*Chapter Summary: Mugman, Cuphead, and Chalice go on a quest to find the thief that took the book from them and defeat their first foe: Goopy Le Grande.*
*A/N: Hey guys! We're back with another chapter/episode! This is published on August 6, 2024. If you guys like this episode/chapter, don't be afraid to vote and comment. That would be greatly appreciated! Enjoy and have a blessed day.*
Episode Two: Mismatched Boxing
The next morning is like any other morning.
Elder Kettle flips some pancakes while Mugman, Cuphead, and Chalice sit in awkward silence. They look to see where the book is missing in the kitchen and then back at Elder Kettle.
“Should we tell him about what happened last night?” Cuphead asks Mugman and Chalice.
“Keep him distracted. I’ll go look for Cassidy,” Chalice whispers to the boys before turning into a ghost and disappearing.
The brothers glance at each other in fear and then back at Elder Kettle.
“So, uh, got any, uh, chores for us today?” Mugman asks.
Cuphead throws a withering glare at his brother until Elder Kettle turns around, putting pancakes on the plates.
“Chores? You boys are supposed to be collecting soul debts from the debtors right now,” Elder Kettle says while arching a brow. “You got a day until the Peashooter fades from your bodies.”
“A day?!” the boys gasp in shock.
“Yes, a day. However, if that’s not enough time, you boys can make the potions yourself. Just gather the ingredients listed from the book—” Elder Kettle points at the empty spot by the open window and notices the book is missing. “Huh, I could’ve sworn that book is always right there. Did you boys take the book?”
“Uh…no…” Cuphead utters nervously.
“Don’t tell me that someone stole the book last night,” Elder Kettle whines. “I already have enough to deal with you kids gamblin’ away your souls to the Devil, the plants need water, and the fence needs paintin’. Wait, where’s Chalice?”
Chalice appears from the side as a ghost and then turns into her physical side. “I can’t find Cassidy and the book in Porkrind’s shop.”
Then she notices Elder Kettle widening his eyes in shock. Elder Kettle drops the plates that has the pancakes on it. The glass plates shatter on the floor as Elder Kettle collapses from the fear of the ghost.
Chalice shifts her withering glare at the boys. “You ding dongs are supposed to distract him.”
“Well, Mugman brought up the chores,” Cuphead points at Mugman childishly.
“Well, you left the window open,” Mugman growls.
“This ain’t the time to point fingers,” Chalice responds. “Look, I asked Porkrind where she’s at and he wouldn’t give me a straight answer. So I looked into the wagon and found nothing. So, Cassidy is off somewhere with the book—”
“We need to get that book,” Mugman urges. “We got a day until our powers fade.”
“Aw, shucks! And we got three weeks to return the debtors’ souls to the Devil!” Chalice panics. “We gotta go now!”
“Couldn’t agree more,” Cuphead responds.
The three cups get up from the seats and rush out of the house before Elder Kettle wakes up from his black-out.
“Uh, boys…?” Elder Kettle groans awake.
~.~
“Where could she be?” Cuphead groans after searching through the woods for thirty minutes for Cassidy.
“She must be hidin’ somewhere,” Chalice responds with her fists on her hips.
“Like a coward,” Mugman growls.
“Hey, while we’re searchin’ for our thief, we should look over the list of the debtors we gotta take souls from,” Chalice suggests to the boys.
Mugman takes out the list and looks at it with a sigh. “Okay, let’s see. We got Goopy Le Grande...T-The Root Pack?!”
Cuphead gasps. “The Root Pack!”
“Oh yeah, I heard they’re nasty. Bunch of party animals if ya ask me,” Chalice says with a smirk.
“They ain’t the only ones we know that owed the Devil their souls,” Mugman panics. “Ribby and Croaks! Baroness Von Bon Bon! Captain Brineybeard! Cala Maria! Sally Stageplay! And Werner Werman!”
“Oh boy, do we have to face those guys?” Cuphead groans.
“Well, if we want to save ourselves from the mess you’ve created, then yes! We have to face those guys!” Mugman says with a growl at his brother.
Chalice notices a brown hooded creature exchanging money at the booth where she recognizes that Bowlboy is selling food products. “Say, ain’t that our thief?”
The cups look up from reading the list and notice the brown hooded creature walking away.
Cuphead growls and rushes off to charge towards the thief, tackling the thief down onto the ground. “Aha! Got ya!”
He realizes that there’s an unfamiliar cup girl underneath him with a pink nose and brown bubbled hair. She screams and he screams back at her. He immediately jumps off of her, causing her to scramble up on her feet.
“Sorry, sorry—”
“Ew! Why did you tackle me into the dirt, peasant?!” the girl growls angrily.
“Hey, who are you callin’ peasant?” Cuphead snarls back.
Mugman and Chalice catch up to him.
“We’re sorry. We thought you’re our thief,” Chalice says with a polite smile.
“Wow. I guess dressing myself as a lower-class peasant can make me look like a thief, huh?”
“I never said that, girly,” Chalice says to the cup girl.
“I know.” The girl takes off her hood to reveal her bubbled hair. “Ugh, Cassi has a terrible fashion sense.”
“Wait, you knew Cassidy?!” Cuphead questions.
“Uh, yeah, why?” Natalie responds. “Wait, are you her new business partners? Ugh, I told her that she has to let me know who she’s doin’ business with—”
“No, she stole something from us,” Mugman answers desperately.
The girl huffs up a laugh. “Heh, typical.”
“Do you happen to know where she is?” Chalice asks the cup girl.
The girl crosses her arms. “She never reveals where she’s goin’. Nor do I care where she goes. She asks me if I know a translator and that’s the end of that.”
“Why?” Chalice probes.
“I dunno. Your best bet of findin’ her would either be in the city…or in the woods…or in Porkrind’s shop. That’s all I can say,” the cup girl says with a shrug.
“Let’s try for the city,” Chalice suggests the boys. Then she turns to the cup girl. “Thanks for your help, girly. Catch ya later.”
The cup girl watches the three cups walking away while Bowlboy seems to witness everything in the conversation.
“Uh, Nat, why didn’t you just tell them that she’s with Jerry?” Bowlboy asks the cup girl, Natalie.
“They don’t even know who Jerry is, Bowlboy,” Natalie says while walking away with a scoff. “Ugh, I’m getting myself a new disguise. This one is disgusting.”
~.~
The three cups arrive at the big city, searching down every alleyway in the city. They ask some shop owners and some citizens. All of them either shake their heads to say they don’t know or they shrug and go about their days.
After three hours of searching, Cuphead, Mugman, and Chalice takes a break in one of the alleyways that is close to the bad side of town.
“Well, I’ll give Cassidy credit where credit is due. She’s good at hidin’,” Chalice says.
“She might be back at Porkrind’s by now,” Cuphead responds. “You think Porkrind would hide her or something?”
“Well, she is his daughter after all…it’s suspicious that he never reveals that he has a daughter who’s just a no-good common thief—”
Chalice looks to the side as Mugman smack talks about Cassidy and notices a familiar tall figure with the dark green trench coat and a blue scarf covering his mouth.
Chalice focuses on the figure known as Jerry.
Jerry looks around in the market, hiding something under his coat. He subtly opens his coat to talk to one of the random shopkeepers, with Cassidy slipping out from under the coat and sneaking through the market to steal jewelry and gems to sell.
Chalice blinks in shock and then smirks. “Huh. Well, ain’t you a troublemaker?”
“What?” the boys ask.
“Looks like I found our thief,” Chalice says, her smirk widening.
The boys crowd around her to find Cassidy sneaking through the market to steal an apple that looks good and takes a bite.
“Let’s get her,” Cuphead determines.
Chalice and Mugman nod their heads in agreement.
Cassidy is about done stealing items as she heads back and waits for Jerry to stop talking to the shopkeeper.
However, Chalice appears behind her in her ghost form. “Hiya, girly!”
Cassidy whirls around and finds Chalice in her ghost form in more shock.
“You got something of ours?” Chalice responds with a smirk.
Jerry notices this encounter and sees the boys are about to jump on her. He strides towards Cassidy and shoves Cuphead and Mugman away from her before they can jump her. He pulls out the ghost spray and spray it on Chalice, causing her to scream in pain. Then he takes out a smoke bomb and throws it on the ground, creating a smoke around them.
Jerry picks Cassidy up in the smoke while the kids are coughing. Once the smoke clears, they see that Jerry and Cassidy disappear. They look at the shopkeeper, who has his eyes widen in pure shock. The shopkeeper points to ahead of him, letting the kids turn to the direction where they find Jerry running with Cassidy in his arms.
“Hey!” Mugman shouts as the three cups run after them.
Jerry carries Cassidy through the city. “What are they after you for?”
Cassidy holds onto Jerry’s coat. “You know that book that I had last night?”
“Yeah?”
“I stole it from them.”
“Oh.” Jerry looks over his shoulder to find the three cups chasing them.
“Come back! We just want the book!” Chalice shouts.
Jerry sharply turns down the alleyway, unaware of the cops walking by and seeing this scene unfold. The chief bee woman of police glances at the mug shots of Cuphead and Mugman.
“That’s them!” the cop gasps.
“Get ‘em!” the chief shouts.
Jerry rushes down the alleyway with Cassidy on his shoulders. He turns a sharp corner and takes out a wooden bat. When the kids are about to turn down the corner where Jerry turns, Jerry swings at them. Chalice changes into a ghost and phase through the bat. However, Mugman and Cuphead are hit in the head.
Cassidy and Jerry look at the cups, noticing cartoon stars dancing above their heads. They look to find Chalice turning around as a ghost.
“HEY!” the chief of the police shouts before Chalice can charge at Jerry and Cassidy.
Jerry picks up Cassidy and hurries over into the darkness of the alleyway. Chalice is stuck between chasing after them and rescuing the blacked-out cups from being handcuffed. She groans to herself and flies into the chief’s body, smacking her and the other cop with her baton and knocking them both out.
Chalice phases out of the chief’s body and possesses Mugman, getting him to pick up Cuphead in his arms. As Mugman, she manages make him run through the alleyway with Cuphead in Mugman’s arms before more cops show up. Looking around, Mugman sees Jerry and Cassidy running down another alleyway. He chases after Jerry and Cassidy, attempting to catch up to them.
Jerry and Cassidy enter into an empty house. Jerry shuts the door as they share a sigh in relief.
“I think we lost them,” Cassidy says.
On cue, Mugman jumps through the window with Cuphead in his arms, breaking through the glass.
“WHAT THE—?!” Jerry shouts.
Mugman whirls around and holds up his finger gun. “Alright! Where’s that book?!”
Cassidy and Jerry notice Mugman’s eyes glowing blue. They exchange gazes with each other and then back at Mugman. Jerry whips out the can of ghost spray and sprays it into Mugman’s eyes.
Chalice jumps out of Mugman’s body with a yelp in pain. Her ghost form immediately reverts back to her physical form. “OW! AGAIN?!”
Mugman covers his eyes. “AH! PEPPERSPRAY!”
Jerry puts his arm over Cassidy, holding out the ghost spray with narrowed brows.
“Stay back!” Jerry growls.
“We ain’t going anywhere until we have the book back!” Chalice snarls.
“We don’t have the book!” Cassidy shouts.
“Are you saying Mugman is a liar?” Chalice asks with the glare.
“No. She means that we don’t have the book because we gave it to a scholar to translate the text for us,” Jerry clarifies.
Chalice softens her stare. “What?”
“The text is in Latin,” Cassidy explains. “I was gonna give it back to you guys after he’s done translating it.”
“Girly, you could’ve just ask us if you can borrow the book if ya need it that bad,” Chalice points out.
Cassidy flattens her ears.
“We didn’t think you would give it to us so easily,” Jerry replies.
Mugman and Cuphead start to wake up.
“Ugh, my head…” Cuphead groans and looks up to find Chalice standing between him and Cassidy and Jerry. He stands up quick and aims his finger gun. “Where’s the book?!”
Mugman jumps from Cuphead’s shout, his eyes red from the ghost spray.
Chalice whirls around to face Cuphead. “Whoa there, Cups! They gave it to a scholar.”
“A scholar? Why?!” Mugman questions harshly.
Jerry lets out a tired sigh. “Because the book is written in Latin. We need someone to translate the text.”
“Oh,” Cuphead utters. “Huh, why didn’t you just ask us to borrow it?”
“Cuphead!” Mugman shouts. “We don’t just give the most important book to anyone willy nilly!”
Cassidy smirks and looks at Cuphead. “Does that answer your question, Cuphead?”
“You shut it!” Mugman growls, glaring at the red feline. “Why would you need this book?! It’s not like you owed the Devil your soul like us.”
Jerry widens his eyes and turns to Cassidy. “Them too?!”
“What do you mean by that?” Chalice asks suspiciously.
Jerry and Cassidy look at each other. Then they glance back at the three cups. Jerry pulls out a smoke bomb and throws it down, creating gray smoke around them. The cups cough and swipe the smoke away to find that Jerry and Cassidy disappear.
“Aw, come on!” Cuphead groans.
Chalice rolls her eyes. “Let’s not waste time with them. They gave it to some scholar but they won’t tell us who.”
“Our powers are gonna fade if we don’t find that book soon,” Mugman responds. “We got three weeks to collect the soul contracts.”
“And that’s why we don’t want to waste time doin’ this game of chase…yet,” Chalice says. “Let’s deal with one of the debtors before your powers fade.”
“Okay,” Cuphead responds. “Who’s first?”
Mugman unrolls the parchment. “Uh…Goopy Le Grande.”
“Let’s hurry to find him before your powers fade,” Chalice urges the boys.
The cups exit the empty house, unaware that Jerry and Cassidy are hiding in the closet.
Jerry and Cassidy exchange glances in concern.
“That scholar better hurry up with the translation,” Jerry determines.
Cassidy nods in agreement.
~.~
The three cups hurry through the woods, looking for their first opponent.
“You think Goopy lives here?” Cuphead asks.
Chalice shrugs. “Probably. We have to watch our step though. I hear he can duplicate himself into smaller slime balls—”
Squish.
The kids turn swiftly to find Mugman’s foot accidentally stepping on the blue small slime ball.
Mugman’s pupils shrink when he notices that they are surrounded by blue slime balls. “Uh oh.”
They feel the earth shaking under their feet. They look up to see the bushes rustling in front of them. It appears like something monstrous is bouncing towards them.
Then a small blue slime appears through the bushes with a small red nose.
Mugman relaxes and smiles. “Aww, well, aren’t you a cute fella?”
The slime narrows his eyes. “Cute is a fancy way of calling someone weak.”
The cups widen their eyes in shock.
“Are you Goopy Le Grande?” Chalice asks with a brow raised.
“The one and only,” Goopy, the slime ball, answers. “Are you lookin’ to fight me?”
“Should we tell him why we’re looking for him?” Mugman whispers to the others, who shrug their shoulders.
“We’re lookin’ to get your soul contract,” Cuphead replies with his fists clench.
Goopy smirks. “I figure there will be a day where the Devil sends out his little ‘minions’ to retrieve my soul contract.”
The cups notice the blue slimes slowly crawling into Goopy, letting him tower over the cups. His arms pop out from the sides and his red boxer gloves at the ready. His eyebrows pop above his eyelids, narrowed at the cups.
“If you want my soul contract so bad, you’re going to have go through me,” Goopy says, now his voice deeper.
Cuphead and Mugman leak milk from their straws while Chalice’s eyes turn pale at the size of Goopy.
The cups scream and turn to run the other direction. Goopy laughs and bounces over them, blocking their exit.
“Where d’ya think you’re going?” Goopy says with a mocking smile.
The cups scream before Cuphead raises his finger gun and shoots the blue glowing bullet at Goopy. Goopy takes the hit with a grunt, glaring at the cup. He starts bouncing towards them, causing them to raise their finger guns at him and dodging out of the way.
Chalice turns into a ghost and flies into Goopy, attempting to possess him.
“Get him boys!” Chalice shouts through Goopy’s voice.
Cuphead and Mugman start shooting the blue bullets out of their fingertips.
Goopy manages to throw Chalice’s ghost body out of his and bounces after the brothers.
Cuphead and Mugman dodge the giant slimeball, firing blue bullets until their powers fade suddenly.
“Oh no,” Cuphead utters in fear.
Goopy swings his fist and punches Cuphead, causing the cup to fly across the woods and hit the tree behind him.
Mugman clenches his teeth and begins to shake now. “What are you?”
“I’m a handsome slime bringing pain—one bounce at a time,” Goopy growls with an evil smirk.
Before Mugman starts to run away, Goopy grabs him by the ankle and throws him down on the dirt. Mugman tumbles until he hits another tree. He can barely move his body, cracks appearing on his porcelain face. His vision is blurry, but he does know that Goopy creeps closer and closer to him.
“You kids are not even a challenge,” Goopy says with a sadistic grin, taking Mugman by the ankle and dragging him across the ground to throw him in front of Cuphead and Chalice.
Chalice breathes heavily in panic as she zooms back into Goopy’s body to pull him away from Mugman. But Goopy manages to pull Chalice out of his body and throw her away from him.
“You think you can possess the greatest boxer alive? I don’t think so. Now, let’s see what to do with the Devil’s little minions,” Goopy says while glancing at Mugman. He raises his fist up while Cuphead is watching the whole thing. Cuphead struggles to lift his finger gun in an attempt to save his brother.
Goopy is about to slam his fists down to shatter Mugman’s head until a bolt doused in dark green liquid flies towards the blue slime with an explosive attached to it. Once the arrowhead pierces into Goopy’s blue skin, the explosive is set off, blowing up Goopy’s arm. Goopy screams in pain and stumbles back from Mugman.
Cuphead blinks and glances at his finger in confusion. He notices Cassidy rushing beside him, helping him up on his feet with the quiver of bolts attached to her back.
“Are you okay?” Cassidy asks, but her voice is muffled.
Chalice approaches besides Cassidy with a bright grin. “Hey, you came back.”
“Take Cuphead to Jerry. I’ll get Mugman,” Cassidy commands, taking out her crossbow.
Chalice hurries to do what Cassidy instructs and possesses Cuphead to get out of the dangerous situation.
Cassidy attaches the bolt onto the crossbow again and pulls out the small ball of red potion to pour it over the bolt. Goopy glares at Cassidy and starts charging towards her. She pulls up her crossbow and fires her bolt again. The bolt divides itself into three and pierces into Goopy, causing him to stumble towards them. She swiftly moves herself and Mugman out of the way before Goopy can accidentally collapse on top of them.
In his blurred vision, Mugman sees the red feline with some bright light behind her, like an angel sent down from Heaven to rescue him.
She glances down at him with a small smirk. “Give me a moment, big blue.”
“B-Big Blue?” Mugman utters in confusion before blacking out.
Cassidy puts her crossbow away and takes out a smoke bomb, throwing it down to create the gray smoke. Goopy backs away from the smoke while swiping the whiffs away. Once the smoke clears, Cassidy and Mugman disappear.
Goopy looks around to find Cassidy carrying injured Mugman on her back and running through the woods. The blue slime ball growls and hops after Cassidy and Mugman. Cassidy hurries through the woods with Mugman groaning in pain. She reaches through the woods while Goopy notices her hurrying towards Jerry’s car that has Chalice and Cuphead in it.
Cassidy hops into the car with Mugman. “Step on it!”
Jerry steps on the gas pedal, speeding away from Goopy’s forest.
Goopy growls. “You can run. But you can’t run forever.” With that he gives an evil laugh.
Meanwhile, Cassidy sighs in relief while Jerry drives away from the forest.
Chalice puts her fist on her hips. “Well, you showed up at the right time. Thanks for savin’ us back there.”
“No problem,” the red cat in overalls says.
“W-Why did you save us?” Cuphead questions Cassidy. “You stole the book from us last night and now you saved us…?”
“Oh, speaking of that,” Cassidy replies before handing the book she stole from the group back. “Here you go.”
“Wow! Thanks!” Cuphead chirps in excitement while taking the book that has the translations inside.
“But that doesn’t answer his question…why did you save us back there?” Chalice questions Cassidy’s motives.
“C’mon, you guys are nearly shattered by Goopy Le Grande’s hands. You think I was gonna give the book back to a bunch of dead corpses?” Cassidy responds to the question. “Besides, the book you have here is valuable. If it were any other thief, you wouldn’t have it back.”
“So…why are you planning on giving it back to us?” Chalice asks the feline.
Cassidy and Jerry exchange glances at each other. Jerry nods to her, staring back at the road. Cassidy shifts her attention to Chalice.
“I’ll explain everything when we get to Elder Kettle’s house,” Cassidy says.
~.~
Mugman groans awake, realizing he’s been sleeping in the red couch with Natalie tending to his wounds. They both scream for a second until Natalie groans in discouragement.
“Hold still, idiot! You’ll stretch your wounds,” Natalie says while applying bandages. “I didn’t think you’ll wake up this soon.”
Mugman glances around to find he’s in Elder Kettle’s house. “How did I end up…here?”
Cassidy walks into the living room. “Hey, big blue.”
“Oh, not you again,” Mugman groans.
“You’re lucky she saved your life back there,” Porkrind pipes up from behind Cassidy. “You morons would’ve been squashed by Goopy!”
“What?” Mugman asks in confusion. “Y-You saved me?”
“You’re welcome,” Cassidy answers with a small cheeky smile. “Now, you owe me one.”
“What?!” Mugman shouts while sitting up, despite Natalie’s protest for him to sit down. “Whoa, whoa, no! You stole the book from us!”
“And I gave it back like I said I would,” Cassidy says while putting her paw over her heart and her other paw up as if she is swearing an oath. “I’m a cat of my own word.”
“WE’RE MAKING THE INGREDIENTS RIGHT NOW!” Elder Kettle calls from the kitchen.
Cassidy tilts her head to the kitchen to make a reference. “See?”
Mugman grumbles, crossing his arms with a pout.
Natalie manages to bandage his wounds with a sigh. “Finally, done.”
“Thanks, Nat,” Cassidy says when her friend approaches beside her.
“It’s not often I bandage up peasants for free,” Natalie responds with a scoff.
Cassidy gives her a small money pouch. “How’s that?”
Natalie looks at the pouch and nods. “Good enough, I suppose.”
“Where did you get the money?” Mugman inquires.
“I earned it,” Cassidy answers without hesitation.
“Doing what?” Mugman probes.
“Her job,” Porkrind says with a gruff.
Cuphead and Chalice enter the living room, bandaged up too.
“You okay, Mugsy?” Cuphead asks worriedly.
“I guess…” Mugman says while rubbing the bandages.
Natalie notices him messing with his bandages and swipes at his hands. “Don’t mess with it.”
Mugman draws his hand away from his wounds. “Sorry.”
Cassidy wags her tail a bit, thumping it against the wall while leaning against the arm of the couch. “Sooooo, did you dream up anything while you blacked out, big blue?”
“Uh…no…wait, are you callin’ me fat?” Mugman asks her.
“What?”
“You’re callin’ me big blue.”
“Would you rather me call you sippy cup?”
“Now, you’re calling me a big baby?”
“Well, when you put it like that, maybe. Besides, I got a bunch of nicknames for you,” Cassidy says with a teasing smile.
“Well, I got a bunch for you too, ya pussy cat!” Mugman growls at her.
“Say that again,” Cassidy growls.
“Uh oh,” Natalie mutters.
Porkrind crosses his arms with a small glare thrown at Mugman.
“You heard what I said, pussy cat,” Mugman says.
Cassidy rolls up her sleeves. “Okay, Mug boy.”
“He signed his own death warrant,” Natalie utters while filing her nails. Cuphead and Chalice glance at her in confusion.
Cassidy leaps at Mugman with a yowl, a puff smoke created with stars popping out of the smoke while they are punching each other.
“Hey! Hey!” Porkrind shouts, getting them to stop by his harsh tone. “If you two are going to fight, take it outside!”
Cassidy and Mugman exchange glances and then move outside of the house to continue their fight. Porkrind follows them outside while Cuphead, Chalice, and Natalie stand idly in the living room.
Meanwhile, Jerry notices Porkrind going outside and hurries out of the front door to find the pig watching Cassidy and Mugman fighting across the front yard.
“Uh…should we stop the fight?” Jerry questions the pig.
“Hang on, I think she’s winning,” Porkrind says as he points at Cassidy stuffing Mugman’s face into the grass.
“Eat grass, Mug boy! Eat it!!!” Cassidy snarls at him.
“Suffocate him, honey!” Porkrind cheers.
Jerry nudges Porkrind’s arm with a scolding stare.
“What?” Porkrind responds. “He deserves it!”
Jerry sighs and walks over to Cassidy. He picks her up from Mugman as she struggles in his hold.
“Let me at him! Let me at him!” Cassidy shouts.
Mugman growls at her with a bruised face while the rest of the gang hurry outside.
“You crazy diva—!”
Cassidy leaps out of Jerry’s hold and attacks Mugman again, creating more smoke and stars as they are punching each other.
Cuphead hurries between Mugman and Cassidy and disperses them with his arm and foot. “Hey, hey! There ain’t a need for a fight!”
“Get out of the way, Cuphead,” Mugman growls.
“Had enough, sippy cup?” Cassidy snarls, her black-eye showing.
Mugman clenches his teeth angrily. “Oh, I’ll show you sippy cup--!”
“Hey!” Cuphead shouts mostly at Mugman. “She’s in the same pickle as we are!”
“Wait, what?” Mugman utters.
“Yeah, she owes the Devil her soul too, right?” Cuphead glances at the red feline, who wipes the blood off of her lips.
“Uh, yeah, along with Natalie,” Cassidy responds.
Natalie rolls her eyes and looks away.
“Hey, we can help each other out,” Chalice says with a smile.
Elder Kettle nods in agreement. “Porkrind and, uh—”
“John Smith—”
Porkrind nudges the shady’s creature’s arm.
Jerry groans. “Fine, Jerry.”
Elder Kettle turns back to the kids. “—and Jerry here explained that Cassidy owed the Devil her soul as well and they’re trying to get her out of it like you guys are. You know, this gives me the idea here. I think we should all work together. We’re going to need more arms if the peashooter lasts a day for us.”
“Are you serious?!” Mugman shouts.
Cassidy crosses her arms. “Yeah, I’m not too thrilled about it either.”
He snarls at her. “Okay, you know what—”
“That means—” Elder Kettle emphasizes before Mugman can pick a fight with the feline. “—there’s no fighting! None!” He looks at Cassidy, Porkrind, and Jerry. “No stealing from each other and—” He glances at Natalie. “—no rude comments like calling people peasants!”
Natalie rolls her eyes and files her nails. “Ugh, fine.”
“Do we have a deal?” Elder Kettle says to everyone.
After a moment of silence, Porkrind sighs in defeat. “Fine, I’m game. But this is a one time thing.”
“Yeah,” Jerry responds in agreement with his arms crossed.
Elder Kettle glances at the kids to see if they’ll accept the deal.
Natalie crosses her arms. “Alright. Just as long as he doesn’t tackle me into the ground again.”
“It was one time!” Cuphead bickers.
Mugman and Cassidy exchange glances. Finally, Mugman sighs in defeat and puts his hand out to shake as if he’s calling a truce. Cassidy looks at his hand and then spits into her paw, putting it out there for Mugman to shake.
“Ew,” Mugman utters in disgust, recoiling back a bit.
“Well, aren’t ya gonna shake it or not?” Cassidy urges.
Mugman glares at her paw and spits into his hand, slapping his wet hand against hers to shake it.
“Alright! Looks like we got ourselves a team!” Elder Kettle says with a beam.
Cassidy and Mugman let go and wipe their hands on their clothes.
“The potions should be ready by now,” Elder Kettle informs. “Who’s first on the list?”
Chalice looks at the list. “Uh, Goopy Le Grande.”
“Then you better get collecting,” Elder Kettle determines.
~.~
Mugman and Cuphead are back at it again after drinking the Peashooter potion again. Chalice accompanies them along with Cassidy and Natalie throughout the forest.
“Soooo, why are you comin’ along?” Cuphead asks Natalie.
“Uh, if any of you cups get hurt, I bandaged your wounds,” Natalie says with a huff in annoyance.
“She’s the medic of the team,” Cassidy whispers to Cuphead. “As she likes to put it.”
“Well, somebody’s gotta keep you all alive,” Natalie replies.
“And we appreciate that, girly,” Chalice adds with a smile.
“Yeah, whatever,” Natalie grumbles, filing her nails.
Cuphead arches a brow. “You’re really going to file your nails at a time like this?”
“Uh, yeah. Gotta keep ‘em pretty,” Natalie responds with sass. “I suggest you do the same.”
Cuphead perks his head. “Why? What’s wrong with my nails?”
“How do I put it to you this way? They are dirty and filthy. You can use some soap when washing your hands and…well, your aim might be better if they’re clean,” Natalie replies.
“Huh?” Cuphead utters in confusion.
“Do you know what ‘clean’ means?” Natalie probes.
“Hey, I ain’t that dumb!” Cuphead responds defensively.
“I never said that. You assumed yourself to be dumb. And I say you’re right about your assumption,” Natalie says.
“HEY!” Cuphead yells in offense.
“Guys, quiet,” Mugman commands in a hushed tone. “We’ll attract Goopy’s attention if we—”
“Watch out!” Cassidy warns and puts her arm out to prevent Mugman from walking further. Mugman appears confused for a second until he realizes that she is preventing him from stepping on the idle blue slime.
The others notice this and look ahead of them in the forest.
“He’s close,” Cassidy says while she sneaks around the blue slime balls with the others following her. They are careful to not step on the blue slime balls as they finally approach the bushes. They peer over the bushes to see Goopy smaller than he was when they first meet him. He has gold medals on the trees surrounding him, a shrine with his black and white photograph back when he’s young.
“Is that a shrine?” Cassidy murmurs.
“Of himself?” Mugman adds with a whisper.
Goopy wipes the portrait and sighs to himself. The music plays in the background as he bounces towards his gold medals. He looks up to see his reflection in the gold as he starts to sing.
“I was once a small slime with a big dream.
Now, I was one of the greatest boxers alive.
But the only thing tying me to the living is the story
Of all the winnings that I’ve gained over the years.”
Goopy passes by the newspapers with headlines such as: Goopy wins another fight!, Goopy beats an all-time record of fighting 75 opponents, and, his least favorite with the photograph of him wrinkled and nearly beaten by another foe, Can Goopy not fight anymore?
Goopy continues to sing with a frown at the last newspaper.
“There’s a grave with my name,
And the coffin is open for me.
No, I refuse to let my legend fade.
The Devil and his minions may want my soul,
But I won’t let them take me to the fire.”
The beat drops as Goopy bounces away from the newspaper, passing by his gold medals while seeing his reflection in each of them. He sings the chorus with passion.
“I’m just handsome slime bringing pain!
Is it a crime to keep up with a face like mine?
All of those medals are useless if I don’t keep living.
As good-looking as I am, I should’ve known that it’s a ruse
To sign the Devil’s contract.
Should I be aware of the grave situation
Of the heat melting the ooze out of me?”
Goopy sighs and sings more while looking into the forest.
“They say to reap what I sow.
But that’s not what I’ll be doing,
‘Cause in the end all I want is to keep tellin’ my story.”
Goopy bounces by the pictures of past boxers who he’s inspired by with a small smile, and then a frown approaches him as he sing again.
“I’ve watched the greatest boxers in their prime
Fall from grace and fade into nothingness,
But that’s not going to be me.”
Goopy gestures towards his awards and the newspaper with a prideful smile. He croons again with desire seeping in his voice.
“I’ll keep the paparazzi snapping pictures.
More headlines will tell stories of my winnings forever.
If I don't keep going, I'll surely die.
Everyone will remember the name of Goopy Le Grande!”
Goopy grows bigger and bounces heavier. The kids dodge the slime balls rolling through the forest to get to Goopy as he grows larger than last time. Goopy sings more aggressively.
“But there’s a grave with my name,
And its coffin is open and ready for me.
But I refuse to hop in and watch my story fade.
As hard as they may try,
I’ll keep fighting and fighting for my contract.”
Goopy chuckles and picks up his red boxer gloves to put them on, raising his fists up with a loud voice.
“I’m just a handsome slime bringing pain!
Is it a sin to cheat death to keep up with a face like mine?
All of those medals mean nothing if I die tomorrow.
As smashing as I appear to be, my youth is just a ruse
To keep me healthy and breathing.
Should I be aware of the grave situation
Of the heat melting the ooze out of me?”
Goopy softens his gaze at the black and white photographs of himself winning the fights against his opponents. The music softens along with his features, the violin playing in the background. A wistful sigh escapes his lips while he picks up the photograph to stare at himself.
“Oh, what I would give for a second chance,
To relive my life.
To cement my legacy forever.
If there’s a fountain of youth, I won't have to sign up for this.”
Goopy holds the photograph close to his heart while singing dreamily.
“Let me be remembered for centuries,
With fans and admirers dreaming of being me.
I can inspire a new generation of fighters,
Who want the same as me.”
He sings the final chorus with confidence while putting his photograph down on the ground. The music grows more intense for the final verse while he bounces through the forest, passing by the kids hiding in the bushes.
“I’m just a handsome slime bringing pain!
Is it wrong to desire living to keep up with a face like mine?
All of those awards will mean something someday.
As attractive as I am, in the end, this will all be a ruse
To keep myself alive for as long as I can.
This grave situation will only get smaller,
The more I get away from the heat melting the ooze out of me.”
Goopy sighs and looks through the forest, the music ending in a softer note.
The kids gaze at Goopy with sympathetic stares.
“Are we sure we should fight him for his soul contract?” Mugman whispers to the others. “Maybe there’s a way to talk him into giving us the soul contract.”
“Didn’t he beat the living daylights out of you when I save your life?” Cassidy questions Mugman with a brow raised.
Mugman rolls his eyes. “That’s because our powers ran out.”
“Now, you got more than enough time to take him down,” Natalie adds. “Don’t waste it on talking some sense into him.”
“I hate to say it, but I agree with the princess over here,” Cuphead responds with a sigh, earning a scoff and an eye-roll from Natalie. “We have three weeks to get all the soul contracts. We can’t waste time now.”
“But how do we take him down?” Chalice questions while rubbing her chin. “I can possess him, but not for very long.”
Cassidy looks at the shrine and glances at Mugman. “If you really want to talk some sense into him, you can use his shrine as a bargaining chip.”
“Wait, what?” Mugman questions her tactics.
Cassidy takes out her crossbow. “I can attach a grenade on the bolt and shoot it into the shrine when he refuses to give you the soul contract.”
“Wouldn’t that just make him angrier?” Cuphead asks.
“If you don’t show that you’re bigger than him, he will smash you guys into pieces. So, show him that you’re bigger than him. In fact, it might make him more afraid of you if you threaten him,” Cassidy responds logically, and then she smirks mischievously. “Or you can pretend you are the grim reaper. He gave us his fears in his little musical number. Use it to your advantage and make him afraid of you. Get a casket and bury him alive until he gives you his soul contract. That’ll make him think you’re bigger than him.”
The cups’ faces turn pale at Cassidy’s detailed plan.
“Or we fight him,” Cuphead utters.
“Yeah…” Mugman scoots away from Cassidy.
“Aw, oh, well. It’s fun to come up with ideas while it lasted,” Cassidy says. “Now, go kick his butt out there.”
Cuphead, Mugman, and Chalice make their way through the bushes. Cassidy and Natalie watches from afar while Cassidy gets out a brown bag.
“Wanna help me while they take Goopy’s contract?” Cassidy asks.
“Ugh, no,” Natalie denies.
Cassidy nods. She sneaks around towards the shrine.
~.~
The three cups approach Goopy, who notices them with a grand smile.
“Coming back for round two?” Goopy asks while taking out his boxing gloves.
“Look, this doesn’t have to end like this,” Mugman begs, pointing his finger gun. “We just need the soul contract to get ourselves out of the debt of the Devil.”
“Somehow, I don’t feel sorry for the three of you,” Goopy says with a jeer. “As I said before, you’re going to have to fight me to get it.”
“Fine, then we’ll fight ya!” Cuphead shouts before dipping his index finger into the orange potion that has the charge symbol on it. He points it at Goopy, letting the orange glow brighter until it releases from Cuphead’s finger by accident. The orange glowing bullet pierces into Goopy, causing him to yelp in pain.
Cuphead looks at his hand in confusion for a second until he smiles at the advantage. “HAHAHAHAHA! YEAH!!” He dips his finger from other hand and fires the charged glowing bullets at the boxer. Mugman dips his finger in the red potion he bought the day before and fires it, watching the red bullets multiply into three and hitting the slime at a close range. Mugman gasps in shock and dips his other finger into the red potion, firing multiple red triangle bullets at Goopy.
Goopy keeps throwing punches despite being shot at, but Chalice phases into him as a ghost to hold him down. However, he manages to throw himself to the side to get her out of his body. She tumbles into the shrine and notices Cassidy collecting the medals. The girls freeze up awkwardly.
“Need help with that, girly?” Chalice asks the red feline.
“Uh, okay…” Cassidy responds awkwardly before Chalice joins her in stealing the medals and awards from Goopy’s shrine.
Meanwhile, Cuphead and Mugman notice Goopy getting tired of swinging his fists at them and missing them.
“Mugsy! Give me a boost!” Cuphead commands.
Mugman nods his head and boosts his brother over the large blue slime. When Goopy glances up, Cuphead flips through the air to aim his finger guns at the slime from above. He fires the charged bullets at Goopy, hitting him in the head. Goopy falls over from the amount of the bullets hitting him. Goopy grows dizzy until a tombstone appears from the ground with his face on it and crushes him.
Goopy disappears, but he now possesses the tombstone moving side to side. The tombstone slams down to get Mugman, but the blue-strawed cup moves out of the way.
“What the heck?!” Mugman gasps in shock. He keeps firing his multitude of triangle bullets while Cuphead joins his brother in attacking the tombstone.
“Quit moving around!” Cuphead yells at the tombstone.
The tombstone stops and slams down at the cups, but they dodge at it. Finally, Mugman closes his eyes and fires at it, tearing the gravestone in half.
The tombstone stops moving while Goopy’s pupils turns into x’s to indicate that he’s dead now.
“D-Did we kill him?” Mugman questions in horror.
The gold contract appears before the boys as Cuphead snatches it and looks at it to see Goopy’s signature in it.
“We got it! We got it!” Cuphead cheers in excitement.
“We killed him,” Mugman utters in horror.
“We did great!”
“And we killed him.”
“If we get more of the potions to power-up our shots, we might take down the rest of the debtors.”
“AND WE KILLED HIM!” Mugman shouts in horror. “He’s dead, Cuphead!”
Natalie comes out from the bushes, dusting herself off. “Well, he did sign his soul away to the Devil.”
“Yeah…R.I.P,” Cuphead says, reading the tombstone.
Cassidy and Chalice appear beside the boys.
“Okay, we got the loot that’ll make us rich!” Cassidy announces in excitement.
“What loot?” Mugman questions.
The kids shift their glances at the shrine that is now empty except for the photographs of Goopy Le Grande.
Mugman glances at Cassidy’s bag full of awards and medals. “Are you serious?”
“What? It’s not like he’s going to use them,” Cassidy argues.
Chalice crosses out Goopy’s name on the parchment. “One down. A lot more to go….and the sun is going down.”
“Well, it’s been a great day. Gotta get home now. Goodnight!” Cassidy greets while taking off through the forest with the loot.
“At least, we got one contract. Maybe by tomorrow, we’ll get more than one,” Chalice says with a wink.
“Hopefully,” Mugman utters as the sun sets above them.
