyes. Water flooded down his face.
"Wh-what's going on, Elder Kettle? What happened? How did we get here? Where's Mugman?" Came his many questions that he could barely get out between his sobs. But Elder Kettle stayed quiet. He stared down at his boy with a look of grief upon his face.
"Oh, this will be good!" The Devil sneered as he turned back around. Kettle stayed quiet and merely stroked Cuphead even more intensely.
"Where is he, Elder Kettle? Where's my little brother?" Cup persisted, desperate for answers.
"Aren't you going to tell him, Kettle?" The creature probed. But the elderly kettle just closed his eyes in utter shame of how things turned out.
"Y-your brother....um...." The tan kettle couldn't even get out the words to describe the mug's state.
"Is dead! Shot down back at your hovel!" Boomed the black creature. For he was happy to break the news if the kettle couldn't.
"No.... it isn't true." Cuphead said, not taking his eyes off his grandpa. His cup slowly shook back and forth as the tears only seemed to rain down his face even faster. "Please tell me he's lying, Elder Kettle!"
"I wish he was, Cuphead." Kettle replied, now sobbing himself.
"M-maybe he's not dead!" Cup offered. Any hope right now would surely brighten their situation. "We should go back to the house and look for him!"
"Mugs would have never survived a wound like that, Cuphead..." The elderly glassware explained as his spout bubbled a bit.
"Oh, he's dead alright!" The Devil chimed in. This comment made the young cup mad. He tried to push past Elder Kettle to insult the creature directly. His guardian stepped to the side when he felt the boy struggle.
"You monster!" He yelled. "If I get my hands on you, I'm going to kick your ass for killing Mugs!" As mad as he was, the tears still flooded down his cup.
"Oh, I didn't kill him." The satanic creature replied coolly. "You did that for me."
"No! You're wrong! I would never!" Cup argued. He watched as the furry creature chuckled and started to circle the child. The Devil got down on all fours to be more on the boy's level.
"Why is it do you think your clothes are ripped in that way? They sure look like claw marks to me. And who do you know that has claws?"
Cuphead looked about his clothing at the tears the Devil mentioned. He was right. The markings indicated a struggle. Could it be that he really had been fighting his brother? Cup started to believe this.
"But your claws were even sharper! And they tore directly into his soul! Just look at your right hand if you don't believe me." He looked at the cup child straight in the face.
The young cup looked to his right glove. His fingers protruded through holes at the end of each gloved finger. Cuphead swallowed hard. The truth hit him like a ton of bricks. His heart was breaking by the second. But he wasn't about to let the Devil see that he was getting to him.
"That...that doesn't prove anything!" Poor Cup sobbed.
"Oh, no?" The black creature stopped in front of the cup child. "Look here and I'll show you exactly what happened." A single clawed finger poked the underside of his cup and held him in place.
"Ugh!" Cuphead winced when his tender throat was poked. Eyes nearly fell closed as the sharp object felt like it was going to pierce his skin. Cup was forced to stare into the Devil's yellow eye as its black pupil split into two shadows. One of his mutated self and the other of his mutated brother. He watched as his own shadow violently swung its claws into Mugman's gut. However, the Devil's imagination made the strike look even more brutal than it actually was. Mug's shadow slumped as it was pushed to the ground. The satanic creature averted its pupil back to normal and backed away from the cup child that was about to let another bout of tears out. Cup was so drowned in his sorrow that he didn't even notice the claw get removed from his throat.
"This is all my fault!" Cuphead sobbed as he fell to his knees. "If only I hadn't made that stupid bet that day, none of this would be happening!"
Kettle moved back to his son's side. A gloved hand stroked his cup again.
"None of this is your fault, my boy." The elder tried to console him.
"You're right." Cup sniffed. "It's his fault!" A small finger pointed in the dark creature's direction.
"Blaming me again?" It said with an annoyed flick of the tail. "All you people do is blame me for your own misfortunes. Have you ever considered what you did to me that caused this whole chain of events?" A gray paw rested on his horribly scarred chest. For there had been a puncture wound there from his previous struggle with the boys.
"Leave my boy out of this!" Kettle said defensively and tried to hide the young cup behind him.
"Wh-what is he talking about, Elder Kettle?" Cuphead ventured.
"Ah, so you haven't told him. And I thought you didn't keep secrets from your family." The dark creature probed.
"Not now, David!" The tan kettle reinforced.
"David? Secrets? What's going on here?"
"I think we should all take a seat and tell little cupface what really happened." The Devil so evilly suggested.
"No!" Kettle protested.
"Why are you so scared of the past, old friend?" The furry creature stepped between the child and its grandpa. "Or is it that you're scared of me now?" A sharp spade tail dangled down towards the young cup's head. Both of the family members gasped. "No, you're scared for your family, or what little you have left of it. Yet you are insistent on keeping them sheltered from the truth.... Your truth."
Kettle watched as Cuphead flattened himself against the ground to avoid the tail for as long as he could. Poor Cup squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for the worst. The kettle's tan body began to sweat from the pure tension building up between the three of them. But the sight of the sharp object mere inches away from his boy's face made him break.
"Okay, okay! We can talk!"
"That's better." The Devil said, taking its tail away from the child. Cup took a sigh of relief. "Now why don't we take a trip down memory lane, shall we?"
"Cuphead!" Kettle said, trying to go to his grandson.
"He'll be fine." The Devil scoffed as he caught the kettle by his handle. "Now, sit!" A clawed finger dragged him back to the chair and plopped him down. The black creature sat slumped in his glorious throne. They both watched as Cup went to sit up.
"Tell me, Cuphead, did you boys ever have story time before bed?" It asked, almost seeming welcoming with its tone. The round face cocked to the side as it questioned him.
"Wh-when we were little." The young cup stuttered out.
"Did your family tell you tales of adventure? How about gold and riches? Possibly a hero saving a damsel in distress?"
"A-adventure all the time." Cuphead replied. At this point there was no use arguing with the satanic creature about the topic of discussion.
"Were they stories of a kettle and a faun traveling across the world?"
"N-no. Just a kettle. There were other people, but never a.... whatever it was you said."
"Oh, I see how it is." The Devil sneered, turning to the elder. "Just erase the faun from your life, isn't that right?"
"N-no, that's not true." Kettle stuttered out. But the black creature was not fooled by this for even a second.
"Bullshit!" It roared, slamming another fist. "If you had cared about the faun, the least you could've done is carry on his legacy!"
"David...." Elder Kettle began.
"My name is not David anymore!" The Devil spat. "It hasn't been for a long time now! You must address me as the Devil because we are not equals anymore!"
"Wh-what happened between you two?" Cup wondered aloud. Little did he know that he was about to get the story of his life.
"Well, I think we'd be happy to oblige to that. What do you say, Kettle?" The satanic creature urged his old friend to finally tell his grandson the truth.
"Uh..."
Gray knuckles cracked as purple electricity danced around them. Elder Kettle flinched. He thought the black creature was going to hurt him if he didn't start spilling.
"Where do you think we should start?" The Devil interrogated him. The tan kettle, however, was very nervous. He was afraid that he would say something that his old friend would not agree with. His spout then turned to his boy, who also looked at him expectantly.
"H-how about the day I met your grandmother?"
"My grandmother?" Cuphead repeated just like his brother had done the day before.
"Oh, yes.....her." The satanic monster growled in resentment. His whole body tensed up as clawed fingers grabbed his trident. Black fur seemed to ruffle in anger at the mention of the female.